A.N.://

This story is ridiculous. It's so much fun XD I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it XD

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Merlin had fucked up.
It may seem stupid of him to only have noticed after he had left Arthur's chambers but he really hadn't thought things through. How was he supposed to when Arthur basically told him that he cared about Merlin, listened to him and would even change the magic laws for him? Merlin had been distracted by the sudden hug, Arthur's open worry and the way the man seemed so relieved to see Arthur again in one piece. Merlin hadn't known Arthur cared so much. And so he had let slip that he was meeting up with Morgana.

While Merlin still couldn't calm his heart just thinking about the entire exchange, he knew he would have to let Morgana know about his slip up. He just hoped she wouldn't kill him for it.

Merlin let out a deep sigh as he listened to Gwen, who was showing him the blueprints for her newest invention. She was really glowing up due to her new found freedom. He had never seen her smile this much and her inventions were incredible. Her forge was running all day and she had already created a water system that would make it easier for the wash ladies and servants to retrieve water from the well. That and a filtering system. Who had put those futuristic views in her mind, Merlin could only guess. But it sounded amazing and he liked seeing her this happy, so he helped her brainstorm. Not that she needed his help. But she did appreciate his idea to combine some of her inventions with magic to not have to invent the atomic bomb before its time.

Sometimes, Merlin let his eyes wander over to Arthur, whose room they were occupying for their meet up. Arthur was supposedly working on the new magic laws. Merlin would have expected Arthur to throw them out, especially with how loud Gwen was being, but Arthur seemed distracted. Once in a while, he would look up, meet Merlin's eyes, and immediately turn back to his papers. Merlin had the strange feeling that Arthur wanted to join their discussion but was too shy to ask for it. Merlin could only smile at his master. Arthur could be a bit awkward sometimes.

Merlin turned his gaze back to Gwen who had somehow drifted off in her explanations to the invention of the radio. "Just imagine, no one would have to come to Camelot to listen to Arthur's speeches anymore! They could just do it from home!" Merlin's smile fell a bit. When he looked up, he could see Arthur study Gwen from where he was sitting before turning back to his paper, face red when he met Merlin's gaze. Right. Arthur's destiny lay with Gwen...

Merlin closed his eyes. Then he returned his attention to the discussion at hand. "I'd be so jealous, Gwen. Can you imagine it? To have a button to shut him up?"

—----------------------------------------------------------

"Why is he here?" Morgana twitched an eye.

"You can ignore me, dear sister. I just wanted to join the two of you and figure out what you're actually doing."

"I told him to stay home but he insisted." Merlin glared at his master.

"You TOLD HIM?" Morgana's screech was even louder than usual. Her arms were shaking against the table she was leaning on.

This week, they were playing monopoly. At this point, Merlin was beginning to wonder if the author is high. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to tell him, it just slipped."

"I should have known I couldn't trust you!" Morgana groaned and her face hit the table.

Merlin smiled awkwardly. "To be fair, he says he IS going to review the laws on magic. Besides, he wanted to see if you're doing fine and what we need to do to welcome you back home."

Morgana raised an eyebrow. Arthur looked up from his paper where he was scribbling stuff on. "I do have some notes though. Is it normal that Merlin comes to one particular spot in the woods, where you knock him out and then tie him to a chair so you can have... what does Merlin call it? Game night?"

Morgana narrowed her eyes.

"Because I must tell you, Gana, that hurt," Arthur rubbed the spot on his head where Morgana had hit him with that branch, "secondly, these itch," he tugged at the binds that tied him to another chair himself. "And it doesn't really sell your whole innnocent point."

"He's very composed, isn't he?" Morgana leaned over to Merlin to whisper at him.

Merlin just shrugged around his own binds. "You get used to being kidnapped at some point. And I'm not sure who of us has been kidnapped more often, him or me. I would bet on me, since you have been kidnapping me for game night for a couple months. Then again, I've only been in Camelot for a couple years, your brother spent his entire life there."

Morgana shook her head. "Well... If it's the three of us now, I propose we change the game!"

"Oh good, I hate monopoly."

"NO!" Morgana rubbed her face with one hand. "It means, I'll be playing against the both of you, which means I'm upping up the game! Now, you BOTH have to defeat me, otherwise you will tell me who Emrys is!"

"Wait... who?" Arthur looked up in confusion.

Merlin groaned. "That's so not fair! Arthur sucks at these games, why do I have to compensate for his failures!"

"Hold on!" Arthur narrowed his gaze. "I don't understand! Who are we talking about? Why would Merlin have information on... who is Emrys?"

"That's the question!" Morgana pointed at Arthur. "That's what I want to know! It's why I kidnap your dear little Merlin once a week! Who is Emrys?!"

"Merlin?" Arthur tilted his head. "Who is she talking about?"

Merlin blinked back at him, unimpressed. "Hello? I've been dodging torture attacks and won every single game Morgana proposed to me to AVOID telling her stuff about Emrys! I'm not going to play these games for fun!"

"You're not?" Morgana had the gall to sound hurt.

Merlin groaned again. "Okay, it is fun. But my point stands! The stakes are no longer fair either! Arthur clearly wants to know the answer! I won't play with him on my side if he'll rigg the game just to figure out what I know!"

Morgana tapped the table, then her expression darkened with her thoughts. Finally, she hit the table. "Fine. Alright. Just you against me."

Sighing with relieve, Merlin smiled at her. "Alright, what is the reward for winning? I was under the impression that I've won nearly everything you possess?"

Arthur leaned over to his sister. "He's awfully good at games, isn't he? I played dice with him once, I swear, he's a monster!"

Morgana nodded, sweat running down her face. Then her eyes met her brother's and a gleam found its way into her eyes. "I could give you information!"

Doubt. Merlin narrowed his eyes. "What kind of information?"

Arthur went pale. "You wouldn't."

"You're my brother and I've known you my whole life, Arthur Pendragon, but the same counts for you. You know me better than that. I absolutely would."

"Morgana!"

Merlin raised his brows. "What am I missing?"

Morgana regarded Merlin with utmost seriousness. "Your reward for winning against me... is embarrassing stories about Arthur."

"Morgana!!!!!" Arthur jumped to his feet, face beet red.

Merlin gaped at her. He leaned forward in his chair. "I'm listening."

"MERLIN!" Arthur glared at both of them. "I- I'll never talk to you again if you accept that!"

Morgana grinned mischievously. "Well, dear brother mine, we both know you couldn't stand to ignore Merlin for longer than a day and a half. But I haven't been in Camelot for while, could be less."

"MORGANA!" Arthur nearly whined. "Don't just say that!"

Morgana fixed him with a sudden glare. "I have to convince him to play this game with me somehow, you idiot! Of course I don't intend to tell him. I want to win! But I have to admit he has won over 300 times to zero. It's just that the information he has is far more valuable than any of your stupid little crush stories!"

Merlin blinked and it looked like Arthur had spontaneously combust into flames. It was a bit adorable. It also made his heart twitch a bit with jealousy. Arthur turned to Merlin with a face so red, Merlin got the physician urge to examine his heart rate. "Merlin, can't you just tell her who this Emrys person is? He can't be that important."

"Morgana wants to kill him." Merlin gave Arthur a blank smile. "And I kinda like his head where it is."

Arthur's eyes widened. "Wait... Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Merlin blinked. What an odd question that was under these circumstances. "I'm NOT giving you any information on him!" Merlin glared at Arthur. "How many times do I have to repeat myself! I will not tell you or Morgana who he is!"

Arthur hesitated, then turned to Morgana. "Why do you want to kill Emrys?"

"Because he's my enemy and destined to kill me." Morgana gave back dryly. "He's kind of the King of the druids or something. But that's just what the druids say. It's a deckname, his true name is secret."

"The druids have a king?" Arthur frowned, then turned back to Merlin. "You're protecting the druid king?"

Merlin groaned. "Shut up, Arthur. Morgana, I'm taking Sandy."

"Aww, she's the only female character in this game!" Morgana pouted but did as Merlin said and gave him the Squirrel figurine from the Spongebob monopoly game. Merlin stared at the game, then at the author. "Seriously?"

I wink at him. "It's the only Monopoly I've ever played."

"God damn it." Merlin covered his face and laughed. Then he looked up to face Morgana. "Say, has anyone ever finished a game of monopoly? I feel like all this game does is destroy families."

Morgana nodded seriously. "What do you think happened between Uther and I?"

—-------------------------------------------------------

"Stop laughing!"

Merlin bellowed over from laughing, almost falling on his face on his way back through the woods. Arthur was stomping after him, face burning like a chimney. "You... you fired a stable boy because you had a crush on him!"

"I told you to stop laughing!" Arthur's voice grew louder.

"He was flirting with you!"

"I was fourteen!" Arthur yelled back, covering his face. "I couldn't handle it!"

"And then -"

"Please stop."

"And then - then you pushed him in the river after you bought him a HOUSE."

"I TOLD YOU, I couldn't handle it!"

Merlin wiped off a tear. "God damn it, Morgana wasn't kidding. You were embarrassing!"

Arthur lowered his head, ashamed. "It's not my fault! My father told me that I could only like girls, so when I suddenly liked a boy, I was in over my head!"

Merlin's laughter slowly died down between a few hiccups. "Don't pretend you were any better with the girls. Morgana just told me the story of how you tried to woo a woman with chicken. I mean... valid, but wow."

"That woman was Vivian and I was under an enchantment!"

"No, I don't think that's the one she was talking about."

Arthur quivered under Merlin's ignorance. "I was FIVE, I did NOT have a crush on Mrs. Magdalen! She just liked to make me scrambled eggs for breakfast and I thought she needed a chicken because I didn't know where she was getting the eggs from! That's completely different!"

"Yeah, yeah. Tell yourself that."

"And to your information, that one time Morgana found me naked in a river was NOT because I was doing something with that servant! We were mugged!"

"Sure."

"MERLIN!" Arthur yelled. "Why the hell did she tell you five stories? You only won ONE game!"

Merlin snorted. "She was just reminiscing about old times. Just let her."

"She told you about a dare from when I was twelve!"

Merlin really tried not to laugh. "Oh shit, that one was hilarious. You kissed a horse on the butt, just because you liked a serving girl."

Arthur groaned and hit his face against the nearest tree. Merlin almost missed how Arthur whisper whined against the bark. "I'm going to die."

"Don't be so dramatic. It was all in good fun, wasn't it? If it makes you any happier, wanna know about the one time Will found me tied to a pillar in that old woodsman's hut?" Merlin smiled. "I mean, it was burning down and I could have died, but in hindsight that was hella funny."

Arthur slowly raised his head. "What?"

Merlin snorted. "Yeah. There were these three town kids who didn't like me and one of the girls pretended she was into me and that's how they lured me into the hut. Then- umpf" Merlin was pushed against the next tree with full force and without warning as Arthur grabbed him by the shirt.

"They WHAT?!" Merlin's eyes met wild ones. Merlin's retort died on his tongue. Arthur looked so... protective. Like he was truly mad at something... or someone. He was breathing hard too, like the mere idea of someone hurting Merlin filled him with rage.

Merlin laughed nervously. There was no way that Arthur cared about him. Like sure... Arthur had admitted that he was worried about merlin, but to the extend where Merlin telling him stupid childhood stories would rile him up? "Arthur, you're kinda hurting me."

Arthur's eyes widened and he let go. "I... sorry." He turned his face elsewhere. "I just-" He went quiet. His fist was clenched against his side though. "There is nothing that warrants threatening someone's life like that!"

"They had their reasons though -"

"NOTHING!" Arthur nearly spat at him. Then he stepped back again, shoulders hunched. "Absolutely NOTHING, do you hear me!?"

Merlin stared at him, then his gaze softened. A part of him reminded him that Arthur wouldn't say the same things if he knew who Merlin really was. If Arthur knew of Merlin's magic, knew that he was Emrys, maybe he wouldn't look so much in pain right now. "Of course, Sire."

—-----------------------------------------------

It was almost a week after that that Merlin noticed a distinct change within the citizens of Camelot. Or rather, the way they perceived him. Hushed whispers were exchanged behind his back, and people turned their backs as soon as Merlin wanted to ask them what they were talking about.

That was until one day, when Merlin went to deliver some products to Gwen's busy forge, that someone let a penny drop to their feet. Merlin, who had just put down the ounces of metal he was bringing Gwen, picked it up to hand it back to the woman who hadn't noticed her purse was open. Merlin wanted to call out to her, but his words were stuck in his throat as he recognized the symbol on the coin.

In shock, Merlin turned the coin, to find a new improved Pendragon symbol on the one side. This was no doubt the new design for Arthur's money. It had been about time. Merlin must have been confused, however. There was no way- He turned the coin back around. There was a bird on the coin. A falcon. A ...

Without another word, Merlin turned around and stormed through the courtyard and jumped up the stairs of the castle entrance. He skidded around the nearest corner and only stopped once he was standing in front of the double winged doors of the throne room, in which Arthur was currently introducing his law designs to his council. Merlin didn't care, he burst the door wide open with a little bit of help from his magic.

"Arthur, what the hell is THIS?" Merlin held up the coin that shone in the firelight.

Arthur, who stood at the round table, his council men and knights all having their heads turned to Merlin, blanched. "Your... salary?" His voice was weak and his face burst into flames right after, when the knights couldn't hide their grins.

"Arthur... that is NOT my salary! We both know even I earn more than a penny. What I want to know is why is there a MERLIN on it?"

Arthur's face only turned redder after that, while the council men tried to convince Arthur to continue his speech. "Everyone out, please. I might have to talk to ... my manservant... alone."

"Your majesty, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but you put that man on your coin, he's clearly more than just a -"

"Shut up Geoffrey, before I exile you from your own library." Arthur had his eyes shut and nearly bent over the table in pure embarrassment. "Everybody OUT, NOW!"