It was exactly like magic. As soon as Arthur backed down Merlin came back to his side as close as possible without touching, invading without permission and expecting things to be easy. Arthur supposed, for Merlin, these sorts of things were.
The worst of it was Arthur had no excuse to withhold this from Merlin, of everyone. Gwen would be too mortified and Morgana, well, Arthur was worried enough about her sanity on a good day. Why weigh her down more?
Tilting his head back so he was staring up at the ceiling, he began to answer slowly, "The future."
He grimaced. "Do you still believe I'll be a good king, Merlin?"