A/N: As promised, here's a much longer chapter than the others before. It also happens to be one of my favourites for this story :) Thanks so much to Kool Kato, Haley Renee, sweety2010, Neonlights, missymappy, Fear Her Timelord, StarBolt1966, Alaia Skyhawk, xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx, matri540, merlinismylife, and xxchibinessxx for reviewing!

The Revelation of a Lifetime

Arthur, Gwaine, and Elyan rode for the better part of a day before they came in sight of the druid camp. The trio spent one night in the forest before venturing inside the boundaries of the camp in the morning.

As they passed, the druids stopped what they were doing to watch. Their expressions and postures were wary, defensive, barely concealing a healthy dose of fear. But they made no move to attack, content instead to simply observe them until they revealed their purpose. Their stares were unnerving, but Arthur took it all in stride. If the druids noticed that he kept one hand on the pommel of his sword at all times, they did not comment.

At length, the three knights approached an old man who looked to be their best option. The druid's hair was white, but his face was marked by a minimum of lines. His posture was tall and straight, his neutral expression strong. Arthur was startled to realise that he recognised him.

"I know you," he said. "You were the druid who took the boy – Mordred – from my care."

The druid inclined his head in acknowledgment. "Well met, Arthur Pendragon."

Arthur started to relax a little – just a little. He knew this druid – and even trusted him to a certain extent. "I'm afraid I am at a disadvantage," he said. "You know my name, but I do not know yours."

The barest hint of a smile appeared on the druid's face. "My name is Iseldir."

Arthur absorbed that. "I bid you greeting, Iseldir."

"Let us not waste time with pleasantries, Your Highness. What is it you want?"

Arthur nodded, almost glad for Iseldir's blunt, direct manner; Camelot didn't have time for him to waste on formalities. He inhaled deeply.

"I'm looking for the warlock Emrys."

Gasps erupted from the watching crowd. Arthur Pendragon of Camelot sought Emrys? Surely this signalled something momentous.

Iseldir's eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you seek Emrys?" he questioned.

"Camelot is under attack," Arthur replied. "Emrys is our only hope." His voice changed slightly, becoming just a bit entreating. "Please. We need his help." Later, he would tell himself he wasn't begging – no, definitely not – he was merely utilising strategic communication skills to persuade an unwilling, possibly hostile, party. That's all there was to it.

To his utmost surprise, Iseldir smiled. "Then I welcome you, Arthur Pendragon, for if you are here seeking Emrys for help, it means you have conquered your prejudice against magic."

"Er, okay…" Arthur didn't know what to make of that. "Do you know where I can find him?"

"Emrys is here, Arthur, in this very camp."

Mixed amounts of relief, elation, and anxiety surged through Arthur. "Where?"

"You will find him in one of the tents on the western border of our camp. His is the third from the right in the second row." An amused glint entered Iseldir's eyes. "A word of caution, Arthur Pendragon – Emrys will not be who you expect. Remember that when you meet him."

Arthur nodded and thanked him. Then he, Gwaine, and Elyan started off in the direction of their quarry.

MERLIN

Merlin was getting ready to return to Camelot when he heard a very familiar voice just outside his tent. He froze; it was a voice he'd know anywhere.

Arthur.

Merlin was trying to decide whether to reveal himself or stay in the tent until Arthur left when his dilemma was solved for him, quite unexpectedly, by the opening of his tent flap. Three people came in – all very familiar figures.

A second later, he stared straight into Arthur's amazed expression.

"Merlin?" Arthur said incredulously.

"Um…hi," Merlin offered weakly.

"Merlin, what the hell are you doing here?" Arthur demanded while Gwaine and Elyan stared at him in shock. "Where have you been these past two weeks? What were you thinking, leaving Camelot like that?"

"Arthur, I can explain…"

"Give me one good reason, Merlin, why I shouldn't fire you right now."

Merlin sighed. There wasn't any point in hiding it. "I was…um…I was looking for Morgana." He focused on a point above Arthur's head, holding his breath.

Arthur froze. Nobody moved for an eternity.

"Looking. For. Morgana," Arthur repeated slowly.

"Yes." Merlin nodded furiously. On second thought, maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to actually tell the truth. How on earth was he going to explain this one?

"Looking. For. Morgana." Arthur, it seemed, was dumbfounded, struck speechless by the sheer idiocy of that one act.

"Arthur?" Merlin said nervously. "You're kind of starting to worry me…"

"You should be worrying about yourself, Merlin," Arthur hissed, grabbing his manservant by his shirt and pulling him towards him. "Do you honestly, seriously mean to tell me that you left Camelot in the middle of a crisis to look for Morgana?"

"Er…" Merlin floundered.

"Merlin, what were you thinking? Have you completely lost your mind? How stupid do you have to be not to realise that searching for an enemy sorceress alone is not a good idea? Do you have absolutely no sense of self-preservation?"

"If you would calm down, maybe I'd be able to explain it to you," Merlin replied heatedly.

With effort, Arthur managed to control himself. He released his hold on Merlin's shirt and attempted to keep some semblance of calm.

"All right." He barely managed to avoid growling the words. "Explain, then."

"I went looking for Morgana because I thought I might be able to stop her before she reached Camelot."

At this, Arthur's fury peaked again, turning his face brick red. "Are you insane? How in the world could you possibly think that you would be able to stop Morgana?"

"She's different now, Arthur," Merlin defended, conveniently ignoring the question. "She's changed. She's not evil anymore."

"Not evil…she's a sorceress, Merlin – how many times do I have to pound that into your thick head? Magic is evil."

"Do you really believe that?" Merlin asked quietly.

Arthur stared disbelievingly at him. "I'm going to pretend you did not just ask me that question. Good God, Merlin – haven't you seen enough of evil sorcerers to know that?"

"That just means that they were evil, not the magic!" Merlin responded. "Those sorcerers were evil because they chose to use their magic for bad things. Magic in and of itself is not evil – it's just like any other weapon. It's how we choose to use it that makes it good or bad."

"Watch yourself, Merlin," Arthur warned. "You're treading on dangerous ground."

"I don't really care!" Merlin fired back, exploding with a passion neither Gwaine nor Elyan had seen before. "I'm sick of the same old, tired, superstitious belief. If magic is evil, how do you explain the peacefulness of the druids? How do you explain Anhora lifting the curse on Camelot, or Will taking that arrow for you? Or why Grettir said you needed magic to succeed on your quest to find the Fisher King?"

"Merlin…" Arthur growled warningly; but his manservant just ranted on, oblivious.

"Tell me something, Arthur," he challenged. "If magic is evil, why have you yourself considered, on several occasions, that it might not be?"

Arthur opened and closed his mouth wordlessly.

"Magic is not evil. Yes, I admit that a lot of people have attacked Camelot with magic – but those who do are mainly seeking revenge. They were wronged first. I'm not excusing their actions, but they were only reacting to the injustices done to them. And yes, a lot of people do use magic for evil – but there are also a lot who use it for good."

"Okay…let's pretend for a moment that that's true…"

"It is true!" Merlin exclaimed. "How many times do I have to get that into your thick head? Magic can and has been used for good – you're just too much of a clotpole to see it! If you would only just accept that, maybe Camelot wouldn't be attacked so many times!" By the end of his outburst, Merlin was panting slightly. Some part of his brain registered that Gwaine and Elyan had been so silent throughout the whole exchange, they might not even have been there at all.

"Are you done?" Arthur asked, deceptively mildly.

"Yeah," Merlin admitted; it had felt good to get all that off his chest.

"Good," Arthur said. "Because I'm going to –"

"Merlin?" a new voice spoke up. "I thought you were going to –" Morgana stopped dead and stared in horror at Arthur, who was gaping at her in equal shock.

Within seconds, all three – Arthur, Gwaine, and Elyan – had their swords at Morgana's neck.

"Do. Not. Move," Arthur hissed.

"Arthur, please," Morgana pleaded.

"How dare you speak his name?" Elyan demanded, pressing the tip of his blade through Morgana's clothes.

"Stop it, all of you!" Merlin, again – this time deliberately placing himself between Morgana and Arthur's sword. The three warriors in the tent all blinked at his act.

"Merlin, step aside," Arthur ordered.

Merlin obstinately shook his head. "I will not."

"Merlin…" Arthur growled.

"No!" Merlin refused. "Arthur, I know she's done a lot to hurt us, but she's sorry for all that. She really has changed. Part of the reason she became evil in the first place was because she was scared. She didn't ask for her magic. You should have seen her when she discovered she had it, Arthur – she was terrified. But she never would have turned traitor if…if certain things hadn't happened."

"Her actions…"

"…are her own, I know. But she really is sorry. Maybe it's time to let go of all that. I realise it's probably too soon for you to forgive her, and I know she's done too much for us to forget just like that – but I've forgiven her, and I'm not going to let you point a sword at her when we have a chance to make this right."

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Morgana?"

Morgana inhaled shakily. "It's true, Arthur. I am truly, deeply sorry for everything I did. I don't expect you to ever forgive me, but I am sorry."

Arthur considered that for several seconds. "Move, Merlin."

"Arthur –"

"Do as I say!"

Merlin reluctantly moved aside, leaving Morgana at Arthur's mercy. The young king was in the midst of a vicious internal struggle. He wanted to believe Morgana truly had changed – deep down, he knew he still loved her – but he couldn't just ignore everything she had done. Morgana herself kept her head down, awaiting Arthur's decision.

At long last, Arthur lowered his sword. Morgana looked up in surprise as he sheathed his blade. Gwaine and Elyan, still wary, followed his example.

"Arthur…" Morgana began, her voice full of emotion. Arthur held up his hand.

"Save it," he told her. "I'm not doing this because I forgive you – because I don't. You betrayed me, Morgana – you broke my trust, so if you're sincere about this, you're going to have to earn it back."

Morgana looked puzzled. "Then why –"

Arthur sighed resignedly. "Because," he answered, "Merlin, for some unfathomable reason, trusts you. And I trust Merlin." He could not help noticing the wide grin on Merlin's face at his words, but he resolved to ignore it. "So, let's call this a…truce, of sorts. But Morgana," he added, "if you break this truce, if you betray us again – I will kill you."

Morgana nodded. She seemed to hesitate a bit before speaking up again. "Can I ask you a question?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?"

Of course, Arthur remembered. Emrys. Between finding Merlin here, discovering that the idiot had come looking for Morgana, and the appearance of Morgana herself, he had completely forgotten his original purpose for coming here in the first place.

"Camelot is under attack again by your evil twin sister."

Morgana shook her head, confused. "Morgause is dead, and she was hardly my twin. She can't be –"

"I'm not talking about Morgause." Arthur pursed his lips as he tried to think of a quick way to explain this. "This sorceress calls herself Morgan le Fay. She looks exactly like you, and she said something about being who you should have been, if you had continued on your path of hate and destruction. Is that about right?" he asked Gwaine and Elyan; they nodded in confirmation.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here, Arthur," Merlin pointed out. Arthur glared at him.

"That's because I haven't finished, Merlin. As I was saying, Morgan le Fay took over the throne. She now sits as Queen of Camelot. The only way to stop her is by magic, and apparently there's only one person powerful enough to help us." Arthur took a breath before continuing, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to say. "I'm looking for Emrys."

Morgana's eyes went wide at the mention of her nemesis' name. Arthur wondered about that, but he was more concerned about Merlin's reaction. The manservant had gone even paler than usual, losing what little colour he had.

"You're…actually turning to magic for help?" Morgana said, as if she couldn't believe it. Arthur scowled at her, momentarily distracted.

"Yes, and I'll thank you not to tell me how to run my kingdom."

"One of the druids outside told us this Emrys fellow would be in this tent," Gwaine spoke up. "But he's obviously not, so I'm trying to figure out if he lied or if he meant something else altogether."

"Merlin, what is the matter with you?" Arthur demanded. His idiot of a manservant was now staring blankly into empty air. It was actually starting to worry Arthur a bit, but there was no way he was going to let Merlin know that.

"Emrys…" Merlin muttered, seemingly to no one.

"Do you know him?" Elyan inquired. Merlin did live with Gaius, after all.

Merlin seemed to snap back to himself. "Know him?" he repeated. "Of course I know him. He's me."

"What are you going on about?" Arthur snapped. He was in no mood for riddles.

Merlin's gaze turned to him, solemn and grave. "He's me, Arthur. I'm Emrys."

A/N: Dun-dun-dun-dun! Cue dramatic music, and then...cliffie! Come back tomorrow for the long-awaited reveal!