Author's note: Thanks every one! All that attention was seriously appreciated. Hopefully this chapter does not disappoint anyone. :)

Polemic:

1. A controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.

2. A person who argues in opposition to another; controversialist.

Chapter One: Polemic

"Merlin," Gaius practically growled at him, "Why couldn't you let her be?"

"It could have been me in that cage," Merlin tried to reasonably reply, "Any way, I couldn't leave her in that cage! After that… well, I had fallen for her. How can one leave what they love?"

"You can still be the one in that cage, Merlin," Gaius scolded Merlin, "Arthur has not yet changed any laws against magic! He does not even seem inclined to change any laws against those that practice magic!"

"I know, I know, "Merlin placating replied.

"You should have never became…involved with her," Gaius sputtered indignantly.

"If marrying Freya was a mistake than it is a mistake that I do not regret," he softly yet coldly continued, "I loathe imagining what my life would have been like if I had never became romantically involved with her."

Gaius sighed before he disappointedly told him, "There once was a time when you wouldn't have dreamed of lying to me."

"Love makes a man act crazy," Merlin truthfully replied, "but I've just told you the truth. I know that it does not count for much but…"

"What happened to that girl," Gaius disdainfully asked Merlin.

"She was murdered during Morgana's bloody reign of terror."

"Did it happen when Morgana was trying to convince the knights of Camelot to vow their allegiance to her?"

"That's what Robert, my neighbor, had told me."

"And you are certain that this girl is your daughter," Gaius verbally prodded him.

"Beyond certain," Merlin ruefully told him, "apparently, Freya had heard that the guards were rounding all the women and children up. She hid our little Irena before the guards had stormed our little home."

"Brave woman," Gaius reluctantly commented, "The neighbors had taken care of little Irena?"

"They did," Merlin painfully confirmed, "All in all, I was quite a lucky man. Some of the men lost their whole family."

"Is this your daughter," Gaius asked him as he waved his hand towards the small girl that was currently trying to hide behind Merlin.

"This is her," Merlin fondly told him.

"She looks like you," Gaius absentmindedly told him.

"She looks like more like Freya, in my opinion."

"There are still a lot of your features apparent on your daughter's face," Gaius then decided to ask him, "did you consider lying about the girl being a changeling?"

"I did," Merlin admitted, "I figured that Arthur might fall for that lie but I know that you wouldn't."

"Smart boy," Gaius sarcastically replied, "Even Arthur wouldn't fall for that lie!"

"You would be surprised about how many outlandish lies Arthur has accepted," Merlin dryly told him.

"He would not accept this lie," Gaius adamantly told him, "Stick to the closest version of the truth when you introduce young Irena to him."

"All right," Merlin conceded.

"Tell him that a few years ago you married the love of your life and that unfortunately, she was murdered during Morgana's reign of terror. Tell him that young Irena is your daughter," Gaius ordered, "Arthur would believe that. He might ask you how you hid the fact that you were married. "

"He might."

"In fact, I'm curious about how you hid this whole separate life from me," Gaius told him.

"Did you suspect anything," Merlin reluctantly asked him when his curiosity got the better of him.

"I did. For some reason I thought that you were spending a good portion of your night in the tavern."

Merlin chuckled, "Most days I did feel like I had spent too much of my time in the tavern."

"How did you hide this whole other life from me," Gaius asked him.

"I'm not certain," Merlin admitted to him, "Freya was so understanding about the whole thing. She never complained to me about how I slipped so easily in and out of her life."

"She sounds like a good woman."

"She completed me," Merlin said with a faint grin on his face.

"It's been a few years since Morgana reigned. How did you take care of little Irena?"

"I had been paying a friend to watch her but with all the trouble that has been happening lately I felt that it would be better if I kept Irena close by."

"What trouble," Gaius quickly asked Merlin.

"Children, all under the age of ten, are being kidnapped. A few of the parents do not seem to care but most of them are panicking. I am panicking," Merlin admitted, "I almost have panic attacks every time I think of Irena not being an arm's length away from me."

"You feel that she would be safer with you?"

"I do," Merlin told him, "I truly do believe that."

"I have to amend my thinking then," Gaius continued, "it appears that you do have a correctly functioning brain."

"Nice to know that I'm not overreacting," Merlin replied with a rueful chuckle.

"I assume that you still know where I keep that extra pallet," Gaius questioned Merlin.

"I do."

"Irena can use it tonight. You can put the pallet in your room," Gaius idely informed him.

"Thank you," Merlin gratefully replied.

Merlin gently tugged Irena over to the closet that held the pallet. Once the pallet was safely in under one arm, Irena and he headed up to his room.

"Merlin," Gaius called after them, "do you know if Gwaine has been up to anything?"

"I just always assume that he has a plan that would cause a little ruckus here and there," Merlin admitted, "even then, I do not know what he has been up to."

"He seems to be falling down with some mental illness but I feel that it is too soon to report my findings to King Arthur. It could just be the ale doing the talking," Gaius reported with some concern visible in his voice.

"I bet that it is just the ale. There is no way that Gwaine could have cracked under the pressure that comes with being a knight of Camelot," Merlin confidently replied.

"Would you still keep an eye on him?"

"I will," Merlin reluctantly replied, "we can't have a cracked knight running around Camelot."

"Thank you, Merlin," Gaius strictly told him, "See if you can get Gwaine to talk to you about his problem."

"What particularly is his problem," Merlin wondered aloud.

"Something about a beautiful woman, a cat, and little dancing green men laughing at him," Gaius volunteered, "He has even gained a house pet."

"A dog?"

"No, a cat," Gaius commented.

"Maybe Arthur could… ban Gwaine from drinking?"

"That man wouldn't stand for it," he replied.

"Uh… how about Arthur limits how much ale Gwaine can drink?"

"If Arthur did that, he would have to hire a babysitter for Gwaine,"Gaius continued, "Arthur would not wish to do that."

"Your right," Merlin said with a sigh as he looked down at his shy daughter, "We will think of some way to help Gwaine. Hopefully, it is just the ale talking."

Author's note: I might have missed a small grammar mistake but I think that I caught them all. Story alert/favorite/author alert/reviews are seriously appreciated. It makes my day to know that people appreciate/enjoy/read what I write. Was the chapter good? Was something confusing in the chapter? I write to gain practice because practice is the only way that I can improve. Next chapter, if everything goes according to plan, will be twice as long.