He had saved Arthur, he had had to use another more powerful spell but he did it and now he was exhausted. He was just about to succumb to the darkness when he heard her words. In his urgency to save his brother, he had completely forgotten that his body was not alone. However, he was too exhausted to deal with the consequences now, and with that thought, he knew no more.
"You disobeyed a direct order from your King"! Was the first thing Uther said to Arthur when the guards dragged him into the throne room."The knights would have taken to long and Merlin is my brother, I had to do something"! Uther sighed at his son, he understood Arthur's drive, he had wanted to ride out himself, that didn't mean he would go unpunished for his disobedience.
"Did you get it"? Arthur took out the small flower stem from the leather pouch on his waist and gave it to his father. "I will deliver this to Gaius myself and you will be escorted to the dungeons where you will spend a week paying for your reckless behavior". Arthur was shocked by his father's decision but he knew he had publicly disrespected the King's command and a week in the cells was nothing compared to the worth of his brother's life.
After Merlin woke, the first thing he did was speak in Bayard's defense, making sure both kings understood that they had been manipulated by a malicious sorcerer, thus saving the treaty effectively smoothening relations between both kingdoms.
It was a week after, he was sipping some stew from a bowl left for him when Arthur entered his rooms. He had just been released from the dungeons and had come straight to see his brother. Merlin was put on bed rest during the entire time, he put the bowl down on his bedside table and turned to his left where Arthur took a seat in a chair.
"Still alive then"?
"Yes, it seems I have you to thank for that. Thank you, Arthur, but next time try not to run off and put yourself in harm's way on my account".
"I wasn't going to lose you again".
Merlin looked at his brother with a wistful expression. "You never lost me, Arthur, I was away willingly and with every intention of coming back eventually". His brother looked at him carefully and Merlin felt like he was being tried. "Would you have though? Arthur's fists clenched in anger "What if the person that put those lines on your back had finished the job"? He looked pointedly at Merlin, silently daring him to disagree.
Gaius had warned him about this and while Morgana had patiently waited for him to broach the subject, both subjects, he knew better than to expect the same from Arthur. He decided the truth would be best at this point, it was time his brother knew who he truly was and what lay ahead for both of them. "They came close" he replied "When they left me, they thought I was dead".
"Who did this to you, Merlin? How did you survive"?
Merlin decided to answer the second question first, in not so many words. He made sure he had his brother's full attention before he allowed his Magic to go free and slam the latches on both doors, the main entrance and servants quarters, accessing his rooms.
Arthur leaped to his feet in shock as he saw his brother's eyes glow gold, the chair he'd previously occupied falling to the floor with a bang. "Magic"! His hand instinctively reaching for a sword that was absent. Arthur was in shock and Merlin needed him to focus before his brother did something they would both regret. Merlin slowly lifted his right-hand palm facing up, all the while maintaining a calm demeanor, his eyes never leaving Arthurs, he conjured the orb of light he had used to guide Arthur's way in the caves of Balor. Arthur woke from his stupor at the familiarity of the object hovering inches above his brother's palm. "It was you!? But you were meant to be dying"?
"Yes it seems my magic" he saw Arthur wince at the word "performs at it's best in life-threatening circumstances" Arthur seemed unsteady on his feet and Merlin, for fear of his twin collapsing onto the floor, used his power again, immediately righting the chair previously dropped, causing Arthur to promptly collapse into it. The entire scene from a different perspective would have seemed quite humorous had the subject of the interaction been less dire.
Arthur took a deep breath to compose himself looked his brother in the eyes his countenance reflecting betrayal as he asked "Why choose to practice magic, Merlin? Why commit treason against our father's laws"? Merlin looked at him sadly "I was born treasonous to father's laws Arthur, I was born with this power".
"How is that possible"?
"For the longest time, Gaius and I tried to understand it".
"Gaius knows"? Merlin smiled sardonically and nodded to him
"As he told it after I was born and mother… died as he was taking me away from her, I began screaming, I didn't want to leave her y and in my desperation to have her with me I inadvertently summoned the chain locket she was wearing into my hand". Arthur remembered the necklace his brother was referring too, a thin chain with a dove locket, the sigil of their mother's house. It lay in Merlin's wardrobe, hidden within a secret compartment, it was his brother's most treasured possession same as his mother's iron cast seal was his.
"He helped me hide my power when father began the purge, he was so angry Gaius didn't think I would be safe if he found out his own son was the very thing he despised". Merlin leaned his head back to rest against the headboard his eyes staring straight ahead, unseeing "So you see Arthur, you always thought that you were father's greatest disappointment, it's not true, you could never be as much of a disappoint to him as I have been from the moment of my birth". Arthur looked at his brother, he seemed so calm and resigned he actually believes that. Arthur did think himself a disappointment to their father, he never thought he could be the King is father was or as he believed his brother capable of being, always seeing himself inadequate. He used to be so envious when his father praised his brother for his diplomacy and tact, now for the first time, he felt he was on equal footing with Merlin.
"You're his son, he could never truly hate you".
Merlin turned his head to look at him "Do you really want to put that belief to the test"?
Honesty Arthur didn't know what his father would do if he learnt of Merlin's secret, he wouldn't kill his own son that that much he knew, but he wasn't above banishing Merlin from Camelot. He wouldn't let that happen, he just got his brother, his best friend back, he was not letting him go, Magic or otherwise, but first, he needed to know more "Were you ever at Dokken"? For the first time since they began their conversation, did Merlin's face broke into genuine humor. "Yes, for three months, last year, they just prayed and read and cleaned Arthur, I was bored to death"! They both laughed a bit at that.
Arthur sobering finally asked, "Where were you all these years then"? Merlin took a deep breath before answering "That my brother is a long story and it all starts with a conversation I had with Camelot's oldest prisoner". He then went on to tell Arthur about his discovery of and discussions with Kilgharrah, about the history of the dragons and the origins of magic, the promise he made when he was ten summers old, learning that he would be the greatest warlock to ever walk the earth. The loss of control over his magic as he got older, Gaius teaching him spells to control his power, learning of the destiny Arthur shared with him from the Dragon, beginning his quest to learn as much as he could about the kingdoms of Albion, the land his brother was destined to rule so that he may aid him when the time came. Being captured by the Sarrum of Armata when his soldiers raided a druid camp he was residing at.
He further spoke about his year-long captivity and torture before he was left for dead in a mass grave filled with the bodies of sorcerers. How his magic refused to let him die, how he managed to crawl to the safety of a cave in the dead of night, where he found his first friend and teacher, Gwaine; the man who nursed him well enough to travel and then took him to the safety of Eldor. His stay with Gaius's sister Hunit who further cared for him as a mother until he was healthy again. His stay at the village, his training under Gwaine. He told his brother about his search for the Dragon Lord Balanor, Hunit's lover, forced into exile by their father. Finding Balanor, his request that the Dragon Lord convince Kilgharrah to let go of his want for revenge and his further promise to reunite him with his love.
His failure to protect the Dragon Lord, the inheritance of a legacy that, he thought, should never have been his. His meeting with Telsin, and some of his experiences within the Crystal Cave the birthplace of Magic. His continued travels through the five kingdoms, procuring future allies. And finally, he spoke of his journey home and all he had done after. He still left out a lot, especially regarding Morgana's power, it was her choice to share once she discovered it. Guinevere, because he wanted his brother to discover his love for her himself and also the secret that could tear their family apart, the secret he would never forgive his father for.