Those Who Waited (BBC Merlin)

Chapter 12: The Reward of Lady's Love

The peridot sparkled in the low sun of late afternoon, as Susetthe sat cross-legged in the clearing while the forest around her began to prepare for the night. She had to return home soon, as always, but after another day of running around with her friend she had tiredly asked him to finish the day with yet another story.

They were all very similar-the two friends, who clearly loved and thought of each other as brothers-and her secret friend refused to admit it, but she knew that the stories were not the fantasies he said they were, but were very deeply rooted in truth. But even with his little magic tricks, Susetthe was sure that it would be impossible. Mama and Papa had stories of King Arthur, too, but they said he was a very, very long time ago, much longer than any man could live.

Still, she ignored the rationality. They were special to her friend, and that was what mattered. They were also beautiful.

As he was nearing the end of one-the prince had been fatally wounded, and Merlin had had to travel far and battle beasts and an evil witch to find the cure-a thought occurred and her child mind did not think of it much before saying it.

"Merlin, you saved Arthur a bunch of times, right?" she began, having enough sense to at least know her facts first. She'd learned from the several times Gwaine had ended up with itches and rashes, to identify the bushes and plants before jumping into them.

"Well, I helped him, yes, but he was great and strong all by himself," her friend answered, frowning as he thought of where she was going. Susetthe resisted sighing at his answer. It wasn't where she was heading.

"But you made sure he was always okay," her question was more of a statement, but he nodded in confirmation anyway. "Did he reward you?"

In all his stories, he never really ended them. In the fairy tales Mama had told her since she could remember, the knight fought battles and evil beasts and in the end, married the princess and they became king and queen of a beautiful land. The knight was always celebrated and awarded with the beautiful lady's love. Merlin was never a knight in his stories, only Arthur, but still.

"Are you a knight too, Merlin?" Perhaps he had simply forgotten to mention that detail, and his stories actually were very much like her fairytales.

"No," he said simply, frown smoothing out under his snowy hair and beard. He didn't seem to understand the important detail, but it left Susetthe confused. How did he get the beautiful princess then, if he wasn't a knight? Or never became a knight? Susetthe's thoughts began to spin.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Why what?"

"Why weren't you rewarded too? You deserved it, you did super good and heroic things," Susetthe tried to explain her confusion, knowing her voice was unfairly harsh to her friend but too caught up in her fire. It ran in the family-really, Gwaine's insistence when he wanted something was colossal.

"I didn't ask for or want a reward," Merlin spoke calmly, voice low and heavy. But Susetthe knew her secret friend better. It was a similar tone he took during certain parts of his stories that were especially heartfelt. "I did it because it was my destiny and the prince was my very dear friend."

Susetthe understood that. But still, her child mind didn't see the full connection, the real answer. She opened her mouth again, but Merlin's voice cut harshly before she could speak.

"A lot of bad things still happened, Susetthe, many still suffered in wars and attacks and thing that I could not foresee, or stop in time."

Her secret friend's words were hurried, strung together even as he bit them out. She winced, not used to the anger burning in his dark eyes or how his lips curled coldly around the words. Her vision clouded and blurred, but she blinked quickly until her eye muscles hurt and straightened her legs to stand.

"Susetthe," Merlin called softly when she'd gotten three steps back to her home. "I'm sorry for snapping, it is just very sad."

Susetthe smiled and nodded, her eyes instantly cool and no longer burning. He said he was just sad, and it made sense, she supposed. She hadn't quite expected him to say it, though.

But really, she had always known that.