Three people were competing for the controls in Arthur's head at the moment. He didn't recommend the experience.
The Once and Future King was rather calm. He'd known Merlin was Emrys for some time now and didn't see what all the fuss was about. He wanted to give the information the acknowledgement it deserved and then get on with dealing with the problems before them.
Arthur, just Arthur, Merlin's friend Arthur, rather wanted to strangle him but less of in a "I hate you" murderous way, and more of in a "just when I thought I couldn't get more exasperated with you" way. That was overlaid with a sense of hurt and betrayal, a general desire to throw something and do some shouting, and a vague hope this was all some sort of elaborate joke.
King Arthur, who had to suppress how he felt for the good of the kingdom, had caught the full implications of Merlin's almost apologetic, "I'm sort of Emrys," and realized that if he wasn't very careful, he could very well offend not only the world's most powerful sorcerer, but also a foreign dignitary.
Merlin - Emrys, he corrected himself - was starting to look a little fidgety. Arthur lifted a hand to ask for a little more time process this.
Emrys. His manservant was Emrys.
"In the interest of full disclosure . . . "
"Oh, please, continue."
" . . . I'm also the last Dragonlord. And there are kind of two dragons still alive."
"Wonderful."
" . . . That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"
No, the Once and Future King said.
Yes, Arthur insisted.
You really want to tell a man who can order his dragons to burn the city to the ground that? King Arthur asked.
He wouldn't do that. You know that.
Oh, we do? How do we know that? He's been lying to us for years!
You must have been blind as a bat not to notice.
Deal with that later. Right now we need to deal with Morgana's latest attack. Tell Merlin it's fine and get on with it.
Do you think anyone else hears voices like this, or is it just us?
It's a destiny thing. Don't worry about it. Merlin and Morgana hear them too. So do the Knights, but most of them ignore them.
You've been ignoring Merlin for five minutes now. Say something!
"Right. You're Emrys." He threw his hands up in the air. "Why not? It's not the strangest thing to happen this week."
