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Arthur had been up to something for a while now, Merlin could tell. Having served him for so long now, he was an expert at discerning when Arthur was doing something behind his back.
Morgana was in on it as well, the siblings had become closer than ever after Uther's death at the hand of Morgause. Morgana, of course, wouldn't tell him what they were doing either, which only made Merlin more paranoid.
Merlin was constantly on edge, prepared for any danger to the king, imaginary or not, and now he had to deal with whatever Arthur was doing on top of that. Practically every time he walked into Arthur's rooms, Arthur and Morgana hurriedly hid papers, or blocked his view of old books with increasingly absurd objects. Just yesterday, they had overturned a bowl of fruit over what appeared to be a book from Geoffrey's stash.
When Arthur sent him across town right before a big council meeting, Merlin all but decided that if they were doing something stupid, he wasn't going to get in their way this time. And so he just stopped trying, he still took care of the odd assassin, and various magical threats to Camelot, but he stopped trying to figure out what the hell Arthur and Morgana were hiding from him.
He kept training Morgana to manage her magic, and taught her a basic memory wiping spell he'd found, just in case anyone she didn't trust caught her in the act. He was 98% certain Gwen had them figured out, between Lancelot, and being Morgana's maid, but he knew she'd never out them.
After several weeks of this, Arthur announced that he was going to make an announcement to all of Camelot the following week. This was the last straw for Merlin. He kept trying to catch Arthur alone, but it seemed Arthur and Morgana were attached at the hip these days, and when they weren't together, Arthur was training with the knights. Morgana was just as hard to get alone, especially as Chief advisor to the King, as she had a whole host of people coming to her with requests, questions, and advice.
It wasn't until the day of the meeting, when Merlin was helping Arthur into his ceremonial armour, that Merlin was able to question him. And even then Arthur evaded the question, answering as vaguely as possible.
"I know I've been keeping you in the dark for a while now, but it's not because I don't think you deserve to know." Here, Arthur had paused and rubbed his temples, face screwed up in concentration. "I just didn't want you to worry. Morgana and I have been working on something that I know tends to upset you, so I've been trying to protect you from the truth for as long as possible"
Merlin was so confused by this statement, 'Arthur was protecting Him?' that he barely even registered the rest of the preparations. He went through the motions on autopilot, while trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
Finally, he found himself stationed behind Arthur on the stage that had been set up in town square for the announcement. Morgana was standing next to, but just behind Arthur, and kept glancing back at him with something akin to glee in her eyes. Gwen, too, kept looking at Merlin out of the corner of her eyes, but neither said anything to explain what was going on. Arthur, on the other hand, seemed to be purposely avoiding Merlin's eyes, looking straight ahead, smiling and waving at his subjects.
After what seemed like eons of waiting, Arthur cleared his throat and the crowd settled, falling into near silence.
"I have called you all here today, to announce something that I, and my sister have been contemplating, and discussing with the council for some time now." He paused, finally glancing backwards to Merlin. "My father, was a great king, but many of his rules were cruel and unjust, and did not properly serve you, the citizens of Camelot"
The crowd began to murmur uneasily, Merlin felt faint, what was Arthur getting at?
"After much thought, I have decided, with the council of my sister, to repeal the ban on magic."
Merlin stopped breathing, the crowd was deathly silent, but Arthur just kept on going.
"Magic users will no longer be punished for safe acts of magic. Those who misuse magic will be given a fair trial, and punished as befits the crime."
The crowd began to clap, and cheer, quietly at first, but then the celebrations began to spread throughout the city as the news spread to those who couldn't hear the proclamation.
Merlin just stared at Arthur, dumbstruck. He was vaguely aware of Gwen talking to him, Morgana looking at him and grinning.
When he finally tore his gaze away from Arthur, and towards the people, he was astonished to see people conjuring shapes out of thin air, laughing and embracing each other. Gaius was in the front rows of the crowd, tears streaming down his face, casting spell after spell to shower flower petals down on the crowd and stage.
Somehow the sight of his mentor, openly practicing magic for the first time in decades broke Merlin out of his shock. The world spun around him as he collapsed to his knees, sobbing.
He felt Gwen's arms go around him, heard her murmuring reassurances, but he only had eyes for Arthur.
Arthur, having felt the thump of Merlin's body against the wood of the stage, turned around, and had the gall to look apologetic as he crossed the distance to crouch in front of Merlin.
"I know you are afraid of magic, Merlin, but this is for the bes-"
Merlin cut Arthur off, practically launching himself at the man, and enveloping him in a hug.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthank.."
Merlin couldn't stop babbling, choking on his own tears as he desperately embraced the king.
Arthur, for his part, just let Merlin cling to him for a while, before gingerly extricating himself from the embrace and looking at Merlin contemplatively. Something seemed to click in his eyes, as he suddenly hugged Merlin tighter than ever before.
"I'm so sorry Merlin, to think, all these years-in fear- I should have figured it out so long ago"
Suddenly Arthur stiffened, and released Merlin slightly, and turned to look at Morgana, who was laughing, shooting sparks from her fingers and sending butterflies, and dragonflies, made of pure magic to dance on the breeze.
"You knew!" Arthur gasped "You knew this whole time and you still wouldn't let me tell him"
"I'm sorry, both of you, but it had to be a surprise. I think it was worth it, don't you?"
Merlin just stood up, pulling Arthur with him. For the first time since he stepped foot in Camelot, he let his magic truly loose, permitted his eyes to be enveloped in gold and created horses, griffins, dragons, badgers, squirrels, owls, and eagles out of shimmering gold and sent them out to cavort above the people's heads.
Oohs and ahhs erupted from the crowd, at this, the grandest of all the magical feats, and Merlin nearly melted in joy, letting loose yet more tears. Here he was, performing magic for all to see, in what was once the most dangerous place in the world for magic users. He felt Arthur take his hand, and turned to look at the king, who, in a reflection of his own emotion, had tear streaked cheeks, grinning like a child at the sight of magic-Merlin's magic.
Emboldened by this, Merlin released Arthur's hand, and turning around and round, enticed dragons off of capes, flags and sigils, sending dozens of golden dragons parading around the square before melding them all into one massive beast in the center of the square, and just as it began to open its mouth to roar, Merlin enhanced his own voice, and shouted, with all the joy in his heart and meaning it with every fiber in his being.
"Long Live The King!"
The cry was taken up by every person in attendance, and repeated, end on end for many minutes. Merlin divided the dragon back up into its many littler counterparts, and sent them back to their places, before bowing at the feet of his, the once and future king.