Merlin Memory Month 2019

Prompt Day 4 - May 12th - "A Life Lost"

A/N - This one is short, but I promise that the next two are both over 2k words. I'll post them this Thursday and next Sunday.

SUMMARY: Uther just died and Arthur is mourning his father. Luckily, he's got Merlin there for him.

***

It had been a happy and joyful day in Camelot. Everyone had been celebrating the prince's birthday, many people and servants had attended the feast that had been prepared, even Uther hadn't missed it. There had been jesters. Everyone had laughed at their skilled performance.

But then all the celebrating turned into mourning, as the king Uther died.

Merlin had never seen Arthur so devastated, so lost. All he wanted was to go to him and hold him, but there hadn't been a moment where they could be alone. Arthur closed himself off from everything and everyone and suffered in silence. But Merlin knew him. He knew the sorrow and pain would eventually take over.

So when the evening came, and Arthur entered the wide room to spend the entire night alone with his father's body, Merlin stayed there. He stayed just outside the door, in case Arthur needed him.

He fell asleep.

But not long after that, he was woken up by Arthur's silent sobs, sounding from behind the closed door. Merlin pursed his lips, his eyes watering as he recalled the pain he had felt at the loss of his own father. He knew how Arthur felt. He knew how much it hurt, and he knew that even though Arthur didn't want to admit it, he needed him.

He knew because he would have given anything to have Arthur there with him when he mourned the death of Balinor, with no secrets between them. It would have been so much easier if he hadn't had to hide anything from him.

But that was why Merlin was there now.

He stood up and slowly opened the door, his eyes immediately finding Arthur on the other side of the room. He was holding Uther's hand, his forehead pressed against the pillows on which Uther's body lay, soaking them. His shoulders were shaking.

To see Arthur like this caused Merlin's tears to finally spill. He closed his eyes and brushed the tears away, closing the doors behind him and slowly approaching Arthur.

Merlin didn't say a word. He knew Arthur probably wouldn't even hear him for the pain he was feeling. Instead, he knelt down next to him, taking his hand and entwining their fingers, wrapping his other arm around Arthur's shaking shoulders, embracing him.

Arthur didn't even look at him, but that was okay. He squeezed Merlin's hand in gratitude and continued sobbing like a son who had just lost his father.

And Merlin was there for the rest of the night, providing comfort and reassurance that one day, after the pain had dulled and Arthur had become the king of Camelot, everything was going to be okay again.

As long as they had each other, it would be.