Alright, alright I'll admit, that was a little longer than I had wanted to take, but come on, I'll be gutted if these exams blow my chance at getting into Uni this year, So too reward your patience (most of you!), the updates on this and other stories of mine will be a lot more frequent. Be warned, I still have coursework and coursework to work on, so I won't be too quick but I will try my best. On with the story

A few hours later found Merlin outside the stables trying desperately to saddle a horse. He knew this particular horse well and knew that this playful resistance was completely normal but it didn't mean he had to be happy with it.

"Come on Adam, give me some help here." He pleaded helplessly with the animal. The horse neighed in laughter and Merlin just huffed, throwing his arms in the air. "I give up, fine saddle yourself then, we'll see how the works." He stood back and crossed his arms, giving the horse a little glare. Although to his shock and a little horror, the saddle started moving onto Adam's back and settled nicely. The horse simply huffed and shook it's hair. Merlin just stood their shocked. "What... the..." But his fears were soon paused by the sound of laughter. And to his amusement, Arthur stepped out from behind the horse bursting with laughter.

"Ha, you should have seen your face!" He exclaimed, pointing at Merlin who was now glaring at the Prince.

"Hardy Ha Ha, you must think you're so funny." Arthur just gave him a look

"Funny, Naw I'm HILARIOUS!" he yelled. Merlin just walked up to the prince, and walked close to his face,

"You do know I'm probably going to get you back for that." He lightly threatened. Arthur just scoffed.

"And how exactly are you going to do that, you'd probably ending up hurt yourself rather than hurt me." Merlin simply let his eyes glow intent on giving Arthur a scare, but he instead succeeded in setting his boot on fire. Arthur just held his hand out as Merlin tried to batter the flames. "My point exactly." At that point, Balinor chose to come over to the two.

"Having fun boys." He asked trying to stifle his laughing, as Merlin had resorted to stamping on his own foot. The teen looked between the two once the flames and just sulked.

"I hate you both," He mumbled. Balinor and Arthur just laughed. Arthur gathered the reins to both his horse and Adam.

"Here are the horses you'll need, It shouldn't take more than a day or two if you ride at a steady pace." Both of them nodded and accepted the reins off Arthur. All of a sudden, Merlin began to feel light headed and was forced to lean on the stable for support. Balinor gently put a hand on his shoulder as Arthur walked up to Merlin for support.

"Merlin, Son, are you alright." Merlin gave a pathetic nod, and neither Arthur nor Balinor believed him.

"Hopeless liar." Arthur mumbled.

"Maybe you should ride on the back of my horse with me, that way you can rest if you start feeling worse." Balinor suggested. Merlin shook his head.

"No...No, I'll be fine, It's just a little warm out here." He reasoned. Balinor shook his head smiling and put at a hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"Arthur's right you are a hopeless liar." Merlin just gave a sheepish smile. Arthur smiled, shaking his head.

"But Arthur's already tacked two horses, and those horses are a nightmare, I don't want to leave Arthur... or should I say the stable hands" He snickered at this point "to deal with Adam playing up again." Arthur smirked and looked to Balinor.

"He's right Balinor," Arthur smirked, getting a confused look off Merlin. "But at the same time Merlin definitely isn't strong enough to ride on his own." both looked at him confusedly. " So I guess that means you'll simply need another rider." Both Balinor and Merlin looked at each other before turning back to Arthur.

"Are you seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Merlin asked. Arthur held his arms out.

"come on, Merlin, I haven't seen Hunith in a while, and besides Balinor's right, you aren't stable enough on a horse on your own. That and you can tell us all about yourself, you know the bits we don't know!" He stated laughing. Balinor pondered over the idea for a moment.

"One problem, what's Uther going to say, I mean you haven't exactly confirmed it with him." Arthur simply crossed his arms and smiled.

"Well I have no princely duties for the next few days so father won't mind it if I go on a hunt for a few days then he should have nothing to worry about?" He said exaggerating the word "hunt." Balinor pondered on the thought

"...well it could work..." He admitted. Arthur clasped his hands in joy and climbed on top of the horse. He looked down on the two bewildered faces

"Come on you two." He said laughing. "Ealdor will grow bored if we make them wait any longer.

A few moments later Balinor was also saddled up. It was decided that Balinor would go first on his own to not arouse any suspicion, then around five minutes later Arthur and Merlin would follow, Arthur sat on the horse with Merlin slowly holding onto the reigns beside him. Arthur knew it was unfair, but if any guards or even royals saw Merlin sharing the horse then his father would be told and they'd probably never get out of Camelot. As Arthur and Merlin were preparing, they ran into Leon a while later.

"Sire." He said nodding to Arthur. "Merlin." Merlin nodded back. "I just wanted to give you these to your mother Merlin," He held out two loafs of freshly cooked bread. Merlin and Arthur's eyes widened.

"Leon I'm sure my mother would appreciate the thought, but... me and Arthur are going on a hunt around Camelot, we're not going anywhere near Ealdor." Merlin lied easily. Leon just smirked.

"Merlin I'm not an idiot, there's only room for one around here." He muttered the last bit under his breath but both boys heard and smothered their laughs. Leon continued once they'd settled down. "I heard the conversation you had with Balinor in Gwen's house." Arthur blushed furiously while Merlin looked at Leon indignantly.

"Wait you told me they'd already gone to Uther when you came back to see me"" Leon bowed his head in shame.

"I'm sorry about that Merlin but what happened was, I'd gone to Arthur's rooms and finding the room empty with no guards there I assumed that they had already gone to Uther. It was only after I went into the courtyard and passed Gwen's house that I saw you in there and I heard Balinor admit his parentage. But I couldn't go back and tell you Merlin because I was called to the great hall moments later" Arthur and Merlin both paled.

"You mean... you mean you know!" Arthur blanched. Leon nodded

"But don't worry I'm not going to tell Uther if that's what you're worried about." Both boys breathed a sigh of release "But the reason for the bread is to pay back you mother for her hospitality when she looked after me that time in Ealdor." Merlin perked up

"You mean that time when you saved me from James' gang." Leon nodded.

"The very same, I was just passing through and really didn't want to cause any fuss but those boys were just vicious and didn't deserve to be doing what they were to you. Besides Hunith's hospitality was most welcome but since I never revisited Ealdor I never had a chance to repay her kindness." Leon handed out the two wrapped packages but was slowly forced back as Merlin jumped up to hug him.

"Thanks Leon" He said smiling. Leon smiled back and patted Merlin's back. The two released and Arthur got up on the horse, letting Merlin hold on tightly to the reigns

"I'll stall Uther for as long as I can but I don't know if I'll be able to hold him for longer than a week." He warned the two. They both nodded and headed out the gate, leaving Leon behind.

Eventually the two ran into Balinor who had been cautiously hiding in a small wooded area. When the three met, Balinor gathered Merlin into a hug. Merlin gratefully accepted it. The past ten minutes that Balinor waited felt the longest possible. Arthur coughed lightly.

"We really should be moving, I'm not sure when the next patrol's due for release, but the last one was a while ago, so better not risk it." Both Balinor and Merlin nodded and Balinor helped Merlin get onto the horse, before following for himself, Merlin's arms tightened round his midriff and the group slowly moved towards Ealdor. The journey was quiet and Arthur wasn't sure how much more he could take without Merlin chatting furiously. He would never admit it, but the boys mindless chatter made a patrol or a hunt all the more interesting (even if it meant not getting any work done!) Luckily Balinor started speaking.

"So now we're out of hearing range, maybe you could tell me a little more about yourself Merlin?" He asked the boy slowly resting on his shoulder.

"Huh?" Merlin mumbled. Balinor laughed.

"Can't have you following asleep back there can we?" He turned to see Merlin give a weak little smile "I was just interested, do you feel up to telling me a bit more about yourself. Not just about things in Ealdor but what has happened in Camelot up until now." Arthur perked up at that.

"Yeah, half the stuff I thought I knew about you wasn't right, and half the stuff that happened probably wasn't me or another hero was it?" He asked Merlin. Merlin sat up a little straighter.

"Well, I'm not all that sure where to start?" He said

"Why not just start from when you first came to Camelot, I've heard a lot about Ealdor but I fancy finding out what you've managed to keep a secret for nearly 2 years." Merlin laughed.

"Well I suppose we could start from where I saved your life when you were put under that spell and had a dagger thrown at you by that grieving mother who everyone believed to be lady Helen. Then when Valiant entered that tournament, I knew the snakes were real so I activated the spell so it would appear when you were fighting Valiant. When Nimueh created that afanc in the water supply, I made the fire from your lamp blow out onto the creature..." Before Merlin could continue Balinor perked up.

"Nimueh? Did you say Nimueh?" he asked cautiously. Both Merlin and Arthur nodded.

"Yeah it was only the first time she'd tried to kill us. She'd poisoned Merlin trying to kill me and she probably did a lot of other damage as well." Arthur said

"Actually Arthur, she wanted me out of the way because I'd already foiled her plans once." Merlin pointed out.

"But she poisoned my wine goblet, if she was aiming for you couldn't she have just killed you when you weren't looking?£ Arthur asked

"Well it's no doubt that she knew about my powers, but she knew that if I knew your goblet was tainted that I would drink it in your place, being the sacrificial idiot I am." Arthur laughed a little but Balinor paled "That and if I didn't get to you in time she would have gotten rid of you at the same time." Arthur nodded but Balinor just stared at the boys.

"SACRIFICIAL!" He yelled "Please tell me that was the only instance where this happened?" He begged. Arthur nodded but Merlin just looked sheepish. "Merlin." He warned.

"Erm well... you know me, my whole being alive thing is sacrificial, it's not exactly like I can get through live without a few risks." He pleaded. Balinor just crossed his arms.

"I know that's not it, when else have you tried to sacrifice you're own safety for the good of others." Merlin just bowed his head.

"I... you remember when you were bitten by the Questing Beast Arthur?" He asked the Prince. Arthur nodded shuddering.

"Yeah, to be honest it was one of the first times I really believed I was going to die, and so did my father."

"You got Bitten by a Questing Beast?" Balinor asked surprised. "How on earth are you still here?" Arthur held out his arms

"I'm not sure, I guess Gaius must have found a cure of some kind, at least that's what my father told me." Arthur responded. Balinor shook his head

"That's impossible, I don't' doubt Gaius' skills as a physician but it's not possible, there is NO known cure for a bite from the Questing Beast, once you're bitten, you're doomed." He said Gravely. Arthur stood shocked.

"But how..." Up until that point, Merlin was quietly hiding behind Balinor's shoulder in hope that Balinor and Arthur would come to their own answer but alas they both turned to him in accusation.

"Merlin." Arthur said in a low warning voice "What did you do?" Balinor also turned his head to Merlin's. Merlin sighed.

"Let me explain. Arthur Kilgarrah, you know the great dragon, had been telling me all through my time in Camelot that It was my destiny to help you become King, but, Don't look at me that way!" He accused when Arthur looked at him shockingly "Don't worry, you are my friend, it's just this is how I got introduced to you, via saving your life." Arthur seemed satisfied with the answer and Merlin continued "anyway when you were bitten, I truly believed I'd failed and you were as good as dead. But when I spoke to Kilgarrah he told me that my destiny wasn't quite over and there was a way to save you Arthur, which I pretty much took up immediately. He explained to me that the only way to save Arthur's life would be to sacrifice another life to the old religion in place of Arthur's. I immediately decided my own." Both Balinor and Arthur began shouting at once.

"Merlin are you nuts!" "What on Earth were you thinking!" Merlin quickly covered his ears when they began to shout.

"Merlin the old religion decides who's life is taken, Uther himself learned that lesson many years ago!" Balinor cried. Merlin shot a quick look to Arthur to see if he'd reacted to Balinor's statement, but fortunately he hadn't. Merlin bowed his head.

"Well I soon learnt that when I realised it was Nimueh who was waiting at the Isle of the Blessed." Balinor's eyed widened, but he didn't say anything. "She gave me the cup of life and said that it would heal Arthur, I immediately headed home and Gaius pretty much tore my hair out into finding out who's life I'd given but naturally I didn't want to tell him because I didn't want him too worry about me. But... I soon released that even though the Old Religion saved Arthur's life, it had ignored my wishes and... tried to take someone else's life..." Balinor looked cautiously at Merlin

"Who's life did it take?" He asked gently, only guessing that whoever it was very close to his son.

"Well it didn't necessarily take their life, more like tried to..." Balinor just gave him a look and Merlin sighed "Mother's."

"Oh Merlin, but how did she survive." Merlin sniffed and Balinor put a gentle hand on his shoulder

"I...It was Gaius... I might have lost her if Gaius hadn't gone to the Isle himself. It was only after reading a letter he left for me, that I realised why Gaius didn't want me to use the cup of Life. I was lucky though, by the time I followed Gaius to the Isle, Nimueh had already taken his life." Merlin sniffed again "But I was lucky, I just got so... angry and I don't know how I did it, and I certainly don't want to feel that angry ever again. I created a storm and Nimueh was shot by a bolt of lightning." Both Balinor and Arthur shuddered at the immense power Merlin appeared to have. Balinor carefully put an arm round Merlin in comfort whilst holding tightly onto the reigns.

"But it's alright now, everything's back to normal. Maybe we should wait till we rest for camp before continuing with the stories, you look like you're ready to fall flat on your face there Merls." He said gently ruffling Merlin's hair. Merlin and Arthur both nodded and Balinor once again took hold of the reigns with both of his hands, but Merlin still kept a tight hold on Balinor's arm as they rode for the rest of the daylight

Okay I'm going to finish this now, just because I'm writing this in the car on my laptop and my knee has gone to sleep so I'll update as soon as Ii can. For future reference, Even though my exams are finished I didn't feel very confident with them so in an attempt to do better this term I'm going to start revising a lot earlier than a month and a half before the exams, so I'll go as fast as I can. For anyone that's interested, I'm working on both my thunderbirds story and my "unwanted" story so keep an eye out for those. Like I say I'm working at a very slow pace as I haven't had a minute to settle down so I'll get that done as soon as I get a chance. Thank you too all my faithful readers this far and I will do my best to answer you're wishes! :)