A/N - Wow, thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites, and follows! It's really great to know that people are enjoying what I've written. Also, I forgot to mention it before, but just in case you weren't sure, I don't own Merlin...alas. Again, I've read through but let me know if you notice any errors, and let me know what you think!

-JKelly

Arthur couldn't know.

As he scurried backwards out of Arthur's chambers to avoid the goblet flying at his head, Merlin let his face fall. For a moment, for one, hopeful, precious moment, he had thought he might be able to finally tell Arthur about his magic. Because Arthur had said it, hadn't he, that they were friends - best friends Arthur had said (and yes, Merlin absolutely would be using that little admission to mock him mercilessly in the future), and he was sick and tired of having to lie to him all the time. He wasn't even very good at it! Honestly, with the amount of half-baked falsehoods and utterly ridiculous cover stories he'd fed Arthur over the years, it was a wonder he hadn't figured it out by now.

You know you can tell me anything, right...

He wanted to believe that, to believe that his friend would accept him for who he was once he knew about his magic, that he'd be able to overcome the prejudices of his upbringing in the light of their friendship. He had been so close to telling him everything, but then he was reminded...

I am the king, after all...

No matter how much he wanted to be able to tell his secret to Arthur his friend, he knew that Arthur his king would have no choice but to punish him - even if he hoped that he at least wouldn't be executed, he certainly wouldn't be able to keep his position as Arthur's manservant, and that was assuming he was even allowed to remain in Camelot. And then how would he protect Arthur from all the many many threats to his life?

No, it was settled.

Arthur couldn't know.

Speaking of threats to Arthur's life, Merlin was almost certain that someone was currently planning something. Actually, if you'd have asked him at any given moment if he thought someone was out to get Arthur, he'd have said yes, because there usually was some assassin or enraged sorcerer or magical creature with a taste for the blood of kings, but right now he was especially sure that some sort of plot was imminent. Partially it was this feeling he got, deep down in the same place where he felt his magic, and some of it was to do with a conversation he'd overheard whilst fetching Gwaine from the tavern after he'd had a few too many (or to hear him tell it, not nearly enough) tankards of mead.

A cloaked sorceress (the dark magic rolling off her gave Merlin the distinct urge to bathe as soon as possible) had been asking an uncomfortable looking off-duty guard about tunnels that led into a cavern beneath the castle, and the details of when the next tournament would be taking place. As a plan, it really wasn't that hard to piece together - she'd sneak in when all the best fighters were distracted, kill Arthur, maybe take over Camelot, yadda yadda... Merlin had heard it all before, and the exact strategy didn't matter to him; he'd stop her all the same.

Which was why, after patiently telling Gwaine for the sixth time that no, he in fact couldn't buy the whole of the Rising Sun's supply of pickled eggs, not least because he was now back in his chambers and in no state to be going out again, Merlin had hurried down to the cavern where Kilgharrah had been imprisoned to set up protective wards - magical tripwires that would alert him the moment anyone tried to enter the cavern. It was a clever plan, if he did say so himself, and he found himself smirking over how convoluted Arthur would have made it. He'd probably have insisted on having guards hide behind rocks and giving it some ridiculous name, like Operation: Help My Very Smart And Handsome Servant To Save His Dollophead Of A Master (Again).

Only, something was different about those wards now. As they were connected to Merlin through his magic, he could feel that something was stifling them, as though they'd been submerged in a thick tar. Apparently, the sorceress hadn't decided to wait until the tournament. Maybe she was breaking in to set something else up first? Or perhaps she really was just this bad at planning her assassination attempts. Merlin sighed, knowing that either way, it came down to him to save Arthur's life - again - and be rewarded with nothing but a warm glow in his chest and an absurdly long list of chores.

Sneaking past the guards was far easier than it should have been (he thought that he ought to have a word with Arthur about that, although it did make his job considerably easier) and soon he was in the cavern. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, he saw a cloaked figure drawing what looked to be runes along one of the cavern walls.

"Welhwilc pro edwendan bregt!" He muttered, freezing the sorceress in place as he carefully made his way down the perilous steps of the cavern. When he reached her, his eyes flashed and he wordlessly turned her around to face him.

The look of fury on her face would probably have had most people running for the nearest exit, but Merlin had seen it all before, and simply raised an eyebrow (he couldn't help but think that Gaius would be proud).

"Let me guess," he said, glaring meaningfully at the sorceress who seemed to be practically steaming with anger, "the Pendragon line is evil, you're going to kill the King, no one's going to stop you...the usual?"

"King Arthur is a tyrant to our kind!" She hissed, only causing Merlin's eyebrow to climb even higher up his face.

"All the same, I really can't let you kill him. He's a good king, and I'm certain that someday he'll come to embrace magic. Well, as long as no one uses it to kill him first."

"So that's your plan? Keep saving his life in secret until someday he just suddenly changes his mind? I knew you were a fool to use magic in Camelot, but I didn't realise just how stupid you were."

Sighing, Merlin got ready to use the mind control spell he'd learnt a while ago to convince her to leave Camelot and never return. He didn't exactly like to mess with people's minds, but it kept Arthur alive and meant that he didn't have to kill pretty much every other sorcerer he came across (which if he was honest, had been getting kind of old). But just as he prepared to utter the spell, a clattering sound from behind him broke his concentration. Glancing round, he saw nothing, but the damage was done, and the sorceress had been released from his magical hold.

Quicker than he would have thought possible if he weren't well aware of her magical abilities, the sorceress grabbed Merlin's throat and pulled his ear next to her mouth.

"You may have powerful magic," she whispered, "but I'll be back, and not even you will be able to stop me from killing your precious king."

As suddenly as she'd grabbed him, she let him go, and he sucked in a grateful breath as she hurried away through the tunnel she'd entered by. Merlin supposed that he really ought to go after her, and he was about to do just that when he heard a voice from above him.

"So Merlin," called Arthur, "anything you'd like to tell me?"

Merlin froze, his eyes widening almost comically as he realised who the voice belonged to. He turned slowly around saw Arthur, standing at the top of the cavern steps with his arms folded and (or so it seemed to Merlin) a murderous glint in his eyes.

No. This couldn't be happening.

Arthur couldn't know.

I used an online Old English translator so the spell is probably riddled with complicated Old English grammatical errors that I couldn't hope to comprehend, but this is roughly what it should mean:

Welhwilc pro edwendan bregt - Cease every movement