The next morning, Merlin woke up refreshed and happy. Today was the last day of any major work. Arthur was almost done with all his first month duties as a king, and could soon deal with minor situations.

Merlin got dressed in a thicker green shirt, some black pants, and brown boots. He didn't feel like dressing up extra special, so he just went with casual clothes, and used some minor magic to warm himself since winter was finally falling.

Merlin headed down to the kitchens to fetch breakfast, and then walked back to Arthur. merlin noticed that since he had become king, the cooks act nicer to him, or at least show respect. Usually he was given dirty looks on his way to bring the meal.

Merlin opened the door and set the food on the table. Arthur was actually awake, and looking over some papers.

"Look at you. You're finally growing up." Merlin teased. Arthur cracked a smile.

"Yeah yeah, come here." Arthur said. He gave Merlin a quick peck on the cheek, and Merlin sat down to eat. Arthur joined him.

"So what papers were you looking at?" Merlin asked.

"Just some reports about the latest Morgana plans. I've got some spies hidden around, and they work well with the price of gold." Arthur said. Merlin nodded.

"So anything we should be worried about?" Merlin asked. Arthur shook his head.

"Mostly just small scale attacks. Like robbing some good merchants and trying to recruit the druids."

"The druids will never say no. They're belief is centered around what you and I can do together. We are different sides of the same coin. Without one, it's not a coin. Once I have the knights bring the news to everyone in the kingdom, the druids will move in from hiding. The words spreads fast, and I have fulfilled the prophecy." Merlin said, a bit boasting. He was proud of himself. He did so much, and got the be the lord and boyfriend of the king. What could be better?

"So you're not going to leave me to frolic in the fields with other sorcerers?" Arthur joked. Merlin got up, and kissed Arthur's forehead.

"I would never unless you were frolicking with me." Merlin told him.

Merlin collected the trays, and stacked the plates up. They headed to talk with the records keeper, and then returned to the ballroom.

The turn out was a lot larger than before. The word spread that the very king's second in command was a sorcerer, so the rest of the hiding magic users thought it was much safer to vet themselves.

"Thank you for showing up today. It will be swift. Give your full name, and what type of magic user you are. I will inspect you myself to asses your magic, and then you will move to the other side of the room. Easy enough. First person walk here." Merlin told them. It went quicker than before, and the people were almost done being vetted. A bright eyed boy, probably 18 years old, walked up to Merlin. He seemed very joyful, with outgrown blonde hair, green eyes, and a freckled complexion. Arthur and the recorder kept no reservations about him, but Merlin didn't like the feeling he gave off. He was a bit too happy.

Merlin looked at him for a moment, and walked closer.

"My name's John Sterl. I'm a self taught sorcerer." He told them. Merlin walked closer.

"Why did you decided to study and practice magic?" Merlin asked. Merlin had not asked his of any of the others, but he felt like he needed to ask this boy. It caught Arthur's attention, and he looked at the two.

"Well my father was a blacksmith, and as he grew older, he couldn't lift the materials very well. I was not a good blacksmith, and my strength was on the lower scale. I turned to magic to help me lift the objects for my father. He did not find out about it, and now I just use magic casually to lift heavier objects as a laborer, to help my village." He told Merlin. Merlin looked him up and down. He wasn't so sure.

"There's a couple of things wrong with your story John. Practicing magic takes a long time, and to be able to transfer you magic to lift objects with the aid of your body takes more practice than just simple levitating objects. Another thing, if you just use magic casually, it will fade very quickly. That means you must have been keeping up with practice to achieve that level. And the most daunting thing. I have not passed the information of the vetting to the outlying villages yet. The vetting was only for those who live in the city, since they are the most in proximity to the castle. In addition, I have a generally odd feeling about you, even before you tried to sell that story to me." Merlin explained more loudly, so everyone in the room would witness. The boy visibly paled.

"How do you know so much about magic? As far as I'm concerned, being able to encase objects in blue flames are pretty easy." The boy dared. Merlin raised an eyebrow, and walked closer to the boy.

"Do you know what the druids call me?" Merlin asked. The boy shook his head.

"They call me Emrys." Merlin said aloud. The crowds of people whispered to each other furiously. All druids have heard of the name Emrys, but not that many groups knew who exactly Emrys was.

"So I guess you a big thing. Like a druid?" The man scoffed. Merlin walked back to Arthur.

"I am the embodiment of magic itself. I was made directly from the magic of every single druid and sorcerer, and I am teeming with the strongest sense of magic. If I learned the correct spell, or was angry enough, I could break every bone in your body without even touching you. Do you want to tell me why a sorcerer like you, is dressed as a young boy?" Merlin asked. John turned around, and immediately ran to the door. Merlin started running after him. John knocked down the knights at the door, and ran out into the courtyard. Merlin ran full speed, and used his magic to speed him up. Merlin saw him jump around the market, and knock down food. Merlin tried to avoid these obstacles by taking a short cut through an alley. Merlin listened closely, and could almost hear the thoughts of him. Merlin took a sharp right turn, and tackled someone. Underneath him was John. Merlin immediately punched him in the face to stun him, and then he knocked him out with a spell. Some knights ran to Merlin, and Merlin handed John to them.

"Put him in his own cell. I'll interrogate him later. He'll be knocked out for a couple hours." Merlin told the knights. They nodded, and carried to limb body back. Arthur ran down to Merlin.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked worryingly. He fretted over Merlin, and looked to see if there were any wounds.

"Don't worry Arthur, I'm fine. I just tackled him. Although I'm a bit tired now." Merlin laughed. He did use a burst of his energy, and was a little drained.

"How about we take a walk around the town? I wanted to do that later, but since you have an interrogation, how about now?" Arthur asked. Merlin nodded. Arthur grabbed onto Merlin's hand, and they walked through the towns and streets. They were met with some stares, but the older, more blind, merchants gave them kind smiles and showed their products to them.

Arthur and Merlin walked around, hand in hand, and enjoyed the fun that they usually never had. They did this for awhile, and then went inside to read over some more papers.

A knight knocked on the door.

"The prisoner is awake." He said.

"We'll be there in a moment." Arthur told him. They locked the papers away, and headed down to the dungeons.

Merlin and Arthur walked down the hall, and went to John. Merlin was glad that he was separated from the other inmates at the very back. Merlin walked into the cell, and locked it with a strong spell. Arthur was outside the cell for his safety.

Merlin leaned in the corner.

"Drop the façade, I know that's not your form." Merlin told him. John shrugged. He soon started to age rapidly, and looked like a 60 year old version of himself.

"Good. We're getting somewhere. Who sent you here?" Merlin asked. The old man just licked his lips and shook his head, denying to answer.

"Listen here. You answer to him, understand?" Arthur told John. John cackled.

"I wouldn't care if he could take away all my magic. I'm not telling him crap." He told them. Merlin walked to him, and touched his forehead. Merlin could definitely feel the negative magic in him. He had done some things that were immoral, and felt thoroughly corrupted.

"You have been corrupted by someone. I can tell you're committed acts against nature. Do you work for Morgana, or anyone she's close to?" Merlin asked. Merlin followed John's pupils.

"No. I'm not affiliated with that kind." He told Merlin. Merlin shook his head.

"Since you are lying, I guess that proves that you do work for Morgana."

The man sat shocked. "How did you know?" He asked. Merlin smirked.

"I didn't until you asked how I knew." Arthur nodded his head. Merlin was pretty good at this. John decided to stay quiet.

"Why are you in Camelot posing as a young boy? I have never heard of that name before, so you must have just arrived." Merlin asked.

"I'm just an old man looking for work." John told him.

"I'm guessing your real name is Johnathan. John is a new name that has just started to become popular, so you must be Johnathan. Also, we visited every major worker in each village, and heard no one of that last name. So you must not have grown up there. A traveler maybe?" Merlin assumed. "Or maybe a spy by the looks of it."

"I'll have you know that I am no spy, and I am just a traveler trying to earn some money! I will be out of Camelot once I can gather enough food for my next destination!" He replied angrily.

Merlin sighed. "Where are you heading?" He asked. The man stayed silent.

Merlin got directly into Johnathan's face. "If you make this any harder for me, you will regret it. Tell me why you work for Morgana, what you do, what your intention are, and where you are going." Merlin demanded. Johnathan looked Merlin right in the eyes, and spat in his face. Merlin wiped it off, and left the cell. He placed an entire spell incasing the whole cell, the walls, and the floor as well.

"Scream as loud as you can when you feel like giving me answers. For now, you will just rot in here." Merlin told him. As Merlin walked away, Arthur followed.

"Don't you think you were a bit harsh?" Arthur asked. Merlin faced Arthur, and he was shaking.

Arthur noticed that Merlin was distressed.

"Arthur you don't understand. I've been feeling this emotion. Ever since I woke up from the coma, I am so much more sensitive to magic. Before I could feel like a small amount of either positive or negative magic in others, but now it's amplified." Merlin told Arthur, his voice shaking.

"That man did horrible, horrible things. I can feel the despair he's caused others. And it's so overwhelming." Merlin told Arthur. Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin.

"All the other days were so overwhelming, I can almost feel the energy of the people who aren't magical. It's like their general hate is so vast, that they can make me feel this way without doing anything." Merlin told Arthur. "It's just so exhausting."

"Well we will ask Gaius about his opinions on the situation. Something may have happened when you died. Maybe you didn't die, and your body just spurted a whole bunch of energy at once to awaken you." Arthur tried to reason. Merlin nodded, and sniffled into Arthur's shirt.

Merlin hooked his arm around Arthur's, and they walked back to Merlin's room. Merlin felt drained, and just wanted to have a nap.

Arthur helped him into bed, and left him in his room to rest. Arthur headed down to Gaius to talk to him for a moment.

"Hello Gaius." Arthur greeted. He noticed a young boy, probably 15, cleaning up some tables.

"Hello Arthur." Gaius greeted.

"Hello sire. I'm Don, the apprentice that my friend recommended. Thank you for getting me this job. It's a pleasure." He thanked.

"No problem." Arthur told him. He turned his attention to Gaius.

"Did you figure out what happened to Merlin? Because there's a bit of a situation." Arthur told him.

"Please go fetch me two more pails of water, Don." Gaius told him. He nodded and headed out.

"What happened?" Gaius asked. Arthur sighed.

"Merlin is napping right now, but he almost cried after interrogating that man from the vetting. He kept telling me that since he woke up, he can feel everyone's emotions, and that it's draining him. I could tell before that he was tense, and I guess that was why." Arthur told him. Gaius nodded.

"I still haven't figured out what happened. I know for a fact that Merlin died, but then came back. I felt his pulse, his heartrate, his breathing, his pressure points. Nothing moved him. So why did he awaken, I still have yet to know. I thought about maybe finding a druid clan, and asking them since they have more knowledge than I." Gaius assured Arthur. He nodded, and left. He continued some of his tasks while Merlin slept, and he woke him for dinner. This time Arthur brought the dinner to Merlin. Merlin blearily sat up in bed, and watched Arthur place a tray on his lap.

"Hello beautiful. You've got to eat." Arthur greeted. Arthur sat at the table near him, and ate with Merlin.

"How are you feeling?" Arthur asked.

"A bit better. But I'm still tired. If I'm not completely awake by morning, I'll just brew up a potion to keep me going."

"Gaius had the idea of going to the druids, and asking them for any idea as the what happened the other night. It's probably linked to your sensitivity." Arthur suggested.

"That's a good idea. I can head there tomorrow to talk to them. I can just have Ebony carry me. She's be exploring her boundaries a lot, so I think she may be roaming the woods and hunting the deer." Merlin said. Arthur chuckled lightly at the thought of a tiny kitten chasing deer. Then he remembered the beast she really was. It gave him a chill sometimes.

Once they were done eating, Arthur stacked the dishes and said goodnight. He left Merlin be, and retired to his room for the night. Arthur had noticed some more papers on his desk, but he just ignored them and fell asleep.