Heartquake

Heartquake 9

“Because, Merlin,” Arthur laughs, “I’ve had months to deal with this. You’ve only had moments. I’ve had time to deny this and, overall, time to accept it. I respect your decision and admire your love for your daughter. I honestly have nothing to worry about.”

Merlin smiles at this and thinks that he can’t possibly have picked a better pompous, arrogant prince to fall in love with.

“Except, perhaps, the feast tomorrow evening, because, somebody hasn’t cleaned my robes yet,” Arthur says. “Well, get on with it, you idiot!”

Merlin smiles because the one on Arthur’s face is unmistakable.

Days meld into weeks and, before he knows it, it’s been about a month since Emeline’s arrival at Camelot. They’ve fallen into some sort of odd pattern.

Merlin will go about his duties in the morning and half of the afternoon, while either Gaius or Gwen take care of Em, then Arthur will give him a few hours of break, so that he can spend some time with his daughter, and Merlin will come back in the evening to serve his prince.

In these moments, Merlin and Emeline will take turns between simply spending time together and going to that deserted yard for magic lessons. Though, magic lessons wouldn’t be the exact term.

Her power is limited but he can show her how to levitate a few things and her short bursts are improving. The wooden disc is burnt around the edges from frequent use.

But, sometimes, once every few days, they do neither. They spend these few hours with Arthur. Once or twice, they’ve been joined by Morgana and Gwen, but, mostly, it’s just Arthur.

He takes them to eat and shows them the castle and plays with Em. They’ve grown comfortable with him.

It’s no longer weird to see Em running towards Arthur’s arms, or for Merlin to feel around for Arthur’s fingers and stroke the skin gently, or for Arthur to invite them to sleep in his antechamber on some nights.

There is no normalcy for what Merlin’s been doing for the past few weeks but he sort of likes that. This weird family unit he and Emeline have developed between Arthur and Morgana and Gwen and Gaius. It’s nice sort of odd that makes his heart flutter.

Today, Merlin wakes up in the bed of Arthur’s antechamber, with Em curled up at his side, tucked around the blankets. He gets up slowly, careful not to wake his daughter and goes to Arthur’s room.

To his surprise, the prince is already up and awake. His upper body is still bare, though, so Merlin can see the white skin for miles and miles.

“You’re up early,” Merlin scratches his eyes.

“I’ve got that meeting with my father today, remember?” Arthur puts on his tunic.

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry, I forgot,” Merlin says.

“Honestly, Merlin, why do I keep you around?” he asks, exasperated.

“Because you care for me?” Merlin shrugs his shoulders.

Arthur inches forward and puts Merlin’s face into his hands. “Deeply so, Merlin,” he says seriously.

For a moment, Merlin thinks he’s going to kiss him again but he doesn’t. He casts his eyes downward, as if he’s made some big mistake, takes back the steps he took before and says, “Make sure you clean this room spotless by the time I get back, Merlin.”

“Of course, sire,” he nods and Arthur leaves. He breathes and realizes he’s been holding it back.

When he goes back to his room, Em is awake. “Hey, Em,” Merlin smiles and sits next to his daughter on the bed.

“Daddy?” she asks.

“Yeah?”

“I miss Mommy,” she looks up to him.

“Yeah, okay,” he kisses her hair. “Okay.”

“When are you leaving?” Gaius asks.

“Tomorrow would be best. Em needs her mother and I think I should see her, as well, before…” Merlin’s sentence drifts off. “I’ll be back soon, don’t worry. We should only be spending a few days there, tops.”

“You can take as much time as you need, Merlin,” Gaius pats his shoulder.

“Thanks,” he gives a smile. “I’ve got to go. Meeting Arthur soon.”

Gaius raises his eyebrow and his ward gives a quick, “Oh, shut up, old man,” before leaving.

He walks to Morgana’s chambers and is greeted with a warm smile by the lady. “Merlin, you’re early,” she says and lets him in.

“Just a tad, yeah,” he nods.

“Hi, Daddy!” Em waves from Morgana’s bed.

“Hey, Em. Had a good time?” Merlin asks.