CHAPTER 9

The Castle

...

They left the meadow, walking side by side, and returning back to the village called Earlen. The forest was quiet and cold, and the silence between them seemed uncomfortable. Arthur knew that Merlin didn't want to return to the village, but they really didn't have a choice. Finding that castle was their only chance of having their old lives back.

And at least now Arthur was sure he would remember what happened. He had no idea how time travel would even work or if he would remember Merlin had magic once it was done. But Merlin wouldn't include him in the spell that they were going to end up using, Arthur trusted him on that. Surely he wouldn't want to go through all of this again.

Neither did Arthur. He hated that the silence was awkward, he hated that Merlin's gaze was fixed on the ground in front of him and he hated how distant Merlin seemed again.

But most of all, he hated all the lies between them. There were so many, it was like their entire relationship was built on them. One white lie after another, together becoming a web of untruths.

Arthur understood why Merlin had to lie in the beginning, what he didn't understand was why he hadn't confined in him sooner. Sure, he'd react the same way and be angry, but by now that would be in the past already and they would be back to normal.

Wouldn't they?

The silence was becoming unbearable. Arthur had to say something. Ask something. He had so many things to ask, so why couldn't he come up with anything right now?

"What did you mean when you said that you've taken care of Cornelius Sigan?" he finally found a question.

Merlin's head didn't move as he answered. "Remember Cedric?"

Arthur frowned slightly. He did remember him. He was a sorcerer who had pretended to be a commoner working for him.

"He tried to steal my job about two years ago," Merlin added.

"Anyone could be better at your job than you are, Merlin, he didn't even have to try hard."

"Why are you keeping me around then?" Merlin gave him a question that seemed innocent, but had such a long and complicated answer filled with all the feelings that were fighting in Arthur's heart.

He kept Merlin around because he was funny. He was an idiot, but one that could be passionate about so many things.

He kept Merlin because he was the only one who dared defy Arthur and actually treated him like a human being instead of a prince.

He kept Merlin because they've become friends.

He loved Merlin because only he was brave enough to face him when he was wrong.

He loved Merlin because he was Merlin.

He loved him.

Arthur glanced at him and at the way the sun illuminated Merlin's short fringe and the blue of his irises. The blue that could so easily turn into gold, brighter than the sun.

"I keep you around because you're my friend," Arthur answered finally.

Merlin was silent for a moment, probably thinking about his answer.

"That's far from I think we would probably get on, you know, if I wasn't a prince," Merlin brought back something that Arthur had said a couple of months ago, when they were on the quest to find the last Dragonlord.

So many things have changed over that time.

"It is," Arthur confirmed. Then he cleared his throat and added, "So what about Cedric?"

"Don't you remember? He was possessed by the soul of Cornelius Sigan."

"What?" Arthur stopped and grabbed Merlin's forearm to stop him too when he continued walking. Merlin turned to him and shrugged with one shoulder.

"I told you he was possessed, I thought you knew this?" Merlin seemed confused as well.

Arthur shook his head. "I knew he was a sorcerer and yeah, maybe possessed, but I didn't realize . . . "

"I told you who he was possessed by." Merlin pointed out.

Arthur pursed his lips. "I must have forgotten that." He admitted. Then he added another question. "But how did you take care of him?"

Merlin nodded towards the village and Arthur let go of his arm as they both starting to walk side by side again. Then Merlin finally answered. "I went to the dragon for help. I . . . promised to release him one day and for that he gave me a spell that would defeat Sigan."

"That's why you released him?" Arthur frowned. Simply because of a promise? Sometimes it's better to break promises when fulfilling them brings destruction and death.

"He's helped me many more times after and before that, it wasn't only for that." Merlin explained, but Arthur still didn't get it. So many people died! But Merlin knew that. He must have felt guilty about everything, and as Arthur promised himself, he wouldn't get angry at him. He didn't want to see him wince again and act even more distant.

The fire changed everything.

"The soul of Cornelius Sigan almost entered me as well, but I managed to use the spell before that. His soul got trapped in the jewel that had been found in the tomb before that, that's why it was blue."

"When did that even happen? And where? Surely someone would have to notice this happening?" Arthur frowned. Honestly, if Merlin did things like this almost every week in Camelot, he had no idea how he wasn't already discovered.

"Well, you were knocked out."

"What?" Arthur did not remember that.

"It's true, I ran to the courtyard, only to find you on the ground unconscious. Only Sigan was there at the time, that's when he realized I had magic."

"Honestly, Merlin, this sounds more and more like you made it all up." Arthur commented and looked away from Merlin while they still walked. He remembered waking up in the courtyard, but he was alone.

Merlin looked at him like Arthur was joking. "I save your royal backside so many times and you think I'm making it up?" He asked incredulously. Then he looked away and sighed, "Maybe I should have accepted Sigan's offer then."

Arthur frowned. "What offer are you talking about?"

"Before I trapped him in the jewel, he'd offered me a position of power. I would rule alongside him and you'd kneel at my feet. I refused."

"You'd never accept such an offer," Arthur chuckled humorlessly. Even after so many lies, he knew Merlin. He knew Merlin cared about him - why else would he heal his arm and be willing to return to a dangerous village to find a castle with a spell that would allow him to come back to Camelot, when he could just run away right now and never see Arthur again?

"You sound sure."

"I am."

He heard a hint of a smile in Merlin's reply. "Well, you're right, I wouldn't accept that." Merlin told him. "And Cornelius Sigan will hopefully never return."

"We only need his castle and what's inside it." Arthur nodded.

Merlin's smile disappeared as he nodded as well. He kept looking at his feet as he walked and almost made it Arthur's job to make sure he didn't hit any trees.

Arthur knew what was on Merlin's mind. The village. The possibility of meeting the knights and getting arrested. They could bring the handcuffs again. Or if they were destroyed in the fire, who knew what else Kaunos had and could use against them?

But Arthur would keep his promise. He'd protect Merlin.

They continued walking in silence, but this time it wasn't uncomfortable anymore. It was slowly but surely getting back to how it used to be.

Maybe their relationship could be fixed after all. Arthur hoped it could.

The village was slightly over an hour away from the place where they'd met the dragon, and it wasn't even time for the lunch yet when they finally reached it again. Arthur had thought that Merlin would want to stay on the edge of the forest once Arthur went to ask people about the castle, but when he continued walking and Merlin followed him, Arthur understood that Merlin probably didn't want to be left alone.

He must have felt so vulnerable with those handcuffs on his wrists. And if they put them on him again . . .

Arthur sighed and continued walking between the houses with Merlin next to him, carefully and slowly just in case the knights had already found where they'd spent the night. They stopped only when they reached some sort of a market for the people who lived here. There weren't many people, just around twenty and the rest were probably working in the field or in their houses.

Arthur spotted an old woman that sat on a bench by her three baskets of carrots. She must have been selling them. A younger woman with a young boy approached her and walked away with a couple of carrots in their hands.

Once they were gone and the old woman was alone again, Arthur approached her together with Merlin.

"Good morning," he greeted her. She only nodded.

Arthur glanced at Merlin and noticed that he had wrapped his jacket around his torso, hiding his neckerchief and blue tunic as he hugged himself. A disguise of sorts perhaps.

"We are looking for a castle," Arthur turned back to the woman when he saw he wouldn't get a word out of Merlin here. "An ancient castle that once belonged to Cornelius Si-"

The woman gasped and her previously narrowly closed eyes widened. "You cannot talk about him in this kingdom!" She hissed at him. Then she slowly took a carrot and offered it to him with an almost toothless smile.

Arthur didn't need carrots, he needed information. "We really need to know where the castle is."

The woman kept her shaking palm with a carrot in it in front of him and didn't answer. Arthur sighed. Did she even know anything about the castle? She seemed old enough to at least remember the stories . . .

Then he suddenly felt someone's hand in his pocket. He turned to see that it was Merlin's hand in there. Merlin's hand was in his trousers!- Arthur blinked and cleared his throat silently. Merlin then fished out the last coin that Arthur had and gave it to the old woman, smiling at her as best as he could.

She smiled back and accepted the coin, placing the carrot in Merlin's hand who then gave it to Arthur without even looking at him.

"Well?" Arthur asked now that she had gotten his last bit of money. "Do you know where the castle is?"

"What castle are you talking about, young man?"

Arthur was becoming impatient. "The one that belonged to Cornel-"

The woman gasped again. "You cannot talk about him in this kingdom! Don't you know he was executed?"

Arthur straightened up as he looked at Merlin. Either this woman had terrible memory, which wasn't that unusual for her age, or she didn't want to give them any information. Maybe she was scared, or just selfish, Arthur didn't know.

Merlin didn't seem happy either.

"I guess we'll have to ask someone else."

"Wait." Merlin placed his hand gently on Arthur's forearm to stop him from leaving.

He knelt down to be on the same level as the woman and smiled at her. "Do you remember when you were young?" he asked her. The woman's eyes found his and lit up.

"That is a long time ago, my boy," she put her hand on Merlin's hand that was resting on his knee.

"Do you remember a castle?" he asked. "A beautiful castle around this village? A castle from stories that your parents kept telling you?"

The woman's smile disappeared. "A terrible, terrible castle." She looked somewhere behind him as her brows furrowed at the memory. "Dark, so dark. Cursed." She added.

"We need to find it." Merlin told her. "Where is it?"

"We used to play there, but they forbade it," she told him as her eyes found him again.

Arthur was both incredulous at how well Merlin managed to communicate with her and impatient that it was taking so long. She was just talking in circles. Who knew if she even remembered where the castle was?

"Tell me where it is," Merlin asked her.

She was silent for a while. "Around the field . . . way up North . . . behind the big rock, go forth, forth," she finally whispered.

Great, now she wasn't even making sense anymore.

"Thank y-"

"Hey, are you bothering Old Bertie? What are you doing?" Someone called at them. They both turned around to see a man around 40 years old on his way to them. "Let her be happy selling carrots!"

"This wasn't a good idea," Arthur told Merlin.

"I know, I told you."

"Leave her alone!"

"We're leaving!" Arthur raised his hands into the air in front of himself to show that he was unarmed. Then he turned to Merlin and took his arm, moving away from the old lady.

They sped up when they saw the man wanted to follow them, but eventually he stopped and returned to the old woman, talking to her.

"At least we know where it is now," Merlin told him once they made it to the edge of the forest on the other side of the village.

"What?" Arthur looked at him. "All we got was a children's rhyme that doesn't make sense."

"Around the field, way up North, behind the big rock, go forth forth," Merlin repeated what the woman had told them. "I think that's enough information for us to at least try to use."

"Fine," Arthur nodded. "We can try to find the castle, but we might need to go back to the village again later."

"Not when we find it," Merlin shook his head as he started walking again, towards the nearest (and only) field that this village had.

"If," Arthur corrected him.

Despite Arthur's doubts, he hoped Merlin's optimism was well placed and they would eventually find it. He didn't want to go to the village again any more than Merlin did.

Especially after that strange encounter with the man. Arthur was only glad that no one seemed to recognise him there, but if that man remembered him now . . .

Arthur looked at the carrot that was still in his hand and examined it. That woman was old, but she still knew how to grow good carrots. He put it in his pocket and followed Merlin on his way to the field.

If they couldn't find the castle, there was no reason for Merlin to come back to Camelot at all. And nor was there one for Arthur.

Because what life would that be, without Merlin by his side?

xoXÖXox

As Merlin walked up the hill along the field, he couldn't stop the fear that was growing inside him. Because what if Arthur was right? What if what that old woman had told them was all nonsense? What if that rhyme wouldn't lead them anywhere? What if they'd have to return to the village and ask someone more sensible? But the more people they asked, the more people would remember them and might tell the knights later . . .

Merlin closed his eyes briefly as he walked. Then he took a deep breath to calm down and tried to smile. At least they had something.

Around the field, way up North, behind the big rock, go forth, forth.

The first two instructions were clear, the third one was too unless they couldn't find any rock and the fourth seemed like something only added to make it rhyme.

Merlin hoped it would lead them to the castle.

If they couldn't find it, he might never have the chance to return to Camelot. He might live alone in a village that he didn't know, like this one. Eventually, he'd manage to persuade Arthur in going back to Camelot and therefore Merlin would live his life alone.

Maybe only until Arthur would become the king, but still. He couldn't stay that long away from him.

Not only because of his destiny, but because his heart would never allow him to do that. His heart that was singing every time Arthur looked at him and didn't seem angry, every time that Merlin looked at Arthur when Arthur wasn't looking. . . His heart was hard to get used to when it jumped every time Arthur spoke to him.

Maybe he could stay away from Camelot. But he'd be dead inside. His heart would never again sing like that.

"Around the field," he heard Arthur mumble behind him and Merlin had to smile. Thank god Arthur couldn't see him. "We're going North . . . "

"This is the only field this village has, we can't be wrong about that. We started at the bottom of the field in the village, and are walking around it, up to the forest."

"And then we need to go North, that isn't hard to do."

Merlin looked up at the sun and nodded. They were already walking North, so they didn't even have to change direction.

They reached the end of the field and entered the forest. Merlin didn't stop walking. His feet hurt because with little to no food came little to no energy and the castle was probably far away. But Merlin didn't stop. He couldn't give up.

Not now, when Arthur seemed to have accepted his magic.

They kept walking North for at least another hour, sometimes in silence, sometimes talking. They never saw any rock or even a big stone in their way. They kept looking everywhere around them as they walked straight North from the field.

No rock. No castle. No nothing. Only the forest.

"If we keep walking, we're going to reach the Vale of Denaria," Arthur said after a while.

"What's there?" Merlin asked.

"Nothing, only more forest and hills." Arthur shrugged.

So far, their searching seemed fruitless. It was frustrating, but it was pointless to return to the village now. They were pretty far away from there already and besides, Merlin didn't want to return there.

Even if Arthur promised to protect him, what if there were too many knights? Merlin frowned when he thought about that. Arthur did defeat ten bandits a few days ago. With Merlin's help. And if Merlin had the handcuffs . . .

Merlin had to close his eyes again. He didn't want to think about them. He could almost still feel that pain if he thought about it. Distant, but intense.

It was something he never wanted to experience again.

But he trusted Arthur. Even if Arthur didn't say it out loud, Merlin knew he still cared about him. He must have. Why else would he keep following him when he could return to Camelot and leave Merlin here?

"Did you help with the Afanc as well?" he suddenly heard Arthur ask.

"The Afanc?" How did Arthur even know its name?

"That's what it was called, wasn't it? That monster that we found in Camelot's water supply."

Arthur must have made a trip to the library then. Merlin didn't even know Arthur knew what books were. Or that there was one that told him about such monsters as an Afanc . . .

"Yes," he answered.

"Yes, that's what it was called or yes, I helped with that too."

"Yes," Merlin repeated and couldn't fight off the small smile on his lips. This is what he missed the most, how they used to talk. Their bantering. A sign of friendship being mended again.

He heard Arthur sigh. "How did you know what to do?" he asked eventually, figuring out Merlin's answer was yes to both.

"I went to the dragon," Merlin said. "He told me that to fight an Afanc, I had to use the two remaining elements. An Afanc is a creature of earth and water, therefore I needed to use fire and air."

Arthur was silent for a moment. "I was wondering what happened when the fire was so big all of a sudden."

Merlin smiled slightly. "That was me."

"I know that now." Arthur nodded as he sped up to walk side by side with Merlin. Merlin appreciated that. "I also know that you were willing to drink from poisoned goblets twice for me, and once actually did."

Merlin blushed at that. Suddenly, he wished Arthur had still been walking behind him. "I did."

"Why?" was Arthur's question.

"It's my destiny to protect you, I couldn't let you die," Merlin said. It was the truth. Besides, by that time, he and Arthur had already seemed to have developed some kind of mutual understanding, almost friendship. Merlin was willing to die for Arthur because he knew Arthur's life was more important than his. What was a mere servant compared to a prince?

"That couldn't have been the only reason, you were willing to die for me." Arthur asked.

This was getting to a dangerous territory. What answer did Arthur want to hear? Did he want Merlin to spill his biggest secret right there and now? That although he hadn't known that at that time he drank the poison, that mutual understanding has developed into not so mutual love?

Was Merlin supposed to say that he was in love with Arthur? That he loved him with all his heart? That he'd die for him again and again and again, over and over?

"I . . . You're a prince, Arthur. You needed to become king, and I was nothing compared to that." He answered finally.

He could tell Arthur was speechless. Perhaps he didn't know Merlin thought so high of him or so low of himself, or he didn't know that even back then, Merlin was prepared to die for this.

"You're not nothing, Merlin," Arthur replied. "Every minute with you, I learn more about what you have done for this kingdom, for me."

Arthur was uncharacteristically appreciative.

"And everything that I have lied to you about . . . " Merlin added, completely turning what Arthur wanted to say around.

Arthur nodded. "Yes. You lied to me about many things, but that doesn't mean you didn't save Camelot."

Merlin shrugged.

It wasn't like Merlin was the only one willing to die for the other. Arthur himself travelled all the way to the forest of Balor purely for a stupid flower for his stupid servant. What did that say about him?

But before Merlin could point that out, they reached the end of the forest and entered a long and endless place full of hills and more forest on their left. That's where the Vale of Denaria must have been. But they had to continue North.

"Do you think there's the castle somewhere in the distance?" Merlin asked.

Arthur was silent for a moment, probably trying to think about how to not destroy Merlin's last shred of hope. But there really wasn't any better way of saying, "It's supposed to be a hidden castle and if it was here, anyone would see it from anywhere."

Merlin looked around at the hills and nodded. Arthur was right. The rhyme that they received from the old woman must have meant nothing. But the castle had to be somewhere around the village. They had been walking for two hours now, but Sigan could have built his castle anywhere close to the village.

"Wait, what's that?" Arthur walked in front of him and pointed somewhere.

Far in the distance, on one of the hills there appeared to be a white circle. Or something that looked like a circle, possibly made of stones that looked like white dots from where they were standing.

Merlin walked over to Arthur. "Do you think it's from the druids?" he asked. He knew circles of stones were kind of their thing, but who knew? It could have been hundreds of years old.

"I don't know," Arthur shrugged. "But it's the first something we found, I think it's worth examining."

"So we're about to walk all the way over the hills towards that circle," Merlin clarified as his stomach made a clearly disapproving noise. He was so hungry and tired already that he wasn't sure he could make it there.

But he had to. He had to.

Arthur looked at him and must have seen Merlin's doubts and hesitation. He took off his backpack and handed Merlin a waterskin and a piece of dried meat.

"Thanks," Merlin accepted it and drank from it. He handed it back to Arthur, who drank from it as well and put it back into the backpack, taking another piece of dried meat. Then he put the backpack back on his back.

"We've only got four more of these," he pointed at the meat Merlin was chewing. "We have to eat sparingly, and hopefully there will be a stream nearby to refill the waterskin."

"There must be," Merlin concluded. "If Sigan had a castle somewhere around here, he had to have a water supply."

"That's right," Arthur nodded. "Then let's go."

They once again looked at the circle in the distance - their next destination - and then finally set off.

xoXÖXox

It took them another hour to finally reach the circle made of stones. The stones were slowly getting bigger and bigger and when they finally stood in front of them, they seemed higher than Merlin and Arthur. They were all white or grey with no markings on them.

"How could anyone even build this?" Arthur questioned with a frown on his face as he touched one of the stones.

Merlin shrugged. "Magic?"

"Right."

Arthur nodded as he slowly dragged his palm over the smooth surface of the hard rock.

Merlin adjusted the straps of his backpack - he'd offered to carry it after they last ate - and came closer to the stones. He carefully entered the circle and looked around, the high stones all around him.

This place . . . Merlin could feel its magic. He didn't know what purpose it once served or how long time ago, but he knew this was an important place to the Old Religion. Merlin closed his eyes and breathed in the atmosphere. It calmed him down. Made his anxiety and doubts melt away in just a few seconds.

When he opened his eyes again, he found Arthur staring at him, standing in between two rocks. The prince averted his eyes and cleared his throat, but Merlin kept the smile on his face.

"So where do we go now?" Arthur once again looked at him and returned him back to reality. "This is the only rock we found on our way North, so I guess the old woman must have remembered something."

Merlin nodded. "Yeah. Behind the big rock, go forth, forth." He repeated what she had told them. "Why does it say forth twice?"

"To make it rhyme?" Arthur suggested as he stepped out of the circle again.

Merlin stayed in and turned around on the spot. One, two, three . . . There were twelve rocks. "Twelve," he said.

"What?"

"There are twelve rocks here."

Arthur nodded. He walked around the entire circle and stopped on the same spot, in front of Merlin. "It looks like a clock," he uttered as he looked around. "But the stones aren't numbered."

"This couldn't have served as a giant clock," Merlin told him as he stepped out of the circle, touching one of the stones and feeling its magic. Then he looked into the circle again and shrugged. "There's nothing in the middle. For a clock to work, there has to be something in the middle of the circle to cast a shadow."

"Maybe they did it with magic," Arthur raised his eyebrows.

Merlin just rolled his eyes. He felt much better now that they actually found something. "Go forth, forth," he said again and walked slowly around the circle. He stopped on the opposite side of where Arthur was standing and touched the stone that pointed North.

"From where we started walking, this stone would be number twelve and you'd be near number six."

Arthur frowned. "I thought you said this couldn't have been a clock."

Merlin shrugged. "But if you were a kid and found a giant circle of stones, wouldn't you count them?" The old woman must have been here when she was a child, why else would she tell them that she used to go play here?

Arthur considered this. "One of the rocks has to point us in the direction of the castle, but which one?"

Merlin thought about this. There were twelve stones, so there were twelve directions. If the old woman really chose one stone that led to the castle, the number would have been in the rhyme . . . Or was it?

"Number four!" Merlin called at Arthur. "It's number four!"

Arthur frowned at him. "Why the hell would it be four?"

"Because the woman told us!" Merlin grinned at him as he walked back to Arthur and stopped at the stone number four, if he thought about the circle as a clock. Arthur came closer to him and he looked very puzzled. "Go forth, forth isn't go forth twice, but go forth and then fourth as in the number four."

Arthur's eyes widened as he understood. "Do you think that's possible?"

Merlin nodded. "It means we need to go forth, behind the fourth big rock. It makes sense!"

The smile Arthur gave Merlin was blinding. "Merlin, you're a genius!"

Merlin couldn't stop smiling about this. "I don't hear that often," he said.

Arthur just shook his head and walked closer to him, patting his uninjured shoulder. Then he looked up at the huge stone and away from it, into the far distance where there were only hills. His smile faded.

"But this can't lead to a castle," he said. Merlin followed his gaze and frowned. Arthur was right. "There are only more hills and until the borders of Mercia, there is nothing. There can't be a hidden castle, we would have seen it from here."

"Maybe they were too young to figure out twelve stones means it looks like a clock." He mused. He had to be right about the number, this had to work.

"Maybe it's a different stone, then." Arthur turned back to the circle. "They would have started to count from the first one they saw."

"Then that's rock number six," Merlin walked over to the stone that was the nearest to the forest they had come out of. Then he walked back to Arthur and counted to four out loud. " . . . Four," he ended up standing in front of stone number three (according to the clock).

Arthur walked over to him and together they looked into the distance, frowns on their faces. "This is just closer to Mercia."

"Then it must be the other side," Merlin said. This was their last chance, it had to work.

Arthur nodded and they walked back to the stone number six. There they started counting the stones while walking around the circle to their left, until they stopped at stone number nine (according to the clock). It led to a forest and somewhere behind the Vale of Denaria.

"This must be it," Arthur looked at Merlin. "It's the only direction that leads to a forest, where the castle wouldn't have been exposed and really would have been hidden."

"Then we need to go there," Merlin nodded. He looked up at the sky - the sun was already on its way down behind the hills. They still had a few hours of sunlight, but not too long. The sun usually set early in this time of the year.

They both took a deep breath and prayed for this to work. Then they once again set off, this time hopefully finding the castle and the knowledge hidden inside.

They walked and walked, side by side, entering another forest and eventually finding the Vale of Denaria. They didn't enter the vale, but they walked alongside it and continued where the stone must have been pointing to. Somewhere in the direction of North-West.

The forest was more and more dense and walking quickly became difficult. They didn't give up though, they couldn't. The fact that it was more difficult only made it more possible that the castle was hidden somewhere around them.

After another hour of endless walking, the sun began to set. It wasn't dark yet, but Merlin knew they didn't have long until it would be. And if they couldn't find the castle in time, they would have to find shelter and sleep in the forest.

As if the forest wasn't scary enough in sunlight, they'd have to stay there in the dark an entire night. Merlin really didn't want it to come to that.

With every step, Merlin felt he was becoming more and more tired, hungry and thirsty.

When walking proved to be difficult among so many thin trees, Arthur finally stopped and turned to face Merlin. He must have seen how tired Merlin was because his expression turned from frustrated to soft.

"Maybe we should settle down for the night," he offered, but Merlin was already shaking his head.

"No, we can't give up, we're close, I know it." Merlin could almost feel it, the magic.

"Alright," Arthur nodded. He didn't start walking again though, instead he came closer to Merlin and gently took off his backpack, putting it on his own back instead.

"Thanks," Merlin managed a smile, which turned into a yawn.

Arthur was frowning. "Just a little while longer, and then we'll have to get some sleep."

"Yes, sire," Merlin nodded jokingly. Then he sighed. "Let's walk faster then, we need to find it."

Arthur followed Merlin as he took the lead and they started walking again. Merlin licked his lips and thought about asking Arthur for water from the waterskin, but then he realized it was empty. When they didn't have much food left, they at least tried to drink regularly, but now they didn't have any water at all.

But that was fine. The castle had to have a water supply, Merlin reassured himself.

They'd seen a water stream inside the vale of Denaria, but they didn't climb down the steep rock to refill the waterskin. The stream had to lead somewhere, and hopefully there would be no rock to climb.

They were in luck.

After ten more minutes of walking, when Merlin thought maybe he should listen to Arthur and prepare for the night, he heard something familiar. Besides the sounds of the forest and their own, he heard a flowing water.

"Shh," he stopped.

"What?"

"I think I hear water," Merlin turned to Arthur and smiled at him. Arthur was frowning as he tried to listen, but then he smiled as well.

"It's coming from there," Arthur pointed in front of them, slightly to their right. There wasn't much to see, there were trees all around them, but they could follow the sound. It wasn't against the direction of where the rock had pointed them to either, so they started walking faster, trying to find the water stream.

"It must be the same stream from the Vale of Denaria," Merlin said as they walked together, moving some of the long, thin and bendable trees and branches away from them.

"It must be where Sigan got his water from," Arthur agreed with him.

The sound was getting louder and louder until they finally saw less trees in front of them. They continued walking and didn't stop until they were standing in front of the stream of water. It was around two metres wide, not nearly a river yet, but there was definitely enough water to fill the waterskin.

Arthur took off the backpack and found the waterskin, kneeling down in front of the water. Merlin did the same and washed his face. The water was really cold, but it wasn't uncomfortable because of the cold weather. Not being thirsty anymore was much better than feeling cold.

Merlin drank from his palms as Arthur filled the waterskin and then drank from the stream too.

"This feels so good," Arthur smiled and splashed Merlin with some water. Merlin pursed his lips as he looked at him, but didn't splash him. Instead he washed his face again and enjoyed the moment.

"We need to follow the stream and it will lead us straight to the castle," Arthur said as he stood up again and put the waterskin into the backpack, which he then put on his back again.

Merlin nodded and washed his hands, standing up too.

They started following the stream of water, against the direction in which the water was flowing. Merlin felt relieved, excited, almost recharged with new-found energy.

They were so close to the castle that he didn't know whether to be happy or start worrying about the spell. Would they find it? It must have been a big castle. Would the spell work at all?

Merlin chased those worries out of his mind as he continued leading the way.

They were close, he knew it. He could feel it. The castle must have still been full of magic. And that was a good thing.

Merlin felt like that increased their chance of finding the right spell.

And sure enough, a couple of minutes later, the trees around them started to disappear until they arrived at the edge of the forest. There was a little meadow, the stream of water on their left, and in front of them stood a castle.

Well, not really a castle anymore.

It was a ruin. It seemed to have fallen into the ground at some point, maybe there was an earthquake? Merlin had never heard of an earthquake in Camelot, but that's what it looked like. The castle was barely two floors high and was made of stone. It seemed to have been built into the hill that was right next to it, and there seemed to have been no windows.

And a bit of the castle must have also fallen off because there were large pieces of wall on the ground. When Merlin looked up, he couldn't see where it had fallen off, so maybe there was a balcony, or chimney, or a small room that collapsed.

Nevertheless, Merlin was happy.

"We're here," he breathed out. He couldn't take his eyes off of that strange building. "We've found it."

"We have," Arthur smiled as he gently punched Merlin into his uninjured shoulder.

Merlin frowned slightly, but he kept the smile.

On their left, they could see the sun setting. The last rays of the sun were illuminating the top of the castle and the tops of the trees all around them. Together with all the magic still hanging in the air from Sigan, it made the atmosphere a little eerie.

Merlin took the first step closer to the castle and Arthur joined him. When they got closer though, their smiles disappeared.

There was something white sticking out from underneath the stones that have fallen off the castle. It looked like a white branch, or- it was a bone. Merlin frowned slightly. Someone must have been here before, but the bone was so small, it couldn't have been anyone bigger than a-

"A child," Arthur finished Merlin's thoughts as he walked closer towards it. That was definitely a skeleton of a child. "Do you think . . . " Arthur looked up at him as he knelt down next to the stones.

Merlin knew what he was asking. They now knew that the old woman used to play around here, and maybe this was the reason she stopped and called the castle terrible.

Merlin only nodded at Arthur and then swallowed, looking around. They couldn't stay there for much longer, it was getting too dark. Arthur turned back to the skeleton with a sad frown on his face. Then he nodded as well and joined Merlin as they looked around the stones and the front wall of the castle.

"There's no door," Merlin pointed out after a while.

"Maybe the opening is on the other side," Arthur offered.

They split up then and each of them walked around the castle from a different side. Merlin walked right, while Arthur walked left. They met on the other side, but neither of them had found any door. Maybe it was just lost behind the stones and the skeleton. But that meant the door was blocked and there was no way inside.

"This looks more and more like some sort of a secret bunker instead of a castle," Merlin mumbled as he knocked the stone wall. He was pretty sure there were only more stones behind it and no opening.

"He didn't want anyone to discover this probably," Arthur said. "He's dedicated his life to cheating death, hasn't he? He must have protected this place somehow."

Merlin nodded. Arthur was right. They found the castle, but getting inside would not be easy.

He looked at the sunset. The sky was deep purple now with the sun and the clouds around it gold. He yawned again and then shook his head.

They were so close, they couldn't give up now.

"I think we should get some rest now," Arthur sighed. Merlin turned to him.

"What? We can't stop now, we're so close!"

"Merlin," Arthur sighed again. "We can't find a door, we need to spend the night here and continue in the morning. You know it's the best thing to do right now."

Merlin knew Arthur was right. But he didn't want to just stop now. He put his hand on the stone wall again and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, his eyebrow raised.

Merlin shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted and put his hand down. The magic in this place was strong, but that wouldn't help him. "You're right," he turned to him and sighed. It was getting dark fast now and at least here, they were protected.

No one would find them here.

"I don't hear that often," Arthur teased, but then yawned himself.

They both looked around to decide where to lie down. There really wasn't much to do now, they didn't have any blankets, so it didn't really matter where exactly they would stay. Somewhere close to the wall, probably.

They found a place where the wall of the castle met the high hill and sat down, leaning against the wall. Arthur took off Merlin's backpack and put it in between them. They were facing North again, and in the dark it was starting to get cold when they weren't moving.

Merlin took the backpack and put it next to him, slowly but surely moving closer to Arthur. It wasn't really about Arthur now, it was about warmth. He wasn't dressed for the cold and now that the sun was hidden and the night arrived, he felt colder than before when they kept walking.

He felt Arthur's eyes on him, but he didn't mind. And neither did Arthur when he scooted a tiny bit closer to Merlin.

"Thank you," Merlin thanked him.

"What for?" Arthur asked. Merlin could hear the confusion in his voice, but also how tired he was, just like him.

"For following me here when you didn't have to. I still think you should return to Camelot in case this doesn't work out-"

"Merlin-"

"You need to become the king, but I know there's no point in trying to persuade you. You're too stubborn."

He heard Arthur sigh and smiled.

"And thanks for keeping my backpack. It means a lot to me." Merlin added. He took the backpack and slowly opened it. There were four pieces of dried meat, the waterskin, his spell book and another thing hidden in a little bag.

Merlin carefully took the bag out and held it in his hands for a moment. Was this the right time to talk about this? Or wasn't it?

Arthur kept watching him curiously, Merlin was sure of it even if he couldn't see him.

Then he sighed and finally opened the little bag. Inside, there was a little wooden carved dragon.

"I was wondering what that was," Arthur said.

Merlin nodded. He felt tears in his eyes, but he willed them away and took a deep breath. His father died months ago, but it was still so hard to even think about it.

"My father gave this to me," he said after a while. His voice was weak, he knew that.

"I thought you said you never knew him and only had a faded memory," Arthur frowned. Merlin nodded.

"That was until . . . until Kilgharrah attacked Camelot." He swallowed.

He knew Arthur had many questions, but he thought that now, it was time for this one.

"What happened?"

"I finally met him," Merlin smiled briefly. "It's how I became the last Dragonlord," he added. He knew that now Arthur at least had an inkling of what this meant. "His name was Balinor."

Merlin brushed away his tears as he held the wooden dragon in his palms. He still remembered the morning he woke up to find this little toy in front of him. His father must have spent a long time making it after Merlin had fallen asleep.

"Merlin," he heard Arthur's voice. He was quiet too. "I'm so sorry,"

"It's not your fault, you don't have to be sorry," Merlin told him as he sniffled.

"I know, but I told you that no men were worth your tears," Arthur said. "I shouldn't have told you that, if I had known-"

"It wouldn't have changed anything, Arthur," Merlin finally looked at him, his eyes glassy. He hadn't realized how close Arthur was. They were sitting next to each other, their shoulders touching. "At least . . . at least I met him before he . . . "

Arthur nodded and Merlin looked away again. He brushed his thumb over the wooden surface of the dragon and smiled. "I thought you should know."

"Thank you for telling me this."

Merlin has probably never heard Arthur say thank you. He was glad. He didn't know where they were now with their relationship, whether it was still broken or repairing or with how Arthur was looking at him already back to normal.

It wasn't the same as before. There was something different and there always would be. And Merlin didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Back in Camelot, he's always felt safe with Arthur, but he could never tell him the truth. Now, Arthur was acting different around him because he knew he had magic. But there was this new openness that has never been there before.

Merlin knew that Arthur wanted to hear as much as he could about this newly discovered side of Merlin. But apart from before, now Merlin didn't mind telling Arthur. Nothing could be worse than his reaction to him having magic or him having released the dragon.

Arthur was accepting after everything that's happened. He was learning this new aspect of Merlin and probably for the first time in his entire life, he had an open mind about it.

He didn't want to lose Merlin as much as Merlin didn't want to lose him.

And Merlin felt warm inside when he realized this.

He turned to look at Arthur again. Their eyes locked, and Merlin looked away again after a moment, deep blush spreading across his cheeks.

Arthur looked . . . so kind.

Merlin didn't deserve that, but he accepted it for now. He was tired. But he still didn't think he could fall asleep.

"Do you . . . " He cleared his throat and put his little dragon back into the bag. "Do you want to see something?" He asked carefully. There was one more thing in his backpack that he wanted Arthur to see, but he wasn't sure if Arthur was ready for it.

"Don't do that," was the first thing Arthur had told him when he used magic in front of him for the first time. When it happened again and Merlin teleported them, or when Merlin put out the fire in the fireplace, or when he summoned Kilgharrah . . . Arthur didn't say anything.

Maybe he was ready.

"What is it?" Arthur asked. Merlin nodded and put the bag with the dragon back into his backpack. Then he slowly pulled out his spell book. It was thick and very old, filled with old papers with notes from him and Gaius, with illustrations on nearly every page.

It was one of the most valuable things among Merlin's possessions.

He carefully looked at Arthur and he saw that brief hesitation in his eyes. But then it disappeared and was replaced with acceptance. Arthur nodded.

"Is that your book of magic?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded. "It's the first thing Gaius gave me in Camelot when I arrived there. It used to be his."

Merlin opened the book, only to realize that in the dark they couldn't see anything. He glanced at Arthur again, hesitating for a moment, before he slowly reached out his hand and whispered a spell. "Leoht."

A beautiful orb of gentle blue light moving inside it appeared in front of them. It illuminated enough for them to see the pages of the book and to not cause any attention by animals that could have been in the forest. Merlin smiled when he saw the light and realized that Arthur didn't react in a negative way upon seeing him use magic.

Instead, Arthur breathed out, "It was you."

Merlin turned to him. "Yeah, I just created a light orb."

"No, I mean," for some reason, Arthur seemed confused. As if he had realized something. "It was you. In the cave. Almost three years ago."

"What?" Now Merlin was confused as well.

But Arthur was smiling. "When you drank the poison for me, Gaius told me there was only one way to save you. I had to bring the Mortaeus flower from the caves in the forest of Balor."

"I know," Merlin nodded. He remembered how touched he felt when Arthur was willing to die only to save him, a poor servant. He had thanked him for that.

"I didn't tell you, but . . . when I was trapped in the cave and losing my hope, suddenly a strange orb of light appeared. It provided light for me and guided me out of the cave to safety." Arthur looked at the light floating above Merlin's palm. "It looked exactly like this."

Merlin looked at the orb and then back at Arthur. "I . . . I don't remember doing this, but Gaius told me I had used magic while I was unconscious."

"You saved my life even when you didn't know about it," Arthur mused. Merlin smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Wow, you're thanking me rather often these days," Merlin chuckled, but blushed when he looked away and at the book in his other hand.

"Don't let it go to your head," Arthur replied. "And show me the book."

Merlin placed the book on his and Arthur's thighs that were touching, and opened it. Together, they flipped through one page after another. "These are the first spells that I learned in Camelot and used. I used this one to enchant the snakes on Sir Valiant's shield," Merlin commented on almost every page. "And this one to defeat the Griffin together with Lancelot."

"Wait, together?" Arthur frowned at him.

He knew this was coming. He sighed and nodded. "Lancelot knows about my magic."

That hurt in Arthur's face was clear. "You told Lancelot and not me?"

Merlin was already shaking his head. "I didn't tell him! I didn't want him to know, but . . . He saw me. I wasn't careful enough."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Well, that I can believe." He sighed. "If I had seen you use magic, I would have realized it."

Merlin pursed his lips. "You did see me use magic."

Arthur looked at him, confused again. "What? When?"

"When we were defending Ealdor, that was me who created the whirlwind."

Arthur's eyes softened again. "That was you?" He must have remembered that Will, Merlin's best friend died that day. "So your friend William-"

Merlin was already shaking his head. "He sacrificed himself for me. He told you he had magic because he wanted to protect me and he knew you couldn't have done anything to him. It was . . . It was too late for him."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said.

Merlin nodded. "It happened a long time ago."

He looked up into the sky. It was too dark now. The purple had faded away into dark black and the sun was long gone. The moon wasn't in the sky yet and the sky was only dotted by dozens of stars.

Merlin smiled. He didn't want to think about the negative side of his past. His father, Will . . . He didn't want to think about that.

The only thing he wanted to think about now was the way his and Arthur's shoulders and thighs were touching. The way Arthur inched a little closer to him to see the pages of his spell book better. The look on Arthur's face when he was curious.

The way this place and the stars above his head made him feel. They were barely illuminated and sitting so close to each other. Merlin would even dare to call this intimate.

He looked at Arthur again, a little smile on his face. Arthur was looking back at him.

The spark in his eyes . . . That smile . . . It was back. The way Arthur used to look at him when he thought Merlin couldn't see him. It was back.

And yet again, Merlin didn't know what to think. Did Arthur admire him? Did he value him as a friend? Because all Merlin could think about when he looked into his deep blue eyes was how much he was in love with this ridiculous dollophead.

He glanced down at his lips and then quickly turned away, staring at the sky again.

It was so hard to keep resisting. He's been in love with him for so long and this moment was playing with Merlin's heart. His heart that was repeating: kiss him kiss him kiss him, but his brain kept reminding him of their situation and that Arthur didn't feel the same.

Probably.

With how Arthur kept looking at him . . . It was hard to think about all this.

"Look!" Arthur smiled. "A shooting star."

It was gone in a fraction of a second, but Merlin saw it. "I saw it," he nodded.

"Make a wish," Arthur said. Merlin never took Arthur for a believer, but he guessed he was just tired.

Merlin knew what he wished. Right at this moment, he wished only for one thing. For Arthur to kiss him. It was a foolish wish, he knew that. He should have wished for this entire situation and problem to be solved, to have his old life back, but when he looked at Arthur . . . He realized that he no longer cared about that. He'd be fine. As long as he stayed with Arthur, he'd have his home.

"What did you wish?" Arthur asked him as he looked into his eyes.

Merlin smiled slightly. "You know it won't come true if I say it out loud."

He blushed again as he thought about his wish and what his heart kept telling him. Kiss him. It was the only thing he could think about and Arthur wasn't helping.

The prince chuckled as he looked at Merlin. Merlin didn't look away, and neither did Arthur. Their eyes locked and smiles slowly faded. Merlin licked his lips and noticed that Arthur followed the movement with his eyes.

They were so close. It seemed . . . Almost possible that . . . That his wish . . .

Arthur looked into his eyes, his breath becoming slightly faster. Merlin's heart was racing in his chest. He didn't know what to think. He looked into Arthur's eyes and then glanced at his lips again.

In that moment, Arthur moved a tiny bit closer, but Merlin saw it. They were closer now. His breath quickened as he realized what was happening. They've been staring at each other for far too long now to be just friends. Merlin leaned closer and Arthur took that as a cue.

He slowly leaned all the way in and with that, Merlin's wish came true.

Their lips touched.

It was soft, hesitant, slow. They didn't rush. They moved their lips just slightly, trying this out, not really sure what was happening between them just yet. They closed their eyes and let that thing just happen.

Arthur slowly moved his hand and placed it on Merlin's cheek, and then their lips disconnected and Merlin gasped. His lips were trembling and his breath was shuddering. His eyes were still closed and they didn't move away from each other at all.

Their noses were still touching.

Merlin didn't know what to do, so he just breathed. They breathed together, only now Merlin noticing his hand had found its way to Arthur's chest.

When Merlin opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that it was dark. His light orb had faded. Arthur opened his eyes a second after that. They stared at each other in the dark, both wide-eyed. What just happened? What did they do? Was this really, truly happening?

Could it have been that Merlin's feelings were not unrequited? That he was wrong about everything?

Could Arthur . . . love him too?

And then . . . Arthur smiled. It was a little smile, but Merlin could see it. And he couldn't help but return that smile, a silent breathless chuckle suddenly escaping him. Arthur laughed silently and the next thing Merlin knew, they both leaned in again, their lips meeting one more time.

This time it was more desperate, passionate, happy.

Merlin turned his entire body slightly closer to Arthur, just as Arthur did and now they could use both their hands to touch. To touch as much as they could, as much as they had both wanted to for such a long time.

Merlin's hand found its place in Arthur's blond hair, the other around his neck. Arthur's hands were around Merlin's waist and on his cheek. Merlin kissed him with everything he had and had been hiding, and Arthur was giving him everything he had in return. The amount of space between them could no longer be measured, it was nonexistent. They couldn't have possibly been closer to each other.

Suddenly, there was a crack. Merlin didn't pay much attention to it as he leaned into Arthur harder. Arthur kissed him and kissed him and kissed him and neither of them could get enough.

Then suddenly the crack was there again, but louder. Merlin frowned into the kiss, but didn't stop. He'd been waiting for this for too long, nothing could stop him from doing this. Doing this with Arthur.

But the sound returned and this time brought destruction with it. The wall beneath their backs suddenly fell inside and disappeared in the dark. They both gasped as they were pulled away from each other.

Merlin managed to grab the strap of his backpack just in time before they both disappeared into a deep dark hole, into the castle.

xoXÖXox

The first thing Kaunos did when he returned to his chambers after he had spoken to Uther and was given his permission to ride out and find Emrys and Arthur, was start pacing. He had to have a plan for how to do this. How to find Emrys.

He was so close to ending it all, and then the prince had to run into the flames and destroy everything. The only thing it did, besides letting them escape and making Uther believe his son was enchanted (which was ridiculous) was assure Kaunos that Merlin really was Emrys and that Prince Arthur was supposed to be the Once and Future King.

There was no doubt about it now. Not only did the handcuffs hurt the sorcerer, but what prince would be willing to run into a fire for a mere servant?

No, there was more going on. The books spoke of a prophecy of Emrys and The Once and Future King who worked together for a better future and were practically inseparable.

That was the definition of Merlin and the prince. Inseparable.

Kaunos stopped pacing and closed his eyes. The first thing he needed to figure out was where to find them. He was sure they were still together, either running away from Camelot or trying to find a way to return without consequences.

Kaunos had never seen a sorcerer escape and disappear like that. The way Merlin did it had to be with the help of very strong magic. They disappeared in a wind after all, but it wasn't strong enough to blow out the fire, it only made it more difficult for the knights to put out.

It did achieve something else though. The magical handcuffs were destroyed now. After the fire was killed and everything calmed down, Kaunos had walked to the destroyed pyre only to find a piece of metal on the stone ground. The handcuffs were no use to him anymore, and therefore he had to be prepared for Emrys differently.

He stood up and went to fetch a map of Camelot that he had hidden in between his books on the shelf. He returned to the table and spread the map across it, looking carefully for where Merlin and Arthur could have possibly appeared. They couldn't have travelled far.

Kaunos had never seen a sorcerer escape in a whirlwind, although he'd read about it. But again, this was Emrys he was talking about, the most powerful sorcerer to ever be. There was no telling where they were now.

But knowing how far such a spell could take a sorcerer wasn't the only thing that Kaunos knew. He'd learned a few tricks while living with the druids, and although he did not have magic, he knew what to do to make it work.

And desperate times called for desperate measures.

The witchfinder took his money and went to the market to buy a few specific herbs. Once he had them, he returned to his chambers and prepared everything on the table. Then he secretly entered the prince's chambers and examined his pillows, successfully finding a single blond hair. When he returned to his table, he had everything he needed to find the sorcerer and the prince.

He mixed the herbs together in water in his goblet and then added Arthur's hair. He stirred it and heated it up above a torch that he found in the hall and once it was done, he poured the substance on the map on his table.

"Arthur Pendragon," he whispered as the mixture slowly started to move, "and Emrys," the potion he'd made formed a small circle above the Vale of Denaria, North-East from Camelot.

"I'm coming."

xoXÖXox

At first Arthur's brain seemed to have frozen when he started kissing Merlin. His mind was completely blank and he wasn't able to form a single coherent thought. But now that Merlin was kissing him back and his hand was on Merlin's soft cheek, he was screaming inside.

He was kissing Merlin.

Merlin was kissing him.

He was kissing Merlin, his bloody manservant.

OH GOD

Everything stopped when he heard the loud crack though. His back suddenly lost support and he tried to pull Merlin closer to him because suddenly they were falling down and everything was dark.

Luckily, it wasn't a long fall. It was over in a second and now they were both lying next to or on a bunch of bricks and stones in complete darkness.

Fear gripped his heart.

"Merlin?" he gasped into the silence. "Merlin are you alright?"

Merlin answered him with a groan. Arthur quickly realized that he must have been only bruised, badly, but okay. Merlin's groan sounded more serious though. "Merlin?"

"I'm . . . I'm alive." It wasn't an okay but he was alive. Good.

"Thank god," Arthur sighed as he carefully tried to sit down. There was something that was not made of stones under his arm and when he touched it, he realized it was Merlin's book, now closed with the fall. He wouldn't be too happy about that, it must have been old.

But Merlin's life was much more important now.

"Where are you?" Arthur asked.

Suddenly, that same blue orb of light appeared above Merlin's face and he could see it slowly rising above both of them. Now he could see him. But his heart was still racing.

There were stones and old bricks around them, one of which was on Merlin's leg. And even with only the faint light, it didn't look good.

"You're hurt," Arthur said as he slowly stood up and grabbed the book, coming closer to Merlin. Merlin closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Then he propped himself up on his elbows and Arthur put down the book so that he could help him get into a sitting position.

With Arthur's help, Merlin managed to sit up and take a look at his leg. There was a brick on his shin. It wasn't big, but Arthur could tell it must hurt.

Merlin stared at the injury and then said, "It's not serious," as if he was trying to convince himself. But Arthur wasn't buying it, he's seen many injuries over the years, and although this was wasn't fatal, it wasn't merely a scratch either.

"Merlin, you're hurt," Arthur repeated. He saw Merlin only swallow and continue staring at the stone. Then he blinked and looked around.

"My backpack?"

Arthur looked around together with Merlin, and they found it behind

Merlin's head. Arthur grabbed it and put the book inside to keep Merlin's possessions safe. Then he moved closer to Merlin's leg and examined the wound.

"It's bleeding," Arthur realized out loud. "You'll have to use magic to heal it."

Merlin looked worried. "I'm not good with healing spells," he raised his eyebrows.

"You healed my arm, you can do this," Arthur encouraged him.

Merlin bit down his lower lip and then nodded. Arthur slowly took hold of the stone and-

"Ah!"

"Sorry."

-and removed it from Merlin's leg. Now he had a much better view of the injury. The orb of light flew closer to him to illuminate Merlin's leg, and Arthur inspected it.

"The bone's not broken," he informed Merlin. "You'll live."

Merlin sighed and let his head fall backwards. Then he took a deep breath and looked at Arthur again. Arthur moved closer to him to help him sit up straighter as Merlin reached out his hand and hovered with his palm above his injured leg.

"Um," he cleared his throat, "Ge hailige," Merlin whispered and Arthur watched as his eyes shone with gold and then faded away into the darkness. He looked down at the wound, but it looked the same. He turned back to Merlin, who seemed distressed. "Ge hailige!" he repeated, but it didn't work. "Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle." Merlin tried again. And then, "Licsar gestapol nu!"

Nothing worked.

For such a powerful sorcerer, Merlin really sucked at healing magic.

"It's not working, I can't do it," Merlin sighed.

But Arthur wouldn't let Merlin give up. "Are these all the healing spells that you know?"

"I know one more," Merlin sighed and placed his hand above the wound again. Arthur covered his hand with his and squeezed gently, trying to give Merlin support. Merlin looked at him and then blinked, clearing his throat. "Um, Purhhaele dolgbenn!" His eyes flashed gold, but when Arthur put away his and Merlin's hand, the wound was still there.

Merlin groaned.

And Arthur didn't know what to do. He couldn't use Merlin's dirty neckerchief or the rest of his tunic for such an open wound, it would get infected. It wasn't bleeding much anymore, but he still couldn't risk it. And there were no clean bandages nearby like there were in the tavern. The only bandages Merlin still wore on his shoulder and wrists were already dirty too and he couldn't use them.

"Maybe . . . maybe there are more healing spells in your spell book," Arthur offered and moved to open the backpack, but Merlin shook his head and stopped him.

"No, these are all that I know from that book."

Arthur sighed.

"But maybe," Merlin mused, "maybe we find some healing spells in Sigan's work. They should be more powerful."

"That's not a horrible idea," Arthur briefly closed his eyes in relief. At least he had hope now. "But we'll have to move, I'm not leaving you down here in the dark, who knows what's hiding here."

Merlin nodded. "We'll have to find some stairs." He added as he used his hand and a flash of gold eyes to make the orb of light slightly bigger. He reached his other hand for Arthur and after Arthur put the backpack on his back, he took it and in one quick movement pulled Merlin up.

Merlin immediately let half of his weight fall on Arthur, but Arthur was prepared for that and supported him. He threw one of Merlin's arms around his shoulders and looked around. Merlin jumped on his one uninjured leg to turn around to where Arthur was looking and to gain better stability.

He guided the orb of light farther away from them to see the corners of the dark room. As they found themselves in darkness again, the light allowed them to see that in front of them there was a wall. The light followed the wall and they followed the light with their eyes. The light revealed to them that they had landed in a room that was most likely a cellar.

There was an old broken chair as well as a few barrels just lying or standing around. Four unlit torches in each corner of the room, and only one entrance leading into more darkness.

Merlin looked at Arthur and Arthur nodded. "Let's hope it leads somewhere better than here," he said.

"Just . . . go slowly," Merlin reminded him. Arthur rolled his eyes. Of course he was going to walk slowly, Merlin was injured.

They finally started moving. Arthur made short, slow steps as Merlin clung to him and jumped on his one leg next to him.

It was slow, but they made it to the opening and the light guided them inside, still providing light. They entered a hall that ended in stairs on the other side.

They started moving again, when suddenly Arthur stepped on something that moved down. All he heard was a woosh sound of something flying through the air and Merlin's cry of "Arthur!", and when he turned to look, he found an arrow floating in the air a few inches away from his face. His eyes were wide and Merlin's eyes were gold. The gold faded and the arrow fell down on the stone ground.

Arthur's heart raced in his chest when he realized he had almost died just then. If it wasn't for Merlin he would be dead. Probably many, many times.

"Thanks," he muttered, still in shock.

"Just be careful where you step. This happened to someone in Camelot when they opened the tomb."

They began walking again, and slowly and carefully made their way up the wide spiral stairs until they finally reached a room that looked to be in better shape than the room they had left.

There seemed to be tiny narrow holes in the walls that must have substituted for windows but were useless now in the night. At least they let in fresh air.

The light orb slowly circled the dust filled room and stopped above their heads in the centre.

There was an old table with a goblet filled with black raven quills. There were many faded papers and books lying on the table. Old locked drawers that only reminded Arthur of the frantic search for the key to the handcuffs. There were shelves around the room with little statues of birds, mainly ravens, and shelves filled with books.

They had found the room where Sigan used to work in secret.

"We need to find the healing spell," Merlin muttered next to him. He sounded tired.

Arthur immediately started to move towards the table with books. "Sigan left this place unexpectedly, didn't he?" He must have when he was sentenced to death. That would have left his work unfinished right there on the table.

"I'm not sure, they could have sentenced him to death in Camelot, in which case he would have left this place, not knowing what was about to happen." Merlin replied quietly.

"Let's just hope his work is on the table in these books and not anywhere else." Arthur sighed as they slowly made their way towards the table and stopped. Arthur carefully sat Merlin down into Sigan's old chair and hoped it wouldn't break.

When it didn't, he turned to the other side of the table and blew air on the books. Dust flew off them, but a lot of it still remained. Arthur just hoped the spells in these books were readable. He reached for the first of them and dusted it off with his palm to read the title.

"This looks like his diary," he informed Merlin who had leaned against the dusty table to rest.

Arthur opened the book and carefully flipped through the pages. It was filled with sentences and pictures of Sigan's findings of death, dying, souls, and jewels, but there were no healing spells. Arthur flipped to the end of the book and skimmed the pages.

"Wait," Arthur stopped as his finger landed on a phrase he was familiar with. "He's writing about us, the Once and Future King and Emrys."

"Arthur," Merlin moaned.

"Right," Arthur set the book aside and left it open. Then he opened the second book and started flipping through the pages right away. It was filled with strange words written in red and gold ink. "This looks a bit like your book."

Merlin reached out his hand and Arthur moved the heavy book closer to him. Merlin looked at it and nodded, closing his eyes in concentration. "Onhríne achtung bregdan."

The book magically opened and the pages started moving quickly while Merlin's eyes moved under his eyelids. One page after another landed on the other side of the book until it all stopped on one specific page. "Here," Merlin sighed.

Arthur figured that after this, nothing could surprise him anymore.

Merlin pointed at the spell written in gold ink and read it. Then he bent down to position his hand above his wound and whispered, "Purhhaele licsar min."

When he opened his eyes again, Arthur could see the gold fading into blue and when he looked down at Merlin's wound, he could still see the last bits of the wound and broken skin mending together. He's never seen anything like it.

He was just glad that Merlin was alright again.

"It worked!" Arthur smiled at him.

Merlin returned the smile and used the spell to heal his shoulder and wrists and each time it worked like a miracle. Now all they had to do was find the spell for wiping memories and read a bit about themselves in the diary that Sigan wrote-

But when Arthur saw Merlin's heavy eyelids, he knew that that had to wait. They've been on their legs the entire day with little to no food or water. They needed to rest now.

"Come on," Arthur smiled at him. "Let's hope there's a comfortable bed here too."

Merlin nodded as he stood up on his own, no longer needing Arthur's help. "Let's hope so, I miss my bed."

Arthur chuckled and they left the room, walking to the only other door with stairs that led higher. The light guided them and they were careful to not step on any stones that activated traps. Luckily, Sigan probably didn't have the nerve to deal with such hidden weapons on his way to bed, so they didn't find any.

Instead, they found another room with tiny narrow windows. There were more shelves and books, a desk in the corner and a bed with black pillows and blanket in the middle. It was big enough for two people, but it was a single bed. And very dusty.

While Merlin held the light above Arthur's head, Arthur moved to the bed and took hold of the blankets. He quickly lifted them into the air and let them fall down again, ridding them of as much dust as he could. The cloud of dust now filled half of the room, but eventually settled down on the ground. Merlin used his magic to rid the blanket and pillows of dust more effectively and yawned again when it was done.

Arthur yawned too and flipped both the pillows and the blanket. He felt weird when he realized he would be sleeping in the bed that Cornelius Sigan once slept in, but they didn't have a choice. They both needed rest.

"I wish the windows were bigger," Merlin sighed as he looked through one of them and finally saw a tiny bit of the moon.

He was right. The temperature outside was low, but here? The windows were so small that all the heat that was in the room with them stayed there. It wasn't cold at all, almost quite the opposite in fact.

"I'm definitely getting rid of this," Arthur pointed at his chainmail and his armour.

Merlin only nodded. Then he stepped closer to Arthur and helped him out of the metal plates on his chest and arms. He removed the belt, standing just a little too close to Arthur, just close enough for Arthur to be able to feel his breath. He shuddered at the sensation.

But soon it was gone as Merlin stepped aside and cleared his throat. "Thanks," Arthur nodded and finally got himself out of the chainmail himself. That wasn't hard. He then also removed the padded jacket that he wore under that and was now only left with his tunic and trousers. He wasn't getting naked in such an old dirty bed that his enemy used to sleep in.

Arthur watched as Merlin removed his jacket, neckerchief and his tunic. He still had his other tunic underneath, even though it was a little torn from when Arthur used it to make Merlin's first bandage.

Merlin caught Arthur staring and Arthur looked away.

It was back. Those glances. They'd always been there between them, quick, hesitant, secret . . . But they had been there. Until Merlin ran away and changed everything. But now? They were there again, and this time, Arthur knew what they meant.

That he was wrong and Merlin did return his feelings.

Why else would they have kissed like that?

It still made Arthur feel all funny inside when he thought about that. And how much he wanted it to happen again.

He removed his high boots and sat down on the bed. Merlin watched him as he also removed his boots and waited until Arthur moved to his side of the bed. Then Merlin got into the bed too, and they both just . . . sat there. Next to each other.

This was the first time they would sleep so close to one another. Almost touching. They would be sharing a bed. Such things were unheard of between royals and their servants.

But Merlin wasn't just Arthur's servant, was he? He was his friend, his love. Yes, he did lie for a very long time, but it didn't change how Arthur felt about him one bit. And just a few days ago, Arthur had been angry with himself because of that, but now he wasn't anymore. He'd learned to accept it.

Eventually Merlin lay down and covered himself carefully with the blanket. Arthur let his head hit the pillow as well.

They lay there together in silence, their shoulders, hips and legs touching under the blanket. It was a new feeling for Arthur. Almost surreal. He's never been this close to anyone in his entire life.

He opened his mouth to say good night, but instead of that, Merlin said something first.

"You kissed me," he mumbled.

A warm smile replaced Arthur's slightly awkward expression. "The way I remember it, you kissed me."

Merlin shook his head because that wasn't the point. "We kissed." He repeated with the same amount of amazement.

"We did." Arthur confirmed. Because it did happen, right? This wasn't just a dream.

"I didn't know you . . . felt that way about me," Merlin whispered into the dark. The orb of light has long since disappeared.

Arthur swallowed. He wasn't good at talking about this. About anything that concerned his feelings. But for Merlin, he'd always make an exception.

"I have for a long time."

Merlin was silent for a moment. "Me too."

Arthur nodded, although Merlin couldn't see it. Then he slowly moved his hand underneath the blanket and found Merlin's hand. He . . . touched it. Hesitantly.

He heard Merlin swallow as he allowed him to take his hand. They entwined their fingers and Arthur's heart jumped in his chest. He couldn't feel happier.

Merlin brushed his thumb up and down Arthur's palm and scooted a tiny bit closer to Arthur.

"Good night, Arthur," he whispered.

"Good night, Merlin."

They both closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep, still holding hands.

xoXÖXox

Merlin has never slept so soundly and comfortably. He dreamt of flying dragons and Arthur by his side, all their problems gone and only happiness. He was happy. He is happy.

He slowly woke up to a touch. He didn't open his eyes, he didn't want to just yet. He wanted to just lie there in the sensation of Arthur's thumb brushing up and down Merlin's bare stomach.

Their hands were still entwined, but now Merlin was lying on his side and Arthur was lying behind him, his strong hand holding Merlin's under Merlin's tunic. He could feel Arthur's breath on his neck and his eyes on his face.

He couldn't help but smile.

It was warm there in between them. Their bodies were so close together, almost skin on skin, that Merlin almost thought he was still dreaming. He shuddered when he felt a slightly cold puff of air arrive from one of the tiny windows.

Arthur scooted closer to him and hugged him more tightly.

This wasn't a dream.

This was reality, no matter how hard it was to believe it.

He felt Arthur's hair behind him, and his chin close to his shoulder, his chest pressed against Merlin's back.

Arthur's hand moved a tiny bit underneath Merlin's tunic and Merlin laughed softly. It tickled a bit, which triggered instant goosebumps.

"Good morning," he heard Arthur whisper behind him.

Merlin never thought he'd hear him say that so softly. He usually just groaned when Merlin pulled back the curtains in his chambers, but then again, he's never been together with Arthur in his bed when that happened.

"Good morning," Merlin replied, finally opening his eyes.

The room in front of him was still dusty and mostly dark. Only a fraction of the light came in through the windows, making the dust in the air visible to them. Sigan must have relied on torches.

Merlin squeezed Arthur's hand under his tunic and took a deep breath. He's never felt better. All the horrors from his past had seemed to disappear as he was lying there with Arthur holding him.

After a moment, when Merlin felt more awake, he slowly turned around to face Arthur. He had to laugh when he saw him. His hair was tousled like never before and he still looked sleepy, but he had a smile on his face.

His smile turned to worry though. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, only making Merlin laugh again. "Is there something on my face?"

Merlin bit his lip to stifle his laughter. "I think there's something missing from your face, actually."

Arthur frowned. "What is it-"

But Merlin already leaned closer and kissed him. Arthur was surprised, but he kissed back eagerly, smiling into the kiss.

They did it again. They kissed. For the third time.

When they parted, Merlin was grinning. "I kissed you," he told Arthur, who was grinning back.

"You did," he leaned closer to Merlin again and kissed his lips softly. "And now I kissed you."

"Do it again," Merlin pleaded him and Arthur smirked at him, leaning harder into the kiss and then moving his lips to Merlin's jaw.

Merlin was in heaven. He was. He must have died somewhere along the way, probably from exhaustion or starvation and now he was in heaven.

As Arthur kissed him and moved his arm to touch more of Merlin, his fingers brushed across the huge scar on Merlin's chest. Arthur gasped into the kiss and stopped.

When they realized what happened, both of them stopped smiling.

"Sorry," Arthur mumbled as he started moving his hand away, but Merlin stopped him with his hand over his.

"It's okay," he whispered. "It doesn't hurt."

They were silent for a little while, Arthur's palm across Merlin's scar. Their eyes locked again and they seemed to have an entire conversation without a sound, just by looking at each other.

Merlin nodded slightly and swallowed.

It was time for the truth that he'd promised Arthur.

"It's-"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Arthur shook his head. It was a sweet gesture from him, something that Merlin has never seen Arthur do before for anyone. He always wanted to know all the answers, but from this one sentence only, Merlin could hear how much Arthur actually cared.

Merlin smiled and squeezed Arthur's hand again, his fingers falling in between Arthur's. Arthur glanced down at his chest, where their hands were under Merlin's tunic and squeezed back.

"I want to tell you." Merlin nodded at him. "You deserve to know."

Arthur only nodded, leaning a little closer to Merlin again. Then he kissed his lips as a thank you and looked into his eyes again.

Merlin took a deep breath and began. "It's . . . it's from Nimueh." Merlin didn't know whether Arthur remembered that name or not, but he didn't say anything and let Merlin continue. "She was a powerful sorceress, a high priestess of the Old Religion. You've met her, twice."

Arthur frowned at him in confusion.

"You wouldn't remember her the first time. She disguised herself as a servant for King Bayard and changed his goblet that was meant for you for a poisoned one. Then she told me about it, and I drank from it."

"She was after me?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head. "No, she was after me because I had helped you defeat the Afanc that she had created to weaken Camelot." Arthur nodded, and Merlin continued. "Then you met her when you went to the forest of Balor to find the Morteaus flower. Gaius told me that she had trapped you in the cave."

Arthur nodded at that. "I remember her. She told me it was not my destiny to die at her hand and then she just left me there."

"Well, that wasn't the last thing she did. When you got hurt by the Questing Beast, I met her again. I tried everything I could, but you were dying," Merlin's heart filled with tears, but he willed them away. "And I came to the dragon, who told me to go to the Isle of the Blessed. That's where she lived. She held the power of life and death and . . . And I was prepared to sacrifice my life to let you live."

Arthur frowned at him. "That was . . . That's when you came to me before you left. I didn't know what came over you, you were acting so weird-"

"I was saying goodbye," Merlin nodded at him. "I told you that I was happy to be your servant till the day I die, and that's still true. I'd die for you, Arthur."

Arthur squeezed his hand again and frowned at him, but with love in his eyes. "I'll never let that happen. If you die . . . Then I have no reason to be alive."

Merlin pursed his lips at that. He didn't know what to say. The amount of sheer affection he was receiving from Arthur was so unusual, but Merlin welcomed it.

Arthur loved him. He did.

Just as Merlin loved Arthur.

He nodded and continued. "But even though I made the decision, she held the power of life and death and decided that I couldn't die for you. Our destiny was merely at the beginning, and so the next morning, I found . . . I found my mother at our doorstep. She was ill, almost dead."

Arthur frowned at him in worry again.

"I wanted to go and change my life for hers, but Gaius got to the Isle first," Merlin felt the hot tears in his eyes again and he brushed them away with his sleeve of his free hand. Arthur caught the remaining ones with his thumb. "When I arrived there, Gaius was almost already dead, and I didn't know what to do, so I . . . I fought Nimueh."

"Alone?" Arthur asked him in worry.

Merlin nodded. Then he moved his hand and let Arthur feel his scar on his chest. "She used a fireball against me and hit me." Arthur gasped when he realized that scar was caused by fire - it was always fire. "But I managed to kill her. I used the lightning."

"What?"

"I used the lightning," Merlin repeated. "And it started raining. She died, and with her life gone, Gaius came back to life. Once again, the balance was restored to nature."

Arthur frowned at him, even more confused. "What does that even mean?"

Merlin just shrugged. "I have no idea," he replied and then thought about it again. "For a life to be saved, another life must be sacrificed. She lost her life and that meant that Gaius could live."

"I'm glad you're okay," Arthur told him. Then he leaned closer to him and kissed him again and Merlin closed his eyes, kissing back.

As they were kissing, Merlin's stomach made an unhappy sound. He laughed into the kiss and so did Arthur.

"We don't have much food left," Merlin reminded him, but Arthur only nodded.

"We've got enough for now."

They disentangled themselves from each other - legs, arms - and pulled back the blanket. Despite them trying to clean it the day before, it let out a huge cloud of dust.

Merlin quickly got out of bed, his leg not bothering him anymore, and Arthur did the same. They put on their boots and other clothes, and Merlin helped Arthur get into his chainmail and the armour.

When they were done, they ate together. Each of them ate one piece of dried meat, leaving them with two more spare pieces. They snapped the carrot in half and ate that too and finished with a gulp of water. Then they finally left the small bedroom and went back down the stairs into the room where they had found the table and books..

"We need to find the spell," Merlin said as he went over to the table. There was the diary that Arthur had opened the day before and Merlin couldn't resist but to read a bit from the opened page. Arthur came to stand behind him as Merlin read out loud.

"There will come a time of Emrys and the Once and Future King. The prophecies are true, I've seen the future, I've seen him. The only one that can be more powerful than me."

"Wow," Arthur commented. "He doesn't like you."

"He didn't like me," Merlin corrected him. He would never allow Sigan to return to haunt them.

Merlin moved his finger over the lines as he continued, "I can't allow that. He can't be defeated, but I can make him rule alongside me. Or take his power. I will be long gone when he sees the world for the first time, but I can never be defeated either. One day, I will return.

"First, I need to finish this and carve the jewel from the Crystal Cave."

"Hm," Merlin shrugged. "I've never heard of a crystal cave," he frowned.

"Does he say anything about me?" Arthur asked as he moved closer to the book and read from the page. "Emrys, power, souls, magic . . . Where's the Once and Future King?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Wait," then he concentrated on the book and repeated the spell from before. "Onhríne achtung bregdan." His eyes flashed gold and the book started moving. Then it stopped on one page and Merlin's eyes turned blue again.

Arthur watched him and when Merlin finished, he looked at the book again and skimmed the pages. "Here?" he pointed at his name. "I still do not know what the real name of the Once and Future King is, but together with Emrys, he is to be undefeated as well. There will be a new kingdom for him to rule. Albion. But not if I can rule it with Emrys by my side and make him do as I wish."

With that the diary ended. It was the last page. Arthur turned it over and then again, but it really was the only mention of him.

"I hate this man more and more," Arthur frowned.

"Come on, we need to find the spell."

Arthur nodded and handed Merlin the book where they found the healing spell. Merlin used the same spell again and searched through the book, but when the book closed and he found nothing, his doubts appeared again.

"It's got to be here somewhere," Arthur assured him and touched his shoulder in support. Merlin nodded.

"There are more books here," he said as he stood up. "And he was very powerful, he had to have more than one spell book."

"Then let's search for it," Arthur turned around. There were many books on the shelves, and they had to have titles on their covers.

Merlin stood up and together they started going through the books. Mostly they were just about different herbs, or even about history. Many of them were about birds and ravens. They took every book that they couldn't read the title of or that seemed to contain spells.

They put them all on the table and one by one, Merlin used the spell on each of them.

"Onhríne achtung bregdan," he whispered again and again. One by one, the books closed, having nothing in them that Merlin needed.

When the last one closed and they still had no results, Merlin started to panic. Maybe the spell wasn't here, it was just a guess after all. No one knew if it was here. Maybe Cornelius never wrote it down and took the spell to his grave, which meant that Merlin would never return to Camelot and-

"Hey," Arthur said softly and laid his hand on Merlin's shoulder to calm him down. He must have seen how panicky Merlin was getting. Merlin put his hand over Arthur's and closed his eyes. "It's here," Arthur assured him. "It's probably just hidden."

Merlin nodded. "We need to search the whole room," he said as he looked around. There wasn't much to search through though. There was a statue of a raven next to the table, more unlit torches, the table and the shelves- "the table!" Merlin exclaimed as he let go of Arthur and came closer to the table. "It's got drawers, there's got to be something hidden inside."

Arthur smiled at him. "Where else would he hide it after all," he nodded and went closer. He tried the drawers, but they were all locked. Before he could say anything, Merlin was already reaching out his hand toward the locks.

"This is no problem," he smiled as he whispered, "To springe!" The drawers all opened with ease and Arthur's eyes widened in awe.

"This would have been really useful when I-"

"When what?" Merlin asked him as he was already searching through the drawers.

Arthur swallowed. "Nothing, let's looks inside."

They opened the first one - there were only old pieces of coal for drawing, more black quills and faded papers. Other drawers contained the same until the last one - there was a book.

"Yes!" they both exclaimed at the same time as they took the book and put it on the table.

Merlin took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he concentrated. One last time. This had to be it.

"Onhríne achtung bregdan."

He searched and searched, images and words flashing through his mind as his eyes moved under his closed eyelids. Then one word stopped him. He gasped as the book stopped moving and opened on a page. There was a spell written in gold ink and as Merlin leaned closer to read it, he knew it was it.

"That's it!" He laughed as he hugged Arthur. Arthur hugged him back and kissed his neck with happiness. Merlin sighed into that and then pulled away, looking at the book again.

"I knew you'd find it." Arthur smiled at him.

"This book is full of very powerful spells," Merlin told him. "They could all prove to be useful, I need to take it with me."

"We'll take the book then-"

"Books." Merlin corrected him as he reached for the book where he'd found the healing spell. He stuffed it into his backpack and smiled at Arthur. "This will allow me to be prepared for the future."

"I think you're already prepared enough," Arthur smiled at him.

"We'll see."

Merlin sat down to look at the spell that erased memories and read it a few times in his mind. "This is a very powerful spell, we need to be careful with it."

"You need to be careful," Arthur reminded him. "I just need to make sure to stay close to you as you cast it."

Merlin smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll let you remember everything."

"I sure hope so, I can't wait to show you how much better my own bed in Camelot is," Arthur smirked.

Merlin blushed at that and then smiled. "I can't wait for you to show me," he replied. Arthur beamed at his answer. "Now come on, we should head back to Camelot to cast the spell."

Merlin took the book of spells and put it into his backpack. Now it was much heavier with three books in it.

Arthur took his sword that he left in the bedroom, Merlin adjusted the backpack on his back and they headed back down the stairs to the cellar. Arthur reached out his hand and Merlin took it, entwining their fingers and using his other hand to create the light orb to guide them through the darkness.

They successfully went past the trap without activating it again and with some magic managed to climb up the hole in the wall that they created the day before as they kissed and leaned against the wall. They still hadn't found any other entrance to the castle, but there must have been one.

Once they were outside and could breathe freely again without the dust everywhere, they took a deep breath and set off South-West, in the direction of Camelot.

Nothing happy lasted forever though. Because as they rounded the corner of the castle, they both halted in their tracks.

They weren't alone.

"What's the matter, you didn't think I would find you?" They heard a familiar voice that had a very familiar face. That face wore a satisfied smile. "Hello again."

"Kaunos."

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This chapter includes a lot of art, including a map of the village, the castle, the circle of stones and the forests around. Head over to ao3 to see it! :)

Vale of Denaria is on the official Camelot map by BBC. It's located above the Mountains of Andor, close to Mercia.

SPELLS

- "Leoht" - It means "light" and was used by Merlin in 4x01 The Darkest Hour Part 1. He created a sphere of light in his palm. In this fanfic though (for the purpose of they really need to talk about this), I made this spell create a light orb above his palm, which Merlin created in 1x04 The Poisoned Chalice, to guide Arthur out of the caves of Balor, where Nimueh had trapped him. In 1x04 when Merlin creates the light orb, he does whisper a spell, but to be honest, the translation doesn't really make sense (it's an opening line from Beowulf and the translation has nothing to do with light or anything), so instead I used the simple spell used in 4x01. I hope this makes sense. :D

- "Ge hailige" - It means "heal together" and was used by Merlin on Arthur in 3x12 The Coming of Arthur Part One, but it didn't work.

- "Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle!" - used in 1x13 Le Morte d'Arthur by Merlin. According to Merlin's Complete Guide it means "Cure. Make well." And the possible translation is "Heal the injury! Heal thoroughly!"

- "Licsar gestapol nu!" - used in 3x05 The Crystal Cave again, by Merlin. It means "Behold, you support the mortal wound!"

- "Purhhaele dolgbenn" - used in 3x05 The Crystal Cave by Merlin. It means "Heal thoroughly the wound."

- "Onhríne achtung bregdan." - This spell was used by Merlin in 1x02 Valiant, when he opened an etiquette book with magic - the book opened itself. It means "Lay hold of honor, move it quickly." (Note: achtung is an unknown word in English; possibly German for attention/recognition/honor.)

- "Purhhaele licsar min" - It means "heal thorougly my body wound" and was used by Gilli in 3x11 The Sorcerer's Shadow.

- "Tospringe" - It means "open quickly" and was used for example in episodes 2x01 The Curse of Cornelius Sigan, when Merlin escapes from the cell, or in 2x03 The Nightmare Beings, when Merlin blows off the gate.