UNDERSTANDING ARTHUR
Chapter 1 - Prologue
"Tell Hunith that I miss her, and that I plan to visit her too in the near future." Gaius told him as he handed Merlin the food he packed for him for the trip.
"Why don't you come with me now? She would be pleased to see us both at the same time I'm sure. It would be great."
"Oh, I'd only be in the way. You two have a lot of catching up to do. Besides, I don't believe that would be such a good idea. With both of us gone, who would look after our king?"
He raised one eyebrow and willed his apprentice to understand the implication, and the boy did.
"You think they are slowly coming out of hiding?"
"I don't know. It's happening more and more often, and it can be dangerous at the start. Sometimes, I can see the fear in the people's eyes. They had been taught to believe for too long that magic was evil. They'll need time, to be persuaded otherwise." Gaius let out a sigh, and sat himself on the nearby stool at the table. They still had time, before the sun came up and Merlin had to go. "Perhaps this would be a great time now to tell Arthur about your magic. He would probably…"
"No!" Merlin cut him off a little bit harsher than he intended to. He was getting tired of this topic. "I told you the day Uther died that he'll never know who I am, and I plan to keep myself to that. Probably the situation or the law would change, but nothing would change that." and he meant it. "I've been lying for far too long, he would never trust me again fully. And I can't lose that. I don't want him to always second guess my every intention. Just let go of the subject, please." It sounded final, but Gaius knew he could never let this go. He knew that the trust Merlin was talking about wasn't really there. It hadn't been there for a long time now. And that that would be the very thing that would destroy their friendship before it could really become real.