The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

Make a Wish S2 E7

After leaving Gaius', I was soon requested to join father, Arthur and Aredian for dinner. Great! The last thing I really needed or wanted right now was to be sitting in the same room as a hypocritical king and a scarily accurate witchfinder. How the hell did he know it was Merlin? I'd never even seen that amulet before and I'm sure that if it was Merlin's he would have told me. Surely.

As I sat opposite Arthur at the table (Morgana had already excused herself to her chambers), I twirled my food around on my fork and listened absent-mindedly to their conversation. In my head I kept on replaying my last conversation with Merlin and although I knew I should push it to the side so that I could comfort him about Gaius' current predicament, I couldn't find it in myself to do it. And that hurt more than the argument itself.

I should have been able to do that, especially after all Merlin had done for me but I felt the anger race up in me again every time I thought about what happened. That anger was quickly followed by the guilt. I knew I was being petty but it just made me so mad that he had tried to put all the blame on me.

I felt someone kick my foot under the table making me look up. I made direct eye contact with Arthur and saw him looking at me in concern. Putting on a small fake smile, I shook my head subtly, assuring him that I was fine.

"Gaius served me with unfailing dedication," father said to Aredian, making me glance over at him. "Without his knowledge, his wisdom, I would not be sitting here today."

"You show great faith in him, Sire," Aredian scoffed. "Great faith, indeed, considering that he was known to practise sorcery."

I already knew this but from the look on Arthur's face, he didn't as his head shot up, sparing glances between the two men.

"Gaius?" Arthur repeated in disbelief. "You're mistaken."

"No, Arthur. He speaks the truth," father truthfully confirmed, making me slightly surprised that he didn't lie. "I am well aware of his past, but I have reason to believe he's turned his back on sorcery."

"Until now," Aredian said.

"We don't know that. This amulet you found could just be a stupid mistake," father said, once again surprising me with his defence of someone who had been accused of sorcery. Sure it was Gaius, but it had never stopped him before.

"Or maybe he has fallen back into old habits," Aredian insisted.

I went to say something but quickly shut my mouth again, not wanting to give Aredian the satisfaction. But for once someone didn't want me silenced.

"Chelsea, what were you going to say?" father asked, lowering his goblet. Both Arthur and my eyes widened and I was pretty sure I nearly had a heart attack at the request. When I had gotten over it, I cleared my throat and looked directly over at father.

"I was just thinking, what if Gaius just kept it as a keepsake?" I suggested and from behind me I could hear Aredian starting to say something but father quietened him with a look.

"Carry on," father encouraged.

"Maybe Gaius kept it as a way of reminding him of his past. I don't know about any of you, but I would always want a way of remembering even the darkest parts of my life. For example, my eyes. Sure they do look strange and the way that I got them wasn't exactly ideal, but I wouldn't change them even if I could because they make me who I am. This could just be the same for Gaius and this amulet could be his way of remembering it," I explained.

When I had finished explaining my theory, father was resting his chin on a single finger and looking at his goblet in silence. I risked a glance over at Aredian who seemed deep in thought. Arthur was also thinking hard before he looked up.