Thankfully, Uther left once he had finished eating and he made his was pack to the palace, leaving Merlin to tidy everything up whilst Arthur pretended to not care about the servant. Once the prince was sure that his father was long gone, he moved and pulled Merlin into a hug and sighed as the warlock hugged him back.

"I am so sorry that the picnic was ruined. Are you alright?" the prince asked before he pulled back to look at merlin.

"It's alright and yeah, I just wish that we didn't have to hide or keep our relationship a secret" Merlin answered before he used magic to pack up the rest of the picnic.

"I know, my darling. It won't be forever, I promise" Arthur reassured as best as he could.

"Do you want to go somewhere else that no one knows about?" Merlin asked and Arthur nodded "Alright but you have to promise that you trust me".

"I trust you more than anyone" Arthur assured.

Merlin nodded and he smiled, he then led Arthur over to the prince's horse as Arthur loaded all of the picnic stuff into a bag, before he climbed up onto the saddle and sat in front of Merlin.

"So where is this special place?" Arthur asked.

"Go north, I'll direct you" merlin answered as they began to make their way through the forest.

"What is it?" Arthur glanced at Merlin.

"Somewhere that I can be myself." Merlin answered in a dreamy voice.

They walked through the forest for a few minutes before they came to a cave. Merlin jumped off of the horse and he walked towards the cave, Arthur followed with his horse and they all walked into the darkness, Merlin used magic to conjure up a glowing orb to light up the path. At the end of the tunnel there was some hanging leaves, Merlin walked through them and Arthur followed. The sight that met Arthur's eyes was amazing. There was flowers and a stream, trees, and a small waterfall.

"Wow" Arthur thought out loud.

Merlin smiled "I know". He then walked over to the waterfall "Athisua!"

Arthur turned to look at Merlin and out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a white Dragon slowly walking out from behind the waterfall. His eyes widened in fear as he drew his sword "Merlin, stay back!"

"It's alright." Merlin stated as he walked towards the creature, knelling down and he stroked the Dragon "Did you sleep well, my friend?"

Arthur watched as the Dragon curled up beside Merlin. "That's amazing".

"His name's Athisua. He won't hurt you" Merlin looked at Arthur. "Come over here" he instructed as he held his hand out to the prince.

Arthur hesitated but he put his sword back on his belt, he cautiously walked over to where Merlin was, and he grabbed the warlock's hand. Merlin gently pulled him down so that they were both kneeling in front of the dragon, anxiety filled the prince as Merlin slowly started to move his hand so that it was in front of the dragon.

"Merlin?" Arthur gulped but he froze when he felt scales underneath his palm, the prince soon realised that Aithusa was nuzzling at his hand and he smiled in shock "I'm stroking a dragon".

Merlin smiled at the prince as he let go of Arthur's hand "He likes you".

As the afternoon progressed, Arthur sat down on the grass next to a tree, whilst Merlin played with Athisua. The prince watched with a smile on his face and he chuckled when the Dragon jumped on Merlin's back, causing the warlock to stumble forwards.

Merlin fell onto the ground with the Dragon on his back "You rascal!" He laughed.

Athisua let out a few noises and Arthur realised the Dragon was laughing, the dragon climbed off of Merlin and he began to roll around in the grass.

"Doesn't he speak?" Arthur asked.

Merlin stood up and he looked at Arthur "He lost the ability to talk. He communicates with me through our minds, but he can make some noises like laughing or growling".

Athisua nuzzled at Merlin's hand.

Merlin stroked the Dragon and he smiled at his friend "I've got something for you".

Athisua did an excited run on the spot, he seemed to be smiling and Arthur smiled at how cute the Dragon was. Merlin walked over to where Arthur was sat, he grabbed his satchel. He pulled out a few pieces of meat out of the bag. He then turned around to look at the Dragon. Athisua then saw what Merlin was holding and he started to excitedly jump around. Merlin threw the chunk of pork in the air and Athisua caught it. The Dragon then happily walked over to the stream to eat the food, whilst Merlin sat next to Arthur.

"You can talk to dragons?" Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded "I'm a Dragonlord. The last one at that. It's my job to care for the dragons of this world. No one will ever or has ever been more powerful than I am" he explained as he watched Athisua.

Arthur put his arm around Merlin's shoulders, and he pulled him close "I will keep Aithusa a secret. No one will find out about him or you".

Merlin looked at Arthur "Thank you".

Arthur kissed Merlin and their kiss soon became passionate. The Prince placed his hand on the warlock's hip and Merlin cupped his cheek in his hand.

Aithusa let out a few happy noises and he ran over to curl up next to Merlin. He rested his head on the warlock's lap and he closed his eyes t nap. Merlin and Arthur looked at Aithusa and they smiled as they stroked the Dragon.

Unfortunately, it was soon time to go back to the kingdom, which meant Merlin and Arthur would have to pretend to only be friends in front of everyone. However, walking through the castle when no one was around provided Arthur a lot of confidence.

"Hey, Merlin", Arthur hissed before walking to a broom cupboard.

Merlin followed only to be pushed inside as Arthur shut them both in. "Arthur?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't wait any longer" The Prince stated.

Merlin tried to question but as he opened his mouth Arthur stole a heated kiss. The warlock was surprised at first, but he cupped the Prince's face in his hands, and he returned the kiss as Arthur cupped the back of his head in his hand.

In the midst of everything, Gwen was on her way to put her mop and bucket away. She opened the door and gasped, alerting Merlin and Arthur that their cover had been blown.

"Gwen?" Merlin asked and he felt Arthur tense up "I can explain".

They tried to keep her there to tell her to keep the whole thing a secret, but she hurried off. Gwen ran straight to Guias since she had promised to help out there.

"Crap!" Arthur breathed in frustration.

"Gwen will not tell on us, she would never risk it because she could be killed if people think that she is lying" Merlin stated.

"How do you know that? I cannot control any of this now, my father might find out. Someone might harm or even kill you!" The Prince was panicking, and he was scared that Merlin would be hurt if Uther found out about the relationship.

Merlin cupped Arthur's cheeks in his hands and the prince looked at him, he started to stroke Arthur's cheeks with his thumbs and he slowly exhaled "I am going to go and find Gwen, I am going to explain everything to her, and I know that she is not going to tell Uther about us."

Arthur nodded and he kissed Merlin "Please be careful".

"I am always careful" Merlin smiled lovingly at Arthur before he kissed the Prince again. He then snuck out of the cupboard and he started to walk down the long corridor as he began his search for Gwen 'God I really hope that she does not tell anyone about me and Arthur' he thought.