Merlin had a hard time believing Uther truly thought he could destroy all magic.
As long as the sun shone, the shadows would remain, and it was hard to call them anything but.
But then, Uther's shadow was nothing but the sharp angles of a coffin these days, so he probably preferred not to think about it.
. . .
Merlin's shadow started off as a little shapeless blob, just like everyone's did. It changed as he got older, naturally, forming vague silhouettes that shifted quickly as his personality formed.
Your shadow could change at any point in your life, but it changed most often in childhood.
Hunith's shadow was still of a broad shouldered man. In the evenings, no matter what Hunith was doing, it had a tendency to sit with its head in its hands.
As soon as Merlin was old enough, Hunith sat him down and for the first and last time asked him to use his magic. She explained that his father was like him, and that men might come looking. If they did, it would be better if they could pretend he was dead.
So Merlin made her shadow look like the hazy oval Will's mom had.
He didn't know it was possible to miss a shadow until then.
. . .
Merlin's shadow eventually settled into the shape of a girl. A perfectly nice looking girl who unfortunately didn't live in Ealdor.
Also, at night, her shadow started turning into that of a large winged cat. Merlin had heard of shadows changing, but he'd never heard of that.
He cast the same spell he'd used on his mother's shadow to avoid unwanted attention. Shapeless graves were easier than animating silhouettes.
Still, it probably wasn't a coincidence that Hunith chose then to send him to Gaius.
. . .
Arthur's shadow still hadn't settled, which might be why he was such a prat. Or maybe his being such a prat was why it hadn't settled. Merlin didn't much care either way, even if he was sometimes a stupidly noble prat.
Once they met outside of the noonday sun, which made everyone's shadows as squished and small as an object's, Arthur finally deigned to notice Merlin's own shadow.
Merlin had never seen him so awkward. He didn't seem to know what, if anything, to say.
It took Merlin a moment to realize what he was looking at. "Oh. That."
"You're young," Arthur said awkwardly. "It might turn into someone else."
"I don't want someone else," Merlin said firmly.
For once, Arthur had enough tact to drop it.
. . .
Sometime after Ealdor, Arthur's shadow permanently gained curly hair and a familiar shape.
Arthur stared down at his own shadow with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Merlin grinned and punched him on the shoulder. "You got a soulmate!"
"I think it's Gwen," Arthur managed to say.
Merlin squinted at it. "I think you're right."
"But hers is Lancelot."
Merlin considered this. "Actually, lately, it's been kind of hazy. I think you've got a shot."
"My father would disagree."
"It could be worse," Merlin said consolingly. "It could have been Nimueh."
"Yes, thank you, Merlin, for bringing in your terrifying perspective."
. . .
They were both right for once. Gwen's shadow morphed into Arthur, and Uther was furious.
Oddly enough, he backed off a bit after someone said something about Uther would probably have preferred that it was Morgana herself instead of her maid.
Not 'gave his blessing' backed off, but no one got literally or metaphorically fired, so Merlin was counting this as a win.
. . .
"Bastet!" Merlin shouted to the shadow cast on his bedroom wall by the light he'd conjured. "You're a bastet!"
"Merlin?" Gaius called sleepily from the main room.
"Sorry, Gaius," he called back guiltily. Since he'd already woken him up, though, and the book wasn't being helpful . . . "Gaius? How do I cure a bastet?"
. . .
Merlin spent the next week going to work exhausted by late nights of research before finally showing up with an irrepressible grin.
"Alright, what's going on," Arthur said flatly.
He could hardly tell Arthur he'd found a way to save a bastet. Instead, he pointed to his shadow, which he'd enchanted to writhe. If his soulmate didn't show up soon, he'd find a way to track her down. Then he could proudly unveil his shadow for all to see.
Arthur looked genuinely happy for him. "Congratulations, Merlin!" he said, clapping him on the back. "I told you it wasn't too late. This is progress, just you wait."
Merlin beamed back at him.
. . .
In the end, he didn't have to track her down. She came to him. In a cage.
"It's alright," he assured her as he charmed the door. "I'm going to help you."
She shrank back. "I'm dangerous."
"That's okay. I can help with that too."
. . .
Halig eventually gave up and left in disgust. Arthur wished him good riddance.
Merlin apparently felt the same, because he was actually humming that morning. Humming.
Then Arthur saw his shadow, and the food, the dress - It all made sense.
Merlin's shadow was a frail girl currently eating a hunk of bread, which Arthur's breakfast was conspicuously missing.
They were going to have to discuss that at some point, but at the moment Arthur just let himself grin.
