Disclaimer: Merlin still does not belong to me.

Author's Note: Brownie points for anyone who can spot the not-so-subtle Harry Potter reference in this chapter. :)

Chapter Four, Magic Is Might

Gwen lay on a bed unconscious as Gaius worked quickly to try to heal the damage the arrow had done to her. Arthur paced back in forth in the room and Merlin sat with his hands covering his face. Verona worked to try to help her father, but her face was pale and she was quieter than any of them had heard her before.

The guards had captured the man who had made an attempt at Arthur's life and he had been thrown in the dungeons.

"Will she be alright?" Arthur asked Gaius from across the room as he continued to pace.

"I am doing my best, sire, my hopes are high." Gaius said calmly.

Merlin's foot tapped nervously against the floor, and the noise resounded in the room.

The door flew open and Morgana entered, "Arthur, your father would like to see you." She said, absently, before rushing to Gwen's side. "Will she be alright?"

"I am doing my best." Gaius repeated what he had just told Arthur, this time to Morgana.

"Does he need me now?" Arthur demanded, stopping his pacing for a moment.

"He seemed quite urgent in his wish to see you." Morgana replied, nodding her head.

Arthur sighed and left the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

"I need more herbs for a certain remedy, Verona, here go find me these, please." He said, writing down a small list of names and handing it to his daughter, who nodded silently and turned to go.

Merlin continued to tap his foot against the floor nervously, and Gaius called out to his daughter, "Verona, take Merlin with you, would you?" He shook his head. "How am I supposed to work with that noise?"

"Sorry Gaius, just nervous." He said, getting to his feet to follow Verona.

"It's alright, Merlin, we're going to do our best to help her, alright?"

"Right, thanks." Merlin followed Verona out the door, both of them were silent for some time.

Verona's face was still pale and her eyes downcast as they hurriedly went out into the woods to search for the right herbs that Gaius would need. Though Merlin had a feeling he didn't really need them, so much as he wanted to get them out of the room. They were probably making him nervous, simply by their own fear.

"Do you have feelings for Guinevere?" Verona's voice broke through the silence.

"What? No. Of course not. She's like my sister." Merlin said, shaking his head. He'd never really thought of Gwen as anything more than a sister, and as she was his good friend, he was really worried for her. But he didn't have feelings for her.

"But the prince does, doesn't he?" Verona asked, as if she was trying to make conversation. Her face was still pale.

"Yeah...Yeah he does, but don't tell him I told you, alright?" Merlin said, with just a ghost of a smile, and then he was frowning again.

"She seems like a good girl. But dad will do his best to help her, I'm sure he will."

"I know he will." Merlin said, nodding.

When they arrived in the area where the herbs Gaius had needed were found, Verona handed Merlin the basket and then got down on her hands and knees and picked the proper plants from the ground. She was trembling.

"Hey, it's okay, Verona." He said, seeing how upset the girl was. He had never seen Verona upset about anything before, and her behavior surprised him, but then again, she always surprised him.

"It's just... Seeing someone nearly killed... It's frightening. I haven't been exposed to that sort of thing, Merlin, I live with a family of bakers!" Verona answered weakly. What she said surprised Merlin, here was the adventurous Verona, and she was completely shaken up by seeing an arrow strike down a complete stranger. Merlin had thought her brave before, but this was not the way someone brave acted.

"And I don't want to see you lose a friend." She looked up at him, and Merlin could see the honesty in her eyes.

That's when he realized her concern was for him. While she was scared for Gwen, she barely knew her. Her true fear was that Merlin would have someone close to him killed. Merlin felt touched. But it was strange, he'd never seen Verona show any real sorrow, she was always laughter and cheer and adventure. Merlin got the feeling that there was a lot that Verona kept hidden from him, and he wanted to understand why. He wanted to understand this girl who seemed to be constantly changing. She just didn't make sense.

Verona finished collecting the herbs and got to her feet, she set them in the basket and then took it from Merlin. "Let's go. My father is going to need these."

"Verona, can I ask you a question?"

She nodded but didn't say anything.

"Why were you living far away?"

She didn't answer him. Her eyes narrowed and she looked down at the ground, avoiding his gaze.

"You have magic, don't you? That's why you weren't safe in Camelot." Merlin guessed, he had suspected it for a while, but had been too scared to bring it up.

Verona was quiet for a long time, and Merlin was afraid she was angry at him, and she was not someone he wanted as an enemy. But after a moment, she said very quietly, "Yeah."

"This is great!" Merlin said triumphantly, excitement in his voice. "If we work together, I'm sure we can help Gwen! You're Gaius' daughter! You're probably great with healing enchantments, right?-"

"Merlin.-"

"If we work together we could-"

"Merlin!" She shouted.

He went quiet, "What?" He asked, looking surprised,

"I'm not like you! I don't have control over it, it just happens! I'm no good at healing magic, and every time I get out of control something horrible happens! That's why I couldn't stay in Camelot. I had too many close calls, too many times where I did magic in front of too many people, and just barely escaped being caught! I've only just got it under control enough so that it doesn't happen out of nowhere! But if I try to heal Guinevere, it could all come undone-" Her voice was slightly panicked, and it was starting to worry Merlin, so he interrupted her.

"Verona! Verona, it's okay!" He said quickly, putting an arm around her shoulders as they walked. "You don't have to try to heal Gwen, I'm sure Gaius will figure something out. Besides, I could always try to teach you how to control your magic...If you want?" He offered, gently.

She smiled at him, and it seemed only a little forced, "Th-that'd be nice. Sometime."

He grinned, "I'm glad you told me, I like knowing that we have this in common. I like feeling like there's someone who understands, you know?"

"Yeah, me too. Hey, Merlin?" She asked, quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Can you please not mention to my dad that I told you? He's really touchy on the subject." Verona asked, looking up at him with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure, I guess so." He said, filled with confusion. Why would Gaius dislike the subject of his daughter's magic?

00000

"Yes, father?" Arthur asked, looking at the king and trying to hide his annoyance at being taken from Guinevere's side.

"I wanted to inform you that security has been increased greatly, and the area is being searched for possible accomplices. We will not allow you to be so close to death again." His father told him, shaking his head. "I'm just relieved he didn't hit you."

"Father, he hit Morgana's maid! That's hardly an improvement, she's just-" He didn't want to betray his feelings for Guinevere, but he couldn't help but feel a little outraged at the idea that it was somehow better that she had been hit instead of him, "She's just an innocent girl!"

"Yes, and you are the crown prince of Camelot! It is a miracle that you were not harmed!"

"You're saying it is a good thing that Guinevere is near dead because she was protecting me?" His voice was raised in anger.

"I am simply saying I am glad that my son is not dead. Not that I am glad the girl was harmed. She will be rewarded, if Gaius can heal her." Uther sighed, motioning to a bag of gold nearby.

"Guinevere won't want gold." Arthur muttered, trying to calm himself down. His father hadn't meant any harm by the comments, but Arthur hated that Guinevere had endangered herself to save him.

"Then, when she is well, we will find out what she does want and make sure she receives it." Uther answered calmly.

000000

Uther was walking towards Gaius' quarters where he was currently helping the serving girl who had saved Arthur. He wished to make sure the girl would be alright. She had saved his son's life and he simply wanted to make sure she would be rewarded for that, rather than punished.

He stopped just outside the door, however, when he heard his son's voice. He looked through the door that was cracked open ever-so-slightly and he saw Arthur holding the girl's hand, and he could hear him saying softly, "Get well soon, my love. Please. You can't die because of me, Guinevere. You can't die because of me."

Uther froze, horrified. His son had feelings for the girl?

Author's Note: I hope you liked that chapter! I wanted to clarify something, Verona's freaked out attitude about Guinevere wasn't supposed to be like "Oh, look at me! Sensitive Verona!" It was supposed to show a weaker side to her, not a gentler side. So I hope that didn't make her too Mary-Sue, because that is definitely NOT my goal, and you will see soon that she is far-from-perfect. So please bear with me.