A/N: Alright, people, this is going to be a long, info-laden chapter. So hunker down for a bit, this is a really important part of the plot. I've been planning this chapter for weeks.

It was, perhaps, the first time that Arthur, Merlin, and Guinevere worked together as co-conspirators. And with magic, subtlety, and romance in the mix, it was one of the more novel adventures that any of them had ever embarked upon.

It bore all the hallmarks of a potential disaster.

"Right, so, Merlin needs to get Freya to explain this whole… well, whatever it is." Arthur had his hands spread seriously on the table. Gwen and Merlin blinked from their respective seats. Eventually, Merlin said,

"Yes."

Arthur sniffed.

"How do we do that?" Gwen asked eventually. Arthur huffed and sunk back into his chair frustratedly.

"Well I don't know. That's why we're here, isn't it? Merlin, you're the sorcerer – what do you think we should do?"

Merlin choked. "Me? Don't you think that if I knew, I'd have done it by now?"

Arthur looked put out. "Well, it was worth a try."

More silence. Somewhere outside, a crow squawked loudly. Gwen coughed.

"Well, there is May Day coming up."

Arthur looked at his wife in confusion. "And?" He asked.

"Why not throw a banquet?"

"We always have a banquet on May Day."

"Yes, but a proper one. Not just us, the entire court. Food, dancing, wine, the lot."

"How will that help us?" Merlin felt he had to ask.

"Well, you can ask Freya to dance, and if she can't explain then, just take her somewhere else amidst all the excitement, and Arthur and I will keep Valas busy." She looked between her husband and her friend. "He can't refuse a word with the King, after all."

The plan seemed so obvious once she'd said it that a brief silence ensued where Merlin and Arthur looked at her and each wondered to himself why he hadn't been the one to think of it first. The quiet was broken when Arthur looked to his wife in awe and said, "I love you." Gwen blushed. Merlin tried not to look as uncomfortable as he felt.

"Right," the sorcerer cleared his throat, glancing annoyedly at Arthur (who paid no attention) before nodding to Gwen. "It's good thinking, Gwen, only…"

"Only what?"

"Well, after all this trying to keep me away from Freya, you don't really think Valas is going to let me dance with her, do you?"

Arthur snorted. "And when has a ratty old magician stopped you?"

"I don't want to make a scene."

Gwen was on a roll. She smiled amusedly. "Oh, I think I know someone who'd be willing to help out with that."

In all honesty, Merlin was somewhat afraid that he wouldn't go down in history as Emrys, or as a dragonlord, or as the savior of magic in Camelot, or even as a decent manservant. Sometimes, it seemed the only thing people might remember him by were his flowers. But honestly, when his best friend the Queen asked him for walls covered in roses, daisies, and lilies for May Day, how could he resist? He heard people commenting on them as he walked through the growing crowd up to the dais.

"Any sign of Valas or Freya yet?" He asked Arthur. The King shook his head. "Not yet, though they promised to be here before sundown. I'm sure they're just – oh, wait, there they are." Arthur craned his head around Merlin to look at the doorway into the hall.

Merlin looked, and missed whatever Arthur said after that.

Freya was wearing a lightweight dress, as were all the other ladies on May Day, with modest sleeves and flowing material that had the color and texture of a flower itself. The shade of purple complimented her face, Merlin thought, and he wondered for a few moments at how she'd managed to weave so many different colored flowers into her dark plaited hair. He'd always thought that Freya was beautiful. But that night, she was stunning.

"…and then we found out that Gwen is pregnant. Triplets. We're naming them all after you. Gwaine will be the godfather."

Merlin blinked and looked over at Arthur, a dazed expression on his face. "Uhm, what?" He asked, completely oblivious. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Good Lord, it's worse than I thought."

"What's worse?"

"Your lovesickness. It's disgusting." Arthur tried to hide the smile that he felt bubbling up, but it showed through weirdly anyway. Merlin's oblivious expression didn't leave. Arthur slapped his friend on the shoulder as he passed. "Just try to stop staring, alright? And remember, you're supposed to dance with her, not ogle her. I don't want to catch you two snogging in the broom cupboard." Arthur didn't stick around to see Merlin's furious blush, but he knew Merlin well enough to know it'd be there. He laughed.

"You are horrid," Gwen grabbed his arm as he headed toward the new arrivals.

"You heard that?"

"No, but I saw it, and if Merlin's blush is anything to go by, I don't need to know what you said. Poor man."

Arthur snorted. "It is rather funny, you have to admit; Merlin, the lovesick puppy."

"You know it's more than that," Gwen elbowed him "And before you laugh too hard, do remember, dear, how you were ogling me two May Days ago." Gwen smiled and Arthur found only a few seconds to let shock take over his face before he had to put on a smile for Valas and Freya. Gwen smiled in satisfaction when his blush shone through anyway.

"Lord Valas, a pleasure," he nodded, then turned to Freya, "Lady Freya, you look beautiful tonight." As a married man, he took her hand courteously but made no move to kiss it. She curtsied, and smiled at the two royals. She and Gwen made light talk in front of the men until the two parties went separate ways. After they'd left, Arthur lifted out his hand for Gwen to take it.

"Now that's ogling is aside, my lady, are you ready to create a royal diversion?"

Gwen smiled smugly and took his hand. "With pleasure, my lord."

They'd told him to have a few drinks beforehand, just to make it seem realistic. He'd agreed without hesitation. Still, he knew he'd have to have something along the lines of feet to follow it all through, so Gwaine had restrained himself to only three tankards. Or at least, he'd tried to. After he took the last swing of his fifth, he turned in his seat and looked over to where the Lady Freya stood by Lord Valas. Bloody hell, Merlin's a lucky git, he thought. He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve, straightened his tunic, plastered on his signature smile, and sauntered over to ask the lady for a dance.

Merlin watched from across the room as Gwaine asked Freya for a dance. He almost felt offended when Valas showed no qualms in letting his daughter dance with a clearly drunken man, but somehow, he wasn't that surprised. Freya looked slightly uncomfortable with the entire thing, but Merlin knew Gwaine meant no harm and that Freya could handle it. He fidgeted anxiously while the song began, and watched as Arthur and Gwen, who had opted to forgo dancing for the time being, slowly made their way over to Valas. The foreign lord turned his back to the dance floor when they neared him. Merlin began across the room as Gwaine took his cue.

About halfway through the dance, Gwaine thought it was time to do some falling. Merlin might've thought that Gwaine took a cue off of Valas turning his back, but in reality, it was a happy coincidence that the ale in his gut had decided upon that moment to finally reach the part of his brain that oversaw coordination of his feet.

It was just stumbling at first, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself, but then he was honestly tripping. All the while, Freya grew increasingly uncomfortable. Some of the other dancing knights laughed at Gwaine and tossed Freya sympathetic looks, and she gathered that this wasn't entirely unusual.

"Should'ha taken a few more drin's… Maybe would'a helped, eh?" Gwaine grinned up at her and tripped again.

"A few less, I should think, Gwaine."

Gwaine turned and yanked Freya along with him accidentally. "Ah, Merlin! 'Bout time, mate." He dropped Freya's hands unceremoniously and half stepped, half fell towards Merlin, pausing to say to Freya, "A pleasure, my lady." He fell when he tried to bow, and Merlin caught him. When Gwaine ended up in his face, the knight poked him annoyingly in the shoulder. "You know, Merlin," he said, glancing again at Freya, "you really are one lucky bas-"

"That's very nice of you, Gwaine," Merlin interrupted, "now go get some nice, cold water, why don't you?" He shoved Gwain in the general direction of the food table, and watched as he stumbled off the dance floor to make sure he didn't fall completely over. He turned back towards Freya and tried to smile normally. "Sorry about him," He said, and offered her his hand. She took it, and smiled slightly. "A necessary distraction, and no matter how foolhardy he is, he's a good man when he's sober." He carefully led her back into step with the dance. "You look beautiful, by the way," He thought it might've come out wrong, but she smiled widely at him.

"You don't look half bad yourself," She said, pausing to adjust his neckerchief that he reserved for special occasions. He swallowed, and after that odd moment, turned serious.

"I need to speak with you."

The mood change caught on, and she glanced around as though for Valas. "Now?"

"Perhaps. Can you?"

She blinked a few times. "Not… not here."

He nodded, having expected as much. He turned them abruptly so that he could see Arthur. Eventually, he met eyes with the King. Merlin nodded, and, trusting that Arthur had seen him, danced Freya to the edge of the dance floor. "Arthur and Gwen will buy us time. We can go out to the courtyard for now."

Some people thought that enclosed, hidden places were the best places for secret conversations, but Merlin had learned from experience that, more often than not, the best place to discuss secretive matters was in the open, where approaching figures became visible before they entered into earshot. The courtyard gardens were utterly deserted, but he led Freya around the back to the most exposed, open-air bench in the yard. The noise of the banquet had died to a dull hum.

"I'm sorry we've had to go to such roundabout, ridiculous ways to talk, I've just seen the way Valas-"

"No," She stopped him, "No, thank you, Merlin. You do it for a good reason. Now, we… we can't have much time. I have to… explain," He could feel her hands shaking in his as she spoke. He gave them a squeeze.

"Back at the lake. The first time. You said magic saved you," he reminded her where she'd left off, "and something about Valas."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes. The magic. Your magic, Merlin. You said you wanted to save me," She watched his shocked expression grow as she spoke, "I don't think you knew it, but you did."

He sat there silently in shock for a lengthy pause. He began to shake his head. "I don't understand."

"When you were there with me, at the lake, right as I was dying, you… Well, I don't know exactly how, Merlin, but somehow, before I was too far gone, you gave me some of your magic."

He looked at her as if she was mad. "What? That's impossible. I couldn't have done that. And… and even if I could have, I would have known."

This time, she squeezed his hands. "I heard you crying, Merlin," she whispered, "you had too much grief with you to know much else, just then." He was blinking quickly as he tried to understand. She continued, "You gave me just a tiny sliver of your own magic, somehow, and it kept me alive, protected me. I can't explain it, I don't remember it." He looked at her questioningly. She answered, "After you sent me to the lake, after you left, I was found."

"Found? By whom?"

"The Sidhe."

Arthur had spent his entire life as royalty, and, as such, had spent a lifetime perfecting the art of pretending to enjoy a conversation when he honestly couldn't have cared less. He had to admit that Gwen was doing a rather good job of it too, considering she wasn't noble by birth. He felt a rush of pride for her. Ah, bonding over bluffing. They were royalty, weren't they?

"I must commend you on your choice in food, Majesties; truly delicious, and exotic." Valas was playing at the same game that his host and hostess were, but was doing far more dismally.

"Our kitchen staff is excellent, and we have visitors bringing in new recipes all of the time," Gwen smiled at Valas, "I'm sure you have some wonderful dishes back in Dralynnia, my Lord," She said.

"Yes, of course."

"Oh, I'd love to hear about them. Perhaps our kitchens could replicate some of them, to make Camelot feel more like home while you stay with us."

"Oh, no," Valas forced a laugh, "You're too kind, your Majesty, but I'm sure that they would bore you…"

"Please, I just want to make you feel comfortable, at home." And with the smile she flashed, there was no way Valas could refuse her. They all knew it. And so, with a fake smile, Valas began to elaborate on Drailynnian cuisine. Gwen's look of satisfaction wasn't a bluff. She truly was a natural at this, Arthur thought. And he hadn't had to say a single word. He had to fight not to smile adoringly down at her. God he loved his wife.

"The Sidhe?" Merlin looked alarmed.

"They found me, close to death, but alive because of your magic. They took pity on me. They were very good to me, Merlin." Freya said. He seemed skeptical, because of his dealings with the Sidhe, but let her continue. "They realized what had happened, at least as much as they could, that another sorcerer had saved me by gifting me some of their magic. It was a weighty gift you gave me, Merlin," she said, and again he could only shake his head. He hadn't meant to give her anything, and yet, here she was, telling him that he had somehow saved her?

"They decided to honor that gift by finishing the work you started. They brought me back, or at least, back to consciousness. They explained what had happened, and…" She paused and looked up at him. "They lifted my curse, Merlin."

He looked surprised. How had he forgotten? He realized all at once how she hadn't looked haggard or injured the whole time they were there – how had he not noticed that she didn't act cursed? "Permanently?" he breathed, and she smiled somewhat uncertainly.

"As far as I can tell. They couldn't bring me all the way back – you saved me through magic, but I was still dying. I couldn't live as I had, in the world of men. They let me live among them in the Lake, in Avalon. They taught me the Lake's magic and adopted me as their own." A shadow came across her face, and Merlin felt an impending conjunction coming up.

"…And?" He asked eventually.

"And they… That is, they did treat me well. Until… When you needed Excalibur…"

"When you spoke to me? Through the water?"

"No. Well, yes. They taught me to do that. No, it was after that, at the Lake. Excalibur was a prized possession of the Sidhe, in the Lake. They knew its power and revered it. After we spoke, I told them that I had need of it, and they trusted me. They hadn't expected me to give it away, and when they found out, they were angry with me. Still, they weren't so angry with me about Excalibur once you arrived."

"Me?" Merlin asked incredulously. He figured that the Sidhe would have hated him, after their rather unfriendly history together.

Freya, unaware of his reasons for doubt, nodded. "When you took Excalibur from me, you touched my hand, just for a moment, and when you did, the Sidhe realized that it was your magic that had saved me. They sensed in you the same magic that they sensed in me, and they knew immediately who you were."

"They realized that I was Emrys?"

"Yes, though they knew that already. What they realized was that it was Emrys who had saved me. My magic, the magic you gave to me, Merlin, was tied to the lake, and the Sidhe could sense it everywhere. And when you touched me, the magic that you and I share linked together and, for just a single moment, the Sidhe could sense your great magic through me." She swallowed and looked at him as though she should be apologizing for something. He wasn't sure why.

"They… Could sense my magic?" He was still trying to figure out why this was significant.

"Yes. They realized then how powerful you were, that you were Emrys, that you had saved me, that you and I were linked by the magic you gave me." Her lip had begun to quiver and he was panicking to figure out why. "I didn't understand at the time why they weren't more upset that I'd given away Excalibur. I didn't figure out until later that they'd found something far more important to become angry about."

"What?"

"You."

Arthur tried not to cast too many nervous looks in the directions of the gardens. He hoped Merlin would hurry up with whatever he was doing, because the royals were running out of stalling material. They'd talked about food, weather, dancing, geography, and had moved on to magic. Unfortunately, neither Arthur nor Gwen knew much about magic, and it was only a matter of time before Valas would ask where Merlin had gone. Arthur prayed that Freya could talk quickly.

"Me? What about me?" Merlin's head was reeling. Of course, he'd never expected to be popular with the Sidhe, but something in Freya's tone told him it was much more than unpopularity.

She shook her head. "At first, it was nothing. They didn't do anything. Then, years after I gave you Excalibur, news from Camelot came in, that Arthur was king, that he'd made you Court Sorcerer, that magic had returned to Camelot at last. I thought they'd be happy." She sucked in a few tears. "They weren't. They acted so peculiarly… They… They seemed angry. Like they'd been angry for some time. They started to prepare, as if they were entering into a war. I asked them what was happening, and they bound me."

"Bound you?" Now Merlin sounded angry.

She nodded. "With magic. They didn't explain anything, until finally, Valas came and-"

"Wait, Valas?Why was Valas there?"

She looked up at him. "It's a disguise, Merlin," She said, "Valas is a sidhe."

Arthur's heart was pounding. He was used to battles, to melees and jousts – not this roundabout war of bluffing and waiting. Valas was growing impatient. They had no reason to detain him further without rousing serious suspicions. The dancers were scattering. The party was winding back around to the food and drink. And then, Arthur's worst fears came into being when Valas asked,

"Where has Lord Emrys gotten to?"

"Oh I think I saw him leave to his rooms a while ago," Gwen bluffed, "he's really not one for parties."

Both Arthur and Gwen hoped the sorcerer would buy it, but somehow, both of them knew he wouldn't.

Why Merlin wasn't surprised, he couldn't say, but he didn't interrupt this time. Freya continued, her voice growing shakier as she spoke, "They put me in a kind of prison. I didn't know why. None of them would tell me. The sidhe who had cared for me wouldn't anymore. Some threatened to bring back my curse. I didn't know what was going on. Then, they brought me before the Sidhe elders… Valas was there. They started chanting, I could feel the magic, and… And suddenly I was alive again, truly alive and human. Valas was as well, in the disguise of a human.

"He told me that he was taking me to Camelot, that I would pretend to be his daughter, that… that he had a mission here." She began to sniff. Her hands were shaking even more violently. "He said that… that the sidhe would finish what they started, that I would help them. That…" And she finally sobbed once. He wanted to hold her, but at the same time, had to hear what she would say next. "that Emrys, that you would be their path. He said that he… he would take the power th-that was supposed to be his, the power in me… your power, Merlin." She sobbed again, unable to help it. "he told me I was the only w-way to you, that to do it… to do it all properly, it had to be me. That I… I…" She was sobbing too heavily by then to continue, and without another hesitation, Merlin wrapped his arms around her. To his surprise, she cried harder and pushed him away, grief stricken. "You wouldn't, Merlin, y-you wouldn't, if you knew…" She wept loudly. He took her quivering hands, trying desperately to understand.

"If I knew what, Freya?" He asked.

She bit her lip hard against the sobs, but calmed down enough to choke out, "I'm sorry, my love, so, so sorry." She looked up at him through the grimace of her tears, her wet eyes full of a kind of pain that he hadn't ever seen before in anyone. Just before the sobs broke through again, she whispered,

"They've sent me here to kill you."