A King with No Title

One more question

"Look Arthur, Excalibur is the only instrument on the face of this Earth that poses me any threat so I trust you will make the right decision with it...please though, let me explain, let us talk reasonably." The rage in Arthur's eyes subsided as he dropped the blade from Merlin's throat, leaving a small bloodied spot where it had caught the skin. Merlin let out a breath he did not realise he had been holding in, the rest of the court had done the same. Gaius gave a particularly worried look. Arthur returned to his seat, all the while pointing to the only remaining at the table and beckoning Merlin to take it. Although Arthur did not appreciate Merlin's outburst, he knew that Merlin was a trusted ally, even though he did feel dubious after Merlin's secrets. Merlin, Arthur knew, was essential to his plans, so it was better to get him involved. Merlin, slightly reluctant and nervous, took a seat.

"So, to re-explain to all of you, the Sidhe are demanding much from us we have to appoint a magical being to the court and to allow those with magic to live without persecution within Camelot," Arthur explained. Only Gaius, Merlin and Arthur knew of this. He had not even brought these issues up to Guinevere, which made her feel a bit annoyed to be perfectly honest. Gwen hadn't gotten annoyed at Arthur much since marriage, after all, he had changed and become a better version of himself. But this, this did annoy and confuse her. A Queen's job was to counsel and console her King, especially in his time of need, and to be someone he could talk to and to discuss important matters with, yet this hadnt happened. Of course, Gwen knew Merlin was special to Arthur, he had been there as well, so he had to know the deal. Gaius also had a right to know, he was the expert and had been Uther's trusted advisor for years. Still, Gwen felt she should have been informed; Arthur has her husband. "I have been deliberating over the past few days how to appointment Merlin without raising suspicion. He turned to Merlin for the first time in days he was speaking directly to him, You will take the role of Court Sorcerer but under your druid name, Emrys. You will only appear in front of the people when you are in your older form, not this current one."

Merlin nodded along, "How do you know my druid name?", he said with a confused shake of his head when he caught on to the full extent of what Arthur had just said.

"He came to me the other night Merlin, when you were delivering some drafts, asking whether 'sorcerers have names when they're being magical if I remember correctly. I saw no issue in telling him of the name Emrys." Gaius said quite calmly for such a bold statement. Arthur confirmed his story arguing that he had not said it exactly in the way Gaius had described. The entire court knew that he was lying and had indeed gone about it that way, but no one dared to speak against the King, after all, he did not seem in the best mood...

"We must go and get ready for the banquet. Merlin, youre still my manservant so we need to go to my chambers now." Arthur demanded and left the room, most of the court sat in surprised silence for a few moments before going to their own chambers.

Merlin was ecstatic Arthur had spoken to him, did this mean that things were going to change and go back to normal again? He ran to Arthur's chambers and started taking out his clothes ready for the banquet, the brilliant red of his cape and the shiny metal of the chainmail which he had spent all of the previous night cleaning to make sure Arthur would not have more reason to ignore or be mad at him.

Arthur walked in not long after Merlin. As Merlin thought about it he did not know how he had beaten Arthur to his chambers, but he did not really question it as Arthur still did not seem to be in the mood to offer an explanation, for where he may have been sidetracked on his way. He walked over and took off the more casual clothes he had worn to the round table. Unlike usual he had not wanted to wear the entire chainmail get up for it was more informal a meeting than anything else.

As Arthur was dressed again, he kept a close eye on Merlin. He had not really looked at him since they had got back, but he noticed that some of the light had disappeared from his friend's eyes and he looked skinnier and more tired than usual, something that concerned Arthur (although he would never actually admit that was the case).