Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Finally, the day came for Arthur to be crowned king. Merlin wanted to tell him then and there, but he saw that Arthur was too busy. Merlin quickly realized that as king, Arthur would always be busy, so a week after the coronation, Merlin got up the courage to speak to him.
"Arthur?"
"Yes, Merlin?" How should he approach the subject. Merlin couldn't just say it directly.
"How do you feel about magic?"
"It's dangerous."
"And?"
"It can't be allowed in Camelot."
"Are you sure?"
"Do you have something to tell me, Merlin?" Arthur asked jokingly. Fear spread over Merlin's face.
"Um... I... uh... well..."
"Sorry, I didn't mean... I mean if you have something to tell me, just say it. You can tell me anything."
"Anything?" Arthur nodded. "Promise?"
"I promise. Just tell me, Merlin, I can see something's bothering you." What should Merlin reveal first, Arthur's identity or his own? He realized that if he revealed Arthur's identity and brought him back, Merlin's identity would automatically be revealed.
"Arthur, tell me about your childhood." Merlin dared not approached the subject directly.
"Sorry, what?"
"Your childhood. When you were a child, you played sick to get out of a council meeting, did you not?"
"Yes..."
"And when Gaius saw that you weren't sick, where did you go?"
"To the woods."
"Alone?"
"I don't see what you're getting at, Merlin."
"Did you go alone?"
"No."
"Then who did you go with?"
"I... I don't know."
"And what about when you were 10 and had a physical examination? What happened then?"
"I fell asleep in the middle of it."
"And before that?"
"I don't know. Why don't I know? Stop scaring me, Merlin!" Merlin said nothing. "Why don't I know?"
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"You know something, don't you?" Merlin nodded. "Well come on then, out with it." Merlin sighed. "What?"
"It's just... I'm not sure you'll believe me. You'll probably think I've gone mad or something."
"What do you mean 'gone mad'? You've always been mad!" Merlin glared. "Sorry. What I meant to say was, I promise I'll try to believe you. Okay?" Merlin took a deep breath.
"You were conceived by magic. Your mother was barren and Uther needed an heir, so he consulted a sorcerer. Somehow, whether it was because of that or some other reason entirely, you were born as a Time Lord, not a human. Time Lords are an incredibly powerful alien race. Gaius has a book on them if you want to learn more. Anyway, Gaius thought that being a Time Lord was too close to being a sorcerer, so he made you a human temporarily, until the time came for your true nature to be revealed."
"Well, you're right about one thing."
"What's that?"
"Your story is hard to believe." Merlin sighed. "But supposing it was true, how would I go back to being a Time Lord?"
Merlin took off the locket he always wore underneath his shirt.
"This holds your Time Lord essence. All I have to do is open it. I've been keeping it safe all these years."
"Why would I give such a valuable thing to you, a servant?" The condescending disbelief was painfully clear in Arthur's tone.
"Because once, you trusted me. Once, a very long time ago, we were friends, and you trusted me with your life and all the secrets and intimate details of it. Once." Merlin tried in vain to hold back tears.
"And what happened?"
"When you were changed, your memory was wiped. I was too close to you, too close to your secret. You lost all memories of me."
"I'm sorry," Arthur said, and it looked like he meant it. "So does that mean I can go back to being a Time Lord now?"
"Maybe, but what will the people say? You must tell Camelot, and they will hardly be receptive if you refuse to allow magic in the kingdom."
"Are you suggesting..."
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting." And you have no idea how much it means to me, Merlin thought.
"I suppose you're probably right, but I'll need to talk it over with Guinevere and my knights first."
"Just... be careful." Arthur nodded.
"If all goes well, I'll soon be seeing you in a very different light. See you later, Merlin," Arthur said with a smile.
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