The King sat at a long mahogany table with his advisors. Gaius stood at the entrance of the room, his face completely blank. To others, he would have appeared uninterested, especially considering the recent turn of events. However, Gaius was masking the fact that his list of problems seemed to be growing by the minute. He was barely listening to the speculation of the advisors, who were only at the point of discussing what had just happened, which was incredibly obvious: the Great Dragon had been released. He was considering the possible ramifications of this.

A powerful and ancient creature of the Old Religion who Uther had imprisoned for many years had just been set loose. There were going to be serious consequences for the people of Camelot. It was not a question of if the dragon would return to have his vengeance but when. And he would not just be satisfied with destroying Uther; he would destroy Uther's kingdom too. Gaius' dislike for Uther was standing in the way of possibly saving the people of Camelot. He needed to forget his anger for a moment and inform them all of the danger at hand.

Gaius cleared his throat. "My Lord."

Uther looked at Gaius, his face struggling to remain calm. Gaius felt a twinge of satisfaction. It was time that the King learned that his unjust actions could not go unpunished. "I believe that if you inform your advisors of what transpired twenty years ago then with that knowledge in our heads, we could go about creating a solution."

"A solution?" Uther said with contempt in his voice. "There is no need of one. What is the problem?" He dared Gaius to reveal what he knew with his eyes.

"My Lord, you should know that whoever aided the dragon may use this knowledge against Camelot." Gaius let this warning hang in the air, as the advisors turned towards the King, their faces painfully curious. They were intrigued as anyone was when there was the possibility of hearing about someone's skeletons in their closet, especially when that someone was meant to be far superior. "I know one as wise as you would not allow this to remain a secret much longer when the lives of your people are at stake." He chose his words carefully to trap Uther.

Uther pursed his mouth and grimaced. "Of course, Gaius," he said, giving his physician a look that would have had anyone else fleeing the room. The King cleared his throat. "Twenty years ago, during a time of the Great Purge, Camelot was a poisonous mess. It was teeming with sorcerers, witches and seers." He spat the last word. "There was also many strange and frightening creatures, the likes of which none of you will probably encounter in your lives. One of these vile creatures was a dragon. During the Great Purge, I had a Dragon Lord at my disposal, and I had him bring me it. I locked it away as a message to other magical beings who were thinking of entering Camelot: that they too would meet the same fate. Or worse."

One of Uther's advisors, a thin man with small black eyes and a lengthy beard, stuttered, "Is this the s-same dragon, Sire?" He turned pale with fright. "Then, if I may be so bold as to say...won't it come after Camelot for revenge?"

Gaius rolled his eyes as he listened to the King spin some tale about how there was 'no need for panic', when he heard the squeak of the door opening. A hand tugged on his robe and then disappeared. Gaius excused himself and quickly left the room. Outside in the corridor, he caught sight of another door closing and entered that room. "Merlin!" he exclaimed, as he saw the person who belonged to the hand. "What stupid things have you done in your absence?"

Surprisingly, it was Arthur who answered. "You should be a little more grateful to him, Gaius. After all, he did save Morgana's life."

"Morgana is alive?"

Arthur began drawing the curtains across the windows. "Yes." To Merlin, he said, "Could you lock the doors?"

His heart nearly stopped when he heard the locks snap shut as Merlin closed the doors with magic. Obviously the Prince had seen everything! Gaius gaped at Merlin, but he wasn't even paying attention, as he went to help Arthur draw the curtains. When the task was finished, they both turned to face Gaius. Merlin seemed bemused, of all things and he was horrified to see how lightly his apprentice was taking the fact that he had just revealed his secret. Merlin grinned his usual irritating smile at him, and Gaius felt very much out of the loop.

"Don't worry, Gaius. Arthur knows," Merlin said reassuringly.

"Arthur knows!" Gaius repeated, completely appalled.

"I couldn't keep it a secret anymore. I had to tell him so we can save Morgana from the Druids."

"Save Morgana from the Druids!"

"And Camelot's in danger, now that the Dragon will probably join them."

"The Dragon will join-" Gaius realised what he was doing and took a deep breath. I shouldn't have to deal with this at my age, he thought to himself. "You have a minute to tell me everything, Merlin."

He sat down at the table while Merlin told him the whole story, beginning with the day he had disappeared to the events that had happened minutes ago. All that Merlin explained would have sounded far-fetched but the problem was, everything fit into place, even taking into account Morgana's supposed death and Merlin's disappearance. Arthur began to corroborate his manservant's story. "That was why I had to leave. Because Guinevere and I were searching for Merlin, and when we couldn't find him in Camelot, I decided to search for him elsewhere." A strange look came into Arthur's eyes. "Excuse me for a moment."

Arthur unlocked the latch and swiftly slid out the door. Gaius looked at Merlin questioningly, and Merlin shrugged back and frowned. "How did Uther come capture the Dragon in the first place? I mean, I can't believe I never thought to ask. Would he really destroy Camelot just to get revenge on one man?"

"Dragons are vicious creatures when angered, Merlin. Quite like men, really. Our logic is overpowered by our wrath and we often do cruel and destructive things. A dragon is no different, except they have an increased capability to destroy things," Gaius said solemnly, falling back into a familiar style of conversation with Merlin. Merlin frequently performed feats of magic that amazed him, but the next day, Gaius would remember how little the young warlock actually knew. "If what you say is true, then I fear we are all doomed. Camelot's army can never match the combined might of a dragon and a race of people with magic in their blood."

It was no accident that he had neglected to answer Merlin's first question, of how the Great Dragon was imprisoned in Camelot. He felt that now was not the time, with tensions running high, to inform Merlin about how his father was the one responsible for capturing the dragon, because he didn't want to have his apprentice searching for Balinor. For all Gaius knew, Balinor could be dead. He couldn't give Merlin that false hope.
_

Arthur found Gwen clearing away the dust that was beginning to form on Morgana's possessions in her mistress' chamber. No one had entered since the day of Morgana's execution, not wanting to risk offending the King. Uther had not even bothered to claim her more valuable items, dismissing them as 'tainted'. The same day the King had said that, he had found Gwen weeping quietly on Morgana's bed, cradling a locket she had given her. Today, he rushed up to her and grabbed her hand. Gwen tugged away, surprised, but Arthur held fast. "Arthur, what are you, I mean-" she stammered. He had such an intense look in his eyes, something so joyful in them that she couldn't remember having seen that look in her life. Though it could have been because the last time she had seen him was so desolate and grim.

"I've got good news. Great news."

"You found Merlin?" she gasped and stopped trying to pull away, instead holding his hands tighter.

"I can do one better. Not only did I find Merlin, I found someone else?"

Confusion creased Gwen's brow. The only other person she knew that she had not spoken to or seen for a long while was Lancelot. Just thinking of him made her blush, but not with love but embarrassment that she had fostered affection for him for such a long time. On his travels he had probably happened upon a girl far prettier than herself and now they were most likely courting each other, if not wed. "Who?" she asked.

"Morgana," Arthur said, and smiled so beautifully she immediately accepted it as true, even though the logical, rational part of her replayed the scene of Morgana's execution. But those memories didn't match the smile on Arthur's face, and he would never lie to her about someone who meant the whole world to her. In a way, so many of the aspects of her life had been built around Morgana.

"What?" That was all she managed to say when she had stopped reeling. "Morgana's alive. I promise you Guinevere, I am telling the truth. See, Merlin saved her somehow and then they ran off, but I found him and they're both alive, but she's with some Druids..." Arthur stopped rambling as he watched her face. "We're still in some trouble, because they're coming to Camelot to attack us, but I know we can-" He was cut off by what happened next.

Gwen felt the misery that had been sinking over her ever since Uther had imprisoned Morgana lift off her with every word that Arthur said. True, Merlin had saved her best friend but Arthur had saved her. He had comforted her during her worst time and she wasn't at all sure that without Morgana she would have had a reason to do anything. Arthur had saved her, and so, he was her hero standing before her smiling triumphantly. And he was holding her hands, looking at her like she was some beautiful heroine in one of the books Morgana owned, not just a simple maid.

Completely sure of herself and what she was doing, she let go of his hands, flung her arms around his neck and on tiptoe, she kissed him.