The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

Dum spiro spero S2 E7

As I was putting the last of my things in the hidden room, I heard a knock at my door. Shutting the door firmly, I walked over to the door and opened it. I smiled when I saw Merlin standing there and when I saw the bag in his hands, I immediately realised why he was here. I quickly stood aside and allowed Merlin in.

"Is that all of your stuff?" I asked, pulling the book down.

"Yeah, I think so," Merlin nodded.

He put the bag down to the side of the room and I was immediately engulfed in a tight hug.

"Woah," I laughed, trying to stable myself as I nearly fell at the sudden movement. "Are you alright?" I felt him bury his head in the crook of my neck before his grip on me tightened. "Merlin, you're starting to scare me."

"I'm sorry," Merlin apologised, but he never let go of me.

Thinking that it was probably just nerves about the Witchfinder coming, I gently stroked his hair, running my fingers through it.

"He won't be here for long, you know. And I don't think you need to worry about this Witchfinder," I said, sighing deeply and resting my chin on his shoulder.

"I—er—I need to say something," Merlin muttered quietly.

"Merlin, what's wrong?" I asked, slowly pulling back, and resting my hands on his shoulder, making him look me in the eyes. "If this is about what happened with the smoke—"

"No, it's not that," Merlin shook his head. "Well, it is sort of about that. Gaius spoke to me and he made some very good points."

"Ok?" I replied, unsure.

"He made a point that was very true and I hate it. I hate that Gaius is right," Merlin muttered the last bit.

"Right about what?" I asked.

"Gaius said that he knows this Witchfinder person and that his name is Aredian. He also said that Aredian notices everything," Merlin explained, and I quickly realised what he was saying.

"I'm guessing Gaius implied that Aredian will notice something is going on between us," I predicted, ignoring the ache in my chest when I said this.

"Yeah," Merlin sighed. "But it's like you said, he won't be here for long, right?"

"I hope not," I smiled weakly. "And as much as I hate to admit it, Gaius is right. We haven't exactly been the most careful. Even Arthur mentioned that Leon has noticed something between us."

"Leon?" Merlin repeated. "You don't think that he'd—"

"No. Leon isn't the sort of person that would betray us to my father," I assured him. I'd known Leon for most of my life and he was one of the most loyal and trustworthy people that I knew.

Merlin nodded, glancing down at his feet before back up at me.

"So we're in agreement then?" Merlin asked.

"We're in agreement," I smiled sadly.

We were going to have to take a break until Aredian had left Camelot and we were safe again.

"But until then..." Merlin trailed off, placing a hand around my waist, and pulling me closer.

I smiled at him and reached up on my tiptoes, pulling him into a kiss. The truth was, I had no idea how long Aredian would be here so I held myself closer to Merlin and held onto him like I never would again.

"Chelsea?" I heard Morgana calling from outside.

Part of me just wanted to ignore her and stay with Merlin but then I thought that would be slightly too suspicious. And I knew that she knew about Merlin and me, but that didn't mean she needed to know everything we did together.