Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. Wouldn't that be cool though? I mean, being able to walk around to people and say, "Guess what I own! Only the coolest show ever!" But alas, I do not own Merlin.

Author's Note: I'm sorry that I didn't update in forever. But here's the new chapter!

Chapter Two, Horse Theft

Gaius had wanted some time to talk to his daughter alone, and Merlin couldn't exactly blame him, though he didn't much like getting kicked out for hours at a time.

He tried not to, but he could help but feel a little bit offended that Gaius had never told him about his daughter, and now they apparently had to have a long discussion without him around. He couldn't help but feel just a little bit abandoned.

But it didn't last too long, not much more then an hour later Verona approached Merlin and said with a smile, "He'd like to speak to you now...Don't worry, I'm being banished too. You're not alone."

"What? I didn't feel bad...That would be silly...Of course you two wanted to talk!" He lied, with as big of a smile as he could manage.

She gazed at him for a moment as if she was trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth, finally she said, "I'm glad, that makes me feel less guilty. He's waiting on you."

"Right," Merlin said, hurrying to go talk to Gaius. He felt he deserved a very long explanation to all of this and he was eager to get it.

When he entered the room Gaius was waiting for him, and he sat down next to him. "So...You have a daughter..." He said awkwardly, as much as he wanted to hear the good explanation for having no idea all this time that Gaius had a daughter, he preferred it if he didn't have to directly tell Gaius how annoyed he was he had never been told about this.

Gaius nodded, "Yes, she was working in a bakery with a nice family who lived in the country side far away. It was safer there."

"Why wasn't it safe for her here?" Merlin couldn't help but ask, curiously.

"If she feels like explaining that, she can, but it's not my story to tell." Gaius told him, which annoyed Merlin greatly.

"Alright..." He said, though he was frustrated that he couldn't just get a good answer for once,

"I can tell you are angry with me, Merlin. You are very transparent." Gaius said with a sigh.

Merlin just shrugged, he didn't really feel like getting into this conversation. Gaius might have wanted to know what was wrong, but Merlin didn't necessarily want to tell him.

"Merlin?" Gaius asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I don't know, Gaius! I'm just a little bit annoyed that you know everything there is to know about me, and you don't tell me something as big as this! You always pull this, 'You're the son I never had' thing, and yet you never think to mention that you have a daughter?"

"I know it's a very big shock, and I understand why you wish I had told you." Gaius said, keeping his voice calm, "But there were very good reasons for keeping quiet about Verona."

"Whatever the reasons, I could have kept your secret. You don't trust me, do you?" Merlin asked him, frowning.

"It had nothing to do with trust.-"

"Merlin!" The conversation was interrupted by Arthur entering the room and sounding annoyed, as usual.

Merlin tried not to sound too disrespectful as he said, "Yes, sire?"

Arthur seemed to catch the sarcasm, but he ignored it. "My armor needs cleaning,"

Merlin just shrugged and got to his feet, leaving the room without having to be told twice. He didn't really want to continue his conversation with Gaius just then, anyway.

-

Merlin and Verona sat eating the dinner that Gaius had left for them that evening. Someone had been ill in a nearby home and he had gone to try to help them.

"Is my father the only person in Camelot who knows about your magic? Other then me, I mean?" Verona asked, cheerily.

Instinctively, Merlin glanced around over his shoulder, even though he knew there was no one else around. "Yeah, and I'd rather like it to stay that way." He said, with a small smile.

"Right, sorry." She said smiling. "I probably shouldn't shout it and announce it to the world, then, should I?"

"Best you didn't." Merlin laughed, though he didn't really like that someone he had just met knew about his magic, even if she was Gaius' daughter.

"And you're the prince's servant, aren't you?" She asked him, light-heartedly.

"Yeah." Merlin spoke through a mouthful of food.

"And do you like it?"

Merlin shrugged, "He's a royal pain, but it's not all that bad."

Verona laughed, "Of course."

There was a short silence, before Merlin asked, "So, why don't you live in Camelot?"

The girl's expression darkened considerably, she hesitated and then said in a low voice, "It wasn't safe for me here."

Merlin found that this rather caught his attention, "Why not?" He asked, too curious to know that she probably didn't want to talk about it.

She shrugged, "Long story." Was all she said, and Merlin took the hint.

She pushed her chair back, got to her feet and cleaned up her dirty dishes."I'm going on a walk, want to come?" She offered, cheerfully as if a moment ago she had not been upset at all.

"Sure." Merlin said, after a moment. He had nothing better to do.

-

Outside, the evening air was cool and stars were beginning to appear in the sky. The sun that had just set left gold lining the horizon. They'd only been outside for a couple minutes when Verona spotted the king's stables.

"What's that?" She said, pointing towards them.

Merlin informed her that it was the stables, and she grinned and went inside. "Verona! I don't think you should-" But she'd already entered. He sighed and followed her inside.

By the time Merlin got inside, Verona was already seated on one of the horses. "Let's go for a ride, shall we?" She suggested, with a mischievous smile.

"You can't ride that horse." Merlin said, shaking his head quickly, "That's Prince Arthur's horse!"

"Ohhh, I'm riding a royal horse?" She asked, excitedly. "Even more fun! Come on, Merlin, take a horse."

"You can't ride Arthur's horse, Verona." Merlin said, he was rather amused, but he didn't want to encourage her.

"Why? He's not going to go for a ride in the middle of the night, he won't even miss her." She said, patting the horse's neck cheerfully. "Come on, Merlin, pick a horse."

"No." Merlin said, firmly. Getting less amused by the second.

"You're no fun," She pouted, though she seemed to be trying hard not to laugh, "I won't get off his 'Royal Highness' ' horse until you pick a horse and we go riding, Merlin."

Merlin didn't like the disrespectful tone she used when she said 'royal highness'. Sure, Arthur drove him crazy a lot of the time, but Verona seemed to be almost bitter towards the prince. It made him nervous.

He sighed and climbed on the back of the horse he usually rode when he had to go places with Arthur. "A very, very short ride!" He knew it was the only way to get her off of Arthur's horse, and he didn't want either of them to get in trouble for horse theft.

Verona smiled a triumphant grin, and kicked the horse slightly, and they dashed out of the stables.

Merlin sighed and rushed after her, he didn't like the idea of her going off by herself.

He caught up with her as she rode through a wooded area enthusiastically. She was laughing, and as annoyed as he was, her laugh was contagious.

When he started laughing, she smiled at him, "You aren't so bad, Merlin."

"Gee, thanks?" He said, but he was smiling.

"Come on, let's get back." She said, with a grin.

"Really? Already? Great." He sighed in relief, as he hurried his horse back towards the stables.

Her horse kept pace with his, "Yeah, already. I just wanted to see if you would come. Besides, I don't want to get caught with the prince's horse." She grinned and her horse trotted ahead of his before he could comment.

"What?" He asked, trying to sound annoyed, though he couldn't help but laughing.

They returned the horses to the stables without getting into trouble, and as they were walking back inside, Merlin said, "You're going to be quite the troublemaker, aren't you?"

"Oh yes, Merlin, glad you're figuring that out now." She grinned.

He laughed.

Verona was a trouble-maker, Merlin thought, and she seemed rather rebellious. But she was lighthearted and adventurous and she made Merlin laugh, even when it annoyed him.

She confused him, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Merlin wasn't sure yet what he thought about her exactly, all he knew was that he was glad she had arrived.

Author's Note: So, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know!