Night had fallen and everyone was sitting around the fire eating and laughing.
Violet and Aria were giggling at something before they noticed Merlin sitting all on his own by a small stream, throwing rocks into its murky waters and looking rather upset. Aria nudges Arthur gaining his attention and she nods over towards Merlin.
Arthur gets up and goes to sit beside Merlin, talking to him quietly.
After a few minutes, Arthur and Merlin walk back over to join everyone else by the fire.
_______________________________________
The next morning everyone is packing up and getting ready to continue the journey. But the sound of horses neighing in the distance causes everyone to stop and listen.
All the knights and Violet draw their swords as Aria takes off her cloak and picks up her bow, knocking an arrow.
Through the mist, they can see figures advancing toward the camp.
" We're surrounded" Merlin exclaimed
" We can't stay here" Leon states
Aria gazes at the oncoming figures in the mist with determination in her eyes but then her eyes rest on someone approaching on a pitch black horse and she freezes. The determined look she one held quickly turns to a look of fear and sadness as she realised who it was.
Someone, she once saw and still does see as family.
Morgana Pendragon.
Arthur also notices Morgana approaching.
" Run!" He yelled grabbing Aria's arm snapping her out of her frozen state.
Arthur, still holding onto Aria, takes off running with Merlin, the knights and Violet following.
The Saxons let out a loud battle cry as they start following them.
The group run for a while before their path gets blocked by some of the Saxons and they quickly change direction.
Aria slings her bow over her back before she unsheathes her sword as the Saxons close in on them.
Violet confused on what to do, tries to stay close to Aria.
Aria notices a Saxon approach Arthur from behind as he is busy fighting off another.
Merlin notices also and is about to use magic but Aria gets there first and quickly knocks out the Saxon with her sword. Not realising that Violet had been separated from the princess and was now left on her own, scared and vulnerable.
Arthur turns around to see what happened and is surprised to find Aria fending off another Saxon that tried attacking her.
After Aria is done dealing with the Saxon she smiled shyly at her brother before she notices that Leon got injured fighting someone while trying to protect Violet, who was behind him, on the floor with her sword kicked out of reach. The man that Leon was fighting then advances on a terrified Violet who started backing away whilst still on the ground.
"Leon! Violet!" Aria shouts in worry causing Arthur to spin round and notice that Leon and Violet were in trouble.
Aria attempts to run to her friends and help but is stopped as more Saxons block her path and she is forced to fight them.
Arthur also starts fighting his way over to Leon and Violet.
Arthur manages to reach Leon and Violet much faster than his sister and starts fighting the man that injured Leon.
Whilst Arthur is fighting the man that attacked Leon and Violet, he gets hit in the back and fell to the ground hard.
"Arthur!" Aria cries finally reaching her brother.
Merlin hears her and quickly runs towards Arthur.
Aria and Merlin exchanged glances as Merlin hoists Arthur up and places Arthur's arm over his shoulders.
They both run off to try and get Arthur to safety but Aria stops and looks back at her friends in concern, not really wanting to leave them but what choice did she have?
" Aria!" Merlin yells urgently for her to follow.
Aria gives her friends one last concerned look before following Merlin who is running into a nearby forest with Arthur.
" Merlin" Aria whispers- yells causing him to turn round to see her pointing at an oncoming Saxon on a horse.
Merlin nods his head for Aria to follow him and they quickly hide behind a tree.
Aria is about to get up and fight off the Saxon but she stops when she hears Merlin utter something in a strange language and see his eyes glow gold for a second.
Suddenly a snake appeared out of nowhere and scares the horse that the Saxon is riding, causing the Saxon to fall off and hit the ground hard, falling unconscious.
Aria's eyes widen in shock, fascination and wonder.
Magic!
Merlin had magic!
Merlin picks up Arthur again and looked at the young princess who still looked shocked.
" Come on, Aria!" He whisper-yelled to her as he ran off into the forest with Arthur.
Aria snaps out of her shocked state and followed Merlin further into the forest.
_______________________________________
Once they know its safe, Merlin puts down Arthur while Aria got a fire going.
Aria is silent, thinking how she oversaw Merlin make a snake appear out of nowhere, with magic and what she should do about it.
Should she just let it go and accept it like she wants to?
But magic was illegal in Camelot.
She knew she should have felt terrified and betrayed that one of her closest friends had magic and never told her. She hated being lied to. She thought that lies and secrets are what drive people apart.
But she didn't feel as betrayed as she thought she would.
She felt intrigued, curious, fascinated.
Once the fire is going Aria sits down still thinking.
As Merlin sits down next to Aria, she speaks up.
" Merlin?"
"Yes, Aria" Merlin replies
Aria takes a deep breath through her nose before speaking.
" I saw what you did back there, " she said
Merlin goes pale and freezes.
Aria glances at Arthur to make sure he's unconscious before continuing
" You conjured up a snake, using magic"
Merlin panics and starts stuttering trying to find a good excuse.
Aria giggled slightly as Merlin panics
" I'm not going to tell anyone, Merlin," Aria promises still giggling slightly
Merlin looked confused
" Your not?" He asked
Aria shook her head, smiling.
" You trust me, don't you?" Aria asks
Merlin nods his head
"Then trust me when I say, your secret is safe with me, I promise," she said with a smile.
Merlin sighed in relief
" Thank you so much" Merlin gave Aria a side hug which she returns.
" Who else knows, about your magic?" Aria wondered as they pull away
" Only Gaius" Merlin answered
" how come you never told me or anyone else for that matter?" Aria questioned again this time looking annoyed.
" Well for one, magic is outlawed,"
"ok, apart from that?" Aria rolled her eyes.
Merlin shrugged his shoulders
"I don't know. I guess I just didn't want you to see me any differently" Merlin admitted
Aria just nodded.
It was silent for a few minutes, nothing but the sound of the crackling fire and the howling wind.
"Were you born with it?" Aria asked
Merlin turned his head to look at her with a confused look on his face. "What?"
" Your magic. Were you born with it, or did you learn it?"
Merlin sighed" I was born with it. I could move objects before I could talk. But I now only ever use it to protect Arthur"
Aria's eyes lite up as she remembered the time Merlin had first come to Camelot" All those years ago when you first came to Camelot, the candelabra fell on that woman who tried to kill Arthur, that was you wasn't it?" Aria asked
" Yeah" Merlin nodded sheepishly remembering the first time he saved Arthur's life.
" Thank you, Merlin. For protecting him all these years" Aria said smiling at her friend.
Merlin smiled back, happy that someone other then Gaius knew about his magic and would keep his secret.
" I'm sorry for lying to you all these years" Merlin apologised
"I understand why you did" Aria looked at Merlin with sympathy but before she could say anything else.
Arthur let out a groan as he opened his eyes.
He looks around confused for a second before his eyes rest on Merlin and Aria.
" What happened?" he demands
" You don't remember?" Aria asks.
Arthur shakes his head slightly before noticing that it was only them three there.
"Where are the others, Leon, Elyan, Violet?" Arthur asked as Aria and Merlin exchange looks.
" There was nothing I could do. I had to get you to safety" Merlin tells him reluctantly
Arthur chuckles a little.
" What actually happened?" Arthur asks
" The usual, I saved your neck" Merlin states
Arthur looks at Merlin in disbelief
" You saved me"
" Yes, and I can juggle. I keep telling you I have many talents"
"Well, I helped a little" Aria interjects raising her hand slightly.
" That I can believe after witnessing you use a sword" Arthur smiled at his sister.
Aria had a hopeful gleam in her eyes.
"Does that mean you'll consider knighting me?" She asked
" Not a chance" Arthur quickly shot down the idea making Aria frown
Merlin rolled his eyes, laughing slightly and helped Arthur up.
" C'mon, " Merlin says.
They collect their weapons, put out the fire and set off.
_______________________________________
The trio had been walking for a while and they were now walking across a grassy plain when Merlin suddenly huffs, clearly fed up.
" Couldn't we have a break?" Merlin asked the two siblings ahead of him
Aria looks over her shoulder at him as they walk.
" As long as it's quick" she replies turning back around.
" I want to reach Ismere before dark," Arthur adds
" Ismere?!, We are heading back to Camelot!" Merlin nearly shouts at the two
" Navigation is not your strong point, is it?" Arthur says sarcastically
Aria giggled a little at her brother's comment.
" Camelot is south--" Arthur points behind him
" Sunrise is where?" Arthur gestured up to the cloudy sky
" In the east" Merlin answered
" And what have we been walking towards all day?" Aria asked
" To our deaths! the three of us against Morgana, are you mad?" Merlin yelled angrily
" I told you, I'm going to rescue my men, " Arthur says stubbornly and Aria nods agreeing with him.
" No!" Merlin grabbed Arthurs arm stopping him from walking. Aria also stops and turns to face Merlin.
" if you're afraid, then go," Arthur tells him.
" I'm worried about you," Merlin said
" Right, well I've tried sending you home. But if you're not going to do as I ask, the least you can do is shut up." Arthur states
And with that Arthur and Aria continued walking.
Merlin stays where he is and Arthur looks back at him
" Come on"
" You know if Morgana doesn't kill you, I will" Merlin threatened
"Threatening a king is treason Merlin," Arthur tells him
" What about threatening an ass!?" Merlin grumbled in annoyance as he started following the two.
" Heard that!" Arthur called back.
Aria just laughs at them.