AN: Merlin continues to not be mine.

Alright. I'm not sure how I did with this chapter in getting everyone's reactions. The most of Arthur's angstyness has gone, I think. I wrote out everyone's reactions, and then I was like "oh." because everyone was kind of quick to forgive Merlin. But I tried to be as accurate as I could, and anyway (SPOILER ALERT) in the finale Gwen didn't seem the least bit angry when she found out who Merlin really was.

Merlin had magic.

Magic.

Merlin.

He'd accepted it, but it still shocked him every time he realized it once again.

Arthur scrunched up his face against the internal battle that was happening inside his head. He couldn't deny that Merlin's explanation had made him feel a little better, but he was not quite ready to let it go yet.

Because even though he knew the laws, knew the punishment Merlin would suffer if anyone found out, he couldn't help feeling hurt that Merlin had never told him. He'd shared everything with Merlin, asked for his advice, and his servant was one of the only people who truly understood him. His servant had always said the king had never really figured him out, and frankly, the king agreed. He didn't understand Merlin's weird quirks, but he never imagined that he would be hiding something this big or this important. And it all came down to the fact that Merlin didn't trust him enough.

But then, did he even deserve Merlin's trust? He had been moments away from killing the man in blind hate. He'd killed Merlin's kin, and for all he knew he'd killed a friend of his. Not to mention Arthur was constantly preaching about the evils of magic. It would have been so easy for Merlin to give up on him and turn into another Morgana.

Still. The fact remained that Merlin had lied to him all this time. And there were probably more secrets that he'd neglected to bring up. Magic was evil. How did he know Merlin hadn't, at some point, used his magic for something other than protecting the king?

It seemed unlikely. But then again, it had seemed impossible that his trusted servant would turn out to be a sorcerer.

He sighed. He knew he would not end up killing Merlin. He would not humiliate the man by burning him in the courtyard for everyone to see when the man was already dying.

But then Arthur realized that even if he forgave Merlin, he would still indirectly have killed him. Because Merlin ended the curse for him. Once again, he owed his life to his servant-turned-sorcerer.

Why did Merlin always make it so hard to stay mad at him?

He sighed again. He would just have to listen to the rest of Merlin's explanation later and reserve judgement until he'd heard everything. He looked over at the servant. He'd been out cold for a while now. He felt a prickle of worry. Merlin was unnaturally still...

"Merlin," he said, shaking the thin man slightly. When nothing happened, he shook him harder. "Merlin," he said, slightly more urgently.

Finally, the blue orbs appeared from under their lids. "Arthur? Wasgoingon?"

"We need to continue on our journey back to Camelot," the king explained, trying to ignore his servant's deathly pale pallor or the faint wheezing of his breath. "Maybe Gaius can help you."

Merlin clearly doubted he could, but nonetheless he stood shakily and let Arthur help him onto his horse. Arthur packed up everything, taking over Merlin's usual duties.

The king was glad he thought to tie down the servant to his horse, because minutes after they started their journey, Merlin's head began to droop, his energy continuing to leave him as it went into ending the curse. Arthur rode next to him, guiding the horse when necessary and checking every so often to make sure the sorcerer was still alive.

They rode quickly, but it was still many hours before they arrived in Camelot. The horses' hooves thundered through the gates, startling some of the peasants. They did not stop, but headed straight for the courtyard in front of the castle.

He heard sounds of surprise, and remembered dimly that he was not expected to have survived. He saw Gwen's face in the window, which quickly adopted a shocked expression. He knew everyone would have questions, but right now Merlin needed Gaius.

To his surprise, Gaius was waiting for them, not looking the least surprised. When they came near enough, he said "How is he?", his eyes on the limp figure on the horse behind the king.

"You knew!" Arthur blurted out, and heard the accusation in his tone.

Gaius merely raised his eyebrow, and Arthur felt a little stupid. Of course Gaius had known of Merlin's stupid plan.

"Can you help him?" he asked, just as Guinevere appeared on the steps.

"Arthur!" she exclaimed, and threw her arms around him. "What happened? I thought-"

She broke off, having spotted Merlin. "Merlin? Arthur, what's wrong with him?!"

The king almost winced. He was not looking forward to explaining to everybody. He glanced at Merlin's limp form, then at Gaius. The two of them silently agreed that the sorcerer didn't have long.

"Gaius, help me take Merlin to your chambers so you can do what you can for him. Guinevere, you go get the knights and tell them to meet me in Gaius's chambers."

"Which knights?" Gwen said, still eying Merlin.

Arthur swallowed. "You know which ones."

Their eyes met, and he could see she understood he meant 'the ones closest to Merlin'.

She ran off to find them, and he untied his servant from the horse and carried him through the castle to Gaius's chambers. Merlin did not stir once, and Arthur could only hope they'd get there in time. He suddenly realized this was what Percival must have felt like carrying Merlin after his stunt with dorocha.

"Can you do anything for him?" he muttered to Gaius as the physician examined his ward.

The look on Gaius's face was answer enough.

"He's not dead yet. It seems he took some kind of potion that is slowly draining his energy and putting it towards forcing the curse back into the chest. Since the curse is so strong, it takes a lot of power to defeat it, which is why Merlin's entire lifeforce must be taken."

He said all this with an expressionless voice, but Arthur could see the grief the old physician felt in his eyes. He knew it wasn't really the time, but he said "your opinion of him isn't different because he's a sorcerer?"

He wanted to take it back as soon as he said it, knowing how painful this must be for the old man. But Gaius gave him an understanding smile.

"Of course it is different. I respect him for using his powers for good, even when so many others have given in to dark magic to get what they want. I admire him more for getting through everything he has and still managed to keep his head on straight. And I also feel sorry for him because he was forced into his destiny with no choice in the matter."

Arthur barely had time to process this before the door banged violently open.

"Where is he?!"

Gwaine's demanding voice echoed around the stone room. Elyan, Percival, Leon and Gwen were close behind him.

When his eyes landed on the pale figure on the cot before him, Gwaine sucked in a breath, and he too suddenly looked pale. He then proceeded to demand what had happened to the servant.

"Gwaine." Arthur held up a hand to calm the knight. "Everyone, sit down. I have some explaining to do...seeing as Merlin isn't really in any condition to do it himself."

The knights and Gwen obeyed, Gwaine rather reluctantly. The king took a deep breath, and began to tell them everything that had happened, starting when he opened the box and ending with their return to Camelot.

When he was done, they all sat in shocked silence. Gwaine looked the least surprised.

"Did you know?" Arthur asked the drunk.

"No, but now that you say it makes lots of sense," Gwaine replied. "Whenever something happens, he seems to know what's going on, and you two always seem to get out alright."

"Poor Merlin," Gwen whispered, staring at her unconscious friend. "I can't imagine what it must have been like..."

Arthur couldn't help a twinge of annoyance. None of them seemed to care that Merlin had lied to them.

Gwaine seemed to read his thoughts. "Got a problem with Merlin, Princess?" he said, rather aggressively.

"Gwaine," Leon warned, but the other knight ignored him, staring straight at Arthur.

"Merlin is my friend. I will not judge him now because he has magic. You might say he betrayed you and all that, but you know damn well Merlin has probably been using it to save your neck."

Arthur felt his irritation grow. "So you don't care that he's been lying to you all?"

"I don't like it, but I can understand why he did it," Gwaine retorted. "It was probably a good idea. Don't try to tell me that there was never a point when you seriously considered killing him."

The king opened his mouth to reply angrily, but Gwen spoke up.

"Arthur, you can't blame him. You know how your father taught you from childhood that magic is evil, so that it became second nature to you? Maybe Merlin's mother ground it into him that no one could find out as a child so that he wouldn't tell anyone."

Arthur deflated. "You're right," he murmured. Probably a good thing that he did, because Gwaine was glaring at him.

"I have to admit, I wasn't sure at first, but Gwaine and Gwen are right. Merlin's a good person, with or without magic," Elyan said.

Arthur nodded. "Percival?"

The big knight shrugged. "Where I grew up, magic wasn't really considered evil. I don't think Merlin was faking being our friend."

Gwaine smiled at his friend as Arthur nodded again. "Leon?"

He knew the senior knight had been a knight under Uther for many years, and was sure that he would be the least accepting towards Merlin. However, the curly-haired man surprised him.

"I didn't quite trust him at first, but my duty is to you, sire, and if it is true he has been saving your life, I cannot be angry with him."

As it turned out, it was Leon who convinced Arthur. He gave a final nod, and they could all tell that if Leon didn't distrust him, then he could no longer claim to either.

They were distracted by a small sniff. They looked around to see that Gaius's eyes were slightly wet. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "it's just that Merlin's been dreaming of this moment for years, and now he's not even conscious."

As if on cue, Merlin suddenly groaned. In a flash, Gwaine was by his side.

"Merlin, mate, how're you feeling?" he asked.

The servant blinked slowly. "Gwaine?" he asked confused.

"Yeah. Arthur brought you back to Camelot."

"Oh." Merlin stared at the king. "Did he...um-"

"Tell us what happened? Yeah, he did."

The sorcerer's eyes widened, and they could see fear tinge his elfin features. He swallowed convulsively. "And?"

"You don't think we'd ditch you because of a little thing like magic, did you?"

Merlin laughed weakly, but it quickly turned into a grimace. He looked around at all the faces around him, seeing if there would be any hate or fear or distrust in any of them.

When he didn't find any, he gave a smile that lit up his features even despite his illness.