Sifa was picking restlessly at her blanket when there was a knock at the door. She heard a murmur of voices around the screen that gave her a little privacy, and then a shuffling step.

"There's someone here to see you," Gaius said, looking around the edge of the screen. He stepped away and Guinevere appeared.

"Your Majesty!" Sifa tried to push herself up and gave a little gasp.

"No, no, lie still!" Guinevere exclaimed, rushing forward. "I didn't come to give you a relapse!"

Sifa smiled a little tremulously. "Gaius says I'm doing much better," she said hoarsely.

Guinevere sat on the chair by the bed. "I should hope so. Arthur told me all about what you did at the wall. You certainly saved Anna and Merlin—and perhaps all of us." Sifa dropped her eyes and blushed with pleasure. "I want you to know something, Sifa," Guinevere went on quietly after a moment. "I never intended to have you executed." Sifa looked up at her, startled. "I believed that your father would come to save you, and we would catch him. Despite what you did to help Morgana, I never believed you wicked—only misguided. I was glad when you returned. I missed you." She smiled and Sifa smiled back wonderingly, tears springing to her eyes.

"When you came to us in the middle of the night, I knew you were telling the truth. Your actions, risking your life first to bring important information to us, and then to save Anna and Merlin, have proven it to everyone. When you are recovered, Arthur would like to offer you a full pardon."

Sifa swallowed hard. "Thank you, your Majesty!" she said. "I—I really don't know what to say! I'm not sure I deserve it, after what I've done."

Guinevere shook her head. "Don't think that way. You are not the person you were then. You are proof to all of Camelot of something Arthur and I have always believed—that a person who has done wrong can repent. Of course," she went on in a brisker tone, "once you are well you are free to go where you like. But…" She smiled. "My maid, Bethan, has quit her job to help her sister take care of her new baby girl, so I am once more without a maid. I was wondering if you would like to resume your old position?"

Sifa's eyes shone—her cup ran over. "I would like that, your Majesty. Thank you."

"That's settled, then!" Guinevere patted her hand and rose. "I won't keep you from your rest any longer." There were voices on the other side of the screen. "I believe that's Anna and Merlin come to do another healing spell for you. Take care of yourself and get well—I have need of you!"

Sifa heard her exchange greetings with Gaius's two apprentices, and then Anna appeared around the screen. "Hello! How are you feeling this morning?" she asked in her friendly, businesslike healer-voice.

"Pretty well," Sifa answered. "I can talk for longer now."

"Good! Let me take a look." Anna pulled down the blanket and opened the front of Sifa's gown. "Oh yes, that's looking much better," she said. "We'll have you on your feet again in a couple of days." She tied the front of the gown closed again. "Merlin?"

"Hello Sifa," he said, coming around the screen. "Ready?"

"Ready," she nodded. Anna put her hand on Sifa's chest and Merlin put his hand over Anna's. "Þurhhæle! Ic hæle þina þrowunga," Anna said, and Sifa watched both their eyes glow.

"There you go!" Anna said, standing up. "Can I get you anything?"

Sifa shook her head. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Alright. Then I'm off to do my rounds. See you later, Merlin." She patted him on the shoulder as she squeezed past.

"Bye." He smiled down at Sifa for a moment. "Do you mind?" he asked, gesturing to the chair.

"No, no," she said, waving him into it. He took it, then leaned forward, staring down at his clasped hands for a moment.

"I didn't get to thank you properly for what you did for me," he said quietly. "I mean, I did, but…" he gestured with a wry smile—"not in my own body. Thank you for saving my life. Well—for saving Anna's. But if that swordsman had killed her, I wouldn't have been able to communicate: I wouldn't have been able to summon the dragon. And then I, and all the knights whom Morgana froze, would have starved to death. So thank you."

It was Sifa's turn to look down at her hands. "You're welcome," she said, smiling a little.

"I have something for you." He raised his empty hands and cupped them together. "Blóstmá," he whispered, and his eyes glowed. When he opened his hands again, there was a single stalk of white lily-of-the valley. "Here."

"Oh, Merlin, it's beautiful! Thank you." She took it from him and he rose.

"I'll be back later," he said, and left, smiling at her over his shoulder.

000

"They humiliated me!" Morgana raged, pacing back and forth in the Hall of the manor house.

"It seems to me," said a disdainful voice from the shadows at the top of the Hall, "you humiliated yourself."

Morgana pressed her lips together, biting back an angry retort. "I won't stand for this," she said at last. "I will crush Camelot's army. I will show Arthur—and Emrys—that I fear no one. That I can snap my fingers and destroy them!"

"That hasn't worked very well for you so far," the Gaul pointed out dryly, stepping forward and putting his hand on the back of the chair that Morgana was in the habit of using like a throne. "Where are you going to find the force necessary to… crush Camelot?"

Morgana took a deep breath. "Horsa," she said.

The Gaul raised an eyebrow. "Horsa's soldiers are many, but he is violent and difficult to control," he pointed out. "How can you know he will fight for you?"

"He has reason enough to hate Arthur," she answered. "The death of his brother Hengist, for instance. He has only waited for a strong ally in order to overrun Albion. I will be that ally—he cannot get a foothold on our shores without my help."

"And after? When you have destroyed Arthur and all the rest of the kings of Albion?" the Gaul asked. "When you have at last taken your place on the throne of Camelot—how do you know that he will not double-cross you?"

"I wish only to rule Camelot. He may do what he likes with the rest of the lands. We will scatter the kings and leave their courts in ruins—Horsa will have his pick of the kingdoms. He will not want Camelot as well."

The Gaul shrugged. "Contact this mercenary, then, if you think he will help you," he said dismissively. "For my part, I am more interested in this Emrys you have told me of—and in the girl he has made into a vessel for his magic."

TBC