ATTENTION: THERE WAS A MIX UP AND I ACCIDENTALY POSTED AN INCOMPLETE VERSION OF THIS CHAPTER, THIS IS NOW FIXED, i ENCOURAGE YOU TO REREAD IT AS IT WILL NOW MAKE MORE SENSE AND IS LONGER.

Hey update! I so totally didn't push myself too much for this chapter *Looks away guiltily* So my hands started feeling better and I just got a massive amount of motivation from the number of well wishes I got, which let me just say, wow. Thank you all so much, your well wishes mean so so much to me and helped me so much ( I was feeling pretty down) so thank you all so much! This chapter is dedicated to all the lovely people who sent their well wishes!

A very special scene was included in this chapter, I wrote this scene while watching a sunset in the Grand Canyon. You can spot if because it will be between two *, there is one scene before that that is marked with a * but that is for a different reason, which you will find at the bottom AN.

I hope you all enjoy and please review!

*Merlin POV*

The next morning Merlin woke to Andrew entering the room, groaning he turned to the window, the light of dawn poked through the mostly closed curtains. He had been exhausted last night after getting back and having to climb the rope, he had used his magic to help him but it was still difficult, so he had closed the curtains so he would sleep longer.

"Sire!" Andrew called, relief obvious in his voice "I was so worried, especially when I heard about what happened to Sir Richard last night," he rambled and Merlin shot up.

"What did you say? What happened to Richard?" he asked. Andrew looked at him in confusion.

"You didn't know?" he asked, "I thought you would have found out somehow. Last night Sir Richard was at the tavern with some others as well as the Camelot knights, one of the knights was drunk and tried to attack Sir Gwaine, Sir Richard stepped in and was wounded badly. He's in the infirmary now." Merlin quickly sprung out of bed and threw on a fine red tunic and brown pants, not that he really noticed what he was dressing in, he was far too busy panicking over Richard.

He flew out the door and down the hall, his guards froze in shock but quickly went after him, having to jog to catch up to him. Merlin walked briskly through the halls, only keeping himself from running so as not to panic people. After what felt like forever he arrived at the physician's chambers, bursting in he was surprised to see one of the patient cots surrounded by knights and guards. They all turned when he entered and he caught sight of Richard, sitting up in the bed and looking no worse for wear. The men around him quickly parted and bowed when they saw him. Arriving at the bed Merlin looked down at his head knight worriedly.

"Are you well?" he asked and Richard nodded, bowing his head respectfully, the knights and guards left the room, giving the two men some privacy.

"It was a small wound." He said.

"Not from what I heard." Merlin replied, scowling "This is my fault, I should have stayed longer." He said running a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean?" Richard asked with a frown. Merlin suddenly looked shy as he answered cautiously.

"I may have, uh, snuck out of the castle last night and gone to the tavern." He said, his expression that of a guilty child who knew they were in trouble.

"You did what?!" Richard asked, alarmed. "Do you know what could have happened? You could have been hurt, you could have been killed! Where the hell were your guards? Why didn't they prevent this? I'm going to flay them alive." He growled, trying to get out of bed to do just that, Merlin hastily pushed him back down.

"You need to rest Richard, and it isn't their fault, they never knew I even left." Richard looked at him in confusion and Merlin continued, there was no way the man would let it rest.

"I snuck out the window and I used an invisibility spell to get past the guards at the gate." He explained bashfully.

"You- let me get this straight." Richard said, clearly trying to hold in his fury "You climbed out of your window, which I want to know how but we will focus on that later, snuck past the castle guards using magic and went to a tavern?" he asked, glaring daggers at the warlock.

"Yes?" Merlin answered hesitantly. Richard exploded.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU? YOU COULD HAVE FALLEN OUT THE WINDOW AND BROKEN YOUR NECK! AN ASSASSIN COULD HAVE KILLED YOU! OR EVEN SOME DRUNK!" He raged and the fury in Richard's voice shook Merlin to the core, he had never, in his entire life, seen Richard this angry, not even when Robert had attacked. "YOU FOOLISH BOY, WHAT DO THINK WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU DIED?! THE WAR WOULD BE LOST, EVERYTHING WOULD BE LOST AND I WOULD HAVE FAILED!" Merlin stood angrily, Richard had treated him as if he were fragile ever since they had been reunited, and if he would break like glass.

"Do you really think so little of me?" he shot back, not even raising his voice, though it was clear that he was angry and hurt. "Do you really think that after everything I have been through I would be killed by some drunk or an assassin? I am no longer the fragile child that fled Aria, I am a man in my own right and have been through more than you could even dream. I went to protect my friends, to make sure they were safe, I can more than handle anything I could have been hurt by. You have seen my scars and heard my stories, so tell me, who do you think was in more danger of getting hurt, me or my attacker?" he asked, glaring at the man. He didn't give the head knight a chance to answer, turning and storming out of the room, leaving the shocked knight to process everything that had just happened.

*Unknown POV*

The Knight paced angrily in the hall. The other man watched him cautiously, knowing the man could explode at any second.

"We need to get rid of those damn Camelotians" he growled, stopping in front of the second man. "first they get friendly with the prince and now this, Eric is in the dungeons and who knows what's going to happen to him." He fell silent for a minute, thinking "We need to end this, one way or another, get the others it's time we come up with a plan to rid Aria of these rats."

*Merlin POV*

It was several days later until Merlin saw Richard again. In those days, Merlin had endless council meetings, all of them discussing the next step, his coronation. Richard was on bed rest and therefore could not attend, magic could heal the wound quickly but the knight had still lost a lot of blood and he needed rest. He spent the little free time he had going between feeling guilty at the harsh words that had been exchanged and being angry at the knight for not trusting him to take care of himself. When he wasn't doing that, he was being fitted for armor, planning for battle, and trying to decide what to do with the knight that now sat in his dungeons, not to mention beating himself up for letting Richard get hurt in the first place. He often saw the Knights of Camelot and the Arian knights training outside the council room window and longed to join them. At first, the Camelot Knights had trained separately but with the help of Owen, Nathan, the twins, and to Merlin's surprise, Alaric they slowly joined the Arian knights in their drills.

The council had decided to let Merlin rest for the day as the meeting today was mostly the finer details of the coronation such as decorations and the guest list. He was to give a speech to the people that afternoon and the Council figured he would use this time to prepare, in truth Merlin had written his speech days ago, instead he decided to finally get some training in. Andrew helped him to put the armor that had been delivered the day before on. In Camelot Merlin had been forced to sneak out of the castle and train alone in woods if he wanted any real training, and even then he could only improve so much swinging at immobile trees, at the very least it kept him ready for more training. The chainmail and armor was lighter than most armor, the royal blacksmiths used magic to make it lighter and stronger than normal armor, therefore easier to move in. It was also heavily enchanted to protect him from a variety of spells, though most powerful spells would be able to get through. The blacksmiths weren't powerful enough to enchant against the strongest spells but Merlin planned to enchant the armor further when he got the chance. * Despite himself, Merlin had to admit that the armor looked good on him, he chuckled to himself when he thought about what Arthur would say.

Merlin spotted Richard on a bench in front of the training field, walking over he sat on the bench.

"I thought you were on bed rest." He said tensely.

"I am just watching today, giving pointers." Richard answered. They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes as both of them tried to figure out what to say, until finally, the Knights began pouring out of the armory, ready for training. The Arian knights, Merlin was pleased to see, were laughing with the Camelot Knights as they walked, many of the Arian knights still seemed reluctant to welcome them, however, and a couple of them were simply glaring at the laughing men. The Arian knights bowed when they saw him and the Camelot knights stopped walking and stared at him.

"Merlin, why are you wearing armor?" Percival asked, his expression one of bewilderment.

"So I can train." Merlin answered and the Camelot knights looked at him fearfully, the last time Arthur had let Merlin swing a sword he had nearly taken his own head off. By now the Arian knights were going through their drills, Nathan was sparing another, younger Knight, who quickly lost to the man.

Making a decision Merlin rose to his feet and walked over.

"Mind if I try?" he asked and the Knights of Camelot looked at him in shock.

"You Merlin? You can barely hold a sword." The Arian knights bristled at that, and Nathan spoke up.

"Actually, before the attack, he was one of the best fighters in Aria." Nathan said and the Camelot Knights gaped at him.

"But Arthur-" Leon began.

"Arthur never would have believed me if I told him that I, a peasant from a small village knew how to wield a sword and if I had proved it he would have known I was not a peasant."

Merlin drew a practice sword that he had had Andrew get him. By now everyone was watching, eager to see their king fight.

"I must warn you, it's been some time since I've fought anyone with a sword, and I've never completed my training." Merlin warned, knowing he would lose against the knight.

"Not to worry sire, it is to be expected. We will teach you what we can." Nathan replied and Merlin nodded in gratitude. The two circled each other slowly, looking for a weakness in each other's defense, soon enough Nathan spotted one a lunged. He swung his sword towards Merlin's right side where he had seen the opening, Merlin, however, was ready for this and jumped to the left, allowing Nathan's swing to go too wide and exposing his flank. Merlin went for it but Nathan recovered quickly, blocking Merlin's blow at the last second. Merlin simply smirked at the knight who was now eyeing him warily. He had learned that move from watching Arthur, this was the first time he had actually been able to put in action and while not completely successful the results were satisfying.

"You are better than you let on." Nathan said, watching him carefully, Merlin grinned back.

"It's amazing what you can learn watching someone fight every day for 6 years." He replied and Nathan snorted while the knights who didn't know Merlin had been a servant looked at each other in confusion. The two exchanged a few more blows and blocks, neither of them landing any hits, though it was obvious to all who were watching that Merlin was struggling compared to Nathan. Soon, Nathan saw a new opening and took it, he lunged at Merlin from the left but at the last second used his momentum to swing at his now unprotected right side. Merlin fell for the feign and the blow contacted hard with his side, sending him to the ground with a grunt of pain, he dropped his sword as he fell and Nathan leveled his sword at his throat.

"Do you yield sire?" he asked and Merlin nodded, immediately Nathan plunged his sword into the ground and offered the royal his hand, Merlin happily took it and hauled himself up with Nathan's help.

"Well, I certainly have a lot to learn." Merlin said cheerfully.

"Indeed, though you're better than I remember, it's a good thing you learn quickly." He said and Merlin nodded in agreement, the urgency of the coming war making him frown. Merlin turned to his friends who were staring at him in awe.

"I told you he could fight." Nathan said proudly and Merlin blushed slightly. For the rest of the morning, Merlin trained with his knights and friends, learning new moves. Gwaine tried to teach him his signature moves but Merlin couldn't quite get it, the other knights of Camelot objected to Merlin being taught those moves when he wouldn't teach them the moves but Gwaine ignored them. At noon, he went inside and was pleased to see that Andrew had already prepared a bath for him and layed the outfit he was going to wear for the speech out. He sank into the tub let his eyes drift closed as the warm water enveloped him. He startled awake when Andrew entered an hour later, carrying a tray laden down with food. Stepping out of the tub a towel wrapped around his waist, Merlin walked over and popped a grape into his mouth.

"Sorry sire but you need to eat quickly, we need to get you dressed, your speech is in an hour." Merlin nodded and quickly shoved some food down before going to get dressed.

The Royal Tailor had been instructed to make an outfit for this occasion and Merlin could tell he had worked hard for it. The tunic was of a fine, soft fabric that showed off Merlin's wealth but was still practical, it was the deep blue of the House Ambrosius, it rippled slightly giving off a watery effect. Displaying the second color of House Ambrosius was a silver trim on the edges as well as a V shape dip in the middle that was trimmed in silver as well, small swirls spread off into the shirt. The trousers were a plain black, though still made of fine fabric. Over the tunic was a white, button down jacket, this had silver trimmings and across his chest was a silky blue sash. Around his waist was his sword and he slipped a small dagger into his boot, he had to be prepared, this speech had been announced for several days and his uncle may very well send someone to attack him during this.

His heart beat rapidly as he left his chambers, his two guards falling behind him. He arrived at the balcony where he was to make the announcement and felt a wave of gratitude when he saw his friends standing there, dressed in their finery, all of them waiting for him. Richard nodded to him and Merlin nodded back, he would need to talk to the Head Knight soon. Gwaine clapped him on the back in a show of support and Merlin smiled weakly back, Leon inclined his head in respect and Merlin's smile grew, looking at the faces around him he knew that no matter what happened his friends would be there for him. With a new-found confidence, he walked out onto the balcony and addressed the teeming crowd below.

"Good people" Merlin began, using magic to amplify his voice so everyone below could hear him. "After 8 long years, I have finally returned to Aria, I have been gone far too long but I have finally returned home." The people cheered at this statement. "Many of you have already seen the Knights of Camelot that returned with me, many of you fear them. There is no need to fear them, they are my friends and will do no one harm, they have accepted magic and Aria." Silence met this statement as the citizens whispered to one another and Merlin continued with the next part of his speech, "While I was away, I made friends with the Camelot knights and I owe them my life, we have gone on many adventures and quests together and I trust them with my entire being. I do not ask you to trust them blindly, I only ask that you give them a chance." Merlin paused slightly as he gathered himself for the news he was about to reveal "While I was away, something happened" he said, his face and voice turning grave, confused murmurs swept through the crowd "during one quest I came across my father." Shocked gasps filled the courtyard and excitement lit several faces while others simply filled with apprehension "the news I bring to you is not joyful as I wish it were but full of sorrow, my father was killed shortly after I found him. He died protecting me." Merlin fell silent, letting this sink in, many people began crying while others simply stared at Merlin, waiting for him to finish. "All of us have suffered much these past 8 years and, as much as I wish it were not so, there is suffering still to come. But we will face it together, as one. We will fight my Uncle head on and we will win. We will rebuild Aria, we will bring this kingdom back to its former glory!" he shouted and the people cheered at the proclamation, confidence in their new king swelling. Merlin knew that the speech he had given to his knights would not work here, his people needed to hear that he was going to live, even if it was a lie.

Finished with his speech Merlin turned to go and before he could make it to the door he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye and quickly turned to it, throwing his arms up in defense. The attacker lunged at him, dagger out and Merlin noticed a faint glow from it. The man slashed at Merlin and he jumped back, the dagger slashed his clothing, barely missing his skin. Merlin's eyes flashed gold and the man was thrown back, a loud cracking sound was heard and blood began to pool below the man's head. Two of his knights immediately ran to the man, drawing their weapons as they went while Richard and Owen ran up next to Merlin, also drawing their weapons, the others began searching the area for more attackers. One of the knights that approached the attacker crouched down and felt for a pulse, turning to Merlin, he spoke.

"He's dead Sire." He reported and Merlin nodded.

"Search him for anything to identify him, and hand me that knife, there's something odd about it." One of the Knights picked up the still glowing dagger and handed it to Merlin, hilt first while the other searched the dead assassin. Merlin took the dagger gingerly while Richard looked at his arm.

"Did you get hurt?" the panicked knight asked.

"No, he just tore my clothes," Merlin answered, shrugging the Knight off, the older man frowned but backed off. Soon the other Knights returned from their search for more attackers.

"The area is clear." Owen reported coming up next to them "are you wounded?" he asked and Merlin sighed in annoyance as he looked up from the blade.

"No, I didn't hurt and judging by this blade it's good that it didn't touch me."

"Why?" Richard asked, brow furrowed in concern.

"It's enchanted." Merlin replied, "I'm not sure what the enchantment was but it couldn't have been good."

"How did he get in here?" Richard asked, turning to the two knights that had been guarding the hallway. The both shook their heads, confused.

"We did not see him come in sir." One of the answered. The knight who had been searching the body walked up.

"We found this on the body." He said, handing Richard a pendant, taking it Richard inspected it and frowned.

"There's something weird about this." He said, holding it up to the light.

"Here, let me see it," Merlin said, taking the pendant from the Knight. Immediately Merlin felt a wave of magic envelope him, similar to the pendant he had received from Gaius. "It's magic, I'm not sure what it does but it's definitely magic." He said, inspecting the necklace closely, he could see tiny rune carved into the crystal.

"We should get you somewhere safer Sire, if this man got in without being noticed we can't know there aren't more of them. We should also increase the security around you." Richard said, looking around again, wary of more attackers. Merlin repressed a groan when he realized that Richard would now be far more protective than he already was. He was quickly bustled back to his chambers and Richard instructed two of the knights to stay there, along with his guards, he also sent one of the knights to stand beneath Merlin's window, preventing anyone from climbing in.

"I'm going to lead a search through the rest of the castle, if anyone is hiding we will find them." Richard said, leaving the room, and motioning for Owen, Nathan, and the twins to follow. Merlin was left in the room with the Camelot Knights, all of them reluctant to leave him alone after what had just happened, seconds later Andrew came barreling in.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice panicked and chest heaving, he had obviously run from somewhere. "I heard what happened after the speech." He immediately began looking over his new-found king and his eyes finally landed on the torn sleeve and he grabbed his arm, inspecting Merlin's arm to see if he had been cut, after a second he released Merlin, seemingly satisfied. Then he looked around the room and practically jumped back in fear at the sight of the knights. His eyes flitted to Merlin as he swallowed thickly.

"S-sirs," he said, bowing slightly, backing away slightly.

"Relax Andrew, these are my friends," Merlin said comfortingly. "this is Gwaine, Percival, Leon, and Elyan." He said, pointing to each of them as he said their names. "Guys this is Andrew, my manservant."

"You have a manservant?" Gwaine snorted "I can't wait to see the princess's face when he hears that one." Percival smiled slightly while Leon gave the knight a disapproving glare. Andrew looked to Merlin in confusion who just laughed and shook his head.

"Merlin?" Leon spoke up and Merlin turned to him expectantly. "Do you plan on ever going back to Camelot?" he asked, a frown on his face, the others looked at him in worry.

"Yes, of course, Arthur wouldn't survive without me, I cast a protection charm on him before I left but that will only last a few months." He replied, as if there was never a doubt in the world that he would return.

"But Sire!" said Andrew, clearly distressed "You can't leave Aria, we need you!"

"Don't worry, I will return, I'll have to figure something out to be able to travel but it will work out." He said, frowning slightly, to be honest, he hadn't thought much about the schematics.

"Will you tell Arthur the truth or…" Leon asked and Merlin frowned again.

"I'm not sure, I'll have to eventually but I don't think he's ready." Merlin said and Leon nodded unhappily. After several more minor chit chat Percival spoke up.

"We should let you rest Merlin, you've had a long day." The others agreed and bid Merlin a good night, filing out of the room. Merlin looked out of the window and noticed the sun was still up. Not even remotely tired he dismissed Andrew and went for a walk.

*Merlin sighed as he walked along the battlements. He had managed to convince his guards to stay at the entrance and not to follow him on. He watched as the sun slowly sunk into the sky. The sky slowly began to turn from yellow to orange. The rays of sun breaking through the clouds made it appear as if something divine would soon descend. The beams danced on the buildings in the lower town, making them look orange, red and gold, all at once. Hints of pink soon began showing. He heard gentle laughter and singing drift up from the town as his people celebrated their prince's return and mourned the death of their king. Children played in the streets as their parents called them inside. Several of the children were playing with small balls of fire or water, the use of magic brought a gentle smile to the warlock's face.

He heard footsteps coming up behind him and stop.

"Hello, Richard." He said, not needing to look to know who it was.

"I thought I might find you here." He said, leaning against the rampart beside Merlin, watching the sunset. *

"How did you know?" Merlin asked, puzzled as he had never been up here before.

"Your father would always come up here when he needed to think, you are more like him than you know." He said and silence reigned. "I shouldn't have yelled at you Merlin, and I'm sorry, you just, you remind me so much of him." Richard's voice broke and Merlin turned to look at him, a single tear rolled down the older man's face. "I failed him, I should have been there, I should be the one laying in a grave, not him." He said, his voice heavy from guilt and sorrow. Before Merlin could object he continued. "I failed him twice now, I refuse to make it a third. That is why I am so protective of you." He said, finally turning away from the dying sun to look at Merlin. Merlin could feel a lump forming in his throat, he tried to swallow it down, but to no avail.

"I'm sorry too." He whispered "I shouldn't have been so angry at you, you were only doing what you are supposed to and you're right what I did was foolish. Perhaps I am not ready to be King, perhaps I will never be ready." Richard shook his head.

"No, I was the one in the wrong, you are more than capable of taking care of yourself, and you've had to in the past. I suppose that's why I am being so protective of you now, I failed you before and I don't want it to happen again." He said, resting a hand on Merlin's shoulder "And you are more than ready to be King, what you did may have been reckless but it was also selfless, you put others well-being before your own and that is one of the best qualities a King could have, Balinor would be proud." He said, tears of pride filling his eyes.

"Thank you, Richard, and I want you to know, you did not fail my father, you did your duty and continue to do it today, my father was proud to call you friend and would have gladly stood by you in battle."

"Thank you, Merlin, though, I would I appreciate it if you would stop climbing out of windows." Richard chuckled and Merlin laughed. The two stood there in happy silence for some time, until the moon and stars had appeared and the creatures of the night could be heard. The two finally left the battlements and went to bed, both wondering what the next day would bring.

-Line break- Line break yay!-I didn't die!- Yay!- I will be back!-

Arthur and Bedivere watched the sunset as the others set up camp.

"We should reach Aria in a day or two Sire." The knight reported and Arthur nodded.

"Excellent, we will have our friends back soon, and anyone who stands in our way will die."

*This idea was taken from JessieJay13's To Be A King, I have received permission to take this idea and will note when I use one of her ideas.

Thank you again all so much, will update ASAP but with school I'm not sure when it will be! Stay safe!

Also I would love to know what you think of this chapter so please review!