Magic Revealed

At Your Mercy

"How come, every time we go out to one of the outskirt villages there are bandits?" Arthur complained. They were tied up in a bandit camp after getting captured on their way back from Getran, a small town about twice the size of Ealdor.

"I don't know sire." Gwaine laughed, "But I think your kingdom has a serious infestation."

Lancelot looked at Merlin who was grimacing in pain. "You alright mate?"

"They sliced my arm pretty good and it hurts." Merlin complained, he watched the bandits closely from where they had taken all the valubles that the knights had been carrying.

As he watched the bandits or smugglers, the knights couldn't tell which, came back to inspect them. "I say we just kill them." One muttered. "Camelot will be headless and we'll finally stop having to worry about the damn Pendragons."

"We could ask for ransom." One argued.

"From who? I'm guessing no one other than the prince and his chosen knights touch the financials now that the King is sick." Another pointed out.

Arthur scowled at them, "You do this and you will make an enemy of Camelot."

"Without you Camelot is nothing." The third said.

"Killem dead it is." The first decided stepping forward as he drew his sword.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Merlin spoke up, he swallowed a little nervously. Not out of fear of the bandits, but of what he was about to do.

The knights looked at him in surprise. But the bandit just laughed, "What? You want to die first? Fine by me." He raised his sword but Merlin stood and held up his hands as the rope that had been tying them fell to the ground.

"How'd he do that?" One bandit wondered dumbly but the first swung his sword at Merlin's head. Only to find it stop a few inches short of it's mark.

Merlin flicked one hand and the man flew backward. The bandits all scrambled for their swords, "A magician? From Camelot?" Another cried getting the attention of the bandits a little farther away as he loaded a cross bow. Merlin turned to the knights and without even blinking undid the ropes holding them, ignoring the shocked looks on their faces. Then he looked to the bandits and held up a hand, sending them all flying backwards, tumbling in the dirt.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked quietly.

Merlin looked at his feet. "I guess there's no hiding it now." He  met Arthur's questioning gaze, "I have magic."

---

"But how'd we never notice?" Gwaine complained. They were sitting around a fire where they had set up camp several miles away. They had rode for hours in silence after Merlin insisted that they get away from bandit territory before he explained.

Merlin smiled ryely, "I'm quiet. And I keep it to myself. Or I've learned to do it in front of people in a way they won't notice."

Arthur had been very quiet for the past few hours, other than saying that he wasn't angry. Merlin was worried but he had enough on his mind answering the garage of questions. At some point Arthur walked off and that was when he sighed and stood a few minutes later. "I'll be back." They all nodded.

He found Arthur sitting in a log by a stream nearby, out of ear shot from the knights. He sat down next to his prince and looked at his hands. "I'm sorry." He whispered quietly.

Arthur looked over at him, "All those times when I asked you about magic and you told me it was just a tool I never even suspected that you actually could use magic." He studied Merlin, "You were trying to figure out how I would react."

Merlin nodded, "After Lancelot asked what you would think of someone you knew having magic I decided that I would tell you when you became king." He sighed, "but earlier, it was either someone got hurt or I did something."

They shifted so they were facing each other, leg on either side of the log. "You say you're not angry. But I know you Arthur. You are."

Arthur shook his head, "I'm not angry that you have magic Merlin. I'm angry that you didn't tell me when you found out that I wasn't against it."

Merlin looked down at his hands once more, "I'm sorry. I truly am." Arthur reached out and forced the warlock to look at him, "Show me?"

Merlin blinked, "Are you sure?" He seemed surprised that Arthur had touched him.

"I trust you Merlin. Trust me okay?" The prince gave his friend a serious look.

Merlin smiled, "You trust me?"

"Yes, Merlin. But for some reason you're making me a bit nervous with that look." The way Merlin was smiling was devious as if he'd just thought of something hilarious.

Merlin held out a hand and Arthur's breath hitched as he felt magic curling around him, lifting him slightly up into the air. He felt completely weightless but he also realized that he was completely helpless. Merlin smiled up at him where the prince was hovering, maybe twelve feet in the air. "Still trust me?"

"I don't think I have a choice right now." Arthur grumbled though it reality he was finding this kind of relaxing. To let Merlin control something was very different than what he was used to but not in a bad way.

Merlin set him down, "Do you want to see what I do?"

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked warily.

"I can see the magic, the life force in everything when I want to. It's one of the reasons why I don't like hurting any living creature. I can see how it effects Everything around it." He gently touched the sides of Arthur's face before dragging his thumbs gently over Arthur's eyelids, murming something quietly.

Arthur felt a sense if vertigo and suddenly he was looking through Merlin's eyes at himself. A warm red auburn glow seemed to crackle through him and pulsed in a steady and constant way, seemed sturdy and steadfast. He watched as Merlin looked around to show him the different things throughout the woods. He saw the hum of energy in the trees and the birds. A little drops of magic that flowed through the river and when Merlin looked to the ground the magic that was in each plant. It was incredible. A simmering light in so many different colors that it took Arthur's breath away as he returned to have own body.

Merlin smiled at the shocked look on his face. "Beautiful huh?"

"Why does father hate magic?" Arthur whispered.

Merlin sighed, "He blames magic for your mother's death. And in a way it was a fault but in another it was his, he shouldn't have gone tampering with the powers of life and death."

"Me?" Arthur whispered. Merlin nodded and Arthur put his head in his hands. He was angry, his father had done something so wrong to so many people for him. A mistake that shouldn't have been made for magic was not to blame. He wanted to punch the man.

He jolted slightly when he felt Merlin slide an arm around his shoulders pulling him slightly into his side. "Don't be angry right now Arthur. We all make mistakes. What we do about them is the real part of life that we need to pay attention to."

Arthur nodded allowing Merlin to keep his hold around his shoulders, "All this time. You've been serving me. When you could have forced me to my knees. Why?"

"Oh Arthur." Merlin laughed quietly, "I've only ever been interested in keeping you alive. No matter what. Even if I did want to strangle you sometimes."

"How easily could you do that?"

"Not even a word." Merlin smirked.

"I'm totally at your mercy aren't I?" Arthur said quietly.

"No sire. I'd never be like that. Even if I wanted to sometimes when you were being a coltpole."

"Merlin?"

"Shut up?"

"You guessed it."

Arthur leaned into Merlin for a while longer until they finally decided to go back and face the knights.