"What happened with Rual? Why did the knights attack you like that?"
"Well, Merlin. Rual was a shade."
"Merlin reacted quickly. "I might not know much about magic," he said smoothly, "But doesn't something like that require a powerful sorcerer? I've only seen you, so…"
"The old ways aren't all gone. And anyway, the last priestess might have been the last remnant of the old religion, but that can't take magic out of the world, just make it so there's no one that knows how to use it."
"Conjuring a shade is a different matter."
Her eyes narrowed. "Common folk of Camelot don't know what a shade is. What do you know about necromancy?"
He eyed her down, "I know it's been used against the King of Camelot multiple times," he said, "Give me this." He bristled and took her plate. She turned in her seat.
She grunted, "Sounds about right," she said in a low tone.
Merlin didn't see it, but she gave her father a swift look. Merlin met Breachan face to face as he emerged into the kitchen and backed Merlin into a seat beside him. He took the plate to a washtub.
Merlin shrank awkwardly as Gwendolen pursed her lips and prepared him a plate.
"I don't understand this."
"Your position is a formality. You're in a family house. Yes, you'll do chores, but you're not lesser."
Breachan slid in beside. "If you run, I'll kill you."
"Oh," said Merlin. "That's fine." Merlin took the bread and forced it down. He wanted nothing more than to get away from them. He started when he saw drawers and buckets moving behind. The dishes floated and washed themselves. A cloth dragged along a surface above in the shelves and cupboards and wiped away a fine layer of dust. Merlin trailed it with his eyes.
There was almost a muffle around his ears. It was like he couldn't hear anything else happening in the room. Finally, he blurted. "Is this the way you use magic?"
Merlin still had a fork in hand. His fingers had gone motionless. A swallow and a gulp later, he noticed their strange looks. It was one like the air had been sucked from the room.
"Merlin here is the Dragon Lord at Avalon Gate Castle. He's already saved my life twice, and he seems to have come from Camelot. He might be the Last Dragon Lord on Earth." The lashes on this girl fluttered timidly, but she didn't quite look up at Breachan.
Breachan's now penetrating gaze fell sturdily on Merlin. "Get up," he said. The older man drew a cloak around Merlin forcefully and pushed him outside. The air whipped around them harshly and rushed the room with fallen snow.
"Why are you asking questions like that?" he said.
Merlin backed away. The firm grip kept him from going far.
"Are you afraid of us using magic for evil in our own house?"
"No," Merlin threw him. "I know other than that."
"I know you know other than that," said Breachan coldly. "Get to the tree line. Now."
"Father, isn't this too much? He's helped me more than the others have already. He's already sworn oath." She appeared from above the hill at the turn of the trees. The pines shuttered the floor from the snow with a canopy so thick no white reached the floor. The forest was in true darkness under the cloak of the storm.
"The others tried to kill you," said Breachan.
She pumped her eyebrows and shrugged slightly as if to say, 'That's true.'
Merlin stumbled to the ground on a rock, and when he rolled around, he was sure the old sorcerer would kill him so much he had his arm up. Breachan didn't notice because by the time Merlin moved, he had his arm and Merlin gasped as he twisted it toward the trees.
"Get OfF. Get — HELP!" Merlin viscerally screamed.
He could tell he'd elicited quite a shock from them, but he couldn't help it.
He recoiled away and stumbled forward, but that didn't free him. The forest burst with a white light. There were slow cracks, flames climbed the trunks and snow fell in dramatic swoops. The queen's father had skillfully kept a grip on Merlin's hand and kept it directed safely away. Merlin hadn't had time to take in what happened yet, and swallowed, afraid to see their faces.
Breachan threw his arm aside.
Merlin trembled. Popping, cracking sounds filled the air. Limbs fell.
"He could have killed you at any time," ruffed Breachan. He shoved Merlin's cloak into her chest. "Vet your serving staff."
She blinked and stepped back at the scene of destruction. The snow put most of the flames out, but the damage, including broken over trees and fallen limbs, was overwhelming.
"You have magic?" she said, "and you protected Camelot?"
Merlin trembled and shoved past her. He followed Breachan to the house, ran up the stairs to the room he'd been given and threw himself onto the bed.
The room was silent for a long while.
Merlin sobbed, picked himself up, and sought his clothes. He didn't want to leave wearing these, but he grabbed a cloak, not wanting to freeze to death.
She knocked on the door.
"I don't know what you're doing here," said Merlin.
"Hmm. Could I come in, anyway?"
"You couldn't understand, so don't start asking questions," he said to the door.
Her tone surprised him.
"I'm not a child. You think I haven't lived this life? Always on the run, always pretending to be someone else?"
"—I didn't say you were."
"I've patiently thought you would see magic isn't sinister, and if you saw it, you would grow used to it. But now I see you've had it all along and you still recoil. Do you hate yourself?"
"I said I didn't hate it," Merlin said.
"Afraid versus hate."
"It doesn't matter. I'm leaving, just let me go."
She huffed a little, and murmured. "Merlin, you cannot go into the woods. And if you leave now –"
"—I'd survive."
She grimaced patiently. "You would become a very grave threat."
"You heard your father," he murmured coldly. "I could kill you at any time; you can't keep me here. No matter what your traditions are."
She matched his tone. "You don't seem to fare well with magic pathways," she offered. "You were ready to aid the people of the old ways a week ago, surely you have some ties. And you've been more than sensible with me."
Merlin shrugged away and opened the door. "That's because I have more sense than you."
He snatched his pack from the bed and watched her shudder with the ease of his magic. He relished the surprise, and when he brushed past, she let him.
Minutes later, Merlin made for the line of trees and threw every spell at the sliver of shining air that marked the gateway. He'd seen magical creatures use them. But it was no use. He had no knowledge of sihde magic. If he had, maybe Arthur would still be alive.
They watched with arms folded. They appeared to chat with each other.
She opened a small stable and pulled out a horse; it bobbed its head and trotted to him.
A few hours later, Merlin had exhausted himself, and he'd put on a display of ability for them. The enchanted horse predictably brought him back to the castle, and he shrugged off snow-dampened clothes.
Breachan offered him food without a word, but regarded him suspiciously. He later barraged Merlin with questions about his family, his home life, his education; and was strangely interested in the healing aspect of his time with Gaius, even if it was under a regime of enmity.
Merlin fell silent when it was questions of Morgana, and Arthur, and Uther. He would answer a few questions, then draw away.
Gwendolen hovered high above over the banisters.
Breachan's eyes followed Merlin's and flicked up to her. "What is the matter, lad? Are you embarrassed? That girl's been on the run in so many disguises it hardly matters what you acted in front of a King."
"-I never meant them any harm. King Arthur was meant by prophecy to return the old ways."
"—She can hear this too."
"—What I did for the King, I did for Albion. I did it for the people of Camelot, for innocent people. I've always hoped we could live in peace."
"—We."
Merlin turned away.
"You served the King faithfully. That is honorable."
"He wasn't what you think he was."
"Come off it, boy, I understand the nuance of rulership. The cruelest rulers have kind policy and the kindest have laws that raze and enslave their people into lives of forced labor, obligation and suffering. What you hoped for this king may strictly never have happened because he didn't have the right experience at the right time. Maybe he was not old enough."
"King Arthur is the Once and Future king. The Dragon Kilgarrah told me."
"Who else."
"The sorcerer and prophet, Taliesan. Gaius. The Druid Isildir. Is he not in Avalon? Is he not deserving of his place in the graves there?"
"—yes. But they are graves."
"I will protect him. As is my duty. Then he will rise and reunite the old ways."
"You could reunite the people with the old ways." He leaned back gracefully. "And if not. Not. It makes no difference."
He kept away from them. Merlin slipped away among their selection of dusty books and hid cross-legged behind a blanket. A draft pushed through the gaped floorboards.
Doing chores turned into seeing small acts of magic. A puff of wind through the dry grass as he watched the scenery after sitting from raking out muck from their little stable. Merlin instinctively followed it like a cat following the movement of brush from a rodent. She settled nearby.
In the night at dinner, water boiled itself after he added it to a pot. Fires started gently after he assembled wood. A spill from a knocked dish spun into a graceful ribbon and placed itself back into position.
"You can't use magic like this," he scolded her.
She smiled and shrugged. "Like what?"
She passed him.
Merlin frowned and bowed his head. Then he went back to stirring the dinner.
The next day, they sent a bird with a scroll. Merlin figured they were testing the safety of returning to a Kingdom that might not be theirs again. A few days there and it felt all his secrets had been ripped from him. And still they treated him no differently.
Gwendolen stayed cautiously away for a few days, and Merlin was struck with the horror that she heard everything. But he never knew what she thought.
They send birds to the castle at Avalon gate.
Merlin watched as they showed him how they used magic to be sure of the authenticity of Cardel's seal.
"They don't know that I wasn't coronated," said Gwendolen.
Merlin strode down the stair. "You weren't what?"
She looked up. Her father with her. The papers from the court were strewn out to see.
"Lad," said Breachan.
Merlin stepped forward. Thinking hard. "Well, we must keep it a secret. You and I can take her back. You can preside while she takes the oaths."
Both of their shoulders visibly dropped. They exchanged glances.
"Are you swearing loyalty, sorcerer?"
"I already have," said Merlin. "I'm the only one who has." Merlin pulled a page before his face.
"You're educated," said Breachan slowly.
He glanced at his daughter. "As good a plan as any."
He saddled his daughter on a white horse.
As they rode, Merlin lagged. She gave a whisper to his horse, and it seemed to follow of it own rule.
"Lo," called a man. He was short. And Merlin recognized him from an old quest with Arthur in a time before.
"You're taking a strange route, majesty."
"I thought you were loyal to Mab," said Gwendolen.
The dwarf bowed slightly and scoffed. "You insult me. Mab's entourage played their fun at my sister. I won't tell you more of what that means." His attention flicked to Merlin. "Oh, it's magic," he said.
"Yes," said Breachan.
"We've already figured that out," said Gwendolen.
"My greatest rides alone after her verification at Avalon. Where are your caravan?"
"Cut down. Some escaped, but none know who the traitor is."
"You need to return to the Goddess," said the dwarf. "My oath is taken, but not complete. Someone noble must verify it before the court, but they're all dead."
He turned. "Why not have your father say your oath is taken?"
"He wasn't present. The Court knows that. And I need the power of the Goddess."
The dwarf flashed a smile. "You need dear sorcerer to confirm it."
She glanced back at Merlin.
The dwarf stepped aside and let them pass, and the bridge swam with a veil of magic.
The gate opened, and Merlin did as he was told.
They reentered the glow, but the path didn't open ahead.
"What is it? What's wrong?" said Wen.
Her father steered his horse around. "The veil must be opened by the order of the Sidhe council of Elders."
Merlin leaned forward thoughtfully. He crossed his arms over the saddle of his horse. "My mentor, Gaius, said the Isle of the blessed was once a place of apples, similar to Avalon."
"If I were Queen, it would open for me. If It's like this and I don't have the power before the solstice, I may never have it. The Realm of the old ways will fall, and it'll just be wealth then. They'll kill me and pass it around, drinking themselves into dust."
"She doesn't share a warm word, then?"
Merlin slid off the horse.
"By the Goddess, what is he doing now?" said Breachan.
"Majesty."
Gwendolen grunted, slid from her horse and followed Merlin to a small well. It looked like a trickle of water. HE moved a few rocks. The moss parted. When the water picked up, he knew a sacred well was there.
"The High priestesses were bid to bathe in sacred wells."
She pulled her veil aside. This one was orange with a thread of veined gold. Merlin hadn't seen it before.
"How do you know so much about the old priestesses?" she asked.
She kept her clothes on and dropped into the revealed a flow of water as it sped quickly and rose around her. As soon as she touched it, the water rose from its old well-stones. Breachan stepped back, and the water swelled around their ankles.
She had Merlin help her out of the water. And when they looked up, the silver of the gap between two places shimmered. She smiled at Merlin and pushed through.
The veil only let her through, it stopped when Merlin's horse tried to follow.
Breachan moved beside Merlin. His voice was cold. "If you ever become a threat to the little queen, I promise you, I'll keep you alive."
Merlin figured out that wasn't a good thing in a single breath.
She emerged soaked again, as she had been. Breachan pulled a bare branch from a tree and held it to her.
There were no questions asked.
Her slim fingers clutched around it. "Alaþ."
It extended green and lush, and young green leaves sprouted from it. She had a glow to her like a broken spell.