6. The lady of the lake

It had been two days since Lily had started helping with the beans. The dwarves were used to see her arriving early and leaving late. None had asked anything.

She usually spent the day next to Anton, whom she found adorable. He was taking care of the plants as if they were children, and he was kind to her without even knowing who she was.

That day, however, things changed.

The Charmings arrived.

Snow White was grim-faced. The absence of her daughter should have been a burden to her. Her husband David was walking beside her, his gun hanging at his belt.

Grumpy hurried to them as Lily stood up, her shovel in hand. "Snow!"

The Queen eyed Lily warily. "Who's this?"

Lily smiled kindly at her and walked to her, outstretching a hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Lily. Nice to finally meet you."

"Lily?" She looked aside at Charming and shook hands with him as his wife didn't indulge her. "Lily What?"

She chuckled. "Lily...for now, I think I'd better hide my name."

Snow tilted her head. "I don't recall meeting you in Fairytaleland."

"That's because you haven't. And that's because I'm not from there."

But before Snow White could question her further, she whirled on her feet and went back to work.

Two holes burning in her back.

One night, Lily was awaken by Merlin, who had sneaked up into her dorm.

She woke up with a start. He put his hand above her mouth to shush her, and motioned her out in the corridor.

"Merlin, what on Earth did you wake me for?"

"I need your help."

"What have you done this time?" She remembered all-too-well what had happened last time he had screwed up with his magic.

"I've just saved a girl. Her name's Freya. She has magic."

Lily tilted her head. "Saved her from what exactly?"

"A bounty hunter."

"Holy-! Merlin!"

"I know. Now, please take care of Gaius for me. I will not be able to be Arthur's servant and his assistant while I'm helping her."

Lily smirked at that. "Ooh. Seems to me you are already enamoured with that girl." He shot her a warning glance. "Alright I will! Now, can I go back to sleep?"

He nodded. "Thanks."

"You owe me one."

And as promised, in the morning, Lily told the other maids she was assigned to help Gaius for the day, and maybe the day after as well. They didn't ask, or care. Lily was hardly friend with any of them, they only shared a room.

Gaius wasn't in his office when she arrived, and Merlin had already gone to wake Arthur, so she set out to work.

She knew how to handle things with Gaius. Cleaning his pots, tidying his table, make his bed, clean Merlin's room.

When she was halfway done with Merlin's part, Gaius came back.

He furrowed his brow when he saw her. "Lily?"

She came out of the small bedroom and smiled at her teacher. "Good morning Gaius. Merlin has asked me to help you today, he wasn't in good enough shape."

"Was he now?" He put aside a book. "Well, if you are here, I suppose I might use your talents. I have some patients I have to attend to. Can you take care of it?"

She nodded and smiled brightly. She loved taking care of Gaius' patients. She wished she had his knowledge to heal people. "With pleasure."

"Good."

He made sure Lily's day was full. She knew why he did that – so he could chastise Merlin on Freya's disappearance and take revenge on Lily's knowing and not telling him. But his work wasn't a chore at all.

She even managed to talk with Leon somewhere near midday when she had to give one knight a sleeping draft.

All in all, a good day to be a physician's apprentice.

Except Merlin had again something to ask of Lily that night.

"Is it going to become a habit, to wake me up?"

"Believe me, it won't happen again."

"No it won't, 'cause next time, I'll kick your sorry ass for it!"

Merlin repressed a smile.

Lily herself chuckled a little. "Now, what is it?"

"Freya's all alone in her cave. I wondered if you could spend some time with her tomorrow."

"Are you sure she'd want me to? I'm sure you present better than I do." He blushed at that. "Oh my Lord! You-"

"Shush Lily!"

"Have you-?"

"Nothing you don't do with Leon."

She grunted, then burst into giggles. "Our Merlin, all grown up now..." She coughed her laughs. "I will. But you'll have to introduce me, otherwise I fear she wouldn't trust the hell out of me."

"Okay. Meet me here at ten sharp."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're turning into Arthur."

That night, people died in the lower part of town. Witnesses said they saw a giant beast looking like a cat, with wings.

Lily searched the library before meeting Merlin.

It was a bastet.

A very powerful curse of banishment.

A little like the werewolf thing, but thousand times nastier.

When Merlin drove Lily into the maze of corridors under the city, she could hear someone's ragged breathing.

Freya's clothes were torn apart.

And she was fast asleep.

Merlin knelt beside her and nudged her softly. "Freya? I've brought you someone."

The girl woke up and sat up in a start, then started hyperventilating when she saw Lily.

"That's alright, she's a friend."

Lily advanced carefully and outstretched a hand. "My name is Lily."

"Lily will stay with you for a while. I didn't want you to stay alone." He then put down the food he had managed to steal and stood up. "I'll leave you now, Arthur's surely waiting."

He ran away without another word.

At first Freya didn't say a word. She only eyed Lily warily, as if she was waiting for her to lunge and kill her.

Then, after a while, she took the food and ate.

"You're Merlin's friend?"

Lily smiled kindly and nodded. "Yes. I have magic too."

Freya's eyes widened. "You do?"

"Yes." She waved her hand and a clover appeared in her palm. "See? I mean no harm to you either."

"You're here to stay with me?"

"As much as I'd prefer to be somewhere above the ground, yes, I am staying with you. If you want me to."

"Yes, it's okay."

Lily stayed two hours. Freya was silent for a good part of it.

When she stood up to leave, though, Lily didn't forget to send one last message.

She looked at Freya, her gaze hard, and sighed. "If there was a way I could break your curse, I would."

And as she went away, she heard sobs behind her.

That night, the bastet attacked again. And was killed by Arthur.

Lily didn't see Merlin for two days after that.

And she didn't really wish to.

She had tended to the knights wounds that night, and as much compassion she had for the girl, she couldn't forgive the deep gash in Leon's chest.

Two days later, she rode to the nearest lake. The lake of Avalon.

She sat there, and gazed into the air.

"I'm so sorry, Freya. I wished I had helped you. Rest in peace."

A ruffle in the wind, wrinkles on the water, and on the lake's surface came to her feet...

A clover.