Welcome back to another chapter of Shackles of Destiny, I apologise for how long this had taken. Plot cats have been everywhere. But hey, here it is. Merlin belongs to the BBC.

Chapter 3

Mordred woke up the following morning with a smile on his face. His mind drifted back to when he was sharpening his sword in Merlin's presence, the warlock didn't reject him or moved away when he walked into the armoury. He took Arthur's advice to heart, he knew Merlin better than most people save Lancelot and possibly Gwaine, Mordred wasn't sure on those two and their friendships with Merlin. He was by far closest to those three than anyone else who were knights of Camelot. He opened the mental link between himself and Merlin and was greeted with the usual block that Merlin preferred to have. He wasn't surprised by that but he'd had it open for the very slim chance that Merlin would talk this way. A knock on the door alerted him to his servant bringing him breakfast.

The first agenda Mordred had was training with the other knights. It was both fun and unnerving whenever he went up against Arthur. The way Merlin tensed, his own job forgotten until Mordred was away from Arthur once more. He was supposedly destined to kill Arthur but he just couldn't see how. Arthur hadn't done anything worth killing him for. Whatever makes him choose that path was what Mordred wanted to know more but he pushed that thought out of his mind for now. His current goal was to befriend Merlin, reassure him that Mordred wasn't a threat and then hopefully truly earn Merlin's trust.

Mordred arrived on the training grounds and was thankful that Merlin and Arthur weren't there yet. Lancelot and Percival were warming up together while Leon warmed up with Elyan. Mordred looked around and tried to spot Gwaine, the often drunk knight was nowhere to be seen so Mordred didn't have anyone to warm up with. He felt himself gravitate towards Lancelot and Percival.

"Do you mind if I join in?" Mordred asked Lancelot as he watched the pair break away from each other.

"What's the chances that Merlin and Arthur are going to be dragging Gwaine here?" Percival asked with a bright smile on his face.

"Very high and yes Mordred, you can join us," Lancelot nodded to Mordred and smiled.

"How's it going with Merlin?" Percival asked.

"When I saw him he looked better, relaxed and well rested. I think the day off did a good job at letting him catch up with his sleeping," Mordred smiled. He would keep Merlin's secret but from the smiles he got from Lancelot and Percival he felt like that interaction with Merlin was a step in the right direction. "I also noticed how well looked after Arthur's sword is, how Merlin treats it like it's the most important thing in the world other than Arthur himself."

"He pulled that sword from the stone. The sword could only be pulled free by the Once and Future King, according to legend," Leon said as he approached the three of them. "Heads up though, Arthur and Merlin are coming dragging Gwaine. Arthur doesn't look happy so prepare for a rough session."

Leon was correct, they indeed had a very rough training session thanks to Gwaine.

After the session, Mordred was exhausted but smiling. While it was rough Mordred felt like he had gotten a lot out of it. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed when Arthur dragged his manservant onto the field and threw armour at him and a shield, Merlin hid behind the shield as Arthur wailed on him with different weapons before Arthur let the others have a go. They weren't nearly as harsh as Arthur was of course, Mordred told Merlin what he was going to do through their telepathy so Merlin had a heads up. Now they were free to perform their other duties Mordred wanted to make sure that Merlin was okay.

"That was some training, are you okay?" Mordred asked but he wasn't sure if he should wait for a response or not from Merlin.

"I've had worse…" Mordred felt a smile grow on his face as he heard Merlin's response.

"I won't keep you long but if you ever need to talk, I'm here. So are the knights and King Arthur."

"I'm fine…"

There is was, the typical response from Merlin but Mordred knew better. His destiny was dragging him down but Merlin felt like he had to shoulder everything alone. Mordred wanted to get his words into Merlin's thick skull that he shouldn't have to shoulder it alone. To march up to Merlin and practically scream that he was HIS ally! He could understand Merlin and his struggles better than any other knight of Camelot! If he didn't know the prophecy that involved himself and Arthur then Merlin's behaviour could have resulted in Arthur's death…but now Mordred would fight it, he would prove to Merlin that he was loyal to both of them!

"I just need to get it through his head that I-" he stopped. His mind forcing an idea forward but it was rather risky and he wasn't suer that Arthur or the knights would agree with his idea. Magic.

There must be a way to use magic to enter someone's mind. He was aware that magic could be used to manipulate other's minds and willpower, spells to alter memories or recover dormant memories, but could magic also be used to enter the mind of someone else? It was force Merlin to reveal things about himself that he didn't want others to know, the very fact that Merlin has magic being the biggest reason as that could end his life, depending on Arthur's actions. If the others knew about Merlin's magic…would they all turn their backs on him and abandon him? Mordred didn't want to be the reason for that. That would turn the warlock away from him even more than this stupid prophecy was. Even if they could perform this magic he wasn't sure how it could be done safely. Meddling with the mind wasn't an easy thing and anything could go wrong. Maybe Gaius would know the answers he was seeking? If he had been guiding Merlin with his magic then he must know something.

Shackles of Destiny – Chapter 3

Merlin pulled out his mental list of chores that Arthur had given him after training and started to check it off, he was currently doing the laundry and learning about the latest gossip from the other servants. Those servants who served the knights always had good gossip to listen to but Merlin, who was round the knights enough to know their secrets didn't find the gossip that interesting. He found himself to be more interested in the gossip that surrounded the lower town or the marketplace. Merlin didn't wander down there often as he stuck close to Arthur, even more so with Mordred now around.

"So, Merlin, what gossip do you have?" A servant called Floree asked Merlin. He glanced over to her, a young female with long blond hair and rich brown eyes. Her skin was tanned slightly but she often had a bright smile on her face. Floree worked in the castle but Merlin often found her working in both the kitchen and laundry room. She was sweet, normally with a smile on her face regardless on what work she was doing. Her eyes twinkled at the possible gossip Merlin was willing to talk about.

"Want another story of King Arthur or something else?" Merlin asked.

"I'm sure you've got plenty of stories about King Arthur and the knights of Camelot, but something I would like to hear is your abilities as a physician. That's something you never talk about," Floree spoke before Merlin chuckled.

"Well, sorry to say but there's not much to talk about. Gaius likes to test me on my knowledge when I'm there with him. I take my time to read the books he has whenever I find myself having spare time. Something very rare while working for that dollophead and while working under Gaius too."

"I still don't understand how you can get away with throwing insults at the King like that," another servant laughed.

"It's all part of my charm," Merlin smiled and caused a ripple of laughter from the other servants.

It felt right for him, seeing their happy faces as they performed their duties much like he did. They weren't as courageous as the knights or as daring but they were happy. Merlin felt like he was part of the crowd here with the other servants much like when he did with the knights of Camelot. While they never knew that they were friends with a warlock and they may never know who he was, he was both content with that and upset. He already felt his destiny weighing him down and now he was finally admitted that to himself, he was struggling…and had been for a long time. He just didn't know how to seek help for something like this. Kilgharrah would just spurt riddles and Gaius had more important duties such as teaching him what he needed to know to eventually take over his position as a physician.

"Merlin?" Floree spoke up and drew Merlin's attention.

"Hmm?"

"I think the shirt is done?" She pointed down towards the shirt that he had been washing. It was indeed done.

"Ah, thank you Floree," he flashed her a smile before he sorted out the shirt. Floree watched him hang the shirt up to dry before moving onto another piece of clothing. "Now I don't have to use the excuse of moths eating his clothing."

"How many times have you used that excuse?"

"Just as many times as I've used the woodworm excuse."

"Too many times you've lost count?" That got a laugh from Merlin simply because he knew that was the case and somehow Arthur still believed him…or maybe not but still accepted the answer.

"Maybe, do you mind taking over while I go and tend to Arthur?" Merlin asked the other servants. They nodded and with a nod of thanks, Merlin got up and darted away to tend to Arthur.

As he moved through the corridors he felt somewhat lighter after that conversation with the other servants. Now he felt Arthur needed him and he was correct. As he burst into Arthur's chambers the blond-haired king looked up from his paperwork and smirked.

"Ah, just in time. I need you to write me a speech," Arthur stood up from his desk and walked over to Merlin. "And it better be a good speech."

"Aren't all my speeches?" Merlin asked. The glare he received from Arthur was amusing.

"No, Merlin, they will always need the fine tuning and polishing from me."

"Of course, sire. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"What?"

"Nothing sire," Merlin smirked as he walked over towards the desk and sat down, grabbing some parchment, a quill and some ink Merlin got to work writing a new speech for Arthur.

Arthur watched Merlin write. He didn't know a servant who could read or write as well as Merlin could. Uther had told him that teaching a servant those two skills wasn't required for the job…but Merlin wasn't a normal servant. He was Arthur's servant and that made the difference, Merlin wasn't just his servant…he was so much more and Arthur couldn't have asked for a better servant. While he was still the worst servant in all the five kingdoms, there was just something that stood out in Merlin that made Arthur thankful for him. Merlin worked in silence while he wrote, the look of concentration on Merlin's face made watching him that more interesting. He held back a smile when he noticed Merlin's tongue starting to peek out from between his lips.

"Merlin, mind answering me a question?" Arthur asked. The scratching of the quill stopped and Arthur knew he had Merlin's attention.

"What's that?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Merlin, I'm simply curious. We all know that I'm married to Gwen but I've never seen you interested in anyone."

"I'm sure if I was in love, you and the other knights would notice."

"True."

Nollypoo - I'm glad you're loving it, and yes, Mordred is adorable. I hope this chapter hasn't disappointed you.

The Sorrowful Deity - Smiley face.

emrysmorgana - I don't plan on abandoning this story so don't worry about that. I love reading stories where Arthur and the knights care a lot about Merlin and are open about it...so they're going to be the same in this story too~

Thanks for reading and I'll be back next chapter. I apologise that this chapter is about 1000 words shorter but I felt like it was best left where it is. Until then, take care~