He should've expected bandits to attack them. It was just his luck as a dragonlord.

Merlin throws him a sword and they all start to fight, slowly whittling the enemy down one by one.

He has to admit that Arthur has skill. He takes down each attacker with much ease, and a sort of practiced elegance, that come from good instincts and years of training.

His manservant (His son?), on the other hand, is far from adept with a blade. He trips and stumbles around, and Balinor is surprised that he hasn't accidentally impaled himself cleaning the prince's sword. The only thing saving him are the bandits seeming to be as clumsy as him, dropping their swords as though burned, and random tree branches conveniently falling on top of them, knocking them unconscious.

Balinor knows there can only be one explanation for all of that, and a yellow flash of the boy's eyes only do to confirm his suspicions. Magic.

Right under Uther's nose.

Scratch that. He's surprised Merlin hasn't died several times over. (Not that he'd hope that on his son.)

Balinor continues fighting, worry ebbing away as it seems that, as useless and clumsy as he may seem, Merlin can protect himself.

The real question is if he chooses to do so, as Balinor soon finds out. His panic comes back in full force around 30 seconds later (Merlin really couldn't keep out of trouble, could he?) when Merlin saves Arthur from an attacker with his magic, roughly pushing the bandit away and into a tree. However, he does not see the one behind him.

"Merlin!" he screams, rushing to him because, damn it, he's not losing his son when he just found out he had one.

Fortunately, Merlin hears the urgency in his voice and turns around abruptly, pushing the bandit away with a flash of his eyes. For now, Balinor decides to ignore the fact that he did that without uttering a spell out loud.

The bandits are all gone now. They're all breathing heavily, but nobody talks.

A shout breaks the quiet. "You have magic!" accuses the prince, for he is Uther Pendragon's son, after all, and nothing will change the fact that he was raised to despise magic.

"Please, Arthur," Merlin pleads, and the look of fear, sadness, and guilt on his face just about breaks Balinor's heart. (Why did his child make him so susceptible to emotions?)

"You're a sorcerer! Merlin, I thought you were my friend!" The last part is barely more than a whisper.

"We were! We still are!" A tear streaks down Merlin's face.

"I could never be friends with a sorcerer," Arthur spits out with much malice. "You lot are all evil."

"Not all magic is evil, boy," Balinor intervenes. "It is like a tool, one that only some have. You can use it for good, or you can use it for evil. Yes, many have used it for evil, but there are some who use it for good. Merlin is one of them."

"But...no!" Arthur protests, brow furrowed. "It is evil; it corrupts the soul."

"Stop believing the lies your tyrant of a father has told you. He is wrong. He does not have magic. He will never truly understand it. What if I said magic has helped save your life?"

"What?" Arthur almost seems repulsed at the fact.

"Yes. How do you think your wound healed so fast? Magic, that's how. And from what I have seen, Merlin has been protecting you with it as well."

"No..." Arthur trails off, slowly losing his conviction.

"Yes. My guess is that he's been saving your life long before you met me, and you are too oblivious to see it! So, if magic can be used in these ways, do you truly think it to be evil?"

He turns away to give him time to think and hopefully choose not to kill Merlin (not if Balinor could help it). Instead of finding Merlin a little ways behind him, he finds him...gone.

Panic rushes through him for a moment before he sees a familiar figure sat at the bank of a nearby stream, hunched over and shoulders shaking. Crying. He notes how small and vulnerable, how child-like Merlin looks at the moment, and has this irrational feeling of failure as a parent. (But really, he had failed from the beginning, hadn't he?)


It is a while later, as Balinor is working to gather their scattered belongings, that he spots Arthur walking towards Merlin, who hasn't moved from his spot by the water.

He vaguely wonders if Arthur plans to kill him or demand an explanation, but quickly concedes with the latter when the prince simply sits down and starts talking.

He can't hear what is being said, but he now knows for certain that Arthur is not his father. Far from it.

He smiles as Arthur puts an arm around Merlin's shoulders, ruffling his hair with the other hand.

They'll be okay.


"Balinor."

"Uther."

They glare at one another for an impressive amount of time (Balinor counts 24 seconds) before Gaius coughs, and they snap back to the situation at hand.

"The Great Dragon has escaped and is attacking Camelot. Only a dragonlord can stop it. Will you...help us? Save our people?" Uther seems to be at the end of his patience, uncomfortable consorting with a dragonlord.

"I'm here, aren't I?" he shoots back, annoyance evident in his voice.

He could sense Gaius's disapproval of his blatant disrespect from a mile away.

"You will help us?" Uther asks, surprised.

"Yes, but only if you promise never to persecute me or my kind again."

Everyone in the room knows that Uther has no choice but to agree. The king sighs, nodding his head in resignation, but giving no verbal confirmation.

A few seconds of silence pass. "Is that all?"

"No," Balinor replies, secretly reveling over this control he has over the king. "Promise me that all who have helped me will go unpunished."

"Yes, yes, yes. Now can we-"

"And if I happen to sire a child," Balinor says, struggling not to look at Merlin, who stands a little ways behind Arthur, "you must not a lay a finger on them. Do you agree to my demands?" He could see Gaius's infamous eyebrow raise out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes."

"Then I want it in writing." For he had good reason not to trust Uther's word.


It is soon after that he rushes into Gaius's chambers during the time it takes for Arthur to get ready for the tiny trip. He wants answers.

Gaius is, as always, grounding out some herb when he opens the door. "Balinor! It has been a long time."

"Yes, it has," he says. "Thank you, again. I owe you a great debt."

"Like I once said, it was no problem at all." Balinor finds a stool to sit on as he thinks through what he wants to say.

"You had some interesting propositions earlier," Gaius continues, giving him a knowing look.

"Yes..." Balinor doesn't really know how to bring the topic up, but it seems that Gaius has him covered. He doesn't really know how it is to be a father, and wonders if Merlin knows how it is to be a son.

"You know." It isn't a question.

"It's true, then," Balinor says. "I guess there were too many coincidences to ignore."

"I am surprised you even figured it out. You have always been a bit daft."

"Oi! Is that what Hunith has told you in her letters?" It is the first time he's said her name out loud in years.

"No. But I do know that you are rather terrible at farming."

He grimaces. "I do not object to that statement."

A few seconds pass before his mind seems to have processed something. "Gaius...I have a son!" he exclaims, laughing with far more joy than he has in years. Now that Gaius has confirmed it, he doesn't have to hold back his hopes in fear of being disappointed. He's just happy now, for lack of a better word.

"Does Merlin know?" he asks.

Gaius wearily shakes his head. "I promised Hunith that I'd never speak of this."

Balinor ends up looking around the room, examining the space while Gaius continues grinding his herbs. He sees the tiny room in the back, door ajar and revealing a small bed and clothes and various other belongings strewn all over the floor. Obviously lived in. Merlin's room, he thinks.

"He has magic, you now," Gaius mentions.

"Yes, I noticed. We ran into some bandits on the way here. He isn't exactly subtle, is he?"

Gaius chuckles. "Trouble always seems to find him. I've warned him against using magic so often, but it is of no use. Magic isn't just a part of him. It is him."

Balinor frowns in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He was born with it."

"Yes, you either have magic or you don't."

"Yes and no, Balinor. Why must you keep thinking this way?" Gaius shakes his head in disapproval. "Magic is a part of everyone, a part of the land itself. But only some have access to it. With Merlin, however, it seems that magic has not only resided in him. It has chosen him. Hunith said that he could do magic at just a few days old."

That explains the lack of verbal spells, Balinor thinks.

"He is said to be the most powerful warlock to ever live." Gaius looks up, seeming to gauge his reaction.

Needless to say, he needs a clearer explanation. "Isn't that title reserved for Emrys? In the druid prophecies?"

"Yes."

"Then what does this have to do with my son?" His son.

A few seconds of silence pass before he finally understands. "Merlin is Emrys?" he asks incredulously.

Gaius's eyebrow says it all.

"Good grief," he mutters, massaging his forehead with a hand. "Am I correct to assume Arthur is the Once and Future King?"

"Yes."

Balinor nods. "They seem to be on the right track, seeming as Merlin hasn't been executed yet."

Gaius nearly drops his pestle. "What makes you say that?"

"Like I said, he isn't very subtle with his magic. Arthur finally saw...and they had a bit of a falling out. But I believe he has forgiven Merlin by now."

Gaius nods and takes the information in stride. "Have you noticed how similar the two of you look? I am surprised nobody's made the connection yet."

He chuckles. "That's good. If Uther found out that I actually do have a child..." He trails off.

It is then that the door opens and Merlin walks in. "Gaius!" he greets with a smile.

"Merlin!" The infamous eyebrow is back.

Merlin immediately grows wary. "What?"

He's cuffed on the back of the head by Gaius, and Balinor can't help but laugh. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I warned you to be careful, my boy. Now Arthur knows about your magic!"

"Who told you tha..." He glares accusingly at Balinor, who just smiles innocently in response (all the while looking at Merlin with the new perspective of a father).

He turns back to Gaius. "It's all settled now, though. You don't have to worry!"

"Is it now?" Gaius looks at him dubiously.

"Well, Arthur isn't that mad at me, and he says he's not going to kill me or tell the King. I think that is much better than getting burned at the pyre."

Balinor winces at the image of Merlin being executed.

"Yes, but you must still be careful. There are others who will not hesitate to turn you in."

"I will, Gaius."

"Good, now the both of you go save Camelot. I believe Arthur is waiting."

Sure enough, the familiar sound of the prince calling for his manservant could be heard throughout the castle.