I am SO SORRY! My History finally took presentence over fan fiction, mostly because if my teacher killed me then I won't be able to update at all! But I'm back now and its half term so the next chapter will probably be coming soon!

THANK YOU all those who reviewed/alerted/faved this story so far! I love you all! Plez plez review cos I love feedback, good or bad!

And once again thank you to Susie666 who helped me a lot this chapter (she even wrote a bit cause I kinda had no plot except the first two chapters and had a lot trouble with this one – I REALLY didn't expect it to be so popular!)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Merlin! (Does anyone else find these a bit silly or is it just me?)

Now Enjoy!

"Excuse me?" the reply was hoarse and Merlin barley heard it, he was far too worried about how ill Arthur looked, he wouldn't be surprised if his majesty decided to puke all over the floor.

Merlin did contemplate lying to the prince and say 'Ha, fooled you!' or 'Yep, I was born stupid, I could be it before I could walk or talk!' and pretend that Arthur had misheard him. But Merlin couldn't take the risk that he wouldn't be believed - and that would make the situation a whole lot worse.

It was strange, for whenever Merlin thought of telling Arthur of his magic, he expected to be laughed at, a slap on the back and 'Don't tell my father that joke!' but the warlock knew that his master believed him, and now he just had to face the consequences. He wondered what Arthur knew that made him so cynical and open minded to even consider Merlin magical.

Merlin watched as Arthur moved slowly to his table, collapse on his chair and burry his face in his hands. The clumsy servant started rocking on the balls of his feet, arms hugging himself, as if trying to find some comfort from reality.

"So..." Merlin whispered, not knowing what to say but he couldn't let the silence continue, "What do you know?" voice gentle and a little shaken.

The prince's posture tensed, but after a moment he answered, his tone seemed distant, "We overheard you arguing with Morgana."

"Oh" Well that helps...not, "When?"

"This morning" at least that narrowed it down.

"Where?"

Arthur sighed and looked up. He looked so old, his face twisted by so many emotions, ranging from denial to bitterness, but mostly he seemed to have deflated, like there was nothing more he wanted than to shut down and find out that this whole mess was a dream.

"How many arguments did you have today?"

"A few" Merlin admitted sheepishly, shuffling side to side, as his friend rolled his eyes.

"In the corridor...when she slapped you."

"Ohhhh" nodding as he tried to remember what was mentioned. He brought up his hand, and starting with his pinkie, he began counting.

"You know I tried to poison her," he looked up for conformation, his accent filled with uncertainty and guilt, finding Arthur suddenly fascinated with his table. The prat nodded dejectedly, slightly crease fallen as if he had been hoping it weren't true, as he continued to fiddle with the woods edge.

"You know she's your half sister," Arthur momentarily stopped, eyes closed, before he continued and gave a sharp nod.

"And you know Morgause is her sister" His head snapped up.

"And you didn't know Morgause is her sister" Merlin corrected himself, meanwhile mentally slapping himself; I really have to stop putting my foot in my mouth.

"Morgause...is Morgana's sister?" anger slowly seeped into his features "That's what you meant by 'sisterly gatherings'?" Merlin only bowed his head in conformation. "I can't believe this! How long has my sister been betraying me? Tell me!" Anger dominating him, Arthur shouted making Merlin recoil.

"I said tell me, Merlin!" the anger was still there but there was still a plea for it to be 'not long', because Arthur couldn't deny it any longer – Morgana was an enemy, the evidence spoke loud and clear, no matter how much he wanted to ignore it.

"She..." Merlin's voice cracked, he really didn't want to say this, "before her kidnapping...well, actually she never was kidnapped." He looked up at Arthur, his eyes full of remorse of what was about to be said, "I'm so sorry Arthur...She's been lying for nearly two years."

He looked down at the floor, shutting his eyes as Arthur shouted, "I don't want your pity, Merlin. You're just as bad as she is...you both lied to me!"

A single tear trailed down the warlock's cheek, but it only made Arthur angrier and before he knew it, a blow forced him to the ground. His eye and cheek, still red from the slap, seared in pain and his head felt like a set of giant drums; he stared blearily up, seeing a furious Arthur hovering over him and as he pulled back for another blow, Merlin flinched, curling himself inwards and squeezed his eyes shut. But the next blow never came. Merlin opened his eyes and found Arthur looking dangerously pale, very disgusted and shocked with himself; his arm was residing next to his body again.

Arthur slowly retreated back, neither taking their eyes from each other, as he met the table he sunk down to the floor, his back leaning against the hard wood of the leg. Merlin slowly moved himself to a sitting position too, his back leaning against the bed. They stayed like that for a long time, eyes still locked, neither daring to look away or break the crisp silence. Finally Arthur spoke, barely a whisper.

"Tell me everything and I mean all of it, I will not interrupt." With that, Arthur leant his head against the table and closed his eyes; however, Merlin noticed the hand resting on his sword.

So Merlin began, he talked of how he could move things with his mind, of his mother being concerned and sending him off to Gaius to be guided, speaking of Kilgharrah and how he set him free because he had to swear his mother's life, he even recited the countless times he had saved Arthur's life, he told him of Emrys and the 'two sides of the same coin' prophecy, Merlin told him about the whole 'Life and Death' incident and how he killed Nimueh. He spoke of how Morgana was a seer and how she got magic.

When he reached the confrontation of him, his father and Morgause, Merlin hesitated, not knowing if he should tell Arthur how he was born through magic and that that was the cause of the great purge, however Merlin still said it, knowing he could hold nothing from his friend. He continued with how Morgana had been the vessel of magic and why he had poisoned her, as well as Uther being driven mad and of who summoned the army of the dead.

Merlin ended with the crystal cave and what happened with Morgana and Uther being her father also. His voice was hoarse at the conclusion; he had never spoken so much in his entire life!

Arthur had stayed stock still, only tensing and relaxing at some parts of the warlock's monologue. There were only a couple of times that Merlin was sure the prince was about to talk, but he never did.

The room dived back in to silence until Arthur had decided his next moves. He slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes to stare at Merlin. The servant shrunk slightly at the scrutinising gaze, unsure of what to do.

"Thank you" the two words were spoken quietly and Merlin could barely hear him. "Thank you for explaining" Arthur continued in a slightly louder voice "and, I suppose, for saving my life so many times."

"Are you going to tell Uther?" Merlin asked, uncertainty and fear filling his voice

Arthur looked away from Merlin, lost in thought. The longer it took him to answer, the more scared Merlin became. Finally, after what felt like days, Arthur answered.

"No," he said resolutely, turning his head to look at Merlin

"What?" Merlin asked, gaping at him, shock replacing fear.

"I said no, you idiot," Arthur replied, a small smile lighting up his face for the first time since overhearing the argument, "and if you don't shut your mouth you'll catch flies!"

"wha... but...ma...you..." Merlin stuttered unable to comprehend the fact that he didn't want him dead.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he stood up and walked over to his friend.

He offered his hand while Merlin continued to gawk at him.

He quickly regained his senses and took the presented hand and stood up, swaying slightly from the still present headache.

"You're not going to hand me over Uther?" Merlin asked, still in a state of shock

"No"

"And you're not going to kill me in my sleep?" a small smile creeping onto his face as the humour returned.

Arthur rolled his eyes again, "No, I wouldn't risk going into your room anyway, it's a tip."

"That's only because I spend all my time cleaning up after you and don't have time to clean mine," Merlin replied, "so we're ok?"

"For now, I mean I need someone to polish my armour, clean my boots, muck out my stables, walk my dogs and sharpen my sword," Arthur smirked at Merlin then turned to leave calling over his shoulder as he went, "Oh, and we're going hunting later so make sure you have the horses ready."

When Merlin closed the door Arthur's smile slipped as he returned to the window. He needed time, that was all, or that's what he hoped. Arthur sighed, God he was worn out, all he wanted to do now was sleep, but he knew he couldn't, he needed to go hunting because he needed time with Merlin, away from the castle, so that he could make sure that he was doing the right thing.

However, he couldn't help but think 'what if I hadn't collided with Gwen?'

...Oh God...Gwen...how was he going to explain this to her?

How was that? PLEZ PLEZ REVIEW and I may just update quicker!