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Chapter Text

The sun shone through the tall, stained glass window into a small nursery. It cast beautiful hues of red, blue and green into the room and over the inhabitant's face. Inside, a young prince, only three years old, sat on the floor playing with a small wooden dragon that he had been gifted for his birthday. The figurine was rather large for his tiny hands, so he currently held it rather tightly with both hands over his head. Tiny roars escaped the boy's lips as he pretended that it was flying over his head and in turn, over the small citadel that he had carefully constructed with small wooden blocks, though anyone looking at it would see nothing but scattered blocks. The wooden dragon was given to him by his father. When the king learned that his wife was pregnant with their first child, he carved the toy from wood himself, only calling in a local woodworker to add the details that he lacked the skill for himself. The woodworker had done a beautiful job. The toy itself was intricately carved, the wings, body and head brought the figure to life on it's own, without any additional work. But the detail added was elegant. Every single scale could be made out as well as every tooth and every horn. The man had even stained it, adding color that only brought the creature to life further.

He played alone in the room, but the look on his face, accompanied by the giggles of excitement from the boy as he made the dragon fly throughout the wooden village he had created, suggested that he did not mind. Rather, he did not notice. The other children around his age in the palace were the children of knights or servants, not of royalty. They were raised differently from the young prince. The children of knights were given small wooden swords to play with and could be heard chasing each other with them from almost every room in the castle. The goal was to get them familiar with a sword early on, even a wooden one. If the knights thought it odd to give their children wooden weapons, none of them said anything. The majority of the parents liked to watch their children run and play with the others anyways. Giving them something to play with only helped spark their imagination and made play time much more entertaining for the parents and caretakers.

Plus for the parents of magical children, they felt safer knowing their children were playing with sticks and wearing themselves out. Many of them had learned the hard way that having a restless and magical child could have unexpected consequences. Like many of the people who called Tristram home, Merlin, the young prince, had been born with magic. The difference between him and the other people born with magic though, was that Merlin had been performing acts of magic since before he could speak. Toys would float over the young boy's crib as a baby and more often than not, they were launched at the king and queen, which had always caused a rather large and gleeful laugh to erupt from the child. To baby Merlin, throwing toys was fun. He could never see the things that he had thrown or who they had hit and how hard. When no one was hit with random flying toys, it was amusing, but it was once he had started throwing larger, heavier objects, that Balinor realized just how powerful, and uncontrollable his magic was. Thus, the decision was made to keep Merlin's interactions with the other children limited until his powers could be better controlled.

When playing, the young prince was often attended by his mother, Queen Hunith, or his caretaker when his mother was busy. On this particular day, he had been left unattended for no more than a few minutes while his mother's presence had been requested in the throne room. It was not unusual for the boy to be left unattended, even at his age, as both the king and queen, and his caretakers knew that when one person left, another would be by shortly to take over. Knowing such a thing, the queen was confident that her son would be safe for the moment that he would be alone.

Queen Hunith reached the throne room in no time at all. The guards greeted her warmly and swung the doors open wide for her. She smiled and thanked them politely as she entered the room. The sound of the doors closing behind her could be heard throughout the room, and every step she took seemed to bounce off the walls around them, alerting anyone who was not previously aware of her presence, that she had arrived. The queen walked closer to her husband, a sweet smile plastered on her face as they made eye contact. His expression matched hers quickly as they had not seen much of each other so far that day, with both of them being called to separate duties throughout the castle. The two of them held their hands out to each other warmly causing the council members of the room to smile at the couple as they embraced. It was not common for kings and queens to show affection towards each other in front of their court, but Balinor and Hunith did not often care about such formalities. 

They heard the bells first. 

It did not take long for the initial panic to set in. The king and queen looked around as the council members began to speculate about what was going on. Guards had rushed into the room as soon as they had heard the first bell, all of them with swords out and several others, ready to fight with magic if needed. When they realized that whatever danger had been sprung onto the castle had not stemmed from something in the room, they lowered their swords for a moment. Balinor ran to the window and saw that there was a small army heading towards the palace. "Don't let them reach the citadel!" he yelled to the guards, who took off quickly to warn the other men and to carry out the king's orders. Balinor then began to take off in the direction of Merlin's chambers. He knew that with Hunith in the room with him that there was likely someone watching his son but he did not care, he needed to make sure Merlin was safe. Plus, it was unlikely that a caretaker would be able to defend them both against an enemy. As he sprinted out of the throne room, he realized that his wife had followed him. He quickly turned to her, his heart racing at the thought of their kingdom being attacked, and not knowing if his son was in any immediate danger or not. "Hunith, please go with the knights somewhere safe, they can protect you. I will join you soon," he pleaded, his face very clearly showing the worry that was lacing his voice.

Hunith shook her head, standing her ground for the time being. She understood his concern with her going with him, especially with the kingdom under attack, but she needed to know her son was okay. "I'm going with you. I need to make sure our son is safe, just as you do," she responded calmly, echoing her thoughts as she held his hand in hers tightly. At this very moment, all concern she had for herself seemed to dissipate with the knowledge that her son was in danger. In any normal circumstance, Balinor would know better than to argue with his wife. She was right more often than she was wrong, and he, of course, understood her fear, but this was not a normal circumstance. Their lives were at stake and that made it hard for him to even think about backing down.

"No, Hunith. You aren't," he repeated sternly, not daring to even break eye contact with her. He needed her to know how serious he was about this. He was prepared to call guards to physically drag her to safety if possible, even though the thought of that made his skin crawl. Her blue eyes scanned his face and in an instant it was as if she knew what he was thinking because she only sighed and nodded. Balinor was glad to have avoided needing to call his men. "Thank you," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her softly on the cheek. He wasted no time in taking off once again, now that he was sure he would not have to fight with her. 

She watched as her husband took off, terrified that she may never see him or their son again. "You better come back to me!" she yelled after him. He heard her words and paused for a moment to look back at his wife. She was still looking at him with several conflicting emotions etched onto her face. He nodded at her with stern, determined sort of look and continued on the path to Merlin. It was only after his nod that Hunith left to find the knights.

Balinor arrived at Merlin's chambers rather quickly, his destination was not far from the throne room, and with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he had been running much faster than even he had realized. The king only slowed as he neared the entryway. He had to place his hands on the frame of the door to keep from trampling anything, or anyone, inside the room. His eyes scanned the area quickly as he searched for the raven hair of his boy, his ears ached for the sound of his laugh, even his cries would have been better than the silence he was initially met with. The king's heart was beating a thousand times a minute. The terror that he had been too late began to set in, he began to believe that something had happened to his son, but as his eyes finally settled on the rug that lay on the floor beside Merlin's crib, he saw him.

The young boy was just sitting on the floor looking as happy as can be. It was as if nothing was wrong in the world. The toddler had no absolutely no clue what was going on around him, and even if he had, he had no way to process it. Balinor saw the reflection of the man's armor first. The sun had touched it in a way so that the light reflected off of it seemed to intertwine with the colorful hues cast from the windows themselves. With every movement, the light reflected off the man's armor shone in Merlin's eyes, but the prince paid it no mind. The man's blazing red cape laid out almost perfectly on the floor behind him, almost as if he had taken the time to ensure its very position. He was crouched down, using his sword to keep his balance. The tip of the blade now embedded in the floor, the man's hand rested atop the hilt in a way that suggested he was ready to put up a fight if needed. Merlin knew none of this, he did not even raise his tiny hand in an attempt to shield his eyes the way most people would have. He did not notice the man who was a huge threat to him, but Balinor certainly did. He recognized the man immediately. "Step away from my son!" he growled, taking a step into the room and closer to the man as he did.

The man seemed unfazed by the king's tone, rather it was his words that seemed to have the most impact. "I didn't realize you had a son," the stranger said truthfully in surprise. The man obeyed the king's order, standing slowly and taking a step away from the boy on the floor. He had removed the sword from the floor and sheathed it before throwing his hands up in surrender, which surprised Balinor to no end. He knew this man well, and he was not one to surrender. He did not show mercy. It was not the kind of man he was, so to see that he had actually listened to the man he had sent threats to on multiple occasions was mind boggling to him. "How old is he?" the man asked as he dropped his hands. His eyes had not moved from their place on the boy, and Balinor noticed that his face showed a genuine interest in the boy. Though why, he had no idea. 

Balinor's ace twisted up in confusion as he answered. "He just turned three not even a month ago," not quite understanding why the man would care. Had he not just forced his way into their kingdom and found his way into the prince's chambers, sword in hand? The sudden interest in the boy made Balinor uneasy but he could do little about it with his son's life in the balance. The two just stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity to the king who was waiting for the man to make the first move. Eventually, Balinor spoke again as he had grown tired of the silence. "Pendragon, why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the King of Camelot responded, his eyebrows furrowed as he asked the question as if the answer were clear from his presence alone. "This kingdom is not only ruled by a sorcerer but a dragonlord as well. That makes you dangerous. I will not allow such danger so close to my kingdom- I will not allow magic so close to Camelot. Not after everything it has taken from me," Uther answered, his tone becoming more and more harsh with every word to the point where it felt like the words themselves were cutting through the air like a knife. Balinor knew just how much the man had lost in recent years. He knew that the Purge had started with the loss of Ygraine, but he also knew that her death was on Uther's hands and the Purge was a way for him to place his guilt onto others. A combination of both Uther's grief and his guilt turned his heart to stone. It filled him with hatred towards the very thing he had once taken advantage of. This rage was evident in his tone as he continued. "I've lost so much because of your kind and I won't risk everything I have built-"

The King of Tristram was growing impatient, "What are you going to do? Kill me? Kill my people?" he challenged, his voice unbelievably calm, perhaps more calm than the situation warranted. "I am the last dragonlord. Do not make me responsible for the death of my kind," he continued. He knew it was a futile attempt. After all, it was the extinction of magic that Uther wanted. Getting rid of the dragonlords was a step towards that. Balinor had expected a response that confirmed his thoughts, but instead, Uther said nothing. The man just stared at Merlin, unmoving and appearing to be deep in thought. With each passing second, Balinor grew more and more uncomfortable with the man's presence. He did not like, or understand, the sudden interest that his enemy had taken in his son. "We are peaceful people, that much has always been true. If you are going to kill me, Pendragon, get it over with, but if you touch a single hair on my son's head-"

Uther just shook his head before speaking, "I'm not going to hurt your child, Balinor," he interrupted, looking up at the dragonlord for the first time in a long while, still clearly very deep in thought. "Go," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as if he could hardly believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

Balinor squinted and turned his head warily, it was evident that he could not believe anything that came from the man's mouth, especially not when it resembled mercy. "Whatever game you are playing Uther-" he warned, his voice mixed with both caution and confusion as he tried to assess Uther's motives. He knew the man well enough to know that he would not let them leave without any consequences.

"I'm not playing any games with you Balinor," he said, his voice still quiet and his tone genuine. This was a side of the elder Pendragon that Balinor had never seen before and it, somehow, made him more on edge than the Uther that was blatantly threatening him. "As you know, I too am a father. My son just turned seven," Uther continued, a small smile could be seen etched onto his face. It was then that Balinor understood what was happening. For a brief moment, Uther had seen his own child in Merlin. It was well known that the king rarely carried out raids on his own, this was likely the first time since his son was born that he had to come face to face with the idea of killing a child. It was clear now that somewhere in that cold heart of his, there was enough sympathy to understand the inherent need to protect one's family. "We are the same in that," he continued after a moment, "I just want to protect my son. No child should grow up without a parent nor a parent without their child. With or without magic, a family should stay together." It was not lost on the King of Tristram that together did not necessarily mean alive. "So go, now, before I change my mind," he finished, leaving Balinor standing there, staring at him in shock. This was the same man who, not moments before, was saying how much magic had taken from him and insinuating that it needed to be eradicated, and now he was willing to let the king and the sole heir of a magical kingdom go, just like that... It not only confused Balinor, but Uther as well. As the words passed his lefts, they felt foreign. He had not shown mercy like this, especially to magic users, since Ygraine passed and he could not quite understand why he was doing so.

When the shock finally passed, Balinor moved quickly to pick his child up off the floor. "I won't forget this, Uther," he uttered gratefully. His hand held the back of Merlin's head as he gently placed the boy's head above his shoulder, into a tight hug. He held tightly as if in a second, Uther would change his mind and take his child from him. As he readjusted the child in his arms, the wooden dragon he had been holding onto fell to the floor, his hands being much too small to maintain a good grip on it. Seconds later, Merlin began to cry. "No, no, mae'n iawn. Peidiwch â chrio (it's okay. Don't cry,) Merlin," he soothed as he maneuvered awkwardly to pick the toy up off of the floor and hand it back to the wailing child, "There you go." As they rushed out of the door, Balinor stopped in the doorway and muttered "Thank you," before heading out into the corridor in search of the knights and his wife.

What the King of Tristram had not realized, however, was that Uther did not act alone. As soon as the King of Camelot has explained his reasoning for being there, he has not thought to question anything else. He was shocked and hurt to learn later that it was one of Tristam's knights that had helped Camelot's army pass through the border undetected. This knight, Sir Joshua, would go on to claim the throne as his own despite having zero legitimate claim to it. Tristram's army fought valiantly, but in the end between Camelot's army and those who had pledged their loyalty to Joshua, they were simply outnumbered. With the royal family gone, having been forced to flee the kingdom, the people were in need of a new ruler. Though, of course, that was all part of the traitor's plan. He had only used Uther and Camelot's resources as a matter of force, and a cover for his true intentions.

The royal family and any from the kingdom who had been able to escape Uther and Joshua's men fled into the woods. Many of the kingdom's most trusted knights fled with them to ensure the groups safety. They trekked through forest for what seemed like forever until they happened upon the small village of Ealdor, which lay in Cenred's kingdom. The village was small and rather poor, and while they were weary about the newcomers initially, they soon realized that the more young people there to help tend to the farms, the better. Ealdor had been full of those who were in no condition to be tending the fields or trying to corral livestock as it was mostly the elderly who still resided there. Once the initial suspicion had passed, they welcomed the people of Tristram with open arms. The people of Tristram, and those from Ealdor who had been able, had worked together to build new homes, expanded their fields and set up a small but useful training ground for the knights to train. Though, the people of Ealdor had no idea they were knights in the beginning. 

As Merlin grew older, he grew more and more restless being stuck up in his room. Once Balinor deemed it safe, he allowed Merlin to train with Henry, Will, and James, the children of the knights who had fled with them, in sword fighting, knife throwing, and archery, along with many other combat techniques. After putting in countless hours of training, he became quite skilled in combat both with various weapons, and with magic, both of which he learned from his father. Merlin was proving to be more than capable of looking after himself, and Balinor knew that when the time came, he would be able to defend his kingdom as well.

With the knight's training going so well, Cenred had become increasingly more suspicious of the small village of Ealdor. Before the royal family got there, it was merely a farming town. A poor, run-down one at that. Now, with the most trusted and skilled knights of Tristram and the royal family living in the village, the farms that were abandoned were operational once more. There were training grounds where dilapidated houses used to be and the overall look of the town had improved greatly. The village was no longer as poor as it once was, which also meant they were no longer as easily manipulated by Cenred. He had sent men several times to investigate the village, but they could find nothing specific that could explain such a change in the village other than the fact that there were now over twice as many inhabitants.

These check-ins continued for years, and eventually, in an effort to throw off some of Cenred's suspicion, Balinor made the tough decision to leave Ealdor. He had no idea where he would go, but he knew that he could not stay. Merlin was only eleven at the time, much too young to be fatherless, but the king knew that it was for the best. He left in the middle of the night, he could not bring himself to say goodbye to anyone. He knew that if he had seen the look on his son's or his wife's face that he would have stayed. He knew that it would have only put everyone in greater danger. He had packed his things the night before while everyone was asleep. With his bags ready for him the following night, he left quickly. Before his departure, he leaned over and kissed his wife on the forehead while she slept, careful not to wake her, and that was that.

By the time Merlin turned sixteen, the native residents of Ealdor began to grow weary of him and his magic. It had grown significantly since his father had left, and with no one there to teach him about wielding such power, he felt like he was losing control. The people of Ealdor could tell and they feared what he could do. Even with their limited knowledge of all things magic related, they could sense that he was more powerful than most sorcerers. Out of fear, those around his age even began to torment him, throwing rocks and yelling obscenities at him in the streets. Hunith grew more and more worried for her son as this went on, and eventually, it was decided that he should leave. There was only place that she could think to send him where, if he was careful, he would not be found. It was the one place he never thought he would end up: Camelot.

Chapter Text

One year later...

Horrific screams rang throughout the whole of Camelot. Fire seemed to pour down on the kingdom from the sky, with no sign of it stopping any time soon. In a futile attempt to stop the bloodshed, Arthur and the knights of Camelot turned their weapons to the sky, pointing them at the creature above them. "On me!" Arthur yelled, not allowing the fear he felt to seep into his voice. "Hold steady! Tonight is not your night to die," he continued in an attempt to rally up the knights. "Hold... hold... now!" he roared as the knights all shot at the beast above them. The arrows seemed to have no impact on the beast whatsoever, it was as if its hide was resistant to anything attempting to penetrate it. They rained back down on them and the knights had to react quickly to avoid being struck by their own weapons.

Night fell soon after, and the sky, which was already dark with smoke, grew darker. Anyone who was still alive had sought refuge within the castle and was safe for the time being. Merlin was overcome by an overwhelming sense of guilt. He had been the one to unleash this terror across his new home and he alone was to blame for the destruction and death that could be seen all around him. He looked out over the crowds of people in front of him; men, women, and children who had been burned and bloodied because of his actions. He would never be able to forgive himself for this.

In one of the banquet halls, Gaius and Gwen had set up a makeshift infirmary. Those who were injured the worst were sent there. Even though there was not much that could be done for them, the physician did his best to ease their pain. Eventually, they had run out of water and without it, the little that Gaius could do would be for nothing. Gwen kept insisting on going to the square to fetch more but he refused to let her go. It was too dangerous for anyone to be out there now, even the knights. Despite the old man's many attempts to keep the stubborn girl inside, soon she could be seen rushing out of the hall and into the square, pail in hand.

The beast above had been focused on the knights who were still shooting arrows at it, regardless of the fact that it proved to be useless. As Gwen rushed to the well, the dragon spotted her and realizing that she was alone, turned to aim his attacks at her. The majority of the knights took that as an opportunity to catch their breath and reorganize as they had not seen the girl. Arthur on the other hand noticed her immediately as she shakily attempted to draw water from the well. He called out to her, which got her attention just in time. As she turned towards the sound of Arthur's voice, she saw the dragon flying towards her and screamed. The Prince rushed towards her as fast as he could and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards safety.

The dragon, however, had different plans. With one beat of his wings, he flew down closer to the pair and swiped his claw at Arthur, hitting him just below the shoulder on his right arm. The force of the impact caused the Prince to fall forward and seeing as he was still holding on to Guinevere's hand at the time, she fell as well. Ignoring the searing pain, Arthur scrambled to find his footing, and as soon as he did, he pulled Gwen up with him. They sprinted towards the castle, ignoring the knights who had seen the interaction and were now calling out to the Prince to make sure he was okay. The two did not stop until they were in the castle and once they were, they slammed the door shut behind them and doubled over, breathing heavily as they tried to wrap their heads around what had just happened.

As the doors slam, Merlin runs out onto the opposite end of the square. He knew that he had no choice but to fight back. Frantically, he looked around him to ensure that there were no prying eyes and once he was certain that he was alone, he uttered a simple spell. "Flēogé! Gar!" The spell sent a nearby spear hurling through the air toward the dragon. Just as the arrows had done, it simply bounced off of the beast, not even leaving a scratch.

The dragon, who expected as much, taunted the boy, "Do not imagine that your petty magic can harm me!" Merlin stared up at the beast, rage filling his voice as he called out to it, he wanted to know what this was all for. He knew that the beast had been wronged by the Pendragons but that was no reason to kill dozens of innocent people. No answer was given, the beast beat his wings once more and took flight, blending in with the smoke that still lingered in the night sky.

The next morning King Uther ordered that a council meeting be held to discuss the extent of the damage to the city. "The dead number 49 men, 27 women, a further 18 women, and children are unaccounted for. Most of last night's fires are now out. The castle walls, in particular the western section, are near to collapse, I could go on. We have no idea as to how the dragon managed to escape," Arthur explained to his father somberly. He stood upright, his posture confident though anyone could tell that the Prince was rattled by the previous day's events.

Uther said nothing, he just sat there for a moment, thinking with a discouraged look on his face before turning to Gaius, "There must be some way to rid ourselves of this aberration," he said, small traces of hope clear in his tone. He was still holding out that there would be some way to defeat the beast and stop the bloodshed.

"We need a dragonlord sire," Gaius stated quietly, knowing Uther's reluctance to trust anything relating to magic. The old man knew it was futile to even suggest such an answer, but it was the only way to get rid of the dragon without killing it. Uther's heart fell to his stomach. He would need to find King Balinor. He hated the thought of it. After he had let him and his son go, Uther never thought he would need to speak to the man again. In fact, he was counting on it, and now after all these years, he was going to have to ask him for help. He did not even know if the man still lived, it had been fourteen years since he had last seen the dragonlord.

"Balinor... you know very well, Gaius, that that is not an option. And even if it was, we have no idea where he is," the King explained. Upon hearing his father's name, Merlin's head shot up. It was no surprise to him that Uther knew of his father, he was, after all, the one who forced him out of his home. He was, however, surprised to learn that Uther knew that his father was a dragonlord. Luckily, all eyes were focused on the King and the physician, no one paid any attention at all to him. No one had seen his reaction.

"He was last seen in Cenred's kingdom in the border town of Enged, but that was many years ago," Gaius explained. This was news to the Prince, after all, he did not know anything of his father's whereabouts and had not since the day he left. For the rest of the meeting, Merlin seemed to zone out. Thoughts of his father flooded his head as he began to think about what the future had in store for them. It had been six long years since he had last seen his father and some part of him hoped that he was never found. Selfishly, Merlin, now seventeen years old, had no idea how he would react if he was placed in front of his father again, let alone in this position. On the other hand, he worried for the King, Merlin wondered what Uther would do to him after he was no longer of any use to him.

The boy was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Uther yell at Arthur "My concern is for you!" In the year that Merlin had been Arthur's manservant, he had overheard many conversations between father and son, but none of which had ever sounded like this. Uther rarely expressed concern for his child's safety and even now, as he heard the words leave Uther's mouth, it seemed foreign to him.

"And mine is for Camelot!" Arthur retorted before turning to Merlin. "Prepare the horses," he said before turning away from his father and walking quickly out of the meeting. Arthur would not discuss it any longer, nothing was going to stop him from doing what he had to do to keep his people safe. Not even his father.

Merlin followed a few paces behind Arthur, only splitting once they had passed the kitchens. He would need to grab a few days worth of rations if they were going to have anything to eat on their journey to find the dragonlord. After making one more stop at his chambers, he took off towards the stables to pack everything in saddle bags and to prepare the horses. Soon, they were ready to go. As Arthur grabbed ahold of his horse's reins, he winced in pain from the staring it caused to the wound he had recently acquired. "Are you okay?" Merlin asked, concern evident in his voice.

"It's just a scratch Merlin," Arthur dismissed before riding out of the square, with Merlin only a few paces behind him.

The two rode for hours on end. Luckily for the two of them, they had traveled through the densest areas of the forest before nightfall. The ride was mostly silent, which gave Merlin a lot of time to think. He felt as though he was experiencing every emotion at once: joy, anger, betrayal, fear, and excitement, to name a few. "The prat doesn't even notice that something is wrong. I've been silent for hours, and that's new for me," the younger man thought to himself. He did not want Arthur to notice though when it really came down to it. Merlin would have no idea how to respond should the young Pendragon ask him anything related to how he was feeling at the moment. Arthur had noticed though. The change in his manservant's posture was hard to miss. The boy seemed weighed down, even more so than usual and that worried him.

Arthur would never admit it but he was terrified of entering Cenred's kingdom unannounced. He worried that doing so would be an act of war, and Cenred was a very unforgiving man. If he caught word that Arthur was traveling through his kingdom, there would be no telling what he would do. He physically shook his head, as if by doing so he could rid himself of such thoughts, he could not think about that now, his people were in danger, and that was all that mattered. He pushed his feelings aside as he continued to ride following a small trail left by previous riders hoping that it would lead somewhere where they could rest for the night.

Luckily, the trail led to a small inn where the two Princes would be able to stay the night and get some rest before they would have to continue their search in the morning. As they began to settle down, the questions rolled in. "What is wrong with you today?" Arthur asked, taking off his armor and ridding himself of anything unnecessary for sleep.

"It's nothing," Merlin lied after pausing for a moment, "I'm just worried about everyone back in Camelot is all." He hated having to lie, there was already so much of that going around and the last thing he wanted to do was add to it. He couldn't risk accidentally saying something that he shouldn't, not when his life and his father's were at stake. One wrong move could have catastrophic effects on his kingdom.

Arthur didn't believe his manservant for a second. There was something more going on with his friend, he could tell not only by the unusual silence from the ride but the fact that worry sat so clearly on his face. Merlin was not one to wear his emotions, so something had to be seriously wrong. Upon hearing his friend's answer though, he knew that Merlin was not going to talk about it. There was no use in pushing it, so he dropped the topic entirely. He was too tired to be lied to.

The truth was Merlin did want to talk about it. He wanted to tell Arthur everything, but how could he?

Chapter Text

Arthur awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of someone loudly walking around the room that he and his manservant were sharing. Careful not to alert the intruder that he was awake, he lay there as still as he possibly could. He listened carefully to the sounds of footsteps, the wooden floors were unforgiving against the boots the man was surely wearing. Once he felt the presence of someone closer to him, Arthur immediately shot up in the bed. As he stood, one hand went underneath his pillow, to grab a dagger that he kept on him at all times, and the other grabbed the intruder. He pushed the stranger into the side of Merlin's bed, the man's knees hitting the mattress causing him to fall onto the younger man who was sleeping there. This effectively woke Merlin, who had been peacefully sleeping until now.

"What's going on?" Merlin demanded, backing away from the scene in front of him. His back was now pressed into the headboard, his knees nearly touching his chest.

"Do you know what the punishment is for theft?" Arthur growls at the man, ignoring his manservant's question. The man instantly begins to plead with Arthur, claiming to have young children that he needs to take care of. Based on the look on the man's face alone, Merlin could tell that he was telling the truth. Arthur, however, ignores his pleas and begins to question him. "What do you know of Balinor?"

Merlin looked at the Prince with a puzzled look on his face. He was confused as to why the man had chosen this moment to ask about the Dragonlord. "Nothing. I-" the man answered, fear etched on his face as the dagger Arthur was holding on him made its way closer to his throat.

"If you value your life you won't lie to me again!" Arthur threatened. "I will ask again, what do you know of Balinor?" Merlin rarely ever saw this side of his friend. He knew of course that in the right situation, Arthur could be intimidating, but these occurrences were few and far between. It caught him by surprise every single time.

"It's been many years since I last saw him," the man finally answered, prompting Arthur to ask about where he could be found. His reply was instant, the fear still evident in his voice as it trembled. "You must travel through the Forest of Merendra to the foot of Feorre Mountain. There you will find the cave where Balinor dwells. But don't get your hopes up." Arthur released the man, seemingly satisfied with the information he had provided.

"Why?" Merlin questioned, suddenly fearing what kind of man his father had become in the six years since he left him and his mother in Ealdor.

"He will not welcome you. Balinor hates everyone and everything. A cave's the best place for him," the man remarked before he rushed out the door, stumbling as he went. Merlin was overcome with emotions, the man that had just been described to him did not sound like the King that Merlin knew, not the father he knew. His only hope now was that the thief had lied to them, but he was not so sure that that was the case.

"At least we know where to look now, right Merlin?" Arthur asked optimistically in an attempt to pull Merlin from his thoughts. He sat down on his bed, returning the dagger to its home under his pillow. Merlin simply nodded and the two of them laid back down hoping to get some more sleep before their journey tomorrow.

The next morning, they set off to the cave the intruder had mentioned the night before. The trail itself was not hard to follow, the terrain was relatively flat, with only a few hills and some fallen logs they needed to navigate. If they were able to ride fast enough, it would not be a very long trip at all. About three hours into their journey, Arthur began to appear ill. The pair had reached a rather steep hill, the trail on it was cluttered with large rocks and fallen branches. It was too dangerous to cross while on horseback so they had to dismount and guide their horses down the rough terrain in order to cross safely.

Arthur grimaced in pain as the wound he had received only a couple of days ago caused shooting pains throughout his arm. It felt as though the skin around the cut itself was on fire, every time he moved his arm, the pain increased drastically. Having to hold his arm up to guide his horse was probably the worst possible thing he could have been doing at the moment. Merlin looked at him, concern written all over his face. "It's nothing," Arthur lied as he continued to walk down the hill. He was determined to make it to Balinor no matter what happened to him.

"No, it's not, it's your wound. Let me check it," Merlin insisted, walking over to Arthur who was a few paces behind him. As he reached his friend, he heard the sound of a branch snap from behind them. "Get down!" Merlin exclaimed.

Merlin jumped into action once he realized that Arthur was not responding to his calls. He grabbed his arm and pulled his friend behind the closest tree and only then was it revealed to him that he was unconscious. As quickly and as quietly as he could, Merlin took off some of the armor that Arthur had been wearing in order to better access his wound. Once he got to it, he knew it was infected, the skin where the dragon's claw had caught his shoulder was bleeding through the thin bandage that was quickly thrown over the gash before they left. There was now some kind of puss oozing out of the wound as well, the smell alone caused Merlin to turn his head and shove his nose into the pit of his arm. The wound was infected, that much he knew for certain.

Quietly, he reached for the bag that he had packed his medical supplies in and realized that he did not have any of the supplies he needed to treat the infection. He didn't bring the spellbook Gaius had given him either. He couldn't treat it, with or without magic. The thought alone scared him. His best shot now at saving Arthur would be to find his father.

Once he was sure that the coast was clear and that it was safe to leave their current hiding spot, Merlin dragged Arthur to where they had temporarily abandoned their horses. After getting Arthur on top of his horse, he grabbed his friend's horse by the reins and mounted his own. He walked slowly at first, and once he was sure that Arthur would be secure on the journey, he set off toward the cave. Luckily for them, they reached it in only a few minutes.

When they stopped, Merlin quickly jumped off his horse and led her to a nearby tree, where he tied both his horse and Arthur's down to a nearby tree. He then made the choice to leave Arthur unattended for a moment so he could better investigate the cave. It was risky, leaving the Crown Prince of Camelot out in the open while he was unconscious, but he didn't see any other options.

"Hello?" Merlin called out, hoping for some kind of response. He was cautious when approaching the mouth of the cave, careful not to enter. After all, he had no way of knowing if the thief at the Inn had told them the truth or if he had led them into a trap.

He turned to examine the mouth of the cave more closely. The rocks of the cave looked untouched, if he had not known that there was supposedly someone living there, he would never have given it a second glance. As he bent down to inspect what looked like a footprint, he was grabbed from behind. Merlin panicked, not knowing who, or what could have grabbed him. Whatever was holding him had spun him around rather quickly and in an instant, the young boy recognized the man as his father. The Prince was stunned, his father looked completely different from the man he once knew. His dark hair had grown out on both his head and his face, and was now littered with streaks of gray. Balinor no longer wore the clothes of Tristram, instead, he wore clothes that could be found on any bandit out in the woods. Merlin wondered, for a moment, how he came into possession of such clothing.

"What business do you have here, boy?" Balinor interrogated bitterly. He had not yet recognized the boy in front of him as his son. All he saw was someone getting too close for comfort. Balinor had worked for years to make sure that he was never found, he was not going to let this boy ruin it for him. If Merlin did not have Arthur to worry about, he would have called his father out for leaving him all those years ago. He would have yelled and screamed and cursed, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"My friend, he's sick. He needs help," Merlin explained quickly, staring up at his father. He could not help but study his features and wonder what had turned his father's eyes so hard. They used to be warm and soft, inviting even, and now they shut out everyone who dared to look at them.

"Show me," Balinor demanded, but Merlin froze, still hung up on the drastic change his father had gone through. "What are you waiting for?" Merlin was once again pulled from his thoughts and he ran to Arthur. He guided his friend's horse closer to the cave's entrance slowly, so as not to disturb the rider.

Once he had managed to get Arthur off of his horse, Merlin slung his arm over his shoulder and slowly walked into the dark cave. It took much longer than he would care to admit, but navigating the rocky entrance of the cave while carrying his unconscious friend was no easy task.

The King had cleared out a small section of the floor and had even started a small fire. The orange light seemed to bounce off the walls and Merlin paused for a moment to survey his surroundings. "Set him down over here," Balinor said quickly upon seeing that the boy's friend was unconscious. Merlin did as he was told, not speaking a word. As soon as Arthur was sat on the floor, Balinor got to work. After taking off Arthur's shirt for easier access to the wound, he took a moment to examine it more closely. "Where did he get this?" Balinor asked confusion and shock in his voice. He recognized this type of injury. It was something that his knights often had when they were in the beginning stages of bonding with their dragons.

Merlin did not answer, he did not know how his father would react and in addition to that, he did not know how he was going to react. He was angry at his father for not recognizing him and for leaving him all those years ago and he could not risk losing his temper now. He needed to figure out his emotions before speaking to the King, the young Prince did not want to say something that he would regret.

The boy's silence did not go unnoticed. Regardless, Balinor quickly tended to Arthur's wound. He rushed between the young man and some kind of bag that Merlin guessed must have had supplies for different potions and things of that nature. Balinor had made a kind of paste that he spread across the gash before wrapping it and mumbling a spell that Merlin did not recognize. "He should be all healed by morning."

"Thank you," Merlin replied coldly, his emotions showing more obviously on his face now.

"What is it, boy?" Balinor asked, authority in his voice. Unfortunately, Merlin was not as good at hiding his emotions around his father as he was with Arthur.

"You really don't remember me?" Merlin asked softly.

"Why should I?" his father asked.

"Na allwch gofio eich mab (Can't you remember your own son)?" Merlin asked both anger and pain seen on his face and heard in his voice. Balinor stood there, stunned. His eyes flashed with recognition as he just stood there unable to say anything. "It's been six years I know but I haven't changed that much!" he yelled harshly at the man standing before him.

"Merlin?" Balinor whispered, his voice barely audible to his son who was only standing a few feet from him. The boy was angry, that much was obvious but Balinor seemed unfazed by his son's anger as he smiled and hugged the boy tightly. "Oh god, I've missed you fy mab (my son)."

Chapter Text

"How are you, my son? It's been so long since I last saw you!" Balinor exclaimed joyously, there was a huge grin on his face, though his eyes seemed more relieved than happy. He grabbed his son by the shoulders and gently moved Merlin in order to look at him more clearly in the dim light of the cave. Merlin just stood there in shock, he had so many emotions that seemed to flood his mind all at once. He was angry and hurt that his father had left him, but the smile on his face seemed to wash all of that away almost instantly.

"I'm good," Merlin responded softly, still battling all of the emotions that were running through his head.

"How is your mother? How's Hunith?" Balinor asked rather quickly, suddenly scared for the Queen. If his son was here, he hoped that his wife would not be far behind. He had not heard anything from his wife or his son since he left six years ago. He knew logically that there was no way to keep in contact with them given his current living situation, but seeing his son now made it sink in just how long it had been. Merlin was now a young man, no longer the boy he knew.

"Last I saw her she was good, the knights are taking care of her and the rest of our people," Merlin answered with a slight smile. His father still worried about his mother, even after all these years. This fact changed the way he felt about Balinor leaving, even if only a small bit. If it was this obvious that he cared about his mother, then he knew that there had to be outside factors that caused him to leave. Until now, he had always assumed that he had just abandoned them, but now he was sure that he was forced out. It was entirely possible. After all, the same thing had happened to him.

"Y tro diwethaf i chi ei gweld?! Beth ydych chi'n ei olygu (The last time you saw her?! What do you mean)?!" Balinor interrogated, still worried for his wife. If Merlin was not with her and seemingly had not seen her for some time, there was no telling what could have happened. He tried to remind himself that his knights were with her. The King would trust his knights with his life, and he knew that if they had been tasked with taking care of the Queen that she would be taken care of. Logically, he knew all of this, but it did not seem to stop his worry at all.

"I don't live in Ealdor anymore. I moved to Camelot last year. I live there with the physician, Gaius." He left out the part about being Prince Arthur's manservant. Considering his father's past with Camelot, he figured that it was best to leave that particular detail out.

"At least the knights are with her. But who is watching you, Merlin? You know what Uther thinks of our kind! Gallech chi gael eich lladd mewn amrantiad pe byddech chi'n cael eich darganfod! Chi yw'r unig etifedd i (You could be killed in an instant if you were discovered! You are the only heir to)-" Balinor chastised before being interrupted by Arthur. Merlin felt a certain level of comfort when his father switched to their native language. It had been too long since he had heard it, and longer still since he had spoken it. Even with his father yelling at him, he could not help but feel the slightest bit of joy. Balinor was worried about him, and it only confirmed his suspicion that he left because he had to, not because he wanted to.

"Merlin..." Arthur mumbled quietly in his sleep before rolling onto his side revealing the Pendragon crest on his bag. Merlin had tried so hard to cover the crest when helping his friend onto the ground. It had stayed hidden while his father worked on healing him and in only a few seconds Arthur had gone and revealed it. His face fell as he realized the questions that would surely follow.

"Pwy yw hwnna (Who is that)?" Balinor asked, growing angrier as he looked at the crest, realization now showing on his face. He knew that his son now lived in Camelot but he wondered how he would be friends with someone who wore the Pendragon family crest. After studying the young man's features, he began to see the resemblance between him and Uther.

Merlin instinctively lied, "His name is Lancelot. He's a knight. You know, a nice one." He knew that if his father found out who Arthur really was that his chances of coming back to Camelot with them would be even smaller. There was no way that he was going to go anywhere with a Pendragon.

"His name is Arthur Pendragon. He is Uther's son," Balinor growled, anger present in every word. He was not only angry at his son for lying to him, but for bringing the enemy to him as well. Despite his father's tone, Merlin remained calm and simply responded with a curt nod. "This is Cenred's kingdom, he is just asking for trouble! And what are you doing with him? If he found out who you were, Merlin... Does dim rhaid i mi esbonio pa mor beryglus yw hyn (I don't have to explain how dangerous this is)!"

"No, you don't tad (father)," Merlin responded sheepishly. His father continued to ramble on about the danger Merlin had put himself in, no matter how many times he acknowledged the danger of the situation. After many failed attempts to get his father's attention in English, he tried his native language, which had always worked when Merlin was growing up. "Mae'n ffrind rwy'n addo (He is a friend I promise)"

"Mae'n gwybod wedyn (He knows then)?" Balinor asked passive-aggressively. Merlin shook his head and looked at the floor, he couldn't bear to look at his father's face right now. "Why did you come here? Who is with your mother? And why are you with a Pendragon?" Merlin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off. "A pheidiwch â meiddio meddwl am ddweud celwydd wrtha i (And don't you dare think about lying to me)!"

"Mother is fine, all of the knights are with her. I came to Camelot on my own last year because the people of Ealdor were growing more suspicious of us every single day," he answered, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Arthur is my master, I am his manservant, wherever he goes I go. It is my duty to protect him. We both are here because the Great Dragon is attacking Camelot and we need your help to stop him."

"So you are protecting the Pendragon?! Do you know what his family has done to us?!" Balinor was livid now. Never in a million lifetimes would he have imagined that his son would be protecting the very people who stole his kingdom from him all those years ago.

"Ie tab (Yes father)!! I know, okay? I know!" Merlin yelled before quickly realizing that he was raising his voice, something he hated doing. He took a second to calm down before addressing his father again. The last thing he wanted was to wake Arthur, this whole thing would be too difficult to explain. "Arthur is not Uther, they may share a last name but that is all. Arthur will grow to be a great King. I have faith in him."

"He may be a great King for Camelot but will he help to restore magic to our kingdom when the time comes? Because there will be a time when Tristram will have to come first, son!" Balinor exclaimed, but Merlin did not answer, silence soon filled the air. Balinor gave up, deciding to change the subject. "You said the Great Dragon was attacking Camelot?" His tone was significantly calmer, but it still had a certain edge to it. Merlin knew he needed to tread lightly if he had any hope of remedying the situation.

"Yes, he is killing innocent people. Men, women, and children," Merlin said softly.

"Kilgharrah..." Merlin looked up at his father expecting more than just a name in response. "He doesn't act blindly. He kills for a reason. Vengeance. This is of Uther's making." With that Merlin watched as his father's expression soon turned bitter, full of an anger and a hatred that he had never seen before.

"You won't even help your own son?! I care about these people, father! They're my friends. I will not sit by and watch them die because you are too bitter and angry to help them!" Merlin yelled, this time not caring who he woke.

Balinor opened his mouth to speak but could not get a word out. Instead, it was Arthur who spoke. "Merlin...Merlin," he said in between coughs. Merlin immediately ran to his side and checked his fever, placing the back of his hand on Arthur's forehead. His fever had gone down drastically, thanks to Balinor, but Merlin was still worried for him.

Balinor got one look at how his son reacted to the young Pendragon's fever and he could tell that Merlin genuinely cared for the boy. "Cael ychydig o gwsg, mab (Get some sleep, son)," he said softly, suddenly having no more energy left in him to fight with his son. Balinor knew that in the many years he had been away, his son had gone from a boy to a man. He could make his own decisions, even if that decision was a dangerous one.

Merlin sighed and looked to Arthur, unsure if he should leave Balinor in charge of keeping watch, knowing his history with the Pendragons. Eventually, prepared his bed next to Arthur's, and not long after, sleep took over.

When Arthur woke the next morning, he was alone in a cave that was unfamiliar to him. He stood slowly and surveyed the area. First, he looked for Merlin. When he couldn't find him, his next thought was his weapon. He saw the reflection of the sunlight off of the steel of his blade and slowly approached the mouth of the cave, where the light came from. Picking up his sword cautiously, he held it out in front of him in case of an attack. He looked out of the dark and murky cave into the sunlit forest outside. He squinted in an attempt to free the sun from his eyes. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light he saw Merlin sitting on a rock not far from the mouth of the cave. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made his way toward his manservant.

Chapter Text

"I feel great! What the hell did you give me?" Arthur questioned happily. Merlin noted that he seemed to be acting almost like a small child. The man walked out of the cave and towards his friend who was sitting on a nearby rock.

"It was all thanks to Balinor," Merlin explained as he turned around and looked up at Arthur. His friend simply stared back at him, almost shocked. Neither one of them said anything for a moment as Arthur neared the rock Merlin was sitting on.

"So we found him then? Thank heaven for that!" Arthur exclaimed joyfully. For the first time since the Great Dragon had unleashed his fury on Camelot, the young Prince allowed himself to feel hopeful. With the Dragonlord located, they could finally rid themselves of the beast and Camelot would be free from its rage once more. 

"He won't help us and you won't convince him," Merlin explained, successfully stamping out any hope that Arthur had only moments ago. Arthur turned to look at his friend to find him looking down at his hands. The young man was holding a small rock, and unknown to Arthur, Merlin had been fidgeting with it for the last couple of hours. It was not much, but focusing on the rock kept his mind off of his father’s decision.

"Does he know what is at stake? The lives that will be lost?!" Arthur asked in disbelief. The anger in his voice grew as he turned to look in the direction the man had gone. He was ready to charge over there and yell at Balinor himself. Merlin could not bring himself to answer Arthur with words and instead simply nodded. "What kind of man is he then?"

Merlin did not know how to respond to such a question. In his mind, Balinor was still the brave and respected King that raised him. He was strong and courageous. However, his father was not that man anymore, now he is weak, broken, and a coward. How can he stand by and watch as innocent people die?! Merlin thought to himself. His father had watched many of his own people perish, how could he condemn another kingdom to the same fate, even if it was Camelot. Even if it was Uther’s home, it had become Merlin’s as well. He had people there that he cared about and he was not going to sit idly by and watch them burn. The young man did not care if he had to reveal himself as a warlock, he was willing to put his life on the line to protect his friends, with or without his father’s help.

Despite Merlin's efforts to stop him, Arthur insisted on talking to the Dragonlord himself. The Prince was convinced that he would be able to persuade Balinor to accompany the pair back to Camelot. Merlin knew better than to get his hopes up for their conversation. His father was stubborn and if he did not wish to help Uther, there was nothing that anyone could say to him that would make any difference. Especially not a Pendragon.

The conversation between Prince and Dragonlord was not a long one, it lasted only a few minutes. By the end of it, Merlin assumed that the decision made was not in favor of Camelot, judging by the length of the conversation itself. "What did he say?" Merlin asked smugly even though he already knew the answer.

"He'll change his mind," Arthur stated confidently. He was sure that he convinced the King to join them on their journey back to Camelot, but Merlin was not. He raised an eyebrow at the young Pendragon prompting Arthur to roll his eyes. "Just give him a moment." Merlin was not sure how the man still had any hope left, but then again, Arthur did not know Balinor as he did.

The two Princes waited around for a moment before the Dargonlord came walking over to them. Arthur stood up taller as if in the presence of a King. Merlin chuckled to himself silently, because unknown to Arthur, he was. "Farewell then," was all Balinor said as he walked past his son and the young Pendragon and back towards the cave he now called home. Merlin would have loved to say that he was not angry, he had expected this kind of response after all, but it was hard to contain his emotions when he knew that his father's decision would mean the death of many innocent people. "I will not help Uther Pendragon," he called over his shoulder as if to tell his son why he reached the decision he had.

"Then the people of Camelot will surely die!" Merlin exclaimed before Arthur even had a chance to open his mouth. Arthur agreed with his manservant, who spoke only the truth to the Dragonlord but he had to admit that he was not expecting such a reaction from Merlin. 

"So be it," the Dragonlord said, the words pouring out in anger as he turned and stared at his son.

"Have you no conscience?!" Arthur yelled, not quite matching Balinor's anger though. He was more distraught than angry. In the past few minutes alone his hope had returned only to be squashed once more. "Thousands of innocent people will die!"

"You should ask that question of your father! He’s the one who killed thousands of my kind in the Great Purge!" Balinor retorted, but Arthur would have none of it and simply walked away. Merlin however knew that his father was not only speaking of the murdering of innocent people with magic but also the massacre of his people.

"And you are no better than him!" Merlin yelled although he didn’t mean it, well not entirely. Arthur heard Merlin's final words to the Dragonlord and could not help but feel proud. Sure he had always teased Merlin for being a coward but standing up to a powerful being like that was truly brave in Arthur's eyes.

"Let's go, Merlin," Arthur called to his manservant as he walked on the rocky and unstable terrain back to where they had kept the horses only a few paces away from the mouth of the cave.

Merlin stopped for one second to look back at his father knowing very well that this could be the last time he would ever see him. "Hwyl fawr dad (Goodbye father)," Merlin said to his father telepathically. Balinor simply looked up at him somberly, the remnants of anger still etched into his features. He watched as his son turned away from him and jogged slightly to catch up with Arthur.

Both Arthur and Merlin were feeling extremely discouraged by this whole meeting, though the reasoning behind their disappointment differed greatly. While Arthur mostly feared what his father's response would be to the prince coming back empty-handed, he also feared for Camelot. Without a Dragonlord to save them, the kingdom and all those who reside within its walls were unsafe. Their fate was uncertain and that made Arthur more anxious than he had been in a long time. Merlin on the other hand feared not only for Camelot but also for his own kingdom. If his father's heart had truly turned so cold, how could he rule Tristram with the fairness and compassion that once made him a great King?

After riding silently through the woods for several hours, Arthur decided it would be best to stop, even with the sun still shining brightly above them. The silence was deafening, and Merlin seemed to be upset about something, something more than just the poor outcome of their recent meeting. Arthur was determined to get Merlin talking again.

"I always thought that silence would be a blessing with you, but I find it just as irritating. You're a riddle, Merlin," Arthur commented as Merlin finished setting up their camp for the night. The manservant only paused and looked at the Prince with a confused look. "But I've grown to quite like you. Now I realize you're not as big a fool as you look," Arthur said in their usual joking tone.

"Yeah, I feel the same. Now that I realize you're not as arrogant as you sound," Merlin replied, matching Arthur's playful tone.

"You still think I'm arrogant?" Arthur could never tell whether or not Merlin was joking when it came to the insult of Arthur's arrogance, though the tone implied that it was said in good fun.

"No. More...supercilious," Merlin retorted, taking a moment to think of the correct word. Merlin had not felt like joking much, but it was a nice break from the thoughts of the futures of both Tristram and Camelot. 

"That's a big word, Merlin. You sure you know what it means?" Arthur responded, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Condescending." Arthur commented on Merlin's knowledge but he just kept rambling on. "Patronizing."

"Well not exactly..." Arthur began to say but was cut off by his manservant.

"No, these are other things you are, overbearing..." Merlin continued ignoring the protests coming from his friend. Arthur however, had stopped paying the younger man any attention as he heard a twig snap in the distance. They were being followed. Arthur attempted to quiet his manservant but Merlin was having none of it. "Very overbearing."

"Merlin!"

"But you wanted me to talk!" Merlin exclaimed hints of sarcasm in his voice, but then Merlin heard it too, the sounds of leaves and twigs cracking under pressure. This effectively shut him up. He picked up an extra sword as Arthur raised his, and stood with the blade pointed outward. He turned slowly, looking for the source of the noise before pausing as he found someone familiar at the end of his sword.

"Careful, boy."

Chapter Text

Merlin wanted to scream out in excitement at the mere sight of his father's face, even if it was at the end of his own sword. He restrained himself, however, as he knew that it would raise too many questions from his friend. After all, in Arthur’s mind, Merlin had only met the man yesterday. Instead, he simply smiled and lowered his sword allowing his father to speak.

"I thought you might need some help," Balinor said quietly. "This is dangerous country," he added smugly. He knew his son would need no help with any bandits that the two Princes should come across in these woods. He also knew that his son would never forgive him if he let innocent people die for Uther’s wrongdoings. Balinor could not blame the boy, he knew would not be able to live with himself either. That was what had brought him back.

"Pam wnaethoch chi ddod yn ôl mewn gwirionedd (Why did you actually come back)?" Merlin asked his father telepathically, not believing for a second that his resurfacing had anything to do with the terrain or the bandits, who were surely waiting in the tree line to attack at any moment.

"Ni allaf eich gadael eto (I couldn't leave you again)," Balinor responded, causing Merlin to smile slightly once more. Arthur, of course, was oblivious to this interaction and stepped out from behind Merlin to face the unknown King.

"So you'll come back to Camelot with us then?" Arthur questioned, allowing himself to sound hopeful once again. His only hope now though was that it would not be squandered like it was after their last interaction.

"You were right Merlin, I owe a few in Camelot my life," Balinor said before pausing for a moment. The boy knew that he was talking about Uther. The fact that the older Pendragon had let him and his family flee Tristram when it was attacked was a debt that Balinor thought he would never repay. Mostly because he felt as though Uther did not deserve it, but also because he thought he would have the opportunity. "I owe them a debt that I must repay." In addition to setting his debt with Uther though, he also did it for Gaius, the man who took Merlin in like he was his own. From Balinor’s limited understanding, Gaius was a good man. There were many good people in Camelot. They did not deserve to lose their lives because of the decision of one man. The man had seen that happen in his own kingdom and he could not condemn another to a similar fate. Even if that other kingdom was the reason why he was in hiding, why he no longer has a kingdom to rule over, why he could no longer be with his family. That was not the people’s fault. They did not deserve to face Kilgharrah’s rage for the wrongdoings of Uther Pendragon.

"If you succeed in killing the dragon you will not go unrewarded," Arthur stated, hoping that that would help to resolve any last doubts that Balinor may still have had about helping a King that wanted him dead. Both Merlin and Balinor smiled in an attempt to hold back a laugh. They both knew that Balinor did not need, want, or expect anything in return for his actions. Even if he did, the King of Camelot could not give him the one thing that he wanted.

"I do not seek any kind of reward," was all Balinor could bring himself to say. 

Arthur just nodded before moving on. "Alright then, let's eat!" The three men got to work finishing setting up their camp and prepping what they could for their meal. The father and son pair went off into the woods to collect firewood, while Arthur did the hunting. Merlin was never fond of the thought of killing animals, or anything for that matter. That much had not changed since he had lived in Ealdor. Now, the young man had seen so much death that he always tried to avoid being the cause of it whenever possible.

Balinor had collected some wood that he was bringing over to Merlin when he was stopped. "That wood is wet, it won't light," Merlin said matter of factly, confused as to why his father, who surely knew this, would still spend his time gathering such poor firewood.

"I'm sure you'll think of something Merlin," he teased knowingly, causing his son to laugh. Balinor realized just how much he had missed hearing his son's laugh over the years. He missed his kingdom, of course, but most of all he missed his family. "How's your mother?"

"She's good, she misses you, as I do," Merlin explained to his father, his voice soft and his gaze shifting towards the ground beneath them. He raised his head before continuing, wanting his father to understand the full weight of his words. "The knights are counting down the days until you come back. But the village grows more and more suspicious of us with every passing day. It's hard to train a small army of knights without getting caught, that's why I came to Camelot in the first place." Balinor could not help but notice how regal his son had sounded when the young Pendragon was not around. He noticed that even his posture changed. Merlin looked like the Prince he was born to be.

"Am I right in assuming that is not why you stayed?" Balinor interrogated quietly as Arthur walked past, eyeing them suspiciously. The young man was curious as to how close the two seemed to get in a short matter of time. He wondered what they had talked about when he was unconscious that could have bonded them so quickly. Especially since, to his knowledge, there were no clear similarities between the two. 

Merlin waited to respond until his friend was out of earshot. "That’s right,” he started, his voice still low in case Arthur had decided to eavesdrop. “I stayed because it is my destiny to protect Arthur and the world that he will create," he continued, wondering how much detail he should really get into about what he has learned from Kilgharrah. He knew that his father would learn the truth eventually, so the question quickly became when rather than if.

"Destiny huh?" Balinor scoffed playfully. He put on a calm exterior but immediately his mind wandered to thoughts about what his son could possibly know about a topic as burdensome as destiny. "Who told you that?"

"Kilgharrah," Merlin responded after a moment, deciding that he did not want to keep anything else from his father. He had tried to hide Arthur’s true identity and that had not gone well for either of them, he did not want to make that mistake again. Upon hearing Merlin’s response, Balinor's heart dropped, seemingly taking refuge in his boots. The pulsing grew faster and louder with every passing moment, and he was almost positive that all color had drained from his face.

The Great Dragon was never wrong when it came to destiny, everyone who had ever had an encounter with the creature knew that to be true. He had foreseen Merlin's birth, and the marriage of Balinor and Hunith years before they had occurred. He had always said that there was a great weight on the royal family of Tristram and their duty to the magical world, but he never thought it would lead to this. Now, not only would Merlin need to protect Tristram long after Balinor passed, but he would also have to protect the young Pendragon and Camelot. It was too much for any man, let alone his son, to go through alone.

His heart ached for his son, but he tried to keep a playful appearance anyway. "So Kilgharrah is spreading old wives' tales again?" Balinor joked with a smile in an attempt to bring up the mood. He would never admit to it, but it was mostly just to try and cheer himself up.

Merlin chuckled lightly at his father’s poor attempt at a joke. "I don't know about that," the look of confusion on Balinor's face prompted him to continue. "The Druids even seem to believe it. They have taken to calling me Emrys, and so has Kilgharrah."

Of course, Balinor had been told the prophecy of the greatest Warlock to walk the Earth, as well as the duty that he had to the magical world, but never in his lifetime or the next would he have believed that it was his son the prophecy spoke of. No , he thought to himself, it can't be Merlin, not my son . "Mae gennych bwysau mawr ar eich ysgwyddau fy mab, peidiwch â gadael iddo eich bwyta (You have a great weight on your shoulders my son, don't let it consume you)." The man could think of nothing else to say. After all, what was there to say to the boy who seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders at such a young age?

"Rwy'n adnabod tad (I know father)," Merlin acknowledged solemnly. The young Prince knew just how great of a responsibility he had, not only to his kingdom or Camelot but to magic itself. He did not want to think about what the consequences would be should he fail at any part of his destiny. "We’d better head back to camp," Merlin said after a moment of silence, trying not to dwell on what was to come. He needed to focus on the problem at hand, otherwise, his destiny meant nothing.

The pair walked back to camp, each carrying a bundle of wood. When they got back, they were met with a couple of rabbits that Arthur had managed to catch for them. Merlin spared no time in lighting the fire and cooking their meal. They all ate in relative silence, the only conversation that was had was about the threat that was surely waiting for them back in Camelot. Soon, night fell and with Arthur taking the first watch, Balinor and Merlin headed off to sleep.

When Merlin awoke, he saw a tiny wooden dragon sitting in front of him, much like the one he had back in his room in Camelot. Like the one that his father had given him when he was only a few years old. He smiled slightly before he was grabbed from behind by Arthur, who was covering his manservant’s mouth with his hand. Arthur pulled the man towards a nearby tree to use as cover, his hand still covering the boy's mouth. "Quiet, it's Cenred's men."

Merlin heard the sounds of heavy footsteps crushing the leaves that had littered the forest floor. The noise appeared to be coming from the tree line. Just as he turned his head in the direction of another noise, a twig snapping, about six or seven men came rushing through the bushes. Arthur reached for his sword and Merlin did the same, throwing one to his father and keeping one for himself. Soon, a skirmish had broken out. Arthur took down one soldier after another, Balinor and Merlin doing the same until there was no one left. Merlin looked around quickly to make sure that both his father and his friend were okay. Only when he realized that they were did he put his sword.

"Let's get out of here before more of Cenred's men figure out that we're here," Arthur said, both Merlin and Balinor agreed and after they cleaned up their camp, they set forth to Camelot.

Chapter Text

The trio made their way back to Camelot, luckily not running into any more bandits on the way. When they finally reached Camelot, Merlin couldn't help but act as though something was different about the place, because something was. This time he was with his father, this time his father would see where he had been living for the past couple of years, he would possibly get to meet his friends and even Gaius. But that wasn't even the weirdest part for Merlin, the weirdest part would come when he would have to witness the reunion of Uther and Balinor.

"Merlin! Arthur! Thank goodness you're back! I take it, this is our Dragonlord then?" Gwen questioned rather quickly, looking at Balinor for confirmation. It was dangerous to be outside for longer than necessary so Merlin understood why she seemed to be in such a rush.

"Yes, I am. And who might you be?" Balinor asked. Arthur noticed how regal his voice sounded. He sounded different now that the anger in his voice seemed to disappear. Merlin, of course, noticed the same thing and couldn't help but feel proud of his father. Gwen introduced, and then quickly excused, herself, as she had been out to collect water for Gaius who was currently tending to the hundreds of people left wounded by the beast.

As Merlin walked side by side with his father to Uther's throne room, he realized how weird this must be for Balinor. Not only did Uther take his kingdom from him, but he also single-handedly called for the death of his kind. It takes a lot of strength to be able to help those that have wronged you in such a way.

Arthur entered the room first, Merlin saw Uther's face light up as Arthur made his way toward him. But that look was replaced with something more serious when Balinor enters. Uther stood and made his way toward the King of Tristram.

"Balinor, it's been a long time," Uther said, nodding to his equal in an attempt to show respect.

"The last time I saw you you were standing over my son as my kingdom was attacked, now I live in a cave in the middle of a forest. You did that to me, so you will have to forgive me for not wanting to keep in touch," Balinor responded curtly. Arthur, who was previously looking at the floor, looked up at this. He had not known that Balinor was a King, let alone that his father led the attack on his kingdom. And what happened to his son? Was he still alive? If he was, why wasn't he living with Balinor in that cave? And if he was not, then why had his father killed him? These questions flooded Arthur's mind as he watched the two Kings' interaction.

"I did not harm your son Balinor, and you know very well that I could have," Uther stated with the same, unrecognizable tone in his voice. It almost resembled a sort of smugness that suggested that Uther regretted not killing them.

"We both know that you are cruel towards my kind Uther but would you really have killed an infant?"

Merlin had never heard the story of how his kingdom had been taken over by Uther, he never asked for fear of bringing up bad memories. While his news did not shock the young Prince, it did anger him. How had Uther gotten close enough to him as a child to have made an attempt on his life? Arthur looked at Merlin with wide eyes, half expecting his manservant to be just as surprised as he was that his father had threatened the life of a infant, but Merlin just stared at the floor not wanting to make eye contact with anyone in the room. This fact did not go unnoticed by Uther who looked at the young manservant and then back at Balinor. 

Something had clicked in his mind that made the elder Pendragon raise his eyebrows at Balinor. Memories of that night came flooding back to his mind. He could vividly remember the moment that he had told Balinor to flee Tristram. As Balinor bent down to pick up his son, he dropped the small toy that he had been playing with before. When Balinor handed it back to the child, he had said his name. He had not thought about that moment in the fourteen years since it had happened…

"Your son is in fine health Balinor, we both know that," Uther said smugly, glancing for a split second at Merlin as he walked back to his throne. Merlin's head raised slowly at this comment.

"Mae'n gwybod pwy ydw i (He knows who I am)," Merlin told his father telepathically. It took everything in Balinor not to look at him. If he did, it would only raise suspicions for the young Pendragon who was oblivious to his manservant's true heritage.

"A ddywedasoch wrtho (Did you tell him)? " Balinor asked, again having to resist the urge to grab his son and run out of Camelot.

"No, I would never."

"Enough of this Uther!" Balinor said forcefully, scaring even Arthur as his voice boomed. "I am here to tame the Great Dragon that is all."

"Tame it? That beast has caused more damage than entire armies! You must kill it!" Arthur said, stepping out to face the Dragonlord.

"I will not be responsible for the extinction of a noble breed, Pendragon! He needs to be tamed, not slaughtered," Balinor said, looking the young Prince in the eyes before turning to Uther. "If you want my help, you will accept my terms."

"And your terms are?"

"I will not kill the Great Dragon. I will send him away and he will never bother Camelot again but I will not kill him," Balinor said firmly. Arthur could now see how this man would behave as a king and he now believed him to be a ruler who would likely have raised a kingdom centered on the idea of peace; the fact that he had chosen a nonviolent approach to "taking care" of the dragon had led Arthur to this conclusion. Arthur could not help but feel sorry for the man who had lost everything because of his father.

"Fine," Uther said after thinking for a moment. He hated the thought of the beast being allowed to live, but he understood enough about dragonlords to know that that monster would have to obey his commands. "Anything else?"

"I know that you know who and where my son is, his identity will remain secret and you will not pursue him if you wish for my help. If you tell anyone of his identity I will know and my next visit to Camelot will not be so friendly," Balinor said and Merlin almost smiled at his father before realizing again where he was. Arthur was astounded by the man standing before him, not only was he standing in front of his long-time enemy willing and able to help him but he was also still looking out for his son. Whoever this boy was, he should be grateful to have such a man as a father.

"The boy's identity will remain a secret to all of those in Camelot. However, if he makes any attempts to plot against me, my son, or my kingdom, I will be forced to reveal him and he will be executed for his actions," Uther responded, glancing for a moment in Merlin’s direction. The King knew that if he did not agree to this, then Balinor would leave Camelot to burn. His hatred for magic was only second to his need to protect himself and his kingdom.

"Do you agree to these terms? " Balinor asked his son silently.

"Yes," Merlin responded, for the first time looking his father in the face.

"That will not be an issue. Now tell me Uther, where is the Great Dragon?"

Chapter Text

Arthur led Balinor out to where his father had said that the fighting was the worst and sure enough, there Kilgarrah was. Balinor felt the creature's anger as if it was his own and a part of him wanted to join him in his fight against Camelot. But he took one look at his son and the young Pendragon, and he knew that joining the beast was not an option; it would only put his son, and Uther's, at risk.

"Dragorn. Non didlkai. Kari miss, epsipass imalla krat. Katostar abore ceriss. Katicur. Me ta sentende divoless. Kar... krisass," Balinor yelled forcefully at the dragon, his voice sounding much deeper than it had only minutes ago.

Arthur looked at Balinor, wonder and curiosity in his eyes as the beast landed in front of them, only inches from Balinor. Even though the beast was many feet in front of the two young Princes, Arthur looked to Merlin expecting him to have the same look in his eyes after what they had just experienced. But no such look could be found. Instead, Arthur saw a look of pride and joy in his eyes. Arthur assumed that the look was because Camelot would now be saved, but the truth was much different.

Merlin stared at his father with such joy because Balinor had overcome such hardships to even be standing here in Camelot today, and to see him display so much power gave Merlin hope for his kingdom. Hope that one day they would be able to reclaim the throne.

Kilgarrah bowed to Balinor and the two seemed to share a silent conversation as they stood there staring at each other. Arthur and Merlin did not dare say a word for fear of disrupting the discussion between dragon and dragonlord. The Great Dragon bowed his head once more to the King of Tristram before flying away. Balinor turned around to face the two princes. "Well, now that that is all taken care of, I really should be leaving."

"Please, sire, allow my father and I the chance to at least grant you a horse and some food for your journey," Arthur said. The use of Balinor's true title had not gone unnoticed but it was familiar to him and he had responded on instinct.

"Thank you, Arthur," Balinor said softly. The trio had once again gone to see Uther in his throne room. Uther was grateful for what Balinor did to help his Kingdom and promised that Balinor would no longer be hunted by Camelot or their allies.

"I don't care about myself, Uther. I care more for my family than I do for my own safety," Balinor said, turning his head to look at Merlin, who was standing behind Arthur. Arthur was looking at the man in front of him with such intense curiosity and wonder in his eyes. Balinor understood that it was because Uther was never a loving father to him. All of Arthur's life, Uther had been so focused on his war on magic that he never paid any attention to his son. Looking back at Uther, he continued, "Surely you understand."

"Yes..." Uther said softly, he seemed to be deep in thought. Merlin knew that it wasn't about Balinor's comment about family. Uther was having an internal battle: agree to Balinor's terms or risk watching Camelot fall. He chose the former, knowing the destruction that the dragonlord could bring to his kingdom should their agreement be broken. "You have my word that no harm will come to you or your family as long as I am king. Arthur's manservant will ready a horse for the three of you. Arthur will make sure that you return safely to your family," Uther stated. Merlin looked at Uther, somewhat confused. He was actually being kind to someone with magic, it led Merlin to question what his father’s and Uther's relationship had been like before the Great Purge.

"Thank you, Uther," Balinor said, bowing his head slightly and with that, Arthur, Merlin, and Balinor were set to go back to the cave. From there, Balinor had planned on returning to Ealdor once Arthur and Merlin had left.

The trio had been riding for quite a while in silence when finally, Arthur spoke up. "Balinor, you spoke of your son back in Camelot and how my father had threatened his life as an infant. Can I ask what happened?"

Balinor stopped his horse and turned to look at Arthur and then Merlin, who had also stopped. "My kingdom was attacked when my son was only three. At the time my wife and I were in the throne room attending to some unfinished business. My son was still in his room, he was alone but someone was coming to watch him. My kingdom was one of peace, we didn't have to worry about him being alone for a minute or two. But he was alone nonetheless, and in that minute the warning bells were set off. I ran to my son's room only to find Uther standing over him as he played on the floor. His sword was drawn but he had stopped to simply stare at my son... the look on his face was one I will never forget," Balinor paused for a second, shaking his head slightly before continuing. "The only reason that my son is alive today is because of you Arthur."

Arthur did not let Balinor get another word out before questioning him. "Me? How? I wasn't even there."

"You were still very young at the time, about four years older than my boy. Your father saw you in my son and chose to spare our lives." Arthur was shocked, this kind of mercy did not make sense to him coming from his father. He was ruthless in his fight against magic. The shock was never ending. On the one hand, he was shocked that his father had allowed them to live and on the other, shocked that he would have killed a three year old boy over a war that did not involve him.

"Where is your family now, sire?" Arthur asked.

"Please, call me Balinor. And my family is safe, that is all I am willing to say. For their safety, it is better that they remain hidden," Balinor stated. Arthur simply nodded in understanding and they set off again. Not even Merlin uttered a word, too shaken by what he had heard. Maybe that was the beginning of the two Princes' destinies being intertwined... For the first time since he had heard it, the prophecy made sense.

Chapter Text

The group did not get very far before bandits jumped out of the tree line and attacked. Arthur yelled for Merlin to grab a sword and protect Balinor, even though he was sure that Merlin will be of no help whatsoever. Balinor and Merlin jumped off their horses and grabbed swords just as Arthur had done only seconds ago. Arthur had easily defended himself against three bandits who, as far as he could tell, had no formal training. He quickly turned around to see Merlin struggling to defend himself against two bandits who were easily twice as big as he was. There was no way that Merlin would win that fight, so Arthur quickly sprung into action making his way behind the bandits and easily taking care of them while they were distracted from fighting Merlin in front of them.

The fight between Arthur and another bandit was also a short one, the man had no real chance in a fight against the Prince of Camelot. Balinor however, was struggling. There were several bandits surrounding him, and even though he had been an excellent swordsman in Tristram, he had been out of practice. The men had the King overrun, fighting from every angle.

Then, it happened.

Balinor had been stabbed directly through his abdomen by one of the several bandits in front of him. The whole world seemed to move in slow motion as Merlin turned to see his father fall to the floor. "No!" Merlin called out to his father, completely unaware of the fact that his magic had caused a blast that caused everything around him except for his father to be thrown back several feet. Arthur was thrown onto his back and he sat there for a second dumbfounded by the turn of events. He was unharmed but the blast left him out of breath as he looked up at the sky thinking about what had happened.

It took a minute or two for Arthur to catch his breath and get up off the floor but once he did, he saw Merlin crying over Balinor's body. "No..." Arthur said barely above a whisper. Merlin heard his friend behind him and quickly wiped his face attempting to look as though he had not been crying. But, it was no use, Arthur had already seen him. Arthur felt bad for his friend, he was clearly much closer to Balinor than either of them let on, and even though that confused him, he put that aside for now.

But what confused Arthur even more was the fact that someone had used magic to send him flying just minutes ago. Someone else must have been here besides Arthur and Merlin, that the Prince was sure of. Who else could have caused that blast of energy?

"Merlin, we have to go, someone else is here," Arthur said, softly grabbing onto Merlin's shoulder as he looked around him now suddenly wary of his surroundings. Merlin was still crying into Balinor's chest. He would not let go. How could he? He had only just been reunited with his father, he was not ready to let him go yet.

"No one else is here Arthur," Merlin said slowly lifting his head to look at the young Pendragon. So many things were going through his head. He was now a King and the last Dragonlord. He did not feel ready in the slightest. He had grown used to his role as a manservant over these past couple of years and could not imagine going home to rule. Not now. How is he going to tell his mother? How will she take it? Should he tell Arthur who Balinor was? How they were connected?

Merlin had a split second to decide. Arthur would surely grow suspicious if they had sat in silence any longer. He quickly decided against telling Arthur any parts of the truth. "The magic came from Balinor", he explained curtly. Arthur simply nodded, not entirely believing Merlin but choosing not to dwell on the fact now. The two took their time in burying Balinor, it was not much but it was all they could do for now.

Arthur's suspicions of Merlin grew as he watched how his manservant had reacted to the death of a man they had just met, and the magic that had caused him to go flying through the air. He had not been entirely convinced that they had been alone. If the blast had come from Balinor as Merlin had suggested, surely Merlin would have felt the blast too. His suspicions died down with time and the closer they got to Camelot, the better Arthur felt. He was Merlin after all. Just a clumsy idiot of a manservant, there was nothing special or different about him.

Upon the pair's arrival back in Camelot, a guard notified Arthur that his father is waiting to speak to him in the throne room. Arthur looked at Merlin curiously and they both headed in the direction of the throne room. Once they arrived, the usual sounds of servants running around could be heard.

Once Uther sees Arthur and Merlin, he stops. "Leave us," Uther said, his voice booming as he commanded both the servants and the knights to leave. Arthur stood in the middle of the room facing the King of Camelot as Merlin stood in the back of the room in the corner, waiting for Arthur as he always had. "You too, Arthur, I wish to speak to your manservant alone for a moment."

"Father what-" Arthur began to say in protest before he was cut off but his father. Why would the guard address him then and not just Merlin?

"I will not ask again," Uther said, the authority still present in his voice. Arthur simply bowed his head in respect and turned to walk out of the throne room giving Merlin a look of concern as he walked out.

Once Arthur was out of the room, it was like something had possessed Merlin. He had straightened his back, held his head up high, and walked with purpose as he moved from his place in the back of the room to the center of it facing Uther. The King of Camelot was somewhat surprised at the change in the young boy's stature but he tried to brush it off as he addressed the now King of Tristram. "I trust your father had a safe journey back to his... cave"

Merlin did not answer, instead, he looked down at his feet, tears threatening to spill as he thought of his father. "Answer me, boy!" Uther yelled, standing and stepping towards Merlin, growing angrier at his silence. Merlin, however, remained unfazed.

Merlin rose his head and spoke, this time not as a servant but as a King, his voice almost matching Uther's in terms of authority but never anger. "We are equals Uther and we are alone, you will not address me in such a way if this conversation is to continue." This time, Uther could not contain his surprise as Merlin spoke. The shock was not only written all over his face, but it had caught him so off guard that he took a step back at the young boy's tone.

"You are still a Prince boy, I will speak to you as I wish," Uther yelled once again though not with nearly the same level of anger.

"I am no longer a Prince, Uther," Merlin stated emotionlessly. Upon seeing Uther's confused face, he continued. "We were attacked by bandits in Cenred's land as we were traveling to my father's cave... He did not make it." Merlin took a moment to recompose himself before continuing. "As the only heir to the throne of Tristram, I am now King."

"I am sorry to hear about Balinor, I cannot say that I knew him well, but he was a good man," Uther said solemnly, sitting down on his throne. He momentarily felt guilty for having addressed him in such a way after facing that kind of loss. "What is your plan now? Are you going to tell Arthur of your true title?"

"No, I may be King but as of now, I am without a kingdom to rule. My people are safe where they are and I can do nothing more for them right now. I have a destiny to fulfill here and I do not intend to leave Camelot until it is fulfilled," Merlin stated ignoring the fact that Uther now looked like he was trying to solve a puzzle in his mind more so than before at the mention of Merlin's destiny. "For now, I plan on telling my mother what has happened, and explaining to her that she will need to step in as regent until I am able to return."

"I will inform Arthur that you are to return home for a few days. Take all the time you need, if Arthur has a problem with it he will deal with me," Uther stated. It was not much, but it was the only thing that he could really do. With Merlin wanting to keep his identity a secret, there was little else the elder Pendragon could think of.

"Thank you, Uther, truly you do not know how much this means to me and my people," Merlin stated with a slight smile and a curt nod. Uther simply nodded in return. "I must be on my way, the journey to my mother is not a long one and I would like to reach her before nightfall." It had not gone unnoticed by Uther that Merlin had not told him where exactly he was going, but given the history between the two kingdoms, Uther could not blame the boy.

As Merlin left the room, the King of Camelot momentarily cursed himself for being so merciful in his reaction. He knew the boy had suffered a lost, but this destiny he spoke of was something that he had heard of before. The only way to figure it out would be to keep the young King in Camelot as long as possible. Being merciful and somewhat kind to the boy was part of that. 

Merlin left the throne room, his posture still that of a King. He had unintentionally ignored Arthur, who was calling out to him, but he did not care, he was too stuck in his own head. Arthur had noticed the change in Merlin's posture. Something was off about it. He had carried himself with much more confidence and walked with purpose as he walked quickly in the direction of the physician's quarters. Arthur had a feeling that, once again, he was going to be kept in the dark.

Chapter Text

Merlin left as quickly as possible. He did not say goodbye to anyone, not even Gaius or Arthur. He just went to the stables, got on a horse, and left as soon as possible. As he rode as fast as he could out of the citadel, he heard Arthur call out for him but he did not stop. He could not stop. His mother deserved to know what happened to her husband.

Back in the castle outside of the throne room stood an extremely baffled Arthur, who had just seen his manservant basically run out of the throne room looking quite emotional, though he was not really sure what his friend was thinking, or feeling for that matter. All he knew was that something was not right. He walked into the throne room where Uther could be found sitting on the throne with his head in his hands looking rather distraught. "Father?'

Uther did not look up upon hearing his son's voice. "What is it, Arthur?" Arthur would have loved to be able to say that his father's coldness towards him was unusual but that was not the case, so the fact that Uther had not even lifted his head to look at him, was not all that concerning.

"Your conversation with Merlin? What was that about?" Arthur asked, trying not to sound too worried for Merlin. He would never admit it, but the fact that Uther had specifically asked to talk to Merlin made Arthur nervous. He had never once done so before, and after everything that had happened, after witnessing the closeness that Balinor and Merlin seemed to share, Arthur was already feeling concerned for his friend. This whole interaction between his friend and his father only deepened that feeling.

"The conversations between your manservant and I do not concern you Arthur, if Merlin wishes for you to know what we spoke of then he will tell you," Uther stated rather calmly as he lifted his head now to face his son. Arthur's face must have reflected the worry he felt because Uther continued. It was strange to hear Uther mention Merlin by name and not simply 'the boy' or 'your servant', something in that conversation had changed his father's mind about his manservant, though Arthur did not know what. "He is to return home for as long as he is needed, you are not to follow him and you are not to ask him about his visit when he returns. Is that understood?" The firmness in Uther's voice returned as he reached the end of his tirade.

Arthur simply nodded and turned to walk out of the room, his footsteps echoing in the empty room as he left. Arthur did not care what his father had to say, there was no way he was letting Merlin travel anywhere alone. If it was privacy Merlin wanted, then Arthur would just keep his distance, camp several paces away, and give Merlin the head start in the mornings. He had very quickly planned it all out so that he would avoid being seen while still being able to keep an eye on the boy. He was not going to let Merlin out in the woods alone near nightfall, it was too dangerous.

Arthur set off not long after Merlin had, not telling anyone where he was going. He knew that his father would catch on as to where he was but Arthur doubted that he would do anything about it. As he rode off into the woods, Arthur was able to follow his manservant's tracks for a while, he both cursed Merlin for being dumb enough to leave his tracks uncovered and celebrated the fact that it had made following him much easier.

He continued on Merlin's trail for as long as he could before it began to grow dark. He decided to continue following Merlin for a little while longer, though it would be more difficult in the dark, before setting up camp for the night, but he couldn't even do that. The tracks had stopped completely. Arthur looked around worriedly trying to figure out where his manservant had gone. "That idiot must have finally realized I was following him," Arthur muttered to himself, slightly proud of his friend for figuring it out but also frustrated now that his "job" of following the younger man would be much more difficult.

The truth was much different though, Merlin had not in fact noticed that Arthur was following him, but one of his knights, Sir James, had. Sir James was also a sorcerer, although he would be the first to admit that he was not very powerful, and he could sense that Merlin was coming back to the village of Ealdor, as could many of the other young sorcerers and sorceresses. Many of them had gotten together to discuss whether or not to tell the Queen about her son's return. The entire village knew that when Merlin set off for Camelot, he had been told not to return to Ealdor unless it was an emergency, or if he was called upon to return, which they were positive that he was not.

The group ultimately decided against informing the Queen, instead, they decided to inform the knights and have one of them meet up with Merlin before he got to the city. Sir James, who was sitting in on the meeting, had agreed to go and was now following Merlin through the forest to prevent him from being found by the unknown man who was following him.

Once Merlin reached the outskirts of the village and Sir James was certain that the other man was no longer following him, he had made himself known. "Sire!" he called out to Merlin. "Beth wyt ti'n gwneud yma (What are you doing here)?"

"Mae angen i mi weld fy mam (I need to see my mother)," Merlin stated. He seemed emotionless as he mentioned this to his knight, this, of course, had not gone unnoticed by Sir James. He had not seen this type of behavior in Merlin very often but when he did, Sir James knew better than to push him to explain.

"Ydy popeth yn iawn seiren (Is everything okay, sire)?" Sir James asked. Merlin would admit that hearing his title felt strange after all this time. He was not necessarily opposed to titles, as many of his people believed that he was, he just didn't force anyone to use it, nor did he get offended when people did. Merlin was not sure how that would change after announcing that he was now King.

"Byddwch yn darganfod yn ddiweddarach Syr James, ewch â mi at fy mam. Dydw i ddim yn gofyn (You will find out later Sir James, take me to my mother. I am not asking)," Merlin snapped at his old friend. Sir James was a bit taken aback by the tone of Merlin's voice. The boy he knew from only a couple of years ago would have never spoken in such a way. The man standing in front of him felt like a stranger. Something had happened in Camelot that had changed him.

Sir James did not say anything else. He simply bowed his head and led Merlin toward Ealdor and to his mother. Merlin instantly felt bad for the tone he had used with his friend but this was more important than feelings. His mother needed to know what had happened.

Several miles from where Merlin and James had just stood, was Arthur looking rather lost in the woods trying to figure out where his manservant had gone. He looked around for maybe half an hour before giving up. He had to convince himself that Merlin was fine, he was just returning home after all. This was not the first time that he had made the journey home on his own. Arthur decided to head back for Camelot, although it was rather dark, he knew that if he were not home by morning Uther would be furious. He just hoped that Merlin would be okay, wherever he was right now.

Chapter Text

Arthur returned to Camelot very early in the morning. He walked into his chambers and sure enough, his father was there, staring out of a nearby window. "Father I-" Arthur began to say but he was immediately cut off.

"I don't want to hear it, Arthur..." Uther said, sounding more disappointed than angry. But that quickly changed. "I specifically told you not to follow Merlin and what did you do?! You disobeyed me! I knew you would but just this once I thought you would respect my wishes!"

By now Arthur was extremely confused, it was one thing for his father to use Merlin's name, maybe something had happened with Merlin's family and Uther felt bad for him, although that was highly unlikely. But now it almost seemed as if Uther was defending his manservant.

"Since when do you care about the lives of your servants father?" Arthur asked calmly, trying not to lose his temper. Uther seemed dumbfounded by that question. He had not realized that the way he spoke of the boy had changed so drastically. He was silent for a minute, leaving Arthur standing there even more confused than before.

"My feelings towards my people are none of your concern Arthur," Uther said, his voice no longer portraying anger, instead it was very stern, almost like he had given up being angry and had switched to simply giving out commands.

But Arthur would not let this go. "You never cared about Merlin before! You've almost let him die time and time again! So why do you care now? Something has changed father, you can not deny that." Arthur's anger rose as he thought of all of the times his father would rather have let his friend die than be seen helping a servant. Uther was silent, he could not tell his son the truth, not only would that destroy his son but it could also lead to making an enemy out of Merlin. He knew how powerful the young King truly was, and that thought scared him.

Contrary to popular belief, Uther knew what the old Druid legends and prophecies say about the sorcerer called Emrys. He now knows that Merlin and Emrys were one in the same. He found out completely by accident and only recently had all of the pieces of the puzzle begun to fit together. On Uther's rampage during the Great Purge, he had learned much from the angry last words of the Druid people. These words were always the same: "Long live Emrys, the future King of Tristram".

As Uther heard the name more and more, he grew curious as to who it was. So he set out to learn more information, He had dedicated several years of his life to learning more about Emrys. He learned of the prophecy, and how Emrys was destined to keep Arthur safe and to help him become the “Once and Future King”.

Either way, Uther realized that the change in the way he referred to the young King was a combination of two things: his title and his power.

"There will be a time when you will understand why my attitude towards him has changed. Until then you will learn to deal with it. Now please leave me, Arthur." Arthur simply nodded his head, turned, and walked out of the room, leaving Uther alone to think. He didn't even care that those were his chambers, he would find something else to do. Arthur had learned long ago that fighting with his father was futile. If Uther was set on something, it was near impossible to change his mind.

Back in Ealdor, Merlin had finally made it to his mother. Sir James had never seen Merlin so determined in his life. As Merlin walked into the village, many of his people had stopped what they were doing to watch him. They did not expect him to be back in the village so soon let alone with such a serious look on his face. Merlin approached his mother's house but stopped right in front of the door. He could not bring himself to knock.

"Sire?" Sir James asked in a futile attempt to get Merlin's attention. "Merlin, what is it?"

"You may leave now Sir James." The knight did not move from his spot. He stayed feet planted on the dirt steps of the Queen's house, not wanting to leave his friend’s side when it was obvious that something was wrong. "Dywedais, efallai y byddwch yn gadael nawr Syr James ( I said, you may leave now Sir James )," the young King repeated, his voice now soft and calm, almost too calm for the knight's liking. Nothing like it had been only moments before. 

Sir James simply bowed his head, turned his back to Merlin, and left. It was only then that Merlin had the courage to knock on his mother's door. Hunith answered, looked up at her son, and immediately bombarded him with frantic questions. "Merlin! My son, what are you doing here? Are you hurt? Are you alone? Did you-"

Merlin cut her off, "I'm okay mother, but I need to speak with you privately, it's important," he said somberly, finding it hard to look her in the eye.

Hunith had never seen her son so full of sadness in her life. She knew that something was wrong. "Come in my son," she said, stepping aside so that he could enter the house. There were people in the living room and the kitchen who had all stopped what they were doing upon Merlin's entrance. They too could tell that something serious had happened by his expression alone. Hunith dismissed everyone in the room and they were silent as they left. Only the sounds of shuffling footsteps could be heard. Once everyone was gone, Hunith spoke up, "What's wrong?"

Merlin found it near impossible to begin, he just sat there, tears threatening to spill, "Mae'n dad... ymosodwyd arnom, ni wnaeth hynny ( It's father… we were attacked, he didn't make it ). Mother, I am so sorry," Merlin said, tears flowing freely from his eyes as he delivered the news. Hunith just sat there in shock. Surely her son was mistaken, Balinor could not be gone, there was no way…

"No… Siawns eich bod yn camgymryd ( Surely you are mistaken )," Hunith said in disbelief, her voice soft, tears streaming down her face now too. She did not want to believe it. 

"I'm sorry mother...it's true." Merlin then explained what had happened with as little detail as possible for both of their sakes. He could not bring himself to relive the events of his father’s death, and he could not ask his mother to sit through a description of it either. He could not bear to see his mother so upset, the more she knew about what happened...well, he had feared what her response would be. After Merlin had finished explaining everything that had happened, it took several minutes to calm the Queen down, when the realization struck her.

"You are the King now, my son, everything we have worked for to keep your identity secret in Camelot was for nothing. They will realize you are gone, and that tyrant will surely come after you-" Hunith rambled in a panic before her son cut her off.

"Uther knows, he allowed me to make the journey here, alone, he lent me a horse, food, supplies, everything. I don't think we will need to worry about him right now mother. But you are right, I can’t very well leave Camelot now, there is too much at stake.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “I need you to step in as regent," he explained, ignoring his mother's shocked expression. She agreed of course and soon the pair was outside explaining everything to their people.

Merlin did not stay for very long. He just delivered the news to his people, was sworn in as King, passed off his duties to his mother, and then he was gone. The short length of his visit made Merlin feel quite angry with himself. He should have stayed longer to be there for his mother. She would need him more than ever, but he could not bear to see the look on her face when she looked at him. He knew that she had always seen much of Balinor in him and right now, he could not stand to be looked at like that. Like he was just a reminder of what they had lost. He did not want to hear the people take pity on him for losing his father, he just wanted to be alone. And he couldn't do that in Ealdor.

Merlin said his goodbyes and headed straight to Camelot, not caring that it was early in the morning, or that it had been days since he had last slept. He did not stop until he reached the citadel. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by the Prince, Merlin's demeanor had completely changed back to the role of the clumsy servant, no longer the noble King. Arthur greeted his friend with a list of questions much like the questions his mother had asked him several hours before. Merlin brushed all of them off with a simple excuse: "My mother needed me", but he knew that Arthur would not accept that as an answer for long.

"Merlin, Uther wants to speak with you," Morgana said as she approached the pair, who were still standing in the middle of the citadel. Merlin nodded, excused himself, and headed off to the throne room. Merlin was relieved to finally have Arthur off of his tail for a minute or two but to be honest, he was dreading another meeting with Uther.

Merlin walked into the throne room and was greeted by Uther immediately. "Merlin, I am glad to see that you made it back safely, though I am surprised to see you back in Camelot so soon," he said, not waiting for an answer before continuing. "I hope that everything is well with your people, recent events aside."

"Thank you," Merlin said, not quite sure how to answer. The pair stood there in silence for a moment before Merlin spoke up again. "I must get going Uther, Arthur will begin to grow suspicious of these meetings should they continue frequently."

"I believe it is too late for that, Arthur is already suspicious of my general attitude towards you at the moment. But I do agree, these meetings, as you called it, will happen much less frequently." Merlin simply nodded in response and turned to leave. He had almost made it to the door when Uther spoke once more.

"I wish you well Merlin," the boy could not help but smile at the thought of Uther actually wishing him well on anything. "Oh and Emrys..." he said, pausing for a minute to see Merlin's reaction. The young King stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing this name. All color had drained from Merlin's face and his heart was pounding. His eyes were wide with fear as he turned to face Uther. The man simply let out a small chuckle. He now had confirmation that his suspicions had been correct. The King of Camelot raised a glass in Merlin's direction as he said, "Long live the King.”

Chapter Text

Long live the king!

These words rang out through the throne room as Arthur stood before the people of Camelot. He did not know how to feel. It had felt like only yesterday his father had passed and now here he was preparing to rule over his kingdom. It felt wrong.

Merlin, of course, was standing beside Arthur through it all, even going as far as to wait outside the council room while he grieved. The manservant could practically feel his friend's discomfort as if it was his own. As much as Arthur tried to hide it, he was a rather easy person to read. Arthur felt like he was much too young to rule a kingdom. This was something that Merlin could understand.

Merlin, however, found it hard to pity Arthur, he had been ready for this day for years and had been prepared for it since birth. Plus, Arthur was much older than Merlin was when he became king. Merlin had been only seventeen when he stepped into his role, he was still a child. Arthur on the other hand was now twenty-four. He was a man. He was ready to be king. Merlin was not.

Despite not feeling bad for Arthur, he still felt sympathy for him. His father had died and Merlin knew what that was like and how hard it was. Uther had died of a sickness that not even magic could cure. Morgana came for Uther's funeral and Arthur's coronation that followed. Arthur was glad to have his sister there by his side.

Morgana would not say that she was fine with Arthur ruling over Camelot. She saw much of Uther in him, but she knew that he would learn and grow to be the Once and Future King. She had learned that in the small village of Ealdor. Merlin had taken her there when she had first discovered that she had magic. Morgana knew nothing of who Merlin really was, the power that he held, or that most of the people in Ealdor were actually from Tristram. All she knew was that she was grateful for Merlin taking her there. She had learned so much about her magic and how to use it for good, how to help people. She was forever in his debt.

Arthur stood facing his people, no longer their prince, but their king. He loved his people and were grateful for their support, but his first thought was to be near his family. Gwen, Morgana, and even Merlin, though he would never admit it, were more his family than his father ever had been. He crossed the room to where they were talking to the new knights of the round table.

As he crossed the room he was met with several people congratulating him, telling him how great of a king he would be, some even stopped to bow or kneel. He was overwhelmed with it all. Once he made it to his friends and family, Merlin was the first to say anything.

"So does that mean I have to call you King Prat now, sire?" Merlin joked. Arthur just looked at him confused and Merlin continued. "Instead of Prince Prat? Or perhaps you would prefer 'Your Royal Pratiness'? Or maybe-"

Arthur cut him off. "Merlin you know you aren't supposed to call me a prat at all correct? I am the King."

"King Prat it is then," Merlin said with a smile. The rest of the group laughed and Arthur pushed Merlin playfully. Many of the visiting nobles who had attended the coronation looked over in confusion. Merlin knew what they were thinking: Why was a servant allowed to joke around with the King? They had not seen the two of them interact before this as the other nobles of Camelot had and were not used to such carelessness for a king's status.

The night went on peacefully though, Arthur and the others stayed at their table and spoke on many different things related to Arthur's new role as King of Camelot, Merlin serving them drinks as the night went on. "I know you’ll be a great King Arthur," Morgana stated happily.

"Thank you, Morgana. I hope that you will consider staying here in Camelot. We all miss having you around," Arthur responded sincerely, looking her in the eye. Ever since she had left, things had been different around the castle. There had been a certain light missing, even from Uther before he died. It was not lost on them just how much of an impact Morgana had on the kingdom and those in the court specifically.

Morgana looked at Merlin, who was now pouring Arthur a glass of wine. "I think I am happy where I am for now Arthur. One day I will return to Camelot," she looked back at Arthur and smiled. Arthur looked upset though. He always liked having her around, even when she beat him in a fight or made fun of him. She was family. "I promise," she added, her smile growing a bit brighter after seeing his reaction.

Merlin smiled as he made his way around the table pouring new drinks and filling those that were not quite empty yet. Then, all of the sudden, one of the guards walked over to Arthur and whispered something into his ear. "Tristram?" Arthur said aloud, causing Merlin to look up from the glass he was pouring. "They have never visited Camelot before," Arthur mumbled. "Is their King with them? I would like to speak with him first if possible"

Merlin resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment. "No sire, it is just the knights. What should I tell them?" the guard asked.

"Tell them I will meet them in the throne room," Arthur stated. The guard gave a small nod and walked out of the room. Arthur then stood, and spoke loudly, commanding the attention of the room. "Attention everyone. I am afraid this evening is going to have to be cut short. I have a pressing matter to attend to. Please continue to enjoy the festivities in my absence." He gave a small bow to his guests before turning back to Merlin. "Merlin, follow me please."

"Sire, shouldn't I stay here? I sh-" he began to protest.

"Don't be an idiot, Merlin just come with me." Merlin nodded and followed Arthur out of the dining hall and into the throne room. He did not know what to expect and that terrified him. Was it his knights? Was it Sir Joshua? Was he safe with them here? Would his true title be exposed now after all these years in hiding?

The guards opened the door to the throne room and Merlin held his breath. He hid behind Arthur and momentarily closed his eyes before exhaling and opening them. He looked around the room and saw his knights, his friends, standing before him in Camelot. It had been almost three years since he had last seen anyone from home and close to five since he had seen most of his knights. Now, suddenly they were standing before him in another kingdom.

His knights looked up at him, one of the newer knights, who Merlin could not recognize, even bowed at him and said "Sire". Merlin of course did not respond aloud in fear of what Arthur would think. Arthur however didn't notice, he thought the young knight was referring to himself and nodded.

" Yn y deyrnas hon dim ond gwas arall ydw i. Nid fi yw eich Brenin yma. Er fy diogelwch yn ogystal â'ch un chi, mae hyn yn parhau i fod yn gyfrinach ( In this kingdom I am just another servant. I am not your King here. For my safety as well as yours, this remains a secret ), " Merlin communicated with his knights. He noticed that several of them nodded once they received his message. It made him feel better to know that he could still communicate with no risk of being found out.

Sir Henry was the first to speak. "Sire, we sought an audience with you today to ask for your help in getting our Kingdom back." Merlin froze, he had no idea that this was going on of course since it had been so long since he had even seen his men or his people. He was stunned and even a little proud. They had always talked about getting their kingdom back in their youth, but hearing it now... It felt unreal.

"And why should I help you? I know nothing of your kingdom and as far as I know, we are not allies," Arthur stated. Though the words themselves could come across as harsh, Arthur’s tone suggested that he was being genuine. He was trying to understand why these men would come to him for help as opposed to someone else. 

"Because it was your father who aided in the takeover of our kingdom," Sir Henry responded. Arthur simply nodded and walked to the front of the room, taking a seat on his throne.

"Very well, I will hear you out but I cannot make any promises."

Chapter Text

"Sire, I don’t know how familiar you are with our kingdom-" Sir Henry stated, speaking up as the other knights seemed to have lost their way with words after seeing Merlin. They were almost in awe of how his whole demeanor had changed from when they had last seen him. How quickly the mighty King became the humble servant. 

Arthur cut him off, "I'm sorry to say again that I know nothing of your kingdom. Tristram, was it?"

"Yes, your highness," Sir Henry replied with a curt nod. "I will start from the beginning then. Tristram was once a very peaceful land. One where magical and non-magical beings coexisted in peace." Merlin saw Arthur tense slightly at the mention of magic but he stayed quiet and let the foreign knight continue. "Our wars were short, our enemies few... that was before the Great Purge anyway. When the word had spread that Uther was hunting anyone with magic in Camelot, many people fled to our kingdom in search of refuge. Our King took them in and treated them just as he would his own people. One of his knights, however, was not very pleased with the idea of letting outsiders into the kingdom. He had his ideas about who should and shouldn't be allowed to stay in Tristram and let's just say that this particular knight and our King clashed several times on this issue."

Arthur interrupted once more, "I'm sorry to interrupt but who exactly is your King? And the knight you speak of?"

It was Sir James who spoke up this time, "Our King's name was Balinor, and the knight Sir Henry speaks of is the traitor known as Sir Joshua. He calls himself the King of our land, but that is not true. Balinor's son is the true heir to the throne."

Arthur looked to Merlin for a moment at the mention of Balinor’s name. Merlin avoided Arthur's glance however and stared at the floor. Arthur of course thought nothing of this as this was a typical thing for his manservant to be seen doing. It is just Merlin being Merlin, he thought. "I knew Balinor was a King but I never knew which kingdom he ruled over... When he was here he spoke of his kingdom being taken over by my father's men. What does this Sir Joshua have to do with anything? And who exactly is Balinor's son?" Arthur questioned, and Merlin made it a point not to move or draw any unnecessary attention to himself. If a single one of his knights even looked at him, he feared that they would give him away.

" Cofiwch yr hyn a ddywedais wrthych ( Remember what I told you ), " Merlin said telepathically to his knights. Once again reminding them not to give away his true title.

"Sir Joshua told Uther of Balinor's actions, letting sorcerers and Druids take refuge in his kingdom. Uther grew angry with Balinor for this, and Sir Joshua knew just how to let your father and his men into the kingdom so they would be undetected. They worked together," Sir James responded, completely ignoring the King's second question.

This fact had not gone unnoticed by Arthur, "You did not answer my second question."

"Right, of course,” he continued. Sir James had hoped that Arthur would have forgotten about this, but he was wrong. “Our new King does not wish to reveal himself at this time. He-" Sir James began to say but was, once again interrupted by a now very rather irritated Arthur.

"How am I supposed to help a man who doesn't have the courage to make himself known?" Merlin shrunk where he stood behind Arthur's throne. He knew that there was no truth behind Arthur's words. He was not hiding out of fear, he was hiding because if he did not, he would be executed. Knowing the truth did not make hearing these words hurt any less. "He sends his knights here with-"

This time, it was Sir Henry who interrupted Arthur. "With all due respect your highness, our King is one of the bravest men you will ever meet, he has not revealed himself simply because if certain people found out his true identity, his life would be in danger. And he did not send us here. He didn't even know we were coming to speak with you."

Arthur mentally slapped himself, of course that would be the case, Balinor was a sorcerer after all, and a Dragonlord at that. Camelot had never been the most welcoming or safe place to be when it came to people who have and practice magic. Surely he could not blame their King for being cautious. Arthur simply nodded in acknowledgment and motioned for them to continue.

Sir Henry continued to speak on Tristram. "During the raid on our kingdom, the royal family, the knights and many of our people had escaped," he paused, looking rather upset for a moment before continuing. "Others were not so lucky. So many lives were lost that day, sorcerers, Druids, magical creatures, all simply because of the magic they possessed." As Sir Henry continued, his voice grew angrier. "They had committed no crimes against your kingdom or ours and yet they were slaughtered. Innocent men, women, and children!"

At this point Merlin stepped in, he shared his knight's anger, but he knew that Arthur would not respond to that kind of approach. " Arhoswch yn ddigynnwrf Syr Henry, ni fydd eich dicter yn cael yr atebion rydych chi eu heisiau ( Stay calm Sir Henry, your anger will not get you the answers you want ). "

Sir Henry's eyes shifted to Merlin for just a second before he took a deep breath and continued. This glance, however, did not go unnoticed by Arthur, who followed the knight's gaze to his manservant who is standing tall next to the throne looking more put together than normal, but still the same man he had always known. The look must have been coincidental, he decided.

"I apologize, my lord. I don't mean to lose my temper, but our people have been in hiding for years and we cannot allow it to go on any longer. That is why we've come to you." Sir Henry stated much more composed than he had been only minutes ago.

Sir William then took the floor, taking over for Sir Henry, who was getting rather worked up again towards the end of his sentence. "We don’t have the manpower to overthrow Joshua's army on our own. Camelot is known for having one of the most powerful armies in the realm. If you could aid us in our fight to take back our home, Camelot and Tristram may grow together as allies."

A moment went by where Arthur said nothing. He just sat there on his throne, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. He was thinking about it, that much Merlin knew for sure. Arthur was conflicted, and Merlin could not blame him, Tristram was a kingdom of magic after all. But for Tristram's sake, Merlin needed to relieve any doubts that Arthur may be having about helping his knights. Arthur lifted his head and spoke softly, "There is much I need to discuss and think over. For now, you are welcome to stay in Camelot until I have made up my mind. Until then, please follow one of the servants to our guest chambers," Arthur explained as he beckoned for one of the servants to come forward and soon the knights were leaving the throne room.

Merlin began to leave the room too but Arthur spoke up, "Not you Merlin."

Chapter Text

Merlin stopped dead in his tracks. While it was not unusual for Arthur to ask for Merlin's opinions and advice on different things, he could not help but be nervous. If he slipped up even a little bit, he would expose himself and put both himself and his people in danger. He took a deep breath before he turned to face Arthur.

"What do you think about all of this?"

"Surely this isn't my place Arthur. I mean this-" Merlin started to say before he was cut off.

"Merlin don't be ridiculous, you've never hesitated to give your opinion before, even when it isn't wanted... The only difference is that this time I'm actually asking for it. So, tell me, what do you think we should do?" Arthur said rather urgently. Now was not the time for Merlin to act within his class. If the King had ever needed his manservant's opinion, it was now. Merlin on the other hand was beginning to freak out. Sure Arthur may not be the most observant person in the world but he did have a way of finding things out in time. All he could do now was hope that he had some time before his friend started to put the pieces together.

Merlin knew as soon as he stepped through the doors of the throne room and saw his knights standing there that his secret would come out sooner or later. The question was: when was the right time? If he let the true nature of his heritage come out naturally, there was no doubt in Merlin's mind that Arthur would hate him. He would likely be put to death, or at the very least exiled from Camelot. If he told Arthur now though, there was a slight chance that he would believe him, even spare him because of a combination of Balinor's actions in the past and the fact that his knights were in Camelot. Surely Arthur was not stupid enough to kill a King with his knights standing so close by.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, bringing him out of whatever trance he had previously been in.

"Right, sorry. I think we should help them," Merlin sort of blurted out in a hurry. Now was not the time to tell Arthur his secret. He would find out eventually but that time was not now.

"I was afraid you'd say that..." Arthur said, his voice beginning to trail off. "I want to help them, Merlin. Their King... Balinor, that is, helped us when we needed him. I feel like I at least owe it to him to repay his people," he continued, though he was now pacing back and forth in front of the throne clearly feeling uneasy with his decision.

"Why do I sense that there is a 'but' coming?" Merlin asked. He knew Arthur too well. There was no way he was going to let go of the grudge that he had against all of magic because of the actions of one man. Arthur was too stubborn for that to be the case and Merlin knew better than to expect that from him.

Arthur stopped pacing and turned so that he was now eye-to-eye with the younger man in front of him. "But... they have magic." Merlin had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes at this comment. He knew it was coming but that did not make it any easier to hear. Arthur picked up on Merlin's shift in expression so he continued, "I want to trust them, especially after they said that their kingdom was peaceful but I just... magic has taken so much from me. I'm not willing to let it into my life so quickly just so it can take something else."

Merlin was growing impatient, and Arthur could tell by this point, though he could not quite understand why his friend was reacting in such a way. "Look, Arthur, I know your history with magic hasn't been the greatest but you need to think about the good that will come from this. If you help these knights get their kingdom back, you have the potential to make a powerful ally," Arthur opened his mouth to speak but Merlin cut him off before he had the chance. "Yes, a magical ally. But think about this, would you rather have a magical kingdom working with you or against you?" And with that, he turned and left.

Arthur wanted to protest his friend's exit, feeling like he still needed more guidance, but he knew that it would be pointless. Merlin would do as he pleased with or without permission. This was something that he had learned just to deal with.

Once Merlin had left the room completely, Arthur sat back down on the throne with his head in his hands and began to think about what his friend had said. He began to weigh the options in his mind. On the one hand, having a powerful magical ally to help protect Camelot against magical enemies would be nice, especially given the fact that there is almost always some kind of magical threat to Camelot that he felt his men were unprepared to handle. On the other hand, helping Tristram went against every single thing that he had grown to believe in. It went against everything that Camelot had done in the last twenty or so years since the Great Purge began, and more importantly to Arthur, it went against his father.

This decision was not one that Arthur was looking forward to making.

Meanwhile, Merlin left the throne room and immediately ran into his knights in the hallway just standing around. He knew they were waiting for him. He did not doubt that they had sent the other servant away as well. Since no one was around, Merlin let his demeanor change back into that of a young King rather than a boyish servant.

"Y tro nesaf y byddwch chi'n penderfynu dod i Camelot, dylech chi ysgrifennu gyntaf (You know, the next time you guys decide to come to Camelot, you should write first)," Merlin said jokingly, standing tall behind his knights who had not yet seen him walk up.

"Byddai gennym pe byddem yn gwybod eich bod yma. Rydych chi'n gwybod nad oes rhaid i chi fod mor ddirgel trwy'r amser yn iawn (We would have if we knew you were here. You know you don't have to be so mysterious all the time right)?" Sir Henry retorted. Merlin stood there with a straight face for a moment, acting seriously and effectively worrying some of the knights in the process. Soon though, Merlin started laughing and his men joined in not long after they had realized that their friend's reaction was merely a joke. Sir Henry was the first to pull Merlin into a hug, the other knights gathered around and waited for their turn to greet the King.

"It's been too long! How is everything back home?" Merlin asked, a bright, genuine smile plastered on his face.

"Things are going good. We have enough men now that we think we can face Joshua and his men. Training has been progressing nicely and the Queen has been a great help through all of it. She rules just like your father, you know?" Sir James responded with a smile.

Merlin smiled sadly at the mention of his father. "I'm glad to hear that..." he said, his voice trailing off at the end of his sentence.

"So, you know this King, do you think he will help us?" Sir Henry asked changing the subject after a brief moment of silence.

"Honestly, I don't know. Arthur... He wants to do what's best for Camelot. Little will sway him if he thinks that what he's doing will in any way harm his people. However, he does feel indebted to Tristram because my father helped get Kilgharrah out of Camelot," Merlin said addressing his knights. "It will all come down to whether or not he can get over his grudge against magic."

"Felly nid yw'n gwybod bryd hynny? (So he doesn't know then?)" Sir William asked accusingly, as if he had not heard Merlin's message in the throne room only moments ago.

"Na, nid yw'n gwneud hynny ac nid ydym yn mynd i ddweud wrtho (No, he doesn't and we are not going to tell him)," Merlin responded calmly though he could tell that his knights did not agree with his decision. He sighed before continuing "I know you may not agree with my choice but it's for the best. As you said, I know Arthur, this is the best option for Tristram." Before any of his men had a chance to answer though, he changed the subject once more. "Follow me to your rooms."

Chapter Text

Arthur had sat in the throne room for hours on end in deep thought over how he should go about approaching this whole situation. His options seemed to come down to two, seemingly simple, choices: Help these knights and repay his debt to their fallen king in hopes of making an ally out of their new king, or keep his beliefs intact and follow his father's legacy. From what the king knew, magic had taken his mother, it had brought chaos into his kingdom, and those who possessed it had tried to kill him on several occasions. What he did not know, however, was just how many times magic had saved him. He was blind to the good that magic had done and the beauty that it possessed. 

The first hour passed, then the second, and the third. He had hardly moved at all as darkness fell on the world outside. He had gone back and forth between the possible outcomes dozens of times and as the third hour was nearing it's end, he had finally made his decision. It was also around that time that Merlin began to grow restless. Waiting to hear what his friend would decide was torture because Arthur had no idea. He hated to admit that the fate of his home now rested on the shoulders of a man who had no idea the implications his decision would have. If he agreed to help them, they would finally be on the path of peace. If he did not though, Merlin would have to reveal himself and return with his knights. He would not be able to remain in Camelot knowing that his men were planning on getting his home back and he was not there to help them. In that very moment though, the young king could not just sit around while he waited to hear what Arthur would decide. He did not want to wait to find out what his fate would be.

The young king had quickly reverted back to the familiar boyish servant demeanor that had since vanished while he was with his knights in the other room. To all those not from Tristram, Merlin was simply setting up their room and making sure that the knights had plenty to eat and drink in order to fully recover from their long journey. Inside the room, however, it was a much different dynamic than anyone from Camelot would be used to. Even though Merlin was there to assist them in getting ready for the night, his men insisted on setting up their own sleeping areas for the night. When their king did try to help, he was quite literally pushed away and told to sit down. Merlin let out a chuckle and stopped trying to get them to accept his help after his second or third attempt. Instead, he turned to making conversation as they finished settling in. 

One thing that Merlin could not understand, even after growing up with these men, was that they all preferred to stay in the one room. The room itself was a very decent size, especially compared to the rooms that they had been staying in in Ealdor. Accommodations were made for the men and mattresses and bed rolls were brought up for them. The servants from Camelot that had been asked to bring such things to the room shot Merlin several confused looks, but Merlin shrugged at them. "I'm just as confused as you are." He would say anytime they had commented, or stared for just a little too long. He decided not to ask any questions about their strange request though, as he was sure that they had a perfectly rational explanation. 

As soon as they were settled, Merlin began to ask them about their plans to take on Joshua and his men, as this surprise visit marked the first time that he had heard of their ambitious plan. It was only when the first knight began to show signs of fatigue that Merlin knew that any additional questioning and planning he wanted to discuss with them would have to wait until morning. He had to hold back his eagerness to get started on the plan they had shared. After all, he was still waiting to hear a decision from Arthur. With that in mind, he soon found himself sitting on the floor in front of the throne room, where he sat for about another hour before he decided to go in. "Arthur?" Merlin questioned quietly as he poked his head into the room.

"What is it, Merlin?" Arthur asked in a huff. It was clear to the manservant that the king was not annoyed at his presence, though it may have appeared that way to any outsider looking in on their conversation. Merlin took slow steps towards his friend, who had not yet looked up from the spot he had chosen to stare at on the floor. It was as if suddenly, the patterns in the wood grain of the floor had become the most interesting thing in the world.

Merlin looked down briefly as he approached the spot that Arthur had fixated on before looking back up at the man in front of him. "Are you alright? You've been in here for hours. You know a decision can wait until morning. There is nothing that can be done to help the people of Tristram tonight," Merlin said thoughtfully. As much as the idea of having to wait until morning to hear what his friend had decided pained him, he knew that no action could be taken in the dead of night. After all, he had just spent a decent amount of time listening to the many different plans his men had come up with and not one of them took place after nightfall.

"I'm fine," Arthur said dismissively. It was clear that he was anything but fine. He sat there for a moment before continuing. "I know, but that isn't going to stop me from thinking about it all night." The two sat in a comfortable silence for another few moments while Merlin allowed his friend to think. It was clear just from the look on his face that he was still weighing the options. Arthur had thought that he had made up his mind at the end of the third hour of sitting there, but as the fourth hour began, all doubt seeped back in. It was now the end of hour number four. Arthur looked up for the first time in an hour and he felt his neck protest as he straightened it to look at the raven haired man. "Tell me, do you truly believe that helping them is the right thing to do?" he asked, his tone contemplative.

"I do."

Arthur nodded and finally stood from his throne. Just as his neck had done only a moment ago, his joints seemed to betray him as he stretched them out for the first time in several hours. "Then that's what we'll do. As much as I hate to admit it, I think that it would be better to have these mystery knights as an ally rather than an enemy. They claim their people to be peaceful, and even in the brief time that I had known their king, I believed him to be a just man," Arthur explained his reasoning to the young man, who was struggling to contain his excitement. This was it. This one conversation was concrete proof that his people finally had a chance at getting home. That he would finally be able to see where he was supposed to grow up, the land that he was supposed to rule over, and the place he was born... Nothing could possibly have made him happier. 

"I will let them know in the morning. I am sure they will be happy to hear it," Merlin said with a rather large grin on his face.

Arthur now had his back to his manservant, as he had turned to look out the window, but he could tell from the tone in his friend's voice alone that he had made the right choice. Though, of course, Arthur would never admit to his manservant that he was the reason why he was doing this. Merlin was the reason he had even considered helping them, the reason why he had allowed these men with magic into his kingdom and welcomed them with open arms. The two had had several conversations since Arthur had become king, and even several while his father was still alive, about what Uther's ban on magic truly meant. If it had not been for those conversations, Arthur was sure he would have banished the men immediately and dismissed the entire idea. Now though, things were changing.

Merlin left the throne room quietly, when it became clear to him once again that Arthur needed more time to think. His mind may have been made up about what to do, but he had not been lying when he said that he would be thinking about this decision all night. His mind would keep him awake at night going through all the possible ways that this could go wrong. He would be thinking about what his father would stay, if he were still alive to learn of what his son had just done. Merlin wanted nothing more than to give his friend the space he needed to process everything. If he needed to talk, Arthur would seek him out. For now, he had to inform his men of the news.

The young king entered the room his knights had been settled into, without warning. His men shot up and looked at the door, a couple of them even reaching for their swords as the door swung open. Merlin closed the door and stepped into the room, a mock look of disappointment on his face. "What is it, sire?" Sir Will asked, worry evident in his tone after seeing the king's expression.

"Arthur..." he started with a dramatic pause and looked at the floor. His delivery was not unlike how Lancelot had announced that Merlin was still alive when they had their run in with the Dorocha. "He's agreed to help us get our kingdom back," he said quietly. He raised his head with a smile on his face after a moment and watched as the looks of confusion turned into looks of hope on his knights' faces. Some of them cheered, others hugged whoever was closest to them, and Merlin simply stood with a smile on his face looking out at all of them.

This is the day that would change the fate of Tristram forever.

Merlin allowed his men to celebrate the news for a few minutes before he said goodnight to his men and exited the room. He had gotten maybe two steps from the door hearing not a sound from the room when suddenly the sounds of celebration returned. He let out a small laugh and shook his head as he immediately turned around. The king opened the door just enough so he could stick his head in and yelled, "Ewch i gysgu (Go to sleep)!" He shook his head once more hearing the protests as he closed the door, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he closed the door the rest of the way and continued back towards the physician's chambers where he could finally retire for the night.

Not long after leaving his men, he ran into Morgana, who had been walking the halls. "Morgana? What are you doing still up?" he questioned. It was not uncommon for the woman to be up late at night, especially as she was still learning to control her seer's power, but he had not seen her wandering the castle in quite some time. He was suddenly very grateful for the fact that they were far enough away from his knights' room that there was no chance she had heard him yelling at them in their language. It would only raise questions that he did not want to answer. Especially not at this time of night and especially not after the day he had.

"Couldn't sleep, nothing out of the ordinary," she said quickly. It was not lost on Merlin that she was clearly hiding something. He chose not to comment on it though, which she was grateful for. "What about you?" she asked, happily changing the subject. Knowing now that her nightmares had been the product of her magic, she had been finding it harder to cope with them. Since she had arrived back in Camelot, they had returned full force and had been pretty consistent throughout her stay, so far. Even though Merlin knew of her magic, she did not want to worry him with problems that he could not possibly have a solution for.

"I was just delivering some good news to the visiting knights," Merlin said vaguely with a smile.

Morgana's face lit up. "So, he actually agreed to help a kingdom of magic, then?" she questioned, the surprise evident on her face. Merlin chose not to question how she had found out that that was the situation at hand and just nodded in response to her question. "I never would have expected that from him." Before she had left to Ealdor, she had seen too much of their father in Arthur to ever expect him to side with magic in any way, no matter what the situation. Hearing this news now, filled her heart with hope for the future.

"Me either to be completely honest with you, but I'm glad he is going to help. From what little I overheard from these men, they have been through a lot," he half lied. It was, of course, true that his men had been through a lot, but he had experienced much of it with them, only hearing small portions of it second hand. But Morgana did not need to know that.

Morgana nodded in understanding and said goodnight to the manservant before continuing on her walk. As she grew closer to her chambers, she began to think about the possibility of being able to return to Camelot, living truthfully as herself and not having to hide in fear. A smile formed quickly as she envisioned the possibility.

Chapter Text

The following morning began just as any other. Only this morning, Merlin had found himself waking up much earlier than he usually would and with a certain bounce to his step that was rather unusual for him – at least this early. He made his way to Arthur’s chambers, smiling and greeting those he passed in the hallway. Many of them were servants of the castle themselves who had seldom seen the king's manservant up and about so early on what appeared to be an average day. Some of them even made comments to each other as he passed, but he payed them no mind. When he reached the king's chambers, he entered just as he had every morning, with no knock and no bother to be quiet. As he stepped farther into the room, he found the king still fast asleep, “Typical,” he mumbled to himself as he walked across the room to the curtains, pulling them open rather quickly. “Rise and shine!” he said loudly, effectively waking the sleeping man. 

Arthur groaned and threw a pillow at the younger man, who had been in this situation so many times that he was able to predict this and moved out of the way with relative ease. The king rolled over in his bed so that he was now facing away from the rather large window. He pulled his blanket over his face as he did in a futile attempt to block out as much light as possible. “Come on Arthur, big day ahead of you,” Merlin said cheerily, moving from the window to the bed. The manservant wasted no time in pulling the blanket off of his friend, tossing it carelessly onto the floor. 

“Merlin!” Arthur yelled rather loudly as he curled up in reaction to the sudden lack of warmth. He should have been used to being woken in such a way by now, as Merlin has woken him up in similarly unpleasant ways since he had been assigned as his manservant. However, every morning Arthur had the same violent reaction. “What are you on about anyway? There isn’t anything going on today,” he questioned groggily as he finally sat up a bit in his bed. 

Merlin crossed the room once more to the wardrobe and began to grab Arthur’s clothes for the day as he spoke. “You get to tell the knights of Tristram that you’re going to help them. I think gaining a potentially powerful ally makes it a big day,” he said nonchalantly before turning back to Arthur who was now sitting on the edge of his bed. Arthur just nodded his head in realization, he was still sort of waking up, so it took him just a moment to process all that Merlin had said.  

The king was feeling rather nervous about having to talk to the visiting knights, more nervous than he would have ever admitted. In fact, he never would. If anyone had asked him before or after the fact how he felt about the whole encounter, he would have lied and said that he never had any doubts at all. That could not have been further from the truth. Deep down, he knew that he was making the right choice. Even Merlin seemed to think so, which was a telltale sign that he was doing the right thing, but something just did not feel right about the whole thing. He was agreeing to help a kingdom -- a magical one at that -- without ever having met their king, well their current king that is. Arthur reminded himself that he had met Balinor, and from what little he knew of the man, he was fair and just. He could only hope that his son would be the same. 

Merlin assisted Arthur in getting ready as he always did before he was sent off to gather the knights of Tristram and bring them to the throne room. As Merlin approached the room that his knights had been staying in, he heard the mumblings of their conversations. He was honestly surprised that they were even awake at this hour, but he guessed that, like him, they were excited to finally start working towards getting their home back. It had been over a decade since any of them had even seen their home. They had waited long enough. When he arrived at the door, he reached out and knocked politely before entering. “Bore da (Good morning)!” he called out to them as he entered the room, closing the door behind him. 

“Good morning, sire,” Sir Henry responded cheerily. “When are we going to meet with Arthur?” he asked eagerly. 

Merlin knew his suspicions about them being excited about hearing Arthur’s message had been correct. Every single one of his men had been in the process of getting ready to go. “Now actually, he has asked me to collect you all,” he said looking out at his men. Their excitement was infectious and instantly brought a smile to his face. The knights began happily chatting among themselves as they rushed to tidy up the room and finish getting ready. “Paratowch yn gyflym. Gorau po gyntaf y cyfarfyddwn ag Arthur, goreu po gyntaf y gallwn gyrraedd adref (Get ready quickly. The sooner we meet Arthur, the sooner we can get home).”

The knights nodded as they very quickly pulled on their boots. In no time at all, Merlin was leading them to the throne room where, inside, Arthur was anxiously waiting for them. When they reached the doors leading into the room, Merlin turned to his men, “Wait here for a moment.” The knights nodded in understanding and obeyed his order, each of them lining up against the wall so that they would be out of the middle of the hall. Merlin entered the room on his own, making sure that the door was fully closed behind him before he spoke. “Arthur?”

His friend had been zoned out looking at the floor in front of him as he sat on his throne waiting for the men to arrive. His hand was resting on his chin, a tell tale sign that he was deep in thought. Merlin’s voice seemed to snap him out of his thoughts, “Are they here?” he questioned, his head turning up to look at Merlin as he did. He knew the answer, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself from asking it anyway. Part of him was hoping that his manservant would tell him that the knights had gone home, that they no longer wanted his help. He knew that that was far from what would actually be happening, but it did not stop the thought from occurring to him. 

“They’re just outside the door,” Merlin started, motioning back to the door with his head. “I just wanted to make sure you were ready before I sent them in,” he added. He knew Arthur well at this point. He knew that this was a decision that he had likely thought on for hours after Merlin had left him the night before. This was obviously not an easy thing for him to do, but he also knew that Arthur was a man of his word, and he had told Merlin that he would help them and he would. Even if there were a hundred doubts running through his head, which Merlin could tell at first glance that there definitely were. 

All the king could manage was a curt nod. He felt like he needed more time to think things over. But he knew there was none. He also knew that he would likely come to the same conclusion. Merlin was right, helping them was the right thing to do. Even if it went against everything that he believed in. He owed it to Balinor. After all, he had gone against his beliefs to help Camelot all those years ago. 

Merlin returned his nod and went out to meet his men in the hallway. “He’s ready for you,” he said quietly as his men took a deep breath and walked into the throne room. Merlin stood behind them, feeling proud of each and every one of them for not only making the journey to Camelot but for having the strength to ask someone who they had every right to view as an enemy for help. As Merlin knew quite well, that alone was not an easy thing to do.

As Merlin shifted his gaze from his men to his friend, he came to the realization that Arthur looked like a completely different person than he had been only moments ago. He was now sitting up straight and tall, a look of confidence on his face that seemed almost believable. He looked nothing like the anxious man he had just spoken with only moments ago. “Welcome, I hope you all slept well,” he greeted with a small smile. 

“Thank you, sire,” Sir Will said with a thankful nod and a small smile. “It is my understanding that you have come to a decision?” he questioned. He knew the answer already of course, as his king had told them the night before, but he felt as though asking may take some of the pressure off of the king. It was clear to the knight that the man in front of them was nervous, as much as he tried to hide it, Sir Will was always good at reading people, and the King of Camelot was not someone who was particularly difficult to read.

Arthur could do nothing but nod at first, feeling as though if he opened his mouth right away, his nervousness might slip through the cracks. “I have,” he said calmly after a moment, taking a breath before continuing, “Camelot will aid you in  your journey to get your kingdom back.” The knights of Tristram all smiled, some of them even laughed and hugged each other, unable to contain their excitement and relief. Even though they had heard the news from their king the night before, hearing it directly from Arthur made a world of difference. After all, they were all painfully aware of how quickly someone's mind could change. 

Merlin, who had taken his place standing behind Arthur's throne, looked at his men with a huge smile on his face, he too could do little to contain how he was feeling. After a moment, turned to look at Arthur. The king sat on his throne looking proud of himself, a look that the manservant had not seen in quite some time. Unfortunately, the young Pendragon had spent much of his time as king second guessing and doubting himself. Merlin had to guess that it was seeing the look on the men's faces that had truly solidified for him that he was doing the right thing. When the knights of Tristram settled down for a moment, Arthur spoke up once more “I’m assuming there is a plan in place? What is the first step?” he asked no one in particular. 

“First, we will need to travel to where our people are currently staying. The queen will be there, you can meet her and the rest of our knights. There we can discuss what the best plan of action will be,” Sir James explained. This took Merlin by surprise, he knew that his men had made their own plan, but he did not know that it had involved traveling back to Ealdor. 

Arthur thought about this for a moment. “Merlin, ready the horses and gather the knights. We will leave as soon as possible,” he said, looking to his manservant who promptly nodded and left the room quickly. 

Merlin’s thoughts were racing. He was going home, and he was doing so at the risk of exposing his true titles. Everything that he had worked so hard to keep secret over the years could all come out in Ealdor, especially with his mother there. It was going to be hard. Though, on the other hand, he could not have been more excited, and more proud of his people. They had come together to create this plan. They were the reason that he was finally going to be able to come home. With the forces of Tristram and Camelot together, he felt like it was finally possible. 

Chapter Text

Merlin wasted no time in rushing to gather supplies. In an instant, the young King was making sure that the horses were properly fed and saddled, and that all of their packs were filled with enough provisions to make it to Ealdor and then some. He had also made sure that all of the knights, from Tristram and Camelot alike, had what they needed for their journey. Ealdor was not too far from Camelot's eastern border, and Merlin had made it there and back in a day when he really needed to. With that, he understood that realistically they would not need much for this journey, but he wanted to be prepared for everything. Traveling with such a large group was sure to attract attention, and attracting attention was a sure way to add days to their travel time. 

In what felt like no time at all, Arthur was once again yelling for his manservant. The knights of Tristram had not yet confirmed where they would be going, which was beginning to both worry and annoy Arthur. Sir Will had explained to him that they would feel safer if they just led the way and did not explain where they would be going. Arthur could not help but notice how paranoid the men had seemed, though he had imagined that if Camelot had been taken over by someone that he thought he could trust, he would have similar anxieties. 

Merlin, having been on his way to see Arthur anyways, heard his friend yell for him. "You know, you don't always have to yell for me, right?" Merlin asked as he stuck his head in the doorway of Arthur's chambers before entering fully. This was something that Merlin did often, sticking his head in the doorway before entering. He found it was the fastest way to avoid being hit by whatever flying object the King decided to hurl his way. 

The young Pendragon did not bother to turn and face the door as he spoke. "Right, but then how would you hear me, Merlin?" Arthur retorted as he finally turned around to give his manservant a look before changing the subject entirely. "Have you readied everything for our trip? We don't know how long it will be or what terrain we will be riding through. I want to be prepared for everything," he explained as he moved to stand at his desk. He rummaged through a few papers for a brief moment before looking back up at Merlin.

Merlin nodded, "I've gathered as much as the saddle bags will allow. We should be ready for anything," he said. He knew, of course, that his men had not told Arthur where they would be going, and he was grateful for that for many reasons. Merlin knew that if Morgana had somehow gotten wind of where they were going that she would want to come with them. He also knew that she would recognize some of his knights as being residents of Ealdor and then the questions would start rolling in. He did not want to deal with those kinds of questions on top of everything else. It was hard enough keeping his secret when no one was poking around. "Everything is ready to go, we just need to gather the knights now," he added.

Arthur took a deep breath before audibly exhaling in an attempt to calm himself. He was not one to get nervous on missions like this but, he was nervous, there was no denying it. It was the lack of foreknowledge that made him feel like his heart was in his boots. He knew that there was still so much about this kingdom that they did not know and while he felt as though he could trust these knights, he had not known them long enough to know if this trust had been misplaced. There were too many unknowns. "Alright, gather everyone at the stables, I will meet them there shortly and we will leave immediately." Merlin nodded and turned on his heel to gather the knights.

Soon, everyone was gathered outside the stables; the knights of Tristram chatting with the knights of Camelot about what they might expect on their journey. "About how long of a ride is it?" Elyan asked politely, not wanting the foreign knights to feel as though he was pressing for answers. The knights of the Round Table looked at the knights of Tristram expectantly. They all had their own questions about where they were going and what they could expect on the way. At this point, they would take all the answers they could get.

Merlin's men looked at each other for a moment as if to decide whether or not they should answer the question. "Not too long, we could be there and back within the day if necessary," Sir Henry responded, realizing that anyone who may have been listening in on their conversation would not gain much from that information.

"Well, that's great to hear. Long journeys were never really my thing," Gwaine joked as he saw Arthur approach them. "Ah, there he is. Come on Princess, we don't have all day!" he called after the King as he grew nearer. Arthur just shook his head at the nickname. Gwaine had held onto it for years, and the fact that Arthur was now a King did not seem to change anything.

All of the men around him let out a chuckle. The men of Tristram were a bit taken aback by the thought of talking to the King in such a manner. They guessed that their expressions must have been easy to read because when Arthur approached, he answered their silent question, "You'll have to forgive them, most of my knights came from outside of nobility. They sometimes forget how to speak to people," he said glaring at Gwaine as he did. Arthur himself did not mind this kind of banter, as he knew it was all in good fun. He did, however, care when it was in the presence of visitors.

Gwaine just chuckled and walked back to his horse, hopping on and waiting patiently for the rest of the knights to follow. Merlin walked over to Arthur's horse and grabbed the reins, walking his horse to him before getting on his own.

Sirs James and Will took the lead, everyone else rode in no particular order and no particular separation between kingdoms. In no time at all, the men were riding toward Ealdor.

Once more, feelings of anxiety, excitement, fear, and pride filled the young King as he glanced over the group. In front of him, were not only his closest friends but people who had become his family. Over time both the men of Tristram and of Camelot had grown to treat the man as a brother, a role which he gracefully accepted. Neither group cared about his status, they had treated him the same way they would have if he was one of them.

Merlin knew that for his men, this was likely due to the fact that they grew up without a kingdom. In doing so, they had grown up watching Merlin do chores around the house, help out on the farms, as well as run and participate in their training. They had seen him do not only the work of a Prince and a King but that of a commoner as well. For the men of Camelot however, it was almost the opposite. They were used to watching the young manservant run around doing chores for Arthur and Gaius. The thing that had earned him their respect was the fact that even though he was just a serving boy, he was willing to ride into combat with them with no weapons or proper training, no combat training at all to their knowledge. He was one of the bravest people that they had ever known and he was their friend. Neither group of knights cared if they were expected to treat him differently because of his title, they just treated him as an equal.

As they rode on, Merlin stayed near the back of the group for several reasons. One was the fact that he could watch over all of the men and jump into action if something were to happen, and the other was so that he did not risk leading the way on accident. Merlin knew the path to Ealdor like the back of his hand, had he rode near the front, he risked one of the men of Camelot noticing this fact. It would be rather difficult to explain, and he decided it was better to avoid the issue before it became one. 

They had rode for a couple of hours with no complications. Gwaine was telling his usual stories that the knights of Camelot had heard dozens of times over. The knights of Camelot laughed and shared stories of some of their own adventures. Some that Merlin had never heard of before and others that he was there for himself when he was younger. He caught himself smiling as the memories of stories from both groups: the hunting trips gone wrong that both groups had plenty of experience with, Gwaine's tales of being the tavern and the fights that followed, stories of missions the men of Camelot had gone on where they seemed to be saved by some stroke of luck. Sir James could not help but chuckle a bit at that earning him a look from both Sirs Will and Henry. They knew what had caused his reaction, but the men of Camelot did not seem to notice, and if they did, they did not think anything of it.

This moment of peace quickly ended as a bolt from a crossbow came whizzing past Merlin's head only narrowly missing him. He wasted no time in dismounting from his horse and turning to face the direction in which the bolt had come from. He heard Arthur call out to him. "I'm okay! It didn't hit me!" he called back quickly, which was a relief to everyone there. Whoever had shot that bolt began to run towards him, at least a dozen or so men following close behind them. Merlin recognized their outfits immediately as belonging to Sir Joshua's men. 

Chapter Text

Merlin would have been lying if he had said that he was not in fear for his life in this moment, maybe more in fear than he had been in a very long time. If it were only due to the fact that people with weapons were springing towards him, it would have been much easier to handle. Unfortunately, it was due to much more than that. He had been able to handle bandits before, he had fought armies of the living and dead, faced beasts that had even fierce knights shaking at the thought of… but this was different. In this very moment, everything that he had worked to keep hidden for all his years in Camelot had the potential to be exposed at any second. His only hope was that Sir Joshua’s men would not recognize him. He had not been seen in Tristram since he was an infant after all, and that was the only thing helping him fight his fear. 

All of the knights, of both kingdoms, who had previously remained on their horses could be seen dismounting and gathering their weapons. They got into formations that were easily recognizable as battle stances. “Cael gwŷr Camelot allan o fan hyn (Get the men of Camelot out of here)!” Sir James yelled to the men of Tristram who were closest to him. Sir Henry was the first to show that he had received the message as he looked at his king with a look of confusion, though he said nothing. Merlin understood that the man was wondering why Sir James would order Camelot’s knights away from the battle, when – if what they had heard in the past was true – they were rather skilled in battle and could only help them. The king knew though that the knights of Camelot were not accustomed to fighting alongside magic, at least not to their knowledge. With that, they ran the risk of being caught in the crossfire accidentally and Merlin couldn’t take that risk. He also knew several things, the first being that the Knights of the Round Table would never leave the men of Tristram to fight these men on their own, and the second being that, even if they would, he had no idea how he could get them out of the fighting at this point.

“Nid yw hynny'n bosibl! Ni fyddant yn gallu mynd yn ddigon pell i fod yn ddiogel (That’s not possible! They won’t be able to get far enough to be safe)!” Sir Will yelled at them after a moment seemingly echoing Merlin’s thoughts. Before anyone could do anything, Merlin looked at Arthur who was staring at the foreign knights in confusion as they spoke in a language that he had never even heard of before. Even Gwaine, who prided himself in knowing many languages from all of his travels over the years, had no idea what the men were saying. Taking advantage of their confusion, Merlin turned so that his back was now to the men of Camelot as he muttered a spell under his breath.

The spell that he had cast seemed to create a sort of cave out of nearby rocks and tree branches that encased the men of Camelot inside so that they could not see the battle that was sure to begin any second now. There were only a few cracks from where the natural material of the cave had not quite fit into place, but even that was not enough to really see anything, only enough so that they weren’t in total darkness. “Merlin!” Arthur called out from within as the last log settled into place. Merlin turned to look at him for the sole purpose of making sure that he didn’t do anything stupid, like trying to escape the cave. Arthur especially could not see what he was about to do. 

“Nawr does dim rhaid i ni boeni amdanyn nhw. Gwnewch yr hyn sydd gennych i gadw eich gilydd yn ddiogel. Rydyn ni i gyd yn ei wneud yn gartref. Wedi deall (Now we don't have to worry about them. Do what you can to keep each other safe. We all make it home. Got it)?” the king called out to his men as they got into formation to hold their ground. All five of his men turned to nod at him briefly as Sir Joshua’s men approached. None of them had any sign of backing down, they had even chosen a formation that was best suited for keeping an eye on each other and watching each other’s backs. Merlin couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride wash over him as he watched them all together. 

As the traitor’s men approached, the knights of Tristram initially began fighting with their swords, using their swordsmanship and training to give them an edge over the others. Merlin, however, jumped into action with his magic, having not been near a weapon when they were ambushed. Plus, he felt more comfortable using his magic as a weapon than a sword as it was often easier for him, more instinctual. He silently threw many of Joshua’s men back into nearby trees in an effort to buy them all some extra time, which all of his men are thankful for.

There must have been over thirty men rushing the small group of fighters, but the knights did not waiver. Sir James, being the only other person in the group with magic developed enough to be of any use, was fighting with both his magic and his sword which proved to be extremely beneficial. There were three or four of the traitor’s men on him and he effortlessly managed to send them flying back, buying himself a moment before he needed to be ready to fend off the next person. The knight noticed that he had managed to kill half of them as they landed on their necks or each other’s blades, before he was rushed by one of the remaining men, his sword held high as he did. He effortlessly parried the blow and struck the man down with his blade turning to ready himself for another attack in an instant.

Sirs Henry, Will, and the other two men, Maxen and Ivor, who Merlin had still not had a chance to get to know, were valiantly taking down men left and right. The king was proud to see that they were watching each other’s backs as they fought. Aside from the cries of battle, the sounds of swords hitting each other, along with the occasional enchantment or spell from either himself or Sir James, he could hear his men call out to each other. Things like: “Tu ôl i chi (Behind you )!”, and “Gwyliwch allan ( Watch out)!” They were doing as he asked of them, and he could not be more proud of how far they had come since he had last seen them in combat long before he had become their king.

In the makeshift hold that the Knights of the Round Table were trapped in, they could not help but fear for the foreign knights as they heard the sounds of battle. The familiar sound of blades crashing together as well as cries of pain flooded the hold. They feared that the knights would need the help of the extra manpower, but they had no idea that it was Merlin who had trapped them there, not the traitors. All they knew was that a battle had broken out and their friend, who they all believed to be unable to defend himself, was out there. Arthur and Gwaine had been the first to try to break out of their temporary prison, desperate to get to their friend. They struggled with it for what felt like years before they both figured out that it was no use. Whoever had trapped them here had wanted them to stay there and was holding them there with a power that they were unable to fight off themselves.

Out in the clearing, the knights of Tristram were holding off Joshua’s men with relative ease. The two sorcerers kept the majority of the men from even reaching the group, which was likely one of the main reasons why they seemed to be able to hold their own so well. They had thrown men back into trees, caused their weapons to grow hot in their hands, and thrown rocks, branches, and even the swords of the fallen men at them without breaking a sweat.

Merlin was feeling a sort of freedom that he hadn’t felt in years being able to finally use his magic like this. Even in the areas where he could use it freely, like in the physician’s chambers, it was never anything powerful like this, only little things. For the first time since arriving in Camelot, he felt as though he was actually contributing to the fact that the battle was now almost over and they had not suffered any casualties or injuries, which was something he could only hope for in the past with Arthur and his men. 

There were now about ten of the traitor’s men left on the field when he heard a crash coming from the direction of the cave that he had trapped his friends in. Merlin’s head whipped around to see that one of the men that Sir James had sent flying crashed into it causing it to topple down onto the men inside. Arthur wasted no time in rushing towards Merlin, who had two men sprinting towards him while his back was turned for a moment. One of them went down to strike Merlin when Arthur was able to get in between the two men and block the attack while Merlin ducked out of the way. “Honestly Merlin, you should know better than to get distracted in the middle of a battle!” Arthur yelled over his shoulder only partially irritated at the boy for almost getting himself killed.

A look of recognition flooded the face of one of the men that Arthur was fighting as he was struck down though neither kind seemed to notice it. Merlin was desperately trying to be helpful, but with his only weapon now gone, he had to kind of just stand there and watch the scene play out in front of him for a moment as his mind raced to figure out his next move. As he looked down to his side, he saw one of the men that Arthur had just defeated laying face down on the forest floor. He quickly bent down to grab the man’s sword when his legs were kicked out from under him. “Ef yw'r Tywysog! Rydyn ni wedi dod o hyd iddo (He’s the Prince! We’ve found him)!” the man yells, no longer caring about the deep gash that ran across his chest.

Every man on that field who could understand the man stopped fighting instantly as they turned to the voice. The men of Camelot followed their gaze with clear looks of confusion on their faces to see that Merlin was now on his knees, a knife being held to his throat. Their confusion shifted to panic almost instantly..

“Let him go!” Lancelot growled as he stepped closer to the man, careful not to move too quickly in fear of the man lashing out. 

He did not get far though, before the man pushed the knife deeper into the boy's throat, causing Merlin to shift his head up in an attempt to get away from the blade. Lancelot retreated. “No one move,” he said, using his other arm to hold his sword out towards anyone who got too close. “Mae dy dywysog gwerthfawr wrth fy nhrugaredd. Pe na bai ond Josua yn gallu ein gweld ni nawr (Your precious prince is at my mercy. If only Joshua could see us now),” he called to both the knights of Tristram and the remainder of Joshua’s men.

Arthur recognized the language as the one the men of Tristram had spoken to each other before the battle. He began to slowly put the pieces together. These men must have belonged to the traitor that they had mentioned when they arrived in Camelot. But if that were true, why take a servant of Camelot hostage?

“Ewch i ffwrdd oddi wrtho (Get away from him),” Sir Henry warned as he took a step closer to the pair. It was not lost on him that this man referred to Merlin as their prince rather than their king. They had no idea Balinor was dead. 

“What did I say? Take one step closer and he dies,” the man said, once again pushing the knife deeper into Merlin’s throat. The men could see drops of blood begin to trail down and land in his neckerchief. Arthur tried to meet his friend’s gaze, but Merlin was breathing heavily and staring at the foreign knight who had just stepped forward. They seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation before Sir Henry turned to Sir James, sharing a similar look. James nodded and looked nervously at Arthur before his attention turned back to the man holding his king hostage.

Arthur watched as the man’s brown eyes turned to gold before his head snapped in Merlin’s direction. He watched as both the knife and the sword that the man had been holding grew red hot in his hand causing him to yelp in pain as he dropped them both. Arthur sprinted forward grabbing his manservant’s arm and pulling him towards him, out of harm’s way. “Are you alright?” he asked quickly as the last of Joshua’s men picked their weapons back up and began to rush the knights once more.

“Yeah, just a scratch,” he said as he wiped the blood from his neck preparing for the rest of the battle.

Chapter Text

The remainder of the small battle passed rather quickly, the men of Tristram having taken care of the bulk of Joshua’s men before their king had been momentarily taken hostage. The knights of both kingdoms worked together surprisingly well to take down the rest of the enemies. Merlin’s men were not using their magic nearly as much now, whether from lack of need or a new sense of insecurity that came from fighting alongside men from a kingdom who would see them dead, Merlin was not quite sure. Either way, the shift in fighting styles had not gone unnoticed. 

Merlin was standing near the back of the group doing his best to be helpful with his limited resources. He used magic in the same way that he always had when fighting with Arthur’s men, but, admittedly, that did little good here. Eventually, he had managed to pick up a sword off of one of Joshua’s fallen men and was able to be of more help, which he was grateful for. 

As the last of the traitor’s men fell, the men of both kingdoms looked around in a sort of panic. Each man seemed to be doing a kind of check in their mind to make sure that everyone was still standing. Both groups seemed to search for Merlin first. The relief on their faces when they saw him, standing in the back of the group, relatively unharmed save for the scratch on his neck, was evident. Merlin could practically feel the anxiety leave their bodies. 

In order to carry out his own check, and to make sure that he could be seen better by his men, Merlin took a couple steps towards the center of the group so that he was no longer in the back. Arthur seemed to relax upon seeing him unharmed aside from the small cut on his neck. He had been glad to see that his manservant had managed to keep himself out of trouble. After a moment of everyone gathering themselves, the knights of Tristram began to go comb through the bodies of Joshua’s men, looking for anything that might be of use to them. While they were doing that, Arthur heard rustling of the leaves down on his right and turned quickly to see what the cause was. When he did, he saw that one of the fallen men had something in his hand. By the time he realized what it was, it was too late, the knife was already barreling through the air heading straight for Merlin, who had not noticed it yet. Arthur sprinted forward and called out to his friend as he threw himself onto Merlin, effectively tackling him to the ground out of the way of the blade. 

Arthur was quick to get off of his manservant once he felt that it was safe to do so. He sprung to his feet and looked around for a moment, just to make sure no one else was pointing any weapons at them. He heard Merlin groan beside him, “Oh get up Merlin, you’re fine.” Arthur had assumed that the pained noise coming from his manservant was as a result of the impact of being tackled to the ground and knew that he’d be fine once he could catch his breath again. When he didn’t hear the man stand back up, he turned to look at him. Merlin rolled onto his back, clutching his side, his face showing the pain he felt. “Merlin?” Arthur asked, panicked as he rushed to kneel down beside his friend. 

Somehow, despite Arthur’s attempt to get Merlin out of harm's way, the knife still struck him. “Someone grab the med kit!” he yelled to anyone who could hear him. He examined the wound as best as he could, but he was no physician. He was just glad the blade had pierced his side and not his stomach or chest. He had learned enough from years of seeing his men injured to know that getting hit in the side was always better for survival. “You’re going to be just fine Merlin,” he said as the men of Tristram gathered around their king.

“If I’m not, will I finally get some time off?” Merlin asked jokingly, a rather large smile on his face as he did. Arthur just shook his head as a puff of air escaped his nose, not quite a laugh, but enough to show Merlin he understood his joke. The King of Camelot would never understand how his manservant could always manage to keep a smile on his face, even in situations like this. It was truly a testament to the younger man’s character, though, of course, Arthur would never give him the satisfaction of hearing that compliment. 

Seconds later, Elyan rushed up to them with the med kit and handed it to Arthur. Sir Maxen reached out almost immediately. “I have a bit of experience in treating wounds like this. I can tend to him,” he started. Arthur looked conflicted for a moment before nodding and handing over the small kit, backing away from his friend to allow the knight space to work. He watched as Maxen carefully removed the blade, causing Merlin to wince a bit. One of the other knights from Tristram grabbed his waterskin and handed it to Maxen to wash the wound. Once it was clean, he bandaged it tightly as a temporary hold as he searched through the med kit for a moment. “We’ll have to wait until we reach our destination to stitch it,” he said, realizing that their kit did not have anything that he could use to actually stitch the wound closed. 

Arthur nodded, “We better get moving then,” he paused to help Merlin up. Merlin winced rather loudly as he stood and leaned against Arthur for a moment until he could find his balance. Arthur supported him until he felt as though he could stand fully on his own. “Thank you,” Arthur said to Maxen who nodded and the group gathered their weapons and anything their attackers had on them that might be useful, before they got back on their horses and set course for Ealdor once more. 

“Only you would manage to be involved in the least amount of fighting and still get hurt the most, Merlin,” Gwaine joked, riding over to him and patting him on the back. 

Merlin only shook his head with a small smile. “You know me. Never can stay out of danger I suppose,” he paused for effect. “Maybe I’m cursed?” he suggested jokingly looking at Gwaine who let out a hearty laugh as they continued riding. Merlin’s men were glad to see that his recent injury had not seemed to affect their king very much in terms of spirit. He had always put on a brave face, even when in great pain. At least he had when he lived in Ealdor. The man had grown a lot since they had last spent any real time with him and it left many of the knights wondering how well they really knew him now. 

The remainder of the ride back to Ealdor went by without any other problems which everyone was grateful for. They rode much faster than they had before their encounter in an attempt to get Merlin’s wound taken care of faster. As they entered the village, the residents stopped what they were doing to look at the rather large group of knights, their king riding behind them.

Sir James sent out a telepathic message to every single resident telling them that Merlin was not to be treated as their king as long as the men of Camelot were in Ealdor. He very quickly explained to them that Merlin had wished to remain anonymous with the men of Camelot and that they were to respect his wish. As he looked out, he saw many slight nods as the people received his message. Merlin, who had also received it, was thankful for James for sending it out. In his current state, he would not have considered taking that step.

They came to a stop as Hunith approached the group. She did not see her son at first as Sir Henry introduced Arthur. “My lady, this is King Arthur of Camelot. He and his men have come to aid us in getting our kingdom back,” he explained. 

The queen smiled at Arthur and welcomed him to their village. “Welcome to Ealdor. It’s not much but for a temporary home, it does quite well. On behalf of myself and my son, we thank you for your willingness to aid us.” She bowed her head at him as she did, showing her respect and gratitude. When she lifted her head however, she saw her son in the back of the group, bleeding from his midsection. She tried to remain calm, knowing that it would be suspicious if a foreign queen was suddenly overly worried for a man she had just met. She too had received Sir James’ message and understood her son’s wishes. “It appears like one of your men was injured,” she started motioning to Merlin. “If you follow me, we can see to his injury.” 

Hunith led them into her house and instructed Merlin to lay on the table in the kitchen where the healer could better attend to his wound. The healer entered the house and cleared out the majority of the knights, needing the space to work. Only Arthur and Sir James remained with the queen and her son when he had finished corralling them out of the home. 

As the man got to work, Arthur watched as he lifted Merlin’s shirt just enough so the wound was showing, and placed his hands on the wound. Merlin was grateful to the man for not lifting the shirt any farther as it would have revealed scars that no one in the room had known existed. As the man began muttering some sort of spell, Merlin did not look panicked at all but Arthur felt his heart race as the man used magic to heal his manservant. Based on Sir Maxen's words, he had assumed his friend would be healed the non-magical way. This somehow worried him more. If something were to go wrong, Merlin could end us in a worse state than before… 

As the man stopped mumbling the spell and removed his hand from his friend’s wound, he watched the skin almost knit itself back together. He watched in awe as the man was left without even a scar. There was absolutely zero indication that he was ever even injured. He looked at Merlin in shock and saw him chuckle, likely at the look on his face.

“Thank you,” Merlin said to the sorcerer with a bow of his head as he sat back up and got off of the queen’s table. The sorcerer returned the bow and left the room without a word. Arthur could not help but think about how little the man spoke while he was here and wondered briefly if it was his presence that had caused that. 

Hunith turned to Sir James, “Can you please show Arthur and his men where they will be staying? I would like to keep the king’s manservant here for the night to keep an eye on his wound while the magic runs its course,” she lied. Of course, only James and Merlin knew that it was a lie. 

James nodded and motioned for Arthur to follow him, “This way, sire.” Arthur did as he was told after shooting Merlin a questioning glance. He could not quite understand why, if his injury had been healed, that he would need to stay, but then again, he did not understand anything that had to do with magic.

Chapter Text

As Arthur and the men of Camelot begrudgingly filed out of the Queen’s home, Merlin let out a rather large sigh of relief and leaned back against the table he had been laying on only moments ago. He heard the men chattering amongst themselves as they made their way away from the house, towards wherever the knights were going to house them for the next few days. He could not hear full conversations, only words like “magic”, “healer”, “crazy” and “Queen”. Not enough to string together a coherent stance. Hunith closed the door behind the young Pendragon, as he was the last to leave and once she felt it was okay to do so, she rushed to her son. “Myrddin, fy mab! Beth ddigwyddodd ( Merlin, my son! What happened )?!” she interrogated, grabbing him by the shoulders and seeming to do a once over of her injuries herself, despite the fact that the healer had already been there.

Merlin could not stop the smile that spread across his face as she checked him over. “Rwy'n iawn mam, rwy'n addo ( I’m fine mother, I promise ),” he started in an attempt to relieve some of Hunith’s anxiety. This seemed to relax her for a moment as she looked at his face. The small smile aiding in her comfort. She nodded slowly, the uncertainty in her expression still evident but it was no longer the only emotion being conveyed. The queen took a step back away from her son, giving him the space she thought he needed and then looked at him expectantly. Merlin had not answered her other questions. The king debated with himself for a moment before “Marchogion Josua ydoedd. Daethant o hyd i ni ar ein ffordd yma ( It was Joshua's knights. They found us on our way here ).” 

A small gasp escaped the queen as she covered her mouth with her hand. Merlin had always known his mother to be strong. It was not often that he saw her scared or intimidated, but when it came to Joshua, something just came over her. Her demeanor always shifted for a moment, away from the strong, fearless queen, to a mother, scared for her child. The fact that this was the closest the traitor’s men had ever made it to Ealdor in all of their years living in the small village. Hunith’s tone was urgent and it was hard to miss the slight shake in her voice as well. “Wnaethon nhw eich dilyn chi ( Did they follow you )?” Merlin could only shake his head and in that moment he could practically see the tension dissipate. 

“Doedd neb ar ôl i'n dilyn ni ( There was no one left to follow us ),” he assured her. Hunith nodded and went to sit down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. Merlin gave her a moment to wrap her head around the information that he had just shared with her. He watched his mother intensely, trying to understand what she could be feeling in this moment. He could tell that she was thinking hard about something, though what that could be, he had no idea. After a few minutes had passed, he went to sit across from her at the table. “What are you thinking?”

Hunith opened her mouth to speak and then just shook her head, as if the words that she was going to speak were somehow inadequate. Merlin did not rush her to respond though, only reached out and held her hands on the table across from him. He studied her face once more and found that, again, he was unable to figure out just what she was thinking. “How did they even know that it was you?” she asked quietly. “Prin oedd yr un o'i ddynion yn dy adnabod di. Hyd yn oed bryd hynny, roeddet ti'n fabi ( Hardly any of his men knew you. Even then, you were a baby ),” she said, the disbelief now clear on her face even as she looked at the table in front of her. Merlin gave her hands a small squeeze, causing her to look up at him.

“They didn’t mother,” he said calmly. The confusion returned to Hunith’s face as she furrowed her brow. “At least not by my face. Arthur spoke my name and the men put it together on their own. Unfortunately, the new king of Camelot has never been known for his subtlety,” Merlin continued, hoping that his lighthearted comment would aid in calming the queen. “Mae'n debyg y dylwn fod wedi newid fy enw i rywbeth mwy cyffredin pan symudais i Camelot ( I probably should have changed my name to something more common when I moved to Camelot ).” The smile returned to his mother’s face. At that moment, all of the worry that he had about the upcoming plan to take their home back, the worry of Arthur and his friends from Camelot finding out who he was… all of that slipped away. He was home with his mother for the first time in several years, and he was going to allow himself to just feel like a boy for a moment. 

Right now, he wasn’t King Merlin of Tristram, he was simply Merlin. And he couldn’t be happier. “At least you’re safe and no one followed you. That is all that matters right now,” she said, rubbing her thumb soothingly on the back of her son's hand. “Now, I’m assuming you might be hungry after all of that excitement. Let’s see what we have, shall we?” Hunith said with a smile as she changed the topic. She moved to the kitchen as Merlin gave a small laugh and she quickly began to gather ingredients from around the kitchen that could be used to make a good meal for the two of them to share together. 

On the other side of Ealdor, the knights of Tristam were showing the knights of Camelot to where they would be staying. Many of the knights had offered up their homes to the visiting knights so that they would not have to camp outside. They had gathered extra bedding from those willing to part with it and had created a sort of barracks for them to stay in for the remainder of their time in the village, though if the knights had it their way, that would not be long. The king, of course ,had his own space in one of the smaller homes that would be managed for him while all of the other knights of Camelot would be in charge of their own spaces entirely. None of them seemed to mind this though as Sir James explained this to them. The man believed that they were just happy not to be sleeping on the dirt outside. “I will leave you all to get settled in. If you need anything at all at any time, please do not hesitate to find one of us. I will be staying in the house next to the Queen’s should you have any use of me,” Sir James offered. 

A chorus of thank yous echoed throughout the small house they all found themselves in. The men soon began to talk about who would be sleeping where and what they would be doing for food, but Arthur stopped them. “I understand that we are all eager to retire for the night, but I think we all need to talk,” Arthur said, his voice not particularly forceful, yet still commanding the attention of the room. His men looked at him, giving him their full attention. “I have realized that I have asked you all to put your trust in this kingdom, and their magic, without ever really asking how you feel about it. Now, obviously, it is too late to pull Camelot’s support, and I still have every intention of helping these people take back their home,” he explained, clarifying that his position would not be swayed. Arthur was not the kind of man who could go back on his word, no matter what the circumstances. “But, I also know that not only did we just fight alongside magic, but we also trusted it to heal Merlin. We have all suffered loss at the hands of magic so I am not going to downplay the impact that aiding it may have on you.”

Even as these words came out of his mouth, Arthur found himself wondering why he had said them. His men knew what they were signing up for. Merlin however, never had a choice in the matter. He was bound by his position to be there when Arthur needed him and somehow, he – of all people – was almost killed for it. This fight was not his and yet, he may lose his life for it. In the same way that it was not his manservants though, neither was it his knights’. “So, if you want to return to Camelot, you may do so,” Arthur added when no one immediately spoke up. 

Gwaine laughed. “Are you serious? And leave you to help them on your own?” he asked as if the statement was the most offensive thing anyone had ever said to him. “Yeah right, Princess. You may have been the one to promise to help these men, but you forget the part where they saved our lives today. I can only speak for myself, but we owe them,” he explained. Several of the men nodded in agreement. Arthur paused to allow anyone who may oppose Gwaine’s statement to speak up, but no one did. They all just stood there in agreement with one another. 

Arthur would never admit it to them, but it was moments like this where he was glad that he had disobeyed decades of tradition and broken the knights code. The men standing before him, while not noble by blood, were noble by heart, and them choosing to stick by him, even with no obligation to, proved that more than anything. The king smiled. “Alright then, get some sleep. We’ll check in on Merlin in the morning and hopefully see what the king of Tristram has to say about getting his home back,” he stated as he gathered his belongings and left the knights to work out their sleeping arrangements on their own. He had a lot to think about before he would actually allow himself to go to sleep, but at least he knew that his men were behind him. Now, he just had to figure out what the men who attacked them wanted with Merlin and what they were going to do next.

Chapter Text

The queen had nearly completed their meal when the pair heard a knock at the door. Merlin's head turned quickly to look at the door, almost like he was not quite sure who to expect. He took a moment to just tune into his magic to see if it could tell him who was waiting for him on the other side of the door. Almost immediately, his magic registered another magical presence and a familiar one at that: Sir James. "It's James and the other knights," he said to his mother, who was watching him as he tried to figure out who was there before he opened the door.

Merlin made his way to the door, opening it slowly and stepping aside to allow for the men to enter the small home. His demeanor had changed from one of comfortability to one more fitting of his kingly status. "I trust the men of Camelot are settled in for the night?" he asked curtly as the men continued to file into the small house. Sir James gave a small nod to answer the man's question. "Good. I imagine they will want to see the rest of the village in the morning, we can set something up for them to help get them better acquainted with the area," he explained in a way that he was suggesting that one of the knights get to work on getting that set up. He was not usually one to give commands outright. He preferred to list the tasks that needed completed and have the men decide amongst themselves how they should all get done. Merlin would bounce around and help where needed. This is how he always did things when he was their prince; being their king did not change this approach.

"That can be arranged with ease," Sir Will responded with a small nod. Merlin mirrored his nonverbal response. "Is there anything else we will need to have arranged for tomorrow, sire?" he asked.

Hunith was standing in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on their meal as the men entered her home and immediately began to talk about their plans for the next day. It was always impressive and quite inspiring to see her son lead, especially now as king as he had not really been able to adjust to being in the role given the circumstances. However, she was not going to let the fact that she was extremely proud of her son in this moment take away from the fact that he needed to rest. "Dyna ddigon o hynny. Mae angen i Merlin orffwys, fel y mae arnoch chi gyd. Mae wedi bod yn ddiwrnod hir i bob un ohonom (That's enough of that. Merlin needs to rest, as do you all. It has been a long day for all of us)," she said speaking up before anyone else had a chance to.

Merlin looked at her with a look that suggested that he had more to say. "I am still the queen Merlin, and your mother. You have been through a great deal today, the last thing you need is to be worrying yourself with everything. One night's rest is not going to hurt anyone," she practically scolded. Even when she did scold him though, it was very caring and almost too calm. It was obvious to everyone around that Hunith was a mother first and a queen second. Though, she treated all of her people as though they were her children, so when it really came down to it, those two roles merged more often than not.

Sir Maxon spoke up, "You're right, your highness. Would you like for us to return tomorrow?" he asked politely.

Hunith shook her head, "I see no harm in keeping good company around either," she said with a smile. She grabbed all of the plates and bowls that she had from the cupboards and placed them on the table. "And lucky for you all, I thought you all might stop by," she said as she stepped aside to show that she had made far too much food for her and her son alone.

The knights all rushed up and moved towards the kitchen, thanking Hunith as they did. Sir Will stood by the food, serving as the other knights formed a line and moved to be served. He made sure, of course, to serve the queen and her son first. "Thank you for sharing this meal with us," he said with a small smile and a gracious nod as he handed them their food.

"The pleasure is ours," Merlin responded. He had to remind himself that he would not be here in his home with his people had it not been for these men working to find a way to reclaim their kingdom. He owed them everything. Especially considering that he had nothing to do with the pre-planning of this mission at all. His men had taken it upon themselves to get their homeland back, the least he and his mother could do is provide them with a nice warm meal. "Please, eat," he urged them when he noticed that they were waiting for them to take their first bites.

The group ate rather quickly, the excitement of the day certainly leaving them with an appetite. They spoke of memories of a time before Merlin went to live in Camelot: training sessions with Balinor, helping the village people with their farms, telling stories around a small fire. All things that they looked back on fondly. They had their share of hardships as well, and every time that Merlin heard his father's name, he found himself almost looking for him in the room. "Byddai fy nhad yn falch o'r dynion rydych chi wedi dod yn, a dylech chithau fod hefyd (My father would be proud of the men you have become, and you should be too)," Merlin said with a smile.

The knights smiled back at him with a bittersweet smile. "Byddai ef yn falch ohonoch chi hefyd, syr. Y dyn rydych chi wedi dod yw un yr oedd bob amser yn gobeithio y byddech chi (He would be proud of you too, sire. The man you have become is one he always hoped you would be)," Sir James added. As the knight who served under Balinor for the longest amount of time, Merlin was inclined to believe that they had spoken on that matter more than once before his father was forced out of Ealdor. 

The young king was touched by this statement. "I agree, Merlin. Your father spoke a lot of the kind of man he'd hoped you'd be — the kind of king he hoped you'd be, and I believe Sir James is right. Balinor would be proud," she said with a bittersweet smile on her face. She wished that her husband could be with them now. Not only so that he could be a part of taking back their homeland, but so that he could see the kind of man his son had become. Every parent should have the opportunity to see the kind of person their children become. She was sorry that he had been robbed of that.

Merlin did not know what to say and instead just smiled at his mother, a tear forming in his eye. He was touched by the idea that his father would be proud of him. In moments where it felt especially hard to do the right thing, or more, when he had no idea if he was doing the right thing, he often wondered what his father would think. To hear such praise from the two people who were closest to him, was a bittersweet moment. "Thank you both," was all he could manage.

Hunith went over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She knew her son well enough to know that he could use the hug, even if he would not admit it. Merlin just allowed himself to sink into the embrace. He did not know that he needed it until his mother had approached him. She always had a way of knowing what he needed when it was unknown to him. They broke away from each other in a moment and Hunith just held her son at arms length and smiled brightly at him.

"Now, it's getting late, I think it is probably best for everyone to get some rest. I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the days to come," Hunith said as she began to gather the dishes from their meal.

Merlin put his hand out and stopped her from cleaning up. "Mam, dos di i baratoi i fynd i'r gwely. Bydda i a'r dynion yn glanhau popeth cyn iddyn nhw fynd (Mother, you go and get ready for bed. The men and I will clean up everything before they go," he instructed gently. It felt wrong for her to clean up when she had just made a whole meal for them. She opened her mouth to protest, but the men were already gathering every bowl and spoon. Sir Will was already in front of the small tub in the kitchen that they used for washing dishes waiting for the other men to bring him the dishes to be washed. In a moment, there was a pile beside the tub and Sir Ivor could be seen grabbing a towel and waiting to dry and put the dishes away. "See," Merlin said, looking at his men, "we've got it taken care of. Get some rest, we will see you in the morning," he said with a smile.

Hunith just smiled and nodded, not seeing any point in arguing against her son. "Alright, well nos da (good night), everyone," she said with a small wave as she made her way to her room. The knights all said their good nights as well and turned their attention back to cleaning the kitchen.

In no time at all, everything was cleaned up and the kitchen was looking better than it had when they had arrived earlier that day, much to the king's delight. "Alright men, I think it's time for everyone to get some sleep. Thank you for checking in, and staying to clean up," Merlin said with a smile. The men nodded and responded shortly, not wanting to overstay their welcome. Merlin walked them out and very quickly gave them instructions to gather the men of Camelot and meet back here in the morning. Sir James nodded, as he would likely be the one ensuring this was carried out in the morning.

They had all made it a few steps out of the door, when Merlin heard something from the bushes in a nearby clearing. "Shh!" he commanded, cutting through the low chatter of the knights. He held his arm out to stop them from moving anywhere and just looked in the direction of the sound. When nothing revealed itself to be the source of the noise, the king took a step in that direction. "Show yourself," he commanded calmly, the authority present in his voice. Several of the knights drew their swords, pointing them in the direction of the bushes just in case someone were to attack. 

What the men were not expecting though was for a girl, not much younger than Merlin, to step out of a bush. The men did not, however, lower their weapons as they didn’t seem entirely sure what was happening. Merlin however picked up on her magic almost instantly. “Who are you?” he asked wearily. The likelihood of her being with Joshua’s men was slim but not nonexistent entirely so he stayed guarded. As did his men, it was not lost on him that Sirs James and Maxen had stepped in front of him slightly.

“My name is Olivia, I live in a Druid camp not far from where those men attacked you,” she explained. The girl had a tone that suggested she was very aware of the fact that they were pointing weapons at her, but she was calm, appearing rather collected as well. “I saw what happened and just wanted to make sure you were okay,” she continued.

Merlin looked at her and smiled. “I’m okay now, thank you,” he said. He looked over at his men and nodded, indicating that they were okay to put their weapons down. They obeyed the instruction immediately, sheathing their swords and standing more comfortably.

The girl smiled back at him. “I’m glad to hear that. Everyone back at camp will be happy to know that you are safe, Emrys,” she stated. As she finished her statement, the knights of Tristram just stared at their king like they had seen a ghost. “Oh, are they unfamiliar with your true name, my lord?”