Hello, it's me again with another chapter! I think that I'm going to try to make this a once-a-week-update thing with me posting after I get home from work on Thursday night shifts (so it still feels like Thursday to me when most of you will wake up on Friday and see this little update waiting for you). I've been getting some positive feedback for this, and I really appreciate the reviews. It's been a long time since I tried to tackle a long story, but I still have some chapters archived in my doc and keep adding to my stash every day, so hopefully I can finish this. I have a lot of this story planned out, though a part of it writes itself as I go along. Funny story, initial drafts were going to have Arthur oblivious to Merlin's magic much like Morgana was but with some idea that Merlin was important to him anyway. However, when I started the first chapter... like, a year ago or something like that, might have been longer than that... I realized that I was missing something. This story keeps transforming itself with every chapter I write, but I think that's what makes it fun. While I know what direction I want this to go, even I don't know what to expect :P

I am dual-posting this on AO3 and FanFiction, by the way. On you can't really add tags, but I would like to point out that some of the main focal points of this story is not only the friendship between Merlin and Arthur as they deal with all of the magic stuff but also the father and son relationship between Uther and Arthur. I have played with the idea of occasionally using other POVs like Nimueh's if I REALLY need to, but this story is mostly going to be done in Merlin, Arthur's, and Uther's POVs. This chapter is all done in Merlin's POV, but in future chapters I am trying to jump back and forth, especially once the ball gets rolling. Bear with me, guys, and enjoy the chapter!

Let's Go On An Adventure

Despite the rest of the kingdom being asleep, Merlin was still awake. Probably because he wanted to be sure that he could find the prince's chambers on his own. For the past three days of being the pompous prat's manservant (really, what sort of reward was that?), he had relied solely on the words of irritated and overworked palace guards who barely spared him a glance as they pointed the way to the royal chambers. However, Merlin had to find his own way eventually if he was going to make sure Arthur woke up on time. He decided that when the halls were at their emptiest would he have his best opportunity.

Is it a left here? No, it's a right. More than once did the servant stumble over his two feet. This castle was unfamiliar terrain, and it was worse during the day when there were servants bustling in all sorts of directions with heavy armloads of laundry - gods, Merlin still hadn't gotten around to doing Arthur's! Or polished his armor! Or did anything that his new master had asked of him!

This had not been what Merlin had been expecting when his mother first told him that he was going to Camelot. Oh, what would Will say to him if he learned that Merlin was now working for a prince, especially one such as Prince Arthur? Just the thought of his best friend made his heart sting, but Merlin had left him behind in Ealdor with the life he had always known. It would probably be years before Merlin could see him again. It felt like a lifetime ago when he and Will had been downing trees outside of the village with Merlin's magic and getting into all sorts of mischief.

"Arthur has magic, too."

Somehow the golden dragon's words came back to Merlin, and, as the ancient but powerful voice echoed in his mind, he heard something else... Or, rather, he felt it, like another pulse in his heart reminiscent of a scream. Stark white, Merlin stood in front of the open window. Cold wind made the banners billow, but it was not the wind he had heard. A voice that only lived inside of his mind, Merlin knew that someone had screamed.

Then, all at once, Merlin was hurrying down the corridors. He was not running, but his instinct was reacting to some sort of danger. The castle became more familiar. He recognized certain halls and tapestries, and then he was faced with Prince Arthur's chambers. He stood in front of the door, regaining his breath while his hand was still resting on the door handle.

The room seemed to be pulsing with magic, too.

Merlin turned the lock with magic - he hadn't brought the key entrusted to him. Magic in the heart of Camelot, and Arthur was at the center of it. However, when Merlin found Arthur, he was not practicing magic. Instead, the blond man was writhing in his bed, frightfully alone but drenched in sweat. His face was scrunched up with terror, and a few slurred murmurs escaped Arthur's lips. "Go... Pl... Stop... Mor...Pro..."

And with every word that was uttered, Arthur's body would shake. More than once would his hands lash out at the thin air, an attempt to protect himself from a danger that did not exist. This was nothing like the strange man from the courtyard who stared at him like Merlin was not human. This person was someone else, from the way he fought even while still asleep to the twist of horror in his face. This man was vulnerable, not the stoic knight everyone else saw.

"Arthur?" Merlin said cautiously. He knew that it was never wise to wake someone from their nightmare, but from how Arthur was swinging his arms, he might just get himself hurt. Merlin was actually here to stop it, and there was that part of him that was already despairing at seeing Arthur like this. Maybe the dragon was right. Maybe they really were connected.

Making up his mind, he moved over to the bed where Arthur was thrashing about. One fist nearly made contact with his face, but Merlin's reflexes were lightning fast with the help of his magic. He caught the flailing wrist and held it firmly, knowing in the back of his mind that this was a poor decision but also knowing that he would not be able to forgive himself if he abandoned Arthur now.

Merlin took a deep breath and restrained the other wrist, though the prince was still struggling. Not wanting to wait a moment longer, Merlin's eyes shone their telltale shade of gold from magic, though there were no incantations to be spoken. Just a pure instinct to help Arthur.

Arthur's eyes opened, and Merlin could barely read the terror in his eyes before the prince fought back. It barely took the man any time to switch the grips so that instead he was the one holding Merlin. Their eyes locked, and then Merlin was being pushed backward and away from Arthur's bed.

"How did you get here?!" Arthur bellowed wildly, and Merlin was too shocked to answer. "Get out!"

And Merlin, for fear of what would happen if he didn't, obeyed.

The next morning, when he bore the tray of food for Prince Arthur's breakfast, the man was already awake. Anger clouded his eyes as he gestured for Merlin to shut the door behind him. When he did, Arthur raised a finger threateningly at Merlin.

"I want to make this clear. From now on, my chambers are off limits after nightfall. Under no circumstances are you to go into my rooms unless you are bringing me my meals or if I have permitted you to do so. Is this understood?"

Merlin had not told anyone about what he had seen last night, nor did he know of anyone he could tell. "Of course," he said stiffly, though Merlin did not bow. He hardly knew the man, and the demands sounded ridiculous to him.

"Good. Second thing." Arthur's face was calm, but his eyes told another story. "You are not to go around repeating anything you might have seen or heard last night. If I hear of one whisper of this being said to anyone, you will find yourself without a job. And is that understood?"

Merlin hadn't wanted this job, hadn't asked for it, but, in that moment, he found himself answering quietly, "Yes."

"Another thing. When out in public, you are to address me as "Sire" or "My Lord." Any other name will have you thrown into the stocks faster than you can blink."

"And what if you are being a prat?" Merlin just wanted the joke to lighten the mood, but Arthur didn't laugh. Rather, he continued glowering at his new servant. Merlin sobered up. "Yes, Sire."

Arthur looked like he wanted to say something else, but his fists clenched twice before dropping down to the table. Apparently he decided against it. "Good, now, as I understand it, it is time for breakfast. With any luck, my food isn't cold yet. Now give it here."

Merlin obeyed but lingered by Arthur's side. "What about to you, my lord? I know what I saw last night..." Arthur's eyes flashed dangerously once again but Merlin ignored it. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"No." Venom dripped from Arthur's voice. "Everything from last night never happened. You saw nothing. Don't go mentioning it to me ever again. Do you understand?"

Merlin understood that too.

That did not mean that Merlin would let it go, though. After Arthur gave him a long list of duties that Merlin would be expected to perform while in his service, Merlin completely disregarded that list and instead went to go find Gwen. He found the maidservant with Morgana's laundry in the hall, and one flash of gold later, Gwen was sent tumbling to the ground. The clothes were scattered across the floor, and, like the good friend he was, Merlin fell to his knees to help Gwen pick it up.

"Gwen! Are you all right?" Merlin knew that she was, he didn't have the power to hurt her. He had very little control over his magic, and what magic he could control would come out weak.

"It's nothing, Merlin," Gwen assured quickly, flashing him a sweet smile as she took one of Morgana's dresses from Merlin's hands and folded it. "I don't know what happened. I suppose that I should have been paying attention to where I was going."

"I don't think it was that," Merlin said as an afterthought. "It might have been a ghost."

"A ghost." Gwen giggled at him after repeating the word. "You're such a funny boy, Merlin."

Merlin laughed too and clumsily started refolding some of the clothes. "There could be. You never know with big castles."

Gwen smiled again. Merlin doubted that she believed him, but she was at the very least entertaining him by listening. "Well, if there's a ghost, I haven't seen it yet, but I will keep my eye out for one for you."

Merlin nodded, feeling that the mood was comfortable enough for him to ask the next thing. "You know, there may actually be one. Something had Prince Arthur spooked last night."

As Merlin expected, Gwen reacted to the news... Sort of, anyway. He watched as her movements froze, but she caught it quickly and continued folding the laundry. "I'm not supposed to talk about it," she muttered in case a servant were to pass them by.

"I know that," Merlin cut in, trying to make it sound like he wasn't pressuring her into talking, though he was. "But how am I supposed to care for the prince if I don't even know what is wrong with him?"

"Nothing is wrong with him," Gwen interrupted with some harshness, but she managed to keep her voice down. "He doesn't want anyone to know. I only know because Lady Morgana told me."

"And as his servant, I have a right to know," he continued softly, taking her wrist. She stopped moving and looked into his eyes. Gwen paled, but Merlin continued looking at her for a few more seconds before releasing her. "Please, Gwen. I want to help him, too."

Gwen's fingers curled around the rich silks, and she avoided looking at Merlin. Merlin couldn't tell what she was thinking about, though he did feel a little guilty for basically forcing her to tell him what was going on with Arthur. Then again, it wasn't like Arthur was going to tell him, and Merlin reasoned that he needed to know if he was going to help the prince.

After a little while, she looked at Merlin again. "All right, but he can't know that I was the one to tell you anything, understood?"

Merlin slashed across his chest with his hand. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Gwen giggled, and there was still a trace of a smile on her face even when she started to divulge Arthur's secrets to him. "It started when Morgana came to Camelot, or, at least, that's what he told her. When he was really young, Arthur had a few nightmares, but so does every child at that age. It was only when he got a little older that they started to get worse."

Magic. That was what the dragon in the dungeons had told Merlin, anyway. The prince's dreams came from magic. However, Gwen wasn't mentioning magic, and Merlin wasn't going to, either. "Worse how, exactly?"

Gwen glanced in both directions to make sure that they weren't being overheard before looking again at Merlin. "The images became more vivid, vivid beyond any child's nightmare. Sometimes, even, the things he sees come true."

Merlin reached for her hand to keep her steady. "What kinds of things does he see?" His voice was soft but urgent. He wanted, no, needed to know so that he could better help Arthur. He didn't know why he was so insistent on helping Arthur, especially since he barely knew him, but he hadn't liked what he had seen when he walked into Arthur's room last night.

Gwen pulled her wrist from Merlin's grip, frowning. It looked like she was about to say something else, but instead Gwen answered, "Flashes, mostly, but sometimes the images are longer, like a scene, almost. Morgana has been lying about having nightmares so that she could give him her sleeping drafts, but they aren't working as well as they used to. Whatever these dreams are, they are stronger than Gaius's sleeping drafts."

Merlin nodded, though, despite having been born using magic, he didn't know much about visions. Maybe he could ask Gaius, or he could ask the dragon again. Maybe one of them would have the answer. He didn't even have to tell Gaius about Arthur's visions to keep his secret intact.

Merlin knew that there must have been a reason why Arthur hadn't told anyone about his nightmares. Even if they weren't connected to magic, they had to be connected to something else. The king may consider them to be a weakness, and Merlin had gotten to know Arthur enough to know that he could be prideful when he wanted to be. However, he had also gotten a sense that the pride might just be a mask to cover the vulnerability he had seen in Arthur that night.

No wonder Arthur had been so insistent on Merlin getting out. Merlin had seen a side of Arthur that no one was supposed to know about.

"Thank you, Gwen," he said with a smile as he finished handing her clothes. "I promise, I won't tell anyone, not even Gaius."

Gwen offered him a smile of her own, and the two servants stood up at the same time. Merlin scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"If there is anything else that I can help you with, Merlin, just let me know, all right?" She looked at him sweetly, holding the clothes basket against her body so that she didn't drop it again. "It was really nice, actually, to be able to talk about this with someone that isn't Morgana. Not that I would talk about it with her, but she is the only one that knows about it besides us and the prince."

Merlin nodded, knowing that he couldn't really talk about this with anyone else. This was something that he would have to figure out on his own. Maybe the dragon in the dungeon would have some answers, but Merlin didn't want to deal with his riddles unless he had to. "Of course. I'll see you later then, Gwen." Then he turned tail, knowing the next person to talk to.

"What do you know about nightmares that let you see into the future?" Subtle, Merlin, really subtle.

Gaius raised an eyebrow at him, which Merlin had noticed that the elderly man did quite a lot. His surprise had been so great that he had stopped shoveling the stew into his mouth, so the spoon was hovering in the air supported only by Gaius's hand.

"May I ask if there is a reason that you want to know?" Gaius replied, staring down his new ward.

Merlin immediately looked down at his own bowl, which was filled with a strange gruel that reminded him of what his mother cooked. Admittedly, this tasted better, though not by much. He used it as a distraction to not meet Gaius's piercing stare. "There is no reason. I was just sort of curious, that's all."

While suspicious, Gaius finally relented. "The art of fortune-telling is a rare gift innate in a few select individuals. This power cannot be learned, but seers, as the people with the gift of prophecy are called, can hone their powers over time so that it becomes less of a burden. In most people, it starts as flashes or short dreams. As their powers grow, these visions may become more vivid and disturbing in nature."

Merlin didn't like the sound of that. Over time? Did Arthur have that kind of time? He had seen first hand what kind of a burden this power could be. It did not matter to Merlin that he had barely known Arthur for a week. The connection between them was too great. There was some kind of pull drawing Merlin and Arthur together, a bond without name, and Merlin knew that somehow he would stop at nothing to make Arthur's problem just disappear.

"How long would it take, do you think?" It was an innocent enough question, but Merlin had a feeling that Gaius was still suspicious, if the look the man was giving him was anything to judge by. There was something about it that made Merlin want to come clean and tell his new guardian everything, but it had already been made clear to him that if Arthur wanted Gaius to know about him, he would have gone to him for the sleeping drafts himself.

"Well, depending on the amount of power each seer has, it could take years for them to be able to control what they see. Why, Taliesin was known to have been one of the greatest and most powerful seers in history, but it still would have taken him at least decades to tame that raw power." Gaius frowned as he studied the boy in front of him. "Do you understand that even talking about the seers is dangerous? The power to see into the future has long been connected with sorcery, and Uther had many seers put to death at the start of the Great Purge."

Magic. Of course. The dragon had said as much, though Merlin didn't know if the word of a great big scaly beast that didn't let you sleep was at all that reliable. Nevertheless, he had to play innocent. Gaius may have known that he had magic, but there was little reason for him to know that Arthur had it as well.

"We don't have to talk about it anymore, then," Merlin said with one last nod, though he had wished that he had found out more. However, Gaius was being too careful and already skeptical of Merlin's sudden interest in the subject of seers. Merlin would have to be more discreet in the future.

Merlin turned back down to his gruel, which was far less appealing than before. He stirred around a few chunks without sticking them into his mouth, though his mind was elsewhere. It could take Arthur years before he could control his dreams. Was Merlin supposed to act as his servant for all of this time when he could be helping him? Merlin hardly knew the limits of his own magic, but he wasn't going to give up just yet on Arthur. This prince, whoever he was, was in need of aid, and Merlin was the only one who could offer him any assistance.

Merlin still didn't have a key to Arthur's chambers, but that didn't really matter. After all, he still had magic. He silently approached the heavy door and hesitated before whispering the spell. There was an almost inaudible click, and he slipped inside.

It was dark, just as it had been that other night when he wandered in on the prince's nightmares. He could almost sense the torment radiating off of the prince. In the dark, it was hard to see his face, but Merlin had no doubt that it was twisted into the same look of helplessness that he had witnessed the night before.

Merlin's heart constricted, but there was only one thing that he could do. If he could not speed up the process of Arthur's magic's development, then all he could do was disobey Arthur's orders. He was going to be there for him whether the ungrateful prince liked it or not.

He drew up a chair from Arthur's table and set it beside the prince's bed. He sat down in it, sinking into the soft cushions that only nobility could afford. Merlin ignored this comfort, though, as he looked at the struggling form in the bed.

"It's all right, Arthur," Merlin said gently with a smile, stroking back a few sweaty golden locks. "It's just a dream. It's just a dream."

He made no effort to wake Arthur, but the slow back and forth movement between his fingers and the prince's hair seemed to calm him. The mutterings stopped, though the prince occasionally jerked from fear of (or for) something, and Merlin would have to whisper more soothing words of encouragement.

No matter how much his eyelids drooped, or how tired Merlin got, he stayed by the prince's side. And so, when the prince woke up that morning to Merlin lost in sleep of his own, he somehow understood. He wasn't going to get rid of Merlin that easily… and he didn't really want to.

So... that's that! Not much action going on in this chapter, but I wanted Merlin to figure out what seers were so that he can be there to help Arthur. There is going to be a mini timeskip between this chapter and the next. I'll explain a bit more in the next chapter, though it is mostly just to say that events in canon happened without me rehashing canon. There is more excitement next chapter, I promise!

What do you think of this so far? If there is anything that you would like to see in this fic, just let me know. Arwen and Freylin are the endgame ships of this story, though I am throwing in some Mergana here and Uther's magnificent troll-queen there, and of course I have plans for Arthur and Merlin bromance. I can't guarantee that I will get to all suggestions in case if they don't fall in line with the few major events that I already have planned out, but I will try to work them in for you guys :)

~Lya200~