Merlin Memory Month 2019

Prompt Day 6 - May 19th - "From the Shadows, into the Light"

A/N - It's two fanfics from me today! Enjoy! :)

PROMPT DAY 6
Path 1 - Sharing
Path 2 - Emotion/Mood/Aesthetic: Distraught
Path 3 - In the shadow / In the light

- I used all the prompts for this one

SUMMARY - Arthur and Merlin have been dating for a while, and when they travel with a big group of knights to check the borders of Camelot, rumours spread fast. Although some knights are happy for them, there are some who don't agree, and for this night, Merlin doesn't feel safe sleeping away from Arthur - so he doesn't, and when they wake up, everything is different and their secret is out. Aka the fic where Arthur publicly announces that he and Merlin are together!

***

It had been a difficult day for Merlin. The day marked exactly four months since he and Arthur had decided to be together, and Merlin had hoped that Arthur would know that and that they would plan something special (like the last three times), like a trip outside, just the two of them, or a dinner. What he had not anticipated however, was that his duties as a king always came first and unfortunately for them, there had been reported sightings of enemy knights plotting something inside the Camelot borders. Which meant that whatever plans they had been preparing had to wait, and instead, they had to go investigate the issue to determine whether it was just rumours or a possible threat.

For the past two days, Merlin had been stuck to the back of his horse, riding right behind Arthur, with a group of about forty men behind them. Merlin had to behave like the manservant that he was the entire time, but thankfully, Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, Lancelot and Leon were there with them, so it wasn't completely boring the whole time.

It was getting dark and Merlin was becoming rather tired. They stopped a few moments later and Arthur ordered the knights to set up a camp for the night, and decided who would keep watch first. It was the middle of summer and the night was hot, so they didn't even bother bringing tents. Instead, each of them had their own bedroll to sleep on.

Merlin hopped off his horse and immediately felt his thighs. They hurt from so much riding around, but it wasn't as bad as it used to be when he first came to Camelot. Back then, even after only a few hour long hunting trip, he'd thought he'd never walk again.

"Merlin, feed the horses," Arthur ordered and didn't even look at him. Merlin frowned slightly in annoyance.

"Yes, sire," he mumbled, tying his own horse to a tree. Did Arthur completely forget what day it was? And what it meant for them? He glanced at his king and saw him already talking to his knights, probably devising a plan as they were nearing the borders.

Maybe.

But Arthur was a king, Merlin shouldn't hold that against him, he understood that it was a difficult job taking care of an entire kingdom. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

He fed his horse and then continued with all the horses of all the knights. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long because Merlin was already fighting the urge to yawn every few minutes.

As he was nearing the last group of horses, he almost tripped over a root, but balanced it out and successfully reached the horses. There was a group of new knights standing nearby, not noticing him.

"And that Merlin."

Merlin looked up as he heard his name but soon realized that the knights were only talking about him in hushed voices. He was close enough to hear them, hidden behind the horses, and they probably didn't realize he could hear them.

"He's so incompetent, I can't understand for the world why the king is keeping him around."

Merlin frowned sadly. Usually, he was liked among the knights, but these three or four were new and had only been knighted about two weeks ago. Perhaps they didn't realize that he and Arthur were friends?