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It began with an ambush.
The bandits must have been in league with a sorcerer, because they appeared out of nowhere.
One moment they were all hunting, Leon chatting idly with Prince Arthur about the incoming treaty with the five most trusted allies of King Uther, while also keeping an eye out for Merlin, who was looking around with an absentminded expression and honestly the last thing Leon wanted was for the boy to accidentally fall into a ditch.
And the next moment, chaos.
Men screaming and coming from all directions. Swords drawn and capes discarded. Horses galloping away from danger and Knights getting separated.
Leon got rid of three men with poor foot work, barely managed to block a surprise attack from one that came from behind and who chased him around the clearing until he managed to get the upper hand and slash the raider’s throat, before scanning the area for more bandits.
When he found none, Leon turned, looking around for any other surviving Knights amongst the trees, and letting himself be guided by the nearest sound of crashing blades in the forest, finally coming across Arthur, fighting who seemed to be the bandit leader.
By the corner of his eye, the Knight tried looking around for Merlin, praying for the boy to be out of danger or for one of the other Knights to have an eye on him as Leon ran to Arthur’s side-
Only for the ground to disappear and feel himself fly through the air before landing painfully on the ground. Numbly, Leon registered Arthur landing a few feet away from him.
Well, there was the sorcerer.
Fighting a wave of dizziness, Leon tried to shake away the pain and get up to help, when he heard the bandit shout another spell while looking down at the Crown Prince with a manic grin.
Too late, Leon saw one of the trees begin falling where the blond was crouched trying to find his breath.
“Arthur-!”
And a blur of blue and red crashed against the Crown Prince, pushing him out of the way-
Leon watched, horrified, at how Merlin disappeared under the tree with a sickening thump and crack.
For a moment there was silence.
“MERLIN!”
The scream tore through the forest, drowning all sound.
The sorcerer seemed strangely shook, looking pale at the spot were Merlin had vanished.
Leon took the opportunity to run up to him, viciously burying his sword onto his chest.
“You shouldn’t have done that” he coldly hissed.
“I’ve killed magic” was all the sorcerer said before life left his eyes.
Leon didn’t let himself welter. Sheathing his sword, he ran towards Arthur and Merlin, feeling his eyes begin to sting as small whimpers of “No, please, Merlin” reached his ears.
The Crown Prince was desperately trying to move the tree out the way, heaving between attempts in a cruel prelude to tears.
And Merlin-
Leon’s eyes widened.
He was unresponsive as he lay trapped under the trunk, a tickle of blood trailing down his mouth as he breathed shallow puffs of air.
The Knight quickly jumped into action, joining his Prince’s attempts to lift the tree off Merlin’s body.
All the while, Leon didn’t keep his eyes of the raven, mentally keeping check of the little mists of air that escaped the boy’s lips.
He didn’t want to hold on to hope, but the indication that Merlin was still alive was enough motivation to keep trying to help him.
But Leon also feared the little flame of hope; no-one survived a collapsed tree, the internal injuries were bound to act soon, if not now. The longer Merlin stayed in there, the more he ran out of time.
Finally, with the helped of a place boulder, Leon managed to keep the trunk up long enough for Arthur to slide Merlin away.
“Merlin?” Arthur called in a small voice as he gathered him into his arms. Leon, in the meantime, positioned himself next to the raven, dragging the frayed blue tunic upwards to assess the damage-
And swore.
Reluctantly, he meet Arthur’s eyes, quietly shaking his head in dread.
The expression in the blond’s face broke Leon’s heart.
Arthur shook his head in clear denial, murmuring “No” as brought the raven closer to him and tears began to run down his face.
Leon had always known that the Crown Prince and his servant had a close bond (despite the blond fervently denying it) but he’d never thought it would come to this. For all of Arthur’s past mistakes and behavior, his reaction to Merlin being mortally wounded truly was a testament to how much Arthur had come to change because of and care for the boy.
And- Leon realized with a pang- this included himself.
Aside from Gwen and Elyan, he’d never really allowed himself to be close with the common folk until Merlin arrived to Camelot. The boy had encouraged him to talk more with Gwen, be more straight forward with Arthur; he’d wormed himself into Leon’s heart too and now-
He didn’t realize he was crying too until he tasted salt on his lips.
“’R’hr? ’Eon?”
Both men gasped.
“Merlin?” Arthur softly asked with slight relief as he gave his servant a watery smile.
“Oh gods” Leon whispered.
“Why did you do that?” Arthur whispered as he ran his fingers through the raven’s hair in a surprising gentle caress before settling on a pale cheek, “Merlin, why did you do that?”
“You- you were in- in danger” the raven weakly replied.
“You idiot” the Prince cried out, “Why didn’t you use-?” he cut himself off with a sob.
“Thought I-I would make it” Merlin murmured with a sad smile.
“You can still make it” Arthur said hotly, “This isn’t the end, Merlin- just-”
Perhaps it would have been kinder, Leon thought with misery, if Merlin had died with the impact.
He’d never seen the Prince in such ardent denial and state of sorrow.
“Leon?” Merlin called, not breaking his stare with Arthur.
“I’m here, little falcon” he Knight whispered as he placed his hand on Merlin’s head.
“C-Could you take care of him for- for me?” the boy asked, eyes teary, “He’s prat, but- but he’s a g-good prat”
Leon swallowed the lump on his throat.
“I will” he quietly promised, petting Merlin’s hair, “I’ll keep him safe, little falcon”
Merlin smiled weakly, breaking his staring with the Prince to look at him in gratitude as tears of pain ran down his cheeks.
“Just- please” Arthur kept begging between sobs, “Please don’t leave me, I can’t do this without you, I need you” he wept, “I need you by my side, Merlin. Please-”
Leon took a shuddering breath of shock.
For Arthur to say that- that was- that could only mean-
Merlin seemed to realize it at the same time.
“I’m sorry” Merlin whispered, voice faint and with an echo of regret, “Arthur- cariad-”
And his eyes closed, at the same time he sagged on the Prince's hold.
Lifeless.
The sob that tore out of Arthur was the most heart-wrenching sound Leon ever heard, and the Knight finally let himself weep for the boy, sending a small prayer.
In Arthur’s arms, Merlin looked… smaller, younger. Like he was merely sleeping.
A picture of glowing innocence.
Hang on-
Leon blinked away his tears as astonishment began to take over him.
Merlin was glowing, threads of golden light trailing through his body and seemingly trying to connect with a another set of lights that were coming from-
Leon gasped.
Arthur’s eyes were shinning silver. Not the dark yellow associated with sorcerers, nor the gold that was slowly taking over Merlin; silver.
The Prince was heaving, looking frightened for what was happening, but he didn’t let go of Merlin. Threads of silver light were connecting with the golden ones, and Arthur didn’t let go.
The light’s absorbed themselves onto Merlin, who in turn took and released a deep breath-
And kept steadily breathing.
As if he’d never been on the verge of death.
Numbly, Arthur dragged Merlin’s tunic upwards, to reveal minimal bruises on his abdomen.
That was enough for Leon to finally react.
“Sire-” Leon stumbled back onto the tree that had practically taken Merlin away from them, “Sire- what the fuck-?”
“I-” Arthur’s eyes were wide with fear, “I don’t- I don’t know-”
“You used magic!” Leon hissed to avoid screaming it, bringing his hands over his hair, “Magic, Arthur!”
“No shit!”
“Could you two please keep it down? I’m trying to sleep and also I’m in a lot of pain”
Both Knights gaped at the squirming (SQUIRMING!) boy laying in the Prince’s arms.
“Merlin?” Arthur whispered. Hazy eyes blinked open.
Except that instead of blue… they were gold.
The same gold that had been shining on Merlin’s body.
Leon gaped as the gold faded into blue.
Arthur gave him a panicked glance and promptly covered Merlin’s eyes.
“Arthur-!”
“Promise me you won’t freak out”
“… Aside from the fact that I’m quite sure I was dying a moment ago?”
“I felt your magic reach out to me and somehow I helped heal you. Don’t ask me how because I honestly do not know. And Leon is still here and saw it all” Arthur rushed in a hiss.
Merlin promptly tensed, and the Prince after a moment of hesitation, removed his hand, probably realizing it was futile to cover what had already been seen.
They both looked confused, afraid.
The Knight knew why, off course. He wasn’t a fool. By the laws of Camelot he should execute Merlin on the spot and shackle Arthur up so he could be sentenced for treason by Uther. Whipped for falling in love with a male servant, and put to death by protecting a sorcerer and using magic.
Leon stared at them, lips thin; Arthur holding and embracing Merlin protectively, and Merlin clutching Arthur onto him, eyes fierce.
And it hit him.
After what they’ve been through for three years, they were never going to go down without a fight.
Making his choice had never been so easy.
“You forget, Sire” he finally broke the silence, making sure to maintain eye contact with both men, “That I am five years older than you” he closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to get lost in early childhood memories, “My nanny would tell stories aided by wisps of smoke that took shapes and forms. Some servants in the house would bring the brushes to life for to clean places they couldn’t reach. My parents never reported them to Uther, and neither did I”
Merlin and Arthur’s eyes widened, but the Prince seemed to be coming to a realization as well.
“Leon, when I was six and ten, when the raid at the Druid camp-” the blond gulped, “You were the only one who listened to m- was it because-?”
Leon nodded, smiling sadly.
“What raid?” Merlin quietly asked, looking back and forth between the Prince and the Knight.
Arthur tensed, but instead of lashing out, he turned to look down at the raven with distress.
“I-” he bit his lip before looking away in shame.
Leon’s heart went out for him.
“I swear that I will tell you, but please, can it not be today?” Arthur whispered to Merlin, who frowned lightly before his eyes widened for a bit.
In understanding or because he had an inkling on the truth, Leon does not know, but the boy nods his agreement and whispers something too low for the Knight to hear, but it must be his acceptance, as the tension in Arthur’s shoulders eases and he presses a light kiss on the raven’s forehead.
Leon let them have their moment, smiling softly.
Distant, familiar calls for their names broke the atmosphere.
Leon turned to look at the two men, coming to quick decision as he positioned himself to a kneel.
“Merlin” he hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and nodding to Arthur, “My King. I swear that what happened here will not be discussed with anyone but those you trust. And I swear to you both, that I will protect you with my life”
Merlin was staring at him in awe, while Arthur looked teary eyed.
“I accept your oath, Sir Leon” the Prince whispered.
“So do I” Merlin said with gratitude shinning in his eyes.
The three men shared a smile.
They regrouped with the rest of the Knights, revealing only a partial truth of the events (“Merlin decided to be an idiot and got himself slammed into a tree” “I gave Leon an opening, you prat, give me some credit” “I killed the sorcerer and helped Arthur treat Merlin”), looked for and recovered the horses and proceeded to help the Crown Prince secure his injured manservant with himself on Llameri to keep a better eye on him, before finally leading the way back to Camelot.
All the while, riding at the front next to his future sovereign, Leon bit back a smile, pretending not to see Arthur and Merlin hold hands.