Merlin's past and pain (ON HOLD)

Uniting As One

Hey my lovely reader! So, sadly.. this is probably the last part of this story. :'( I know.. Special thanks to everyone who even read this, special thanks to @fandomselite for giving me the brilliant idea on how the story should end, Thank You! Thank you all for the support and the love, it means the world to me!! Enjoy and many more stories to come in the future!! :)

The group rode in silence for most if the day, until they reached a creek and everyone stopped to rest for a few hours. Merlin and Mordred had walked off somewhere to talk in private. Arthur was suspicious but didn't follow.

Mordred and Merlin walked in silence for a few minutes, it wasn't tense or uncomfortable, it was a nice and peaceful silence. Merlin looked at Mordred and said,

"Mordred, I have a proposition for you." Mordred looked at me and asked with a raised eyebrow,

"Oh? And what would that be?" Merlin looked at Mordred and stopped, his hands were around his back, he was holding his left wrist with his hand.

"Would you like to Camatin.. and be one of my loyal knights?" Mordred looked shocked, his eyebrows practically went to his hairline.

"Wh-What?! But Merlin I-" Merlin cut the knight off by resting a hand on his shoulder and said,

"Mordred, you saved my life. What happened in the past, is the past and therefore shall stay in the past. You saved my life, you sacrificed your magic for me! The least I can do is make you one of my knights and if you wish, a knight of the elite personal guard." Mordred looked at Merlin and was silent for a few minutes, then nodded and said,

"It would be an honor and a pleasure to serve under you sire." Merlin smiled and said,

"Oh Mordred, I have something for

you." Merlin reached under his shirt and pulled out a piece of leather tied around a vial of what looked like crystal dust. Merlin tapped some into his palm

and blew it into the knights face. Mordred gasped and began to cough violently, Merlin was murmuring,

"Shh, calm down Mordred. In a few hours, you'll have your magic back." Mordred looked at merlin with wide eyes,

"Wh-What?!" Merlin smiled and said,

"Do you remember when you first joined Morgona and she sent that eel like thing after me, which was meant to steal my magic?" Mordred nodded and Merlin continued,

"It did indeed steal my magic, but i managed to get it back. It's our little secret, alright?" Mordred smiled and Merlin hid the vial under his shirt again, then said,

"We should probably head back." Mordred nodded and the two brunettes began walking back to the others.

Arthur heard a twig crunch and he turned to see Mordred and Merlin walking back. Merlin climbed onto his horse, but winced loudly. Arthur looked at him,

"Merlin? You alright?" Merlin grabbed his shirt, he balled up the loose fabric in his hand. He groaned weakly and said,

"Yeah, fine. Just.. it hurts a bit, that's all." Merlin winced again and the group started riding again. The men rode into a forest, a twig snapped to their right and suddenly, Mordred and Merlin were violently thrown to their horses. They crashed to the ground, Mordred groaned and Merlin was knocked unconscious. Mordred looked up and hissed sarcastically,

"Bandits. Bandits with magic.. even better." Mordred pulled out his sword and stood, the Camelot and Camatin knights had jumped from their horses and did the same. Arthur and Mordred were standing protectively over Merlin's unconscious body. Bandits jumped from every direction, the knights began slashing and cutting, punching and hitting, they fought and fought until the bandits took off running in all directions. Merlin woke up numbly and groaned weakly, he looked around and said,

"What the hell happened?" Mordred shrugged and said,

"Honestly, I'm not sure. We were attacked.. but, I don't know." Merlin stood up and moved his shirt, reversing the scar from Morgona was 'glowing'. The glow was fading, yes, but both Mordred and Merlin looked at scar with interest. Merlin pulled his shirt down again and said, looking off to the side,

"What about the bandit?" All the knights shrugged and Skylar said,

"They vanished into thin air, sire." Merlin nodded and Gwaine said,

"We should get going." Everyone nodded and climbed back onto their horses, everyone now keeping an eye on Merlin. Arthur took this time to slow down so he was riding next to Merlin. Merlin looked at the path ahead until Arthur said, quietly so the knights would not hear,

"Merlin.. about what you said.." Merlin looked at him and swallowed nervously,

"Yeah?" Arthur looked at him and immediately noted faint scar that went from Merlin left cheek to his nose. It was at least a year old and extremely faint. Arthur looked away and said,

"I have an idea. Instead of one of us leaving out kingdoms.. we go back to Camatin and.. sigh a piece treaty that joins Camelot and Camatin as one." Merlin smiled widely and said,

"Yes.. Yes. Two kingdoms joining as one." Arthur smiled and said,

"We join together, and the land from Camelot to Camatin will be one kingdom." Merlin smiled and said,

"Yeah. Yes, we get back to Camatin, we will begin the joining." Arthur looked at Merlin and said,

"It's so strange." Merlin raised an eyebrow,

"What's so strange?" Arthur smirked and said,

"Seeing you act like a king.. seeing you act like a leader instead of acting like a servant. Seeing you like.. like me! It's just different." Merlin smiled and said,

"Yeah. It's extremely different. It's weird acting like this." Arthur chuckled and nodded. Merlin chuckled and returned his attention to the path in front of him.

The group arrived at Camatin a few hours later, Merlin told the knights to go and rest, it was obvious that everyone was tired. Lucia was waiting, she rushed over and hugged Merlin, who grimaced against the pressure on his chest, but hugged back. A servant took Merlin's horse and the king looked at Lucia,

"I'm going to go bathe and sleep." Lucia nodded and said,

"Of course." Merlin entered his chambers bluntly, everything had been cleaned an inch from its life. A servant appeared and started Merlin's bath, the king was drinking a quick glass of wine when the servant appeared again.

"Sire, your bath is ready. While you're bathing, shall I pick out your newest clothes?" Merlin shook his head had said,

"No thank you, the bath is all I will be needing. Thank you, you're relived." The servant nodded and left the chambers, locking the door behind him. Merlin stripped down rather quickly, then climbed into the extremely warm bath. Merlin used his magic and made the steam dance around him, he smiled to himself as the steam replayed everything that had happened on the trip. Merlin climbed out, lazily dried himself, and threw on some loose pants and a large shirt. Merlin's hair was still damp, occasionally dripping water, but the brunette collapsed onto his kit sized bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Arthur walked to Merlin's chambers door and found that it was locked. He reached into his pocket and fished out a key, which he'd grabbed earlier in the month. Arthur quietly and quickly unlocked the door, considering Merlin was probably asleep now. Arthur shut the door quickly and quietly, he locked it and turned to see Merlin curled up on the bed, his hair still damp. Arthur smiled as his hair was damp too, everyone had taken a bath the minute they could. Arthur carefully climbed into the bed, then snaked his arm around Merlin's waist. Merlin stirred slightly but Arthur whispered,

"Shh.. go back to sleep. Shh, it's just me." Merlin moved his arm to it was on top of Arthur's and fell back into his dreamless slumber. Arthur looked at Merlin's profile, then moved his free hand and played with Merlin's dark hair for a few minutes. Arthur leaned forward and pressed a firm kiss to the back of Merlin's head and whispered,

"Thank you for coming into my life Merlin.." And with that, the blonde fell asleep with an arm wrapped around the single most important person in the young blondes life.

Another part coming soon! I kinda lied, another part coming soon!! :) thank you for the love, patience and feedback!!