Nice long chapter for Y'all. Another magic reveal! Because I lovvvveeeee them!

There was a pesky little problem in Camelot. There was a peasant in the kingdom who had gained nearly the amount of power as a noble. Let's just say the peasant didn't appreciate everything the king did and wanted some changes. This problem had caused many unnecessary problems.

So far the thief had a nickname. Robinhood. He stole from the Nobles. Lately a few Nobles had burst into the throne room and demanded Uther find this nuisance. It was fairly obvious that the Nobles were upset. They were losing a small profit that they seriously wanted.

Arthur had heard from Uther that he kept it for his own personal gain. Gwen had heard that he gave the money he stole to the poor. Gwaine had heard both and was utterly confused.

Somehow Robinhood had managed to keep his hideout location secret, along with the identities of his hench men. It was said that Robinhood took in whoever had a decent skill that would benefit him, and that he accepted homeless as long as they found a way to help.

Unfortunately for Uther, any attempts to catch him was unsuccessful. Now there was a rumour going around the knights that Robinhood could smell a trap from two miles away. Slowly a part of Camelot's population began to rebel when they heard what Robinhood was doing.

These things did not make Uther happy. So now Arthur was going undercover trying to find this Robinhood.

"Merlin, get me my bed roll."

Merlin was also there. He'd rather not spend these days cleaning the leech tank for Gaius, so this was the better option.

"You do know normal peasants don't usually order others around right?" Merlin asked incredulously. They were supposed to be undercover and the dollop head might blow it the way he was acting.

Arthur looked down with a confused look. "Well how do they get what they need?"

Merlin snorted. The Prat suited the nickname 'idiot far better than Merlin. "They get the stuff themselves," Merlin replied annoyed.

A small frown befell Arthur's face before he got up and grabbed his own bed roll. This was going to be a challenge for the blonde.

Following Arthur's actions, Merlin grabbed his own bed roll and placed it beside the prince's. It had been a long day of traveling for both of them.

They had gone on foot to seem more like peasants. Arhur's posture was also very much so, a giveaway that he was not a peasant. So Merlin had forced him to slouch slightly. Merlin had also forced Arthur into some old clothing, along with making Arthur roll around in some dirt. After that he had not seemed like a royal. Well as much anyway. If you knew what you were looking for, then you could tell.

Seeing Arthur like this had made Merlin wonder what would have happened if Arthur had not been a prince, and they had met under different circumstances. Perhaps they would have been friends? Would Arthur know of his magic in that alternate universe? Would Merlin not have to save his bloody arse all the time?

Merlin had no idea. With these thoughts Merlin fell asleep.

Arthur on the other hand was thinking both about Robinhood and Merlin. It was kind of jumping between the two. Would Robinhood be able tell he was a royal? How could Merlin live like this? How could anyone live like this? Scratchy clothing, and being covered in grime made Arthur feel filthy. What would Robinhood be like? Would he be able to protect both himself and Merlin with one sword? Well Merlin had a sword with him, but he could barely lift it, let alone yield it.

Soon he too fell asleep.

Since they didn't have anyone gaurding, they didn't notice a group surround them early in the morning. Nor did they wake when the group grabbed their weapons.

...........

Merlin awoke first. He heard a dragging sound. Looking around he found himself surrounded. Robinhood's group.

"Ashton, wake up," Merlin muttered. They had agreed Arthur needed a nickname. Most people weren't called Arthur these days.

Of course Merlin was not able to wake him. Arthur was an extremely heavy sleeper.

"Ashton, wake up!" Merlin told rather forcefully. Arthur still didn't wake up, so Merlin decided to stop being nice and full out smacked him on the chest.

"OW! Merlin I could have you-," that was when Arthur realized they were surrounded. "Oh... Great," Arthur spoke sarcastically.

A red head stepped forward. "Who are you two?" This man had a thick Irish accent.

"Please don't hurt us!" Merlin pleaded. Arthur was confused for a second before he realized what Merlin was doing. "We have no money!" They had literally brought no money to be more believable peasants.

"We've already checked your stuff, we know. What brought you two into thief turf? I'm sure even travellers would have heard at least a few rumours about that."

"My mother is in Ealdor. We've been traveling for a few days now to get there. We were exhausted and decided to just go through. Ashton here came because he's just lost his job as a guard in Camelot, and hoped to find a job in Ealdor," Merlin spoke rather convincingly.

They'd gone over their plan before, but Arthur hadn't expected Merlin to be so convincing. Considering he thought Merlin couldn't lie to save his life, he had expected that he would have to intervene to make their story more believable. Yet, he hadn't. Weird.

"Alright. I think he's telling the truth," another voice from the crowd spoke up. At those words the red head backed up, and a different person came forward.

This boy had light hazel eyes. In the light his eyes were slightly orange. His features were soft and boyish. Scrawny, but muscular body pushed himseld forward. His hair was a mess of light brown and stuck in multiple directions. He seemed to be about sixteen.

"Sorry about the rude awakening boys, I'm Robin. Robin hood," he spoke with the authority of a Noble. "We have to keep our heads up for imposters. If you need a job Ashton, we're in need of a guard. You'll have to come prove yourself first of course."

So that was how they ended up in Robinhood's lair. Well it was more of a small village in the trees. They'd managed to make multiple, adjoined tree houses. It was well hidden, nearly at the top of the tree canopy. The houses were easily covered by leaves. The elevated village was not built to be beautiful, but for efficiency. It seemed strong, stable and rather flammable.

They did not have much time to think on these things, because they were soon separated. Merlin was taken to the room he and Arthur would be sharing. Arthur was led to the middle of the village where a few people were sword fighting.

"So you said you were one of the king's guards?" Arthur nodded to Robin. "Well, let's see how you do." Robin then nodded for another man to come forward. "George."

This man was rather bulky, and it seemed like he would move slow.

They were each handed dull swords to work with.

"Only the prince himself could beat George, so your task Ashton, is to last three minutes."

At this Arthur was tempted to snicker, but decided he'd only fight six minutes so he wouldn't give himself away.

"Ready?" There was a brief pause."set." Another pause. "GO!

The duel began.

Arthur started out by feigning a bad stance. The other man seemed relaxed and rather arrogant. At the moment Arthur wanted to beat the living daylights out of the man for wearing that smug grin. Unfortunately they had to stay undercover. George obviously thought he was going to win, and he would... This time anyway.

Despite Arthur's thoughts, the man was actually faster than he had expected. His blows were powerful, and precise. If this hadn't been an undercover mission, Arthur would have won, but George would have gotten a few hits in first. Actually the man would have made a good knight if he wasn't loyal to Robin.

In the end, Arthur lasted eight minutes. He had wanted to win, but halfway through he remembered and slowed down. Feeling rather foolish he let himself be defeated. So he was offered a job. Instead of accepting immediately as the group had expected, Arthur had asked for some time to feel out if he'd fit in with their group. Robin was rather kind and gave that time.

Arthur was doing well on his part of the undercover mission, but what about Merlin? That idiot better not have been found out by now. Who knows what he was doing.

...........

Arthur saw Merlin again at supper. It seemed he was getting along well with just about everyone. Chatting seemed to come easily to the dark haired boy. Arthur felt himself feel rather... jealous. Not of Merlin's chatting skills, but of the people talking with Merlin.

Somehow Robin noticed some kind of internal trouble and sat beside Arthur. Robin's boyish features were enhanced by the fire, making him look younger.

"Life is weird isn't it? One second you're a guard Camelot, then the next you're thinking of joining a resistance against the king." Arthur snorted at Robin's words.

"You're telling me," Arthur paused for a moment before asking, "why are you so against the king?"

A judgmental look fell on Robin's face. "Didn't you live in Camelot? The king is raising the taxes so much that nobody can pay them. I heard he lowered the Noble's taxes too. The slimy git doesn't care about us, so we've been stealing from the rich and giving to the poor," looking at Arthur's confused face, he came to a realization. "The guards don't know about this do they?" After a confirmation from Arthur he continued, "anything to cover the king's trail I guess."

Would Uther really stoop so low to please the Nobles?  It was likely. Perhaps he should tell his father he had been unsuccessful in finding Robin.

The two sat there in silence for a while, just thinking about stuff. Arthur did not want to dwell on the subject though. So he broke the silence between them.

"You know, you don't strike me as a professional criminal."

"That's what makes me so good at it. Like Your friend over there. I've met him before. He works for the Prince, yet breaks and bends laws daily as if they were just blades of grass." Robin had not said much more on the subject. He'd spoken of how Merlin and him had a partnership going, and would help each other when ever possible.

Now that was something Arthur had not expected.

..........

That evening the two had left. They'd gone to Ealdor because Merlin hadn't seen Hunith for a long time. Then they'd started travelling back to Camelot.

A five day walk gave Arthur a lot of time to ponder over Robin's words. The phrase, Breaks and bends laws daily, was floating around in Arthur's head. Those words were not painting a good picture for Arthur.

Looking into the roaring flame Merlin was cooking over, Arthur was debating asking about it. In the end, his curiosity won the battle.

"Merlin, I keep thinking about something Robin said about you."

Merlin's heart started racing, and his palms began to sweat. Despite that, he still managed to calmly reply with, "what's that sire?"

"He told me you'd met before and help each other. That doesn't bother me, because I don't plan on telling my father about Robin." This half calmed and half worried Merlin. Where was Arthur going with this? "Robin also told me you break laws daily. He didn't specify though, so perhaps you could inform me."

Sweating, Merlin decided to attempt to switch the topic. "Wait, you're not telling your father about Robin? Why not?"

"He told me of a few things I was unaware of. Like how my father rose the taxes for peasants, and lowered it for Nobles. Not exactly fair is it?"

"You didn't know about that?"

"No I didn't. Just like I didn't know that you broke laws routinely."

So close to getting off that topic! Merlin thought. There were also a few swears accompanying that thought. After a few seconds more of thinking, he realized there were two options. Just straight out tell him, or lie. Finally he had the chance to tell Arthur like he'd always wanted... but would he take it?

"Arthur, it's hard to explain..."

"Well we have a two day walk ahead, so we have time."

Huffing Merlin made his decision. He'd tell if Arthur answered his question positively... or maybe he'd be able to figure this one out on his own. "What do you think of magic?"

"How does this I have to do with... oh..." Seeing Merlin looking down at the ground with a guilty, yet nervous expression on his face, Arthur realized why he had asked.

"How long?" Arthur asked demandingly.

"How long what?"

"Don't play that card with me. How long have you been practicing magic?"

Looking up, Merlin had hoped to find that same acceptance he found when Arthur was speaking of Robin. There wasn't a trace of it. Only Arthur's stone cold look he gave enemies. Seeing he'd lost before he even started, Merlin decided to just go for it.

"I was born with magic."

Arthur snorted. "Not possible."

"Well I was. My mother was terrified someone would find out and drilled it into my head that I couldn't tell anybody. My magic comes naturally, and it... just happens." Arthur had dropped his stone cold look, and now looked like a child trying to figure out who stole his cookies.

"I don't even need spells. When I was a baby my mother made sure to never have guests over because I used magic so often. I would make food fly over to me, or I'd sneeze and all the candles would go out. As I grew, I tried to hide my magic, but with all the kids bullying me for not having a father, it was hard. When I came to Camelot, it was my mother's cry for Gaius' help. She hoped Gaius could help me control it."

A single tear rolled down Merlin's cheek as he continued, "when I used magic to save your life, I finally found a purpose for it. I managed to save you many times, but now... you're most likely not going to want anything to do with me."

They sat in silence for a while as tears silently rolled down Merlin's cheeks, and Arthur stared at the ground thinking. He'd been thinking a lot these last few days. Had Merlin been the one to drop the chandelier? That gust of wind in the underground tunnels with the afanc certainly hadn't been natural... What about when Arthur supposedly killed the dragon? There had been no body, and certainly no proof Arthur had killed him. All those times... had they been changed in his favour by Merlin? There were many more examples, like when Arthur killed the unicorn, random branches falling on his enemies and much, much more.

"Merlin, I'll need a bit of time to process this, but I really should be saying thank you."

Those words had surprised Merlin so much that he fainted.

That was how Arthur's and Merlin's friendship grew greatly.

.

In case you're wondering what happened after: Arthur sent a note with Merlin to explain that 'Ashton' had been Arthur. The note also apologized for his father's actions, and told of trying to change his father's mind. Eventually he was successful.

Later on, when Arthur becamw king, Robin was given a job as a member of the grand counsil. All his henchmen and friends got hired by the castle for their many skills and talents.