The magic had been revealed.

There had been shouting and fighting and broken trust.

Glares and silence replaced laughter and easier times.

There was a mutual coldness that hung between the two for weeks.

They didn't talk anymore.

They tried at first, when things got a little bit better.

But what was there to say? Really, what could be said?

Sorry I lied to you for the past eight years... and for taking your free will.. and for killing your father.

That's okay. I've been a prat the whole time and made your secret life difficult - guess we're even, huh?

Yeah. Things didn't work that way.

So they said nothing.

They drifted apart like they sometimes did in the past but this time they kept their distance.

One left the city more and more to avoid stares and feelings of guilt.

The other stayed in the castle and now and then would change a law slightly, subtly making things better for everyone, but in a way that wouldn't cause an uproar.

A/N I wrote this a loooong time ago.


He did it well. He was smart and was becoming an excellent king.

The other, though he loved the castle dearly, felt himself growing apart from it as well. He longed for the freedom that he would never have there.

Not just magic-wise. But with himself. He could never be the person he really was without feeling guilty for not being the person everyone had thought he was been.

He felt trapped and confined.

And unneeded.

The king had really, truly begun to take care of himself - he was learning and becoming proficient at knowing the signs of magic and he was, without a doubt, one of the best fighters in all the land. With his sword, he could protect himself from most anything.

And he wanted to prove that he could.

And that was the way things were for a time.

Until one day, Merlin left the castle and just didn't come back.

Arthur didn't even notice. He continued to reign with a steady hand, with his wife and those who had always been loyal to him by his side.

Camelot prospered.

Destiny had happened.

But there was no way to rebuild their friendship.


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