Hey guys!

Once again, apologies for the late update, so merry Christmas, happy new year, all that jazz. All I can say is I got a certain console at Christmas and have an addiction to that thing. But writing is in progress! I am finishing this story, don't worry.

The council meeting ended up taking over an hour, closer to two, before Arthur could leave. They'd been anxious to hear what had befallen their king, and how he'd come to end up in the woods when the search party found them.

Leon had also been there to attest as to what had happened, yet none of the other knights. Arthur suspected this was due to council's disapproval of his choice of men, common born and from outside the walls of Camelot. He'd often had to tell them if a specific knight in his close circle – Elyan, Gwaine, Percival – was needed there, otherwise they would not bother to summon them.

"Something's missing." One of the councilmen remarked after they'd finished discussing the latest grain numbers, squinting around the room.

He was a stuffy older man with a pompous name and an even more pompous attitude to match. He was the type of man who wore a hat to every meeting, insisting that the room was 'excessively drafty'. In reality, they all knew it was because most of his hair had departed from his scalp and he now resembled something of an oversized infant.

Arthur had a growing dislike of the man; he was one of the few members of the council left over from Uther's reign. Slowly but surely they were becoming replaced by younger people with fresher ideas and better attitudes, yet a few still desperately clung on, refusing to budge on anything contrary to their ways of life. He squinted some more, then the realisation finally struck him.

"Oh yes, that lanky fellow. The one that follows you around, your majesty. His name begins with a 'B' or something."

"My servant, Merlin?" Arthur gritted his teeth. Of course this man had not learnt Merlin's name, he'd only been pouring him wine and attending these meetings for the last five years.

"Close enough." The man waved off the error with an arrogant scoff. "Why's he not here?"

"He was… injured. He's currently recovering with Gaius." That was the understatement of the century. Merlin was fighting for his life, yet he couldn't let on to anyone that he'd suffered more than a scratch. He really didn't want questions to be raised as to why a servant had taken more interrogation than either king or knight. Merlin had been shaky on his feet when they arrived, not to mention very pale, but he'd been able to amble across the courtyard without drawing attention to himself too much.

"Nothing too serious, I hope." The man relaxed back in his chair, his face giving away that he clearly held no concern for the boy's fate. "Though I have to say sire, if he were to die, there's no harm in trying to find a better servant this time, am I right?" He snickered, as if he'd pleased the council with amusement.

Arthur was not laughing.

Instead his hands balled in fists, gripping the arms of the chair so tightly his knuckles were whitening. That arrogant lord had no idea what Merlin had been through, and not just the past week. For the past five years he'd done the unimaginable, keeping Camelot safe alongside Arthur and all the while having to hide who he was in fear.

Leon had caught sight of Arthur's ever growing anger at the councilman, catching the king's eye and shaking his head ever so slightly, so as not to alert the others in the room. Arthur's mood was precarious at the moment, and an outburst of any kind about Merlin could raise suspicion. The knights and Arthur were desperate not to let anything slip about their new found knowledge, at least until they'd figured out some way of handling the entire situation.

"Merlin's not a bad servant. Rather, quite the opposite." Arthur breathed out through a forced, uncomfortable grin.

"Is that so, your majesty? He seems to constantly arrive late and has a habit of dropping things." The man laughed.

"That might be so, yet he saved my life." Arthur's words fell out of his mouth before his brain had had a chance to catch up. He grimaced slightly, mentally berating himself for arguing with the councilman.

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes, studying Arthur. The king had never defended the boy so much before, in fact he was usually the one to take part in light mocking of the servant.

"Yes, don't you remember? When that witch posing as Lady Helena tried to kill me? Merlin pushed me out of the way, and my father awarded him a position in the household." Arthur thought on his feet, recalling the day Merlin had become his servant.

Had Merlin used magic to save him, even back then?

"Of course. As I recall, neither of you were particularly fond of that idea." Arthur almost let a real smile break through his fake one, the memories of their earliest encounters quite amusing in hindsight.

It'd taken him a while to realise it, but before Merlin, he'd been a completely different person. Merlin had changed him for the better, so subtly Arthur hadn't realised for such a long time, and now he couldn't imagine life without him.

"We'd… run into each other a few times before, under less than ideal circumstances." Arthur relented that a mace fight was an unusual way to make friends.

"Still, it is all men's duty to protect their king. Throwing yourself in front of a blade doesn't make you a good servant." The man derided with a sarcastic laugh.

Arthur had reached breaking point. He would not just sit there and let this man ridicule Merlin, especially as he lay possibly dying on the other side of the castle. He opened his mouth, a tirade of abuse about to come pouring out again the councilman, but he was cut off before he could begin.

"My lord, I believe Gaius wanted to take a look at your wrist, after you were done with the meeting." Leon interrupted forcefully, ensuring the king would say nothing untoward. "I assume none of us would want the king to succumb to infection, would we?" His steely gaze cast to the councilman, who was now nonchalantly shuffling some papers, before motioning towards the door to Arthur.

"Your wrist, sire?" He peeked over his papers, furrowing his brow.

"Yes, manacles have a habit of chafing. Especially when you're held for a week." Arthur could not help but sound disdainful. "Gaius wants them treated as soon as possible, but I knew I had to meet with all of you first, and ensure that Camelot return to normal as soon as possible." Arthur surreptitiously pulled his shirt over his wrists.

They'd chosen not to mention their stop in Redferran to the council, worried that it'd raise yet more questions. Arthur and Leon had also been decidedly cagy about what happened in the tower; especially about why no ransom note was sent and how they'd escaped with barely a scratch on them.

"Apologies, I did not know your majesty was injured. Of course you should go and see the physician." Arthur wanted to scoff. 'The physician' had been part of the court for longer than Arthur had been alive, probably as long as the relic in front of him, yet he wouldn't acquaint Gaius by his name. The man was an egotistical snob, how he'd managed to secure a place on the council was anyone's guess.

"Then I believe the meeting is over." Arthur stood, not wanting to be in the room any longer than he needed to. He headed straight towards the large doors, Leon following closely behind.

"When did the king get so attached to that servant of his?" Whispered Lord Arrington, the councilman who'd noticed Merlin's absence, to himself as he watched Arthur leave the room, narrowing his suspicion-laden eyes.

"Arthur!" Leon called out to the king as he strode briskly down the corridor. He knew exactly where he was headed, the man had been itching to leave since they'd first met with the council.

"I'm going to see Merlin." Arthur didn't turn around.

"I know, and that's all very well, but what happened in there?" Leon panted, having to almost sprint to keep up with Arthur as determined as he was.

"I don't know what you mean." The king didn't meet Leon's questioning eyes, instead kept his gaze fixed ahead of him.

"Almost yelling at the council! You were the one who said we needed to keep our knowledge to ourselves." Leon emphasised in a harsh whisper. "If the council found out…"

"Then they'd hurt Merlin!" Arthur turned to Leon. "Don't you think I know that?" Arthur vented at the knight. He wasn't really angry, not towards Leon anyway. He knew he was asking an awful lot for him to turn away from everything he knew and keep this big of a secret. He was angry at himself for being the liability. He'd not even lasted the afternoon at keeping mum. "Everything's changed since we got back." Arthur sighed softly.

"My lord?"

"When I was in that room, everyone who spoke of Merlin disregarded him. Like he was less than us, just because he was a servant. And I realised something. Before today, that was me as well, laughing at Merlin, scoffing at him. How he put up with me for all this time, I don't know."

"With all due respect, Arthur, no one treats Merlin like you do. The way you speak to him shows that you don't see him as just a 'servant' but as an equal you can speak freely to." Leon gave the king a kind smile. "He says things to you that no one else would dare, with the exception of perhaps Gwaine, who can't keep his mouth shut." He grumbled. "Look, how would you react if a random servant called you an 'arrogant prat'?" He asked, then hurriedly added, "To quote the vernacular, sire."

"Obviously there'd be consequences." Arthur thought aloud, though he wasn't quite sure what he'd do. It would be considered insolent towards their king, but could he fire a man just because they'd freely expressed their opinion of him? He could only imagine how his father would've reacted had he been called that.

"Yet Merlin says that you on a daily occurrence." Leon smiled. "Though not that I'm condoning his behaviour in any way." It still felt a little off for anyone to speak to the king like that, even from someone as close as Merlin.

"That he does." Arthur laughed. "No one has ever spoken to me the way Merlin does, and often I speak to him in a way I can't speak to others. But I still don't understand your point Leon."

"What I'm trying to say sire, is that to you, Merlin is your friend. And you two speak as friends, the chatter between yourselves nothing more than light joking. The way the council speak to Merlin, they deride him because they see him as nothing more than a servant who is beneath them. You see him as an equal you can talk to."

"You think so?"

"I do Arthur. Besides, no one takes notice of Lord Arrington or most of the elders on the council anymore. I don't understand why they cling onto their roles when all they do is negate your ideas." Leon shook his head. "One day that'll be a council run by people of your own choosing, and will be a damn sight better than the last."

"When did you get so wise, Leon?" Arthur grinned, turning towards the final staircase up to Gaius' room.

Leon's getting deep! This chapter was a bit slowed down from previous, but I thought it'd be interesting to get a bit of castle life in here.

I also have a question for you. Someone recently pointed out that I'd got my timetable with the show a bit mixed up, so I would like to know if you're OK with me leaving in a mistake, or if it's something I should change.