INTRODUCTION

Foolish. It was a foolish thing to do, he knew that. But it was the only way.

How would he react? Would he be able to understand? After everything he has done – no, sacrificed - for Camelot, for everyone, he deserved a bit of trust in return, didn't he?

Merlin cursed as his foot hit a root which nearly caused him to sprawl to the ground, regaining his footing just in time. "Clumsy and foolish, the two most accurate adjectives to describe the greatest warlock ever to walk the earth…" he thought bitterly and turned his attention back to the path, barely recognisable in the pale moonlight, before him.

He had already traveled the whole night, heading east away from Camelot with only the cold as his constant companion. He tugged his brown leather jacket tighter around him and fastened his pace a little to keep the shivering at bay. "It will be worth it…. It will be worth it" he kept repeating in his head. Even if the hardest part was yet to come, it calmed him to think that everything would turn out well in the end.

"Have you lost your mind?" he recalled Gaius responding to his plan the day before. "You can't be serious about this!" Merlin was serious. Dead serious. "Do you have any idea what could happen if Arthur doesn't react the way you want him to?"

"It's the only way, Gaius" he had defended his intentions.

"I cannot go on living like that anymore. The longer I hide who I am the sooner I will become a person that I am not. I don't expect you to understand, really, I can't expect that from anyone, but I just need you to trust me with this. And Arthur's ready, I can feel it." The old physician had let out a small sigh. "Merlin, I trust you with my life, you know that. But is faking your own kidnapping really the only way?! Think about it, this is just foolish."

Now that word definitely got a whole other dimension.

Yet, Merlin did not care. Sometimes things require silly decisions, even if his own was quite a grave one. He had the whole destiny of Albion resting on his shoulders, which for Merlin was another reason to at last free himself of the burden of hiding his true identity. His longing to finally be free, to be who he was born to be, had grown unbearable over the past few months. Under the reign of King Arthur and his wife Guinevere Camelot was enjoying a time of peace and prosperity, obtained by numeral treaties with neighbouring kingdoms. There have been no hostile attacks in months, neither from enemy soldiers nor bandits striving through Camelot's woods. In brief, all was well. Except for Merlin who still had to keep his biggest secret: his magic.

And after five years of hiding, he was tired of it.

So he had made a plan.

A/N: Do you want me to continue? This idea came to me in a dream, how silly that may sound :D

Please keep in mind that English is not my first language so there might be a chance that you'll find mistakes in my chapters. If so, please tell me in your reviews so I can correct them :)