Bound

Chapter 15

In the morning, Arthur requested for see Edith. She of course granted that request. The guards took him to the dining room where she was having her breakfast. She looked up in surprise.

"Your majesty!"

"Edith."

"What a surprise! What is it that brings you to see me at this time in the morning?"

"I wish to speak with my servant."

"Your servant? Well I don't see why not. Was the time that you got with him a couple days ago not fruitful? The key worked, right?"

"Oh yes the key worked. There are just some questions that I need answered."

"That is fine. I believe that even though he betrayed you many times, his magic could be very useful to your kingdom."

"Of course. Thank you."

***

Not even an hour later, Arthur was led to a sort of council room in the castle. Arthur sat down in one of the chairs and mentally prepared for Merlin to arrive. A few minutes later, Merlin was dragged through the door, and then roughly released onto the ground. He looked even worse than a couple days before.

"Hey! That's enough!" Arthur yelled at the guards.
"Leave us."

This time they didn't protest. They just left. Arthur went to help Merlin into a chair, but Merlin put his hand up signaling for Arthur to let him. Merlin struggled to stand, but then he got himself in the chair.

"Hello Merlin."

"What do you have for me to do today, sire?"

"I just want to talk."

"You mean I'm not here for you to control me like a puppet."

Fair. Ouch, but fair.

"No. You're here because I need answers. And I want you to give me them of your own free will."

"Great... sounds good," Merlin said sarcastically.

"Okay look, there are only two ways that this can go. One is that you come with me and I can figure out what to do with you from there. The other is that you stay here with Edith, and I know you don't want that.  So I suggest that you pick your head up and we have a civil conversation."

That did it. Merlin actually sat up and looked Arthur in the eyes. No matter what happened to him, he couldn't stay here.

"Good. Let's start at the beginning. Why did you come to Camelot?"

"I was born with my powers. As I grew up they got stronger, and I couldn't control them. Gaius was an old friend of my mother's so she sent me to Camelot so he could teach my how to control my magic."

"Okay, pause. First, I thought you couldn't be born with magic. Second, Gaius knows?"

Crap. Come on Merlin, you had to tell Arthur that part?

"Yes Gaius knows, but please don't punish him. I saved his life and I'm sure he felt like he couldn't turn me in. It's my fault that I was there, not his."

"Calm down. Gaius will be fine. Go back to your magic."

"I'm a warlock, which means I was born with magic. I'm the first that anyone has heard of to be born that way. I could levitate objects before I could talk."

"Okay... does that have something to do with this destiny that Edith told me about?"

"Edith told you? What exactly did she tell you?"

"She just said that you were given a destiny. She didn't give me details. Could you please enlighten me?"

"Well... my name is Merlin, but the druids and the prophecies know me by another name. They call me Emrys. Apparently, I'm the most powerful sorcerer ever to walk the earth."

"The most... what?" Arthur stood up and started pacing around the room.

Merlin? Clumsy, idiot Merlin? The most powerful sorcerer ever to walk the earth. Apparently Merlin felt like he needed to explain further, so he kept going.

"I'm supposed to help the Once and Future King unite the lands of Albion. That's you, Arthur! We're two sides of the same coin meant to bring peace to the land-"

"Stop! Just stop."
Arthur needed a second. Way too much information. Once and Future King? Two sides of the same coin?
"Wait, is that why you've been loyal to me all these years? Because of some Druid prophecy?"

"No! I'm loyal to you because I'm your friend!"

"Then why the lies?! Why lie about my mother? Why poison Morgana? And now you've been keeping from me that I'm the subject of this ancient prophecy in which we're supposed to unite the lands of Albion? I deserved to know!"

"Arthur, I-"

"Shut yourself up!"

Merlin wanted to speak, but he couldn't. He wasn't even aware that he could perform that spell on himself. All he could do was watch Arthur take in all of this information, and he couldn't say a word. Arthur made it so that he couldn't say a word. So yeah, Merlin was ticked, but he could understand why Arthur was too.

Arthur was leaning on a chair trying to calm himself down. He couldn't tell if he was angry, confused, anguished, or just overwhelmed by information. He figured that he was all of the above. His mind finally started to slow down and process. He had to think. One question at a time. What is most important right now?

"Just, tell me simply, what is this prophecy?"

Merlin found that he could now speak again.

"You are the Once and Future King that will unite the lands of Albion. But there are many threats. I was born to protect you and help you fulfill your destiny. I guess I was born to serve you," Merlin chuckled.

Arthur nodded, basically understanding what Merlin was saying.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"About your destiny or my magic?"

"Both."

"If I were to tell you about your destiny chances are I would've had to tell you mine.  It's a lot to take in, obviously. And my magic, well magic is outlawed. You would've chopped my head off!"

"Well- I... I don't know exactly what I would've done."

"And I couldn't put you in that position."

Arthur nodded. While he didn't like the answer, he understood it. There was a loud knock on the door making Merlin jump slightly. Arthur didn't seem surprised at all.

"Just a moment! I don't have a lot of time," Arthur told Merlin, "I still have planning and such. We should be leaving in a couple of days. Yourself included."

"Arthur?"

"What?"

"What's going to happen to me? When we leave?"

Arthur sighed.

"I don't know, Merlin. I really don't know."