A/N: Updates will probably be slower, as uni starts on Monday - sorry!

CHAPTER 7

After the bandit attack, Merlin starts to use his magic in front of Arthur. It begins small. Just lighting fires and heating bathwater with an ever-so-subtle flash of his eyes that Arthur can choose to ignore if he wants to.

Oddly, Arthur finds he doesn't want to. He has never been up close to magic before and now finds himself peculiarly captivated by it. This version of sorcery seems so far from that which he has encountered before. Not dark and ominous, but bubbly and joyous; a little like Merlin himself, although Arthur would never voice that thought aloud.

More stories emerge, these ones light-hearted and comedic. Princess Elena and the Sidhe, King Olaf and his Trickler and, of course, the gold-loving Goblin who had possessed Gaius.

"It was an accident!" Merlin exclaims when Arthur discovers it was he who unleashed the Goblin, but the servant's protests come across insincere when he's still laughing at the memory of Arthur's donkey ears fifteen minutes after the conversation is over.

News arrives that King Lot is gathering his army at Camelot's border on the same day a sighting of Morgana is reported. This pairing of terrible news sends the council into uproar and panic, Morgana's brief rule still a fresh and horrible memory for them all.

"We need to send the bulk of our forces to the Essetir border," Arthur insists with a confidence he does not entirely feel. "Lot is a definite threat, Morgana only a possible one. She could be miles from where the scout saw her by now."

Merlin approaches him after the meeting with a tentative idea.

"What if there were a more efficient way to search for Morgana and keep an eye on Lot's army? What if someone could scout above..." He hesitates. "...from the sky?"

It takes scarcely half a second for Arthur to process this, after which he leaps to his feet so fast that his chair topples to the ground.

"The Dragon isn't dead, is it?!"

Merlin grimaces. "You chucked me out before I got the chance to tell you."

Arthur runs scenarios in his head, trying to strategise how to defend from Lot's armies, Morgana and a dragon. What if they all attack at once? From different directions? What if-

Merlin's eyes flash and he pushes Arthur into a chair that the Regent King belatedly realises must have been righted with magic. "Arthur, calm down. How do you think we defeated the Dragon last time?"

"Well I-" Arthur stops. Everything clicks into place. "I didn't defeat it, did I?"

Merlin smiles apologetically. "The Dragonlord power passes down from father to son. I was the one who stopped Kilgharrah."

"Kilgharrah?" Arthur's tone drips with disdain. "That monster has a name?"

"Kilgharrah has helped Camelot," Merlin says solemnly. "He told me how to defeat the troll masquerading as the Lady Katrina, he knew how to break Trickler's love spell, he saved my life when I was stung by a Serket-"

"A Serket?!" Arthur surges upward again, chair clattering back onto the floor. "The Serket's sting is fatal."

Merlin's eyes spark gold and the chair springs back up. "I was very lucky."

"Don't be ridiculous," Arthur says brusquely. "If you had been stung by a Serket I would have known."

Merlin's shoulders droop. He suddenly looks very tired. "I did try to tell you."

I was dying.

I don't have time for this. The future of the kingdom rests upon my shoulders. Do you have any idea what this feels like?

Well...

Arthur slowly sinks back down into his chair. "So when you said you were dying..?"

"I was dying." Merlin takes a seat - his seat - opposite the Regent King. "Briefly. Then Kilgharrah saved me."

Arthur feels numb. When he was younger, on one of his first patrols with his father and the knights, he had seen the aftermath of a Serket attack. Corpses had littered the forest floor, some of their faces still frozen in the contorted agony that came with the Serket's deadly poison. How long would the servant have been missing, before anyone decided to look for him? What might his face have looked like when they found him?

"Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Arthur barks a humourless, disbelieving laugh. "You were stung by a Serket and you're asking if I'm alright?"

"Well, it was a while ago now..."

"You were dying and I didn't believe you." Try as he might, Arthur can't shake the imagined picture of Merlin long dead from a beast he had to face alone. "Why didn't I believe you?"

"I told you I was a sorcerer once too," Merlin half-heartedly attempts to lighten the mood. "You said I was in love with Gwen, remember?"

Arthur ignores this, although he does mark the false smile and chuckle Merlin adopts with practiced ease. How many times has he believed this false cheeriness without question?

"This... Kilgharrah... He saved you?"

Merlin's eyes alight, this time with genuine happiness, at Arthur's use of the Dragon's name. "Yes. He's a creature of powerful magic. He removed the poison and stayed with me as I healed."

There's a knock at the door and Arthur curses. He had forgotten his meeting with Percival, to discuss equipment requirements for the soldiers going to the Essetir border.

Merlin stands to answer, but Arthur snags his sleeve before he can leave the table.

"I'll meet him." Arthur says hurriedly. "The Dragon. Kilgharrah. Can you arrange that?"

Merlin is stunned. "Really?"

"Yes." Arthur releases his servant's sleeve. "And, er, take the rest of the day off."

Merlin is even more taken aback by that and, as he goes to let Percival in, Arthur hears him mutter,

"I should almost die more often..."

They meet Kilgharrah a few nights later, in the same clearing where Arthur had thought he struck the Dragon a mortal blow. Merlin bellows a guttural command in an unrecognisable language and Arthur stares at him as if he has just sprouted a new head.

"What? It's Dragon Tongue."

"It sounds ridiculous."

Merlin glowers. "It is a powerful, ancient language."

Arthur smirks. "Still sounds ridiculous."

Their argument is cut short by the fast-approaching thump thump thump of enormous wingbeats. Arthur looks up and sees an enormous shadow in the evening sky, growing yet larger as it flies towards them. His heart starts pounding, memories of the last time he had been here suddenly fresh in his mind. He thinks of burnt flesh, the screams of his men... Then Merlin squeezes his elbow, bringing him back to wet grass and owls hooting in the trees, as the Dragon lands with such force that the ground trembles.

Kilgharrah towers tens of feet above them, his amber eyes surveying the two with apparent pleasure. "I did not think I should live to see this day." He bends his scaly knees in a deferential bow.

Arthur looks panickedly to Merlin, who shrugs haplessly. What is one supposed to do when shown respect by such an immense, awe-inspiring creature?

"Kilgharrah." Arthur is glad that his voice, at least, remains firm and confident. "I have heard a great deal about you. I wish to apologise."

Kilgharrah straightens from his bow, blinking in surprise. "I would have thought that you would be the one to demand an apology from me, young King."

Merlin, too, is perplexed. "Arthur, you don't have to-"

"I do," Arthur cuts across him. "I have to apologise for the extermination of your kind under my father's rule. It may not have been my decision, but as Regent King it is my responsibility now. And I am sorry."

"Just like Merlin, you show a great clemency. What you have shown is what you shall be - the true Once and Future King." It is strange, hearing Kilgharrah speak. His words resonate around the clearing, bringing with them a gravitas that makes Arthur suddenly far less scornful of the prophecies Merlin had spoken of. "I pledge my fealty to you, King Arthur, as I have to Merlin. Dragons once roamed Camelot freely, offering their magic and their lives to help their Kingdom. As the last of my kind, I hope you will allow me to continue this tradition."

"Well as it happens," Merlin pipes up, grinning mischievously. "We actually have a favour to ask..."

Kilgharrah's assistance proves invaluable. Although he does not see Morgana, he spies the movement of Lot's armies from miles away and reports back to Merlin daily. Arthur then strategises according to this information, which is so accurate that rumours start spreading of a master spy who Arthur has snuck deep into Lot's inner circle. At Essetir's every attack, Camelot is ready with twice their forces, and Arthur is amazed and relieved at the lack of casualties reported after each skirmish. Eventually Lot accepts defeat and extends a begrudging message of peace via messenger to Camelot.

"You were right," Arthur acknowledges, accepting defeat in his own begrudging manner that evening as Merlin gets him ready for bed. "We would never have been able to do it without Kilgharrah's help."

"Thank you for giving him a second chance," Merlin responds, but Arthur fancies that what the servant really means is, Thank you for giving me a second chance.