Page 42 of The Sword & the Stone

Percival shot to his feet, shadows swirling around him like a cloak. "Watch your tongue, wizard," he snarled. "Or I'll remove it for you."

Lancelot rose as well, placing a restraining hand on Percival's chest. "Enough," he said, his voice hard as steel. "This bickering solves absolutely nothing."

I stood slowly, my fists clenched at my sides. Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall, to let Merlin see how deeply his cruel accusations cut me.

"Who I decide to fuck is none of your concern, Merlin," I said, my voice shaking with the effort to keep it steady. "Not anymore. You lost the right to care about me the moment I found out the secrets you’ve been keeping. If I want to mount and fuck everyknight around this fire right now and make you watch, then I will.”

Merlin's face drained of color, his eyes widening in shock before narrowing into icy slits. "You would throw yourself at them just to spite me? To punish me for trying to protect you?"

A harsh laugh ripped from my throat, ugly and bitter. "Protect me? Is that what you call it? Lying to me, manipulating me, using my feelings for you against me?"

"Everything I've done has been for you, Arthur. To keep you safe, to prepare you for your destiny."

"Bullshit," I spat. "You've been using me to test out some ancient prophecy, playing your cryptic druid games. Well, it’s not amusing anymore. Keeping me in the dark while you pull the strings from the shadows only tells me I can’t trust you."

Merlin shot to his feet, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Magic crackled around him, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. "You have no idea what I've sacrificed for you! The lengths I've gone to ensure your survival!"

"Then tell me!" I shouted, hot tears finally spilling down my cheeks. "Stop with the cryptic warnings and half-truths. If you truly care for me, then be honest with me for once in your miserable fucking life!"

He stared at me, chest heaving, blue eyes blazing with a maelstrom of emotions I couldn't even begin to decipher.

For a long moment, the only sound was the crackling of the fire and our ragged breathing. The other knights watched in tense silence, their gazes darting between us. Finally, Merlin's shoulders slumped, the fight seeming to drain out of him. He ran a hand over his face, suddenly looking far older than his years.

"You're right," he said quietly, his voice rough with exhaustion and something that sounded suspiciously like regret. "You deserve the truth. All of it."

I blinked, taken aback by his sudden capitulation. I’d expected more resistance, more evasion and misdirection. But as I searched his face, I saw only weariness and a bone-deep sorrow that made my heart ache despite my anger.

Slowly, I sank back down onto my bedroll, never taking my eyes off Merlin. "Then talk," I said, my voice softening slightly. "No more lies, no more secrets. Just the truth, Merlin."

He nodded, taking a deep breath as if steeling himself. "The prophecies about you, about the once and future king, are more complex than I let on."

I frowned but remained silent, letting him gather his thoughts.

"Your birth was foretold centuries ago. A child born of both worlds, destined to unite Albion and Avalon and usher in an age of peace." That part. I already knew, but he continued. “Our world and Avalon aren’t just connected. They overlap perfectly. An exact mirror image. With the right magic, you can access Avalon from anywhere. Some are born with the ability to feel the world on top of a world, and sense the spots where the veil is the thinnest. Those people are called sorcerers, or druids, like me.”

"So all this time, you've been able to just...step into Avalon? Whenever you wanted?" I asked.

Merlin nodded. "Yes. It's how I've been able to gather information and study magic without Uther knowing. But crossing between worlds comes at a price."

He absently rubbed his chest, as if remembering an old wound. "Each time a sorcerer passes through the veil, it takes a toll. Physically and mentally. Spend too long in Avalon, and you risk losing yourself entirely to the potent magic there. Gaius trained me, ever since he discovered what I was. He taught me the prophecy of the once and future king, told me it was our duty to find the child of destiny and protect them at all costs."

“So the orphanage…Were you lying to me then? When you told me your parents were taken in the fire that killed mine, were you lying?”

Half our village lost their parents that night, and many of the children placed in the orphanage had been my friends. But Merlin had been a stranger.

Merlin's expression turned pained, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "No, Arthur. That part was true. My mother did die in that fire, along with so many others. But what I didn't tell you is that the fire wasn’t just a random accident.”

Something ugly twisted in my stomach at the haunted look in Merlin’s eyes. Something wasn’t right. I knew Merlin better than I knew myself sometimes, and everything inside me was screaming that what he was about to tell me would shatter my world. I almost wanted to run from the cave. Run from him. Run from any more truths I never wanted.

Merlin took a shuddering breath, his hands trembling as he clasped them tightly in his lap. "The fire that night, the one that claimed so many lives, was started by you."

The world seemed to tilt on its axis, his accusation hitting me like a physical blow. I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing soundlessly as I tried to process the enormity of what he'd just said.

"That's not possible," I finally managed, my voice little more than a choked whisper. "I was just a child. How could I have...?" I couldn't even bring myself to say it out loud, the very idea too horrific to contemplate.

"You were a child, yes," he said softly, his eyes filled with grief. "But you were also so much more than that already. Your magic was strong even then. Stronger than anything I'd ever seen."

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he fixed me with an intense, almost pleading gaze. "That night,mercenaries from Avalon broke into your home. They were sent to kill you before you could fulfill the prophecy, before you could become the threat they feared."

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