AN: This is just a random oneshot I thought of after watching The Mark of Nimueh. Enjoy!
0000000000
This was it, Merlin was caught using magic. One moment Arthur's room was a mess and now it was perfectly clean. The tables were dusted, Arthur's clothes were put away, and the bed was made. Normally this would not have been a problem, but today Arthur had forgotten his sword and was only going for a moment. Not enough time for Merlin to do all that was done.
"Arthur, I can explain!"
"Can you?" Arthur looked around at his now clean room.
"Umm…yeah…" Merlin stared dumfounded, beginning to fill with panic.
An angry look appeared on Arthur's face, "I'm waiting."
Merlin started to get out of breath, his skin broke out in a sweat, and his eyes went a little blurry, "Arthur, I don't know how to tell you this. I'm not evil! I swear I'm not! I'm your friend really!"
Arthur was getting fed up with Merlin's blabbering, "Just spit it out Merlin!" His face had gone red.
Merlin feared his next words, but could think of nothing else than the truth, "I have magic."
Arthur was silent for a moment, thinking over Merlin's words, "Well about bloody time!" Arthur threw his hand in the air and smiled.
Merlin felt as though he was going to pass out, "What? You knew?"
"Of course I knew. What do you take me for, an idiot?"
"But…how?" Merlin still in a panic found his way to a chair and sat down.
Arthur was getting amusement out of this, "I always said you were a horrible liar Merlin." He rested his hands on the table in front of his friend.
Merlin calmed down a bit, "How long have you known?"
"A while. When Nimueh caused the plague in Camelot and we searched everyone's quarters, I saw your magic book."
Merlin was shocked, "That long? But why didn't you turn me in? I had only been your servant for about a month then."
"Well at first I wasn't sure what I saw, but then you covered it up. I decided not to make an uproar about it just yet, so I let it be. I could not let myself believe that an idiot like you could be a sorcerer."
"Gee thanks,"
"But then you proved it when you confessed to my father. I thought about handing your over to him right then, but something told me not to. I realized that no evil person would curse Camelot, save a man that was sick, and then give himself up to save another person. I've been covering up for you ever since."
Merlin could not believe his ears; he did not know what to say. How could Arthur have known all that time? "Why didn't you tell me you knew?"
"I was waiting for you to tell me you idiot, gave you a lot of chances. At first I was not sure I was right, but when you got poisoned and that light led me out of the tunnel, I knew for sure. I wanted you to trust me enough to tell me, and quite frankly I cannot believe it has taken this long. I thought you would tell me in Ealdor, but then Will confessed instead."
"So you are okay with it? You don't think I have some evil master plan?"
"Well I figured if you were out to kill me or my father, you would have done it already, you had many opportunities. But you have saved my life and my father's a few times. I am not saying that it isn't weird, but I believe you are an exception. You are a good person Merlin and I am happy to have you as a friend." It was quiet for a moment, "I do wonder though, why would you come to a place where magic is forbidden? Why not go somewhere else?"
Merlin smiled, "It is my destiny to protect you and now that you know saving you will be a lot easier than before."
Arthur scoffed, "You save me? Unlikely."
Merlin stood up, still smiling, "I save you all the time!"
"Oh really? Then why is it I have to save your ass almost every day?"
"Well I had to hide my magic from you didn't I?" The two boys glared at each other for a moment, "You know this doesn't change anything."
Arthur looked at him quizzically, "How do you mean?"
Merlin smiled, "You're still a prat."