Verliy i say onto thou. Look upon thy field in which my fucks are grown. And BEHOLD! IT IS BARREN!
That what i said to my friend when she cursed me about the last chapter.
.
.i am not sorry.
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They both stared at each other, neither moving. Merlin was scared, he just blurted out he can't lie and that he had magic. To the prince whose father kills people like him. People who practice magic. He believes that he was dead. That the man he loved was going to kill him. Was going to go tell the king he was a magic user and then he would die. He will never fulfill his destiny.
Before he knew it tears started to fall down his eyes. His breathing stuttered and he let out a wounded sound. He was full on crying now. Which seemed to snap Arthur out of his bewilderment. He reached out to grab at Merlin's shoulder. "Merlin."
He didn't know why but his head keep screaming, "run! Get away! You can't die. Not yet! RUN!" So that's what he did.
Merlin slapped Arthur's hand away from him. He stepped back and tripped. Falling into the changing screen. With a loud crash and the sound of the screen breaking, Merlin hit the floor. The pain from the burns and the bruising flared up and he knew the bandages became loose. Which reminded him that he needed to change them. At the most inconvenient time.
"Merlin!" Arthur yelled concerned for his servant. He stepped towards him. Still crying and panicking Merlin didn't hear the worry in Arthur's voice. Merlin crawled backwards until his back met the bed. His injuries protesting his movements. He sobbed from both the physical and mental pain.
"Please, don't. Please Arthur don't...don't tell your father. Please. I would never hurt you. I swear. Not with magic ever. Please don't hurt me." Merlin cried and begged. His head laying on his knees from where he pulled his legs up to his chest. His fingers buried in his hair.
...
Arthur's heart broke. From the sounds he was making. Ugly sobs, with hiccups, and from the fact that Merlin thinks he would ever hurt him.
"Merlin," Arthur said as he kneeled down and grabbed his hands and pulled them from his head. Merlin gave no fight this time. A soft, quiet please being released from his mouth.
"Merlin. Listen to me."
Merlin shook his head and keep saying please over and over again.
"Merlin!" Still, he wasn't listening. Arthur breathed in and just blurted what he wanted to say out.
"Merls, I already knew!"
Everything stopped. The sobs, the hiccups, the mantra of pleases. Merlin looked up and stared Arthur in the eyes. His face red and puffy from the hysterical crying.
"Wh... what?"
"I already knew," Arthur said again.
Holding Merlin's hands. "Not about the truth whatever, don't bloody know what that's about, but about your magic. You can say spells behind someone only so many times before they eventually hear you."
Merlin stared. "You knew? You know, wait when did you....why didn't you say anything?"
"Well, I guessed when the wind mysteriously came in and destroyed the avank." Arthur said letting go of Merlin's hands and sitting down in front of him on the floor. Merlin let his hands fall silently to his side. The palms resting against the sun warmed floor.
"But I knew for sure when you and your mom was talking about it when I was right outside the door."
Merlin looked at Arthur stunned. "But...you didn't say anything."
Arthur smiled. "At the time I was conflicted. My emotions and my loyalty to my father was at war with each other. I didn't know what to do. If I turned you in, I lose you. But if I don't then I'm betraying him. In the end I decided you have never done anything against the kingdom or the royal family, so I let you be. Even if it went against what my father stood for but my mind has long been changed from his views."
Arthur leaned forward and placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder.
"And as for why I never said anything. I believed you would tell me. When you were ready for me to know."
Merlin stared dumbfounded at the prince. His mind processing everything that was said. Then he started laughing. Which dislodged Arthurs hand from his shoulder.
"Well then. You know that could have saved me some very embarrassing moments."
Arthur smiled back at him. "Oh you mean like the time you floated a mirror down to spy on that troll that married my father?"
Merlin gasped, "you knew about that to!?"
"I didn't know she was a troll but I knew something was up when you risked yourself like that"
They both ended up laughing. But stopped when Merlin winced in pain. Arthur stood up and offered the other, still sitting on the floor a hand. "Come on. Get off the floor."
Merlin took the offered hand. He raised himself up with a bit of pain to his side and shoulder. The fall hurting him more then he already was. He wiped at his face. Trying to remove the tears that were still there.
"Come sit down." He gestured to the bed. By this point Merlin didn't care about what was proper for a servant and what wasn't. Not after Arthur's, "if my servant needs to be put in his place I'll put him there," speech. So, he walked to the bed and sat down beside the prince. While looking down at his hands he noticed the bandages.
"Oh! I forgot." Merlin said starling Arthur who was about to say something. The servant reached inside his pocket and fished out the bandages be grabbed that morning. "I need to change them."
Arthur nodded and watched as Merlin took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. Revealing loose bandages. Merlin had no problem taking them off. Putting them on was a different matter.
Arthur grabbed the bandages out of Merlin's hand. Making a give me motion with his hand. "Here. Give me your arm."
Merlin smiled, even if it looked awkward cause of the red and puffy face he has from crying.
While Arthur carefully started to wrap his arm he spoke up. "What do you mean you can't tell a lie?"
Merlin blushed making his face an even darker red. "Oh well I was trying a potion but I didn't say the spell right. So instead of a healing potion. It made a serum that makes you unable to tell a lie at all for four days. I have a few more days then it should stop. It's how I got the burns. The pot exploded."
Arthur nodded, and after finishing with his one arm smacked him in the back of the head.
"Ow! What was that for!"
"Cause you're a complete idiot, and shouldn't try spell if you can't cast them right." Arthur said gesturing for the other arm. Merlin gave it to him.
"Yeah I know! You didn't have to smack me clotpole."
Arthur smiled at the stupid name. Then asked something else. "What did you mean by it hurts?"
"The spell kind of demands I answer. So it feels like I'm burning from the inside out. It's been getting worse the more I fight it."
The prince looked up concerned. Stopping in his wrapping of bandages.
"Then don't fight it. I'm sure other than your magic there's nothing else you have to hide. And I already know about that."
Merlin looked away and didn't answer. The blonde caught on to that.
"Wait there's something else?"
Merlin glared at the floor. The burning coming back. Arthur noticed the servants face scrunch up in pain and hurried to fix it. "Sorry! Don't answer that. I don't want to know."
The burning went away. Merlin sighed. "Thank you, and I can't just not fight it. Especially when the other knights and other servants talk to me. But hey you need to finish getting ready. You have knights training. You're going to be late. We can talk more about it later."
"Right," Arthur quickly finished bandaging his arms. Then stood up. "Well come on. I need my armor. Go go."
Merlin stood and pushed his sleeves down. And slid his jacket back on. "I'm going." He walked over to Arthur before he left. "Thank you. For everything. You really aren't your father."
Arthur breathed deeply, falling even more in love with the brown-haired man. "You're welcome."
Merlin bowed before walking to the door.
"Oh and merlin!"
He looked over to the prince with his hand on the door. Arthur smirked. "Don't let me catch you using magic to do your chores like I did last month again."
Merlin blushed. His face mostly back to normal now. Looking less like he was just crying. He shyly smiled. "I would say I won't but we both know I can't tell a lie." Then he was out the door.
Arthur laughed and turned back to his room walking over to his desk. Thinking, "to hell with my father and what he thinks. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. I want Merlin."
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I really wanted to update this so you get two chapters! Hurrrayyyy!!! Hope you like the fluffy chapter. Fluff with a pinch of angst!