Lily had never known her parents, and had been raised by Gaius since she was five years old. Her parents had been killed by King Uther near the end of the Great Purge, for being sorcerers. Gaius had taken her under his wing and protected her for the last twenty years.

        Lily considered Gaius her father, and ran chores for him, besides helping out in the castle wherever she can. She was adored by all for her fierceness and her kindness. She knew how to handle a sword almost as skill fully as Arthur Pendragon himself. Of course, this was only to be expecting since she had often practiced with the knights and Leon. Many considered her unusual and more than a little impertinent when she talked back and teased Arthur.

        When Gaius had first told Lily about her parents, he had been afraid she might seek revenge. But to his surprise, she received the information with calm and assured him that she was indeed angry, but she would not seek revenge, for it would do her no good. She, unlike other remaining sorcerers, did not believe that Uther deserved death. She had a feeling there was something personal about his hatred for magic and often wondered what had happened to him to be so terrified of it.

        She was sensible and smart, and many would say her beauty could match that of Lady Morgana. It was quite true, with her brown hair and chocolate eyes that were often filled with mischief. She was quite short, a  fact that annoyed her very much. But what she lacked in height, she made up for in spirit. But the most beautiful thing about her, one might say, was her smile. A smile so happy and mischievous that it was quite infectious.

        She never stayed still, and was often seen running in the halls being pursued by someone she had managed to prank. More often than not, it was a knight. In fact, the only female company she accepted was her best friend, Gwen.

        And one fine morning, she meets a boy who captures her attention. A boy who was born with magic, just like she was. A boy, with whom she shared a great destiny. His name: Merlin

~~~~

"Good morning, Gaius," Lily said happily as she came down from her room.

"Good morning, Lily. Did you sleep well?" Gaius asked, smiling at her.

"Yes, I did. When is that boy arriving?" She enquired.

"My dear, I told you just the other day, he's coming on Wednesday." Gaius said distractedly as he started climbing up the stairs to get some book.

Lily smiled to herself and decided against telling him that it was, in fact Wednesday, and obediently went out with a basket when Gaius asked her to fetch some herbs.

She returned just in time to see Gaius falling and the boy, whom she assumed was the one they were expecting, slowed his fall and summoned the bed in the corner just in time for Gaius to hit it. Lily saw his eyes flash gold and knew, that he was a warlock.

Gaius, got up from the bed instantly and demanded

"What did you just do?!"

"Umm, uh—" the boy seemed to be at a loss for an excuse.

"Tell me!" Gaius demanded once more as he dusted himself off and looked around giddily.

"I-I-I have no idea what just happened," the boy told Gaius rather unconvincingly.

"If anyone had seen that..." Lily rolled her eyes. Trust Gaius to be dramatic.

"Er-no! That-that was-that was nothing to do with me. That-that was—" the boy tried once again, only to be cut off by Gaius.

"I know what it was! I just want to know where you learned how to to that!"

"Nowhere!"

"So how is it you know magic?"

"I don't!"

"Where did you study? Answer me!"

"I-I've never studied magic. Or-or been taught."

Lily watched this exchange in amusement.

"Are you lying to me, boy?" Gaius asked.

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth!"

"I was born like this."

"That's impossible! Who are you?" Lily was wondering the exact same thing.

"Oh-erm.." he started pulling his backpack off, and pulled out a letter, "I have this letter."

He handed it to Gaius.

"I-I don't have my glasses," Gaius said.

"I'm Merlin," he finally introduced himself.

"Hunith's son!" Gaius exclaimed.

"Yes!" Merlin said, relieved.

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

Lily decided to make her presence known.

"It is Wednesday, Gaius."

Both of them jumped at her voice and looked at her, to see her eyes sparkling with amusement. She spoke once more:

"Before you ask, I was here the entire time."

Both of them blinked, then Gaius pulled himself together and said

"Well then, you better put your bag in there," he pointed to the room next to Lily's (I know there is only one room, but it would be extremely inappropriate to put them in the same room, don't you think?)

Merlin headed towards the door, then stopped and asked both of them,

"You won't say anything about, erm..." Merlin trailed off.

"No. Although, Merlin, I should say thank you."

Merlin turned to Lily, the same question evident in his eyes. Lily shook her head as she said

"It would be quite hypocritical of me to reveal your magic, as I was born with it myself."

Merlin looked surprised, but nodded anyway and went to his assigned room.
~~~~
The next day, Merlin went to deliver some potions for Gaius. Lily accompanied him, as she wanted to take a break from her own chores. They found they had a lot in common, especially in terms of humour and sarcasm. Merlin was glad to have someone else who was like him. They exchanged stories and were soon interacting like they had known each other their entire lives.

On their way back, they noticed a blonde haired person bullying a boy who was running around with a target held in front of him, looking terrified. Lily recognised the blonde to be Prince Arthur and sighed.

The servant boy dropped the target, which came rolling towards them. Merlin stopped it with his foot and said

"Hi- Come on, that's enough."

"What?" Arthur asked incredulously. No one has ever spoken like that to him before, except Lily, who was like a sister to him though she was a servant.

Merlin, however, was unfazed. "You've had your fun, my friend." He said, with a fake smile.

"Merlin, no," Lily warned him, but it turned out that he was as stubborn as she was.

"Do I know you?" Arthur asked Merlin.

Lily looked at him warningly, as he flinched at the anger in her eyes. He knew she was going to chew him out for the way he treated the new servant, and he was not looking forward to it. She may be a servant girl, but she can be very terrifying when she was angry. If Uther knew how she treated his son, he'd have her locked up for her impertinence.

"I'm Merlin," Merlin held out a hand.

"So, I don't know you." Arthur said as he ignored Merlin's outstretched hand.

"No."

"Yet you called me 'friend'?"

"That was my mistake," Merlin admitted.

"Yes, I think so."

"Yeah, I'd never have a friend who could be such a prat."

Lily resisted the urge to laugh at Arthur's expression, and instead turned to Merlin in mock exasperation

"Merlin!"She chided.

"Or I, one who could be so stupid." Arthur retorted.

"You're one to talk." Lily muttered under breath.

Arthur ignored her and continued, "Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?"

"Arthur!" Lily cried, now feeling alarmed, for she knew what was going to happen.

"No." Merlin said calmly.

"Would you like me to help you?"

"I wouldn't if I were you." Lily's eyes widened as she understood the meaning behind Merlin's words.

"Why? What are you going to do to me?" Arthur laughed. Lily couldn't blame him, as Merlin was rather skinny.

"You have no idea." Lily shot Merlin a warning look.

"Be my guest. Come on. Come on!" A crowd had gathered around at this point, making Lily want to slap both the boys. But it was plain, that neither would back down.

Merlin threw a punch at him, but missed widely, as Arthur grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind back.

"I'll have you thrown in jail for that." Arthur said matter-of-factly.

"Who do you think you are? The king?" Merlin asked mockingly.

"No, I'm his son, Prince Arthur."

Merlin glanced at Lily as she shook her head, and mouthed 'I tried to warn you'
~~~~
"Lily! LILY! Wait!" Arthur yelled as he ran after Lily. Lily stopped and looked at him with fury in her eyes.

"Well?! What do you have to say for yourself?" She demanded. Arthur winced at the cold edge in her tone.

"He was being disrespectful, he needed to be put in his place." He tried.

"He was disrespectful with good reason! What have I told you about bullying new servants?! And challenging Merlin of all things! Is your pride that important that you would challenge a person who is not your equal in strength?" Lily asked.

"He called me a prat!" Arthur said indignantly.

"So do I! And it's true!"

"You are different"

"No I'm not, I'm just a servant girl. The only one who has the courage to call you out on your actions, it would seem, and yet you haven't put me in prison!"

"Fine! I'm sorry!" Arthur exclaimed.

"That's much better." She said approvingly, "Now you can help Gaius convince your father to let Merlin go."

"What?!" Lily shot him a look.

"Fine." He conceded.
~~~~
The next day, Lily stood laughing as children and people alike, through fruit at Merlin. As they left, she went up to him, still laughing.

"Enjoy the show?" Merlin asked sarcastically.

"Oh yes, it was quite amusing." Lily answered cheekily. For some reason, her smile sent a strange feeling through Merlin.

"Stop teasing the poor fellow, Lily." A voice called out.

Lily turned to look at her best friend with a grin.

"Come now, Gwen. Where's your sense of humour? Besides, it's not as if he isn't capable of retorting." Lily shrugged.

Gwen shook her head at her and introduced herself to Merlin:

"Guinevere, but most people call me Gwen. I'm the Lady Morgana's maid."

"Right, well, I'm Merlin.." He shook her hand the best he could in his position, "Although most people call me 'idiot'."

"With good reason." Lily retorted.

"No. No, no, no. I saw what you did. You're so brave." Gwen said admiringly.

"That was a lot of 'no's Gwen." Lily looked amusedly at her as Gwen shot her a look.

"It was stupid." Merlin disagreed.

"I agree. I warned you though." Lily reminded him.

"Well I'm glad you walked away, you weren't going to beat him." Gwen stated.

"Oh, I-I could beat him." Merlin laughed as Lily shot him a glare in warning.

"You think? You don't look like one of those big muscley kind of fellows." Gwen said, surprised, as Lily fought to hide her laughter.

"Thanks." Said a disgruntled Merlin.

"No! No. I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just, um, Arthur's one of these real rough, tough, save-the-world kind of men and, well.."

"What?"

"You don't look like that." Gwen said frankly as Lily finally gave up and howled with laughter as Merlin sent her a nasty look.

He gestured for Gwen to come closer and whispered "I'm in disguise."

Both of them started laughing at that as Lily clutched her stomach while there were tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Well it's great that you stood up to him." Gwen said once they finished laughing.

"You think so?"

"Arthur's a bully and everyone thought you were a real hero"

"Don't encourage him!" Lily exclaimed.

"Shut up, like you haven't caused any trouble at all." Gwen retorted.

Lily grinned, "Touché."

The people returned with more fruit and Merlin groaned as he saw this.

"Oh excuse me, Guinevere. My fans are waiting."
~~~~
"Would you like some vegetables with that?" Gaius teased as Merlin sat down at the table.

"I know you're still angry with me." Merlin laughed lightly as Lily sat next to him and Gaius sat on the opposite side of the table.

"Your mother asked me to look after you." Gaius stated, to which Merlin nodded and said yes.

"What did your mother tell you about your gifts?" Gaius enquired.

Lily listened silently as Merlin replied,

"Well, that I was special."

"Well you are special, the likes of which I've only ever seen once before: In Lily." Merlin seemed a little surprised as he asked:

"What do you mean?"

"Well, magic requires incantations, spells. It takes years to study. What I've seen you and Lily do are elemental. Instinctive."

"What's the point if it can't be used?"

"I've been asking the same question for years." Lily sighed, finally speaking.

"That I do not know. The two of you are a question that has never been posed before." He said frankly. Lily's head was spinning with questions, but the biggest question she had was 'why?'.

"Did you ever study magic?" Merlin asked curiously. Lily knew the answer to that one and spoke before Gaius could.

"Uther banned all such work 20 years ago. I was just five months old when Gaius smuggled me in. Even now, if anyone as much as touched someone with magic and Uther heard of it, he'd have both their heads for 'treason'!" Lily didn't sound bitter, but more like she was stating facts.

"Why?" Merlin persisted.

Gaius spoke this time: "People used magic for the wrong ends at that time. It threw the natural order into chaos. Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then. Even the dragons."

Lily wondered how Uther could not understand that it is not magic itself that is evil, but that it can do either good or harm depending on the people who wield it. But Lily knew one thing for sure: one day the price of having taken so many innocent lives will catch up to Uther.

"What all of them?" Merlin asked, bringing Lily out of her thoughts.

"There was one dragon he chose not to kill: He kept it as an example. He imprisoned it in a cave deep beneath the castle, where no one can free it." Lily's head snapped up at this. This was the first time she had heard of a dragon being held prisoner beneath the castle.

"Ah, eat up. When you're finished, I need both of you to take a preparation to Lady Helen. She needs it for her voice." Gaius told them as Lily groaned.
~~~~
Merlin and Lily went up to Lady Helen's chambers. Merlin opened the door without knocking and went in, making Lily hit him upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He complained, as he rubbed his head.

"You can't just barge into a lady's chambers without knocking, you dolt! What if she was undressing?" Lily exclaimed.

"Well, she wasn't, was she? She's not even here!"

"What if she was?! Don't you have any manners at all?"

Merlin decided that he couldn't argue with Lily and walked inside to set the vial on the vanity table at the centre of the room. He noticed a straw doll and picked it up, showing it to Lily who had joined him. She picked up a book that was left there, tied with a thin fabric as Merlin set the doll back down. She frowned as she examined it when Merlin snatched it out of her hands and put it back just as Lady Helen entered.

"What are you doing here?" She asked looking at the pair of them with narrowed eyes.

"We, erm...we were asked to deliver this." Merlin told her, showing her the vial. But Lily, however was looking at the mirror, where she saw that the reflection was not of Lady Helen, but Mary Collins, whose son had been executed the other day. Lily looked back up before Lady Helen could notice. Merlin gave her the vial and both of them exited the room hurriedly. Lily decided not say anything in case it might have been a trick of the light, but she was certainly going to keep an eye on Lady Helen at the celebration.
~~~~
Lily was needed in the kitchens, so she told Merlin to go ahead without her. She later returned to find that Merlin had fought with Arthur again. Anger flashed in her eyes as she said through gritted teeth:

"I'm going to murder that pompous prat! And you! Of all things to do you just had to provoke him! And you used bloody magic! What if someone had figured it out?! And what on earth did you say to enrage him further?!" She demanded at the end of her rant.

"Well, I told him that although I did call him a prat, I didn't realise that he was a royal one. Then he challenged me saying he can take me apart in one blow, I said I can do the same to him in less, and...well he bragged about how he's been trained to kill his entire life and I asked him how long he'd been training to be prat. He told me I couldn't address him that way, so I asked 'How long have you been training to be a prat, My Lord?' and....things escalated." Merlin finished sheepishly.

Lily looked like she was ready to throttle him. Then, to his utmost bewilderment, she began to laugh.

"Er...Lily? Should I call Gaius?"

Lily composed herself a little and gasped out:

"The two of you behave like you're a pair of squabbling children."

"I fail to see the resemblance when he was spinning a bloody mace at me." Merlin said dryly.
~~~
'Merlin'

'Lillian'

Both of them woke up, hurriedly got dressed and left their room at the same time. They exchanged silent looks, confirming that the other had heard the voice too. They crept downstairs and made their way silently to the door. But of course, Merlin being the klutz he was, bumped into the table. Both of them froze and watched fearfully as Gaius scratched his face and turned over.

They breathed a sigh of relief and Merlin went closer to his bed and used magic to pull up Gaius's blanket so that he was covered properly. Lily smile at this, knowing that Merlin, though he only knew Gaius for a few days, was beginning to see Gaius as his father figure.

They reached the dungeons and distracted the guards by using magic to roll the dice further snd further away. They sneaked past them, grabbed a torch and made their way past metal gates and further downstairs as the voice kept calling out their names. When they reached the end of the staircase, they felt a pull towards the left and as they followed it  into a tunnel, the voice still kept calling.

'Merlin'

'Lillian'

The end of the tunnel opened to an enormous cave. Chuckles echoed around them as Merlin asked loudly:

"Where are you?"

A dragon flew past them as it roared, making them take a step back in surprise and fear.

"I'm here. How small you are for such such great destinies." It mused at them.

"What destinies?" Lily and Merlin asked together, eyes alight with curiosity.

"Your gifts were given for a reason."

"So there's a reason then?" Lily asked, voicing Merlin's question.

"Arthur is the once and future king who will unite the land of Albion."

"Right." Merlin said.

"But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike."

"But what does this have to do with us?" Lily asked impatiently.

"Everything. Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there will be no Albion."

"No. No, you've got this wrong." Merlin shook his head.

"There is no right and wrong. Only what is and what isn't."

"But I'm serious. If anyone wants to go and kill him, they can go ahead. In fact, I'd give them a hand if I wasn't afraid of Lily murdering me in my sleep."

"Merlin!" Lily chided.

"What?"

The dragon seemed amused, "None of us can choose our destiny, Merlin. And none of us can escape it."

"No. No way, no. No, there must be another Arthur because this one's an idiot!"

"Merlin!" Lily was very much annoyed at this point.

"What? You know it's true!"

"Perhaps it's your destiny to change that." With that, the dragon flew off to another part of the cave, out of sight.

"Wait! Stop, I need to know more!" Merlin called in vain.

"Well, one thing is certain. That dragon has a flair for dramatics." Lily muttered.
~~~~
"Oi!" The pair of them jumped from where they stood talking in Merlin's bedroom.

"Have you seen the state of this room?" Gaius demanded. Lily sniggered in a very unladylike manner.

"And don't even get me started on yours." Gaius told her, silencing her quickly.

"I-uh...It just happens." Merlin shrugged.

"By magic?"

"Yeah." Both of them nodded

"Yes, well you can clear it up without magic." He declared, throwing a pair of Merlin's trousers at him.

"Then, I want both of you to get me some herbs: henbane, wormwood and sorrel. And deliver this to Morgana. Poor girl's suffering from nightmares." He held up a canister of potion. As Gaius left the room, he picked up one of Merlin's shirts and threw it at him.

Unfortunately, Lily couldn't accompany Merlin to deliver the potion as she was needed everywhere to help prepare everything for the celebrations. When she heard what had taken place in Morgana's chambers, she burst out laughing.

"Oh, Merlin, I swear I've never laughed this much, until you came along." She said, still chuckling.

"Glad to be of service." Merlin said sarcastically, even as he smiled and his eyes shone brighter at the sight of her smile.
~~~~
Gaius, Merlin and Lily arrived just in time for the celebrations to begin. They walked over to a table and stood there when suddenly, every man was looking at the centre of the room where Morgana was. Arthur's jaw had dropped, and Lily teased lightly as she went over to him:

"Close your mouth, My Lord. Or you might swallow some flies."

"Oh, Ha ha, Lily."

Lily noticed Merlin looking at Morgana, and for some reason, her heart sunk slightly as she made her way back to him.

"She looks great, doesn't she?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah." Merlin said, but then his eyes moved over to Lily.

"Some people are just born to be queen."

"No." He finally looked at Gwen.

"I hope so....one day. Not that I'd want to be her. Who'd want to marry Arthur?"

"Oh come on, Gwen. I thought you liked those real rough, tough, save-the-world kind of men." Merlin laughed, glancing at Lily once more. Lily didn't notice since she was busy staring at Morgana.

"No, I like much more ordinary men like you." Gwen replied.

"Gwen, believe me. I'm not ordinary." Lily snapped around at that and gave Merlin a warning glare.

"No, I didn't mean you....obviously. Not you. But just, you know, I like much more ordinary men....like you." She emphasised.

"Thank you." Merlin said, looking confused. Both of them looked awkwardly at each other and then looked away, causing Lily to laugh silently.

Horns blared as the king entered. Everyone took their places at the table.

"We have enjoyed 20 years of peace and prosperity. It has brought the kingdom and myself many pleasures. But few can compare with the honour of introducing Lady Helen of Mora."

Everyone applauded as she prepared to sing. But once she started singing, everyone started dozing off. Lily and Merlin, on noticing this, closed their ears. Lily watched, horrified, as cobwebs started covering everything and everyone. Lily and Merlin realised that she was going to kill Arthur and looked at each other in panic.

As Lady Helen pulled out a knife and aimed at Arthur, rage filled Lily. She looked over at Merlin who was eyeing the chandelier that was right above Lady Helen. Both their eyes flashed gold and the chandelier fell right on top of Lady Helen. She looked at Merlin to see him smirking at her like an idiot.

"Stop it, Merlin. They're waking up!"

And indeed, people were waking up, looking around in confusion and asking what had happened. Everyone turned their attention to the witch stuck beneath the chandelier. Suddenly, she threw her dagger at Arthur as everyone gasped in horror and surprise. Thankfully, Merlin acted fast, and pulled Arthur down just as the dagger buried itself in his chair. Mary Collins collapsed as she took her final breath at last.

Uther approached Merlin and Arthur.

"You saved my boy's life. A debt must be repaid."

"Oh, well-"

"Don't be so modest. You shall be rewarded."

"No, honestly, you don't have to Your Highness." Merlin tried to protest, but Uther insisted:

"No, absolutely. This merits something quite special."

"Well..."

"You shall be rewarded with a position in the royal household. You shall be Arthur's manservant."

"Father!" Arthur protested as the applause drowned out Lily's peals of laughter at the disgusted looks on Arthur and Merlin's faces.
~~~~
Lily was in Merlin's room, trying to cheer him up, telling him that she'll be there as company for the most part, except for when he was dressing Arthur.

There was a soft knock on the door and Gaius entered, holding what seemed to be a book covered in a red cloth.

"Seems you're a hero." He told Merlin.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"No. I knew from the moment I met you. Well, You saved my life, remember?"

"But that was magic." Merlin exclaimed.

"And now it seems we finally found a use for it."

"What do you mean?" Lily and Merlin asked in unison.

"I know how the two of you saved Arthur's life."

"Ah, no." Merlin shook his head.

"Perhaps that is it's purpose." Gaius insisted.

"Our destinies." They sighed.

"Indeed. This book was given to me when I was your age." Merlin stood and took the book from him, "But I have a feeling it will be of more use to the two of you than it was to me."

"This is a book on magic." Lily stated as she looked at its contents.

"Which is why you must keep it hidden."

"We will study every word." Merlin said for both of them as Lily was already engrossed in it.

"Merlin? Prince Arthur wants you right away." A voice called from downstairs.

"Go on, Merlin, your destiny calls." Lily smirked as she looked up from the book.

"Oh no you don't! You're coming with me!" Merlin pulled her off the bed and dragged her with him.

"Merlin, I can't! He's a man! I can't help you attend to a man!" Lily protested.

"I don't care!"

Gaius chuckled at them as he watched them go. But one thing that didn't go unnoticed by him was Lily's smile as she let him drag her. For Gaius knew that Lily was far stronger than she looked. She was a sword fighter after all, a skinny boy like Merlin couldn't make her move an inch if she decided to plant her feet, but she let him drag her away, her laughter ringing through the castle.