I know this is early, but I just finished it and I think that you'll want to read it. It took me three and a half hours to write and is 1,387 words, not including the AN so hopefully it's pretty good. Thanks to Lya200, NightsAnger, Juliana Brandagamba and Chatterbox818 for reviewing the last chapter and nightstar871 for reviewing the first chapter, along with everyone who's followed and favourited. You guys are the best.
I hope you guys enjoy, I'm running on four hours of sleep from camp, so I'm going to bed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin


"How do you know what a warlock is?"

"Well…"

Merlin knows that he has to tell his secret now. Arthur is probably at his most accepting, and if not, Merlin can just say that Arthur lied for just as long and just as much, as he did. So, looking straight at Arthur's face, he said:

"Arthur, I know what a warlock is, because…I am one."

"What? No, you don't have magic. You're just my idiotic manservant who trips over his own two feet. You don't have magic, I would know."

Arthur was shocked and in denial. Nope, no how, no way, not happening, Merlin does not have magic. It was impossible. The boy was too stupid to know any magic. There was a small voice in the back of his head, telling him that what Merlin said was the truth. But when had he ever listened to the small voice in the back of his head?

"Arthur. I'm just like you. I didn't choose magic either. It chose me, and I've had it since birth. Mother had a hard time stopping all the floating pots and pans when I was a toddler."

Arthur was shocked. You can't have magic from birth. It's impossible. No, Merlin was lying. There was no way that Merlin of all people to have magic, especially magic from birth. No, no, this isn't true…

"I know what it feels like to have to hide what you are from everyone because of the death sentence on your head. To have to hide from everyone, everyday because if you don't, you'll be killed or banished. I know how that feels. When I entered Camelot, the first thing I saw was a man being murdered for having magic. The reality of where I was didn't hit me until that point. I was in Camelot. The place where all sorcerers are hunted and slaughtered like animals.

'Then why would he come to Camelot?' Thought Arthur. 'I'm the prince, I have to be in Camelot, but Merlin is just a farm boy from Ealdor. He has no reason to come, and no sorcerer in their right mind would ever come to Camelot. Of course, this is assuming that he's telling the truth, which he isn't, but everything he's saying seems genuine. But he doesn't, can't have magic.

"Then I saved your life using magic, from the grieving mother of the same man. Although, why you weren't awake during that spell, I don't know. I guess that since she was putting everyone to sleep so that she could target you, you must have had an especially strong portion if the spell put on you, making you unable to resist falling asleep, regardless of your magic. Yeah, that makes sense."

'A person can't just know so much about magic. Merlin must have magic. That or he's picked up a few things from Gaius. No, you can't just learn these sorts of things.' Arthur's brain was in overdrive.

"I've saved your life using magic more times than I can count. So, can you forgive me for lying to you?"

Arthur's silent for so long, Merlin's not sure if he's going to respond.

"…Arthur?"

"You lied to me."

"Arthur, I…"

"You lied to me because you had to. You thought I would have killed you. Do you know what this means though? We've both been hiding the same secret this whole time. I lied just as much as you did.

"So does this mean…?"

"Of course I forgive you! Like I said, I lied just as much as you. But now that we both know, and we can keep each other safe. Just like in all our quests and battles, but no more hiding, and no more secrets."

They both contemplate that in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. It's what they wanted, to have someone who knew everything and who understood. Arthur never had anyone. All his 'friends' had ulterior motives. Whether they were trying to get close to his father or they wanted to assassinate him, they always had another reason why they were there. Merlin wasn't like that. He was Arthur's friend. Not Prince Arthur, Arthur. It was fitting that his first true friend was the one that understood everything. Someone who's always there, for every battle, every failure, every success. Merlin has Will and Gaius. They both knew but didn't understand, and Will's dead. Now they had each other, and they were happy with that.

Arthur thinks for a while.
How does Merlin, the untrained servant, always come out of battles unscathed, while fully trained knights either died or were injured at some point. Sure, he has magic, but there has to be more than that. I have magic and still get hurt. We're the only two to return from fighting a dragon, for goodness sake. Speaking (well, thinking) of which…
"What happened with the Great Dragon? You said that I killed it, but I don't remember doing that. You were the only one who saw me killing it, so what happened?"

"I told him to leave."

"What?!"
How does that work? Merlin can't just tell a dragon to leave! It would have either laughed, or burnt him to a crisp!

"I told him that I'd kill him, unless he left and never returned."

"And it listened?"

"He had to."

"It had to… enough riddles! Just tell me what happened!"

For seemingly no reason, Merlin chuckled when Arthur told him to quit it with the riddles. Merlin was talking like a certain dragon he knew…

"What's so funny Merlin? I thought we said no more secrets. So, what. Happened. With The. Dragon?"

"Like I said, I ordered him away and he left. He had to."

"Why did it have to leave?"

"Because my father was Balinor. When he died, I became a Dragonlord."

Arthur was gobsmacked. His best friend (no, he was not ashamed to admit that) is a Dragonlord. Merlin met his father, knew him for one day, only then to watch as he died in his arms. Then, being given no time to grieve, he has to get up, face a dragon and let Arthur take the credit. Not only that, then Arthur goes and tells him 'no man is worth your tears' when he was crying for his father! When did Arthur become such a horrible friend. The logical voice in his head was telling him that he didn't know, so it wasn't his fault, but still!

"You're a Dragonlord." Arthur said weakly, still trying to process this.

"Yes." Merlin said proudly.

"And your father was Balinor." Arthur said, still processing this.

"Yes." Merlin nodded.

"And he died in your arms, after having met him the day before."

"Yes" Merlin said, sadly.

"And I told you, not a day later, no man was worth your tears." Guilt tearing at his insides with every word.

Merlin, understood where this was going and set out to rectify it.

"You didn't know. You were only trying to help. Before you ask, you did help. When you told me that, I realised that I needed to stop moping around and focus on getting rid of the dragon. I did grieve, just later when no one was around."

Arthur thinks about the unfairness of this. He'd been given a whole night to grieve his father. Merlin had been given not even five minutes. Then he thinks of something.
"You said the dragon had to leave and never come back, on pain of death, so is it still alive?"

"Yep" Said Merlin, popping the 'p'.

"Why did you let it live?"

"I couldn't be the cause of the end of their species. Besides, we're kin. It would be like killing you or Gwen. I couldn't do that. If you want, I can introduce you at some point."

"Um, I think I'm good for now." Arthur didn't want to admit it, but the thought of a giant dragon towering above him, able to kill him in one breath, did make his knees shake. Of course, Merlin knew exactly this, and used it to his advantage.

"You sure you're not just scared?" Merlin taunted.

"Merlin." Arthur warned.

"Shut up?"

"Good to see you're learning."

Laughing, they rode back to Camelot, as best friends, completely forgetting that they were supposed to be hunting.


AN: So there you go. Merlin has revealed his magic and his Dragonlord abilities. Was it what you hoped for? I hope so. I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter will be written asap and hopefully up on June 9. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. See you in another life. ScruffydaDruid.