-39-

"Does he know that they come true?" Ryll asked Morgana.

"No, I don't think so." She shook her head, flustered. "When he looks at you and starts firing questions, I don't remember what all I said."

"It's alright. Calm down and try to think clearly."

"He asked me about the sleep remedy Gaius prescribed me. He asked if the nightmares had gone away or gotten worse since I'd started taking it. I should have said they'd gone away, but I said they'd gotten worse. What if Gaius is executed because of me? The nightmares haven't gotten worse as a result of his remedy. They're just something he can't cure."

"It's alright. Gaius is innocent and we'll find a way to prove it."

"We'd better hurry. I caught a glimpse of him in the dungeons. He isn't looking well at all. I can't believe Uther would do this. Gaius is a trusted friend and Uther has just thrown this friendship away because of a silly bracelet."

"Ryll, Morgana," Arthur came around the corner. "You'd better come down to the throne room. Gaius is making a confession."

"What?" Morgana and Ryll exchanged a glance and then hurried after Arthur.

The court had been summoned again. Morgana took her place at Uther's left side while Ryll went to Merlin's side. He was pale and looked like he was about to break down. The Witchfinder entered with Gaius and some guards. He threw Gaius down on his knees in front of Uther. Ryll wanted to hurt the evil man, but she restrained herself, standing closer to Merlin so that their shoulders touched. She tried to seek some comfort from the contact. Gwen stood on Merlin's other side looking worried. She exchanged a glance with Ryll before turning her attention to the Witchfinder.

"Confess!" he shouted at Gaius who cowered.

"I...I am a sorcerer, Sire," Gaius started. There were gasps around the room. Merlin tensed beside Ryll. "I am responsible for conjuring the smoke. I'm guilty of practicing magic in Camelot."

Uther got to his feet, his grief and anger vivid on his face. "You've betrayed me, Gaius. Betrayed your friends. And above all, you've betrayed yourself. By the laws of Camelot, I must sentence you to death," he paused before saying the last word of the sentence, turning away as if he couldn't bear to face Gaius.

"The sorcerer will be purged of his magic by means of fire! He shall be burnt at the stake tomorrow at dawn! Bear witness and heed this lesson!" the Witchfinder yelled to the room.

Ryll took a step forward fully intending to punch him but Merlin was ahead of her. "You're a liar!" he shouted as Gaius was dragged from the room. The Witchfinder turned his eyes to Merlin, amusement dancing in them.

Before anyone else could say anything, Arthur came forward, catching Merlin firmly and dragging him from the room. "You're a liar!" Merlin repeated, shouting at the Witchfinder.

"Guards!" Uther shouted.

"I'll take care of this," Arthur said to the guards, hauling Merlin from the room. Ryll stood, glued to the spot.

"This is awful," Gwen said from beside her. "I know Gaius is innocent. Why would he confess?"

"He's protecting someone," Ryll said.

"Who?"

"I'm not sure. I can't think of anyone who's ever shown any signs of magic. Whoever it is, I'm sure they never meant for this to get so far. I mean conjuring a smoke horse isn't exactly murder."

"You're right, but I'm afraid Uther doesn't see it that way," Gwen said, her voice hushed. "I should attend to Morgana. This whole thing has really upset her."

"I'll go see if Merlin is in the physician's quarters. I'm sure he's beside himself. Gaius is like a father to him."

"I'll see you later then."

…

Ryll waited for Merlin in the physician's quarters. Things were still a bit of a mess from the search. This angered Ryll. They couldn't even respect Gaius and Merlin's belongings. She picked up a broken piece of pottery. A crazy thought caught in her head. She held the broken piece in her palm and squeezed her fist around it. She hissed in a breath when the shard cut her palm and opened her hand to find blood. She set down the piece of pottery and looked down at the wound. This time she didn't try to heal it; she simply shut her eyes and relaxed. When she looked down the wounds were healed. Only the traces of blood left indicated that there had ever been an injury.

"Ryll?" Merlin's voice came from the doorway. He saw the blood on her hand and rushed forward. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. There's no injury if that's what you're looking for." She looked up at him. "Merlin, I've got my healing powers back."

He gaped at her. "Are you sure?"

She laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, I'm sure." She held out her hand and Merlin took it, examining the blood.

"That's not all. Today in the market, I healed a girl."

"You what?" Merlin asked. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"I didn't mean to! I was just going to staunch the bleeding but then I healed it somehow. Why would my powers come back how when it's most dangerous?"

"Maybe your fear of being exposed has brought out your powers," he suggested.

"That's backwards."

"It might not make sense but sometimes fear brings out powers, parts of us we didn't even know existed... You have to be careful. The Witchfinder must never know of your ability."

"I'm not about to shout it out to the world," she said more snippily than she meant to.

Merlin frowned. "I know you're not."

"What are we going to do about all this? The Witchfinder's presence in Camelot is going to be the end of a lot of innocent people."

"We can't let that happen."

As they contemplated the issue in silence, Gwen rushed into the room looking harried. "Merlin, he won't stop!" she said.

"What happened?" Merlin asked.

"The Witchfinder's questioning Morgana again," Gwen told them.

"What! Why?" Ryll asked.

"I don't know but I'm worried about her. She's so close to breaking."

"That's what he does," Merlin said. "He breaks people down until they confess whether they're guilty or not."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked.

"Gaius was set up. Aredian planted that amulet."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Gwen asked.

"Because he gets paid to catch sorcerers," Ryll put in. "He doesn't care whether they're innocent or not, just as long as he gets a bag of gold at the end of the day."

"Even if this is true, what can we do?" Gwen asked. "Without proof we have nothing."

"Then we find some proof," Merlin said.

"How?" Ryll looked at him. "Break into Aredian's room?"

"That's a start."

"I can distract him," Ryll said.

"No, I don't want you calling attention to yourself," Merlin told her.

"I have to do something!"

"Go see if Morgana is alright," he told her. "She's bound to be shaken."

Ryll felt rejection at the request. She was more than capable of handling herself; why wouldn't Merlin let her distract the Witchfinder? It wasn't as if she was going to give herself away. Instead of fighting over it, she made her way up to Morgana's room knocking lightly. "Morgana, it's me," she called when she didn't hear a reply at once. There was a pause and then the door opened. Morgana was looking terrified. She let Ryll in wordlessly.

"Gwen told us you'd been interrogated again. Was it awful?" Ryll asked, sitting next to Morgana on the bed.

"I was so afraid he'd guess my secret. He thinks Gaius's remedy caused me to have hallucinations. He thinks I've been tainted by magic."

"Hallucinations…" Ryll thought for a moment. "Morgana! What if the Witchfinder somehow made those girls have hallucinations?"

"But how?"

"I'm not sure. He was insistent that they had actually seen such things but if he caused them to then he wouldn't have to risk them knowing that he was behind it. It's easier to make people believe something is true by making them see it rather than telling them what to say."

"We have no way to prove that though."

"Merlin is searching his room now. He'll find something."

"He's searching the Witchfinder's room?" Morgana asked. "But he was headed back there after interrogating me!"

"What?" Ryll leapt to her feet. "I've got to go warn him!" She rushed from the room down to where the Witchfinder's room was. She reached the room just as he was leaving it. "Oh!" she said. "I-uh-had something I wanted to tell you."

"And what's that?"

"I just wanted to say that Morgana is innocent in all this. She's the king's ward. I wouldn't try telling Uther that she's corrupted by magic. Gaius's remedies were to help her sleep, merely an herbal remedy. I've seen them mixed before. There is nothing that would cause the dreams to worsen."

"You seem to think everyone is innocent. I suppose you'd rather I just left without arresting anyone."

"I think I would know if a dangerous sorcerer were walking around. We've had no trouble from inside Camelot's walls," she insisted.

"Have you taken this remedy to help you sleep as well? Do you too suffer from nightmares?"

"My parents died when I was very young. What do you think? Some memories never fade."

"Well, I must attend to my prisoner. Now that he's cracked, I need to find out what other sorcerers might be lurking about. It's time to purge Camelot of all its darkness." He swept off and Ryll leaned against the wall outside the door. If this did not end soon half of Camelot would end up burnt at the stake.

The door opened and she jumped. "Ryll! I told you not to come," Merlin said when he saw her.

"Morgana said the Witchfinder was headed back to his room. I was afraid he'd catch you!" she told him.

"Well he didn't."

"Did you find anything?" Ryll asked, trying to brush aside Merlin's hostile tone.

"Just this." Merlin held out the leaves of a plant. "I'm going to see if I can find out what it is and what it does."

"Do you need help?" Ryll asked.

"Gwen can help. You should get some rest."

"Why? I want to help. The sooner this man is gone, the better." Merlin eyed her warily for a moment. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You've been acting strangely. Is it because I have magic?" she asked quietly.

Merlin looked around frantically. "Don't say that out loud!" he said angrily.

"I'm sorry! It never bothered you before."

"I don't care whether you have magic or not," Merlin said. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I won't. I'm not going to use my power," she assured him. "My mother had to have been a very powerful sorceress to be able to bind the wraith to the ring and put that kind of power into it. I'm not that powerful. Maybe this is just residual power. I don't know what I can or can't do but I'm not about to start testing it right now."

"Good. It's late. Let Gwen and me do the searching."

"How can I sleep knowing Gaius is to be burnt at the stake tomorrow at dawn? Three people will make this go quicker."

"Trust me," Merlin said. "You've been through a lot today."

"You're being overprotective," Ryll accused.

"Didn't we have an agreement?" Merlin asked her. "You said you would let me take care of you from time to time, and that's what I'm doing now."

Ryll was about to argue but something in Merlin's eyes made her stop. "Alright," she said. "I'll try to get some rest but you should wake me up the moment you know anything."

"I will," he promised. He walked her to her door and then headed back down to the physician's quarters, plant in hand. Ryll watched him go feeling more helpless than ever. She entered her room and lay down without changing out of her dress.

…

That night she dreamt of her mother. She was standing there, a mirror image of Ryll with golden hair that flowed down to her waist and blue eyes that sparkled in the light. Her smile was a light of its own and it brought happiness into Ryll's heart just to see it.

"My child," she said, taking a step toward Ryll. They were standing in a room where the sunlight poured in like golden rain, sparkling with the dust in the air. "Amaryllis."

"Are you really here?" Ryll asked. "Am I really here?"

"Here, there… you're really speaking to me but there is no here or there when you are dreaming. I have come to you tonight because you have awakened your powers. I sensed that you needed my help."

"I don't know what to think. Am I a sorceress like you?"

"It is true that magic can be passed down through blood I think that this is not the case, however. When the ring was destroyed, the power lost its anchor. It reached out and latched onto the closest living object it could find. You."

"What does that mean?" Ryll asked.

"It means that the magic is not eternal. The more you use it the faster you use it up. It will not last forever. You must save it for when the need it greatest."

"How will I know when that is?"

"You will know. You have a destiny beyond anything you've ever dreamed of," she told Ryll. "You will know when the time comes and you will be brave. I have seen it."

"You can't tell me more?" Ryll asked hopefully.

"If I were to tell you more then the fabric of reality would be torn. You must not know too much about your future."

"Can you help me now with the Witchfinder?"

"He will not find you, my child. Keep your powers to yourself."

"I will." Her mother began to fade. Ryll reached out to her. "Will I see you again?" she asked.

"Call and I will answer," her mother told her. "But now I must go. I cannot stay too long in the world between. Stay safe, my child."

...

Ryll awoke with a start, her heart feeling warmer than it had in the last few days. For the first time in a long time she felt unafraid of her powers. She resettled herself and fell back asleep, this time sleeping straight until dawn.