Okay. I'm going to be honest here. This story is so close to slash that it's probably isn't even funny. But, I swear to God, this is just epic bromance. BROS FOREVER. Sorry not sorry.

I think my timeline is messed up in here. My bad!

Yes, I own Merlin, that's why I'm writing fanfiction for it rather than just putting it in the actual show…

Enjoy!

"King Cerdic's most precious item," Uther replied, "the staff of Cameliard, which was stolen from Leodegrance before him. Taking this will both give us an advantage in our battled against Cerdic, and if we return the staff to Leodegrance it would be an ideal gift to begin an alliance. We'll have to travel through the kingdom of Garlot, which might prove difficult because—"

Everybody in the room tensed as they heard the door open behind them. Arthur heard a few quick footfalls that suddenly froze. The owner of the steps understood what they had just walked in on. There was a second where everything stood still and everything was silent, the mere shock of someone walking in on such a secret and secluded meeting tied their tongues. One of the officials gasped, and Uther stared at the intruder with a cold gaze.

"Kill him."

Arthur knew that the command was directed towards him, and that there was no choice. They couldn't risk someone, apart from the trusted few who were in the room upon invitation, knowing about their plans. Though it pained him severely, he quickly drew his sword, whirling around and swinging around the blade, ready to behead the unfortunate soul—

Merlin.

Arthur froze, looking straight into his servant's wide, scared eyes. He lowered his sword subconsciously. Merlin held a small pile of armor, armor he had just polished for the prince. Merlin swallowed as he realized the full extent of the situation, and exactly what the consequences would be for his mistake. The words of an old and forgotten conversation came back to him…

"If you told me you'd have to kill me I suppose."

"Immediately and without hesitation."

Merlin hadn't given that conversation much thought until now.

The two stood and stared into each other's eyes, so many unspoken words traveling between them. Things they never said, pleading and understanding, acceptance and denial. Merlin found it in him to drop the small armful of armor, the sharp and loud clanging it made when it made impact with the ground screaming in their ears. He pulled himself up to a dignified stance, using the silent language of their eyes he had learned with Arthur over the years to tell him that it was okay, and he understood. Telling him to just do it. That it was an honor to have known him so well for so long.

The sight of Merlin standing there, fully expecting Arthur to carry out his duties, to kill him despite their bond simply because it was expected of him, broke his heart. Shattered it into cold, piercing pieces that punctured his chest and lungs, making him incapable of breathing.

Arthur never loved Merlin more than in that single beat.

The split-second hesitation didn't escape Uther's notice. He called for the guards and they burst inside, swords drawn and ready to eliminate any possible threat. What was visible of their eyes burned with adrenaline and malicious intent. They closed in on Merlin, their swords descending as Merlin's back was turned. Something roared deep in Arthur's chest, a rooted and raw emotion of protectiveness thrusting itself forward.

"No!" Arthur yelled, grabbing a fistful of Merlin's scarf and pulling him behind him. A tip of one of the guards' sword sliced across Arthur's chest, but he ignored it and pulled Merlin into his arms so that the guards couldn't get to Merlin without going through him first. "Don't hurt him!"

Arthur could feel Merlin's quickened heart rate against his chest. "Arthur, what are you doing?"

"Protecting you," Arthur hissed in Merlin's ear.

"Arthur, release him!" Uther ordered.

"No!" Arthur shouted. He hugged Merlin even closer, placing a hand on the back of the other boy's head. "Please! He didn't hear anything! Let him go!"

Uther had heard Arthur plead for the life of a person before, but never before like this. Not with such desperation, not with such a tone as that. But, as Uther always had in the past, he denied Arthur his request. "We cannot risk it, Arthur! As the crowned prince of Camelot, you are responsible for the safety of your kingdom!"

"Merlin would never betray us!" Arthur argued. He didn't loosen his hold on Merlin as he turned slightly to face his father. "I trust him more than anyone else in this castle. He has nothing to hide."

Merlin stiffened slightly, but Arthur didn't react to the tensing of Merlin's muscles, though he could easily feel it.

"Please," Arthur's voice cracked. "Let him go. Have mercy!"

"You know I can't do that," Uther growled, doing his best to ignore the fact that Arthur might as well have been begging at his feet. The father inside of him yearned to grant his son's desperate wish, but the king inside of him felt ashamed at Arthur's behavior, to be begging for his servant. "He must be executed."

The cold silence returned as Arthur's muscles tightened. His eyes hardened, and his voice became lethally level and low, sending chills down every spine in the room, even Merlin's.

"You kill him… you kill me."

Merlin pulled back slightly to look at Arthur's face. It was set, and his jaw clenched. Arthur turned his head to Merlin and looked right into his eyes. Their silent language was almost tangible in the air. They both looked into each other's souls, only to discover they shared one. A single soul split between two mortal bodies that were dependent upon one another. Arthur spoke the truth. You killed one, you condemned the other to the same fate. You could not have one side of a coin without the other.

"You kill him you kill me." Arthur repeated, but this time it was more directed towards Merlin than anyone else in the room. An admittance of his bond to his servant.

"This is absurd."

"It's the truth," Arthur said as he gathered Merlin back into his protective stance, turning his attentions back towards his father.

Uther glared at Arthur. "Leave us," he said to the officials and guards in the room.

They shuffled out, too shocked to even whisper among themselves. Arthur didn't move as they passed, even though he could feel all of their disapproving looks. News would probably circle around the castle quickly. Everyone would know that Arthur shamelessly begged for mercy for a simple servant to his father in front of an audience of his most trusted advisors. At the moment, though, Arthur didn't give a damn. Keeping Merlin alive was all that was important. If that meant kneeling over and kissing his father's boots, or even renouncing his right to the throne, he would do it.

Immediately and without hesitation.

Uther pinched the bridge of his nose. "For God's sake, Arthur, stop coddling the boy."

Arthur's jaw clenched and he released Merlin, but kept contact with him by grasping his hand. It was strong, and Merlin drew as much support from it as he could. Under any other circumstance, both of the boys would be embarrassed beyond belief, but in this instance, the simple connection seemed as natural as breathing.

Uther didn't think so. He looked down at their locked hands with a disgusted look on his face. "It's not natural to have this kind of relationship with a servant. It's unhealthy. This is just," he held out his hands for emphasis, "wrong."

"What is so wrong with wanting to save an innocent life?" Arthur asked, squeezing Merlin's hand.

"His life is no longer innocent," Uther spat. "he is now a threat."

"Have you not heard me? Merlin would never betray us! He has already proved that time and time again."

Merlin felt himself getting weaker. He had run the risk of execution every day ever since he came to Camelot, and had had some very close calls, but he had never been closer to it than in this moment, and he never would have imagined that he would face elimination over something like this...

He somewhat shyly interlaced his fingers with Arthur's for further support. Merlin felt more vulnerable in this moment than he had in all of his life experiences out together, and his contact with Arthur seemed to be the only thing that held him together. Some secluded, far-off part of Merlin that was the old version of himself feared slightly for how Arthur would react to his push for more, but Arthur almost eagerly accepted Merlin's need and squeezed his fingers.

"But what if he talks? Where would we be then?"

"He won't."

"But what if he did? His life may not be as innocent as you may think," Uther spat, glaring at Merlin again. There was a sudden acid in Uther's voice that Arthur had never heard before. A shadow was cast on the king's face, an old memory marring his features in such a way that made Arthur lose his confidence for a moment. There was also something about that stare… the hatred in it went deeper than just Merlin. Something old… an old, scarring experience that Uther had never been able to forget, that somehow was tied to Merlin.

"Is there something that you're not telling me, Father?" Arthur asked.

"I just know enough about servants to know that you can never trust them."

Then he understood. "A servant betrayed you."

Uther's jaw clenched, and his eyes drifted down to Arthur and Merlin's interlocked fingers again. Merlin felt like he was going to be sick. Arthur noticed that Merlin's hands were getting clammy and he looked to his face. Merlin was so pale that Arthur was sure that he was going to faint. In a different time he probably would have mocked him for it, but now he just held tighter onto Merlin's hand and hoped that that was enough to keep Merlin upright.

"I once had a friendship like yours, long before you were born." Uther said, his fingers tightening on the chair in front of him. "I thought I could trust him with my life. I was even making plans to bond with him," he said the last sentence with disgust, as if he couldn't even imagine it now. Arthur's eyes drifted to the ring on his father's right forefinger. "I was wrong." Uther glared at Merlin with such hatred that it made Arthur want to hold Merlin in his arms again to protect him from it. "He was nothing more than a filthy dog. He made a move that almost cost me my life." Uther's touched the scar on his forehead. "And I didn't hesitate in ridding Camelot of him."

Uther had never told Arthur what the scar was from. The prince had never asked. He had always assumed that it was an old battle scar, nothing more. Now so many things fell into place. Why Uther disliked Merlin so much, why he was constantly asking Arthur why he would love a servant, always saying the word with venom dripping from his voice, why he had no problem in crushing the flower that had once been Merlin's only chance of survival. It made Arthur's head spin. Suddenly that conversation made sense...

"What is it, Father?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your servant."

"Merlin? What about him?"

"Yes. You've seem to have grown attached to the boy."

Arthur shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat, wishing to be anywhere but there. "Is it obvious?"

"It concerns me, Arthur. He's becoming too close for comfort."

"What's wrong with having friends?"

"There is nothing wrong with making friends with the right sort of people. Like your knights. They've sworn to serve you, and they are of noble blood. You can trust them. A servant, however…"

"Merlin is trustworthy, I assure you. I'd put my life in his hands without a second thought."

Uther studied Arthur. "Although your judgement may be correct, perhaps it is better to get you some separation. A new servant might prove to be better for you."

"No. Merlin's my manservant… and, to be honest, I like it that way. So, if you'll excuse me…"

Arthur brought himself back to the present. "A servant did that to you?"

"Just like the one you're sacrificing your honor for."

Merlin forced himself to swallow.

"I promise Merlin isn't like that. He would never do anything to harm Camelot, or me. He's as true as steel, and there's no one I'd rather stand by in the face of horrors or certain death. I know he'd never keep anything from me."

"Arthur..." the prince's name escaped Merlin's lips before he could stop it.

"Sh."

Merlin hated standing here with Arthur shamelessly throwing himself in front of him, completely discarding his dignity without a second thought. It pained him. Here Arthur was, putting everything that he valued on the line, all the while Merlin was perhaps the biggest traitor in the fight against magic in all of Camelot.

Thankfully, Uther had not heard their small exchange.

"Father," Arthur said, taking a step forward but still not releasing Merlin's hand. "As crowned prince of Camelot, I am begging you… Let Merlin go."

"There's no way around this, Arthur, it is the law. Your servant will be executed, like those unfortunate before him."

Arthur's world turned sideways, and it was Arthur's turn to grasp onto Merlin for support. He reached across himself with his free hand to hold onto a fistful of Merlin's clothing. Merlin, feeling the sudden reversal of their roles, somehow gathered strength from Arthur's lack of it. He stood tall, his right hand raising to rest over Arthur's left wrist.

Uther pulled himself up, looking down his nose at Merlin. The prince and his servant knew that stance too well.

"I, Uther Pendragon, sentence you, Merlin Wyllt, to death, for overhearing a strategy that was to remain between officials and royalty of Camelot, and for the sake of safety of the kingdom."

Somehow, the formal death sentence seemed to affect Arthur more than Merlin. He couldn't lose him. He couldn't, he wouldn't. Arthur's mind was racing, scrambling for something, anything, that would save Merlin. A loophole. A back door. The answer came to him slowly, like his vision returning to him after being knocked out. Merlin was being sentenced for not being an official of Camelot. Arthur remembered something that his father had mentioned earlier, and he realized he could fix that. He released all of his contact with Merlin, beginning to pull at his right forefinger.

Uther was looking down at the table, his hands resting on the back of a chair, so the movement escaped his notice. "Arthur, I truly am regretful, but it's the only way to insure—"

"I, Arthur Pendragon, if my friend is to accept, give myself to bondage," Arthur said forcefully, holding up the ring he had just pulled off of his finger, staring at his father dead on.

Uther's head jerked upwards, his eyes wide with shock and anger. He stood straight, his posture defensive. "How dare you attempt to override me!"

"How dare you, father?" Arthur returned with equal force, at this point not caring what came from his mouth. There was no point in trying to guard his words now. "You know what Merlin is to me. And you were just going to kill him as if he were some kind of animal! You left me no choice."

"Sacrifices must be made for the safety of the kingdom! You've never seemed to be able to grasp that fact, Arthur," Uther spat, his anger emanating off of him in hot waves. "You always act before thinking, this, this hurried bondage, is a prime example."

"It's not hurried," Arthur said, his tone now calm. "I have thought about this."

"For what? Five seconds?" Uther hissed.

"Over a year," Arthur countered, his jaw set, the ring still raised. "If not more."

Merlin was completely lost. This all sounded like gibberish to him. It was obviously some way for Arthur to save him, but he had no idea what it meant. He felt exposed without Arthur holding onto him, as if the floor was going to be pulled out from under him and he would fall onto the execution block.

Uther was practically shaking with rage. "Merlin has no qualifications to be bonded to you, Arthur."

"What does he lack? He's loyal. He has courage and bravery that rivals that of my knights. He has been a fantastic advisor to me, and he's rarely wrong. He's already pledged his life to me. I have no doubt that he's saved my life more times than I can count."

Merlin was shocked, especially at the last claim. Arthur had never offered such compliments to him. In fact, he had always said the exact opposite, that he was a coward, that he was worthless.

"What more must he do to prove himself?" Arthur continued, still staring straight at his father, the ring disappearing into his fist. "You said yourself that you were going to bond yourself to your servant."

"Which was the second largest mistake I ever made in my life."

"What was the first?"

Uther was caught a little off guard, his eyes hinting at an irrepressible sadness. "It doesn't matter now."

"Father," Arthur said in a soothing tone, taking a small step forwards. "No one has heard your command for Merlin's death besides us. You will not be showing weakness. Merlin's life…" his voice faltered slightly at the precious noun and he stepped back, putting his arm around Merlin's shoulders, his fist still hiding the ring. "Merlin's life is more important than your honor and paranoia. Whatever your servant did to you…" his eyes drifted to Uther's scar. "I can promise you Merlin will not do to me."

Uther remained silent, his expression unreadable as he looked between his son and his servant. An eternity seemed to pass before Uther's eyes dropped down, and his head gave a small incline.

"I hope, for all of our sakes, you know what you're doing."

Arthur's breath left him in overjoyed relief, and he turned to Merlin, letting his arm move away from his shoulders and holding up his fist, revealing the ring to Merlin.

"Now don't be too much of a girl about this," Arthur said, but not teasingly like he had in the past, but almost… fondly. "Bondage is a tradition between the royalty and nobility of the kingdoms of Albion." He paused, as if not quite sure how to explain what it was exactly. "As a member of the royalty of Camelot, I have worn this ring since I became of age, waiting to give it to the right person. I can choose any man, if they accept, to become bonded to me. That man would become my advisor, protector, my closest friend. Which you kind of already are." His eyes trained onto Merlin's. "I've thought a long time about this. Out of anyone I've ever met, you've been the man I have trusted most, who's always been there, protecting me. Merlin." He stood a little straighter, putting on his air of authority, but the small smile on his lips that he had for Merlin betrayed his show of complete command. "Will you become bonded to me?"

Merlin was stunned, paralyzed, unable to react in any other way but to stare wide-eyed at Arthur. He had come into this room and had had his closest call with execution yet, only to now be practically handed an official place in the palace. Merlin would never have even considered that Arthur thought highly of him, let alone highly enough to propose something like this. He broke into a grin, as boyish as the ones he used to wear when he had first come to Camelot. Arthur matched the grin, and it again caught Merlin off guard that Arthur would be happy that he would accept something like this, that Arthur had thought about it for a year.

"Uh, yeah? Yes," Merlin said through his laugh, shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't know how to properly accept…"

"It's fine," Arthur laughed with him, lifting Merlin's right hand and slipping the ring onto his middle finger. It was heavy there, from the actual weight, but also with responsibility, but also with Merlin's pride. "I'll have to get one to wear as well… Bonding is usually between nobles, so you would usually have one to give to me, but I know you can't afford to go get one."

The thought seemed to trouble him, and Merlin felt disappointed that he didn't have one to give to Arthur, that he hadn't had something he had worn for as long as Arthur had, to show how long he had thought about bonding himself to him. Arthur's expression was soon replaced with that of pride, however, watching the ring on Merlin's finger. Uther strode out from behind them, seemingly disgusted, throwing the main hall's doors open. The anger seemed to not bother Arthur, nothing could spoil this moment for him.

Another thought occurred to Merlin as the door slammed behind his king, and suddenly the weight on his finger was that of guilt. If Arthur knew he was a warlock…

"I know."

Merlin's head jerked up at Arthur's low whisper. The blonde's eyes were round and kind, still full of the same pride as before, if not more so. His eyes also conveyed knowing, and acceptance of the truth from the way he smiled softly at his servant.

"A-Arthur?"

"Come on, you didn't think I was a complete idiot, did you?" Arthur laughed, roughing up Merlin's hair a little.

Merlin was so shocked that he didn't attempt to fix it. "K-Know what?"

"Merlin, I know you're a sorcerer," he said quietly, even though they were the only people in the room. "The day I finally figured it out was the day I began thinking about giving that to you," he explained, nodding at the ring. "My suspicions started back at Ealdor. I knew it wasn't Will who caused the storm."

Merlin's right hand slowly drifted up to his hair, his eyes still wide. His heart was pounding, and he was sick to his stomach and relieved at the same time, the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. "You knew? For that long you knew?" Merlin shook his head, tears of relief beginning to fill his eyes. "You don't think I'm evil?"

"How could you even ask that?" Arthur replied. "Of course not. Merlin, it's what made me think I wanted to be bonded to you. And I've been watching you. You've only used your magic to help me. I'd be dead now if you hadn't found me. And I know… I know you'll continue to protect me, won't you?"

"With my life," Merlin responded without missing a beat, a tear falling from his eye.

Arthur smiled, reaching forwards and gently brushing the tear away. "Then there's nothing to worry about. Because I'll always protect you, as well. Immediately."

Merlin's smile was full of unabashed joy. "And without hesitation."