Several hours had passed since the last question. At least it felt like that. In reality it might have been just mere minutes, they had no way of knowing for sure. Both men were deep in thought.
Arthur thought about his friend, the sacrifices he had made, the many times he had apparently saved them all. But most of all he thought about how all these secrets hadn't caused him to change his opinion about Merlin. He was still the same loyal, clumsy idiot who made mistakes but had the best intentions. If anything, knowing that Merlin had survived all that and still stayed himself, he still could put a smile on his face… It made Arthur appreciate his friend – over the years Arthur's opinion about his servant had been slowly but unstoppably grown but seeing the strength Merlin possessed and his humbleness made Arthur respect Merlin even more. Arthur started to see that the wisdom which he had glimpsed before in his servant had always been there.
Merlin had survived losing the love of his life. Arthur had thought being betrayed by Guinevere was painful. He could not imagine what it would feel like to lose her.
Merlin had lost his father. Arthur could relate to that but at least he had spent years with him. At least Arthur had got to know his father over the time they had spent together. Merlin had found and lost his in a couple of days.
Merlin had made an incredibly difficult decision under pressure. He had lived with his decisions all this time. When choosing between his friend and the whole of Camelot Merlin had chosen Camelot. Arthur could understand that, he had always put Camelot before all else. He was sure that under the same circumstances he would have done the same. But for him it was his duty as a king, Merlin didn't have such obligations.
Arthur knew regrets – killing the unicorn, the death of Guinevere's father. But he knew they didn't even stand close to what Merlin felt. How hard it must have been to poison Morgana. And how much harder it must have been to see the results of his actions, the events which he perhaps, though Arthur doubted it, could have stopped.
Arthur lifted his head. He saw Merlin walking around the cave, watching the walls with a peaceful expression. And at that moment he knew. Whatever the secret was, it would not change anything between them. Just like all the answers before hadn't changed anything. Well, they had slightly changed his opinion of his friend but there had been no harm done. If anything, it had been for the best. Arthur had always suspected that there was more to Merlin than meets the eye. Now he just had proof of it.
Meanwhile Merlin thought about thought about the cave itself. He thought about the voice they had heard at the beginning. He silently thanked it, for it had known it was time even when he himself had not. He felt calm, he was confident in his friendship with Arthur.
Merlin looked at the king sitting on the rock and sat down next to him. Arthur smiled at him. The smile was reassuring Merlin of his decision. He felt the urge to just say it. He opened his mouth… And Arthur beat him to it.
"I know you want to tell me your secret now. But when have I let you do what you wanted?" he smiled mischievously. Sure, Arthur was curious to hear the "big secret" as he had dubbed it in his head, he just wanted to try and guess it before Merlin blurted it out.
Merlin closed his mouth and opened it again to protest.
"No, not a word! I have one last question." Arthur stopped him feeling excited. He had to quickly think of a question to buy himself time to think.
Merlin decided to humour him. "Let the king get what he wants, maybe then he will listen better and not be such a prat" he thought.
Taking Merlin's silence as agreement Arthur started "Gaius tells you everything he knows. Correct?" Merlin nodded, looking confused, as the question made no sense to him.
Arthur had no idea where he was going with the question. Then it hit him. Arthur smirked. "What do you know about Dragoon the Great?"
Merlin almost fell off his rock. He had not expected that. In truth, even Arthur hadn't expected that. What had started as simple time waste for him had come out as a mystery that genuinely interested him.
Arthur continued "Once I questioned Gaius about him and he would not tell me anything." Seeing his friend's questioning look he added "Don't worry, I don't want to punish him. I just want to thank him. After careful thinking about all his actions I have come to the conclusion that he had helped me and Guinevere greatly. And after speaking with Gaius I have become confident that he didn't mean to kill my father. And he actually looked a bit familiar… So, what can you tell me about Dragoon the Great?" the king finished, and waited for the answer.
Merlin almost laughed. This was perfect! Now he could answer, that is, follow Arthur's request, and at the same time ignore it by revealing his secret. So he decided to just go for it. However, he made sure to keep his gaze on Arthur. He wouldn't miss the king's reaction for anything.
Merlin simply replied "I'm Dragoon."
Arthur fell off his rock with a thud.
Merlin laughed, he was right, Arthur's reaction was priceless. He was going to remember it forever and tease the king when he would become insufferable again. With a playful smile he continued. "I have so much fun when I'm him. Well, except when Uther died and you ordered to arrest me. That was not fun. But all the good times – the piggyback, knocking out the knights and then stepping on them to get on my horse, insulting the cook, accusing you of breaking my pot. You could say Dragoon is me when I can do what I want without any restrictions."
Arthur looked at him in disbelief. "I know this is the Cave of Verities but you can't expect me to believe that you are an 80 year old sorcerer. Even though there were some similarities between you two, that is just ridiculous."
"I am a warlock, not a sorcerer." Merlin felt the need to correct his friend.
"Of course I'm not 80 years old! That was a disguise so I could help you directly without fearing for my life. Remember, you almost burned Dragoon at the stake" Merlin said sighing at Arthur's thickness. Only his friend would doubt the things that are said in The Cave of Verities – a magical cave that has the word "verities" in its name.
Arthur looked shocked. So he had almost burned his best friend at the stake. It could not be, it was not possible. Could it really be so? He refused to believe it.
Merlin saw Arthur's inner battle. "Oh well, if you don't believe me I'll just have to show you." With that he stood up and muttered a few words in a language Arthur did not recognise. His eyes turned gold. Surprisingly, Arthur had even forgotten that Merlin had confessed to having magic. All his thoughts were focused on what was happening before his eyes.
His best friend aged right in front of him. Arthur had never seen anything more fascinating and terrifying. Meanwhile Merlin enjoyed the look of complete and utter surprise on Arthur's face. He knew he would never forget this moment.
The transformation was complete. Now Arthur recognised his servant hiding under the usual scowl of Dragoon the Great. And he knew they would be alright.
Because Merlin's biggest secret still didn't change anything. Merlin being Dragoon just showed Arthur that magic had no way of corrupting someone as pure as Merlin. His friend had been given the opportunity to do anything without any consequences, without anyone knowing his real identity. And he had decided to get a piggyback from him. The thought made him laugh.
Merlin saw acceptance in Arthur's eyes and a smile bloomed on his face. Arthur returned the smile and sat down on the rock motioning Merlin to sit beside him.
"You're an elderly man now, Merlin. Or should I say Dragoon the Great?" Arthur started laughing. "You can't keep standing like that, you have to take care of your health. Do you need me to get you a cane?" he teased with a playful smile.
Merlin lightly punched Arthur's arm. "I'm very healthy, thank you very much. And if I ever have problems walking I can always take the royal piggyback express" he answered with a joke of his own. They looked each other in the eyes and started laughing. For Arthur it was still too weird to look at the old man beside him and know it was Merlin. For Merlin the laughter came from remembering Arthur's expression from moments ago.
The two friends sat on the rocks and were completely absorbed in their own little world. All they wanted now was to simply sit and talk about all the adventures they had experienced together. Arthur wanted to know all about Merlin's magic and Merlin was happy to tell it all.
Neither of them noticed the rocks disappearing from the entrance of the cave. And even if they had noticed neither of them would care. Because getting out of the cave has stopped being their goal a long time ago.
The questions had started as means of getting to the secret so they could leave the cave. But in the end they had turned into something more. Each question and each answer just helped to prove what they already knew – that they, the king and his servant, the warrior and his warlock, were friends. Everything else – the secrets they kept, their social status, the magic and the mistakes – was not important. They had entered the cave as good friends, each knowing that but not admitting it to another. They would come out as best friends, ready to defend and listen to each other but most of all, confident in their friendship.
Now they had truly become the Arthur and Merlin from the legends – the friends that would bring about the golden age of Albion.
A/N: So, that is it, this was the last chapter. I hope you liked the chapter and I hope you liked the whole story. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I didn't expect any of it. Your reviews were wonderful. You are all wonderful. I never thought so many people would read this… Again, thank you all very very much.