Gwaine started awake just as dawn was breaking. He wasn't sure what had woken him until a small moan emanated from across the room. Immediately on his feet, Gwaine approached the bed and perched on its edge just as Merlin's eyes fluttered open and then shut again with a wince.

"Hey there mate!," Gwaine placed his hand gently on Merlin's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurts," the young man groaned.

"I'll get Gaius."

"No!" Merlin stopped him before he even had a chance to rise to his feet. "He'll just give me something to send me back to sleep. I'm sure it will pass on its own." He opened his eyes to find Gwaine staring at him skeptically. "Please?"

The knight snorted, "you know I can't resist you when you beg."

Merlin smiled and it erased some of the pain on his face. "Thank you." He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath before snapping them open as his memory of the day before returned. "Is everyone OK?"

"Everyone is fine mate, including the Belgins. Once again you saved the day."

A guarded look suddenly came over Merlin's features and it saddened Gwaine to see it. "How much does everyone remember?" the warlock asked fearfully.

"All of it," a voice answered from the other side of the bed, startling Merlin and drawing his attention for the first time to the man sitting in the chair at its side.

"A-arthur," he stammered. "I'm sorry," he felt the need to say.

"For saving us all?" Arthur raised his eyebrow. "I seriously hope you're not apologizing for that."

"No," Merlin responded, confused, "not that, at least not the saving part. Just the how I did it part I guess." Having no place to focus his gaze that did not stare back at him, he placed his forearm over his eyes instead, willing this to just be a bad dream.

"Gwaine, could I have a moment alone with Merlin please?" he heard Arthur ask.

He felt the knight's hand on his shoulder again. "Merlin?"

The warlock removed his arm from his eyes and answered the question on the knight's face. "It's alright Gwaine," he reassured him, though he was not sure himself that it truly was.

Gwaine appeared skeptical as well but moved towards the door. "Remember what I said Princess," the obvious tone of warning making Merlin curious as to what that was. "I'll be right outside if you need me," he threw at Merlin before exiting, closing the door quietly behind him.

Arthur could only watch for a second as Merlin struggled to lift himself more upright before moving to his side to try and help only to find the man shrugging him off.

"I'm fine."

"I'm only trying to help," Arthur replied placing some pillows against his servant's back to brace him before taking a seat on the edge of the bed rather than return to his chair. He could feel the tension radiating off his servant who had become engrossed in the hands clenched tightly in his lap.

"Merlin, look at me." he ordered.

The man did so, hesitantly but once his eyes met the king's, Arthur could see a sad resignation in them.

"You're a sorcerer."

"Warlock," Merlin corrected automatically though not sure why as it really didn't matter.

"There's a difference?"

Merlin nodded. "A sorcerer learns magic, draws it from the energy around him. A warlock is born with it. Magic is a part of me, flows through me like blood. I've never known a life without it."

"So you've been practicing magic even before you came to Camelot? Merlin! What in the hell were you thinking coming here?"

"My mother sent me here in the hopes I could learn to control it better. Neither of us anticipated I'd become the magical protection of a certain prattish prince."

"Why have you never told me?" Arthur asked quietly after a pause. This he realized was what bothered him most – not that Merlin had magic but that he had not trusted Arthur enough to tell him.

"Last I checked, magic was illegal in Camelot."

"That's not why."

The warlock dipped his head. "It's been ingrained in you since birth that magic is evil. For me it was drilled in that I always had to hide it or risk execution. Even when I knew it would be safe I kept quite."

"You told Lancelot."

"I didn't actually, he saw me using it. I had to enchant his lance in order for him to kill the Griffin. I've only directly ever told two people and they both had magic themselves so I'm not sure they count."

"Still. I've trusted you with everything, Merlin. It hurts to know you don't feel the same."

"How could I tell you Arthur? Everytime you started to show the slightest acceptance of magic, something would happen to harden your heart again."

"Can you blame me? Do I need to remind you that magic killed both of my parents?"

"A blade killed your father Arthur. Magic simply failed to save him."

Arthur had no response for that. Gaius had explained what had gone wrong with Dragoon's attempt to heal his father but he still couldn't help but feel bitter about it.

"So you didn't tell me because what, you thought I would have you executed?"

"I won't say it didn't cross my mind," Merlin acknowledged.

Arthur couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice. "So you kept quiet out of fear for your life."

"No, Arthur," the warlock responded quietly. "I kept my secret out of fear for yours."

The prince's gaze snapped up in surprise. "Wh-what?" he stammered. "I don't understand."

"Think about it Arthur. All your father's crusade against magic has really accomplished is put a big target on Camelot and you in particular for those who practice evil magic. Without my protection, you would have been killed many times over." The prince detected no tone of bragging in the comment. Merlin was just stating the facts. "So, worse case, you kill me or banish me. Either way, I'm gone and it's open season on you and Camelot."

"I think you're being a bit dramatic. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Valient, Sophia, Sigan, the Knights of Medhir, Morgana on several occasions not to mention a myriad of bandit attacks – I could go on."

"All the more reason you should have been honest with me then!" Arthur blew, rising from the bed and pacing. "People died during some of those incidents Merlin. How many deaths could have been avoided if you had just told me and could have used your powers openly?"

"No," Merlin said, his voice low and quiet in his sudden fury. "Don't you dare put that on me. You believe I don't think about that every single day? You think I don't replay every decision, wondering what I could have done differently? Keeping you alive has always been my priority Arthur, and you have no idea what I have lost in trying to fulfill that destiny so don't you dare judge me."

Arthur turned to stare at his sudden stranger of a manservant. "Are you actually angry with me? I'm the one who has been betrayed here Merlin. I'm the one who has been lied to for years!"

"And I was betrayed by you and your father the minute I was born!" Merlin's eyes flashed with anger as they stubbornly met Arthur's equally angry gaze. The king found himself unable to respond. How could he deny what Merlin had said? He'd been persecuted all his life simply for being born and Arthur had to acknowledge he'd never given his servant any reason to think that his own views on magic were any different from his father's. Had he been in Merlin's place, he'd probably have done the same and realizing that, his own anger began to abate.

Approaching Merlin's bed, he continued to meet the blue orbs with his own and past the anger saw more weariness and pain than someone Merlin's age should ever have had to deal with. Any residual doubt or resentment Arthur might have felt vanished at that point. He placed his hands on the slim shoulders and felt Merlin tremble slightly at the touch but resolutely continue to hold his king's eyes. Going purely on instinct, he drew the younger man to him and wrapped his arms around the boy. He felt Merlin's tension increase at first and then relax into Arthur's hold, letting his forehead rest on the king's shoulder.

Merlin was beyond shocked as Arthur was never this expressive with emotion. But once that wore off and he felt his anxiety ease at his king's simple gesture of acceptance, he felt a surge of other emotions come to the surface. Years of fear, grief and regret came flooding out and to his great embarrassment, the warlock found himself silently sobbing into Arthur's shoulder. The king just continued to hold him quietly and firmly. "It's alright, Merlin." he soothed, fighting hard to stop the tears that wanted to fill his own eyes at the pain that virtually radiated from his friend.

When Arthur felt Merlin's shaking subside, he pulled back and studied his friend, keeping his hands still on the boy's shoulders.

"Well, go ahead," the warlock tried to lighten the mood, "call me a girl, you know you want to."

"I'm so sorry Merlin," Arthur said instead

"You're sorry?" he gasped.

Arthur squeezed the thin shoulders under his grasp. "I confess – I'm hurt, perhaps still a little angry and I have a million questions for you. But for now, mostly I am sorry. Sorry for making you feel you couldn't trust me with your secret. Sorry for not realizing what you were doing and forcing you to do it alone."

Merlin was looking down at his hands again, not trusting himself to not start crying again. Arthur cupped the back his friend's head and brought his forehead to meet Merlin's. "Please don't think I don't trust you Arthur," Merlin whispered. "I trust you with my life. Of all the things I regret over the past years, having to lie to you is my biggest one. And the longer the lie went on, the more I feared you finding out. I knew you would feel betrayed and I couldn't bear being the source of that. I…I didn't want things between us to change."

With one final squeeze, Arthur pulled back so he could look his friend in the eyes again. "Of course things will change now but no matter what happens, I want you to know one thing," he whispered. "You will always be my friend and you are not alone anymore."

Merlin just bobbed his head in acknowledgment, his lips curving in a watery smile.

"No more secrets, all right?" Arthur asked.

"No more," Merlin replied solemnly.

"Good!" Arthur stated, rising from his place on the bed, "then in the new spirit of complete honesty between us may I say, Merlin, that you look like crap." He was trying to be keep his voice light, attempting to ease some of the emotional tension of the conversation but the concern was real. The fatigue and pain in Merlin's now red-rimmed eyes was obvious.

"Wow, you really know how to kick a man when he's down," the slight smile on his lips showing he recognized what the king was trying to do.

"It's a gift. How about I get that remedy from Gaius you refused to let Gwaine fetch earlier?" Before Merlin could protest, he was through the door. Both the physician and knight turned towards him tensely as he came down the stairs from Merlin's room.

"You can both relax, we only talked," he snapped -honestly, did they really have that little faith in him? Apparently they did as they both just continued to stare at him expectantly. "OK, fine. I'm not going to punish Merlin in any way for using magic. Is that what you need to hear to quit glaring at me?"

The other two just nodded, exchanging pleased grins. "Of course, I will have to fire him," the king couldn't help himself from mischievously adding. He waited a moment to let that sink in and just before either could open his mouth in protest finished, "I'm afraid he's going to be too busy helping me figure out how to change Camelot's stance on magic."

He was shocked to see tears of happiness fill the physician's eyes. "It seems destiny is well on its way," the old man whispered solemnly.

"Well it will have to wait a bit longer. He'll deny it of course but it's obvious Merlin's head is still hurting."

"Gwaine mentioned it and I rather expected it so I've already prepared something for him," Gaius said, moving towards his shelf of potions and pulling down a small bottle.

Arthur nodded his head towards the vial. "You might want to put a sleeping draught in there. He looks like he needs it."

"He does but as you well know, he really hates those."

The king shrugged, "I'll take the blame if you like."

Gaius nodded and added part of another bottle to the one in his hand before handing to the king who headed back to Merlin's room stopping just at the base of the stairs to turn back to Gaius. "He's not going to be so angry he'll turn me into a toad or something will he?"

"Unlikely, Sire," the physician reassured him, adding to Arthur's back "I doubt he'll have time before it kicks in anyway."

Arthur shot the old man a look of surprise at the joke and with that small bit of humor, he felt things start to settle back to normal. He snorted with a small chuckle at the physician and returned to Merlin's room.

He found the boy just as he had left him, raising his head from studying his hands to meet Arthur's eyes again as he entered the room. Taking in the pale face and dark circles under tired eyes, the king was resolute in his action as he handed the vial in his hand to the servant.

"Best to just chug it down," he advised. "You know it will taste vile."

"Yes, I'm very familiar with Gaius's remedies," the warlock acknowledged tossing the concoction back.

He grimaced at the taste and then his eyes became suspicious as he recognized some of the flavors.

"There's a sleeping draught in this!" he accused.

Arthur merely nodded coming to Merlin's side. "So go ahead and get comfortable before it kicks in," he ordered, helping by readjusting the pillows as Merlin settled on his side, his eyes already becoming heavy.

"Why?" he whined.

"My orders. I have a million questions that despite your obvious exhaustion, you would feel compelled to answer. So I took the decision away from both of us." He ruffled the hair on his friend's head as his eyes slipped closed. "Sleep now, there's plenty of time for talk later."

FIN

A/N: Thank you for reading! I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have for future stories. What do you like to read?