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As they ran through the empty castle and through the courtyard, where Arthur hurriedly told the guards to get some rest ready to search properly in the morning, Merlin was jabbering away, Arthur only catching half of what he said. Phrases like "-and I realised she was a troll but you thought I was spying-"drifted back to Arthur, who was slightly behind.
"Slow down now Merlin" Arthur called, out of breath, as they reached the edge of the forest, "Where are we going?"
"I have something to show you" Merlin replied, smiling
Arthur hesitated.
"You do trust me Arthur?"
"I-"
"I could have killed you hundreds of times, and trust me I've been tempted, but that's not the point...if I was going to, I would have killed you by now..." As Arthur listened to Merlin ramble on he sighed heavily and realised that he was still the same, annoying manservant.
"Come on then!" said Arthur moodily, interrupting Merlin mid sentence, storming down the path.
They walked in silence for a minute, before Arthur said tentatively,
"You said that Gwen would be dead if it weren't for you." It was a statement, not a question, but Merlin felt he owed the prince an explanation.
"You remember when Uther and Morgana found you in the woods, and Gwen was accused of witchcraft?"
"Yes, but that old ma- that was you! " Arthur looked flabbergasted for a second before narrowing his eyes at Merlin. "Dragoon?" He said slowly, enunciating the word the way he always did when Merlin said something especially stupid, one eyebrow raised.
"I think it was Dragoon the Great actually" said Merlin quietly, avoiding Arthurs gaze.
"I knew I recognised him, well, you. If I recall correctly, didn't you tell me I had the brains of a donkey?"
"And the face of a toad, yes." said Merlin, his head down to hide his grin.
"How did I not know" said Arthur, rolling his eyes.
Merlin laughed nervously, he was glad that Arthur was joking with him, but as the laughter died away, the seriousness of their situation seemed to return with the heavy silence.
"And you saved my father?" Arthur said quietly after a minute.
Merlin nodded. "Countless times, from all sorts of creatures"
"The troll, yeah"
"Not just that! You remember the physician, Edwin? I had to use magic to stop him from killing your father with these weird beetle things."
"How did you know he was evil? No one in the castle suspected him!"
"Well Gaius helped me, he'd met Edwin before."
"So Gaius knew? About your magic?"
"Yeah, he basically taught me everything I know, and how to use magic for good. I don't know what I'd do without Gaius." Merlin trailed off.
"So I guess you knew about Morgana too?"
"Err, yes, since before she went missing actually." Merlin didn't look at Arthur; he didn't want the fact that he nearly killed her twice to come up.
"What? Merlin, why didn't you tell me?"
"Me? Accuse the King's ward of sorcery? Uther would have had my head!"
"I suppose."
"I did try to stop her though."
"You did?" said Arthur, incredulously.
"Of course I did! But it's hard when the whole of Camelot thinks she can do no wrong."
Arthur looked at Merlin. "So what's happened then? Why can't you do magic anymore?"
"Well I'm not entirely sure, but Gaius thinks, and I agree, that when you took that sword out of the stone, my magic got, sort of sucked in, in its place."
Arthur raised his eyebrows, but seeing the sincere look on Merlin's face, decided to go along with it.
"Ok." He said slowly. "So how do you get it back? Assuming you want it back? And how does all this tie in to saving my father?"
"Well that's what I'm hoping the dragon can tell me, I mean I have an idea but-"
"The dragon!" Arthur had stopped dead. "Wha- what are you talking about? MERLIN!" he bellowed, causing birds to fly away, terrified, as Merlin had carried on walking. Merlin turned around, wincing slightly.
"Dragon?" Arthur demanded.
"We're nearly there, let me show you." Said Merlin, starting to turn around, but when Arthur didn't move he sighed and started walking towards him
"The Great Dragon, he's been helping me ever since I got to Camelot, I used to visit him under the castle. But since he-"Merlin paused, he didn't think now was the time to tell Arthur that he'd freed the dragon. "-escaped, I have to come down here to speak to him, seeing as everyone thinks he's dead."
"Including me! Merlin, you told me I killed the dragon!" Merlin nodded.
"I lied."
Arthur looked furious. "And you think this beast can be trusted? After it attacked Camelot? What's to stop it from killing us now?"
"Yes Arthur, I know I can trust him." He paused. "And he can't kill us now anyway, I wouldn't let him."
Arthur laughed. "What could you do about it? You don't have your magic, remember?"
"No, I don't" Merlin replied slowly, "But I am still a dragonlord.
Merlin ignored Arthur's astonished face.
"Balinor, you remember him?" Arthur nodded, apparently speechless.
"He was my father. When he died, his power was passed on to me. You didn't kill the dragon, you got knocked unconscious and I made him leave Camelot and promise never to attack it again. Now he promises that his allegiance lies with me and…we're here!" Merlin said quickly, anxious to arrive and speak to Kilgharrah.
They had arrived in a huge clearing and Camelot was barely visible above the trees. Arthur was still, apparently lost for words as he emerged from the trees and looked around. Arthur remembered the look on Merlin's face when Balinor had been killed, and was angry with himself for telling Merlin not to cry.
"I'm sorry about your father" Arthur said eventually.
Merlin looked round and nodded, smiling slightly.
"How do you do it? Keep 'saving the day' and not getting any gratitude?"
Merlin laughed. "Its not easy, in fact, sometimes it's nearly impossible"
Arthur walked forward to stand next to Merlin and put his hand on his shoulder. Looking him in the eyes, Arthur said, "Thank you Merlin."
Merlin felt himself blush, he looked down. "That means a lot." He said quietly, before looking at Arthur. "Really, Arthur, more than you know"
They stood there together for a minute, Arthur's hand on Merlin's shoulder still.
Eventually, Arthur broke the silence.
"So, where' this dragon?"
Merlin walked forward, put his head back, and roared at the sky, summoning Kilgharrah, much to Arthur's surprise.
Well once again, there is a lot of talking and I have rambled too much ( this was supposed to be the chapter where they actually speak to the dragon) I know not much has happened for a while, just more talking D: but I promise in the next few chapters there will be some action :) thank you for all the reviews and alerts, it really makes me want to keep writing :D and any advice you have will be greatly appreciated, R&R? ta :D
