A/N: Opens a few weeks before S2xE8- Sins of the Father.


Arthur groaned when the inescapable beam of sunshine woke him. He stared groggily at the familiar figure standing by the curtains, wrestling with the feeling that something was not quite right.

Oh, right. How many more weeks was it going to take before he got used to the idea of being in the past?

"Rise and shine," Arthur mumbled sarcastically to the silent warlock. "Still sulking, are we?"

Merlin went about the room, putting things away–not that there was much to put away. Arthur had tried to lighten Merlin's work now that he knew that his manservant handled a lot of things that most certainly did not fit his job description. But Merlin had responded that he needed to be near Arthur if he was going to protect him, and that while he appreciated his workload reducing, he still needed to remain as Arthur's manservant. Which argument had left Arthur kind of speechless, and left him to deal with the discomfort of having a terribly powerful man polish his boots.

"I seem to recall telling you I dislike your keeping secrets even more now than usual," Arthur said, putting on a tunic.

Merlin finally dropped his pretense of cleaning the room and sat down. "I have something to tell you."

"Oh, joy," Arthur said bleakly. "This ought to be fun."

It had been anything but fun discovering the number of things that had happened behind his back all those years. Then, quite suddenly, Merlin had backed off and closed up like a vault. Arthur had no idea why, unless Merlin had somehow figured out what the revelations were doing to Arthur's self-esteem. He was getting to know an entirely new side of Merlin, too–the man was uncannily intelligent and perceptive compared to the caricature of a fool Arthur had made him out to be. Though that wasn't true either, now that he thought about it…

"Arthur? Arthur!" Merlin was calling.

"Sorry, Merlin, I was…thinking." Arthur waited for a sassy reply, but there wasn't one. Merlin had closed his eyes and looked as if he was having serious doubts about talking.

"Remember the apparition of your mother that Morgause conjured?"

Boy, did he remember. Arthur just managed to nod, feeling dread clutch at his stomach. He could tell he wasn't going to like this. "We concluded it was just an illusion."

"I lied."

Arthur wondered why he was surprised at all. Maybe he had assumed Merlin would only have lied to him about thing like spending a day in the tavern while actually gallivanting about saving the day. It hadn't really occurred to him that Merlin might have lied about something that struck so close to home.

"How could you?" Arthur hissed, his eyes narrowing. He had to make a physical effort not to reach for his sword.

"I'll explain if you'd just calm down, Arthur."

"Calm down!" Arthur repeated furiously, his voice rising.

Merlin seemed to shrink under his glare. He looked up at Arthur with such a betrayed, how-could-you-not-trust-me expression that Arthur felt his own defenses crumbling.

"Fine," Arthur said curtly, sitting down. There was a pause, and then Merlin said, "Everything the apparition said was true."

And every sentence you say today is a blow, Arthur thought, trying to remember to breathe.

"But it wasn't the whole truth, either, so take heart, Arthur. Uther knew that to give a life, a life had to be taken–that is the law of magic, and Nimueh had told him that." Merlin's face grew dark as if he were reliving cheerless memories too. "What Nimueh didn't tell him was that the person to die would be your mother. Perhaps Morgause twisted this truth to mislead you. Or maybe the apparition really was your mother, in which case she died believing Uther had betrayed her. We may never know." Merlin turned to face Arthur and fixed his intent gaze on him. "And that is the whole truth as Gaius and I know it, Arthur."

Breathe in, and out. "But then my father is responsible for my mother's death."

"Unknowingly, Arthur."

"That doesn't matter! He was prepared to let someone die so that he may have a son–that's just…" Arthur choked, unable to find the words. "So Nimueh was entirely innocent?"

"Not entirely, no." The black look was back on Merlin's face. "Actually, I don't think Uther's anger at Nimueh, at least, was completely misplaced. I killed Nimueh when she did the same thing to me."

"What!" Arthur had intended to shout, but his lungs didn't have air enough for that, so it came out as a whisper.

"Your mother is avenged, Arthur."

"What did she do to you?"

"What's important right now, Arthur, is that you need to be prepared. Morgause will turn up soon. Morgana needs to be warned, too."

Oh, not her again, Arthur thought. Watching Merlin teach her to control her magic was unsettling enough. And even more so for Gwen, after she had got over the shock of two of her closest friends being magic users. "What's Morgana got to do with it?"

"We need to explain the truth to her before Morgause twists it to her advantage."

"What truth?" Arthur sounded, to his own ears, like a dull child.

"That she and Morgause are half-sisters, and that Morgause's intentions are less than noble."

"Not the part about her being my half-sister?" Arthur asked pointedly.

"No," Merlin said thoughtfully. "I don't think she's ready for that yet." Arthur felt his ire rise again.

"And you decide when someone is ready, do you?"

"I try, Arthur." Merlin's face was solemn and earnest. "Would you have preferred it if I'd dumped all this on you the day we arrived in the past?"

Arthur knew the answer to that, but the unreasonable part of him wouldn't give in. "And why did you interfere on that day? Wouldn't you be better off with my father dead?"

"You know the answer to that," Merlin replied after a pause.

"Indulge me."

"It would have destroyed you if you'd gone through with it."

Arthur thought that one over. "And just how many more secrets do you have from me, Merlin?"

"They're not secrets anymore–not with you– just an overwhelming number of stories," Merlin said, smiling slightly. "You'll have to trust me to tell you at the right time."

"Can't wait," Arthur replied gloomily. Then he thought of something. "There's something else I don't understand. How come I'm the only one who remembers the future?"

"I puzzled over that one for a while too," Merlin said, and here his voice grew softer. "I think it was because deep down, I knew that changing the past would be impossible without you knowing who I was."

Arthur buried his head in his hands. He jumped when he felt Merlin's fingers on the nape of his neck, and then leaned into the comforting touch.

"It's going to be all right, Arthur," Merlin said, and Arthur let himself believe it for a minute, even as he doubted if Merlin believed it himself.


A few weeks later

"Have you considered how dull life is going to be if we know everything that's going to happen in advance?" Arthur inquired of Merlin as his horse guided him to Morgause's castle. There was no reply, but Arthur went on. "It's a good thing I don't remember most of what happened in the Council meetings, or I'd have gone mad of boredom by now."

"Don't worry, we've already set a different future in motion by revealing my identity to Morgana," Merlin returned, a touch forbiddingly. "And we're going to make it even more different when we deal with Morgause today."

"You don't seem pleased."

Once again, Merlin was quiet. Arthur sighed and wondered whatever was wrong with his manservant…warlock. He was starting to get more comfortable calling Merlin that in his head now. A talk with Gaius had revealed that Merlin was the same around him, too. Gaius apparently felt that Merlin had 'aged by several years' in just a couple of days, an observation Uther had made about Athur as well, and one that he had tried to brush off. Gaius seemed surprised and worried at this reticence on Merlin's part, and Arthur didn't blame him. An unsmiling, silent Merlin was something Arthur had a deep-seated dislike for.

Arthur's horse chose this moment to plunge into a familiar-looking lake with a waterfall at the far end. He threw an amused look over his shoulder at Merlin, when he noted Merlin's set jaw and the tenseness in his shoulders. "I do declare, you look terrified, Merlin." Arthur rolled his eyes when this brought no reaction. "What are you so afraid of, anyway? You're supposed to be the most powerful–"

"That's not it, Arthur," Merlin interrupted, and Arthur mentally smacked himself for nearly announcing Merlin's secret where Morgause might be listening. "Oh look, we're here," Merlin said, with false cheer.

Arthur began to feel slightly uneasy himself as he played along with Morgause's charade. He blamed Merlin for rubbing off his black mood on him. Then Ygraine's spirit (illusion. Whatever.) appeared and he forgot everything else, sinking into her embrace as she whispered tenderly to him.

"Your father betrayed me," the spectre said.

It seems to run in the family, Arthur thought, images of Uther, Morgana and Agravaine flashing in his mind. He was having no trouble playing the devastated son. He spent the rest of the bizarre affair keeping a check on his lust for revenge on the silent sorceress standing close by, who had, according to Merlin, played a huge role in turning Morgana into an implacable enemy of Camelot.

"It is an unforgettable betrayal," Morgause said sympathetically, as Arthur stood blankly staring into the distance after the spectre had left.

"Indeed," Arthur said, trying to sound normal. "Regardless, well played, Morgause."

"What?" The sorceress was the picture of outraged honesty.

"You have not shown me the entire truth."

"You are unwilling to admit the truth of your father's betrayal," Morgause said kindly. "I understand, but you must eventually realize that what I have just shown you is the truth."

"I have denied neither," Arthur replied. "What I do affirm is that my father did not know that his wife would die. And that you are here to use me in your own scheme for revenge by turning me against him."

"This is outrageous, Prince Arthur." Morgause turned as if to leave.

"I don't need your confirmation, Morgause. And while I have nothing against magic users I strongly object to those who use magic for evil ends. And those who seek to subvert someone who's like a sister to me."

"I see paranoia runs in the family of Pendragons."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "The only reason I do not strike you down right now is that a wise friend once told me it is wrong to judge people for what they are about to do."

Morgana smirked even as her face betrayed her anger and chagrin. "Noble to the end, Prince Arthur."

"For your sake, I sincerely hope this is the end, Morgause. Consider this your first and only warning. Leave Camelot and its protectors alone. One day, I give you my word, magic will be respected and accepted in this land, but people such as yourself only succeed in making that day further off." Morgause's face showed no reaction. Arthur stepped away. "Farewell, Morgause." He blinked when he found she had disappeared into the darkness.

There was a pause, and then Merlin said, "Quite a performance, sire."

They waited until they were well away from the castle before speaking.

"All right, Merlin, I've had it," Arthur said, his leftover emotions from the experience he'd just gone through making him more frustrated than usual. "What is wrong with you? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were upset because of the change in history and my averted death."

Arthur regretted being so brutal to get a rise out of Merlin, but he could see no other way. Still, he wasn't prepared for the way Merlin tensed and went white to his lips. "Arthur–how could you even think–"

Great. Merlin was having trouble speaking.

"What are you constantly brooding about, then?"

Merlin took a deep breath. "Setting off a worse future than the one we escaped. Failing to protect you–again. Morgana turning against us despite our efforts–and this time it'll be far easier for her to destroy you, because she knows who I am. What are you so chipper about?"

Arthur blinked at the sudden storm of words, but he was not to be put off.

"Coming back from the dead. A new lease of life. A second chance at rectifying my mistakes, this time with the benefit of hindsight. The discovery of an unimaginably powerful friend whose loyalty knows no bounds…why, Merlin, you're getting terribly pessimistic."

"I watched you die in my arms," Merlin coldly stated. "And there was nothing I could do, even with all that power you were just exulting in." He let out a shuddery breath. "Gaius has trouble adapting to the idea of us dropping in from the future. And Kilgarrah," Merlin gave a cynical smile that startled Arthur, "thinks I'm a prize idiot to try and change what's already been destined."

Arthur suddenly wished he'd spent more time keeping an eye on Merlin instead of on Gwen in the past few weeks. "Well, look at what you've accomplished already," he said, trying not to be unnerved by Merlin's world-weariness. "We stopped that troll from ever taking a hold on my father in the first place."

"You did that. By running it through and exposing her helper's tail before a shocked court."

"You stopped Guinevere from getting kidnapped and running into Lancelot, while also making sure to inspire Lancelot to aim for greater things."

"You stopped the kidnapping."

"How much credit do you need?" Arthur teased. "You stopped the witchfinder."

"I stopped him last time too. Only this time, he didn't get to torture Gaius. And you got to giggle at the toad emerging from Aredian's mouth.

"I do not giggle!" Arthur said indignantly, sitting bolt upright in his saddle.

Merlin smiled, and Arthur silently congratulated himself. Then he grew slightly concerned when the smile continued for several minutes.

"Now what?" he asked, exasperated. He couldn't remember the last time Merlin had taken up so much of his attention simply because he was in the dumps.

"Freya's coming," Merlin replied, sounding much happier.

"Who?"

Merlin suddenly whipped around and squinted into the distance as if trying to see through the trees. Knowing him, he probably was, Arthur thought, saying out loud, "What is it?"

"We're being watched."

Arthur started to turn his horse around, but Merlin said, "It's too late. Whoever it was, he's gone. Or she is."

They exchanged glances and continued on their journey back to the citadel.

"So who's Freya?"


A/N:

Sorry about all the talky-talk. I promise it's going to get more action-based from the next chapter onwards. If anyone is protesting at the change in the relationship between these two boys, all I can say is that it was to be expected, with the revelations about years of secret protecting. Also they're the only ones who remember the future. That's bound to bring a change.

A huge thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed or favourited this story. Especially the reviews…So kind. This my first fanfic that's over a chapter in length, and your support really means a lot to me.