Once Arthur recovered, from his near death by contusion, which was a whole day later, and another whole night of gargoyles and a dragon decimating his Kingdom. He and Merlin set out to find this man, this Dragonlord, by the name of Balinor. Which Arthur had never heard of such a thing before, in his life, a Dragonlord, it sounded like some dumb word Merlin would make up. And speaking of Merlin, he had been off, since leaving Camelot. Arthur wasn't entirely sure why, he sort of just rode behind Arthur, on his horse, and didn't say anything and every time Arthur would look back, he was only there, frowning and looking rather sour. Arthur hoped it wasn't because of what had happened in the woods, before all of this, how they had...almost kissed. And it was that, it was almost a kiss, there was no other ways to explain it. Perhaps Merlin was angry with Arthur, he wouldn't have known, right after, and perhaps Merlin hadn't known he was angry either, as Arthur had all but been thrown into battle and Camelot in turmoil, as soon as they had returned. Maybe now, with a moment to think clearly, Merlin was angry with him, for letting it happen. And Arthur wouldn't ask, he didn't want to know, he would sweep this under the rug, like so many other things that happened between them, he would ignore it, pretend it didn't happen. Just as long as Merlin stopped looking quite so upset.

They stopped off, after riding all morning, to water the horses, and Merlin didn't say a word, the entire time, he didn't even look at Arthur. He just stood, by his horse, while she drank. and when they had their fill, he just got back on the horse, and sat there. Arthur could take a lot of things, happy Merlin, he liked that one the most, and angry Merlin, it could be quite funny, even sad Merlin, Arthur could handle, but this...whatever this was, Arthur could not handle it. He didn't know how. He regretted letting himself be so foolish, so distracted by Merlin, in the moment, that he let himself slip up. He was the Prince, he shouldn't do such things, he wasn't allowed such privileges, and clearly Merlin wasn't interested in the slightest.

They stopped for lunch, a few hours later, and Arthur just sat there, on a fallen log, not sure what to do. He wanted to apologize, say he regretted it and he was very sorry he made Merlin feel uncomfortable, but then that would mean he would have to admit it happened, and then admit his feelings...because why else would you almost kiss someone? And Arthur would not do that, he refused to put himself out there, only to be rejected.

But then again, this was Merlin, and they were always very close, and Arthur wished for them to stay very close...so perhaps he could just say his head slipped, or he thought Merlin was a girl, he was drunk...anything to not to confess how he really felt. Either way, no matter what he said, they needed to address this and move on. Merlin was only staring at the fire he had built, this was the last fire they would be able to build, as they would be crossing the border into Essetir soon, where Balinor lived, and would need to stay undercover. Arthur picked up a stick, on the ground next to him, and wielded it like a sword, for a second, to keep himself distracted. It didn't work for long...

"What's the matter with you?" he asked, just straight out there, like an idiot. Arthur sometimes wondered about his own tact, and why it was so awful. Merlin didn't say anything though, and Arthur found that rather annoying, at least say it, say you're disgusted with me. Arthur glared, at the side of Merlin's face and took the stick he was holding and poked him in the back. "You've looked like an angry cat all day...come on, out with it."

Merlin reacted to the poking, by moving a way a little and batting at the stick with his hand, so...Arthur wasn't wrong about the cat thing then. "I'm fine," he mumbled, after a moment or two of still, not talking.

"You don't seem fine..."

Merlin looked back at Arthur then, and stare at him for a second, before getting up quick, and walking over to his horse. So, he didn't even want to be close to Arthur now, was that it? Arthur frowned, and stood up too. "You know," he said, trying to sound offhanded, and not hurt, even though he was. "You've never had a problem saying how something bothered you before, you'd never shut up about it, actually, and now...all of a sudden, you want to hold your tongue?"

"I'm fine, I keep telling you!" retorted Merlin, but it was the way his voice sounded, the snap, the anger, he wasn't fine at all. "Leave me alone..."

Arthur nodded, coldly, feeling his own anger build, suddenly, at how easy Merlin could turn him down. "Fine," he shot back. "It's not as if I want to know anyway."

Merlin looked up then, at this, and then frowned, much deeper than even Arthur was, but said nothing else. And they got on their horses, after Arthur stomped out the fire, and they were on their way again. They didn't speak, not another word, not even when Arthur turned on to a new path, or went a different direction, Merlin just always seemed to follow anyway.

They stopped one more time, to water the horses again, it was dusk now, just getting dark and Arthur knew they needed to stop soon, but he didn't want to make camp out in the open. He was a rather large target, being a member of the Royal Household, being in this land, just standing on this dirt, was an act of war. They needed to stay indoors, somewhere sheltered. Arthur thought about this, in worry, as he rubbed the wound on his chest. His head felt better, and even the gash that sat a little too deep to heal properly, felt better. But without Gaius' daily care, it was starting to hurt, Arthur had done his best to ignore it, most of the day.

Merlin turned back, at this moment, and Arthur tried not to notice him. He wasn't going to talk to him, maybe ever again. If this would be how he treated him, for having a lack of judgment, one time. It wasn't even as if it caused any harm...nothing happened in the end, anyway! Merlin was just being a bastard, and Arthur didn't have time for it.

"Let me look at it," said Merlin then, and Arthur's eyes turned on him, finally. He didn't allow his eyes to do what they normally did, which was sweep over Merlin's face and perhaps take pause at his lips for a second, he wouldn't do that anymore...he needed to get over it, to let it go. He just returned his gaze, cold. "Come on, Arthur," said Merlin, and he wasn't giving him time to comment or react, he was grabbing at the bottom of Arthur's tunic, and trying to pull it up, Arthur slapped his hands away. "It's going to get infected..."

"I don't care," retorted Arthur, and took very large steps away from Merlin. "Don't pretend like you care now."

"What is that supposed to mean?" retorted Merlin, back. "Why wouldn't I care?"

"Because," said Arthur, but he didn't say anything else, just because...Merlin should know why.

Merlin, however, didn't seem to, and his face scrunched up, in confusion. "That's not an answer..." he commented, and shook his head. "I swear, Arthur, you make no sense!"

"It's you who makes no sense!" he retorted back, throwing his arms in the air, and glaring at Merlin, as if he were an idiot. Which, he was, very obviously. "I have told you before, if you have a problem with me, just say it!"

"But I don't have a problem with you?!" shouted Merlin, and Merlin never shouted, so it shocked Arthur, for half a second, before he recoiled into being annoyed again, and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "The whole world doesn't revolve around you, Dollophead...I might have other problems, sometimes."

"Like what?" asked Arthur, staring at him, with raised eyebrows. Merlin shrugged.

"I can't tell you..."

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Remember, Merlin...because isn't an answer," said Arthur, but he suddenly felt some of his anger wash away, he wanted to believe Merlin was telling the truth, he didn't want them to be angry with each other, or for Arthur to be the cause for Merlin's unhappiness. "You just said so yourself."

Merlin smiled, for the first time that day, and shrugged. "Hm...you're right. 'Suppose you'll just have to live with it though."

They continued on, for a bit longer, even though it was fully dark out now, and they could hardly see, through the thick trees. They found a tavern, after awhile, and Arthur paid for them to have a room for the night. They had manged to get rather close to where Balinor was supposed to be living, so hopefully, in the morning, they would be able to find him and convince him to help Camelot, and only be gone one more night, at most. It was hard for Arthur to be away from Camelot, not that he was much help, he was defenseless against the Dragon, but he wanted to be there, he wanted to help his people if he could, he just hoped his Father and Morgana were alright, and Gaius and Gwen, there are so many people Arthur cared about, he just wanted to return home and stop these attacks.

They walked into the room Arthur had gotten for the night, and it really wasn't much at all. Only two, tiny beds, that looked more like wooden frames, with a blanket draped over them than beds, and a nightstand, with a candle, that was it, that was the whole room. But it would do, it would be better than sleeping outside. The only thing Arthur did to ready himself for bed, was to pull his tunic off, and roll it into a ball, and throw it onto the floor. He had barely slept these last few days, with the attacks, even if he were recovering, he could still hear, still see the flames...

He needed a good nights rest. He thought so did Merlin, who looked a bit off again, he had perked up, for a little bit, after they had...argued, or whatever they had done. But now he went back to looking miserable. He didn't undress or anything, only pulled off his jacket and neckerchief and rolled into the bed, facing the wall. Arthur lay in the other bed, looking over at him.

"So, you're really not going to tell me?"

There was a long pause, before Merlin answered. "I can't."

"Why can't you?" he offered now, and Merlin didn't say anything else. Arthur sighed. "Look...I know I'm a Prince, and we can never...-"

"Be friends?" asked Merlin, and that hadn't been exactly where Arthur was going with that, but sure...alright. Friends.

"Yes," he agreed. "Friends...but I like to think, if I were not a Prince, and you were not my servant, and we just met somehow..." he trailed off, thinking about this for a second, it was a nice thought, one that warmed him, even through the room was kind of drafty. "Well, I think we might have-"

"Might have what?"

"Gotten on..."

"No, see...because if you weren't a Prince, I would've told you to mind your own damn business by now."

"Oh yeah?" retorted Arthur then, and maybe he should have gotten mad by this, but at least Merlin was insulting him again, the way he normally did, the way he should. Arthur bit his lip. "When has my title ever stopped you before?"

"True," said Merlin. "Mind your own damn business, Arthur."

"I am though, if you haven't noticed..." said Arthur then. "You are my business."

"Oh, and here I thought I was your servant, not your slave..."

"You want to be my slave?" offered Arthur. "I can arrange it."

"Well maybe...what kind of perks are there...?"

"Oh you know...mucking out my horses, catering to my every whim..." Arthur counted on fingers, even though Merlin was now laying on his back, instead of away from Arthur, he still couldn't see him. "A few a bit more interesting..."

"Interesting like what...calling you Master?"

"No, but that's good...I wouldn't say no to that."

"I bet you wouldn't, Clotpole."

"I bet you'd like it..."

"I wouldn't."

"I'd make you..."

"How...?"

Arthur got off the bed then, and in one swift movement, was towering over Merlin, who looked up at him, with narrowed eyes. He leapt forward, crashing into Merlin and began his assault on his sides, tickling him, mercilessly. Merlin screamed, honestly screamed, like a small girl, and beat at Arthur's hands and kicked at Arthur's back, yet Arthur would not give up, not that easily.

"And this..." he panted, in his ear. "Is how I would punish you when you've been bad."

"That's..." said Merlin, through fits of giggles and swears, as he tried to get free of Arthur. "...perverted!"

"Perverted?" offered Arthur, as Merlin struggled, though, he had given him a bit of a break now, he was only kind of...gently running his fingers along Merlin's sides at this point.

"Yes...you're a pervert," commented Merlin, his eyes were watering and his face was red. Arthur stare at him, for a long moment, before he burst into his own fit of laughter, no one had ever called him that before, and honestly...he wasn't really very angry about it. Merlin laughed too, for some reason. Maybe just because. And Arthur had long since stopped tickling him, anyway, now he was just sort of there, on top of him. "You want to get off of me now, maybe?"

"No, I am a pervert, remember?"

"Move!" said Merlin, and gave him a shove, in the side, with his hands. Arthur caught himself, before he landed on the floor, and went back to his own bed. Looking over at Merlin now, who had rolled over, to face him, grinning at him.

"Well...at least something has come from this," said Arthur, as he lay back down. "Even if you do clearly think the worst of me..."

"And what is that?"

"I made you smile..."

In the morning, when Arthur woke up, he felt a little woozy, in the head, his wound on his chest had bled a bit. Probably from roughhousing Merlin the night before. And Arthur deiced not to tell Merlin this, as he would only start fussing and acting like a fool, and Arthur just wanted to find the Dragonlord and get back to Camelot before they were gone too long, and there was nothing left to return to. They left the room and headed out, to get the horses and were on their way. They traveled slower today, as they were looking for the man now. Gaius had said that he lived in a cave, just outside of this small town, that was home to the tavern. Arthur felt worse and worse, as the day went on, even though it was warm outside, it was not hot enough to start sweating, and Arthur had, a long time ago...

He was finding it hard to keep his eyes open, after awhile, and Merlin was starting to notice.

"Are you alright, Arthur?" he asked, and he had been in much better spirits today, Arthur's jokes and tickles clearly had done wonders to him, and even if it wasn't him, Arthur would still take the credit for it. Arthur nodded, and sped his horse up to be next to Merlin. "You look like you have a fever, do you want to stop, so I can check your wound?"

"No, I'm fine, we have to find the Dragonlord," said Arthur, Merlin nodded, but frowned at him now. "Don't look me at like that."

"I'm just worried, Gaius told me to treat you, but you won't let me..."

"I don't need you to, I'm fine," he insisted. "What do you think is going to happen to me, I'll drop dead...?"

Arthur woke up the next morning, and at least he hadn't dropped dead...just unconscious. Though, today, he felt much better, completely better, in fact, his wound didn't even hurt...Arthur look down, under his tunic, and saw his wound was all but healed, and the horrible scar he was sure it would to leave, didn't look half as bad as he first thought. Arthur jumped up, because if that wasn't magic...he didn't know what was. He ran, out of the cave, where was Merlin anyway?

There he was, down there, standing by a brook with a tall, dark haired man, he was smiling at him. When he noticed Arthur there, he beamed and said something to the man, before dashing toward Arthur. "You're awake!"

"No, I'm a ghost, haunting you from beyond," commented Arthur, offhanded, looking over Merlin's head, at the man. "Is that him...Merlin, the Dragonlord?"

Merlin nodded, with a grin. "He's agreed to help you."

"That easily?" said Arthur, with a raised eyebrow, Merlin continued to grin, but it grew suddenly. "How did you convince him, gold?"

"No, he'll do it for free."

"How?" retorted Arthur. "Why would he agree?"

"Let's just say..." Merlin batted his eyes. "I have my ways."

"Did you just bat your eyes at me...?" asked Arthur, and Merlin never got to answer, because now the tall, dark haired man, better known as Balinor, or the Dragonlord, was walking over to them. Merlin forgot what he was going to say then, and smiled, brightly, at the man. "This is Arthur."

"I know who he is," said the man, and he offered his hand to Arthur. He shook it, but didn't say anything. "I have heard many things of you, Arthur Pendragon. Both good...and bad." Arthur made a face at this, and refused to meet either of their eyes now. "I hope that my act of kindness to your Kingdom will help you see the good...in people like myself."

Arthur opened his mouth to speak, not sure what he wanted to say, he didn't know what he thought, what he thought about Dragonlords, he hadn't known they existed until two days ago. He knew, from what his Father had told him, before he left Camelot, it was very close to magic. It was a form of magic, and Dragonlords were known to do great evil, aided by dragons. But Arthur did not know of this one, this man, what he might have done in the passed. The way Merlin smiled at him though...he must be alright.

They left this cave, very soon after that, but they had still left rather late in the day, as Arthur was asleep for some part of it, and they ended up having to make camp one more night. And because of the lateness, they couldn't even reach Camelot, before it got too dark to travel anymore. They only got attacked by one group, of Cenred's men, so that wasn't too bad, if Arthur were being honest, he couldn't ask for much more than that, as they weren't meant to be there anyway. It was midday, by the time they had reached Camelot, the following day, and Arthur left the Dragonlord in Merlin's care, while he went off to find his Father. Camelot looked in ruins, half of it lay on the ground, the remains of houses and buildings littered the path to the castle. They were just shells now, blackened shells. This would take a very long time to rebuild.

Uther was in the council chamber, as Arthur figured he would be. It was one of the more safer places to be. Catrina was with him, fawning over him, until Arthur walked in, and they both stop what they were doing, to stare. "Well?" asked Uther. Arthur smiled.

"We found him and he agreed to help."

Uther's eyes widened a little, and he didn't look pleased at all. Arthur knew why, because he was betraying himself, looking to some form of magic to help him. Arthur knew how much Uther hated the idea, it made him sick. It was very clearly written on his face. "What are his terms?" asked Uther now, his voice was cold and strict, and he didn't look Arthur in the eye, only off, to the side.

"Nothing," said Arthur, admitting this without much worry about how it made him look. "Merlin got him to agree, I have no idea what made him do so."

Uther frowned, and shook his head. "Go to him, the attacks have not yet taken place today, but they have been more active at night, in the dark..."Seethed Uther. "Like cowards."

Arthur nodded. "I will still need men, the Gargoyles, the Dragonlord says he cannot help with those, he has no idea what it could be."

"Of course," muttered Uther, and Arthur had thought they were done. He was turning to leave now, to go put on his armor, to once again face off against a threat, with unlikely odds, if he would keep his life or not. "Arthur," Uther stopped him, however, before he got too far, and Arthur turned back around. "Once the Dragon has been defeated, ans the Dragonlord has done his work, I want you to arrest him...he will be placed on trial, for his appending death."

Something struck Arthur, in that moment, something cold and wet and very disgusting, it hit him in the stomach, and nearly knocked him over. "What?" he breathed out. "You can't mean that..."

"He clearly does not have good intentions, Arthur, he has avoided my wrath for years, hid from me..." said Uther, voice laced with something dark and horrible. "A innocent man does not hide, the evils he has plagued this land with will soon end. He will do his good deed, and he will die as the reward. Do I make myself clear, Arthur?"

Arthur opened and shut his mouth, unable to think properly, his brain felt like whatever was in that stew Merlin had made them to eat last night, it was just not right...awful. He gulped. "No," he said, simply. He couldn't allow this, he wouldn't do it. "You must see reason, Father, he has agreed to help us, surely he can't be-"

"He has fed you lies!" yelled Uther, and stood suddenly. Lady Catrina let out a yelp, and stood suddenly too. "Do not allow him o brainwash you, Arthur, you are my son...you know the evils of magic!"

"Then banish him, if you cannot trust him," retorted Arthur. "Do not accept his help and then kill him after you take it, what will that look like to the people?"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE PEOPLE MAY THINK!" screamed Uther, and Lady Catrina shook her head. Arthur realized this was the first time she had seen him like this, perhaps she would be turned off now, see what she planned to marry, the real Uther, and flee. Arthur would, if he were her.

She took a few steps toward Arthur now, and reached out and placed her hands on both of his shoulders. She had a strong grip, for someone so small. "You must do as your Father says, Arthur," she told him. And the shock hit him like a rock, over the head. He look at her, stunned."He knows best, he is not telling you these things lightly, the Dragonlord must die for the crimes he has committed."

"What crimes has he committed?" retorted Arthur, anger filling him suddenly. She was just like him, just the same as him. It sickened Arthur, and he pulled away from her touch. She continued to smile at him, as if this didn't matter.

"You were not old enough to know the darkness that filled these lands before your Father washed it away," she said softly, but Arthur could sense the tone in her words, they were dark, just like Uther's. "You will do as he asks of you, Arthur. It is your duty."

(A/N: Well, as promised I re-edited this, so hopefully it is good now. Even though over a 100 people have already read it just on this site alone. I don't know if this is relevant or not, but I do post this story somewhere else too. (-clears throat- AO3.) I also am re-writing this note, like I said I would do too, because that thing was all over the place last night, for real, and I have since decided not to post when I am tired. Also, about this chapter, I love how they both blame themselves for them almost kissing, like...come on boys, stop being so dumb and just make out already! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am posting another right after this! (So, you might not read this 0,0) )