Chapter 12: A New Fate

The Castle of Ancient Kings had not been so vastly populated for many, many years. Indeed, in the last twenty-four hours, the place seemed to be reborn from a long slumber. There were now torches on every wall. Servants were walking back and forth, bringing in supplies in the form of food and blankets. The Knights of Camelot, easily visible with their long red cloaks, were equally as busy, assigning duties to the guards and receiving reports from the many patrols.

From the Round Table where he sat, Arthur was glad to see familiar faces around him. Guinevere, radiant in a forest green dress, was walking around and handing out blankets to women and children. Gaius was there as well. The old physician had set up a sick ward of a dozen beds for the injured. The beds were now filled with wounded men who had been mostly burned. Presently, Gwaine and Elyan were bringing a young guard with bruises like claw marks on his face and neck, but at least his life was not in danger. Overall, there were few casualties. Many of the farmers had flown, but they were coming back little by little, having really no where else to go. Even Leon seemed happy with this turn of event; he kept welcoming more and more people with a warm handshake before showing them where they could find food and shelter.

The old ruin was becoming very crowded indeed.

"What are you so happy about?"

Arthur smiled broadly as he heard Gwen's soft voice. She was walking towards him with a basket under her arm.

"I'm happy to see you safe and sound," he replied with a grin. "And Gaius. And everybody. The city may be taken, but the people of Camelot are safe, which is all that matters."

"We really owe it to Sir Galahad," said Gwen, bowing her head and still clutching her basket. "He came out of nowhere, but I knew him from the account you made of your trip to Aria's Cradle. Apparently he had been spying on Morgause for a while. He arrived just a few hours before she did. He warned us just in time."

She shifted her load on her other arm.

"You don't have to do that," the young king said softly, his gaze falling on the basket.

Gwen blushed slightly. "I thought you might be hungry."

"Starving. Thank you very much, my Lady."

Arthur and Guinevere had not noticed Sir Gwaine's presence near the Round Table. Before either of them could react, the tall knight had taken the basket from Gwen's arm and he was now lying down the content in front of the king.

"Time for lunch, is it?" Elyan said merrily as he took a seat opposite the king.

Moments later, most of the knights had joined them at the table. Percival and Leon tucked in as well, both of them carrying enough mead for everyone.

"Should you really be eating at that table?" Gwen breathed out.

"Why shouldn't we? It's a table, isn't it?" replied Gwaine with a mouthful of cheese.

There was only one item left in the basket but Gwen swapped it from under Gwaine's outstretched hand.

"Don't even think about it," she said playfully, putting the small parcel out of sight. "It's for Merlin."

"He's been hiding long enough," said Elyan. "He should come and eat with us."

Arthur couldn't help but cut his piece of bread a little sharply.

"If he wants to skulk then let him skulk," he said between gritted teeth. "He's bond to come around soon. And we need him to have his wits about him when he does. If he has any wits left."

Arthur glanced rapidly around the table and saw no reaction to his joke, only concerned faces.

"I've never seen him so miserable," muttered Gwaine.

"He shouldn't be," Elyan said a little edgily. "No one cares that he has magic. He's still Merlin."

Arthur saw Sir Leon glance in his direction meaningfully. The news of Merlin's magic had travelled fast and it was becoming the cause of much heated debate among the people of Camelot. Since the Purges, magic had been regarded with suspicion and fear. Those with magic had been shun out, persecuted or burned at the stake. Arthur didn't expect his people's opinions to chance in the blink of an eye. However, as the Once and Future King, he had no intention of allowing anyone to show Merlin anything but respect. In fact, he had never been so certain of anything else in his life: Merlin would be accepted in Camelot as a sorcerer. If he had to make it an official decree, then he would. It was time for a new king to change that stupid law.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of an old friend.

"Galahad! Where have you been hiding? Join us!" said the young king, indicating a seat.

Galahad took the empty seat between Arthur and Gwaine, while Guinevere gently swept out of sight.

Arthur allowed his eyes to follow Gwen a while longer, and then he returned his attention to his guest.

"What news from Aria's Cradle?"

His tone was more friendly than formal.

Galahad was helping himself to a large piece of bread as he replied. "To be honest, I don't really know."

Arthur made no effort to contain his surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I left that place only a few days after you did. Merlin's decision to return to Camelot had some consequences for me. I had long been meaning to find out if there were any dragonlords from the other houses left alive. I had hoped that he would join me on that quest. But since he chose otherwise, I took it upon myself to make the journey on my own."

Arthur was stroking his chin. He had only been half-aware of this choice that Merlin had made. It wasn't really his place to interfere. But fate, it seemed, had taken another turn for Galahad.

Yet from the worn out traits on Galahad's face, he knew right away that his search had not brought the desired results.

"And did you find anything?" he asked.

Galahad shook his head of long, brown and grey hair. "I found only empty halls and crumbling tombstones. What was left of the five dragonlord houses was really destroyed during the time of Uther's Purges. Begging your pardon, my Lord."

Arthur stood back on his seat, straightening his back. "You do not have to ask for my forgiveness. I know very well what my father has done. It will be my quest it seems, to make it right."

At that comment, that other knights looked up and exchanged a few smiles.

"And Morgause," Arthur continued. "How did you come by her?"

"In an old castle where I thought I would find the tomb of the last of the LeNoir," said Galahad in a low voice. "She took something from the tomb, a piece of old parchment it seemed, and then she left. She did not see me so I followed her. I didn't really know who she was until she met with the other fellow, Borden, and they began talking about the last dragon egg and the dragonlord that would help them with their ultimate plan. I thought Merlin might be in trouble so I followed them to a hidden lair. She took Borden deep within the caves of Balor and she began a sort of ritual. It didn't feel right so I decided that it was time to go. But I got lost in the caves and that is where I found him."

"Who?" Arthur asked.

Galahad peered into the young king's face meaningfully. "The Great Dragon."

Gwaine put down his tankard of mead with a loud clank. "She had him all this time," he said between gritted teeth.

Galahad too had a look of dismay on his face. "At least the Great Dragon was able to tell me of their plan. It was too late for me to stop her from using Borden's body to bring back LeNoir's soul. And from what Kilgharrah told me, the dragon egg was useless to them without a dragonlord to make it hatch, but he feared that Morgause might be tempted to bring other creatures from the world of the dead. So the only thing left for me to do was to go to Camelot and to warn King Arthur and Lord Merlin of the impending attack."

Elyan almost choked on a mouthful of bread. "Sorry. I keep forgetting about the whole noble thing."

Galahad looked at him crossly and then continued. "Imagine my surprise when I arrived in Camelot and was told that the king was gone on a mission with a knight and a servant. Luckily, Percival was there and he took me straight to the Lady Guinevere. She ordered the complete evacuation of the city almost right away. She's the one who saved your people, my Lord, not me; I was only the messenger."

Arthur was still stroking his chin thoughtfully. "We were only trying to retrieve the egg. We didn't know that it was merely a small part of the plan."

"A diversion, maybe?" Leon put in.

Gwaine seemed to agree. "A way to keep Merlin busy."

Arthur dropped his hands on the table. "Well, it worked," he concluded. "The question is: what can we do about it? What are our options?"

The knights seemed to all be thinking along the same lines, but none of them could offer an answer.

"How much does Merlin know about all of this?" Gwaine asked Galahad.

"I've told him everything that I told you."

Arthur was thinking and he knew that his men were thinking it as well: this was a foe that would require Merlin's magic more than ever. Now they needed him to be the sorcerer that he was always meant to be. It was his new fate to be the protector of Camelot; not secretly but for all to see. And that couldn't be an easy thing to assimilate all within one day.

"Where is he now?" said Leon after a moment of silence.

"Hiding somewhere," muttered Arthur with a pang of sympathy, though he was trying to hide it. "Skulking."

"Who's skulking?"

All of the heads at the Round Table turned at once towards the newcomer: Merlin. None of them had seen him approach. There were so many other servants going about their business in the large chamber that he had made his way towards the table undisturbed and unnoticed. However, now that he had made himself known, several of the people glanced at him and took a few steps back, a distinct look of awe on their faces.

"I think I liked it better when people didn't know I had magic," he said under his breath, taking a seat on Arthur's right. "And I wasn't skulking."

"You were," snapped Arthur.

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were!"

"I can turn you into a toad."

Arthur shifted on his seat. "You… I forbid you to do that! And into any kind of animal for that matter!"

Merlin's grin was very annoying. "Then I wasn't skulking."

Arthur merely snorted. "What were you doing then?"

Merlin helped himself to a large piece of bread. "Talking to Gwen. And practising," said matter-of-factly. "Something I've been putting off for far too long. There's a bit of magic that I wanted to try."

At that comment, Merlin received many side-glances from the people nearby.

"You have a plan then," said Gwaine who seemed a lot calmer now that Merlin was at the Round Table.

The young sorcerer sucked in a deep breath. "Yes, but he doesn't include any of you."

"Like Hell, it doesn't!" snapped Gwaine, his temper rising again.

"No," said Merlin in his most resolute tone. "This is my quest. I must do it alone."

Arthur shifted on his seat, a half-grin on his face. "That sounds familiar," he muttered under his breath.

"No," cried out Merlin more loudly. "You're all needed here. You can't…"

"You're not going anywhere without me," cut in Gwaine. He looked at Arthur cunningly. "And I seem to be remembering something about Strength, Courage and Magic."

"And Wisdom," put in Galahad. When he saw Arthur raise an eyebrow, he added: "I know more about the dragonlords than even he does."

The many determined faces around him gave King Arthur a new sort of conviction, something that has a king he had only dreamed of having. These people who were now sitting at the Round Table were not only wiling to give their lives for him; they were looking out for each other. He could depend on them, no matter what. It was a very rare gift for a king.

"We're leaving in the morning," he declared to the group.

"No…" the young sorcerer began to say.

"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur continued. "And if you decide to get smart and leave unnoticed, we'll follow you anyway."

The servant opened his mouth to protest, but as he glanced at the many resolute faces around him, he decided that it was no use and he rolled his eyes up instead. "Fine," he said, crossing his arms.

"Sire, we'll have to find some excuse to explain your absence," Leon put in.

Merlin's wicked smile at that comment made Arthur really uneasy. "Oh I have a better idea. Trust me."

"It's settled then," concluded Galahad. "We cannot bring any banner with us. We must travel anonymously and no one should know our quest. Now we should all go and get prepared."

"Great!" Gwaine suddenly cried out as he rose from the table. Then he stopped for a moment and added, completely clueless: "Where are we going?"