Chapter 2

When Arthur enters the Physician's Chambers, he finds Merlin and Gaius sitting at the cluttered table in the center of the room. They are hunched over a beat-up tome, whispering softly to one another and occasionally pointing to a specific line of text. Arthur watches for a moment with a fond smile before deciding to announce himself with a light cough.

Merlin's head whips up and a grin tugs at his lips as he sees who is standing in the doorway. Arthur chuckles and steps into the room fully, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.

"Arthur!" Merlin exclaims, earning an exasperated sigh from the old man seated next to him.

Gaius looks up at the Crowned Prince, uttering a much more respectful "Sire" in greeting. Arthur nods in recognition.

"So, what are you two reading?" Arthur asks curiously, walking over to the table and stooping down slightly to look over Merlin's shoulder. The text on the page is neatly written and surrounded by small, intricate drawings and diagrams. There are notes scrawled in a different hand in the margins and a few sentences have been neatly underlined.

"Ah, yes; This is a book that outlines the basic principles and history of magic. It is actually why I requested this meeting." Gaius says, gesturing for Arthur to take a seat at the other side of the table.

"What do you mean?"

Merlin snorts at Arthur's question before explaining. "Well, if you're going to legalize magic, you need to at least have a basic understanding of the subject. Otherwise, no one will listen to a word you say and you'll inevitably be run out of Camelot due to rumours of insanity."

Arthur huffs lightly, rolling his eyes despite his agreement. "Fair point." Merlin chuckles, his eyes filled with mirth as he slides the book across the table. Arthur grabs it once it is within reach and flips it around so he can read it. His eyes flit across the page. "So, where do we start?"

Gaius smirks darkly as he reaches his hand across the table and flips back to the first page of the book.

"The very beginning."

Meanwhile, Uther Pendragon is seated at the desk in his bedchambers. His right hand is fisted underneath his chin while in his left hand he holds an unused quill. There is a blank piece of parchment on the table in front of him.

The King of Camelot finds his thoughts drawn to his son and the failure of his plan to annihilate the Druids. He knows that there is only one way the group of magic users could have known about the attack: There is a traitor in his Court. It must be someone who is privy to all information regarding his plans. Someone who no one would bat an eye at if they were present during an important council meeting. Once again, his mind drifts back to Arthur. The young Prince's behavior as of late has been concerning, to say the least. He seems to be more thoughtful and outspoken, which does not bode well for the young man's innocence concerning this matter. As much as Uther wishes that he could refuse his observations, he cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the "coincidences" that have lately been occurring. That, and the fact that Arthur seems to be less than pleased with Uther's plans for the Druids. This is something that the King must consider carefully. He has no wish to condemn his son. However, if it does come to that, then he will not hesitate to uphold the law.

"There are ten main types, or branches, of magic: Sidhe Magic, Troll Magic, Magic of the Old Religion, Dragonlord Magic, Seer Magic, Elemental Magic, Time Magic, Goblin Magic, and Dark Magic. Although, it is often wondered whether Dark Magic and Dragonlord Magic should be included within the main branches, since Dragonlord magic is technically a subset of the Magic of the Old Religion, and 'Dark Magic' is basically just a group of spells that are usually cast with ill intent, and not inherently 'dark' in the first place."

Merlin and Gaius have been taking turns lecturing Arthur for about thirty minutes, and they are only just getting to something exciting. If it wasn't for Arthur's intense training in the art of staying awake during unbelievably boring council meetings, he would be absolutely doomed. As it is, he has managed to maintain a state of consciousness for long enough to get to the part of magic he is truly interested in.

"Wait, there are different types of magic?"

Merlin sighs explosively at Arthur's question, his exasperation clearly shown through the slumping of his shoulders and the way he lets his head fall backward. He receives nothing but a sharp jab in the ribs for his efforts. Merlin winces in pain and looks up at Gaius, the traitor, with sad puppy-dog eyes. Gaius is unphased, merely combating his ward's expression with the dreaded Eyebrow of Doom. Merlin pouts, but replies to Arthur's query before he is caused even more pain.

"I just said that, didn't I?" Merlin says deliberately, his tone airy. The Warlock rolls his eyes at his friend's indignant grumbling before actually explaining. "Yes; The different branches of Magic are usually distinguished by the race that uses it. For example, Sidhe Magic is mostly used by the Sidhe, and Troll Magic is mostly used by Trolls. There are some exceptions, like me, but even in my case it is much more difficult to cast spells in another race's branch of magic than it is to cast in one's own. The branch of magic that I mainly use is the Magic of the Old Religion, which is the branch of magic used by human sorcerers.

"Certain types of magic are also spoken in different tongues and will cause the caster's irises to flash different colours."

"Huh." Arthur is at a loss for words, slightly overwhelmed at the vast sea of information he has been presented with over the past few weeks.

Gaius laughs, taking pity on the Prince. "I think that's enough for one day. We wouldn't want to overwhelm the poor boy." The old Physician leans over to grab the book that Arthur had been using to follow along, handing it off to Merlin.

Arthur shakes himself out of his daze, looking over at Merlin just in time to see his cerulean irises flash a brilliant gold. The air around the tome shimmers and suddenly the book's appearance has completely changed. The worn out cover has been replaced with a shiny red one that has glittering words etched in loopy golden script written across it. The edges of the pages are no longer frayed and the binding looks to be in perfect condition.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Arthur mumbles, his eyes wide.

"Good." Merlin states with a laugh as he walks over to the shocked Prince and places the book in his hands. "Here. Homework."

"What?" Arthur gasps, affronted at the thought.

"Yep." Merlin says. "Have fun." With a grin and a cheeky wave, Merlin swiftly collects his jacket and exits the room.

'Wait, Merlin-" Whatever complaint Arthur had been ready to voice is cut off by the click of the door's latch. Arthur turns his gaze to Gaius, quickly shutting his gaping mouth as he takes in the old man's expression. The Physician is once again sporting "The Eyebrow" and Arthur's face pales at the implications. "Yes. Homework." He says slowly, hoping to placate his elder.

What can he say? Arthur may be an idiot (according to Merlin), but he is no fool. And even he isn't too proud to admit that Gaius is a force to be reckoned with when he decides to be. Say what you will about the man, but he is an expert in the field of being subtly terrifying.

A/N: I used the Merlin Wiki Fandom to find the information in this chapter. It's the sight I tend to use for fanfiction writing in general, so most of the information I put in this story will come from that site.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Not really much going on, but I'm mostly trying to figure out where I want to take this. I know how I want it to end, and there are some key events that I know I want to happen, but I'm not yet sure how to get there, so writing filler stuff helps me develop that storyline and get the flow going.

Thank you for reading! As always, comments are more than welcome!

Much Love,

Raven_Grey2107