"Well, since we started to speak about eating… Remember that time when you stole my food because you wanted to "Keep me fit"?" Arthur looked at his friend suspiciously. "I was not fat then, so what was the real reason?" the king kept his gaze on Merlin.

Merlin was surprised. He hadn't expected this question. At that time he had simply assumed that Arthur had accepted his lies. He knew it would hurt to answer, to remember Freya. So he tried to buy himself more time, to prepare himself.

"Why didn't you ask me then? Why wait so long?"

Arthur simply shrugged. "I saw how upset you were at that time. I am not as thick as you think I am; I know you weren't sulking because I dumped water on you. If that were the case you would just get some kind of revenge. It looked more serious than that." Merlin hadn't expected that, he started to wonder. Maybe he didn't really know everything about his friend…

Arthur interrupted Merlin's thoughts. "And later I just forgot about it, because you seemed fine. I wanted to ask you about it but I never had the chance, you know, I got attacked a lot by magic beings at that time." Merlin smiled at that, of course they got attacked less often now. With Morgana gone he had been successful in convincing most of the magical population about Arthur's role in the destiny of Camelot. But Arthur didn't know that, so he just viewed it as a bizarre coincidence.

"So what really happened to the food?" Arthur was relentless; he was determined to find out the answer. After finding out that the at-that-time-prince had been concerned about him Merlin knew he deserved to know the truth about Freya.

"I brought it to Freya, the druid girl that had escaped from the cage. I helped her escape and kept her in the underground catacombs of the city." Merlin looked down, not daring to look Arthur in the eyes. Doing it would cause him to lose concentration and losing it would mean completely feeling the hurt. He knew he would not be able to stop the tears.

Arthur looked confused. "Well, that would explain the dresses you took "for Gaius". But why would you do that? Didn't you know she had magic? Didn't you know she would try to destroy Camelot?"

Merlin felt angry. Of course, Arthur thought she was evil because she had magic.

He spoke without thinking. "I did it because I loved her. She was my only love, and now she is dead. If you cared to look closer you would understand that she was never evil, she didn't want to destroy Camelot. The only reason she turned into an uncontrollable beast at night was because she was cursed. And–"

Arthur quietly interrupted Merlin's rant. "You loved her?" he spoke quietly. "I killed your love. I am deeply sorry for that. If I had known then what I know now, we would have found a way to save her from the evils of magic." The king looked sadly at his servant.

Merlin felt anger rising again but then he carefully studied his friend's expression. He recognised sincere regret in the look and felt his anger fading. "Arthur, it was not the evil of magic that harmed her, it was the evil in humans. The curse didn't appear by itself, it was cast by a person. And only the person and his intentions can be blamed for what happened to her."

Merlin put a hand on Arthur's shoulder, trying to make him understand. Seeing realisation dawning in his friend's face he continued. "It was meant to be like that between me and her." Arthur looked at Merlin in confusion. Merlin explained further "When she was killed I brought her to a place we had talked about. We wanted to leave Camelot and live quietly by the lake. I was ready to leave Camelot for her. I was ready to leave everyone – Gaius, Gwen, you." Arthur looked surprised; he hadn't realised how deep Merlin's love was and how close he had come to losing his best friend. "Even though saying goodbye to her was heart-breaking, it was necessary. She became the lady in the lake and helped us take back Camelot from Morgana. Besides, if I had left, you would have been killed instantly. We both know you couldn't survive a day without me." Merlin attempted to lift the solemn mood.

Arthur carefully thought about what Merlin had said. In the Cave of Verities only truth was said. So magic wasn't evil? Could it actually be so? And did Merlin really save his life every day? Was he really that indebted to his servant? Was he really so helpless? Shaking his head the king resolved to move forward slowly. The question he had thought would have a quick and painless answer had brought up more questions and hurt his friend.

"I think I would manage. It would be boring, but I think I could keep myself from getting killed for one day. You underestimate me, Merlin." Merlin shot a look at him that said "I don't think so" but stayed silent.

Arthur stood up to banish the stiffness that had started to creep up his legs from the long sitting on the rock.

"Ready for the next question, Merlin? Let's hope this one will bring less hurt to you." Arthur asked, suddenly looking hesitant to ask, fearing he would bring up bad memories for his friend.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Don't worry about the memories hurting me. I have had plenty of time to make peace with all my regrets and mistakes. The memories only hurt when they come unexpected." Merlin weakly smiled at Arthur.

"Go ahead; ask me anything, I will survive."