Author's Note: -hides behind computer screen- So this is like... 3 months late. Dx I'm so so sorry! I've been so backlogged with homework and other things that I haven't had time to work on FanFiction. I know this is super long-awaited and I know this is shorter than my most of my earlier chapters and I'm sorry, but I hope you still like it and enjoy. I hope my next posting won't take so long. And I thank everyone who is still following and reviewing this and I thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Warning: This has male/male, blah blah, you already know this. xD

Chapter 4

Stumbling into the castle the next morning, Merlin yawned softly. His conversation with Kilgarrah had lifted many of Merlin's worries about Mordred and Morgana leaving Merlin feeling more relaxed than he had been in years. There was a skip in Merlin's step and a small smile on his lips as he made his way through the castle corridors. He was whistling softly to himself as he went through his usual morning routine. Snagging Arthur's breakfast, he flashed the cook a warm smile and quickly left and made his way to the King's chambers. Stopping just outside the door, he shifted the platter to rest on one arm and listened for any noise inside. Deeming it safe, Merlin pushed his way into the room calling out in a sing-song voice, "Rise and shine, your majesties!"

He swept into the room, setting the platter on the table and then swiftly moving to draw the curtains open quickly. Light flooded the room, causing the figure on the bed to stir and groan. Merlin noted with surprise that the Queen was not in bed with Arthur, and frowned. Where could she be? Shrugging, he ignored his curious thoughts and instead got to work on setting Arthur's clothes out for him. "Out of bed, Arthur. You have a busy day today."

The King rolled over in bed, groaning in response, "Go away, Merlin."

Merlin hummed softly, walking over to check on Arthur's armor as he waited for the King's sleep addled brain to catch up with current events. It didn't take long, as Arthur slowly realized what he said and shot up in bed. The King's eyes widened as he caught sight of Merlin meandering around the room and going about his daily routine with a soft hum. "Merlin!"

Merlin flashes the King a wry grin, "That would be my name, sire."

The King rubbed his eyes for moment, blinked, then frowned as he realized that Merlin was truly there, "What are you doing here?"

Raising an eyebrow, Merlin eyed the King with a look that said 'Are you stupid?', "My chores. It is my job, last I checked."

Arthur coughed roughly to cover his embarrassment, "I mean, aren't you still angry with me?"

Merlin was pleasantly surprised by the question, having thought that Arthur had just forgotten about his wayward manservant. "I was, but I don't think avoiding you will fix anything," A wicked grin spread across his lips, "And, I don't believe messing in my personal affairs that are none of your business was the appropriate response either."

The King licked lips nervously, a faint blush blossoming on his cheeks as he shifts to sit on the edge of the bed, "Merlin… I'm sorry about what I said. You were right, I don't know enough about magic to judge things clearly. My father's teachings have left me biased, and Morgana's betrayal had only solidified his teachings. I didn't know enough about Ethan to jump to conclusions, and I'm sorry if I insulted his memory."

Merlin was openly gawking by the end of the King's speech, his eyes wide with surprise. Did Arthur just apologize? He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to walk over and check Arthur's temperature and perhaps check if there was an enchantment on the King. Merlin's Arthur never apologized. "Are you alright, sire?"

Arthur groaned, shaking his head slightly before flashing a glare at Merlin, "There is nothing wrong with me, Merlin. Just accept an apology when it is given."

Merlin snorts lightly, smiling to himself. Nope, Arthur's fine. He's still his usual prattish self. "Yes sire."

Merlin spent the rest of the morning completing his neglected chores. Arthur's eyes had followed him the entire day, and Merlin was growing tense the longer Arthur stared. If this continued, Merlin was going to snap at the King again and he really didn't want to snap at Arthur. Finally, after the tension started to grow unbearable, Arthur stood up from his desk, stretched and headed for the door, "I have a meeting to attend to. I expect your chores to be done when I return."

Watching Arthur leave with a puzzled expression on Merlin's face, he wondered for the hundredth time today what the hell was going through Arthur's thick skull.

/BREAK/BREAK/BREAK/

Arthur closes the door lightly behind him as he takes a relieved breath. After seeing the conversation between his manservant and his young knight, Arthur's thoughts had been in turmoil. The only conclusion he came to the night before was that he would keep an open mind for Merlin's sake. Mordred clearly meant a lot to his manservant, and Arthur refused to break the boy's heart for a third time. And also, Mordred was a trusted knight and was beyond loyal to his King. It pained Arthur to even think about betraying Mordred's loyalty by arresting him let alone to go through with it. Arthur rested his head against the door, groaning to himself. When did everything become so complicated? Arthur really wanted to be drunk at the moment. But as King, he couldn't just go down to the tavern like Merlin or his knights could. He could throw a feast just for the hell of it if he really wanted to get drunk, but he didn't want such a public event. Arthur wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Well, no, he actually wanted to stop thinking hence the desire to be drunk.

After bumping his head against the door lightly for a moment, a flicker of an idea started to form in Arthur's mind. It was a stupid idea, ridiculously stupid, but Arthur knew it was the only option to fill the requirements he wanted. Sighing, he pushed himself away from the door and forced himself to walk down the halls and towards the knight's hall. Arthur willed himself forward, ignoring the warning bells in his head that said this was an extremely bad idea; Arthur stopped at a door and entered without knocking, calling out cheerfully, "Gwaine, my friend. I have a request."

Hearing a groan within the room, Arthur smirked knowing full well that the scruffy knight had heard the sarcasm in the King's voice. Arthur closed the door behind him as he maneuvered his way around the disastrous room and took a seat at the small wooden table. He eyed the bed speculatively as a form shifted under the covers slowly before finally getting up. "Ah, to what do I owe the pleasure of our Princess's wonderful company on this fine morning?"

Arthur's eyes rolled skywards, annoyed at Gwaine's usual insolence. "I've come for a drink. It would be unbecoming of Camelot's King to be seen at the local tavern."

The knight had finally rolled himself out of bed and drifted over to the table where Arthur sat. Gwaine raised an eyebrow at the King, curiosity winning out over the annoyance of being awoken, "Something on your mind, Princess?"

Arthur huffed in annoyance; Gwaine's pet name for the King had become more endearing than annoying sadly. He waited for the knight to pull out two mugs, setting them on the table, and filling them with ale before retorting, "I'm a king, I've always got something on my mind."

An undignified snort escaped the knight as he downed the tankard of mead in nearly one gulp before replying, "Now, that isn't true Arthur. You may run a kingdom and have many kingly duties to attend too, but none ever leave you troubled or drive you to drink. So tell me, are you troubled because of whatever argument you had with Merlin?"

Arthur fell silent, mulling over Gwaine's question because, truthfully, Arthur had forgotten most of the argument to begin with. The anger he had felt only barely a week ago had disappeared completely, and now the King only felt ashamed. His manservant, his best friend, had felt sorrow that Arthur could barely even imagine and yet he had held together admirably. His father had hunted down magic users for twenty years and killed thousands and justified it by saying magic corrupted. But now, the new stories he had been told and what Arthur had seen has turned his whole world upside down. To say Arthur was troubled would be a vast understatement. Arthur's responded carefully not sure on Gwaine's opinion, "In part…"

It was Gwaine's turn for his eyes to roll skyward at Arthur's tentative reply, "Well, don't leave me in suspense, Princess."

Silence filled the room as Arthur downed his tankard of ale and gathered his thoughts. Finally, Arthur spoke softly, "Do you believe magic to be evil?"

Gwaine's eyes widened comically at Arthur's question, nearly falling out of his chair in pure surprise. "What?" Gwaine's gaze narrowed, searching Arthur carefully as if looking for some hint of something only Gwaine knew of before continuing carefully, "I believe it's people that can be corrupted by power, either magic or non-magical power. I've seen magic used for creation and healing, and was raised outside of Camelot's laws. Magic is a tool, Arthur, nothing more."

Arthur wasn't surprised by Gwaine's answer. It's one of the reasons he came to drink with the knight to begin with, knowing that Gwaine had more experience with the outside world than the sheltered King had. Sighing, Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration the revelations from the other day stirring the beginnings of a headache. This whole fiasco had started just to get Merlin and Mordred together and bring Merlin some semblance of happiness, and now Arthur was questioning every moral and belief he'd ever had. The selfish part of Arthur's brain that didn't want to deal with his conflicted feelings was telling him to just ignore Mordred for Merlin's sake and keep the laws the way his father had made them. But, Arthur couldn't ignore his conscious telling him that it was wrong to keep one magic user alive and then continue to support what is starting to look like an unjust law. Gwaine's voice snapped the thoughtful King out of his thoughts, "What does magic have to do with your argument with Merlin?"

Arthur stared down at his now empty mug, shrugging as he whispers softly, "Everything."

It shocked Arthur how quickly that response came and how true it was. Because magic did have everything to do with his manservant, and he hadn't realized till recently how tied into magic Merlin seemed to be. Despite all statements to the contrary, his manservant was not an open book and Merlin held his secrets close to his chest. Gwaine's brow furrowed curiously as he eyed the King, "What are you trying-"

Whatever the knight was about to ask was cut off by Merlin barreling into the room, "Gwaine! I can't find Arthur anywhere! He said he had a council meeting, but there was no council held today and the council members are looking for him. And now there's some woman here petitioning for the King and Arthur is no where I've checked in the castle…"

Merlin's rant trails off, his mouth dropping open in shock at the sight of Arthur sitting at Gwaine's table, sipping a tankard of ale. "Arthur?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, smirking with amusement at Merlin's obliviousness, "Obviously, you idiot."

Merlin continued to stare, gaping openly for a long moment until Gwaine the broke the silence, "A woman came to petition the King?"

Merlin shook himself, his mouth snapping shut as he composed himself, "She says that her village was destroyed by some sort of creature."

Arthur was suddenly on his feet, his Kingly mask settled in place, "Go fetch her and bring her to the Grand Hall, Merlin."

Merlin scampered out of the run as quickly as he entered, leaving Arthur and Gwaine alone again. Arthur, without another word to Gwaine, set off to find his Queen and hear out the woman's request.

/BREAK/BREAK/BREAK/

Merlin led the scared, young woman through the maze of halls that made up the castle. He tried his best to take the quickest route to the Grand Hall, so the woman could get the rest she'd deserved and still deliver the necessary message needed. When they arrived at the Grand Hall, Merlin made a swift entrance leading the woman to the King and Queen's throne before taking his position to the right side of the King's throne. He watched from his spot as the knights and nobles filed into the room to also hear the woman's petition. A smile light up Merlin's face when he spotted Mordred entering the room, and Mordred in return offered Merlin a kind smile, accepting Merlin's unspoken apology for taking off after their kiss.

Finally, the Grand Hall's doors closed shut and silence descended on the room's occupants. The young woman shivered in fear in front of the royal couple still visible of afraid from what she saw. Arthur spoke, "You come here to petition for assistance for your village. Tell me, what has befallen your home?"

"A monster, my lord," the woman's voice carried in the silent hall despite how soft spoken she was, "it a came in the night and tore apart some of my unlucky neighbors who were out after dark. For five nights it attacked, and each night always someone was killed."

Gwen eyes were soft with sympathy as she gently asked, "What did the creature look like?"

"It had the body of a lion, my lady, and the head of an eagle. Nothing we did to harm the beast seemed to hurt it. Swords glanced off it and arrows bounced off the creature leaving it unharmed."

Merlin stiffened nervously at her description, an early memory of a younger version of himself and young and unproven Lancelot ridding out to slay a creature very similar to what the woman described. It was a griffin, a creature of magic that could only be slain with magic. His eyes locked with Mordred's, as a nervous fear filled Merlin. Mordred sent Merlin a reassuring smile, his mind brushing comfortingly against Merlin's. Arthur, on his throne, sat tense and thoughtful until finally raising his hand to silence the now murmuring court, "I will ride out at dawn with a group of five knights to slay this creature." Arthur glances at Merlin, "Escort this woman to a guest chamber, and then prepare the supplies and horses for our departure."

Merlin bowed murmuring, "Yes, my lord." Quickly, Merlin ushers the woman out of the room and escorts her to her chambers while his mind frantically scrambles for a way to kill the griffin without alerting Arthur and his knights to his magic.

Author's Note: And again, I'm so so very sorry for the wait. I'm planning to crank out some more chapters sooner I promise and Hope Lost's final chapter is really really close to being finished. Thank you again for those who still follow, faved, and reviewed this story. I truly appreciate it. ~Shirley