Fast update this time. I didn't want to keep you waiting for Gwaine's reaction.

So here we go!

Chapter 6: Emrys

Lancelot and Gwaine had been appointed to sentry duty at the citadel's main gate. Both had settled for a long, eventless guard. Still a bit exhausted from the days of hunting after the warlock that didn't show up, they both retreated to the guards' room in the left tower where they were sitting in amiable silence. For a long time, Camelot lied quietly in the warm summer breeze; not a mouse was stirring. Gwaine was on the verge of dozing off, when he perceived a hooded figure hurrying past the gate house. Starting up, he turned to Lancelot.

"Have you seen that?" he asked alarmed.

To Gwaine's surprise, Lancelot tried to play it down: "It was probably a stray dog or something like that. Nothing to worry about."

But Gwaine wasn't easily persuaded. He knew what he had seen. He walked off purposefully after that shadowy figure. Lancelot had no choice but to follow him.

"Gwaine, don't be ridiculous. There was nothing. Your mind played a trick on you, that's all. Come on, let's go back" he tried again to dissuade him. But before Gwaine could retort anything, they turned around a corner and they could see someone – definitely a person – sneaking out of the lower town and towards the forest. Hurrying after him, Gwaine shot a sideways glance at Lancelot as if to say 'See? I was right!'

The figure – while concealed by his long hood – seemed very much familiar to Gwaine though he could not place him properly. They followed as silently as possible, yet Gwaine somehow had the feeling Lancelot wasn't putting as much effort into hiding their presence. Before he could ask him about it, the figure in front of them stopped and let out a loud roar in a strange language which sent shivers down Gwaine's spine although he didn't understand a word. Magic! he thought feeling uncomfortably. He dragged Lancelot behind a tree, so they could still observe what was going on at the clearing, but they themselves could not be seen. Then, as Gwaine was slowly but surely losing his patience and was about to storm at whoever that man down there was, the sky was suddenly filled with a strong wind and the rustling of gigantic wings above the trees. What Gwaine saw as he looked up, took his breath away: a gargantuan dragon of a rich brownish golden colour dropping from the sky and landing on the clearing. Finally, the man dropped his hood and revealed something that looked like a bluish strangely shaped egg. But what shocked Gwaine the most was that he finally realised why that figure had seemed so familiar all along. Gwaine would have recognised this black mop of hair everywhere: Merlin. Upon this realisation, his jar dropped and he stared at the scene in front of him disbelievingly. Merlin had magic! How could that have escaped his otherwise very observant eye? A look at Lancelot's face confirmed what he had suspected all along. Lancelot knew about Merlin's magic and had instantly recognised him as he had passed the gatehouse. Gwaine was roused from his thoughts as Merlin and the dragon began to talk. Very much to his surprise, he was able to understand their conversation, yet what he heard added to his confusion.

"I never dared dream of such a moment, Merlin" he heard the dragon say.
"So, you are no longer the last of your kind" Merlin replied sounding very satisfied and glad. "It would seem not" the great dragon chuckled. Gwaine could see how the dragon's huge face beamed with remembrance of a long gone age as he continued: "Young dragons were called into the world by the dragonlords. Only they had the power to summon them from the egg. As the last dragonlord, this solemn duty falls to you, Merlin. You must give the dragon a name."

Merlin a dragonlord? Gwaine had of course heard the story of how Arthur and Merlin had vainly tried to find the last dragonlord when the great dragon had been attacking Camelot before Arthur had killed... He stopped in his train of thought. It had to be the same dragon. Arthur hadn't killed it, instead Merlin somehow had stopped him from destroying the city. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, he wondered how many times Merlin had actually just turned the tide for Camelot. And he wondered how he had managed to keep his magic secret all this time. Down in the clearing, Merlin took a deep breath and said something in the strange tongue he had used before. Dragon tongue, as Gwaine had realised.

"Aithusa."

Holding his breath, Gwaine watched as the egg cracked and a tiny white baby dragon hatched.

"A white dragon is, indeed, a rare thing...and fitting. For in the dragon tongue, you named him after the light of the sun. No dragon birth is without meaning" the great dragon explained.

"I know" Merlin nodded. He was looking at the baby dragon and though Gwaine could not see his face, his bearing showed that he was deeply touched.

"Sometimes the meaning is hard to see, but this time I believe it is clear. The white dragon bodes well for Albion, for you and Arthur, and for the land that you will build together."

"You must give me your word on one thing, Kilgharrah: Don't ever let her out of your sight. As a dragonlord, I order you to stay with her, teach her, and protect her."

Gwaine was still not used to Merlin being able to command such a grand magical creature, so he was a little taken aback, when the dragon replied as if it was the most natural thing: "I will, young warlock." And it probably was for him, Gwaine realised.

Ostensibly relieved, Merlin said: "I will come and see you both as often as possible, I promise." Then he walked over to the baby dragon and caressed the small head. Tenderly, he whispered something Gwaine could not understand, but he had made up his mind to confront his friend.

Stepping out of the cover of the trees, he said in as firm a voice as he possibly could: "You learn something new every day, don't you?"

Suppressing the sudden urge to laugh, he saw how Merlin started round in horror, his eyes widening in shock as he realised that Gwaine had found out.

"Please, Gwaine. It's not what it looks like. I..." Merlin stammered trying to lie on his feet.

"Well, for me it looks like you have a very big secret which could cost your life if the wrong people found out about it" Gwaine could not resist the temptation to tease him a little.

Lowering his gaze, Merlin replied meekly: "I was born with it."

"Do you mean you have been using magic all this time? Right under Arthur's nose?" Gwaine exclaimed in pretended disbelief as he had already figured out that much. But he wanted to hear it from the man himself.

"I only use my magic to help and protect Arthur. You need to believe me. I didn't want to lie to you all, but I just couldn't. I didn't want to put you into any sort of moral conflict. Please you have to believe me." The despair in Merlin's voice made Gwaine drop his charade. Smiling his characteristically broad smile, he walked up to Merlin and encouragingly patted him on the shoulder: "I know. You could never do anything to harm your friends."

Merlin was obviously very much surprised.

"So you don't hate me then?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course not!" Gwaine shook his head disapprovingly. "Did you honestly think, such a petty detail would change my opinion of you? I told you once that you are the best friend I ever had and I'll stand to that. Magic or not, you are still the most loyal and kind-hearted man I ever met. Don't you ever doubt that, Merlin!"

Merlin's eyes filled with tears of joy as he listened to Gwaine.

"Who are your friends, young warlock?" Kilgharrah asked into the following silence.

"Lancelot" he said reverential.

"I'm Gwaine. Very pleased to meet you, Great Dragon." Gwaine said with a huge grin on his face. After all, you didn't get the chance to meet an actually dragon that often these days, let alone talk to him.

"Ah, Sir Lancelot and Sir Gwaine, two of Camelot's bravest and most loyal knights. It is an honour to meet you both" Kilgharra said inclining his head slightly.

Gwaine then turned to Merlin again: "There are still quite a lot of questions running through my head and this time, I won't drop the subject. When you said you had run after your horse, you actually...?"

"I retrieved Aithusa's egg from the tomb of Ashkanar." Merlin replied pointing to the little white baby dragon who was following their conversation attentively.

"Alright. And do you this often? I mean, saving us all while saying you were doing something else, letting everybody else take the glory which should be yours?" he asked with his eyebrows raised expectantly.

Merlin
blushed. Then he murmured: "I don't do it for fame or applause or rewards. The purpose of my magic is to protect Arthur and Camelot."

"That's not exactly answering my question though."

Merlin chuckled: "Well, to be honest, I've actually lost count. I've been hardly doing anything else from the day I arrived in Camelot many years ago."

"And who else knows about it? Except me and Lancelot here, who as I take it knew about your magic all along."

"I didn't tell him. He found out on his own, as you did. I used my magic to help him defeat a griffin that was attacking Camelot. And apart from you two, only Gaius knows about it and I would like it to stay that way. The fewer people know about my secret, the better."

"Why don't tell Arthur about it? I'm sure he would understand."

"Not just now. I don't think he's ready yet to accept me with my magic."

"You can't honestly be thinking that he would actually condemn you to death?! He's your friend after all. Although he would probably rather die than to admit it..."

"No, that's not it. I don't think he would do that. But the point still stands: I lied to him from the day we first met. I went behind his back so often I have forgotten how often. I just couldn't bear the thought of him not trusting me anymore. I couldn't face to lose him as my friend. But one day, he will be able to understand just what I have done for him and he will accept me as I am. And magic won't be outlawed anymore."

"Now I understand how you managed to survive all those years without getting yourself roasted or beheaded" Gwaine smiled. Yet he couldn't resist add a little dig: "You are a very wise man, Merlin, although you don't look like it." All three of them broke into a hearty laughter. Merlin was relieved that Gwaine had taken to his discovery so smoothly and didn't hold a grudge against him.

"Merlin" Kilgharrah broke into the joyous mood, "The sun is almost about to rise. It is time for Aithusa and me to leave you. Sir Gwaine and Sir Lancelot, I do not have to tell you to look after Merlin. As his friends, I am certain you will. But you all need to be careful; the greatest challenge still lies ahead of you. Be vigilant and loyal, for Albion's destiny rests on your shoulders."

"Take care of Aithusa" Merlin said waving them goodbye as the two dragons spread their wings and took off into the night which was already growing lighter.

"Well, we better get back to the citadel as well. You mustn't be late to tend on our princess" Gwaine said, patting Merlin on the shoulder.

In high spirits they returned to Camelot and Merlin heaved a sigh of relieve as he fell into his bed. One of his worst fears had come true, yet it turned out to be alright. Gwaine's attitude hadn't changed. Merlin took that as a good sign for the future.

I'm really happy how this chapter turned out. I wanted to deal with Gwaine's reaction to his discovery of Merlin's magic in detail. I really felt that there was something missing in the show. I would have liked to see how they would have realised it in the series. Hope you agree with how I had him take it and enjoyed it.