Arthur had been doing more than his fair share over the last few weeks. Merlyn had watched his progress as he became more and more acclimated to the nature of this new world. She'd done her own job as his guide, making sure he took the necessary path and each step he needed to work towards his goal. At this point, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't steering him in any particular direction, but maybe... she just wanted to preserve his innocence for a little while longer. In the frigid air she thought this over, her own breath coming out as a small cloud of smoke though she showed no outward signs of being cold. Funnily enough, though this leg of their journey had been mostly undertaken in silence, Arthur thought to speak on it now. A smirk spread across Merlyn's face as a tuff of her white hair was tucked back inside her hood by her own hand. She didn't quite give Arthur enough credit for being as clever as he was. She'd given the lad a fair bit of time and now the darkness of the world was closing in on them, she didn't have any more time to potentially coddle him, not that she'd ever admit she'd been doing that in the first place.
"Arthur, you might be giving me a bit too much credit~" she teased, though she didn't actually discount his words. "A King's Journey is long and the road is often tumultuous at best. Forgive me for enjoying the scenic route for as long as I can~" she stated with a fair bit of honesty. "I also haven't been hiding anything... this world is good enough at hiding the unpleasant from those who don't wish to see it. I see many things when I use my magic to do so, but some things are only clear in a moment and fleeting beyond that. Perhaps I wasn't ready to bet on something unclear, but this..." she said with a wide open gesture. "Is something I can say is clearly wrong. But figuring out how and why its wrong is up to you. And the responsibility of it, is yours to take on. The glory of it... is yours as well," she said. Her voice trailing off as her eyes were drawn into the distance. Words so soft they could be missed, but just as ominous as any which could be heard. "And all that comes with it..."
But just as easily as she'd said such ominous and scary things, she quickly reverted to her more cheerful demeanor. "So, how do you feel about that bounty? Anything you'd like to share?~" she questioned wondering if the young man had noted the oddity of such a request in this Kingdom. Sure the enchanted forest needed protecting, but why wouldn't the knights of the Kingdom be charged with such a task. Why did it only list the potential for innocent creatures to be harmed but not what species or anything of merit. All of it seemed kind of sketchy to Merlyn and when she laid eyes on the flyer posted to the Tavern wall, she'd had a vision of something strange... it needed confirmation and thus she'd guided Arthur towards it. Though upon doing so, she saw his actions expanding from that point forward in a manner which was... trying at best.