Disclamer: I don't own Merlin, if I did then none of the knights, Arthur or Freya would've died and there would be at least a season with Merlin as Court Warlock
(A/N: main A/N at the bottom )
It started out as a typical hunting trip - meaning in was awful, four days of blundering through the woods after Arthur and the knights was most definitely not Merlin's idea of fun. Plus he usually ended up having to save Arthur from some magical threat on the way. Sighing, Merlin trudged deeper into the woods in an attempt to find some drier wood.
"You okay?" he heard Lancelot call from behind him.
"Yeah," Merlin replied with a small smile, "I just can't help but wonder how Arthur will be put in danger this time."
Lancelot shrugged and started helping the younger man with his chores.
Laughing over some joke, the two friends headed back towards the clearing.
"ARTHUR PENDRAGON!" a distant voice bellowed, "SURRENDER NOW AND YOUR PATHETIC KNIGHTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO CAMELOT!"
As the sounds of fighting reached their ears, the knight and the warlock raced towards the campgrounds.
It wasn't a pretty sight; Gwain and Elyan were worst off, they sat on the ground, Elyan because of a large cut in his leg that was bleeding profusely and Gwain because of a large knot forming on the side of his head. Their companions, who stood over them in a protective circle were also battered and bruised. As Lancelot rushed forward to help, Merlin surveyed the enemy– five sorcerers stood in front of his friends laughing harshly, the leader wasn't hard to identify, he wore bright green robes while the others wore grey and his fellow sorcerers watched him, waiting for orders. Merlin had no choice, if he didn't use magic Arthur would die, they would all die, it didn't matter that there was no way to hide it.
"Ástríce!" he shouted, raising his hands, the startled sorcerers flew back into the trees.
"Ha!" shouted the leader, rising immediately, "I will not be vanquished by a measly servant with small amounts of magic!" Rising, the rest of the sorcerers chuckled.
"I am Emrys," Merlin said quietly yet seriously, "do not try me." The effect was immediate; the leader stumbled backwards and fled while his followers dropped to the ground to beg for his forgiveness.
"Stop groveling!" Merlin cried, blushing, "I'm not a king!"
"The druids consider you as such, my lord," one of the men replied earnestly.
Shaking his head, Merlin turned to his friends suddenly extremely nervous. He looked at each of them in turn– Gwaine grinned at him as if he had known all along, Merlin decided he probably had, Elyan and Leon looked at him with a mixture of shock and fear, that was to be expected, Merlin told himself, Percival looked surprised but not angry or upset and Lancelot smiled encouragingly. Finally, Merlin let his eyes drift toward Arthur, his king had a strange look on his face, as if he had eaten something extremely sour, but that only lasted for a second, for then, The King of Camelot fainted.
Merlin rushed forward and kneeled next to his friend, quickly evaluating the man's injuries he deduced that Arthur had fainted due to the shock of his manservant having magic.
Turning to Gwain he raised an eyebrow, " you don't seem surprised, how long have you known?"
"I'm not sure… but do you mind healing me, maybe I'll remember when this bloody headache's gone." The knight replied.
Merlin gently placed his hand on his friend's injured head and concentrated, "Gestathole. Thurhhaele," he said forcefully, slowly the bump disappeared. "Elyan," Merlin said, turning to the other knight, "May I heal you?"
"Fine," Elyan muttered, looking at Merlin warily. The warlock repeated, watching in satisfaction as the knight's wounds closed.
"I've always found it funny," Merlin mused out loud, "I've never had trouble healing anyone but Arthur, the person I was supposedly born to protect."
"What!" all the knights, except for Lancelot of course, spluttered.
Merlin sighed, "I'll explain once Arthur is awake, it isn't a story I want to repeat."
The men had been sitting in silence for sometime when their king finally rose with a groan, "Please tell me it was a dream and you don't have magic," Arthur asked looking at Merlin.
"It wasn't a dream, but I don't have magic, I am magic," the Warlock replied, "I was born with it."
"Impossible!" Arthur raged, "no one is born with magic!"
"Do you honestly think I would chose this?" Merlin inquired, suddenly angry, "to live in fear that any day I could be found out and sentenced to death? To not know who to trust and who would turn on me?" He was standing now, his voice tight with emotion, "to know that I'm a danger to everyone who knows about me just because of how I was born! And I'll tell you something Arthur Pendragon, if your father had never banned magic, I wouldn't have had to deal with all this!"
When Arthur just stared, Merlin allowed himself to calm down, "Although," he said, his voice soft now, "If your father hadn't banned magic, there would be no prophecy and I really would be the clumsy, annoying commoner you think I am."
"Start from the beginning Merlin, tell us everything, then we will see if you are different from the other sorcerers I've seen."
"Okay," the younger man told him, "but it's a long story, I'll tell you on the way back to Camelot."
Nodding, the other men started to pack up camp leaving the two kings to their thoughts.
Merlin wasn't lying,Gwain thought, this is a long story. The group had been riding for hours, and Merlin hadn't stopped his story yet, Gwain might have guessed that his scrawny friend had magic but he didn't realize how much he had done. As the story neared its end, Lancelot started to add things, making the other men realize that the Merlin had been understating the difficulty of his endeavors. The knights and king were listening to their friend with the utmost attention, gasping or cheering whenever they saw fit.
The castle had come into view before the young man's story ended, "Well?" he asked, stopping his mount and turning to face the king.
Arthur paused, "I don't know Merlin, I'm not going to execute you, not after all you've done for me and for Camelot but… My father's technically still king, I can't legalize magic while he's still on the throne, he'll say I'm enchanted, and I can't try to overthrow him, that will just reinforce the idea."
"I understand, Arthur, I really do," the Warlock said with a smile, "I'll just have to wait a bit longer." With that, the friends rode down to the city with high hopes for a better future.
The End
(A/N: Crappy ending, I know but I had to finish it, for those who are reading my other story The Mask I will add another chapter but I'm not sure how to end it so…)
