A/N: Well, here we go, we're coming up to the end now, not too much left to go. Thanks to Bailieboro (Heh, yeah, there's just so much bad stuff that could happen to these guys), readernurse (I'd glad you enjoyed the chapter so much and Mordred, I quite enjoyed writing him), Ash9, and the Guest reviewer (I'm not too sure what you thought was strange about Mordred having that ability - I'm fairly sure he is meant to be Merlin's direct opposite, but thank you anyway).

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8

As he slowly became aware of warmth and soft blankets, beneath it there was a dull ache located somewhere around his torso but it was more of a irritation than a anything. Somewhere to his left people were talking quietly, mumbling, he guessed, in deference to his sleeping state although the voices slowly started to become more raised as he listened.

"...And they're asking where you are again." That was Gwen.

"And you can tell them that you're queen and you have authority to make any and all decisions in my absence." That could only be Arthur. He sounded weary and frustrated.

"That's just it, Arthur, you're not absent. You're here." Gwen sounded sympathetic but equally frustrated.

"Although why, I have no idea." Gwaine's voice was quiet but resentful.

"And here is where I'll be until he wakes up," Arthur sighed deeply. "Fine. If he's not awake by tomorrow, I'll come to the meeting."

"That's what you said yesterday," Gwen replied affectionately. There was a pause and then some more mumbled words and the sound of a door opening and closing.

Silence descended on the room and slowly he drifted back under.

Sometime later he resurfaced, this time more fully. The ache in his chest was more insistent although still little more than an annoyance. The real discomfort came from something heavy crushing his left foot, which he discovered, after carefully cracking his eyes open, was Arthur's feet. The king was slouched in a small chair, reading a book with his feet stretched out, resting heavily on his servant's foot. A little further back, in another small chair Gwaine was asleep, his head at an uncomfortable angle. Trying to squeeze two people into his tiny room was absurd, there was barely any space between the chairs and he wasn't sure the door would open beyond a crack. How on earth Gwen had managed to fit in earlier, he had no idea.

Pulling his foot away, he pushed himself up onto his elbows. "Is that a book?" he asked incredulously, his voice hoarse from disuse. Arthur nearly dropped the book in surprise and put his feet back on the floor with a loud 'thud'. The noise startled Gwaine awake and he was out of his chair, looking around bleary-eyed.

"Merlin!" Arthur cried and Merlin was slightly surprised to hear both relief and happiness in his master's voice. Surprise turned to shock when he found himself engulfed in a crushing hug. It was the first hug the king had ever given him and caught him so off guard that it took a second for him to return the gesture. Arthur pulled back after a few moments, looking pleased but firmly back in control of his emotions and then Merlin was pulled into Gwaine's enthusiastic hug, which he automatically returned.

The commotion was enough to bring Gaius into the room, interrupting Gwaine as he asked how Merlin was feeling, and sending Arthur and Gwaine out, the latter leaving fairly meekly while the former looked rebellious but nonetheless obeyed. Another hug, a short interrogation after his health and a comprehensive examination of his wounds later and Gaius declared him well on-the-mend. His guardian gave him a fatherly pat on the arm and left, Arthur passing him in the doorway as he did.

This time the king looked sombre and serious with no hint of his previous good mood. Merlin felt anxiety build as he watched Arthur take a seat in the chair he'd been in earlier and lean forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"What do you remember?" the king asked.

Merlin swallowed nervously. The honest answer was everything. The terror of the creature's first attack, the abominable fate of the villagers, the careless revelation of his magic and the final battle with the creature, all of it was clear and crisp in his memory. But leaving the physical damage he had suffered at the beast's hands, it was the fact that Arthur knew about his magic that caused fear to suddenly blossom in his chest. His master may have seemed accepting back in Grey Marsh, when their lives were in mortal danger but now, safe back in Camelot, his father's laws at the forefront of his mind, had he decided there was only one possible outcome? No. That didn't make sense. He'd died. He'd given his life so the creature would be banished back to the Veil and, he hoped, destroy the barrier preventing his friends leaving. The image of Arthur standing over him, his sword digging into his neck and the sharp sudden agony as the blade broke the skin, before the blissful nothing that followed, was not one he was likely ever to forget. But if he'd died, how could be be sat in his bed with only the injuries the creature had inflicted?

"All of it," he finally answered.

Arthur nodded. "You have magic." Unable to get his voice to work, Merlin nodded hesitantly. "Why? Why would you come to Camelot and start studying magic? Are you crazy? You know what the law is here!"

Those words made his stomach drop but there was little point in hiding anything now. If Arthur had already made up his mind, then the truth would make no difference. "I didn't study it. I was born like this."

Arthur frowned and asked disbelievingly: "And you moved from Ealdor, where magic is accepted, to here, where you're very existence is illegal?"

Merlin shrugged. "It seemed a good idea at the time. I didn't think I was going to end up serving the Crown Prince of Camelot."

The king said nothing for a moment and ran a hand through his hair before shaking his head in frustration. "You should have told me!" he said quietly but intently.

Anger flared through Merlin and he forgot he was supposed to be in fear for his life. Sometimes Arthur could be such a arrogant fool. Years of fear, sacrifice and loneliness, of knowing his best friend and master was duty-bound to kill him if he ever discovered his servant's true nature and suddenly he was now expected to have just told him?

"When was I supposed to do that?" The words exploded from him before he could think what he was saying, "When I first got to Camelot? You would have handed me over to your father in an instant. Or maybe later, after I'd convinced you not to kill your father. No? How about after Morgana stole your father's throne? Or after your father died? When would you have liked me to tell you?"

Arthur looked away for an instant. "You should have trusted me!"

Merlin stared at him in disbelief. "Trust you? Are you saying that if I had told you I had magic, you would have betrayed your father, disobeyed the laws you are sworn to uphold and protected me from the executioner's block?" Merlin shook his head. "Of course you wouldn't. And who am I to even ask you to? How could I ask you to set aside your oath to your father and your king?

An uncomfortable silence fell over them until finally Merlin plucked up the courage to ask: "How am I alive?"

"After you'd...well...it was the druid boy, Mordred."

"Mordred?" Merlin exclaimed. The last person he had ever expected help from was Mordred. Their last encounter had not gone well on either side and even now he could hear the boy's warning.

"He didn't want to do it but he said destiny had not intended your death and he brought you back. He told me to tell you the next time he saw you, he would take the thing you hold most dear," he paused. "What did you do to make him hate you so much? You saved him."

Merlin dropped his eyes to the bed. "I wanted to help him, he could have been me. I didn't want to believe that he was going to -" he stopped. Arthur should not have to deal with the extent to which his life was planned outside of his control. Merlin lived with such knowledge every day and it was a curse not a gift. He would not wish it on anyone. But it seemed that now Mordred was determined to kill Arthur as revenge for his betreyal. It seemed that once again, he had tried to change destiny and instead simply brought it about. "To do what he was going to do. I had to stop him."

"What was he going to do?" Arthur asked.

"It doesn't matter."

Arthur looked like he was going to say something more but decided against it. He stood suddenly and headed for the door.

"What are you going to do?" Merlin asked hesitantly. "About me?"

The king paused and turned back to his servant. "It doesn't really seem like I have much choice. You know what the law is."

A/N: Just as an aside, I think the bit about Merlin not remembering the hug would be right - he does say in "Servant of Two Masters" that he doesn't remember anything. If I'm wrong though, sorry.