AN: This is another not so great fulfillment of a prompt from a long time ago. Still, worth it though; I love messing with Arthur's head.
Arthur woke up later than usual that morning. As he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he glanced around for his servant, but the cold, yellow-stone chamber was echoingly empty. All he found was his breakfast prepared and waiting on the table and his clothes laid out for him. Arthur sat up in bed confused a bit disappointed. The stone floor was unusually cold as he slid, bare feet first, out of bed. Dressing was difficult, eating was boring, and, worst of all, he had no one to talk to while he sat on his free time.
For the first time in a long time, Arthur did not have a long, hard day ahead of him; rather, he had a lot of unusual free time on his hands. There was no war or siege to worry about or discuss and no drought or food shortage to combating. There weren't even any strange people in the castle as there had been so many lately. With no kingly duties consuming his day, Arthur planned to spend this free day training with his knights – probably the only duty that he ever even considered fun or worthwhile – but first, he had to find Merlin. Perhaps it was just an excuse, but Arthur needed Merlin at training to be a dummy, target, and water-boy.
As soon as he'd had something to eat, Arthur strode from his chambers toward Gaius' chambers. His simpleton servant was probably sleeping in. If the idiot had spent another night at the tavern, Arthur was going to make sure to punish him at training. However, when Arthur reached the physician's rooms, he found only the physician.
"Where is Merlin?" Arthur asked, attempting to mask his confusion with annoyance.
With some stuttering, Gaius answered, "I sent him into the forest to gather some herbs, sire. Is there a problem?"
Arthur looked carefully at Gaius. For as normal as he sounded, he looked fidgety and uncomfortable. "Is that all he's doing?" Arthur pressed.
"Yes, of course," Gaius answered quickly, turning away. "I know of no other reason for him to be out in the forest."
Arthur agreed and was about to leave when he stopped to ask the old man a final question. "Has Merlin been acting strange lately, Gaius? Out of the ordinary? He hadn't seemed himself yesterday."
"Well, sire," Gaius replied slowly, as if choosing his words carefully, "Merlin received some important, personal news the other day. I'm afraid it affected him in a way that… made him timid."
"'Important, personal news'?"Arthur repeated, letting his concern show. "Do you know what it was, Gaius?"
"I'm sorry, sire, but he would not tell me anything specific. I'm afraid he was confused as well." The old man was suddenly very involved in his work.
"Very well," Arthur said, retreating from the room. "I will leave you to your work then."
"Thank you, sire," Gaius responded immediately. Arthur turned to leave as Gaius hastily added, "I'm sure Merlin will return soon. I sent him after some rather rare herbs though. There is no need to go after him."
Arthur nodded stiffly and closed the door as he left. For a moment, Arthur stood at the bottom of the staircase leading to Gaius' chambers thinking. 'Collecting rare herbs' usually took Merlin all day, and Arthur couldn't be without his servant for that long. Besides, if he had received troubling news, Arthur wanted to be there for Merlin. And so, Gaius had unwittingly sent him to the forest in search of his manservant. As he walked, he tried to think of what news Merlin could possibly have received. As far as Arthur knew, Merlin had no siblings, and his father was dead. The only thing he could imagine was that Merlin's mother was ill, but he knew that if she was, Merlin would have told him immediately and asked for permission to leave – then, he would have left permission or none.
Almost as soon as he entered the forest, Arthur found Merlin's tracks. He laughed to himself a little, reflecting on Merlin's lack of stealth and other such skills. Granted, there was no need for stealth if the man was only collecting herbs, so Arthur followed the trail, seeing no need for stealth himself. Eventually, after trekking quite deep into the forest, Arthur heard Merlin's voice. However, he was too far away to hear what was actually being said. Not wanting to interrupt a meeting of Merlin and some other party, Arthur ducked behind a tree and crept silently forward.
When he was close enough to hear and see Merlin, Arthur's heart fell to his stomach. The king saw no other party with Merlin, and he still could not understand a singly would his servant was saying. However, he did understand that it was magic.
Then Arthur understood nothing at all.
Merlin was… doing magic? That was absurd! All the less, he quietly advanced even further to watch Merlin from behind a low rise. He crawled through the underbrush until he was lying on the sharply sloping forest floor that led like a step to the clearing Merlin was pacing around. A fallen tree also helped to hide Arthur from view as he took in the enormous clearing. There were a few fallen trees, smoothed as if specially made for sitting, and the tiny elbow of a stream cutting into one side. Several colorful plants grew along the side of this stream, maybe Merlin was just chanting the scientific names of those he was sent for. Arthur had come in late; he didn't know what he was hearing.
But, of course, Merlin spoke again and instantly proved him wrong. Arms wide, eyes pinned to the dark canopy hiding the sky with a voice deep and rough that Arthur swore he had never heard before, Merlin shouted again in what was definitely not any language known to Arthur. Then, he stood expectantly, still watching the sky, almost as if he was waiting for another person to fall out of it.
After a few moments of nothing happening, Arthur was ready to burst into the clearing and demand and explanation from Merlin. The boy himself seemed disappointed. Rather than standing anxiously, he had sat down in frustration. Finally, Arthur could take no more of this. Just as he was cautiously standing up, his instincts threw him to the ground again. There was a roar, a whirlwind of leaves, a huge flap of massive wings, and the landing of the Great Dragon – the Great Dragon whom the king himself had supposedly killed! Arthur was beside himself with shock and fear. He became rooted to the spot, barely breathing. Viciously shaking his head, as if that could clear it and erase the image before him, he paid close attention to the rendezvous going on in front of him.
"You summoned me, young warlock?" the dragon spoke first. He sounded bored and aggravated.
"Yes," Merlin hissed with offense and even greater agitation than the dragon's, "a long time ago."
"It is not my fault that you called in middle of my breakfast," the dragon said impatiently.
"Your breakfast?" Merlin sputtered. That had him pacing with frustration again. Merlin calmed down with a deep breath and continued seriously. "I have heard that Morgana still lives." He stopped moving to take in the dragon's reaction. "Do you know anything of this?"
"The last I heard of that horrid witch," the dragon answered with a shiver from head to tail, "was her dying breath on the forest floor."
"So, she is dead?" Merlin asked in clear relief. Arthur's heart leapt to his throat and tears threatened his eyes. Morgana, his sister, dead?
"I then saw her, a day later, walking with spirit and determination," the dragon added. He seemed angry to have been cut off.
"So, she is alive?" Merlin asked in clear dread. Arthur's heart fell back to his stomach, and his eyes dried. His new enemy was still a threat.
"Yes, I am afraid so."
"But how?" Merlin shouted in agony, throwing his hands in the air again and resuming his walk around the clearing. "The last I saw of her was the vanishing trick she used to escape the castle. She had already been mortally wounded!"
"Upon her was the mark of a dragon's healing," the dragon said angrily, personally offended.
Merlin swallowed hard and, after a pause, quietly said, "But that was years ago. I asked you to heal her years ago. When she was not yet evil. When she was still good and trusted. A dragon's healing is a one-time thing. Our work could not have done this."
"You are right, young warlock. Our work did not do this. Although, I must repeat once again what I said to you at that time," the Great Dragon began calmly before yelling, "I told you that not letting her die would bring havoc and disaster upon Camelot!"
Merlin seemed to choose to ignore this admonition; he only addressed the dragon's former point. "If not our work, then whose?"
"Think, Merlin!" the dragon exclaimed with exasperation. Apparently, Arthur wasn't the only one who became frustrated with Merlin's ignorance, the king thought with an internal laugh. "Am I the only dragon you know?" Confused for a moment, Merlin stumbled back as understanding washed over him. "Did you not hatch a dragon egg?"
"No!" Merlin denied instantly. "That hatchling could not have done this! …Could he?"
"I'm afraid she has," the dragon confirmed and corrected. "There are no other dragons in this world."
"We have to find her," Merlin resolved immediately. "I suppose I should send you in search of her, but is there anything I can do? Is it possible for me to call her as I call you?"
"I do not see why it is not," the dragon answered thoughtfully. "You should try." Merlin nodded and opened his mouth to begin when the dragon cut him off. "Although, I think our king has seen enough. Perhaps you should explain this meeting to him." The Great Dragon laughed as he spoke, Merlin's instantaneous terror being too much. "Come out, Arthur," the dragon called. "There's no reason to be shy."
Arthur, however, was still frozen in shock. His fear came back when the dragon called out to him. He did not even know what was happening as the dragon's tail wrapped around him and gently placed him beside Merlin. In too much shock to support himself, Arthur stumbled and fell stupidly on his behind as the dragon let go of him. Frantically trying to reassemble himself, he jolted to his feet quickly, painfully realizing that he had not belted on his sword before searching for Merlin.
"Oh, you should see yourselves!" The dragon cried with glee. "Your gobs are hanging open like demented fish!" He took a moment to laugh, shaking his giant head. "In the meantime," the dragon continued, "I shall begin my search! Good luck, young warlock."
With that, he stretched his wings and departed with another roar of laughter. Arthur and Merlin remained staring at the space he had once occupied before turning to stare at each other. Arthur's fear ebbed with each second the dragon became farther from them, but Merlin's grew with each second the entire encounter sunk into Arthur's mind. After a very long time, Merlin came to himself first and tried to begin.
"Arthur, I can explain. I –"
"Yes, Mer-lin," Arthur hissed in a deadly whisper, "explain."
The words hit Merlin like a blow, and he began to sniffle, then cry. Arthur just stared at his servant, his confusion and anger deepening.
He gave Merlin a moment before demanding, "I told you to explain yourself! Stop childishly bawling and get to it! Why are you out here talking to a dragon? Why are you discussing with it Morgana and baby dragons? Why are you now sobbing?"
"Because," Merlin whispered. He cleared his throat. It didn't matter. His voice was still feeble and scared as he said, "Because of what this means. You know, of course, what this means. There's no denying or hiding anything now. What are you going to do to me?"
Taken aback, Arthur paused. Merlin was crying because he was afraid of Arthur? Arthur didn't know why. Arthur should be the one afraid of Merlin! Merlin and he were mates, weren't they? But now Merlin had magic, and that changed everything.
And then Arthur realized: the magic laws. Without a second thought, Arthur promised his truest friend, "I'm not going to execute you," in a compassionate whisper.
On hearing these words, Merlin let out a choked sob and laugh. His eyes wide, he ungracefully wiped his nose on his sleeve and rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Do you mean it?" he asked.
"Merlin," Arthur sighed, "it is impossible for me to kill you. You are my friend. Besides that, I am indebted to you many times over with my life."
Barely able to contain his smile now, Merlin burst, "I can finally tell you, then!" Laughing with pure joy for a moment, he hastily went on before Arthur started yelling again. "I can finally tell you all about me, about my secret, my magic! I've been keeping this secret for so long, my entire life, from you, from everyone! Only handful of people have ever known about this, some dead now because of it, because of me. All I've ever wanted to do was tell you, show you, but I couldn't. Now I can!"
Merlin's eyes seemed to sparkle as he wiped his eyes again. Arthur, on the other hand, was slowly realizing just what all of this meant. He hardened his features and demanded again, "Explain."
Merlin swallowed and sobered with understanding. He looked Arthur in the eye and declared, "Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, I am Merlin. I am the last dragonlord. I have power beyond any other. My destiny is to assist you in uniting the lands and creating Albion. You are my once and future king, and I am your invaluable warlock."
Upon hearing this, Arthur could do nothing for a long moment but stare. If he hadn't seen the entire encounter with the dragon, he would have laughed in Merlin's face. If these were normal circumstances, he would have laughed in Merlin's face. If they were not alone, he would have laughed in Merlin's face. If he wasn't searching Merlin's eyes for the slightest hint of falsehood or jest, he would have laughed in Merlin's face. He had told Merlin that he would not kill him, but he had not said anything about believing. The conversation with the dragon was enough, but that speech was a bit much.
And yet, Arthur had just seen the entire encounter. Yet, these were not normal circumstances. Yet, they were alone. Yet, Arthur could find nothing but honesty in Merlin's wide blue eyes.
Arthur believed Merlin. He had no other choice.
He sighed heavily and loudly due to frustration and walked over to the nearest trunk, trying desperately to straighten his thoughts. The voice of his father told him that it was his duty and only option to honor the laws which prohibited magic, but he had already decided that he could not execute Merlin. His own words told him that Merlin was a friend, possibly his only. Merlin was one of the truest, if not the truest, man that he knew. He was honest and fair and only spoke what he believed to be right.
Arthur closed his eyes and let out a groan that turned into a scream. He hung his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on his knees. Finally, he looked up at his still-terrified manservant and patted the tree next to him. Merlin approached cautiously but sat down at Arthur's side, putting about a foot between them.
Turning to face him, Arthur said softly, "Tell me everything," and Merlin's face lit up once again.
"Can I show you instead?" Merlin asked. With a twitch of his hand and a color change in his eyes, he lit a fire in the middle of the clearing and began telling a story with words and images in the smoke. Even though Arthur knew he was supposed to be horrified, he could only find the show to be beautiful.