Merlin had gone on a two year trip, and had returned months ago. Ever since then, Arthur had noticed many differences about the boy, and how people treated him. Many differences. In fact, he was starting to question if this was really Merlin.
..............
When Merlin had came back, he'd taken all his chores back without a second thought. No argument, no eye roll, and no sassy comments. This had been extremely weird for Arthur, but he had dismissed it. He had his best friend back, so why would he complain?
Complaints about going on hunting trips were brought down to a minimum. The disgust was still there etched into the very lines of his face, but the words were no longer spoken. It seemed Merlin had matured. Although, he still made jokes, and held the conversation when necessary. (which was mostly when Gwaine wasn't around)
His attitude had completely changed. As worried Arthur was about that, there were other changes that had caught his eye, and almost everyone elses.
.............
One long trip they took about a week after Merlin came back, they each needed to bathe. They all decided to go swimming together. (Ignore how bad that sounds, I couldn't figure out a better way to put it.) So they had each gone swimming in their undergarments. Merlin had been resistant to going swimming
When Merlin had taken off his shirt, none of them had expected what they saw. Abs and scars. Nobody had expected to see Merlin had muscle, but the scars were far more eye catching. He had multiple scars, burns, and a few newer marks. On his left hip he had a long line that had stitches through it. His upper left back had some extreme bruising.
Noticing all the eyes upon him, Merlin had demanded, "stop staring," and had walked into the lake to avoid their harsh gazes.
No one said anything about the scars, because he obviously didn't want to talk about it. That didn't stop them from gossiping about it later.
..............
Bandits were becoming more and more of an issue ever since Merlin had come back. It's almost like someone had been keeping them in line, but had stopped. Actually, if anyone thought about it, there hadn't been word about Morgana for a long time.
There had been rumours of a man known as Emrys across the five kingdoms. The rumours had said that the man was extremely powerful, and none could beat him.
Emrys had supposedly beat an entire army with his bare hands. Arthur had learned of this when an enemy king had come to him for help. The king had apparently run out of allies, and had asked Arthur for an alliance. In return, he would end the war between them.
According to the rumours, the Emrys fellow had saved a man's life and in return been trained and become the best swords man in the five kingdoms. Arthur was simply aching to have a chance to fight him.
There were many rumours, and Arthur knew how rumours worked so he was hesitant to believe any without evidence. Yet he had evidence to say at least some were true. Like an enemy king coming to him for help, bandit attacks becoming less and many more.
One thing Arthur definitely noticed was that Emrys' actions usually aided Camelot. Once again, Arthur desperately wanted to meet him. To thank him.
..............
There was one more main thing that had changed. How their enemies acted. Actually there were many examples of this.
When bandits would attack, they would go full force until they noticed Merlin. When they noticed Merlin, they would usually retreat, even if they were winning. This had happened multiple times. One time an army had retreated once their leader had noticed Merlin and retreated.
Sometimes there would be a sorcerer, or a man looking to murder Arthur, but as soon as they noticed Merlin, they would run.
Arthur had been meaning to ask Merlin about it, but Merlin had become extremely good at switching topics.
.............
This morning a foreign man had come to Arthur for help. He was looking for Emrys. According to the man who was called Wolfred, Emrys resided in Camelot. Apparently there had been a rebellion, and only Emrys could help.
Wolfred continued explaining, so Arthur learned a lot about Emrys.
Like the fact that he was extremely talented and a fast learner. They'd trained alongside each other. While Wolfred had been training for years, Emrys had caught up on his training in two months. Then they'd continued to train together for a month before Emrys had surpassed his level by a landslide.
Apparently Emrys had kicked their mentor's rude backside in no time. He then went on a mission to defeat some evil sorceress that used to be Uther's ward. She had lost all her magic because of Emrys. She was still alive, just harmless.
Once he finished that, he constantly came across huge problems that he laughed at. According to Wolfred, Emrys had laughed when a king sent an army at him, claiming that he'd seen worse.
"So how can we find Emrys?" Arthur asked wanting to meet this Emrys guy.
"I apologize sire, but Emrys has told me that he wishes to not meet you. If you can simply tell me the way to Gaius, he will tell me how to find him."
Arthur was now rather annoyed, but he still answered, "Merlin will show you the way there.
Wolfred's eyes widened when he saw Merlin move forward. That was the second Arthur realized. At the moment he didn't believe it, but when he thought over how Merlin acted, and all the weird things that happened around him, he couldn't deny it.
.............
Merlin was back from his month long trip to 'Ealdor to help his mom.' More like: trip to help Wolfred.
During training Arthur made a decision. It was about time Merlin confessed.
"Merlin, fight me," Arthur demanded.
"Sure sire," Merlin said in a joking tone.
"No I mean it. Pick up a sword and fight me."
So he did. Arthur won that round easily.
"Am I done now?" Merlin asked from the ground.
"No. I want you to actually try this round. I know you can fight way better than that."
So Merlin picked up the sword and slowly stood up.
"C'mon Merlin," Arthur leaned in real close and whispered so only Merlin could hear it, "or should I say Emrys?"
As soon as Arthur whispered it, Merlin looked angry. Let's just say Merlin hadn't ever looked angry around Arthur. At most he'd looked annoyed. Seeing Merlin with that look of raw anger was rather frightening.
"Who told you?" Merlin demanded in a cold tone. Nobody had heard Merlin like this, so now every knight surrounding them had started listening in and watching.
"Figured it out myself. Now fight me," Arthur demanded. On the inside Arthur was rather frightened, but he was rather good at hiding his emotions by now.
This time when Arthur tried to hit him, Merlin blocked it. Then Merlin threw a swing of his own at Arthur's neck. That swing could have killed if Arthur hadn't blocked it, and they weren't using blunt knives. So now Arthur knew he was correct. Merlin was Emrys.
The battle went on for a few minutes. All of Merlin's hit were filled with rage. Unfortunately enough for Arthur, even through his anger, Merlin could throw precise swings. Which many, including Arthur, could not do. The battle finished when a huffing Arthur landed on the ground with multiple bruises. Merlin was barely breathing heavily at all. Actually, he hadn't even broken a sweat.
A thin, but muscular arm then reached out for Arthur. Arthur took it, and was pulled up. He then looked into his best friend's eyes.
"Arthur if you want me to leave I will, I mean I have kept it from you for -" Merlin was interrupted.
"Why would I want you to leave? I just found out that my best friend is the best swords man in the five kingdoms. You think that I'm going to just make you leave? No I expect you to train with us."
This seemed to shock Merlin.
"Maybe I'll even make you a knight!"
.............
Months later, Arthur was knighting his best friend. The only thought in his mind was this should have happened a long time ago. They'd made an agreement that Merlin would still be a part time servant. So everything had turned out okay for both of them. Merlin had also admitted he had magic after a while, and now Arthur was working towards letting magic into the kingdom.
.