Arthur looked around. He was surrounded by towering green towers though they didn't appear to be made of stone like that of the castle. Also they appeared to be extremely thing and bending. All this was highly bizarre to the young king. Slowly he stood up and began to walk around. His feet slowly slightly sinking into the ground below. It was then that he saw Merlin. Laying, within his head on a rock, covered by this brown jacket. Sleeping on the job again. He knew it. As he stormed over he noticed the paler boy muffled words in his sleep. It seemed almost a crime to wake him but he wanted to get home back to the castle and his armour wasn't going to polish itself.
Merlin was having a weird dream. He was dreaming of the Great Dragon, telling him of his destiny. He said that soon he would be facing bigger things and Arthur would need him more than ever. It was then that he felt something heavy hit the top of his head as he woke up in a startle. Bewildered he looked around to see a scarlet face, Arthur glaring down at him. He has expected he had fallen asleep in Arthur's chambers so spluttered out an apology and something about getting straight back to cleaning. As he tried to rise up from his sleeping position he noticed a gentle breeze caressing his skin. It was then he noticed it. He wasn't in Arthur's chambers at the cold, hard wooden desk that overlooked the king's bed. He wasn't even at Giaus' house. He was outside. In the open. Though it looked much different from what he had remembered. The floor had no lush green grass and the sky seemed to be plagued with green towers. Green towers? Something wasn't right.
"So, my manservant finally decided to wake today?" Arthur said in a fury. His eyes trying to drill into the back of Merlin's head. Arthur wouldn't admit it but he was scared and the best way to combat that was to take it out on Merlin. "If you haven't noticed you have failed to feed me today and I appear to be out of my chambers. What the hell is going on, Merlin?"
Merlin stared blankly ahead at the king. He was right but how the hell had they gotten out of the chambers. Looking up Merlin saw the faint, fuzzy image of what appeared to be a target practise. Just giant. It was then that it struck Merlin. They had shrunk and some being had thrown them onto the practising ground or something. But how? Only a powerful magic could have performed a spell like that and only one with enough hatred for the king and possibly Merlin himself. Only one named came to mind. Morgana. Trust her. Only she would be as treacherous as that as to dispose of Arthur. The good thing was, Merlin knew that if he could get to his spell books or Giaus then maybe he could reserve the effects. The bad news was that Arthur had just started a personal war on magic after it killed his Father. However Merlin wouldn't be able to do this alone.
This wasn't exactly the best place to reveal to your boss the biggest secret that you've been hiding from him. Especially when it could lose you your head but Merlin had no other options left. As he gulped he stood up and walked a little closer to Arthur. First he would have to mention Morgana. Not particularly a jolly subject. Considering everything she had done. Merlin, or Giaus, had even told him about the necklace she had placed around Uther's neck that helped caused the sickening magical blow. Merlin had wanted to protect Arthur from any more emotional harm. It had been the remembrance of his mother's dead, his father had just died; the last thing Arthur needed was a good old "Oh Arthur, Morgana, your half sister, is a witch and she killed Uther and now she wants to kill you too so she'll have rightful ownership of the throne and stuff." Arthur was now staring Merlin point blank in the face. He wished he wouldn't. Those blues could be deadly powerful when they wanted to be.
"Art-Arthur, I need to tell you something," he spluttered, "I know why we're out here." Merlin thought it best to leave out Morgana's name for now. "Some evil force has shrunk us and that's why we're out here."
Arthur's face somehow managed to get a lot darker and angrier, something Merlin thought impossible. His voice had turned to thunder. "I warned you, Merlin! I warned you how evil those magic folk can be!"
"Well if they are so evil then you won't want me helping you!" Merlin blurted out before he got a chance to stop himself. Sighing he sat down on the rock. Not exactly how he wanted to tell Arthur, even under these circumstances. Blurting it out in a range. How clever of him. Well… least it had shut the royal prat up. "Arthur? Are you… okay?"
"Okay… OKAY? I just found out my bloody manservant is a sorcerer!"
"Warlock." Merlin corrected.
"WHAT?"
"I'm a warlock. A sorcerer choices their right to practise magic, Arthur, whereas warlocks are born with the power. Do you think I asked for this? No. Am I evil like you claim all magical beings to be? No. The amount of times I saved your bloody life with magic, Arthur Pendragon, you wouldn't believe it!" The air suddenly became very cold and very awkward. The blonde just stood there, leaving the slender boy to stare at him in wonderment. To say the least Arthur was shocked. He didn't know what to think. Merlin was still Merlin. His loyal friend who stuck with him through thin and thin. Who had indeed saved his life and the lives of many others. Still his clumsy oath of a servant. Just… he had magic now and if he was honest it would make bloody sense. It still didn't explain the whole woodworm thing yet but Arthur was saw if he asked he'd get an answer.
Merlin was terrified. What if he threw him in the dungeons and then had him executed? Surely that wasn't part of his destiny? Stupid Morgana. Ruining everything. If he died because of her… God help her soul. Arthur was just standing there. Glaring at the floor, lost in thought. The tension was too much for Merlin. He had to do something. Concentrating deeply Merlin remembered a spell that had the ability to control animals and used his mind to summon one that could transport him to his home. His home where hopefully Giaus was to help him. Arthur must have obviously started paying attention to his manservant as Merlin distinctly heard the words "eye" and "gold" being muttered.
Soon a robin was sweeping down from the sky and landing near the pair. They had known it was coming because the strength of the wings had sent them flying from the gusts of winds they had produced. Merlin walked towards the bird and whispered to it his directions. He was about to climb on until he realised Arthur was not behind him. Looking over his shoulder he saw Arthur sitting by the rock. A muffled sound coming from within his bent head and wrapped around arms.
"I'm meant to be a king, Merlin." Arthur spluttered. "I'm meant to follow the laws and be strong and yet… with one sentence you strip both of those away from me. Camelot depends on me, Merlin, and I depend on you but how can I do that if… if… if you have been lying to me the entire time?" Arthur continued to look down. He wanted to trust Merlin. He wanted to forget him but he had remembered everything he had said on magic to the boy. How must have Merlin thought of that? He felt terrible. He wanted to trust Merlin but somehow he was petrified to climb aboard that giant bird with him. "I'm sorry, Merlin…"
"Oh shut up, you royal prat. I need to get you to your king size again and I don't have time for your talks now. When I've gotten you back to normal you can fire me, put me in the stocks or have me burnt. Just right now, you are my destiny and I have to fix you." With that Merlin grabbed Arthur's hand and dragged him to the foot of the bird. Arthur stood there petrified. Merlin couldn't decided if it was from him being magical, the giant bird, the entire situation or from the fact Merlin had just bossed around the King Of Camelot himself and had, so far, gotten away with it.
In next to no time Merlin had pulled himself onto the feathery back of the creature before him. Carefully he pulled Arthur up behind him. Arthur was strong and all but he had no experience of flying before and was half out of his mind currently. Whispering to the bird Merlin could feel it take flight. The wind rushed through his hair. He loved flying. Especially on the back of the dragon. It made him feel free of all his problems for one slight second. Well it did until he suddenly felt Arthur nuzzle into the back of his neck and hold onto his waist extremely tight. It was obvious Arthur was scared. Whether or not the king would ever admit this was another matter. It was more than likely he wouldn't. Arthur was extremely proud.
Soon the bird swooped down into a tiny window and landed on a table filled with glass jars containing many coloured potions and other various liquids. Soon he felt the weight of the king ease off of him and heard a small thud land on the wooden table. Looking down he had saw Arthur once again. The noble king. Always staring danger straight in the face with no ounce of fear upon his face. Though Merlin could not help forget it when he had seen the king's moment of weakness. He would never tell anyone but he knew one thing, Arthur looked extremely cute when he did that. Jumping down, he joined Arthur and set the bird on his way.
What either of the pair had seemed to escape was an over sized Giaus staring down on the entire scene from his place at the table directly above them. It wasn't until Merlin and Arthur heard the old man's tuts that they realised his presence. It wasn't there long though as he seemed to remove him self. Arthur and Merlin stared at each other. Words seemed impossible at the moment, and if Merlin was honest he didn't blame Arthur.
Arthur however had a problem. Staring at Merlin he saw him slightly in a new light. Only the night before had Merlin been his manservant. The one whom he secretly had feelings for and now… he didn't know if Merlin was even the guy with whom he fell in love with. Inside his mind Arthur was fighting a mini war with himself and he wasn't sure who was going to win. Merlin looked terrified for him. He hated that. He shouldn't be worried. He was king he was the one who was meant to worry. The one who took all the responsibly. Though he had to admit that when Merlin had taken control back outside he had felt relieved.
Not before long Giaus had returned to the desk and stared at Merlin. His gaze seemed a quizzical one, trying to gain answers without even asking a question in the first place. Arthur noticed this. He also noticed Merlin nodding and Giaus let out a gentle sigh. Another secret he made note of to ask upon later.
There was a large thud as Giaus dropped a heavy, leather bond book onto the table. Dust appeared to rise from the pages, causing the two tiny figures to cough vigorously. As soon as the coughing stopped and began flicking through the pages until he suddenly stopped on one of the middle pages. Giaus shot another glare at Merlin, whom had been standing silently inspecting the page. Merlin nodded and began to walk over to Arthur.
"Erm… look, Arthur, I have to perform a simple spell and then we'll be back to normal. Then you can torture me to your hearts content for being an evil, conspiring wizard or something." Merlin began to stare at his shoes. Suddenly Arthur felt a pain shoot through his body. He felt hurt. Hurt that Merlin thought he would torture him. That Merlin didn't trust him enough to keep him safe. After all they had been for. After all Merlin had done for him. The full extent he didn't even know yet. He couldn't take it any longer and pulled Merlin in for a deep hug. Wrapping his arms around the slender boy, he positioned his head so he could softly whisper in Merlin's ear without being overheard by anybody or thing.
"Merlin, I'd never torture you but I'm going to need the truth. I care about you too much to ever hurt you." Slowly pulling away, but still in interlocked arms, the pair stared into each others eyes.
"You mean you?" Arthur could barely heard due to the volume at which this had been uttered but he heard and all he could do was nod. Fair enough he wasn't once for always showing his feelings but if now was the time to show Merlin he trusted him, he thought this was it. Merlin felt a smile twig at the sides of his mouth. "I do too."
Arthur felt his stomach flip. The earlier bird ride didn't seem so bad now. It had brought him closer to Merlin. Though he would have liked to avoid it all together. He felt horrified on the back of that thing, clinging onto his manservant for dear life. That bird could have taken him anywhere and it wasn't exactly proper behaviour for a king. Then again nor was being smaller than a bird in the first place and liking your manservant. Arthur reflected this as Merlin drew him in again for another hug. This one seemed more warm. More loving. Arthur liked it. Very much. He didn't even seem to realise being picked up by Giaus and placed on the floor. What he did notice however was Merlin utter some gibberish made up language. It changed the pattern of his voice. Arthur didn't like that.
Bones began to crack and expand, as did clothing, as the pair appeared to be getting further and further from the ground until finally they had returned to normal height. The process had slightly hurt at first but had soon died down. Not once did the pair break off from one another. Arthur looked into Merlin's eyes. He swore he had seen another tint of gold in there. Merlin just stared back. He was still terrified that Arthur would change his mind and send him to be executed. It was a while before the silence was broken.
"Merlin?"
"Yes, Arthur?"
"Lie to me again and I'll put you in the stocks. Oh and… I never want to fly on a bird again. Do you understand?" Merlin laughed as both men lowered their arms into a neutral standing position. The awkwardness had seemed to disappear. Arthur turned around and headed for the door. When he reached it, he turned around to look at Merlin. "Oh and Merlin? Clean my chambers will you. You seem to be late for your duties this morning."
Merlin groaned as he saw a smile spread across the blonde's face before he disappeared through the door frame. Merlin stood there for a second before realising Giaus had long cleared the room to … give them privacy. As he climbed the stairs to his room to change he noticed the robin sitting on the window ledge. Almost staring at him.
"Thank you, little friend. Thank you."