Author's note: Oh wow! 18 reviews for the last chapter. You people are the best. Special thanks to the guest ' Anastacius ' for her lovely reviews. I also thank heartily JCR and other guests to whom I couldn't PM and send my regards. Thank you all. Only 19 reviews to reach 400. ( Hint! Hint! )

Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It's the begining chapter ( and almost a filler ) of the third arc of the story. The first arc ended at chapter 16, the second arc ended on the last chapter. This arc going to be a bit smaller but still quite large, I hope.

Oh! And if anyone was wondering how Merlin looks like now in my story now, just google image search ' The Living and the dead BBC '. You'll see a bearded Colin Morgan standing beside Charleotte Spencer with a farm on the background. That's how he looks like in my story now only with a couple of scars on his face.

IMPORTANT NOTE : I forgot that Elyan had died in ' The Dark Tower '. This story had taken place after S5E11. So, there's no way Elyan should be alive in this story. I made a serious mistake by mentioning him in the chapter 31. I am in no mood to change it. So, let's just PRETEND that Elyan hadn't died. It's much easier this way. I always believed that Elyan's death was a deliberate and an avoidable thing.

The show writers had forced him to die just like they forced Arthur to die. Thus, making the finale of ' Merlin ' an ultimate crap job.

Alright! Enough with my rambling. On with the story.

Chapter 33

A Wish to Become Whole

When Merlin opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a very fluffy and comfy bed. Way more comfortable than his own bed.

" Merlin, you're awake. " Even before realizing what was happening, he found himself wrapped up in a fierce hug. When the shock subsided, he realized who it was. It was his queen, Freya. Merlin hugged her back and they remained like that for a couple seconds. Freya released her and then he was engulfed by another hug.

This time, it was his mother.

" I was so worried about you. Don't ever frighten me like that. "

Merlin smiled hearing his mother. Trust her to get being so worried about a few , minor burn injuries.

He heard the sound of a door opening and several people entering the room.

" Awww. Look at you. All being so mushy already, my queens. What happened to ' I will skin him alive '? " Someone sounded like Maes said.

Merlin was released from the hug immediately and he fell on the bed again.

" Ouch! What was that for? " He sat up on his bed and looked around the room clearly for the first time.

Maes, Roy, Gilli, Daegal, Nayem, Alator, Iseldir, Sicilia, Finna, Alice and a couple of councilors were in the room circling his bed.

And oh! There was his mother and his wife standing at the each sides of the bed. They were looking... enraged?

Wait. Why were they looking enraged? Oh yeah! The drugging incident. Now that's not going to go very well. Merlin coughed and gulped down.

" Hey! Why are you looking so angry? Mother? Freya? " Merlin inquired.

SLAP.

Merlin's head moved to the side at the sheer force his mother's hand delivered to his right cheek.

" Ouch... Hey! Come on. I am inj... " Merlin's voice died down when he looked at his mother. He knew that look very well. He knew better than to enrage her mother when she gave him that look. She looked already pretty scary. No need to pour any oil on her mother's fiery rage.

The king of Elmet looked at the other occupants of the room. Most of them were silent. Nayem and Daegal were both shaking a little. Finna looked like she was trying not to laugh. And to whoever Merlin looked, they looked the other way.

It seemed none was eager to be a victim of Queen-Mother's rage.

' Traitor. All of them. They abandoned their king. ' Merlin was furious. But he couldn't show it as his personal rage was nothing compared to his mother's wrathful gaze.

Only Alice looked at his mother with a disapproving gaze. And it was only because Merlin was her patient. All physicians were protective of their patient anyway. But still, she didn't say anything on Merlin's behalf. Maybe even she thought that Merlin deserved the scolding.

So, the king of magic looked at her queen as his last hope thinking that maybe at least his beloved would be at his side.

Oh! How disappointed he was!

" Don't look at me. You deserve it. You're lucky that mother only slapped you. If Rey ever do a thing like you've done in the battleground anyday, I will turn him into a donkey. You're lucky I'm not your mother. "

Oh boy! His queen was more angry than his mother. He was doomed.

Then, it started. The worst scolding he had ever got in his entire life. He was shouted on two front. His mother on one side and his wife on other. It went on for full fifteen minutes.

Had Alice not intervened, Merlin was sure that it would have gone for much longer.

" My queens, stop it. Give him a break. He needs to take rest. You'll give the poor boy a heart attack. " Alice said while placing herself between the queen-mother and the king saving ' the poor boy ' from her wrathful gaze.

Merlin pouted a little hearing Alice calling him a boy. Even after growing a beard and a moustache, the mistress of restoration still called him that. Merlin once complained about that. Alice's reply was: " You'll always be a boy to me, Merlin. "

After that, Merlin didn't ever complain. But that didn't stop him from pouting whenever he was called a boy.

Finally, both of the queens' rage died down and Merlin got the chance to know about his health condition. It appeared that his injury was more magical than physical. He had used unforeseen amount of magic during the lightning redirecting. His physical injuries were limited to minor external burns. But he was magically exhausted and it seemed he had been sleeping for twelve hours.

Alice said that any normal sorcerers would have died if they had wanted to redirect amplified lightning.

But Merlin was no normal sorcerer. He was the legendary Emrys. And being capable of performing impossible magical feats was one of the perks of being a legendary warlock.

All in all, Merlin was fine. Just a little ( ? ) exhausted. A few days rest and he would be fully healed.

" Where is Rey? " Merlin asked. Suddenly feeling very eager to meet his one year old son.

" He's sleeping. It looks like father and son are competing against each other on who can sleep for longer. " Freya said with a chuckle. Other occupants in the chamber sniggered also.

Merlin smiled a fond smile and then looked back at his comrades-in-arms.

" What about Arthur and his knights? " Merlin asked after getting the complete diagnosis of his physical condition from Alice.

" Arthur Pendragon is doing fine. He's in Arcaenia now. He's staying at one of the guest chambers. " Freya said with a cool tone.

" And his knights? "

" We went to the Amatan camp after the battle. It was desserted but the captive knights were not taken by the retreating army. They were left there. We freed them and brought them here. One of the district of the dead city is now their temporary home. " Roy said from one corner of the room. He was leaning against the wall while standing. His arms crossed over his chest.

Merlin frowned. " Why the dead city? "

" There are five hundreds of them. We don't have enough room to accommodate so many knights in the tower. Don't worry. We've made sure they're comfortable enough. " The Queen-mother explained.

" Very well. Battle report. " Merlin said in his formal voice.

All of the soldiers and spies present in the room straightened up and came near the king.

" Casualties? " Merlin asked.

" Nearly seven thousand enemy soldiers dead and no injured. Most of them were Amatans. But there were also many Mercians and Northumbrians. No casualty or injury on our side. " Gilli said.

" What of their bodies? "

" We buried them on the battleground. " Maes answered while rubbing one of his eyes.

" And Sauron? Dead or alive? "

" We hadn't found his body. But my guess is he's still alive. Sauron is a powerful sorcerer. I bet he conjured a shield when you threw lightning at them. He must've retreated with his army. " Maes said in a gloomy tone.

Merlin scratched his beard. " Hmm. If that's the case, then Sauron will attack again for vengeance. It might not be soon but he is tenacious from what I have heard about him. He might even try to use the cup of life even if he's not powerful enough to do it. We must struck an alliance with south and with haste. "

Everyone in the room nodded. Then Freya spoke up.

" I thought you might say that. So, I have sent an invitation to Queen Guinevere to come to our kingdom so that she can take back Arthur and his knights and while they are here in Elmet... "

" ...We can struck a deal of alliance with Camelot and her allies. " Merlin's mother finished Freya's words.

" Excellent work. You didn't forget to invite Aren, did you? " Merlin asked.

" Of course not. How can I forget my nephew? He was the centerpiece of celebration of last year. There will be no exception this year. " Freya replied as a matter of factly.

" Celebration? What celebration? " Merlin asked while frowning.

" Have you fried your brain too, Merlin? She's talking about the harvest festival's celebration, moron. " Nayem said in an exasperated tone.

" Oh yeah, I forgot about that. How's the reaping going? " Merlin asked enthusiastically.

" Cyril told me to assure you not to worry. The reaping will be complete in time. " Iseldir said with a gentle tone as always.

" I need to go join in the reaping. There's no way I'm going to miss the fun of crops reaping. " Merlin's voice sounded full of excitement.

But his excitement soon died down when Alice glared at him and said, " Oh, no. You don't. You're going to stay in bed for at least two more days. "

Merlin was going to protest but Alice cut him off. " And I am not going to change my mind no matter what you say. You're still exhausted and you need the rest. "

The king of Elmet would have said something like ' This is not fair ' or ' I am the king. You can't order me ' but he stopped himself as he looked at his wife and mother who were glaring daggers at him again.

' Maybe I shouldn't piss them off again. ' He thought to himself.

So, he said grudgingly knowing it was better not to enrage his mother again. " Alright. I'll rest but after two days, I am joining the reaping. "

Alice nodded in approval. " That's a good boy. You can do whatever you want after two days. But now you need rest. "

Then she looked at all the people present in the room and said, " You lot, get out of my infirmary. Shoo. My patient needs complete silence and rest. And by you lot, I mean all of you. "

Alice said the last of the words to the royal females.

Everyone left the room after wishing Merlin a quick recovery. Freya left the room after giving Merlin a quick kiss on his cheek and his mother gave him a soft kiss on his forehead before leaving. She and Freya gave Merlin a last piercing glare which Merlin interpreted as ' Don't you run off or we're gonna get you '.

Merlin just gulped down and looked at them with puppy dog eyes. In the end, both Freya and his mother gave a soft smile and left the room.

Finally, Alice left the room saying that she would send Aren to Merlin when he woke up.

Now Merlin was all alone in the room. And soon he realized that he was, actually very tired and before he knew it, he fell into deep slumber.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[ Three days later ]

Arthur was becoming more and more irritated, bored and worried every day. He was in this large city for three days with nothing to do except eat, sleep and wander around the city streets.

And in these three days, he never got the chance to speak with Merlin. He was assigned a valet and he informed Arthur that the king was recovering from battle wounds. With the valet's help, he wandered in the city and did some sightseeing. He had to admit that the city was amazing. It was large. Very large. It's architectural design was something he hadn't seen in his entire life. He had travelled to many cities of Albion and no city was like this one. It's walls were so impressively high and thick that a thousand catapult would not be able to make a dent on them.

The sight of the giant lake was breath-taking. The farming ground of the outer city was so large that Arthur was sure that the crops produced there every year would be able to feed the entire population of the kingdom of Camelot for at least three years.

The only place which Arthur didn't like was the deserted districts. The Elmetians called that part of the city ' The Dead City '. It was where his knights were staying. The place was creepy but they had no alternative so Arthur or his knights hadn't complained.

The magical academy was a bustling place and full of young sorcerers. This was the place where Arthur saw the most use of magic. The apprentices were using magic under their masters' guidance. At first, Arthur cringed inwardly to see the outright massive use of magic.

But after some hours, he became a little relaxed. But he still felt uneasy whenever a young student's eyes glowed gold and something blew up. A life time of superstition was not something one could overcome in a matter of few days.

It was in the academy where he met Merlin's wife, Freya. The queen of Elmet. At first sight, what Arthur could only say that she was very beautiful ( obviously not as beautiful as his wife ). After some talking, Freya made clear what his status was in the kingdom.

It appeared that he was an honored royal guest of Elmet. Freya also told him that news was sent to Camelot about his current whereabouts and Guinevere would be coming to Elmet with the entire royal court of Camelot.

When he asked about Merlin, Freya replied that the king was almost recovered and would hold a meeting with him when the Camelotians would arrive in Elmet.

Freya's answer made Arthur realize that Merlin had no wish to talk with him alone. He was just delaying the meeting deliberately.

And it was not just Merlin who was avoiding him. Almost the whole population of Elmet was avoiding him. Even his own valet cringed away whenever he asked him a question. Only Iseldir, the Druid leader whom Arthur had known before was the one of the rare few who was decent enough to talk with him politely and without cringing away.

It turned out that Iseldir was both the king's father-in-law and the marshal of the city. From Iseldir, he learnt that the royals of Elmet were looking forward to strike an alliance deal with Camelot this coming week. Arthur assured Iseldir that he was looking forward to it.

After all, an alliance with north would be beneficial for both his countries and his allies. And he would be able to learn more about magic. If he wanted to make Camelot truly free for the magical people like the Telvanis, then he would have to learn about magic as much as he could.

But that was not the main thing that made Arthur eager to make this alliance. It was Merlin. He wanted his old friend back. He wanted forgiveness from his friend. Striking an alliance with him might pave the way of forgiveness.

That's why he was trying to arrange a meeting with Merlin. But everyone was saying that the king was sick. He even went to the queen-mother. He thought that as Hunith had known him, she might help him.

But Hunith gave him the same answer. " The king is recovering. "

Hunith had changed a lot. She was no longer a village peasant or a gentle woman. She was a fierce woman who behaved very coldly with Arthur.

Arthur would be lying if he didn't say he wasn't expecting it. After all, you couldn't expect a mother to easily forgive someone who had tortured her only son.

But Arthur needed to talk to Merlin. And he needed to talk with him alone before the entourage from Camelot arrived in Elmet.

That's why he was going towards the farming land today. He heard from his valet, Liam ( Arthur learnt his name after asking three times ) that the harvest festival was on the horizon and the farmers were reaping crops for it's preparation.

To Arthur's surprise, Liam said that the king had joined the reaping today after a complete recovery.

Arthur was gobsmacked at first. He had never heard a king joining his people in farming works.

" Our king enjoys it. He says it reminds him of old days. " Liam said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Then, Arthur remembered that before Camelot, Merlin was a farmboy from Ealdor. It seemed he still hadn't forgotten about his roots. It was so like Merlin. Someone so powerful who could flatten an entire army but still so humble to join with his people in works which was considered lowly throughout all of Albion.

His friend was a better king than he could ever be. And as much as it sounded weird, Arthur had to admit that he had a lot of things to learn from Merlin. Both as a king and a human being.

But first of all, he needed to make things right. He needed to talk with Merlin and beg his forgiveness. For without his friend, he was incomplete. And he was determined to become whole again no matter what the cost was.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So, did you like it? Please drop me a line or two, would you? Your feedback is always treasured by me.

Next chapter: Merlin and Arthur's Confrontation. What will happen?

I will try to update on new year's eve.

Have a good day (or night). Happy reading.

Adios.

- Assassin of Syria.