I'm back and I'll be back to updating frequently. Someone said that the story was a bit ooc for most of the characters. I hadn't thought about it that way but I guess it is. I hope this chapter helps to explain their reactions a bit better.

Why did they choose me to do this? But Gwen knew why; she was the only one Arthur was likely believe…and not murder for saying it. Come on Gwen, you can do it. Just walk in there and tell Arthur that Merlin is an evil sorcerer. She took a shaky breath and pushed the door open.

…

Merlin was late, or well, later than usual. He was late enough that Arthur was beginning to get seriously worried. Where is the idiot?

Just then Gwen pushed open the door to Arthur's chambers. "Gwen, have you seen Merlin?" Arthur realized he sounded concerned about his servant and to make up for it said, "The idiot is half an hour late with my dinner."

Gwen wasn't fooled and Arthur's concern for Merlin made it that much harder to say what needed to be said. Gwen went completely out of character and decided to be blunt about it. "Arthur, Merlin is a sorcerer."

Arthur couldn't help it, he burst out laughing.

Gwen visibly paled and Arthur, seeing this, said, "Wait, you can't be…"
"I am completely serious. Merlin is a sorcerer. I saw proof with my own eyes. He attacked Gwaine yesterday and caused the accident with Leon today and now he has fled the city."

All the blood drained out of Arthur's face and he began visibly shaking. "No, no it can't be. I know Merlin, he couldn't…"

"It's the truth Arthur."

Before Gwen had a chance to react Arthur rushed from the room. He made it to Gaius' chambers in record time. He burst through the door with such force that a stack of books collapsed. He strode up to Gaius and grabbed the old man's shoulders. "Gaius, is Merlin a sorcerer?"

Gaius had already been told what had happened by Lancelot and said the words that Arthur had most been dreading. "Yes, he is."

Arthur released him and stood frozen, mouth agape for a moment before collapsing backwards into a rather conveniently placed chair, as if it hadn't been there, he would have sat on the floor. Arthur put his face in his hands. He couldn't…how could…when did…what am I going to do?

…

If you had been a citizen of Camelot the next day and you had passed by the Prince you would have noticed that he was distracted, but as this had become normal for him during the last year you probably wouldn't have found it all too surprising. This was why neither the knights nor Gwen were sure what to make of the situation. Arthur was acting like he had never found out that Merlin had magic, like his servant was just out of the city collecting some herbs for Gaius as usual. This was also why none of them were prepared when he started calling them one by one into a small room frequently used by his father for interrogations. He quickly sent Elyan on his way, realizing that he only knew what he had been told by his sister, but the others took quite a bit longer.

Gwen

"You were the one who told me about Merlin's magic. When did you find out?" His eyes were icy. Gwen hadn't seen him look at her like that in years.

"Two days ago. He came into Gaius' chambers… his eyes turned gold, and …all the glass in the room shattered."

Arthur's eyes widened slightly at this but he gave no other reaction to her words. "Did he give you an explanation?"

She looked down at where her fingers were gripping the wooden table. "He tried," she whispered. "When I was in your room and he wanted to talk to me. I wouldn't listen though." She looked almost ashamed and even she wasn't quite sure why, after all he only would only have lied to her. "I knew what I had seen. It's just," Her voice cracked, "His eyes, they were just like Morgana's."

"You can leave now." Arthur said. He wanted to comfort her but he had other things on his mind. Breaking glass isn't evil. I don't know why he would do it but it isn't evil certainly.

Gwaine

Gwaine was drunk, well not for him, but still. Arthur supposed it wasn't too surprising, especially under current circumstances.

"So Gwaine, tell me about Merlin's magic."

"I had suspected for awhile, I was okay with it really." This surprised Arthur since he knew Gwaine had been involved in the decision to out him. "I never thought…I guess I never thought he would attack me."

At this Arthur's eyes widened a fraction. Gwen had mentioned this but hadn't really explained it. "When did this happen?"

"Two days ago…outside your chambers. I was about to knock on your door and the next thing I knew Merlin burst out of your room and threw me against the wall with magic. When I woke up I confronted him and…Arthur, he disappeared right before my eyes."

This story would be shocking except that Arthur had been there when Gwaine was hurt. There was no way that Merlin had known Gwaine was out there. Moreover that cry from Merlin had definitely been one of surprise and Merlin wasn't that good at faking…but here Arthur had to stop himself. Merlin had managed to keep the fact that he had magic a secret for five years. Clearly he was far better at hiding things than Arthur gave him credit for. Still, when Arthur had come out to see what had happened Merlin looked like he had been about to throw up or pass out…or both. That wasn't what some evil sorcerer would look like after attacking someone, it was what any guy would look like after accidentally hurting a friend.

Still deep in thought, Arthur said, "You may go."

Leon

"He threatened me Arthur! He caused me injury! He is an evil sorcerer trying to topple Camelot! He's trying to kill you and your father!"

Arthur had found that Leon was only too eager to talk and every word he had said so far had only implicated Merlin. Despite this he had to wonder if Leon had simply been so strongly indoctrinated to hate magic that he couldn't imagine the existence of a good sorcerer. Arthur knew he had trouble with the idea.

"Leon," Arthur's voice was extremely firm. "What exactly did Merlin say to you?"

Leon thought hard about this. Arthur was glad, it meant that Leon might give him exactly what happened so Arthur could decide what to think about Merlin for himself.

"I'm pretty sure he said, 'You can't go to training today', 'If you go to training you are going to get hurt', and when I started to walk away 'If you go to training you are going to regret it.'"

For the first time that day Arthur voiced his thought process. "Could he have been warning, not threatening?"

"I suppose so." Leon looked doubtful.

"Merlin was standing next to me when the accident happened; would I have heard him if he cast a spell to hurt you?"

This was an honest question and Leon realized this. He scratched his chin thoughtfully for a minute before saying. "I think you would have, sire." He left the room looking thoughtful.

Percival

"The guards saw you and Lancelot leave the city with Merlin last night." Arthur said, "Why did you help him?"

"I think he was warning Leon, not threatening him," he answered honestly, "and Gwaine was his friend, somehow I can't imagine Merlin hurting him on purpose."

Arthur had to resist the urge to jump for joy at this testimony but something was nagging at him. "Everyone else seems to think that since Merlin is a sorcerer he must be evil… but not you, why?"

"In the place I come from, magic is permitted. Not all sorcerers are evil, my lord, just the ones you seem to run into."

Arthur couldn't resist any longer. He smiled widely for the first time all day.

Percival looked confused for a moment and then he realized, "You never thought Merlin was evil, did you?"

Arthur shook his head, still smiling "My father always taught me that anyone with magic is evil but I know Merlin. I would trust him with my life and I have yet to hear anything that would change that opinion."

Lancelot

Since questioning Percival, Arthur was confident that Merlin, although he had magic, was the same man he had known the last five years, but there was still a question that needed to be answered.

As soon as he had entered the room Lancelot had made a point of looking anywhere but at Arthur. He was currently staring at a crack in the back wall near the ceiling that ants were crawling out of.

"Lancelot, I know when the others found out that Merlin had magic, but when did you?"

The man looked extremely uncomfortable and dropped his gaze to the stone floor. That wasn't a good sign.

"When Lance?" Arthur cried, standing up with his hands still on the table.

"The first time we met." He mumbled.

Arthur's jaw dropped, he couldn't help it.

Lancelot met his gaze for the first time. "Remember how the griffin attacked and you and your men had all been knocked unconscious?"

Arthur nodded, "Yes, and you killed it."

Lancelot smiled and shook his head, "No, I didn't. Merlin did." He held up a hand to stop Arthur from commenting. "I was charging towards the creature on a horse, I heard Merlin screaming some words I didn't understand and the end of my lance was surrounded by blue light." He smirked at the memory, "Merlin had hoped I wouldn't notice but it was a bit hard to miss."

Arthur sat back in his chair and burst out laughing.