Author's Note: It's not as long as the last chapter, but I still finally got it up here. School is becoming a little hectic as of late, so I don't know when I'm going to be able to update. But know that I'll always be working on it and trying to get it posted here as fast as I can! :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews I received on the last chapter! It really makes my day when I get a new review. I seriously just sit there and stare at my computer screen for a bit when I get a review and I kinda let out some really weird giggles and then I read the review. You guys and gals make me feel accomplished~. :) So thank you: afanoflife, nycorrall, Emmocloe, sarajm, FireChildSlytherin5, innerflame, complexities, lozzabluebell, Aubrey-Sky-Blue, Kaminari Rin, CosmicEssence, angelrider13, and Magic Cabbage.

Enjoy the chapter

He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't. It was insane to even think so, but all the proof they needed was right in front of them. They all saw what he saw. That man in the starlight was absolutely and undeniably a wizard. A sorcerer. A magician. That young man was undeniably and absolutely Merlin.

Arthur was trying to calm himself. His mind swirled with different emotions, not able to pick just one out to express how he felt at the moment. He sat down on the cold dirt floor of the hut, trying to get a grip on the current situation and make sense of everything.

Confused. He was definitely confused. But he was angry too, as well as excited and… sad. The young king sighed, wondering if it was even possible to feel all those emotions at the same time. He chuckled to himself and shook his head, knowing full well that he had no idea what he was supposed to do about this situation.

"Sire," Arthur turned his head to look at who was speaking, "I know that what we all just saw was… shocking… I know how you're feeling, we all do," Lancelot gestured to the other knights, and continued speaking directly to Arthur, " but you need to understand something." Lancelot began to speak again but stopped as a flash of guilt crossed his face.

Arthur addressed his knight and started to stand up, "Lancelot, I-"

"No. Sit back down." Lancelot cut him off with a snap and paced up to his king, shock on all of the knights faces at the way the brown haired man just spoke to their king. The knights and Arthur were friends, like brothers to one another, there was no denying that, and they often let down all the barriers and walls that were supposed to stand between a king and his subjects when they were with each other. But they still had a respect towards Arthur that would make them think more than twice before snapping at him in such a manner.

Lancelot quickly threw an apologetic look at Arthur before nodding in gratitude that the king had sat back down. He then gestured for the rest of the knights to have a seat as well. They objected, but followed suit when Arthur asked them to sit.

Looking around at the small band of confused, irritated, and tired men that sat around him in a tight circle Lancelot took a deep breath to calm himself, "There is something you need to understand, all of you." he paused, "Well, there are quite a few things that you need to understand… I can tell you as much as I know, but there is only one man that can convince you that what I'm going to tell you is true."

But before the knight could explain what he meant, he was engulfed fully by a vicious blue orb of fire. All of a sudden the ground caved in beneath Arthur and the young king tumbled down and down into a black oblivion. He saw flashes and images. Merlin, his eyes cruel and cold as he looked upon the city of Camelot, his eyes blazing with hatred and disgust as they flashed molten gold.

Then he saw himself, locked in a damp and dark cell with Morgana looking down at him with a hideous and triumphant smirk as Merlin stood behind her and laughed a frightful laugh that sent chills down the back of Arthur's neck.

He called out to Merlin, asked him for help, but the black haired man merely turned his back and stepped out the cell, motioning for Morgana to follow him. She did as he told her and then it all dissolved, all Arthur saw was black. Then that same cold and insane laugh that he had heard Merlin emit came back and Arthur was face to face with Merlin. The young king screamed as he felt a hot searing pain rip it's way through his chest. He looked down and realized that a sword had run him clear through, and letting his eyes travel from the sword to it's wielder he screamed again as the blade was pulled free, leaving him with a sickening sound of splintering bones and sloshing blood.

Merlin cleaned the bloodied steel blade on his trousers and smirked at his king. Then his eyes flashed gold.

Arthur woke up screaming, his dream fading away rapidly. His body was drenched in a cold sweat and he clutched his chest as his breathing slowly went back down to a normal rate. That was just a dream. It was all just a dream.

There was no gaping wound in his chest, no evil Merlin, no Morgana, Camelot was not being destroyed, there was no danger.

Danger… no danger, everything is fine. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and tried to settle back down into his bed. He pulled the sheets up over himself and shivered. Then he sat up so fast that his vision went black for a moment. This was not his bed. Quickly glancing around Arthur found himself to be in Gaius's chambers.

Suddenly all the events that happened earlier came surging back to him. The knights and himself had returned from their hunting trip. On that same hunting trip they had discovered that Merlin was a sorcerer. Lancelot had explained a few things just to keep the rest of them satisfied but he would not reveal more without Merlin's permission. So they had come back, only to be attacked by a sorcerer. He was hit on the head with a large piece of rock. He had blacked out.

Arthur groaned, this was one hell of a week so far. As far as he could see there was no way for it to get worse.

"Arthur!" the door to Merlin's room burst open and Merlin, looking like he was still half asleep, jumped down the few stairs that led up to his room and ran over to Arthur. Then promptly fell on his face when he slipped on a rug.

Letting out an indignant squeak as he struggled to get up, Merlin looked hilarious. Arthur couldn't help but laugh. His servant sprawled out on the floor, still attempting to get up, and was wearing an off- white shirt that was to large for his skinny body, and some grey sleeping trousers that hung loosely off his narrow hips. His face had been a mix of pure panic when he came barreling through his door, but as he finally sat up he had relaxed, and it was clearly evident of how tired the black haired man actually was.

The king began to let out a sarcastic remark about how uncoordinated Merlin was when he went rigid. His nightmare came back to him in pieces, he could barley remember it anymore but the parts he could disturbed him. He unconsciously tried to back up from the man across from him, but seeing as he was in a bed it didn't work out to well.

Luckily Merlin did not seem to notice his sudden tense and cautious demeanor, or if he did he didn't comment on it. "Arthur," Merlin grinned with relief, " You're awake, finally!"

Arthur didn't know how to respond, "Um… yes, I am,"

"That's good."

There were a few minutes of awkward silence between the two.

Arthur coughed and tried to relax a bit, "What happened, with the sorcerer?"

Merlin sighed, looking like he was about to fall asleep at any moment, and answered his king, " After the knights had dealt with and defeated the sorcerer, Gaius had some men take us to his chambers along with some others that were wounded and…" his voice dropped, " killed. But Gaius fixed us up, the wound on your head is just fairly minor bruising along with some cuts, and me," he lifted up his left sleeve, revealing some sore looking gashes that had been sewn up and bandaged with cloth, "I'm pretty much all taken care of, even though my head still hurts a bit."

"That's good then."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a dozen or so minutes, before the quite was broken by a soft snore. Arthur looked over at Merlin, who had apparently fallen asleep in a chair that he had pulled over to the side of Arthur's temporary bed during their awkward silence.

Arthur sighed as he to began to feel sleep overtake his mind. Looking at Merlin he admitted to himself that he had doubts about him, he was a sorcerer after all, but the only thing he felt as he drifted off into a much needed sleep was that he felt safe. With Merlin by his side he always did. So with that in mind he slept, promising himself that he would confront his servant at a later time, because right now this just felt right. He had his most loyal and trusted friend by his side, protecting him and watching over him. He smiled as he fell asleep, and unknown to him Merlin was smiling as well, because the king had spoken all of his thoughts aloud. So thinking of the irony at what his friend had whispered about Merlin protecting him the servant fell asleep once more; dreading what the future would bring, but happy as hell because of it. Arthur trusted him.