#i hate uther but these family moments make my heart happy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hiimsociallyawkward · 3 years

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the wicked day

hey guys. i'm back with my random and annoying merlin thoughts. i should be studying for my bio quiz, but yk- i don't want to :,) love you @lady-ofmagic-andstars✨enjoy✨

literally every time i'm going watching i'm going to comment on john hurt that says young man instead of young boy

it's so subtle but wow. thanks i didn't need to be hurt so early on in the episode

i know i know i'm basically a child but this is so exciting

merlin is so cute

aw no not arthur being pouty abt his big birthday

I LOVE THE 'i heard that' thing so much. i love it i love it

off topic, but i love knife throwing. i've always thought that if i had to choose a weapon that's not a gun, i'd choose knifes. swords? maces? crossbows? sure. but knives?? that's where it's really at

i love arthur not wanting to overburden their citizens

ok uther? i hate him

but here? i love him

he's a good dad here. remembering arthur's birthday? that's so sweet. uther in season 4 is the only time i semi like him

AW ARTHUR AND UTHER AT DINNER

i love them

off topic but i like that arthur is wearing his 'every day' clothes, jacket and a tunic under his cape. that's it. the knights are all wearing his garb but arthur is just wearing his 'regular clothes'

hehe gwen being nervous about arthur being on the wheel is so sweet

idk why but i always get nervous at that last knife.

like of COURSe i know he's not going to get hit but it's scary.

the 'not wearing any trousers' thing omg. bbc really decided to do that

i wish we had more of this parental dynamic of arthur and uther

dam alright arthur. being out of it but still being in it enough to see the guy in the reflection? i stan

SKLFJASLDFJA uther fighting to protect arthur

literally me through his whole scene going 'oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez' on repeat.

so off topic but i kind of like the hairstyle they have for most of the guys in this show?? idk is that weird

oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez uther dying

like, i HATe him. i've been waiting for this since season 1 but this scene makes me sad

ok i don't remember the last episode of merlin so i forget what arthur says when he's dying in merlin's arms??

it's something like 'hold me' right? i feel like that has the same energy as 'stay with me' so while i can't exactly say this is sort of parallel, it's sort of parallel?

i mean, ok 1. dying in someone else's arms. 2. dying in the arms of someone you love? romantically, platonically, familial? doesn't matter. both uther and arthur died in the arms of someone they loved. 3. i'm just gonna say 'hold me' and 'stay with me' have the SAME energy, so if no one has called semi-parallels, i'm calling semi-parallels

bradley's single tear

stfu agarvaine. i'm serious. legit everytime he shows up i wanna pow pow pow him

legit. agaravaine needs to get away from morgana.

DO NOT GRAB HER ARM MISTER. LET GO OF HER

I DON'T CARE THAT YOU'RE SECRETLY IN LOVE WITH HER. LET GO OF HER RN

i've said it once and i'll say it again, i love gwen

not to romanticize death or anything but i like candle light vigils.

ok maybe slightly symbolic but probably not? ok actually i think it is, not to toot my own horn but this is also just really straightforward too.

arthur wearing 'street garb' and his 'knight stuff' sort of differentiates between 'arthur' and 'prince arthur'. the scene where merlin and arthur are looking over the vigil and merlin's talking about how there's nothing that can be done, and arthur mentions using magic, i may be off about this but i feel like he's speaking more from prince arthur rather than arthur, uther is my father.

like of course arthur's hurting, everyone knows he's hurting. but idk. i feel like he feels like he's not ready to be king. he needs more time, and he can't be king yet. so therefore, prince arthur is talking about needing to save their king.

gaius and merlin are both right here. idk what else to say.

wow merlin 'you can't stop me' love that

jeez 'maybe this is my chance to change that' little do you know what's happening soon merlin.

oh shoot.

arthur asking merlin if he would use magic to save his father? i'm just thinking back to merlin crying, but not crying over balinor because he couldn't tell arthur, and merlin having to mourn his father in secret. vs. arthur, asking merlin for advice. sharing all his worries and insecurities with gwen. begging gaius to do something more for his father. this just makes me so sad

arthur TRUSTING merlin. with everything. taking merlin's opinion on things and aw

this is dumb but tbh i really like merlin's outfit. like tbh i think i dress in the same sort of style, just ✨modern✨ sadly, no neckerchief for me but i do have a necklace that says 'heather' despite my name being 'ashley'. ily conan gray

ugh. arthur calling merlin a coward but also calling him brave?? you need to pick a side arthur

LMAO ARTHUR STOP THINKING ABOUT WATCHING MERLIN PEE

bruh arthur breaking the vase. it's so dumb but merlin referring to the vase over and over actually makes me chuckle

ok merlin going 'you have come to kill me?' reminds me of another show but i can't remember but i thought i'd put it out here anyways

oh shoot i just realized/remember that uther got stabbed on arthur's birthday. hell of a gift am i right 😭

hehe arthur 'sweeping' with the broom. silly goose

dragoon sounds so vulnerable asking for the right to use magic freely

i love you arthur. this scene, i'm like YES. arthur i love him

i love the saying 'my word'. like, i don't want people to promise me anything anymore. i want them to give me their word.

HAHA THIS IS SO DUMB. MERLIN SAYING 'QUESTIONS. SO MANY QUESTIONS'. I LITERALLY SAY IT WITH THE SHOW EVERY TIME. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME

aw arthur just sitting there with the cup and trying not to break it HAHA he's so sweet. slightly scared after that vase yk what i mean

ok i don't like morgana and everything but that necklace? that's a stroke of genius. yes girl. make up the plan as you go along

frick you agarvaine. do not scare gwen you PERV

jeez agarvainewas SO rude putting that necklace onto uther. like yes, ik you don't like him but STILL. that's just rude

i'm going to start calling people toads now

hehe arthur closing his door and merlin being right there. it's not necessarily a trope but it totally is and i love it

ah yes. merlin and the tavern. i feel like it's been referred to before but it's still funny.

ok ik arthur carrying merlin is there for kicks for the kids but i laughed anyways

apparently i have the humor of a 10 year old

this is really dumb but the scene with arthur and the two guards. i'm just thinking 'how tall are these guards'. ofc ik that the staging/perception could be doing something that might be making arthur look shorter, but my first reaction was 'bradley is 6' just how tall are these guards??'

merlin's speech about magic makes me sad

aw 'i hope, one day, that you'll see me in a different light'

dragoon has the same effect on arthur as merlin does

uther waking up 😭

AW. UTHER'S LITTLE SIGH AND THEN 'ARTHUR' BREAK MY HEART COVEY. BREAK IT A THOUSAND TIMES.

they're both so happy. this makes me so sad now. oh jeez. oh jeez. oh jeez

oh jeez oh jeez merlin's expression. AW merlin gave arthur his word. oh jeez this is very stressful and i'm only watching this

ok obviously. merlin doesn't want to see arthur in pain. but ALSO this was merlin's chance to change things once and for all. and now uther is dead. #no liam just payne

arthur's face post crying. skf;aldjfa;ldk AW

frick you agarvaine. literally die. i can't wait for merlin to kill you

i think this scene is pretty. the light on the left and the dark on the right? ok actually, i'm going to be making an off base comparison now because that's all i do.

i'm remembering this post i saw on here and it was like, arthur uther and morgana in the throne room. in order of the way they sit in the throne room, first it's arthur, uther, and then morgana

well. the really dumb and off base comparison here is the 'light' goodness of arthur and the 'dark' evil of morgana being mirrored in the picture above.

'light', bravery, doing what's right- being on the left. 'dark', evil, power on the right- and arthur in the middle of it, king

like i said, it's a dumb off base comparison, but at least the picture is pretty

oh jeez this scene

my heart breaks for both of them

merlin not being able to form a sentence at first.

😭😭😭😭 arthur please. you're breaking everyone's heart right now

you already knew i had to include this scene

arthur walking in there all alone

oh jeez he's all alone

dumb parallel number 2. arthur walking into the throne room with uther, father and son. merlin and gaius closing the door for arthur- pseudo father and pseudo son.

'he'll never know who i really am'

i want to do a DEH post soon but jeez. the line that hits hardest for me in DEH is 'i never let them see the worst of me. cause what if everyone saw? what if everyone knew? would they like what they saw? or would they hate it too? and jeez that's all i can think about when i think about merlin and his secrets

again. no liam, just payne

asldkfja;sldkfjas dlf merlin waiting for arthur

i have so many feelings

i love the show of affections for his father. you already know that uther wasn't affectionate when arthur was growing up, but still. forehead kiss? i love it

I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO FEEL THAT YOU WERE ALONE. i hate this and love this so much. i'm not saying merlin is completely selfless, because merlin wants magic to be leagalized and arthur is the way to do that. but omg merlin not wanting for arthur to feel like he's alone breaks me

first, merlin being physically alone while waiting for arthur. arthur was technically alone too, but he was with his father

but also, merlin being alone in the sense of his magic. no one knows except for gaius. lancelot knew and then they killed him. merlin is so alone when it comes to his magic, and morgana's enchantment only pushes merlin into his 'magic shell' more. arthur thinks magic is pure evil, and merlin is made of magic. what does that mean would think of arthur. this hurts me so much i'm so sad

friend 😭

arthur asking if he's hungry and them getting breakfast together

ok this sound track

pendragon red. i actually stan

gwen wearing a purple dress?? color symbolism?? nah i'm over thinking

ASIFA;SDLFJAD HE'S KING OF CAMELOT

IT'S LIKE I WANT TO CRY BECAUSE I'M SO PROUD RIGHT NOW.

oh jeez oh jeez.

and merlin saying 'long live the king' at the end of the episode?

chills

Anyways! I’ll be back next week to rant more about aithusa so I’ll see you then! thanks I love you bye

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bitsandbobsofwriting · 3 years

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Soulmate AU part 2; Things drastically change for the better:

Arthur and Merlin’s relationship develops, Uther becomes increasingly annoyed at his failed attempts to control them, Leon continues to have heart palpitations over trying to protect them, and Morgana thinks the whole thing is hilarious.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

So that conversation... happens.

To say it was awkward would be a MASSIVE understatement.

Arthur and Morgana spend the whole time answering Uther’s questions, so much so that Merlin barely speaks (he wasn’t great at keeping secrets, so he wasn’t too mad at them for answering for him) and Uther spends the whole time trying and failing to assert his dominance over his two dumbass kids (but they aren’t having it).

Eventually Merlin did speak up, quietly saying:

“I, um... I’m really sorry to interrupt Sire, My Lord... uh... Your Majesty Sir-”

Morgana smirks slightly and covers her mouth with her hand, Arthur rolls his eyes and squeezes Merlin’s hand, and Uther looks upon the whole scene with barely concealed bewilderment:

“-uh... my mum is waiting for me, and I’m usually not gone for this long so... could I... I mean would you mind if I... went?”

Uther looked even more taken aback at that. As much as this whole conversation had been based on Merlin, he hadn’t actually processed the fact that he was a whole person who would have family and places to be and a life outside of being The Prince’s soulmate.

He nods his head slightly and purses his lips:

“Right. Of course. Arthur said that you lived outside of Camelot?-”

He doesn’t wait for an answer before continuing:

“-Well I’m afraid that that is unacceptable. You are the soulmate of the Prince of this kingdom, inform your family that you are to move here as soon as possible, preferably before the month is out.-”

At Merlin’s wide eyes and Arthur and Morgana’s scornful faces, he waved his hand:

“-Don’t worry, housing and anything else that you will require will be provided by the Crown.”

Merlin still looks a bit dazed and surprised at his demand, so Arthur replies instead:

“Father, Merlin and his mother have a life in their village, you can not just demand that they pack up and leave everything behind to live here.”

Uther looks annoyed at this, but patiently (or as patiently as Uther is able) retorts with:

“Well he was going have to move eventually. The two of you are only a few years from being of age, and you can not possibly live in separate kingdoms when that happens, especially as you are Crown Prince. I’m allowing this... bond... to continue, but we are still royalty, and rules must be followed.”

Morgana goes to argue this time, but Merlin tugs her sleeve slightly and says quietly:

“It’s alright ‘Gana, he is right, I was going to have to move here eventually anyway. This way you finally get to meet my mum, and we’ll get to see each other more often. Mum won’t like it, but I know she’s missed Gaius, so it won’t be too bad, and I’ve always sort of wanted to explore the city.”

Morgana and Arthur stare at him for a few moments whilst he looks between them. Arthur sighs before replying:

“Fine, but only if you’re sure. And take your time, don’t pressure your mum into leaving right away, OK?”

Merlin nods, and everyone at the table stands, stepping back.

Uther mutters that they are dismissed, but watches as they say goodbye to each other. He furrows his eyebrows in interest as Morgana hugs Merlin, mentally noting that he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her smile that widely before.

When Arthur embraces Merlin, much tighter, and for much longer, a hand cradling the back of the peasant’s-... of Merlin’s head, and a soft, but powerful smile on his face, Uther forgets for a moment the distastefulness of the situation, and revels in the feeling of pride and happiness; his son had found his life partner.

The King sweeps any thoughts of his late-wife from his mind, and drops the small smile gracing his face, but not before Morgana spies it and tilts her head at him, giving him a teasing smirk.

The boys whisper something that Uther can’t hear, and Merlin steps back, giving him a quick bow and an awkward wave, before disappearing into thin air. A familiar pop echoes around the hall, and a few gold sparks fall silently to the floor.

Arthur and Morgana bow to him very briefly, before turning and leaving the room without another word, arm in arm.

Uther stands alone in the room for a moment, sighing before muttering to himself:

“This is going to be a bloody nightmare. Public announcement. Before that I have to tell the council. And I have to figure out how I can legally make these people nobles, to justify everything-”

He looks to the ceiling, sighing once again as he says:

“-Gods give me strength.” Before turning and sweeping out the room.

The moment Arthur and Morgana leave the room, they turn to each other and burst into slightly hysterical laughter, sputtering about “the look on his face” and “oh my gods, *sire my lord your majesty sir* ” between breaths.

The whole situation was unexpected, but to be perfectly honest, they didn’t regret it; they knew that the longer they waited before telling Uther, the bigger the problem would be.

Morgana straightens up after a moment, wiping tears from her eyes, before whipping her head around to Arthur in sudden panic:

“Oh my Gods, Arthur. Leon.”

Arthur’s eyes widen, and he curses suddenly before taking Morgana’s hand and running towards his chambers. They almost ran into multiple people, Nobles who tutted, and castle staff who jumped out of the way, not even having time to bow before the two teenagers were out of sight again.

They loudly burst into Arthur’s chambers, out of breath, to see Leon pacing a groove into the floor:

They stand with their hands on their knees, panting, but before they can say anything, Leon rushes to speak:

“Where on earth have you been?? A guard said you were in a meeting with the King all afternoon, what happened? Is Merlin ok?? They wouldn’t let me in, so I came back here to wait but-”

Arthur held up a hand to stop him rambling, and gave him a comforting smile. The Prince straightened up, and took one last deep breath before saying:

“Sorry, for worrying you Leon. But you are not going to believe what just happened...”

Morgana starts laughing again, and with that, the two of them shut the door behind them and explain in great detail what had happened, how Merlin had just appeared and Uther had freaked, and Gaius and Geoffrey had to be called, and how funny the look on his face was when they’d explained.

Arthur had wanted to skip it out, but Morgana gleefully insisted on recounting just how much she and Arthur had ordered Uther around, and how he’d just taken it.

By the end of their explanation, Leon had collapsed in a chair, looking very pale, and a lot like he’d aged twenty years.

He holds his head in his hands, fingers messing up his curls, and stares at the floor as Arthur and Morgana glance to each other, trying not to laugh at the poor man.

After what seems to be hours, Leon straightens up, and looks to the two of them with a stricken expression:

“I can’t believe that... well I suppose he had to find out eventually but... dear Lord I can’t decide if I’m grateful I wasn’t there or not... oh my Gods I’m going to be demoted, disowned, banished.”

Arthur laughs at that and Morgana rolls her eyes at the man’s panic:

“Nothing’s going to happen to you Sir Leon, don’t panic. We didn’t mention you, as far as my father is concerned, the only ones who knew were us.”

Leon finally smiles briefly at that, muttering a quiet thank you, before standing up suddenly, looking panicked once again:

“Wait... you said he’d be moving here?? What about his... gift?? He can’t live in Camelot it’s dangerous. You may have protected him from the King for now but... if he finds out nothing will stop him from... nothing will stop him.”

The two of them sighed at that. They had been mentally considering it, but they were just taking it one victory at a time. Arthur replied moments later:

“We’ll just have to be careful. He has to be careful in Ealdor anyway, he’s already a bastard, he had to hide magic from the other villagers because it probably would’ve been fatal for him to give them a second reason to hate him. We can set ground rules when he actually moves here and... we just have to be careful. It’ll be a new life for him and his mother, we can be careful.”

He says the last bit with a decisive nod, and Morgana and Leon relax slightly. Arthur was right, they’d been fine so far, they could keep it up.

He would never say it out loud, but if his father found out... if he tried to hurt Merlin, Arthur knows without a doubt in his mind that he would give up his inheritance, take Merlin’s hand, and run. Without hesitation.

He would love nothing more than to turn his kingdom into a place where Merlin could be free and happy one day, but until then, he would do anything to keep him safe, even if it meant leaving everything behind.

The next few weeks rush by.

Uther had tried to limit the number of visits between Merlin and Arthur, but neither of them were having it, and if anything, they were seeing each other more with the upcoming move.

Hunith did in fact freak out at Uther’s demand of her and Merlin moving to Camelot. For several reasons.

First off, she had a life here. It was difficult, but simple, honest work. The winters were hard, but the summers made up for it. The villagers may have started of being a little cruel to her and Merlin, but they warmed to them when the dark haired boy was nothing but sweet and kind to everyone.

Second off, her son was magical. Both naturally and unnaturally magical. Essetir was dangerous, yes, but Camelot? Camelot was so much worse.

She supposes it had to happen eventually. She didn’t like to think of it often, didn’t want to tempt fate, but her son was the Crown Prince’s soulmate. That meant that one day... he would be married to the King. He couldn’t exactly do that whilst living in Essetir, least of all because the Essetir Crown would throw a world ending fit.

In the end, she agreed to the move rather quickly, at least she would be close to her brother, and she could finally meet Leon and Morgana.

As much as Merlin and Arthur urged her not to rush, she really had nothing to do but say goodbye before they made the journey to Camelot, and the three of them were leaving the village behind them within the month, just like Uther wanted.

Though he definitely hadn’t wanted Arthur to pop away one morning, a full travel pack and a sword on his person, intending to make the journey with them. But in the end, Arthur ended the argument by rolling his eyes (much to Morgana’s amusement) and disappearing before The King could get another word in.

No public announcements had been made (they decided to wait until Arthur came of age), but the council had been informed. They were NOT happy.

Uther would never admit it, but he did feel a swell of pride when Arthur slammed his hand on the table, and firmly told them that this was happening whether they liked it or not, and if they dared complain instead of help, they would find themselves without a chair at the table, and severely lacking in titles and land.

Uther was relieved when he found out that Hunith was Gaius’ younger sister. Gaius wasn’t a noble, but he was a life-long, close friend of the King, and a trusted advisor. Hopefully that would make it easier.

The Court Physician wasn’t a title that came with land, or nobility, BUT it was the most respected position in the royal household, below actual nobles.

If Gaius could take Merlin on as his apprentice... then he would be an almost fully trained physician by the time he came of age, and that would be respected. Then at least he would have a role outside of being the Prince’s Soulmate.

It was all coming together in Uther’s mind. Of course it wasn’t perfect. The absolute ideal outcome would’ve been if Arthur’s soulmate had been foreign royalty (if only anyone knew about Merlin’s father...), but he could make do with this. He would have to, if he didn’t want to lose his son and his ward.

The day of Hunith, Arthur, and Merlin’s arrival finally comes.

Uther didn’t greet them in the courtyard (it would be unsightly for a King to greet two commoners, even if The Prince was with them) but Gaius, Morgana, and Leon did.

Everyone breaks into wide smiles when the castle gates are opened, Arthur and Merlin rushing forward to meet Morgana and Leon in a big hug, and Hunith rushing forward to meet her brother, whom she hadn’t seen in several years.

There is laughter and hugs all around before Merlin finally steps back and takes his mother’s hand, realising he should probably give actual introductions:

“Mum, this is The Lady Morgana, ward of the King-”

Morgana gives Hunith a wide smile and curtsy, before stepping forward and giving her a brief hug. Morgana was very touch averse with everyone but Merlin, Arthur, and Leon, but in her books, any woman who raised Merlin into the young man he had become, was a woman who deserved her trust. And a hug:

“-and this is Sir Leon, Knight of the King.”

Leon took Hunith’s hand, placing a brief kiss on her knuckles before stepping back respectfully. Hunith quickly followed him, and to his great surprise, wrapped the taller man in a tight hug. He wraps his arms around her after a few moments in shock, when she whispers in his ear:

“Thank you for keeping my boys safe.”

He steps back, a wide smile on his face and his hands on her shoulders. He replies quietly so that only she would hear him:

“It has been my genuine pleasure, and I plan to continue to do so for the remainder of my service.”

Hunith gives him an even wider smile, and pats his hand, before the two of them step back. The others watch on in adoration, before Leon clears his throat and addresses the group:

“I have been instructed to show the two of you to your new residence, before you are to meet with the King.”

Arthur steps back before saying regretfully:

“Unfortunately, Gaius and I should go and meet with my father immediately. Leon, you lead the way, we shall remain with him until you return and we can get this over with.”

He says the last bit with a grimace, and Morgana gives him a sympathetic smile as Merlin squeezes his hand.

The group separates, Arthur and Gaius heading up the castle steps, and Leon leading the rest of them back out the gates.

Hunith and Merlin had been gifted a small house in the upper city, close to the castle, but not within it’s walls. Arthur had argued endlessly against that, saying they deserved chambers inside the castle, but Hunith was the one who refused.

She wasn’t nobility, and she enjoyed her simple life. She had already given up her farming and livestock, she refused to be cooped up in a giant stone castle where she would have nothing to do, and didn’t understand how anything worked.

Arthur finally saw the sense in that, he can understand that it would be difficult for Merlin and Hunith to live in the castle. He hated to admit it, but they would certainly be looked down on, and Arthur was almost of age, he didn’t have the time to spend all day entertaining Merlin, even if he wanted nothing more than to spend all day every day with him.

The house was small, but still three times the size of their place back in Ealdor. They had separate bedrooms, a large kitchen/dining area, a small storage room, and an extra room for relaxing (”City folk call them living rooms apparently.”). There was a small, fenced off grass area out the front, which Hunith was particularly excited about; she wouldn’t have to give up growing things after all.

The home came fully furnished, and Hunith was speechless at the large, comfortable beds, the soft chairs, and the abundance of cooking equipment. The living room also had a large hearth, and two ceiling-high bookshelves, though they were empty.

Once Hunith had had a good look around (the others had already seen it, and Arthur had been checking with Merlin at every step to see if he approved), Morgana excitedly grabs her hand and drags her back to the slightly larger of the two bedrooms.

Merlin follows confusedly, but Leon follows with a small smile on his face, he had seen what Morgana was planning, despite her best attempts to keep it secret.

Morgana finally stands Hunith in front of the wardrobe and gestures for her to open it. The older woman opens the doors with a little hesitation, before stepping back and gasping, her hands over her mouth.

Morgana grins proudly before speaking to a speechless Hunith:

“My gift to you. I organised a few things for Merlin as well. Of course they’ll all have to be adjusted because I could only pass on to the tailor Arthur and Merlin’s descriptions of you. I thought that could be something nice you and me could do at some point in the next few days, after you’ve settled.”

Merlin steps around Leon to try and see what’s got everyone so wound up, and takes in a quiet gasp at what he sees. The wardrobe is filled with new, tailor made dresses, a few thick cloaks, and two pairs of good quality shoes. Two of the dresses were incredibly nice, royal-gala kind of nice, and the others were a mix of practical, casual, smart.

He smiles widely, tears in his eyes at what Morgana had done for his mum. He’s always felt a little guilty at being the soulmate of royalty, but not being able to provide her with more than she had, but that changed, starting now.

Hunith finally rips her gaze from the new clothes, staring at Morgana:

“I can’t possibly...-”

Morgana’s tilted head and raised eyebrow forces Hunith to change tracks. The boys have told her how stubborn Morgana was, she has a feeling she wouldn’t be able to return the gifts:

“-I don’t know how to thank you, My Lady.”

Morgana rolls her eyes fondly, and brings her into a hug before stepping back:

“Oh none of that “My Lady” shit, and you don’t have to thank me, you and Merlin are part of the family now.”

Merlin gives her a grateful smile over his mum’s shoulder, which she returns, before Leon speaks up:

“I’m sure you can find time to get them all properly fitted in the coming days Morgana, for now we should get back up to the castle. I imagine The King and The Prince are waiting for us.”

Morgana nods, and Hunith subtly wipes her eyes, before allowing The King’s ward to intertwine their arms. Merlin smiles at the sight (he knew they would get along) before turning and following Leon out the house, and back up towards the castle.

Merlin was only a little nervous, he’d met the King multiple times now, and whilst the man was always painfully polite, it was clear that it was only because the whole situation bewildered him a little. But he’d never met his mother yet, and this next meeting would make the rest of his life go very smoothly, or very difficultly.

Leon pauses a moment outside the door to the throne room, glancing back at Merlin, who takes a deep breath before standing straight and nodding.

Leon smiles encouragingly at him, before pushing the doors open and walking into the room.

Arthur, Uther, and Gaius were stood in front of the thrones quietly discussing something, but look up when they hear the doors open.

Arthur smiles widely and walks forward, giving Merlin a brief hug (which Morgana lovingly rolls her eyes at, they’ve only been apart for half an hour) and Uther straightens his back, before walking forwards regally, a practiced blank look on his face. Gaius gives his sister a reassuring smile, but stays back.

Leon and Merlin bow (Leon deeply, before stepping aside, and Merlin briefly and shallowly) and Hunith curtsied as best she could with Morgana protectively gripping her arm.

Arthur and Merlin stand next to the girls, hand in hand (Uther’s mind bounces between wanting to smile fondly, and wanting to grimace at the PDA), and Uther stops just in front of Hunith:

“Welcome to Camelot, your swift arrival was pleasing.”

Hunith nods, a polite, but strained smile on her face:

“Thank you, My Lord. Anything to make the boys lives easier.”

Uther clenches his jaw, and Morgana has to hide a smirk at the implication that she’d only moved to help out the boys, and not because Uther had ordered it.

“Of course. I hope your new home was to your liking?”

Hunith nodding in reply, the smile on her face a little brighter this time:

“Yes, My Lord, it’s wonderful, I can not thank you enough for providing it. I look forward to exploring your city.”

Uther nods slightly before saying:

“Yes, yes, it’s rather lovely this time of year. The Crown will provide a small allowance for a time, until you can get yourself on your feet. I’ve already discussed it with Gaius, and arrangements have been made for Merlin to become the physician’s apprentice, at Gaius’ earliest convenience.”

“Thank you, I’m sure it won’t be long before I can find work, in such a bustling city.”

Uther nods tersely, before turning back towards Gaius. He waves his hand dismissively over his shoulder as he says:

“I have other matters to attend to for the rest of the afternoon. Sir Leon, Arthur and Morgana, you have the rest of the day off to show our new... residents, around. You’re all dismissed.-”

Leon is the only one who bothers bowing to Uther’s back, and Morgana raises an eyebrow at him, before rolling her eyes and turning to leave, dragging Hunith with her, closely followed by the boys.

Just before Leon can exit the room, Uther turns around hurriedly:

“-Before I forget, Sir Leon, I would like a word.”

Leon turns around after wiping the panic from his face. He shuts the door after the others, who look at him worriedly, before turning around to face The King:

“My Lord?”

Uther settles an assessing gaze on the knight, and Leon has to stop himself from gulping in response. Uther sighs, and speaks after a moment:

“After paying a little more attention to the relationships between yourself, the boys, and Morgana, I have realised something. You obviously knew of this... relationship, long before I did. Do no deny it.-”

Leon does gulp at that, but before he can defend himself, Uther asks:

“Can I trust that it would have been brought to my attention had anything problematic started?”

Leon widens his eyes in shock, before gathering his thoughts and replying, injecting as much confidence in his voice as possible:

“Of course, My Lord. I kept a close eye on them myself, and made sure that the Prince’s safety was my highest priority at all times. Had anything worrying happened, I would have come to you immediately. I am loyal to the throne, My Lord.”

(A big fat lie considering the whole “Merlin is a sorcerer” thing, but the King certainly doesn’t need to know that.)

Uther nods thoughtfully, before meeting Leon’s gaze again:

“Good. I am glad that Arthur has someone looking out for him. I trust you will continue this?”

Leon nods:

“Of course, My Lord.”

Uther nods once again:

“Excellent. Make sure none of... this, interferes with his studies. You are dismissed.”

Leon bows deeply, before leaving the room. He shuts the door behind him, leaning on it and taking a deep breath, before looking up to meet the worried gazes of the others, who had waited for him. He smiles shakily:

“Nothing bad, I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s show these two around the upper-town.”

Arthur fixes him with a scrutinizing gaze, but Leon meets it (Arthur has yet to win a staring contest against Leon, in fact, Morgana was the only one who ever came close), and after a moment, Morgana shakes her head, and begins to walk down the corridor, the boys trailing after her and Hunith.

They spend the rest of the afternoon showing Merlin and Hunith around the upper-town. The tour leads them around the market, the town square (where the well is) and other important fixtures of the town, such as the tailor, blacksmith’s, and some of Morgana’s favourite shops (Uther hated it, but Morgana and Arthur regularly sneak out of the castle to spend time in the city).

By the time the sun sets, the group is relaxed and getting on well. Merlin knew Morgana and Leon would love his mum, but it was still nerve-wracking, and he was overjoyed by how well it was going.

The kitchen of Hunith and Merlin’s new home had yet to be stocked, so they stopped off at some street vendors before heading back to the house. Hunith tried to argue when Arthur insisted on paying, but she was shut down pretty quickly when Arthur reminded her that he was The Prince, he could more than afford it, and anyway, “I like contributing to the local businesses, I wouldn’t be a Prince if I didn’t have my people around me, I like to give back where I can.”

Leon and Morgana smiled proudly at that, but the smiles on Hunith and Merlin’s face were more fond.

(Morgana quietly thinks about how differently he would’ve been without Merlin to ground him. With a father like Uther, Arthur easily could’ve turned into an absolute prat.)

They stay together long into the evening, talking and laughing, before Leon finally says it’s time to go. Morgana, Hunith, and Merlin may have tomorrow free, but Leon and Arthur had training early, followed by a day full of meetings.

Morgana smirked at Arthur’s grumbling, but dutifully stood up. The three of them give Hunith and Merlin tight hugs, before leaving them alone, heading back to the castle.

Hunith and Merlin sit in comfortable silence, wide smiles on their faces, before Merlin breaks the silence:

“So what do you think? I know Uther is a bit of a prat, but he’ll want to see as little of us as possible, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Do you... like it here?”

Hunith smiles at him fondly, and runs her hands through his hair when he rests his head on her lap:

“You’ve really made a life for yourself here, haven’t you Merlin? I’m proud of you. Lady Morgana and Sir Leon are exactly how I expected them to be. The house is far more than I expected, but I’m grateful, and I’m sure it won’t take me long to find a job. I’ll always miss our rural village, but nothing is stopping us from visiting every once in a while, to get away from the city, and we have a nice little garden here.-”

Merlin closes his eyes, soothed by his mother’s fingers in his hair, and hums thoughtfully before Hunith continues:

“-You know, I had always considered sending you here to apprentice under Gaius when you were older anyway. Funny, how things turn out. Though perhaps I should’ve realised that nothing was going to go to plan when the little blond boy that appeared in my kitchen all those years ago turned out to be foreign royalty.”

Merlin huffs out a laugh from when he laid, and responded sleepily:

“Yeah. You know I don’t even think of him as royalty, most of the time. He’s just... Arthur.”

Hunith smiles gently down at him, and takes a few minutes to respond:

“I know what you mean. I’m glad you found your person... or more accurately, I’m glad your person found you.-”

She chuckles, before adding the next bit on quietly:

“-Your father would be proud of you.”

Merlin opens his eyes, and looks up at her blearily:

“You think?”

Hunith’s smile widens, and the both of them politely ignore the tears gathering in her eyes:

“I know.”

Time passes quickly. The next day, Merlin, Hunith, and Morgana spend the whole day shopping and stocking up on food and other necessities (the small allowance Uther had provided for them actually turned out to be quite a lot, especially compared to the amount of money Hunith was used to having around).

At some point over the next week, like Morgana had suggested, her and Hunith spent a day in the tailor’s, having all of her new clothes adjusted properly.

Hunith was also ecstatic to get a job off the back of that. She may not be at quite the professional level yet, but she was the one most of the locals would go to, to fix and patch and re-sew old clothes back in Ealdor.

Merlin started his apprenticeship with Gaius, which meant the days being near, but not with Arthur, were less boring, and slightly more bearable.

He picked up healing quickly (after seeing all the various injuries Arthur and Leon had sustained over the years during training, he was eager to learn how to help them), and he soon became known around town as Gaius’ Boy.

His cheerful demeanour and wide smile endeared him to all of his patients, and he made a point to try and be polite to everyone he came across. Suddenly living in a bustling city, and having what was basically a full time job, was a little overwhelming, but being here meant being with Arthur, so he was determined to make the most of it.

The boys spent the evenings together whenever they could (and still slept in the same bed most nights, out of habit. Merlin’s nightmares had made a brief reappearance after his first meeting with Uther, but they stopped again fairly soon.), and Arthur would often pop out of the castle to share meals with Merlin and Hunith, Morgana and Leon joining them when they had the time.

This did however, involve a few instances of Merlin or Arthur appearing at inopportune times.

An emergency patient coming in meant Arthur appearing in the physician’s chambers, instead of Merlin’s home, like he had expected.

Luckily the patient was unconscious at the time.

(Uther had informed them that the council members and guards who worked in the castle had been informed of the situation (so that Hunith and Merlin wouldn’t be bothered), but the public wasn’t to know at all, at least until Arthur came of age.)

A council meeting overrunning meant Merlin appearing just behind the Prince’s seat, and turning wide-eyed and red-faced before squeaking out a quick apology and disappearing again.

The meeting was side-tracked for a good five minutes as Arthur tried to cover a smirk, Morgana (who insisted she be involved in important meetings when Arthur was) openly laughed, and Uther held his head in his hands, rubbing his tired eyes and muttering something about “stupid kids” and “stupid soul-bonds”.

They tried to be more careful after that incident, and they got better at exploring the bond. With some focus and practice, the boys got fairly good at sensing where the other was, and sometimes, if they were with other people (though that particular sense wasn’t as reliable).

About a month after they moved to Camelot, Merlin was introduced to a lovely girl called Guinevere. Her mother had served Leon’s family, and once she was old enough to have a job herself, Leon swung her a position in the castle as Morgana’s maidservant.

Arthur was oblivious at first (until an amused Merlin explained it to him later on), but Merlin and Leon definitely noticed the... bond, between the two girls, though all four would deny it to anyone who asked, in order to preserve their privacy.

Guinevere, or Gwen, as her friends call her, quickly joined the group. Morgana was grateful for another female presence, and Leon was most certainly grateful for the addition of someone who cared about safety and being careful.

He loved his kids, (”Oh my Gods... I’m a father... how do I... Gaius I know nothing about teenagers, what do I do?? I’m not ready to be a father!”), and Hunith was a good influence, but they couldn’t be around all of the time, and the boys had a bad habit of making trouble, especially with Morgana egging them on.

He stressed a little less when he knew that Gwen was with them.

Shortly after Gwen’s appearance, the group (unfortunately without Leon, he had a patrol:( ) went exploring in the woods beyond the city. Uther was stuck in meetings all day, but Arthur and Morgana had a free day, and after much begging, Gaius let Merlin off as well.

Morgana having a free day, meant that Gwen had a free day as well (not that Morgana ever made her do many chores anyway, only enough to keep up the pretence that they were Lady and Servant and not... something else).

They put together a picnic, took some horses from the stables, and headed off at first light. It was a warm, summers day, and they planned to spend the day in the sun, Arthur didn’t have to worry about duties, Merlin didn’t have to worry about memorising herb lists and symptoms, Morgana didn’t have to worry about being a Lady, and Gwen didn’t have to mind her place as a servant.

It was planned to be the perfect day, and it almost was.

After a couple hours journey, they found a beautiful lake, and they spent the morning splashing around in the water, playing and laughing and messing around.

They spent the middle of the day drying in the sun and snacking on all the sweet meats and fruit that Arthur had snuck from the kitchens.

They spent the afternoon playing stupid games, and relaxing in the shade, holding hands with no worries, and even sneaking the occasional kiss, revelling in the freedom of being alone.

They were sad to have to leave, but it became an agreement that at least once a month, whilst the weather held out, they would come to their spot by the lake, and relax with each other. No responsibilities, no obligations, no “My Lord”s or “My Lady”s, just four friends, hopelessly happy and in love.

It was on the way home that things went a little wrong.

Usually this stretch of the woods was completely safe and bandit free, but the group was not so lucky as to have an eventless journey home.

When they were about halfway home, Merlin halted his horse suddenly and sat up straight, letting go of Arthur’s hand and tilting his head, eyes closed, listening to the woods around him with a frown on his face.

Arthur looks back and frowns, before calling to the girls, a few metres ahead of them, to wait for a minute.

He looks to Merlin, still with a frown on his face:

“Merls? What is it?”

Merlin waves his hand in Arthur’s direction, gesturing at him to be quiet. He is silent for another few moments, before he opens his eyes wide, and speaks in a low, but rushed voice:

“Gwen, ride ahead with ‘Gana, everyone get your swords out, we’re being watched.”

Arthur tenses at that, and he and Merlin pull their swords out (Leon had insisted that Merlin learn, he wasn’t nearly as good as the others yet, but he could hold his own. Leon was also the one who insisted they be armed when he learnt of their plan for the day.), quickly followed by Gwen and Morgana.

Instead of riding ahead, Morgana speaks up quickly:

“Gwen can fight just as well as me, I’ve been training her, we should stay together.”

Arthur looks worried, but Gwen just rolled her eyes before adding quietly:

“I’m also the daughter of a blacksmith you know, I’ve been handling swords since before I could walk.”

Arthur sighs and nods, before looking back to Merlin, and quietly, so that only Merlin can hear him:

“How many, and where from?”

Merlin tilts his head away from Gwen, so she can’t see the gold of his eyes, before flexing his hand slightly, and responding:

“Six or seven, I think from the South.”

Arthur nods once more, before turning his horse to be facing South, and he peers into the trees. It wasn’t quite dark out, but it was dimming, and the forest was so thick, the underbrush so overgrown, that it was difficult to see much beyond the edge of the path.

The girls urge their horses back the way they came, to be close to the boys, and stay alert, swords raised, feet braced and ready for action.

Merlin clenches his hands and gasps slightly, before murmuring, loud enough for everyone to hear him this time:

“Twenty seconds.”

Gwen goes to question how he knew that, but a quick look from Morgana, and a shaken head meaning “Later” stops her, and she instead focuses her gaze on where the others were looking into the trees.

Like Merlin had said, twenty seconds later, the treeline breaks, and seven men burst through yelling, and brandishing swords, the shock of which sends the horses scarpering, and the four of them have to jump off and let them go.

Battle broke out immediately, the teenagers aiming to incapacitate or injure, but the bandits not being so kind with their attacks.

The battle is intense, Merlin using little bits of subtle magic here and there to trip or confuse various attackers, Arthur and Morgana slowly but surely taking down men, one by one, and Gwen easily enough holding her own.

But, four, mostly inexperienced (Arthur had only had to actually fight for his life once or twice at this point, and before, he was surrounded by fully trained knights whose top priority was keeping him safe, even to their own detriment) teenagers, aged 15, 16, and 17, were no match for seven seasoned attackers.

In the end, it’s the four of them left (each with bruises and cuts, but nothing serious) vs three remaining attackers, but the battle quickly stops when Merlin turns around (a gut feeling) to see one of the men silently raise a sword, readying to bring it down on to Gwen’s turned back.

He instinctively raises his empty hand towards them, and yells:

“NO!”

He sends the man flying back, head hitting the tree behind him with a thwack.

Gwen stares at him (or more accurately, the golden glow of his eyes) in astonishment, and Morgana and Arthur use the momentary distraction to deal with the last two attackers, giving them swift knocks to the head.

Morgana rushes forward to Gwen and tugs at her shoulder, trying to get her attention to see if she’s ok, but she ignores her just staring at Merlin.

Merlin drops his hand, and his face morphs from anger to shock to fear, the gold in his eyes fading back to blue as Arthur reaches his side and takes his hand.

Gwen finally stutters out a:

“What... you’re... but Uther?-” before wiping the shock off her face, and setting it in grim determination, clenching her jaw.

Merlin’s eyes widen at her expression, and he takes a fearful step back, Arthur steps in front of him and Morgana tries to grab Gwen’s arm as she begins to stalk quickly forwards, but it slips from her grip.

Arthur holds his hands out, and begins to speak, seemingly trying to talk her out of hurting Merlin, but she ignores him, and pushes him to the side with surprising strength.

Merlin gasps and tries to take another step back, tears in his eyes, but she grabs his shoulders and, before anyone can say anything more, pulls him into a crushing hug.

Merlin takes a few moments to respond, clearly not expecting such an affectionate reaction to being discovered as an evil sorcerer, but hugs back at Gwen’s watery “Thank you.” whispered in his ear.

Arthur lets out a breath, and he and Morgana smile, not really sure why they were so surprised at Gwen’s acceptance. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up in Camelot, expecting hatred and violence and fear in response to magic is ingrained in you.

Gwen finally pulls back, and takes Merlin’s hands, the both of them have tears on their faces, and Gwen sniffs before quietly saying:

“I’m sorry that you have to live in fear, and I’m sorry I wasn’t clear enough in my adoration for you that you felt you had to be scared of my reaction. I promise to keep you safe, to the best of my ability.-”

She fondly punches him in the arm, before continuing with a smile:

“Next time, you can just do that right at the beginning, and save us all the trouble, yeah?”

Merlin nods slowly, before pulling Gwen into another tight hug. He buries his face in her neck, and she runs her hands through his hair and they both quietly weep.

Arthur and Morgana both feel the strong urge to step in, and comfort their own soulmates, but they resist, and instead give them a moment of privacy as they round up the horses, and search the bandits.

After a few minutes, Gwen and Merlin pull back, and walk towards the other two, holding each other’s hand comfortingly.

Whilst searching their unconscious bodies, Arthur hadn’t found anything identifying, but had found a length of rope in one of their discarded bags, hidden in the underbrush.

He cuts the rope into separate pieces and ties the bandits up, to individual trees, before looking back to the group:

“This won’t hold them long at all, but we don’t have the means to transport them back to the city. I can get my father to send a search party to look for them, but by the time we get back to the City, and the Knights get out here, they’ll probably be long gone.”

Morgana raises an eyebrow and replies:

“I thought you Knights were excellent trackers. They won’t wake up for a while, and they’ll be dazed, so it’ll take them a while to get out of the rope, if your knots are any good-”

Arthur goes to retort, but Gwen quickly interrupts him:

“That’s not the point. What if one of them remembers what Merlin did? And accuses him? Uther probably wouldn’t take their word against all of ours, but it would attract unwanted attention, wouldn’t it? And, no offense Merlin, but he’s already not exactly fond of you.”

Arthur nods at that, and Morgana hums thoughtfully, whilst Merlin just stares at her in shock. He speaks up after a moment:

“We could loosen the knots, and wake them up a little before leaving? That way they’ll have plenty of time to escape before the knights get here? But we have to report it. The types of men to attack four teenagers, none in armour, and two of whom are women, need to be warned about.”

Arthur and Gwen look troubled at that, and Arthur speaks up first:

“Morgana is right though, the Knights are brilliant at tracking, what if they find them anyway? I won’t risk one of them remembering what you did.”

Merlin looks annoyed, always the one to sacrifice himself, and Morgana furrows her brows before looking up, and speaking slowly:

“You could... over exaggerate how violent they were? Request a kill on sight order? That way, none of them make it back to testify, but they’re also no longer a problem for travellers.”

Arthur tilts his head in surprise, and Gwen widens her eyes at the suggestion.

Arthur looks like he’s genuinely considering it, when Merlin gasps:

“Oh!! Wait! The other day, I read about a spell. It’s like a memory charm, I can make them forget the last ten minutes or so, if it works, and we time it right, they’ll remember attacking us, but not how the fight ended!”

He has a grin on his face, but Morgana and Gwen look doubtful, whilst Arthur looks thoughtful, before speaking:

“Have you tried it before? Do you know it would work?”

Merlin turns a little pink, before looking to the floor, and saying:

“Well... do you remember agreeing to let me try it on you last week?”

Morgana grins as she realises the implication of the question, and Gwen gasps as Arthur’s eyes grow wide, and he shakes his head slowly:

“...No.”

Merlin finally meets his eyes, with a nervous smile on his face as he says:

“Then yeah, I’ve tried it before and it worked fine.”

Morgana and Gwen start laughing as Merlin bites his lip and Arthur blinks a few times, before speaking again:

“...Ok, you cast the charm or whatever, I’ll make sure the ropes are done tightly, then we’ll wait for one of them to wake up, to check that it worked, then we’ll leave, and send a patrol back to arrest them.”

With the girls still laughing in the background, Merlin goes to the three attackers who had witnessed him perform magic and cast the spell, whilst Arthur double checked all of the bindings.

The group only has to splash cold water on the face of one of the attackers for him to cough himself awake. He looks around, clearly bewildered, and yells:

“What?? How the fuck... what did... how hard do you hit, kid? Jeez, how the fuck did I-”

He’s cut off by Arthur hitting him in the head again with the hilt of his sword, before he steps back and says:

“Ok. It worked. I think it’d be best if we got home as quickly as possible, we’re already going to be late.”

With that, the group takes one last cursory glance (and fill with pride at the idea that they’d managed to fight off a group of thieving murderous bandits all on their own) at the bound bandits, before mounting their horses, and urging them into a gallop towards Camelot.

The report to Uther was definitely intense, The King was furious that a group of violent criminals were attacking citizens, especially women (though Arthur made sure to point out that Morgana fought just as well as him, and Gwen held her own just fine) so close to the city.

He immediately sent out a large patrol to scour the woods, focussed especially around the path they used, and to not come back until the seasons changed, or the criminals were found.

Arthur was right, the ropes hadn’t held them for long, but he was also right in saying that Camelot Knights were excellent trackers, and they were hunted down within a week, and brought back to Camelot for sentencing.

Arthur and Morgana tried to speak against it, at Merlin and Gwen’s request, but Uther ultimately sentenced the offenders to execution, for crimes against the Crown and Citizens of Camelot, and didn’t question why they couldn’t even remember half the fight.

In fact, that actually had Uther praising the group for fighting well, and he begrudgingly admitted that Morgana’s sword lessons (which she had been ruthlessly demanding since she was a child) and Guinevere’s subsequent training, had paid off well.

THE END OF PART 2

Wow so I finished this way quicker than I was expecting, I just really love this concept, thanks anon, for requesting :)

Anyway, hope you enjoy gang

389 notes · View notes

shewillreadyou · 3 years

Text

Me before you: Chapter 3: Excuse me miss

A/N: This is a TRR AU. Liam is already married, but see’s Riley and wants his cake. If the readers are receptive this might turn into more than a mini series. Enjoy!

Disclaimers: Most characters are property of Pixelberry

Warnings: Language, adult content, mild sexual innuendo.

Word Count: 3468

Catch up: Haven’t met you Yet For Real

Prompts: None

Pairings: Drake & Riley

Song inspiration: Luther Vandross Take you out & Wait for Love

Be Kind: Hit the heart button, leave a comment or reblog. It makes a writer so so happy.

The hot water cascaded down his sculpted body. He groaned as he ran his hands through his luscious chocolate locks. He lathered his shoulders as thoughts of her ran through his mind. He was captivated by her. She seemed to consume his every waking moment. Liam had crossed the line yet again. Every time it seemed his transgressions got more and more out of hand. He refused to allow his friend’s actions to ruin his final couple of days in the states.

Bastien had taken over the King’s detail while they were in Waxahachie for Savannah’s wedding. For the next 48 hours, Liam was not his charge, he was his friend. His thoughts went back to her. She represented hope, possibility, promise. He had no idea what was to come, but he knew that it would be an exciting adventure if she was at his side.

As he pulled his white henley tee shirt over his head, his mind went back to the conversation he had at the reception with his cousin Tyler, who was a cyber-security analyst with the Department of Homeland security. Drake explained to Tyler that he would no longer be sitting with him and the rest of the bridal party because the girl who he had been telling Tyler about who works in advertising, who he met in New York was there, and he intended to spend as much time with her as he could. She was something special. She could be the one. “So you invited her to Sav’s wedding?” he inquired.

“No, actually she is the friend of Sav’s college roommate, Mackenzie, and came as her plus one. I had no idea she would be here.”

“Sounds like fate.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that of all the places in the world this one person could be, she is here at your sister’s wedding... in Waxahachie, TX. If this girl is the one, you’re screwed. You might as well spruce up your resume. She’s a career woman. She is not going to move to Cordonia for you, and you suck at long-distance relationships. I can probably get you in at my job. My guy Rob in HR owes me a favor.”

“I’ll keep that in mind if I ever get the courage to ask her out,” he told Tyler.

The truth was, he could easily see a future with Riley. She’s beautiful, honest, smart, quick-witted, and kind. His cousin’s words bounced around in his head as he pulled on his favorite distressed jeans giving himself a quick once over in the full-length mirror in the room his Mom had decorated for him at the ranch after she returned to the states when his dad passed.

He opened his laptop and took a look around the room. The Walker Ranch had been in his father’s family for several generations being passed down to the eldest male child, like each generation before. Drake stayed in Cordonia after his father died and was handsomely compensated by the crown. His college education was covered, and he and his sister received a stipend each month. Drake was always taught to do a lot with little and to save the rest. For years he lived at the palace and saved every penny. Being friends with Liam, he learned how to invest wisely and he did pretty well in the stock market. His newest pastime had been real estate investment. He had been buying foreclosed homes in and around Dallas and having his Mom’s brothers and his cousins fix them up before selling them for a generous profit.

He was curious, he was now the rightful owner of the Walker Ranch. It had struggled in the past, but because of his business plans and wise investment, the family business was as strong as it had ever been and his mom was nearing retirement age. What if he and Riley did end up together? He knew the plan was for his cousin Miranda to replace his mom when she was ready, while he retained ownership, but where would that leave him? He pulled up the DHS website and clicked on the careers tab. He was reading a description of a position that he believed he would qualify for, Intelligence Analyst.

Just then Liam plowed through his door without warning.

“Li! What the fuck man?” he shouted as he closed his laptop abruptly.

“My apologies, I hope I'm not interrupting. I just wanted to apologize if I offended you. You were right, any woman can be a lot. Carsyn is not speaking to me, she thinks I'm interested in Riley.”

“You are interested in Riley. She's just not interested in you and it's killing you. Let me ask you something, why is it so hard for you to grasp that a smart beautiful woman would be interested in me over you?”

“It’s just.. It’s not that. I'm not accustomed to rejection. It intensifies my want for her.”

“ I hate to cut our conversation short but I have to head out. I’ve got a few stops to make before I pick up Riley.”

“Then I shall take my leave. Enjoy! Smart man, planning a date when it’s going to storm. I’m sure you won’t have a problem closing tonight,” he said as he left the room.

The evening came and Drake drove along the winding Country Road towards the city. He tapped his thumb against the steering wheel to the beat of Chris Stapleton’s, “Starting Over.”

Then he switched from Prime country to the Heart and Soul station on his XM Radio. If he was going to have her in his life it meant embracing all aspects of it. He knew that music was a big thing for her and although she would listen to a little bit of everything she loved R&B and Jazz. A song by Luther Vandross came on and to his surprise, it was not very different from the country music he listened to all the time. The chorus was catchy and very fitting.

“Excuse me Miss, what's your name? Where are you from, and can I come? And possibly, can I take you out tonight?”

He found himself humming the tune as he stepped into the local Nursery to pick up a houseplant to go along with the Pinot Grigio he bought as a gift for Riley. He decided on a Prayer Plant.

It was relatively low maintenance and he thought it would be entertaining to watch it curl up in darkness. He didn't want to do the same flowers and candy that everyone does. He wanted to take her something that she would keep for a while, and possibly would make her think of him when she saw it. As much as he didn't want to admit it the thought of her dating someone else while he was back in Cordonia was driving him insane.

He was nervous and he couldn't figure out why. They were just going to hear some live music. But he wanted to impress her so badly. He knew that it was more likely that he would end up putting his foot in his mouth but with her, for some reason, it did not matter. When he pulled up in front of her place he put on ChapStick, and reached into his glove box, sprayed on some Chrome, and checked his breath before quickly gathering the gifts for her and heading toward the door. He tucked the house plant under his arm as he smoothed over his clothes as the elevator took him to her floor. A small lump formed in his throat as he approached her door.

She opened the door and his breath caught in his throat as he took in her appearance. She was dressed in a denim outfit with matching stiletto boots and oddly enough, the denim matched his jeans. It would almost appear planned. He was secretly thrilled. She smiled at him and he was sure he forgot his own name for a few seconds. She stretched up on her toes and kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

“Hey Drake, you smell delicious.”

“Hey. Thanks. These are for you.”

“Aww, you brought me a houseplant and wine? I’m not worthy, but I love it. Thank you. Come in! I promise I’m almost ready.”

She sat the plant on the counter and placed the wine in her wine fridge.

“You look greeeeat,” she squealed.

“Thanks. So do you.”

“So how’d you know what kind of wine I like?” she asked as she finished her eye makeup in the mirror.

“Observant, I guess. I saw a bottle in the trash when I was here yesterday.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Are you ready?”

He stood moving to open the door for her. “After you.” They made it downstairs as a couple of her neighbors made it home from what he only assumed was church. He couldn’t figure out if the staring was due to her outfit or if it was because she was with him. He looked at her in awe as she strutted with confidence to his car.

He opened the door for her and she smiled before thanking him.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. She was rattling on and on about the artist performing in the festival and he was secretly praying she wouldn’t ask him a question that required an intelligent answer. She kept touching his biceps and his hand. Her hands were so soft and he was sooo turned on. He hoped that she didn’t notice the bulge in his pants and think that he was a creep. He wondered if she kept touching him because she was nervous too?

“Um, Ri? You good?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You are extremely chatty and you keep touching me.”

“I’m excited. I’ll try to keep my hands to myself, but the way this henley hugs your arms,” she wiggled her eyebrows.

He let out a low chuckle as he quickly glanced at her for the seventh time.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, never better. Why?”

“You keep looking at me.”

He grinned keeping his eyes on the road. They were nearing the venue when she glanced at his pants. He immediately assumed that she spotted his retreating erection.

“What?”

“We’re matching you know. People are going to think we did this purposely.”

“Do you care what others think?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Good because we’re here.”

They parked and he asked her to stay put for a moment. He got out of the truck and grabbed a blanket and wicker picnic basket. He walked around the truck and opened the door for her and she blushed furiously as she stepped out.

They made their way to a free spot among the crowd. Riley noticed a few glares from both men and women, who obviously had an issue with she and Drake being there together. Then she smiled as one woman gave her a smile, wink and thumbs up as she stood to the side watching while Drake spread the blanket and invited Riley to sit. She knew that some people would have opinions of them being an interracial couple, but Drake didn’t seem bothered. In fact, she thought it showed how courageous he was. When another woman mouthed, “That’s a good look!”

She bit the inside of her cheek trying not to smile. The truth was she didn’t need any validation. She knew Drake was a catch. The fact that he was easy on the eyes was a bonus.

“What’s in the basket?”

“Uh, a little something my mom helped me with.”

He opened the basket and pulled out wine glasses, a bottle of her favorite Pinot Grigio, cheese, cashews, summer sausage, deli turkey, sliced cucumbers, grapes, strawberries, whipped cream and 2 brownies. The opening act took the stage and Drake pulled Riley close.

“I hope you’re hungry.”

“I am,” she said coyly as she settled between his legs.

They cuddled for a bit before eating, until one of the performers played a rendition of The Gap Band’s, “Outstanding.” She jumped up and pulled Drake with her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and swayed back and forth with Riley. She felt so comfortable in his arms, he actually had rhythm. There went another stereotype out the window, it just felt right.

After several acts had gone on and several glasses of wine later Riley settled in his lap as a performer started to play a slower song. “I love Luther,” Riley squealed as she began to sing along.

Knowing love the way I do

I can say for certain that it's true

There's a chance for me and you.

I surely feel like the time is near

The picture in my mind is very clear

I think love has brought us here

I remember not too long ago

I was just a lonely person

With a lonely heart, yeah

And I was hoping there could one day be,

Be a chance

For me to get the love

That I'd been missing

Sometimes love takes a long time

Wait for love

And you're gonna get the chance to love

Wait for love, wait for love oh, my

When you take the chance on love you'll see

It's not a waste of time if you truly believe

The impossible can be..

So hold on tight if you think you're right

Cause nothing hurts as bad as when you see

You gave up too easily

Now I remember spending all my time

On a dream that kept me wishing that you could be mine, yeah

And I was hoping there could one day be, be a chance, whoa

I never stopped believing there could one day be, be a chance

For me to get the love that I'd been missing

Sometimes love takes a long time

Wait for love, and you're going to get your

Chance to love

Wait for love, wait for love

And you'll get the love that you've been missing

Sometimes love takes a long time

But wait for love

And you're going to get your chance to love.

Drake couldn’t help but hang on to her every word. He wondered if she was trying to send him a message through the lyrics. She had a voice like an angel and when the song ended he was breathless.

“Ms. Riley sings too?”

She giggled as she rested her head on Drake's shoulder, her back to his strong chest. He fed her grapes then strawberries with whipped cream soliciting jealous glances from some nearby onlookers. She made sure to let her lips and tongue graze his fingers. For a few blissful moments, they both silently enjoyed the closeness.

“You know, this is pretty cool,” he whispered in her ear.

She smiled as his breath tickled her ear. Feeling the effects of the wine, she paused for a few moments before she responded.

“What’s that?”

“This. Us. The festival. It all just feels right.”

She wordlessly looked up at him. She wondered if she could will him to kiss her with her “come get it eyes.” Suddenly, a torrential downpour covered the venue, leaving Drake and Riley scrambling to gather the blanket and basket before sprinting to his Jeep. Before they could get there he stopped snaking his arm around her pulling her close.

This was it, he was going to do it, it was now or never. If she was the onehe wanted to look back at their first date and tell a romantic tale of their first kiss in the rain. Now was the time. He leaned in and when she opened her eyes her lips found his instantly. It was everything she expected and more. It was hungry and passionate and lustful and it made her lady parts twitch. When he pulled away he watched her for signs of regret, but her eyes said she wanted more.

“Hurry, get in,” Drake urged her as he took the time to throw the basket and blanket in the back.

They were both soaked. She laughed hysterically when he finally got inside.

“This entertains you, does it?”

She nodded as she continued laughing, her eyes were clenched tightly.

He went back in taking her lips again as it continued to storm all around them. Her hands roamed his body and her eyes went wide when she made contact with the bulge in his pants. Another stereotype out the window…Drake cupped the back of her dripping head with his left hand deepening the kiss while his right hand explored the soft skin of her thigh as a soft moan escaped her. Suddenly his phone rang, “Mama’s Song” by Carrie Underwood blasted from his pocket startling Riley. Drake huffed and looked at her with apologetic eyes before answering.

“Mom? What’s up?”

“I’m so sorry for interrupting your date Drizzy.”

Riley smiled.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“The power is out and the generator didn’t kick in. I gave Larry the weekend off..”

“I’ll be there as soon as I get Riley home safely. Sit tight.”

“Thanks Driz. How’d it go? Did you kiss her?”

“Mom! She can hear you.”

“Hi, Mrs.Walker.” Riley chimed in.

“Hi, sweetheart. Did he kiss you?”

Riley laughed again.

“Bye Mom!”

Drake ended the call and turned to Riley, cheeks flushed red.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“For the way, tonight is ending. For my Mom.”

“Nothing could ruin today. Not even your Mom Drizzy,” she laughed again.

‘Geez, Ri that was below the belt.”

His comment made her think about his bulge and she began to blush.

“Are you blushing?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

“Oh, it’s too embarrassing to share.”

“Now you know I won’t stop until you tell me.”

When they pull into her neighborhood the entire area is pitch black. Her building was also dark.

“Good thing I have candles.”

“Or you could go back to the ranch with me,” he said shyly.

“Really? I don’t want to put anyone out.”

“It’s just Mom and I. Liam and Carsyn should be out for the evening. Besides, I promised you dinner and it’s Sunday, I bet my mom cooked.”

“I can’t meet your Mom looking like this. I’ll be ok.”

“Riley, I’m not leaving you alone in the dark.”

“If you want to spend more time with me just say that.”

“Fine, I want to spend more time with you and I’m not leaving you alone in the dark. My Mom would kill me. Pleaaase! I can get you one of Sav’s outfits. I promise it will be an adventure.”

“Okay, I’ll go. But only because you’re so cute when you beg.”

He bit his lip. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Drake Arrington Walker!” she warned.

“Too much?” He smiled.

When they arrived at the ranch, Drake showed Riley to his room and gave her towels and a change of clothes while he went to help with the generator. She quickly showered, pulled her hair up into a messy bun and moisturized with his Nivea lotion that she found on the counter she walked back into his bedroom pulling on the leggings she borrowed. She was still bare from the waist up when the door opened. Her back was turned when she looked over her shoulder to reprimand him.

“Drake!”

“Riley, it’s me, Liam.”

Riley screamed as she scrambled to cover herself.

“Get out!”

“My mistake. I thought Drake was in here. But this, you are much better.”

“Get. Out.”

“Come on, what’s a little fun between friends?” he asked as he closed the door.

Before she could answer Drake barreled into the room, his fist connected with Liam’s jaw before he tackled him.

“Have fun with me you bastard, I told you to leave her the fuck alone,” he yelled as Bastien pulled Drake off of Liam. Riley watched the entire scene in horror from the corner.

“Get the fuck out Li!”

After Bastien escorted Liam back to the guest house, Drake checked on Riley.

“Are you hurt? He didn’t touch you did he?”

“No, I’m more embarrassed than anything. He walked in without knocking while I was changing.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about him.”

“What in tarnation is all that racket back here?” Bianca asked as she turned the corner.

“Just Li being a creep. Everything is fine Mom.”

Riley stood when Bianca entered the room.

“Riley, this is my Mom, Bianca. Mom, this is my Riley.”

His eyes went wide as soon as the words left his mouth. He grimaced as Riley extended her hand to his Mom. Bianca pulled Riley into her embrace instead.

“It’s nice to meet the girl who makes Driz nervous.”

“Mom!”

Riley laughed.

Come on darling, I know y’all were supposed to get dinner. It’s Sunday so I cooked some pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and green beans and for dessert, banana pudding funnel cakes.

“Oh my God, Mrs. Walker, that sounds amazing. Drake, you were holding out on me.”

“Not, really. Maybe I wanted to cook for you first.”

@txemrn @pixie88 @secretaryunpaid@khoicesbyk @blackkingliamstan @mom2000aggie @shannonwrote @hopelessromanticmonie @chemist-ana @rideordiechronicles @lucy-268 @dcbbw @darley1101 @maurine07 @sfb123 @bbrandy2002 @kingliam2019 @schnitzelbutterfingers @lem-20 @choicesficwriterscreations @no-one-u-know @jessiembruno @queenrileyrose @thefrenchiemama @somersetmummy

TRR: @twinkleallnight @bebepac @mainstreetreader @romereadingshop @romewritingshop @lem-20 @texaskitten30

#choices fanfiction #the royal romance #drake walker #drake x riley #me before you #fanfic #fandom #fanfiction #trr #trr au fanfic #naughty liam #follow shewillreadyou #jazz drizzy #kim reads #kim writes #kim reblogs

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schoolastica · 4 years

Text

Ships in the night, part 1

My fic is also on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/19266412

Like ships in the night You keep passing me by We're just wasting time Trying to prove who's right

December 2th, 2005- St. Mary’s Hospital.

Morgana couldn’t believe that she was holding her tiny little girl in her arms for the first time. She couldn’t believe that a tiny human being was nested in her until this day and that now it was fully formed and ready for this world. The baby was barely a day old, all wrinkle-soft skin, eyes yet wide shut and dressed in a pink blanket. She was perfect, she smelled perfect, and Morgana was going to be the best mother to her daughter, better than her own, and she was going to protect this baby from everything….and everyone.

-What are you going to name her? - asked Gwen, who was on the very uncomfortable chair beside Morgana since the beginning of the labor.

-I was thinking about Elizabeth? - said Morgana, looking over to Gwen, who made a face at hearing the name- C’mon, it’s not that bad!

-No, it’s just too common for a Pendragon. - said Gwen, laughing. Witch made Morgana chuckle slyly

- Thanks for being here Gwen. - Morgana’s eyes saddle filling with water. Her only companion had been Gwen, her elder sister Morgause had went to France to pick up Morgana’s mother, Vivienne, so they could see the baby. Morgana’s father was coming from his business trip.

- Where’s Arthur? - Morgana asked Gwen. She appreciated Gwen dearly, and she tried to make herself stronger, but she wanted her family with her so bad.

- He’s……. coming from the office, you know how the traffic can be in December. - Gwen seemed eager to change subjects, almost as if she was hiding something.

A chilling thought passed by Morgana's head.

- He’s not searching for Merlin, isn’t he? - Morgana’s voice had a dreadful tone. Gwen got up from her chair and started picking up Morgana's stuff from the room to start packing up. It looked like she was hidden, Gwen was incredibility easy to read. - Gwen? - Morgana asked again.

- Arthur and I both think that Merlin has the right to see his daughter- Gwen said while trying (and failing) to look busy

Morgana’s memory took her back to the time where she also thought that. A time where Merlin was such a sweet, caring young boy, with wide blue eyes and a precious smile. This time has passed, the only good remaining was in her arms right now, sleeping peacefully.

- Alright, but only if Arthur finds him….

Gwen smiled at that and stopped packing to come near Morgana and take the baby from her. Gwen held the baby enough time for Morgana to change clothes with some help from the hospital nurses that came by at the right times.

When Morgana came back to her bed, Arthur entered the room. It was visible that he was useless when his wife didn’t sleep in the house with him. His clothes were rippled, his hair was messier than normal. It looked like he barely slept. He came in holding a pink balloon written: "IT'S A GIRL" and a bouquet of red roses in his other hand. He came in alone.

- Here, this is for you – He handled the bouquet of roses to Morgana, smiling – For the mommy and this- he turned to the baby in Gwen’s arm- is for my new niece- He handed the balloon to Gwen as if the baby was going to take the balloon.

Morgana and Gwen laughed at this.

- That’s not how it works, love- Gwen said- Leave the balloon and sit down to take the baby.

Arthur did as he was told almost in a trance, he held the baby near his heart, watching every corner of her face as if she was going to disappear.

- How could this beauty come from Merlin and Morgana, I could never know- He whispered to Gwen, almost involuntary and instantly feeling guilty.

- And did you find him? - Morgana inquired- Merlin, I mean.

Arthur changed a glare with Gwen before answering.

- Gaius finally got him into rehab- Arthur tried to smirk a little- So that a good thing, right?

Morgana nodded. It was for the best. Arthur was still holding the baby as she was going to break.

- Have you decided on the name yet? – Arthur questioned.

- Please, don’t go for Elizabeth. - Gwen joked.

- Ew, not Elizabeth, Morgana! - Arthur shared the fun on that.

- No, it was just a thought – Morgana laughed at them- ……. Her name is Wynn.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

June 13th,1991- Pendragon Mansion, Central London.

Morgana’s 13th birthday started epically. As usual, she woke up early and a pack with new clothing and shoes was waiting for her at the end of her bed. This was a normal present from her dad. Her birthday was the best one because it was right at the beginning of the summer in London, which meant all her friends from Wycombe Abbey hadn’t travel yet. This summer was even more special, it was the last summer before Morgause went to university and officially cut relations to her childhood….to the plays with Morgana, Arthur, and Merlin.

She dressed up in her new clothes and went to take her breakfast. As usual, Uther had already gone to work, but he always came back at night to take her (and only her) to a special dinner. But as usual, Hunith, her and her siblings’ nanny had made breakfast to her and Arthur and Merlin were already eating (on the disgusting way the boys

- Hey birthday lady, look at you- Hunith left the kitchen counter to fix her clothes better- I made an entire breakfast for you and Morgause was up until late fixing your all-girls party.

- Thank you, Hunith- Morgana sited down on the table. She didn’t want to tell Hunith that Morgause was up until late with her boyfriend. Arthur said a quick ‘happy birthday” to Morgana with his mouth full of food.

Merlin, however, as he seemed to do often, glassed at Morgana with a full-on adoration look. He almost always looked flushed and shy when he was near Morgana. Now he looked starstruck. Morgana smiled at him and Merlin deeply blushed.

The rest of the day passed normally. Arthur and Merlin were both 11 years old and the holidays had just begun, they were out of the house as soon as they could. Morgana stayed in, her friends from WA came by for lunch, where she would through a birthday lunch party on the party ballroom of, he mansion.

The lunch party was, indeed, very beautiful decorated, full of pink and purple balloons and great food by Hunith, and she got tons of presents. The ballroom was gigantic on a 13-year-old view and 25 pre-teen girls found it fascinating and so important. Morgause showed up to take "official" pictures and Morgana never had been as happy as this day.

The ballroom door was always enormous and Hunith insisted on having it opened, so during one of the moments where Morgana could catch a break, she noticed that both Arthur and Merlin where sited by the end of the stairs looking adoring to the girls. They went away as soon as Morgana frowned at them.

When the party came to an end the ballroom was incredibly dirty and Morgana was exhausted. She and Morgause took all of her presents up to her room in 3 trips to the ballroom. At the end of the last trip, Morgana finally went to take a bath and look at her presents until she could go dinner with Uther. However, she noticed that a present bag was on top of the present pile, that wasn’t that before. She took the pack and opened it, revealing an old looking notebook with leather covers and yellow pages. Inside, it was written:” The story of Princess Morgana, and how she dominated all the dragons from the country of Albion” by Merlin Emrys. This was in Merlin's handwritten. Morgana never has gotten a better present.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Morgana sends a photo of Wynn to the rehab center when she's 4 months old. She never gets an answer-back.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Like you watched at fourteen as it went down the drain And pops stayed the same and your moms moved away

Morgana vowed that she would never be like her mother. She remembered that as har mother crawled Wynn in her arm. She recalled making this promise when she was 8 years old.

Vivienne Gorlois was a golden age French actress. She was born to be a diva, all blonde hair and brown eyes. The thoughts about marriage and children were thrown upon her and she wasn’t ready to take it. She met Morgause’s father at a Hollywood MET party, he was already married and in a lot of ways she only kept Morgause because she knew the man would hate it.

Uther fell for her as most people did: she was charming and had a French accent. They dated for over a year, enough time to have pictures in tabloids, to have a daughter and to Vivienne make Morgause’s father jealous. So, when Morgana was only 2 months old, Vivienne eloped with Morgause’s father (a huge scandal) and left her 2 daughters with Uther.

She was gone for 7 years and some months, send two postcards, one from Australia and one from Mexico. She wrote that she was traveling the globe, discovering herself, having the time of her life. Never once she wrote ‘I miss you” or ‘I love you’. The 7 years without her wasn’t nearly enough time to heal. Morgana and Arthur hadn’t known another mother beyond Hunith. In Morgause’s time with her, Vivienne only spoke French, but when she left Morgause was so traumatized that she never (never) spoke French again, she also only started calling Uther ‘Father” only 2 years ago.

She came back in 1986, on a Sunday, calm morning. Morgause, age 13, went to get the door and when she started to take a long time Uther went to get her with Morgana. It was just the strangest scenario; A beautiful woman by the door, surrounded by bags, asking “How are you honey?” and saying “I missed you so much’ while Morgause was catatonic. Uther made the first thing a parent do to protect their children; he went to the door and blocked the view from the girls and started to discuss with Vivienne.

Morgause ran to her room, locked it and didn’t came back. Morgana felt that she was numb, almost like she was an executor of her own life. She only remembers parts of that day. The thing she most remembers is Vivienne saying, ‘a Mother’s right” and this phrase being screamed a lot. At some point, her mom finally managed to enter the house and bring the bags with her. She looked at Arthur and said she knew him; everybody knew when Uther Pendragon has a child. She recalls Vivienne toying with her, siting her in her lap and combing her hair, talking fast about the world, he presents to the girls, how her parents forgave her, and she was going back to France, with her parents. She recalled Uther’s steel expression, saying ‘You don’t have the right!” and she is laughing at him.

Morgana didn’t say a word. The first time she felt like a puppet doll and she just couldn’t say anything. She got tons of presents, from every part of the world and Uther got the promise to hear from Vivienne’s lawyers. It was an amazing, scary experience.

It was worse for Morgause. She didn’t go out of her room. Uther took her dinner upstairs, got into her room and only came out when Morgause fell asleep. She also didn’t go to school on Monday and later that same week she went to a therapist.

Morgana would never be like her mom.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The worst of everything was the tabloids. They made a scarcely when Morgan showed up in a maternity dress in the Paris Fashion Week 2005 with no partner. But she was strong and her clothes brand “Avalon’ had just been released. And when she came out of the Hospital, a sea of Paparazzi tried to take pictures of a 2 days old baby. Thank God that Arthur hired a security team. They spend a beautiful week in the Pendragons mansion, Uther prepared an entire nursery for Wynn and redecorated Morgana's room. His way of showing that he cared was spoiling his granddaughter rotten. Then Morgana went to her Penthouse in center London, where she had prepared Wynn's real nursery. She didn't release an official picture or the name, but Paparazzi took the baby's photos anyways and she then revealed Wynn’s name with an entirely new section of designed baby clothes with her name.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Like ships in the night letting cannon balls fly Say what you mean and it turns to a fight Fist fly from my mouth as it turns south

August 11th,2007

Wynn's 16 months old when Morgana knows Merlin's out of the rehab and back to his home in Ealdor. She scented him another photo on Wynn's first birthday but she still got no response. Wynn Pendragon is perfect in all the possible ways. Her black hair is fluffy and tamed, she was the palest baby ever, with such smooth skin. She has dimples and an adorable nose and huge, deep blue eyes. She had Merlin’s lips and chin. And when she looks at Morgana, everything seems to make sense.

Merlin shows up when Wynn is 20 months old. He shows up at Morgana’s penthouse, he has a suit on, his hair is tamed, and he shaved. He looks positively sober and clean, and he’s holding a red rose bouquet in one hand and one bag in the other. Morgana lets him in, seriously, what she was supposed to do?

For a moment, she visualized all the possible scenarios. She saw her again at 8 years old, with her mom by the door and her sister in her room. And her father protecting them. Now, she’s looking at Merlin at her own home, staring at him for 2 straight minutes until she could find her voice. She thanked heaven for Wynn to be sleeping at her nursery.

Merlin was more handsome than ever. Last time she saw him (pregnant of 5 months, she went to see him in his old, cranky apartment to tell him that they would have a daughter), he was deadly skinny, dirty and just the rest of the clothes. She was staring at him too much; Merlin blushed and offered her the rose. Morgana wanted to get the rose, she did, but what she saw herself doing was slapping Merlin’s face. Hard.

Morgana was never a violent person, she never even raised her voice, she was an English lady. But when Merlin looked at her confused about the slap, she felt her blood boil. She remembered that feeling, the helpless feeling she felt when meeting Vivienne. But now she was not going to be toyed with. She was furious and nothing was going to stop her.

- What the hell Morgana?!

- How dare you…- She slowly got closer to him, the rose was on the ground (just like their relationship) and Merlin made some steps back with her fury. – How dare you to vanish for all this time and show up at my door, your asshole?

- Morgana….

- No, I do the talking- she interrupted him- I waited for you, God knows for how long- Now Merlin averted his eyes – Now you’re back…. clean. And like nothing has happened.

- I couldn’t come back while on drugs, Morgana!

- So now you’re 100% clean?

- I am.- Merlin sounded pound of himself.

Morgana gave him a dry, sarcastic laugh.

- Congratulations…So that qualifies you to meet the baby, hum?

- Drop the act Morgana, that’s not you. – Merlin said, looking put off.

- No, I act the way I see a better fit for my child!- She faced him, a hard expression on her face – And now your plan its probably to go to her room, make her love you and then leave her to mend her own heart.

- I had my excuses to not see her until now, but she’s our daughter….

- She’s MY daughter. I had her, I carried her for 9 months, I’m with her since her first day and I’ll be until my last day. Can you promise that?

Merlin looked unsure but started to slowly approach her. It was easy, she thought, to just forget what he did and fall back at his arms, but now she always had to think about her daughter first.

- I promise you, Morgana Fay Pendragon- Morgana looked deep into his eyes (he’s beautiful and trustful eyes)- That I changed and that I won’t abandon……your

Morgana's eyes were filled with tears. But not because of what Merlin thought it was.

- Yes, you will- Morgana gave a broken whisper – I know you better than yourself, and whenever you get scared you ran. But let tell me: More than half of the time being a parent is being scared. You get scared of streets, foods, high places, crowded places, and whispers in the night. You must be braver than ever being a parent.

- I will be…. I am being braver just to talk to you. Morgana, you know me well, do you think I want to be like my father?

Morgana seized his image again. She reflected on herself, on how amazed she had been when Vivienne had come for her. Both Morgana and Merlin had similar stories with parents, but at least Vivienne eventually came around. Merlin’s father, Balinor Smith, got Hunith in love and pregnant and then ditched her. He couldn’t be a father, not now, not with her. Merlin found him when he was 18, in a cottage near Kent. What he found there was the most heartbreaking thing: Balinor was happily married and had twin baby girls. To be rejected by a parent, to not even being wanted hurts. And Morgana could see that was not the case. He had gone through a rough time, but he was her, he wanted his child.

Morgana stepped out, freeing Merlin’s way to the nursery. He looked hopeful at the highest degree.

- Don’t even try to get on with me- She warned him- At this moment, she’s more than what you deserve.

The look on Merlin's face was of pure gratitude. Morgana watched as he went to Wynn’s nursery. Well, she thought to herself, anything is better than nothing.

How many of our parents seem to make it anyway?

#mergana #fanfic #merlin #morgana

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anorakofavalon · 5 years

Text

Another Way

Reveal AU -- 3x02 -- The Tears of Uther Pendgragon Part 2

Merlin x Morgana

My little twist on it is where the reveal took place. I tried to seek a very terribly timed but still somewhat thematically appropriate place to place a reveal, and I decided on early-to-mid season 3. Because here Morgana is definitely edgier and a little more evil, but still has the potential for good. Idk, I think it’s an interesting line to walk. I hope you enjoy! I might make a couple more based off of this one if the response is good :)

“I thought… because she has magic, I thought we were the same”

“In some ways you are.”

“No. I will never be like her.”

“You have learnt an important lesson, Merlin. Your determination to see goodness in people will be your undoing. But I fear that your futures are now joined forever. She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love.”

He felt the darkness course through the roots, the very foundations of Camelot. It spread its way through the Earth, the soil of the city, and up through his body. His head lashed back of its own accord. It clawed up the walls, rumbling in its wake, and then the towers. He felt it reach the sky and thunder roared.

Merlin grimaced and began to run. The dead had risen, and he knew very well who did it.

~{(0)}~

He turned a corner, taking his pained breathing as yet further inspiration to get to his destination quickly. Every footfall took more from his reserves than any spell ever did.

“There are times, Merlin, when you display a sort of... I don't know what it is. I don't want to say... it's not wisdom. But, yes. That's what it is.”

It was a tad bit ironic, given what he was about to do. Arthur wouldn’t be all too happy, probably. But still... He flung his arm out and pulverized a skeleton, and another when it moved to block his path. He took a distinct, twisted pleasure in launching one out of a window. He would have to apologize to Arthur’s ancestors later.

“I don't have time. I need to get back to Camelot. The kingdom is in danger and...it's my fault. I should've listened to you. Should never have trusted Morgana.”

“You did what you felt was right, and that shows great courage, but trust is a double edged sword.”

He stood before the entrance to the catacombs. The gates were flung open, shredded by a force he knew to be magic. It lingered in the air, thick as the darkness he descended into. Merlin’s eyes were golden as he calmly took the steps down. There were skeletons hidden in the darkness but he did not bother with his hands. His magic tore them apart as he passed them.

There was light as he reached the bottom. It was unearthly, pale, a shadow of the sun’s own rays. The magic was putrid and foul and older than Kilgharrah himself. Merlin unsheathed his blade, useless as it would be. His steps were quiet as he turned the corner and saw her standing there. She was bathed in the light of shadows, a vision of twisted beauty. He knew whose fault that was.

He noted the wooden staff in the center of the room, from which the light had been birthed. Its form was as twisted as Morgana’s smile when her head turned to him. He knew from her eyes that she was beginning to comprehend just how significant he was, in the scheme of things. She was beginning to comprehend that he would never stop trying to stop her. She would be right.

Still, her old confidence hadn’t left her, warped as it had begun to become. “You should leave, while you still can.”

The castle rumbled in distress. Lightning’s light striking at the illumination of the moon. Brighter, angrier, more vicious. He thought, briefly, of Nimueh. Was he the lightning? Or was Morgana? Was she the moon and he the sky? The sky thundered, and his heart did too.

“Morgana, please. I beg you. Women and children are dying. The city will fall.”

She didn’t falter much. “Good.”

Merlin wanted to huff, but that would hardly make things better. She was bluffing and he knew it. But still, his voice wavered. “No, you don’t mean that.”

She faltered then. “I have magic, Merlin. Uther hates me and everyone like me. Why should I feel any differently about him?”

It was strange that she was seeking validation from him, pleading in her own way. Not that she knew what that was like. Morgana had never had to beg for a thing in her life.

“You of all people could change Uther’s mind, but doing this? Using magic like this will only harden his heart.”

Her eyes narrowed in frustration. “You don’t have magic, Merlin. How could you even hope to understand?”

And there it was, the moment of truth. She would hate him, if he told her the truth. If she didn’t already. Merlin wondered if she had truly forgiven him for poisoning her. Did she understand? Would she have done the same? He couldn’t bring himself to tell her. Kilgharrah and Gaius weighed heavily on his mind. She would tell Uther, or worse still, Arthur.

“I do understand, believe me. If I had your gifts, I would harness them for good. That’s what magic should be for. That’s why you were born with these powers.”

She could scream in frustration, he could tell. He probably could scream in frustration too, but she couldn’t tell. He had been wearing a mask for longer.

She fumed. “You don’t know what it’s like to be an outsider. To be ashamed of how you were born, to have to hide who you are. Do you think I deserve to be executed because of who I am?”

His first memories were of being caressed and cuddled and coddled by his mother Hunith. She was a sweet woman who worked hard and gave him everything she could. His second memories were of his delight when he could summon toys to his hand, when he made candles glow. His third memories were of being called a bastard and not knowing what it meant, except that it made his mother cry.

He remembered being called a demon child. The other children told him he was born in a lightning storm, that he was evil. And when he cried, when he wailed because the things they said hurt, the skies would darken, and rain would fall, and the other children would run to their own families. And lightning would hammer the earth.

They got bolder as they got older though, and Merlin meeker. They would hurt him. They’d push him, punch him. They would throw things at him, too. Sometimes they made him bleed and he wanted nothing more than to hurt them in return but he wouldn’t. Because he was desperate to prove that he wasn’t a monster. He was just a normal boy.

But he wasn’t and he never would be. And he hid his magic, as best he could. But it was never enough. It always slipped from his tight, white-knuckled grasp. It struck out when he most desperately wished that it wouldn’t. And everytime the villagers became more suspicious. Not just resentful of him, but his own mother as well, for spawning a demon.

And his only reprieve from that pain had been Will, who joked him through it. Who took the blame for some of the mischief that Merlin’s magic caused. Will never treated him differently. He never lied to Merlin. Will had died for Merlin. If Merlin didn’t have a friend like Will, who risked a lot and risked it often for his sake, then Merlin would never have made it to Camelot.

Morgana never had that. He could have been that, but he was afraid. He was a coward, Merlin knew as much. Will wouldn’t have poisoned his friend. He would have found another way. But Merlin didn’t. He betrayed Morgana when she had put her entire life in his hand, and he crushed it.

The rumbling brought his attention back. Her eyes were studying his own. Her pupils were dilated and searching him for the truth. For once in his life, the truth. He would give it to her.

His voice cracked. “No, Morgana, you don’t deserve to be executed for who you are. No one does.”

Her eyes widened slightly. He had caught her completely off guard. She had expected him to condemn her for having magic. Is that what he had become?

He continued. “But it doesn’t have to be like this.” He stepped closer. “We can find another way.”

They stared at each other for a moment. For one brief second, a minute, a breath, they hoped that what he said was true.

“There is no other way.” Her voice was soft, but heavy with conviction.

He nodded at her words, and stepped back. She knew he wouldn’t give up. He made a move for the rowan staff, just to get her on the defensive. She had a sword raised quickly, and he did as well. He tapped his blade to hers and the fighting began. It was a bit of a performance on both their parts. He wasn’t aiming to harm her, and for some reason she wasn’t either.

Merlin smirked a little bit. “What are you going to do? Kill me?”

Morgana got a little competitive, but she was amused. “You don’t think I can?”

They struck at each other strongly, but not as strong as either of them should have. The crack of thunder outside dispelled any of Morgana’s hesitations or distractions. She struck her first true blow, and he blocked it. They weren’t playing anymore.

He went on the offensive, striking at her head from above, she blocked it and took advantage of his close proximity. She twisted her body around and moved to strike at his abdomen. Merlin jumped back, but the tip cut at his shirt and grazed his skin.

Morgana showed surprise. “You’ve gotten handy with a sword since I’ve been gone, Merlin.”

He pointed at the cut. “Not handy enough.”

She grinned despite herself. But not for long. She tacked on a little grimace and decided to bite at him. “Awfully good with poison though, I’ll tell you that.”

His face flickered as if she had struck him with the sword. It was the worst possible time for a conversation. The castle was under siege, Arthur could have been hurt. But Merlin felt it in his heart.

He dropped his sword. “I didn’t want to. You were my friend. You are still my friend, Morgana.”

She gaped at his dropped sword. He was clearly full of surprises. But she wouldn’t allow him the chance to blindside her. “So what happened Merlin? Couldn’t find another way? Or maybe you just wanted me to die because I had magic.”

He frowned. “Is that what you think of me, Morgana?”

“It’s what you’ve shown to me. Friend.”

She moved forward with her blade aimed at his throat. He didn’t move.

“If you’re going to kill me, make it quick.”

She was puzzled once more, but she didn’t show it this time.

“Why should I?”

The blade was touching his skin now.

“Because if you don’t I will stop you.”

“And just how do you plan on doing that, Merlin? You’re useless even with a sword.”

She was baiting Merlin, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. He nudged the blade away from his throat and began to move forward.

“Because I do know what it’s like to be an outsider. I do know what it’s like to be ashamed of how I was born. And I already do have to hide who I am every day. Every. Single. Day.”

He was a step away from her, and she was looking up at him, startled but entranced by the way he spoke. This was no serving boy speaking.

“I can’t let anybody else get hurt Morgana. I’m a protector. I protected you too, once. I’m sorry that you made me hurt you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t a good friend to you. But I can’t let this go on.”

She moved to stab him but he knocked her away with a flash of his eyes. Not very much, not very hard, but enough that she was at a safe distance.

Her eyes didn’t turn gold in return. She was as stuck in place as the staff in the center of the room, staring at him. The room felt different. The magic shifted, and the torches became lit all at once, contrasting the pale light of the moon with a fiery hue. Merlin stood straighter, as if he was at last being honest with himself, admitting to a heritage older than time.

He locked a look with her, and gave her a moment to sear the gold of his eyes in her memory for all of time. He reached towards the rowan staff from where he stood, and pulled it towards him with magic. It flew to him with little hesitation, as if it had always been his servant. He took it in his hands firmly, and something gave in the atmosphere. The dark magic bristled, afraid of what was to come, but powerless to do anything about it, like Morgana herself.

Merlin raised a knee and slammed the staff to it, and with a spark, he tore it in half. Morgana recalled the sheer power of the staff. When Morgause gave it to her it hummed in her hands, prickling at where she held it like a thousand needles.

“I’m not powerful enough to wield this, Morgause.”

“Do not worry my dear, that staff was crafted from the Rowan tree in the center of the Isle of the Blessed. It carries its own power. None have laid eyes on it except for our kind, the High Priestesses, and the blood god that planted it.”

Her disbelief was immense as the darkness receded from the sky. She and he both felt it retreat from the towers and the walls of the castle. They felt it abandon the undead it had summoned. They felt it rush down through the soiled soil and into the catacombs, to attack Merlin.

Wind rushed through, the only sign of the physical manifestation of the evil Morgana had summoned. And yet, somehow, Merlin stood calmly in the center, and with his glowing eyes silenced it once and for all, without moving or flinching.

It was dreadfully quiet, and Morgana hated it because she was certain that even he could hear her heart pumping. Could sense her fear. And still his eyes were glowing, as if mocking her and apologizing all at once. As he stood before her, the flames of the torches framing his figure, she wondered if he had planted the rowan tree himself.

But her awe at his power was short-lived as the gold receded from his eyes and he looked more like Merlin and less like Death. When he stared at her with those insufferably blue eyes, when he moved to help her up, only then could she bring herself to burn with the anger that she was feeling.

Merlin had magic.

Merlin had magic, and he killed her.

She trusted him, and he did not trust her. The betrayal pulled at her throat more than the hemlock ever could have.

Her eyes water and she stood up, still holding the sword at him. It was useless of course, they both knew it. Even her magic would have been useless. But she held it up against him anyways.

“How many?” She demanded. Her voice was raw with anger. “How many of our kin did you betray? How many have you sacrificed to Uther’s hatred Merlin?”

Merlin flinched. “Just you.”

That had hurt her in ways she was not prepared for.

“How many have you killed for his sake?”

“Too many Morgana. But not for Uther’s sake. Never for Uther’s sake.”

“Then for who? Arthur?”

Merlin nodded. “He is destined to bring magic back to Camelot, Morgana. I have to protect him. He’s my friend.”

She reeled. “So was I.”

Merlin couldn’t respond to that. His heart was thudding in his chest. His throat was constricted. This was a terrible idea, but Morgana had to know.

“You’re a monster Merlin.”

His face crumpled. “I didn’t want to poison you, Morgana.”

“That’s not what this is about Merlin!” She screamed. “You knew. You knew I had magic. You could have helped me and you-you...” She glared at him. “You pawned me off for the druids to deal with. And you got them all killed. You did that Merlin. That was you. I’ve lived with it for years but it was never my guilt to hold.”

She was up close and personal now, pounding her fist on his chest with every accusation.

He let her. What she said was nothing new. “Yes, Morgana. I’ve done terrible things, I know that. But I’m trying. I’m trying really hard to change things.”

He could feel the heat of her tears as they dripped down her face. “How could you do this, Merlin?”

She stared at him, desperate for an answer for the sake of her own sanity.

“I-” Merlin did not like how he was at a loss for words. Arthur and the knights were probably still fighting. He decided he needed to sit.

He moved towards one of the tombs and sat on it, his hands clasped together. Her eyes followed him, brows knit together.

“I would say...” he began carefully, “that it wasn’t my choice. But that’s not true. It has been my choice.”

She began to open her mouth to say something but Merlin cut her off. “I’m not talking about poisoning you Morgana. I really did have no choice then. If I didn’t do it, Morgause wouldn’t have stopped the siege of the city.”

She offered nothing to that, which he supposed was a sort of permission to continue.

“I have been able to do magic since I was a baby. I did magic while still in a cradle. I could make things fly, or light up candles.”

Tears had stopped streaming down her face, and now she was listening. Guarded, but curious. If anyone deserved an explanation it was her.

“I was always told that I was a monster, Morgana. You’re just another person in a long line of people. I had to leave Ealdor when I was nineteen because if I didn’t, bad things would happen...” He let that hang in the air. “My mother sent me to Gaius. He’s her uncle, and a good friend. She sent me here to Camelot because I needed to learn to control my magic and nobody else could teach me. Let alone in Ealdor.”

He thought, for a moment, that her eyes softened. Her face resolved to neutrality soon enough.

He tapped the tomb with his fingers. “When I stepped through the gates the first person I met was Gwen. She was so kind. As we entered the citadel, do you know what the first thing I saw was Morgana? I saw you, looking down at the execution of Thomas Collins. For having magic.”

He huffed. “I came from a place where having magic made me a demon, and waltzed into the heart of a kingdom where having magic made me a dead man instead. Gaius told me as much. I saved his life with magic, and the very first thing he did was tell me off.”

Merlin laughed to himself. “He still does that. But he’s not the only one… On my first night, a voice called my name. I went down to the caverns and I met a dragon.”

She gasped, her first reaction. “It was you, you released the dragon while I was away. Gwen told me about it.”

Merlin nodded. “That was a mistake.” He looked at her intently. “One of very many of my mistakes, Morgana. But that first night he told me I was destined to bring magic back to the land. But he told me I could only do it through Arthur. If I was to fulfill my destiny, I needed to protect Arthur.”

He sighed. “And so I did. Not only because it was my destiny, but because Arthur became a friend. And despite everything, sometime I see him and I just know that… he is the king we’ve been waiting for.”

“He’s Uther’s son, Merlin.” Morgana snapped.

“He’s much more than that Morgana. And you know it.”

She changed the pace. “And what else did the lizard happen to say?”

Merlin quirked a quick smirk at hearing Kilgharrah called a lizard, but he answered her. “He answered my questions mostly, and sometimes he warned me about things… and he was wrong.”

Morgana watched him warily. “Like not telling me about my magic. That was his directive, I presume?”

“No.” Merlin said. “His directive was for me to kill you. Or to let you die.”

Her mouth opened at that but she didn’t say anything.

“He told me, Morgana, that you were destined for darkness. I told him you had a good heart.”

Merlin stood up and approached her. She didn’t move. “It wasn’t only until you began to meet with Morgause that I suspected maybe he wasn’t wrong.”

Morgana glared at him. “Oh? I’m the evil one? It seems to me that I was just making your job easier. By killing Uther, Arthur could be king.”

Merlin shook his head. “If you killed Uther, Morgana, if you did it with magic… Arthur would never accept it. He would become just like his father. Arthur has made great strides but he’s not ready to become king yet.”

“So you’re just going to wait until Uther dies of old age? You’re going to let our people suffer for that long in order to preserve Arthur’s innocence? I thought you were a coward but it turns out you were just a fool. You went to a dragon for advice and listened. Like a puppy.”

“I listened to you, too,” he shrugged “whenever you had a vision, I acted on it.”

She was brought up short for a moment but brought it around to the offensive. “And yet you couldn’t tell me about your magic.”

“Don’t you think I wanted to Morgana?”

“Clearly not all that much if the fact that it took me raising an army of the undead is any indication.”

Merlin groaned. “Morgana I’ve been alone all of my life. Nobody to tell my secret to. Nobody to share myself with. I had Will, and my mother before, but they didn’t have magic they couldn’t understand. Gaius doesn’t practice anymore. And anybody else just...died. For my sake. Or because of a curse. Or because I had to stop them from hurting Arthur.”

He looked up at her. “But then there you were with your visions. I suspected, I hoped, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe. Until that night that you told me what you suspected. And suddenly I didn’t feel so alone anymore. Because you were my friend Morgana. You risked your life going to Ealdor to fight for me, a servant. And you had magic.”

There wasn’t any particular emotion on Morgana’s face, except for perhaps the shadow of a smile that flickered on her lips as she recalled the day she went to Ealdor.

“I wanted to tell you so badly, but… Well, my excuse was, is, that all my life I had been told not to tell anyone. Since I was a small child. I have always lived in fear. It’s...it’s not an easy thing to admit for me. And you’re the king’s ward, Morgana. Add that to the fact that the dragon insisted you were evil and I...”

He motioned to her. “I failed as a friend, and I chose not to tell you. And I’m sorry. But I’m telling you now. You’re the first person from Camelot I’ve willingly told.”

She stared at him evenly for a few moments. “So what now, Merlin? I can’t stop. I’m too far gone. And I don’t think you will stop protecting Arthur either.”

“No.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why would you tell me this?”

“Because you deserve it, Morgana. You’re still good. You trusted me and I hurt you. So now I’m trusting you.”

“You’re an idiot Merlin.” She bit. “If I tell Arthur, you will be executed or exiled. Do you think he will forgive you? You just gave me the key to winning Camelot. What will she do without its protector?”

“Arthur wouldn’t kill me. He would be hurt that I haven’t told him. Conflicted. But he wouldn’t kill me. Just know, Camelot will always have my protection.”

Morgana bristled, working herself up again. “What has this kingdom done for you that I haven’t? Why do they deserve your help anymore than I do?”

Merlin didn’t answer her question, choosing to answer the unaired one instead. “I told you about my magic because we could find another way, Morgana. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

She sheathed her sword. “They’ll be looking for me.”

Merlin nodded.

They assessed one another until Merlin spoke.”Will you tell Morgause?”

“I don’t know.” Morgana said.

Merlin nodded, and decided to grin, despite his rapidly beating heart. “Just remember, if Arthur banishes me, there will be no one to help him put on his night shift or keep his figure trim. The last time I was gone for more than twenty four hours he couldn’t even find his sock drawer.”

Morgana stared at him incredulously as he suddenly disappeared, taking the torchlight with him. She almost couldn’t help the giggle that came out of her mouth. She was horrified and confused, and very much in need of a nap. But she did wonder just how much Merlin had given up for Camelot. What was his play? Why would he tell her about his magic?

Arthur burst into the catacombs in a panic with wild eyes, and she startled. When he saw her the relief on his face was somewhat… heartwarming.

“Morgana! You’re safe!” His eyes wandered around the room and landed on the rowan staff. Her heart leapt up in panic, but he came to a different assumption than what she feared. “Did… did you stop the undead? With… that?” His eyes went to her sword.

She couldn’t help but smirk a little. “Is it so surprising? I used to beat you in fights all the time when we were younger.”

He shook his head disbelievingly. “Okay, uh, we have to tell father about this.”

She nodded, clenching her jaw.

Arthur began to turn around towards the stairs but stopped and said something unexpected. “Morgana? Good job. I’m glad to have you back.”

Her face made a humble smile, and she felt a small rush of affection for her brother. “I’m glad to be back.”

Arthur cleared his throat. “Right, well, you wouldn’t have happened to have seen my idiot manservant would you? He’s always in the most unlikely of places after these sorts of things. Wouldn’t have been surprised if he had tripped his way down here.”

Morgana froze a little. She could have told him then and there Merlin’s secret. Even blamed the staff on him. But she couldn’t. Not yet. She had to strategize.

She laughed. “Not that I noticed.”

They began to head up the stairs. Morgana knew only one thing. She would be sharing some more words with Merlin.

For better or worse, this was far from over. But maybe… maybe they could find another way.

#mergana #merlin x morgana #bbcmerlin #katie mcgrath #merlin #colin morgan

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hellzeldagirlsfanfic · 6 years

Text

To Regain What I Lost Chapter 4 Part 2

"Still, these are a heroic spirit from across time, Sae. It wouldn't be easy," Yae reminded her.

"I have confidence in her, she will prevail," Sae stated.

Yae stared at her sister.

"We should head back home Imouto," Yae suggested.

Sae turned back to her big sister with a big smile.

"Lets,"

Sae quickly walked back to Yae. Yae took Sae's hand and intertwine them. Sae smuggled up to her older sister as the portal rippled open, allowing them to go home.

***

Down in the forest, Saber and Irisviel rush through the trees trying the spot where the explosion had happened.

Saber had changed into her armour with sword in hand. It wasn't ideal for her to fight at the moment, not with her injury that Lancer had dealt to her. But since the battle was happening near Einzbern Castle it must be investigated.

"Saber!" Irisviel called out. "North-west from here, about seven to eight meters," She huffed.

"Yes, I know. There's a large amount of mana ahead. It must be the two Casters fighting," Saber concluded.

When they were about a half meter away, Saber quickly grabbed Irisviel and dragged her to the side as a whip came crashing through the trees. It quickly receded, cutting through the dust it created revealing a young woman.

Saber stepped away from Irisviel turning to face the woman. Saber paused for a brief moment once she got a good look at the woman. There was a striking resemblance between the woman and her old friend.

Caster had also noticed that Saber had arrived on the scene, distracting her from her battle with Gilles for a moment. Caster was brought back to the fight when one of Gilles' demons attacked her, it was easily struck down by a flick of her wrist. Her haircut through it, leaving it in three pieces.

In the short amount of time their battle went on, Caster could tell Gilles only ability was summoning demons which matched up to his story. It was nothing special, anyone could do it given the knowledge.

Now the problem was to find where he was getting all his mana from to summon the mass amount of demons, that was most likely his Noble Phantasm as well.

Another hoard of demon attacked once again. Her claw-like whips tore through them, but it was one hoard after the another. That was trouble with these types of demons they are easy to tear through but the sheer amount was tiring. They were coming at her from all side making it hard for her to keep up.

One of the demons spotted an opening and jumped into it. It left little time for Caster to think up counter-attack or dodge.

The demon was quickly cut down by Saber. She turned to face Gilles, she gave Caster a brief look before turning her eyes to Gilles.

Gilles looks shocked at his 'Joanne', why would she help a witch? He couldn't understand.

"My dear Joanne, why would you help this sinner? She has already condemned herself to the fiery pits of hell, there's no way to save her," Gilles questioned Saber.

Saber stared at Gilles in confusion. She had never met this man in her life before but he seems to know her and talk to her like they were old friends. Not to mention he called her 'Joanne', maybe he was mistaking her for someone else.

"Sorry you must be mistaking me for someone else," She told him.

"Don't bother," Caster said. "The man is insane. He wouldn't listen to you and he will denial all you say. He in his own little world," She informed Saber.

"Be quiet you witch! Joanne, it's me, Gilles de Rais," he officially introduced himself to Saber.

"Like I said, you mistake me for another. Since you have given me your name I must be keeping with the chivalry code give mine. My name is Artoria, the heir to Uther Pendragon and King of Britain. I enter this battle in the saber class," Saber introduced herself.

"NO!NO!NO!" Gilles screamed. "You have truly lost your memories! Or has this witch done something to you!" Gilles continued his mindless screaming.

"This is the first time I've met this woman and have told you I am not this Joanne you keep mistaking me for," Saber repeated.

"I do not know how to use memory alternating magecrafts," Caster confessed.

Gilles let out a scream of frustration as well as pulling out his hair.

"KILL HER!" Gilles commanded his demon familiars, pointing at Caster.

All at once the demons jumped on Caster. They smothered Caster leaving nothing to see.

Saber immediately started hacking away at the demons to free the woman.

"Joanne my dear, why do you want to help that witch so much?" Gilles asked.

"That's none of your business!" She yelled at him.

Why did she want to help Caster? Was it because she looks so much like Merlin? Yes, that was definitely why.

Saber felt a bust of mana come from the centre of the demons. She jumped back to avoid whatever was coming out.

Caster's hair came cutting through the flesh of the demons like they was paper. Caster was unharmed by the demons.

"How are you unharmed by my demons!?" Gilles asked.

"I am just better a magus then you so it's easy for me to counter weak attacked like that," Caster explained.

"Why you!?" Gilles screeched.

Both Saber and Caster release a strike destroying the rest of the demons around Gilles.

Gilles seems to calm down somehow.

"I have forgotten what I truly came here for," Gilles mumbled to himself. "Since your heart has been seal so tightly my dear Joanne. I must take my leave now to make preparation to free your soul from the terrible prison of God's curse," He declared. Gilles bowed to Saber then disappeared.

The three women stared at where Gilles once stood, none of them like his parting words.

Caster was the first one to move, she took off the hair from her fingers and gathering them in her left hand. At the same time she grumbled under her breath 'I hate crazy people'.

Saber notices Caster's movement and stood ready to fight her.

Caster glance at Saber as she proceeded to write something on the palm of her hand. Irisviel and Saber both watched as the white hair burned away. Caster turned to face Saber.

"I do not wish to fight you," Caster said. Saber stay put as she watched Caster bring her right arm to her left shoulder and bowed. "It was a pleasure to meet you, my King," She said as she disappeared.

Irisviel was shocked by Caster's farewell.

"So, you know who Caster is?" She asked.

"I do not know Caster," Saber debunked Irisviel's idea. "She was born after my death,"

Irisviel was now truly confused. What was that girl's connection to Saber and how did Saber know her if she had never had met her. Maybe all will be revealed when they got back to the castle.

"We better get back to the car. Those girls are still waiting for us," Saber said. ***

Gilgamesh, enter the room that he was using as his bedroom during the Holy Grail War.

It was a large room with dark wooden wall panels. The carpet was a ruby red. The curtains in the room were a deep ruby red with golden embroidery, the embroidery was small roses and rosebuds.

There was little furniture, there was a king size bed with a canopy, a wooden dresser and couch. The bedding was a plain scarlet red with matching curtains. The couch was a scarlet red chesterfield. The dresser was old fashion styled made out of mahogany wood.

Gilgamesh switched on the light, lighting up the dark room. The light revealed Caster waiting patiently on the couch with her hands folded in her lap.

He also notices that Caster had changed her clothes. She was now wearing a denim stonewash pinafore with a plain lavender scoop neck t-shirt, white stockings and peanut brown ankle boots. Her hair was still styled the same.

She looked like a normal teenager from the modern era.

"I hope you didn't wait long for me," Gilgamesh said.

"I wasn't waiting long," she replied. "I've arrived a little while before you returned from your engagement with Kotomine," She told him.

Gilgamesh sneered at her. How did she know about his visit to Kirie? He made sure that no one would know about the visit.

"Don't forget Archer, I'm clairvoyant. I foresee your visit to Kotomine," She explained.

He had forgotten about her little trick of hers. Gilgamesh moved so he was leaning on the footboard of the bed, which was opposite the couch.

"Any reason for your visit or did you miss being in my presence," Gilgamesh asked.

There was a brief pause as Caster took a deep breath.

"I came here to give you my answer to your proposal," She informed him.

Gilgamesh became more interested. He didn't expect she would make a decision so fast, though he did have a good idea what her answer would be. He stood straighter to hear Caster's answer.

Caster also straightened her back and stared straight into his eyes. Her bright topaz eyes held a large amount of confidence in them. This meant she thought her answer was definitely the right decision.

"My answer is no," Caster answered.

This wasn't what Gilgamesh was expected. He thought she would accept his proposal to make sure that the Grail War would go smoothly for her. But the unexpected event would make his time in this era more enjoyable.

"I made a promised to my mother that I would marry someone that I loved," Soon as those words left Caster's mouth Gilgamesh busted into uncontrollable laughter.

Caster sat on the couch unaffected by Gilgamesh's laughter. She didn't need her clairvoyance to know what Gilgamesh reaction was going to be. With his large ego, he probably thought she would of accepted the proposal. There were many reasons why she turned down Gilgamesh, the main two reasons were being the promised to her mother and her own happiness.

Like most noble mage families, her mother was put into arranging the marriage to keep the blood strong. She did have a happy marriage with her husband but when she met her father, she fell deeply in love with him. This led to her birth, which causes an uproar from her mother's husband's family. Let's say she didn't have a nice childhood.

'Why is he laughing so hard?' Sae confusedly asked.

'Its because he is Gilgamesh, King of Uruk. He owns all of the treasure in the world. He's always gotten what he wanted. Me turning him down just sent a shock wave through him,' Caster explained.

'That doesn't answer my question' Sae said.

'I'll explain it to you when your older Sae,' She said.

'But I'm dead,'

Caster stood up from the couch ready to leave the Tohsaka residence, she was just waiting for Gilgamesh to finish laughing so he could say any last words.

Gilgamesh, finish laughing and quickly transported straight in front of Caster. She was surprised with his closeness but she didn't make a move. Gilgamesh reached out to Caster's face, tilting her head slightly so she was looking into his eyes.

"It's been a while since I've laughed like that," He confessed. "I didn't think you'll be the kind to believe in true love," He mumbled. He moved closer to Caster's ear. "I guess I'll just have to make you fall madly in love with me then, Matilda," Gilgamesh whispered in her ear.

The way he said her name, sent a shiver down her back. It didn't settle well that Gilgamesh was now going to pursue her.

Gilgamesh bites the shell of Caster's ear causing her to jump. Caster pushed away from him then disappeared before him. Not before Gilgamesh got a good look at her reddened face. The site of her brought pleasure to him. He was going enjoy making the white-haired woman fall in love with him.

[Part 1]

[Chapter 3 Part 1] * [Chapter 5] * [Prologue]

#fate zero #fate stay night #gilgamesh #oc #gilles de rais #saber #artoria pendragon #irisviel von einzbern

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donotleavemeagain · 6 years

Text

In His Defense Part 1

Merlin held his head high as he walked through the market clad in iron shackles. He knew this day would come. Of course he knew. It was only a matter of time before he slipped up and someone found out about his magic. It was only a matter of time before it was reported to the king and he was arrested. It was only a matter of time before Uther Pendragon sentenced him for the pyre. He used magic too often for it not to happen. But he held his head high even as the townsfolk threw rotten food at him. He was caught using magic in defense of Prince Arthur. One who he would never have hesitated to call his king. He was proud of that.

The funny thing is: Merlin's not even sure how the king found out about his magic. The last time he had used it had been when an assassin somehow managed to find his way into the prince's room while Arthur was training the knights and Merlin was cleaning his room. He never actually figured out what the assassin had planned because he immediately sent the man through the window, but either way he never would have let it happen. Although Arthur had seen the man fall even he never once suspected that Merlin used magic. In fact, he spent the next several hours berating Merlin and telling him how lucky he was that he wasn't killed by the probably highly trained murderer. Someone else must have seen him. A servant or something must have come into the room while he did his magic and fled before he noticed them.

It was the next morning as Merlin was out picking herbs for Gaius that the knights surrounded him and told him that he was under arrest for practicing magic within the castle walls. He could have put them all to sleep and run away, hidden in the shadows until old age claimed Uther Pendragon, but he was so tired of hiding. Instead he held out his hands and let the knights of Camelot, though none that he recognized, fasten iron shackles to his arms and legs. At least they weren't unkind to him. They didn't roughly pull him any faster than his hampered feet could walk and they didn't say any cruel words to him. They only fastened the chains around him and escorted him back to Camelot where his fate would be decided.

As the castle grew ever closer, Merlin felt tears in his eyes. What would happen to this place once he was gone? Would Arthur survive to become king without Merlin there to thwart all the assassination attempts? Would Albion fall before it ever began and Camelot come to ruin? Would Arthur miss him?

Probably not. Merlin smiled wryly. Arthur was probably just as mad at him for this as the king was. Even if he did somehow accept the fact that Merlin had magic, which was unlikely, he would never forgive his friend for all the lies that he had told over the years. He only hoped that Arthur would deign to be at his execution. If only to see the man that he had fallen in love with one last time before the fire overtook him. Because it would be fire, he knew. Uther had to make an example of him for practicing magic in such a close proximity to his son.

Merlin sighed.

If Arthur was there he would bow to him and name him the Once and Future King of Albion. Then anyone in the audience who practiced magic would pass that knowledge to others and all would know that he would bring about peace between magic and Camelot. Then, hopefully, they would stop trying to kill the prince and they too would attempt to protect him. It would be the last thing that Merlin could do for Arthur and he only hoped it would work.

If Arthur was even there. If not, he would just proclaim that he would always remain loyal to Arthur as the Once and Future King. It probably wouldn't have as big of an impact as if Arthur was there, but hopefully it would still be enough.

Suddenly, the attack of the rotten vegetables stopped and the bright light of the sun dimmed. Merlin looked up, not even realizing that he had bowed his head in thought of the prince, and saw a knight of Camelot holding his cloak up to shield Merlin from the townspeople and wrapping another arm around his waist comfortingly. Yet, this wasn't a normal knight of Camelot. He wore more armor than they did, as though he were going to a duel instead of Merlin's execution, including a metal helmet that kept his face from view, and it was only his rich red cloak that marked him as what he was.

"Don't worry," said the knight, "I'm going to protect you." The voice sounded familiar, but it was too dulled by the metal helmet to truly recognize.

"There's nothing you can do," Merlin muttered. "Please go before someone accuses you of aiding me."

"Never," said the knight. "I'm going to protect you."

Despite himself, Merlin felt utterly happy. Someone was actually trying to help him. Even in his last moments when everyone wanted him dead there was still at least one who would stand beside him. Someone actually accepted him for what he was instead of what he always pretended to be or what he needed to be for destiny's sake. Just him, a boy who was born with magic. The only thing that would make it better would be if it was Arthur standing next to him, but Merlin knew not to expect that. "Thank you," he whispered because he knew that no matter what this knight did he would not save Merlin from the fire, but at least he gave Merlin the only thing that he had ever truly wanted.

Arthur did not stand by his father when they arrived in the courtyard. Nor did he stand with Morgana where she cried for Merlin on her balcony. He did not even stand looking through his window to watch the fate of his manservant. He was nowhere to be seen and Merlin had to conclude once and for all as his heart broke that Arthur hated him now that he knew about his magic. He had known that this would happen, but some part of him had hoped that Arthur would somehow defy all odds and come to his aid at the end of most need. That small part of him was now crushed and it was only now that he realized it had been his heart.

"You have been accused of practicing magic," the king was saying. "What have you to say?"

"In defense of Prince Arthur and the people of Camelot I have used magic," Merlin said. No matter how much his heart hurt, he would not betray the loyalty he had always had to his king. "And I would gladly continue to do so in order to protect the Once and Future King Arthur of Camelot." To announce someone other than the current king as the king, even if it was the prince, was nothing short of treason, but Merlin would already have the death sentence bestowed upon him so he didn't really care. Word would spread of this and all would know that Arthur would be the one to unite Camelot with magic as it was foretold even without Merlin's help.

"You dare speak his name!" the king yelled. "You who have bewitched my son." Merlin was shocked by those words. The only reason that the king would think his son was bewitched is if Arthur had tried to stand up for him. Was it possible that Arthur did actually still care about him despite all his crimes? "You will burn in the pyre for your crimes."

The pyre already stood tall beside him and Merlin wasn't at all surprised that it had been set up before they even captured him. Normally one who practiced magic would have at least the night before facing the fire, but Merlin was too close to the royal family and he needed to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

"No," said the knight who had followed Merlin through the town and into the courtyard as he threw down his gauntlet before the king. All other knights pulled their sword, but no one dared move closer. A challenge was clearly given. There was no way that they would make their king seem like a coward in front of his people by taking it for him. "I challenge you for his life."

Merlin's eyes widened. Was that even possible? He had never really paid much attention to the knight's code as that was more Arthur's thing than his, but he did know a little and he had never once heard of someone throwing down a gauntlet in order to save another's life.

The king did not move. "You dare to challenge me boy?" he scowled, but it was clear that he didn't know what to do either. If he did not accept the challenge it would be like saying he was a coward, but if he did accept the challenge than the people would think it a possible way to save everyone on death's row. "You would sacrifice your life for a sorcerer?"

"I would," said the knight.

"Than you will be charged with aiding him. I will accept your challenge and I will kill you for the crime that you have committed."

"And if I win you will release him without harming him."

The king scowled again, but said nothing. "The battle will be tomorrow at dawn," he said.

"And Merlin, as the prize of this battle, has to remain unharmed until then."

"Take him to the dungeons," the king waved him away. "You have a stay of execution for now, but by tomorrow evening you will burn."

Merlin stared wide-eyed at the knight who saved his life for a night as the others took him into the castle. He was honestly not expecting that to work at all. He knew that Uther had his pride as an undefeated knight, but he didn't think that would ever overcome his lust for a sorcerer's head. He had actually thought that Uther would sentence the knight to death for attempting to aid him and damn the consequences until a later time, but the chance of having the people think him a coward was apparently enough incentive for the king. That was probably also the only reason that the knight was not currently joining him in the dungeon. It would be seen as unfair and therefore cowardly if the knight was not given the chance to ready himself for the coming battle.

Merlin did not sleep well that night and it had nothing to do with the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. Nor did it have to do with the worry of the coming battle, though that did cross his mind. He did not sleep because he hoped all through the night that Arthur would find a way to come and visit him despite Uther's command that no one see him. He had stayed up all night hoping to see him slip quietly up to the cell door as he had done to others he believed wrongly accused, but he never came. It could be that he did not have Merlin to help him escape his room, George would certainly not help him against the King's orders, but it made Merlin doubt that Arthur truly did believe in him. Maybe he had stood up to him at first because he didn't believe that Merlin could be a sorcerer, but after thinking about it he would have put the pieces together.

When the dawn arrived, Merlin had bags under his eyes and he would barely be able to keep his eyes open if it weren't for the fact that the guards were pulling him out of his cell. "Where are we going?" Merlin asked, not really expecting an answer.

"The prize is always present during a duel," one of the guards said.

"You're the prize," said the other.

Shocked that he actually received an answer, Merlin remained silent. He had heard many stories of sorcerer's treated unkindly by both the knights and the guards of Camelot. It was one of the things that he hoped Arthur would fix in his people, but not something that he thought would ever change when Uther still reigned. Yet, as they walked, the guards and knights that he was passed onto held him gently and slowed whenever he so much as slipped.

And then there was a chair for him as they reached the arena. It wasn't in the king's box like Morgana's, who was the normal prize for such events, but it was still a relatively nice chair. Merlin honestly couldn't tell if Uther was trying to make a mockery of him or if someone had been kind enough to set it out for him. The look on Uther's face when he sat rather awkwardly on the chair told him that it most certainly wasn't supposed to be there for him.

"How are you?" asked Gwen once Merlin got as comfortable as he was going to be in his chair. It startled him because he hadn't see her there.

"I'm fine," he said, "but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Morgana? You could get in trouble with Uther."

"Morgana asked me to be here for you," she said. "If Uther has anything to say about it, she'll defend me. We both wanted to be here for you, but you know she can't be seen to be cohorting with someone who the King claims to be a criminal. This is as much defiance as she is able to outwardly show." She patted the chair with a grin. "Don't worry. We're going to get you out of here."

"Gwen please," Merlin said. "Even if the knight wins this, I don't think Uther will let me go free. He won't let any sorcerers free under his reign."

"He has to," Gwen said. "It would be against the knight's code to do anything else."

"Whatever you say Gwen," Merlin said with only a slightly forced smile. Of course Gwen would know more about the knight's code than he. "Do you think that Arthur will come?" he asked. He knew he shouldn't have. It wasn't his place anymore, but he just wanted to see the prince one last time. "I don't see him here yet."

"You don't know?" Gwen asked. "Arthur tried to fight for you. He said that you've been using your magic to save Camelot for some time now and that that alone was sign that you weren't evil."

"He knew?" Merlin gasped.

Gwen nodded. "He tried to attack Uther when he said that he wouldn't pardon you. That's when the king said that he had been bewitched by you and locked him in his room. No one's seen him since."

Merlin honestly didn't know what to say to that. All this time Arthur had known and he had never said anything about it.

Suddenly silence overcame the crowd as the knight came onto the field. He was still wearing his helmet and Merlin thought that was a little disrespectful to the king, but he understood. Even though this knight was willing to help him, he couldn't risk everyone know who he was. That would be damaging to not only himself but also his family name. Besides, if he did lose there was still a chance that he might escape since no one knew his face. Merlin could feel a bit of his magic even behind the iron shackles and he was perfectly willing to use it to help in the escape.

"Well," Uther said, a brow raised, "you are the challenger. You decide to what end this duel will go."

"Until someone yields," said the knight. Those were the normal rules for dueling and Merlin sighed with relief. He had for a short moment feared that this duel would be to the death. Arthur would never forgive him if his father died because someone was saving his life. He wasn't worth that.

"Very well," Uther shrugged. "You will die at the end of it either way."

"Not if I defeat you," said the knight.

"You are very confident boy," Uther sneered. "I will show you your true place." Then he put his helmet on and crouched into a fighting position, not even bothering with the normal respectful before battle rituals. Merlin cringed. Uther truly did not like what this knight was doing, which meant that he would be particularly cruel in this battle.

The fight started slow, each knight trying to gauge to what lengths the other would go, and then suddenly Merlin couldn't keep track of it anymore. He was never good on a battlefield and didn't pay much attention to the parries and thrusts Arthur tried to teach him, but he could usually at least tell who had the upper hand in the fight. This time, however, it was going back and forth between the two that he just couldn't keep track.

Merlin's knight was the first to come to a disadvantage when he lost his shield, but it did not last for long as Uther's shield was knocked away soon after. A blow to the leg had Merlin's knight limping, but he one-upped Uther by knocking his helmet off.

Merlin watched in fascination. Other than Arthur he had never seen anyone hold themselves so well against the King.

"Oh my god!" Gwen gasped.

"What?" Merlin asked, eyes straying from the battle to look at her. She was staring with wide eyes at the two combatants with her hands clasped over her face. Perhaps she recognized the knight. Or maybe at least his fighting style. Merlin didn't care enough to recognize people by their fighting styles, but he wouldn't doubt if Gwen could. "What's wrong?"

Before Gwen could answer, the clattering of a knight falling brought Merlin's attention back to the field. The King was on his back, his shield long since missing and his sword just barely out of reach. "Yield," said Merlin's knight.

"Never!" the King yelled.

The knight lifted his sword high and Merlin suddenly realized how this would go. If the King would not yield than the knight would have to kill him. Merlin couldn't let that happen. Arthur would hate him. He didn't want that. He had to protect the king.

"Wait!" he yelled lifting his iron clad hand up to grab the sword if need be. He hadn't even realized that he had used his magic to transport all this way, but the fading golden light in his eyes told all. "Please wait," he said.

"What-" the knight gasped, his arms shaking with the effort of stopping his own sword.

"Please don't kill him," Merlin said. "Arthur will be upset if you kill him."

The sword through his chest was completely unexpected, but Merlin thought that he should have expected it. King Uther held no qualms against killing sorcerers and Merlin had just gotten in his way. Not only that, but Merlin had practically dishonored him by running onto the field to protect him. And not even for his own sake. "Out of my way sorcerer!" the king yelled, tossing Merlin to the side.

"Merlin!" the knight yelled and suddenly Merlin felt really stupid. How had he not recognized him before now? Above all else, though, he would always recognize the way Arthur called his name. He should have known the only knight who would be willing to protect him even against the wishes of the king was Arthur himself. What an idiot he was.

"Arthur," he whispered before the pain overtook him and his world went black.

As an introduction to this blog, I thought I would post a fic that I posted on my archive account. Hope you guys enjoy.

Part 2 here

#merthur #magic revealed #merlin's sentenced to death #the gauntlet is thrown down #Arthur will do anything for merlin #fanfic #twoshot #archive of our own

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