Weeeeee! An update!

A shout out to all the reviewers cause you guys are pretty awesome. Thank you!

Thanks to Paralelsky for beta-ing :)

o}O{o

Arthur's day started off relatively well. He had no duties to tend to, so he slept in an extra hour and when he woke up, he had a lavish breakfast. He then proceeded to order his servant, Morris around- by having him do pointless chores in his chambers. Arthur quite enjoyed watching the servant squirm. And when Raymond, one of his friends, mentioned knife throwing as a means to have some fun outside the castle, Arthur immediately took to the idea.

Yet as he was getting his knives ready, he inadvertently looked out the window. The execution from yesterday flittered unwelcome into his mind causing him to frown. Ever since freeing that blasted druid, besides wondering if he did the right thing, he had been constantly thinking of magic. That awful taboo subject. Not that he would admit it, but when he had been watching the execution of Thomas Collins, with doubt creeping like a fog, he had felt scared. Scared, because to feel doubt about a sorcerer's execution was to question the king. And Arthur could not betray his father.

It had not helped when Morgana was championing Collins as a good man. And most definitely not when the sorcerer's mother had screamed her grief at his father. He wondered if the old woman would actually make do on her threat to kill him. Arthur grimaced upon remembering the agony her eyes- he had felt it like a slap to the face. Not that anyone had slapped him in the face before... well besides Morgana.

A knock on the door took his attention away from the square and from his thoughts.

"Arthur?" a voice said after the door creaked open. The prince rolled his eyes, not sure he was in the mood to deal with Morgana. The king's ward glided in and Arthur sighed upon seeing her stern face.

"I'm busy now, Morgana," he said and made to stride past her. But Morgana crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground. Arthur stepped back and eyed her amusedly. "Something I can do for you?"

Morgana ignored his blatantly uninterested tone and opened her mouth, "You can tell me why you haven't been to see the boys you rescued."

Arthur crossed his own arms and mimicked Morgana's aggravated expression. "They have nothing to do with me now. They are safe aren't they?"

"Really, Arthur?" Morgana narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps you could try and make them feel welcome here in Camelot."

"I saved them from those druids, what more of a welcome do they need?"

"I'm sure an execution was as good as any," she said sharply.

"They saw that?" Arthur lost his annoyed expression.

"Mordred did," Morgana's voice got quieter, "he was just standing there after everyone had left."

The prince shifted uncomfortably but Morgana paid it no heed. "I could only imagine how distraught the boys would be if it had been that druid to have died."

Arthur unsuccessfully hid a wince. "The law is the law."

"You saw how suspicious Uther was of them. What if he had them executed? They were consorting with-"

"They were victims, Morgana," Arthur cut her off. "My father knows that."

"Like he hasn't executed innocents before!"

"What do you want?" Arthur burst out angrily, not knowing where his sudden fury was coming from. "What is the point of telling me this?"

"I just think that you should go talk to them," Morgana continued gently, "so they know that they have nothing to fear."

"They don't have anything to fear," Arthur objected.

"You did not see Mordred after the execution," Morgana countered. "Just go see them. The little one, Merlin is completely enamored with you. He loves hearing stories about you."

Arthur felt a smile work its way on his lips but he quickly chased it away. In an attempt to delay his defeat, the prince idly looked around his spotless chambers and tightened his shoulder guard.

"Please?" Morgana gave him the Look. The one he could never deny.

"Fine," Arthur sighed, "I don't know what you want me to say to them though."

Morgana smiled triumphantly, "I'm sure a hello would be a good start. Thank you, Arthur." She turned and left the room with Arthur rolling his eyes at her back. He only gave in so he could save his ears; honestly, Morgana was something else.

Arthur waited until she was long gone before he ventured out into the halls. Servants bowed to him as he passed and the sun greeted him warmly when he arrived outside the courtyard. That and the sight of Raymond, Alan, and Leonard leering at Morris who had a wooden target, raised his spirits which enabled him to forget all about executions, druids, death threats, Morgana and children.

Laughter further buoyed his sprits as he sent knife after knife sailing into the target that his servant was lugging around. In some ignored corner of his mind, Arthur knew it was a rather mean thing to do, but he was having too much fun to stop. Arthur and his friends laughed raucously as Morris let out a petrified squawk when a knife thudded into the wood and he dropped the target. Morris was bent over running to get it and as Arthur's eyes trailed him, he caught a splash of teal at the corner of his vision. The prince looked up and met the piercing eyes of Mordred.

He was standing with Merlin not too far from them and he wore a disproving expression on his face. It made Arthur freeze- the disappointment in Mordred's eyes inexplicably chilled him. But if he thought that was bad, the brazen confusion on Merlin's face cut him far more deeply then he cared to think about. The boy was looking at him as if his world was falling. Arthur barely concealed a wince upon remembering the boy's history- witness to the slaughter of his village and left to die. The prince did not even want to imagine what it must have been like for him.

But I did not ask to be some child's hero,Arthur thought to himself angrily.

Yet he was a prince. He was supposed to be a hero. And what was worse, he couldn't claim ignorance. He knew that he was supposed to have the people's love, yet he bullied the very citizens that he swore to protect. He errantly wondered why his unbidden thoughts suddenly sounded like Morgana.

Arthur noticed that Mordred shook his head. "I'm sorry you got your hopes up, Merlin," he began to lead the younger boy away, but turned his head to direct his next scathing remark at Arthur. "He is nothing like a real prince."

Arthur gritted his teeth and watched them leave until they faded from view. He ought to put the boy in the stocks for his words. A voice sounded next to him and he brought his blazing eyes to meet them. Alan took a step back but then cleared his throat. "Uh, did you want to go some more, Sire?" He gestured to Morris who was holding the target again. Arthur looked into his servant's scared eyes and felt an uncomfortable pang in his stomach. Suddenly the eyes of the people lingering around became heavy as he felt their judgment of him float in the air like a choking smoke.

"No," he grunted, "I'm going in." Without a word, he left his bewildered friends behind and strode for the castle. People fled from his path as his loud footsteps battered the stone floors; the sun was sinking lower in the amber sky as he made his was further inside. Once he was in his chambers, he could not seem to stop pacing.

They were children, what did they know? But Arthur's furious thoughts did nothing to ease the shame pooling in his gut. He thought he only cared about his father's approval- he did not care for the people's. But the boys' disappointment in him had struck him hard- what kind of king would he be if even children found fault with him?

He immediately found a chair and sank into it. He was so caught in his thoughts he didn't even realize when someone else entered the room a good while later, until he heard Morris enquire nervously.

"Sire? Sire, are you alright?" He blinked when Arthur's eyes immediately snapped to his.

"I am fine. You are dismissed for the night, Morris," he said tiredly. He idly noticed that there was dinner in front of him.

"Oh," Morris looked confused, "as you wish, Sire." He bowed. "I will see you in the morning, Sire."

Arthur let out a sigh when the door closed behind his servant. He went back to brooding and did not touch his food. Why did those boys have to go and ruin his simple life? He would have never thought that the pressures of being a future king were simple before, but then he had never thought of the grey area of sorcery. See? He was even acknowledging that there was one. And he most certainly had never cared about what the people thought of him. But now that he actually thought about it, their opinion mattered to him. He hadn't realized just how much it mattered. Now that he was aware of it, his duty seemed so much heavier on his back.

o}O{o

Mordred slammed Lady Helen's potion on her table much harder than necessary. Gaius had asked him to take it to her when they had got back from their unfortunate encounter by the training grounds. The physician had told him then that he would be attending the feast along with Merlin; and his already bad mood had caught on fire. He would be attending a feast that was celebrating tyranny over magic users- people like him and Merlin. So forgive him if he took out his frustration on a potion that would help the entertainment of the evening.

He spun swiftly and began to stomp out of the room when he was held back by Merlin straining the opposite way. He looked down to find the boy peering uneasily at the table. His neck was craned and he stood on his toes but his eyes did not settle on anything in particular. Mordred searched the contents of the table and his eyes caught what looked like a doll made of straw. He went over to it and grabbed it in his hand; Merlin tightened his grip on Mordred's cloak when he touched it.

"What are you doing in here?" a voice cut sharply through the silence. Both boys jumped violently and Mordred quickly shoved the effigy back onto the table. He spun and stashed Merlin behind him in one fluid motion. His ice blue eyes landed on Lady Helen and he swallowed.

"Nothing," he quickly grabbed the vial he had brought and showed it to her. "This is from Gaius. For your voice. Goodnight, milady," he said in a rush and quickly hightailed it out of there. He did not slow until he was quite a distance away and he had sent numerous backward glances behind him.

He sighed in relief upon finding that they were alone and now he was a little embarrassed that he had gotten scared. "Let's go, Merlin," he said authoritatively and pulled the boy along. Merlin looked behind him one final time before focusing on keeping in step with Mordred.

"I can't believe it," Mordred burst out scornfully. Merlin glanced up at him, tightening his grip on Mordred's hand as he struggled to keep up. "I mean, he's supposed to be a prince?" The boy could clearly not take internally seething anymore. "I never thought that he could be so , so-"

"Merlin."

Merlin looked up and turned his neck, looking for the voice that called him, all the while being pulled along by a fuming Mordred. The older boy did not notice and he continued to grumble but then a second later he twitched and looked around. His eyes roamed the dimming hallway, pulling Merlin closer to him when he saw no one.

"Merlin," the imposing voice called once more. Merlin was reminded of how Selwyn sometimes talked to him and he pulled on Mordred's cloak.

Mordred looked down at him, "You can hear it too?" Merlin nodded. The boy looked around once more and began pulling him down the hall. He stopped at the nearest corner and looked around but it was completely empty.

"Selwyn did say that there was a dragon trapped beneath the castle," Mordred mused quietly. And he regretted saying that as soon as Merlin gasped excitedly. He looked down to find the child turning his head and pondering which way to go.

"No, Merlin. We can't go looking for it. Dragons are dangerous." Mordred was actually surprised Merlin hadn't already tried. But then he was still wary of their new environment. Merlin looked up to him and nodded.

"No."

Another nod.

"We can't."

Another nod, this time accompanied with a reproaching expression.

"Merlin."

Merlin immediately let go of Mordred's hand and scurried down the corridor. Morded quickly chased after him, hissing for him to come back. Merlin turned another corner to find that the waning sunlight did not reach down the hall. He speedily doubled back to Mordred and grabbed his hand, still eager to find the dragon but anxious about going on alone.

"Alright, we're coming!" Mordred whispered harshly to the floor. He paused for a half a second before skirting along the side of the hall, making sure Merlin was always behind him. They worked their way to the lower level, and Mordred was very cautious of preventing Merlin from making any noise, wary of any guards. He followed the pull of the voice and finally crouched on the stairs before the entrance to a gloomy looking stairwell. Mordred furrowed his brow upon seeing the two guards starting a game of dice. His eyes flicked to the stairway and he bit his lip.

Suddenly the dice flew sideways and landed on the floor. Mordred froze, not even daring to look down at Merlin. But then the guard tried to reach for it and the dice clattered out of reach. He looked sharply down at Merlin who grinned up at him. Merlin then pouted upon seeing his severe expression and he looked back toward the dice, sending them flying into the dark hallway. Mordred watched amazed as the guards ran away from their post and he could not believe their stupidity. But he was always one to seize opportunity so he grabbed Merlin's hand and ran to the staircase. Mordred grabbed the torch from the bracket and lit it with whispered spell before hurrying down the staircase as fast as he could with Merlin. He glanced at the younger boy to find that Merlin's face was excited and not the least bit scared of the dark crumbling tunnel.

They reached the bottom and Mordred felt the even stone of the floor turn into rough rock. He let go of Merlin's hand and used both arms to hold the torch which was getting heavier by the moment. The torchlight flickered languidly off the rock walls of the massive cave. Neither boy paid the cave any attention though, because their focus was centered on the great golden dragon sitting on a rock column, its scales glittering dully against the gloom permeating the cavern. They were both stunned speechless at the sheer size of the creature, it was more than Merlin could have imagined, and a lot more intimidating than what Mordred had anticipated. Two sets of blue eyes locked with a pair of golden ones.

"My, how small you two are for such great destinies," the dragon opened his maw and greeted. His wise voice resonated throughout the cavern. Merlin tried to move forward but Mordred stepped to the side to block him.

"You know of our destinies?" Mordred breathed, feeling his voice escape his lips before he thought about it.

"Of course. The great Emrys and his guardian." The dragon studied them amusedly.

"And I'm supposed to protect him. From Tynan?" Mordred needed to make sure. He needed to know more about his destiny.

The dragon chuckled, "You must not only protect him, young guardian, but guide him to who he will be."

Mordred looked down to Merlin to find the boy looking quizzically up at him. Mordred hesitated before looking back at the dragon.

"Guide him to protect Prince Arthur?"

"Yes," the dragon answered.

Mordred shook his head. "But I do not believe that this Arthur is the once and future king. He can't be," Mordred frowned and looked expectantly at the dragon.

"He is without a doubt the king who will unite Albion and bring magic back to the land. And Merlin will help him."

"But he is not a good man at all." Mordred felt Merlin prod his leg sharply.

"Perhaps it is part of your destinies to change that." Leathery lips formed what Mordred took to be a rather terrifying smile.

"Impossible," he shook his head once more.

"You are three sides of the same coin," the dragon spoke in an enlightening tone.

"There are only two sides of a coin," Mordred said slowly, feeling very stupid for arguing with a dragon.

"Wrong. There are two faces and one edge. You are the edge Mordred. You must help them both."

"But how can I do that alone? I'm only one person!" Mordred swung the torch in frustration, panic bubbling to the surface.

"You are not alone young guardian, you have Prince Arthur to help you," the dragon stated confidently.

Mordred fell silent and had to block Merlin again. '...But he could never accept Merlin. Or me.'

'And why is that?' The dragon's lips twisted into a smile once more.

'Because we have magic!' Mordred huffed. Merlin abruptly pouted at him upon realizing he wasn't part of the conversation anymore.

"Yet he set the druid free."

"What?" Mordred's eyes bored into the dragon's.

"It was Prince Arthur who released the younger druid. Already, you two are fulfilling your destinies it seems."

The older boy gaped at the dragon- he could not believe his ears. Merlin took advantage of Mordred's stunned state and crept closer to the dragon. He went to stand at the very edge of the rock and he waved his arm eagerly. The dragon met the boy's eyes to Merlin's delight and they stared at each other for several quiet seconds.

"Hello, young warlock."

Merlin turned back to Mordred and gave him a huge grin. Mordred set the torch on the ground and went to the younger boy, drawing him away from the edge. "Why did he let Isaac go?"

"That is something for you to learn by yourself," the dragon flexed his wings. "Now, those who are destined for great things need their sleep," he dismissed them, and just before he took flight his eyes drilled into Mordred's. "And, young guardian, never forget where your heart belongs."

Wind buffeting from the dragon's wings crashed on them and Mordred could hardly hear his own plea. "Wait! What do you mean?"

His call was ignored however, and the dragon withdrew into the cave, outside their view. Merlin and Mordred heaved identical sighs of disappointment. After lingering for a few moments Mordred began to lead Merlin away. "Come on, Merlin."

Had the gravity of their destinies not been weighing heavily on him he would have laughed; it was the first time he was told to go to bed by a dragon. Unfortunately it would not be the last.

o}O{o

And so they meet! I wonder how Kilgharrah's relationship with Merlin is going to be now that the young warlock is even younger… ;)

Thank you for reading guys, please review if you liked it.

Oh the three sides of the same coin thing isn't too corny is it?