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Chapter Text

"It does not matter, the boy is a casualty," said Kilgarrah. Merlin frowned.

"Um, I'm sorry, what?" He asked, blinking. "Did you just tell me to kill a child? This kid is innocent! It's not his fault his mother decided to attack Arthur, why should he be punished for it?"

"If the only way to kill the mother is by luring her in with the child, then you must do what has to be done! Young warlock, by now you know well that destiny is not an easy road, but protecting Arthur must be your top priority!" said the dragon, annoyed.

"Yeah, I know, believe me he is, but I refuse to just murder innocent children like this, it would make me the same as Uther. you're old, Kilgarrah, maybe your morals aren't where they should be."

"You cannot speak to me of morality, Merlin, you have murdered people in cold blood, you have never questioned the lengths you have gone to to protect your king before, why now?"

"He is a CHILD, and he's adorable, his name's Finn and he doesn't even know the alphabet yet! I'm not killing him. Gods why do you want me to? You know, you're always saying this, 'kill this person merlin' 'kill that person merlin' and its always because either they're 'going to become evil in the future maybe' or because they're a threat to Arthur's life and I'm sick of it. You wanted me to kill Morgana and maybe a lot of this wouldn't have happened if I had, but you know what? A lot of this wouldn't have happened if I had just been honest about my magic to begin with. If I had helped her more, and not let Morgause get her revenge-soaked claws into her then none of this would have happened and she would still be back at the castle living her life. I'm done. I'm going to tell her everything," Merlin shouted, not realising what he had said was true until he had said it. Kilgarrah reared his head back, eyes blazing.

"Merlin! You cannot go near the witch! Telling her about your magic will only make her angrier. Just because you are immortal doesn't mean you can escape anything! You have to be careful, besides need I remind you that your life is not the only one on the line, Arthur and Camelot depend on you, whether they realise it or not!"

"Then let them realise it, I'll leave, and they can see how long they last without me!" With that, Merlin turned and walked out of the clearing, leaving Kilgarrah shouting at him in his wake.

He went straight to his chambers and packed a few things into a bag, an extra tunic and neckerchief, some food and water, and the dagger that Arthur had gifted him last Yule. When he had finished, he realised with annoyance that there was nothing more he could do until morning came and he could tell Arthur and Gaius he was leaving, after all, he couldn't exactly leave in the middle of the night, no matter how much his impulsiveness urged him on. He groaned and fell back against the bed. Other people were such a nuisance.

He pottered about unable to sleep until the first rays of sunlight finally pierced through the window. Then, after shouting a quick 'good morning' to Gaius, was on his way to Arthur's chambers, picking up his breakfast from the kitchens and almost knocking down one of the cooks. He apologised but didn't stop, kicking open Arthur's doors and walking straight in, tray balanced on one hand as he closed the door with the other. He set the tray down on the table and went to open the curtains.

"Rise and shine!" he called.

There was a grunt from somewhere underneath the covers, and Merlin could see a tuft of blonde hair peaking out on the pillow. Grinning to himself, he snuck over to the bed quietly before grabbing the end of the covers and yanking them down. Arthur let out a strangled yelp as he reached out with his hands to catch the blanket with half opened eyes and somehow managed to grab hold of Merlin instead, who let out an equally strangled sound as he was pulled down to Arthur's chest. A second later, he was pushed gracefully(read: he was shoved) off, far enough away to meet the startled blue eyes of the barely awake king.

"Well I can't say I was expecting that," Merlin quipped, which seemed to bring Arthur to his senses. Arthur let go of the shoulder he still had a hold on and turned away with a groan, pulling the actual covers back up.

"Why? It's too early," he whined, voice muffled by the pillow he had face-planted into (definitely not to hide his blush)

"You know, a lot of people would be grateful to be woken up by someone as nice as me. Most servants are much meaner."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Arthur replied, still muffled.

Merlin just grinned and went over to the desk, starting to sort through the papers on top of it. "Whatever you say, sire. But I know for a fact that I'm the only servant who gets honey cakes for breakfast," he added with a fake nonchalance.

Arthur shot up, covers pooling about his waist. "You got honey cakes?" he squeaked, not even trying to conceal the excitement in his voice. His eyes met Merlin's for a moment, and Merlin smiled back at him, his excitement contagious, before nodding to the table.

"Over there, but try not to have too many or I'll have to start adjusting your belts," Merlin quipped, not meaning a word of it. Arthur chucked a boot at him which missed, landing somewhere to the left. He covered his laughter with his hand, looking back down at the papers. Reports and law drafts and commissions and appeals were strewn over the desk in a muddle. Honestly, how Arthur managed to get them so mixed up he would never understand. As Arthur got up and went to the table to start eating, Merlin arranged them into neat piles, organised by importance, genre and person, casting an eye over everything and making adjustments here and there. Once that was done, he went over to the table by Arthur, who had been watching him with a strange look in his eye. Merlin decided that that was something to be dealt with at a later date. Nicking a few berries from Arthur's plate, Merlin addressed him.

"Listen, Arthur, I need to speak to you," he began. Arthur tilted his head in an invitation to continue, mouth full of honey cake. "It's... it's my mother, she needs help on the farm for a while - not forever! Just... maybe a month or so?" he estimated. "And, well, there's no one who can help her really, except me, so I was wondering if I could have the next month off to go see her? I know it's a lot to ask but she really does need it..." He trailed off, hoping Arthur wouldn't pick up on his lie. He had no intention whatsoever of visiting his mum, it was Morgana he intended to see, but Arthur didn't need to know that.

Arthur looked surprised and a little lost, but he hid it well. After a moment, he bowed his head in assent. "Of course, take all the time you need. Who knows, maybe I'll get a competent servant while you're gone," he shot Merlin a grin.

Merlin snorted. "Sure, poor thing, try not to be too insufferable to them. Don't forget the delegation from Mercia that's coming in a few days, get George to remind Cook about them tomorrow, otherwise she'll get pissy about not having enough warning. If Camelot falls down in my absence don't blame me." But he smiled, and they shared a look which shook away any doubts of Arthur not missing him.

Later, after Merlin had finished his rounds for Gaius, he packed a small bag and left, heading into the forest with a mission on his mind.

---

With help from his magic, he managed to locate Morgana's hut, and arrived after a good two hours of walking. He went up to the door and knocked, heart pounding in his chest. A beat passed, which stretched into a minute, and Merlin was about to knock again when the door opened, to reveal a confused-but-still-scary looking Morgana. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

"Merlin? What-"

"Hi, you miss me? I've definitely missed you. You know, since you left, Arthur's the only one who could stand up to Uther and he rarely did it, but I guess since he's dead now it doesn't really matter. Thanks for that by the way, it was annoying at the time because it meant my chance of getting Arthur to accept magic was blown out the window, but to be honest it's great not having that bitch around," Merlin said, chattering on as if anything he was saying made sense.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, coldly.

"Coming to see how you are, obviously," Merlin replied, in the tone one might say 'duh' or, 'of course, you idiot'. "I haven't seen you since that whole thing with the Fomorroh, and that's not exactly the most pleasant of memories. So," he continued, walking past Morgana into her hut, ignoring her shriek of indignation. "How've you been? Still not much of a one for interior decor I see."

"Not glued to Arthur's side anymore?" Morgana sneered, trying to regain her footing.

"I left him in Gwen's care, he should be alright. I am a bit worried about Agravaine though. You know, having your henchman try to sabotage Arthur's rule is really not very sportsmanlike of you," Merlin commented, walking around the little hut, picking things up and inspecting them as he went. He got to a vial that contained a bubbling green liquid, brought it to his nose and recoiled, coughing. "What is that? It smells like Arthur's socks after he's been training. Ugh."

Morgana ignored him. "Agravaine is useful. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you figured him out. He said Gaius had been suspicious of him, and you always were quite quick on the pick-up." She followed him into the hut, closing the door. "Still, you haven't managed to get rid of him yet, so clearly not that quick."

Merlin looked up at her sharply, the first sign of annoyance crossing his mind. "How do you think Arthur would react to hearing that yet another of his family members is trying to kill him?" He shook his head. "I want to tell him, I keep trying, but he won't listen. He's blinded by his love for people," Merlin trailed off, looking down, before snapping up again, picking up a herb he had found on the table he was standing by. "No way, this is feverfew! Gaius and I have been looking everywhere for some of this! Where did you find it?"

Morgana gave him a death glare. "Oh yeah, I wonder why Arthur's family keeps trying to kill him. Maybe because he's prejudiced against an entire group of people for something beyond their control and just follows his daddy's orders to slaughter them mercilessly."

Merlin twisted his lips. "Actually, Arthur hasn't executed any sorcerers since he was crowned, and he's a lot more open-minded and compassionate than you give him credit for," he picked up a bunch of the feverfew, sorting through it as he spoke. "Arthur could be brought around to see that not all sorcerers are bad, but it gets harder to do so every time someone uses magic against him. What kind of impression does that give him?" He finished sorting the herbs and put it down on the table, moving around her herb stash as if he owned it, examining each plant carefully. He took a knife from the back of his belt and began chopping one of them up on the table absent-mindedly. "Listen, Morgana, if you wanted Camelot to be a free place for magic-users, you would try to convince Arthur about its goodness - or neutrality I suppose, it can be used for bad stuff as well, as demonstrated by you. You know Arthur better than most people, you know how to speak to him to get him to understand things. You want the crown, and that's understandable, but technically you have a claim to it, without having to fight anyone. Arthur doesn't even like politics, I'm pretty sure he'd have welcomed your help with ruling, but you left before he got the chance to ask. Uther's dead now. He's gone, his influence isn't being forced down Arthur's throat anymore."

Merlin picked up the board of chopped herbs and scraped it onto a smaller one, spreading it out evenly and wiping his hands on his jacket. "It'll dry better like that," he explained, before putting his knife away and turning to the messy firepit in the corner that Morgana used to cook things on. He shook his head and tutted, before crouching down to readjust some of the stones and sweep away the ash. Morgana just stared, narrowing her eyes warily.

"My point is," Merlin continued, still going on. "You will never get to Arthur by going against him, you have to talk to him, skirt around the topic, make him think he thought of it first. He has a problem with pride, and admitting when he was wrong - obviously passed down from Uther, and he's not the only one," he gave Morgana a pointed look. "He's working on it, but when it comes to something as big as this, he needs everyone to be on his side, supporting the decision, and that's not going to happen when there's a sorceress on the horizon who could attack at any given moment, that's not very unlikely to get him to legalise magic." Merlin stood up with the pot he'd scraped the ash into, walking over to the door and opening it, tipping the ash out and coming back in, finally stopping to face Morgana properly.

She blinked at him. "Why would you want Arthur to legalise magic? You think the same thing as Arthur about it."

Merlin raised his eyebrows at her. "Really? You think I think magic should be banned? I sent you to the druids, Morgana, I tried to help you. Have you ever actually asked me what I think about magic? Or have you just jumped to conclusions? Love, you can't keep doing that, people don't like it."

Morgana crinkled her nose and took a step back, looking at him with disgust. "Arthur followed me to the druids, and guess what happened? He murdered them. He killed men, women and kids just for being there. They had been camping peacefully, but Arthur slaughtered them all, just for having magic."

"Arthur led that patrol to find you. He thought they'd kidnapped you and were planning to hurt you. He cared about you so much, Morgana, you never gave him a chance," Merlin's voice softened. "Anyway, I came here to clear a few things up. First up, I have magic." He lifted his palm to show a flame flickering there. "Second, I'm Emrys. Hi." He waved. "Third, don't trust thousand-year-old dragons. They give really bad advice."

Morgana had jolted backwards when he showed her the flame in his hand, and now she was practically shaking, eyes wide as saucers. She lifted her hand, bringing it close to her face and pointing it at him. "You. You're Emrys. You can't be Emrys."

Merlin shrugged. "Why not?"

Morgana just opened her mouth in reply, looking as if the world had ended and her mind was spinning in a black abyss.

His mouth twisted into a rueful smile. "Surprise," he said, with jazz hands.

Chapter Text

It was a few days later, and Morgana had tried to kill him twice. Once, she'd tried to stab him from behind, but he'd dodged just in time, and summoned the knife from her hand with a flash of his eyes. She'd glared at him and didn't speak to him for the rest of the day, and the second time was while he was sleeping (he had chosen a spot on the floor near the fire and refused to move, even though Morgana tried to kick him out) he had woken up to a knife against his throat, his neck dripping blood. He'd cursed, wrenched the knife from her grip, but blacked out before he could do anything else, waking up a few hours later with nothing but a scar. Morgana had jumped so high when he got up and started pottering about the house normally that he was surprised she hadn't torn a muscle. She hadn't tried since then.

Yesterday, when Merlin had seen the lack of food Morgana kept in her hut, he had disguised himself and gone to the market, getting some bread and vegetables to eat.

He had taken it upon himself to bring her hut into some semblance of proper domesticity. Because apparently it was good to have goals or whatever. Therapists aren't a thing yet, but Gaius was second-best. Anyway, the point is, he was carrying a bucket of water back from the well when he saw a familiar horse tied up outside the hut.

"Shit," he cursed, doubling back and crouching behind a tree, deciding to wait rather than risk being seen. He prayed to the triple goddess that Morgana wouldn't tell Agravaine that he was here. He'd told her that Arthur thought he was at his mother's, and she hadn't asked any questions. He'd counted on having more time to bring Morgana around before Agravaine came for a visit, seeing as he'd gone to see her the day before Merlin left (he'd made sure). If Morgana told Agravaine he was here, Agravaine would go straight to Arthur, telling him that Merlin had betrayed him. A cold feeling settled in his stomach, and his throat seemed to close up. If Agravaine was here so soon then that meant something must have happened in Camelot. Merlin bit his lip, trying to fight down the panic he felt at the thought of anything happening to Arthur. Or Gwen, or Gaius, or any of the knights. His mind raced with possibilities, his stomach turning at every one of them, and he wanted nothing more than to barrel down there and demand Agravaine tell him everything. But he forced himself to stay put, reminding himself why he was here, and trying to find distractions in the leaves and the movements of the horse.

Eventually, after Merlin had had to adjust himself at least ten times in order to stop his legs from cramping up, the slimy man walked out of the hut, a frown on his face. Merlin couldn't decipher anything from it. His heart was pounding in his chest as Agravaine jumped on his horse and sped off.

Cautiously, Merlin picked his way back to the hut, clutching the bucket of water with white knuckles as he gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Morgana looked up from where she'd been cleaning out her nails with a dagger. "Oh, it's just you. I was worried it was gonna be that whimpering idiot coming back to bug me with something he'd forgotten to mention."

Merlin swallowed.

He walked over to put the water near the fire, where he had been building a sort of stove, with a compartment attached which could heat up food, and hopefully a cover on top that they could use to fry things on, or boil water. Placing his jacket down on his makeshift bed (a rug and blanket he had stolen from Morgana), he rolled up his sleeves and started placing the stones around the fire in a pattern, tipping a bit of the water into a paste that he used to glue them together.

"So how's Camelot?" he asked, hoping his voice didn't betray how much he cared.

Morgana huffed. "Missing you, apparently. Arthur seems to be snappish with everyone, he's not listening to Agravaine as much anymore, seems to lose his patience quickly. Oh and there was a scandal with Mercia, apparently there was a massive rush to get everything ready the morning before they arrived, because nobody had told Cook about them."

Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes. "I specifically reminded Arthur about them, just before I left. Honestly. Did, um, did he mention anything else?"

The witch raised an eyebrow at him. "Nothing useful. He just came to complain about Arthur not listening to him."

"Right," Merlin nodded, turning back to his work. "You, um, you didn't happen to mention I was here did you?"

Morgana looked at him for a beat longer before turning back to her nails. "It didn't come up," she said, offhandedly. "Are you going to catch another rabbit today? I haven't got any food for tonight."

Merlin let out a silent breath, shooting Morgana a half smile of gratitude (which she ignored) before he answered.

"I haven't yet, but I can in a bit, I'm pretty much finished with this wall, and I want to be able to cook things properly, not just on a spit and tearing meat off the bones. Honestly, love, how have you survived all this time?" Merlin might hate hunting for sport, but he could recognise when it was necessary. And in this case, there wasn't much else they could eat, berries only sustain you for so long. And, while he wasn't generally a fan of eating meat, he'd found ways of making it taste nicer, seasoning it and cooking it well, just how he liked it.

Morgana swung her legs down from where they'd been resting on the chair opposite her, resting her elbows on her knees and watching him. "Not gonna try starving to death then? Who knows, that might work, your body might not have the energy to recover."

Merlin gave her a look. "It doesn't work. Just saps my energy until my magic decides it's had enough and my body starts running off of that instead. Technically I don't even need to eat, but it does help, surviving off my magic alone can be draining, and I get clumsier and lose my guard." He didn't know why he was telling her all of this. Maybe because he wanted her not to feel intimidated by him, hoping that if she knew how he worked, it would make it less alien and scary. Or maybe he was just eager to finally talk to someone other than Gaius about his magic and the way it differed from other peoples'.

Morgana cocked her head to the side. "Huh." She shrugged her lips. "Oh well, I'm sure we'll work something out." She got up and over to her bed, sitting down on it and fiddling with the blankets. She lay her head back on the pillow with a sigh, and didn't say anything more.

Merlin watched her for a minute with a wistful smile hovering on his lips, before he turned back to place the next stone in place, slapping more paste on with it.

They stayed like that, Merlin working and Morgana dozing, for a while. Merlin was humming under his breath slightly, but Morgana wasn't yelling at him to shut up, like she had the first few times he'd done it. It was a subconscious habit he'd picked up from his mother, Arthur had never minded, only given him a weird look now and then, but made no complaint, so Merlin had continued. The tune was to peis dinogat, a welsh poem with a haunting sound.

After a while, Merlin stood up, happy the wall of stone surrounding the fire. He reached out with his magic slightly, helping smooth the stones down, rounding them out to the correct shape. Of course, he could have done the whole thing with magic, but Merlin found he rather enjoyed the work, having something to do with his hands, keeping himself busy. He had been steadily tidying the little hut, making it more of a living space than it had been, fixing the holes in the windows and door, and adding a layer of insulation in the walls. (He had only done a quarter of a wall so far, but he had plans.)

He sent one last glance in Morgana's direction, before picking up his jacket and heading out, sensing the path ahead with his magic, seeking out a good rabbit that would feed two people.

It didn't take long, and Merlin snapped its neck swiftly with some muttered words and a flash of his eyes, going over to pick it up, grimacing and sending up thanks to the triple goddess and the earth for the life given.

When he got back, Morgana was still lying there, staring at the ceiling as if it held the answers to the universe.

Merlin placed the rabbit on the table and sighed. He sucked on his teeth, debating himself in his mind. But in the end, he walked over to the static woman.

"Hey," he started, drawing out the word. "Do you want to learn how to cook?" He asked, raising his eyebrows encouragingly.

Morgana turned to him with an unimpressed expression. "Why would I want to know how to cook? I've been surviving just fine the way I am, thanks, its you who wants to do all the fancy stuff."

Merlin shrugged. "Might be nice. You might have fun. Who knows what crazy things might happen?"

Morgana gave him a withering look, but Merlin was undeterred, giving her a shining smile and grabbing her arm, practically dragging her out of bed. "Come on, you'll enjoy it. And if you really really hate it we can stop. Promise."

Morgana protested, loudly, clawing at his hand on her arm until he let go. She sent him a glare and scrunched up her nose in mockery at him, but continued on to the table with all the confidence of someone pretending they knew exactly what they were doing. She stared at the dead rabbit for a second, before she grabbed the dagger from her belt and began to skin it.

"Woah woah woah," Merlin stopped her, placing his hand over the knife. "You have no technique, you're gonna lose half the rabbit if you do it like that, here," he took the knife and the rabbit from her hands and showed her how to do it properly, doing it slowly so she could see.

Morgana watched him with a set jaw, and when he offered it to her to try, she grabbed it from him with a mutter of, "You know, its not hard to skin a rabbit, you're not special." But she copied his technique and finished the rabbit off without any more complaints. Merlin watched her proudly, grinning at her when she was done, and showing her how to get rid of the nasty bits and then season it with the right herbs that boosted the flavour. It turned out that cooking with someone was a good bonding experience, and Merlin caught her almost smiling at his jokes twice, and she bantered back and forth with slightly less malice than usual. Merlin was bursting with joy and hope by the time they put the rabbit to cook above the fire.

He brought out the cabbage and carrots he'd bought in the market and set about washing them and chopping them up, making sure to show Morgana everything. They sat across from each other at the table, Morgana peeling and chopping up carrots and Merlin tackling the cabbage with a knife of his own. They chatted, in their weird way, Merlin making most of the conversation, babbling on about anything and everything; life in Camelot, anecdotes from times when Arthur had made a fool of himself that had them both sniggering, and some more meaningful ones about his mother in Ealdor, explaining how she had taught him how to cook and prepare food, telling him that it was a useful skill and one day he would have to be the one to cook for his own family. That had been when he was very young, under ten years old, and still didn't understand his own identity. But he had remembered all her lessons, and used them often, whenever he was on hunts with the knights, or sometimes when cook was too busy to worry about the prince's meal, he helped out himself.

Occasionally, Morgana would chip in with a jibe and Merlin would tease her right back, and Morgana would roll her eyes and he would continue the story.

When he mentioned stories from times when Morgana was still living in Camelot, her eyes grew wistful and sad, and she got an odd look on her face. Merlin didn't push her to say anything, but he could see she was working things out for herself.

When they'd finished, Merlin placed a pan of water over the fire, on a ledge he had made to use before he made the cover. he placed the carrots and cabbage in it once it was boiling, and set about doing more work on the walls while they waited for it to be ready. He had collected some wool from the sheep in the fields around Camelot, and used his magic to multiply it. He was setting it in all the gaps in the stone wall, making a layer of it before putting a second wall made of wood over the top. He had started by the door and was making his way around the house, reaching the window next.

He had just begun to spread it further, when Morgana came up.

"Show me how to do that," she ordered.

"This? It's easy. At least, it is with magic, which you and I both have, so there's no problem," Merlin handed her a bit of wool. "Here, place that in all the cracks in the wall, and then spread it out on top, make a layer about an inch to two inches thick."

Morgana looked at him weirdly. "You expect this tiny bit of wool to stretch that much?"

"No, love, you use your magic to make it bigger."

Morgana didn't say anything to that, instead deciding to do as he had instructed, muttering spell after spell to enlarge the wool, her eyes going a beautiful gold. Merlin followed up her layer of wool with planks of wood, nailing them in place. They made good, steady progress like that, they finished the first wall and managed almost half the next one, before Merlin announced that the food was probably ready, and they stopped to take it out of the heat and wash their hands.

Over dinner, Merlin talked to her about how to make the hut nicer to live in, telling her all about his ideas of cleaning and building the oven, along with the insulation. Morgana listened, surprisingly attentive, and asked questions here and there which Merlin responded to happily. He found himself laughing more freely than he had in a long time, as if a weight had been lifted off his chest, just from being on speaking terms with Morgana again. He hadn't realised how highly strung and anxiety-ridden he'd been the past few years until he suddenly wasn't anymore.

He slept well that night, despite the uncomfortable bed he'd made. He was warm, and his thoughts were hopeful for the first time in he didn't even know how long. His dreams were undisturbed with the usual nightmares of Arthur dying, Morgana finally winning, or even Arthur finding out about his magic.

So why, oh why, had he woken up before dawn?

He had found himself wide awake all of a sudden, with no explainable reason, but he was tense as if prepared to be attacked.

Then he heard a soft whimper from the other side of the hut, and it made sense. He had never been able to sleep if someone around him was in distress. Morgana was shifting about in her bed, and Merlin got up and padded over to her.

As he approached, he noticed the sheen of cold sweat she was covered in, and the furious muttering. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her head turning from side to side.

"NO!" she called out suddenly, and Merlin reached out to hold her shoulders.

"Hey, hey, Morgana, love, hey, 'Gana, wake up love, it's just a nightmare," he said, cupping her cheek with one hand. "It's just a nightmare, you're okay, everyone's okay, wake up."

Morgana's eyes flew open and she launched herself up, looking around herself in panic, breathing heavily.

She saw Merlin and froze, seeming not to know what to do. Merlin made the decision for her, and climbed onto the bed, wriggling under the covers. He sat next to her and faced her, bringing his hands up slowly in question. When she made no move to stop him, he pulled her into a hug, murmuring soft reassurances into her hair. She scoffed, but she was trembling, and she didn't resist when he traced his nails gently on her scalp, stroking her back with his other hand.

"It's okay, everyone's okay, you were just dreaming, you're here now. It's okay, nothing's wrong, nothing's urgent, it's okay," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her head. He stayed like that until he felt her breaths evening out and she relaxed against him, falling asleep again. He closed his eyes.

---

When he woke up, Merlin's first thought was ow. His neck and back were killing him. And there was a strange weight on his chest. Then it came back to him in a rush and he opened his eyes. Morgana wasn't awake yet, sleeping softly, still wrapped around him, her head on his chest. Merlin smiled and adjusted himself so that he was lying down instead of sitting resting against the wall. Morgana groaned but didn't wake up, and he closed his eyes again, falling back to sleep straight away.

---

The next time he woke up, it was because he felt someone looking at him. He blinked his eyes open blearily to see Morgana staring at him, an unreadable expression on her face (although it was mostly shock and confusion tbh).

"Hey," he said, blinking slowly and lifting one end of his mouth in a smile.

Morgana stared at him.

Merlin laughed. "Okay okay, we don't have to talk about it," he told her, stretching his hands above his head and then turning to stretch his back, grimacing at the popping sound that resulted in. He turned back to Morgana and raised an eyebrow.

Morgana kept staring.

He huffed and got up, sliding off the bed and padding over to the fire which had gone out in the night. He poked at it with a stick, and then decided that he couldn't be bothered to do it manually, so with a flash of his eyes, the old ash was gone and a fire was flickering gently, warming the hut perfectly for the late-autumn weather they were coming into.

He looked back over to Morgana, who had changed and was determinedly rifling through some papers by her bed. Merlin was reminded forcibly of Arthur doing the exact same thing whenever he had been vulnerable and was trying to forget about it. A wave of emotion washed over him, and he found himself missing Arthur so much it physically ached. He couldn't remember the last time they had spent more than a day apart, and it had been over a week.

But then Morgana walked over and clapped her hands together briskly. "Now. Should we do some more work on the insulation?"

Merlin snapped himself out of his thoughts to look at her. "Um no, I, for one, would like something to eat first. Where's that bread I got the other day?"

And it was forgotten about. Throughout the day, they made loads of progress on the walls, and Morgana even volunteered to help him out with the oven-making even though it was significantly messier, and required a lot more magic because Merlin refused to work without the fire going in that weather. They cooked together again, although it was mostly just reheating things, and they chatted over dinner. Merlin found that talking with Morgana was a lot easier than he had anticipated, which was stupid, because they always used to get on well, but then...

That night, Merlin got into bed with her again, and she didn't even protest, just gave him a warning to stay on his side of the bed or else. (They woke up cuddled together again, and neither of them talked about it.)

Chapter Text

Their days went by smoothly, and another week passed before Agravaine came to bother them again. He had a terrible habit of barging in without knocking, and this time, Merlin wasn't so lucky as to be out. He was making the bed, and Morgana was at the table, sorting through some papers. They had been in the middle of an argument about whether it was ethical to murder anyone who crossed you, when the door opened abruptly. Merlin froze, his words dying on his lips. Morgana turned around sharply with her dagger outstretched.

Agravaine stepped into the room, his gaze on the dagger in Morgana's hands and his hands up.

Merlin tried his very best to become one with the wall behind him, thanking his past self for re-doing the walls so that he didn't have spiders crawling through his clothes. Agravaine hadn't noticed him yet, only having eyes for Morgana, who just raised her eyebrows at him.

"What do you want?" she asked, coldly.

"I had to come, there has been a... development," said the slimy bitch.

Morgana lowered her dagger. "What kind of development?"

"Arthur."

Merlin's ears sharpened.

"He's been wounded," Agravaine explained, and Merlin's heart skipped a beat. "He's still alive, but barely. He was stabbed in the stomach, Gaius can't treat him. Some assassin or other."

Morgana's expression was unreadable.

Agravaine hesitated. "Are you not pleased? This is our chance! Strike while Camelot is weak! They have no chance without Arthur."

"You're wrong," Morgana told him. "His knights are different from Uther's knights, they're loyal to the end. And they fight better too, because Arthur trains them all himself. All this means is that Arthur has another near-death experience to add to the list."

Agravaine took a step back. "Near-death? He was practically dead when I left. Like I said, Gaius can't cure him. Arthur is going to die, my lady, this is great news. We can finally take Camelot, by your rightful claim as Uther's daughter."

Morgana visibly flinched. "You've forgotten, my lord, that nobody knows who I am, besides, I don't think the people will accept me willingly now anyway. No. When I become queen it will be by different means."

Agravaine opened his mouth to reply, but Morgana held up a hand and he stopped.

"Go. Find out anything you can, and don't come back until Arthur is dead."

Agravaine blinked, this was clearly not how he had expected this to go. But, regardless, he did as Morgana told him, and left. Only after Merlin heard his horse's hoofbeats fade away did he move.

She jumped a bit when he did, as if she had forgotten he was there.

"How did you do that?" she demanded, turning her dagger on him.

Merlin frowned. "Do what?"

"You were camouflaged. Practically invisible. I don't know a spell that does that," Morgana said, wary.

"Oh. Well that's pretty cool, I didn't know I could do that. I guess my magic just understood what I wanted to do and did it for me. But anyway, that's not the point. I have to go to Arthur."

Morgana blinked. She looked thrown for a second, before snapping back and sneering. "Of course you do. The moment he's in danger you just run to his side."

Merlin wasn't bothered by her words, his mind was preoccupied with worrying about Arthur. Why had he left him? The wards he had put up weren't all that strong and depending on how many attempts had already been made, they could have worn off. He blamed himself. He'd been gone far too long. Of course this had happened, what had he expected? Arthur gets almost killed every other day, why had he thought it would be alright to leave him?

He realised Morgana was still waiting for a response and paused suddenly, wondering what on earth to do. He didn't think Morgana was ready to face the others yet, but what choice did he have? If he left her here, there's no telling what could happen. She could move, so that Merlin couldn't find her again, she could end up thinking too much and turning against him. No. He couldn't leave her here. But he needed to go to Arthur.

"You're coming," he told her. Then, he collected his jacket and her cloak from by the door, grabbed her arm, and pulled her out of the house, setting off at a fast pace through the trees.

"Get off me!" Morgana hissed. Merlin let go, but continued walking. She hurried after him. "I am not going to Camelot with you. Have you lost your mind? For one thing, I'd be murdered on sight, and for another, I'd probably murder them on sight too. You need to think things through, you know."

Merlin kept marching on, he was practically running at this point, and just cast his glance back as he said, "Come on, we need to hurry up, Arthur might die before we get there and all the murdering in the world would be pointless." He chucked her cloak at her.

"You can't be serious. They'll take one look at my face and impale me with a sword!"

"Then pull your hood up, make sure they don't see your face. Just hurry!"

Morgana didn't stop protesting and listing all the reasons this was a bad idea until they reached the city gates, when she pulled her hood up and kept her head down. The guards at the gate saw Merlin's face and immediately stepped aside, letting him pass, not even questioning the mysterious person he was with.

They made their way, panting up to the castle, and Merlin led them straight to Arthur's chambers, without stopping.

Now that he was here, he felt a strong feeling of anxiety in his stomach. What would he see on the other side of the door?

He didn't give himself long to deliberate over it, though, and marched through the doors.

Arthur was lying, eyes closed, on his bed, and Gaius was by his side. Gaius looked up when Merlin came in, and said something in a surprised tone, but Merlin wasn't listening. He strode over to the bed, opposite from where Gaius was, bringing his hand to Arthur's forehead, inspecting his face, and then lowering the covers to reveal his sternum. He was in his white night-shirt, and Merlin lifted it up to see bandages wrapped around his middle. He brought his hand to his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut for a second before taking a deep breath and finally tuning in to the fact that Gaius was talking to him.

"Merlin? What are you doing here? I thought you were with Hunith? I sent a messenger this morning but they can't have got there yet," the physician was saying, confused.

Merlin just waved his questions away, none of it mattered now. All that mattered was Arthur, and whether Merlin could save him or not.

"Was it poisoned?" he asked, but his magic was already reaching out to the wound, and he could sense the black magic surrounding it even before Gaius confirmed it.

"We think it was Odin, they might have been from the same group as the one who killed Uther."

Merlin sighed. He closed his eyes and placed his hands on Arthur's torso, one on his chest and the other just below the wound. His magic told him it was deep, and absolutely teeming with the black poison, which was wrapping its way around Arthur's heart like ivy. Merlin looked up, and turned to Morgana, who had followed him into the room and was still standing by the closed door, her hood covering her face. Gaius followed his gaze and let out an exclamation of surprise, he obviously hadn't noticed her before.

"Could you come here?" Merlin asked her, gently.

Gaius looked between them, confused.

Morgana met his gaze, still turned away from Gaius.

Merlin pleaded with her with his eyes.

Eventually, she let out a small sigh and walked over, standing close to Merlin and still hiding her identity from Gaius.

Merlin looked up at his mentor.

"Gaius, do you think, could I ask you to leave? I'm sorry, but I need total concentration to save him," Merlin said, praying that Gaius wouldn't question him.

Gaius looked between him and the cloaked figure he was with suspiciously, but when he met Merlin's gaze, he seemed to make a decision. "Okay," he agreed, although what he was really saying was 'I trust that you wouldn't bring anyone in who would hurt Arthur'.

Merlin hoped he was right.

Gaius left, and Merlin immediately turned to Morgana, who looked scared, but she was trying to hide it. She was staring at Arthur's face, something akin to yearning in the depths of her gaze.

"Okay, I need you to go opposite me," Merlin gestured to where Gaius had been a moment ago. Morgana moved around the bed, still staring at Arthur. "And now, place your hands over mine. Close your eyes, reach out with your magic, do you feel the poison?"

Morgana nodded.

"Good, okay, now you have to recite after me, and pull the poison away from his heart with your magic."

He began chanting, the language of the old religion rolling off his tongue without thinking about it. Morgana repeated his words, and Merlin felt the poison resisting, so he put more strength into his words, straining to tug the vines away and out of his king. He felt them weakening, loosening, and finally, with a sharp tug, it came away, disappearing with Merlin's next word. They opened their eyes together, sharing a grin. But they weren't finished yet, there was still the original wound, deep enough to cause internal bleeding. Merlin closed his eyes again, trusting Morgana to follow suit. He could feel her magic working with him as he said the words to cease the bleeding and heal the wound, from the inside out, until there was nothing left but a scar.

Eventually, he opened his eyes again and lifted his hands from Arthur's body, watching him anxiously for any movement. Arthur groaned and turned over, still asleep.

He met Morgana's gaze, rejoicing in their success. They ran at each other and Merlin lifted her up to spin her round in a hug.

"We did it!" he whisper-shouted. Morgana just laughed, her head thrown back, and gripped Merlin's arms to steady herself when he put her down. Arthur made another sound in his sleep, and they caught each others' eyes, bursting into laughter, both trying (and failing) to be silent.

That was, until Arthur's voice came from behind them.

"What the fuck?"

---

Merlin looked past Morgana to see Arthur sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes.

"Arthur, how are you feeling?" he asked, not moving from where he was. Morgana's eyes were wide and she didn't turn around to see her brother. Her hood had slipped down, though, and her hair was probably a dead giveaway.

Arthur stared at him. "Merlin? what are you doing here? Who is that? Is that-"

"You know what," Merlin cut him off. "You should probably get some rest, you did just kinda almost die after all, see you!"

With that, he tugged Morgana out of the room. She followed without complaint.

"MERLIN!"

He ignored Arthur's indignant shout and they shut the door behind them, breathing heavily.

"Shit that was close," Merlin panted, and Morgana just nodded.

It was getting dark, the evening light casting long shadows in the corridors as they walked down them. A place once so familiar was now turned into a nightmare, terrified they were going to run into anyone they knew at any point.

Merlin led them through the servants' passageways to Gaius's chambers, collapsing in through the door, pushing Morgana ahead of him. He shut and locked it behind them, before turning to face the room.

Gaius was sitting in a chair by his work-bench, and he looked up as they came in. As soon as he caught sight of Morgana he jumped up, putting his hands out in front of him.

"Hey! Hey, no need for that," Merlin called, putting himself between his mentor and Morgana. "She just saved Arthur's life."

He turned to see Morgana looking slightly dazed.

"I did, didn't I?" she said, as if she couldn't really believe it herself. Merlin acted quickly, moving a chair underneath her just in time for her to collapse into it. She put her head in her hands. "Oh gods I did! I can't believe it."

"Funny, I'm having a similar problem," commented Gaius, shifting his gaze (with a very raised and unimpressed eyebrow) to Merlin.

"I can explain," Merlin started, having no idea how to explain.

"I should hope so," Gaius replied, looking for all the world as if Merlin had done something bad. He hadn't. Obviously. Morgana had been trying to kill Arthur before and now, thanks to him, she had saved his life. Merlin counted that as a win.

"Um," he began. Gaius raised his eyebrow even higher (against all odds, that was possible). "Uh, yeah, okay, so I might have lied about going to see my mum."

"Oh really?" Gaius asked, sarcastically.

"Mhm, and I may or may not have gone to see Morgana instead because the only reason she was living there in the first place was because of me and I missed her and like sure yeah she's tried to kill Arthur but haven't we all at least once? He can be a pain. Although that said if anyone else ever fucking tries again I will murder them personally. But she just needed someone on her side - someone other than the slimy fucking prick who is somehow related to Arthur because he won't make anyone feel better, he infects a room just by walking by it. Ugh. But yeah so maybe I might have been living with Morgana these past couple weeks and I helped her out with her house loads! You should see the progress we've made! We've insulated her walls and made her a proper stove and everything! Actually you probably wouldn't know the difference seeing as you've never been there before. But still I promise it looks ten times better than it did and look! Morgana!" Here he turned and walked over to where the woman in question was still sitting with her head in her hands, looking shell-shocked. He took her hands in his and squeezed them reassuringly. He lowered his voice to speak to her. "Hey, it's okay, you're okay. Yes, you saved Arthur's life. He would have died otherwise. That's not a bad thing, it's a good thing, it means you can fix things. You did great, I'm so proud of you." Merlin stood up and put both of Morgana's hands in one of his so that he could hold her head protectively against him when he faced Gaius.

Gaius was standing there dumb-struck. Of all the insane things Merlin had done (and he had done a lot) this had to be the worst. But then, it seemed that maybe it had worked. After a long pause, where Merlin and Gaius stood and stared at each other, Gaius sighed.

"Well, I suppose you'll be hungry after all of that," he said, and walked over to the pot of soup over the fire, ladling out three bowls, the first two he gave to Merlin and Morgana, and the third he kept for himself, going over to sit at the table. Merlin grinned, and leant down to give Morgana's to her.

"Do you wanna come to the table?"

She shrugged, which meant she did, but she didn't want to say so in case it was a trick. Merlin smiled gently at her and held her hand, guiding her over. She seemed to have lost all her strength since she realised what she'd done, and she clung to Merlin like a life-line. At the table, their thighs were pressed together and neither wanted to let go of each other's hands, so they managed to eat with one. Thank the gods it was soup.

Gaius looked at them strangely, but didn't question it, instead asking Merlin to fill him in on everything that had happened. Merlin did, and in turn he asked Gaius how Camelot had fared since he'd left.

"Oh it's been alright, we had a slight mishap with the Mercian delegation, but other than that, not much worth mentioning," the old man said, breezily. Merlin got a funny sense that there was more that Gaius wasn't telling him, but he didn't push. When they'd finished, he looked at Morgana, wordlessly asking if she wanted to go to bed. She nodded, and Merlin led her up the steps to his bedroom, pausing on the way to wish Gaius goodnight.

He just shook his head at them and sighed, saying, "Sleep well," as if it was an in-joke with himself.

Merlin shut his bedroom door and immediately pulled Morgana into a hug. She tensed, but then relaxed into it, squeezing so hard it was painful. Merlin didn't let go. Morgana let out a small, pitiful sound and buried her face in the crook of his neck, and Merlin tightened his hold, whispering more soothing words into her hair, pressing light kisses to her head. She sniffled, pressing into him as if she wanted to escape the rest of the world.

When she drew away, finally, Merlin could see tear-streaks and the redness around her eyes, but she seemed slightly more stable in her mind - if not in her body, seeing as she was practically leaning her entire weight into him at this point. He didn't mention it, only led her over to his small bed, settling them both under the covers just as they had done for the past few weeks, wrapping her up in his arms.

She fell asleep almost straight away, tired out from the stress of the day, and Merlin followed not long after, counting her steady breaths to put his mind at ease.

Chapter Text

Merlin woke up the next day to voices in the next room. He closed his eyes and strained his ears to hear, but it turns out he didn't need to, they weren't making any effort to be quiet.

"I'm telling you, Gaius, they were there! Merlin and-" Arthur's voice cut itself off. "I don't know who he was with. But I promise you, Gaius, Merlin was there. And I would like to see my manservant thank you very much."

"As I've told you, sire, Merlin is not here. If he was here last night, he didn't come to see me. Now please, I have patients to take care of."

The dismissal was obvious, but Arthur didn't seem to like it.

"Let me have a look, I promise you, Gaius. It was him. I know Merlin like the back of my hand and there is no doubt about it. And you might not have seen him, Gaius, but he can be quieter than he-" was all Merlin heard before his bedroom door was opened wide.

Arthur's words faded and trailed off and there was a pause as he took in what must have been a bizarre sight.

Merlin and Morgana hadn't moved much in the night, both sleeping deeply after the draining day before, and besides, Merlin's bed was barely big enough for one person to move much, let alone two. So what Arthur was seeing right now was Merlin (who was supposed to be in Ealdor), asleep (or so he appeared), cuddling Arthur's (also asleep, for reals this time), evil half-sister close to his chest, his head buried into her hair. Merlin wasn't a hundred percent sure that Arthur could see Morgana's face, as entangled as they were together, but there was no doubt that he'd recognised who it was. He'd practically recognised her last night just from behind, in the dim light of a single candle. Now, in broad daylight, with suspicions already, there was no way he wouldn't recognise her.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Sire I..." Gaius, for once, seemed to have no explanation.

Merlin decided that it was probably a good time to wake up, sensing that Arthur wasn't leaving any time soon, and acknowledging that he deserved an explanation. He shifted slightly, letting out an annoyed groan that wasn't entirely fake, and blinked his bleary eyes open.

The sight that greeted him was so much worse than just hearing it. Arthur was standing in the doorway staring at him as if his whole world had been crushed. Merlin met his eyes. Arthur just stared (what was it with the pendragon siblings and staring?).

Merlin let out another annoyed groan, entirely real this time, and rolled back over to go to sleep. Turns out he was not awake enough to deal with this.

"Oh no you don't," chastised Arthur, marching over to the bed and pointing a finger in Merlin's face (it would probably have a different effect if Merlin had his eyes open, but oh well). "You are going to explain this to me. Right now."

With a sigh, Merlin opened his eyes. He felt Morgana shift against him as well, and sent Arthur a glare for disturbing her, before turning to greet her as she woke. Her eyes were half-lidded, mostly closed, but she was looking at him and as he turned, she gave him a small smile. He returned it, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Morning," he said, and she made a 'hmph' sound, before burying her face into her pillow (Merlin) and trying to go back to sleep.

Arthur cleared his throat, and Morgana froze. Merlin sighed.

"Is... is that who I think it is?" Morgana mumbled into his collarbone.

"Yep," Merlin said, popping the 'p'. "Yep it is."

"Ugh," came her response. "Why now?"

"Don't ask me, I have the same question. I definitely did not want to be woken up like this."

"Do you think if we ignore him he'll go away?" Morgana asked, and Merlin grinned at the hopeful tone in her voice.

"Maybe," Merlin replied, just as hopeful.

Arthur made an indignant sound behind him, and Merlin huffed.

"I don't think that's gonna work, I'm afraid."

Morgana groaned, pressing into him for a second before retreating and leveling her brother with an unimpressed stare.

"What do you want?" she asked. If there was a picture dictionary, with pictures instead of definitions, her face would be used for 'grumpy'.

Arthur opened his mouth. "I'm sorry, I'd really appreciate an explanation as to why my half-sister who tries to kill me every other week is currently in bed with my manservant who is supposed to be miles away in Ealdor on holiday," he said, his voice dripping with faux-sweetness, turning accusatory at the end.

"Huh. Nah, sorry, that's not available at the moment, please try again later," Morgana replied, with a smile, before lying back down and closing her eyes. "Much later."

Arthur looked between her and Merlin, as if hoping an explanation might jump out at him if he looked hard enough. Merlin gave him an innocent look. Arthur glared at him.

"Fine. I will," with that, the king stalked out of the room, leaving the two idiots to sleep.

Merlin pressed his nose into Morgana's hair and relaxed his muscles.

"You wanna get up?" He asked.

"Mm-mm," replied Morgana, a negative.

"Good, me neither."

They dozed off like that, cuddled up on the bed.

---

Later, when the sun was high enough in the sky that it wasn't streaming directly through the window, Merlin woke up again. This time, Morgana was already awake. She was reading one of the books on his nightstand, it was the one about a detective on a case of theft, and the criminal that pulled off the heist with switching POVs. They end up meeting and developing a romance before they realise who the other is. It was pretty good.

"Morning," she greeted, when she saw that he was awake.

"Mm," he replied. "Morning. How long have you been up?"

"A few minutes, you're a pretty light sleeper."

"So I've heard. Breakfast?" He proposed, sitting up and changing his shirt.

"I don't know, I'm not feeling so good," Morgana told him, placing a piece of cloth shed found into the book and closing it.

"That's nerves, you'll feel steadier once you've eaten something," Merlin explained, pulling on his boots and grabbing his jacket. Morgana watched him from where she sat, still under the covers.

"But I'm comfy heree," she protested, patting the place next to her. "You've taken all the warmth. Very rude of you."

"Oh how could I? Guess you'll just have to come with me to get more warmth from the other room," Merlin suggested, pouting his lips in fake sympathy.

Morgana groaned. "But I don't want to. Can't we just stay in here?" she looked up at him through her eyelashes.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Come on, we have to talk to Arthur at some point, and I'd rather not do that in here, to be completely honest."

"Fineee," Morgana agreed, getting up from under the covers. "But you owe me."

"Of course, love."

They walked out into the main chamber of Gaius's quarters. The physician was sitting at his workbench, mixing some potions that were giving off discoloured fumes.

When they entered, he glanced up briefly before gesturing behind him to the table.

"There's some food for you if you want it."

Merlin looked, and saw some fruit and bread on the table.

"Thanks Gaius," Merlin grinned, sitting down at the table and grabbing an apple. Morgana followed his example, sitting next to him and picking cautiously at a piece of bread which she ended up eating all of and then some.

Gaius came over to the table and Morgana scooted fractionally closer to Merlin. He traced the backs of his fingers against her shoulder, letting her know he was there.

"So, how did you sleep?" Gaius asked, raising his eyebrow. Merlin was pretty sure it was an unconscious thing at this point.

Merlin nodded, finishing chewing on his apple before he replied. "Not bad actually, I seem to be sleeping better recently. What about you?" He turned to Morgana.

She nodded as well. "Yeah, alright, although I have to admit, Arthur's voice right next to me was not exactly the nicest way to wake up."

Merlin grimaced, and Gaius laughed.

"I'm sorry about that, there wasn't much I can do. You know Arthur, once he's got his sights on something, there's no stopping him."

Merlin hummed in agreement, and Morgana nodded again, hiding her reminiscent smile.

"How did you sleep, Gaius?" asked Merlin, taking the attention away from Morgana, because he could tell she was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Oh the usual," Gaius told him, before getting up and turning back to his work. "You had better go and talk to Arthur, I'm sure he's dying for an explanation."

Merlin huffed. "I'm sure he is," he agreed, but he turned to Morgana. "We don't have to go until you're ready," he assured her.

She shook her head. "No, we do. If we wait for me to be ready, we'll never do it. Better to just rip the bandage off."

Gaius looked up, alarmed. "You must never rip a bandage off!" he argued, sounding concerned. "You risk tearing the skin and making the wound much worse, undoing all the healing it's been doing!"

Merlin giggled. "It's a saying, Gaius, don't worry. No bandages are being ripped off."

Morgana bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, but her grin was large and Merlin was glad of it as they stood up and made their way to the door. They needed all the courage they could get.

They walked together down the corridors, back the way they'd come last night, this time at a much less hurried pace. They clutched each others' hands tightly, maybe if they squeezed hard enough, they would suddenly be imbued with a sense of confidence.

As they turned a corner, however, Merlin bumped into someone, more specifically, someone carrying a basket of laundry, more specifically, Gwen, carrying a basket of laundry that tipped and fell onto the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" said both of them at the same time, bending down to pick up the basket.

"Merlin!"

"Gwen!"

Said both of them at the same time, Merlin handing Gwen the fallen linens and Gwen putting them in the basket.

"Merlin! You're ba-" Gwen's joyful greeting died on her tongue as she saw who Merlin was with. She stared, her eyes going wide and her features slack. Merlin looked behind him to see that Morgana was in a similar state. He turned back to Gwen and squeezed Morgana's hand, trying to bring them back to the land of the living, but they were lost in each other's eyes.

"Morgana," whispered Gwen, making a half-gesture with her hand as though she wanted to reach out but thought better of it. That snapped Morgana back into reality, and she immediately looked down. She seemed to melt away, whisking Merlin along with her.

Merlin was fast, but Morgana seemed to have transcended the human concept of 'speed' as they raced away, for once Morgana being the one to tug Merlin along.

They reached an empty corridor a few minutes later, panting and gasping for breath.

"What... was that?" Merlin asked, between pants, although he barely had to, he hadn't exactly expected anything else for their reunion.

Morgana sent him a withering look. "Nothing," she said, firmly, before looking around. "Come on, Arthur's chambers are this way," she tugged on his hand and he followed, having regained his breath.

"Here, it's quicker if we cut through here," he pointed to a small door that would be easily overlooked had someone not been looking for it intentionally.

They made their way to the royal chambers in much less time than normal, which turned out to be a bad thing when they got there, both of them wishing they hadn't eaten anything before coming.

The two of them stood outside the doors for a good ten minutes, debating on whether to go in or just come back another day, before Merlin decided to take pity on both of them and just opened the door and strode in, Morgana in tow.

Arthur was sitting at his desk, and when he looked up, his attention was immediately on them, wholeheartedly.

"Merlin, Morgana," he greeted, his tone unreadable.

Or at least, unreadable to most.

Merlin could read it.

It was the tone Arthur used when he was unsure about the person he was talking to. He had seen him use it many a time in the council chambers, when he wanted someone to be on his side but wasn't sure if they were going to be.

Morgana figured it out anyway because she's clever.

Merlin rolled his eyes, refusing to be put off by the uncomfortable atmosphere. He strode over to the table (still holding Morgana's hand), and plopped himself on top of it, picking up an apple, and crunching down on it loudly.

"I'm guessing you've got some questions," he started, as an invitation for Arthur to begin.

Morgana was tense next to him, although she was doing a good job of keeping calm, and he squeezed her hand, drawing her ever so slightly nearer, in order to reassure them both.

Arthur cleared his throat, observing the two of them carefully. "Yes, you could say that."

"Well by all means, go ahead, I'll answer anything you ask," Merlin encouraged.

"Will you answer honestly?"

Merlin hesitated. On the off-chance that Arthur mentioned something involving his magic, he wanted an out. "99% will be honest, the rest is for personal reasons. But I'll tell you if I can't answer something."

Arthur pursed his lips looked down at his desk, but then he looked up again and nodded. "Alright then. First off, what are you doing here? Both of you."

Merlin and Morgana looked at each other.

"Um,-"

"Well you see,-"

"We heard that you were dying and Merlin persuaded me to come back and save you," Morgana said, omitting the part where Merlin had intended to save him himself.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "How come you were together at the time?"

They looked at each other again.

"I might maybe possibly have lied about going to my mothers'. Just a little bit. I kind of went to see Morgana instead."

Arthur's jaw clenched. "And how long have you been visiting Morgana?" he asked. Merlin's stomach dropped.

"No! That was the first time! I mean I'd been there before but that was when she captured me - a different story for a different time - so I knew where to go, but that was the first time, and I didn't go out of some kind of betrayal towards you! The opposite, in fact. I wanted to bring Morgana back to us. You should know I could never betray you," Merlin's voice had turned soft at the end, and when he caught Arthur's gaze, they didn't look away for a long time. They had a silent conversation with their eyes, Arthur looking for reassurance that they were okay, and Merlin promising him that he would always be his number one. Eventually, Morgana snapped her fingers and they turned to her.

"Hello, excuse me, yeah, can we not do this in public? It feels indecent."

Merlin whacked her upside the head. "Oh as if you're any better."

"Uh, I do not lose track of time staring into someone's eyes until I have to be snapped out of it by the centre of the discussion!" Morgana argued, glaring at him.

"Oh really? Then it was just a really friendly silent conversation I heard between you and Gwen just before we arrived then was it?"

Morgana blinked, then she glared at him and whacked him round the head. Copycat. "Shut up," she grumbled.

"Still here, you know," Arthur called, and Merlin and Morgana both turned to him with identical glares. He gulped. "Point taken."

"Where were we?" asked Merlin, bringing the discussion back to where it was supposed to be.

"I was asking you questions and you were answering me ninety-nine percent honestly," Arthur reminded him. "Now, Merlin, if you weren't going to Morgana to consort behind my back, why were you going there?"

Merlin pressed his lips together, trying to find a way to explain that without giving away his magic.

"Basically, I'm the reason Morgana left in the first place and I really missed her and then something happened that made me realise I could fix it just by talking to her and so, well, I did," he said, speaking so fast that some of the words blurred together.

Morgana turned to him then, looking shocked. "What do you mean 'you're the reason I left'? I left because of Uther!"

Merlin gave her a pointed look, and realisation seemed to dawn on her. Then, taking him by surprise, she thwacked his arm with her free hand, and then pointed it at his face.

"Listen to me, that was not your fault. You couldn't have done anything. I was being used by Morgause, nothing you could have said or done would have made me stay, in fact that probably would have made it worse! Morgause would have found some way of twisting it against you, and then what hope would we have? Listen, Merlin, stop blaming yourself for everything, some things are just out of your control. I know destiny can sometimes feel overwhelming but there are some things that won't change, no matter what you do. I have you to thank for where I am right now, and I will always be grateful to you for that."

Merlin blinked at her, partially out of shock and then partially in order to blink back the tears that threatened to surface. Morgana pulled him against her, squeezing his side fiercely. Not quite in a hug, just lots of physical contact to reassure him of her sincerity. He closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath through his nose before letting it out and looking at Arthur once more.

The king was sitting there, watching the two of them interact with narrowed eyes, trying to decipher the meaning of their sudden outburst, but when Merlin looked at him, he just smiled ruefully and asked his next question.

"And, Morgana, why did you save me? I thought Gaius saved me. I thought you wanted to kill me?"

Morgana met her brother's gaze sadly.

"Arthur," she began, before she broke off and looked down to the right, unable to look him in the eye. "I'm... sorry. About everything. I'm sorry for betraying you, I'm sorry for wishing you dead - and nearly succeeding many times" - here, Arthur scoffed, it had only been a couple times right? right? Merlin? right? - "I'm sorry... no. I'm not sorry for killing Uther, he was an asshole, and a shitty dad, but I am sorry that I took the father figure you had away from you. Even though he was a shit one and you've still got Gaius," she added in a whisper to Merlin at the end.

If Arthur had had a drink, he would have spit it out. "But- you didn't kill my father, Odin did. And then there was that old sorcerer..."

Morgana nodded sadly. "I had Agravaine place an enchanted amulet around Uther's neck, so that any healing spell would be reversed and multiplied tenfold. The old sorcerer tried to heal him, and the amulet turned it against him. Didn't you ever find it? I figured you had."

Here, Merlin shook his head. "Gaius found it, but he said it wouldn't make a difference. Uther had still been killed by magic, after all."

Morgana wheeled around. "Not make a difference? Of course it would! That old sorcerer's being hunted and Arthur thinks all magic is bad, instead of just some! In what world would that not make a difference?"

Merlin shrugged. "I don't know. I was too numb to think about it at the time, I suppose, and then we had other things to worry about."

Arthur was following their conversation like a tennis match.

"Okay so let me get this straight," he began.

Merlin sniggered. "Might be a bit difficult considering who's in the room but sure."

Morgana whacked him again.

Arthur just rolled his eyes and continued. "You killed my father," he pointed to Morgana. "And you and Gaius knew about it," he pointed to Merlin. "And Agravaine is a traitor."

Merlin and Morgana shared a look.

"Yep," said Merlin,

"That about sums it up," agreed Morgana.

Arthur rested his forehead against his hands, his elbows leaning on the desk, his thumbs pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a migraine.

Merlin found it adorable.

Eventually, he looked back up. "Okay, I think that's enough for now, if I think of anything else, I'll send someone."

Merlin and Morgana shared a look, talking without saying anything (Merlin seems to be good at that), and Morgana went to stand outside the door, their hands finally detaching. Merlin found himself missing her warmth immediately, but when he walked over to Arthur, all the other thoughts faded away.

He perched himself on the desk, facing Arthur, and tugged his hands away from his forehead, pulling Arthur's head in closer and beginning to massage the temples. Arthur closed his eyes and let out a sigh, full of everything Merlin wanted to say. Merlin worked out the tense spots, smoothing them out and pressing his lips to Arthur's forehead, trying to siphon off all of his pain. His magic seemed to have the same idea, because Arthur soon looked a lot better, looking up at Merlin in wonder.

"How do you do that?" he whispered, as if a louder sound would break the precious moment they were in.

Merlin shrugged. "Just happens." He worked his hands down, over Arthur's neck to his shoulders, working them loose. They were even more tense than usual, apparently no one had thought to give Arthur a massage since Merlin had left. Merlin hopped down from his seat to go around behind him, getting a better angle to sort out his shoulders and back. Arthur was putty in his hands as he worked, and he hummed softly, under his breath. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed this, just being in Arthur's presence. This morning didn't count, because his focus had been on Morgana, but now, Merlin could give him his full attention. Speaking of Morgana, Merlin reached out with his magic to see if she was alright, and sensed a second presence which he recognised as Gwen. He worried for a second, but he wasn't picking up any very negative feelings, just conflicted ones. Then he sensed them moving, and his magic followed them all the way to Morgana's chambers, before deciding that they were safe in each others' hands.

He brought himself back to Arthur, who had practically melted, leaning forward towards the desk. Merlin cracked a few spots on his spine, and felt his king loosen up each time. Afterwards, he came back round to face Arthur again, popping up onto the desk directly in front of him. Arthur looked up at him, such a soft look in his eyes that it took Merlin's breath away. It was rare that Arthur let himself be this vulnerable with anyone, so Merlin didn't want to ruin it. He reached out and took Arthur's head in his hands, sliding his fingers into his hair. Arthur gave him a small smile that Merlin was helpless to return. If anyone saw them right now, they would probably throw up from the sappiness of it all, but Merlin couldn't bring himself to complain. His feet were either side of Arthur's legs on his chair, and he felt himself leaning in before he could stop himself, his mind coming to a halt, all the reasons this was a bad idea flying out of his head as he looked into Arthur's eyes and saw his feelings reflected there.

His eyes flicked down to Arthur's lips and back up again, only to see Arthur's do the same. Merlin's breath hitched, and he leaned closer, feeling Arthur do the same. His eyes fell shut, his heart pounding in his chest. When-

Knock knock knock

Merlin sprang back, eyes wide, senses coming flooding in.

"Come in!" he heard someone call out. It might have been him.

He hopped down from the desk and placed himself just behind Arthur in time to see Agravaine open the door and walk in. Merlin's lip curled. Even the man's walk was aggravating.

He looked confused. Merlin was glad. He deserved to be confused. He deserved to have no idea what was going on ever, and face all the consequences for it.

"Sire," he greeted, still looking strangely wrong-footed. "Err, Mor- Morgana said you would like to see me?"

Merlin could sense the anxiety rolling off him in waves and smirked. Good.

Arthur's face grew into a wide smile (entirely fake, plastered on, Merlin could tell.), "Ah yes, Uncle. It's true, I would like to speak to you regarding an important matter."

Agravaine's eyes flicked to Merlin, and Merlin felt such a strong wave of hatred he worried he was going to topple over from the force of it. How dare he assume Arthur would want Merlin to leave for important matters when he had always always been by Arthur's side, and this fucker had just sauntered in a year ago and taken a spot as advisor despite having no qualifications other than 'family' and 'noble born'.

Fortunately, Arthur seemed to have the same thought, because he invited Agravaine to step closer, making no move to send Merlin away.

"A little birdie has told me something quite worrying about you, actually, Uncle," Arthur said, drawing out the suspense and watching the sweat drip down Agravaine's face.

"Oh?"

"Yes, something about you playing a part in the death of my father, actually," Arthur commented, as though he was talking about something as trivial as the weather. Only Merlin could see how intent he was on all of his Uncle's reactions.

What remaining colour there was in Agravaine's face left him, turning white as a sheet, then slightly ashen.

Merlin smiled blandly at him.

"My- my lord, I don't know what to say. You know I would never hurt you or your father. His death was devastating to us all," he tried.

Arthur was having none of it. He stood up from his chair and walked over to the door. Merlin couldn't hear what he said, but a minute later he came back in, two guards by his sides.

"Arrest this man. Take him to the cells to await trial for murder," he said, waving his hand at Agravaine. The guards did as he said and led him away. Agravaine tried protesting, saying how Arthur couldn't seriously think he had anything to do with Uther's death, but Arthur didn't even look at him as he was led away, only turning to shut the door behind him.

"Well that was unpleasant," he said, leaning back against the door. Merlin walked over to him and squeezed his shoulders.

"You did the right thing, Arthur, he has to be brought to justice."

Arthur looked at him, taking him in, examining his face as if he had it memorised and was reassuring himself that it really was his Merlin.

"I hate politics," he said eventually, leaning forward into Merlin's grip. Merlin wrapped his arms around him and started swaying gently.

Chapter Text

Morgana looked around. She felt weird not to have Merlin right next to her, even though he was just in the other room, and they hadn't been apart even a minute yet. But then a familiar flowery scent caught her nose and she glanced up in time to see Gwen coming round the corner, a different basket of laundry in her hands. Her breath caught in her throat. Gwen hadn't noticed her yet. She was so beautiful, her pink dress accentuating her figure perfectly, her hair tied back in a braid that was coming loose, some strands wafting around her face that Gwen lifted her hand to tuck behind her ear. Morgana was captivated by the sight of her.

Gwen looked up at that moment, however, and froze when she saw Morgana standing there. Morgana struggled to catch her breath in order to say something, but before she could, Gwen looked away and her face hardened, starting to head away. Morgana couldn't stand it. She reached out and caught Gwen's wrist. Gwen looked up, startled, and met Morgana's intense gaze head-on.

"Wait," Morgana managed.

"Why should I?" Gwen asked her, barely whispering. "What for?"

Morgana didn't know what to tell her. ME! Stay for me! Please! she wanted to scream. But what right did she have to ask that when she hadn't stayed for Gwen?

But Gwen seemed to read it in her eyes, and she softened slightly, turning towards her.

"I..." Morgana began. "I think-" she broke off, biting her lip, but she forced herself to continue, calling all her courage. "I want to apologise to you."

"Should we go somewhere else?" Gwen suggested gently, looking around them pointedly. Morgana hesitated, glancing back at Arthur's door and thinking about Merlin, but then remembering that they hadn't seen each other in over two weeks and it was unrealistic to expect them to leave each other any time soon. She nodded, and let Gwen lead the way to... her old chambers?

She stood in the doorway for a moment as the memories washed over her.

Gwen had no such reservations, and walked right up to the table, placing her basket down and moving around to inspect the room, dusting some surfaces here and there. Morgana watched her movements, taking in the way she swayed from spot to spot with ease, no less comfortable than she had been all those years ago.

After a while, Morgana followed her in, and sat on the bed, less than a yard's distance between them. Gwen looked round as she came in, and her gaze was soft but guarded as she put down her duster and came to sit next to her.

Morgana sighed, and looked down to where her fingers lay in her lap, the pale white against the black of her dress striking.

A warm hand reached out and took hers gently, and Morgana followed it up the arm to see Gwen looking at her compassionately.

"Morgana," she said, and the sound of her name on Gwen's lips had Morgana's heart beating wildly. Somehow, she had managed to contain everything Morgana needed to hear into that one word, and she couldn't help it.

Her eyes burned and she forced herself to look away from her friend(? was that what they were?)'s eyes, this time glancing to the window.

"I," she tried again, her voice scratchy as though it hadn't been used. "I'm so sorry, Gwen." She looked back to meet warm brown eyes, full of an emotion she couldn't name. "You can't understand how sorry I am. For what I did to you. I-" she broke off, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth. Gwen tilted her head, lifting her hand to caress her jaw. She held her chin gently and Morgana found she couldn't concentrate on anything else, not even daring to breathe.

Gwen just gave her a small smile, rueful, but somehow comforting at the same time. "It's okay," she soothed, stroking her thumb along her jaw.

Morgana's eyes widened, and she moved backwards slightly, pulling free of Gwen's grip. "No it's not! Of course it's not! People died, Gwen- so many people died. Because of me. I can't ever escape that."

Gwen moved back in, closing the distance Morgana had created and bringing her hand up again to cup her cheek. "Alright, maybe it's not okay. Maybe it won't ever be okay. Maybe I haven't even fully forgiven you yet, but I do want to forgive you, and maybe that's all that matters. Things will work out, they always do."

Morgana stared at her, eyes open and vulnerable. Words couldn't express how grateful she was for Gwen at that moment.

"How can you say that? When so much has gone wrong?"

Gwen smiled. "You're here now, aren't you?"

Morgana nodded.

"And I'm here now, am I not?"

Morgana nodded again.

"Then we can work it out. I have faith in you," Gwen said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

And really, Morgana couldn't be blamed for what happened next. Gwen was just looking at her so earnestly with that big brown gaze, and suddenly she felt herself leaning in, and then Gwen was leaning in to meet her, and the kiss was so sweet and everything Morgana was not, and when they broke away, Morgana kept her eyes shut, leaning her forehead against Gwen's and breathing slowly, a sense of contentment settling over her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Gwen looking at her with an undeniably fond expression, and she broke away to properly take in the sight before her. How could she have been so lucky? Someone out there must really love her, if she was really sitting here, on her old bed, having just kissed Guinevere. Her Guinevere. Her Gwen. Her smile grew, her eyes crinkling up, and Gwen reached up to brush away a tear that Morgana hadn't even noticed was there.

Morgana kissed her again, and Gwen moved her hands into her hair, and she was happy.

---

Merlin had a problem. Surprise surprise. And you'll never get this, it was Arthur. (omg shock horror no way ik). You see, Merlin really really wanted to kiss him. 'Why is that a problem?' you may ask. Well, you see, there was the inconvenient little tidbit of information that was Merlin having magic and living illegally as a sorcerer his entire life in a kingdom which would have him burned at the stake before the thought had even fully crossed its mind.

These were the thoughts currently racing around his head as he polished Arthur's armour in a chair by the fire, mid-afternoon light already bad enough to have a few candles lit. Arthur was writing at his desk, his quill scratching the only noise apart from the flickering of the fire. Merlin had missed this. But he was growing frustrated with his own thoughts as he scrubbed the hauberk, and his strokes were becoming increasingly agitated.

"What is with you, Merlin? I think the hauberk's shiny enough, why are you glaring at it like that?" Arthur spoke up from his seat, pausing in his writing to look at Merlin exasperatedly.

Merlin sighed. Arthur was right. (don't tell him). He wasn't getting anywhere, the thoughts were running in circles around his head until they stopped making sense.

He put down the hauberk and got to his feet, walking over to the table and perching himself on top of it, looking around him anxiously and fiddling with the end of his tunic, unable to meet Arthur's eyes.

"I... have something I need to tell you," he began, finally looking at Arthur, trying to convey his seriousness in his look.

Arthur huffed. "Please don't tell me you're sleeping with my sister."

Merlin reeled back. "What? No! Of course not! Why would yo- oh. Still! No, oh my god! This is completely different."

Arthur eyed him suspiciously, but seemed to believe him, because he waited for Merlin to elaborate.

Merlin took a deep breath, he had thought he was ready. He was so not. Oh well, time to rip the bandage off(not literally, Gaius, you can put your eyebrow away!).

"I have magic," he said. "It's something I was born with. I- I'm a sorcerer, Arthur."

Arthur blinked. And blinked some more. "What? No, Merlin, what are you talking about? You're not a sorcerer. You're..." he trailed off, apparently not having the words to say what Merlin was, instead resorting to gesturing his hand up and down at him. Merlin raised his eyebrow at that, and Arthur stopped.

Merlin looked down, drawing another breath, his words growing stronger now that he'd started. "It's true, Arthur," he looked up, to see the king looking lost, as though Merlin had told him the sky was red, or grass was blue. It broke his heart, but he knew he had to continue. "My mother was terrified when I was born, she barely let me out of the house for the first few years because I had such bad control over it, and if anyone had found out, I'd be sent to join Cenred's army." Here, Merlin shivered involuntarily.

Arthur seemed to be at a loss for words, just staring at Merlin silently, his expression going from shock to incredulity to betrayal. He closed his eyes, shutting everything out, and he opened them again, looking at the floor. "I don't understand," he said weakly, his voice so quiet Merlin almost couldn't hear it. He looked up to meet Merlin's eyes, and Merlin's heart broke even further at his expression.

"I use it for you, Arthur. Only for you. You're its purpose, its destiny, if you will. The Once and Future King and Emrys by his side, so the prophecies say." Merlin let out a humourless laugh. "But then again, that's according to a thousand-year-old dragon, and they give really bad advice. To hell with it all, it doesn't matter anyway. Arthur, the point is, I can't lie to you anymore. I can't hide this from you, it's killing me. You deserve to know."

Arthur swallowed, his jaw tight. He was frowning at the space just below where Merlin's legs dangled off the table, but when he looked up, his eyes weren't angry, just hurt. It was worse.

"Why didn't you tell me before? Why now?" he demanded, sounding more lost than mad.

Merlin pulled his lip between his teeth and looked away. "At first, I mean, I was scared. I thought you might try to kill me, or banish me, which would be even worse." At Arthur's indignant look, he held up a finger. "But, as time went on, I knew - or believed, anyway, that you wouldn't. By that point, though, I was used to pretending, and honestly, I didn't want you to have to make that decision."

Arthur sat back at that, looking bewildered, but something seemed to be dawning on him as he took Merlin in. Merlin met his gaze steadily, even though he felt like disappearing into a hole and never coming back.

"That's what worried you?"

Merlin nodded.

Arthur sighed, shaking his head. "You know, it all makes sense now. All those lucky escapes, the way you were always somehow conveniently there."

Merlin shrugged, his lips lifting in a half-smile. "I guess so?"

Arthur's hand came up to hit his forehead. "I'm so stupid! You were so obvious! You literally admitted it to the council a couple weeks after you arrived! Oh my god!"

Merlin grimaced, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, that was a bit dumb, but in my defense it was for Gwen."

Arthur nodded, understanding. The whole of Camelot would go to war for Gwen.

"So," he began, and Merlin tensed, waiting for a condemnation. "All those times Gaius said you were in the tavern...?"

"I barely even know where the tavern is," Merlin admitted, grimacing again. "Gaius is just a really bad liar."

---

Later, after Merlin had put Arthur to bed and finished up some chores, he found himself in the laundry room, getting Arthur's tunics for the morning. Gwen was there, sorting through some sheets, and when she saw Merlin, she beamed.

"Merlin! You're here!" Merlin dropped the tunic in his hands and scooped her up in a hug, spinning her around and squeezing her tightly.

"Gwen! Oh I've missed you so much, you have no idea!"

She laughed, and when he put her down, she grabbed his shoulders. "Actually, you have no idea. It's been hell without you here! Honestly, Arthur's been a right state, and everyone's been slacking off, no one's on top of anything, I've basically had to run the staff while you've been gone, and neither of us is Head of Household! There was the disaster with Mercia, and Arthur shouted at five nobles. Five! He even lost his temper with Agravaine in a meeting, telling him to mind his own business in front of the whole council! It's been awful!"

Merlin was astonished, surely Arthur knew how to keep his temper better than that, he knew the nobles could be annoying, but he'd always managed to keep relatively calm with them, explaining where they went wrong with gritted teeth, but never showing more frustration than that.

"No way! You know Agravaine's been imprisoned?"

"No? What? What for?"

"Arthur found out he'd been working with Morgana to kill him, and sent him to the dungeons! He's awaiting trial now!"

Gwen gasped. "I knew I didn't like him! And oh my gosh, you'll never guess what happened with Morgana today."

Merlin grinned. "Did you finally kiss?"

Gwen jumped, letting out a squeak. "How did you know?"

Merlin's mouth fell open. "No way, you actually did?" He punched the air gleefully. "YES! I can't wait to tell Gwaine. He owes me! How did it go?" he asked, waiting eagerly for the answer.

"Oh it was so good! She was apologising and we were talking and then it just... happened. But it was amazing, it felt as if everything was finally falling into place, if you know what I mean?"

Merlin nodded frantically. "That's amazing, Gwen, truly. I'm so happy for you, you deserve it." And he meant it, he hadn't seen Gwen this upbeat in a while, she was practically glowing. It healed his heart to think of two of his best friends finding their happiness in each other.

Gwen beamed at him, her eyes shining. "And when are you going to do that with Arthur, hm?" she tapped his arm meaningfully, raising an eyebrow.

Merlin scoffed, and brushed her off. "Not going to ha-ppen," he said, drawing out the last word sing-song-y. His eyes widened. "Gwen! I have to tell you something." He took a deep breath. "I'm magic. Like, magic magic. I was born with it like Morgana, but I'm not a Seer or anything, I'm- well, I don't really know what I am exactly, to be honest, but um, yeah. I just, I have magic, and I use it, but only for good things!" he winced, remembering the last month, when he had made Gwaine drop his sword in training because he'd said something about him and Arthur. "Well, mostly just for good things."

Gwen looked at him for a long moment, but she smiled slowly, and drew him into a hug. Merlin melted in her arms, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame and burying his face in her hair. She smelled like flowers and soap.

"Oh Merlin," she said, her voice soft. "Thank you for telling me. You must have been so scared."

Merlin let out a half-laugh that sounded slightly strangled. "You have no idea. But anyway," he said, drawing away and wiping at his eyes. "The point is, I told Arthur today, and I think, it's going to take time, but I think we're going to be okay."

Gwen looked at him, and seemed to radiate joy. Maybe it was him projecting(it was, but only a little bit), but she looked happy enough to burst. "I'm so happy for you, Merlin."

Merlin beamed at her.

---

That night, when he finally returned to Gaius's chambers, Merlin was surprised to see that Gaius was alone in the room. He felt slightly off-kilter, as if he was missing a limb. He hadn't seen Morgana in hours, and it was strange that she wasn't here. Gaius looked up when he came in, but Merlin just flashed him a smile before turning and leaving again, speeding through the hallways to Morgana's chambers. He hadn't been here in a long time, but he no longer had any reason to be afraid of them. He knocked on the door, and, upon hearing Morgana's soft 'come in', he opened the door and stepped in. Morgana was sitting up on the bed, a book on her lap. When she saw who it was, she jumped up and ran at him, tackling him in a hug that sent them both to the ground. Merlin responded equally, and they rolled over a couple times before they ended up lying down, Morgana on top of him, just drinking in each other's presence.

They didn't say anything for a while, just held their arms around each other, Morgana's face buried in his neck and Merlin's in her hair. Eventually, however, they separated far enough to look at each other, and they burst out laughing, clutching their sides in fits.

"Should we maybe move from the floor?" one of them suggested, and they got up and fell into the bed, not letting go of each other.

They cuddled up easily, settling into their places like it was second nature to them. At this point it pretty much was. Morgana rested her head on his chest and let out a small sigh, letting her body relax. Merlin wrapped his arms around her and did the same.

They didn't speak for a while, but then Morgana spoke into his chest, her words muffled. "I kissed Gwen."

Merlin ruffled her hair. "I know, she told me."

"That was rude of her, I wanted to tell you first."

Merlin grinned, gently running his fingers over her scalp. "Oh well, you can tell me first when you do it."

Morgana thwacked his chest, and he laughed.

"I told Arthur about my magic."

She froze, and didn't look up as she asked, "And?"

"It went... better than I expected, actually. He was angry, or - no. He wanted to be angry, but he wasn't. He was hurt, but I think he was okay. I think it might work out okay."

Morgana didn't reply for a long time, and Merlin almost thought she had fallen asleep.

"Good," she said, pressing her face into his tunic. Merlin carded his hands through her hair and hummed softly.

They fell asleep soon afterwards, and didn't wake up until the sun was streaming in and they could hear Arthur's voice in the distance yelling, "MERLIN!"

Chapter Text

"MERLIN!"

Merlin groaned, blinking his eyes open blearily. He felt Morgana shift against him and reached a hand out to stroke her head.

"Mmph," she said. "What the hell is he yelling about?"

"I think he needs me, like, now," Merlin rolled his eyes. He had got into the habit of sleeping in in the mornings, having no reason to wake up early when they were living at the hut.

"MERLIN!" Arthur's voice might have been getting closer, he couldn't tell.

"Well, he'll just have to wait," Morgana decided, snaking her arms around his waist and tugging him in, closing her eyes again and going back to sleep.

Merlin agreed with her. Whatever it was couldn't be that urgent, said a silly voice which the voice at the back of his head disagreed with. He liked the first one more, and followed Morgana's example, closing his eyes with a sigh.

"MERLIN!" No such luck. Arthur's voice was definitely getting nearer, Merlin could hear his footsteps approaching. He shook his head, burying further under the covers as if that would save him.

"MERLIN!" Morgana's door swung open, and Merlin heard the footsteps stop.

"Merlin! There you are, of course you are, I should have known. What are you doing? It's nearly noon!"

Merlin grumbled something indelicate under his breath that had Morgana stifling a giggle, before poking his nose above the covers and blinking to adjust to the sudden light. Arthur was standing in the doorway, and he approached the bed as Merlin watched, standing next to it with his hands on his hips.

"Sleeping. Obviously. What else would I be doing? It's too early for this, Arthur," Merlin replied, before sinking back down into the bed.

"Too early?! It's almost noon! Get your lazy backside up, I need your help at training," Arthur demanded from above him somewhere.

"I'm sure the knights can last one more day without being graced with my presence," Merlin argued without moving. Morgana groaned.

"Why are you being so loud, Arthur, do you have no respect?" she asked, and Arthur spluttered.

"I'm being so loud because my manservant is still lazing about in bed when there's work to do."

"Well can you do that somewhere else?"

"No! I cannot do that somewhere else! I need Merlin. Now."

Merlin grumbled. He turned to face Arthur, lifting himself up onto his elbow, to the protests of Morgana. The king was standing in his white night-shirt and bare feet, clearly not having got changed. He must have been working in his chambers then, and probably hadn't even told the knights they were training today.

"You know, Arthur, I'm right here, you don't need to ask. You look cold, maybe you should come in too," Merlin suggested, and with that, he reached out a hand and pulled a protesting Arthur down by his tunic, manhandling him into the bed and placing the covers around him. Then he reached behind him and grabbed Morgana's hand, she was leaning against him still. He placed his other hand across Arthur's stomach, not allowing him to escape, and rested his head on the king's chest.

"Excuse me! Merlin! What the hell do you think-"

"Shh shh shhh," Merlin shushed, patting his chest. "Juuuust sleep."

Arthur didn't have any more protests, and Merlin was just dozing off when the door opened again to reveal Gwen, carrying one of Morgana's old dresses. Her eyes widened when she saw the bed, but Merlin smiled warmly at her, as did Morgana.

"Gwen!" He greeted. "Come join us!" he gestured to the space beside Morgana.

Gwen gaped, not knowing what to say, and Merlin huffed. "Come onnn, you're letting the cold air in."

She closed the door behind her and made her way slowly over to them, coming to a stop by Morgana's side.

Morgana moved, turning away from Merlin to send a lovesick smile to Gwen, reaching out with grabby hands towards her.

Gwen was powerless to resist it, and she climbed in, much more delicately than Arthur had. Morgana wrapped her up in her arms immediately and hummed happily.

"Mmm, you're warm. I love you."

Gwen blushed, and Merlin could see the effect those words had on her, but she simply cuddled Morgana back and whispered 'love you too' into Morgana's hair.

Merlin grinned and turned back to Arthur, who was watching with wide eyes. He thwacked his chest to stop him staring, and Arthur looked down at him, annoyed. Merlin met his gaze with an innocent smile, batting his eyelashes, and Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin could see a faint pink tinge climbing his neck, though, and he grinned before pressing back into his chest, going back to sleep.

---

"I wonder what actually happened while they were away."

Gwen hummed, careful to keep her volume low as she replied, "I'm not sure, but I'm grateful for it."

"Me too," Arthur smiled, looking between the melted mass on his chest that was Merlin and the barely-visible tuft of dark hair that was Morgana fondly.

"Something about those magic folk, huh," Gwen sighed, her eyes on Morgana's sleeping face, invisible to Arthur.

He nodded, lifting his fingers to run them through Merlin's hair softly.

---

Later that day, at 14:58 to be precise (but obviously they had no idea seeing as digital clocks hadn't been invented yet but anyway not the point), Merlin was in the armoury, polishing Arthur's sword (not excalibur, his other one, he never let excalibur out of his sight it's basically his comfort blanket at this point), when George walked in.

"Hello, Merlin," he greeted, stiffly.

Merlin looked up, surprised. George never usually said much, especially not to him - Merlin was pretty sure he'd never quite got over having a napkin thrown at his face - so he had to double check it actually was George before he replied.

By double checking it was George, I mean Merlin got up and did a full-body examination, even reaching out with his magic to test his DNA. Or whatever the medieval (is it medieval? idek like i thought medieval was like 1000-1600s or something but anyway im getting off topic) equivalent was. The paranoid fucker.

Once he was assured that it was genuinely George, Merlin stood back and allowed a small smile on his face.

"George, how are you?"

George gave him a strange look, but seemed to think better of asking, instead taking a seat next to where Merlin had just been, patting the space beside him. It was very un-George-like.

"I wanted to speak with you Merlin."

"Alright..?" Merlin said, hesitantly sitting down. "What about?"

"I feel I may have judged you too harshly, based on... outward appearances."

Merlin raised his eyebrow.

"What I mean to say is, I don't think I fully appreciated all the work you do around here before. That's going to change." With that, he stood up, gave a sort of half-bow, as if he thought better of it halfway there, and left the room. Merlin stared after him, bewildered.

---

"Yeah, and then get this, he goes and fucking... bows. Like I'm a fucking... lord or something. I don't even know, it was just weird."

They were at the tavern, because Merlin had missed Gwaine and Gwaine had missed Merlin, and when Merlin told him about his magic, his first thought was the same as Arthur's, but unlike Arthur, he decided he had to fix it. So here they were, many hours and bribes later (Gwaine was doing Merlin's laundry for a week), huddled around a table at the back (it was Merlin's choice, he hated being drunk. One of the reasons he was such a lightweight was because he refused to drink, terrified of numbing his senses and missing a trick), nursing tankards of mead. Merlin was telling Gwaine all about George's weird conversation, and Gwaine was listening intently, hanging onto every word Merlin said as if he was Jesus or some shit.

Heh, Jesus. Maybe he should tell Gwaine about the druids and the whole Emrys thing. That would make him laugh. Merlin opened his mouth to do just that, but stopped himself, eyes shifting to his surroundings. Not here. Something about the vibe of the place had Merlin on guard, tense from the moment he stepped through the door.

In his peripheral vision, Merlin caught sight of a man getting up from the table next to them. In a flash, he had his knife under the man's throat.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The man stumbled, his eyes widening and his hands coming up to the knife, stopping just before he touched it.

"Wh-what? Why? Who are you?"

"Never mind who I am. I've seen you before. Who do you work for?" Merlin pressed his dagger further into the man's neck, making sure he could still talk.

"N-No one. I'm a carpenter! Please!"

Merlin narrowed his eyes and curled his lip. "I don't believe you. You're one of the mercs that kidnapped me for Morgana once." He drew his lip back further, showing teeth, before he leaned in close to the man's ear to whisper quietly, almost inaudibly, "You're going to regret double-crossing her."

The guy's breath stopped, and Merlin grinned, eyes so intense he probably looked mad. He leaned back to see the man smiling softly.

"Oh really?" he answered, his voice just as quiet. "You know, I don't think I am. I think she's going to regret double-crossing me. And you are definitely going to regret messing with me, peasant boy." With that, he nodded to some place behind Merlin, and the next thing he knew, he was being thrown against the wall, jolting a table on his way so that some ale spilt.

"Sorry!" he called out to them, just before he hit the wall and was winded. He doubled over, coughing, but a hand wrenched his head back by his hair and a second one punched his stomach.

"Not so cocky now are you, pretty boy?" a new guy, not the one Merlin had threatened, was leering down on him. He was missing several teeth, and his nose was wonky, like it had been broken and never properly fixed. Merlin flashed him a brilliant smile, and his reward was a punch to the mouth. He doubled over again, this time spitting out blood as he rose back up. Suddenly, the man was flung backwards off of Merlin, and he looked up to see Gwaine glowering at the dude, approaching him with a look of thunder.

"You don't get to lay a finger on him. Do you understand?" Gwaine asked, picking the guy up by the collar and throwing him back again. Merlin let out a small laugh, he loved Gwaine, before he turned around to see three more guys staring at him, wild smirks on their faces, some of them with knives in their hands.

"Ugh," Merlin rolled his eyes. Thugs, they really thought they were worth shit, huh.

"You wanna get some?" he asked, holding out his arms to the side in an inviting gesture.

One of them, a massive, bald guy, ran at him (very ungracefully, Merlin had to say. These people had no style) and tackled him to the ground, dealing blows to Merlin's sides and face.

"That's it," Merlin encouraged. "Let it all out."

The guy let out a roar of frustration and punched Merlin squarely on the jaw. Merlin cackled, blood coating his teeth.

Apparently, that scared the man, because he was reeling back and pushing through the crowds to the door, wanting to get as far away from Merlin as he could. Merlin curled up into a ball on the floor, cackling madly.

"Anyone else?" he asked, spreading out on the floor as if he owned it. The next dude to come at him was a bit smaller than the last one, and had a terrible mop of dirty blond hair in a bowl cut, and looked as though he had never even heard of the word 'bath'. Merlin grabbed his head when he approached, pulling it down to his chest and rolling over, kneeing the guy in the stomach and getting up, kicking his face and spinning around to catch another man's cheekbone with his knuckles. He clutched his dagger in his fist, the blade between his little finger and palm, and gave a feral grin to the onlookers. Most scattered, scared off by his sudden change in demeanor, but a few stayed, probably out of a morbid curiosity as to what was going to happen next.

Well, he was going to have to disappoint them, he thought, as he marched over to where Gwaine was still pummeling the second guy on a table and pulled him off, taking hold of the back of his tunic and leading them away, ignoring anything Gwaine was saying.

As soon as they were outside the building, Merlin paused to breathe in the crisp, cold night air. Gwaine stopped beside him, and Merlin let go of his tunic, meeting his eyes and giving him a once-over, taking in his bloody knuckles and what looked like the beginnings of a black eye, before bursting out laughing. Gwaine followed suit, bending to place his hands on his knees as he wheezed.

"That... was the most exciting thing to happen all week," he got out between breaths, clutching his ribs. Merlin couldn't do that, in fact he was pretty certain his ribs were broken, but oh well, prices to pay.

He threw his head back, ignoring the sting of his pain (which was everywhere) and let out a shout of laughter, he hadn't let loose like this in.... probably ever.

They stumbled their way back up through the lower town to the citadel, laughing and falling on each other the whole way up. When they reached Gwaine's chambers, they paused outside for a minute, before tumbling inside and collapsing on the bed, still in hysterics.

"Oh you should have seen their faces! Honestly, the way they ran away it was like I had three heads and was bearing down on them with a trident," Merlin giggled.

Gwaine snorted. "To be honest, you looked pretty fucked up, the blood in your mouth didn't help."

"Yeah well, he punched me, I didn't ask him to."

"You kinda did, mate."

Merlin whacked his arm. "Oi, you're supposed to be on my side."

Then they collapsed into laughter again. This was probably doing wonders for his immune system, Merlin thought distantly, remembering Gaius telling him that laughter was good for you. That thought sobered him slightly, he had barely seen Gaius since he'd got back, and he missed him.

Gwaine sensed the change in his mood and turned to face him, his eyes questioning. Merlin sighed, reaching for his hand. Gwaine gave it to him. Merlin smiled at him softly.

"You could stay, you know," the long-haired knight told him, his voice lowered to a murmur.

Merlin looked down. "I know. I would, you know I would, but I can't. Not now." His gaze was apologetic as he looked up again.

Gwaine's eyes were tinged with sadness, but he gave Merlin an understanding sort of smile and nodded. "I know," he said, in that self-deprecating tone that had Merlin's heart aching for him. He reached out and traced Gwaine's cheek with his fingers, eyes running over the lines of his face, committing them to memory.

He leaned forward, ever so slowly, and placed the softest of kisses to Gwaine's lips, eyes closing briefly before he pulled away and got up, turning back at the door to see the dark silhouette of his friend lying on his bed, right where he'd left him. He gazed at him fondly for a moment before he turned and disappeared, vanishing along the corridors to Morgana's chambers.

She'd been with Gwen all day, but Merlin knew she wasn't quite ready to spend the night with her, so he slipped in through the doors without making a sound, sneaking under the covers to find Morgana waiting for him, instinctively aware of his presence. She looked tired, but not as if she'd slept yet. Merlin snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her in, feeling her arms wrapping around him in return. She sighed happily, and some tension seemed to leave her body. Merlin placed a light kiss to her forehead and settled down to sleep, ignoring the stabbing pain in his ribs.

---

In the morning, Merlin did actually get up in time to wake Arthur, thanks to a stifled yelp right by his ears.

He opened his eyes groggily, annoyed to be woken, only to see Morgana staring at him, a hand to her mouth and her eyes wide like saucers. He groaned, the night before coming back to him in a rush, and closed his eyes again, rolling over to press his face into the pillow. It hurt, so he stopped, but it was dark and Merlin had practically dropped off again when Morgana finally recovered her voice.

"What the hell happened to you?" she hissed, her hand coming up to hold his face. Her thumb traced his bruised cheekbone, pulling him back around to face her. He sighed, he knew there was no getting out of this. Regretfully, he opened his eyes and met Morgana's, his reassuring smile coming out as more of a grimace.

"Blame Gwaine."

"Gwaine? What do you mean? He loves you!"

"No no, he didn't do this. He took me to the fucking tavern."

"Oh. Oh."

"Mmm. Oh I need to tell you something actually, there were some of your mercenaries there - you can thank them for this, by the way," he said, gesturing to his face. "Anyway, they're double-crossing you. I overheard them talking, they want to come here and kill you. Or hurt you, I don't know. That was actually kinda what started the whole thing."

"What do you mean? Who? How did that star- Oh gods, Merlin. You idiot!" She whacked his chest, and he let out a pained moan, winded. "You deserve it," she sniffed, but she smoothed her fingers over the sore spot softly, and Merlin knew she didn't mean it.

"Well I wasn't exactly going to let them go ahead and plot your death, was I?"

"There are better ways of dealing with them!"

"Well yeah, but like, effort. This was way easier. I don't think they'll come anywhere near you now, and if they do, we'll be prepared," Merlin reasoned, tugging her closer protectively.

"You're still an idiot," she said, but her voice was fond. "You should have come back here, we could have sorted it out without anyone getting hurt!"

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Wow, who are you and what have you done with Morgana Pendragon?"

She whacked his chest again, this time not smoothing it over. He probably deserved it. But she gave him a small smile when he'd caught his breath again, and he returned it, glad of how far she'd come.

"I might have told you this already, but I really am proud of you, you know," he told her, stroking her hair with his right hand. She leaned into it subtly, and closed her eyes.

"So am I," she said, more for herself than for him, judging by how she whispered it.

He got up not long after, deciding not to leave Arthur another day with no one to wake him, and besides, he knew Gwen was going to come by soon, and he wanted to give Morgana all the time he could with her. He spent a good few minutes in front of Morgana's dresser mirror, pulling up glamours over his face and healing his bones to the best of his ability (not great, but definitely better than when he'd started), before he left.

He picked up Arthur's breakfast from the kitchens, following his routine from what felt like another life. It was crazy to think only a few weeks ago, he'd been doing this every day, and Morgana had wanted to kill them all. He really was amazed with how far she'd come, and the thought filled him up with enough joy that not even Arthur's normal morning grace (read: words ranging from disgruntled to angry and things being thrown at his head) could bring him down.

"Whyyy," Arthur groaned, and Merlin understood what he felt. Ever since he'd started sleeping in Morgana's bed, he'd realised why Arthur always hated getting up in the mornings. The beds were ridiculously comfortable, and if he could, Merlin would happily stay there forever.

"Hm let's see. Maybe because you've got a council session in two hours, a knighting ceremony after that - the one for Frederick, you remember, the guy Elyan recommended - and then there's training, obviously, and after that you're wanted to judge a tournament - only a small one I'm afraid - and then, of course, the start of Agravaine's trial," Merlin listed off, opening the curtains and going through the papers on Arthur's desk, looking them over as he spoke. After a minute, he went over to the bed, where Arthur was little more than a lump under the covers and a tuft of blond hair on the pillow. Merlin grinned evilly to himself and leant his head down silently until he was right by Arthur's ear, before calling out in a bright voice, "Good morning, sire!"

Arthur jumped and yelped, turning around to glare at him. Merlin just smiled at him cheekily and sped off, returning to the sheets of paper on the desk.

"Remind me why I put up with you?"

"Because I'm gorgeous, obviously. Anyway, as I was saying, Agravaine's trial starts this afternoon, and you might want to start memorising something for it. I've already written out some cross-examination questions, but you'll need to have a speech of your own at the end and I haven't got time today before it starts, thanks to all the afore-mentioned tasks. Hmm, I suppose I could start writing it during the knighting ceremony, I don't really need to be there for that, just to refill your glass or whatever, and I could take it to training... okay I can do that, but you'll still have to memorise it beforehand," Merlin chattered on, collecting Arthur's clothes that he'd brought up from the laundry-room the night before as he went, returning to the bed to drag Arthur upright as he continued talking, tapping his arms to get him to lift them, which Arthur did, and slipping his sleep-shirt over his head only to replace it with the blue one he'd brought over, doing the same with his legs, talking all the while about the day and what fit in where.

"And besides, you don't even like Lord Humphrey, so it's not like you're missing much if you don't go to the tournament - turn around would you? - but then again, he did specifically request your presence, so it'd be insulting if you didn't. Honestly, you're the king, you should be able to - no, lift them out to the side like this, great, thanks - you should be able to say you're busy. But I don't think you can get out of this one I'm afraid." Merlin reached out and ruffled Arthur's hair unconsciously, and Arthur bent his head forward to help him. When he was done, Arthur pulled back to look at Merlin in a way that took Merlin's breath away. It was somewhere between fond, lovesick and exasperated, and Merlin didn't know what to do with it. The words he was going to say somehow got lost on the way out, and he found himself staring into the depths of Arthur's eyes, unable to look away, barely even able to breathe.

He was an inch or two taller than Arthur, but the way they were standing made it possible for Arthur to lean down as he planted a kiss to Merlin's lips, grinning softly at the dumbfounded look Merlin was sure he could see on his face before he turned and left the room, leaving Merlin standing there, lifting his fingers to his lips in shock.

Arthur had- had he actually done that? He had hadn't he? He'd kissed him. And then he'd left.

"Oh you BASTARD!" he cursed, loudly. He heard a shout of laughter from down the corridor, and Merlin spun on his heel, running through the door after him.

Chapter Text

Normally, Merlin would say he was a relatively calm person. It wasn't necessarily true, but considering he was surrounded by Pendragons, it made sense that he would think that. However, right now, he felt as though he could quite happily rip somebody's head off, if they asked where Arthur was one more time.

Merlin hadn't managed to catch up to him after the kiss, or whatever it was, and Arthur had avoided eye contact with him all throughout the council session. He'd disappeared halfway through the knighting ceremony, after the knighting bit was over, before the drinks started flowing, and no one had seen him since. It was the start of Agravaine's trial, and almost everyone had arrived, filing in slowly one by one, except Arthur. Merlin was positioned in his usual spot, to the right and slightly behind where the king was supposed to be - except he wasn't, and Merlin didn't know where he was, and he was trying his hardest not to go sick with worry (only half successful, he was slightly green), and he wanted to be out there searching for him, not stuck in this stuffy room with loads of stuffy nobles - which meant that he had a perfect view of the room and everyone in it.

His eyes snapped to the door as he felt a familiar presence enter. Morgana, followed not long after by Gwen, swept in looking like she'd never left. She was wearing an old purple dress, decked with silver linings and flared sleeves. She looked beautiful, and much healthier than when Merlin had first gone to see her, colour in her cheeks (she had never had much, but recently she had been looking like a ghost), and her smile was bright when she turned to whisper something to Gwen. Her eyes scanned the room, apparently looking for something, and it didn't take her long to find, catching his gaze with an encouraging grin. She was a significant witness, and had agreed to testify in court, so she was led up to a spot on the right side of the room, Gwen behind her. They were talking between themselves, immersed in their conversation, when a hush descended over the room.

Merlin looked up in time to see the doors swing open to reveal two guards either side of a pathetic-looking Agravaine, who trailed in, looking resentful. There were large handcuffs on his wrists, with chains attached which the guards were holding tightly.

Prison clearly hadn't agreed with Agravaine, Merlin noted, with only a little bit of satisfaction. (He lied, it was a lot.) He had dark bags under his eyes, and his face looked gaunt, lacking the usual smugness that usually radiated off him. His hair was matted, and he clearly hadn't shaven in a few days, the stubble making him look even dirtier.

With everyone's attention focused on Agravaine, Merlin was the only one who noticed the second figure who slipped in afterwards, hood drawn down. He disappeared among the crowds, but Merlin would recognise him anywhere, despite not having seen his face, or even his hair colour, hidden as he was.

Arthur appeared by his side a moment later, having shed the cloak somewhere in the crowd, and Merlin sent him an exasperated look, but he was mostly relieved that he was okay. Arthur grimaced apologetically, but he didn't have time to give an explanation before the doors swung shut with a thud and everyone's eyes were on him, waiting for him to speak.

Merlin slipped the parchment he had scribbled his notes on in front of him. It was mostly just prompts, some questions to pose, and then there was the speech at the end, but Arthur looked at him as though he had hung the stars in the sky. It made Merlin blush, but then Arthur was speaking, and his thoughts were occupied with the trial.

Arthur spoke strongly, his words echoing through the chambers leaving no room for doubt. Morgana presented her side of the story to a mixed audience, but most people were too shocked by the fact she was here at all, and defending Arthur at that, to yell abuse at her or question her right to be there. Merlin was grateful, Morgana had made so much progress, but who knows what the negativity of the people would do to set her back? He knew she was strong, but he also knew she felt extremely guilty about everything that had happened, and having that shoved in her face was hardly going to be helpful. The whole thing went by surprisingly fast, and soon Arthur was reading out the speech, and then Agravaine was being led away to await judgement the next day, and before he knew it, they were walking out of the chambers and he was following Arthur in the direction of his room, and then they were alone, and it was silent.

Merlin had not appreciated the hustle and bustle of the court enough, because now that he was without it, he felt as though a bucket of ice had been poured over him.

Arthur walked over to the desk and sat down, beginning to leaf through some documents as if Merlin wasn't even there.

Merlin wasn't having it.

He strode over to the desk and place both hands on the surface, forcing Arthur to look up and meet his gaze. They were closer together than he had anticipated, and his breath hitched slightly before he regained his equilibrium and spoke up.

"So are we just.. not going to talk about it? Really?"

Arthur looked momentarily stunned, but he didn't let it show for long, raising an eyebrow at Merlin like he was the weird one.

"Talk about what?"

Merlin glared at him. "You know what."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to enlighten me."

"You kissed me."

"...."

Now Merlin raised his eyebrow.

"And?" Arthur asked, failing to come up with a witty response.

Merlin let out a frustrated groan and stood up, turning away from the desk and putting his hand to his forehead. "And now you're acting like everything's normal and what am I supposed to do with that, Arthur? Did you mean it? Was it a mistake? Was it a spur-of-the-moment thing that you regretted as soon as you'd left? How the hell am I supposed to take that? Is it something that's supposed to just be normal between servant and master and 'oh merlin shut up everyone does it' well if they do then I don't know about it so how is that fair?" Before he could really register what was happening, Merlin was pacing the floor, wringing his hands as he ranted, so that he didn't notice Arthur getting up from his seat. "And then if it isn't then did you mean it? Because the way you've acted since really doesn't give that impression and I wo-oomph-"

Arthur was kissing him. Again. Cupping his face in his hands and pulling him in close. There was no misinterpreting this, Merlin thought as he brought his hands up to rest in his hair.

But then he wrenched free, staring at Arthur with wide eyes. "No- this- you- really? No. Because- and- you can't just- urghhhh you need to learn communication, Arthur," but apparently, he didn't care that much, because he was already kissing him again, walking him backwards till he hit the desk.

---

politics are so fucking boringgggg

Arthur was in a council meeting, listening to some lord or other drone on about something or other (he had zoned out a while ago and just nodded and 'mhm'ed whenever it seemed appropriate) and he had to regularly pinch his arm in order to stay awake. Merlin was standing at the other side of the round table and mocking the lord as he spoke, which Arthur found much more entertaining than the real speech - and helped him actually understand what he was talking about thanks to Merlin's over-the-top gestures.

He had to stifle a snigger as he turned from Merlin to answer the lord's question (he'd understood it from Merlin's miming, the lord's voice was 100% background noise to him at this point).

Maybe he'd bring Morgana along to the next meeting, she always was better at manipulating her words in situations like these. Fighting off bandits and bad people was so much easier than this, it was straight-forward and easy, this was just ugh. (kinda like me with maths)

EvENTually, the meeting came to a close and Arthur strode out as quickly as polite society would allow, Merlin in tow.

"Honestly, they all think they know so much better than me just because they've been on the council longer, as if having grey hair is like an accomplishment or something. They make me want to tear my own hair out," Arthur burst out, as soon as they reached his chambers. Merlin hummed soothingly under his breath, going over to the corner and taking out some armour that Arthur had asked him to polish earlier.

"For what it's worth, they don't necessarily know better," he said, picking out a polishing rag.

Arthur ran a hand through his hair. "I know, that's the problem."

Merlin sent him a raised eyebrow, and Arthur realised how that sounded, and backtracked.

"I mean- oh you know what I mean, they're so busy feeling superior that they can't even listen to what I have to say!" Arthur slumped into a chair at the table, picking up an apple and examining it absentmindedly.

"I do," Merlin admitted, running the rag along the silver carefully. "But I mean, it's a pretty major thing you're proposing, it's not like a diet change or something, you're talking about accepting magic back into the kingdom - yes with limits, but all the same, after your father's legacy there's no way they're going to take that lightly."

"But I haven't even mentioned magic yet, I'm just talking about the druids. They're so narrow-minded, it's impossible!"

"True. Maybe you should get Morgana to speak with them, she has a way with words," Merlin suggested, half joking. But Arthur sprung to his feet, pointing at him.

"That's exactly what I was thinking! She would be amazing at it, she's always been better at this stuff than me!"

Merlin furrowed his brows nervously. "I mean, I wasn't being serious, she's been back less than a week, Arthur, I'm not sure everyone will take to her kindly." He bit his lip, looking thoughtful, and Arthur's eyes tracked the movement. "I could always ask her, I suppose, it's up to her in the end."

"Yes! Of course! Ask her, go now!" Arthur pushed him out of the room, letting the armour and the rag drop to the floor with a clang. He pressed a soft kiss to his lips and sent him on his way, shutting the door behind him. He leant his head against the door for a second before turning around, caught slightly off-guard by the emptiness of the room. It wasn't long since Merlin hadn't even been in Camelot, but somehow it felt as if he'd never left, except for times like now, when he wasn't here, and Arthur just wanted to run after him and fetch him back.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he picked up his sword (it was in the pile to be polished) and went outside to train.

---

Merlin went straight to the kitchens, where he knew Gwen liked helping out at this time of day (late morning) and therefore Morgana wouldn't be far behind. He was right; when he got there, he could see them giggling near a bubbling pot of stew.

Gwen was chopping up something on a board, and Morgana snaked her arms around her shoulders, pulling her in close and pressing kisses all along her neck. Gwen giggled, and turned slightly so that Morgana had access to her cheek.

Merlin felt bad for intruding, but in the end he figured he had bestie privileges, and walked over.

"Hi," he said, jumping up onto the counter and popping a piece of carrot in his mouth, crunching loudly.

The two looked up at him, annoyed, but Morgana grinned when she saw it was him, and didn't let go of Gwen in her arms, shamelessly still pressing kisses to her neck.

"'Gana, no, Merlin's here," Gwen said, but she was laughing.

"It's just Merlin, he doesn't mind, do you Merlin?"

Merlin shook his head. "Course not, but I do actually have to borrow you for a minute, follow me?"

Morgana looked between him and Gwen, but sighed and let go, pressing one last kiss to her lover's lips before following Merlin out of the room.

He led them up to Morgana's chambers, jumping on the bed and patting the spot next to him.

She raised an eyebrow. "This had better be good."

Merlin just nodded, and she climbed up beside him, tucking into his side and playing with his tunic.

"So," he began. "Arthur thinks you should talk to the council."

Morgana paused, and looked up at him. "What? Why?"

"Well, you know how Arthur is with politics and stuffy nobles?-" Morgana nodded. "-Well, he said you have a knack for that shit, and I mean, he's right, you're great with words. But I wanted to talk to you straight away."

Morgana sat up and swung her legs to rest on top of Merlin's, looking him in the eye.

"You do know that I tried to murder the king multiple times and succeeded once, not to mention that time when I laid siege to Camelot, do you really think I stand any chance? Those guys hate me more than Arthur and his new ideas, if anything, me talking to them is going to set them back because they'll think I coerced Arthur into changing the laws somehow," she argued. "There is literally no way this could go well."

"Or," Merlin pointed out. "Alternatively, you might win them over and, by extension, win Camelot over, and the rest would be smooth sailing."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Merlin, I might have magic but that doesn't mean I can make them do whateve- unless..?"

"You are not enchanting the entire council."

Morgana batted her eyelashes at him. "Just a little bit?" she wheedled, showing the gap between her fingers to demonstrate the 'little bit'. "It only has to be until the law is passed."

Merlin gave her a stern look. "If we pass the law while they're enchanted, then as soon as we lift it, there are going to be riots. No. Can't you just like, enchant them with your words or something? - Not the magical ones - I mean, how did you persuade Cenred and all your old allies to work for you?"

Morgana looked thoughtful. "Well, Morgause did most of the persuading for Cenred, but the others... It wasn't too hard. People are ridiculously easy to manipulate once you know what they want."

Merlin clapped his hands together. "Exactly! You can do this, I know you can. You've known these people your whole life, it's a walk in the forest for you."

"Hmm, I don't know, they've always thought I was too outspoken, they didn't like the way I was with Uther at all. Something about girls being seen and not heard," Morgana rolled her eyes, and Merlin did the same.

"Still, I bet you could persuade them, you know all their weak spots," Merlin persisted, really having latched onto the idea now that he'd thought about it.

Morgana bit her lip. "What if it all goes wrong, and they decide to kick me out of Camelot, or behead me or something?"

Merlin put his hand on her leg. "Arthur would never let that happen. If it all goes side-ways we'll take you out. Me and Gwen will be there too."

She still looked anxious, but she gave him a determined nod and said, "Lets do it then."

---

Five hours later, Morgana walked out of the council chambers with her head held high, Merlin and Gwen following her with wide grins on their faces.

"So? How did it go?" Arthur asked, once they'd all congregated in his chambers. He hadn't been able to be there to witness it, thanks to a group of knights who'd decided it was a good idea to forget training altogether and run off like headless chicken into the market.

"She has them all wrapped around her little finger! I swear it might not have been magic but it definitely looked like it," Merlin exclaimed, excitedly wrapping Morgana up in a hug.

She laughed. "Oh it was so easy, they're like children, you dangle a sweet in front of them and they'll go wild for it."

Gwen tapped Merlin on the shoulder pointedly, and he let go of Morgana for Gwen to take his place. Arthur sat on the bed, and Merlin jumped up, laying down sideways with his head in the king's lap. Arthur's hands came up and started playing with his hair.

"I don't know how you do it, they've been giving me so much grief for weeks! You're a wonder," he said, looking at his sister incredulously.

She grinned at him, and sat down on a chair at the table, patting her lap for Gwen. "Honestly, Arthur, it's not difficult. I thought they were going to hate me for, you know, everything, but it was so easy!"

Gwen smiled at her, before turning to Arthur. "It's true, one word from her and they were all falling about her feet, it was quite funny."

"It was hilarious," Merlin spoke up. "It was so different from the usual council sessions which are so painful it makes me want to pack up and leave, this one went so smoothly. And before you ask, there was definitely no magic being used, I could tell."

"I didn't think there was," Arthur said, indignant. But it was true that the thought had crossed his mind, mainly because he knew how impossible the nobles were, and the fact that Morgana found it that easy was hard to believe. "I have every faith in my sister's abilities, she could talk Gaius into believing that medicine was actually bad for people if she wanted, couldn't you?" he asked, turning to Morgana.

She rolled her eyes at him, but didn't deny it. Gwen nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, do you remember when we were younger and we used to sneak into the market? Morgana was always on watch because she can talk herself out of practically anything," she agreed, cupping Morgana's face with her hand. Morgana patted her on the arm, which was probably supposed to be more of a slap, but she couldn't bring herself to harm her. Anyone who hurt Gwen was immediately listed for the death-row, in everyone's books.

"You were supposed to be on my side," she pouted. Gwen stroked her cheek reassuringly.

"There are no sides, love. Besides, it's not a bad thing, now we can pass the law reform!"

Arthur sighed, momentarily pausing the braid he was making in Merlin's hair to run his hand over his face. "Ugh, it's so annoying. Why does everything have to be so complicated, can't we just, I don't know, tell people it's done?"

Merlin tapped his hand impatiently, bringing it back down to his hair, before saying, "No, of course not. If it's not in writing, no one will take it seriously. It's a lot of paperwork, sure, but it's necessary."

"It's not that much paperwork," Morgana piped up. "I mean, there's quite a bit for writing out the limits of what you can and can't do with magic, but otherwise it's not too bad. I can help."

Arthur perked up. "Yes, you have to. You know more about bad magic than any of us, we can't do this without you."

"I like paperwork," Gwen added, her voice soft. "It's therapeutic."

Merlin grinned at her. Gwen was the best.

---

Later that day, Merlin was getting Arthur ready for the final part of Agravaine's trial, tossing his blue tunic at him as he chattered on about Morgana and the plan, when Arthur spoke up.

"Is it true you've wanted to leave after a council session?"

Merlin stopped, and turned around, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, is it?"

"I mean, not seriously. You know I'd never leave you to deal with them on your own," Merlin said, one corner of his mouth tilting up. "They're like wild animals that feed on fear."

Arthur studied him carefully. "Well yes, but you've thought about it before?"

"Arthur, where is this coming from?" Merlin asked, approaching him and gesturing for him to put up his arms before sliding the tunic over his head.

Arthur shook his head. "I was just wondering, is all."

Merlin gave him a strange look. "Okay...?"

"Oh shut up, Merlin," Arthur scoffed, turning away.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say anything!" he put his hands in the air innocently.

"You didn't have to."

Merlin laughed, and pulled him back around, adjusting his tunic and placing his coat around his shoulders.

"You know I wouldn't ever really leave you, don't you?" Merlin added, concerned.

Arthur looked at him, and seemed to almost say something before deciding against it and shaking his head. "Of course not, should we go?"

Merlin gave him a once-over, checking for any irregularities in his outfit, and nodded his approval. He held out his hand in a mock bow. "Your hand, milady?"

Arthur slapped him round the head, but took his hand, and Merlin led them out of the chambers to the court room.

They paused outside the door, and Arthur swallowed nervously. Merlin squeezed his hand reassuringly, and they entered together.

They took their places at the head of the room, Merlin a step behind the king, and waited for Agravaine to be brought in.

The man's hair was even greasier than usual, and his eyes rolled slightly as he was led in, making him look slightly insane. Merlin felt a pang of sympathy for him before remembering why, and the sympathy vanished.

"Lord Agravaine, you have been accused of the murder of Uther Pendragon, former king of Camelot," Arthur announced, his voice ringing out around the room. "How do you plead, guilty or not guilty?"

Agravaine looked about him at all the spectators. It was a relatively private affair, Arthur had given him the small mercy of closing the trial to the public, but all members of the court were there, staring at Agravaine with badly disguised disgust. "G-guilty," he whimpered.

Arthur's expression didn't change. "And on the charge of conspiring to sabotage Camelot and her king, how do you plead?"

Agravaine's eyes darted over to Morgana, who was sitting in a high bench, Gwen on her left. She had given her testimony the other day, so her previous spot was empty. She stared back at him, eyes cold.

"Guilty," he answered, his voice practically a whisper.

"I'm sorry, you have to speak up, I can't hear you," Arthur said, his voice void of emotion.

"Guilty," Agravaine repeated, stronger this time.

It went on like that, Arthur read out the charges and Agravaine pleaded guilty for all of them, having resigned himself to his fate. There was no way he was getting out of this now.

"By the laws of Camelot, I must condemn you to death," Arthur decreed, and it was over.

As soon as they closed Arthur's doors behind them, he collapsed onto a chair, holding his head in his hands and breathing heavily.

Merlin walked towards him and pulled his head so that it was leaning on his stomach, wrapping his arms around him.

"That was horrible," Arthur managed, after a while, his voice thick.

Merlin just hummed softly, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"I never want to do that again," he continued. He looked up at Merlin, his gaze serious for once. "I mean it, I hate the court. I hate all the stuffy nobles and having to say the proper words and how everyone's looking at you, I hate it all."

"I know," Merlin soothed, running his hands over his back.

"I want to get out," Arthur went on, looking at Merlin as if he'd wanted to say this for a while, and was anxious for Merlin's response. "Like, actually out. I want to be somewhere else, I wasn't made for this life. The court, the nobles, it's not my scene."

Merlin furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow as if Merlin was being slow. "I mean I want to leave, you idiot. Leave Camelot. Well maybe not Camelot exactly, but the castle. I've been thinking about it for some time, you know, but there's never been anyone that could replace me. But now, with Morgana back..."

Merlin leant back slightly, considering. "It would be a lot to ask of Morgana, I mean she's only just got back. I don't know if I could leave her this soon, Arthur, she's still not fully adjusted."

The king stared at him for a beat, before looking down and scuffing his feet along the floor. "I know, I know. It's a stupid idea. There's no way it could happen, I don't know what I was thinking."

"That's not what I meant," Merlin backtracked, meeting Arthur's eyes determinedly. "If that's what you want, Arthur, we can make it happen. But it's not going to happen right away, there's a lot to consider."

Arthur hummed in agreement. He looked tired, Merlin realised. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head and moved away, picking up some stray clothes and talking encouragingly about the rest of the day.

---

That night, Merlin got to Morgana's chambers before she did, and buried himself under the covers, his eyes closing. He was so tired. He still ached from the brawl at the tavern, and it had been a long day. He turned over, trying to get comfortable, but found it impossible without Morgana, as exhausted as he was. So he rolled out of the bed and pottered about the room, making his way to her desk and beginning to organise it absent-mindedly, needing to do something with his hands to keep his mind from wandering.

He wasn't used to being on his own, he hadn't had much of a chance to be ever since he'd moved to Camelot, always being around someone or other, usually Arthur. Now that he was, he felt a sort of emptiness. Or, not emptiness, per say, there was lots there, but it was sort of as if he couldn't access it. As if he was so used to shoving it down when he was around people that now that he was alone it was impossible to dreg up.

He picked up a quill and started sketching, an eye, a nose, brows... soon he had a whole face on the page, a face so familiar it took Merlin by surprise, he hadn't even realised what he was drawing. It wasn't an incredible drawing, but the resemblance to the king was unmistakeable. He was looking out into the distance longingly, and Merlin felt as though he was teetering on the edge of something, and if he stepped out, there was no going back.

The door opened and he looked up to see Morgana slipping inside, closing the door behind her. He jumped up, crumpling the parchment in his hand. She looked at him strangely.

"What have you got there?"

"Nothing. Where have you been?" he said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"With Gwen, obviously. What are you hiding?" She approached him slowly, holding out her hand.

"I'm not hiding anything," Merlin replied, jumping onto the bed. "You're making things up."

Morgana raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Gaslighting? I thought we'd got past this already."

Merlin felt a pang of guilt, but shook his head vehemently. "Uh uh, you don't get to guilt trip me into this."

Morgana ran at him and tried to wrestle the paper out of his hands. He shrieked and held it up high, taking advantage of his height, but the canopy of the four-poster stopped him, and she yanked it out of his hands, unfolding it and staring.

"You didn't tell me you could draw."

"That would be because I can't," Merlin stated, leaning forward and plucking the paper from her hands.

"Don't be modest, it doesn't suit you," Morgana sniffed. "That was Arthur, wasn't it?"

"See? You can't even tell who it was, can't be that good."

Morgana cuffed him around the head, and Merlin whacked her back, and they fought on the bed for a minute, before falling down on their backs, panting.

"It was Arthur though, wasn't it?" she asked, curling up into his side.

"Yeah."

"Why does he look like that?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, like he wants something he can't have."

Merlin sighed and turned to pull her in, kissing her head. Her hair was looking so much better ever since they'd come back, courtesy of Gwen. "I'm not sure. Doesn't he always look like that?"

"I guess he does."

Chapter Text

Morgana woke up to whispered voices above her head, and opened her eyes to see Merlin and Gwen staring at her, obviously in the middle of a conversation.

"Hey love, did you sleep well?" Merlin asked, kissing her forehead. She nodded, and turned to Gwen.

"What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing important now," Gwen assured her. "I came in and Merlin told me not to wake you, but it seems we failed at that..."

Morgana grinned at her lazily, extending her arm out for a hug. Gwen bent down and hugged her tight, kissing her good morning.

"Your breath stinks," she said, fondly.

Morgana stuck her tongue out at her, but got up and padded over to the basin of water brush her teeth. Merlin got up after her, and got dressed, leaving to get Arthur up, and Morgana was left alone with Gwen. She spat out into the sink, and rinsed her mouth, before turning towards her.

"How are you this morning, my lady?" Gwen asked, picking up Morgana's hairbrush and gesturing for her to take her seat at her dresser.

"How many times, Gwen, it's just Morgana to you," she said, kissing her cheek. Gwen bit her lip and began to untangle the knots her hair had picked up overnight as she replied.

"Sorry, old habits die hard."

"It's alright. How's Elyan? I heard he's back," Morgana asked, watching Gwen in the mirror.

Gwen gave her a small smile. "He's doing okay. He seems to be getting more responsible of late. I don't know what happened on his travels - maybe he met someone - but I'm glad of it."

"That's good news! Have you taught him to work the forge yet?"

"I've tried to, but he has much more interest in swinging swords around than making them," Gwen sighed. "He might be getting more responsible, but he's still our father's son." As she spoke, she began braiding Morgana's hair in two sections, the way she used to all those years ago. Old habits die hard indeed. "But he spends the night at the house every now and then, when his chambers in the castle seem to big, and he just wants to come home."

Morgana felt a surge of affection for her maidservant. She had so much to do, keeping the forge running, looking after her brother, and now looking after Morgana as well. She reached up to take Gwen's hand in hers, taking care not to ruin her hair, and brought it down to her lips, pressing a firm kiss to the palm. She met Gwen's eyes in the mirror and smiled, blinking slowly. "I love you," she said.

Gwen blushed slightly, and butterflies erupted in Morgana's stomach at the thought that she could incite such a reaction. Gwen bent down and kissed the crown of her head, smiling back at her just as sweetly. "I love you too."

---

"Merlin! Merlin! Psst! Merlin!"

Merlin looked around to see Morgana beckoning to him behind a pillar. They were in the middle of a council session, and he could see that Arthur was struggling to stay awake. He sent him an apologetic grin before following Morgana behind the pillar.

"What?" he whispered.

"She said 'I love you'!!" Morgana whisper-shouted back, her eyes shining. She was practically bouncing on the spot, and Merlin grinned at her.

"That's great! Where did it happen? Tell me everything!"

Morgana dragged him out of the room through the servant's door until they came to an empty guest chamber. She hopped up onto the bed and patted the spot next to her, and he did the same.

"So," Morgana began, crossing her legs and facing him. Merlin nodded encouragingly. "We were in my chambers, and she was doing my hair, you know, and she was talking about the forge and Elyan and all her responsibilities - she wasn't complaining! I don't mean it like that, it was just conversation, you know? And it hit me. That I really, really love her. Are you crying?"

"No," Merlin denied, wiping his eyes. "That's just... I'm so happy for you."

Morgana sighed dreamily, and fell back on the bed, her hands over her eyes. "Oh this is bad, this is bad Merlin," she rose up again and grabbed his forearms, meeting his gaze seriously. "I've fallen so bad for her I don't know what to do! Help me!"

Merlin laughed and cupped her face with his hands. "You don't have to do anything, just continue, this is a good thing! You two have been hiding your feelings for each other for years now, just be glad you don't have to anymore."

Morgana still looked worried, but she was hanging onto his words like her life depended on it, nodding along thoughtfully. "But what if she doesn't really feel the same way? What if I mess it up? Oh my god, Merlin I'm going to mess it up I'm going to ruin this amazing thing we've got going and then what will I do? There aren't any nice holes around here for me to crawl up and die in!" She was speaking so fast her words were tripping over themselves.

"Hey, hey," Merlin soothed. "You're not going to mess it up. You care about her don't you?"

Morgana nodded. "Of course I do! This whole thi-"

"Well, she cares about you too. All you have to do is talk to her, I'm sure she'll understand. Communication is key," Merlin said, as if he was some sort of guru who knew everything about love. Really, he was just channelling his inner Gaius.

Morgana was breathing more steadily and she looked down as she processed his words. "Yes, yes, I- yes, that's good. Communication, okay, got it. I can do that. Talk to her. Can't be that hard, right? Words! I know words. Oh no, Merlin I can't do this, you have to come with me." With that, she jumped down from the bed, clutching his wrist and pulling him all the way back through the corridors to her chambers.

"Hey! Don't make me do it, this is your relationship, not mine!" Merlin called out, to no avail. Morgana ignored him.

"She's not here, where could she be?" she asked, finally turning to him. Merlin gave her an exasperated huff, but when he saw how desperate she looked, he shrugged.

"She could be in the armoury, she likes to go over all the knights' armour when she gets the chance," he offered.

"Yes! That's it! Come on."

She led him down to the armoury, ignoring his protests. When they finally arrived, the door was slightly ajar, and they could hear a light humming coming from inside. They stopped for a minute to listen.

"It's beautiful," Morgana murmured, pressing her ear to the wall. Merlin had to admit, it was lovely. Who knew Gwen could sing? He did, actually, they often worked and sung together, but that's a secret that they would take with them to the grave.

They listened for another minute, before Merlin sighed and turned to Morgana.

"You know, this is getting kind of creepy, lets just go in," he began to push open the door, but Morgana's hand shot out to grab his wrist.

"No! Don't! What if she sees us?"

Merlin blinked. "That's... the whole point? You want to talk to her, remember?"

Morgana seemed to consider for a moment, before shrugging. "I guess so," she said, and strode in.

Gwen jumped when she caught sight of Morgana standing there, and the singing stopped, replaced with a clanging sound as the armour she had been holding dropped to the ground. Merlin face-palmed from where he was standing just behind the threshold, and stepped in.

"Hi, Gwen," he greeted warmly, waving. "Morgana here has something she wants to talk to you about. I'll leave you two to it, have fun!" He tried to make his escape, but Morgana was stronger than she looked as she hauled him back inside.

"You are not leaving me," she hissed, and he shrugged. Guess that plan failed.

"What, uh, what did you want to talk to me about?" Gwen asked, her eyes darting around nervously as she picked up the piece of armour and held it to her chest.

Morgana smiled at her, honestly, it was pathetic, one look from Gwen and she melted. "Nothing bad," she assured her, moving to take a seat next to her on the bench. "At least, not necessarily." She looked to Merlin for support.

Merlin nodded, coming to sit on her other side. Gwen looked between them like she wasn't sure what was going on. Merlin took one of her hands and Morgana took the other.

"You see," Merlin started, hating his life. "Morgana here was feeling a bit... unsure."

"Worried," Morgana chipped in.

"Troubled," Merlin amended.

"Concerned," Morgana suggested,

"Insecure, the point is, she feels like she might do something to scare you off," Merlin continued.

"Or put you off," Morgana added.

"Make you dislike her," Merlin agreed.

"And then we wouldn't be able to do this anymore," Morgana finished, gesturing to their joined hands. "I don't know, it was stupid. Merlin's the only reason we're making such a big fuss, it's really nothing." She began to get up, but this time, Merlin pulled her back.

"Nope, you are not getting out of this, you are facing your feelings or so hell I will walk right off the face of this earth. Gods, what is it with pendragons and their feelings?" Merlin told her.

Morgana bit her lip, but nodded.

"Woah woah woah," Gwen said, her free hand coming up in a steadying motion. "Hold on a minute, what exactly is the problem?" When Merlin opened his mouth to reply, she sent him a kind but stern look and he took the hint to shut up and let Morgana explain.

Morgana looked at their joined hands for a long moment, and just before Merlin had given up hope that she would reply, she said quietly, "How is it possible, that someone like you - as pure, and good-hearted, and gorgeous as you - could stand to be with someone like me?"

Gwen paused, and Merlin could see the cogs turning in her head, and when it clicked, Gwen let out a gasp, and tilted Morgana's chin up with a finger, looking her directly in the eyes. She spoke with a determined kind of intensity as she said, "Morgana, Morgana, love, listen to me. You have done terrible things in your life. No one is saying you haven't, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as you are trying to get better, there is always hope. You have never let anyone else determine who you are before, why start now? You know yourself infinitely better than they ever will. The path to healing is not an easy one, and it is not linear. You are going to have bad days, we are going to have bad days, but as long as you are here, and trying, and I'm here, and trying, there is nothing we can't work through. The fact that you're worried about it now just tells me that you care about me, about this, and that more than anything tells me you're healing and I want to be with you every step of the way."

Morgana blinked at her, drinking in Gwen's words like they were a life-source. Gwen leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her nose. She smiled at the faint pink staining Morgana's cheeks in response, and gave Merlin a nod, telling him that it was okay to go now.

Merlin squeezed Morgana's hand and kissed the top of both of their heads on his way out, trusting Morgana would be okay in Gwen's capable hands.

Merlin wandered down to the kitchens, guessing the council session was pretty much over, and not particularly eager to join the rest of it. He made casual conversation with the cooks as he prepared Arthur's lunch, catching up on all the gossip he'd missed while he was away and making a mental note never to leave Arthur's side for longer than a week ever again. He was done before he realised any time had passed, and he bid his farewell to Joanna in order to take it up to the royal chambers. He'd been right about the council session; Arthur was sitting languidly in his desk chair when Merlin arrived, twirling his paper knife in his hands and probably feeling very superior.

Merlin swung the door shut behind him with his hip, balancing the tray of food in one hand and a stack of papers he'd picked up from Geoffrey on his way in the other. Arthur watched him from his seat, making no move to help and instead choosing to raise his eyebrow in condemnation.

"You're late. With all that time since you disappeared from your place in the council meeting, I hope you have some excellent food to make up for it - unless, of course," he added, as though the thought had just occurred to him. "-you had some other reason to leave your important position, the one you are paid for," he said, with emphasis. Merlin had to bite his lip in order not to laugh at Arthur's dramatics. He set the food down on the table and walked over to place the papers on the desk, talking as he went.

"Oh yes, actually, it was my long lost brother. He came to let me know that our father, the last dragonlord, had died and he was wondering whether I'd inherited his powers since they didn't seem to be working for him. I wasn't sure, but since the Great Dragon was released all those years ago, there was no way of finding out in the castle," Merlin made his way around the back of Arthur's chair, kissing the top of his head even as he spouted the first bullshit that came into his head. He pulled the king up with impatient tugs at his arm and guided him over to sit at the table, placing the food in front of him. "So naturally," he continued. "We decided to see if he would come at my summons. He tried to teach me the words - did you know that dragons have their own language as well as being able to speak English? Very clever, if you ask me. It's a shame they were all killed. But anyway, turns out Kilgarrah - that's the Great Dragon's name, by the way - does answer to my call, and he said if I ever need any help with anything, that I only had to ask. But then we had to leave because my brother was having a heart attack. We took him down to the stream and the magic water droplets healed him, and then we came back to the castle, but we were too late to rejoin the council meeting. I gave him one of the guest chambers to rest in and went to make your lunch, hope you don't mind."

Arthur glared at him, and stabbed his fork into the sausage on his plate. Merlin grinned, and returned to the desk to sort through the papers he'd brought up.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Arthur asked, exasperated. "Other than the fact that you were late, again, and how you abandoned me during an important council session, because Morgana is apparently higher on your priorities now - oh, that reminds me, I want to add her and Gwen to the council, they're amazing at it and I still can't wrap my head around any of it. Just like how I can't wrap my head around anything to do with the court, or even begin to understand what goes through your head at any point of any day, and how I'd rather just go away and stay in the forest with you until some creature decides I'd make a good meal, because I don't want to face another day in this godforsaken castle where every day is the same, and any tiny step of progress has to be meticulously gone through and worked out with a million people before it's okay, even though I want to make Morgana queen and run away from Camelot forever and make magic legal and make peace with all the kingdoms and how no one seems to be on my side and I have to fight the council every step of the way. And if a single one of them asks me one more time when I'm going to marry some princess I think I might just drive my sword through them all-" Arthur caught himself and took a large breath, looking at the ceiling for help.

Merlin took a moment before he responded, gathering his scattered thoughts. "They want you to marry someone?"

Arthur looked at him like he was stupid. "Yes, obviously, they've wanted me to marry a rich princess with ties to an important kingdom for as long as I've been able to understand them."

"And you want to add Morgana and Gwen to the council?"

"That's what I said."

"And you want to run away with me?"

Arthur groaned, running his hands over his face. "Are you just going to repeat everything I said? Forget about it, it doesn't matter, it was nothing."

"No no, you've said it now," Merlin persisted. "You want to make Morgana and Gwen ruling queens of Camelot and run away with me to a farm in the middle of the forest with two cats and friendly neighbours that come around for tea ever so often."

"That is so not what I said-"

"Shh shh, it's what you meant. You know what, I'm game, when do we leave? I'm sure Morgana will love the idea."

"We are not-"

"Nope, sorry, you don't get a say in this. You've made your wish, it's my duty to make sure it is fulfilled. Bye!" With that, Merlin turned and vanished out of the room, leaving a spluttering and very confused Arthur in his wake.

---

"Merlin! Hey, what are you doing? Do you need help? Here, let me carry that for you," Gwaine said, panting as he caught up to where Merlin was lugging Arthur's armour up the stairs. He took it from Merlin with a grunt, and continued his cheerful greeting. "I haven't seen you for a couple days, how have you been?"

Merlin was happy to see Gwaine, he'd missed him while he was in the forest, and one night at the tavern wasn't enough to catch up properly. So his smile was genuine when he replied. "Same as ever, what's on your mind?"

"Can't a guy just want to see his friend without an ulterior motive?"

"Not in my experience," Merlin laughed, taking back a couple pieces of armour and resting them on his shoulder.

Gwaine grimaced, "You have a point. Alright, I was wondering what was up with Arthur."

Merlin paused, turning to face Gwaine properly. "What makes you think something's up with Arthur?"

Gwaine raised an eyebrow at him in genuine surprise. "You know, he's acting weird."

"Define 'weird'."

"You know, he's acting all... restless and stuff. He's usually bad at training, but he's been horrible these past couple weeks. At first we all just thought it was because you were away - and I think that is what started it - but he hasn't really got better. He did a bit when you first got back, but it didn't last, and then during today's council meeting he was... he wasn't there. I mean he was there, obviously, but his mind wasn't, if you know what I mean?" At Merlin's slow nod, he continued. "I'd say it's as if he's lost interest in everything, but with how he is at training, I'm thinking it's more... frustration. Or boredom. Or... I don't know, that's why I came to you, you always know what's going on in princess's head."

Merlin's mouth twisted in a half smile. Gwaine was smarter than he let on. "Maybe there is. I think," Merlin paused, looking around. He didn't really want anyone overhearing them. Grabbing Gwaine's arm, he speed-walked to the nearest empty room, shutting and locking the door behind them.

When he turned round, Gwaine was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "You know, if you wanted to get me alone that badly you only had to ask."

Merlin rolled his eyes fondly. "Shut up. Anyway, I think Arthur needs to get out of the castle. And maybe more than just a hunt this time - although that's a great place to start."

Gwaine looked thoughtful. "I see what you mean, he is being very restless. Okay, so when should we go? I think there's a border patrol that wouldn't mind swapping with us for a while. We could even go near Essetir and visit your mother!"

"Hmm, maybe not Ealdor, but border patrol's a great idea. You're amazing, Gwaine!"

"I know," Gwaine said sadly. "No one else does though."

Merlin cuffed him round the head and they headed back out, finally carrying the armour to where it's supposed to be and refining the points of their plan.