A/N: Well, apparently the reveal scene went fairly okay :) Thanks to Haley Renee, ljbookworm, Stormyskies89, StarBolt1966, sweety2010, Alaia Skyhawk, GoldJinx170, CarolinaEirasSa, Galaya, carinims01, Madeline Khill, and Minch for reviewing on the last chapter!
The Acceptance of Friends
Guinevere paced back and forth on the carpet of moss. Three days in the forest had removed her from her finery as Queen of Camelot; for the moment, she was back to being plain old Gwen, the serving girl used to hardships and trials. That was the aspect of her most suited to the small camp they had set up, which was relatively isolated from the rest of Camelot's populace who had fled to the woods.
"How long more do you think they'll be?" she asked anxiously.
Gaius simply shrugged. "It's impossible to say. I have no idea how far the druid camp is from here."
"Not to mention," Leon added, "that Arthur will likely keep looking for Emrys if he doesn't find him in that camp."
Gwen blew out her breath in frustration as she sat down. "I can't stand the waiting," she admitted. "I hate not knowing where they are, or what's happening…"
"I know." Percival, never one to say much, silently reached out his hand to pat Gwen's lap. It was a gesture of familiarity that proved how tight-knit their little group was.
"We must trust Arthur," Gaius said wisely. "He will find Emrys, and Emrys will help us."
"How do you know Emrys, Gaius?" Leon asked curiously from his seat on a tree stump. Gwen and Percival turned to look at the physician.
Gaius pursed his lips, choosing his words carefully. "I've…encountered him a few times."
"In Camelot?" Leon pressed.
"Yes."
"And you never told Arthur about it?"
"There was no reason to. Emrys would never have hurt Arthur or threatened Camelot in any way, and he was better able to help by staying hidden. I realise I was going against the law, but I truly believe it was for the best. Under the circumstances, revealing Emrys' presence would have done more harm than good." Gaius gave Leon a look, an obvious signal to drop the subject; but Leon either didn't see it, or he pretended not to.
"And he told you this himself?" he questioned. "He told you personally that he meant Camelot no harm?"
"He did," Gaius affirmed.
"How could you be so sure you could trust him? He's a sorcerer – he could have been lying to you all along and biding his time, pretending to protect Camelot, only to betray it at the crucial moment."
"I do not believe that." Gaius' statement was quiet, but firm, resolute, and unyielding.
"Why?" Percival wanted to know.
Gaius sighed. "I know it is a foreign concept, but what you must understand is that sorcery in and of itself is not evil; just like any other weapon, only the bearer is responsible for what it does. The bearer alone is the one who puts magic to use for good or evil. Emrys has done nothing but use his magic for good, and I know him well…as do you all."
They all frowned.
"Gaius, you're not making sense," Gwen said. "None of us knows Emrys."
Gaius smiled an enigmatic smile. "I told you before that Emrys has been hiding in plain sight. You all know him, just by a different name."
"What name?" Gwen asked.
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," a new voice intruded. They all turned to see Arthur making his way into the clearing, followed by Gwaine and Elyan.
"Arthur!" Gwen ran to embrace him. Leon and Percival, on the other hand, raised their swords at the sight of Morgana trailing a little behind the knights.
"Leon, Perce, don't," Gwaine said. "She's with us."
"Morgana's with you?" Leon questioned in disbelief.
"Have you been hitting the tankard too hard again, Gwaine?" Percival asked, equally incredulous.
"He hasn't." Everyone stared as Merlin came into view next to Morgana.
"Merlin?" Leon and Percival both exclaimed.
"Morgana's reformed," he informed them, stepping ever so subtly closer to and in front of her. "She has Arthur's pardon."
"Sire, is this true?" a shell-shocked Leon queried, glancing at his king.
Arthur nodded. "She's not a threat."
Warily, Leon and Percival lowered their swords – the latter more reluctantly, because of previous experiences; Cenred, on Morgana's orders, had cost him his entire family. Gaius made his way to Merlin and hugged him.
"What were you saying before, Arthur?" Gwen asked. "About us not believing you if you told us what name we knew Emrys by?"
To her enormous surprise, Arthur grinned. Turning to Merlin, he said, "Well, Merlin? Would you like to tell them how Emrys is no other than the most idiotic manservant Camelot has ever seen?"
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Prat," he muttered under his breath; Gaius raised an eyebrow that spoke volumes.
Leon, however, frowned. "I don't understand, Sire."
"Think, Leon," Arthur said, clearly enjoying himself; Merlin rolled his eyes again. "Who's the most incompetent servant you know?" At his knight's blank look, he elaborated, "Who's the person I say is the most useless servant around?"
"Well…" Leon's eyes unconsciously flickered to Merlin.
"Go ahead, Leon," Arthur coaxed. "Say it. He won't mind."
"Well, that would be Merlin, Sire."
Arthur nodded, waiting for Leon to put two and two together. But apparently the idea that Merlin was magic was just as implausible to the knight as it had been to him, because Leon's face remained blank and confused.
"I said earlier that Emrys is also the worst servant ever," Arthur supplied helpfully. That seemed to do the trick; Leon's eyes widened.
"You don't mean to say…?"
"That Merlin's Emrys?" Arthur nodded, smirking. "Yes, I do."
Gwen's brow creased slightly. "But that's ridiculous," she protested, looking up at Arthur. "Merlin doesn't even have magic."
"Oh, but he does," Gwaine corrected. "Quite a lot of it, too. Go on, Merlin, show them." He nudged the warlock, a huge grin splitting his face. Merlin scowled at him.
"I am not a piece of meat to put on display."
"Stop being such a girl, Merlin," Arthur said. "You're supposed to be the most powerful warlock ever. Act like one."
Merlin muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?" Arthur asked. Merlin glared.
"Fine," he relented, striding to the centre of the group. He held out his hand over Gaius' worn, sagging tent and muttered a spell. An instant later, the tent hitched up and stood straight of its own accord.
"See?" Gwaine said, still heartily enjoying the looks of absolute shock on Leon's and Percival's faces.
"Blimey, Merlin," Percival said, wide-eyed. "You've had magic this whole time?"
Merlin nodded.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Gwen said in sudden realisation. "You're the one who cured my father that one time."
"Yeah," Merlin admitted.
"So Merlin is Emrys," Leon said, still trying to wrap his mind around it.
"Apparently," Arthur agreed.
"Master of hiding in plain sight…" Percival spun to face Gaius, whose face was schooled into a relatively neutral expression. "You were right. None of us even suspected Merlin of having magic, and it turns out he's the most powerful warlock in the world."
"And the only one who can defeat Morgan le Fay," Gwen added softly, reminding them of the importance Emrys played in retaking Camelot. Everyone sobered.
"We need a plan," Arthur decided. "Morgan le Fay has a large army of magical creatures at her disposal, and there are still hundreds of people within the city itself – people who could get hurt. We can't just barge back into Camelot, Emrys or no Emrys."
"Merlin," Merlin said firmly.
"What?" Arthur asked distractedly.
"My name is Merlin," the servant repeated. "I may be Emrys, but that is not my name."
"Did I say it was?" Arthur demanded. "One thing's for sure, Merlin – you're still just as much of a girl as ever. When I said Emrys, I was talking about the sorcerer side of you."
Merlin blinked. "Oh," he said intelligently.
"Yes, oh," Arthur said. "Getting back to the important things…"
"If I may, Sire," Elyan interrupted, earning a brief flash of irritation from his brother-in-law.
"What is it?"
"I'm sure you remember, Sire, that we are not the only ones hiding in the forest. We have maybe two hundred citizens encamped less than ten yards away. If we are going to retake the city, Merlin will most likely have to fight in the open. Perhaps it would be a good idea to inform the people of his abilities and reaffirm his loyalty to us, so no one tries to kill him?"
Arthur blinked, taken aback. "Good idea, Elyan," he agreed. "I hadn't even thought of that."
"And what of me?" Morgana inquired, doing her best to ignore the glares from Leon and Percival.
"Arthur, Morgana cannot be allowed to be seen by the people of Camelot," Gaius said at once. "They all fear her far too much to trust that she has truly reformed."
Morgana scowled, looking for once like the royal she used to be, before dropping her gaze to the forest floor.
"I agree," Arthur concurred. "Morgana, until we have time to explain your change of heart, you are to stay hidden and not, under any circumstances, reveal yourself to anyone outside this group. As for all of you, no one is to even mention her name until such time when we are ready to explain. Is that clear?"
Murmurs of assent answered him, and Arthur, satisfied, turned to Merlin.
"Well, come on, then. It's time to go introduce you to the people."
MERLIN
All things considered, Merlin reflected, it could have gone a lot worse. Arthur had called every citizen of Camelot in the forest to a mass meeting. After saying a short little speech to perk up their spirits, he then went on to a longer speech about the ban against magic and how it could be wrong – a declaration that, of course, caused many gasps and raised eyebrows.
"I have recently learned," Arthur had said, "that magic is not, as we have all believed for so long, evil. I realise that enemies such as Morgana and Morgan le Fay and numerous others have used magic against Camelot in the past, but they are but one side of the coin. I have only just discovered that there has been benevolent magic at work in Camelot for years – magic that has fought against evil magic on more than one occasion, and probably saved all our lives countless times. I understand that it is a difficult concept to grasp after believing magic to be nothing but evil for so long, but it is our only hope now.
"Morgan le Fay is extremely powerful, but some of you were there when she as good as told us that there is one person, and one person only, who can stop her. In her prideful speeches, she even gave us the name of this person. He is the one the druids call Emrys, rumoured to be the greatest sorcerer the world has ever, or will ever, know. When I set out to find Emrys to ask for his help, I never dreamed I would discover him to be a familiar face, one who has stood at my side and been my loyal friend for years."
Despite himself, Merlin, hiding in the bushes behind where Arthur was standing, smiled. The prat was monologuing (Probably loving the sound of his own voice, Merlin mused), and making this affair much more pompous and drawn out than it needed to be – but there was no denying that Arthur could make a rousing speech. And this was probably the first time he had admitted out loud – and in public, no less – that Merlin was his friend.
When Arthur announced that Emrys was no other than Merlin, the king's manservant, some of the crowd actually laughed out loud. Merlin frowned; was it really so ridiculous to assume that he had magic?
It hadn't taken long for the people to believe Arthur's words, though – especially after Merlin himself appeared to give a demonstration of his powers. Arthur then ended the gathering by declaring the ban on magic lifted before dismissing the people.
Hearing the mutterings and seeing the looks being cast his way as the crowd dispersed, Merlin knew things would never be the same again. His secret was out, and Camelot (half of it) knew who he truly was. Some were genuinely glad that magic was being welcomed once more; others scowled and predicted doom for the kingdom before the week was out if "magical scum are allowed to live freely again" – but the majority were still undecided about where they stood, simply waiting to see if Merlin really could save Camelot from the clutches of Morgan le Fay before making up their minds about whether they trusted him or not.
But it didn't matter. It really didn't matter. At the end of the day, when Merlin and Arthur trudged back to the camp – their camp – and rejoined the other Round Table members to plan out their course of action, it wasn't important whether the common folk of Camelot trusted him or not. Uther's ban had been in place a long time, enough to instill the fear and hatred of all things magical in many of his subjects, and Merlin knew it would take time before they could accept the change.
But he knew it would happen – gradually, as they saw magic being used for good and magic users began to crawl out of the rocks they had been living under, Camelot's citizens would learn to accept magic again, and magic itself would flourish once more, giving rise to Albion. Until then, Merlin was content in the fact that his friends knew and accepted it – accepted him. Until such time as Albion came to be and people no longer feared magic, he was satisfied enough.
Arthur, his king, his master, his best friend, had accepted him.
