Thank you for all the response I got from the last chapter! :) It really makes me smile to see all those lovely reviews. Please review. Especially if you're every confused, it lets me know I need to clear things up. I got a couple good reviews like that in the last chapter, and it really helped me out. You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the support. This hobby would not really be a thing unless I had people supporting me, so thanks again.

Still no beta, my normal one is out of commission for quite a while, returning from getting married and moving in and etc. My other is just... missing? Anyway, no beta, so if you catch a mistake, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm beta-less atm.

I did however, go back and fix MANY mistakes in the previous chapters and spiced up some of the old kind of speaking for it. It's just better. I guess? I'll probably do more of that when I can spare the time. My goal is to edit the whole thing, but for now I'm gonna give you an update instead.

-LF


His secret, so well kept, was now gone. Magic within the realms of Camelot was illegal, and punishable by death. Even people associated with it were executed, you could catch the eye of a wandering wizard and be killed simply to set an example. Curse the king and his grudge against magic. Because of him, the land was safe for no one. So Merlin had kept his magic a secret. He'd been born with it, and the only people who were aware he had it were his mother, Hunith, and his friend, Will. He'd meant to tell Arthur, really, he had, but then he'd discovered Arthur was the prince, son of the tyrant king, and suddenly he was wary.

Now it didn't matter. This imposter knew. His biggest secret, in the palms of a liar, a murder. His precious magic, now nothing but the roughest form of blackmail. He was holding his breath, trying not to get emotional. He should never have tried to save the girl.

"Well, Merlin." The horrifyingly familiar voice cooed, "I think it's time we had a little chat."

Merlin was bound, wrist to wrist around the foot bedpost of Arthur's bed, practically hugging it. He scowled at himself, wondering how the real Arthur would have handled himself in a situation like this. Arthur would probably be able to free himself with some handy trick in a matter of seconds. He was impressive that way. Then what? He struggled, pulling at his restraints, only to earn himself an amused smirk from his captor. "You'll only hurt yourself struggling. And honestly, I'd rather you remained uninjured. For now at least."

"What is it you want from me?" Merlin grumbled, growing tired of the man's verbal games.

With a small chuckle, he stepped closer, touching supple fingers to the bedpost as Merlin flinched away, "I'd like to offer you a job."

"A job? Are you insane? What would ever possess me to help you?"

Another tut of laughter blew right into his ear, as the man leaned a few inches closer, "The thing is, Merlin, you don't exactly have much of a choice." He danced his fingers down the post and over one of Merlin's hands, smirking, "Because if you don't do as I say, I'll murder the prince."

"You can't-"

"The king's ward too."

Merlin scowled, attempting to wrench his arm out of reach, "Why?"

He pulled back with an amused scoff, "Because I can." he crouched down to eye level in front of the boy, cupping a hand over his cheek, despite Merlin's attempts to jerk away, "Your magic is lovely, Merlin. I feel it such a wonderful way to take down than tyrant of a king. Destroy ugliness with beauty, in a sense."

"You..." Merlin muttered, "You want me to kill the king?"

"I want you to execute a murderer."

"You're mad."

The fake Arthur merely simpered sweetly at him, removing his palm form Merlin's cheek, "Perhaps. However, I think you'll find that you still have no decision on the matter. You'll help me, or your friends will die." he pushed himself up again, staring down at Merlin with a look of excitement, "Just imagine it Merlin! Freedom. Blissfully sweet innocence. Once Uther is dead, Camelot will have a new, more just, king ruling it. This ridiculous 'war' against magic will be over, and I'll make sure magic is permitted in Camelot, then people like you and I can be free to live our lives however we please."

"Martyrs, like their hunters, can never be innocent through death. Killing could, and may only ever be justified in self defense-"

"This is self defense."

"It's murder!"

The man sent him a sickeningly sweet titter, "Don't be naïve, Merlin." he scolded, "It doesn't suit you."

Merlin would deny ever pausing to think about it. This man was awful, and not to be trusted, even if the thought was tempting. Magic no longer considered a crime... so many innocent lives spared... but that would still require an assassination on his part, and Merlin was not that kind of man. He wouldn't destroy anyone's happiness, even for the sake of his own. He wouldn't kill another man for his own gain.

"You would kill Arthur and Morgana anyway." he huffed, fishing for alternatives.

"I could give you my word."

"You're a liar and a murderer." Merlin scoffed, "A murderer hiding behind another man's face. Why is your word worth the dust under our feet?"

Smiling, the man reached behind his neck, unclasping something before pulling away a string Merlin hadn't noticed around his neck earlier. All at once his features changed, no longer Arthur's soft, stormy eyes, but hard, piercing green ones. Gone was the golden gleam to his hair, replaced with a sharp brunette cut. Not to say that he was ugly, in fact, Merlin found himself looking rather closer than he should have. His features were lovely, but his soul was uglier than a hag.

"Do you like it?"

"Another façade?" Merlin questioned.

He smirked, "No, this is me. I've shared my face with you in good faith, and a firm belief in what we have to do."

"In good faith, you say." Merlin snapped, jiggling his wrists as if to pronounce that he was tied to the bed.

"I said I have faith in you, I don't trust you. That would be ignorant of me."

He sat silently for a moment, refusing to meet eyes with his captor as he weighed his options. When he finally did speak though, he made sure to keep steady eye contact, and enunciate his words with a sharp glare, "And if I refuse to help you?"

The man shrugged, "Then I'll kill you, and do the job myself. Either way, Uther Pendragon dies. I would simply be more convenient to have you do it rather than I." He pushed away from Arthur's desk then, and knelt to a crouch, staring up at Merlin with a hopeful expression, "It will happen Merlin, but don't you think it would be better if you lived to reap the rewards?"

"I couldn't live in a world where I had killed anyone."

The man smiled, resting a hand over Merlin's knee, "You know, I spoke of your composition earlier in taunt, but truly, Merlin..." he purred, "truly you are beautiful. Inside and out, such a sweet soul. Lovelier still than the princes and princesses in any court."

Merlin scoffed, debating jerking away just to prove a point, "Your flattery does nothing to deter my answer."

Another sparkling shine fell over his face, staring up at Merlin in fondness as the hand over his knee gently slid down his leg, now caressing over an ankle, "Yes, truly something mystical, Merlin. I believe you could ask near anything of me, and I would feel inclined to give it to you."

"Then I ask you to untie me."

"Ah, and yet that is one request I cannot grant." He stood then, fishing the necklace from out of his pocket and stringing it around his neck once more, forcing Merlin to watch him turn back into Arthur, "Not yet, in the least."

"And to earn that merit?"

"Do what I ask of you."

He shook his head, "I won't kill anyone. I couldn't, even if I wanted to."

A sigh fell from the man's lips, "Please don't force my hand, Merlin. I should very much hate to kill a fellow magician."

"Were not fellows."

The listless adoration fading from his face, the man gave Merlin a curt nod, "Perhaps not. Will you at least pause before you make your choice?" he knelt once more, in Arthur's form, "I would implore you think carefully on it, Merlin. Maybe not fellows, but we could be other things. Kings," even more quickly, "lovers, if you so wished. Warriors against tyrants and false prophets, bringing safety to those with magic. All you have to do is rid the kingdom of it's unjust king."

He waited patiently for Merlin's reaction, keeping eye contact, a soft expression over Arthur's features, "Don't you want peace for us, Merlin? For the world to be safe for people like you and me?"

"I want that with every ounce of my being." Merlin replied.

"Then you'll join me?"

Merlin let his head fall, "My resolve remains the same. I will not kill another human being for the sake of my own wants."

"Would you do it to protect your prince?"

He lifted his gaze, schooling his features, "You tell me you trust me, and show that with a face, but bear no real name. You ask me to trust you, and then you threaten the things that I love." he scoffed, well assured now. He could never be like this man, "How would you ever expect me to believe in a man who murders innocent women, who seduces with another man's face, who ties you up before offering redemption. I trust you as far as I could throw you."

A heavy scowl set over the man's face as he lifted himself, disappointedly glancing down at the boy, "Then you've decided."

"I have."

"I see." he closed his eyes softly, "Then believe me when I say that I am truly sorry it's come to this, Merlin."

"It wouldn't have to if you simply looked for another way..."

He scoffed, "You know there is no other solution. Uther must fall. One must break eggs to make an omelet."

"Then eat a salad instead."

The man smirked, "You amuse me." he sighed once again, "But I'm afraid our time is to be shorter than I had hoped. I must go, and I cannot leave you here unattended. You understand, surely."

"You would have me dead upon this very bed."

"I would have you stripped naked upon the bed," he retorted, "but you've instead chosen to sleep on the stoned floor. This is by your choice, and the time for our flirtations have ceased, much to my disappointment." he kept his eyes trained on Merlin, pulling the dagger from his belt, the same that had gutted Guinevere. "I truly do regret your decision Merlin."

A rogue voice broke the tension, "I don't."

The man whipped around so quickly that Merlin thought he might break his neck. Morgana batted him with the candlestick, watching him spin to the floor with an "oof". She blew a strand of hair out from her wide, alert eyes, the candlestick still raised above her head. "Thank the lucky stars..." Merlin muttered, resting his head against the bedpost.

Morgana dropped the stick then, rushing to Merlin and hurriedly untying his wrists. "You fool." she scolded, "You shouldn't have left with him."

"I was protecting you and Arthur."

She huffed, with proud disdain, "We don't need protecting."

"I can see that now." He stood, rubbing over his wrists as they stepped over the man's unconscious body. "The necklace." Merlin grunted, "Take it and he won't look like Arthur anymore."

Morgana ripped it from his neck, snapping the string and taking a step back when he began to change. "And now?"

"We find the king, give him the necklace, and get Arthur out of that damned prison cell."