A/N : Hi guys, so I'm back from my trip to Ireland. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I had a lot of time to think about this story when going on long hikes. So here's the next chapter! I'd like to thank anyone who has reviewed and/or favorited/alerted this story, it really means the world to me! But reviews are extra nice because I actually get to 'see' what you think, so please tell me what you think about this chapter? Pretty please?

XO, as always

Merlin

Merlin cupped the water in his hand, mourning the loss of a small stream that drizzled from between his fingers. He splashed it on his face, rubbed it over his neck – anything to cleanse his body of the dark soot that colored the entire surface that had been exposed to the filth of Arthur's stables. If there would ever come a day when the prince would clean up that particular mess, Merlin was sure he would crumble to the ground as the world came to its end.

His mouth was opened in a slight O shape, allowing the water to slip into his dry throat, and he swallowed like a mad man to get rid of the roughness far back in the hollow. His eyes closed in satisfaction as he drank the liquid wonder.

It was then that he heard the footsteps shuffling up the steps to their small home, and he let a smile slip out when he identified Gaius' tread. Slow. Old and worn. But then another rhythm followed the first one, not far behind, and the clear frenzy was powerful, almost demanding. "Gaius!"

Merlin froze. The voice was that of Garreth, and panic bordered the calling of the physician's name. The young boy couldn't understand the reason behind that high pitched syllable at the end of the exclamation, but he was sure to find out when Gaius opened the front door only slightly, leaving open a small crack. Merlin felt like a deer in the crosshairs of a bow, too petrified and intrigued to even move a single inch. The droplets of water continued to run down his face while he held his breath to listen.

"Is it true, then?" Garreth continued, slightly out of breath. "About Merlin – he's the same one?"

"Of course he is." Gaius explained. "I really don't know why you'd expected anything else."

"I didn't expect anything else." He defended himself, but his voice fell away to a soft, silent note when he said : "I just didn't expect him. I just didn't know he would be..."

"Of course you didn't." The older man amended, but there was something in his voice that Merlin had become so atuned to that he knew by heart. Gaius didn't believe a single word the stranger spoke. It was strange, though, that they spoke with such familiarity, for it meant that Gaius in fact knew Garreth from before. And something he had done had made Gaius turn away. "Well," he took a breath. "What are you going to do, now?"

Only silence answered the question, that had been posed with such a superiority, such wisdom and expectation, that those seven short spoken words held the world by a thread. Gaius sighed. "He's still your son, Garreth, whether you want to admit it or not. You needed to figure yourself out, before. I hope you have now. In any case, you should know that we were quite happy before you came along, and we will be long after you've left Camelot."

The door fell closed with a heavy click, and Gaius stared at it for a short minute, his shoulders falling in defeat. Turning around, he saw the wide eyed prey, ready to be taken down, but not before holding its head proudly, for the last time.

"That's some secret you've been keeping from me."

Gaius

"Merlin.." Gaius set down his equipment on the laboratory table, determined to look anywhere but at his young protégé, see anything but the look in the boy's eyes. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh, I don't know," he walked closer, trying to provoce some kind of reaction from him, and came to a short foot's length, leaning his palm flat onto the table top and holding his face but a breath away. It was hard to keep from panicking, but that would be the last thing Merlin needed right now, and so the physician kept his calm. Breathe in and breathe out. "enough to understand that that man is my father, and that you've been keeping the fact that he's here from me." His mouth curled into a tense frown. "You didn't seem at all surprised to hear him calling for you."

"I'd recognize that voice anywhere." Gaius shook his head, not wanting to let on that the crown prince himself had seen what Merlin had not – could not – and that he, too, was wary of the 'stranger man' that had suddenly appeared in their lives, again. "It was the same voice that I heard eighteen years ago, when he left the village of Ealdor behind. I had no idea he was in town, or I surely would have told you."

Raising his head to stare Merlin blandly in the face, his eyes betrayed all the honesty in the statement. He really hadn't seen Merlin since after Arthur came to him, so there had been no opportunity to tell him. But in truth, if there had been, he wasn't sure if he would have taken the chance to tell the young warlock. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to find the words.

Merlin searched for the emotion that lay so apparent on the surface, then nodded in acceptance. "All right," he said. "I believe you."

-

Merlin

"That man you saw earlier… Garreth…He's my father." It was the first time he had spoken the words, and they felt odd to him. Foreign to his tongue and his mind – as if the mere possibility of having a father had disappeared the moment his own had walked out on him and his mother.

Arthur drew his blade from the shaft and inspected it in the soft morning light. The sun streamed through the painted glass windows, casting figures of chrystal air against the grey walls of the armory. The light danced upon the decorative shields, the wall tapestries and the the armour nailed to the wall. The silver shone.

"I know." Arthur told him, and for a moment his heart stopped its anxious beat. The prince's voice resembled that of Gaius, almost as if he conceded to the very fact that Garreth was here.

"You know?" His voice raised itself to a high octave, the disbelief mounting to a height it never had before. Had he been the only one not to know of the stranger's true identity?

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Stop the paranoia, Merlin – I only just found out for sure."

"It's the eyes.." Arthur continued, seemingly disinterested in his exposé, only concentrated on the whirring of the iron through the damp air. "Your eyes are practically the same."

I'm sure his don't flash gold. The thought entered Merlin's brain at the speed of sound, and a stab of pain and fear, but most of all scorching anger plunged into his heart. Did his father know about his magic?Had it been the reason he had left?

He shook his head angrily. If it had been the reason for his leaving, he was all the more despicable for it. What his father had done was inexcusable. "Right. Shouldn't you ask me how I feel about this?"

Arthur's blade stopped mid-air, and he turned to his friend with a teasing smile on his face. "I don't know.." he spoke the words melodiously, turning the question back around. "Should I?" He arched his eyebrow, letting his smile slip to the left, knowing it would annoy Merlin beyond compare.

"Forget it." His companion grunted. "We need to fix your footwork, anyway."

"There's nothing wrong with my footwork, you goon." He pushed lightly against the back Merlin's shoulder as he lead the way out, and grinned. "You just wait and see."

-

They ran into each other later that evening, on the path leading down the village. It had been unavoidable, really, but still the moment took him by surprise. Gwen was walking by his side, chatting on about something brilliantly interesting, but his mind couldn't keep up with her enthousiasm. He hadn't told her yet about his father, and he kind of cherished the fact that she was still ignorant of that entire tangle. It all changed when Garreth and he set eyes on eachother again, and in their gazes they saw the knowledge of their connection, and the fear it envoked. Anger flared in Merlin's blue orbs, like a liquid fire had been set to flame by the mere image of that man.

"Merlin."

"Garreth." He answered, cold and collected. "We need to talk."

Pleaaaase tell me what you think? Pleaaase? It means the absolute world to me!

Xo, as always