Thanks for all the reviews, favourites, and follows guys, you're amazing!

Arthur watched the sun rise slowly above the horizon, streaking the sky with orange. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the previous night, too involved with the predicament he was in. Eventually he got to his feet, packing his bag and getting on his horse. He wanted to get back to Camelot quickly, the sooner he got some answers and on a search party, the better. Urging his horse forwards, he rode off towards the castle as swiftly as he could.

…

When Arthur arrived in the courtyard, he tossed the reins of his horse to a passing servant without a second glance and ran up to Gaius's chambers, throwing the door open. The physician jumped, startled by the noise. "What on earth are you doing here, Arthur? Aren't you supposed to be away hunting? Where's Merlin?" he asked, a hint of annoyance entering his voice.

"You knew, didn't you? How long, Gaius?" Arthur replied, not bothering to answer the questions fired at him. Gaius looked confused for a moment, then terrified as he realized what Arthur was referring to. He sat down heavily on the nearest bench, holding his head in his hands. "That stupid boy, stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered. "Where is he, Arthur? Where is Merlin?" he asked sharply, looking the king in the eyes.

"He ran off when he realized that I'd seen," Arthur said guiltily. "After…after I yelled at him," he added quietly, deciding it would be best to leave out the part where he punched Merlin. He didn't want to give the man a heart attack. "Can you tell me what you know, Gaius? How long has he practiced magic for?" he continued gently, the adrenaline rush from his frantic ride back dissipating.

"It's not for me to tell you, sire, Merlin would want to tell you himself," Gaius said with a sigh. "But I can say that he would only use his magic for you, Arthur. His loyalty to you and Camelot is unwavering, as you very well know. The thought of betraying you would never even dare to cross his mind."

Arthur nodded, remembering clearly the times Merlin would ride out to face a threat with him, always there at his side. He had sometimes wondered why Merlin never asked for chainmail, and he felt guilty now for never bringing it up. But he realized that Merlin didn't need it, if he had magic. And it also explained why he was so useless with a sword but still managed to defend himself. "How long?" he asked again.

"Since before he arrived in Camelot. He…" Gaius hesitated for a moment, wondering if Merlin would mind his telling Arthur about this detail. Deciding it would be for the best in convincing Arthur that Merlin wasn't evil (though he seemed to be there already), he continued. "He was born with it. He could do magic since before he could talk, move objects with his mind without a word. He doesn't need incantations, you see. He only uses them to help focus his power," he explained.

Arthur looked both confused and shocked at the same time. "But how is that possible? Doesn't magic require years of study?"

Gaius nodded. "Yes, but Merlin is a special case. I'm not entirely sure how or why he was born the way he was. It's kind of like Morgana, where she never studied, but was born with her magic. It just appeared later on in her life instead." He winced slightly when he realized that he probably shouldn't have compared Merlin with that witch, but he couldn't take back what he said. Thankfully, Arthur just seemed to skim over that bit and skip right to the part where he went deathly pale.

"Are you alright, sire?" Gaius asked worriedly, hoping he hadn't said something wrong.

Arthur had come to a sudden realization. "What if Morgana found Merlin? He could be captured, or wounded, or…" he trailed off, unable to voice his fear that Merlin could be dead.

"I'm sure he's fine, Arthur. He can take care of himself. Morgana doesn't know of his magic, which is good," Gaius said, trying to reassure both Arthur and himself. "Why don't you stay in the castle for tonight and search for him tomorrow?"

"Alright," Arthur replied reluctantly. "I'm going to gather the knights for a meeting, I'd appreciate it if you'd come too," he added hopefully.

Gaius nodded his assent. "I'll be there shortly."

…

A short while later, Arthur, Leon, Percival, Elyan, and Gwaine, along with Gaius and Gwen, were gathered in the council chambers. He had ordered the guards not to let anyone else in; he couldn't risk someone overhearing the discussion.

The knights muttered amongst themselves curiously, while Gwen looked worried and confused at the absence of Merlin.

"I know that you were all expecting Merlin and I to be out hunting for another couple of days, but something came up. We were attacked by bandits, and, well…" Arthur broke off for a moment to glance at Gaius to make sure it was alright if he told the others. Gaius nodded in encouragement, having decided it would be best if the knights and Gwen knew as well, even if Merlin wouldn't be too happy about it. But Arthur had been the biggest obstacle in the way of Merlin's secret coming out, besides Uther, and if Arthur accepted Merlin for who he was, then he figured it shouldn't be too hard to get the others on Merlin's side as well.

Arthur continued, though he was a bit less confident now. "I was passed out for a moment"-Gwaine snickered at this and Arthur gave him a death glare to shut him up-"and when I woke, I saw Merlin using magic to fend off an attack on himself."

The group fell into a shocked silence. Only Gaius looked unsurprised, though Arthur thought he saw something in Gwaine's eyes. Dismissing it, he carried on. "I was just as shocked as you are, and I was angry." Gwaine looked murderous now, obviously getting the wrong idea. "Merlin was gone by the time I came to my senses. I don't know where he went, only that he's probably still in the woods. At dawn I'd like to send out a search party to find him."

"Why, so you can kill him?" Gwaine yelled, getting to his feet. "No wonder he ran off, he was probably terrified! What did you do to him?!"

"He was fine when he left, Gwaine!" Arthur shot back before remembering the incident and faltering. He fell back into his chair, head in hands. "He looked so scared…" he murmured, and Gwaine sat back down as well, reaching the conclusion, along with the others, that Arthur didn't want to kill Merlin any more than they did. Arthur raised his head again, and Gwaine nodded solemnly in apology. A thought entered Arthur's mind, and he knew he had to ask. "Did anyone else know, besides Gaius?"

No one moved for a moment, but then Gaius spoke. "Though he is no longer with us now, I think Lancelot would have wanted you to know that he found out not long
after meeting Merlin. Once, he told me that he had heard Merlin incanting a spell when he had gone to defeat the griffin. He told me that it was the most amazing sight he had ever seen, brilliant blue flames springing to life on his lance. He said that he didn't know how Merlin expected him not to notice, and we had a good laugh over that, but then he confided that he had always thought that Merlin should have been the one knighted instead of him, that he was far braver than anyone. I told him that it was utter nonsense of course, that Lancelot deserved the title, but I agreed that Merlin was always brave. He would never betray any of us, for anything."

"And here I've been teasing him for being a coward, all these years," Arthur said, and everyone smiled. Then Gwaine spoke up. "At first I suspected, what with the flying plates and benches in the tavern," he said with a chuckle. "But I dismissed it to my imagination. Now I know that I was right. Merlin could never lift a bench on his own, after all." At this everyone laughed, and Arthur stood once more. "I think we can all agree that even though Merlin has magic, and is the biggest idiot any of us know, he is a true and loyal friend. So let's get him back!" The others stood as well, smiles plastered on their faces.

"For Merlin!"

Sorry, I know I said this would be up yesterday, but I had some writer's block, haha. But it's a longer chapter, yay! Is it long enough, or would it be better if it was longer than that? Next time will be Merlin's perspective, I promise, haha. So what did you think? Always remember that reviews and critiques are welcome! From now on will be kind of spontaneous, I didn't really think too much past this point, haha. So if you have some ideas, shoot me a PM or add it in a review!

- xxthegameisonxx