Chapter 2.

Merlin had planned to cast a protective spell on the gatehouse entrance to prevent non magical soldiers from entering and would hopefully slow most sorcerers down. However if he stood in the best place to cast it, he would have an audience - a rapidly growing audience which, if he wasn't mistaken, included his friend Gwen. Before he'd darted behind a wall he'd recognised her dark hair and pale green dress even under her thick woollen shawl and she, like many others living in the town, had intended to walk into the castle grounds as usual an hour or so ago. Now her brother was a knight, Arthur had decided that Gwen should be promoted along with him and, as a Lady of the court, she was entitled to chambers within the castle and the services of her own maid. However, she had decided that she felt uncomfortable about these honours and preferred to spend the nights in her own house for the time being, although Merlin suspected there was more to her discomfort than that.

He had no idea how long he stood there, his mind racing with both relevant and irrelevant thoughts, until he eventually came to a decision. Quickly and quietly he scurried back along the wall, keeping out of sight, until he reached the entrance to the dungeons and under croft. With the confidence of one used to such trips he wandered down the icy corridors until he reached the tunnel that wove under the castle walls and came out in an area of rough ground just outside of the town. Uther knew about this now and, since that whole Morgana business, it had been made much more secure with a thick metal door now barring the way. However, Merlin no longer had any need to blast such an obstacle open, he simply concentrated on the complex lock and forced it to unlock. The old metal lattice door was still in place behind it, this one locked from the outside. In that way it was assumed that it could not be used either as an escape route or an invasion route without a key. Unless, of course, you were Merlin. He grinned and clicked the second lock open too.

There was no ice out here and even the early morning frost had disappeared, with a welcoming winter sun shining as strongly as it was able within a bright blue sky. Merlin was about to release his shield when doubt made him hesitate. He thought he knew the spell he'd cast instinctively last night, but he wasn't absolutely certain. Despite Arthur's dream comment, he was fairly confident that his shield wouldn't be obvious to someone without magic and so he decided to leave it where it was, simply pulling it closer to his skin to ensure it didn't cause any unusual reactions. From there he quickly relocked the gates, ran towards the front of the castle and pushed his way to the front of the rapidly growing crowd.

"Gwen!" he shouted. "Gwen, what's going on?"

"Merlin? What are you doing here? I assumed you'd be inside." There was a look of relief on her face but her eyes were red and full of fear.

"I should have been, but Gaius wanted me to collect this rare winter plant … one that only flowers in the hours before dawn and ..." He shrugged and she nodded, apparently accepting his improvised explanation. "What's going on?" he repeated.

"The whole castle seems to be frozen. It's so cold in there."

"Magic?"

"It must be," she replied with a sigh.

"Is that some sort of enchanted wall then?" Merlin asked pointing at the mist.

"I don't think so. A few of us have walked through."

"Really?"

"Yes, I've been in there but couldn't stay for long ... none of us can. It's so cold … unbelievably so. I think we'd freeze within seconds." The tears reformed. "Merlin? Arthur, Elyan, Gaius … do you think they're …?"

"No, I'm sure they're not." He turned towards her and placed a gently hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine – you must believe me. I promise that I won't let anything happen to him." She smiled at him then and he was aware that she was amused by his assertions as well as comforted.

"You're a good friend, Merlin."

Suddenly a woman pushed passed, wrapped up in so many layers she looked almost round. A young lad of about ten followed behind.

"Mum, come back."

"Stay out here, John," she called back.

"Stop, you can't go in there." Gwen placed an urgent hand on her arm.

"My husband is in there, he'll die … I have to find him." Merlin moved to the other side of the lady and turned her by the shoulders to get her attention.

"Going in there won't help them or us," he said confidently, now addressing everyone. He was aware of Gwen's surprise as he took charge. "This is obviously a spell cast by an evil sorcerer that wants Camelot to fall. They could protect their soldiers from the ice with magic and send them in to kill everyone there; your friends, your family and the royal family. I think we should do whatever we can to protect them."

"Us?" asked a large, middle aged man at the front. "What can we possibly do against that?"

Merlin turned to face the crowd, surprised and suddenly nervous by the size of it. They were all looking at him, their faces a mixture of scepticism and hope. Surprisingly, most of them looked hopeful. He had just suggested that a town full of frightened people could protect a frozen castle against sorcerers and yet they appeared to be willing to listen to him.

"Not much, perhaps," Merlin replied, "but we could slow them down. Do you think we could survive in there for long enough to at least drop the portcullis?"

Within moments the same man rushed in to undo the rope before dashing out again shivering violently, having only managed one loop. He grinned at Merlin and shook his hand as another man rushed to replace him.

"Robert," he announced, and Merlin and Gwen introduced themselves whilst a third man ran in to work on the rope. Young John was trying to persuade his mother to give him some of the warm clothes she was wearing so that he could take a turn, whilst everyone else formed a queue or encouraged the others. It was all Merlin needed - an interesting distraction. He moved backwards through the crowd, focused on the top of the gatehouse and quietly whispered a spell. He then held it there with his mind until the metal gate started to lower and, as it dropped, he traced it's route with his hand, allowing the magic wall to fall along with the portcullis. With everyone watching the gatehouse he would not be noticed except, unfortunately, one person had decided to watch him instead.

"Merlin?" Gwen had been standing to one side, out of his immediate line of sight.

"L-look, did you see? They got the portcullis down," he replied desperately as a huge cheer went up from the crowd.

"Yes, but what were you doing?"

"Ah, just watching?" he replied with a weak grin and she glared at him in disbelief.

"Now what?" said Robert, approaching him.

"You're asking me?"

"Yes, Merlin. Now what?" Gwen's voice seemed colder than the castle.

"Ah ... I don't suppose there's much we can do. Just get on with everyday chores, keep an eye out for attack ... " He worked hard to avoid everyone's gaze and started to slouch toward the tunnel so he could go back into the castle. Most took his words and actions as a cue and started to drift back towards their homes and the market, whilst those with family inside stayed on vigil outside the gatehouse. Merlin admitted he wasn't surprised to find that Gwen was now following him.

"Where are you going, Merlin?" He stopped and turned towards her, although he still couldn't find the courage to look her in the eyes.

"I ..." He had to get back inside the castle but how was he going to do that with her following. "I was just going to check this entrance. The one that leads to the undercroft? I thought it might not be so cold down there ..." he improvised desperately.

"Merlin." Gwen stepped in front of him and he felt compelled to look at her. He saw obvious fear in her eyes despite her determined stance. "I saw your eyes, Merlin. They were the same as Morgana's when I watched her cast that spell. What did you do? Are you responsible for this?"

"What? No!" He was shocked. "How could you think that?"

"How could I think anything else? I've seen how magic has corrupted Morgana. How it's changed her."

"It wasn't magic that did that." His response was close to a growl.

"Merlin. Please tell me I'm wrong. Please tell me you don't have magic."

"Gwen … I didn't cause this, I promise. I ..." He paused and took a deep breath. "It's my destiny to protect Camelot and Arthur. Deep down I think you know that's true."

"Protect? How?"

"Didn't I tell you once that I was in disguise?" He grinned, but it quickly faded when he realised that she was not in the mood for humour. "I have to protect him … I have saved his life so many times and you of all people know how important it is that he survives and becomes King. I know you've seen it in him too, I know you've seen his future greatness."

"Do you have magic?" Her voice was quiet but forceful.

"Yes," he admitted in a whisper.

"What did you do at the gatehouse?"

"Put a protection spell on the portcullis." His voice brightened.

"What?"

"Made it so that Camelot's enemies can't simply walk through the gate if they mount an attack. I'm sure that's the reason for all of this."

"But a powerful sorcerer must have caused this and someone like that could easily undo your spell."

"Oh, I'm not so sure. I expect they'll struggle with it for a while, buy me some time," he said, unable to prevent a little pride from creeping into his voice.

"You sound very confident about that. Why?" she asked and he winced, his modesty unable to allow him to gloat openly.

"Gwen, I have to get back into the Palace to check on the others."

"Back? You mean you were in there before?"

"Yes."

"How …?" He shrugged. "Magic protected you?"

"Apparently."

"How do you expect me to believe this is not your doing when you are apparently the only one not affected."

"My magic protected me, as you said."

"Yes, but what does that mean?" she pushed.

"It would take too long to explain," he looked briefly at her and then at the entranceway and sighed. "I'm going back in now."

"I can't let you."

"Gwen, you can't follow me. You will freeze in seconds."

"I can't stay out here knowing he's suffering in there." He knew she wasn't talking about her brother.

"He's not suffering, he's just asleep … sort of."

"Merlin?" It was a scared whisper. "C-can you protect me from this?"

"What?

"Is there a way? Can you use magic on me so I can come with you? I want to help."

~o~0~o~

A/N Thanks for your comments. I know you've not had much to go on so far but things should start to move along nicely now that Merlin has someone to talk to.

kristinemac - this chapter's a little longer for you but I'm trying to stop at the 'right point' each time which is why some will be a little brief. The next one will be the longest so far!

Feel free to R&R and speculate. Dec '10

E/N Yikes! I'm cringing here at the number of amateur errors I'd made. I've corrected loads of punctuation, increased the length of sentences and added more detail to the dialogue sections. Looking better now ;) 19/5/12