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Title: Secrets
Fandom: Merlin
Rating: G
Character: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Guinevere Pendragon, Gaius, Kilgharrah
Summary: Offshots to Vigil. Now that Merlin's awake, Arthur braced himself for the revelation that was coming. But just how many secrets that Merlin was having? Post Season 4.
A/N: End of this piece. It's been fun writing this.
--------------------------
"I ought to kill you now for everything you've told me this morning!"
Merlin was staring at Arthur in shock. He had returned very abruptly, slamming the door behind him as if something troubling just happened. What was it that Sir Leon had him called to be discussed? As far as he remembered he had done nothing to merit Arthur's anger, considering he had been mostly concerned of his own well-being and personal worries. Did Arthur intend to blame him of every wrongdoings in this kingdom now that he knew he had magic?
"Arthur what—"
Arthur glared sharply at Merlin.
"An hour," he said, pointing up one finger to reiterate, "One hour I was supposed to be paying attention about the things my fellow advisors, councillors and knights wanted to inform me about the state of my kingdom. Yet I could not pay any attention to a word they were saying because I kept having the things you've been telling me twirling in my head refusing to leave, not allowing me to focus on anything but that!"
Arthur let out a cry, exasperatedly. He walked up towards Merlin.
"Merlin, why haven't you told me of your secret much earlier? Why have you been keeping this to yourself—I mean, Merlin, your father had died and you had to listen to my father saying things like he had been wishing to hear of Balinor's death for so long and you didn't have any time to mourn and acted as if nothing had happened and on top of that you had to set that aside and accompany me as we confronted the great dragon. How could you not tell me of this and bear the burden of this alone?"
Merlin sniffed as Arthur gave him a look of disbelief before giving him a fond smile. Oh Arthur... he always knew that his friend had a kind heart and to think he had been worrying himself over things that has been said, warmed his heart.
"I wasn't alone! I had Gaius... and Gwen... and you, even if you did not know of the true reasons for my sorrows over my father's death—you did tried your best to cheer me up. And I had my mother too, even if it was hard to send her the letter to inform about my father's death. And it's not like I'm not used to bottling up my feelings and sorrows from other people. I bore the sorrows of losing the one person I had loved dearly, losing a friend who had sacrificed himself to protect me as well as the sorrows of hurting a friend for the sake of saving a whole kingdom. I think I should be able to bear with the death of a father I barely met and knew just fine, thank you. I could do that still, seeing that I still had other people that I cared for... at my side."
Arthur shook his head. "That's not enough! That's no excuse to have to bear all of that in secret! Merlin... you had been there, waiting by my side when I was mourning for my own father's death. You had been there at times when I was at the lowest point of my life. Yet you—"
Merlin grinned. "It's not like you haven't done the same for me, Arthur. Even when you didn't know of my secrets then, you had always tried to cheer me up when I was at my lowest, even if occasionally you did not do so—since you thought I was just lazing about and bully me to no end—but that's all right. Without you, what I did or what I'm supposed to do held no meaning whatsoever."
Arthur shook his head. "Hah! The next thing you'd be saying is that we both needed each other so much like two sides of a coin."
Merlin snorted hard at the familiar phrase. "You have no idea how true that statement really was."
Arthur rolled his eyes at him before sighing. "I'm sorry if you've suffered so much loss for my sake—stop interrupting, Merlin. I know I had suffered some losses as well—this was belated, but if there's anything I could make up for you—"
"You could always give me a hug... now and then." Arthur stared at Merlin in horror, as the cheeky servant smiled his most cheeky smile. He sighed before opening his arms wide in invitation.
Merlin grinned as he walked hurriedly into the invited embrace. He chuckled as he caught Arthur making some embarrassed sounds underneath his breath. He continued grinning as he embraced Arthur's body tightly.
"Don't you think this feels nice, Arthur? To me, this was enough to compensate all those sorrys and thankyous you owed me all these years for watching your back in secret."
"Shut up... Merlin," said Arthur, even as a soft smile started to form at the edge of his lips.
"Ah!" Another voice broke the tender moment as Arthur hastily broke away from Merlin. Merlin chuckled as he noticed Arthur's embarrassment before turning to smile towards Gwen.
"Glad to see both of you already made up. I'm starting to worry these few days seeing the two of you not acting like usual."
Merlin snorted. "Yes, I agree. Though I believe Arthur would have preferring hugging you instead of me, regardless if I'm probably his most bestest best friend he's ever got," he said before receiving a kick from Arthur. Gwen laughed as she noticed Arthur's face started to turn redder than usual.
xxx
"So..."
Merlin stared at Arthur, curiously. After Gwen had left them, they had resumed the talk they had before—which included him talking about Freya, Gilli... and even about him having to poison Morgana all those years ago because Morgause had used her to cast a spell on the whole of Camelot. It was a bit awkward actually, especially when they were talking about Freya; since Arthur insisted... considering Merlin knew more about Arthur's love life rather than Arthur knew his—how did that came about? The issue right now was about Arthur finally learning about his magic and the impact it will give to Camelot... as well as Albion!—What else did this old prat of a king wanted to know from him?
"Why?"
Merlin frowned at him. "Why... what?"
Arthur made a face at him as if he had been asking an obvious question and Merlin was too dense to understand it to get it.
"Why did you do so much for me and sacrifice do much—don't talk about destiny, that was a weak excuse—why did you place so much hope and trust that I could be this great king you were saying I'm supposed to be? The king you said I'm going to become? The Once and Future King?"
Merlin smiled at him fondly. "Because you are... noble and great and honourable. You might not notice it but every day of knowing you I've seen a glimpse of the great king you'll become. Greater than your father could ever hope to be. It's the same quality Gwen love in you, that Lancelot, Gwaine, Leon, Percival, Elyan and the many knights respected in you, what Tristan, Isolde, Will and many of your subjects saw. You gave hope of a peaceful and great kingdom to the people you serve—for that, what does it matter if I suffered some losses if I could bring about that future you're meant to inherit?"
Arthur blinked at him, tongue-tied before Merlin noticed his cheeks started to flush another colour. Arthur hastily turned away before stuttering.
"R-really... Merlin, the things that came out of your mouth—" said Arthur, flustered as Merlin grinned.
"I can always flatter if you want me to—" Merlin started to say before stopping when Arthur gave him a horrified look. "But I assure you, I had my utmost faith in you as a great king—even now—even when Kilgharrah once faltered in that belief. I will always support you towards that certain future."
Arthur continued staring at Merlin, the way Gaius often gave him whenever he caught him trying to hide something or lie about something and looking at him until he confessed. Merlin fluttered his eyelashes, trying to look innocent.
"I've said the truth! I always have... aside from hiding from you about my magic. All of my words in the past had always been sincere... and honest—"
Arthur looked at him warily. "Oh really...?" he asked as Merlin noticed Arthur's eye shifted towards where Excalibur was placed at the corner of the sleeping chamber.
"Does that include what you told me last time about that sword? Because Merlin... I've looked back on the historical records, and I see no hints of the things you've said to me at that time."
Merlin bit his lips before grinning sheepishly. "All right... I did lie about that but the bit about Excalibur only belongs to you was true." Arthur cocked his head again as Merlin continued. "I asked Gwen for the best sword her father had ever forged and asked Kilgharrah to imbue it with his dragon breath to give it power to slay the undead. Kilgharrah insisted that you're the only one allowed to use it as Excalibur could do many evil if fell on the wrong hands. He was pissed at me at one time when I accidentally allowed your father to use it that one time. If I knew that he had drugged you and taken the opportunity to fight the undead Knight that time, I might have done something about it."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking about that but thank you for that additional information. I'm talking about the part about me taking out the sword from the stone."
Merlin rolled his eyes back at Arthur. "What if I did made up that part of the story? It's still true that the sword was made for the Once and Future King, who would reunite the land of Albion and bring magic back into the land. You," Merlin shrugged awkwardly.
"Even if I did helped a bit by un-fusing the sword from the stone—because if I didn't do that, the sword would still be fused with the rock even if you could pull it out—you did pulled Excalibur out from the stone. There's no use of you pulling the sword out before I could fully restore your faith that you'd be a great king. I need you to truly believe in yourself that you can do it because it hurts me to see you so depressed and forlorn. Believe me, Arthur... aside from that I meant no harm."
Arthur eyed him carefully. "So you're saying that you'd be the judge to see if I'm worthy of being Camelot's king?"
Merlin gave him an odd look. "Since when did I say that? Or do you mean to say that I should not have told you about me aiding you to pull the sword out so that you could gloat that you pulled it out by your own power—?"
Arthur broke into an easy laugh as he patted Merlin's shoulders. "No... no, I was only joking, Merlin..." said Arthur, drawling his name slowly. He grinned. "What did I do to deserve such a loyal friend?"
Merlin gave Arthur a smug look. "Well, for one... I thank you for not being just a simple annoying prat of a prince. Because of the fact that I realised that you do have a kind and noble and generous heart underneath all that pratness, I have a reason to believe in the destiny that ties the two of us together. It had been quite an enjoyable ride of an adventure with you and I'm glad to have been able to become your friend."
Arthur grinned as he noticed the tinge of redness on the ears and cheeks of his beloved friend and servant. "And I, you. I've never had a fun but impolite servant like you in the past yet I'm glad I had the chance to know you."
Merlin smiled weakly before sighing.
"And now... we have come to this moment, finally. Now Arthur, what would you do about me, for currently Camelot's laws do not welcome people like me who could not help the fact that magic was a part of their being."
Arthur let out a soft sigh before looking up towards him, appearing sorrowful.
"Truth to be told dear friend, I do not know..."
xxx
The day after...
Gaius walked up towards Merlin as he appeared to be distracted, leaving his breakfast porridge half-eaten. The old man shook his head before taking a seat opposite him.
"What is it Merlin, what's bothering you now? If you continued to sit idly like this, Arthur would have surely made some fuss."
Merlin shook his head. "No worries... I doubt Arthur would be his normal cheerful self either. I bet he's probably pushing himself too hard trying to find the best possible solution to one of the kingdom's most pressing problems..."
Gaius blinked, before he gradually remembered that Arthur and Merlin spent a very long time together the other day. He gasped as he realised what had happened.
"Oh Merlin... don't tell me, the other day you and Arthur's been together... did anything happened?"
Merlin looked up towards his mentor before shrugging.
"What else could have happen? I did owed him an explanation, so I gave it to him. I wished he'd be more angry at me, I'm more familiar with Arthur being all of his usual prattiness... rather than him being quiet and thoughtful and calm..." Merlin made an odd face as if he could not believe the word he was saying, before shaking his head. "It was weird actually... Arthur being extremely nice to me. I actually thought I liked it. Wonder if it could last... this treatment from Arthur."
"He's actually really angry, you know? When he first brought you back—your injuries at the time was not that bad actually, did Kilgharrah healed your injuries before that?—Arthur had threatened me that he'd punish me if something were to happen to you under my care. He was really distraught and angry, but it was also evident that he was worried about you. You have not recovered awareness for several days despite your injuries only appeared to be on the outside." Gaius gave him a sly look.
"You should have seen Arthur those few days. I pity the new knights he had been training as he seemed to have taken his frustration at the new recruits. I'm actually surprised that he did nothing short of yelling at you when you finally woke up."
Merlin snorted. "Haha, he did said that his feelings about me had been complicated as of lately..."
Gaius smiled weakly as he detected a note of worry in Merlin's voice. Merlin turned his glance towards him.
"Gaius, what should I do? What do you think I should do? What do you think Arthur should do about me? I understand that change cannot be made overnight but if I am to be made to leave Arthur's side now before anything was made certain... a lot of things could happen and I'd leave him vulnerable. I know I shouldn't be selfish but I still wanted to help him, guide him and protect him until that dream of Albion could be made real. Still I know that remaining by his side would also pose danger for Arthur, now that he knew of my secrets. Arthur himself told me that he had no idea of what to do."
Merlin cocked his head to the side as he continued. "I mean, the next step would be to lift the ban over magic in the kingdom so that people that have magic would no longer be persecuted unjustly. But Arthur can't just do that out of the blue, the members of the council would surely feel something amiss and some other issues might also surface if we're not careful. Yet, if we do nothing... we might risk something else happening and Albion might not be realized and my destiny...!"
"Calm down, Merlin..." said Gaius hastily. "You shouldn't rush it, the matter should take its own course in due time. Trust yourself and the destiny both of you shared."
Gaius shrugged. "Anyhow, it won't benefit you if you worry about it too much," he added as Merlin sighed.
"I guess so..." said Merlin, more to himself before rising to leave the room.
xxx
"Good morning... good day..." said Merlin, almost too cheerfully to everyone he passed before heading towards Arthur's chambers. Suddenly without warning, he was dragged to the side as Gwen looked at him strangely.
"What's wrong with you, Merlin? You suddenly became too cheerful for some reason."
Merlin gave Gwen a neutral look. "What're you talking about? I'm always cheerful..." he said as Gwen stared at him wryly.
"Oh sure... is there something both of you were hiding? Because Arthur's been quiet lately and I thought the matter between the both of you had settled, but there still something bothering Arthur last night—"
Merlin patted Gwen comfortingly. "I'm sure it was nothing so troublesome. Arthur should be fine..."
"Are you sure, Merlin? Because I had a sneaking suspicion that this had something to do with you. Arthur had been saying some things that were—Merlin, hopefully by any chance... you're not going to leave Camelot for some reason, are you?" asked Gwen worriedly as Merlin smiled awkwardly.
"Of course... of course not, Gwen," he said as Merlin could tell his cheeks starting to burn. "I love both of you so much I could never leave Camelot unless there was something that I could not oppose that prevents me from remaining here."
Gwen stared at him oddly before Merlin hugged her. "Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with me... and I'm so happy that both of you loved me so much that you don't want to part with me—" teased Merlin as Gwen started to laugh and slapped him on the back.
He grinned before excusing himself to head towards Arthur's room.
xxx
Arthur looked up from his desk as Merlin walked in, looking very amused at seeing him already decent. See, Gaius... Arthur don't really desperately needing him so much now, seeing he now had Guinevere as his queen, he thought amusedly. Though, the thought of Arthur not needing him hurt a bit.
Arthur frowned at him as he made some sounds to alert Merlin of his presence. Merlin immediately turned towards him.
"A-oh! Is there anything you needed me for, sire?" he stuttered as Arthur rolled his eyes at him.
"Honestly, Merlin... even if nowadays I occasionally not need you to get up and ready considering I had my own queen to fuss over me other than you, I still need you to help me on other matters. Though, with recent developments, I understand why you might be a bit distracted."
Merlin blinked at him in confusion. "Sire... what're you talking about?" he asked as Arthur continued giving him an odd look. He always liked to annoy Arthur by occasionally behaving like a polite, subservient servant on random odd days. But then, Merlin frowned. Wait a minute... what did Arthur meant actually?
Merlin turned towards Arthur as suddenly he looked a slight bit smug. By any chance... did Arthur already think up a solution regarding his secret?
Arthur frowned at him. "Don't look at me like that! It's not like I've already found a way to settle this problem." Arthur gestured Merlin to come a bit closer as he did.
"I just realized that I could not do this alone and in a short time and the fact I still needed help on certain matters about magic as well as the fact I needed allies to support me on my future decisions..." Arthur looked up. "I realized that regardless of what decision I might take in future that might affect the vision of Albion you were thinking of, I still needed my loyal manservant, friend and advisor by my side to guide me towards it. I can't have that if your secret was exposed too soon before I could do something about it, which would lead to my having to banish you away from my side."
Arthur stare at him slyly. "So seeing that you are so good at keeping secrets, I suppose why not... we continue keeping the secret a bit longer. This time with my consent."
Merlin stared at his friend with mixed emotions, between wanting to cry or laugh or just hug the prattiness of a king sitting in front of him fondly. So this was the conclusion to his musings?
He grinned. "Oh... that's so sweet of you, Arthur. I never knew you were that fond of me..." he said before Arthur started throwing random odd things on his desk at him.
Merlin giggled as he slightly used magic to help him capture some of the projectiles before noticing the smile on Arthur's lips. He heard Arthur laugh.
"Now that you've heard of my fine decision, you might as well grace me with some decent work for a servant in gratitude, please. I think I deserved a bit of my own rewards, thank you."
Merlin grinned again as he batted his eyes towards Arthur. "Oh really?" he asked as Arthur threw a book towards his direction...
xxx
Arthur stood nervously beside Merlin on the vast clearing, as he noticed this place was quite near to the place where both of them nearly fell to their deaths. He wondered if this was a good decision, actually... to have suddenly come out here in the dark of night, to meet one who used to be their—his—enemy. But Merlin insisted, and if he recalled... the great dragon have not tried to kill him—a threat was a different matter—the last time he saw it.
It was a bit unnerving though, to hear Merlin spoke in a language that sounded more dragon than human. He never thought he would see another side of Merlin that was not cheeky and clumsy.
When the great dragon finally arrived, Arthur had resisted the urge to hide behind Merlin to the dragon's amusement. Arthur noticed that the smaller white dragon Merlin called Aithusa did not come along, well... perhaps he would keep that part to himself first before he was sure about it having any significance.
Kilgharrah smiled before showing his regards towards Merlin.
"I see that I have an unexpected guest tonight. To what aim that I am graced with such honourable presence, my young king?"
Arthur fidgeted nervously before Merlin placed a hand on the young king's shoulders. Arthur nodded gratefully before turning towards Kilgharrah.
"I heard about everything from Merlin, including the prophecy you've told him of the great kingdom he and I are meant to build. Honestly I don't really have that much confidence in myself to be able to reach that destiny... but I assure you that I'll do the best in my power in achieve it."
Kilgharrah looked impressed as he nodded his head. "As it should be, young King Arthur. As you are destined to be a great king, so does Merlin in his greatness."
Merlin smiled as he noticed Arthur being slightly flustered. He never thought there be a day when Arthur and Kilgharrah can be in one place at the same time without fighting each other, but look now...
"I'll try my best to meet that expectation you saw in me. I do not know how... yet, but I'll do my best regardless."
Kilgharrah cocked his head. "Well... that is why Merlin is by your side. With both of you working together side by side, Albion... shall one day live. As long as my powers are needed, as long as Merlin deemed it so... I shall also aid you in achieving that destiny."
Arthur bowed, out of courtesy. "I thank you, o great dragon... for much faith you've placed in me. I hope our past differences could be set aside in favour to the things we hoped to achieve in the future."
Kilgharrah nodded before turning towards Merlin in reassurance. "As do I. Even though I once had lost faith in either of you, both of you had shown time by time again that you are worthy of my faith. You shall be a great king, young Arthur. Much greater than your father could ever hoped to be."
Arthur smiled as he recalled how much that line sounded so familiar. He turned towards Merlin.
"I hope so. So that I could really become a king worthy of such loyal servant and friend."
Merlin smiled back. Their journey henceforth might still be a long way to go, but hopefully one day their dreams could finally be fulfilled. Their progress might be slow in undertaking, doing things one at a time but if that lead to the creation of the greatest kingdom ever created... then the wait might be worth it.
Then one day, perhaps there would be no more secrets left to hide...
Fandom: Merlin
Rating: G
Character: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Guinevere Pendragon, Gaius, Kilgharrah
Summary: Offshots to Vigil. Now that Merlin's awake, Arthur braced himself for the revelation that was coming. But just how many secrets that Merlin was having? Post Season 4.
A/N: End of this piece. It's been fun writing this.
--------------------------
"I ought to kill you now for everything you've told me this morning!"
Merlin was staring at Arthur in shock. He had returned very abruptly, slamming the door behind him as if something troubling just happened. What was it that Sir Leon had him called to be discussed? As far as he remembered he had done nothing to merit Arthur's anger, considering he had been mostly concerned of his own well-being and personal worries. Did Arthur intend to blame him of every wrongdoings in this kingdom now that he knew he had magic?
"Arthur what—"
Arthur glared sharply at Merlin.
"An hour," he said, pointing up one finger to reiterate, "One hour I was supposed to be paying attention about the things my fellow advisors, councillors and knights wanted to inform me about the state of my kingdom. Yet I could not pay any attention to a word they were saying because I kept having the things you've been telling me twirling in my head refusing to leave, not allowing me to focus on anything but that!"
Arthur let out a cry, exasperatedly. He walked up towards Merlin.
"Merlin, why haven't you told me of your secret much earlier? Why have you been keeping this to yourself—I mean, Merlin, your father had died and you had to listen to my father saying things like he had been wishing to hear of Balinor's death for so long and you didn't have any time to mourn and acted as if nothing had happened and on top of that you had to set that aside and accompany me as we confronted the great dragon. How could you not tell me of this and bear the burden of this alone?"
Merlin sniffed as Arthur gave him a look of disbelief before giving him a fond smile. Oh Arthur... he always knew that his friend had a kind heart and to think he had been worrying himself over things that has been said, warmed his heart.
"I wasn't alone! I had Gaius... and Gwen... and you, even if you did not know of the true reasons for my sorrows over my father's death—you did tried your best to cheer me up. And I had my mother too, even if it was hard to send her the letter to inform about my father's death. And it's not like I'm not used to bottling up my feelings and sorrows from other people. I bore the sorrows of losing the one person I had loved dearly, losing a friend who had sacrificed himself to protect me as well as the sorrows of hurting a friend for the sake of saving a whole kingdom. I think I should be able to bear with the death of a father I barely met and knew just fine, thank you. I could do that still, seeing that I still had other people that I cared for... at my side."
Arthur shook his head. "That's not enough! That's no excuse to have to bear all of that in secret! Merlin... you had been there, waiting by my side when I was mourning for my own father's death. You had been there at times when I was at the lowest point of my life. Yet you—"
Merlin grinned. "It's not like you haven't done the same for me, Arthur. Even when you didn't know of my secrets then, you had always tried to cheer me up when I was at my lowest, even if occasionally you did not do so—since you thought I was just lazing about and bully me to no end—but that's all right. Without you, what I did or what I'm supposed to do held no meaning whatsoever."
Arthur shook his head. "Hah! The next thing you'd be saying is that we both needed each other so much like two sides of a coin."
Merlin snorted hard at the familiar phrase. "You have no idea how true that statement really was."
Arthur rolled his eyes at him before sighing. "I'm sorry if you've suffered so much loss for my sake—stop interrupting, Merlin. I know I had suffered some losses as well—this was belated, but if there's anything I could make up for you—"
"You could always give me a hug... now and then." Arthur stared at Merlin in horror, as the cheeky servant smiled his most cheeky smile. He sighed before opening his arms wide in invitation.
Merlin grinned as he walked hurriedly into the invited embrace. He chuckled as he caught Arthur making some embarrassed sounds underneath his breath. He continued grinning as he embraced Arthur's body tightly.
"Don't you think this feels nice, Arthur? To me, this was enough to compensate all those sorrys and thankyous you owed me all these years for watching your back in secret."
"Shut up... Merlin," said Arthur, even as a soft smile started to form at the edge of his lips.
"Ah!" Another voice broke the tender moment as Arthur hastily broke away from Merlin. Merlin chuckled as he noticed Arthur's embarrassment before turning to smile towards Gwen.
"Glad to see both of you already made up. I'm starting to worry these few days seeing the two of you not acting like usual."
Merlin snorted. "Yes, I agree. Though I believe Arthur would have preferring hugging you instead of me, regardless if I'm probably his most bestest best friend he's ever got," he said before receiving a kick from Arthur. Gwen laughed as she noticed Arthur's face started to turn redder than usual.
xxx
"So..."
Merlin stared at Arthur, curiously. After Gwen had left them, they had resumed the talk they had before—which included him talking about Freya, Gilli... and even about him having to poison Morgana all those years ago because Morgause had used her to cast a spell on the whole of Camelot. It was a bit awkward actually, especially when they were talking about Freya; since Arthur insisted... considering Merlin knew more about Arthur's love life rather than Arthur knew his—how did that came about? The issue right now was about Arthur finally learning about his magic and the impact it will give to Camelot... as well as Albion!—What else did this old prat of a king wanted to know from him?
"Why?"
Merlin frowned at him. "Why... what?"
Arthur made a face at him as if he had been asking an obvious question and Merlin was too dense to understand it to get it.
"Why did you do so much for me and sacrifice do much—don't talk about destiny, that was a weak excuse—why did you place so much hope and trust that I could be this great king you were saying I'm supposed to be? The king you said I'm going to become? The Once and Future King?"
Merlin smiled at him fondly. "Because you are... noble and great and honourable. You might not notice it but every day of knowing you I've seen a glimpse of the great king you'll become. Greater than your father could ever hope to be. It's the same quality Gwen love in you, that Lancelot, Gwaine, Leon, Percival, Elyan and the many knights respected in you, what Tristan, Isolde, Will and many of your subjects saw. You gave hope of a peaceful and great kingdom to the people you serve—for that, what does it matter if I suffered some losses if I could bring about that future you're meant to inherit?"
Arthur blinked at him, tongue-tied before Merlin noticed his cheeks started to flush another colour. Arthur hastily turned away before stuttering.
"R-really... Merlin, the things that came out of your mouth—" said Arthur, flustered as Merlin grinned.
"I can always flatter if you want me to—" Merlin started to say before stopping when Arthur gave him a horrified look. "But I assure you, I had my utmost faith in you as a great king—even now—even when Kilgharrah once faltered in that belief. I will always support you towards that certain future."
Arthur continued staring at Merlin, the way Gaius often gave him whenever he caught him trying to hide something or lie about something and looking at him until he confessed. Merlin fluttered his eyelashes, trying to look innocent.
"I've said the truth! I always have... aside from hiding from you about my magic. All of my words in the past had always been sincere... and honest—"
Arthur looked at him warily. "Oh really...?" he asked as Merlin noticed Arthur's eye shifted towards where Excalibur was placed at the corner of the sleeping chamber.
"Does that include what you told me last time about that sword? Because Merlin... I've looked back on the historical records, and I see no hints of the things you've said to me at that time."
Merlin bit his lips before grinning sheepishly. "All right... I did lie about that but the bit about Excalibur only belongs to you was true." Arthur cocked his head again as Merlin continued. "I asked Gwen for the best sword her father had ever forged and asked Kilgharrah to imbue it with his dragon breath to give it power to slay the undead. Kilgharrah insisted that you're the only one allowed to use it as Excalibur could do many evil if fell on the wrong hands. He was pissed at me at one time when I accidentally allowed your father to use it that one time. If I knew that he had drugged you and taken the opportunity to fight the undead Knight that time, I might have done something about it."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking about that but thank you for that additional information. I'm talking about the part about me taking out the sword from the stone."
Merlin rolled his eyes back at Arthur. "What if I did made up that part of the story? It's still true that the sword was made for the Once and Future King, who would reunite the land of Albion and bring magic back into the land. You," Merlin shrugged awkwardly.
"Even if I did helped a bit by un-fusing the sword from the stone—because if I didn't do that, the sword would still be fused with the rock even if you could pull it out—you did pulled Excalibur out from the stone. There's no use of you pulling the sword out before I could fully restore your faith that you'd be a great king. I need you to truly believe in yourself that you can do it because it hurts me to see you so depressed and forlorn. Believe me, Arthur... aside from that I meant no harm."
Arthur eyed him carefully. "So you're saying that you'd be the judge to see if I'm worthy of being Camelot's king?"
Merlin gave him an odd look. "Since when did I say that? Or do you mean to say that I should not have told you about me aiding you to pull the sword out so that you could gloat that you pulled it out by your own power—?"
Arthur broke into an easy laugh as he patted Merlin's shoulders. "No... no, I was only joking, Merlin..." said Arthur, drawling his name slowly. He grinned. "What did I do to deserve such a loyal friend?"
Merlin gave Arthur a smug look. "Well, for one... I thank you for not being just a simple annoying prat of a prince. Because of the fact that I realised that you do have a kind and noble and generous heart underneath all that pratness, I have a reason to believe in the destiny that ties the two of us together. It had been quite an enjoyable ride of an adventure with you and I'm glad to have been able to become your friend."
Arthur grinned as he noticed the tinge of redness on the ears and cheeks of his beloved friend and servant. "And I, you. I've never had a fun but impolite servant like you in the past yet I'm glad I had the chance to know you."
Merlin smiled weakly before sighing.
"And now... we have come to this moment, finally. Now Arthur, what would you do about me, for currently Camelot's laws do not welcome people like me who could not help the fact that magic was a part of their being."
Arthur let out a soft sigh before looking up towards him, appearing sorrowful.
"Truth to be told dear friend, I do not know..."
xxx
The day after...
Gaius walked up towards Merlin as he appeared to be distracted, leaving his breakfast porridge half-eaten. The old man shook his head before taking a seat opposite him.
"What is it Merlin, what's bothering you now? If you continued to sit idly like this, Arthur would have surely made some fuss."
Merlin shook his head. "No worries... I doubt Arthur would be his normal cheerful self either. I bet he's probably pushing himself too hard trying to find the best possible solution to one of the kingdom's most pressing problems..."
Gaius blinked, before he gradually remembered that Arthur and Merlin spent a very long time together the other day. He gasped as he realised what had happened.
"Oh Merlin... don't tell me, the other day you and Arthur's been together... did anything happened?"
Merlin looked up towards his mentor before shrugging.
"What else could have happen? I did owed him an explanation, so I gave it to him. I wished he'd be more angry at me, I'm more familiar with Arthur being all of his usual prattiness... rather than him being quiet and thoughtful and calm..." Merlin made an odd face as if he could not believe the word he was saying, before shaking his head. "It was weird actually... Arthur being extremely nice to me. I actually thought I liked it. Wonder if it could last... this treatment from Arthur."
"He's actually really angry, you know? When he first brought you back—your injuries at the time was not that bad actually, did Kilgharrah healed your injuries before that?—Arthur had threatened me that he'd punish me if something were to happen to you under my care. He was really distraught and angry, but it was also evident that he was worried about you. You have not recovered awareness for several days despite your injuries only appeared to be on the outside." Gaius gave him a sly look.
"You should have seen Arthur those few days. I pity the new knights he had been training as he seemed to have taken his frustration at the new recruits. I'm actually surprised that he did nothing short of yelling at you when you finally woke up."
Merlin snorted. "Haha, he did said that his feelings about me had been complicated as of lately..."
Gaius smiled weakly as he detected a note of worry in Merlin's voice. Merlin turned his glance towards him.
"Gaius, what should I do? What do you think I should do? What do you think Arthur should do about me? I understand that change cannot be made overnight but if I am to be made to leave Arthur's side now before anything was made certain... a lot of things could happen and I'd leave him vulnerable. I know I shouldn't be selfish but I still wanted to help him, guide him and protect him until that dream of Albion could be made real. Still I know that remaining by his side would also pose danger for Arthur, now that he knew of my secrets. Arthur himself told me that he had no idea of what to do."
Merlin cocked his head to the side as he continued. "I mean, the next step would be to lift the ban over magic in the kingdom so that people that have magic would no longer be persecuted unjustly. But Arthur can't just do that out of the blue, the members of the council would surely feel something amiss and some other issues might also surface if we're not careful. Yet, if we do nothing... we might risk something else happening and Albion might not be realized and my destiny...!"
"Calm down, Merlin..." said Gaius hastily. "You shouldn't rush it, the matter should take its own course in due time. Trust yourself and the destiny both of you shared."
Gaius shrugged. "Anyhow, it won't benefit you if you worry about it too much," he added as Merlin sighed.
"I guess so..." said Merlin, more to himself before rising to leave the room.
xxx
"Good morning... good day..." said Merlin, almost too cheerfully to everyone he passed before heading towards Arthur's chambers. Suddenly without warning, he was dragged to the side as Gwen looked at him strangely.
"What's wrong with you, Merlin? You suddenly became too cheerful for some reason."
Merlin gave Gwen a neutral look. "What're you talking about? I'm always cheerful..." he said as Gwen stared at him wryly.
"Oh sure... is there something both of you were hiding? Because Arthur's been quiet lately and I thought the matter between the both of you had settled, but there still something bothering Arthur last night—"
Merlin patted Gwen comfortingly. "I'm sure it was nothing so troublesome. Arthur should be fine..."
"Are you sure, Merlin? Because I had a sneaking suspicion that this had something to do with you. Arthur had been saying some things that were—Merlin, hopefully by any chance... you're not going to leave Camelot for some reason, are you?" asked Gwen worriedly as Merlin smiled awkwardly.
"Of course... of course not, Gwen," he said as Merlin could tell his cheeks starting to burn. "I love both of you so much I could never leave Camelot unless there was something that I could not oppose that prevents me from remaining here."
Gwen stared at him oddly before Merlin hugged her. "Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with me... and I'm so happy that both of you loved me so much that you don't want to part with me—" teased Merlin as Gwen started to laugh and slapped him on the back.
He grinned before excusing himself to head towards Arthur's room.
xxx
Arthur looked up from his desk as Merlin walked in, looking very amused at seeing him already decent. See, Gaius... Arthur don't really desperately needing him so much now, seeing he now had Guinevere as his queen, he thought amusedly. Though, the thought of Arthur not needing him hurt a bit.
Arthur frowned at him as he made some sounds to alert Merlin of his presence. Merlin immediately turned towards him.
"A-oh! Is there anything you needed me for, sire?" he stuttered as Arthur rolled his eyes at him.
"Honestly, Merlin... even if nowadays I occasionally not need you to get up and ready considering I had my own queen to fuss over me other than you, I still need you to help me on other matters. Though, with recent developments, I understand why you might be a bit distracted."
Merlin blinked at him in confusion. "Sire... what're you talking about?" he asked as Arthur continued giving him an odd look. He always liked to annoy Arthur by occasionally behaving like a polite, subservient servant on random odd days. But then, Merlin frowned. Wait a minute... what did Arthur meant actually?
Merlin turned towards Arthur as suddenly he looked a slight bit smug. By any chance... did Arthur already think up a solution regarding his secret?
Arthur frowned at him. "Don't look at me like that! It's not like I've already found a way to settle this problem." Arthur gestured Merlin to come a bit closer as he did.
"I just realized that I could not do this alone and in a short time and the fact I still needed help on certain matters about magic as well as the fact I needed allies to support me on my future decisions..." Arthur looked up. "I realized that regardless of what decision I might take in future that might affect the vision of Albion you were thinking of, I still needed my loyal manservant, friend and advisor by my side to guide me towards it. I can't have that if your secret was exposed too soon before I could do something about it, which would lead to my having to banish you away from my side."
Arthur stare at him slyly. "So seeing that you are so good at keeping secrets, I suppose why not... we continue keeping the secret a bit longer. This time with my consent."
Merlin stared at his friend with mixed emotions, between wanting to cry or laugh or just hug the prattiness of a king sitting in front of him fondly. So this was the conclusion to his musings?
He grinned. "Oh... that's so sweet of you, Arthur. I never knew you were that fond of me..." he said before Arthur started throwing random odd things on his desk at him.
Merlin giggled as he slightly used magic to help him capture some of the projectiles before noticing the smile on Arthur's lips. He heard Arthur laugh.
"Now that you've heard of my fine decision, you might as well grace me with some decent work for a servant in gratitude, please. I think I deserved a bit of my own rewards, thank you."
Merlin grinned again as he batted his eyes towards Arthur. "Oh really?" he asked as Arthur threw a book towards his direction...
xxx
Arthur stood nervously beside Merlin on the vast clearing, as he noticed this place was quite near to the place where both of them nearly fell to their deaths. He wondered if this was a good decision, actually... to have suddenly come out here in the dark of night, to meet one who used to be their—his—enemy. But Merlin insisted, and if he recalled... the great dragon have not tried to kill him—a threat was a different matter—the last time he saw it.
It was a bit unnerving though, to hear Merlin spoke in a language that sounded more dragon than human. He never thought he would see another side of Merlin that was not cheeky and clumsy.
When the great dragon finally arrived, Arthur had resisted the urge to hide behind Merlin to the dragon's amusement. Arthur noticed that the smaller white dragon Merlin called Aithusa did not come along, well... perhaps he would keep that part to himself first before he was sure about it having any significance.
Kilgharrah smiled before showing his regards towards Merlin.
"I see that I have an unexpected guest tonight. To what aim that I am graced with such honourable presence, my young king?"
Arthur fidgeted nervously before Merlin placed a hand on the young king's shoulders. Arthur nodded gratefully before turning towards Kilgharrah.
"I heard about everything from Merlin, including the prophecy you've told him of the great kingdom he and I are meant to build. Honestly I don't really have that much confidence in myself to be able to reach that destiny... but I assure you that I'll do the best in my power in achieve it."
Kilgharrah looked impressed as he nodded his head. "As it should be, young King Arthur. As you are destined to be a great king, so does Merlin in his greatness."
Merlin smiled as he noticed Arthur being slightly flustered. He never thought there be a day when Arthur and Kilgharrah can be in one place at the same time without fighting each other, but look now...
"I'll try my best to meet that expectation you saw in me. I do not know how... yet, but I'll do my best regardless."
Kilgharrah cocked his head. "Well... that is why Merlin is by your side. With both of you working together side by side, Albion... shall one day live. As long as my powers are needed, as long as Merlin deemed it so... I shall also aid you in achieving that destiny."
Arthur bowed, out of courtesy. "I thank you, o great dragon... for much faith you've placed in me. I hope our past differences could be set aside in favour to the things we hoped to achieve in the future."
Kilgharrah nodded before turning towards Merlin in reassurance. "As do I. Even though I once had lost faith in either of you, both of you had shown time by time again that you are worthy of my faith. You shall be a great king, young Arthur. Much greater than your father could ever hoped to be."
Arthur smiled as he recalled how much that line sounded so familiar. He turned towards Merlin.
"I hope so. So that I could really become a king worthy of such loyal servant and friend."
Merlin smiled back. Their journey henceforth might still be a long way to go, but hopefully one day their dreams could finally be fulfilled. Their progress might be slow in undertaking, doing things one at a time but if that lead to the creation of the greatest kingdom ever created... then the wait might be worth it.
Then one day, perhaps there would be no more secrets left to hide...
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