Following the events of the Witchfinder episode, Arthur needs to have a talk with Merlin about the magic, before Merlin will manage to get himself in some serious troubles.
Yes, there will be mistakes, grammar or others, Sorry for that :)
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Merlin was happily running around Arthur and getting his dinner ready. Arthur was watching it with a smile on his face. Gaius almost getting burn at the stake, was surely something very difficult to go through for Merlin. Arthur was happy for Merlin's good mood, even if it meant that Merlin's cheery happy little hops in his steps caused the wine spilled out on the floor little bit. Arthur was happy, but he knew he had to do it, and the sooner the better.
"Merlin" Arthur said to snap Merlin out of his quiet humming and to get his full attention. Merlin looked at the prince with a smile on his face.
"Yes? Need something else? Water? More wine? Or..." Merlin started to ramble, which again Arthur did find very endearing, but he couldn't let Merlin to distract him right now.
"Merlin, sit down" Arthur stopped him and pointed at an empty chair next to him.
"W-what?" Merlin asked surprised and looked at the chair. Arthur sighed a bit and stood up, put one arm around Merlin's shoulders, very skinny shoulders, he should do something about it, and with his free hand pulled out the chair and gently forced Merlin to sit down. Merlin immediately tried to get up, but Arthur put both his hands on Merlin's shoulders so Merlin was simply pushes back down on the chair.
"Arthur what..." Merlin began and turned around to see Arthur.
"We need to talk about something"
"About what?" Merlin asked immediately "Is it about me being late, really often, because its not happening that much now... or because I lost your dagger during the hunt, I didn't..." Merlin began another ramble, before Arthur could do anything. And yes Merlin is late more than he should be and dagger? That's where it disappeared? Alright, Merlin really can't keep a secret. Any other master could use that as a good enough excuse for punishing their servant and of course that any servant that would lose a dagger of his master would lie about it and never willingly confess it. If there were any doubts about this talk, now they were gone.
"Merlin, be quite" Arthur said when Merlin managed to confess another mistake he might have made. Merlin successfully went silent and just looked at Arthur, with a perfect puppy look, which was caused because of Merlin believes that he is in trouble. Merlin's puppy look could be renamed as Arthur's bane, because he is totally and utter helpless against it.
"You... you are not in trouble Merlin" Arthur said
"No? Are you sure? Did u hear that bit about your dagger cos..."
"Merlin!"
"O.O"
Arthur moved from behind the chair, so he now stood in front of Merlin who still kept his puppy look while looking up at Arthur.
Arthur did think about what he should say before, but he didn't really came up with any battle plan.
"Merlin..." Arthur began, but then stopped.
"Repeat after me" he began again with kinda YOLO thought. "I Merlin..."
Merlin looked more and more confuse but he repeated it.
"Will be..."
"will be... Arthur what's"
"More careful with..."
"Careful? it's about me taking out the chamber pot isn't it?"
Ah, Arthur forgot about that one.
"No Merlin it is not about that, but please be more careful with that thing too... anyway, go on repeat after me"
"Ok... ehm... more careful with"
"Using my magic" Arthur finished his sentence.
Merlin froze and all his cheery, happy mood was gone, Merlin's face went pale, his eyes flicked to the door clearly seeking an escape, but Arthur was standing directly in front of him, however Merlin was known for being an idiot, so he of course tried to make a run for the door. Arthur was expecting all sorts of reaction, and Merlin running away was one of them, so he easily stopped him by simply catching him. Arthur was undoubtedly stronger than Merlin, so keeping Merlin on one place was not a problem. If Merlin had used his magic, Arthur would not stand a chance, but Merlin would never do that, Arthur was more than sure of it. Merlin wasn't indeed going to use his magic against Arthur, but he kept trying to free himself from Arthur's grab, with no luck of course. After like a minute or so Merlin gave up and went still in Arthur's hands, he was heavily breathing, because while Arthur didn't put any effort in holding Merlin, Merlin was using everything he had to free himself.
"Are you done?" Arthur asked calmly. He felt Merlin nodding. "Good, I am gonna let go of you, and you will sit down, ok?" He asked. Another nod from Merlin. Arthur slowly let go of Merlin, but was still ready to catch him if needed. Merlin didn't try to run, he just kinda collapsed back on the chair. Eyes glued to the floor.
"Pl...e, n... h.. s..ke" Merlin mumbled something, but it was too quiet for Arthur to hear him properly.
"What?" Arthur asked gently. Merlin looked up from the floor, and Arthur almost wished he didn't, because Merlin's beautiful blue eyes were glistening with tears, sight that Arthur couldn't stand to witness. Merlin took a deep breath and tried again.
"Not the stake, please" he whined quietly, but this time Arthur heard him.
"What?" he asked anyway, because even that he heard him he didn't or maybe just didn't want to understand. Merlin sobbed and before Arthur could do anything about it, Merlin slipped from the chair on the floor, so he was on his knees in front of Arthur. Arthur immediately decided that he hates that sight, it's no place for Merlin to be in.
"Merlin ge..." Arthur began, but Merlin shook his head
"Chop off my head or hang me, please. But don't... burn me at the stake" Merlin said and looked up at Arthur, tears were sliding down on his cheeks. Arthur was left speechless. Merlin didn't even consider Arthur not wanting him to execute.
"Merlin...I...no." Arthur managed to say, and Merlin began to cry, because Merlin could already feel his flesh burn off his bones, while iron chain will burn into his wrists.
"I am sorry, sorry..." Merlin mumbled quietly. Arthur had no idea what to do, so as always he went with his guts. He bent down and as gently as possible lifted Merlin to his feet and pull him closer and hugged him. Merlin was not reacting to that at all and kept apologizing, for what Arthur had no idea.
"Merlin" Arthur said with authority that would hopefully snap Merlin out of it, when Merlin didn't show any signs of calming down.
Merlin went silent, but didn't stop shaking in Arthur's arms
"Your majesty?" Merlin asked confused about their current situation. 'Great, I broke him' Arthur thought, when Merlin used the title he is supposed be using.
"Merlin, calm down, please" Arthur said quietly. Merlin something whined or maybe it was not a word at all, Arthur didn't care, he just hugged him tighter and started to caress his soft hair.
"Why are you hugging me, my lord?" Merlin asked as if he only now noticed.
"To calm you down" Arthur said softly, another title by the books Arthur noted to himself... he hates it he decided.
"Please... not the stake" Merlin mumbled into Arthur's shoulder.
"Merlin I am not going to execute you" Arthur said.
For some reason that didn't calm Merlin down. If anything, for some reason it made Merlin seemed to make sadder.
"So... you will lock me in the jail for the rest of my life?" he more announced than asked.
'Gods why does Merlin think these things... well, he is living in Camelot so..., but still...' Arthur thought to himself.
He stopped hugging Merlin, so he could look at him, but Merlin was looking down on the ground, already thinking about all the things he is going to miss... like the sun, or rain... food... "How long can a sorcerer live by the way?" He began to wonder.
"Merlin, look at me" Merlin kept looking down, lost in his thoughts
"Merlin look at me!" Arthur said with more emphasis in his voice.
Merlin's eyes immediately flicked up to meet Arthur's
"I am sorry my lord" he apologized quickly and more tears were glistening in his eyes, he didn't mean to make Arthur madder than he has to already be, not right now.
"Great..." Arthur thought slightly desperately.
"Merlin listen to me" he started and made sure that he is talking as gently as possible. Merlin was looking at Arthur, it looked like he was scared to even blink.
"I will not lock you up anywhere. Nor let you execute, none of that" He said.
"B-but... I... you're... magic, you have to..." Merlin was attempting to make a sentence, but not very successfully.
"No, I don't have to Merlin" Arthur shook his head "The only thing I have to do right now, is to make sure that you will not reveal your magic like that again and put yourself or someone else in danger" he added
Merlin was still obviously not fully getting what is happening.
"B-but I have magic, and magic is... a bad thing in here" he said
"Those are my father's laws and his believe, not mine"
"So you don't think that all magic is evil?" Merlin asked and another tear slipped down his cheek.
"No" Arthur said quietly and gently wiped off the tear "There is no evil in magic Merlin, only in hearts of those who use it, and you Merlin..." he paused and gently placed his hand on Merlin chest, he could feel Merlin quick heartbeat. "I do not believe there is evil in a heart of someone who risked his life to protect others so many times as you did" he finished with a soft smile on his face.
Merlin was totally shocked.
"You... how long do you know?" he whispered
"Last year when we were searching the castle for any signs of magic... you left your magic book on the floor you idiot. I called you in, but then I realized that the other knights are with me as well, and I didn't want to risk you exposing yourself at that moment, so I came up with the cupboard thing... which by the way was true, you really had a big mess in there. And when you used your magic to help me defeat the afanc in that cave, I knew for a fact that you actually do have magic, but also that you are no threat to anyone." Arthur smiled at him
"You knew for that long?" Merlin asked surprised. While Merlin was keeping Arthur safe with his magic, Arthur had to keep Merlin safe from anyone finding out about his magic Merlin realized.
Arthur nodded
"Yes, but Merlin you really have to be more careful with it. If my father will hear anything about you and magic... we will have no other choice but to leave Camelot to keep your skinny ass safe"
"I will, dont worry I did learn my lesson when Gaius... wait what? Did you say leave Camelot... like the both of us?" Merlin asked thinking that he just misheard what Arthur said.
"Yes Merlin I said that. I..." Arthur started, but then went silent and Merlin could swear that he saw Arthur blush little bit. "I... ehm... the Camelot would not be worth of staying in if you were not here" Arthur finished and now he was definitely blushing, but Merlin was no better, because you don't hear a prince confess something like that to you every day.
Merlin's smile could not possibly grow bigger, and the tears that were now glistening in his eyes were caused by the happiness.
"Why didn't you tell me that you know about my magic?" Merlin wondered.
"I was giving you the time to tell me yourself" Arthur answered, and Merlin's gaze felt to the floor again.
"I am sorry I didn't tell you" he mumbled.
"I understand Merlin, really" Arthur assured him.
Merlin looked up and smiled at Arthur who return the smile without actually knowing doing so. Arthur gaze flicked to Merlin's lips for quick moment and Merlin noticed that, but was not sure if this is the right moment for kissing the prince for the first time. Luckily Arthur decided it and gently kissed Merlin. Arthur wanting to do this for a long, long time and now he couldn't get enough of the taste of Merlin's lips, when he finally could taste them. Merlin started to doubt that this is actually happening. This has to be a dream of some sort. But even that did not stop him from having the smile on his face while kissing the prince. The kiss left both Arthur and Merlin heavy breathing and happily smiling. Arthur looked at the dinner on the table.
"Come Merlin, let's eat shall we?" Arthur suggested.
"It will be cold by now" Merlin said
"I am sure that a lad with your skills will be able to fix that, am I right?" Arthur smirked.
It took Merlin few seconds to realize that Arthur is talking about his magic.
"Well, my skills did keep your bath water warm the whole time you were taking your baths" Merlin admitted and Arthur laughed aloud.
Merlin turned towards the table and muttered some incantation and the dinner was warm again.
"Very handy skills indeed" Arthur smiled and helped Merlin to sit at the table and then sat down on the chair next to Merlin.
"How did you manage lose my dagger by the way?" Arthur asked during the dinner. Merlin swallowed and his cheeks turn to darker shade of pink, so Arthur had a hunch that the reason will be... one would say embarrassing, but Arthur would say just typical Merlin thing.
"Well?" Arthur really wanted to know the reason now
"I was refilling the water bags and... and there was a squirrel... and, and you know how metal casts a reflection because of the sun? Well... the dagger did just that, and the squirrel was kinda chasing after the reflection that was on the ground and it was really cute..." Merlin began to explaining.
"You lost my dagger because you were playing with a squirrel?" Arthur asked not sure if he actually gets this right
"Well... kinda... the sun shifted, so I had to stretch out to get the reflection again, and when I was stretching I kinda lost balance and dropped the dagger in the stream... really deep one so..." Merlin finished his explaining.
Arthur was looking at Merlin without saying anything, not sure if Merlin is for real or not right now, but knowing Merlin there were no doubts that this is exactly how he dropped the dagger in the stream, no one but Merlin could possible do something like that.
"Please say something" Merlin said when the silence was too long.
Arthur took a deep breath, but still wasn't sure what he should say to that.
"Magic... why didn't you use your magic to get the dagger?" Arthur reminded him
"I wanted to, but you sent Leon after me, because I was taking too long with the water bags"
"Yes, because I had no idea that you could possible start to play with a squirrel during simple water refill"
"I didn't mean to, but the squirrel was... never mind, it's not important, the point is that if Leon didn't show up, I would use my magic to get the dagger from the str..."
"So it's my fault then?" Arthur raised one eyebrow.
"Ehm... well..." Merlin began with an expression full of innocence.
"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed, but all he managed to do with that was make Merlin laugh, so he just gave up and also began to laugh. After they finished the dinner they went to sit in front of the fireplace. Arthur sat on his chair and Merlin as he was used to, went to stand next to him.
"None of that Merlin" Arthur mumbled and before Merlin could react was on Arthur's lap
"Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed and laughed at the same time. "Let me go, I can get other chair for myself if..."
"No need for that Merlin, this is just fine" Arthur smiled and gave Merlin quick peck on the cheek.
"Alright then" Merlin nodded happily
"Merlin... could you... your magic, can I see it, please?" Arthur asked after a few minutes of pleasant silence
Merlin nodded and thought about what he could show to Arthur. He took Arthur's hand in his and close his palm around it. Arthur was curious about what's going to happen now. Merlin looked Arthur in his eyes and muttered something in the ancient language. His eyes flicked with the gold as usually, and Arthur could finally fully enjoy that sight.
"Open your hand Arthur" Merlin said and let go of his hand. Arthur did as he was told and saw a blossom of a sky blue color, Arthur never saw a blossom of such a beauty before.
"Beautiful" he said in a awe, and Merlin smiled proudly. Arthur carefully, because he didn't want to damage blossom in his hand, pulled Merlin closer and kissed him.
"When I am the king, things will be different, I promise" Arthur said referring to the magic in Camelot.
"I know" Merlin smiled
"I would want you to help me with that, if you would be willing of course" Arthur continued
"You want your manservant to help you rule?" Merlin said with a laughter
"No. Not my manservant. My consort" Arthur corrected him. Merlin stopped laughing and was looking at Arthur obviously wondering if this was actually what he thought this was.
"Arthur... are you sure abo..." he began
"I was never more sure about anything in my whole life, Merlin"
Merlin leaned forward and this time it was him who kissed Arthur and not the other way around. He could feel tears in his eyes, but as long as they are tears caused because of how happy Merlin feels he doesn't mind them at all.
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