Hiding

Chapter 13

Leon was quiet for a few moments after Morgana's revelation, which worried her.

"Sir Leon?" she asked, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"Yes, my lady?" Leon looked up at her, still deep in thought.

"I trust you won't tell anyone about this, especially not the king?" She asked pointedly. "If he found out, Merlin would be executed within the day, and Arthur probably wouldn't get much longer if he insisted that Merlin hadn't cast a spell on him or denied whatever silly excuse Uther made up as reason why a prince couldn't be in love with a servant."

That seemed to shake him out of his trance. "Of course not, my lady. I wouldn't dream of telling anyone. I was simply thinking of what it would all mean, in the long run."

Morgana hadn't really given much thought to that. She'd been too focused on how adorable Merlin and Arthur were together that she hadn't given any attention to the future. Leon was much more practical in his thinking, however, and would have thought of everything this could mean in the future.

"And what could it mean?"

Leon sighed. "Well, supposing we can hide this long enough for Arthur to become king, a lot of things. If King Uther doesn't force Arthur to marry some princess before then, his council will pressure him to marry. Arthur will refuse to marry anyone other than Merlin. If he can convince his council to let him marry Merlin, Merlin becomes king-consort and takes over the duties of queen.

"But the one duty required of any queen is one Merlin can't perform. He can't have children, and the Pendragon line will die out if Arthur doesn't have a child of his blood. He can name an heir, sure, but that child may not be fully accepted as rightful ruler, seeing as they wouldn't be Arthur's blood. And we know Arthur would refuse to have a child of his blood with a woman while married to Merlin, even if Merlin insists."

Morgana leaned back in her chair and realized how messy this could get. She was nothing if not clever, though, and she was sure she could find a solution to all of this.

"Keeping this from Uther will be hard, but not impossible. The worst of it will be the rumors, and we can convince the king that the rumors are just rumors. Keeping Uther from marrying Arthur off will be much harder. Perhaps we can convince him of the merits of waiting until Arthur is a king and he can choose a bride himself. A king is much more valuable than a mere prince, after all.

"And as for the matter of convincing the council to let him marry Merlin, I don't think it will be much of an issue. He doesn't have to do as they say, and I'm sure the knights will be willing to stand up for the two of them, don't you think, Leon?"

Leon nodded, thinking about each of Morgana's plans as she went on.

"And I don't believe that the people will have an issue with ruling under a king that isn't of Arthur's blood, so long as they are fair and just. I think we've covered all the bases, have we not?"

"Indeed we have, Lady Morgana. Maybe this will all turn out easier than we thought." Leon smiled. 

Now that he had recovered from the shock that Arthur and Merlin truly loved each other, he thought that they made a lovely couple. Romantic relationships between men weren't illegal, even if they were uncommon and frowned upon by many people. Not him, of course. He couldn't really care less. He just hoped the people of Camelot wouldn't reject a marriage between Arthur and Merlin. "I believe I must get going, my lady. It is getting late, and I am sure someone will be missing one of us."

Leon bowed as he exited. Morgana turned to Gwen with a smile on her face. It would be much easier now that Sir Leon knew about Merlin and Arthur. It was imperative that the people who knew wouldn't tell anyone, and Leon like Merlin too much to ever say anything to Uther about it. It was also nice to know that one of Arthur's closest friends was accepting of the couple. Gwen smiled back at her, thinking the same thing.