Chapter Two

Gaius looked up as the door to his chambers burst open, and was not surprised to see his ward, Merlin come through them. What he did not expect, was that Merlin would be carrying an unconscious girl. "What happened, Merlin," he asked as he rushed to help his ward with the girl.

"I'm not exactly sure, Gaius. One minute I was getting the herbs you asked for and the next I saw her falling from a tree. I saved her. But there's more. She knew me for what I am. She knows I'm a warlock, Gaius." The old man stared at the boy in front of him, clearly stunned at the information he had just revealed. Merlin laid Lily on the bed reserved for patients, still staring at her, mystified. "She said she was a sorceress. I didn't know what else to do, so I brought her here. She just sort of passed out on me. She was just talking to me as though she was fine, and I didn't see any major injuries, so I assumed she was okay, but then she just collapsed. It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to think."

"Calm down, Merlin. She will be fine. Her injuries are minor. She just seems to be exhausted. We should let her rest, but I need to know exactly what happened out there." They sat on the wooden bench, and Merlin recounted the events of the day. He didn't hold back any information, except for the bit where he had seemed to have a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was amiss about this girl and her strange arrival. The fact that it took place dreadfully close to the anniversary of Nimueh's death played out over and over in his mind. It was all too coincidental for him to even consider them not being linked together somehow, but then again maybe he was just getting paranoid.

Merlin watched as Gaius treated the minor cuts that seemed to cover every bare inch of skin on the girl. Suddenly, Gaius stopped and gasped, causing Merlin to jump up from where he sat and come to the side of the bed. "What is it, Gaius? What's wrong?" The old man only pointed to the girl's face. Merlin looked down at her features, but found no difference in what they were when he had brought the girl to their chambers. "What? Gaius, talk to me. Tell me what is wrong."

"I know this girl, and I am not the only one who does."

"How and who else knows her?"

"Merlin, when you met her, did she tell you her name?"

"Yes, Lily Crest."

"That's what I thought. Do you recognize her, Merlin?"

"No. Gaius what is going on?"

"She is the lost child of Lord and Lady Crestfall."

"The lost…Gaius, how can you know that? She disappeared when she was a baby. No one would know what she looks like at this age."

"That is where you are wrong, Merlin. Look here." He pointed to a spot just above her ear. At first, Merlin saw nothing, but as he looked closer, he noticed a mark just below the hairline. It was shaped like a crescent moon.

"Gaius, what does the mark stand for?"

"It is the symbol of the Crestfall family, Merlin. Each member of the family has that symbol burned into his or her flesh when they are born. Those who marry a member of the family usually do the same. It is always found just above the ear, below the hairline. It is how they know for sure that a person is part of their family."

"So what happened to her? Why did she just disappear?"

"As you said, she is a sorceress. Her parents did not wish to see their daughter suffer at the hands of Uther when he banned magic twenty years ago, so they sent her away."

"But she can't be any older than me, Gaius. How could she have been a sorceress at so young an age?" Gaius just stared at him as if the answer was obvious, but when Merlin still looked confused, he said, "Sometimes I wonder if you even have a brain, Merlin. Obviously, she was born with the gift of magic. I would think you of all people would have guessed that."

Merlin pondered on that information for a moment. She was born with the gift of magic, he thought. Which means she's like me. The only other person he had ever met that used magic like him had been Nimueh, and that last meeting had turned out bad for her. The door to the physician's quarters opened, drawing Merlin from his thoughts.

"Merlin, I know I gave you the day off, but…"Arthur's sentence was cut off when he saw Merlin and Gaius standing over an unconscious girl lying on the bed that Gaius used for patients. "Who is this and what happened to her?"

"Her name is Lily, sire. She is the lost child of Lord and Lady Crestfall. We are not sure what happened to her, seeing as she hasn't woken up yet. Merlin found her this morning whilst gathering some herbs for me."

"The lost child…" Merlin could see that Arthur was thinking hard about this girl. He could almost imagine little wheels turning inside the prince's head, and he was afraid. Had Arthur heard rumors that Lily was a sorceress? Merlin didn't want to even think about what would happen to her if he did know. "Gaius, how can you be sure that's who she is?"

"Look here, sire. This mark here above her ear, just below the hairline. It's the symbol of the family Crestfall."

"Yes, I see. Well, my father must know she is here. He will want to contact her parents and I am sure they will want to see her after being separated from her for so long. They had given up hope that she was still alive years ago. Seems all was not as lost as everyone thought. I imagine she has quite a story to tell."

"Yes, sire. The king should be notified at once of her presence. Merlin, stay here with her. I shall tell Uther myself." He hurried out of the room, leaving Arthur, Merlin and Lily alone.

"She's very beautiful, is she not?" Arthur's words brought Merlin from his thoughts, where he had been pondering how to keep her from telling anyone she was a sorceress while in Camelot. It could be very dangerous for her and the way she had just blurted it out in the forest made him terrified for her. Merlin ignored the prince's comment.

"You came to ask me something, sire."

"Erm…Yes. It's alright, Merlin. I believe I can get Morgana to help. You seem to have your hands full here."

"Arthur," Merlin said, grinning slightly, "You and I both know you hate going to Morgana. Tell me what it is you need and when Gaius returns I will help."

"Alright, you've convinced me, Merlin." He sat down on the bench, and stared into the far corner of the room. "I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that you and I were hunting and this horrible creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a horse came from out of nowhere. It struck me to the ground and knocked me out, then turned to you. This is where it troubled me. You used magic to defeat the beast, but you were seen. My father found out and you were put in jail, sentenced to death. I'm worried, Merlin. I've never had a dream that vivid before. And this one has got me to thinking over a few things that have recently passed." Merlin cringed inwardly. He knew what was coming, and he hoped that he was wrong. He wasn't sure he could actually tell Arthur that he was a warlock, that he had saved Arthur's life all those times, and with magic.

"That is a strange dream, Arthur. I wouldn't read too much into it though. Gaius says that when we dream we tend to take things from our everyday lives and incorporate them into our dreams. Arthur looked thoughtful at this.

"I guess you're right, Merlin. Although, that doesn't quite explain the creature in my dream. I've never seen a creature like it before in my life."

"You should ask Gaius about it when he comes back. Unless you'd rather I looked for it. There are a lot of books to go through though."

"Don't be stupid. You probably couldn't find it if you tried. I'll speak to Gaius about this later. I'm sure he can tell me what it is. In the mean time, I have some target practice I need to do. See you tomorrow, Merlin." Arthur made to leave, but stopped when Lily shifted on the bed, then sat straight up and screamed. "Merlin, do something."

Merlin moved swiftly back to the side of the bed and put one hand on each of the girl's shoulders. "Lily," he said. She apparently didn't hear him as she was still screaming.

"Nooo! Nooo! Not him. Please don't kill him." Merlin was horrified so he tried calling her name louder. "Lily! Lily, look at me! It's Merlin!" It wasn't working. The girl just kept screaming. "No, don't kill him. Take me instead. I willingly give my life for his. Just don't kill Merlin. Please. I'm begging you. Arthur! Arthur help! She's going to kill Merlin!" Merlin looked taken aback by what she had just said, and stood back. He didn't know what else to do. The girl began to reach out toward him. "Merlin!" He moved closer to the bed again. She tangled her hands into his shirt. "Arthur's hurt. He killed her. He killed the witch. Help him! He saved your life. Hurry! Merlin, look out! Noooo!"

Lily slumped back down onto the bed, letting go of his shirt. Then her eyes fluttered open and as she looked at him, she burst into tears. He pulled her to him trying to comfort her. "It was horrible, Merlin. I've never had a dream like that before. It was so vivid. It almost seemed real." Arthur felt like he was imposing, so he began to sneak toward the door, but in his haste, he kicked a bucket over. The crash drew Lily's attention to him.

"Merlin, is that…?"

"Arthur Pendragon, crowned prince of Camelot," Merlin replied.

"Prince? But I thought he was king and married to Guinevere?"

"Gwen? No, Gwen is a maidservant. There is no way she could be queen. Not that she would anyway." Merlin stated this with confidence, as he had had the information from Gwen herself a long time ago. Now that Merlin thought about it, it seemed like that night they had had that conversation had been years ago, but it was only months in reality. So much had happened since then, that timed seemed to have just flown by.

"Oi, Merlin, that was harsh." Merlin had almost forgotten about Arthur.

"I'm sorry, Arthur, but it's true. Gwen and I were talking about Morgana and she made the statement that some people were just born to be queen. Then she said not that she would want to be Morgana. I do believe her exact words were, "who would want to marry Arthur?" A devious smile appeared on his lips as he said this, and he could see the prince blush with embarrassment.

"Well," Arthur replied, "I'll just have to show her. Won't I, Merlin?" Merlin's smile disappeared as he realized his mistake in revealing that bit of information. Truth was, he had suspected that Gwen had a secret liking for Arthur, but she would never admit to it. Maybe he had just started something between the two. He thought it would be nice to see Gwen happily settled, and having Arthur marry someone with a heart like Gwen's would do the prince some good as well.

"What are you going to do, sire?"

"I'm not going to tell you, Merlin. You'll have the whole kingdom knowing about it in no time. Well I must be off. I've got a maidservant to find. Mi'lady," he said as he bowed to Lily. Then he turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the room. Merlin looked back at Lily and saw she was grinning at him.

"Gwen is going to kill you for telling him that. You know that don't you?" The warlock gulped and dropped his head in defeat.

"Yeah, and I've seen her handle a blade before. Let's just say if she comes at me with one, I'm a goner." The two laughed at his revelation, and Lily began to feel like she was going to enjoy her stay in Camelot.

Miles away, in a dark, musty cave, a sorceress by the name of Namira stood over the scrying pool her sister used to use and watched the scene play out before her. She smiled triumphantly. That's right, child. Get close to him. Your betrayal will be all the worse. He will be heartbroken and then it shall be easy to end his life. I will have my revenge. I will see the end of Merlin.