Chapter 6

Merlin slapped another mosquito from his arm and looked around. The recent rains had flooded several parts of the kingdom, and of course, they had to go through them. Arthur was on his horse just a few feet ahead of him, and Merlin could swear he was smiling.

"Arthur, tell me again, why are we doing this?"

"Oh, come on Merlin, cheer up! We are on a quest to find the perfect gift for Guinevere, what could be more exciting?" Arthur asked cheerfully.

"What, indeed. But I was just wondering why can't you give Gwen some jewelry like most kings would do? I think she'll like that."

Arthur squinted his eyes. "You are just saying that because you want to go back, aren't you?"

Merlin made a grin. "Maybe…"

"Merlin, jewelry is fine, but this is our first anniversary, it has to be perfect."

"And what's more perfect than the Flower of Destiny?" Merlin asked, sarcastically.

"Exactly!" Arthur replied, completely missing the sarcasm in Merlin's voice.

Merlin rolled his eyes. Only Arthur could come up with a way to make getting a gift dangerous. But he was right about one thing; it was perfect. The Flower of Destiny, a flower which shines with the love of those who first hold her, maybe a bit corny, but perfect nonetheless. And of course, the flower didn't just grow in the gardens of Camelot. No. It grew in a clearing far away, which to reach you had to go through many places with names like 'The Liar's Lake', 'The Demon's Den', 'The Victim's Valley' and so on. Merlin really hoped that they were just names.

"So Merlin, tell me, do you fancy anyone?" Arthur asked out of nowhere, making Merlin almost fall off his horse.

"I won't answer that!" Merlin protested.

"Oh, come on Merlin, we are friends, you can tell me."

"Last time I checked friends don't have to wash each other's clothes."

"Well, we are friends with benefits," Arthur said.

"Unilateral benefits," Merlin clarified.

"Of course. I'm the king, after all."

"Clotpole."

Arthur let out a small laugh. "Come on tell me."

"If you must absolutely know—"

"I must."

"No one right now," Merlin continued.

"We have to find you someone, it makes life much better."

Merlin was really happy for his friends, but sometimes they could get really annoying with the 'as someone who is in love' talks.

"You really love Gwen, don't you?" Merlin asked, knowing the answer.

"With all my heart," Arthur answered honestly.

Merlin sighed in surrender. "Well, come on then, let's find her a flower."

.

.

.

"Arthur, are you sure there is no other way?" Merlin asked. In front of him a vast forest stretched out as far as he could see.

"Why Merlin, are you afraid?"

"A little bit; you've heard the legends."

"And that's all they are, legends."

"Yeah, but how many legends had tried to kill us already?"

Arthur pondered about that for a bit. "I tell you what; if the forest tries to kill us I owe you a drink."

"Deal."

They slowly made their way into the forest. Merlin felt magic all around them and he could swear that the trees were moving. He shook his head, it was just his imagination. They had been riding for almost an hour when Arthur burst into laughter.

Merlin looked around. "What is it?" he asked.

"Sorry, I just remembered this one time when Morgana spent the entire afternoon chasing a bunny through the forest. You should have seen her afterwards; she was covered in mud from head to toe. I think all of Camelot heard Uther's screams when he saw her."

For a second there Arthur had actually forgotten all the evil things she had done. "She was always kind, and just. What happened to make her so twisted?" he asked to no one in particular, tears started to forming in his eyes. "I could have saved her."

"It's not your fault," Merlin told him, "there were other's better placed to help Morgana."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Well, I—" Merlin stopped talking when he felt a pinch in his neck. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel wh—" Arthur's hand went to his neck. "What was that?"

Merlin was struggling to keep his eyes opened. "Arthur, why are there two of you?" he asked, before falling from his horse.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled. He went down from his horse and started moving towards him, but after only two steps his legs gave out and he fell to the ground.

Merlin's head hurt like hell. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He saw the trees bending towards them, getting closer by the second. He was too tired to keep his eyes opened. He started to close them when he heard a voice behind the trees. "There are people here," it said. Merlin tried to call for help, but he couldn't make a sound. Not long after, some people were standing next to him. "Take them back to camp before is too late," he heard one of them said and then everything went black.

.

.

.

"Hello Emrys."

Merlin woke up after hearing that voice in his head. He looked around; he was in some kind of tent, a young man standing in front of him. "Who are you?" Merlin asked.

"Don't you recognize me?" the other asked incredulously, "You saved my life, then tried to kill me, then saved my life, then tried to kill me; I thought that you of all people would remember me," he said, showing a grin.

"Mordred!" Merlin realized. It had been a long time since he saw him last and in those years the boy had grown up so much that it was almost like he was another person.

"The one and only," he said, making a small bow.

Merlin tried to jump out of bed, but he felt dizzy and fell back to it; whatever happened to them had taken a toll.

"What did you do with Arthur!? Where is he!?" Merlin asked, raising his voice.

"Don't worry Emrys, he's resting in a tent next to this one. He'll be fine, but it will take a bit longer for him to repeal the poison."

"Poison?" Merlin asked, confused.

Mordred pointed to a bowl next to Merlin where some needle-like things rested. "We removed those from your neck. The trees in this forest are more alive than most, and they don't like intruders; luckily for you we found you before it was too late."

"Why did you help us?"

"Why wouldn't I? I owed Arthur my life."

"And what about me?"

Mordred was starting to answer when he suddenly looked away. From his face Merlin knew that he was talking telepathically. After some time he finally looked back at Merlin.

"We'll talk about that later, Iseldir tells me that Arthur is awake."

Merlin stood up again, slowly this time, and followed Mordred out of his tent and into Arthur's.

"Get away from me! Where am I? I demand you to answer," Arthur was yelling at some druids when Merlin entered. "Merlin! What's happening here?" he asked him.

"Arthur, is all right, we are in a druid camp, they saved our lives," Merlin explained.

"What happened? I remember us riding through the forest and then… nothing."

"Well, remember the legends? Let's just say you owe me a drink," Merlin said, grinning.

Merlin noticed that Arthur was looking past him at the young men who just entered the tent. "Arthur, this is—"

"Mordred!" Arthur interrupted him. "Look at you! You are already a man," he said, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"It's nice to see you too Arthur," he told him, showing a smile.

"So, you saved our lives?"

"Well, I had help from the other druids. Speaking of which, whenever you are ready, the elders would like to have a word with you." Mordred could see Arthur frowning. "Don't worry, it's mostly curiosity; it's not every day we have Arthur Pendragon in our camp, you can bring Merlin along if that helps."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure Merlin would be very useful in there," Arthur said, containing a laugh.

"Prat," Merlin said, looking away from him.

Arthur's answer was interrupted by Mordred's laughter. "It's great to see your relationship hasn't changed."

Arthur shuddered at the word 'relationship'. "Whatever," he said, "let's just go meet these elders, shall we?" Arthur started walking and he realized that he was moving too easily. He brought his hand to his chest. "Where is my armor?" Now the hand went to his waist. "Where is my sword!?"

"All your belongings are safe and they'll be returned to you when you leave this camp, but for now you won't be needing them," Mordred told him. He could see that Arthur didn't like that at all. "Arthur, if we wanted you dead we wouldn't have saved your life, now would we?"

Arthur nodded in resignation and followed Mordred and Merlin out the tent. Around them Arthur could see next to fifty druids, all looking at them. He noticed something strange in the crowd.

"Is everything all right?" Mordred asked.

"Yes it's just…" Arthur looked around once again. "Is this some kind of group for young druids?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems like the oldest of them is around thirty years old."

Mordred stopped and turned around to face Arthur. "Most of the druids who survived the purge were a child at that time; luckily for us there weren't many knights who killed children in cold blood."

Arthur went pale, cursing himself for his stupidity. "I'm sorry," he said, knowing that it meant nothing next to the pain his family put them through.

Mordred just turned around and started to walk again. "Let's go, we shouldn't keep them waiting," he told them.

Arthur followed and looked around once again. Every single one of those druids had lost someone because of his father's crusade against magic. He had many questions in his mind, but one stood out the most: Why am I not dead?

When they reached the elder's tent, Mordred made them wait outside for a few minutes before he appeared again and lead them inside. The tent was a larger version of the one he woke up in; three older druids were sitting on pillows, facing them.

The one in the middle spoke first. "Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, please sit," he told them, indicating two empty pillows on the ground.

Arthur thought to see a smile on the druid's face when he mentioned Merlin's name, but he dismissed that idea. He and Merlin sat down, while Mordred made a bow and left the tent.

"You have us at a disadvantage," Arthur said, "you know our names but we don't know yours."

"Fair enough," the same druid replied, "I'm Lochru and this is Frigga", he said indicating the female druid at his left. "I think that you already know Iseldir." To Lochru's right, Arthur could see the same druid to whom he had brought Mordred a long time ago, and who had given him the cup of life.

"I know him, but I didn't know his name."

"You never asked," Iseldir told him.

"Mordred tells us that you are already feeling better," Frigga said.

"We are and we are grateful," Arthur said, "but I have to ask; why are you helping us?"

Lochru was the one to answer. "As druids we are bound to help those in need, no matter who they are." He sighed before continuing. "However, I have to be frank with you; many disagreed with helping you. I'm very ashamed of this, but in these chaotic times it's hard for the young to see what being a druid really means."

"But the druids aren't persecuted anymore; didn't that help?" Arthur asked.

"It did, but I'm afraid it's not enough. Historically the druids got their food in exchange for magical services, as healing or potions, but with the ban on magic still in force we have almost nothing to trade with, which makes our lives very hard. Lately it has become very common for many of us to eat every other day."

"I'm sorry."

"We druids have a saying: right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past."

The room was filled with silence. "So what now?" Arthur asked after some time.

"It's already late; stay with us tonight and tomorrow you can continue your journey well rested."

"Should we worry about the other druids?"

"You are Mordred's guests; as long you are in this camp you are safe. When you leave… well, I would like to tell you that none of my druids wish you ill, but we both know that it would be a lie."

The druids stood up and they followed suit. "Again, thank you," Arthur said, before moving for the exit.

They left the tent and they approached Mordred who was talking with a girl. When he saw them, he took the girl by her hand and faced them.

"Arthur, I hope it went well," Mordred asked. "This is Kara," he said nodding at the girl beside him, "she is my girlfriend."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at Mordred for a moment and then looked at the girl. "It's nice to meet you Kara," he told her, showing her a smile.

"Don't think you can sweet talk me into forgiving you, Pendragon!" she blurted out. "Yes, you've saved Mordred and I would always be grateful for that, but you and your family are responsible for many atrocities to our people and I won't let that go unpunished." He stared at Merlin. "And you, you should be ashamed of helping him!" she told Merlin, after which she turned around and strode away.

They all stood there in shock. "She is very… passionate," Arthur finally said.

"Please forgive her; she had lost much in this war," Mordred explained.

"And just today Arthur was telling me how having a girlfriend makes life much better," Merlin said, trying to lighten the mood.

"He's right actually," Mordred said, "if you get to really know her she's a really nice person, sweet and caring. "

"See, I told you," Arthur said. "It's decided then; the first thing I'll do when we are back in Camelot is setting you up with someone, Sefa maybe?"

Mordred saw Merlin blush and he let out a small laugh. "You know," he told Merlin, "after my time in Camelot, I thought you would end up with Morgana."

"WHAT!?" Arthur and Merlin asked in shock at the same time.

Arthur spoke again before Mordred could say a word. "Merlin and Morgana, what on earth do they have in common?" he asked.

Mordred could see Merlin staring at him. He cleared his throat. "Nothing, of course, you are right. I was just a boy at the time; I didn't understand anything about relationships." Mordred looked past them to a group of druids that were gathering near a bonfire. "It looks like it's dinner time, shall we?" he asked, showing the way.

They sat in a log around the bonfire and Arthur could feel all the eyes on him. Mordred had left to get food and so he was left alone with Merlin who was looking straight into the fire.

"You have been very quiet Merlin, is everything all right?" Arthur asked him.

"Yes, I was just thinking."

"Careful there, wouldn't want your head exploding."

Merlin chuckled. "Arthur, you are so funny!" he said.

"I know," Arthur replied, proudly.

Merlin wondered if Arthur grasped the concept of sarcasm, but before he could say anything, Mordred came back carrying two plates full of food.

"Mordred, the elders told me of your food shortage, I can't accept this," Arthur said.

"You are guests here, and besides, it's impolite to refuse the food offered to you."

Arthur remained silent for a bit. "All right then, tell the elders that I accept it and that I'm grateful for it; however, that doesn't mean I have to eat it myself." Arthur stood up and looked around. He signaled Merlin to follow and they walked towards a group of kids who sat near them.

Reacting to that, some druids stood up and started moving towards them, but Mordred shook his head stopping them. "Watch," he told them telepathically. They all saw as Arthur and Merlin shared their food with the druid kids, and Mordred couldn't help but smile.

It wasn't until Arthur and Merlin went back to their log that the druids sat down again.

"Now we can eat," Arthur told Mordred, showing a grin.

Arthur was eating while Merlin spoke inside Mordred's mind. "You know Mordred, that felt an awful lot like a test."

"Did it Emrys? I didn't notice," Mordred replied, a smirk in his face.

Merlin returned the smirk and continued to eat. From that point on, the night went swiftly and it wasn't long until they were asleep, resting for what tomorrow may bring.

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A/N: I hope you liked it!

Thanks SunnySmile1324 and josiah275 for the reviews of the last chapter =D

Some clarifications:

The term 'friends with benefits' didn't exist in those times, so unfortunately neither Arthur nor Merlin got the joke.

The phrase that Lochru says isn't mine (nor his). It's from Tryon Edwards.

Also in this chapter we've learned that Mordred ships Mergana; who would have guessed?

The next chapter will have some more Merlin / Mordred talk about the past and all that :p

EDIT: Changed the format a bit.