Hello! This is probably going to be the last chapter I get up before I leave. Sorry about the break. I will try to finish chapter 11, but that's going to have more of a cliff hanger, so it might be best if I leave it here...

Umm, I have some good news! Or possibly bad news... Depends on how long you want this story to be. I finally figured out how I'm going to end this story (the words "training montage" have been removed from the plan). What I decided on will take a bit longer then I originally expected, so there will be about five more chapters and an epilogue if everything goes according to plan. I hope this doesn't upset anyone.

I am also bringing a character from season four into this story. If you can figure it out from this chapter, you paid a lot more attention to the episode they are from then I did. Or you have a very good memory.

And thanks so much for all the lovely reviews! I guess complaining about bad reviews got a bunch of people to take the extra time to send me good ones! thank you all so much! I really appreciate it! And even if you don't review, thanks for reading! You are all awesome, no matter what!

I don't own Merlin. While I was swimming today, I daydreamed that I got to be an extra in some random scene, but that is about as close as I have ever gotten :)

Chapter Ten: Plans and Strategies

Merlin woke with Arthur's arms around him. He felt safe and happy for the first time in months. He tried to sit up, to see if he could help with getting breakfast ready, but when he tried to move his arms screamed in protest. He fell back to the ground with a small grunt of pain, and felt Arthur pull him closer.

"Are you alright?" Arthur whispered in his ear.

"Yeah," Merlin replied, "I guess my arms aren't completely healed yet, though."

"Of course there not, you idiot. You dislocated both your shoulders; I think it's going to take a little longer than a day for them to heal completely. Do you need anything?"

Merlin turned his head so he could see Arthur's face, before replying, "I need you to kiss me."

"That, I can do." Arthur said, leaning forward kissing Merlin softly. He only pulled away when they heard a snigger behind them.

"Don't stop on my account!" Gwaine said, from his place near the slightly smoking fire pit. Arthur glared at him while a blush spread across Merlin's checks. Arthur chose to ignore Gwaine, and turned back to Merlin, saying, "We should get you up. You still need to eat more, I'm pretty sure there are boys half your age who weigh more than you."

"Hey!" Merlin cried, with a slightly scandalized tone, "I'm not that skinny! Just because you're all…"

"I sincerely hope the next word out of your mouth is brawny, strong, or muscular or you will be spending a month in the stocks once we beat Morgana."

"But if I was locked in the socks, I wouldn't be able to do this!" Merlin said, pushing his lips back against Arthur's, choosing to ignore Gwaine laughing in the background. When he pulled back, Arthur looked slightly flustered, shook his head, and said, "Well, I will have to take that into consideration. We will have to find a way to teach you that doesn't limit your… special talents…" Arthur glanced over Merlin's head to where Gwaine was sitting, and a smile spread across his face. "Perhaps," he said, trying to keep from smiling and failing terribly, "your punishment could involve washing Gwaine's socks for a month. Would that help you learn how to show proper respect to your king?"

Merlin's face filled with dread as he replied, "You wouldn't. Not even you could be that cruel." Gwaine let out a frustrated grunt, and began to rant about his socks, and how they really weren't all that bad, while Merlin and Arthur just smiled at each other and laughed at the slightly annoyed knight.

After Gwaine had quieted slightly, though he would still murmur things like "there not that bad" or "all socks smell" every once and a while, Arthur turned his attention back to Merlin. "Do you feel up for eating some breakfast? I think there was a little of that bread still left, and you need it more than the rest of us do."

Merlin nodded, and let himself be helped up by Arthur. They walked over to a tree near the fire, Merlin putting most of his weight on Arthur. Arthur carefully set Merlin down next to the tree, so he could lean against the trunk, sitting upright without using too much energy. Arthur then walked over to where the supplies where being kept and picked up the loaf of bread and the goblet of water. He then returned to Merlin's side and began to feed him breakfast.

Once Merlin had eaten a sizable portion of the remaining bread, Arthur noticed that the rest of their group was beginning to stir. Gwaine had gone down to a nearby river to refill the goblet, so Merlin and Arthur were the only ones sitting by the fire. Percival and Elyan were the first to join them. Apparently neither of them were morning people, as Percival looked quite out of it, and Elyan had his head leaned up against Percival's massive arm and still looked half asleep. Arthur handed the rest of the bread to Percival, who seemed to barely register what he was eating as he tore a large chunk off before handing it to Elyan. By the time Elyan had taken his portion of what was left, Leon had approached the small group, and picked up what was left of the loaf, taking a small portion before returning it to the small pile of supplies they had gathered. Once he was settled, Gwaine came back with the water, handing it to Gaius who was moving to sit on the other side of Merlin to recheck his condition. Gwen and Lancelot were the last to join them. Gwen was wiping the sleep away from her eyes with one hand and holding Lancelot's hand in the other. This apparently perked Merlin up, and he asked, "Gwen, Lancelot, are you two…"

Lancelot just beamed at him, while Gwen replied, saying, "We talked after we got out. We missed each other so much when we were imprisoned by Morgana. Lancelot admitted his feelings to me, and said he didn't want to risk losing me again. I guess we've just been blind to each other's feelings for way too long."

"That's great!" Merlin exclaimed, "I'm so happy for you two!"

"And we're happy for you and Arthur. It's so good that we all realized what was right in front of our eyes." Lancelot said, his eyes never leaving Merlin. The look they shared was filled with joy, after spending so long thinking they could never be with the one they loved, it seemed everything was finally going to work out perfectly.

Lancelot and Guinevere sat in the last gap in the circle around the fire, between Gwaine and Leon, directly across from Arthur and Merlin. After a moment of content silence, Gaius said, "Merlin, I'm going to have to relocate your shoulders. I didn't want to do it yesterday, because it will be quite painful, and I didn't want to put unnecessary stress on your body. But, now that you have rested and replenished your liquids, I think you will be alright. It will be quite painful, but if we don't do it soon, there could be permanent damage. Are you ready?"

Merlin gritted his teeth and said, "Let's get this over with."

"Arthur," Gaius instructed, "help me get his shirt off. We might have to use it as a splint until something more suitable is found."

Arthur nodded; helping Gaius remove the tunic without disturbing Merlin's swollen joints too much. He was still wearing the uniform he had been given by Morgana, and was not sad to see it go. Gaius ripped a sizable chunk of the fabric away from the rest.

"Merlin, I'm going to need you to bite down on this. It will help."

Merlin nodded, and opened his mouth so Gaius could place the balled-up fabric in. He then bit down hard, trying not to think of how similar it felt to the gag that Morgana's men had placed in his mouth two days ago, as Arthur and Gaius moved him away from the tree, so he was lying flat on his back. Arthur sat near his head, gentle stroking his brow and whispering comfort to him, as Gaius picked up his right arm, bending it slightly past straight up at his elbow, and began to slowly rotate his upper arm, pressing gently on his elbow, causing his shoulder to rotate slightly until, with a flash of pain and a loud crack, his shoulder slid back into place. Merlin cried out in pain, but most of the sound was lost in the fabric between his teeth. Arthur had a hold of his head, his hands were cool and clammy, as he tried to comfort Merlin. Gaius gently laid his right arm down, then moved to the other side and repeated the process with the left arm. Merlin felt sweat drip down his brow as the ball of cloth was removed from his mouth, and Gaius began to work on turning his old tunic into long triangular pieces that could be used to make splints for his arms. Arthur helped Merlin sit back up, bringing his back against Arthur's chest, adjusting so Gaius could bind Merlin's arms in a position that would give him the least amount of pain. Once Gaius was done, he turned to Merlin and said, "How does that feel?"

"Besides the pain when they went back in, better." Merlin said, with a weak smile. "Could I have some more water?"

Elyan, who was currently holding the half-filled goblet, jumped to Merlin's side, and helped him drink what was left in the goblet.

"You should rest today, Merlin." Gaius instructed, "I don't want you to move your arms unless it is absolutely necessary. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Gaius. I'll be careful." Merlin replied, leaning back against Arthur.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Arthur said, bending his head down, and placing a quick kiss on the top of Merlin's head.

"So," Merlin said, looking around the circle, "what's the plan? How are we going to take down Morgana?"

"We've been trying to recruit as many of the people to our cause as possible." Leon said, "There isn't much we can do against an entire army until we have one of our own."

Merlin nodded, while Percival took it from there, saying, "Elyan and I found a small resistance group that meets in the Rising Sun tavern. We have been talking with them, trying to find out everything we can about Morgana we can."

"And me and Lancelot have been spying on all the rich snobs we can find." Gwaine said, "We want to find out who will fight for Morgana when the need arises. So far, we might have done more stealing than spying, but it has been prosperous." Gwaine said, gesturing to the pile of supplies they had brought back from their first day in Camelot.

There was a moment of silence, as the group thought about what they had done, and how far they still needed to go before they could fight Morgana. Then Lancelot spoke up, saying, "I've been thinking, we're going to need a place for the others who want to join us to meet, and we're going to need weapons. What if we go back to that castle, the one with the round table, where we stayed after Morgana took over the first time? There were weapons there, left by whatever bandits had been using the castle, and that would be an easy enough place to give directions to. We could hold a large number of people there while we plan how to take the city, and Morgana doesn't seem to know about it."

"That's brilliant, Lancelot!" Arthur responded. "While you lot go back into the city today, Merlin, Gaius, Guinevere, and I can move our camp to the castle. We can check it out while you get more information, and maybe some more food. Will you be up for a little journey, Merlin?"

"I think so," Merlin replied, "and remember, when we attack, we will also have a dragon on our side."

"Are you sure he will fight for us?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. He will fight for us." Merlin said. Kilgarrah always had hated Morgana, so he probably wouldn't be too adverse to this. Merlin didn't want to use his dragon lord powers, but they needed all the help they could get, so he would if it was necessary.

Arthur just nodded at this, apparently deep in thought. "We should probably all head out soon," Arthur said, "I'm not sure, but they might have seen what direction the dragon flew to get me back here, and they could have some idea of where our camp is. It would probably be best if we started moving before they can make a move."

The rest of the group all agreed with Arthur, and began working on clearing their camp.

After packing up the camp, the knights departed, leaving in waves, so they would have less trouble sneaking into the castle. Percival and Elyan left first, and after a few minutes waiting, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Leon followed. When they were gone, Arthur helped Merlin up, slung the bag of supplies they had gathered over one shoulder, and led the small group towards the abandoned castle. It was slow going. Merlin was still exhausted, and needed to rest quite often. When they finally made it to the castle, Gaius inspected Merlin's shoulders, and told him to rest, while Guinevere went out to gather some firewood and see if she could find anything they would be able to eat. Arthur stayed with Merlin; there were somethings he needed to ask the young warlock.

"Merlin, you know that I trust you, right?"

Merlin looked at him with confusion, and replied, "Yes… is everything alright Arthur?"

"I'm fine, Merlin. I just need to know, did you release the great dragon?"

Merlin paled visibly, looking at Arthur with sadness, and to Arthur's horror, fear. His gaze left Arthur's, turning instead to the floor, as he whispered, "Yes. I released him."

Arthur nodded. He had figured that Merlin must have been the one who released the dragon when Merlin spoke as if he knew the beast. He had tried not to think about it, focus instead on all the good Merlin had done. But he needed to know the whole story, so he asked, his face an emotionless mask, "Why? Did you know he would attack the city?"

"Arthur, I'm so sorry. But I had no choice! I swore on my mother's life I would set him free. And I hoped that he wouldn't attack Camelot. He used to help me, when Camelot was threatened by magic. Do you remember the afanc? He gave me the information I needed to destroy it. And then when Cedric broke into the vaults, and was possessed by the spirit of Cornelius Sigan, the only way I could stop him was with a spell the dragon gave me. But he wouldn't give it to me until I promised I would release him, some day. I tried to argue with him, but it was either let Camelot fall to Sigan, or give my word to the dragon. So I promised I would set him free. I hoped the day I had to would never come, I kept putting it off, but then, when Morgause attacked with the Knights of Medhir, I needed his help again. Everyone was falling asleep, and we weren't going to last much longer, I had to know how to stop it. The dragon wouldn't tell me, until I swore to release him. I swore on my mother's life, Arthur! I couldn't go against that. She's the only family I have. When we stopped Morgause, I stole one of the swords of the Knights of Medhir, and used it to free the dragon. I tried to get him to promise he wouldn't harm Camelot, but he wouldn't, and I had to free him. I'm so sorry, Arthur. The dragon hated Uther. He was alone, so he attacked the city. I wished that I had been able to do something to prevent it, but I had no choice. I had to do it, Arthur, I'm so sorry."

Arthur remained silent through the entire story, refusing to look Merlin in the eyes while he spoke. When he finished, Arthur turned his gaze back to the sorcerer, and noticed there were tears in his eyes. Arthur felt terrible for making him go through this. He loved Merlin, and yet he was forcing him to relive such a painful moment. It was obvious Merlin had acted in the way that he believed was best for the kingdom. If he hadn't made those promises to the dragon, there probably would have been no Camelot for the dragon to attack. Arthur reached his arm around Merlin, and pulled him close, whispering, "It's alright, Merlin. I understand. You did what you had to to protect the city."

Merlin sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes, then mumbled, "Thank you Arthur. I used to wonder if there was some way I could have saved the city without freeing the dragon, but there never seemed like there was any other way to do it. I only wish Kilgarrah could have seen past his hatred and left the city in peace."

Arthur held Merlin, letting them sit in silence for a while, soaking up the new information. He still had one other question to ask Merlin. He was afraid of the reaction it would cause, but, still, he felt that he needed to know. He didn't want there to be any more secrets between the two of them. "You said the dragon lord, Balinor, was your father. How long did you know? I thought you told me you didn't know who your father was?"

Merlin remained silent for a second, then took a deep breath and said, "I didn't know who my father was until Gaius told me, right before we rode out to look for Balinor. My mother didn't want me to know, she thought it would only put me in more danger. Balinor didn't know he had a son either. I told him after he agreed to come with us. I had a father for a day. I didn't know who my father was when I said that to you, I never lied to you if I could avoid it."

Arthur pulled Merlin closer to him. He felt bad for ever doubting him, but he needed to know what had really happened. "I'm sorry, Merlin. I guess that explains why you were acting so strange then. And I told you no man was worth your tears! Gods, I'm so sorry. He was a good man."

"He was. I just wish I had a chance to know him better. There was so much he could have taught me. And I'm sorry about what happened to Uther. Even though I don't agree with many of the choices he made, he was still a good king. He cared about his people. And he loved you, Arthur. He was always so proud of you."

"I hope so. Sometimes I wonder what he would think if he knew what I am doing. He spent so long fighting against magic, and here I am, in love with a warlock. But, I know I made the right choice. Thank you, Merlin, for saying that. I know it can't be easy for you, after everything he did, but he was my father, and I am glad you do not hate him."

"He is part of you, Arthur. And I love you. All of you. There is no way I could hate him."

Arthur and Merlin stayed curled up together for quite a while, holding each other while they let the pain from their pasts overcome them. It wasn't as bad as it had been before though, as this time they were no longer alone.

Everything stayed about the same for a few weeks. The knights would sneak into the city, bringing back food, supplies, information, and new recruits. The abandoned castle was quickly filling up with people who had lost so much when Morgana took over. While the knights went into town, Arthur would train the new members of the rebellion. Merlin's shoulders were recovering, so he would spend his days out with Gwen gathering firewood, herbs, and whatever fruits or vegetables they could find. Every night, the knights, Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, and Gaius would meet at the round table to discuss their plans. Merlin hated to admit it, but no matter how many people the knights brought back from the city, there was no way they were going to be able to fight Morgana's trained army, especially as so many of her soldiers had magic. And even though Arthur was a good teacher, the people who were joining them were merely commoners, and would not be able to fight soldiers on their own. Merlin hated to admit it, but they needed outside help. When Merlin voiced this opinion at one of their nightly meetings, Lancelot said, "You're right Merlin, but who can we go to? Who would help us?"

Merlin had been thinking about this as well, and he had an answer ready for this question. "While I was serving Morgana, she invited many of the nobles from the surrounding kingdoms, trying to get them to ally with her. Some did come, but most of the kingdoms that had alliances with Uther didn't show up, and I know she asked them, I was there when she sent out the letters. One of them might send help, if Arthur asks."

"That's not a bad idea, Merlin." Arthur responded. "We are not far from the lands of Nemeth, Merlin and I will travel there tomorrow, and try to gain their support."

Everyone gathered around the table agreed with Arthur's suggestion. With this plan in mind, they decided Lancelot and Leon would stop sneaking into the city, taking Arthur's job of training the men. Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan would continue to go into the city, possibly taking some of the more well-trained recruits with them. Hopefully Arthur and Merlin would return soon, bringing enough support that they would be able to attack the city, and Arthur could finally win his kingdom back.

With all of this decided, they called it a night, and went to sleep, Arthur and Merlin trying to get as much rest as possible before the long trip they would embark on in the morning.