The final chapter is UP! My apologies for the delay, but I have been so busy with my schoolwork that I haven't had much time to write. I put this chapter in Merlin's point of view as I found it hard to write the scene from Arthur's more limited viewpoint. Hopefully it lived up to your expectations! Thank you for sticking with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, the BBC does.

"You're a sorcerer," Arthur hissed.

Merlin hung his head, hoping that the prince would at least have the decency to return the druid boy to his people after he killed Merlin. He didn't hold much expectation for his own safe return – or the safe return of his body, for that matter.

"Sire, I –"

"Hold your tongue," Arthur said. "If you try to curse me I'll kill him, do you understand?"

Merlin looked up to see the prince grab the druid boy by the back of the cloak and press the blade to the young boy's throat. A trickle of blood dripped onto the sword.

"I would never curse you!" Merlin said indignantly.

"Shut up!" Arthur looked angrier than Merlin had ever seen him.

He tried one more time, desperately hoping that the prince would be able to see some sort of reason. "Sire, I swear I never performed any magic on you or your father. I would never use my magic to hurt anyone. I have only ever tried to help."

"Help?" scoffed Arthur, though he released the boy, who backed quickly away.

"Yes," Merlin said. "I made the snakes in Valiant's shield come to life, and I helped cure Nimueh's epidemic."

"That was you? You were going to let Gwen take the fall for your idiocy?"

"No! I didn't know it was going to turn out that way. I was trying to help her."

"Then why didn't you just tell me?"

Merlin gaped at the prince, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. "What?"

"She was going to be executed, Merlin!"

"Sire, you are the son of the very man who has banned magic in the entire kingdom. You would have turned me in."

His last words make the prince stop and turn toward him.

"Is that why you never told me?" The words sound carefully chosen.

Merlin lowers his head. "Yes. I wanted to, but there was always a good reason not to."

He left the most obvious part unsaid – that an ever-present threat of death would dissuade anyone from revealing even their most trivial of secrets.

"Who else knows?"

The question surprised him, and he felt a sudden need to protect Gaius. "No one. Everyone thinks I'm normal."

"You're lying. There's no way you could have gone this long undetected without someone's help. So who? Gwen? Morgana?"

"Gaius."

Arthur paused, then, clearly surprised.

"He's my uncle. I couldn't very well keep it from him, could I? And I suppose you're right – he's the only reason I haven't been caught."

Arthur sat down, resting his sword against the rock. Merlin took it as a sign that he was trusted enough to keep relatively unguarded.

Or maybe Arthur just thought he was that stupid.

Either way, he would never run. It would surely doom him, and besides, Merlin didn't want to spend his last moments pleading for mercy. He would much rather go out in the middle of some great battle, a fearsome warlock struck down by scores of knights.

But his life would most likely become confined to some dank prison cell, if he wasn't sent straight to the gallows. Arthur might accept him, but he knew that the prince would inform his father, who most certainly would not.

Merlin suddenly remembered the druid boy, and looked around for their young charge. He was nowhere to be seen. Merlin's throat went dry. They had risked so much to keep the boy safe – he had revealed his magic – and now he was lost in the woods. Before he could say anything, Arthur interrupted.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" the prince asked.

Merlin shrugged, a dangerously cavalier move. "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want you to feel like you had to tell your father."

"So you were going to, what? Be my manservant and let me be oblivious to the true nature of my most trusted servant?"

Merlin didn't miss the way Arthur said "most trusted". "I would have told you eventually, I think," he said. "When you were king."

"And what? Did you think that I would repeal the ban on magic because you were a sorcerer?"

That was exactly what Merlin had hoped, to get Arthur to see that magic was not all bad, but he supposed that at the moment, simply being allowed to keep his life would be a favorable outcome.

"Not all magic is dark, Arthur Pendragon. And not all warlocks become sorcerers."

Merlin turned at the same time Arthur did, to see a hooded man and woman walking toward them. Behind them was the druid boy. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least the boy had found his people.

Arthur had stood up and was holding his sword at arms length. "Stay away. Who are you?"

The hooded man spoke once more. "I am the leader of this boy's tribe. We have come to thank you for his safe return."

Arthur nodded curtly, and Merlin saw his eyes flick from the man to the boy. "It was nothing. Your people should be more careful in Camelot."

The man inclined his head. "We will certainly take more caution."

"Now leave. This affair has nothing to do with you."

"Oh, but it does."

This time, the woman spoke, though it was not Arthur whom she was addressing. Merlin looked, with a start, into her icy blue eyes.

"The fate of Camelot rests on this very moment," she told him.

Next to him, Merlin heard Arthur, as though very far off, protesting, though he could only focus on the druid woman's face. It was unlined, though older, and her expression was somber. He heard her next words, though her mouth did not move.

Emrys. We can change the course of this event, if you desire. Your secret need not be public. It is unadvisable to change the course of nature, but we will do so to protect your destiny. You are two sides of the same coin. You must not be separated.

Merlin nodded, though he turned to Arthur. "Sire?"

Arthur turned impatiently. "What is it?"

"If I swore to you on my life that I would never use magic to harm you or Camelot, would you allow me to live in these woods?"

Arthur looked at him for a moment, and Merlin willed himself not to fidget under the prince's judgmental gaze.

"For the time being. And you'll remain as my manservant."

"What?"

"I'll need to keep a closer eye on you. And it's too much work to train a new manservant."

There might have even been a hint of jest in the prince's tone, though Merlin ignored it and turned back to the druid woman.

"Thank you, but I believe I will not need your assistance."

The woman inclined her head and turned to leave, placing an arm around the druid boy's shoulders.

Very well.

Farewell, Emrys. The druid boy's voice sounded in his mind. We will meet again.

Merlin nodded. As the three druids walked away, Arthur called, "Wait!"

The boy turned.

"At least tell me your name."

Looking straight into Merlin's eyes, locking gazes, the boy said, in a clear voice, "My name is Mordred."