A King with No Title

The Day he should have died

That day, it had seemed hopeless that they would ever reach Avalon, Kilgarrah had offered salvation for Merlin and Arthur alike. Merlin had thought that would be the day he would have lost Arthur; he had said his goodbyes. All his promises of protecting the 'Once and future King' and taking him back to Gwen had seemed too optimistic. There had been pain felt that day unlike any other, but as Merlin had reached the lake thinking it was too late to have saved his friend, he had become distraught. Of course, this was until he realised that this was not the end and that his friend would not die today. Although foes had been faced, Mordred and Morgana had both fallen Mordred was not the one to bring Arthur to his end it, that was not his destiny it seems.

Kilgarrah had dropped them only a few minutes walk to the lake, to go undetected by the Sidhe. Merlin's true nature as the most powerful sorcerer to live and the last dragon lord was best to be kept secret or the Sidhe would likely never even listen to Merlin's pleas to have his friend saved. They are tricky creatures to deal with, it was important to have every advantage possible.

The Sidhe had agreed to save Arthur, but for a heavy price. Not only was life for Camelot's people forever changed, as now sorcerers and other magical beings would be allowed to live among them, but one magical being was to be appointed to the Royal Household. This was previously attempted and failed by Princess Elena. Not only this, but they had demanded Merlin's soul, unaware of his power of immortality. They had assumed he would die soon, and they would have just collected more. This was nothing really for the Sidhe, it was a show of power and a test for Merlin to see how far he would truly go for his King. A royal position and a pure soul willing to sacrifice anything for his King. As the terms were agreed upon, the shard of the sword was removed from Arthur's chest and his wounds healed.

Merlin had been warned what would happen if Arthur did not keep these promises that Merlin had made on his behalf. But as Arthur woke, Merlin no longer cared what the Sidhe had to see, his heart was filled with relief and joy - although he would never have admitted this to Arthur. Arthur would have been the same if the roles had been reversed.

With this they had made their way back to Camelot, but something had been different. Neither Arthur nor Merlin spoke, not even their common banter; it had taken days but all that had been exchanged was talk about food and drink. They had come across their horses that had been scared off before Morgana's demise, on their second day of walking through the wooded areas. They had ridden for miles, only stopping when the horses had become tired. Merlin had worried for Arthur for days, although he had shown no signs of being in pain or being fearful, he wondered if he was truly healed.

The Sidhe had kept the piece of the sword that they had removed, it was their leverage, they had it and they could use it. This had worried Merlin more than anything else. Upon their arrival in Camelot, the guards positioned at the lower gate had ran to alert every one of the Kings return home.

Both Gwen and the knights had been relieved and ecstatic with the news. When Arthur had opened the doors to the main hall he was dragged into the Gwen's embrace, followed by that of his friends, the knights Percival, Leon and Gwaine. Merlin and Arthur not having known about his death had been unphased by having seen Gwaine, not knowing that this man had been brought back, no one had known how and he refused to explain, however Gaius had ran every test, magical and otherwise to be assured it was him, and he was not under a spell. It was the most peculiar thing, but it was accepted in good faith, it was clearly not his destiny die that day.

Arthur's return had been a great happiness to the Queen and the knights. Merlin had not decided to join him in the main hall but instead go to Gaius. Although he had missed his friends, he had to check Gaius was ok and had made a safe return to Camelot after them splitting in the woods. After all, everyone knows Gaius had become somewhat of a father figure to Merlin.

Gaius had rushed straight from the lower town once he heard of the return, but he did not go to court. No, he went to his chambers because he knew he could find his beloved Merlin. Merlin had knocked and opened the door only to find a very tired looking Gaius. Somehow Gaius had beat him there! The look on his face the moment he had identified it had been Merlin, one main emotion flooded his body, pure joy. He had believed this may have been the end of Arthur and possibly his goodbyes in the woods were the last moments he would have shared with Merlin. After all, would Merlin have returned to Camelot without Arthur?

"My boy," he yelled before throwing his arms around Merlin, causing both to smile widely as they hugged in the room. Gaius shuffled Merlin to a seat and got him a bowl of fresh stew, it was clear by the dark circles around Gaius eyes he had not slept in a while. He had questioned Merlin of the previous days, to which Merlin had quite dramatically recounted his dealing with the Sidhe, Kilgarrah's help and his journey.

They had spent the evening talking together, almost tearful from the happiness and laughter they had both shared. Gaius had refused to let Merlin even go to check on the King, he did not want the boy he believed to be lost disappear from his line of sight, especially not after he had just got him back.