A/N: I don't own Merlin. That was the luck of the BBC.
Hello everyone, apologies for the delay, I wanted this chapter to be perfect so I've edited and rewritten it about 5 times.
Thank you everyone for reading this. What started as a six-chapter fic grew into something much bigger and it was because of your response.
The six of them sat together in Gaius' small quarters, everyone partly dreading, partly excited to hear the stories the servant in front of them had to tell. Arthur was silently put out that he was not doing this alone with Merlin, but, as the warlock had pointed out, it would take him hours to discuss this with everyone, and all five of them deserved the truth. He needed the truth to come out, needed for them to understand everything he'd done.
And so he told them.
He told them of his power, how he'd had it since the day he was born, and how little control he used to have over it. He told them of his battle with Nimueh to save the people closest to him and how Gaius had nearly died in the act. He told them of his time spent with Great Dragon, it's escape and how it led him to finally meet his father, only for him to lose the man once he'd found him. He told them of the time the witchfinder had accused him of cursing Camelot, how he'd been terrified of losing Gaius because his lies. He spoke of all manner of creatures he'd faced down, how he'd saved Camelot over and over again; it wasn't a brag, nor it an ask for recognition or entitlement.
Merlin simply told his friends the truth.
Every one of the knights, as well as Arthur, had wanted to interrupt him at some point or other in his story; ask him questions, press him for more details, but none had. They'd simply stayed quiet, listening to Merlin tell them of his adventures, silently bewildered that none of them, bar Gwaine, had ever figured out that he'd been the one saving their behinds all this time.
How good he must've been at hiding.
Though even Gwaine was astonished at exactly how much Merlin's magic had done for them over the years; he'd had an inkling a few times when something had conveniently gone away or been fixed that he was behind it, but not to the extent of literally saving them, every time something went wrong inside and outside of Camelot.
There was silence for a while afterwards; Merlin leaning back in his bed and closing his eyes for a moment, exhausted from his tale, and Arthur and the knights each processing the story.
"You've been here practicing magic, since day one? Even when Uther was king?" Elyan asked, still trying to get his head around the whole notion of Merlin having magic.
"I must've rescued Gaius after about fifteen minutes in Camelot." Merlin nodded coupled with a small laugh, but after a moment his soft smile disappeared. "Just after watching an execution." He shuddered.
"I remember him." Leon spoke softly. "The witch's son. The one who killed Lady Helena. She'd have killed Arthur and god knows who else if it hadn't been for Merlin."
In truth, Leon didn't know what to say. He couldn't find the words to congratulate Merlin on his heroic deeds, even though they had saved his king multiple times; he just couldn't ignore the fact that this news changed everything. Earlier he had been willing to trust the servant, and still deep down he knew that the boy would cause Arthur no harm. However, he hadn't realised the extent of just what had happened.
Merlin had broken the law. Over and over, in what was clearly a blatant disregard for the authority of Camelot. He didn't just have magic; he'd been practising it, quite openly in Camelot. Arthur could forgive him all he liked, but Leon still had served under Uther and enforced his laws, not Arthur's, for quite some time whilst Merlin had been there. Whilst Merlin had been there, breaking the law on a daily basis.
"I just pushed him out of the way of a dagger hurtling towards his head, no big deal." Merlin gave a nonchalant shrug, but grinned a moment later. Even he thought that was a bit impressive, to have saved the prat's life when he really, really didn't like him.
"Plate throwing was just the tip of the iceberg, huh?" Gwaine smiled, though a little unsure of how to proceed. "I mean, this is crazy. I-I knew you were powerful, but still, all this?" There was a hint of a mischievous glint in Gwaine's eyes, of which Merlin thought could come no good. Even though he'd known about what magic could do, what Merlin could do, there was still a feeling that they'd only scratched the surface of this. That there was a whole lot more to come.
"Why did you come to Camelot?" The question wasn't accusative, more curious on Elyan's part. He'd lived in the city under Uther's rule when he was younger, and remembered the persecution, the executions on a daily basis. He couldn't imagine someone like Merlin choosing to live there.
"My mother; she figured I'd be safer here. The people in Ealdor were getting too close to finding out, and I didn't have a lot of control over my magic. She though Gaius could teach me about it, help me understand."
"Didn't it worry you?" Percival asked, to which Merlin nodded.
"Especially early on: watching executions, working for a prat; I did wonder why I stayed sometimes."
"I mean if you want a font of knowledge on magic, you go to Gaius." Percival gave a soft chuckle. "Even Uther utilised his knowledge."
"I couldn't have done any of those things without him. He's taught me so much I don't know what I would do without-"
"Gaius, I just came to see-" Gwen stopped, midsentence. She couldn't think to question why Arthur and all the knights were crammed into Gaius' quarters, when Merlin was sitting up wide-awake in the centre of them. "Oh my god, you're awake." She hurried over and almost threw her arms around him until she remembered the extent of his injuries and the sling keeping his arm still. She settled for wrapping her arm across Merlin's back and lightly squeezing his uninjured shoulder.
"Can't get rid of me that easy." He grinned. "It's good to see you."
"You too." She breathed. "How are you feeling?" Merlin was about to answer when he was cut off. "Sorry that's a stupid thing to say, you're obviously going to be in pain after… you know, what happened. Not to bring it up again, I don't want to upset you, but I mean we shouldn't pretend nothing's happened. I mean…"
"Gwen. Stop." Merlin laughed. "I'm alive. That's all that matters."
"And I'm glad. We all are. If anything would've happened…" She shook her head sadly. "Wait a minute, what are all of you doing in here?"
"We're here to… see Merlin of course, because he's just woken up." Gwaine stumbled over his words, hoping to appear nonchalant but just making him look twitchy and nervous. The rest of them just looked at him. Was it really that hard to tell one simple lie?
"Well, I'm sure he doesn't want to be overcrowded having just woken up." Gwen began to usher everyone out of the room. "He's going to need to rest." Her nursing instinct was taking over.
"But-" Gwaine pouted, clearly having more questions for him.
"It's fine Gwaine." Merlin smiled. "Gaius said I'm probably not going to keel over dead today, you can speak to me later."
"Come on." Percival stood up, clapping Gwaine's shoulder. "Gwen's right, Merlin's just woken up, and he's had a… challenging day." He glanced back at Merlin, giving him a short nod, and a smile, before turning away and heading for the door.
Gwen and the knights departed the room, leaving two figures in the central room. One resting in bed, the other stood anxiously, arms folded and leaning against a wall.
"Arthur, say something." Merlin cast his gaze over to the king.
"I can't. How do I respond to that? What you've done, what you do? I'm the king, Merlin. And I didn't notice that the person closest to me was practising magic and saving my life. What kind of king does that make me? What kind of person?"
"Arthur, you didn't know because I didn't want you to know. I didn't want any of you to know until I was ready." Merlin tried to reason with him softly.
"Gwaine knew." Merlin wasn't sure if it was simple annoyance, Arthur making a point, or just a hint of jealousy coming through.
"Not by choice." He scoffed. "I didn't suddenly decide to share my secret with the drunk having a bar fight. I was reckless and he noticed, and I was lucky that he didn't try to have me burnt, let alone say anything to anyone. Arthur, can you imagine how scared I was, every single day? That's not a criticism of you, I chose not to tell because I was scared. Yes, I was scared about your reaction, and if word got out when your father was still in charge, but I was afraid that the more we became friends, the more I had to lose. You've no idea how many times I just wanted to blurt it out to you. We'd be on a hunting trip, or I'd bring your lunch, and I'd think to myself 'just tell him. Just say the words: I have magic.' I'd think you were ready for it, but I'd never say a thing. Believe me Arthur, it's a lot harder to be the one with the knowledge than the one without."
"I can't believe you've had to do this practically on your own, all this time." Arthur sighed. "I regret my initial reaction so much. I keep wondering, if you'd been able to tell me, in your own time, if I would've reacted better. If I'd would've been able to think about it rationally rather than just flying off the handle immediately. But I…" Arthur sighed, "I don't know how to deal with this. I, I'm not angry or execution-y or anything like that. I just don't know what we do now."
"You think I know? This is new to me as well. The last time I was in this room only Gaius and my mother knew the full extent of who I am. That's changed. It's all changed. We just have to learn how to adapt with it." He smiled sadly, then added, "How am I going to be secretly able to save your royal behind now?"
"I have a feeling you'll find a way." Arthur smirked. "Like me knowing is going to stop you doing your heroics."
"True." Merlin nodded, laughing softly. "I may have a few tricks up my sleeve here and there." His laughter died away, and he grew quiet for a moment, thinking. "Arthur, what do you think happened to Drin?" He asked slowly, like he was rejecting the question as he was asking it.
Though his body was beginning the slow process of healing, it would take far longer for his mind to heal, that he knew. Arthur looked surprised that Merlin was willing to talk about his captor so soon into his recovery, but he gave him a reassuring smile.
"He was probably injured when the tower began collapsing. Maybe enough to kill him." He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder, light enough so as not to exacerbate his injuries, but firm enough to offer some comfort.
Merlin did not seem entirely convinced with Arthur's conclusion, but he accepted it through his tiredness, giving the king a faint smile, coupled with a nod. The king left the room, turning his head to give Merlin reassurance once more before they finally returned to their lives in Camelot, then left the warlock alone, for the first time in a long time.
Far from the border of Camelot, a hand reached out through the broken rubble, once a roof of the much crumbled tower he lay in. Chips of ceiling flew outwards as chunks of rock were pushed to side, the figure attempting to stand up. He wasn't sure how long it had been since the tremendous quake and the ensuing chaos, all he knew was that he was cold, hungry, and alone; the cowards paid to support his cause having fled once they'd regained some sense of consciousness. He stood, brushing dust and rubble off his dark coat, and gritted his teeth, peering out of the gaping hole in the side of the wall. He knew, far in the distance, exactly where his prisoner would be, and he would get him back at any cost. The man stared through the darkness, as if locating his target, one name upon his cursed tongue.
Merlin.
'Of Swords and Warlords' will return in:
'Of Magic and Kings'.