Chapter 3

"Are you sure it is she, Gaius?" Uther stopped his pacing and faced the old physician, wonderment was written across his face.

"Yes, sire. She bears the mark of the house of Crestfall. She is of the proper age, as well. I fear, however, that she knows nothing of her family or her heritage."

"Then you shall school her of it. She should know about her family. It is a pity she was kidnapped when she was just a baby. Her upbringing has probably been influenced by riff raff and she knows nothing about the dealings of the court. It really is a shame, but we must try to undo the harm done by her upbringing. She shall stay as a guest here in the palace until her parents arrive and they shall decide whether she will stay or go. The Crestfalls have always been loyal to me, so it is only proper that their daughter should always be welcome here at the palace. I shall write Lord and Lady Crestfall in the morning and inform them of their daughter's return."

"Yes, my lord." Gaius bowed and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Gaius," Uther said, causing the physician to turn back around. "Tell your ward to get the girl in a decent room tonight."

Gaius bowed again, "Certainly, sire." Then he turned and exited the throne room.

When Gaius reached his chambers, he arrived to the sound of laughter. Not wanting to interrupt, and partly curious about what the girl was so enthused, he stood outside the door and listened as Merlin talked.

"And I dropped the spear, accidentally of course, and he says to me, 'Do you have any natural gifts, Merlin?' Of course I immediately said no, but then I said, 'Let me think…I'm not naturally rude or insensitive.' Then he says, 'No, just naturally irritating.'"

Lily laughed again. Merlin was hilarious to her. He most definitely was not the serious, almost dangerous looking man that the pictures she had seen in literature depicted. In fact, he made her feel like she belonged. In just the two hours she had spent with him, she felt like the loner persona she had possessed in her own time had evaporated. Lily was roused from her thoughts as Merlin began to speak again. "Then the Questing Beast came from out of nowhere. We all took off running and headed back toward the castle. Of course, I tripped on a root and fell flat on my face, but Arthur and Sir Bedivere stopped and pulled me to my feet. Arthur and I escaped, but Sir Bedivere was killed by the Questing Beast. And still, Uther made us go back out after it and Arthur got bitten. I had to go to…"

The door opened, cutting Merlin off before he could mention what had happened with Nimueh. Gaius shuffled into the room, shut the door behind him, and looked up at his ward with a glare that told Merlin he was in trouble, before turning to face Lily, who greeted him calmly and warmly.

"What did Uther say, Gaius?" Merlin had been awaiting Gaius' return so he could tell him about Lily's dream, and to hear what the king had said about the girl. Gaius sat down on the bench by the table and faced the young girl and warlock.

"He is writing to your parents tonight, and he wishes you to stay in one of the palace rooms while awaiting their arrival."

"My parents? I never knew who they were." Lily was stunned by this admission of the old physician's. How can I have parents here? It's not possible. I don't even belong in this time. These ideas ran across her thoughts, yet she truly felt the last one was a lie. She felt like she belonged here better than in the future. The feeling seemed like she was finally coming home.

"That is why he has asked me to school you about your family and their history," Gaius spoke again and roused her from her thoughts. "But Uther requested, Merlin, that you get her into a decent room tonight. He was extremely adamant that she stays in the palace."

"I'll set her up a room. The one next to Morgana is empty." He stood up and made to leave, but Lily grasped his shirt sleeve.

"I don't want to stay in any of the palace rooms. I wish to stay here." She stood and put her arm through Merlin's and faced Gaius, "I'd feel safer if I were to stay close to Merlin." Gaius raised his eyebrows in shock and Merlin was just purely astonished. Lily noticed their reactions and sensed that her statement must slightly rash. "He did save my life after all," she added in the hope that the words would clear up any misunderstanding. The two men relaxed a little at her last statement and Gaius looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The king will not be pleased that you are refusing his hospitality," he said.

"I have not even met the king, so it would not it seem conceited of me to accept the hospitality of a man whom does not know me. And let us remember that he does not know what I am."

"No, my lady, he does not know, and he must never find out. As someone who has known Uther for many years, I would advise you to accept the offer of staying in the palace and do not speak with anyone other than Merlin and myself of your gifts, for they will get you executed if known."

Lily tensed, straightened her posture and held her head high. "I absolutely refuse to leave the protection of the greatest warlock in history to accept that of a man I have never met." Yet again, the faces of the two men turned to astonishment. "Either Merlin comes with me or I stay here."

"I can see you will not be persuaded otherwise, my lady." He stood up and walked to the door. "I will speak with Uther and see what I can do about allowing Merlin to stay with you. I fear our rooms here would be rather too small to accommodate the three of us."

"It is not all that small by comparison to the dorm I stayed in at the college."

"What's a college?" Merlin was confused. He had never heard of a college before.

"It's a school." When he continued to look baffled, she added, "You know, where you learn math, science, and history so you can get a good education and a good paying job."

"We don't have anything like that in Camelot." Merlin replied. Gaius was staring strangely at Lily, who felt as if he was scrutinizing her. Then Lily remembered something. "Oh, I forgot. Colleges don't exist in this time." That made Gaius stare all the harder. "In this time? Are you trying to tell us that you were living in the future?" The old man's expression changed into one that seemed as if he were bursting with questions. He held them back, however, and instead said, "All this time, you've been missing, no one knowing what happened to you, and you've been in a completely different time. How did you get there?"

"I honestly don't know. The people at the orphanage only told me that they found me wrapped up in a blanket on the doorstep. They never could tell me who my parents were, only that there was a note tucked into the blanket, and a ring on a chain around my neck. I have both with me. Ever since the caretaker of the orphanage gave them to me the first time I asked her about my parents, I have carried them." She opened the pouch that was hanging around her neck that she kept both things in, and pulled out the note first. It was worn after many years of being folded and unfolded. Every time Lily had begun to think of who her family was, she would pull out the note and read it, searching for some clue as to who they were and who she truly was. The note didn't help her and neither did the ring. It was a simple silver band with crescent moons carved all around it. She passed the note to Gaius and watched his expression change as he read each sentence. She didn't have to ask which part he was reading, because Gaius read it aloud so Merlin could hear it as well.

To the caretaker of Penbrook Orphanage,

We ask you to look after this child, for we cannot do so. This decision weighs heavy on our hearts, but we are unable to provide for the needs of our baby. We pray that you will be able to give her the life that we cannot, and hope that she will grow to be strong yet caring. We only wish we could raise her ourselves, but, alas, our situation does not allow us to do so. We trust that you will do everything in your power to find her a proper home with parents who will accept her for who she will become, and not try to change her. We regret that we cannot keep her, for she is our baby, and you may wonder how anyone who truly loves their child can give her up, but we cannot possibly keep her. We fear it would be too dangerous for a child like her to live here and we do not have the means to protect her. We beg of you to give her what we cannot, a safe place to live.

With sincere appreciation,

The parents of Lillian Isabella Crest

P.S. Please give her the ring and this note if she ever asks about us. They will allow her to see that we do love her, but we are not able to provide for her needs.

The two men finished reading, and Gaius folded the note up gently and handed it back to her. She slid it back into the pouch and pulled out the ring. "Here…here is the ring." Her voice cracked as she spoke and she attempted to fight the tears back that were threatening to fall, but as she handed the physician the ring, he noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks. Merlin noticed too. He hugged her as she gave up trying to fight the stubborn tears, and tried to soothe her as her body was racked by sobs. Her knees gave out, but Merlin held her firm and steady. After a moment, her sobbing began to cease, and she regained her composure. Merlin let go of her and helped her to sit on the bench.

"Are you alright, now, my lady?" She could tell he was genuinely concerned about her, and that he was truly sorry about her past. He could tell she had had a rough life.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Thank you. I'm sorry. I haven't broken down like that in years. I guess everything is finally taking its toll on me." She turned to Gaius, "Do you think Uther will let Merlin stay with me? I will talk to him myself if I have to, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it."

"I will do all that I can to convince him that it would be for the best to let Merlin stay with you. Although, I do not think he will be able to stay in the same room. That is not looked upon kindly here. I do not know how things are in the future, but in this era, we do not allow men and women to share a room unless they are married."

"I understand, Gaius. I would just feel safer if he were close to me. If the legends are true about your powers, Merlin, you are more able to protect me than any of Uther's guards, knights or even his own son."

"Well, he's been keeping Arthur alive all this time," Gaius said. "I'm sure he would have no problem protecting you from anything that might cause you harm. Unless you come down with a cold, that is. He's horrible with science. He knows absolutely nothing about being a physician." Merlin scowled at the old man, and Lily laughed. Laughing made her feel better about her situation. "Well, I'll go see Uther, now and see what I can do. Merlin, why don't you and Lady Lillian go see Morgana? And take this potion with you. Poor girl is still having nightmares. I haven't quite figured out how to keep that from happening." He looked at Lily as if hoping she would tell him how it was done in the future.

"That's something that has never been stopped. Believe me, if they had come up with something to rid you of nightmares, I would have bought tons of the stuff. Although, the Native Americans use what they call dream catchers to ward off bad dreams. I could make one for Morgana and I know a spell to reinforce it. We could see if that helps. It never did with me, but it doesn't hurt to try."

"That's an excellent idea, my lady. I'm willing to try anything at this point. The poor dear looks as though she may die from exhaustion. She hardly gets any sleep anymore. Well, we all best be off." Gaius headed went out the door, and Merlin and Lily followed him.