Summary: Young pro-magic activists are made prisoner by Uther. When Merlin & Morgana defend their cause a little too fervently, Arthur becomes suspicious. But will he change his mind about magic when Gwen catches a weird and uncurable illness?

Author's notes: This story takes place during series 2, right after the episode "Lancelot and Guinevere". There might be spoilers up to that episode. Canon pairings only (mostly Arthur/Gwen). English isn't my mother language, so in advance, my deepest apologies for any vocabulary/grammar mistake or inaccuracy.

In the dead of a moonless night, two silhouettes were advancing through Camelot's forest by the light of a torch. A man and a woman, both young, probably in their late teens, early twenties at most.

"We're going to be late," the woman complained.

"You make it sound like it's my fault," the man noted.

"Well it is! If you hadn't spent the whole afternoon trying to get that -"

"Hey, we haven't seen each other in months, could we not be at each other's throat yet?" he interrupted.

She abruptly gave a tense look above her shoulder.

"Did you hear something?" the man queried.

"No, but... I don't know, I feel a sort of... presence..."

"Probably just your imagination," he comforted. "Come on, there we are."

Both man and woman put their hoods up before entering the torch-lit clearing ahead of them, where some sort of gathering was going on. Nearly three dozens of other hooded figures were already there, split up in small groups, all engaged in quiet talks. It was hard to tell with the darkness of the night and the hoods hiding half their faces, but all of them seemed to be just as young as the two newcomers.

The man and woman blended into the crowd, and took part to the various ongoing discussions. New conversation topics started every minute, either about news, tips, or politics, but all were always related to the same theme: magic.

"I was on the road to Ingram the other week," some man was saying. "Guards patrol there on a regular basis, and arrest anyone carrying anything questionable or that looks remotely magic-related. Better be on the safe side and avoid the main road if you need to go there."

"I had to prepare an unguent for a bad burn," some woman was telling to another group, "but I couldn't find any chestnut, so I used acorns instead. It worked, though the effect was much weaker and slower than with chestnuts."

"I recently stumbled upon that incredible spell..."

"We spent some time there, the village is very welcoming. Lots of sympathizers."

One conversation in particular was getting quite passionate:

"Our grandparents didn't have to hide when they were our age. I say we should take action and get rid of Uther. Times were better for us before him, they'll be better again once he's gone!"

"Is that really how you want to make magic accepted all over the kingdom? By resorting to violence?"

"Magic is already used all over the kingdom! That's an open secret, and Uther is just too blind to realise it. He can't get rid of us all."

All of a sudden, clanking footsteps seemed to swoop down from a nearby hilltop.

"GUARDS! SCATTER!" someone cried out.

A wave of panic spread quickly among the crowd, and all ran away screaming as the Camelot guards drew their swords and ran after them. The unarmed civilians stood no chance against the trained soldiers, and they all fell dead one after the other, their throat sliced or their chest pierced.

One of them, the young man that had arrived late to the reunion, just got caught. A strong arm reached from behind and blocked his shoulders. He waited for the blow to come, but against all hope, the pressure on his shoulders was released and he heard the soldier fall on his knees.

The young man turned round and saw his female friend, dropping a large stick to the ground.

"Elias, run!" the woman told him as she, herself, started to run in the opposite direction, only to trip on a root a few seconds later.

She immediately picked herself up, but froze in fear when she gave a quick look over her shoulder. The soldier she had just hit with that stick was right behind her, his sword lifted above her head.

Morgana woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. She brought her hand to her mouth, still shaken by her so vivid nightmare. After a few seconds, she got up, slipped a dressing gown on, grabbed a candle and headed out of her room.

Merlin was woken by the sound of voices behind his bedroom's door. He gave a quick look at the window, afraid that he might be late again for his morning duties, but it was still the middle of the night.

Intrigued by this late commotion, he walked to the door and half-opened it silently, just enough for him to hear better.

"The screams, Gaius! And the blood! So much blood! It was all so real..." It was Morgana's voice, trembling and distressed. "And their fear, I could feel it as if it were mine!"

"It's all right, Morgana," Gaius soothed. "It's over now."

"No!" Morgana cried out. "You don't understand, they... they were slaughtered! They were quiet and harmless, and they just got killed right there!"

"Drink this, my child. This is a calming draught, it should help you get back to sleep."

"I don't want to get back to sleep! How could I after what happened?"

"Morgana, please be reasonable and drink this."

A silence followed, then the sound of someone drinking something. And then, Merlin heard a heavy sigh. It sounded like Gaius.

"Merlin, why don't you come over here instead of spying on us?"

Merlin hesitated briefly. Realising it was no use trying to pretend, he opened the door fully and sheepishly walked into his mentor's laboratory. He noticed Morgana quickly wipe her cheeks as he came in. Had she been crying?

"Now, my boy, why don't you make yourself useful and escort the Lady Morgana back to her room?"

Merlin nodded. "Sure."

A minute later, they were walking side by side down the castle's dark corridors, their path lit up only by the candle Merlin was holding. The silence between them was oppressive.

"Bad dream again?" Merlin finally asked tentatively.

Morgana nodded briskly. Her eyes were still wet with tears.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he invited, trying to look supportive.

She remained silent, at first. "There was a gathering in the forest," she eventually began. "I think they were warlocks and witches... They were talking about magic. Sharing knowledge and ideas, peacefully. And then, guards in Camelot's uniforms attacked them."

Then she fell silent again. From what he had heard her tell Gaius, Merlin could easily finish the story of what she had witnessed in what he could only assume had been a vision.

"It was just a nightmare," Merlin lied.

"No", she contested. "It was real, I... I was there... It felt just like I was..."

She suddenly came to a stop as she looked through a window.

"Morgana?" Merlin queried.

"This is the new moon... It happened tonight..."

"Let's keep moving, shall we?" he insisted, urging her forward.

"Merlin, they... They were young... They were all so young... Just like us..." Her gaze suddenly became distant. "Just like me... This is the sort of fate that awaits me, isn't it? When Uther finds out -"

"He'll never find out," Merlin assured as they finally reached the door to Morgana's room. "You need to forget about all that and to get some sleep, all right?"

"I'm not sure I can sleep any more tonight, even with the help of Gaius' potion."

"Promise me you'll try, at least?"

"All right, I'll try," Morgana agreed as she opened her door. She turned back after only one step in. "Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"They didn't even do anything to defend themselves... They just... panicked and ran all over the place... Why wouldn't they defend themselves? Why wouldn't they use magic?"

Merlin shrugged. "I don't know. You should rest."

She nodded. "Yes, you're right. Thanks, Merlin. Good night."

"Good night, Morgana."

Once she had closed her door, he let go a sigh he had been holding for a few minutes already, and headed back to his own room. Gaius was waiting for him there.

"Is she safely back in her room?"

"Yes. Though that vision seems to have really affected her."

"And with good reason. It looks like Uther is trying to get rid of all of the kingdom's sorcerers through quite extreme means."

Merlin briefly wondered if Arthur knew about his father's deeds.

"You have to be extremely careful, Merlin," Gaius urged.

"I'm always careful," the warlock contested. When the older man raised an eyebrow, he added: "Most of the time, anyway."

"'Most of the time' won't be enough. You can't let Uther have any suspicion about you or about Morgana. And you can't let Arthur know about it either."

"I know, you warned me a thousand times already."

"This is no laughing matter, Merlin," Gaius scolded.

"I'm sorry, I..." Merlin sighed. "Look, I'm tired. I promise to be careful. At all times. Can I get back to bed now?"

"Of course."

Merlin headed right back to his room and to his bed. However, there was something that still puzzled him. It was the last thing Morgana told him about her vision: these people hadn't tried to defend themselves. Why wouldn't sorcerers use magic to save their own lives?