It didn't seem to matter to either Will or Freya that Merlin didn't say a word to them , he pointed and smiled and Will appeared to talk enough to keep everything going. One part of the play seemed to require some thought as they stood around an old tree stump, then Merlin turned and ran across the area, out of the gate, towards where the Pendragon family sat, watching Merlin with delight. He reached over and grabbed Teddylot from his seat and ran off with him, holding him over his head so his arms and legs flopped about dramatically.

"Poor Teddylot," Hunith said as the three children set about putting him on the tree stump, pushing his stuffing about until he sat still. Teddylot looked a little forlorn as the three children ran away, and two other children rushed in. Merlin looked terrified until Will stepped in, bossily explaining what was going on so the two children went off and then appeared to join in.

In the end, Merlin couldn't stand it and Teddylot shot from the post into his arms and Merlin clung. Will shrugged, decided that was part of it and they all went running off at his command. Merlin struggled along behind with Teddylot in his arm, stumbling over his own feet. Arthur tensed, starting to stand as Merlin went sprawling. Hunith reached out and gripped his arm.

"Give it a minute. Let him!"

Merlin struggled to get to his feet, still clinging to Teddylot, looking him up and down as he saw the mud his friend had gathered. Will ran up, frowning in concern but not really comprehending what the matter with Merlin was. Arthur leant over and held out his hands.

"I'll look after him, Merlin."

Merlin ran over, holding Teddylot out for Arthur to take. He looked at the scraps of mud that clung to the fur on his back. Running his hand up and down he dusted some of the clumps off.

"It will be all right."

Hunith stood up, holding out her hands to take Teddylot into her custody.

"I'll go sponge him down Merlin, he's be fine. A bit of mud never hurt anyone."

Merlin looked uncertain for a moment, his lower lip wobbling as he looked at the mess he had made of the teddy bear. Will, Freya and the other children continued to play, although both Will and Freya kept sending concerned and confused looks in Merlin's direction. They would have no comprehension of what the bear meant to Merlin. It was the first thing that was really his own, his first friend and, of course, Arthur had given him the garish, idiotic looking bear. Arthur reached over and patted Merlin on the head.

"Don't worry about him Merlin. You've been far muckier and scrubbed up fine."

"So have you," Uther said looking at Arthur pointedly, then he turned his gaze to Morgana. "Both of you."

Morgana looked shocked at the accusation, Arthur rolled his eyes, Gwaine snorted. Uther turned his penetrating glare on him.

"You have never been any better."

"Much, much worse, I'm sure," Gwaine announced. "Teddylot will be fine."

Merlin's lower lip wobbled for another second before he turned at Will's voice.

"Merlin! Merlin! The Dragon!"

Merlin sniffed, rubbing his nose. He turned back and looked at Teddylot, safely in Hunith's arms as she carefully examined the mud on his back. Then he glanced at Arthur.

"It will be fine Merlin. I told you you could get him as mucky as you like."

Merlin's lower lip stuck out and he looked rather offended for a moment. Arthur shrugged.

"Don't you do that. You know I'm right."

Merlin pondered that further, and Will roared from across the play area.

"Merlin! Merlin!"

"Go on," Arthur added. Merlin gave a wan smile and turned to run off. Soon enough he was beaming happily, playing with the others, until their mother called them to go home. Merlin came trotting back, looking rumpled and muddy from where he had scrabbled around. It was quite an unusual look for him but Arthur liked it. Merlin trotted round to them and almost went to pick up a now cleaned up Teddylot then he paused, staring at his muddy hands.

"We should head home in a minute," Uther said. They had stayed longer than they planned because Merlin had seemed to be enjoying himself so much.

"I think we had better wash someone's hands first," Arthur said. Merlin lifted his hands showing Arthur the mess. Arthur gathered him up by one wrist. "Come on then."

Merlin beamed up at him and happily trotted off with Arthur. Morgana stood up.

"I'll just nip to the loo as well."

Which was when she saw it. Arthur and Merlin were a little way ahead of her and she was about to call them until she moved closer.

"No one is going to be cross with you Merlin. Why would you ever think that? You're little, you're allowed to get dirty."

Merlin stared up adoringly at Arthur, blinking occasionally as Arthur guided him along.

"You're allowed to get Teddylot dirty as well, I told you that when I introduced him."

Another pause and a slight frown on Merlin's part. Arthur paused by the door of the toilet, one hand on it to push it slightly open but he looked down at an expectant Merlin.

"I know that he's special like Morgana's teddy, but even he's taken a bit of punishment over the years and come up fine. Morgana should tell you about the time I cut one of his ears off."

Merlin took a rather dramatic gasp and Arthur winced, rocking back on his heels. Morgana stepped back slightly at the sheer fury on Merlin's face, made slightly cute by the pouting lower lip. But it didn't distract her for long as Arthur rubbed his forehead, the door clunked back against the frame for a second as he did so.

"Ow! No need to shout Merlin, Hunith fixed him up and yes I was very horrible, quite a lot horrible. I have improved since then, and atoned and been hated for a long time."

Merlin considered that through narrowed eyes and then Arthur slowly pushed the door open again.

"Come on, handwashing. Then much cuddling of Teddylot while you tell me I am a horrible person."

Merlin blew as raspberry while Arthur guided him through the door. "I suppose that's better than you trying to blow my head off."

Morgana inched forward slowly, edging past the door so reach the ladies almost as if she expected an explosion to rock the building. She had what probably amounted to the quickest wee in history and she washed her hands without even bothering to look at her reflection since she didn't want to waste her time adding lipstick or brushing her hair. As she got out she realised, while the others stood waiting for them, that she was ahead of Arthur and Merlin. As she turned back she could vaguely see them in shadow by the toilets. Morgana walked up, with so much purpose that Uther frowned. He stepped away from the others, listening to her low spoken words about what she had seen, and what she could make of it. Uther nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I know, my dear. In this case it's not Merlin, it's Arthur."

"But Arthur's doesn't... does he?"

Uther shrugged. "I need to talk to Arthur."

Morgana looked worried but at the gentle hints Uther gave her moved away. Merlin now had one hand in Arthur's, his other arm wrapped firmly around Teddylot as Hunith handed him back. Uther supposed he could have asked Arthur to step back and speak to him while Merlin walked with the others, he could have got them both to drop back and speak to Arthur with Merlin present. Both of those scenarios might cause upset so he left it, waiting until they were home, and Merlin was playing around in his growing patch, and helping Balinor do some weeding while Hunith watered.

"Arthur, we do need to talk. It won't take long."

Arthur looked confused but nodded and followed his father into his study, flopping down into the chair and looking around. The room looked the same as it always did, but there were additions, the family photographs now also had pictures of Merlin added to them, on his own, and with others. One in particular made him smile, it was the one he had taken of Merlin, on that first day they had met, with him pushing the train set, a small absorbed smile on his face, the sunlight glinting off his hair.

"I need to discuss this without anyone else. Morgana saw you talking to Merlin, she went to the bathroom when you did, before we left the pub."

"I always talk to Merlin, everyone talks to Merlin."

"I know that and I know Merlin isn't speaking out loud, he has a whole other way of communicating and I know this, but that only occurs between two magic users."

Uther gave Arthur a moment to digest this.

"Well, that can't be right, Merlin is just projecting. I've always done well with him, Morgana is just jealous..."

"That does not prevent her seeing something with her own eyes. And I always thought you might have something, I watched you carefully though puberty, it might just be a dormant power, something Merlin has used to do this, or maybe you opened up to him and he latched on."

"Merlin's done nothing wrong!"

Uther held up his hand. "I never said he had. And there is nothing wrong with what has happened. Answer yes or no Arthur, are you hearing his voice in your head?"

It was important, by the tone of Uther's voice, by his demeanour, he needed to know, he wanted to help. Arthur nodded.

"I wasn't sure at first... I told you this. Yes, I am hearing him. But how can I have magic, you don't, mum didn't." Arthur snapped and then his hardened expression faltered. "She didn't."

"Her talent was fairly latent, but mostly by accident she could make things happen. She did occasionally practice but had very little interest in any talent she had. I didn't mind if she did, or not... I loved her, magic was not why I married her, she knew that. But then she took a step that couldn't be undone."

"Mum had magic?"

"Somewhat, but not overtly, she worked better as a focus for others, they could channel through her."

"And you didn't think to tell me this," Arthur's voice lowered dangerously.

"I watched you for years, particularly thought puberty, there were no signs at all that something was about to happen. Merlin, however, can channel to you, talk to you... and I have no intention of blaming him. These are things that you need to know Arthur. It is a reason that Merlin connected to you so quickly."

"Because I have magic, and nothing else."

"Of course not son, don't be so ridiculous. You were kind to him, open to him, willing to help him, to love him... that's what opened him up to all of us, but with you, he could gain something more. Like you said, you weren't sure at first, neither was Merlin, but you didn't reject him, and what he did. He wants to open up Arthur, and I don't want to make him draw back from that, but if it's you, it needs careful handling."

"So I can hear him because I've picked up some bit of magic talent from mum."

"Yes. As far as I can tell."

"Which isn't all the story, it never was all the story."

"No, no it wasn't, and believe me Arthur if she had told me what she had done everything would have been different."

Arthur went cold. "What?"

"It was becoming quite obvious that your mother would never be able to conceive a child. We had tried most methods."

"I know, Hunith told me most of it."

"Not all of it, your mother desperately wanted to have a child despite what the medical world appeared to be telling her. I always said we could adopt instead, that it didn't matter that she couldn't produce an heir."

"But she did fall pregnant."

"She used magic," Uther said. "There were people that she knew, and she found someone to help her."

Arthur swallowed, feeling his throat constrict and his hand clenched on the chair arm.

"Magic?"

"Yes," Uther said. "She never told me, until she had to."

"What happened?" Arthur demanded, aware that his tone had gone flat, dread gathering like a deep, cold pool in his stomach, he was not going to like hearing this. Not in the slightest.

"You know some of the balances with magic. You've seen it happen to Merlin, with the goat."

"He healed it's cut so..." The dread blossomed around the rest of Arthur's body, it rendered his mind desperate to get out of the room but his body unable to perform that action.

"The same law applies; to create a life, one must be given."

Arthur took a deep breath. "You didn't know?"

Uther glared at him. "Do you think if I had, things would have turned out the way they have?"

Arthur processed those words, very slowly.

"You would have forced her to have an abortion?"

Uther had clearly never been directly confronted with this information. Arthur watched his father almost recoil back in the chair, looking frightened and pained. It had happened to his father, he had suffered these moments; Arthur just knew about them, and felt the pain because Uther did.

"I can't say that. But there was no changing it, if she gave birth to you, then the balance required a redress."

"Couldn't someone else have been..." Arthur started and then stopped. Uther glared at him.

"And do you think your mother would be capable of such a thing?"

From what he knew of her, he only had one answer to that. "No. What about you?"

"I don't know."

That made Arthur blink. They stayed silent for a moment, both of them mentally reiterating what they had just said to each other. Arthur's hand slowly unclenched from the chair arm and he flexed his fingers.

"So, that's why I can hear Merlin, I have magic."

"Yes. I was never sure what would happen. You were also created by magic. Gaius assured me that would have no baring on the situation, and you passed through puberty without a flicker of magic. Still I could never be sure."

Arthur felt his fury rise. "So that's why you brought Merlin into the mix! Just to see what would happen!"

"What do you take me for Arthur?! Of course not. The reason I took Merlin in was the most obvious one of all, he had no one to help him! And it could be my fault he was there!"

"In what way?"

"Not that way," Uther said, reading his son's expression. "I have no other children by direct blood link. When your mother died, I wanted to learn as much as I could about magic."

"I know you had a hand in setting up the 'Blessed Care' home, one of the reporters told me," Arthur said.

"Why didn't you mention it?"

"You obviously weren't happy with what they were doing, otherwise why investigate it, and then take it apart?"

"I did more than just set the institute up," Uther said. "I worked on getting many magic uses incarcerated, a lot of the time there was some justification but I played on that to aid the cause."

Arthur blinked. "You think people haven't mentioned that to me too?"

"You never spoke to me."

"No, I mouthed off to Balinor first."

Uther nodded. "I presume he calmed you down."

"He never told me anything about my mother!"

"Of course he wouldn't, neither would Hunith. To do so when you were young seemed futile. When there was a chance powers might develop we watched and waited, but again, and after so long, to do so seemed a futile action. What would it do but cause you upset?"

"So why tell me now?" Arthur asked, although the answer was obvious. Uther leant forward.

"Because of Merlin."

It was a reason which Arthur couldn't ignore.