and now another chapter of this story

Arthur had woken up early and went out to get some air and clear his head, letting the others sleep a bit longer. He stood and watched as the sun started to peek over the tree. Arthur looked over his shoulder as Gwaine rushed out muttering something about taking a leak. The prince sighed and turned to walked back to were his friends were still sleeping, as he got closer he could make out a bit of a conversation between Merlin, Morgana and a voice he didn't recognize.

"the water is connected...Morgause... forged a sword with dark magic...delivered to Cenred...only one sword in existence...Excalibur...Kin...Uther is not Arthur's only kin...I have my own sword...only one to wield Excalibur"

Arthur stepped into the door way to see Morgana with her hand in a puddle of water, there was a glow coming from the water. Morgana pulled her hand out of the water gripping something. Arthur's breath hitched as he watched his surrogate sister pull a sword out of a puddle of water.

Merlin and Morgana both turned their heads to look at him as they saw his reflection in the blade.

"Morgana, did you just pull a sword out of a puddle?" Arthur asked finding it hard to believe his eye's. "and who were you two talking to, I heard a woman's voice and it wasn't Morgana's"

Merlin and Morgana glanced at each other then turned their attention back to Arthur.

"yes" Morgana said in a matter of fact tone

"yes I did"

"and the voice you heard, her name is Freya. She's the Lady of the lake" Merlin told him.

"she's a friend, but she's gone now"

Arthur stepped closer to them glancing around at the others that were still sleeping.

"ok, I knew Merlin had magic" Arthur said.

"but, Morgana? How? When?"

"before I even knew" Morgana told him taking a step forward.

"and I promise we will talk about this when there is more time"

Morgana held up the sword she had just pulled one hand under the hilt and the other under the blade.

She kneeled down in front of him and lifted the sword up.

"Arthur Pendragon, prince and future king of Camelot" Morgana spoke her tone respectful yet authorative.

"I present to you Excalibur"

Arthur gently took the sword from Morgana placing his hand under the blade, and the other with Morgana's hand on the hilt to pull her back up onto her feet, it was weird have her kneel infront of him. Arthur stepped back and looked the sword over. It was perfectly balanced, the blade was sharpened to perfection and the size and shape of the hilt fit his hand perfectly. He had the oddest feeling the sword truly belong to him on a level he hadn't felt with any other sword.

"why do I feel like I have some sort of connection with a sword?" Arthur asked no one in particular.

"because it was forged in the dragon's breath for the purpose of you having it" Merlin told him

Arthur looked up from the sword at Merlin. He was about to say something when Lancelot and Mordred started to stir.

Merlin stepped closer to Arthur and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Freya say's that Morgause forged a sword using dark magic and sent it to Cenred" Merlin told him.

"Excalibur is the only sword that has any chance against it"

Merlin stepped back from Arthur and turned to see Mordred sitting up in his bed roll yawning himself awake.

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Hunith, Gwen and Gaius sat quietly eating breakfast together, none of them had gotten more than a few hours of sleep the night before. Hunith stared out the window as she ate, the longer her son and Morgana were taking to rescue Arthur the other's the more she worried. What was taking them so long, yes Camelot was fortified to last for at least a month long siege but still.

Gwen reached over and squeezed her hand giving her a small smile when she looked at her.

"they will be here" Gwen told her.

"the battle may or may not start before they are, but they will be here"

"yes" Gaius agreed

"I have never know Merlin to not be there when he is needed, if he can help it"

Hunith sighed and squeezed Gwen's hand back before pulling hers away.

"I know but I am his mother I am going to worry" She said.

All three looked toward the door as a horn blast sounded and someone banged on the door. Without invite a knight opened the door.

"sorry" He said

"The King wants to see you Gaius"

"alright" Gaius said standing up.

"Hunith, Gwen I will meet you down in the greet hall when you are ready"

Hunith and Gwen both nodded and watched as Gaius followed the knight out.

The two women made their way down to the great hall/temporary medical centre with the medicines that Gwen and Gaius had worked on the night before. There was a quiet tension in the air among the people of Camelot as they waited, there was no doubt a battle would take place but how long it would last was another question.

Gwen's thoughts went to Arthur as she was triple checking the supplies. she needed to keep busy to stop herself from getting to anxious. It had been almost a week and a half since they were told of his capture and just as long that Sir Leon had gone with a small group of knights to rescue him.

To make her worries worse she had gotten no word on what was happening with her brother. Has he been captured to? was he trying to rescue Arthur? Was he even still alive?

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Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and the other's stood out side of the old grown over castle as the sun shined through the tree's on them. The prince had called everyone together after they had readied the horses and ate a quick breakfast of rabbit, which Sir Belivare, Percival and surprisingly Merlin had caught.

"I thought you didn't like hunting" Arthur had commented at seeing Merlins three rabbits.

"I don't like hunting for fun" Merlin had responded.

"I have no problem hunting for food".

The knight's and Lancelot, Percival, Elyan, Gwaine and Mordred stood waiting to see what Arthur wanted to say to them. The prince seemed to trying to think of the right way to say it.

""Merlin"" Mordred telepathed.

""do you know what this is about""

""I'm not to sure"" Merlin telepathed back

""Arthur just said there was something he needed to do""

Arthur cleared his throat and placed his hand on the new sword that rested in his sheath.

" We know Camelot if it's not already will soon be under siege by Cenred's army. This army consists of both Cenred and Odin's men making it the largest Camelot has ever faced. Lancelot, Percival, Gwaine, Elyan you have all shown you are capable of great loyalty and more than that you have been true friends, having my back when I need it and calling me on my as Merlin would call it pratness. Every one of you has fought by my side and shown your trust in me as a leader. So I have done some contemplating and have come to a decision. I am going to do something my father would not approve of. Line up and Kneel"

The four men glanced at each other not sure what was going on but kneeled in a genuflect position anyway. Arthur drew his sword and stepped closer to the four men so that he was standing in front of Lancelot who was farther to the left of the line. Sir's Leon, Galahad and Belivare watched with new anticipation recognizing what Arthur was doing. Mordred watched curiously unsure of what was going on but he could see Emrys and Morgana has slight smiles on there faces so it probably wasn't a bad thing.

"Lancelot DuLac, Elyan LeBlanc, Percival DeGalis, Gwaine who refuses to tell me his last name"

Merlin fought back a chuckle at that last one, this was suppose to be a serious moment.

"Do you promise to uphold the laws of Camelot, and to follow the knight's code of Honour, Justice, courage of the heart, Faith, Mercy, Nobility of spirit, Humility, Generosity, Hope, Loyalty. Do you swear to Defend the people of Camelot and those that are allied with Camelot. "

"I so promise" Lancelot said

"I will" Elyan spoke solemnly

"you have my oath" Percival said

"I so swear" Gwaine said.

Arthur raised his sword and in turn placed the end of the blade first on the left Shoulder's then over their heads and onto the right.

"Rise Sir Lancelot DuLac"

Sir Lancelot looked up and slowly stood a slight smile on his face, He could hardly believe he was finally a knight.

"Rise Sir Elyan LeBlanc, Rise Sir Percival DeGalis"

Sir Elyan and Sir Percival stood, both a little proud. Both had proven themselves worthy of

knight hood in Arthur's eyes without even trying.

"Rise Sir Gwaine"

Sir Gwaine stood his eyes found Merlins who gave him a smile and a slight nod. Gwaine smiled to himself a bit if anything his father would have been proud of this achievement.

"welcome to the knighthood" Sir Belivare said cheerfully patting Percival on the back and shaking Lancelot's hand.

Sir Belivare, Sir Galahad and Sir Leon all happily welcomed their new brother's in knight hood. Mordred stood with Merlin and Morgana watching them. Arthur turned to look at him and stepped over to the small group.

"Mordred I have not forgotten your bravery" Arthur said

The knights all turned their attention back to Arthur watching and listening as he spoke to the youth.

"Sire?" Mordred question

"you are a bit to young to be knighted just yet. However if you would accept I would like to offer you a place as a squire"

"your majesty I am honoured, but are you sure?" Mordred asked glancing at the knight's then Merlin and Morgana.

Morgana gave him an encouraging smile, although she did worry about Uther possibly recognizing the boy as the druid child he had ordered executed years earlier.

"yes Mordred I am sure" Arthur said placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"you don't need to decide yet think on it a while, ask whom ever need what ever questions you may have"

Mordred smiled and nodded. it was more than he had ever considered hoping for, a squirehood, the possibility of being trained to be knight. Did he even want to be knight? He looked over at Emerys no Merlin he remained him self. Merlin met his eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze before putting his hand back at his side. It was a look Mordred hadn't realized her had been wanting till that moment, it was a look that told him what ever he choose his future was up to him.

"I will think about your offer" He said to Arthur

"thank you"

Soon Everyone was mounted on their horses ready to ride toward Camelot. They had food and water set up in reachable pouches on the saddles. Arthur pointed out that it would take half a day to reach Camelot, they would only stop if the horses required rest.

Arthur rode up front Merlin Sir Gwaine and Sir Leon road closest to him, followed by Sir Lancelot and Sir Belivare then Lady Morgana, Mordred, Sir Elyan and Sir Percival and Sir Galahad brought up the rear.

Arthur glanced back at Merlin who met his eyes, the prince gestured for his servant to come closer then looked back up at the road ahead of them.

"what is it Arthur" Merlin asked bringing his horse up beside the prince's

"I need to speak with you about something I have been thinking of for a while" Arthur said

Merlin raised an eye brow at him, He sounded serious.

"first, I want to thank you for lying to me that time that Morgause summoned my mother" Arthur said

"I understand that must have been hard for you, stopping me from murdering my father a man I would imagine you would be justified in wanting dead."

"I have no desire for Uther to be killed by magic or any other means" Merlin said

"Morgause did not have the magical communities interest in mind when she did that to you, only her own selfish goals"

"you don't hate my Father, after all he's done?" Arthur asked.

"your mother told me what your childhood was like. The fact that he drove your father into hiding, a man who had been his friend"

Merlin sighed and thought for a moment, how to explain his feeling about Uther to the young prince. There had been a time when Merlin had slowly been developing a slight hatred for the king. However the young warlock had realized that hating the man didn't help anyone, it didn't change anything really it was a waste of energy and it gave the man more thought than he deserved.

"your father lost the love of his life partly because of magic and partly because of his pride, the loss hit him so hard and the mourning for that loss was so deep I believe it broke something deep inside of him." Merlin said

"his love for you is probably the only thing that kept him from doing worse than he has already"

"how could he possibly have done worse than what he did, do you have any idea how many innocent people he has killed. How many I killed because I believed him" Arthur spoke his voice hitching a little.

"He could have tried to purge all of Albion" Merlin said

"do you imagine the kings of the other kingdoms would have let an invasion into their lands go unchecked"

"No" Arthur said shaking his head a little.

"alright the thing I wanted to talk to you about"

"yes?" Merlin asked

"I know how much you have done for Camelot, that if it wasn't for you and your magic my self and probably more than half of Camelot would be six feet under." Arthur said

"I have know you for years, I know you don't have an evil bone in your body. Morgana has always stood up for what she believes is right and if she's had magic as long as she says and both of you have not been corrupted by it then I believe the laws should be reconsidered."

"what do you mean reconsidered" Merlin asked

"you know you would never convince Uther"

"I know that" Arthur said

"but when I am king I would like to gradually allow magic to return to Camelot.

Which is were you come in"

Merlin looked at Arthur seeing the determined look on his face.

"what do you want me to do" He asked

"I would like you to continue what you have been doing, protecting Camelot from those threats that myself and the knight aren't equipped to handle but unlike before you won't have to do it alone. Then when I am king I want you to be my court sorcerer"

Arthur waited for Merlin's response silence rang from his man servant.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked turning to see his friend slack jawed rendered speechless. Something the prince had never dreamed could happen.

Merlin opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say in all of his imaginings of what it would be like if Arthur did restore magic to Camelot him being court sorcerer had never entered his mind.

"I uh would be honoured?" Merlin said with slight questioning tone to his voice.

Morgana chatted with Mordred about the battle they were headed for. Morgana worried about the young boy getting hurt. Mordred agreed his fighting skills were not up to par with the knights but he wanted to help.

"I understand I want to help as well." Morgana said

"but there are other ways beside picking up a sword and running into battle"

"you're going to be picking up a sword" Mordred pointed out

"yes I am, I will be mostly doing what I can to help the injured but there will be times when I will need to defend my self"

" I can defend you" Mordred said

"I believe you would try" Morgana said with a slight smile.

"but your still just a boy"

Mordred frown.

"I am not a child" he grumbled

"your right, your not a child but you are still not fully grown yet" Morgana said

"and you have had experience with your settlement's being attacked but this is different. This is not going to be ten to twenty men who think your the bad guys, this is going to be hundred's of men all trained in the art of battle who don't care if your good or bad just that you are their enemy"

Mordred was silent for a moment thinking about what Morgana had said. He wanted to tell himself she didn't understand an attack on a druid settlement was like, his subconscious reminded him that she had been in a druid settlement during an attack so she had some idea.

The young druid looked up ahead his eyes landing on Emry's, no Merlin he reminded himself he prefers Merlin. The warlock and the prince were riding almost side by side talking, Mordred notice Arthur said something that rendered Merlin speechless for a moment before he hesitantly replied.

What ever it was Arthur seemed relieved and happy with Merlin's answer.

"I wonder what there talking about" Sir Belivare said from Mordred's left and back a bit.

"what ever it is Arthur's pleased about it" Elyan commented.

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Uther stood on the battlements looking out past the outer walls at the gathered army. Cenred sat on a horse at the head of his men. Uther tide the note he had written refusing to surrender and demanding Cenred take his men and return to his own land immediately to an arrow and handed the it to one of his best archers.

"Take this to the outer wall and fire it toward Cenred" Uther ordered

"try and get it to land at least five feet in front of his horse"

"yes Sire" the archer bowed and ran to do as he was ordered.

Knight and Guards all gathered along the out walls of Camelot some out side the walls behind the temporary wooden siege walls waiting for Cenred and his army to make their move. The arrow with the message was shot and landed in front of Cenred. One of Cenred's men picked it up and gave it to him.

Cenred read the note then smirked looking up at were he could see Uther. He held the note up and said something to his men. Uther watched as Cenred's man came over with a torch and Cenred lit the note on fire before dropping it to the ground and pulling his sword out signalling the attack.

and now the end of this chapter

plot gremlins are playing with nerf sword