A/N: Hey guys! I apologize for it taking a year and a half to update this story. I've been going through some stuff in my personal life and my writing got put on hold altogether. This story is one of my favorites though, so I'm ready to come back to it and finish it out! I can't promise how often updates will be, but I can promise you won't have to wait over a year ever again! Thank you for your support! Now onto the chapter!
~M~E~R~L~I~N~
Merlin was exhausted by the time he got back to the citadel. While the charm he used on the potential attacker hadn't been very powerful, (well, at least it wasn't by his standards, being Emrys and all) he hadn't had very much sleep the night before, and the trek into the woods hadn't been a short one. So naturally, he didn't notice the blonde king glaring down at him as he cheerfully greeted the guards and made a beeline for Gaius' chambers.
In his dreams that night, Merlin's magic showed him a scene of Meldrick telling Morgana he had been stopped by Emrys before he could reach the citadel. At his name, Morgana threw Meldrick against a wall, killing him instantly. "EMRYS!" she cried in anger, "WHO ARE YOU?!?"
Merlin awoke feeling more exhausted then before he fell asleep. Projection always wore his magic down, and to make matters worse, he woke the sound of Arthur's voice coming from outside his door.
"What do you mean, he can't?"
"Sire-" Gaius was cut off as Arthur's voice grew in volume.
"Tell Merlin that if I don't see him at the round table in fifteen- no, TEN minutes, he'll be on his way back to Ealdor faster then Gwaine can get drunk!"
Merlin heard the door slam as the king left the room and slowly poked his head put of his meager room. "Is it safe?" he whispered.
Gaius sighed and beckoned for his ward to come downstairs. "I'm assuming you heard Arthur's warning?" Gaius asked the raven-haired boy. A nod was all he recieved in response as Merlin downed his breakfast quickly and ran out the door, wondering just what the blonde clotpole needed this time.
~~~~~~
Leon sat at the round table deep in thought. Around him, his fellow knights, who he saw as brothers, looked much the same. Elyon looked most shaken by what they had seen last night, and Gwaine was notably missing - likely in the tavern trying to drink the revelation away. Arthur's manservant and closest friend, the one person he trusted more than Leon himself, had magic. And from what they had seen and heard, quite powerful magic at that.
Leon was completely torn. On the one hand, as a knight of Camelot, sorcery was his sworn enemy, and he had taken a vow to do anything in his power to eradicate it from the kingdom. But on the other hand, Leon had grown to see Merlin as a brother. The clumsy fool had a way of brightening the whole citadel, and since the day he arrived 8 years ago, he had touched everyone from the lower townsfolk to castle maidens to the king himself, making their lives irreversibly better. Leon was having a hard time reconciling that image of Merlin with the horrible stories of sorcery he'd grown up hearing.
Regardless of his inner turmoil, when Arthur walked in, sans Merlin, with a stony look on his face, Leon felt his heart tighten. Surely Arthur wouldn't... no, he would never. Right? Leon knew in that instant that his mind had been made up. Even if Merlin was a powerful sorcerer, he could not die. He would not let it happen. Everything in him knew that sorcery was evil, but a still deeper part of him knew that Merlin was innocent and had to be protected, sorcery and all.
So a few minutes later, when Merlin ran into the room out of breath, seeming none the wiser to the fact that the knights and king now knew his deepest-held secret, Leon allowed himself to send the young man a small, yet sad, smile, all the while hoping (yet doubting) Arthur would mercy in his heart.