The Rising of Merlin

The One With the Grave

Chapter 49 The One With the Grave

November went on smoothly. Merlin slept in his study, claiming that he wanted Arthur to have his own room for now. Neither mentioned his new haircut or his shaved face, except for one remark from Arthur where he said that he finally recognised his old Manservant again and then they joked about it for a few minutes before moving on to other subjects.

They told a new story every breakfast and dinner time, and in between, Merlin and Arthur sparred a lot with each other if they weren't out in the city, exploring all the new things that had developed since Camelot.

At first Arthur had been wary about the fact that Hermione, Ron and Harry all had magic, but after spending some time with them, he relaxed. After a few days he even asked them to tell him about the magical community and when they told him about the Statute of Secrecy, he got a thoughtful look on his face but he didn't interrupt them.

He soon learned all about the use of wands and how the New Magic differed from the Old Magic and Merlin filled in a few things about how the New Magic had come to take its place around the turn of the first millennium and how the creation of Hogwarts had played a large role.

Soon Arthur could be seen sitting in the library, reading history books just like she had done, both magical and mundane. He was particularly interested in how the politics worked in this century and the role the royal family had as opposed to the prime minister.

Merlin was happy Arthur was back for more reason than one, he hadn't had a real sparring partner since the beginning of the century when sword practise became less common and the gun eventually took its place, so it was good fun to finally having someone that wasn't a dummy, to spar with.

Most times the trio watched them if they weren't busy doing something else like researching things in the library or planning the break-in at Gringotts.

Merlin had successfully avoided the topic of her the entire month and he was confident that Arthur hadn't noticed something, but that thought was quickly crushed when on December 1st after training, Arthur started talking to him.

"What is wrong with you, Merlin?" Arthur asked as they were clearing things away, the trio for once not present.

"Nothing's the matter with me." Merlin answered vaguely, his back to Arthur.

"I can tell that there's something troubling you," Arthur persisted and Merlin heard him coming closer. "I know you've been through a lot since I..." He hesitated. "Since I died, and that is has shaped you in ways I can never understand, but something must have happened recently because I can tell that you are upset about it." He was now so close that he put a hand on his shoulder, but Merlin didn't say anything. He just continued arranging the swords and mazes on the rack. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know," He finally said, knowing that was the only way Arthur would back of. "But I told you," He turned around and flashed him a smile. "There's nothing wrong. So why don't you wipe that concerned look of your face, it really doesn't suit you, and help me clean things up so we can watch that movie Ron's been bugging us about for over a week now."

He saw how Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly when he said Ron's name, Merlin knew he never even realised he did it, and Merlin's mouth twitched a little when he thought about how Ron did the exact dame thing when he said Arthur's name in front of him. Arthur and Ron didn't exactly like each other. They never out right said anything but they were cold and distant towards each other and while Arthur did his best to be polite, Ron didn't care one bit if he sounded rude.