Now, my little friends out there, I was going to leave this at three chapters. It is a good enough end, but I have thought of a further story (two actually). But since the randomly thought of story title has grown on me, and I can't think of anything quite as good to follow it, I am changing chapter titles to make this a trilogy, in the one story.
Make sense? Jolly good! Hope you enjoy.
Gaius knew something was wrong the moment Merlin opened the door. He came into the room, shut the door behind him and without saying a word, or even looking in his direction, Merlin walked across the space, up the stairs and through the door to his own bedroom, closing it behind him with a soft click. Gaius frowned, staring at the door as if it might inform him what was wrong.
The door didn't tell him anything. Gaius carefully put down what he was holding, and took a bubbling pot away from the nearby candle flame, making sure everything was safe, before following Merlin. Gaius knocked first, very gently, but received no reply, so he opened the door and peered around it.
Merlin was lying face down on the bed, pressing his face into the pillow and his fingers intertwined in his hair. He didn't move as the door creaked open, but Gaius saw the slight tensing of Merlin's shoulders. Gaius pushed the door open and looked down at the boy sprawled on the bed.
"Merlin?"
Merlin shifted his face out of the pillow a little, but he didn't answer. Gaius stepped forward, standing at the end of the bed. Merlin didn't react, he just stayed still, his eyes fixed on a random point in the middle-distance.
"Merlin, what's the matter? What's happened? Is it Arthur?"
Arthur's name made Merlin jump, but before Gaius could ask any more Merlin's voice, thick with emotion, announced.
"Arthur knows."
"What?" Gaius asked.
"Arthur knows, he saw me perform magic, he knows."
For a moment Gaius was completely nonplussed, he just stared at Merlin lying there unmoving, then the words and the potential danger registered.
"When? How? Merlin, you were supposed to be careful?"
That reproach roused Merlin a little, his head lifted higher but he didn't turn to look at Gaius. "I was, as best I could be! I didn't realise he was sneaking up behind me!"
"Has he told Uther?"
"Don't know, he went to see the king when he got back, and that was this morning."
"Why didn't you run?"
"What's the point?" Merlin asked, putting his face back into the pillow. Gaius blinked, horror mounting up in him. "He might not tell him."
"Don't be ridiculous Merlin; Arthur is the Crown Prince of Camelot. He has sworn to uphold the law, a law which you have broken."
"I've been breaking it for years now," Merlin pointed out.
"But nobody knew that. Merlin, he has every right to have you executed! Uther certainly will if he finds out. Please Merlin, you can't just lie here and wait for it to happen."
Merlin didn't move. Gaius looked at him, it wasn't hard to see the complete despair in Merlin. Gaius didn't know what to do. Despite the danger, and both of them knew the danger was real, there just never seemed to be any reality to the potential of Arthur finding out about Merlin's talent. It was just nothing close to what Arthur saw when he looked at Merlin.
Gaius felt an overwhelming urge to grab Merlin, and shake him out of the shackling emotions that were gripping him. He wanted him on his feet and away from the castle. Merlin should have been able to escape when he realised that Arthur knew, why hadn't he?
"Just leave me alone," Merlin said, his voice dull. Gaius frowned, a retort ready but he froze as the far door opened. His body clenched, and his stomach worked knots as Arthur stepped through the door.
The first thing Gaius noticed was that he was alone. He hadn't come with a contingent of guards to arrest Merlin, he had just come for him himself. Considering the state Merlin was in, it didn't need anything else. Arthur concentrated on carefully closing the door before he turned and met Gaius' gaze steadily as he crossed the room, easily guessing Merlin's location. He came up the steps, moving silently, his expression grim. Gaius watched him carefully for any indication of what he might do. Arthur wasn't armed, he didn't appear to be expecting any trouble.
One glance, and an inclination of Arthur's head, was enough to send Gaius out of the door. He was just as guilty as Merlin. He knew what Merlin could do. As soon as he had found out he should have sent Merlin away, not leave him here, with a talent that could get him killed. Which was what it seemed to be about to do.
The series of events had been put in motion. It was unstoppable now. Merlin didn't seem to want to stop it. Gaius backed out of the room, and Arthur closed the bedroom door on him. Walking back down into the main room Gaius carefully tidied up and then, unable to bear being there any longer, he picked up his medicine bag and went on his rounds, trying not to think about what might be happening in that small room.
Arthur closed the door, letting the latch click down, and he took two steps into the room, to the end of the bed. Merlin didn't move.
"Gaius, I said leave me alone."
"Merlin."
Arthur had never seen Merlin move so quickly. His eyes immediately snapped open and he lurched up on the bed, flipping himself over so he landed with a thump, sitting up at the same time. He looked up at Arthur with wide, startled eyes. His gaze rolled a little, seeing Arthur stood there alone, and the door firmly shut behind him.
"Where's Gaius?" Merlin asked in sudden panic. Arthur looked back, his gaze turning a little bit reproachful.
"I asked him to leave. This is between us."
"What about your father?"
Arthur scowled, "are you deaf Merlin? I said this is between us."
Merlin watched Arthur warily for a moment. "You mean you haven't told him?"
"Not yet," Arthur said. Merlin flinched and he got the feeling that whatever happened now was the lynchpin of that decision. Merlin watched Arthur as he lingered at the foot of the bed, he looked ready to start pacing, but the prince seemed to realise that there was no space in Merlin's tiny room.
Merlin looked up at Arthur, and then down, staring at the sheets on the bed instead.
"I'm sorry," Merlin said. It seemed a fairly reasonable place to start.
"For what part exactly?" Arthur asked. Merlin assumed that Arthur didn't find it that reasonable.
"I didn't want to have to lie about it."
"Oh, so you're not sorry about using magic! You know what I think of that, of what the law is here!" Arthur snarled. The tone hinted that he wanted to shout, but it was not something you shouted about, however private the conversation seemed.
"No, we know what your father thinks of it," Merlin said. "I don't think anyone else's opinion gets consideration."
"He's the king."
Merlin lifted his head. "He's also a person, he could now and again be wrong!"
Arthur recoiled like he had been stung. Merlin lowered his eyes a little. It was, quite possibly, not the wisest idea to make Arthur angry, and question the integrity of the king.
"From what I've seen he's not wrong! Sorcerers and magical beings have attacked this kingdom, and my father."
"A lot of the time they seem to aim at you," Merlin said.
Arthur glared at him. "And so how do I know that you're not just part of another plot to try and disrupt my kingdom!"
Merlin blinked in surprise, staring up at Arthur in shock. He tried to control the impulsive reaction that happened, but the corners of his mouth quirked upwards a little. His breath hitched, and he snorted as he tried to control himself. Arthur watched him carefully, and that just didn't help. Merlin felt the entire reaction happen again, and this time he couldn't stop the smile, or the snigger that followed. Arthur attempted a scowl, but that all went a little wrong. He pressed his lips together in an attempt to prevent his own reaction. Merlin's body started to shake as he desperately tried to repress the laughter that was bubbling up inside him.
It just didn't work, Merlin snorted again and started to laugh. A moment later Arthur gave an involuntary smile and his body tensed as he tried to keep himself together. Merlin laughed even more and eventually Arthur broke. He started to laugh himself, putting a hand over his eyes as he stood there and shook his head, at what really was, and Arthur knew it, a completely absurd suggestion.
Neither of them were completely aware of how much time passed as they both giggled, feeling the tension of the last day explode out of them, in an irrational way. But there wasn't anything to feel rational about at that moment.
Still laughing and gasping for breath, Arthur lent forward, putting both hands on the frame at the end of Merlin's bed, and keeping his head down a moment. Merlin shifted, sitting cross-legged on the pillow at the other end rubbing his ribs where they were starting to ache, and he wiped his eyes.
"Okay," Arthur said, his head still down. He exhaled another deep breath and then looked up. "I accept that that is a ludicrous idea."
"If I was any kind of infiltration, I'd be the worst ever," Merlin said. "And no, I'm not, since I spend most of my time saving you."
"You saving me?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact."
"When?" Arthur said.
"Where do you want me to start? How about the witch who impersonated Lady Helen, I save you, everyone saw it and I dropped a chandelier on her, and the thing with Knight Valiant's shield, and Lady Sophia."
"What about her?"
"She was going to give up your soul to the sidhe, so she could regain her immortality. I had to pull you out of the lake when she tried to drown you."
"Oh," Arthur said. "I never believed the story that you managed to knock me out."
"Those are the first few I can think of, I can carry on," Merlin said.
Arthur straightened up and then stepped around the bed to sit down at the end. He rested his elbows on his knees and cupped his chin in his hands, looking at Merlin curiously.
"Why?"
Merlin shrugged. "It's hard to explain."
"Try," Arthur said. "I didn't think you even liked me, I mean, not at first."
"I didn't, you were a pratt, you sometimes still are."
"So, why? Why take the risk?"
"Because it was right," Merlin said. "And because," he hesitated a little before saying. "And someone told me that our destinies were kind of linked."
Arthur snorted with laughter. "Destinies, who told you that?"
Merlin shifted uncomfortably. Arthur frowned at him.
"The great dragon," Merlin said.
"You mean the same great dragon that got loose and tried to destroy the citadel?" Arthur snapped. Then he sat up a little straighter and glared at Merlin. "Oh, you didn't! Merlin, tell me you didn't!"
Merlin winced a little, but nodded. He wasn't surprised a moment later when Arthur lunged forward grabbing him around the throat, and pinning him back against the wall. The only way that Merlin could really fight Arthur back was with magic, and it was not the moment to do that. Instead he stayed as still as he possibly could, while he hitched for breath through the pressure on his throat. Arthur's face twisted with anger.
"You did what? Why?"
Merlin, for a moment, couldn't actually tell Arthur, the hands around his throat were a little too tight. He gave a strangled coughing sound to hint at the problem and Arthur's grip loosened a little, which was nothing more than a hint to talk.
"He helped me save your life, quite a bit, and Camelot. It was part of the bargain."
"So then he could destroy it himself! What would have happened if we hadn't driven him off?" Arthur demanded and then frowned at Merlin as those events came to the forefront of his mind.
"You must have done something, what did you do? It wasn't me, was it?"
Merlin shook his head. "No, I ordered him to go after I spared his life."
Arthur raised his eyebrows in disbelief, his grip loosened a little but Merlin thought that was more the surprise of what he was telling him rather than Arthur actually letting him go. Merlin wondered if it wasn't better to have Arthur lose his temper and get it out of his system.
"And he just left because you asked him to?"
"No, because I can command him."
"Only a Dragon Lord can do that. Don't tell me you're a Dragon Lord."
"I won't then."
"How?"
Merlin swallowed heavily, closing his eyes briefly at the flicker of pain. It must have shown on his face because Arthur's grip loosened even more.
"The talent passes onto the son when the father dies."
Arthur took a few seconds to process that. "Oh," he said, and then added with a little more comprehension. "Oh, right."
He let go of Merlin's throat, and very briefly, but significantly as far as Merlin was concerned, clasped his hand to Merlin's shoulder, before sitting back on the bed.
"Did you know before we left to find him?"
"Only because Gaius told me before we left. I never knew before then, my mother made it clear it was something she didn't want to discuss. I'm guessing she didn't want to add to the issues she already had with me."
"Why did he leave her?"
"Uther followed him. To hunt him down and kill him."
"But that's out of the kingdom."
"I think that is only relevant when your father finds it convenient," Merlin snapped. Arthur flinched.
"Did he know? Balinor, did he know?"
"I told him."
"Was that why he came back?"
"Maybe."
There was silence after that. Merlin thought for a moment that Arthur might say sorry, but it wasn't forthcoming. Merlin risked a glance up and saw Arthur just staring off into space. There wasn't anything Merlin could say.
After a very long pause, that Merlin had no idea how to fill, Arthur seemed to snap back to reality, he got up and went to the door.
"I want to go hunting tomorrow, early. Get everything ready, and be ready yourself."
"You're not even firing me?" Merlin asked, blurting out the words in shock.
Arthur had made it to the door. It wasn't exactly that far away. He turned and looked at Merlin steadily.
"I think I need to keep you exactly where I can see you."
Arthur opened the door and was about to leave.
"Arthur?"
He turned back and looked at Merlin steadily.
"Don't thank me, Merlin. Really, just don't thank me."