A/N: Thank you Yummypie193 for your suggestion of which side of Merlin you would like to see! I hope you enjoy how it came out. :)

Gwaine couldn't imagine anything quite so painful. The lashes came every few seconds, and he wasn't sure what was worse, impact or waiting. He rolled his eyes up into his skull and groaned, his bare chest heaving against the wooden pole. He had only gone through, - well, by his count it had been thirty, it could have been less - a little more than half of them. He wasn't sure if he could last through the rest. Oh, the things he would do for his friends. Not that he had many of them, and he was beginning to understand exactly why he had come to that conclusion in the first place. Not many people were worth dying for, but as far as he was concerned, Merlin was. Even Arthur was.

He cried out as the horse hair struck his back again and pressed himself closer to the wood, anything to get away from the pain, not that it would be possible. His face pinched in pain. He choked and clenched his fists, feeling the rope burning his wrists.

"Let him down!"

"But, the king..."

"Let him down, sir Yver."

The bindings were undone and Gwaine felt himself start to fall, knowing full well that no one was going to be there to catch him. He was surprised when someone did, hands pulling one of his arms over their shoulders. The knight grunted, frowning in either agony or confusion, or both. He didn't know who it was, maybe if he could focus on one thing for longer than a few seconds he would have recognized the voice, but as it was... He was just glad that they had made it stop. Whoever it was mumbled words of comfort as they helped him across the courtyard and up into the castle, no doubt taking him to the physician's chambers. Gwaine was sure that at some point his legs had stopped obeying him, because his companion picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. Gwaine stared at the ground and then at the figure's back, seeing a bland brown tunic. That was all he saw of his savior before he black out, overcome by pain.

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Arthur was taken by complete surprise when, in his wanderings, someone's arms wrapped around him from the side. Shocked, he did nothing for a moment, but then regained his sense of pride and shoved the person away with a look of confused disgust. He met familiar blue eyes staring back at him, a grin on the person's face - on Merlin's face. The manservant wasn't deterred by Arthur's action, and went for another hug with a cry of 'Arthur!'

"Ah! No!" Arthur held up a hand, slamming it against Merlin's chest to halt him. "No, Merlin." He felt like he was talking to a dog. Thoroughly unnerved, he took a step back. What side of Merlin was this? The clingy one, apparently. This version, which Arthur decided he would dub Clingy, grabbed his shoulder and tilted its head to the side, a smile taking up all of its(his) expression. The prince wrinkled his nose and looked down at the hand, then up at Merlin - no - Clingy.

"It's really nice to see you, Arthur."

"...OK. You know what, why don't you go..." Arthur quickly seized Clingy's arms and spun him around in a rough manor, pointing beside the man's face towards a spot far away from Arthur, "over there. Yes, that will be the perfect place for you." Clingy turned his head, crossing his eyes to look down at Arthur's hand. He smiled and then looked back,

"No thanks."

Arthur growled. He hoped Merlin would sort this all out soon, because if he had to put up with these versions for much longer he was going to implode. "Which one are you supposed to be, then?"

"I am the lover."

The prince leaped back as though burned. He gave the other man a weird look. "The what?"

"The lover." Merlin's eyes twinkled - yes, twinkled, Arthur didn't contain a shudder - and explained, "everything in me - in him - that loves. That cares."

"Rrright..." Arthur was really starting to miss Merlin, and not even the Merlin he had been spending the last few days with. That Merlin was tired, irritable, dark, full of secrets and the one the Arthur really was beginning to miss was his manservant, the one that seemed to be both an idiot and wise, that complained about his chores and still got them done, that teased and joked and stood up for things with a sort of bravery that was seen in very few. What he missed was the way things were before he discovered the secret, the truth of what Merlin really was, of what he could do and had done. He missed, in some manor, ignorance. He missed not having to live with the fact that Merlin was a sorcerer, everything his father stood against, and had been lying for all this time. He missed not knowing that one day he would have to banish his best friend.

"Arthur, are you all right?"

"Of course."

"You're upset."

"No, I'm not."

"You are."

Arthur sighed and looked back over his shoulder to where Merlin and tiger-Merlin spoke, staring for a long moment. "I miss my servant. Don't," he said, punctually, and put a finger in Clingy's face, "Tell him. I said that. Or... don't remember. Just don't."

This version laughed and pushed Arthur's hand down. "Just give us time. You realize that version of Merlin isn't even fully him, right? He's in his head, which means, all of his personality split when he brought you here. The one you think is Merlin is the Magic. The one he speaks with is the Anger. I am the Lover."

That... was somehow comforting. Arthur wouldn't admit it, though. "When we get out of here, then, he'll be... him?"

"Yes, he'll be 'him'."

"Then tell me... Merlin," Arthur looked back, feeling now as though he had a secret of his own to keep from the very man he spoke to and about, "who do you love?"

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Gwaine woke with a gasp. "What happened?" Were the first words out of his mouth, and he tried to sit up, only to remember his plight. He bit his lip and laughed hoarsely, lowering himself back onto the cot and blowing out a long breath.

"I made the wrong choice."

That voice was definitely Leon's. Gwaine sat up, not caring about the pain. He gasped, his legs shaking as he stood, but stood he did. He would face the man head on, he would give him what for, and he wouldn't back... down. His thoughts came to a stuttering halt when he realized what Sir Leon had said, and not only that, what he wore - it was unusual to see the man in anything that wasn't chainmail, armor and a red cape. A frown made its way onto Gwaine's face. "So, I see you came to your senses." He tried for a grin, but ended up closing his eyes in pain, simply trying to breathe through it.

Leon stood from the bench he had been sitting on previously, waiting to see if Gwaine needed help. He didn't approach, though, and good thing, because Gwaine wasn't sure he would be able to stop himself from punching the knight.

"I am sorry, Gwaine. I betrayed your trust. For that, I will always be sorry, and I am willing to pay any punishment. I sacrificed honor for discipline." Leon breathed out a sigh and lowered himself onto the chair once more, but never breaking eye contact with Sir Gwaine. Gaius, from where he stood, looked at both men with an expression of skepticism. Leon chewed on his words before he spoke, and when he spoke he was speaking to both of the men, "I heard about Merlin - from Uther - Gaius. I will take him to safety when he and the prince return. It's the least I can do."

Gwaine made a face and sat down on the cot, "Wait - back up - Merlin? Heard what about him?"

Leon and Gaius looked at each other. Leon meet Gwaine's eyes, shifting uncomfortably. "It's best that... he tell you."

"Tell me what? And where is he?" Gwaine, growing angrier by the second, rose back onto his feet with a gasp of pain.

"I believe," Gaius started, "That he hid both himself and Arthur from the king when Uther came here. I don't know how, but I believe they're still in the same place they were." At least, that was the physician's hope, because otherwise he didn't know what to think. He grew more worried by every passing hour - were they dead? Had something happened that was worse than anyone could possibly imagine? He didn't know, that was the truth.

"Hid? Hid how?" Gwaine pressed, choking on a cry when the skin on his back stretched out, making the wounds look widened and deep red. "Where's Percival and Lancelot?"

"They're in there rooms. There wasn't enough space for you all." Gaius sighed through his nose and shot a distracted glance off towards Merlin's room. He hoped - no, he prayed - that they would return soon, alive.

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It was harder to hear than Arthur could have ever imagined. All of those things, all of those people - what he himself had done to Merlin without even realizing. Memories of things he had told the boy came back to him, leaving a pit in his gut. He felt... he felt... sorry. He was sorry, and tired, and he couldn't wait until things went back to some semblance of normalcy. But things would never be normal again, not by a long shot. His whole world had been turned upside down by realization after realization, and just this once, he was thankful for it. He never wished to be ignorant - an ignorant king would be the death and bane of many, he could see that now.

Merlin, this Merlin at least, looked down at his trembling hands and then closed his eyes, his jaw working back and forth. "I wanted to protect Freya. I wanted to know my father. Will had no magic, I did. It was always me. So many... Have suffered, so many have... lied. For me. And I can never fully repay them." Merlin's breath shuddered in then shuddered out, as though he had suddenly grown cold. "I lied and it built and I kept lying, to you, to everyone, until lies made up half of who I am. Better liar than friend, better liar than warlock, better liar than... anything."

Arthur, for one of the rare times in his life, just listened.

"I took every wrong turn, and I led everyone into the depths of Hell with only a fourth of their sight." Merlin rubbed his arms. "I'm sorry, Arthur."

"Me too." The prince searched Merlin's face, as though he were seeing him for the first time. "You shouldn't have lied. And you were an idiot. But..." Pained, he forced out the next words, "so was I."

Merlin looked up attentively, and how could Arthur have never seen the pain there before?

"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you. I'm sorry for what you've been through."

"Arthur... I don't blame you. You were only seeing half of the truth, if that. That's something I have to live with."

The prince shook his head, something bursting through his chest like lightening. "How can you say that? You... You've been good to me."

"I believe in you. It's why I've done everything that I have done." Merlin stared back, showing strength and, unsurprisingly from the Lover, love. It rattled Arthur to the core. He was undeserving of the man's respect and love, but despite that, he reciprocated. Maybe it wasn't so terrible that he had learned this way after all - and perhaps, when he was king, they would live as friends - or brothers - instead of the way things had been for so long. Arthur couldn't find it in himself to hate magic, because to hate magic would be to hate Merlin. That was something he wouldn't be able to do.

If Merlin was to forgive himself, maybe he needed something to run with. Arthur had just the thing. If Merlin could know his sacrifices and decisions were coming to something, forgiveness would be the natural response.

"When I am King."

He breathed.

He had all eyes on him.

"You and those like you will be free. I give you my word."

The world lit up like the sun in the heavens.

Arthur jolted awake.