Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Chapter Sixteen

"Gaius."

Gaius looked up, startled, to see the king standing in his doorway. Arthur had his arms crossed and he was smiling in a decidedly unfriendly way.

"Sire! I didn't realize you were back. Please, come in." He hurried to clear a spot at the table for Arthur, but the king remained standing.

"I was hoping to have a word," Arthur said, closing the door behind him.

"Of course," Gaius replied, puzzled by the king's manner.

"About your ward."

Oh no. What had Merlin done now? Gaius tried to look as innocent and ignorant as he could.

"About Merlin?"

"Yes. About Merlin. About him being a powerful sorcerer?" Arthur raised his eyebrows and took a couple of steps into the room. Gaius resisted the urge to take a couple of steps back. "And about how you harbored him for ten years?"

Before he could say more, Merlin came barreling into the room at full speed, nearly hitting Arthur with the door.

"Arthur!"

"Get out, Merlin," Arthur ordered.

"Arthur, you promised Gaius wouldn't be in trouble!" he insisted, blue eyes flashing with panic.

Arthur grabbed Merlin by the back of neck and marched him out the door. "I said Gaius wouldn't get in trouble for telling you basic information about magic. I said nothing about what would happen to him for harboring a sorcerer." Arthur shoved Merlin into the hallway and slammed the door and barred it. Then he took a step back and watched it for several seconds.

"You needn't look so worried," he said after a moment, glancing over at Gaius. "I'm not going to do anything to you, Gaius. Other than yell. Possibly a lot."

Gaius blinked in surprise. "Then why did you tell Merlin…?"

Apparently content that the door would stay closed, Arthur finally took the seat Gaius had cleared for him at the table. He sat back in the chair, still watching the door from the corner of his eye.

"I wanted to see how he'd respond," he said. "He's protective of you."

Gaius felt completely lost. "Sire?"

But before Arthur could answer, the bar fell to the floor and the door flew open again, and Merlin rushed back inside.

"I'm sorry, but Arthur, please don't blame him. It's my fault, not his!"

Arthur looked murderous.

"Merlin," he said firmly. "You will leave this room. You will close the door. And you will trust me, as king, to handle a criminal situation in the way that I see just and fit."

The two stared at each other for a long moment until Merlin finally looked at Gaius. Gaius gave him a reassuring nod, and Merlin glared one last time at Arthur before he left, slamming the door behind him.

"Sire," Gaius said, taking the seat across from him, "what on earth is going on?"

"I was just trying to see if he trusts me. Which he clearly doesn't. He says he thinks I'm a good king, but he never seems to remember he thinks that when it comes time to trust my judgment." Arthur sighed, then shook his head as though to clear it. "But I do need to yell at you. Because Gaius, you harbored a sorcerer for ten years without telling me!"

Gaius raised his chin defiantly. "Merlin was no threat to you or to Camelot, Arthur. I was sure of it."

"But you lied to me, Gaius! I've trusted you my entire life! My father trusted you! And you lied!" Arthur's voice was raised, but Gaius didn't hear any true anger in it. Just exhaustion and frustration. Gaius wondered worriedly how much yelling Arthur had already done.

"I lived through the Great Purge, sire," Gaius reminded him quietly. "I saw hundreds slain. And I love Merlin as a son. I am loyal to you, Arthur, as I was loyal to Uther. But I would not risk Merlin's life. I could not risk Merlin's life."

To Gaius's surprise, Arthur rested his elbows on the table and buried his head in his hands wearily.

"I understand that. I just wish you had trusted me enough to know that I wouldn't risk Merlin's life either."

"How is it," Arthur snapped as soon as he walked in the door, "that there are so many people in my life who swear they are loyal to me, but seem to think I'm a monster?"

Gwen blinked and pulled up short. She had been moving across the room to embrace her husband, but that was not the greeting she was expecting.

"Hello to you too, Arthur. What's wrong?" When he didn't immediately answer, she prodded blindly, "Did the search for the prophecy go poorly?"

Arthur plopped himself into a chair. The prophecy. Emrys. He had nearly forgotten that's how all of this had started. Had it been mere days ago that he had set out for Lord Elric's, obsessed with finding the truth behind the rumors?

Gwen sat down tentatively across from him. "Did something happen, Arthur?"

He laughed.

"Did you know Merlin was in love? A few years back?" he asked suddenly. Gwen blinked, taken aback.

"No, he never said anything to me about it. Are you sure?"

"Very sure." Arthur leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. He hadn't really thought about how much he would tell Gwen. He wasn't in the habit of keeping secrets from her, but he also knew that she had been friends with Merlin for a long time. For a moment, he wondered if he should let Merlin tell her himself. Then he decided that Merlin had had ten years of chances to tell people himself. He wasn't feeling particularly generous towards the man who had lied to him. And who apparently thought he would hurt Gaius.

Besides, as soon as he told her, she would just go hunt Merlin down to hear it from him directly anyway.

"Merlin got shot with an arrow. Twice. And almost died. And was healed by magic by his former love, whom I apparently killed. It turns out he's Emrys. And he's lied about a lot of things."

The short and sweet account of their trip. It captured absolutely none of the torment of it.

Gwen looked at him sideways, struggling for a moment to respond. Finally she said, "I thought Emrys was a sorcerer."

Arthur sighed heavily. "Yes. He is. A powerful one. That's where the lies came in."

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and then stood up. "Arthur, would you mind if I talked to Merlin myself?"

He snorted and waved his hand. "Have fun."

She made it halfway to the door before she came back and surprised him with a kiss. "I'm glad you're home."

Gwen found Merlin in the stables, putting away the gear from the horses.

"Hi." She smiled as normally as she could, trying not to seem like she was ambushing him. But Merlin took one look at her and sighed.

"He told you."

"He told me he thinks you're Emrys," she said slowly, as though testing out the words. Merlin gave her an unhappy smile in return. "And...some other things. It's true then?" she asked, stepping closer and lowering her voice.

"I guess that depends on what other things he said. If he said lots of terrible things about me betraying him, then no. If he said that I'm a sorcerer who has lied and kept secrets, then yes." He looked so glum and guilty that Gwen immediately wanted to try to comfort him, but she also needed to process this new information.

"He didn't say anything about betrayal. Just about Emrys and the lies, and then something about you nearly dying, and apparently something about a girl?" She wouldn't have thought it was possible, but Merlin seemed to deflate even more.

"It was a hard few days. How did he seem, Gwen? Did he seem okay?" Merlin asked anxiously.

Gwen tried to smile, but she and Merlin had never been ones to lie to each other.

Well. She had never been one to lie to Merlin.

"He seems upset," she admitted. "And confused. And tired."

Merlin sat down on a hay bale and buried his head in his hands. "I've screwed it all up, Gwen. I'm trying to do the right thing – I was always trying to do the right thing. But every time I start to feel hopeful, I do something else to mess things up. Like the thing with Gaius."

She frowned. "What thing with Gaius?"

Merlin sighed. "Guess he didn't mention that bit. It doesn't matter. Just another thing I did to make him mad."

"Oh, Merlin." She put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "You two will figure it out. You always do." She couldn't keep the slight note of reproach out of her voice as she added, "You should have been honest with me."

Merlin groaned into his hands. "You have no idea how many times I have heard that recently. I'm avoiding Gwaine, because I'm sure I'm going to get an earful from him as soon as he gets me alone."

Gwen couldn't resist laughing. "But it's true. You should have trusted your friends."

Merlin nodded and let his hands drop. "You seem to be taking this well," he noted skeptically.

"That's because I am completely in denial," she said with a sincere smile. "Right now, I know Arthur is upset and you're upset. And I know how to deal with upset people. I'll think about the whole magic thing later."

Merlin smiled weakly. "Try not to hate me too much when you get around to it."

Gwen smiled and sat down next to him, putting her arm around his shoulders. "I could never hate you, Merlin," she said, squeezing her friend into a hug.

He let her hug him for a moment and then pulled away. "Thanks, Gwen. Now get out of here. Arthur needs you more than I do right now. Besides, the stables are no place for a queen."

She opened her mouth to argue that last point, but Merlin firmly shoved her out the door before she had the chance.

AN: We're coming up on the end! Two more chapters and an epilogue. As always, thank you for reading!