Gwaine and Percival stepped aside as the flap to the king's tent opened and Merlin walked out. He stood there for a moment stretching his back and neck and then looked at each of them in turn.

"G'morning," Merlin said.

"Morning, Merlin," the knights replied. Gwaine hit him playfully on the back, and Merlin stumbled forward. He regained his balance and clasped his hands together in front of his chest, then released them and slapped them against his sides.

"Right."

"Merlin, are you feeling well?" Gwaine asked.

"Never better," Merlin replied. He looked conspicuously around and spotting Leon and Mordred he called out to them, and beckoned them closer.

"The King wants a word," Merlin said when all four knights stood around him. "In there," he gestured towards the tent. "In private. With all of you. Together."

"Are you sure you're alright, Merlin," Gwaine asked again, his brow furrowing.

Merlin squirmed under his gaze and ran a hand over the back of his neck inside his shirt, only to pull the hand away as if he'd burned himself. He flushed beet red to the tips of his hair.

"Fine! Fine! I'm feeling fine," he muttered and gestured towards the tent once again, holding his hands out at his sides as not to touch any part of his body. "In you go!"

The knights went towards the tent, throwing him perplexed looks as they pulled back the flap and stepped inside.

"What in the seven Kingdoms!" exclaimed Leon as he stepped in behind the others and came face to face with another Merlin. Instinctively, he reached for his sword hilt. The others had done the same.

"Now, now, don't panic," Arthur spoke up. They looked up and saw him standing with Gaius behind the second Merlin. "This one here," Arthur said, pointing to Merlin, "is the real Merlin."

"Then who did we just speak to out there, Sire?"

Gwaine's eyes scanned the tent. He saw the empty pallet in the corner and Bri's bag still on the floor beside it.

"Great gods," he muttered, "that was Bri."

...

While Arthur briefed the knights, Bri walked around the camp. She found her horse. Gwaine must have gone into the woods and brought it back. She realized she should be looking for Merlin's horse instead. She couldn't remember which one was Merlin's. She thought perhaps a black one. She squinted at the sheer number of black horses tethered together.

"Good Morning, Merlin!" Elyan greeted him. "What are you looking for?"

"Uh, my horse," Bri said.

Elyan raised an eyebrow. "You're standing beside it," he said, nodding towards the beast.

"Yes," Bri said, "well, I had just found it!"

Bri patted the horse's side in what she hoped was a familiar and comforting manner. The horse bristled and shook its head, and Bri took a step back giving it a pleading look.

"There, there," she muttered taking a hold of its reins and trying to pet it again. This time the horse didn't complain.

Elyan shook his head with a smile, and carried on brushing his own horse.

A soldier carrying a box approached them. He was dressed in Camelot's colours, but Bri didn't recognize him. She thought there would be many of the solders she wouldn't recognize. She hoped she wouldn't blunder with any of Merlin's acquaintances.

"I was sent to give this to Merlin," the man said approaching and laying the package at Bri's feet.

"That would be me," she said. "I'm Merlin. What is it?"

The soldier shrugged.

"Well, who sent it?"

The man shrugged again. "The physician did," he answered finally.

"Gaius sent it? Well why didn't you say so before?"

The man gave her a brief nod of his head and walked away. She stood staring at the package that lay at her feet. Elyan was watching her amused.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" he asked.

Bri thought that she should probably wait and give it to the real Merlin, but she didn't want to blow her cover with Elyan or anyone else who might be looking. She could always open it and give it to Merlin after.

She crouched down and pulled at the strings that tied the package together.

"Do you need a hand with that," Elyan offered.

"I think I got it," Bri muttered finding the knot and unraveling it. She peeled the paper away from the package. It was a wooden box, about the size of a knight's helmet. She flicked the latches open, and raised the lid. She squinted at the contents for a moment, before whatever was in it launched itself out, aimed straight at her face. Bri yelped and dropped the box.

Elyan looked over and saw a black slug-like creature glued to Merlin's face. Merlin was using both hands to try to peel it off, but the creature would not budge. Without being able to see, Merlin tripped and fell on his back.

Elyan reached for the slug and started pulling. When it wouldn't budge he called for help. Arthur and the other knights came running, swords drawn.

"Someone sent him a box. This thing was in it. It just jumped on his face," Elyan yelled.

"Emrys!" Arthur bellowed. "Emrys, I need you!"

Bri was going limp on the ground, the struggle going out of her.

Another moment and the old sorcerer Emrys appeared running in his red robes, his long white hair streaming behind him. He saw the creature and stopped in his tracks.

"Stand back!" he ordered the knights, and Elyan let go of the slug and obeyed him.

Emrys spoke the spell for fire and there was a soft sizzling sound and smoke came up from the creature's back. It uttered one sharp cry and the weakening Merlin was able to pull it off his face. He tossed it across the clearing and Arthur captured it.

"Should I kill it?" Arthur asked watching the squirming creature with disgust.

"No," Emrys replied. "It's a creature of magic, but in itself it isn't evil."

Reluctantly, Arthur picked it up and placed it back into the box.

Elyan helped Merlin to his feet. "Are you alright?" he asked him.

Merlin nodded. "What was that?" he asked, still gasping for air. "The man said Gaius sent it."

"That was not from Gaius," Emrys said. "A gift from Morgana, no doubt."

"What was it trying to do to him?"

"Take away his magic."

"But Merlin doesn't have any magic," Elyan exclaimed.

The other knights and Arthur exchanged glances.

"Well, she's not very bright, is she?" Emrys chuckled. He prayed silently that the spy was still watching.

...

Morgana's shriek of fury echoed through the forest. The man in the Camelot uniform who stood before her with the news of what he'd seen bowed his head in fear and took a step back.

The white dragon, Aithusa, standing but a few feet behind Morgana, flinched at the sound.

Morgana shrieked again. In her mind she pictured the druid she'd tortured for information and wished she had kept him alive so that she could kill him again slowly and painfully. He'd lied to her. Made a fool of her. The slug had been hard to find. The creatures were now almost entirely extinct, after Uther's great purge of twenty years ago. She'd wasted it on Arthur's useless manservant and Emrys was alive and well and still in command of all his magic.

She turned to the man still standing before her, his shoulders slumped forward. For an instant she thought she might kill him instead, imagining it was the druid in her hands. She felt a powerful hate rise against the druids and their stubborn loyalty to their Emrys. Her eyes narrowed in to slits as another idea came to her.

"I have another task for you," she said and gave him his instructions.

As the man left, Morgana brooded. Perhaps going after Emrys had been the wrong approach. She would try something else. Emrys was powerful, but he couldn't possibly have eyes at the back of his head. She'd thought once of capturing Guinevere and turning her mind against Arthur with the help of the mandrake root. She would have been a great assassin, right at the heart of Camelot. That plan never came to fruition since she'd never gotten the opportunity to capture Guinevere.

But there was someone else whom Arthur trusted, close to him, and best of all, a druid.