Mary remembered when magic was legal. Then King Uther had started the Great Purge, and that had been a tragedy and make no mistake. She lost three of her best cooks, and she missed Balinor. Very nice man that, handsome too, and he'd always liked her cooking.
The kingdom had troubles, but few enemies bothered her kitchens.
King Uther died. She made a nice roasted version for the funeral.
King Arthur was a good lad. Sturdy. Right nice about her pastries too.
He married Guinevere. Strange, that, but she made a lovely cake all the same. None could have done better, not so soon after the Morgana affair.
Then the king went to war and didn't come back. Mary knew she really ought to make something, but she just couldn't.
Then that cheeky servant of his wandered in, looking dead himself. He reminded her of how Balinor had looked, right before the end.
Before she knew it, his favorite cakes were on the table, and she was telling him stories of before.
The world outside her kitchens was looking more and more like before, and inside her kitchens too, for that matter. Sometimes that cheeky boy'd come by and make dragons out of the fire she was spit roasting the boar on.
Other times he wouldn't come in for days and days, and she'd know he wasn't eating. That Gaius couldn't make a decent meal if his life depended on it. She'd send a maid, one of those pretty young ones who blushed when Merlin walked by, to drag him down to the kitchens. She'd whack him with her ladle and scowl at him, and he'd smile back and conjure up a rose to give to her.
She'd smack him again and then set him down at a table and fatten him up.
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Merlin Headcanons
Fanfiction. . . As well as theories, drabbles, and rants on ships.
