A/N

Hello everyone! Sorry this took so long, life got pretty crazy for me with finals, group projects and then my dad visiting. I'm really excited for this chapter though. It focuses entirely on Evan, and I honestly never thought I'd focus so much on an OC but he's developed a life of his own and it's just how the chapter came out. I'm really hoping I'll get a few more chapters out over the summer before I go back to school, my first quarter back will be very busy, I'll be going into a pretty intense class where I will be in the classroom at least 40 hours a week and for about two or three weeks will have a pretty intense workload outside of class so I will be swamped. Anyways sorry for the long note, enjoy!

Evan officially hated gathering herbs. Not that he ever really enjoyed the task, but after today's trip he was ready to refuse even the king if he was asked to do this again. It wasn't very often that Gaius asked for Evan's assistance in collecting herbs, but with Gaius getting older, he was having more and more trouble going out to gather them himself. And, since Merlin really didn't need Evan all that much, he was the one sent to do the task. Usually Evan didn't mind. It was relaxing being able to get out of the castle, but today had been terrible. He had had to wade his way through waist deep mud; had nearly been killed by one of Camelot's patrols who had apparently been looking for bandits in the area and had not immediately recognized him; and, as his clothes were still drenched, had practically frozen to death while he looked to find a flower that could only be collected at night.

Lost in thought, Evan almost missed Grunhilda, Princess Elena's nurse if he remembered correctly, heading towards the woods. Curious, Evan followed her from a distance, uncertain as to why a nurse would be wandering into the woods alone at night. When she reached a lake, she sat down and looked like she was simply admiring the lake. Feeling guilty for following her like this, Evan was about to say something to her when a large tongue shot out of Grunhilda's mouth, catching a bug that flew past her.

Shocked, Evan stumbled back, only to step on a twig. He was only just able to dive out of sight before Grunhilda turned. Evan held his breath as he waited for her to go back to eating. If he stayed quiet enough surely she'd think it was an animal or something…Evan stiffened when he heard something moving, sure she would catch him and do who knows what to him. He considered his options as the movement drew closer to him. He could try and bolt for Camelot and hope the king would believe him, or he could stay here and hope she didn't find him, and neither option sounded very appealing.

Before he could decide, a deer bolted towards them, momentarily startling Grunhilda. After a few moments of silence, he heard her sitting down and heard the sound of a large tongue snapping something out of the air and he allowed himself to relax slightly. He didn't dare move from his spot however from fear of catching her attention by mistake and really getting caught. Eventually he heard he get up and start walking in what Evan guessed was the direction of Camelot.

Still, Evan didn't dare move for fear of accidentally running into her on the way back. He wasn't sure he would be able to explain why he was coming from the same area as her even with his basket…his eyes widened in horror when he realized he'd abandoned his basket in the clearing when he went to follow Grunhilda. How could he have been so stupid? It would be a miracle if she didn't see it.

Unsure what he should do, Evan sat frozen in his hiding spot for several minutes. What would she do if she found the basket? He forced himself to calm down. How could she trace that particular basket back to him? It was no different from any other basket servants used. For all she knew the person never saw her and simply wandered away from it for a few minutes. At least he hoped she would assume that was the case.

Guessing it was safe, Evan hurried back to the clearing and spent several frustrating minutes trying to locate his basket. If he couldn't even find the dumb thing while looking for it, what where the odds of Grunhilda finding it while not? Eventually he was able to find it and grab the necessary herbs before making his way back to Camelot. As he walked, he wondered what if anything he should say and to whom. He knew the King would never listen to a servant, especially one without any proof whatsoever. Merlin would probably believe him, but like Evan, he probably couldn't do much with the information. The only one who even had a chance of convincing the King was Arthur, but once again Evan wasn't sure if Arthur would even give him the time of day. Although he was more likely to succeed with Arthur than the King.

Evan sighed in frustration as he made his way to the physician's chambers to drop off the herbs. He tentatively knocked on the door and was immediately prompted to enter. Gaius took the basket and checked to ensure everything was there. Once he had finished, he turned to Evan.

"Did you have any trouble gathering the materials?" he asked.

Evan wanted to mention running into Grunhilda, but refrained. "No trouble at all."

Gaius gave Evan a strange look before saying, "Well that's good."

"Is there anything else you need?" Evan asked.

"No, no. That's all," Gaius said.

Evan nodded and hastily left, deciding to try and talk to Merlin about what happened. As he made his way to Merlin's chambers however, Merlin and Arthur appeared walking in the opposite direction.

"Sire, My Lord," Evan greeted, bowing as they approached.

"There's no need to bow…" Merlin sighed.

"I see you had… fun today…" Arthur said before Evan could answer.

Blushing slightly, Evan realized he was still covered in mud and who knows what else.

"Gathering herbs for Gaius…." Evan mumbled.

"Thank you for doing that," Merlin said, flashing him a genuine smile.

Evan frowned. He needed to find a way to get Merlin away from Arthur to talk to him about what he'd seen, but he didn't know how to do that without making Arthur suspicious.

"You're welcome," Evan said when he realized Merlin and Arthur were watching him. "Shall I be fetching two meals, my lords?" he added uncertainly.

"Oh right, sorry. I almost forgot," Merlin said. "The king asked us to join him for dinner."

"Oh, will you be needing me to help serve?" Evan asked.

"No, you've been out all day. Take the rest of the evening off," Merlin said, smiling.

Evan nodded. "That is very…gracious my lord."

The smile slid off of Merlin's face as he inspected the servant. "Is there something wrong Evan?" he asked.

Even tried to smile more genuinelyy. "No of course not! Just…tired…."

"Well get some rest. You deserve it," Merlin told him, flashing another smile at him before continuing down the hall. Arthur, however, gave him a questioning look before continuing on after Merlin.

Once they were gone Evan let out a frustrated groan. Arthur saw right through him, he knew it. Who knows how long it would take Evan to get Merlin alone to talk to him. A part of him wondered how smart it was to even say anything to Merlin though. He still only had his word about the tongue and it was possible Evan was just seeing things. Or that she was simply an innocent creature of some sort trying to live a normal life. Though from what he had seen, creatures like her didn't come to Camelot for innocent reasons. More times than not, magical creatures got a lot of people killed, like his family. And he refused to let that happen to anyone else's family if he could avoid it.

If she was a threat someone who could do something needed to know, but Evan first needed to figure out for sure if she was really a threat. Maybe it was a good thing Merlin couldn't talk to him right away. Since he had the evening off, Merlin wouldn't notice his disappearance and he could try and see if he could get any more evidence on Grunhilda. A part of him feared what would happen if he was caught but he pushed the thought out of him mind, their where guards everywhere, if she tried anything he could run until he found a guard. Besides, Grunhilda couldn't move nearly as quickly as he could. With that thought in mind, he carefully made his way to Elena's chambers, climbing on a stool to get a good look inside.

The servant quickly spotted the princess sleeping restlessly, thrashing and crying out in her bed. Grunhilda quickly approached her and sprinkled some dust on her face as it momentarily changed into something very inhuman.

Shocked, Evan stumbled back, only for him to tumble off the chair crashing loudly onto the floor. He scrambled to his feet and raced as far away from the princess's chambers as possible, praying he hadn't been spotted.

Once he was a safe distance away, Evan collapsed against a wall, breathing heavily. Elena and Grunhilda were definitely not human. He had no idea however what they were. It was times like this that Evan cursed the king for destroying all magical artifacts. How was he supposed to figure out what they were without any information?

He wanted to talk to Merlin, but he was positive they would still be dining. Glancing down at his clothes, Evan decided it was probably a good idea to try and wash himself. He could talk to Merlin once he was clean.

After spending a good half hour scrubbing every inch of his body, Evan made his way to Merlin's chambers. It was late, so few people wandered the halls. He could only hope Merlin was still awake. As he approached the door to Merlin's chambers, he caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he glanced over, jumping when he saw a small blue creature that was flying not too far from his face.

Evan jumped away from the creature with a shout as it fired a bolt at him. He only just managed to dive out of the way, watching with alarm as the place he had been sizzled. His shout apparently drew Merlin's attention because seconds later Evan spotted him peering out of his chambers in confusion. When he spotted Evan his eyes widened and he dove back into his room.

Evan could only hope the creature didn't notice Merlin. Before the creature could attack again Merlin appeared in the hallway.

"Leave him alone!" Melin shouted with an air of command.

The creature turned its attention to Merlin, who was clutching a strange looking staff. Before the creature could attack, Merlin's eyes flashed gold as he sent a bolt of magic at the creature, causing it to explode. Merlin carefully examined the hallway before turning his attention to Evan.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Evan wasn't sure what to do or think. Merlin had magic. Merlin was a sorcerer!

End Notes

So what did you guys think? How do you think Evan take the reveal?