Merlin: Magic's Time (Season 1)

Episode 1-Part 3

A knock rescinded from the solid oak door again. Merlin looked at it blankly, before standing up and walking towards it, almost in a trance. Gauis grabbed his shoulder as he passed him.

"Are you crazy! What are you doing! Arthur has probably come with guards to execute you!" Gauis said in a harsh whisper, "Urmmm….He's not here, sire!" He called out in a louder voice toward the door.

"Really? Because if he is not, I know two things of which I'm certain." Said the cross voice of Arthur from behind the solid oak door. "One is that you are a master at voices , Gauis. I've been standing here for a good five minutes and I have apparently heard you talking to Merlin." The prince's voice dripped with sarcasm. Then it turned more serious. "And second, if he is not in that room, Merlin is in even more trouble for showing that he is not only a sorcerer, but also a cowered of his own fate."

"No need to label me a cowered, Arthur. I'm here, as you requested." Called out Merlin.

Merlin jerked his shoulder out of Gauis grasp. He looked at his mentor with a mixture of both thanks and anger. While he was grateful that Gauis wanted to save him from his fate, he would face it as a well as any young boy could, with courage and dignity. Merlin squared his shoulders, lifted his chin and tried to make his face into a defiant expression. The young sorcerer hoped it at least masked the fear he was feeling. He walked toward the door, lifted the bar that locked it shut and opened it.

In the hall was Prince Arthur Pendragon. Merlin tried to glance over the prince's shoulder to see the numerous guards he had brought to drag Merlin down to the dungeons, but to his surprise, saw none.

" Where are the guards?" The raven haired boy asked. He could actually hear Gauis facepalm in the room behind him. Merlin was surprised by his own stupidity this time as well.

Yes, well done Merlin. Ask were the men who are going to kill you are. You certainly are the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the earth. He thought to himself.

"I didn't bring any guards." Said Arthur. "Merlin-"

"Oh. I see." interrupted Merlin. "You want to kill me yourself. Very well." He bent over and pulled down his red neckerchief, exposing his neck. "Go ahead. I'm not scared to die, Arthur." Merlin sincerely hoped he sounded braver then he felt.

"Merlin…"

"You could have waited until Gauis was gone though. I don't want him to see this. And, before you ask, Gauis knew nothing about my…secret. You needn't question him."

"Merlin..." The voice sounded very cross now.

Merlin was still bent over and was getting a bit cross himself. Why didn't Arthur just do it already? Was he enjoying himself? All the stress over the last hour bubbled over and came out in one loud shout.

"Arthur, if your going to kill me, get it over with!"

"Merlin, I am not going to kill you. Look at me, I have brought no weapons, no restraints, not even anything to throw at you. I am completely unarmed." Arthur said, sounding a little less angry.

Merlin glanced up from where he was. He saw that Arthur's belt was bear, no sword in sight. He straightened up and looked at the blond. Arthur spread his arms wide and spun slowly in a circle, allowing Merlin to see that he was indeed unarmed.

Arthur looked at Merlin and placed his arms at his sides. "I have only come to talk. Please. I really want to get out of the corridor. I feel quite silly just standing here. May I come in?"

Merlin glanced at his mentor. Gauis shook his head frantically, but Merlin stood aside, letting Arthur in.

"Thank you. Merlin, I mean what I said. I have only come to talk. I haven't come to kill you or harm you in any way, shape, or form. Just to talk. I want to know some things…," Arthur looked pointedly at Gauis. "that would probably be best said without anyone else around."

Merlin followed Arthurs gaze.

"It's okay, Arthur. Gauis knows about my magic."

Arthur was dumbfounded. He looked from Merlin, to Gauis and back again.

"He knows! For how long?" Asked Arthur, who seemed a bit hurt that he wasn't the only one that knew Merlin secret. "And who else knows?"

Merlin grinned, "Just you and Gauis. Oh, and Lancelot, too. Gauis found out when I saved him from falling using my magic, when I first met him. Lancelot figured it out when I used my magic to help him defeat the griffin. I've helped you, saved your life so many times, using magic."

"You mean…" Arthur said slowly, finally seeming to put two and two together. "When you saved my life, when you first came to Camelot…"

"I used magic to save you, yes. I used it to make to chandelier fall and to save you from the knife. Honestly, I thought you would have figured it out by now. I was always really scared to use my magic in Camelot. But when my friends lives are in the balance, I don't care about the chopping block."

Arthur looked at him. "I want to know everything. How you learned magic, why you learned it, everything, Merlin."

Merlin looked confused. "Why?"

Arthur looked around, obviously nervous about being asked his reason behind wanting Merlin to tell him about magic.

"Oh….no reason, no reason at all. I just want to know why. Why you came to Camelot? Just….I want to know everything. Start at the beginning and leave nothing out!"

Merlin chuckled. "Leave nothing out? Well, if you insist, sire. But I warn you, it's a very long explanation. We might want to sit down." He gestured toward the cleared table he had been sitting at.

Gauis pulled up an extra stool and sat down next to Merlin. Arthur sat down opposite the pair of them. Once all three were comfortable, Merlin started.

"I grew up in a little village, just beyond Camelot borders, in Odin's lands, called Eeldor. My mother's name is Hunith and I didn't know my father. The first time I started doing magic, I was about one. I wanted a toy from across the room. My mother said that she had looked around and the toy was floating towards me and my eyes were the color of pure gold. Soon I was flying things all over the house. I thought it was great fun."

Merlin chuckled. "My poor mother thought that I was going to be burnt at the stake. She didn't take me out of the house until I was about five. I think the people of Eeldor thought I was sick or something, because mother wouldn't let me come out and play with the other kids. She wanted to make sure it was quite clear that I wasn't allowed to make things fly around the village or use my magic at all outside of our house. It wasn't until I was eight that my best friend, Will, found out I had magic. Mother was furious! She made Will promise to never tell a living soul about my secret."

Merlin finished his entire explanation about two hours later. He had explained about his magic, about how he could use some of it without incantations, how many times he had saved Arthur's life using magic and pretty much anything else the prince wanted to know about..

"In short," Merlin explained, "My magic is about as important to me as breathing. It's in my blood, my breath, my very being. And that's it, Arthur." He finished with a sigh.

Arthur hadn't spoken while Merlin had given him the explanation. Now he looked at Merlin. And he said five words Merlin and Gauis wouldn't have thought it possible for him to say.

"I want to learn magic."

Merlin just stared, looking as though Arthur had just told him he was going to renounce his claim to the throne, go into the wilderness and become a crazy hermit. "What did you just say?"

"I said I want to learn magic. Really, Merlin, try to keep up."

"But-but-but why!" Said Merlin.

"Because you have saved my life with magic many times. Imagine if I could do it myself. I could ensure my people's safety. And," Arthur said. " I'm not like my father. I don't hate magic. I want to learn all I can to be a great king Camelot can be proud of. I feel that knowing how to do magic will help me be a better king when I'm older."

Now Gauis spoke. "Sire, do you realize what you are saying! If your father found out; why I don't know what he would do!"

"And keeping magic hidden isn't easy, Arthur." Merlin put in. "You are living in constant fear of being found out. But…" Merlin hesitated. "I will teach you. Only if you promise me three things."

Gauis glared at him. Merlin suspected Gauis thought he would back him up in saying that Arthur shouldn't practice magic, but Merlin didn't care. He would convince Gauis that this was for the best later.

"Of course! Anything!" Arthur said

"One, you will listen to me when I teach you magic. When I am teaching you, we are no longer a prince and his servant. I am your teacher and you are my student and I expect you to treat me with respect and listen to what tell you."

Arthur nodded.

"Second, you will not, I repeat, will not use magic outside this room or your chambers and you will tell no one what we are doing. Those will be the rooms we practice in. Until you can do magic without being noticed, and I will tell you when have reached that level of skill, no talking, doing, or practicing of magic will be used outside of those two rooms. Do I make myself clear?"

Arthur nodded, more serious now.

"And third, when you are king, I want you to make it legal to practice magic in the land of Camelot. Too many have died, without doing anything wrong, just for saving someone's life using magic."

Arthur nodded, then knelt before Merlin.

"I, Prince Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot, give my solemn vow and oath to keep these promises, on pain of death."

Merlin smiled.

"Good. We can start after your first battle practice tomorrow. The sooner the better."

"Um….Merlin." Said Gauis. "I think you should go see one more person tonight."

Arthur looked puzzled. "Who?"

Merlin gestured toward Arthur. "He is the king's son!" He hissed. "How do you think he'll react when he finds out I'm teaching the king's son!"

Arthur looked from physician to sorcerer. "Who are you talking about?"

Gauis sighed. "None the less, he should be told."

Merlin sighed too. "All right. Fine. Come on, Arthur. There's someone you need to meet."