Merlin Oneshots (and some multi-part stories)

Too Late Part Two

Title: Too Late
Description: Arthur confronts Merlin, asking who Freya is. This leads to the discovery of a great many things.
Word Count: 832
Part: 2/2

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"Merlin, who's Freya?" Arthur asked suddenly one day.

Merlin stopped in his tracks. Startled, he turned to face his king.

"What?"

"Who's Freya?" he repeated.

"No one," Merlin replied automatically, pausing for a moment.

"Where'd you hear that name anyways?" he asked finally.

"I heard you," Arthur confessed, blushing a little, "outside the physicians chambers."

"Were you eavesdropping sire?" Merlin asked.

He started wracking his brain trying to remember what was said that day. Anger and sadness were the two most prominent memories.

"I was not! I simply happened to be outside the door when you were talking."

It was a lame excuse, they both knew that, but neither said anything.

"Why do you want to know about Freya anyways?"

Arthur started to speak, but closed his mouth, not sure of why he wanted to know who Freya is.

"You know so much about me," he began, "I figured I'd only be fair to know more about you."

Some words remained unspoken: "You're my friend and I care about you."

Merlin knew them anyways, so while he didn't speak them, the message was conveyed. This startled Merlin (more than he'd care to admit). While he knew Arthur was his friend, he didn't expect him to nearly say as much.

There was a brief hesitation before Merlin spoke.

"I- She was-" he was struggling to find the right words, "She was someone I knew, a while ago."

Arthur, knowing there was more, waited for him to continue.

"She died. Tragically. There's not really much more to it than that." Merlin finished

"You loved her."

Merlin only nodded in response. There was silence for a while after that, not really tense, but not comfortable either.

"What else did you not eavesdrop on?" Merlin tried to add some humor into his words, but the words fell flat.

"I'm not really sure," he answered truthfully, "From what I could piece together, you and someone else went to go find someone, who you didn't learn was your father until after he uh, died."

"Also some confusing mentions of a destiny? But that part made no sense," Arthur continued, not noticing Merlin tense at the on-point explanation, "You know, it kind of made it sound like Balinor was your father. But, that makes no sense. Right?"

Merlin stayed silent.

"Right?"

When Merlin still gave no response, Arthur was left to draw his own conclusions yet again.

"Oh gods," Arthur said, leaning back in his chair, "Balinor was your father. No wonder you were so distraught after his death! And I told you no man was worth your tears. Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry. Of course he was worth your tears."

Merlin looks up, startled.

"You're... Sorry?"

"Yes! I'm sorry I ever said that to you. It was meant to make you feel better but, it probably made you feel a whole lot worse."

"I knew you couldn't have known. It wasn't your fault," he said slowly.

"Doesn't that make you a dragonlord too?" Arthur looked up.

"I- A dragonlords powers are passed onto their oldest son upon their death," Merlin explained, looking down.

While Arthur processed this, Merlin continued.

"You aren't going to turn me in, are you?"

"Turn you- No! Of course not."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, did I actually kill the dragon?" Arthur asked, now skeptical about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the event.

Merlin shook his head.

"So... did you?"

Merlin, once again, shook his head, "I was going to, but... I couldn't do it. He's the last of his kind, as I am mine. We're kin Arthur."

"So, there's a powerful, destructive, killing dragon on the loose!" Arthur screamed standing up.

"No! I ordered him away," Merlin replied all too quickly, "He won't come back here on pain of death. Besides, he can't resist the orders of a dragonlord."

Arthur sat back down, looking as relieved as he felt.

"Good. We don't need an angry dragon on our hands again."

"You know," Merlin stated, "He was only angry at Uther for killing all his kin, dragons and dragonlords alike, and then locking him up for 20 years."

Arthur looked as if this had never occurred to him (which it probably hadn't).

"I suppose he was, wasn't he?"

There was a beat of silence before anyone started speaking again.

"Is there... anything else I should know?"

Merlin nodded.

I suppose now's as good of a time as any.

"Ihavemagic." he blurted out before he could stop himself.

"You have what?"

"I have... magic."

He heard Arthur suck in a breath, and then start laughing. Merlin could confidently say he was very confused.

"Only you, Merlin, would practice magic in Camelot."

"I was born with it! I swear it! And I only use it for good. You'd be surprised how many sorcerers attack Camelot on a regular basis. It's not easy to take care of!"

This stopped Arthur, who still wasn't seeming angry.

"I think you'd better explain."

And so he did.

The End