The clouds allowed the sun to peek through for a few bright hours the next morning before they huddled together again, darkening the land and dumping even more snow on Camelot, just as Merlin thought it would. He pushed the shutters closed and sighed. There were times he didn't enjoy being right.

"From your gloomy expression, I'd guess it's snowing again?" Gaius asked from his seat at the workbench.

"It is. And it probably will for another day or so." Merlin scowled and dropped into the chair across from Gaius. "I think I liked it better when I couldn't feel the earth around us. It's less depressing when you don't know you're in for days and days of bad weather." He took up the mortar and pestle and set to grinding the herbs therein.

"There are worse things in the world than knowing the weather in advance," Gaius chided him. "A lot of people would love to have that sort of gift."

"They can have it," Merlin said, smashing the pestle hard against the mortar and sending a puff of herbal powder flying into his face. He sneezed. "Not that I'm longing for the days when Uther was alive, but my gifts were lot more manageable then."

"I have no doubt that a time will come when you'll be glad you have all these abilities. You have them for a reason," Gaius said sagely, raising an eyebrow when Merlin scowled at the herbs in the mortar again. "At least tell me you had a good time last night. I know attending feasts with the whole court in attendance isn't your favorite thing in the world, but it couldn't have been all bad."

"No, it wasn't all terrible." A smile touched Merlin's lips at the memory of Niniane's laughter when they were dancing through the snow. Like silver bells in the clear air. "Though I still can't figure out why everyone was so shocked when Arthur called for a Volta. It was just a dance."

Gaius chuckled. "All this time in the court of Camelot, and you haven't figured out what properly modest people are supposed to do or not do in public."

"No, I haven't," Merlin said. "And if I ever did learn all their silly little rules, I'd still be baffled by them. Arthur lifted Gwen up into the air a few times. They were both fully clothed, and they're married. Why should anyone be surprised when two married people touch each other?"

"You're as bad as Niniane sometimes," Gaius said, shaking his head. He took the mortar back from Merlin and dumped the well-crushed herbs into a small jar of diluted honey, pushed the stopper into place, and rolled it between his hands to mix it. "I hope she didn't get herself into any trouble last night? She doesn't guard her tongue as well as she should."

"No trouble on that front," Merlin grinned. "Unless you count the fact that she stepped on Lancelot's toes when they danced. He didn't seem to mind, though."

"Lancelot's toes?" Gaius's eyebrow rose, somehow disapproving and amused at the same time. "Why not yours?"

"Oh, for the thousandth time, I don't know how. I never learned the steps to any of the courtly dances, and it's not like we had a lot of time to dance in Ealdor." Not that any of the girls in the village would have stepped out with him. They'd all been half in love with Will anyway, and Merlin had been too awkward, too gangly, and just too strange to attract any of them.

There had been no chance for dancing with Freya.

"Of all the knowledge that got stuffed into your head, you'd think there would have been an entry on dancing," Gaius harrumphed. "Apparently none of the ancients had any thoughts about having fun."

"I did have fun" Merlin insisted. "Just not at the feast. Niniane tried to teach me a few steps later, in one of the little courtyards. It was quiet and… nice. We had it to ourselves, and it stopped snowing. We could even see the stars for a while." The little smile returned. He'd had to use magic to open the door when they finally came back inside. Their hands had been so numb they could hardly use them. But they'd hardly noticed the cold until they came back inside and the warmth washed over them, hot as a summer wind.

"Well, since you didn't spend the whole evening being a dour old hermit, I suppose it was a good night, then," Gaius said. "You should have been taking advantage of all this idle time we've been having, and spent it with Niniane. I doubt Guinevere would have minded her absence, and Arthur can do without you for an afternoon now and then."

"I'll have to see if I can steal her away later today," Merlin said. "If only so you'll stop pestering me about it." He glanced up in time to see Gaius roll his eyes.

He did want to spend time with Niniane. As much as he could. He knew perfectly well how precarious life was- how it twisted and turned and made the once-straight path turn in drastic new directions. And he knew how it could end without warning, putting an end to all plans. It made him want to hold her close and never let her go.

And it frightened him- this desire, this topsy-turvy feeling in his chest whenever he looked at her. It turned his rational self every which way until he wasn't sure of anything anymore, except that he wanted to see her smile again. No wonder they called it falling in love.

Merlin just wished he knew if he was falling in love, or simply falling.

"See to it that you take some time off at any rate, regardless of who you spend it with," Gaius said. "The foul weather will pass soon and you'll have enough to keep you occupied when that happens."

"Undoubtedly," Merlin said. He cleared away the tools and herbs that Gaius was finished with and pulled out the books the physician would need for his lessons. With Merlin teaching Gareth and Erec, Gaius had taken up the task of teaching Stilicho and Aimery while Blaise saw to the medical needs of the people in the lower town. As usual, the arrangement suited the needs and abilities of everyone involved. "I'm going to look in on Bedivere, and then I'm off to see if Arthur needs anything. Do you have everything you need?"

"I could do with warmer weather," Gaius said as he rubbed a salve over his joints. The cold had settled into his old bones, making his arthritis flare up all the worse. Merlin's arm twinged in sympathy. "But since you can't summon an early spring, then I suppose I'll just have to wait."

"We're all waiting with you," Merlin said as he grabbed his satchel. "I'm off, then. Try not to get into too much trouble."

Gaius just rolled his eyes and waved him away.

It was a quiet day in the castle in spite of- or perhaps because of- the previous night's festivities. The servants had spent the morning cleaning and were back to their normal routines, while the nobility who hadn't gone back to their own homes were likely sleeping off their overindulgences. Whatever the reason the castle was peaceful enough that Merlin's irritation at the weather faded away, leaving him calm enough to face Bedivere without snapping at him.

The gangly knight's leg was healing nicely, and if he didn't manage to fall down the stairs or do something equally foolish while hobbling about in the next few weeks, he'd be training with the men again in the spring. And while Bedivere hadn't quite gotten used to 'Merlin the Sorcerer' also playing the role of 'Merlin the Healer', the knight had stopped looking at him crosswise every time Merlin looked him in the eye. It probably helped that he had used a touch of magic to help Bedivere sleep during the worst parts of his recovery. People were always more inclined to like those who made them feel better.

Still, Bedivere was irritable and restless and loathed having to sit still more and more as the days passed. All Merlin could do about that was to sympathize and tell him to be patient, and then he was on his way out.

He wandered for a while, passing by the little courtyard where he and Niniane had danced. The falling snow had covered their tracks, erasing all evidence of their passage. He paused there and leaned against the windowsill, letting himself remember the night before and how bright her eyes had been in the moonlight and how difficult it had been to let her go when they parted for the night.

He missed her. It had only been half a day since he had seen Niniane, but he couldn't wait to be with her again, to listen to her chatter or hear her sing. He wouldn't even mind it if she teased him about being too serious or too tall. As long as she was there.

"Merlin!"

Gwen's voice interrupted his thoughts. He stepped away from the window to greet her. "My Lady," he smiled, looking around for her ladies- particularly Niniane- but only Linnet accompanied her today.

"Don't call me that, Merlin. You of all people needn't be formal with me," she said as she took his arm and tugged him along.

"You can't fault me for trying to be formal. Especially in public," Merlin said.

"There's no one here, Merlin. Just us chickens," she said, gesturing around at the empty hall around them.

"And yet they say that the walls have eyes. And foxes have sharper ears than you'd think," Merlin said.

"There you go, trying to put a damper on things. And we were having such a nice day, weren't we, Linnet?"

"A perfectly lovely one," Linnet said, her sloe-eyed gaze thoughtful as she looked Merlin up and down. "If only you hadn't sent Niniane on that quest for green thread."

"She'll be back soon enough," Gwen said. She patted Merlin's hand as though he had complained about Niniane not being there. "We were just talking about the feast last night."

"It was alright," Linnet said. "The dancing was interesting, though no one saw you out on the floor- with Niniane or anyone else."

Merlin let out an exasperated sigh. "For the love… I don't know how to dance, alright? I know how to do a lot of things, but dancing isn't one of them. How many times am I going to have to tell people that?"

"Oh leave him alone, Linnet," Gwen laughed. "If dancing is the only thing Merlin isn't well-versed in, it's no great loss. He knows about a lot more things that are far more important than a few dances."

"Thank you," Merlin said. "You'd think it was the end of the world with the way people carry on about that."

"I'm not going to hold it against you," Gwen said. "Did you have a good time last night? That's what I want to know. Whenever I looked over, you looked a bit sad." She squeezed his arm as though that would drive away his melancholy thoughts.

"I wasn't sad. There were a lot of people there and sometimes they're all… difficult to handle."

"I understand that," Gwen said. "At least you didn't have everyone staring at you all night. It seemed like every time I looked, someone else was giving me a disapproving look. Or they were watching me while they whispered behind their hands. Of all the things that have changed since I became queen, I think that part's the worst. Everyone's always judging every little thing that I do. Feels like the last time I didn't have a thousand eyes on me was when we went into the forest to meet Niniane. That was such a lovely day."

Merlin remembered it well. At the tail end of summer, when the birds had been singing and the last of the flowers were blooming, and the sunshine had been golden and perfect. It was one of those days that he hadn't wanted to see the end of.

"If only it wasn't snowing again, I'd declare it to be a good time for a picnic in the forest. Anything to get out of the castle for a little while," Gwen sighed.

"It's awfully cold for that," Linnet said.

"Never mind the cold," Gwen said."That's what well-made cloaks are for. Oh, well. I suppose there will be time enough for picnics when spring comes back around. Assuming some terrible thing hasn't happened, or that we're not at war. What do you think, Merlin? Will spring be filled with picnics, or with swords?"

"I honestly don't know," Merlin said, dragging his attention away from the seed of an idea germinating within. "My visions have been quiet of late."

"Then I guess you'll be as surprised as everyone else," Gwen said.

Merlin huffed a laugh at that. "Will anyone be using the great hall tonight?"

Guinevere looked up at him, her eyebrows rising at the sudden change in conversation. "Not that I know of. The food and decorations have already been cleared, and nothing is going on between now and Twelfth Night."

"Good. Go there tonight after the vesper bells have rung," Merlin smiled at her confusion. "Bring Arthur and your ladies. And maybe the knights, too, if you think you can put up with them." He took his arm back from her grasp and took half a step away.

"What? Why?"

"You'll see," Merlin said, his grin widening. "I'll bid you farewell for now, though. I have some preparations to make."

"I hope you're not busy tonight."

Arthur looked up from his papers at the sound of Guinevere's voice. She had come into their chambers without him noticing. "Not really. Why?"

She tugged the shawl off her shoulders and tossed it on the bed before coming to wrap her arms around him. "Merlin is planning something. He wants us to go to the great hall after the vesper bells have rung. Whatever it is, it's for all of us. I sent Linnet to tell the others."

Arthur pushed the papers away and covered her hands with his. "Did he say what it's about?"

"No, just where and when."

"That's very unhelpful of him."

"Well he looked rather excited about it, so I don't think it's going to be anything terrible," Guinevere said. She kissed him on the cheek and slipped away to pick up a brush and work the snarls out of her hair.

"I guess we'll see," Arthur said. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Your hair's already beautiful. You don't need to do anything else to it."

"It's all tangled up. It needs a good brushing."

"It's beautiful," Arthur insisted.

"Tangled," she replied, turning about to look up at him.

"Beautiful."

"Tangled," she said, bringing the brush up to block the kiss he was about to plant on her lips.

He gave it a cross-eyed glare. "I don't like kissing hairbrushes as much as I like kissing you."

Guinevere smiled. "Then let me finish brushing my hair, and you can kiss me as much as you like."

Things progressed rather beyond kissing once the hairbrush was put away, and so it was well past the appointed time when Arthur and Guinevere finally arrived in the great hall. Everyone else was already there and seated on a handful of blankets that had been spread out on the floor as though for a picnic. There was a basket full of food, too. Simple fare, mostly- bread, cheese, apple tarts, and wine.

"It's about time you two showed up," Gwaine said, a knowing grin on his face. "We were thinking about sending a search party."

"There's no need for that now, is there?" Arthur said, shrugging off the smirks. "The question we should be asking is why we're all here in the first place. Merlin, do you care to answer?"

The sorcerer stood up and straightened his sleeves. "Well, earlier Gwen was telling me about how much she enjoyed the feast last night, but wished there hadn't been so many people around being nosy busy-bodies."

"I did say something about a picnic," Gwen demurred, but a blush of pleasure was rising in her cheeks. "I was thinking about that day in the forest, when we met Niniane. It was so beautiful. I wish you could have been there, Arthur."

Arthur rested a hand against the small of her back and escorted her to an open spot on the blanket next to Lancelot and Elayne. "It appears we have a picnic now, though we'll have to make do without a forest."

"That's where you're wrong," Merlin said.

Arthur drew a breath to object. There were clearly no trees in the great hall, and no plants either. Just the high stone pillars, an expanse of glass windows, and the nine of them sitting on blankets in the middle of the room.

"Just wait and see," Merlin said, raising a long-fingered hand. His gaze went distant and he whispered something Arthur couldn't catch. Then he closed his eyes over their rising golden glow.

The candles dimmed, slowly dropping the room into darkness until each wick held a mere spark of light and the room was bathed only in the residual glow from the city's lights. Suddenly, each tiny flame broke away from the candles, and every reflection from glass and jewel flew towards Merlin like a flock of shining birds coming home for the night. He caught them all in his cupped hands and brought them to his lips to whisper to them, the light in his eyes adding to the golden glow around his face.

With a final word, Merlin flung the lights away. They spread throughout the hall and fell in shimmering clouds of gold and silver, forming outlines and shapes that grew more substantial as they descended until the illusion of an evening forest settled into being around them.

Guinevere gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes shining as she watched the last motes of light fade away, turning into leaves or fireflies or flowers. As beautiful as it all was, Arthur couldn't tear his gaze away from her or the smile spreading across her face.

"Your forest, My Lady." Merlin grinned and sat back down next to Niniane.

"It's wonderful," Guinevere breathed. She laughed as an illusory blue butterfly landed on her knee. "Thank you, Merlin."