Merlin One Shots

Truth Hurts

A/N: Welp, another angsty oneshot. Whoops.
(Warnings for ooc-ness)

Setting: Between series 4/5

Description: Merlin's hiding something, they know it. They just have to figure out how to find the truth.

Disclaimer: you know the drill by now.

"Do you ever feel like Merlin is hiding something?" Percival's quiet question caused the others to pause in their actions.

"Well... sometimes." Leon agreed. He glanced over to the brook where Merlin was watering the horses, just to make sure that he was out of earshot.

"More like all the time." Gwaine muttered, while Elyan nodded in agreement.

Arthur scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You're all paranoid, the lot of you. Merlin couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it!"

"You don't give him enough credit, Arthur." Gwaine interjected, a slight grin on his face. "After all, he hasn't told anyone just how you got that trident- ow!" The knight cried out when a well aimed stone hit him square in the forehead.

"What... what's he talking about?" Leon asked, giving Arthur a pointed look.

"Nothing! He's talking about nothing. Right, Gwaine?" Gwaine glared at the king, pouting as he rubbed his head. "Anyway," Arthur changed the subject eagerly. "I still don't understand why you think Merlin's hiding something."

"Well, he seems to know a little more than anyone else in Camelot." Elyan pointed out.

"And isn't it odd that he always seems to survive things that no other man would?" Leon added.

"Not to mention, he's constantly at the center of every problem." Percival finished, his expression daring Arthur to explain it all.

The king threw his hands up in the air. "That's- that's just how Merlin is! It doesn't mean he's keeping secrets." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Besides, it's not like we can just ask him why he acts like that."

"What if we can?" Everyone turned to Gwaine, who was rummaging through his bag noisily. He triumphantly held up a small glass vial that held a blue tinted liquid.

"What are you going on about now?"

"Why, my dear Elyan, it's only all the answers to our questions!" He waved the bottle through the air. "This is a little tool I got back when I was traveling far and wide-"

"You mean when you were a drunk searching for your next tavern to drain dry?" The knights laughed at Arthur's statement.

"Princess, I'm still a drunk searching for my next tavern. Anyway," he waited for the snickers to die down. "This little concoction makes a person... easier to talk to. It basically forces someone to tell the truth, and only the truth, for a few hours. Then, the person you give it to forgets whatever they told you by the next dawn."

Arthur eyed the bottle suspiciously. "It sounds a lot like some sort of magic to me, Gwaine."

"Well, I mean, it's technically not magic..."

"Gwaine..." Leon sighed.

"Listen, do you want answers or not?"

"Are you sure it's safe to give that to Merlin?" Elyan asked.

"I-"

"Safe to give what to Merlin?" Everyone froze at the sound of the manservant's voice. He stood just a few feet away, a curious expression on his face.