Doing magic purposely in front of Arthur felt so strange. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Merlin could still hardly believe that his secret was out. After so many years of hiding, it was unreal to be able to be himself so openly.

Merlin had wanted to tell Arthur the moment he'd announced the change in the law, but Gaius had cautioned him to give it some time. He'd said the King needed time to adapt. Despite this warning Merlin's patience had run out inside a week and now here they were.

It could have gone better, but it could have gone a lot worse too. Merlin knew Arthur could think of nothing but Gwen, still he was glad he hadn't waited any longer. For Gwen's sake he believed he'd done the right thing.

When morning came, Arthur announced his intention to go to the dark tower alone. Merlin was in no way surprised when all of the knights pledged to accompany him. Arthur still didn't understand the loyalty he could inspire in others.

"She's a damsel in distress," Gwaine said by way of joining up. "I was born for this moment."

Then Arthur looked at Merlin. He didn't say anything, but there was something in his eyes. It was like he was asking permission to tell the others.

"If you aren't going to lob my head off then I feel certain they won't," Merlin smiled at his friend.

The knights looked confused until Arthur gestured to the fire and Merlin repeated the fire trick he'd shown the King last night.

When the glowing embers of the dragon faded once again, every eye was on Merlin.

"Someone's been lying to us a long time," Percival said.

"As I learned last night," Arthur added. At that every knight turned to look at the king as if for instructions.

"Merlin is with us," Arthur said. "He has made me a promise to help save the Queen and I believe he will honour it." With that Arthur indicated it was time to leave and every knight gathered their swords and mounted their horse.

They rode in silence, travelling as fast as their horses would allow until the dark tower came into sight. Arthur explained the only way to reach the tower was through the impenetrable forest.

"Well that sounds impossible," Merlin commented. "Is there no other way?"

"None," Arthur stated, before leading them onward.

Before long they had left the horses and were making their way slowly on foot through the thick vines and undergrowth of the forest. The only event of note was when Gwaine got his cape caught leaving behind a scrap of fabric.

All the while Merlin was trying to think of a way to get them through faster with magic. But all his attempts to magically destroy the vines to make a path amounted to nothing.

"Can't you burn them?" Arthur asked.

"I've tried," Merlin said. "The vines resist all my attempts to destroy them."

"Ending any doubt that this is in fact a magical forest," Arthur sighed.

Percival's sword gave out then, breaking in half. Merlin offered his sword as a replacement and they kept going.

When Gwaine inquired as to how Arthur knew which way was north, his explanation of the ivy leaves pale and dark sides facing different ways, felt wrong to Merlin.

"I think we're going the wrong way," Merlin said. He then focused forward and used his magic to look ahead through the forest to see where they were actually headed. He could sense more than see Arthur's eyes on him. Now that the King was looking for such signs, Merlin couldn't help but wonder if Arthur had noticed his eyes glow.

"We are going in a circle," Merlin said as he pulled back out of the magic. "Up ahead is the place where Gwaine tore his cape."

Frustrated, Arthur thrust his sword point first into the ground. "We are wasting too much time!" he exclaimed.

"You stay here," Merlin said. "I'm going to figure out what went wrong." And to his great surprise, Arthur obeyed. With a nod Merlin was dismissed and quickly moved away from the group.

Using his forward looking magic, Merlin tried the path in every direction possible from where he stood. None seemed to lead out of the forest. He didn't understand it.

It was then that he caught sight of something disturbing the plants along the ground. He followed it and soon found himself face to face with a small human looking creature who knew his name.

"Welcome to my realm, Emrys," the creature said.

He asked her who she was and she introduced herself as Queen Mab, the spirit of this place. She presented him with a riddle to solve the bewildering puzzle of this forest.

"Left is right and right is left," Mab said. "The way behind is the way ahead."

Then she warned him of far greater challenges ahead, but she did so in only riddles. When he asked her to stop, Mab switched to talking in rhyme.

"There is still much to fret, for all that's saved shall become a threat."

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked but Mab just laughed and disappeared.

At least he now knew how to escape the forest. Merlin quickly returned to the others. He had to use magic to navigate even that must in his impossible forest.

"We have to go back the way we came," Merlin explained once he arrived back at the others.

"That will take us to the wrong side of the forest," Arthur argured. "We are trying to get to the tower, not back to Camelot."

"Trust me," Merlin replied.

"We really don't have any other options," Gwaine reminded Arthur.

"If you could magically navigate this whole time, why did you wait until now?" Arthur snapped.

"I couldn't figure it out before," Merlin said. "The spirit of this place revealed herself to me and from her riddles I was able to understand the way this forest works. Left is right, right is left and forward is backward."

"There is no need to make stuff up Merlin," Arthur groaned. "You've already got us following you."

Merlin didn't reply, but he had to wonder what it would take for Arthur to start taking him seriously. He supposed his lack of ability to burn or break a path through his wood had maybe lessened Arthur's opinion of Merlin's power, but still he had hoped for slightly more faith in him from the King after everything they'd been through. Then again, maybe this was all just him worrying about Guinevere.

Using magic to see the path ahead, Merlin guided them through the forest. When they came upon Percival's broken sword the knights were impressed though Merlin didn't see such an expression on Arthur's face until they reached the other side of the forest.

Now they stood looking at the tower with nothing but flat ground between them and their goal. At once they all began moving, making much better time now than they had through the vines. Within an hour the blistering heat became a problem. Merlin was glad to be in soft fabric instead of clad in armour like the knights. He had to bet they were cooking in those things. Still none of them complained, even as their feet blistered.

Once they entered the tower the air was cooler. Cobwebs covered every inch of the walls, and dangled from the ceiling. Some had to be cut so they could keep moving forward.

Just like outside at the base of the tower, inside there were skeletons of knights long dead. Even so, Merlin was growing weary. They started up a spiral flight of stairs and Merlin's feeling of unease grew. This was too easy. He said as much to Arthur but the King's only reply was to mock him.

"No I'm serious Arthur," Merlin tried again. "Something is wrong." He paused, then added, "I should go first."

"You don't even have a sword," Arthur reminded him.

"I don't need a sword," Merlin grumbled as he charged ahead, out stripping even Elyan who had been trying to move ahead of the King.

At the top of the stairs, Merlin found himself in a large room made mostly of stone. There were gargoyles around the walls and the floor was made of flagstones that were all perfect squares.

Once again Merlin thought it all seemed too easy. A big empty room? It wasn't until he stepped on a flagstone and heard the sound of an arrow that he realized what this place was. Using magic instinctually Merlin directed the arrow away from himself to hit the wall.

He then heard the knights catching up with him and turned to hold out his hand in warning.

"Stop!" Merlin called out to them with great energy. "The flagstones trigger arrows."

But it was too late. An arrow was already on it's way to Percival. Merlin's eyes glowed and the arrow swerved safely away.

"I said don't move," Merlin ordered and this time the knights obeyed.

While Merlin was still racking his brains to figure out what to do next, Elyan had an idea. He dropped his sword and belt on the flagstone in front of him, waited for the arrows to fly, then moved forward to the already triggered stone.

"There must be a faster way," Arthur observed. Then he turned to Merlin. "Can you trigger all the stones at once?"

"Unless you have a dozen boulders handy," Merlin replied.

"I mean with magic, Merlin, obviously," Arthur snapped.

"Oh right," Merlin said. He was still getting used to this whole Arthur knows thing. After so many years of instincts built up not to do magic in front of them, going against them really didn't feel right. "I'll try."

Raising both his hands, Merlin focused on the stones imagining them being pressed down he recited the enchantment he knew that might best do the job. In theory it was a rather easy task. After all, Merlin had been moving objects with his mind since before he could walk.

Suddenly the air was thick with arrows. Every stone had triggered at once and the arrows were so numerous that had anything been in their path it would have been torn to shreds.

And then it was silent. Arthur made to move forward, but Merlin held up a hand to stop him. He would go first. As Merlin moved forward he was on alert for arrows he'd missed, ready to magic them away at a seconds notice, but nothing happened.

All the knights seemed to realize at once that the path was clear, though none moved as quickly as Elyan and Arthur. By the time Merlin caught up with them he was witnessing both men fighting an enchanted sword. Gwen stood behind the sword as if it were defending her. At once Merlin tried to unenchant the sword, but no sooner had he spoken the words and felt the magic act with his will than the sword noticed him. Abandoning it's fight with Arthur and Elyan, the sword came all at once charging at Merlin.

The idea to duck came just a split second too late and Merlin saw his life flash before his eyes just as another sword came up to stop the first.

"Don't need a sword, huh," Arthur scoffed. It was the King's sword that had just saved Merlin's life.

"There's an exception to every rule," Merlin mumbled.

"You won't be able to overcome it with swords," Gwen said. "Morgana enchanted it to protect me. It will fight to the death."

She was quite right of course. Merlin had to come up with a plan and quickly. Elyan had already taken a wound. Who knew how long the two of them could keep this up. Gwen was calling out for them to save themselves and leave her here, but to no one's surprise her husband and brother ignored her words.

The sword seemed to always charge him when he used magic on it, but apart from that it acted like a normal - albeit floating - sword in combat. Looking around, Merlin noticed a window that gave him an idea.

"I have a plan," Merlin called out to the others.

He went over to it and then once more used magic to try and stop the sword, knowing it would only cause the weapon to switch targets. This time however he was ready for it. Moving just in the knick of time Merlin used magic to open the window, as he himself dodged left. Once the sword was outside he magically shut the window again.

"You've had worse plans," Arthur told him. Merlin decided to take that as a compliment.

A second later they all jumped when the sword flung itself at the now magically locked window and got stuck in the wooden boards.

"Is everyone alright?" Arthur asked, the room at large even as he moved towards his wife.

"Elyan's been hit," Gwen said, moving not towards her husband but towards her brother.

"I'll be fine," Elyan said, but he was looking a bit pale.

"Here let me see," Merlin said, moving towards him. Elyan had been stuck in the side. It wasn't that bad but he was losing a lot of blood.

"Hold still," Merlin said. He placed his hands over the knight's wound and spoke ancient words of the Old Religion. It was the healing spell he'd learned to save Uther though it had failed then he was sure it wouldn't now.

"There," Merlin said, standing up. "You'll be fine."

"Thank you, Merlin," Eylan said with great awe as he felt with his hand where the wound had been only moments ago.

"Was that magic?" Gwen said suddenly, glancing from Merlin to the rest of them, clearly confused.

"We'll tell you all about it on the way back to Camelot," Arthur said smiling.

The ecstatic look of relief on the King's face, made Merlin feel glad as well. He'd kept his promise. He could not know how things would have gone differently had his magic still been a secret during this mission, but at least it had ended well.

His smile faltered when Merlin remembered the little spirit's words: all that's saved shall become a threat. But this was Gwen they were talking about. There was no way she'd ever betray Camelot. The chances were that Queen Mab's words were not all that they seemed. Someone could be a threat in many ways other than open treason.

In the days to come, Merlin would have to be wary.

This might be the least changed chapter so far but there are still subtle difference. I hope you enjoyed the more magically version of this episode. No title ideas huh? Sigh. This story really needs a better name than 'Merlin Rewrite (S5E5) Working Title'.

Sneak Peek Chapter 04

"Maybe it's best you talk to Merlin," Gaius said wisely.

"Just feels so strange now," Arthur mumbled.

"I can understand that. But I assure you, he is the same Merlin he's always been," Gaius smiled at him.

With a slight nod of thanks, Arthur left the room. He knew Gaius was right. It was Merlin he should be talking to, no matter how strange it felt.

The King's next question was where his manservant had run off to. His first thought was the tavern but just as the thought occurred to him Arthur realized 'the tavern' could very well have been a cover for Merlin when he was off doing whatever sorcerers did. The idea made him feel like he knew his friend even less.

In the end Arthur decided to find out if any of his knights had seen Merlin and headed down to the training area. To his great surprise he found Merlin there. Gwaine was inside the training ring, combatting a floating sword and shield while Merlin stood on the sidelines, watching and presumably controlling the floating items.

Arthur stared at it for a solid minute before getting up the nerve to walk over and announce his presence.