The Fire Inside- A Merlin BBC Fanfic

Another Culture

"Alright, everyone up," Merlin started out his morning groggy, stretching his arms as he rolled up his blanket and tied to to his shared steed. Arthur grumbled, but got up with retaliation.

"Cyra! Time to get a move on!" Merlin tried yelled up into the tree his friend had slept in.

"I'm already up," Cyra groaned from a nearby rock. She'd meant to get a fresh and early start, but she'd turned over on the branch and fallen on her left arm pretty hard and had just decided she wasn't ready for the world yet.

"Why were you sleeping on a rock?" Merlin asked as he stomped out the embers.

"I hadn't meant to, but I tumbled over and injured my arm," Cyra huffed, "What medical supplies did you bring?"

"Not much, how bad is it?" Merlin unlatched his medicine bag from the horse and turned to see Cyra holding up an elbow that was bent the entirely wrong way.

"That depends. How good are you at splints?" Cyra joked it off. She'd lost all feeling to the arm already so it didn't hurt as Merlin adjusted a crude splint on it.

"What happened?" Arthur asked as he truly woke up and saw Cyra's splint.

"Rolled over in my sleep, nothing else," Cyra waved it off.

"You just had to sleep in a tree," Arthur muttered under his breath, "Anyway, shall we be off?"

The trio clambered onto their horses, Cyra needing a little extra assistance with her damaged arm. They finally set off for the morning an hour past dawn, following the twisting trails to lead them South. While the trails were dry for autumn weather, the horses still had to navigate through the dead leaves that seemed to perfectly hide every root and hole, making the trip s bumpy one. Making such slow time meant they eventually arrive at the Druid colony only an hour or two away from dusk.

"Greetings," Arthur addressed the gathering crowd of Druids while be climbed off his horse, "I, King Arthur, am here to make peace with you," Here Arthur found, once again, that everyone seemed to be more focused on Cyra than the once and future king, and he was not all too pleased.

"We welcome King Arthur Pendragon, the mighty Emrys, and i forte Ardhshëm to our land," A man welcomed as he parted the crowd to meet the idols. His dark skin was draped in bright purple cloth, looking much more regal then the previous leader.

"Arthur Pendragon," Arthur introduced himself, shaking hands with the man, "And you are?"

"I am called Bruin, the leader of this gathering. Come and meet our people," Bruin toured the group through the camp, introducing the three to the father of each family. Each time, the father kneeled before Cyra and kissed her hand as if she were a powerful queen. Many wouldn't acknowledge Arthur or sometimes even Merlin. When they asked Bruin, he confined to them that many of them had lost their children to Arthur's army at Camlann and, while they knew that their child was on the losing side, can't bear the thought of praising their children's killer.

"While this is very welcoming and all, I would love to get down to the peace treaty," Arthur eventually said as the sun had started to set.

"Of course, of course," Bruin assured, "But first, we have a feast to be held in your honour," Bruin smiled, looking at Cyra with proud eyes.

"Is it prepared? We haven't eaten in ages," Cyra groaned. Sure meeting Druids was fascinating, but not so well on an empty stomach.

"Let us see," Bruin led the three to a large tent, opening it up to reveal a long banquet table being filled with food. Many fathers they had been introduced to lined the table, and both the head and the three surrounding seats at the end of the table were empty. Taking their seats, Arthur was on Bruins left and Cyra on his right with Merlin to her other side.

"I would like to make an announcement," Bruin stood and addressed the table as others flew about trying to get the food on the table, "As you all know, we have three very honourable guests here tonight.."

Bruin made a speech on how the three guests were very important and were to be welcomed, while the trio sat the awkwardly. The feast itself was that best meal they'd had since Camelot and were eagerly stuffing themselves in between Bruin asking them questions, many entered around "Has this happened yet?" To which at some point Cyra snapped "If you can predict the future, you must already know my answer!" Bruin left them to eat after that.

"May we meet and discuss this treaty now?" Arthur asked after they all had finished the three course meal.

"All will come in time, Pendragon. For now, join us in celebration as my honoured guests!" Bruin announced as the servants rushed away the tables and musicians came out. Many of the wives, who had not eaten with their husbands at the feast, also joined the activities.

The trio looked at one another. While all slightly peeved off that Bruin wasn't taking the treaty seriously, they did not want to be rude to their host. They all stood as the servants grabbed their chairs and moved to the newly cleared dance floor.

"And now for our first dance, I invite my guests and myself forward," Bruin announced, grabbing Cyra by the hand and starting to lead her in a dance. Merlin and Arthur glanced around, not really knowing what to do. That was until the Druids around them pushed the two friends together and on to the dance floor. The pair of guys tried repeatedly to leave the dance floor, but the crowd seemed to have formed an unbreakable circle, whispering about the two odd guests who wouldn't dance.

"Arthur!" Merlin whisper-yelled as they were pushed back into the centre, Cyra letting Bruin lead her in dance along one side.

"What, Merlin?" Arthur whispered back, trying to find a way to leave once again.

"Let's just dance, I think we may be offending them," Merlin whispered, seeing the looks the Druids were giving them.

And so the two, very stiffly and with a lot of space between them, danced. While Merlin had no real experience dancing, Arthur had been trained to dance since a young age, and so he led his raven haired friend in the dance. Merlin had to take whispered cues from Arthur, not even knowing that his left hand was to go on Arthur's shoulder while Arthur's perched on his waist.

While the boys were struggling with the difference in culture, Cyra was more so struggling with the difference in cleanliness. She knew that the Druids had less opportunity to shower than the people of Camelot, but that was no excuse for how close the Druid leader was holding her.

Eventually the song of suffering ended, and the crowd clapped as the four exited the circle. Bruin motioned for his honourable guests to follow him, and the whole group sighed with relief. Finally, the peace treaty planning could begin.

~~

Woo another chapter. I'd like to thank my friend Melissa who's got me obsessed with Reign, yet another TV show -_-. This means either a lot more balls and feasts in this book or a bit less chapters, I've yet to figure that out.

Nevertheless, how'd you guys like the Merthur shipping going on there? I love it 😆

Gtg and actually pay attention in class. Hope you enjoyed!