"Come on, Merlin, I want to hear all about the girl that would willingly spend time with you," Arthur prodded.

"Yes Merlin, let's hear it." Gwen smiled in a way she'd learned from Morgana.

He was about to insist that there was no girl, that there had just been some sort of miscommunication, when a pale face of dark eyes and raven hair flashed through his mind. But no, he couldn't. She was his secret. Too close to the heart to reveal. Too dead and gone to dwell on.

"At least tell us her name," Arthur continued. "I am king you know. I could see to it that you have so many boots to polish you will never see this poor girl again."

"I'll never see Freya again no matter how many boots I polish," Merlin murmured under his breath.

"What was that?" Arthur smirked, proud of himself for beginning to coax out the truth.

"Freya," Gwen stumbled over the name like it confused her. She hadn't expected there to really be a girl, of course.

"Freya?" Arthur was practically purring in anticipation.

Merlin swallowed. The bastet was out of the bag. Maybe some secrets you were supposed to share. "Her name is Freya. She lives near a lake and she's very, very pretty."

Arthur choked slightly. "Sorry, I'm having a little bit of trouble picturing you on the shores of a lake with a very, very pretty girl."

"Believe it or don't believe it, I don't care," Merlin shot back to Arthur, before directing his next comment at Gwen, from whose face all signs of haughtiness were leaving as she struggled to comprehend how close to the truth her jest had been. "She likes strawberries and pretty dresses and she's kind and thoughtful and good." He resonated momentarily on that last syllable, tasting it like strawberries in his mouth.

Arthur laughed, eager for a chance to finally return any grief Merlin had given him when he first fell in love. "Well if she's that amazing, why don't you just marry her?"

The question hung in the air, as Gwen leaned forward, all evidence of her newly found wickedness sliding off in exchange for genuine interest.

Merlin leaned in towards Arthur as though he was about to spout truths from the depths of his soul. He swallowed once, twice, before whispering in a voice just loud enough for Gwen to make out from across the table. "Because she's not real."

"What?" Arthur asked, sorely disappointed as Merlin returned to his full height and made for the door.

"She's not real. There is no girl. I was at the Tavern. I just told Gwen there was a girl so she wouldn't worry about me. You know how she is, such a big heart." He flashed a smile at Gwen just before slipping through the door, leaving Arthur and Gwen temporarily flabbergasted.

"Don't forget to wash my boots!" Arthur shouted out the door after Merlin.

"How could I forget?" He shouted back. "When I wait too long they start smelling like clotpole!"

Because if some secrets were meant to be shared, she was not one of them.