The walk back to the throne room was slow but steady. Leon saw Sir Vidor on the way back and instructed him to get Gaius and bring him to the throne room, making sure to tell no one that he had seen the three. The knight did as he was told and moved quickly.

Finally the trio was in front of King Uther. Leon closed the doors behind them and Arthur helped Merlin sit down.

"Merlin. I don't do this often, but given the circumstances, I feel I must apologize. You are a loyal member of this castle and have only ever looked out for Arthur. You will be taken care of for as long as you stay within Camelot." Uther said sincerely.

"Thank you Sire." Merlin said weakly. The walk had taken a lot out of him. It was nearing late evening and Merlin had had a far more stressful day than he'd ever thought possible.

Uther nodded before turning his attention to Leon. "Take Sirs Osric, Edric, and Robert with you to go and arrest Arawn. Do not tell him he is under arrest or there may be a battle we do not need. Just bring him here."

Leon nodded and left the room, only to be replaced by Sir Vidor and Gaius.

"Gaius?" Uther asked. He didn't remember sending for the man and questioned why he should be here.

"Father, Leon sent for Gaius while we were on our way here. Merlin is badly injured," Arthur explained.

"Ah. Yes. Well, let the man attend to Merlin. I must speak with you. Vidor, please round up all the knights who are available and bring them here. Leon, Osric, Edric, Robert and Arawn are already on their way. Get the rest."

"Yes my king. Right away."

"Father, I don't think it's best to tell them what happened…" Arthur was slightly panicking inside. He wasn't even okay with his father knowing what happened, let alone every knight that was currently in the castle.

"They won't. They will know that he has betrayed the crown and his punishment will be torture until death."

Arthur nodded and let his gaze drift to the floor. He was tired. He wasn't sure he had ever had a longer day. He went back to Merlin and Gaius. Merlin's shirt was off and Gaius was applying medicines to Merlin's wounds.

"He's going to be okay. I've given him something for the pain but he will need to take it easy for a while to make sure the wounds don't reopen," Gaius told the prince.

"Thank you Gaius… Um. I was hoping that I could also receive something for pain." Arthur said quietly.

Gaius gave the prince a quizzical look but Merlin piped up quickly.

"Just don't ask questions right now Gaius. This will need to be discussed later. Arthur is in pain, believe me."

Gaius said nothing as he handed Arthur a vial of pain medicine. He had a million questions but given the obvious secrecy of everything that was currently happening, Gaius knew better than to ask.

The four men were quiet until the knights arrived. Some of the knights that Vidor was sent to get started to trickle in one by one. Finally Leon arrived with Arawn. Arawn seemed relaxed and almost triumphant until he saw Merlin sitting beside Arthur. At that moment, the knight's face fell but he didn't make a scene.

Finally it seemed that everyone had arrived. Vidor had even gathered council members and they took their places around the room.

"Arawn, please step forward," Uther said calmly.

Arawn did as he was told but Leon was watchful. He had no idea what was happening but this was obviously bigger than anything he'd imagined.

"Arawn, you are guilty of the most heinous betrayal to the crown. You are hereby stripped of all your titles and sentenced to death by torture." Uther stared down his son's rapists and wished he could kill the man several times over.

"The lies you have told today have been uncovered and Merlin's innocence has been restored. I never thought you could betray me this badly. Have you anything to say for yourself?"

Arthur stood vigilant behind his father but could not look Arawn in the eye. He hated even being in the same room as the man. He wished he could just go to sleep for the next five years but that wasn't even an option given that he didn't exactly want to enter his chambers again.

Arawn was silent as he looked around at the knights and the various council members. "I can only say that I do not regret being the one to take Arthur. Better than any whore I could have paid for." Arawn finally smirked and looked at Uther.

Arthur fought back the tears in his eyes and suddenly felt that Merlin was squeezing his shoulder in support. Arthur stayed undeterred, as if what Arawn said revealed nothing to all who were in the room.

"Take him to the dungeons. And Leon-" Uther said motioning for Leon to come closer. "Tell them the first thing to do is castrate him," he whispered.

Leon nodded and then gave a solemn nod to Arthur as well before going with five other knights to take Arawn to the dungeons.

"The things that have occurred this evening are not to be mentioned to anyone outside these walls. You are all the knights of Camelot and your loyalty is what this kingdom stands on. This will not be spoken of again. You are all free to go."

"Long live the king," the knights shouted in unison. "Long live the prince."

"Come on Arthur, I will finish cleaning your room and we can end this wretched day." Merlin said quietly as the knights began to disperse.

"Thank you Merlin."


Merlin and Arthur were the last to leave. Uther wanted to send some knights with them for safety's sake but Arthur declined. Merlin was the only protection he needed.

They got back to Arthur's chambers and Merlin lit the candles around the room. "The only thing I didn't get to was cleaning your shield and replacing your bed sheets."

Merlin winced in slight pain as he began to undress the bed. Arthur noticed but didn't know what to say. He wanted to be able to send Merlin away to recover from his injuries, but he knew he couldn't be in this room alone.

Once Merlin had gotten new sheets for the bed from the trunk in the corner of the room, Arthur helped him make the bed. He wasn't much help, given the fact he had never had to make a bed in his entire life, but Merlin appreciated the gesture.

Arthur changed into his evening clothes himself but hesitated to climb into bed. He was exhausted but his body seemed to be refusing to move.

"Perhaps you should sleep on the opposite side of the bed tonight," Merlin suggested after a moment of seeing Arthur's internal struggle.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Arthur agreed. He walked to the other side and climbed into bed.

"Do you need anything else tonight?" Merlin asked. He too was tired but he would fight his exhaustion to help Arthur.

Arthur was quiet. He had been contemplating a thought since he first saw the outside of his door. "Um. Could you possibly just sleep here this evening?"

"Of course, Arthur." Merlin went back to the trunk and pulled out another blanket for himself before sitting on the floor.

"Don't be a fool. Sleep on the other half of the bed. Your injuries are far too great to have you sleeping on the floor tonight."

"If you're sure… Thank you." Merlin was hesitant but eventually put out the candles and got onto the other side of the bed.

Both men were quiet for several minutes as they lay in the dark. It was certainly awkward for them to be this close but it was also slightly comforting.

"Merlin… Can I ask you something?" Arthur said, staring at his ceiling.

"Of course." Merlin answered, staring at the same ceiling.

"You told Gaius to believe you that I was in pain. Almost like you knew how much pain I was in… How do you know?"

Merlin wasn't sure how to tell Arthur something he'd forgotten for so long, but after several moments he finally answered.

"I was a child. A band of thieves raided our village, taking our small amounts of money and food. Most of the men found women to rape, only a couple took children. I just happened to be one of them. I had nearly forgotten about it until today. It was so long ago."

Arthur was unsure of how to reply. He couldn't imagine a small Merlin being hurt so badly with no best friend to help him through. "I'm sorry Merlin."

"Like I said, it was long ago. I'm just sorry you have to know that kind of pain too."

Both men were quiet again. Nothing needed to be said anymore. Not until they were about to drift off into their own restless dreams.

"Merlin… You're a lousy servant… but a good friend. Thank you… again."


A/N: The End. Hope it was okay. I felt some of the comments between Merlin and Arthur turned out to be a bit more gay than what I meant them to be, but whatever. They're just bestest friends. At least in this story. I definitely wasn't expecting to end it this way but this is where it went. Let me know if it was sucky. If felt slightly rushed to me. Anyway, thanks for reading.

-Rachel-