Author's note: A little bit short maybe but the next chapter will be longer... Promise!

Phanstarlight:
Yeah, I thought a little more cuteness was needed :-)

Vaughntronic:
Thank you :-)
What can I say, I love my cliffhangers... I think that I managed to sneak in one or two more before the end of the story too ;-)

Nance:
Yeah, I definiately think he needs more petting ;-)

Amethyst49:
If you did, come by to say hello 'cause I'm already there ;-)

Eloeehez:
There's a pretty good reason for that, which he will discover eventually :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Explanations

Everyone's not thrilled about lifting the ban on magic…

Arthur looked around and saw the unhappy and angry faces. He realized with a sigh that a far larger number of the council members than he'd anticipated were still very loyal to his father and therefore wary of magic. Arthur felt slightly discouraged when he heard the furious voices in the room but after taking one look at Merlin, standing behind him and nervously biting his lower lip, he steeled himself and carried on. He could do this, if not for himself then at least for Merlin. He'd been so loyal and so patient and Arthur wouldn't ask him to wait any longer, or make him to hide his true self anymore. He raised his hand but most of the council members were too agitated to notice.

"Silence!" he barked and the discussions quietened. "I remind you that I do not ask for your permission" he said sharply. "This is my decision and I expect you to abide by it." His words caused a new uproar and Arthur winced inwardly at the deafening protests.

"SILENCE!" Leon roared as if he was commanding unruly knights on the training field and silence fell abruptly. Arthur couldn't quite keep his smile to himself, the council members were obviously not used to being addressed like this and more than a few seemed too insulted by this to even remember what was being discussed. He briefly grasped Leon's shoulder before he continued.

"The ban on magic is now lifted and new laws governing magic that have been drafted in cooperation with the druids are in place from now on." He risked a small glance over his shoulder and when he saw Merlin smiling from ear to ear he couldn't stop himself from smiling back. He turned towards the council members again.

"Sire, if I may?" It was one of the older lords, whom Arthur had known since he was a child. He inclined his head and the man continued.

"We are all aware that you have a more liberal view on the use of magic than your late father, sire, but I have to say that this decision came slightly as a shock to me, and to others as well I'm sure." Muttered acquiescent and nods accompanied his words. "If I may be so bold as to ask, sire, what prompted this decision?"

So Arthur started explaining, about the magic that had been used at his conception, how it had given him some magical abilities that had not manifested until now and that he worked to learn more about it with the help of the druids. He left out exactly what his abilities consisted in since he wanted to keep the element of surprise and the advantage that it would give him, but he felt that he couldn't leave this piece of information out entirely, since it was a part of his motivation to legalize magic. Also if the kingdom was ever to know that he was a shapeshifter he wanted to be able to completely certain that he could control it.

Regarding Merlin's magic he and Merlin had taken the decision together that it was better to let the lords hear the official version, rather than the castle gossip, and so he also told them about Merlin's magic. Since he knew that there had been suspicions about his manservant and some rather unexplainable incidents he wanted to make it clear that Merlin had used his magic with the king's knowledge and only to protect him. He also pardoned Merlin for any magic that he'd performed during the time that it was forbidden. Arthur wanted it to be perfectly clear that nobody was to punish Merlin for what he'd done and also named him court sorcerer as a way to legitimize the actions that Merlin had taken, and would undoubtedly take in the future, to protect the king. But still he saw a non-negligible amount of dark looks directed at his manservant and gestured to Elyan and Percival to be on their guard.

After he'd finished talking silence fell. Some of the lords looked pleased, some looked angry, a few looked thrilled and some seemed downright scared. Arthur decided to leave it at that for now, he still needed to inform his knights and all the castle servants and there would be more opportunities to win the lords over, preferably when they were less shocked and more inclined to listen.

"There will be a celebratory banquet tonight and I'd be very displeased to see that anyone would choose not to attend and support the changes that have been made. That will be all for today." Arthur concluded the meeting and left the room with Merlin on his heels. As soon as the door closed behind them the chatter broke out again.

Arthur forced himself to put one foot in front of the other. He called for the knights and informed them. All the castle servants gathered in the courtyard and he told them as well. He went down to the kitchens and made arrangements for the evening. He received dark looks, happy smiles, muttered curses, some overenthusiastic hugs and a kiss on the cheek from Gwen. People were crying, laughing, screaming with joy, blessing the ground he walked upon and looking like their worst nightmare just had gotten real, all at the same time. It was overwhelming and when the late afternoon came and Arthur could finally retire to his chambers he was exhausted. He went straight to his bed and dropped face down on it.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Remind me to never do anything like this again" Arthur groaned. Merlin might have said something but Arthur didn't hear it. He was fast asleep. Merlin smiled, pulled a blanket over him and quietly left the room.