Previously: Gwen was vaguely aware of a disturbance over by the entrance. Probably a new patient, she assumed, but glanced over to see anyway. Shocked by what she saw, her eyes widened and she gasped audibly. Standing by the door was Hunith, Merlin's mother.

Oblivious

Chapter 4: Meanwhile in Camelot

Once they had made eye contact, Hunith hurried over to Gwen. The first thing the servant noticed was how tired the elder woman looked. There were dark bags under her eyes and her demeanour seemed to project an aura of exhaustion, but her eyes were bright and alert with anxiety.

"Where's Merlin?" No 'Hello.', or 'How are you?' her obvious concern over her son obscured the need for social niceties. "Is he okay?" Her thin frame was shaking with fear.

"You shouldn't be here." Gwen admonished gently, leading her over to some spare seats, "There's a dragon attacki-"

"Yes, I know." Hunith interrupted nervously, her eyes darting around as if expecting Merlin to pop out of nowhere (mind you, it was Merlin). "I was on my way to visit him when I heard about the attack, has he been hurt?!"

"No he's fine as far as I'm aware." Gwen replied soothingly, Hunith's shoulders suddenly sagged and her shaking calmed down.

"Thank the Lord." She murmured softly, and then spoke up. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

"Well he's not here at the moment." Gwen answered apologetically but quickly continued. "He's accompanying Arthur to try to find someone who can help with the dragon situation."

Hunith paled visibly. She did not speak for some time but when she did, her voice was so quiet that Gwen had to strain to hear."

"What kind of help?"

"Someone who can command the dragon to leave or something." Gwen stopped as she suddenly realised something. "Actually, I shouldn't be telling you this, it's a secret mission." Not even bothering to ask Gwen how she knew since it was a secret mission, Hunith whispered urgently.

"Gwen, please, can you remember what they were called? It's important." Seeing the dismayed expression of on Hunith's face, Gwen relented.

"I don't remember the name. But I think he was a dragonlord." Gwen had hoped this news would please Merlin's mother but it had the opposite effect. The woman staggered up and spluttering apologies ran from the room as if some ancient devil was chasing her.

Merlin and Balinor had rushed to Arthur's side and with the dragonlord leading the way, they went to a nearby cave. It was clearly the man's home, with small sections dedicated to what you would find in any permanent residence: a bed, a makeshift kitchen etc. It wasn't the most comfortable looking place but as a fugitive it was probably the best Balinor could do, and Merlin felt a pang of compassion for him. It showed that even if you escaped King Uther's persecution, it was only a temporary reprieve; if you were unlucky you could spend the rest of your life fearing who would come around the corner.

They set up Arthur on the bed and Balinor went to work on the wound, there was a moment when Merlin thought they had been figured out when the bandages were peeled back and the dragonlord stopped in surprise, but very quickly he recovered and began cleaning it. Occasionally he asked Merlin to pass him something and, having worked for Gaius, Merlin was capable of identifying the herbs that Balinor required.

After about an hour the dragonlord withdrew and once he'd washed his hands in a bowl of water that Merlin fetched for him, he announced that there was nothing more he could do and invited Merlin to eat with him.

As they ate, Merlin realised that it would have to be him that confronted Balinor about his identity. He suddenly felt very sick to the stomach.

Gaius had only been asleep a few hours when someone barged into the room. Not now Merlin. It took him a while to realise that there was no way Merlin could be back yet and by then a hand was shaking his shoulder vigorously whilst a familiar voice hissed "Gaius! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes and jumped a mile at the sight of Hunith's anxious face close to his. With some effort he recovered and sat up to address her nervously, already predicting the approaching conflict.

"Hunith." He laughed awkwardly attempting to alleviate the tense situation but failed miserably.

"Merlin's gone to find Balinor." It wasn't a question. A sad acceptance had settled across her features. He nodded and looked away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes for fear of what he would find there.

"Does he know?" she whispered as if worried that someone else would overhear.

"No." A sob escaped her and she collapsed in a nearby chair, crying quietly. "I'm sorry, Hunith, I-" he hesitated, "I thought it was for the best."

"He's going to hate me isn't he?" He could not tell whether she meant her son or Balinor, and he opened his mouth to reassure her but the words would not come. Because he did not know how they would feel, and deep down he realised that he had made the decision not to tell Merlin and it was in fact him who persuaded Hunith not to reveal to Merlin the identity of his father.

Gods, what if Gaius had made a mistake?

The atmosphere was thick enough to be cut through by one of Arthur's swords, the ones Merlin kept forgetting to sharpen with the result that they were rendered utterly useless. Merlin wiped his mouth and set down his empty bowl, it had been some sort of porridge. Bland and tasteless. But out here in the middle of nowhere luxuries like honey were probably hard to come by. Up to this point he had tried to avoid looking directly at the dragonlord as he was worried that his steely gaze would penetrate Merlin's weak defences and reveal his true intentions.

But now, with some apprehension, Merlin raised his gaze to meet Balinor's and failed to note that the eyes he feared were the same shape and shade of blue as his own.

It was silent. Uncomfortably so. And neither seemed willing to break it. In the cost, the unconscious Arthur groaned and Merlin lost the staring contest when he glanced over at the prince in concern. Finally Merlin spoke up.

"Will he be okay?"

"How did he get that wound?" Balinor pointedly ignored the question he had been asked and stared straight at the warlock, as if daring him to lie.

"Bandits. We were attacked by bandits." Merlin could not look at him; it felt like Balinor could see through his lies and guises. But then again, bandits were a fairly sound excuse; he was attacked by bandits every other week.

"That's not a sword wound. You and I both know it. It's a dragon wound." The dragonlord had abandoned his meal and Merlin could almost feel the surroundings grow colder. He was acutely aware of the sword that had reappeared by Balinor's side. Not yet picked up, but still in full view, letting Merlin know exactly what he was dealing with. "You knew who I was when you came to find me. Now tell me what you want from me!"

AN: Argh, this is several hours later than I usually update but I've been recovering from a very tiring week trying to organise and sort my school's Children in Need day, not sure how much we raised but I would guess over £500. Anyways we have some Balinor-Merlin interactions here, both of them still unaware of their relationship, in fact, you could say that they were oblivious (bad joke, but never mind) actually here's a game for you: find all the characters and situations where people are oblivious about something in this fanfiction. Next chapter: confrontations.

Thanks to reviewers: Merlinsgfriend, sarajm, MamzelleHermy, Laughy-Taffy the Grape, Mediatrix, leonielewis, cflat, Ash9.

Replies to reviewers:

Ash9: Currently I'm having Balinor fairly confrontational, like how he was to begin with in the episode, but that will start to change.

Laughy-Taffy the Grape: I'm glad that's normal, I sometimes do the same thing :)