I do not own Merlin.

Chapter 2 - The Secret

After recent events, Merlin set off in the middle of the night to investigate the cause of Uther's sudden distress. He went inside the king's chambers to find anything out of the ordinary. He stepped quietly and carefully inside the room, and noticed that Uther was wide awake and lying on the bed.

The king didn't even acknowledge Merlin snooping around, he couldn't. Merlin waved his hand in front of Uther's face to get a reaction, but he could only hear a faint mumbling of something Merlin couldn't quite decipher.

He was in the middle of looking through the nightstand when he heard the door clicking open, and he instinctively hid under the bed. Merlin winced when his head was caught in some plant like object that was covered in some mysterious goo.

He heard the sharp clicking of heels hitting the floorboard, and he dreaded knowing it was Morgana who caused all of this. He hid his face in the shadow when he saw her bend down to reach the mysterious plant covered in goo.

When he was sure she had left the room, he slid out from under the bed and followed her. However, he was completely unaware that someone was following him as well.

Quietly, Merlin followed Morgana outside of Camelot's walls and into a clearing in the forest. He hid behind a giant log that was able to cover him as a small group of people approached Morgana. He peeked his head out enough to see Morgause walking towards her. He was able to make out a bit of their conversation until something startled him.

"Is that Morgana?" Merlin jumped at the voice.

"Wh-What on earth are you doing here?" He whispered in a seething voice.

"I followed you," he shrugged. "Why are you following Morgana?"

"You what? Why!?" Merlin whisper yelled at him, purposefully evading his questions. "No, actually I don't want to know. Just go back."

"But I'm already here," he argued back in the same quiet voice. "And the woods are scary at night. I don't wanna be alone."

Merlin was infuriated because he didn't want him to get hurt. He knew what Morgause was capable of, and he didn't want him to get hurt if they got caught. However, he was so preoccupied with his conversation that he missed the last half of Morgana and Morgause's conversation. And the last bit of their conversation, as a matter of a fact, was about him.

He was about to say something back to him when he heard Morgana's loud voice. "Because Merlin's already here!" The pair immediately stood up, startled. Morgana blinked in confusion when she saw who was with him. "And Daegal?"

Morgause looked a little confused as well. "Who?" She whispered.

Morgana glared at them both. "Doesn't matter. They both know too much."

Both Daegal and Merlin took a few steps back before running at full speed in the opposite direction. It didn't do much help though because they were faster. In the end, they were both knocked unconscious by the blood guard.

Morgause stood in front of both Merlin and Daegal, who were tied up back to back in chains.

"You're no ordinary knight, Merlin." Morgause said. "Morgana tells me that you're no noble, and yet. Time and again, you have risked everything for Arthur and for Camelot. Why?" He kept his head down and mouth shut. "You know the reason, but you're not telling me."

"I believe in a fair and just land," he mumbled. He felt Daegal trying to wiggle out of the chains.

"And you believe Arthur will give that to you?"

"I know he will."

The blonde priestess pondered for a moment. "And then what? There's more. There's something you're not telling me." Merlin didn't know how he felt about this. Did Morgana neglect to mention his secret to Morgause? The woman looked genuine, as if she seriously did not know.

"There's no more."

She narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for him to reveal his secrets. "My sister used to speak of you often. I could never understand how she could praise such an ordinary knight like yourself. There's more you're not telling me."

"There's no more."

She sighed. "Well you can take your secret to the grave. Weorc untoworpenlic," she chanted and the chains that bound Merlin and Daegal tightened. "You chose to poison my own. You may regret that."

After Morgause and the blood guard were no where in sight, Daegal spoke up. "So," he stated. "You want to puff us out of here or-"

Merlin scrunched his eyebrows at what he just heard. Surely, he hadn't heard him correctly. "What?"

"You know," he hinted. "Magic your way out of here."

Merlin couldn't speak. "Wh-What?"

"I've been you're servant for a while now, Merlin," he responded. "I follow you around a lot. Arthur may not notice, but I do. I don't know how he doesn't notice, but-"

"How long?"

"About a year," he answered. "I heard you saying something at the castle of Idirsholas, and then the ceiling came apart. You saved us."

"That long?" Merlin felt him nod behind him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't think you wanted me to know," he said. "Besides, Morgana had left and you were distraught so I thought it was best to keep quiet. I haven't told anyone, I swear."

Merlin didn't know what else to say. Instead, he did as Daegal asked and chanted a spell to try to free them from the chains. However, the spell backfired and the chains tightened even more.

"So is Morgana evil now or what?"

The knight sighed at the question. "I do-I don't know. I'd like to think there's still hope for her."

"Did you really poison her or-" Merlin tried another spell to unbind them from the chains to avoid Daegal's string of questions. "Merlin." The servant began to really try and wiggle himself out of the chains. "Merlin, do you- is that- Merlin," he whimpered.

Merlin looked up and froze in fear when he saw giant scorpions approaching them. He could feel Daegal shaking as the serket's come closer. "Awendaþ eft wansæliga neat! Forlætan me a!" Merlin was able to clear a line of serkets, but one of them stung him in the back.

In an instant, his eyes glowed and the creature flew back until it hit a nearby tree. "We're going to die. We're going to die," Daegal was fully panicking at that point.

Merlin took a deep breath, the stinging in his back made it difficult for him to breathe. "Ω δρακον, έάω μαλερός σοφόνους φθέγγομαι τείδε άναδικέω!"

Merlin awoke with a sensation of pain in his back. He blinked a few times to become aware of his surroundings, and immediately sat up when he saw how dark it was outside. He noticed Daegal to the right of him, sound asleep. "Is he-"

"You're friend is well. Fortunately, he was not stung with the serket's poison," Kilgharrah informed him. "You must lie still."

"You answered my call."

"I can not resist the call of a dragon lord, even if I wanted to."

Merlin nodded in understanding. "Still, I'm grateful. We would have died out there, thank you." The young warlock frowned at the reminder of him being a dragon lord. It only prompted the memory of his late father. "It hurts."

"The serket's poison is powerful. I have given you an enchantment that will help you heal, but it will take time."

At the end of the training session, Arthur threw down his bow and arrows in the armory before going on a hunt to find his right hand knight. He kicked down the door to Merlin's chambers to find a fairly clean room, except for the unkempt bed that nobody bothered to make the day before.

"Where is he?" Arthur was frustrated, especially at the news of mercenaries flooding Cenred's kingdom. There was a high possibility of Camelot going into war. It wasn't the right time for Merlin to be missing training, or any knight to be missing training for that matter.

Arthur closed the door to his chambers and started heading towards Gaius's chambers to see if Merlin had hidden there.

"Sire?" He stopped at the sound of her voice.

"Guinevere," he turned around and smiled at her. "Hello."

She smiled back, and Arthur could see a gleam of light in her eyes. Though, she also looked a bit concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I can't seem to find Merlin anywhere, and now is not the time to be missing any training. Especially for him."

"Well, I haven't seen him anywhere," she thought out loud. "Or Daegal for that matter."

"He was here last night. His beds been slept in. You shouldn't worry."

Gwen nodded. "It just doesn't seem like him. To miss practice." She'd often see him practice for a few extra hours at the end of a session to keep up with everyone else's skill level.

"Actually, it is exactly like him," Gwen chuckled at Arthur's response. "When you see him, tell him that I'm going to make him the target at the next archery lesson."

"Arthur," Gwen chuckled lightly and looked at him pointedly.

The prince smiled goofily at Gwen. He took a deep breath, feeling much more relaxed at that moment. In that short moment, he just forgot about all of his troubles. Just for a minute, he didn't think about his father, the court, Cenred, or anything else. It was just him and Gwen.

"Sire?" Arthur blinked. He sighed at the formality, reminding him again of how they couldn't be together. He was snapped back into reality, and he remembered who he was and what was happening.

"I'm going to go see if Gaius knows anything," he said. "I'll see you around, Guinevere."

"Take care, sire."

Daegal woke up a few hours after Merlin, and was about to scream but Kilgharrah shushed him. "You mustn't wake the young warlock."

The servant's heart began beating rapidly at the sight of the same fire breathing dragon that was terrorizing Camelot almost a year ago. "You're dead. You're supposed to be dead."

"You know of the young warlock's secret," he stated. "Yet you are not afraid."

He shook his head, his breathing calming down slightly. "Merlin is a good man. He's kind."

"There is more to you than meets the eye." Kilgharrah narrowed his eyes at the young boy, observing him. "You take me as a simple, but complicated boy."

Daegal narrowed his eyes back at the dragon, observing him as well. He sighed, realizing he was talking to a dragon and it wouldn't hurt to tell him any of his secrets. "My sister was a druid," he revealed. "I don't have any magical powers, but she does. Did." Kilgharrah waited patiently for him to continue. "She and my parents died a while ago."

"By Uther?"

He shook his head. "Bandits," he said. "I have nothing against magic. I don't think people, like my mother and sister, should have to hide who they are."

"I see," Kilgharrah nodded. "So what is your role in the young warlock's destiny?"

"Well, I'd like to think I'm Merlin's protector," he joked. The dragon did not look the slightest bit amused. "Y'know how Merlin is Arthur's protector. I'd like to think I'm Merlin's protector."

In the middle of his sentence, Daegal did not realize Merlin woke up until he spoke up. "But I'm always saving you?"

Daegal jumped a little at the sound, but replied back. "That's true, but I keep you sane. Make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Merlin chuckled at the thought. "Whatever you say." He looked around and saw that it was nighttime. "We need to get back to Camelot."

"I warned you before, Merlin," Kilgharrah said. "About the witch."

"She wouldn't have done this. Not in her right mind," he defended. "We don't know what's happened to her."

The dragon sighed at his response. "Your love for her has blinded you, young warlock."

"She didn't give me up," he said. "She didn't tell Morgause about my secret."

"I do not necessarily enjoy being the bearer of bad news, but the Lady Morgana will be your undoing," Merlin shook his head. "She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love."

"I am grateful that you saved me, but I must disagree with you," he sighed. "I won't accept that. I'm not giving up, not yet. Besides it is better for her to be with us, not against us."

Kilgharrah looked to Daegal. "Are you not supposed to make sure that he is kept sane?" Merlin looked to Daegal, challenging him to disagree with him. The poor boy didn't know who he was afraid of more.

He scratched his head. "Uh, well, um," he gulped. "Morgana has been known to save Merlin in the past, but if she's changed for the worst then I'll keep him in check."

"She loved me before. It wasn't an act, I know it."

"I do not agree with your methods, but I do hope you know what you are doing." The dragon could only trust in the warlock's instincts. "I should tell you, it is a three day walk to Camelot from here."

Merlin looked a little smug. "I've no intention of walking."

Author's Note: Not a lot of Merlin/Morgana interaction this chapter, but there was a little Arthur/Gwen action to make up for that. ;) Oh, and Daegal knows about Merlin and Kilgharrah and magic. Do you guys think Daegal should have magic? And what do you guys think about Morgana? She didn't tell Morgause about Merlin's magic... huh. What's going on? lol what do you think will happen?

Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! You're amazing! I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter. I'll update as soon as I can. :)