A King with No Title

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**Three days later**

Three days had passed since Arthur and Merlin had returned to Camelot. They had continued their bout of silence, only interacting when necessary. Surprisingly for Merlin, he had not been relieved of his position as Arthur's manservant. Merlin didn't question this, I mean, he was glad to be alive at this point. The three days since arriving back in Camelot had been spent catching up with important members of the court and royal household. That being said, Merlin and Arthur had not reviled what had happened with the Sidhe, they hadn't even spoke to each other about it since the initial conversation. Arthur had already decided that the information would only be shared with his most trusted Knights, his Queen and of course, Gaius. While they had not spoken, Arthur still felt a duty to protect Merlin, and had therefore not told anyone of Merlin's magic.

Unbeknownst to Arthur, Guinevere had informed the knights of Merlin's sorcery merely days before.

"How do you know the King's going to be safe?" Leon yelled at Guinevere in a hushed way, both anger and respect prominent in his tone. Guinevere sat on her throne, next to where Arthur would usually be placed, a bit out of sorts and lost in her own mind.

Both Gwaine and Percival tell Leon to back down as his anger towards the Queen would achieve nothing. Gaius stands near Guinevere and sees the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, not from sadness but from stress. The King is with Merlin, Gwen says with a defensive tone.

"What is a clumsy servant going to do?" Leon retorts a fake laughter in his voice. Gwaine slaps Leon upside the head causing a more flustered state but the glares Leon was getting from the knights and Gaius made him realise he had overstepped. "But how? Really? Merlin is constantly hiding from danger, and he cannot even wield a sword? You know what it is like out in the woodsbandits, thieves, sorcerers, or even Morgana supporters. If Arthur has been wounded, Merlin is the only one standing in the way of an attack. Can Merlin really keep him safe? Can he even keep himself safe?" He continued to question.

Guinevere glanced over at Gaius and silently asked permission to tell them all Merlin's secret, to which Gaius nodded with his eyebrows raised as usual. "Leon quiet." Guinevere gently commanded, which silenced him with immediate action, leaving him a bit dumbfounded. "It is because Merlin is a sorcerer." The reactions were certainly amusing to watch. Gwaine, of course, smirks in response, whereas Leon and Percival just exchange flustered looks.

"Well, then he should have the King returned safely in no time I assume." Percival chokes out through shock. Leon's face molds into a grimace at the remark. He had trusted Merlin, he really had. But the fact he had hidden sorcery from them for so long filled him with an uncertainty, if he was so good at deceiving people how could he be trusted? His thoughts flew wild around his head, running rampant along his brain.

"What?" He finally said, he wished to say more but the words would not come out. Gwaine laughed at the confused and agitated man stood a few feet away from him. Leon shot him a look that could have killed but Gwaine only responded with further laughter.

"Was it not obvious boys?" His shoulders moved up and down as he continued, "Maybe not." Gwaine wiped a few tears of laughter from his eyes as he began to regain his composure. If Gaius was honest, found himself questioning the intelligence of Percival and Leon after all Merlin had told him – the falling branches, rocks, flying weapons that time an attacker became magnitised – how did they not know. However, Gaius was not surprised by the way Gwaine had knew of Merlin's secret, someone cannot exactly be called 'Magic' and then not be suspected of being a sorcerer.

Merlin helped Arthur dress after he had bathed and they both made their way down to the Throne Room where Arthur took a seat at the round table. Although Merlin had previously been allowed to sit at the table with them today, he did not feel he was welcome. Arthur noticed this of course, but did not invite Merlin to be seated, and so, Merlin stood in the background. They were soon to be joined by Gwen, Gaius, Percival, Gwaine, and Leon, but in those moments before not a word had been exchanged.

The atmosphere in the room was extremely tense and those that walked in could feel it and it made everyone feel slightly uncomfortable. When everyone was seated Gwen went to speak to Merlin and tell him to be seated as she felt it was only right, she had berated Arthur the past few days for alienating Merlin. She had seen Merlin become a lot more frightened and within in his own head as if questioning everything he had done. But Arthur cut her off, not allowed her to finish her invite. After all, he didnt know how he felt about Merlin. A certain level of trust had been broken...

To relieve some of the tension in the room Merlin starts to make things levitate behind and over Arthur's head, much to the amusement of the court. Gwaine was the most obvious and Gwen could not help but try and tell Merlin to stop silently, but her lips were curled tightly into a smile. At the same time Arthur was spouting off his journeys and the ruling of the Sidhe. Everyone had known this was crucial information but had failed to genuinely listen. Even Leon cracked a small smile, which only caused Merlin to go further he focuses levitated a jug full of water over Arthurs head and threatened to make some of it spill on him.

"Right." Arthur yelled hitting his palm against the table as he did which made everyone in the court remove their attention from Merlin to him, and Merlin couldn't help but jump which meant that Arthur was soon covered in water and the jug had fallen beside him. "So that is what you were all so focused on?" He grimaced and wiped his hair and excess water from his face. Merlin did for a second fear execution, but instead Arthur sighed and asked, "So how did you all find out Merlin was a sorcerer?" When he had said Merlin's name it had come out like the word had a sour taste, which made Merlin feel tiny.

"I'm not just a sorcerer, I am the warlock that has saved your royal ass on more than one occasion." This outburst immediately made Merlin fill with dread, especially when Gaius raised his eyebrows at him in both shock and warning. The outburst was followed by one of Arthurs own, he stood from his seat and in one swift motion had Excalibur pressed against Merlin's throat.