SET SOMETIME BEFORE CAMLANN AND LET'S SAY MERLIN HAS BEEN THERE FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS AND THERE IS THE ROUND TABLE JUST MINUS MORDRED AND LANCELOT IS ALIVE AND ALSO SEMI STRONG LANGUAGE

IT WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT FOR THE LAST CHAPTER MORGANA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD....SO LET'S PRETEND THAT WAS MORGAUSE PRETTY PLEASE AND SORRY FOR ALL THE TIME SKIPS THEY JUST HELP GET THE STORY TO WHERE I WANT TO GO :) So on fanfiction.com there is a story called the hidden knight and that's the inspiration for this with the help of a writing prompt on pinterest :) I think this is going to be part one and I'll write a second part soon!! Hope you guys enjoy it! oh and comment down below your presents/Christmas list and if you don't celebrate Christmas, comment what you did for your break or what you're going to do! Happy Holidays!!

There was a secret that Merlin never told anyone, not even Gaius knew. Hunith was the only one who knew but she had died a few days earlier... Merlin was alone with this secret now. Hunith wasn't his mother and Merlin wasn't born in Ealdor. Merlin was born of nobility in a Kingdom called Cyfoeth, a smaller kingdom just outside The Perilous Lands. He wasn't the prince or even a relative of the royal family there, but his dad was one of the King's most trusted knights and Merlin became the same. He just wished it was for a different king. The king of Cyfoeth was ruthless and had no mercy. He persecuted magic and killed innocents just as Uther always had. He threw people in the dungeons for not wishing his son happy birthday or happy Yule when they walk by. Merlin was ashamed to say he was one of those who enforced those rules.  He was the most ruthless of them all. He was the best sword-fighter and archer they had. He could pick up grown men as big as Percival in full armour and throw them over his shoulder like it was nothing but, never grow as big as them. Merlin could recall carrying dead men from battle and burning their bodies himself, and shuddered at the memory. 

Merlin had been The king's most skilled knight for 6 years until the king went too far. The king killed thirty innocent children for being disrespectful. Even the past, Merlin had his limits and that went way beyond it. From there, Merlin tried to save people from the harsh law and, as punishment, the King killed Merlin's mother and father. Balinor, his uncle, took over the household after that. That same year, the king drove Balinor out of Cyfoeth. Balinor took refuge in Camelot only to be driven out by Uther as well.

Merlin ran, he had been a knight since he was 14 and made it Camelot when he was 22. he had been on the run for two years before he took refuge with Hunith when he heard the king had died. After staying with Hunith for a couple of months, he headed to Camelot.

Sadly, the prince, now king, was attacked by Morgana and was in need of allies. He decided to go to Camelot for help as they have dealt with Morgana before. Merlin's four years of peace was ruined.

Of course, the now king had the same knights- minus Merlin or Myridian as they remember. The prince's name was Cyrus. King Cyrus of Cyfoeth.

With Cyrus coming, Arthur was stressed because Camelot needed allies as well with the war against Morgana. With Arthur stressed, the knights and Gwen were stressed as well. Gaius was running out of supplies and there was a bug going around. Merlin was pulled every which way, mucking out the stables, doing Gaius's daily runs, random knights asking if he could sharpen a sword or polish some armour and Arthur having him make sure there wasn't as much a speck of dust on his chamber floors or in the throne room. With being busy themselves and Merlin being busy as well, nobody noticed how nervous and jumpy Merlin acted or how he managed to disappear from time to time. At least, If they had they didn't say anything.

When Cyrus finally made it to Camelot, he only brought his inner circle of knights like Merlin had expected. When the official meeting in the throne room occurred, Merlin had enchanted himself only Camelot could really see him while those of Cyfoeth saw nothing but a figure in the shadows. While watching, Merlin noticed that the inner circle is the same exact team of knights he was with. Great.

*LE TIME SKIP DERP*

It had been thee days since the official meeting when it happened. Cyrus let his charade slip up. One of the servants, Sam, had tripped on a step and spilled a pitcher of water on the King. Cyrus snapped.

He slapped Sam across the face, his ring drawing blood as he yelled at him for being an incompetent servant and how he couldn't do anything right and how if this were Cyfoeth, Sam would be executed- which Merlin figured was probably true. Cyrus had taken the pitcher and decided to beat the crap out of Sam and almost kill the poor servant. When hearing of this Arthur had to decide what to do.

"If I imprison him, that will be waging war upon our kingdoms. If I decline the treaty, we lose a potential powerful ally in our fight against Morgana. If I do nothing, overtime I see him I will be reminded of how violent King Cyrus can get and will get with others, even if he is not their king...What do you think Merlin?" Arthur ranted to Merlin before deciding to ask Merlin, his unofficial advisor. Honestly, Arthur had thought about promoting Merlin to advise but then realized he would have to deal with George and his brass jokes... he shivered at the thought.

"Well...I guess you have to decide if you want a violent ally who sometimes abuses those in your care and of lower class or if you want a violent enemy who will stop at no means to defeat you." Merlin answered truthfully.

"Will he really be that ruthless just because I declined his offer to be allies as he abused my staff?" Arthur asked.

"Sadly, yes." Merlin said. Arthur looked at Merlin and noticed how Merlin seemed to never meet this eye.

"Just how would you know Merlin?" Arthur asked after a few moments of silence...

"Rumours spread fast, my lord." Merlin answer, quickly and simply.

"What kind of rumours?" Arthur asked, intrigued by what rumours had spread all the way to Ealdor.

"Well one time, a retired knight was travelling and stopped by Ealdor. He said he was travelling and spreading the news of the violence that happened in Cyfoeth. The past king, Cyrus's father, threw families in the dungeon for not getting Cyrus a better present for his birthday. He would whip servants who didn't pour wine in his cup after every sip he took. He was ruthless to the bone and I have no doubt that his son is the same after such an influence." Merlin half lied. While Merlin did try to spread the word, he didn't retire and he only managed to spread it to one town before the cat caught up to him.

"Wow. I don't think I want that kind of ally but, I certainly don't want that kind of enemy. Our allies usually have most of the same views and with Cyfoeth, we seem to only have one enemy in common. Morgana. Thank you Merlin, I've made my decision. You are dismissed." Arthur said and waved Merlin off.

Merlin nervously left, hoping Arthur didn't make the choice to have Cyfoeth as an ally.

*LE TIME SKIP TO ARTHUR'S PUBLIC DECISION DERP*

When the time came for Arthur to announce his decision, Merlin found himself beyond nervous. If Arthur did decline, he wondered what Cyrus would do. Merlin recalled past Kings declining a treaty and it didn't end well for those kingdoms...Merlin just wished it would work in Camelot's favour.

"I have decided to...decline your offer King Cyrus. I am sorry." Arthur announced, too dramatically in Merlin's opinion.

"Decline?! Decline! How dare you decline my offer of alliance! This is an act of war! I will- wait a second. I have an idea. A mini mele of sorts. Three rounds, my knights against your's. If your knights win, I will leave peacefully and won't wage war on you. If my knight's win, Camelot is mine. I have one condition though, have Myrddian compete in your favour. If he does not, the deal is off. And I can promise you, there will be war. We fight in three days at midday." Cyrus looked at Merlin halfway through his declaration of war- a whining fit in the servant's opinion- and realized who he was.

After his 'declaration', Cyrus all but stormed out of the throne room. Arthur stared at the man and couldn't believe how much of a brat he was being. Sadly, the brat happened to be a King with a powerful army.

"Who the hell is Myrddian?" Gwaine asked once he snapped to his senses.

"No idea. But we obviously need to find him or we'll be at war before we realize it." Arthur said stunned that they needed somebody nobody knew.

"Round table meeting. Now. Gwen, Merlin, Gaius; I ask you to join us." Arthur announced and everyone got into place.

" First, does anyone have any idea who Myrddian is? Maybe we can contact him and convince him to help us." Leon asked once the throne room was empty besides those of the round table. A chorus of 'no' filled the room in reply.

Of course, Merlin was very, very nervous during this and surprisingly managed to keep it hidden with a neutral face. Halfway through their brainstorming session, Arthur realized something. And that is never a good thing.

"Merlin, that knight form Cyfoeth that you said visited maybe he knows who Myrddian is." Arthur asked.

"Maybe he did but that was years ago and I have no way to contact him." Merlin lied, hoping Arthur wouldn't pester him about that.

"Damn it." Arthur cursed, furious that there was no way to find Myrddian that he knew of. Merlin was now having trouble keeping a neutral face but somehow he managed.

Merlin could't decide what to do. Should he reveal himself to Arthur? Should he not do anything at all but help win the war? Should he fight without telling anyone? With the chance of losing, Merlin thought it would be better just to have war but he knew Arthur wouldn't have it.

*LE TIME SKIP FULL OF WORRY DERP*

By now, Merlin made his decision. He would fight, and he would win.

"We at Cyfoeth have a tradition and that is to say our...motto of sorts. Knights! Formation and motto number 2476" Cyrus commanded and the six of his knights got into a straight line, side by side, before sticking their swords in the ground. They started chanting when Merlin came to onto the field where they were in disguise. He was dressed in his black armor and had his helmet on. He joined the chant to prove it was him.

"Stay low, Go fast

Kill first, Die last

One shot, One kill

Not luck, All skill

We will defeat, We will conquer

Above all we stand

As the victor."

The knights' chant almost distracted the people from the knight in black. Almost.

"Myrddian! It seems Camelot was able to get to you after all! Pity. I do like a good war, as you remember." Cyrus laughed, he seemed too confident in Merlin's opinion,

"Cyrus. I wish I could say it was a pleasure. You always were a little brat. Even in my teenage years I could see that. I just wished I had realized the evil I was doing sooner." Myrddian's deep voice boomed when it wasn't accompanied by the other knights' voices. the knights, Arthur, Gwen and Gaius strongly found comfort in the man's voice, it sounded almost familiar.

"That confident? Very well, the fights will begin soon. Arthur have you chosen your other five?" Cyrus asked

"Elyan, you stay, I'll fight. Go help Gaius and Gwen in case we need it." Arthur commanded and left with Leon, Percival,Gwaine, and Lancelot to fight. Elyan nodded but looked like he wanted to argue.

"There's a big difference between you and King Arthur, Cyrus. He is willing to fight for his people while you sit behind your men and let them do all your dirty work. Your father was same, he was a coward just as you are." Myrddian spat at his old prince.

"If I remember correctly you were one of the men, the best one. Before you chickened out just because my father killed those brats, your bitch of a mother and bastard of a father." Cyrus spat back venomously.

"HE KILLED THIRTY INNOCENT CHILDREN FOR BEING 'DISRESPECTFUL'. ALL I DID WAS TRY TO SAVE THE REST OF THE INNOCENTS AND YOU KILLED MY ONLY FAMILY. HE BETRAYED MY FATHER AND BETRAYED ME!" Myrddian yelled at the unlawful king earning gasps from the crowd. "HE HAD KILLED MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF INNOCENTS FOR NO REASON AT ALL. I LEFT ONCE I REALIZED THAT. I just... realized it too late"

"Let the fights begin." Cyrus yelled to distract from the fact he couldn't justify anything Myrddian had pointed out.

The first round had Myrddian and Leon against two of Cyrus's knights, Theo and Devin.

Myrddian and Leon both fought with swords and shields while Theo and Devin both had knives. What Leon didn't know but luckily Myrddian did, is that those were throwing knives, not daggers.

Myrddian let Theo and Devin make the move first. Theo lunged for Leon and feinted a stab before throwing the knife in his shoulder. Leon cried out while Myrddian cut off Theo's throwing hand. They paused the fight to let Elyan and Gaius grab the two to treat them.

Devin made the first move. He threw one of his knives but Myrddian ducked and dodged it. When ducking, Myrddian rolled forward and kicked Devin's legs out from under him. Myrddian kicked the knives out of Devin's reach and held him at the ground on sword point. Instead of running him through like everyone had expected, Myrddian held his hand out and helped Devin up. Myrddian then turned to leave. Devin had one more knife that Myrddian didn't know about and threw it.

Myrddian turned at the least second and caught it. He threw it back and it hit Devin's leg. Myrddian then headed back like nothing had happened. He stood next to Arthur until everyone snapped out of their daze and cheered.

Meanwhile, Arthur kept trying to think of who Myrddian could be. Camelot never contacted him so he must have been in the throne room when Cyrus threw his tantrum. The only people in the room were Gwen, himself, the round table, Gaius, the court and....Merlin. It couldn't be him... could it? Merlin is one of the only ones he doesn't know as well as others since Merlin never shares about himself at all... All Arthur knows about Merlin's past life is his childhood friend and where he lived and who his mother was. Also that he had never met his Dad. Lancelot also informed him that he was not entirely useless with a sword.

Could it be possible that The knight is Merlin?

AN-
*gasp* Arthur isn't oblivious for once?! THE WORLD IS ENDING AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH