A/N: Wow! The response for this story has been awesome! Thanks a lot m'dears! So now for sure this is the true end of the story…I won't be putting an epilogue. I guess this will be the epilogue in a way. Hope you all enjoy it!

Pairings: None

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own "Merlin"

Merlin walked into Arthur's chambers. He closed the doors behind him and faced Arthur. The Prince was staring straight at him. Merlin, out of abject fear, did not move from his spot by the doors.

Arthur had a blank expression on his face and Merlin, for the first time in his life yet, was at a loss for words. The servant stared determinedly at the floor and silently waited for Arthur to start the topic.

The Prince stared for a while longer increasing Merlin's fear with the continual silence. And then all Merlin heard was a quiet, "I don't believe it..."

Merlin's eyes shot up to lock with the Prince's. However, his brain seemed to have packed up and gone on an impromptu vacation so no words passed his lips.

Arthur shook his head and said, "You lied to me...you've been lying to me since the first day we met!"

Merlin gulped and had the slight satisfaction of knowing that his brain had returned from its vacation then softly said, "You don't understand...I would have told you..."

Arthur's eyes narrowed as he hissed, "No you wouldn't have! If the five year old you hadn't done that bit of magic I would probably have never found out about it!"

Merlin tried to say that it wasn't true but instead what came out of his mouth was the question that had been bothering the warlock since Gaius had told him about the incident, "How come you didn't throw me in the dungeons when you saw that I had magic?"

Arthur's anger fizzled and died out. He stared at Merlin in shock, feeling bitter disappointment at Merlin's question. The servant, like Gaius, also believed the Prince to be the kind of man who would throw a five year old child in the dungeons.

He whispered, "You truly believe I would have done that?"

He saw Merlin's face contort in confusion and realized his disappointment must have leaked out in the question.

Merlin said, "I just...it's happened before...well no not exactly...but...you know you just..."

Arthur's mind zeroed in on just three words, 'It's happened before'. Was this how Merlin saw him? Was this why Merlin didn't trust him? If it was the reason then Arthur couldn't even blame the servant.

Merlin seemed to have realized his folly and tried to rectify it, "No, I meant you haven't personally done..."

Arthur didn't let Merlin complete his statement, "Is that how you see me? Am I really that monstrous?"

The Prince knew he'd pushed Merlin into a corner so he wasn't surprised when the disgruntled warlock lashed out by saying, "It's not as if it's my fault! One minute you say you think magic is not as evil as your father makes it out to be then the next you tell me that magic is evil and the people who use it should be punished. I could never tell if it was safe enough to say anything! You would be attacked almost every day by some sorcerer or the other, which clearly didn't help matters! What did you want me to do? I used to watch people like me burn at the stake and some people weren't even true sorcerers! Sometimes you act like my friend and I think I might be able to tell you. But then you turn around and treat me like dirt the next second and I lose my confidence..." The last part was whispered forlornly. The servant was breathing heavily by the time his tirade had come to an end.

Arthur stared at Merlin impassively finally relaxing his tense posture. The servant was right. Arthur had never given any indication that he would let Merlin go if his magic was revealed.

However the Prince, though he had never said it out loud, did consider Merlin a friend so he said a little angrily, "Of course I consider you a friend. You really think a normal servant would have gotten away with insulting me! I've told you things that I haven't told anyone else. I've trusted you with information no one is privy to! Hell I even stood up for you and broke the law to help you! What did you think that was? A joke?"

Merlin turned angry eyes to Arthur as he said, "I know you've helped me but with your opinion of magic I had a feeling you'd take it as the ultimate betrayal if I turned out to be a sorcerer! Not only that, I could never have expected you to take my side for that particular offense. The other times you've helped me you knew you were in the right. You knew your father had been wrong. Don't lie to me! That was the only reason you helped me! But with magic you agree with your father!"

Arthur blinked, slightly surprised. He thought back to his actions and couldn't help but agree with Merlin. He had helped the servant because he had known that his father was wrong.

Merlin continued, "And any time I've been accused of magic, you thought me to be too much of an idiot to be a sorcerer. So you once again knew your father was wrong."

Arthur leaned heavily back in his chair and closing his eyes pinched the bridge of his nose. The anger that had been roiling inside of him like an inferno had been extinguished by Merlin's words.

The Prince sighed and said, "How did you even acquire this type of magic?"

Merlin dropped his head down to the floor and said, "I was born with that power. I never had a choice in the matter."

Arthur opened his eyes in surprise and stared at the bowed head of his servant. It was a highly disconcerting posture. Merlin never bowed to Arthur.

The Prince said softly, "Born with it...? Well I guess that makes sense. I was wondering how a five year old child could move objects across a room without uttering a single phrase or breaking a sweat."

Merlin looked up and blinked, "Oh...that's what I did. Gaius didn't know everything. Just that I'd done magic in front of you when I was stuck as a child. Do I have permission to ask you exactly what happened?"

Arthur sighed, "Stop talking so formally! I'm not as barbaric as you seem to think. You had no choice when it came to the magic you were given Merlin!"

Merlin stared wide-eyed at the Prince and then slowly a tentative grin started forming on his features. It turned into a full-blown smile as Merlin asked, "So you're not going to have me executed?"

Arthur smirked and said, "Well I think that depends on the answer you give me to the question of who that potion was actually meant for?"

The Prince watched as Merlin's smile dropped and a mischievous light entered the servant's eyes as he said, "Why, I would only ever do anything like that for one person in this world..."

Arthur's eyes narrowed as his suspicions arose and he said, "And who would that person be Merlin? Now I tell you to be very careful how you answer that question, the wrong answer could lead you straight to the chopping block...or pyre, whichever I prefer."

Merlin gave a wicked smirk and said, "There is this dollop head that I know who got me so angry that I needed to have my revenge!"

Arthur stood up off his chair and said, "I knew it! You made that potion for me!"

Merlin looked innocently at Arthur and said, "I said dollop head...I didn't say you...do you consider yourself to be one Sire?"

Arthur lifted the goblet lying on the table and hurled at Merlin. The servant squeaked and Arthur saw his eyes flash gold as the goblet stopped inches from Merlin's head. Then Merlin gave a panicked glance towards Arthur and released his hold on the goblet. It fell to the floor clanging ominously.

Arthur, surprisingly, felt a jolt of something that felt remarkably like excitement shoot through his body. He stared at Merlin's fearful countenance thoughtfully then said, "Well, we definitely have a lot of talking to do, but this time around you will not lie about anything, understood?"

Merlin nodded his head vigorously. Then Arthur said, "Not now though. The talk is for later. For now...I want to try something."

Arthur smiled deviously and Merlin gave the Prince a confused look.

Merlin huffed and sat on his haunches saying, "I can't do this anymore! This is not right! My magic is not supposed to be used for this!"

Arthur gave Merlin a blank stare and said, "Well then...you can call it punishment for lying to me for so long!"

Merlin gave Arthur an exasperated look saying, "What if someone sees this?"

Arthur smirked and said, "That is what I'm here for. Obviously you're an idiot so you wouldn't be able to tell if someone was coming. But I'm an excellent fighter and a very skilled hunter so I can hear things like footsteps miles away."

Merlin rolled his eyes and said, "Nice to see your ego didn't go anywhere while I was away! But I can't believe I have to do this for the whole castle! Besides you following me and not doing your work isn't exactly a good thing!"

Arthur shrugged and said innocently, "Well I'll have you in the stocks for that tomorrow."

Merlin looked at the Prince aghast, "What? Why? It's not my fault you've never seen good magic before and are following me to appease your curiosity!"

Arthur gave Merlin an annoyed look, "I am not curious. I'm just trying to keep you safe. You should feel honoured that the Prince cares for your safety."

After that Arthur paused for a beat, thinking, and then softly asked a question, "Something's been bothering me for a while now. If I had sentenced you to death would you have escaped?"

Merlin stared at Arthur intently then said, "No."

Arthur turned to Merlin in surprise, "What? Why? It's not like you wouldn't have been able to!"

Merlin shrugged and said, "If you wanted me dead then I wouldn't try to escape. I wouldn't have much to live for if you didn't want me around now would I?" Merlin knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do but his loyalties lay with Arthur and if the Prince wanted him dead then that was what would occur.

Arthur stared at Merlin. The Prince was clearly uncomfortable with the topic so he promptly changed it, "Well don't just sit around! Get up and continue. We have a long way to go!"

Merlin allowed for the subject change scowling and stubbornly sitting on the floor saying, "I refuse to do this! It is utter madness! At the very least you should be using my skills for maybe setting up traps around the castle so it would stop any intruders from coming in."

Arthur looked at Merlin contemplatively and then asked, "You can do that?"

Merlin jumped at the chance and said, "Yes absolutely!"

Arthur 'hmmed' and stared at the warlock some more before saying, "Alright, it's decided! You'll be setting up traps where I tell you to and doing your current job."

Merlin sighed, frustrated but eventually nodded his head. He was after all quite happy the Prince had accepted his magic...of course cleaning up the entire castle while Arthur gave the servants a vacation was not the scenario he had in mind when his magic was revealed.

A/N: There you have it! It's done! Thank you very much for sticking with this story! Also please review. Even though it's done I'm hoping you all keep reviewing. Any and all feedback is welcome. Even if you're reading this a year after it's been published I'll still be very happy if you review! Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it!