No more secrets (Merthur)

chapter 3 - Is that all?

Merlin woke up to the chill breeze brushing his face. It was obvious that today wasn't going to be so warm. The clouds were covering the early morning sun, and the trees were bending wildly in the wind. Merlin was the first one awake, he got up and started on some breakfast.

He started thinking about last evening. The thought of it being just a dream crossed his mind, more than once. But he knew it was real, and he couldn't be happier. Though he was also nervous, about what Arthur would say when he would wake up. Merlin suspected that everything would just go back to how they were, and the thought of that made him sigh with sadness. He didn't want things to go back to normal, he loved Arthur, he wanted to be with him as more than just a friend. He wanted to be able to kiss him everyday, to give him a hug whenever he wanted to. He wanted to see Arthur's face next to him every morning when he woke up, and he wanted Arthur to be the last thing he saw before going to sleep. He loved him so much, he would give up his own life for him in a blink of an eye, there's nothing he wouldn't do for him. There's not much he hadn't already done for him, but Arthur didn't even know any of that.

He was so deep in thought, that he hadn't noticed when the knights woke up and came to sit next to him. He only noticed the others when Gwaine spoke up, "So how about that kiss, huh?" He was smirking at the two, who were once again sitting next to each other. Arthur rolled his eyes at him, but with a slight smile. Merlin didn't say anything. Surely Gwaine was already used to getting ignored.

They were eating breakfast, when a group of bandits came running from all around them. There were at least forty of them, and they managed to take them by surprise. They drew their swords and defended themselves as best they could, but there were only eight of them, and it would have been nearly impossible to fight them off. But they had Merlin on their side, so how could they lose?

They were all fighting them, five to one, and Merlin checked to see no one was watching before he used his magic to defeat a few of the bandits. His eyes flashed gold and the bandits fighting him flew backwards, hitting the ground and going unconscious. What he didn't know was that Arthur saw what he did, he saw Merlin use magic. He had to return to the fighting, but he would definitely have an interesting conversation with Merlin after this was all over. Merlin sneakily used his magic to help the battle a little more, and soon they managed to fight them off. The bandits were fleeing to the woods, those of them that weren't dead.

"You have magic," Arthur stated, his words full of emotion. Merlin was looking at him, dumbfounded. "Don't deny it, I know what I saw," he added, when Merlin didn't say anything. He sounded somewhat angry, like he'd just been betrayed. "Arthur..." Merlin managed to say, his voice nearly a whisper, broken and sad. All the others were looking at the two. Lancelot, Mordred and Gwaine looked worried, while the rest just looked shocked and a bit tense.

Arthur turned around and stormed off. "Arthur!" Merlin shouted after him, worried about losing the most important person in his life. He left to follow him, leaving the knights there, just standing and not knowing what to do. He caught up with Arthur after they were a good distance from the others. Arthur stopped and turned towards Merlin. His eyes were full of hurt, tears threatening to spill at any second.

"Why did you never tell me?" his voice was broken. "We've known each other for years, yet you never told me. Don't you trust me?" Arthur asked, looking into Merlins beautiful blue eyes that were now filling with tears. "I trust you with my life, Arthur," he answered without hesitation. "Well what is it then?" Arthur asked, frustrated, and a little scared. After a short pause of Merlin and Arthur looking into each other's eyes, feeling each other's pain as well as their own, Merlin finally answered, "I didn't want to put you in that position. That you'd have to choose between me and your father's laws." Arthur's gaze softened and he seemed to realise that this was still the same Merlin he was in love with. "That's what worried you?" Neither of them said anything more. They were looking into each other's eyes, realizing just how badly they needed the other by their side.

"Can you forgive me?" Merlin asked, worry in his voice and tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. "Yes, of course," Arthur answered with a gentle smile. He thought for a moment, before stepping forward and giving Merlin a heart-warming hug. Merlin was surprised, and it took him a while before wrapping his hands tightly around the man he loves. He gave a relieved sigh, and lowered his head to rest on Arthur's shoulder. A few tears escaped his eyes, as they stayed there embracing each other.

-----

The two walked back to their trashed camp where they found the others, sitting around the fire with worried expressions. They turned their looks away from the fire, when they noticed the two arriving. Merlin looked nervous, to put it lightly. Arthur sat down beside the others, but Merlin remained standing. He was looking at the ground, too afraid to look up, thinking that he would face the disapproving looks from his friends.

"So... Lancelot, Mordred and Gwaine told us that they already knew about... your magic," Leon said, hesitantly. Merlin looked up, surprised and a bit curious. "They told us what you do with it, and we just want you to know that we're okay with you having magic," Elyan added, smiling reassuringly at Merlin. Percival and Leon nodded in agreement. Merlin smiled his usual goofy smile, relieved that his friends all accepted who he was. "Thank you," he said to them, his voice revealing just how relieved he was. They were all smiling somewhat happily, except for Arthur who was pouting again. "So the three of them knew, but not me?" he said, pointing towards where Lancelot, Mordred and Gwaine were sitting. He sounded hurt, and confused. "Well Gwaine knew since yesterday, and Lancelot found out by accident when he first came to Camelot. And mordred..." Merlin started to explain, until Mordred cut him off. "I guess now would be a good time to tell you guys that I have magic too," he said with an unsure smile.

They all turned to look at Mordred, shocked, except for of course Merlin who already knew. Mordred shrunk down under their gazes. "You have magic?" Arthur asked with a shocked expression, full of confusion. "So you really don't remember that Mordred is the same druid boy that we once saved together from Camelot years ago?" Merlin asked Arthur, looking directly at him. Arthur turned to look at Merlin, then back at Mordred. He thought hard for a moment, before his expression changed into one of pure realization. He turned to look at Merlin again. "So you knew, and never thought to tell me?" he asked. "Well, it wouldn't make much difference. He's a loyal knight, who's saved your life, and having magic doesn't change that. But if you knew he had magic, you probably wouldn't have made him a knight. Plus he's my friend and I didn't want to betray one of my kind by telling you he has magic and putting him in danger," he explained simply. Arthur seemed to understand and he nodded slightly.

"One of your kind? So are you a druid too?" Elyan asked confused. "Not exactly, but us who are born with magic, we're kind of kin to each other," Merlin explained to them. "Though he is kind of the king of druids," Mordred added with a smile. "What?" Arthur bursted out, even more confused than before. Merlin was blushing, he felt everyone's gazes on him and he started to feel uncomfortable. "You're a king?" Percival asked, a smile on his face. "Awesome!" Gwaine shouted out with a wide smile. Merlin chuckled and everyone else was smiling, except for Arthur who rolled his eyes out of frustration.

"Anything else I need to know?" he asked. "Well, I'm also a dragonlord" Merlin said hesitantly. Arthur was looking at him with a frown and a questioning look. "Wait, I didn't know that," Mordred said, also with a frown. "Neither did I," Lancelot said confused. "I don't really talk about it much," Merlin replied, looking at the ground. Arthur looked like he just realized something. "Oh no, Balinor was your father wasn't he?" he asked, looking at Merlin with somewhat sad eyes. "Yeah," he answered sadly, gaze still fixated on the ground. "I'm so sorry Merlin," Arthur said while standing up and giving Merlin another hug. "I'm so sorry, if I'd known, I wouldn't have been so insensitive," he added, voice slightly broken. "Arthur, it's alright, you couldn't have known," Merlin assured him. They pulled apart from the hug and looked into each other's eyes for a good moment. Merlin smiled reassuringly and Arthur smiled back.

"So, is that all?" he asked. "Yeah, I think that's about it," Merlin replied. They sat down and they all started to ask all kinds of questions from Merlin, referring his magic or him being a dragonlord. Merlin answered them, and sometimes Mordred helped on some questions about magic. They all had a surprising amount of fun, and they lost the track of time. The sun was high up in the sky, soon starting to set, and everyone noticed how hungry they were. They went for a short hunt, and when they came back, Merlin made food and they all ate. It was soon a late afternoon and they all needed some rest, so they went to lie on the ground next to each other, talking about all kinds of things that friends talk about, and whatever nonsense happened to come from Gwaine's mouth.