With a quick movement of a hand Merlin pulled back the curtains in the king's chamber allowing the sunlight to break into the room. Breakfast was already on the table waiting for Arthur who reluctantly opened his eyes.
"Wakey, wakey," said the warlock melodiously.
Arthur straightened up and looked at his friend grimly. Without a word he started eating his breakfast.
"Ah, I see," Merlin sighed. "So now you're gonna sulk all day because of me or the things I didn't tell you."
The king eyed him as the warlock continued. "I know you saw me sneaking out of the palace. Gaius told me."
"I should've known that he would tell you that I spoke to him," Arthur murmured.
"Just in case you would ask, I was going to tell you eventually."
"I wonder when it would be."
"Well, I was waiting for the right moment but now you found out so it doesn't matter. That's why today I want to take you somewhere so you'll see the reason for my night walks," said Merlin.
"Today?" Arthur asked with surprise but deep down he was overjoyed that his friend finally decided to share his secrets with him. "But we have a council meeting and many other important things to do."
"Don't worry, I asked Leon to take care of it," the warlock smiled.
"And what about your duties?" The king said it in such a way that Merlin knew he was messing with him.
"Do you want to go or not?"
"Of course I do," Arthur smirked.
When the king finished his food Merlin grabbed some clothes and threw it at him. The warlock wanted to help his friend to get dressed but Arthur definitely refused, saying that he can do it by himself, and told Merlin to stop making fun of him about it. Of course, the raven haired man just waved his hand dismissively and watched the king's actions who, after putting all his clothes on, grabbed his belt sword.
"You won't be needing that," said Merlin and took the belt from Arthur who frowned and gave him a questioning look. "Trust me."
"All right," the king shrugged his shoulders after a beat.
They walked out of the castle and Merlin led Arthur towards the Darkling Woods. All the way there the king felt strangely uncomfortable and insecure without a sword by his side because it was his first time when he went somewhere unarmed. In case of danger the only thing that could save them was actually his friend's magic, which Arthur would have considered unthinkable just some time ago. He thought that Merlin, often clumsy and with a special talent of getting into trouble, would always need his protection. In fact, the warlock could take care of himself very well, and now it was Arthur whose life was in Merlin's hands. As it has always been.
"Don't worry, we will be safe," the warlock said, glancing at the king's face. "It's just better if Aithusa will not see that you have a weapon. She would feel in danger."
"Who is Aithusa?" asked Arthur.
"You'll see."
Soon, a cave appeared to their eyes and as they were close enough the king spotted huge paw prints on the ground. He immediately stopped Merlin by grabbing his wrist.
"We should go back," whispered Arthur.
"Why?"
"Didn't you see?" he pointed at the ground and Merlin looked down.
"Oh, that's why we are here," said the warlock and took a step closer towards the cave.
The king stared at him with a confused look and after a moment he heard Merlin's voice but in a completely different way he used to hear it. By the sound and tone of it Arthur would never tell that it was his friend's. When the warlock fell silent, a white creature burst out from the cave and flew a few feet up, giving out a long roar. Terrified and surprised, Arthur took a step back and fell to the ground, unable to make any movement. The beast landed right in front of him, exhaling loudly through its nostrils, which made the king close his eyes.
"It's all right," Merlin's voice came to him, but at the same time he heard another whooshing sound of the air and the ground trembled as something fell heavily beside him.
"Arthur," said Merlin and the king finally slowly opened his eyes.
From a normal look Arthur's eyes widened quickly as he comprehended what was happening. He sprang to his feet in order to draw a sword, but it slipped his mind he didn't have any.
"It's all right, they will do you no harm," the warlock said.
Arthur exhaled and looked first at Kilgharrah and then at Aithusa. He couldn't believe what was before his eyes. He turned to Merlin, clearly shocked.
"Wait, I know these dragons," the king managed to say. "How did you…? What just happened?"
Merlin chuckled. "Calm down, Arthur. I will try to explain it to you in a nutshell," he said and began the story from the moment when he released the great dragon from the cave deep beneath the castle of Camelot. He told the king about how he managed to save the dragon egg from the Tomb of Ashkanar and many other different situations when the help of dragons was needed. But from the whole Merlin's story there was one thing that interested Arthur the most. His friend's father.
"I'm so sorry about your father," the king said.
The warlock shook his head. "You didn't know, and Gaius forbade me to talk to you about it. I would be in danger then."
"So, as a dragonlord," Arthur glanced at the dragons with less fear than a few minutes ago; "you can order them?"
"That's how you would call it, but dragons are free creatures. I can command them, but I have to do it wisely so as not to abuse my powers," Merlin replied.
"But they cannot refuse you."
"No, they can't. But I would never command them if it wasn't necessary and someone's life wouldn't depend on it."
"Do they understand what we're talking about right now?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, what I said before was a spell to summon them. Also, as magical beings we can communicate telepathically with each other," the warlock explained.
"I never thought that I would ever meet you, king Arthur, and I never thought I'd live to see the day when magic would be back in Camelot," said Kilgharrah.
A shock painted again on Arthur's face. "I can hear him."
"Because he spoke to you," Merlin laughed. "Not in your mind, of course."
Arthur instinctively took one more step back and nodded towards the great dragon. "Nice to meet you, and you too," he glanced at Aithusa. "It's thanks to Merlin that magic is allowed in the kingdom," he smiled.
"I hope you don't have anything against them staying here," said Merlin. "Vortigern and his men are hunting for her."
"What can I say?" the king sighed. "I'm… shocked," he chuckled. "You're taking care of them, Merlin, and I think they may stay if they don't pose a threat to the people and my knights."
Both dragons nodded in agreement.
"Then you are safe within Camelot's borders, I will notify my knights today," said Arthur.
"We are grateful to you, king Arthur," said Aithusa.
"I thank you, too," Merlin grinned. "It means so much to me."
"I know," Arthur smiled back. "I only hope you know what you are doing. I trust you with everything."
"Don't worry, Arthur, everything will be fine."
"Yeah," he looked at Kilgharrah and Aithusa. "But I have to sit here for a while, I still can't believe it," he said and leaned against a tree.
Merlin chuckled. "Well, you've taken it better than I thought," he sat next to him. "Do you wanna hear some more magical stories? You haven't heard even half of them yet. I'm sure Kilgharrah and Aithusa will join us."
"I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I'm looking forward to hear it," Arthur smiled.
"It will be our pleasure to get to know you better," said Kilgharrah.
Merlin began to tell, and from time to time either one or the other dragon added something to the story. Arthur asked a lot of questions and minute by minute he became more convinced of Merlin's idea and more and more began to understand his friend's world of magic.
When Merlin said that he had someone who could help Gaius with gathering herbs, the physician would have never thought that his apprentice would offer him Vortimer to do it. For Gaius it was very risky for two reasons. First, Vortimer was actually considered as an enemy to Arthur and Camelot. Second, if the physician would be found with him he could be accused of conspiracy and, as a result, treason. So when Merlin brought Vortimer into the chamber in the early morning, Gaius obviously didn't approve that idea, however, after a few words and Merlin's persuasion skills, he finally agreed.
When the warlock left them alone and went to Arthur, they headed to the forest, near the castle. Vortimer immediately sensed Gaius' negative attitude, because the old man hardly had a word with him, except for telling him what plant to look for.
"I know you're not fond of my company," said Vortimer quietly, bending down to pick a flower with yellow petals. Gaius turned his head to him.
"What gave you that impression?" he asked.
"You avoid talking to me, you even avoid looking at me," Vortimer replied almost inaudibly.
"That's because I'm working and I need to focus on it," said Gaius examining a plant.
Vortimer didn't say anything, not knowing how exactly he should behave towards the old man, and just kept searching for herbs. At the same time an idea came to Gaius' mind to take the opportunity and ask Vortimer about his motives.
"Why did you stay?" he asked.
The blonde man looked at him. He was surprised that Gaius actually showed a little interest.
"To change my life."
"Of course," the physician murmured. "Do you know what will happen to me if they catch me with you?"
"And yet you're here with me, Gaius," said Vortimer without a beat. "You didn't have to agree to take me with you. Then why did you do that?"
Gaius stared at him with no idea what to answer. "You should be afraid, too," he said after a moment. "If Arthur finds you in Camelot…"
Vortimer chuckled, cutting the physician off. He shook his head. "Arthur is not Uther. You know that."
Gaius sighed. "I wonder how you managed to gain Merlin's trust so fast. We will see if he's right," he took his bag and walked away to look for more plants.
Vortimer followed him with resigned eyes and when the physician disappeared in a dense bush he heard something behind his back, something like a whisper. He turned around and saw a hooded figure standing behind a tree. Vortimer narrowed his eyes, straining his gaze, and to his surprise it was Mordred who stood there.
"It's you," Vortimer breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come here," Mordred mouthed, motioning at the blonde man with a hand.
As Vortimer walked over to him, the druid embraced him into a hug.
"Never thought you would miss me like that," Vortimer laughed.
"I could no longer bear the pointless lonely wandering. You're the only friend I got, even if our relationships weren't very good, I could always count on you," said Mordred, pulling away.
"And I on you," he nodded. "I thought you're gonna give me away to my father."
"My loyalty never was with the Saxons, only with Morgana and now with you. Besides, I would never do such a thing."
Vortimer looked around to see if Gaius was not coming back, and then turned to his friend. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked after a moment.
"I watched Camelot for a while to catch you. Meanwhile I found out about Aithusa's whereabouts," Mordred replied.
"What are you playing at?" Vortimer narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing, believe me. Let me explain," the druid said. "I have never been interested in or interfered in your affairs with the Saxons before, I was too blinded by revenge. But now I understand why you hate them so much. I wandered here and there, and I saw and heard things."
"What things?" the blonde man frowned.
Mordred stared at his friend intently. "Do you know the man named Maleagant?"
"Yeah…, I heard of him once or twice," Vortimer said after a moment's thought. "My father knows him."
"He was one of your father's allies, not the close one, but an ally. He was killed by Arthur three days ago."
Vortimer sighed, realising something. "It must've been when they saved that princess. She was kidnapped by some thugs."
"Vortigern's men raid villages in Essetir, Nemeth and even in Kent. Soon they will be in Camelot, especially now that your father has reason to enter Arthur's kingdom," said the druid.
"Has he lost his mind? They're killing innocent people," he said and shook his head in disbelief.
"It's more to this," Mordred spoke hesitantly. "There are rumours that Vortigern and his army are about to attack Camelot castle."
"When?" Vortimer asked, feeling anger and fear rush through him at the same time.
"I don't know, but you must tell Arthur," he replied.
"That's not possible, he doesn't know I'm here. Besides, why are you so suddenly concerned about the things of Camelot?" Vortimer looked at Mordred curiously.
"Because you are there," he said. "And people that once helped me are there, too. I will never forget and forgive them for what they did, but that doesn't mean I want to see them dead."
Vortimer nodded looking down. "You're a good man, Mordred," he glanced at him.
"I must go now," the druid said after a beat. "But I won't be far away."
"You know, you could return to Camelot," Vortimer said. "Arthur would understand."
"Maybe one day, but not now. And if Arthur would understand, go on and tell him, you can't live in hiding for ages," he replied and walked away leaving Vortimer alone with his thoughts.
"What on earth are you still doing in the same place?" Gaius' voice scared him.
"I er…, I had some problem with finding these herbs."
The physician smacked his lips with dissatisfaction. "Glad I have plenty of them. Come one, we're going back, and at least you can carry my bag," he said and handed it to Vortimer, who was now under a heavy burden.