Hello everyone!

Time for another new chapter! I hope you will like it!

I didn't receive much reviews for last chapter but I hope it is not because I'm boring you all to death... Anyway, I take the opportunity to thank mersan123 and LFB72 for their continued support (without mentioning the superb art the later did for me :D).

Anyway, bare with me and enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 26:

To an outside observer Arthur looked completely calm and absorbed in the debate between Lord Simon and Wallace over grain redistribution but, in reality, he was far from both. He was still fuming about what Merlin just had told him and, despite the relative importance of the subject discussed, couldn't find it in himself to think about anything else.

How could Gwaine have betrayed them like that? And why was Merlin so calm and forgiving about it? They were talking about the most important secret in all of Camelot. Their secret advantage. Merlin's and the kingdom's security!

He knew that the warlock had said he trusted Alice and would have told her anyway but he still thought they should have discussed it beforehand. It was not a decision to be made so lightly. He scowled inwardly, glad that years of training allowed him to keep an impassible front.

"Your Highness?" Lord Simon's voice interrupted his internal musing. "What is your opinion?"

Arthur cleared his throat and fought the guilty blush that wanted to rise on his cheeks. He definitely had missed most of the conversation there. Luckily he was saved by Gwen.

"I think both of your opinions have to be taken into consideration. However we must not forget that equality is the key to people happiness. We have to calculate the needs of everyone so no one feels privileged. We should send knights to conduct interviews through the lower town and villages to know precisely how much each of them need from us." She answered as if she was the one being asked and not her husband.

Both statesmen nodded even if Lord Simon didn't look quite happy with the Queen's decision. Arthur felt his temper rise. He really was tired of those nobles not trusting her opinion on anything.

"I agree. Leon, you will be in charge of this. I trust you will manage to organize everything within the two next months?" He added, his voice hard with his internal anger.

"Of course my Lord."

"Good. What else?" Arthur asked, hoping that there would be nothing.

No such luck. Another lord began talking and Arthur's thoughts once more drifted.

"You know, you should really pay more attention in these meetings Arthur." Gwen said when the last of the councilmen left more than an hour later.

They were alone in the room, Merlin having left before any of them had the time to stop him, claiming he had work to do. Arthur suspected it had more to do with him wanted to avoid any possible arguments about a certain knight telling a certain secret to a certain woman without anyone telling a certain king.

"I'm sorry. I know. It's just…"

"You were thinking about what Merlin said." Gwen finished for him.

Arthur nodded and she took his hand.

"Why are you so mad about this?" She asked, observing him.

"I'm not… Well. Okay. Maybe I'm a bit mad. Gwaine didn't have to tell her! Especially not without consulting with Merlin or I beforehand!"

"So you're angry because you weren't included?" She summarized with a smile.

"No! It's not that! I just don't like the idea of how easy it was for him to tell someone like that! What if she was a spy? That's Merlin's secret! His most important secret!"

Gwen sighed softly.

"Well, first, I think we don't know exactly what happened and, second, if Merlin trusts her then I do too. That's probably why Gwaine told her. He wouldn't betray Merlin just like that to anyone. And third, if Merlin's not angry than I don't think we should be."

Arthur frowned at her. What was it with Merlin and Gwen that made them so forgiving?

But he had to admit that he did see her point. In a very twisted way, it even made sense.

"Fine. Fine. I still think he is going to be on night guard duties for the next month."

Gwen laughed and shook her head.

"I guess that's the best I can ask." She commented before kissing him lightly. "Don't you have training soon, my Lord?"

Arthur smiled. At least, that would help ease his nerves.

As expected, training did wonders on the king's mood and, at the end of it, he almost felt like he wouldn't scold Gwaine next time he saw the man.

"I think those new recruits are doing very well, don't you?" Leon commented as he went to fetch his water skin next to Arthur.

"Indeed. We may get something out of them." He smiled.

"And with Merlin's help, I'm sure we all have a bright future in front of us." Leon added.

"Yes. Yes… It's weird, isn't it? To think that Merlin is a help now…. I'm still not sure I'm used to it."

Leon laughed. "Well, in any case he takes the job very seriously. I caught him studying in the vault last night. I think he was going to stay there all night."

"Really? He didn't mention anything to me. In fact, I thought he was almost done with his work there…"

Both men exchanged a suspicious look.

"He said he was doing researches on protection spells and things like that."

Arthur hummed. It seemed a likely explanation. Intuition, however, told him something was going on there. He had noticed that Merlin had also seemed distracted during the meeting. And he had been in a hurry to leave…

"Well, I guess I'll have to check on that research then." Arthur decided and left with a nod to his first knight.

After stopping in his chambers to get rid of his training gear, Arthur took the well-worn path towards his court advisor chambers.

For the sake of teaching Merlin a lesson in good manners, he knocked and waited a few seconds before entering.

He found Merlin sitting at his working table surrounded by books and parchments, looking just slightly flustered. As if he was hiding something. Arthur's eyes narrowed as they went over the various supplies that were messing the place up.

"Ah Merlin!" He exclaimed, walking in the room to sit next to his friend, eyes still roaming over the books as discreetly as he could. Obviously they were written in the Old Religion so he had no hope to actually understanding anything that was written there.

"Leon told me you were working on protection spells! I thought I would check to see how you were getting on!"

Merlin looked nonplussed for a good minute before his eyes widened in silent revelation.

"Yes! Protection spells, yes! I… Hum… I found them in a book in the vault and am doing more research on them…"

The tone of his voice told Arthur all he needed to know.

"Of course Merlin. And how is it going?"

"Fine! Good! Perfect. I still have… things… to check…"

Arthur inwardly sighed. Did Merlin really think he was that stupid? He let himself fall back in the chair and just stared at Merlin. The younger man began fidgeting, obviously more and more uncomfortable as silence spread in the room.

"Don't you have… um… things… to do, Arthur?" He finally asked, looking far too eager to get rid of the king.

Arthur crossed his arms regally.

"No. No I don't think so. I think I'll wait here until you tell me the truth instead."

Merlin's eyes widened as he gaped at Arthur.

"What are you talking about Arthur? There's no truth to tell."

Arthur didn't say anything but just waited, eyes never leaving his friend.

"Is this still about Gwaine? I told you everything there is to say, really."

"It's not about Gwaine." Arthur said.

"Then what?" Merlin asked, also crossing his arms.

"Tell me what you are really working on." Arthur demanded. Merlin opened his mouth to answer but the king cut him off before he could say anything. "And don't say protection spells because we both know that's not true. If it was then you would have told me the moment you found them."

Merlin clamped his mouth shut, looking down at his lap.

"So. The truth?"

Silence fell once more in the room but Arthur was willing to wait. He had had to learn patience when dealing with Merlin.

"Fine." Merlin finally sighed, admitting his defeat with dropping shoulders. "It's not protection spells."

"Right. Then what is it?" Arthur prompted when it looked like the warlock wouldn't elaborate more.

"I'm looking into a ritual to call dragons to me."

"Don't you already know how to do that?" Arthur frowned.

"I do but I want to do it on a bigger scale."

"Why?"

"Because I think there might still be dragons alive, hiding in human forms." Merlin said, eyes piercing Arthur's.

"How?" The king gaped after a few minutes of shocked silence.

Merlin pushed himself up and began pacing with restless energy.

"Well, it seems only logical doesn't it? If you were a dragonlord, knew you were a target, knew that Uther wanted you and the dragons to disappear but that you had the perfect disguise ready, wouldn't you do it?" He said and Arthur could see how convinced the warlock already was.

"But Kilgharrah would have known about it, wouldn't he?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, it's quite possible it happened after he already was captured. He wouldn't have known about it and he says that once a dragon is human he wouldn't be able to feel their mind anymore."

The king thought about it. It was true that it all seemed pretty logical. Something was still bothering him.

"So you want to call them to you." Merlin nodded, sitting back down. "Then why didn't you just tell me?"

The warlock sighed.

"I don't know… I just feel that this is something I have to do alone. I am the last of the dragonlords Arthur. Not you. This is my duty."

The king observed his friend, saw the eagerness to prove himself, recognized the look in his eyes as one he had seen only too often in his own when Uther was still alive. He nodded.

"Fine. I understand."

"Really?" Arthur didn't understand why his friend sounded so doubtful.

"Yes. Really. But I want you to promise me something… If you need anything, and I mean anything, you tell me. Or one of the knights. Or Gwen. Whoever. You don't have to do everything alone anymore, okay? And you keep me updated."

Merlin nodded.

"Promise?"

"Promise." Merlin confirmed and Arthur thought it was good enough for the moment, even if his intuition didn't really stop nagging at him that there was still more.

So, did Arthur surprise you? He kind of surprised me XD.

Leave a little review if you want? I'd be very happy to know what you think!