Arthur was hurrying up to Gaius' chambers. He had a serious look on his face and his hair was sticking out in every direction. It was hard to tell if he had just woken up or that he just couldn't deal with himself, but regarding that it was almost midday, the latter was more probable. So still, in his pyjamas, or in fact, half pyjamas, because he didn't wear a shirt, he was bursting through the castle with a dressing gown overlapped on him. It was an unusual sight of the young king walking down the corridors dressed like this. Maids and servants who met Arthur on their way only looked at him puzzlingly, but he seemed to not even pay attention.

He stopped at the door of the physician's chambers and was about to knock, but then it opened and Arthur, instead of on the door, knocked on Gaius' head. The physician closed his eyes at the sudden and unexpected movement and the king, in a fit of awkwardness, withdrew his hand.

"I'm so sorry Gaius," said Arthur after a beat, his expression softened. "I didn't notice anyone leaving."

"No harm done," Gaius nodded his head and added; "yet."

Arthur frowned. "Well… what I wanted to ask…?" he mumbled more to himself than to the physician and then said aloud when he reminded himself. "Ah, yes, where is this… where is Merlin?"

"Last time I saw him he was in his room sleeping, you may come if you want," Gaius passed him, but then stopped for a second. "Why are you looking for him in the first place? He said he had a day off."

"A day off?" Arthur frowned.

"I see there must've been some misunderstanding, then," he said, seeing an expression on the king's face. "Well, you can wake him, he already has enough sleep for today."

"Oh, yes, he definitely has enough," said Arthur and disappeared behind the door leaving Gaius with a confused look.

Arthur walked through the whole chamber and reached the door to Merlin's room. He didn't even bother to knock this time, the king just pushed the door and it burst open. His eyes immediately fell on the young warlock who was wrapped in sheets and slept soundly. Arthur smirked at the idea that had just come to his mind. He went to the window and with a sweeping movement drew back the curtain. The midday sun fell on Merlin's face who frowned and squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden flood of light. The king glanced at him. Obviously, Merlin was already awake.

"Rise and shine!" said Arthur turning towards his friend.

Merlin's one eye opened and he looked at the figure standing before him. When he realised it was Arthur he groaned and closed his eye again.

"Oh, come on now!" he took a step closer to pull the covers off Merlin, but was stopped by the warlock's stretched hand.

"Oh, could you please just stand where you stood?" asked Merlin with a sluggish, slightly hoarse voice.

"Why?" Arthur frowned, automatically taking a step back.

"That's perfect," he smiled, burying his face in a pillow but still glancing at Arthur with one eye. The king raised his eyebrows.

"It's simple, Arthur," said Merlin. "That way the sun doesn't blind me."

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed. "I will not tolerate this."

"Wait," Merlin raised himself clearly awake. "You're not supposed to be at the council meeting?"

"It has been postponed."

"And why is that?" Merlin looked away thoughtfully. "Because you couldn't get yourself up earlier?" he narrowed his eyes and looked at him.

Arthur lowered himself so that his eyes were level with Merlin's. "And whose fault is it?" he asked with a playful smile.

"Well, I thought I had a day off," he replied without missing a beat.

"I didn't get you a day off," Arthur frowned.

"But obviously you didn't want me as your servant, but as your advisor…," he paused and his mouth widened, Arthur gave him a meaningful look. "Oh, I'm supposed to be at this meeting, too."

"Exactly."

"Give me five minutes!" Merlin jumped out of bed and rushed to the closet. When he started throwing away his clothes Arthur blinked and headed to leave.

"I'll wait outside," the king said. "I'm not gonna watch you changing clothes."

"Maybe you should," said Merlin, not looking at him, which made Arthur stop halfway. "Then you would know how to dress yourself," he turned to him.

Arthur rolled his eyes and left, telling Merlin to wear something more appropriate for the meeting.

When they both finally got ready, they headed to the council chambers. As they entered, all the people gathered there greeted them. Arthur nodded to his knights and council members, while Merlin was just following him not knowing how to react to all of this, it was something completely new to him. The king looked around and then up and noticed that the chandelier above the round table wasn't lit. He glanced at Merlin.

"A little dark in here, isn't it?" said Arthur.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind?"

"What?" Merlin frowned and followed Arthur's eye-line as he looked up again.

"Come on, don't be so shy," the king said, staring at the candelabra.

"Oh, of course," Merlin's eyes flashed gold and the candles lit up.

"Thank you," Arthur smiled.

Some of the knights and councilmen were looking from the candelabra to Merlin, still not believing that he is a sorcerer, and some of them were watching him suspiciously. Doors to the chamber opened again and Leon came inside carrying a bunch of papers. He nodded to Arthur and then to Merlin and put all the stuff on the table.

"I think we are all, we may sit," Arthur said and everyone took their place.

"We have plenty of it, so we can make as many corrections and changes as needed," Leon said.

"Good," the king replied. "The first decree must contain the text of the rightful permission to use magic within the boundaries of Camelot, therefore we need to determine what rights those who possess magic will have."

One of the council members raised his hand.

"Yes?" the king made a gesture letting him speak.

"Do you consider it safe to do so, sire? There is a high risk of bringing magic back to the kingdom, and many dangers may arise from it. Surely, one person cannot change your views on certain matters," the man glanced briefly at Merlin. "No matter who they are and how we feel about them."

"Of course," Arthur nodded. "But I'm not making this decision emotionally and I've met other people with magic before, who didn't have bad intentions."

"The druid people," Leon interjected. "They never meant any harm."

"Yes," Arthur agreed. "They are very kind and helpful. Not only the druids, we cannot forget about those who were born with magic. How many innocent lives have been executed because of the law my father made? He did it not because he feared it, he did it because he didn't understand magic, which later turned to hatred. And even so, I know that many of you may still be afraid of those people, but not everyone is evil. It's the same when it comes to a man with a sword. We can fear him, too, because we don't know what intentions he has."

"And when I am king now," he continued. "I want something to change for the better. I don't want to watch innocent people die. The law is wrong and we have to change it," he looked around at all the faces, most were nodding in agreement, some still seemed unconvinced. "Each of you will get the paper and will be allowed to make corrections before the document is officially approved by me."

"Hope everything is clear, may we go to the rights?" the king asked and everyone agreed. "Merlin, how do you feel about it?" he turned to his friend.

"Well…," Merlin cleared his throat; "I think that magic, as a sword, can be a dangerous weapon and also can be used for good. That's why people with magic have to know that they must not abuse their gift," he paused, Leon started making notes. "Any abuse should be treated as a crime."

They were suddenly interrupted by one of the guards, who burst into chambers with a scrap of paper in his hand. Arthur stood immediately not knowing what was happening. Everyone's eyes were now focused on the guard.

"Sire," he gasped; "this is urgent."

"What happened?" Arthur asked.

"A letter from the king of Essetir."

Arthur, Merlin and Leon exchanged confused glances.

"The meeting is dismissed, we will come back to this on the next one," he said after a beat and turned to leave, motioning for Merlin and Leon to join him.

Arthur was pacing nervously in his chambers. He kept glancing at a scrap of paper that had been written down by the king of Essetir. His actions were closely watched by three pairs of eyes and the silence was becoming unbearable. Merlin moved on his chair and cleared his throat, which made Arthur briefly look up at him, but he quickly resumed reading the letter again.

"Arthur?" Merlin spoke up.

"Hush, I'm thinking," the king replied and Merlin was just about to say something when Arthur glanced up at him. "Shut up," he mumbled under his breath. Merlin rolled his eyes.

The young king kept pacing for a moment and then stood by the window and began to stare at something that was outside.

"Arthur," this time Guinevere's calm voice resounded in the room. "Please, sit down."

He looked at her and nodded. When he was sitting at the table and calmed himself a little bit, Leon spoke up.

"What is it saying?" he nodded at the letter which was still held by Arthur.

"The king Lot claims that we have trespassed on the border of his kingdom," Arthur sighed. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

"How is that even possible?" Leon frowned.

"That's what confuses me the most," the king agreed. "He captured two of our knights and there is no mistake because they were wearing tunics with Camelot crests."

"How we don't know about it?" Guinevere asked.

"Maybe because none of our people are missing. Everyone's here, in the castle. Every patrol returned, and even if not, none had been dispatched near the Essetir border," Leon said.

"But we can't ignore it," said Arthur. "Not during our peace talks, it could harm both sides."

"Then what is he trying to achieve? Why is he making this up?" Merlin asked.

"I have no idea," the king shook his head. "But we're going to find out because we've been invited. Leon, send word to Essetir that we're heading there tomorrow morning," he looked at him.

"Of course," Leon nodded and turned to leave.

"Do you think it will be safe?" Guinevere seemed concerned.

"I'm sure of it," Arthur smiled and took her hands. "King Lot's may be mad, but he's not a psycho. We will be his guests and we will explain this whole situation. It's gonna be fine," he reassured her, stroking her hands. She smiled slightly.

"Okay… I will not disturb you," Merlin said, signalling his presence. He got up from the table and went towards the door.

"Yes, goodnight, Merlin," said Arthur, glancing at him. "See you in the morning."

"As always," he replied and left the room.