Merlin's magic (Oneshots) 1

Surrender - 4. Borders and ghosts

A.N.:// Soooo... I'm not very happy with this chapter I must say. But between all the fluff, I could hardly make out the plot. The demon that possesses me to write seems to have a sugar addiction that is worse than mine. Well... a free fic is a free fic, amiright? Anyway, have fun :D

Btw. It seems my art will only be taken by wattpad when I post it via my computer. Phone and ipad? Nah. It's late, but merry crisis everyone. ^^

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Merlin squinches his eyes shut and levels his breath. He wants to scream. "I'll think about it." Merlin repeats his own answer quietly to himself as they keep on riding. "What was I thinking?" He should have said 'no' to the marriage idea, but his traitorous heart had refused. He bites his lip. "Fuck." He's in too deep already.

Of course, Arthur would pick up what Merlin meant the other day in the hallway. Of COURSE Arthur would connect the idea to the prophecy somehow, and of COURSE he would bring up an arranged marriage to prepare for the idea of a potentially forced magic bond. Arthur's explanation at least made sense! Merlin, however, telling Arthur he'll think about it with the context that Merlin would only marry for love couldn't be more obvious!

Arthur sounded so surprised when Merlin said he was considering. And gods, was Merlin considering! Arthur hadn't even asked him to consider! It was just a warning that they might need to think about marriage and provide options on how to handle it if the prophecy demands it. Arthur grew up with the idea of living in an unhappy marriage! He didn't mean anything by it. After all, what idiot would fall in love with their enemy in the span of three days?

Merlin is an idiot! He holds his breath to not whimper at his own idiocy. He's panicking and he's so glad he's riding ahead so Arthur can't see him want to jump from the horse and get himself trampled to death.

The sky is turning darker and the air around them chills. Merlin uses his magic to even his own body temperature but he can hear Arthur shiver behind him. He doesn't offer any magic to him even though he's itching to do so. It's bad enough that he will have to send magic to him once they arrive, to do this now while his heart is in such disarray, is, in Merlin's opinion, a very bad idea.

Eventually, he hears Arthur's voice reach him from behind. "I think we should take a break."

"We're almost there." If they stop now, Merlin will have to face him and Merlin really, really can't. He gets the feeling that if Arthur says one more kind thing while looking at him with that open expression, then Merlin will be irreversibly doomed.

"Merlin, the horses are tired, I'm freaking cold and it's dark as hell. We need to take a break."

"We only just took a break."

"That was forever ago!"

Merlin growls between his teeth, then sighs. It takes an entire day, from morning to evening to get from Camelot's castle to Camlan. But they rode out at lunchtime. Therefore he knows Arthur is right. They will have to take a break eventually, and their horses ARE tired and it's getting way too dark for them to continue riding through the forest. "Alright, fine." He halts his horse and leads it away from the road and further into the bushes. Arthur follows him with a relieved sigh. They dismount their horses at a small clearing. Arthur is still shivering and pulls his jacket closer to himself. Then he starts to unpack his horse. Merlin follows his example.

Soon after, after they already collected firewood and fed the horses, they are sitting in front of a fire that Merlin casted for them, warming themselves up in the heat. Arthur rubs his arms and sighs, as he takes off his boots and holds his wet socks against the fire for drying. "Gosh, how are you not freezing?" He had taken a blanket with him but he was still shivering underneath it.