I may edit certain episodes slightly so that they better fit what I want to write in this fic. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed with ideas. I will try to include them at some point in this story!

We needed to talk – properly talk, Arthur decided. Now, how to make this easy – for me – and as uncomfortable as possible for Merlin?

"I'll answer your questions; it'll make it easier on you to get the answers you want. Gaius can answer anything I can't remem-" Merlin cut off abruptly; eyes widened in horror, but Arthur nodded sagely. So, Gaius had known about the magic. What else had he known about? This would also make it easier on Merlin, Arthur realized. For a moment he applauded his manservant's cunning – Arthur almost hadn't seen his ploy – but then he frowned, pondering his first proper question.

He decided to start off safe but important. "What happened to Nimueh?"

Merlin looked thoughtful. "It's quite a long story."

"We have time." To prove his point Arthur shifted and settled back on his chair, grasping Gwen's hand for a mixture of support and reassurance. For which of them he didn't know. Gwaine slumped unknightly in his seat, tightly clutching his tankard of ale. On the other hand, Leon sat up straighter; rigid as a plank of wood, ready to spring into action it the sorcerer – warlock, his mind reminded him – showed any signs of wanting to hurt Arthur. Even if it happened to be Merlin. Gaius was still tense, stiff in his seat. That couldn't be good for his back.

"Should I start from the Afanc or from the Questing Beast?" Merlin didn't seem to be expecting an answer but Arthur gave him one anyway.

"Start from the beginning."

Merlin took a deep breath. "Okay, from the beginning with Nimueh. She was the reason Uther hated magic and she hated the fact that he used her as an excuse to hunt down her people and slaughter them so –"

Arthur broke in, "What did she do to make my father hate magic?"

Closing his eyes gently, Merlin sighed. "I suppose I can't tell I'll tell you later?"

"No." Arthur's voice and posture was firm, determined.

"I thought not. Nimueh caused your father to hate magic because of something she did that hurt your father. Rather than blaming her, he blamed the tool she used to hurt him – magic. And then he hunted down every magic user in Camelot and killed them for what Nimueh had done. The worst thing was that Nimueh hadn't even been trying to hurt Uther."

"What did she do?"

Merlin's voice has hesitant. "You know the ... incident with Morgause, the first time you met her. In the castle. When we thought she was going to chop your head off." Gwen hand tightened around his, her fingernails digging into the back of his hand. Percival seemed over his shock by now, as did Gwaine.

"Yes."

"It's about what she told you. About your mother."

"And you told me she was lying. So it's no problem."

"And if she wasn't lying?"

"You shouldn't have stopped me from killing him. You probably should have helped me." Arthur's voice was deadpan but he noticed how Merlin twitched minutely at the last comment. Something to ask about later. But as a sorcerer – warlock – Merlin had probably, at some point, thought about killing Uther (or if they whole saving thing was true, not bothering to lift a finger to help his father), he probably wouldn't be surprised by what Merlin had to say. (A/N Big shock later then)

"Erm ..."

Arthur realized what Merlin was saying. "She was telling the truth?"

Merlin nodded apprehensively, warily. Everyone else was looking at him confused except for Gaius, who was also watching him carefully, and Leon, who looked like he was remembering the incident they were discussing.

"Is this when you tried to kill your father?"

Most of the room reacted with some form of shock. Elyan and Gwen jumped simultaneously and Gwen's nails dug deeper. Percival tensed and then relaxed. Gwaine looked shocked. What surprised Arthur was the confused look passed between Merlin and Gaius, before realizing that Merlin had forgotten that Leon had intervened.

"Yes," Merlin replied cautiously.

His mind was racing. His father was the biggest hypocrite he'd ever met, it seemed. He had been the reason for mother's death and he'd blamed magic. Arthur found it quite ironic that, ultimately, no matter whose, magic had killed his father. Arthur calmed down quickly – it wasn't as if he could do anything about it now, his father was dead. He'd shout at Merlin later – he really wanted to know about Nimueh.

Elyan asked the quiet room, "What are you talking about?"

Merlin explained lowly, looks of comprehension dawning, on Gwaine's, Elyan's, Percival's and Gwen's faces. It seemed Gaius had also known about this. Well, as his father's oldest, best and only confident, Arthur wasn't too surprised or upset. Chances were Uther had told Gaius what had happened at the time – Gaius had been around for his father since he was a teenager.

The Knights and Gwen listened and waited. Uther was a bigger hypocrite than they had thought. And a mass murderer.

Seeming to want to move on quickly Merlin said, "Anyway, that's why Uther hated Nimueh. Uther then retaliated by killing all of the magic users, including Nimueh's two sisters and her father. She also ended up raising some orphaned magic users smuggled out of Camelot. She raised Morgause until she was nine. That would have been another reason for Morgause to hate me actually ..."

"So what happened with the Afanc?"

"She was angry and she'd just gotten back from a journey – to the Perilous Lands, I think – so she cursed Camelot by putting an Afanc in the water supply." Here Merlin turned to Gwen. "I couldn't bear to see you suffer when your father caught the disease. I healed him." His eyes turned sad. "I almost got you killed."

Elyan stiffened at that but Gwen reached out and grasped Merlin's hand tightly, whispering that he had nothing to apologise for. "What, exactly, happened?"

Gwen answered this time, "Because father was healed and no one else was, I was accused of being a witch. Uther had ordered me burnt at the stake. Luckily someone, Merlin I guess, stopped the disease in time."

"Me, Arthur and her. She wanted to come with us and we couldn't stop her. We needed fire and wind to destroy the Afanc, Arthur had the torch, and I created some wind at the right time so it died. Unfortunately I'd caught Nimueh's attention. But she still didn't know my true name – only Merlin."

Longest chapter yet! Thought I'd post it so all the chapters are of a similar length, and it might take a while before I can next update – exams, tests and real life