Hi, I'm back again. Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with schools and goats as well as Alpacas (I work on three farms). Thank you so much for the reviews please keep it up, I love knowing what you think. I still don't own Merlin.

Chapter 4:

Despite Merlin's collapse, Arthur had successfully set his leg. He moved round to Merlin's side and realized that blood was leaking through the thin material of the servant's shirt. Wasting no time, Arthur removed the shirt so that he might better assess the damage, he was now cursing himself for not realizing the possible extent of Merlin's injuries: Magic or no, that fall would definitely have caused serious injuries.

As he removed Merlin's shirt he let out an audible gasp Aside from the severe bruising (Merlin's thinking about several broken ribs was correct) and a large scrape down Merlin's side, his body was littered with scars. Arthur had seen fewer scars on a battle-hardened warrior, what had Merlin been doing? As he inspected the scars more closely, the prince was puzzled as to how Merlin was still alive, he was sure some of these wounds were deadly - wait wasn't that a serket sting? No one survived those, no one except Merlin it appeared.

Arthur suddenly realized he had been staring so he set to work tearing up the rest of his tunic. He remembered something that Gaius had once mentioned about boiling bandages to reduce chances of wounds becoming infected but Arthur had no way of containing water so he assumed he would have to risk it. Just as he was about to start wrapping the makeshift bandages around his friend's torso, Merlin shifted and mumbled something in that strange language again - the language of magic. There began a crackling noise behind him and Arthur whipped around to find a small fire merrily blazing in the center of the clearing. Hanging over it was a cauldron filled with clear, boiling water. Arthur could do nothing but stare but eventually, he forced himself to his feet and found that the pot of bubbling water also contained several long strips of fresh white bandages. Arthur could only stare.

Merlin was awake but had not yet opened his eyes. He was savoring a very bizarre dream about Arthur discovering his magic and wings but not being repulsed by it. Merlin suddenly became aware that he was outside and lying on uneven ground with something uncomfortable digging into his back. Not a dream then. He groaned as he forced himself upwards and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, his chest was wrapped tightly in rough bandages. Oh dear. "You've seen," he croaked, his voice hoarse from lack of water.

"Yes Merlin, what happened? Where did you get those scars?" Arthur's voice promised violence to anyone who had hurt his friend.

"Mainly from protecting you, if you haven't noticed, almost everyone is trying to kill you."

"I can protect myself, Merlin, you shouldn't be getting injured because of some stupid destiny." He was only starting to see the extent of Merlin's loyalty. His friend had clearly gone through some horrific ordeals for him and Arthur had never noticed, had always passed it off, had a trip down the stairs, or some other clumsy accident.

"You can't protect yourself from magical threats, that's where I come in. My magic is like your sword, it can both protect and destroy."

"You should be dead Merlin. How have you managed to survive?" Arthur couldn't quite believe how much pain Merlin must have gone through without telling him. He felt slightly hurt by the prospect of Merlin's lies.

"Mainly by magic. Not my own most of the time, various magical creatures helped."

"I never even knew you were injured," Arthur's hurt clear in his voice.

"That's not your fault, I hid quite a few of these from Gaius, he'd have forbidden me from going out again."

"Gaius knows about your magic?" Now that he thought about it, Arthur wasn't surprised the old physician knew, it appeared he knew all the goings-on in Camelot.

"Yes, Lancelot does too but that was an accident," Merlin admitted hoping that Arthur wasn't upset he hadn't known earlier.

"Why didn't you just stop using magic, it's so risky. If my father ever found out you'd be dead before I could do anything."

"I doubt that, I can't stop using magic. I am magic, it's in every part of me: without it, I will die. I am more powerful than you could ever imagine. The druids call me Emrys."

"You're Emrys," said Arthur in awe, he'd heard whispered mentions of that name from magic users and druids"

"Yes, I am." Merlin's voice was heavy with the burden of that reality and Arthur sensed this.

"Merlin, thank you for telling me, thank you for trusting me," Arthur was now convinced that Merlin couldn't have been corrupted by magic, Merlin was good, he must have saved Arthur's life at least a dozen times, and had protected his kingdom. The very kingdom that would have destroyed the young warlock if he was ever discovered. Merlin was silent, his mind was reeling with Arthur's apparent acceptance, he had never in a million years thought it would go like this.

It was getting properly dark now, the night was closing in and Arthur was aware that Merlin shouldn't be allowed to get cold in the condition he was in so he carefully placed his Camelot red cloak on top of the servant who glared at him but didn't remove it. Arthur sat by the fire to take first watch.