Merlin's magic (Oneshots) 1

Seeing double

Prompt (story diverges from this)

"Arthur is being tested.

A sorcerer makes a few dozen copies of Merlin.

Sorcerer: if you're really that good of a king, then you'll figure out who the real one is.

Arthur thinks it's easy. But all of these Merlin's seem to have a quirk of Merlin's intensified. It makes things difficult, because Merlin has days when he acts exactly like that.

Only one thing he knows for sure. It's definitely not the one who just defeated one of the other Merlin's with magic."

A.N.// You will notice that the story doesn't QUITE fit the prompt. These prompts always get out of hand for me. I don't know why that is. (Even though it's my own prompt, lmao)

Lately, my reference Arthur is a pining mess and he won't stop doing anything for Merlin. In the meantime, reference Merlin has become an evil-stitch situation. I'm working on it. XD

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What was it like to know someone?

Merlin had introduced himself to Arthur like an idiot. He, a total stranger, had walked up to Arthur during training, told him he was a 'pratt' and started a fight. And when he learned that Arthur was the prince... Well, all Merlin did was add a 'my lord' to the very same insult. What Arthur initially considered idiocy, had somehow become the bravest act he had ever witnessed. It had taken Arthur nearly a year to understand that Merlin had seen injustice. Injustice performed by the crown prince himself. Arthur could not be more ashamed. Or intrigued. Merlin, Arthur learned that day, was a man of principle.

It had taken the same insolent, rebellious, prince insulting commoner nearly two days to save Arthur's life. It wouldn't nearly be the last time. Merlin was too kind for his own good.

Not only did Merlin want to reject the reward, he was also assigned Arthur's manservant. Which made him the closest and most trusted person to the crown prince. At first, Arthur had been annoyed, but given time, Merlin grew on him. Because Merlin was loyal.

Merlin was his manservant, a physician, his closest friend, his confidante, his advisor, his greatest support. It was no surprise that Arthur developed a crush on him. Merlin loved deeply, and it was difficult not to return those feelings. Though what Arthur returned wasn't platonic.

There were many things that bothered him about the man. They became more and more prominent after Uther's death. Or perhaps Arthur had allowed himself to look more closely since then. Merlin's disappearances didn't line up with his excuses, nor did the timing make sense. His shifting moods, his overwhelming concern for Arthur, his complete disregard of Arthur's approaches to close the crater deep gap between them, they all made Merlin an enigma. An unsolvable puzzle and the most fascinating riddle Arthur had ever wished to solve.

And all of these things Arthur could have put aside and thought about from the safety of his rooms, never facing them as the concerns they were, never putting Merlin in the position where he'd be treated like a suspect. Because he wasn't. Arthur was just obsessed with him. However, the circumstances demanded immediate action. And they demanded Arthur to think in depth of who his manservant really was.

"Why?" It was a simple question but a good one. Especially for someone who was as stunned as Arthur felt. It should be more shocking for them to run into a wild sorcerer who put a spell on them that made him see several copies of his crush. To be fair, the spell itself was new and kind of refreshing, but like... What's the point?