Magic Revealed

Wait

Merlin, Mordred, and Percival made good time as they started toward the camp where they hoped to find the leader of the group rising against Camelot. By the time the stopped for the night they'd made it about a fourth of the way to their destination. Three more days were in front of them and Merlin was dreading it more than a little bit. 

"I'll make dinner Merlin." Mordred said as the warlock stared to unpack their supplies. Merlin blinked in surprise but nodded gratefully, he wasn't used to having someone else cook. Percival helped him set up the single tent that they were all sharing. When they finished they went back and found Mordred making stew for them and pulling out some bread rolls from a bag to go with it. 

"I didn't know you could cook Mordred." Percival mumbled. Mordred just shrugged, "I did have to take care of myself for a while so I can manage just fine." 

They waited for the stew to finish in silence before Percival finally spoke, "So, once we get there what's the plan?"

Merlin sat back, "Gather as much information as we can. Names, numbers, abilities. Whatever we can get."

Mordred snorted, "We'll at least we don't have any of the nobles. This would be very hard to pull off if we had one of them here."

Merlin fiddled with the ring on his finger, "That's true. We have the advantage of blending in."

Mordred started dishing out food, "I'm going to hide my being a druid. I don't think it would cause any problems but I don't think it would help either."

Merlin nodded, "That's probably a good idea."

Percival shifted, "And me?"

"When we get there, you don't say anything about having magic. Then we act as if we didn't know that you had any capability at all. Mordred on the other hand will say that he knows some while I'll say that I left home in order to learn more magic and we all met up to go there."

Percival nodded in agreement, "That's kind of the truth."

Mordred dipped his head in agreement, "The best lies contain the truth."

Merlin sighed, "It's sad that I've been doing that since I was a kid."

Percival chuckled, "Then you won't have a problem with it." Merlin grinned as he started eating his food, "That's true."

Mordred glanced at the tent that they were sharing, "Should we take turns on watch?"

Merlin shook his head, "I'll just set up a barrier so if anyone tries to break through we'll wake up. That way we all get enough sleep."

Percival grunted, "Good idea."

Mordred nodded, "We've got three more days of riding, we need as much sleep as we can get." He lowly ate his food as he looked around at the trees. "How long are we planning on staying?"

Merlin considered this, "Probably until we learn something useful, are found out,  or are forced to leave under strenuous circumstances."

Percival picked at his food, "We need a well thought out story to tell. And like we were saying earlier, we need it to be close to the truth so we can remember it easily."

They thought for a moment before Mordred spoke, "How about this: Merlin grew up in a small village on the outskirts of Essetir and was forced to leave because he had little control of his magic." Merlin dipped his head in agreement and Mordred continued, "Merlin went to find a teacher and while living with this teacher met me as a child. He helped me hide when Camelot knights were searching for me and then helped me escape. Years later one of Merlin's friends introduced him to you, Percival, and the two of you became friends. Recently, Merlin discovered that there was a group teaching magic to those who wished to learn and asked if I wished to join him and check it out."