As Arthur crept back into his room, Merlin was just where he had left him. 'What was that about?' Merlin asked, tired. He stretched his hands up and then flopped them back down on the covers. 'Come back to bed Arthur,'

Arthur, stunned, managed to find his way back to bed where he climbed in beside Merlin and kept re-reading the letter. Merlin snuggled up to Arthur's chest and moaned his pleasure. 'I got a letter,' he mumbled.

'What does it say?' Merlin asked, his eyes closed and purring like a kitten. 'Tell me, Arthur. What does it say?'

'It…it says I'm going to be married by sunset tomorrow,' he said reluctantly, as if by not saying it, it would somehow not be true.

'What?' Merlin asked, incredulously. 'How can you marry the woman? She isn't even in Camelot!'

'It seems that she arrived this evening' Arthur said, still staring at the sheet of paper.

'What are we going to do?' Merlin asked suddenly. He pushed himself up into something vaguely resembling a sitting position and violently shook his head to get himself thinking clearly. 'Are you just going to marry her? What will happen to me?' he asked, he was clearly upset.

'I'm not going to marry her. But everybody has to think I have.' Arthur sucked in a breath while he thought and thought and thought about what to do. 'Merlin, can you do me a favour?'

'Not if it involves moving from this bed,' he murmured.

'Tough' Arthur said shortly. 'I need you to go and have a look at the dress. And there are two things you have to remember, does it have a veil and does it look pretty?'

'Why do you need to know if it looks pretty?'

'Because I want to know if Morgana has done a good job' Arthur pulled a puppy dog face and Merlin melted.

'Fine, I'll go.' Merlin pulled himself out of the sheets. 'I hope you're not thinking of putting me in the dress,' he laughed. 'Because that would never work,' The door shut behind him.

'Crap' Arthur said to himself. Putting Merlin in the dress had been his exact idea. Arthur got out of bed and made it. He got changed and went down to see Gwen.

Arthur knocked on the door of Gwen's house and entered straight away. 'Who is it?' Gwen called from the back room.

'It's me,' Arthur said.

'Well who is me?' Gwen asked. Arthur could hear the scraping of a broom along the floor.

'Arthur' Arthur replied. He came around the corner and saw her sweeping away. 'I need to talk to you. If that's alright?'

'Of course,' Gwen said, propping the broom up against the wall and leading the way through to the kitchen where there were two chairs to sit on. 'What is it?'

'Well. I have to marry Juliana tomorrow-'

'Really! Congratulations! I hope I can come-'

'Gwen, that is not the point,'

'Oh, sorry,' Gwen said 'I got a bit carried away, what is the point?'

'The point is that I still love Merlin. I don't want to marry Juliana. Especially with Merlin right here. What can I do?'

'Pull out of the wedding? Or somehow make it so that you marry Merlin instead?'

'We were thinking about the second one but we weren't sure how to do it? Besides, if my Farther found he would kill me!'

Gwen sighed, 'Really Arthur?' she fiddled with a loose bit of hair. 'Really? You are about to be bound for life to a woman you do not love while abandoning the love of your life and you are worried about what Uther will think if you don't go through with it?' She looked incredulous 'Try and think about what your people will think if you do go through with it. Who would want a king who would marry someone they did not love because Daddy wanted them to?'

'Well the people don't have to know,' Arthur said, shiftily.

'I am the people. And I know. You have to stop the wedding.' She said seriously.

'What do you think I am trying to do?' Arthur shouted. 'I only found out about it ten minutes ago!' Arthur was on his feet, as was Gwen.

'Oh, come off it Arthur. You have been living with her for six months! Everybody knew there was going to be a wedding!'

'Yes. But as a distant, never quite real thing. Not what I am doing at sunset tomorrow afternoon!' Arthur pounded his fist on the table.

'Arthur. I have offered all the help I can. Now, if you stay here any longer I think we are going to rip each other's throats out.' She indicated the door. Arthur swallowed and left.

'Thank you, Guinevere. You have been very helpful,' he said quietly, as he left.

Arthur walked back up to the castle and back into his chambers. He sat on the bed, what was he going to do?

Merlin arrived back in Arthur's room. 'Well, the dress does have a veil. It is beautiful. It has a v-neck right down here' Merlin pointed out the spot in his own chest. 'And three quarter sleeves.'

'Shit' Arthur said angrily.

'What?' Merlin asked.

'It's going to sound stupid. But I thought that if she was completely covered up, veil, long sleeves, high neck. We could get you in the dress,'

Merlin laughed. 'Arthur, I don't sound a bit like her, I have arms with hair on them because I'm a man,' Arthur pulled a face. He had never thought of Merlin as a man before. 'And I wouldn't get into the dress'

'Merlin. You are slim, you could easily get in it. But is doesn't matter anyway because it shows too much flesh. Only a woman could get away with it from what you described.'

Merlin's brain was ticking over an idea. The only problem would be that it meant admitting it Arthur that he was a warlock.

'I've got to go. I'll be back later tonight so leave your door open. I want to talk to you,' he said, looking distracted. He moved forward and gave Arthur a deep, throaty kiss before stumbling out of the door.

Merlin sat in his room with his magic book, flicking through page after page of spells, incantations and potions. 'Come on, where is it? I know it's in here somewhere…' Merlin muttered to himself. Finally, at the very back of the book was the spell he was looking for. He skimmed through it to check it did everything he needed. Yes, everything was there. He now had to learn the spell. It was at the very back of the book so it was going to be difficult. There was no way for him to practise it on anybody else.

The only thing for it was to put the spell on himself to see if it worked. It took him over an hour of reciting the spell again and again to get it right. He went over to the looking glass above the wash bowl and looked at himself. He didn't look at his face or his hair or anything. He just looked into his eyes and he knew he had got it right. Now he had to reverse the spell. That also took a long time. If you didn't get the rhythm of each word and the spell as a whole just right, it wouldn't work. Merlin was beginning to get annoyed when, finally, he got it right and he was ready to go back to Arthur. He took the rucksack from under his bed and slipped the book into it; he couldn't risk a guard seeing the book as he carried it to Arthur's chambers.

It had become dark since Merlin had left Arthur's chambers. When he got back in there, the candles were lit, the fire burning and the windows shut. He knocked on the door. Arthur stood up inside and called 'Come in,'

Merlin came in and shut the door quietly behind him. 'Arthur, I may have a solution,' Merlin whispered.

'Come here,' Arthur said in a voice as quiet as Merlin's. Merlin walked forward uncertainly and was taken completely by surprise as Arthur picked him up like he was the bride and carried him to the bed. He gently laid Merlin down and lay on top of him.

'Arthur, what is this about?' Merlin asked. 'Not that I mind being under you like this but…is this really the right time?'

'I'm not going to do anything like that,' Arthur said matter-of-factly. 'but it's only just dawned on me that I might lose you tomorrow. I want to be close to you,' he kissed Merlin's lips and then rested his head on the mattress. Merlin put his arm round Arthur's hair and played with his hair.

'Well, you are lucky I have an idea then aren't you?' Merlin murmured into Arthur's shoulder.

'Tell me then?'

'Mmnph. Can't we just stay here for a bit, together?' he asked, making puppy dog eyes at Arthur.

'No.' Arthur replied curtly. 'You can come back to be with me once I know this idea of yours.' He made this seem final, there was no other choice. Merlin sat up and took Arthur's hand in his.

'Arthur, this is important so you have to listen and promise me you won't interrupt until I have finished.'

Arthur nodded 'of course I won't interrup-'

'You just did,' Merlin pointed out.

'Oh. Sorry,'

'And again.'

Arthur went to apologise again but Merlin cut him off 'No. Don't interrupt again.' This was going to be so difficult. He had no idea how to word it at all, how do you tell someone something this big? 'Arthur. I am a warlock. I've…I've had magic in me since I was a child, but I could never control it. I would fell trees with the blink of an eye. I would sigh and the fire would go out. I would cry and it would rain.' Arthur was frowning. He got up and moved over to the door. Merlin's heart began to race; was Arthur going to throw him out already? Was Arthur truly just like his father? No. He opened the door, looked left and right, then closed it again. 'What was that for?'

'Just checking there was nobody there,' he said blankly 'I don't want them to hear this.' He got back on the bed but a bit further away from Merlin then before. He kept his eyes on the hard stone floor. 'Carry on' it was an order.

'Everybody sort of knew, they had an idea but they would never voice it out loud. Will knew. Do you remember Will?' Arthur nodded. 'I couldn't keep it from him. I grew up with him. He was there most of the time when it happened when I was younger. And then, as I grew older and became a teenager, I would fell trees for fun. I would use magic for pranks. We thought it was hilarious. But people began to get more then an idea about me. It wasn't safe for me to be there anymore. A village has so few people that everybody knows everybody. I would be far safer in a city where I could be anonymous. So my mother packed my things and sent me to Gaius, to Camelot, to you.

'But it doesn't matter about my past. The only thing you need to know is that I have magic. And it is magic that is going to help us.' Merlin jumped to his feet.

He looked at Arthur, still staring at the floor, anger in his face. 'You mean to say that you are a warlock, you possess the one thing in the world that my father hates and you kept that from me,'

Merlin was upset now, Arthur was angry at him because of who he was. 'It was so dangerous. Can't you see that? If anyone had known anything I would have been on the chopping block like that man I saw. The first thing I saw in this city was an execution of someone like me. After that did you really expect me to tell the King's son?'

'Not then.' Arthur shook his head 'But at some point. We have loved each other for nearly a year now. We have shared a bed. I have told you everything about me. But you failed to mention one very important detail about you,'

'I'm sorry. But Arthur I am telling you now.'

'Only because you had to. Only because there was no other way.'

Merlin took a breath 'There was another way.' He said calmly. His calm took all of the anger out of Arthur.

'What?'

'There was another way. I could have kept quiet about my magic. I could have let you marry that woman. That's what anybody else would have done. But I trusted you enough to come here and tell you everything. I loved you enough to risk my own neck to keep us together,'

'I feel like a fool-'

'Listen to me Arthur. If you want nothing more to do with me I will respect that decision. I will walk out of this room and never see you again. But if you still love me in the way I love you, listen to my plan and help me get you out of this situation.'

Arthur was silent. Waiting.

'Now. Wait here.' Merlin pulled the large, heavy book out of his bag and went behind the curtains.

Arthur heard Merlin whisper something in another language. A moment of silence was followed by a very un-Merlin like giggle. 'It's worked,' came the voice from behind the curtains.

'What's worked?' Arthur called.

'The spell,' Merlin replied. He stepped out from behind the curtain and Arthur gasped. Merlin was stood in the middle of the room, still in Merlin's clothes but he, or should it be she, wore them very differently. The tunic was less baggy because Merlin's breasts filled it. The trousers didn't hand like sacks because hips gave them shape. The neckerchief was lost under voluminous, dark, curly hair down to her elbows. But it was still the same face, the same cheekbones, the same eyes and nose and mouth. However, on the old Merlin, the features had looked like some lucky accident that made him look unique and striking. On the new Merlin, the girl Merlin, they looked stunning.

'Merlin?' Arthur asked, nervous.

'Yes,' Merlin replied in a girls voice.

'Oh my god!' Arthur replied, breathless.

'Shocked?'

'Just a little,' he replied.

'I'll change back now,' Merlin replied. He went behind the screen and muttered a different spell. When he returned, he was Merlin again. 'That has to be the strangest sensation of my life,' Merlin announced, before coming as close to Arthur as humanly possible and then closer still. He knotted himself in Arthur, tying up all their arms and legs until they were one, heaving, sighing, naked mass on the floor. When they finished, Merlin pulled himself onto Arthur's bed and laid back. Arthur lay next to him and they slept soundly until the sun was high in the sky.

When Arthur woke, he blinked for a moment, the sun was bright in his face and… and there was no Merlin next to him. Suddenly he heard a stumbling from behind the screen he usually changed behind.

'Merlin?' he asked, standing up.

Merlin's voice called back 'Don't come round the screen. I'm getting changed.'

'Merlin. I've seen it all before. Arthur took a step closer. 'I've seen every part of you, I love every part of you,'

Merlin's head popped out from behind the screen. 'You are not to see me today. It's unlucky to see the bride before the service,' he grinned, sliding back behind the screen.

'I can't even have a good morning kiss?' Arthur asked, sulkily.

'No.' Merlin said shortly. 'Besides, it is one o'clock in the afternoon. It's hardly the morning!'

Arthur sat back on the bed, 'So how are we going to work this?' he said to the room at large.

'Well, I thought that I would just go along to Juliana's room, and…and…' he trailed off.

'You have no idea.'

'Pretty much. What are we going to do?' he asked desperately.

'Can I see you know? After all, you aren't really a bride, you are a husband,' he called.

'Fine' Merlin replied and he appeared. He sat on Arthur's lap and kissed his neck for a while before deciding on a plan.

Later that day, Merlin slipped into Juliana's room, cleared his throat and waited. 'Yes?' she asked, haughtily.

'Lady Juliana, we have just received word that your father is gravely ill and is asking for you,'

'What?' she shouted.

'We have just received word tha-'

'I know what you said! I must go to him,' she was talking to herself now. 'I need to speak to Arthur,'

'He's outside,' Merlin said meekly. He stepped to the side and opened the door.

'Juliana,' Arthur said sadly.

'Arthur. I have to. I have to leave for my father' she said, breathless.

'I know,' Arthur said, quietly but deeply. 'I have a carriage prepared for you now.'

'Come with me,' she pleaded.

Merlin's heart kicked up a gear. They hadn't thought of this!

'I can't. My father is so happy to see me back. I can't leave him now, it could make him, his hopes are set on my staying for a week.'

'Then I will go alone.' She decided. 'But if I am not back in two days you are to come to me,' she said seriously.

'Fine. Just go now.'

'I have clothes and everything I need at Father's.' she said to herself as she walked out of the door. Arthur took her out to the courtyard. Merlin watched from the window. Arthur helped her into the carriage, kissed her hand and then the carriage was on its way. It was swift, nobody saw it except Merlin.

Arthur stood at the end of the aisle, nervously. He took shaking breaths. Uther stood beside him, as best man. 'It is fine Son. You will be brilliant.' Arthur forced a smile and tapped his fingers on his knees.

Suddenly, the doors opened, the music started and the love of Arthur's life came sweeping down the aisle. Merlin's long hair was piled high on his head because it was a different colour to Juliana's. Merlin took Arthur's hands at the end of the aisle and looked up into Arthur's face. He was dumbfounded by the stunning woman in front of him. Arthur could see Merlin's beautiful smile through the veil.

'I do,' they both said before walking back down the aisle.

There was a feast, during which Merlin didn't take off his veil and therefore didn't eat anything. After the eating, it was time for the first dance. Arthur and Merlin took to the floor to the sound of applause. Arthur's hand slid down to Merlin's waist, and he took her delicate fingers in his other hand. They danced very close together, Merlin's head on Arthur's shoulder. After the dance, there was nothing else to do than for Merlin and Arthur to bid their guests good night and disappear.

Back in Arthur's chambers, they kissed and clung to each other in the darkness. The threat of the past day of losing each other had been too much for them and this was the first moment that they could be alone together. Arthur lifted Merlin's veil and kissed her lips.

Two days later, Arthur and Merlin his wife left Camelot in the early hours of the morning to begin their married life. That afternoon, Juliana arrived back in Camelot, very angry. Her father wasn't ill and their wedding had been postponed. Once she heard that Arthur had married someone they all thought was Juliana and the couple had now left, she was furious. But there was nothing she could do. They had left on horses, not in a carriage so they could be anywhere.

Anywhere is exactly were Arthur and Merlin intended to go. Anywhere and everywhere. The world was theirs for the taking; anything was possible. And as long as Merlin knew that Arthur loved him, and Arthur knew the same, they would live happily ever after.

Dear Arthur.

I don't know where you are. You married someone else and left. You sent me away. I thought you loved me? I thought you wanted us to be together? I am humiliated, embarrassed and above all, lonely. Uther is furious and says that he never wants to see your face again. If I were you, I would stay away from Camelot until you are king. And I would stay away from me forever, for I shall never forgive you.

Juliana