Traitor: A person who commits treason by betraying his or her country
Neither found themselves able to look away.
"I …I …" Merlin stammered. "Arthur I… Sorry… I planed… I don't…"
Now Merlin looks down shamefully.
"You're a sorcerer!"
Arthur fumes, this he never suspected. His servant turned friend was nothing of the sort. Merlin was a liar, a betrayer.
"Warlock actually" Merlin mumbled, he wasn't trying to start a fight; goodness knows he didn't need Arthur any angrier. He wasn't even meant to be heard. Sarcastic retorts were a form of comfort for Merlin. Arthur says something, Merlin disagrees in a snarky way. That was how it worked. Status quo. Merlin being … well what he was a problem.
Arthur heard him anyway. "I don't care what you call yourself; I'm calling you a traitor!"
Merlin's head snapped upward, indignation replacing his sullenness. "I am not, nor will I ever be a traitor!"
"What do you call that then?" Arthur waved his hands in a broad gestured that could only be assumed to mean magic.
"I call that law braking," Did Arthur really not get it, Merlin mused, "It makes me a criminal, but not a traitor. Those that betray their country are traitors. Morgana is a traitor. Those that joined her are traitors. I have done no such thing."
Now Arthur looked away. He wanted to be elsewhere, possibly looking up the definition of traitor. Everything Merlin said added to his frustration. It reminded him of Morgana lecturing him, telling him he was bully. She hadn't done that for some time. She wasn't likely to do it every again.
"Arthur," Merlin pleaded, "I am no traitor, I would never betray Camelot. I haven't betrayed Camelot. The king has a habit of using that word out of context." Merlin added that last bit with a bit of a miffed tone.
"So… so you would call yourself a criminal, not a traitor" Arthur was speaking very slowly, as if unsure of what he was saying.
"Yes."
"A criminal is someone that breaks the law and the king's word is laws, right?" Arthurs voice had picked up speed and confidence.
"…Right."
"So it's ok then, because I've disobeyed my father plenty of times." The logic was a little off, but so was Uther's. Merlin just decided it was a Pendragon thing. "I guess it doesn't matter so much if I add aiding a criminal to the list." After all there were plenty of criminals in the world, didn't mean they were bad people. Arthur could live with being a criminal, but not a traitor.