A/N: And we come to the end of yet another story. This almost feels like an epilogue but it's not really. Well, it's another fic done and done. I shall miss it. -sigh-

In the end, the slave Cenred killed was blamed for any obvious sign of magic in the throne room itself. Arthur told his father of Cenred's cursed collars and the way they worked, forcing the wearers to act against their will, but he claimed this particular sorcerer had become a willing accomplice. So willing, in fact, that he had let his lust for power drive him to betray his master and attempt to claim Camelot for himself. Cenred had used the collar to kill the traitorous slave, and Arthur had used the distraction to sneak up behind Cenred and take the mad king down himself.

The other enslaved sorcerers, the ones Cenred had tasked with putting down the knights and guards, had done their jobs but only that. Cenred's orders must have been vague because hardly a man had been injured. It seemed the sorcerers, unwilling participants in the endeavor as they were, hadn't wanted to cause anyone any harm and had simply used magic to put their charges into a deep sleep. It probably wasn't what Cenred had had in mind, but it had technically satisfied the command.

It had the added bonus of being easier to explain away. A soporific, Arthur said, with testimony from Gaius backing him up. A nearly undetectable air-born drug that, when inhaled, rendered its victim unconscious but otherwise unharmed. None of the sorcerers spoke up to contradict the assertion, too aware of their newfound freedom to risk revealing their magic to the king and thereby drawing his ire upon them.

Thankfully, no matter how enraged Uther was—or how frustrated at waking to find the situation already resolved and nothing left for him to do about it—he deemed the slaves to be victims in the situation and bid them go freely. They buggered out as quickly as they could, taking nothing but the clothes on their backs and a last meal from the kitchens. Merlin was the only one left by the time Arthur made his way down to the room the slaves had shared during their stay.

He was sat on the bed when Arthur leaned through the half-open door, buckling up a pair of boots that didn't look new but were certainly an improvement on his previous bare-footedness. He had a belt now and, newest of all, a blue kerchief tied around his neck. Bent down over his knees as Merlin was, Arthur could see underneath the fabric to where Merlin's neck was ringed with angry red, the skin rough and damaged from its lengthy incarceration. It made Arthur wince to look at it, reaching up to touch his own unblemished skin.

His elbow bumped the door, making the hinges creak. Merlin's head turned toward the sound without raising, as it had done that first time Arthur had sought him out in the armoury. Then Arthur caught a glimpse of a scowl on Merlin's face. Merlin shook his head and looked up properly.

"Arthur," he said.

"Hi," Arthur said, a rather weak greeting after everything but all he could think of at the moment. He cleared his throat. "You've got shoes on," he said, pointing. "First time I've seen you with shoes."

Merlin looked down as if he'd forgotten he put them on. "Yeah," he said. "It's harder for slaves to run away if they don't have shoes. Makes sprinting through the woods rather dangerous, or something like that." He fingered a buckle. "One of the knights gave me these. Sir Leon, I think it was. Said they were the least I was owed for my act of bravery," he added, raising an eyebrow at Arthur.

Arthur shrugged. "I told my father that you warned me about Cenred's plot," he said. "And that you put yourself at great risk to do so. Both of which are completely true, by the way."

Merlin shrugged and looked away.

Arthur cleared his throat again, crossing his arms over his chest for want of something else to do with his hands. He leaned against the doorframe. "Leon isn't the only one who thinks you should be rewarded."

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked.

"My father wants to offer you something for the part you played in defeating Cenred—what little he knows of it, anyway."

"Offer me what?"

Arthur shifted on his feet. "He said he would award you with a position in the royal household. If you want to take it, that is."

Merlin looked confused. "You mean as a servant? That sort of position in the household?"

"Yes. As my servant, specifically, actually. My personal manservant, he said."

Merlin frowned. "Oh." His hands balled into fists on his knees, fingers crumpling the fabric under them, then he smoothed them out again.

"I realize it's probably not where you want to be at this point," Arthur said, scratching the back of his neck. "Tact isn't exactly my father's forte. But it would give you a reason to stay here. A reason to be close to me." Merlin didn't say anything and Arthur felt his cheeks color. "I mean, if that's…if that's still something that you want. To be close to me, I mean."

"No, it is!" Merlin said, standing up and reaching out as if he wanted to touch Arthur but letting his outstretched hand fall a moment later. "I would like to stay here, with you, it's just—" He broke off, lips pressing tightly together as he looked away again.

Arthur hesitated, biting his lip. He stepped fully into the room and pressed the door closed behind him.

"It's a decent job," he said. "Pays well. You already have all the skills necessary, so you wouldn't need to be trained for anything else. You'd have room and board, money in your pocket, time and space of your own. And, of course, you'd be free to leave at any time if you so choose." Arthur ducked his head. "And it would give us an excuse to be together. We could spend as much time together as we wanted, and it wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicions. Not even my father's."

"That all sounds great," Merlin said, but it was far from enthusiastic. In fact, he sort of sounded like he was being led to the gallows.

"What?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head and tried to smile. "Nothing."

"Merlin."

Merlin gave a half-shrug that was almost more like a twitch, a tight, jerky motion that made his hands flutter restlessly at his sides. "No, really, that sounds ideal. Except that…that would mean you'd be—" He huffed in what was almost laughter, lips twisting into an expression stuck between wry amusement and bitterness. "—my master?"

"No!" Arthur cried at once, striding forward to take Merlin by the arms. "Gods, no, Merlin. I would never claim that. Employer, perhaps, but not that. Never that."

Merlin didn't respond, staring instead at his hands on Arthur's chest.

"Alright, so maybe that was a bad idea, all things considered," Arthur said, trying to inject some levity into his voice. "Let's just forget about that one."

Merlin looked up and gave him a smile, weak but genuine this time. It didn't last long though. Arthur cast around for anything to say that might get it back, if only just for a moment more.

"The scarf's new," he finally said, reaching up to tug on it gently. "It's a nice color, but it's got nothing on your eyes."

The terribly corny line was worth it. Merlin raised his eyebrows, one corner of his mouth curving upward. Then he chuckled, a light blush staining his cheeks. "Gwen gave it to me," he admitted. "The Lady Morgana's maid. She came by to tell me how wonderfully brave I'd been," he said with a very solemn nod. The expression faltered. "Then she saw the, er…" He gestured to the marks on his neck. "Well, she brought me this."

"It suits you," Arthur said. "And she's right, of course. About you being brave. No, sorry, wonderfully brave," he corrected teasingly, making Merlin groan and roll his eyes.

Arthur slid his hands down Merlin's arms, sliding them around his waist instead, and Merlin settled more fully against him. He couldn't help but smile at how perfectly they fit.

"May I kiss you, O Brave One?" he asked.

Merlin laughed again, but he nodded.

This kiss was gentler than any they'd yet shared, shy and inquisitive. There was none of the ferocity and battle that had characterized their previous encounters, but instead a push and pull more reminiscent of ocean tides. The soft, insistent give and take left Arthur lightheaded and quite unsure where he stopped and Merlin began. He rested his forehead against Merlin's when they parted for breath, reveling in a completeness that he'd never felt before and that he was quite sure he could never bear to lose.

"Do you have any idea what else you might want to do?" he asked quietly, unwilling to interrupt the serenity of the moment any more than he needed to. "If not take the job in the royal household, I mean."

"Beyond a visit to my mother to let her know I'm alive, I don't have a clue," Merlin said with a small sigh. "I was raised on a farm; that's about all I know. Obviously, there's no farms in the city. And even if I wanted to go back to my village to stay, I don't think I could stand it. I wouldn't…fit there anymore."

Arthur didn't have anything to say to that. Instead he pressed a kiss to Merlin's cheek. Merlin winced and pulled back, reminding Arthur of the bruises that still bottled the right side of his face. Arthur looked at them more closely, tracing his finger over the way the edges were fading from green to yellow. Merlin bit his lip but turned his head more to allow the examination.

"You should let Gaius look you over before you go back to your mother," Arthur said. "He can give you something for these. And I know you don't look like you've suffered any ill effects from everything that happened, but I'd still feel better if he gave you a once-over. Gaius is our resident font of magical knowledge; if there could be fallout from breaking a curse like that, he'd be the one to know about it."

Merlin rolled his eyes at what he obviously thought to be mollycoddling but he nodded anyway, already knowing Arthur well enough to realize that resistance would be futile on this particular matter. Arthur was about to drag Merlin to the infirmary right that minute when a thought struck him.

"Merlin, you can't read by any chance, can you?"

Merlin gave him a funny look. "I can, actually. One of maybe four people in my village who knew how."

"Can you read well? And write?"

"Remarkably well for an unwashed peasant boy, and yes. Why do you ask?"

Arthur swooped in and kissed Merlin fervently, eliciting a squeak of surprise from the man in question. He ignored Merlin's bemused look and said, "This is perfect!"

"What's perfect?" said Merlin, looking at him like he'd gone a bit barmy.

"Gaius has been looking for an assistant for years," Arthur said eagerly. "Well, he's been saying he is, but he's always been too choosy to actually pick someone. He also has plenty of illicit knowledge about sorcery, and to be honest I've always thought he harbored pro-magic sentiments, which would make him perfect for you! And I'm pretty sure he took a liking to you when you met a few days ago. It would be perfect."

"Me being Gaius's assistant?" Merlin asked, just for clarification.

"Yes!" Arthur said, certain of it. "He'd have you mixing up remedies and potions, delivering them and helping with his rounds, fetching herbs for him. You'd be out of the castle a lot, in the lower town or in the woods, free to come and go as you choose. You wouldn't have to answer to anyone, not really. It would be less restrictive than being a servant, but you'd still get room and board in the citadel and wages of your own. And Gaius may even be able to help you with your magic."

"You'd trust him with that?" Merlin asked, hesitant. "I mean, it's still illegal here. You're sure he'd be okay with it?"

"I trust Gaius with my life, and I'd trust him with yours too," Arthur said firmly.

Merlin shuffled his feet, though he didn't pull out of Arthur's embrace. "And…are you sure you're okay with it? My magic?"

Arthur cupped Merlin's face in his hands, making sure that Merlin met his eyes.

"Merlin, you offered up your life for me last night," he said. "You literally begged for death because you didn't want to hurt me. How could I not trust you with everything I am after that?"

Merlin put his hand over Arthur's and squeezed, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

"You're going to be an amazing king, do you know that?" he said. "I can feel it."

Arthur smiled. "And what else do you feel?"

Merlin leaned forward to kiss him chastely. "That I love you." He kissed him again. "That I could spend every day of my life by your side and not regret a single moment of it." Another kiss, this one lingering sweetly. "That we're meant to be."

"Written in the stars," Arthur whispered. "So…you'll stay with me?"

Merlin smiled, with crinkly eyes and dimples and all the sunshine in the world. "Always."