chapter one!
001. destiny's beginning

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HER FAVOURITE memories were early summer mornings. As the sun rose over the mountains in the distance, casting golden glows across pastures, slopes and treetops, it stretched far towards the stone foundations of Camelot. Midas' fingertips would touch the wooden thresholds of the Lower Town, rise over modest homes, taverns, inns, the markets and the commoners' blacksmith's forge until it reached the drawbridge▬and then she'd watch it pass through into the Upper Town where rigid stables warmed up at their straw floors, brightened the homes of rich merchants and high-classed commoners, and finally broke through into the strong facade of the glamorous castle. The golden sun soaked into the stone and she'd feel it with bare feet and her fingers spread out against the window casings. She knew the part of the castle that warmed up the first▬where she could see the mornings passageway out of night to wake up the roosters, glare into the early risers before a day of work, and finally reach the beds of those who could sleep in; she saw and watched it all with a soft smile upon her lips, never feeling so fortunate and at peace than a warm spring morning.

People came to Camelot to achieve dreams. They searched for the destiny of a stable life▬a job, a family, a future safe in fortress walls that protected them from the dangers pass the forest. Safe from bandits, slave traders and famine▬but most of all, safe from the evils of dark magic that still tainted the lands beyond that of Camelot after the Great Purge twenty years ago. They arrived with innocent, rose-coloured eyes that saw a life that could only be better than they've ever experienced. The footsteps of young minds with bright hopes and love filled the cobblestone streets, inhabited the rooms of the inns and brightened the days with bright blue skies. She loved Camelot for its people, for its beauty, for its possibilities.

She loved the view from the window. Ever since she was a young child and her mother would hoist her up onto her hip in the early mornings before she was to set off to work to show her this exact view.

"See the way the sun rises over the shadows?" she would say, kissing her young daughters cheek. "When all else is dark, there is always the morning to show you the way▬to give back all that is lost, to return the beauty of the day. That beauty is true wealth, Odette▬just like you."

She was always positive in the face of misery, her mother. Even as she lied on her death bed, barely able to breathe▬shivering under rat-eaten fleece blankets with feverish cheeks, she had smiled at Odette as if there was nothing more wonderful than seeing her daughters face. She told her she brought her the greatest gift in the world the day she had found her in that storm, and never once did Ivette Mason feel a breath of anguish when her chosen flesh and blood was near. She was her own little rabbit foot, her own riches, her own purpose that meant more than scrubbing stone floors for the rest of her life. And it was that which gave Odette her hopeful nature▬her own breath of golden sunlight, to be taught that there was always something to smile about, always beauty even in the darkest of shadows.

There will always be a way to watch the sunrise.

Odette woke up each morning in time to see the golden rise like soft bread in the wood oven to remind herself of that; again and again. She often wondered whether the sun knew her like an old friend, because she felt like she knew it. She whispered his name, and she often heard the wind of the morning whisper back hers. The only one to ever say it these days; to know it true, like the back of its hand. Odette, it greeted before anyone else. It's a new day, Odette.

"You▬girl."

Her eyes briefly fluttered closed, sighing through her nose with a soft exasperation as her peaceful conversation with the sunlit glow came to an end. Odette took a deep breath and glanced around with the brilliant eyes of a sunlight in itself, blazing like the reflection of a sunrise. Porcelain skin glowing with the copper of a warm fire was framed by gentle pieces of gentle blonde hair that couldn't be contained in the twist knotted together with a strand of fabric in the centre of her head. If her lips weren't chapped, and her nose not scuffed with the ash of firewood from the kitchens; if she wasn't dressed in an ill-fitting woollen tunic that itched at her skin with a tunic slip thrown over and tied loosely at the waist, dirty even after she washed it, one might see past the look of a serving girl and see a beauty that matched the glorious aureate morning. But no one saw through the dull, coarse sleeves of her dress to even guess the name she was given, let alone take a breathless moment to gaze upon her beauty.

Odette hung her gaze low at the presence of a knight. Fiddling with the rope belt that settled against her stomach, she risked a gaze upwards to glimpse him in his glorious scarlet robes with the proud crest of the royal family: a golden dragon that produced the want of bravery even at the mere glance. He frowned at her with a gaze that she supposed was meant to be regal, but ruffled her as something more obnoxious.

She knew him as the third son of Lord Westerlin: Owain▬young and with eyes bright with a naive arrogance over just winning his title of knighthood in the bravest, strongest and most prestigious league of noble soldiers. Odette often changed his mother's bed sheets.

He quirked a slight amused smile▬she wondered what was so comical in seeing a servant in her own clothes, but it was a smile so many wore.

Odette held a high regard for the knighthood of Camelot, but she held little regard for some (or very few) within its ranks.

"What business do you have here?" Owain of Westerlin questioned. He nodded to the basket of bedsheets she had set aside to watch the morning grow. "Should you have somewhere to be, handmaiden?" He snorted to himself softly and Odette pursed her lips, not daring to say a word. "Though I believe the kitchens are on the other end of the castle, are they not?"

She chewed her bottom lip, glancing down and quickly rushing over to pick up the bedsheets. She held them clumsily to her hip, not enjoying the gaze she felt burn onto her back by the young knight. "They're for the Lady Morgana," she muttered softly. "I should be heading over."

Odette bowed her head and went to move past, having grown quite a talent in keeping to herself and not letting any trouble grave her▬but when Owain just stepped in front of her, she knew her morning was not going to run smoothy.

"Oh, not too fast," he stated and she stopped in her tracks. Odette took another long breath through her nose, keeping herself calm. She twisted her grip on the handles of her woven basket. Owain clasped his hands behind his back, leaning down close to her in with a crest of nobility on his chest that did not reflect the taunting frown upon his youthful face. "Surely if you find the time to daydream out the windows you mustn't be in a rush?" Odette bit her tongue, not meeting his gaze. When she said nothing, Sir Owain arched a brow, "Are you in a rush?"

Sighing to herself with a slump of her shoulders, Odette closed her eyes and silently shook her head. The smile that grew upon the knight's lips was not genuine▬it was sly, like the grin upon a snake. "Then there is no trouble to the beautiful Lady Morgana if I have you fetch my breakfast from the kitchens? A day's training is best started with a platter of fruit, bread and cheese, don't you think?"

Odette pursed her lips. Feeling the rise up her chest, she took a moment to focus upon the glow streaming through the next window, casting pillars of light into the castle corridor. She let out her breath, replacing her festering annoyance with a gentle nod, "No trouble at all, Sir Owain."

Polite and submissive, Odette swept around the knight and started her way back in the directions of the kitchen. Her skirts shuffled around her woollen stockings and leather slippers▬she didn't see the foot that brushed out in front of her before it was too late, and she gasped as her knees struck the stone; her basket with the Lady Morgana's clean sheets that she spent last night cleaning and drying rolled out onto the ground.

She sprang forth to try and grab them before they got dirty in the cracks of the castle floor▬to catch before her perfect folding was ruined, but it was too late. Odette watched, defeated as her late night work was sprawled out in front of her.

Sir Owain chuckled, standing over her and watching▬grinning as she struggled to fix herself. When she got close to reaching the small pillows she had gathered to try and help her mistress sleep comfortably, he just kicked them away further.

She set her jaw. Keep quiet, she told herself: a mantra she knew all too well. Keep your head down.

"No rush," said the noble knight again, chuckling▬if not a bit amazed at how obedient this small, frail servant girl was. "I would say those sheets are in need of cleaning▬can't give the King's Ward dirty sheets now, can we?"

"No, Sir," she whispered, freezing as she heard him crouch down next to her. Odette eyed the green-boy out of the corner of her gaze, breath hitched as she felt his fingers reach out and brush one of her stray blonde waves. Her hands clenched tighter around her basket, drawing it closer to keep herself from doing something she knew she'd later regret.

"Hmm," he hummed, amusement faltering for a second as he let her curl drop from his fingers▬he watched it gently fall to settle against her cheeks. "You may be a serving girl, but God sure has blessed you with the hair of a princess."

Odette's stomach churned as she eyed the knight's glance with warning. He smiled at her, belief in a compliment she should be grateful to hear▬for what handmaiden would ever be called pretty by a knight? She found no compliment in his words whatsoever, knowing its true intentions like a steel blade digging into her chest, striking fear where she knelt.

But then, out of nowhere, he stood back up. "Of to your business, handmaiden," Odette's brows furrowed at his distance gaze towards something at the end of the corridor. "If I catch you daydreaming again, I will not hesitate before telling the Lady Morgana that her needs are not your priority▬she can do what she wishes with you, then."

"Yes, Sir Owain," she bowed her head as he prepared to pass, "thank you."

He gave her a final glance▬then at what lied down the corridor▬before continuing on his way. Odette believed he even forgot about his want for an extravagant breakfast. When she was sure she'd be okay to mind her own business, she sighed out with relief. Then, like many times before, Odette worked to fold the sheets again from her bruised knees▬more invisible than a ghoul.

When she heard footsteps yet again, she clenched her teeth, expecting to face another passing lord or lady who'd find their day brightened by her misfortune. But as soon as the person knelt down to help her, she didn't settle her tense shoulders, but hid the slight relief she held when she recognised the embroidered cuffs of the young man's doublet.

     Now, she understood Sir Owain's and haste to leave her.

He must've been in the halls for no other reason than to have been called for a hunt, training, or possibly just to provide company. Though, these days, Odette Mason knew little of what Lord Ronyn Vecentia did to entertain himself. She glanced at the expensive doublet belonging to a boy who was given his title not even at nineteen; merely two years since his late father died in battle. He wore the crest of a pair of crossed swords in front of a cluster of wheat well▬regal and with confidence; well-kept and well-presented. Ronyn had always been handsome since the moment he could be deemed so. His features were sharp; chiselled as if from stone by an artist who seemed to understand the beauty prised by the everyman, making Ronyn the envy of many and the gaze upon which eyes always liked to follow. Gorgeous hazel eyes, ruffled brown hair, olive skin and the perfect sense of humour to accompany his looks.

Ronyn folded over one of Morgana's sheets and passed it to Odette, who said not a word as she took it back, setting it in her basket with words of bitterness chewed back down her throat. She▬of course▬didn't blame him for pushing himself away. But even a fourteen-year-old young girl couldn't handle being ignored by her childhood best friend when she lost everything; her mother, her security, her home within the safety of the Vecentia Household. Now seventeen, she still held gritted teeth whenever she saw him; it disguised her grief to know that she was nothing but a sympathy to him▬someone to help because he felt bad over what happened, but never tried to do anything about it.

The two childhood friends shared a glance before Odette murmured, "I appreciate your kindness, My Lord, but I do not need aid in folding my mistresses bedsheets."

"Odette," he said, pained but with little effort to stop her as she dragged the rest of the sheets into her basket. She stood back up and he followed her, looming tall, but she had always been small in comparison.

"If you'll excuse me, My Lord," she ducked around him, not wanting to find herself anywhere close to him more than she'd like▬it hurt too much. "I have to go and rewash these bedsheets before the Lady Morgana wakes up."

Ronyn sighed, clenching his jaw as well when she left him. But he did not make any move to stop or follow her, just letting the fissure between them grow▬even if it pained him more than he'd ever admit.

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THE KITCHENS brought Odette a sense of comfort. Unlike other servants who walked these castle walls that often cursed their jobs, and cursed this place with its hoarded workers making food, cleaning and drying clothes, polishing boots and tending to bruises▬whether they'd be from strikes by hand or working too hard, Odette welcomed this dusty old room at the base of the castle with a breath of luck and familiarity. It was here that she had been found just outside the servants' door. It was here that she had been found and brought to safety, otherwise she'd perish in the terror of the storm. It was a place she has been given food, a place to which she always found comfort and warmth of the wood oven▬a place she could always go back to that gave her a sense of beginning; of roots to a past.

A place that reminded her of the woman that took her in and became the only family she's ever known.

She hung up the Lady Morgana's sheets for the second time over the thread that strung across the kitchen from one wall to another. They were heavy with water, and it was effort to tug it over the other side and straighten it out. Her hands smelt like soap, and the tunic slip she wore drenched, but she worked through it▬as she always has▬to get everything up to dry before her mistress woke.

Odette was grateful to be working for the Lady Morgana. Most mistresses weren't as kind and as gentle as her. Most would see a lost fourteen year old girl and cast her away, instead of accepting her as her second handmaiden and choosing to behold a friendship. But perhaps she felt empathy towards a young girl who lost the only family she's ever had▬who became what she started as: an orphan, just like the Lady Morgana le Fay was herself.

She owed a great deal to the King's Ward.

Finished with hanging her wet bedsheets, Odette took a step back, sighing out a breath of content▬she propped her hands on her hips, welcoming a moment of rest so early in the morning.

The sound of the drums outside told her what time it was. A chill settled upon the warmth of the kitchens, making Odette's arms fall loose against her sides. They echoed a walking tempo; a march that meant one thing, and one thing only: an execution.

Her feet travelled to the servants' door. Odette carefully opened it to step outside, met with the fresh wind of the morning▬but while the sun brought down a bright and hopeful day, the gathering in the castle courtyard did not.

Most of those who had heard the drums had come to witness to death of a magic user▬some might've even arrived early enough to have a front row seat to the death of a man who's crime might've been the simple enchantment of a blooming flower, or the whispers of dark magic, but either▬if caught▬were the judgement of treason under the kings eye, and all lead to albeit one destination.

Odette could see enough through the gaps of everyone's shoulders towards the execution block set upon a stand of wood▬high enough to be the sight of any that passed: a sight to behold of blood, sharp steal and the hooded mask of an executioner. She watched the man be led out of the shadow of the stone columns; barefooted and in nothing but rags, the sorcerer stumbled along to the marching tone of his death, handled roughly by guards on each side.

She had a perfect view of his face▬solemn, but blank, as if he accepted no other end than this: no more hope.

But the man that held the most perfect view of them all was the King. He stood above his people on a parapet marked with red Pendragon flags. Flanked by his Knights, King Uther Pendragon donned a cape just as red as his flags▬no longer stained with the victory of courage, but instead with the blood of his victims upon which his hatred had ensued. A King must always look regal, and Uther never disappointed▬adorned in riches around his neck and a besotted crown upon his greying hair. The harsh brow he always held; like it was etched into stone was something Odette both feared and sometimes regrettably admired. He had risen to king during a time where that stone-cold gaze was in need, ridding his kingdom of dark and unstable magic that was threatening his people and his family. The only problem now was that by doing so, he purged good magic: magic of healing and prosperity, magic of nature and the roots that grounded them into the way they were today. He stayed ruthless in a time where he needed to be kind and merciful, and now, he stood a relic of fear that morphed into a wrathful hatred.

On the other end of his knightd stood his heir. The future of Camelot. Odette gazed upwards at Arthur Pendragon and remembered a boy with bright blue eyes and flaxen hair that joined in hers and Ronyn's games of hide and seek. Growing up in the castle amongst the shadows meant Odette has seen her future sovereign grow; grow and change into a young man with an arrogant tongue and an arrogant smile. His sword work might be legend, his jawline perhaps even more so (if the ladies in the kitchen had anything to say about it), and he might look like a future king with his jewelled, golden band▬but Odette often found herself displeased in nature whenever she heard a word from his mouth, or listened to Morgana's complaints after she has retired from dinner. For someone nearing of age, he still held the maturity of a boy: condescending, lacking in judgement, and obnoxiously prideful in anything that he did.

But whenever he stood next to his father, Odette immediately knew who she preferred. Every single time.

"Let this serve as a lesson to all."

At the King's next words, Odette returned her gaze to her current sovereign. A man who's blood was overfilled with bitterness poison. The man at his vicious mercy was shoved to his knees before the beheading block, pushing down by his neck against wood stained with years of death. "This man, Thomas James Collins, is adjudged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic." The courtyard was hauntingly quiet▬each of them hanging onto King Uther's every single word. "And pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death."

Odette noticed the quiet opening of a window above, and a quaint individual peered out of her chambers below▬a beauty of onyx hair and dainty skin that rarely sees the daylight. Morgana le Fay's gasp was silent upon her red-painted lips, terrified to glance upon this man's death, and yet unable to look away.

"I pride myself as a fair and just king. But for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass."

The King sent a grave nod towards the guards. The percussion of the drums grew louder and louder▬matching the speeding growth of Odette's own heartbeat to see Thomas James Collins clench his eyes shut and take a final, shuddering breath as the axe was held high upon the command of the King's rising hand.

She couldn't bear to watch anymore. At the beak in the wind▬cutting through with deadly aim▬she turned away. Her eyes hid away at the sound of steel passing through flesh and bone▬a strange sound, but terrible ... unnatural, making her knees quiver and her cheeks grow pale. She heard laughter from some, cheers from others, and a cascade of horrified gasps. Odette has come to learn that people expect only one outcome when it came to witchcraft▬wanted only outcome. There was no interest in coming to watch a man be given innocence and mercy.

"When I came to this land," Odette forced her gaze back up to the parapet, feeling bile rise up in her throat▬her King showed no remorse, not even a breath of severity upon the man's dead body in the square below, "this Kingdom was mired in chaos, but with the people's help, magic was driven from the realm. So I declare a festival to celebrate twenty years since the Great Dragon was captured, and Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery." He paused, spreading his arms out wide. He was proud of his achievements▬even if they were built upon blood. "Let the celebrations begin."

Odette set her gaze upwards to the rising sun, wondering whether one day, it'll show their King a path of redemption and forgiveness before it was too late.

Mutters returned to the courtyard and like that, onlookers started to return to their morning▬there was little care left for the man left upon the platform, his head struck clean from his body. Odette loved this place▬and she did with all her heart, but every light had its shadows, and no matter how much she searched for the brightness to bring her comfort amongst the dark, she still faced it head on too many times to count.

The strangled cry from within the crowd caught them all off guard.

They parted like splitting streams, heads turning towards a hunched, old woman who's hands clutched her heart▬as if she could feel it being clawed right out her chest at the sight before her. Matted grey hair framed tearstained cheeks, and Odette thought she would have collapsed right there. Mary Collins, she recognised with a gut-wrenching sadness, Thomas James Collins's mother.

Her cries broke away, wounded with a blow far more mortal than a piercing sword. She trembled forward, setting a red-eyed gaze upon the King behind his stone parapet. "There is only one evil in this land and it is not magic!" she cried, her words choking in the back of her throat. "It is you! With your hatred ... and your ignorance ..." Mary Collins weeped. "You took my son!"

Another strangled sob escaped her lips▬but she did not breathe in sadness in her next gasp, but instead a ruthless rage. The gaze upon their king turned withering, and out seethed a vengeful declaration: "I promise you before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears. An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth▬

"A son for a son!"

Gasps echoed in the courtyard. Odette felt her stomach tip at such a threat. From the parapet, there was not a moment wasted as the knightd turned to their Prince and ushered him out of there before he could even take a moment to comprehend▬King Uther Pendragon faltered for a moment, and the stone cold facade he kept chained upon his figure exposed a brittle image of a father worried for his only son, and in a breathless second, he pointed his finger down to Mary Collins and bellowed, "Seize her!"

The guards did not get far. Mary Collins took hold of a gem hanging from her neck and gasped a chant in a language Odette didn't understand, but she knew what it was: magic. Before she knew it, the witch disappeared in a gale of wind. People turned away, shielding themselves as their tunics billowed and dust cascaded up into the sky▬and when it dispersed, Mary Collins was no where to be seen.

But her threat weighed heavy without her presence. Odette watched the King and could feel deep within her bones that Mary Collins promise would not go unfulfilled.

    A chill still settled in the air as the courtyard emptied. Odette could feel it weigh down upon her shoulders as the prosecuted mother's threat echoed in her ears like another set of execution drums. She was frozen in a moment of shock, still comprehending all that happened in the matter of mere seconds.

    Guards were hovering around, turning the courtyard upside down for the sorceress▬though there would be nothing to find. No witch would disappear into thin air to only reappear where she had just been. Odette knew she was long gone.

    Eventually, she started to shuffle away from the place she had found herself and back towards the kitchen entrance. She needed to get these sheets up to the Lady Morgana▬the last thing Odette needed to be to the young woman who has given her a safe-haven was to be tardy. But little to her knowledge, the morning sun brought forth a change in Odette's life the moment she gazed upon it entering the streets of Camelot▬and its events were not yet finished.

    For merely just as she turned to leave the daylight of the courtyard, a body ran right into her.

    Odette gasped, not expecting the sheer knock she had to her forehead. "Ouch!" she let out, raising a hand to press against the sudden throb▬she stumbled and a pair of fingers grasped her sleeves to keep her steady.

    "Oh, I am so sorry!" said a voice she did not recognise. Young, bright▬fresh and innocent like the first page of a book. "I did not mean to▬I'm so sorry ... are you hurt?"

    Odette shook a dazed moment from her system, taking away her hand to frown at the boy who had barrelled into her. She blinked, unfocused until she finally could take him in. Odette's brows lifted.

    He could be no older than her. Perhaps on the dawn of seventeen with eyes so clear she might as well be gazing into tranquil waters. Ears poked away from raven hair that dusted over his forehead, high cheek bones were flushed with red as the stranger stared back at the girl he had bumped into▬and his breath was taken away.

    The boy▬Merlin, to which he had been named a long time ago, couldn't quite believe his eyes. He stood still in his awe of such beauty with marble cheeks, plump lips and hair just as golden as her eyes that flickered like a warm hearth on a cold winters evening. He thought he was in the presence of a lady, if he hadn't noticed the dress of a peasant she wore▬but even then it seemed so delicate, so beautiful.

    "Hello," he said, voice small and pitched. A slight smile danced upon his elfish features.

    Her chuckle was music to his ears, "Hello," said Odette, a smile breaking onto her cheeks▬quite incredulous by his introduction. She found herself blushing at his sweet gaze. She took in his simple tunic, scarf, jacket and pants. His boots were scuffed and worn, and his nimble fingers, now free of their grasp around her sleeves, clung onto a travellers pack just as beaten. "Erm ..." she shook her head, still chuckling▬though it turned quite sheepish. "Sorry."

    "No, no!" said the boy, the words rushing out of his lips like running water. "I'm the one who should be sorry."

    Odette rolled her eyes, goodnatured, "No, of course not, there's nothing for you to be sorry for." She was shy under that smile he wore▬he looked so cheerful, it was refreshing for her gaze. Odette took a deep breath and decided to hold out her hand, "I'm Odette," she introduced herself. (What a beautiful name for a beautiful person, Merlin had thought). He chuckled, taking her hand to gently shake it. "I▬I live here. Well▬" she back-tracked, "▬of course you know I live here, I mean▬uh▬I'm a ... I'm a maid▬one of the Lady Morgana's maids, to be precise. She has two, I'm one of them ... Not that you needed to know that, of course ..." Odette shook her head to herself, growing more flustered by the minute.

    The boy grinned at her, amused▬but in such a genuine, kind way. "I'm Merlin," he said. "I ... will be living here."

    He continued to smile as she chewed her bottom lip, letting go of his hand to scoff at her ramblings. Odette peered at him yet again, and it wasn't long before the two of them broke out into soft laughter.

    Once it settled, Merlin fixed his grip on his bag over his shoulders and asked her, "You wouldn't happen to know where I find Gaius, the Court Physician, would you?"

    Odette's brows shot up in surprise, "Gaius?" she echoed. "My goodness, are you unwell?"

    "Uh, no▬" Merlin chuckled yet again. "I▬uh▬he's a family friend. My uncle ... I'll be staying with him."

    She was still quite surprised, but questioned no more. Odette glanced around them before gesturing down the pathway of which they needed to go. "Oh! Well, in that case, come, I'll show you to his chambers." Odette started down the courtyard hallways, and it wasn't long before Merlin caught up to a walk at her side. Her gaze briefly brushed over him before she set her eyes in front of them towards a castle entrance. "I know my way around here quite well."

    "Ah," Merlin nodded, his neck straining upwards to peer past the castle walls and to the turrets towering above them. "Because you're the Lady Morgana's maid?"

    "Yes," said Odette, "but I also grew up in the castle," she was quick to boast in such a quiet, hesitant way that at first glance, no one would notice. But when Merlin caught the peek she gave him, he knew. It made something swell up in his chest▬no girl has ever tried to impress him like this before. Let alone a girl he just met! "I know it back to front, thick and thin▬secret passageways, hidden doorways behind tapestries▬" her next gaze was glittering with mischief, "▬even the servants entrance into the Prince's chambers. We used to hide there as children away from the king's guards."

    Merlin's eyes widened to the size of two full-moons. "You know the Prince?"

    "Well," Odette made a face. She wasn't quite sure how to explain her complicated history with the noble children within the castle▬particularly Arthur and Ronyn. "Not really. We'd play every now and then as children▬well, he played with the son of the household my mother used to work for, I just tagged along. I think I quite annoyed him, actually, now that I think back on it. I believe most of it was him and Lord Ronyn of Vecentia trying to run away from me..."

    "Wow," her new acquaintance nodded, stifling back amused laughter, "impressive."

    The sarcasm made her turn to him, startled and quite dubious▬Odette laughed yet again. Merlin looked happy to hear it. She was taken aback. In such a long time, someone else seemed to just notice her in a way that was true, and genuine▬upon the same level as an equal rather than looking down onto her from above. Someone who could utter her name and remember it with kindness and good fortune.

    They had stopped, and it took her a moment to remember why they had stopped here in the first place. She jumped, and stumbled on her words, "Oh! Um▬yes▬well▬" she opened the door leading into a winding staircase that took them up to one of the smaller West towers, "▬Gaius's chambers are just this way."

   Merlin followed her up the stone staircase, their shoes echoing back and forth as if they were in a church's bell tower. Odette kept looking back over her shoulder, completely intrigued by Merlin. There was something about him that struck her▬whether it be his kindness, or the refreshing look about him, or another thing entirely, it made her desperate to know more. There was an air about him that was mysterious▬an enigma that held a story everyone wished to know, but will never be told. Perhaps it was his gaze: a gaze so youthful, and yet so old like he had seen years gone and passed, battles won and lost, all the while seeming so sheltered and naive.

    From here, it wasn't long before they reached the door to the physician's chambers. Odette shared a glance with Merlin before she knocked upon the dark wood. "Gaius?" She called before opening the door, peering into a room very familiar to her. "Hello, Gaius?"

    The physicians room was always a bit of a cluttered mess. Odette barely understood half of the sight of bubbling beakers and sizzling potions that were supposed to aid in soothing pain, unblocking noses and clearing head colds. Ever since she was a child, she remembered gazing upon covers and covers of books speaking knowledge of medicine, legends and apothecary▬all of which she's read countless of times in the days Gaius would sit with her and teach her to read and write, for she could never join Ronyn in his tutoring lessons. The smells of herbs, burning concoctions and other strange things in jars were nothing strange to her, though she could see them strike Merlin with the twitch of his nose.

    When Odette wasn't with her mother as she worked the floors, or chasing the lord's son and the young prince around the castle, or stealing food from the kitchens, she was here with Gaius.

    After no answer from the physician, Odette took it upon herself to enter the chambers anyway, slipping into the door with Merlin right behind her. "Gaius ...?" she tried again. "Hello? There's someone here who wants to see you."

    Her eyes searched the room, and wasn't surprised when she found him browsing his many texts upon the second level▬using a rickety, very dangerously supported loft that sent Odette in a flurry of nerves each time she saw him upon it. Maybe when he was ripe in age, it would've worked, but now, he didn't move as fast as he used to, with hair gone to ghostly white and a smile wrinkled around the eyes.

    "Uh ..." Odette pursed her lips, speaking louder in hopes to grab his attention, "Gaius?"

    Merlin cleared his throat in an attempt to help, and the old physician glanced backwards at the sound▬he leaned dangerously back to try and see, and Odette saw the splinter in the wood far too late.

    "No! Gaius!" she cried as the wooden barrier snapped in half. Her heart seemed to stop, slowing down with a terrifying fear that tore up through her chest and closed up her throat.

    Her mentor and friend fell from the second landing, crying out in alarm and terror as he spiralled to a landing that even from that height, would do too much harm to a body of frail, old bones.

    It was then that a miracle happened.

    Odette couldn't believe her eyes when Gaius's bed▬of which was located on the other end of his chambers▬scrambled forward as if it had grown legs of its own. In a blur, it was still underneath the physicians falling body in a matter of seconds, catching him just before he would have broken his back upon the hard wooden floors.

    She was at a loss of words, staring in shock as in the nick of time, she glimpsed the fade from brilliant gold back to blue in Merlin's eyes.

    Odette wondered whether her heart had stopped. Even if she desperately wished to run to Gaius and check whether he was all right, she couldn't▬absolutely frozen within her place as she realised what she had just witnessed.

    She should run and tell the King.

    But she didn't do that, either.

    Gaius laid there upon his bed for a moment, stuck in a state of shock. He gathered his bearings, managing to sit up with no broken bones▬though his back was sure to bruise terribly. None of that mattered, not when he forced himself to struggle to his feet and stare down the boy who had saved his life with the very power that Uther slaughtered.

    "I▬what did you just do?!" demanded the Court Physician.

    Merlin was left stammering, unable to come up with a good excuse. He glanced back and forth between Odette and Gaius▬almost two complete strangers who now bear witness to his greatest secret of all time. "Uh▬um▬I▬"

    Gaius took a deep breath, heaving where he stood, "Tell me!"

    Odette spared a fearful glance to the open door, and finally felt the power to move her legs▬she didn't run out, but instead did something that surprised her: she rushed to close the entrance, locking it with a heave of the metal hatch. She spun back around after that, a short squeak of panic making its way out of her throat. As she did, Merlin was still struggling to find a way to crawl his way out of the trouble he had gotten himself in. "Well, I▬I have no idea what happened▬"

    Gaius met her gaze by the door, and she matched his look of terror▬the both of them understanding what they had just gotten into by her locking that door. Odette didn't even think about what she had just done▬what she had just placed upon her shoulders. If she had, she would have been out of this room the moment she saw that bed move.

    "If anyone had seen that▬!"

    "Oh, no!" Merlin shook his head, frantic. His travel bag dropped to the floor in his scramble. "No! That▬that was nothing to do with me, that▬that▬that▬"

    "I know what it was!" said Gaius, marching up to the stranger in his chambers▬a little hunched and a little muddled. Merlin stared, gaping like a fish dragged from the water▬fresh upon a plate. "I just want to know where you learned how to do it."

    "Nowhere," said Merlin.

    "So how is it you know magic?"

    "I don't!"

    Odette breathed a choked scoff, still trembling in her fright. "Yes, and I suppose the bed just moved on its own?"

    Merlin sent her a quick look over his shoulder, desperate and distressed, "I suppose!" he replied in a weak argument.

    "Where did you study?" asked the Court Physician and Merlin's gaze shot back to him. He swallowed his words, pressing his lips together in a stubborn determination. When he didn't answer, Gaius snapped: "Answer me!"

    He jumped at the sudden raise of his voice, "I▬I've never studied magic or▬or been taught▬"

    "Are you lying to me, boy?" Gaius stepped closer to him and Merlin staggered back.

    "W▬what do you want me to say?" he breathed, exasperated.

    "The truth!"

    "I was born like this!"

    "That's impossible!"

    "Is it?" breathed Odette, gazing upon Merlin in a new▬and terrifying light. Most people had a mind upon magic that swayed either one way or the other: they either preached its terror, its evil and its madness▬strived to rid of it in the world in which they lived, such as Uther. Others pray for its return, they practice it in the shadows, harboured sorcerers in their homes and helped Druids sneak in to gather supplies. Odette was never sure where she resided; what she thought on magic. She found there to be beauty, but she also found there to be danger. Just moments ago, she watched a sorceress pledge death upon the Prince of Camelot, but here▬just now▬she witnessed this stranger use it to save Gaius's life.

    There was a breathless moment of silence between the three of them, neither of which sure on what to say or do. Until Gaius peered back at Merlin and said, "Who are you?"

    "Oh! Um ..." Merlin crouched down to his bag and rummaged through it. "I have this letter," he took out a folded piece of parchment and held it out for Gaius to take. "There."

    The physician snatched it from his fingers. "I don't have my glasses."

    "I'm Merlin ..."

    Gaius's eyes widened, "Hunith's son?"

    Merlin nodded quickly. "Yes!"

    "But you're not meant to be here 'till Wednesday!"

    Both Odette and Merlin shared an identical frown towards the Court Physician. "Gaius ..." said Odette slowly. "It is Wednesday." In the distance, the castle bell tolled, signalling the start of the later hours within the morning. Her eyes began to widen as she remembered where she was supposed to be, anyway. She gasped yet again, her hand flying to her forehead. "Oh▬blast it! Morgana!" Odette tugged at her cheeks. "I'm late! I'm so late! I have to go!"

     She rushed to the door, only to stop yet again. Her fingers hovered over the handle to unlock it, and a cold washed over her. Hesitantly, she glanced back at saw Merlin's blue gaze hold hers with such fear, she knew she had already fallen into a deep hole she'll never be able to crawl her way out of.

    Odette may not know him▬at all▬more than a few smiles, but she already knew she couldn't bear see him be executed like Thomas James Collins had been.

    There was no way she could know that destiny had shoved her into Merlin's own path▬the two of them were meant to meet as told in the fates, and it was only destiny that she was to decide▬no matter the risks, no matter what it would mean if she was caught▬to keep his secret hidden, chained under her tongue.

    "You're secret is safe with me, Merlin," said Odette, smiling softly, "I promise."

    And with that said, the young handmaiden rushed out of the physicians quarters, sprinting back to the kitchen to get back to the job she was supposed to be doing.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

    a/n: and thus begins the five seasons of crushing anxiety.

    literally everyone wanted to fuk merlin in this show. odette is not immune to this. it's the cheekbones

     besides it's funny to write her flustered over merlin when arthur is just: 🧍🏼‍♂️

    no but like seriously odette and merlin have such a cute and precious friendship just wait.

     and am I going down the Morgana second handmaiden route again? yes. am I ashamed? no

edited? eh