This is a little story I've wanted to do for awhile, set in a nebulous, AU of Season 4 of the show. It might need a little suspension of disbelief, but I hope the story makes up for that.

-0-

Gaius stared at the shuffling knights in surprise. His fingers, in the middle of making a tincture, had paused. "You want to what?"

At first there was no answer before Elyan nudged at Gwaine. He glared at the knight that had poked him, but Gaius had turned his intense stare at the young man. He knew very well how uncomfortable his silent gazes could be; he broke Merlin all the time using them and it didn't fail in its job on Gwaine either.

"Prolong the wedding."

"Of Arthur and Gwen? Why?"

This time it was Lancelot who answered. "It's clear to everyone except themselves that Merlin and Arthur are in love with each other." He tilted his head and Lancelot's eyes were clear with honesty as he said, "This has nothing to do with my feelings for Gwen. This is what's best for Arthur and Merlin, and even Gwen herself."

Gaius looked from one knight to another as he protested, "The wedding is three weeks away, how are you going to stop it? I do hope you realize that just telling them this isn't going to do any good."

"So you know?" Percival asked cautiously.

"Of course I know," Gaius scoffed at him and put down the bottles he was still holding. "Merlin is terrible at hiding things; I could see the moment it was happening, to both of them. I also know that neither one realizes it and they will, of course, immediately deny it if you confront them on the issue."

"That's why we need your help—"

"And what do you think I could do?" he interrupted Leon. "There is very little that can stop the wedding. Regardless of how they truly feel about each other, Arthur is infatuated with Gwen and her with him. I do hope you are not going to do something to imply Gwen or Arthur was unfaithful to each other."

"No!" Elyan burst out. "No, never!"

He eyed the knight. "And how do you feel about this, Elyan? Gwen is your sister. There is no better chance of changing her status than now."

"It's not about that, Gaius. I love Gwen, but I'm impartial enough to see that being queen won't make her happy. Eventually Merlin and Arthur will realize their feelings, probably five or seven years down the road, and then everyone will be miserable. Arthur is too noble to take Merlin as a bedmate while married, Merlin is too self-sacrificing even to ask, and Gwen will be able to see it all and know she never really had Arthur's heart. I don't want her growing embittered. Let's not even consider the pressure to be perfect as Arthur's queen."

"…You've really given that a lot of thought. You think Merlin could handle the pressure to be perfect better?"

"No, it's just that he won't care," Gwaine said confidently. "He won't care about being perfect or how what he said can be perceived. He'll just go on and do whatever he thinks is best, and frankly, Arthur needs that. He's in a stressful position as King and the more someone like Gwen worries about being perfect and how they're perceived, the more Arthur worries."

Slowly Gaius eased down to sit on a stool. The knights had given this a lot of thought, yet they had clearly failed to come up with any course of action. Of course his own first impulse was to agree for Merlin's sake; anything to make that boy happy after all he'd sacrificed. "I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you boys. You do realize how stubborn Arthur and Merlin are, and there is very little that will get Arthur to break off the engagement with Gwen. Not only because it will hurt her, but also because he's already asked and wedding proceedings have already begun. It would be an embarrassment to him. Unless it was dire, to save Merlin's life or Gwen's, I don't believe there's anything you could say to Arthur that would get him to change his mind."

There was a moment of silence before Gwaine began to smile. "Gaius, that's perfect."

He raised his eyebrow. "What is?"

"Merlin's life! We tell Arthur that we've heard that people are beginning to really suspect Merlin has magic and there's rumors about him being executed. Even Arthur knows that he can't refuse to execute Merlin just because he's his manservant!"

He felt cold slither through him. Gaius tried to tell himself that Gwaine was just using Merlin and magic together as an example, as a tool, but the knowledge was in the knight's eyes that this was the truth. Lancelot was the first to notice his reaction and he frowned. "Gaius, are you all right? You're pale."

"Why would you suggest Merlin has magic?"

"...Please tell me I just didn't give Merlin's secret away and you didn't know…" Gwaine mumbled as Percival smacked his head.

"Of course I knew!" he snapped, angry that Merlin was so foolish as to tell other people about his magic. Hadn't he learned—

"I saw Merlin perform magic when I fought the griffin, and we've all seen little things here and there that Merlin doesn't think we saw," Lancelot said, attempting to reassure him.

"And Arthur?"

"Is not as oblivious as Merlin thinks he is," Percival said with a sigh. "We've discussed Merlin's magic between us, but Merlin doesn't know that we know. Arthur said to wait to say anything because Merlin wasn't ready to tell us on his own so we'd just ignore it."

Gaius sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. He had suspected something like this would happen eventually; Merlin was far too loose with his magic, it was bound to happen eventually. "So you mean to tell Arthur that marrying Merlin is the only way to save him, when in fact, as king, he could merely ban the execution order?"

"He can, but he won't. It would mean risking potential allies and even advisers turning against him," Leon said. "If they do, they could ease among the people and encourage civil war."

"And Arthur marrying Merlin, a warlock and a man at that, wouldn't?"

"Well they're just rumors, right?" Gwaine stressed. "There's no proof and if he just marries Merlin and tells no one about his magic, it just seems as if he's fallen in love and married a man. They can't even really argue about the status of Merlin, considering that Arthur was planning on marrying Gwen."

"And what of Gwen in all this?"

"An initial heartbreak is better than finding out later down the road and being miserable," Percival explained with a grim expression.

"We'll help her through it," Elyan vowed.

Gaius sighed. There was no dissuading the knights and he couldn't bring himself, in his heart of hearts, to argue against it when it could mean happiness for the boy he considered his son.

-0-

Arthur lifted his head from where it was buried in a treaty as he heard a knock. Merlin never knocked and it wasn't the dainty one of Gwen. "Come in," he called, rubbing at a smudge of ink on his fingers. He frowned when he saw it was Gwaine, followed by Percival, Leon, Lancelot, and Elyan. They appeared grimly serious, even Gwaine. "What is it?"

Leon made sure the door was closed and Elyan took a quick look in his room to make sure he was alone. "Sire, we have come on an urgent matter."

"What matter, Leon?"

"It's about Merlin."

All the possible scenarios, the declarations of wars and blighting of crops, stopped and he sighed heavily in annoyance. "What's he done now?" he complained, flopping back in his chair.

"It's nothing he's done, at least right now, but we've heard…rumors."

"About?"

"That he is a mage."

His annoyance turned to concern in an instant. He'd known for two years that Merlin had magic, but as his friend had refused to confide in him, he'd seen no reason to make the boy's life any easier by admitting he knew. That didn't mean he and his knights weren't doing what they could to make sure he kept his silly head. "Do you know who started the rumors?"

"No," Gwaine answered, crossing his arms, "but I don't think we can ignore it either. The execution laws still stand."

"Then I'll remove them. It won't matter then that he's a mage."

"Yes it will," Percival told him, leaning over the desk just a little. "You can't just remove the law without risking your position and if you do that without warning, then people are really going to get suspicious and look at him even more."

"And you can't protect just him," Elyan finished. "You'd seem overly partial to Merlin, as he's just your manservant to most, and even if you could stop the execution, you'd be forced by pressure to at least send him away from Camelot."

His first instinct was to tell them they were wrong, to walk out of his room, to the balcony, and proclaim the law was rescinded right then for Merlin's sake, but they made very valid points that he couldn't deny. How much harder did Merlin have to make it to keep saving his rear every time he did something stupid? Did he have any idea the position he put Arthur in, having to choose between his crown and his best friend?

"You wouldn't have come here without a solution," he pointed out. "What do you suggest?"

It was Lancelot who answered, stepping up to the desk and seeming to square his shoulders, as if he anticipated a negative reaction to what he was about to say. "Marry Merlin, sire. If you do and Merlin's magic is truly revealed, you have a reason to remove the law and can protect him without sending him away."

Arthur's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Being your queen, in his case consort, offers Merlin the best protection," Leon argued. "There is no safer position in the land and it would at least prevent Merlin from foolishly leaving Camelot to protect you, or attempting to help from a distance where we can't save him."

His vocal cords felt frozen as he stared at the four men in front of him. They were his friends and he trusted their judgment, but how could they suggest he stop his wedding to Gwen for Merlin? Merlin would never stand for it and how could he break Gwen's heart for this? The memory of turning to his father and proclaiming that he would marry for love was still fresh and it felt like a smack in his face to break off the engagement.

Yet Merlin's life was as stake. There was no way he could move to protect him in the normal way without undermining his own somewhat tenuous position and if he lost influence because of it, it would prevent him from being able to protect him when he really needed it. It wasn't as if he didn't care for Merlin, because he did; Merlin was his best friend and his confidant. No matter what he said to the contrary, he couldn't bear the idea that he wouldn't be at his side.

It would be a long hard road, supposing Merlin accepted. They would be married legally, but not physically. He could not sleep with another while married to Merlin and he couldn't find any manner of delusion to make him believe that Merlin would accept being intimate with him. Having sex with men was not something unknown to him. As a prince it was vital that he make sure that he didn't bear any children out of wedlock and so he had quite a bit of experience with them. However, there was no way he could ask that of Merlin. He would have to assure him that he was not expecting him to fulfill the role of consort in the bedroom even if he would have to move there.

"And you think he would agree?"

"We're trusting that you can persuade him, sire," Leon told him. "It's for his own good."

"Since when has that ever made a difference with Merlin?" he muttered.

-0-

"No! You can't call off your wedding with Gwen just for this!"

"Merlin," Arthur complained with a sigh, watching as the man paced back and forth in the king's bedroom. "There is no 'just this'. It's your life we're talking about here and I can't protect you any other way if it comes out that you have magic, have had magic in the past, and didn't tell anyone about it."

"I can protect myself! I won't let you ruin your happiness and Gwen's happiness, just for me! And why didn't you tell me you knew about my magic?!"

"That's an argument for a whole other day, Merlin, and believe me when I say we'll be having it later," Arthur promised him darkly. "Right now, you need to say yes."

"I need to say yes to marry you, therefore preventing you and Gwen from having what you both want?!"

"Yes."

"Have you explained any of this to her?"

"Not yet. I need you to agree first, or there's no point in saying anything."

"Oh, so you do realize that telling the love of your life that you would love to, but you can't marry her because you have to marry your male manservant to save his life, therefore meaning his life is worth more than the love you share is not the best way to keep her?"

"Of course I know that, Merlin!" he all but shouted, flopping back on his bed and staring at the canopy above him. "What choice do I have?! I can't see you die, I can't send you away, and I can't protect you without risking your life regardless!"

It was the silence that made Arthur look up at Merlin. He had stopped pacing and there was a heartbreakingly sad look in his eyes that always made him feel his heart sink to his feet. Could he ever, just for once, be a little selfish? He had never asked Arthur for anything for himself, really, and didn't he know that no matter what it was, he'd give it to him?

"You always said you'd marry for love."

"And I will, just not…that kind of love," Arthur told him quietly, standing up and lightly touching Merlin's shoulder. "I swear you will be safe, no matter what it takes." He hesitated once before plunging on. "You don't need to worry about… I won't ask you to…"

"What?"

"You don't need to fulfill the role of queen in the bedroom," he said after clearing his throat.

Bright red colored Merlin's cheeks and he immediately dropped his eyes to the floor. Clearly that had never occurred to him and Arthur cursed that he'd brought it up. "So are we agreed?"

"…Yes," Merlin said with a sigh and closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Arthur. I'm…so sorry."

"It's not your fault," he whispered, reaching over to the desk and picking up a small leather pouch. He reached in and pulled out a ring he'd had made, grabbing his friend's hand. At feeling the cold metal touch his skin, Merlin's eyes opened and they were that infinite sadness again. As the ring settled on his knuckle, Arthur found himself reaching out and pulling Merlin to him, into a hug. No matter his feelings, he had to be the strong one right then. "We'll figure this out, I promise. First we just have to make sure I can keep you safe."

"But because I was stupid and careless with my magic, now people think I'm a sorcerer and I've ruined your chances with Gwen and I've made your promise to Uther a lie and—"

"Merlin…it's fine. It's not a lie and I won't sacrifice your life for my…feelings for Gwen. I'm just sorry I have to ask you this, but it's really the only way that I can see to help you."

Merlin's arms finally came around him in return and he felt the tremble go through his friend, just once before he got ahold of himself and stepped back. "So what's going to happen now?"

"I have to talk to Gwen, tell her the truth, and then…make the announcement to Camelot." He turned to the door, mentally trying to get the words he wanted to say in order, when Merlin's voice stopped him cold.

"I won't…be upset…if you're still with her. I mean, I know you love her and you can…"

"No, Merlin. I won't dishonor her or you like that." He gave a smile that felt strained to him and hoped it didn't show. "Like I said, we'll work it out later. I'd rather be celibate than at your funeral."

"You look like you're going to your own."

Arthur turned back to the door and sighed. "Maybe I am," he said and stepped out.