Thank you for all your reviews, and thank you especially to the reviewers who have urged me on! I'm sorry I took so long with this chapter!

impatiently:Sooorrrry! Here you go :)

Aimee:Sorry to you too! Here it is :)

Enjoy!

Chapter Ten (Arthur's POV):

Seeing Camelot in the distance, he brightened up. He was home.

He was about to turn and smile at his friend who had always been beside him whenever he returned from an expedition, but stopped himself halfway and pretended to look through the trees.

What was he supposed to do about Merlin?!

They had barely spoken throughout the whole journey, only mumbling the necessities and mainly keeping out of each other's way.

Arthur knew it was his fault but he really was out of his depth here.

All the other sorcerers he'd personally known had been evil!

Morgana, Morgause, Nimueh...

And the sorcerer who had killed his father, however unwittingly, turned out to be Merlin!

Half of him wanted to lock him up as soon as they entered the realm of the castle.

The other half knew that that would be no good. With the amount of power he held, Merlin would be able to break open even the strongest cells.

"Sire..." Merlin spoke up timidly. "What's going to happen when we get back?"

Arthur continued staring at the ever-nearing castle, and made up his mind.

"You tell no one about yourself, you hear? No one at all."

Merlin remained silent for a while, thinking it through. "So magic is still banned?"

"Yes."

"And if I use magic in the kingdom, I'll be banned?"

"Yes."

"Even if it's to save your life?"

"Ye - Merlin, please! There's nothing I can do about it. The people have followed my father's rules for too long, and I cannot just change them for the sake of one man - "

"But I'm not just thinking about myself! There are hundreds of people left in the dark for something they can't control! You and your father have oppressed them - "

"Merlin - Get off the horse!"

"Wh - what?"

Arthur pushed at Merlin who was so surprised he just fell off.

Arthur turned back round and plastered a smile on his face as the knights he'd seen coming from afar were closer, and he picked out Leon and Percival from among the group.

Jumping down from his horse, he felt fit as a fiddle, as if he hadn't been dying only two days ago.

As the rest of the knights faced him, Leon and Percival rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders, not waiting to make sure it was all right to give him a hug.

All of a sudden the other knights began cheering and Arthur was lifted onto many a shoulder and paraded back into the castle's realms.

Arthur began laughing, buoyant by the mood of the others, and as he was carried off, he caught a glimpse of Merlin hastening away into the side entrance where the physician's chambers were.

He shook his head and decided to deal with him later.

(Merlin's POV):

Merlin ran into Gaius' chambers and nearly smacked into Gwaine.

They both stared at each other before smiles broke out on both their faces, and they hugged, as friends do.

"Gwaine, you're alive!"

"Only just. We can all thank Percival for that though. If he hadn't gotten to me in time, I might have given your location away!"

"But you didn't. I'm so glad you're okay. Morgana made it sound like you were on the brink of death!"

"Morgana?" Gwaine pulled back. "How did she know where you were? I didn't tell that deceiving girl I'm ashamed I liked, and I most certainly wasn't going to tell her mistress, even after that weird snake thing! We should never have gone after her, me and Percival, we were too arrogant to realise we didn't have a chance."

"I know you didn't tell her," Merlin soothed him "She found us by..." Merlin stopped.

He had been about to tell Gwaine about the dragon without thinking! If he told him about the dragon, he would have to confess to being a dragonlord which may as well be his confession to having magic...and Arthur had expressly told him to keep quiet about that.

Gwaine frowned. "Merlin? Are you okay?"

Merlin nodded quickly. "Yes I'm fine, I'm just so happy you're alive, Arthur's alive, we're all alive!"

Gwaine smiled. "So the king survived then? I knew he would with you by his side."

He surprised Merlin by winking, but before Merlin could say anything, the great bell tolled and Gwaine hurried out the chambers.

Merlin quickly followed after him, calling "What do you mean by that?" before he was surrounded by peasants, smiths and workers alike, and he lost sight of his friend.

As he was jostled to and fro on the way to the Great Hall, various people began exclaiming 'The king has returned!' which passed down the hall like Chinese Whispers, until the guy in front of Merlin elbowed him and whispered furiously with glee 'The king has survived!'

"I know, I was there" Merlin grumbled, rubbing his stomach and didn't bother carrying it on.

As he found Gaius and was hugged, and congratulated with the eyes, the bell finally stopped tolling and Merlin stood beside Gaius in the rows of men and women facing the throne.

Amid the sound of the majestic trumpets, the king entered the Hall with the queen by his side, and his faithful knights stood behind him.

As the applause and shouts died down, Merlin noticed a pair of green eyes flick his way before addressing the crowd.

"My people, I am pleased today to announce that our greatest enemy has fled our lands, and that I have returned, true to my word, to continue serving this kingdom in the name of Camelot!"

Merlin resisted clapping his hands over his ears as the whole room was filled with trumpet blasts, applause and cheers.

"Long live the king!"

"Long live the king!"

Gaius was clapping happily away when he realised Merlin was only half-heartedly applauding his king.

"Cheer up Merlin, you look like your pet just died."

Merlin sighed and plastered a grin on his face.

"How's this?"

"You look like you have a bad smell up your nose."

Merlin frowned and was about to reply when someone called out "How did you survive, Sire?"

The whole room went silent.

(Arthur's POV):

Arthur's grip on his throne tightened involuntarily.

How did he survive...how did he survive...?

He felt a pair of blue eyes boring a hole in his skull as he felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.

Was he completely healed? Was Merlin doing this to him?

Why did he feel like staggering away from these accusing glares?

Accusing - ? They knew! Merlin must have told them! All the hiding sorcerers in this room were going to kill him, were going to overthrow him and put Merlin in his place -

"I think" a majestic voice beside him rang through the room, stopping his internal frantic struggle "that the king still needs his rest, and I shall continue to help the people as best I can while he recovers."

A slight but firm hand gripped his as he bowed and she curtsied, and they left the room through the side door, towards their chambers.

"Thank you, Guinevere."

"That's quite all right Arthur, I am so glad you're back. But you must promise to tell me everything when you are able."

"I...I promise."

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