Magic in Camelot

The Lady of the Lake

It was a particularly stormy night when a woman ran into the physician's quarters. After explaining what had happened, Gaius and Merlynn made a late night call to the woman's house to treat her husband. Merlynn watched Gaius work for a couple hours before he was satisfied.

"If he's not better in the morning, let me know." Gaius told the woman before walking back out into the rain.

Merlynn chases after him, walking past a large cart in the street. As they walked by, a woman jumped up at Merlynn, grabbing the bars on the caged cart.

"Gaius." Merlynn called, staring at the woman.

"She has fallen prey to a bounty hunter."

Merlynn turned back towards Gaius, horrified. "She's only a girl."
"She'll still fetch a good price though."

"Someone's going to pay for her?"

Gaius nodded. "Uther offers a handsome reward for anyone with magic."

"There must be something we can do." Merlynn said, turning back towards the girl."

"Merlynn, bounty hunters are dangerous men, not to be meddled with. You of all people should understand that."

Merlynn stared at the girl in the cart for a while before following Gaius back home. She waited for a couple of hours for Gaius to fall asleep before she snuck back out of the castle. She made her way to the cart again and looked inside the inn it was parked in front. She looked for anyone who she might be able to tell was a bounty hunter and found a large man in studded leather chomping down on whatever it was he was eating. He looked rather busy and she checked to make sure none of the other patrons of the inn seemed like they would be leaving any time soon. When she was sure it was clear, she ran back over to the cart.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." Merlynn made her way around the back side of the cage and used her magic to blast the lock off. She opened the door and hopped into the cage, crouching down next to the girl. She held out her hands and slowly reached for the girls wrists. Merlynn hovered one hand over the chains on the girl's wrist, using magic to break those apart as well. Merlynn jumped out of the cage before turning around and grabbing the girl's waist to help her out as well. They moved quickly behind a couple of barrels away from the cart as the door of the inn opened.

The man she noticed earlier came out and saw the cage empty and drew a dagger. He looked briefly at the broken chains before turning around in place, surveying the area. The man walked around the cage before heading down an alleyway away from them. Merlynn led the girl away, ducking between buildings and alleyways to avoid patrolling guards and bounty hunter. Eventually, Merlynn ducked into a small space between castle walls where they built a sort of secret room. She wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but she came here often enough to know that no one else did. Merlynn grabbed a torch she had stashed and lit it using magic again. She led the girl down the winding pathways into a small room that opened up at the end.

"He won't find you here." Merlynn pulled off her jacket and went to cover the girl with it, but she flinched back. Merlynn carefully handed her the jacket instead. "Sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. Here."

The woman looked over at Merlynn. "Why did you do that?"

"What?"
"Help me."

"Well I saw you and... it could've been me in that cage. You'll be safe down here. I'll be back in the morning with some food and candles. Will you be alright 'till then?"

The woman shook her head.

"I'm Merlynn, by the way."

"I'm Freya."