Work Text:
If there’s one thing Merlin has always prided himself on, it’s his ability to keep a secret. It’s something he had to learn to be good at from a young age after discovering his magic, and his mother softly explained to him that he had to be careful— there will be people out there who wouldn’t understand his abilities and might even try to hurt him for it.
It wasn’t until a few years later that he realized that he wasn’t the only one in danger. That just by existing his mother was also at risk should anyone learn his secret.
So, he’d worked hard to hide it.
He thought getting away from Eleldor would be the best thing for them.
Until he walked into Camelot, saw an execution on his first day, and discovered just how dangerous it truly was.
It only got more dangerous from there when he found himself as Arthur’s manservant.
And against his better judgement found himself falling in love with him.
Yet another secret Merlin has had to learn to keep. Even if it does grow harder and harder by the day.
But he knows he doesn’t have a choice. If Arthur were to ever find out about either it could be disastrous, and Merlin can’t risk it. Can’t risk losing him.
So he buries his feelings down and takes
But then, one day, the choice is taken out of his hands.
Merlin and Arthur are riding through the woods with Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, and Elyan. It’s supposed to be some sort of hunting trip, according to Arthur, but so far, they’ve made no efforts to actually hunt anything. Which is fine by Merlin.
It’s a nice day with the sun shining high in the sky, made more tolerable by the light breeze blowing around them.
Then Merlin feels it, a sudden shift in the wind. The air feels heavier around them, and Merlin frowns. No one else seems to notice, but Merlin is instantly on guard, his eyes scanning the trees for any sign of danger. Then he hears it.
“Arthur,” Merlin whispers. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what, Merlin?” Arthur asks him.
“Humming,” Merlin says. Because he knows that’s what it is now. And it’s growing louder.
“I don’t hear anything except your yammering,” Arthur says.
“You don’t hear it?” Merlin asks him. He turns to the knights. “Any of you?”
They all shake their heads. Merlin frowns. Something isn’t right here. “Maybe we should turn back.”
“Why on earth would we do that?” Arthur asks him. “It’s a nice day. We’re staying.”
“But—”
“If you’re so worried, Merlin, you can go back,” Arthur says.
“I’m not leaving you out here unprotected,” Merlin says.
“I have my knights, Merlin,” Arthur says. “Unless there’s something you can do that they can’t?”
Merlin opens his mouth to argue when the humming picks up volume once more, now almost deafening. He winces and covers his ears. And still, no one else seems to hear it. At least nothing human. Their horses kick the ground restlessly, and Merlin’s shakes its head. He runs a hand down the back of its neck, trying to calm him.
“Easy,” Merlin murmurs.
“Something’s bothering the horses,” Gwaine says.
“Maybe they can hear the humming, too,” Lancelot says.
“Maybe Merlin’s right, Arthur,” Leon says. “Perhaps we should go back.”
“No,” A voice booms through the trees, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.
The humming stops suddenly, and the forest becomes still. Too still.
“Who’s there?” Arthur calls out. “Show yourself.”
“I am,” the voice says again.
“You can hear that?” Merlin asks them.
“Of course I can, Merlin,” Arthur says.
Lancelot moves closer. “What do you think?” he asks quietly. “A sorceress?”
“It must be,” Merlin says.
“Then why can’t we see them?” Gwaine asks.
“Because they don’t want to be seen,” Merlin says.
“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you, Merlin,” the voice says. “Hiding in plain sight. No one truly knowing you. Until now.”
“What is she talking about?” Arthur asks him.
“No idea,” Merlin says.
Laughter sounds all around them. “Even now, you hide.”
“I’m not the one hiding,” Merlin says. He gets down from his horse and looks around the trees, trying to catch a glimpse of where she might be. Still nothing. “What do you want from us?”
There’s a flash of light as the wind picks up, and suddenly, a woman stands before them. Her dark hair blows around her in the wind. She smiles, something dark and twisted as she looks at Arthur. Merlin instinctively steps between her and Arthur, and her smile grows.
“So many secrets,” she says. “Aren’t you tired of hiding, Merlin?”
“Don’t speak as if you know me,” Merlin says. “You know nothing.”
“I know more than you think,” she says.
“Stop talking nonsense and tell us what you want,” Arthur says.
“My prize,” she says. “You entered my forest without leaving a gift, and now one of you must pay the price.”
“What price?” Arthur asks her. “Gold? He pulls out a bag from his cloak and tosses it on the ground between them. “There. You can have it.”
“It’s not your gold I want Arthur Pendragon,” she says. “But your life.”
“You’re not going to touch him,” Merlin says.
“I don’t have to,” she says. “I think I made that much clear.”
“You know who I am,” Merlin says. “Correct?”
She nods. “I do.”
“Then you’ve heard stories,” Merlin says. “And you know what happens when anyone tries to harm my friends.”
“But he’s not just a friend, is he?” she questions. “And that’s what makes his sacrifice even more fulfilling. What is more beautiful and tragic than a lost love so unfulfilled?”
“There will be no sacrifice,” Merlin says. “You’re not getting him or anyone else.”
“And you’re going to stop me?”
“If I must,” Merlin says. “Or you can go. Let us leave, and you can go unharmed.”
“No,” she says. “Not until I get what I came for.”
She raises her hand and mutters a spell. A bolt of lightning breaks through the trees, heading right for Arthur. Merlin shouts, raising his hands in the air, his eyes flashing gold as he directs the lightning away. It strikes near the woman, and she screams.
“How dare you,” she hisses.
“I did warn you,” Merlin says. “You can’t have him.”
She shouts again and narrows her eyes as she starts muttering quickly. Merlin knows he can’t let her finish. She’s already tried to kill Arthur once, and now she’s prepared to do it again. Merlin can’t let that happen.
He sighs and closes his eyes, muttering a familiar spell. He hears a crack and then a shriek. There’s a shout from behind him, and Merlin finds himself yanked back. He opens his eyes to see a tree now lying where he stood moments before. The woman is under it. She’s not moving.
Gwaine approaches her slowly and pokes her with the edge of his sword. “She’s dead.”
Merlin’s heart drops. He hadn't meant to kill her. Not really. But she'd threatened Arthur and he'd just reacted, doing what he had to in order to protect him and his friends.
“You bloody idiot,” Arthur mutters, spinning Merlin around to face him. “What were you thinking? That tree could have crushed you! Did you have a death wish?”
“Arthur,” Merlin says, holding his hands up in front of him.
“Merlin,” Arthur says a little too calmly.
“It wasn’t what it looked like,” Merlin says.
Gwaine snorts, and Lancelot shakes his head.
Arthur raises an eyebrow. “No? Because it looked a lot like you using magic, Merlin.”
“I—” Merlin takes a step back as Arthur moves closer. He looks between Arthur and the rest of the knights and realizes with a feeling of dread that there’s not going to be a way to talk himself out of this one. They all know. They saw him use magic. All these years trying to keep his secret, and here it is, out in the open.
“It’s alright, Merlin,” Lancelot tells him.
Merlin shakes his head and takes another step back. “No.”
“Merlin,” Arthur says.
“Please don’t kill me,” Merlin says. “At least let me explain. I— I was just—”
“Just what, Merlin?” Arthur questions. “Using magic to save our lives?”
“Yes, but—”
“Something you have done numerous times before,” Arthur continues. “And not so discretely, I’ll have you know.”
“I was only trying to protect you,” Merlin says. “All of you.”
“We know, Merlin,” Gwaine says.
“You’re not exactly good at hiding it,” Elyan says.
“It seemed like you weren’t even trying anymore,” Leon adds.
“Yes, you have gotten a little careless with it,” Arthur says. “Especially just now.”
“You knew?” Merlin asks them, looking at them each in turn. “All of you?”
“Yes, Merlin,” Arthur says. “We all knew.”
“We were just waiting for you to say something,” Gwaine says.
“But why didn’t you say anything?” Merlin asks them.
“Why didn’t you?” Arthur asks him.
Merlin laughs incredulously. “Really, Arthur? Magic is banned in Camelot. Your father would have had me hanged or burned or who knows what else if he ever found out.”
“I’m not my father, Merlin,” Arthur says softly. “And I never would have let that happen.”
“But I couldn’t put you in that position,” Merlin says.
Arthur sighs. “That’s what worried you?”
“I didn’t want to lose you,” Merlin whispers.
“You bloody idiot,” Arthur mutters. He closes the remaining space between them in two long strides and takes Merlin’s face in his hands. “You’re not going to lose me.”
“Does this mean you’re not mad?” Merlin asks him.
“Oh, I’m furious,” Arthur says. “You almost died trying to protect me once again without once thinking of how it would feel for me to lose you.”
“I’m sure you’d get over it,” Merlin says. “You could always find another manservant.”
“I might have to anyway,” Arthur says.
Merlin frowns. “You’re sacking me?”
“No,” Arthur says. “But it’ll be hard for you to carry on your duties as my manservant while also being my court sorcerer and helping me bring back magic to Camelot.”
Merlin’s eyes widen. “You’re— you’re changing the laws?”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Arthur says. “Especially when I discovered your secret and realized a lot of things would have to change. You don’t have to live in fear, Merlin. Not anymore.”
“You’re sure about this?” Merlin asks him. “This could upset a lot of people.”
“I don’t care,” Arthur says. “It’s the right thing to do. It should have been done a long time ago.”
“Can’t you two declare your undying love and kiss already?” Gwaine groans. “I want to go home.”
“No one is stopping you,” Arthur says, not looking away from Merlin.
“Yes, perhaps we should give them a moment,” Leon says. He pats Arthur’s back on the way by and smiles encouragingly at Merlin. “You two have a lot to talk about.”
“I don’t know what he means,” Merlin says. “We’ve already covered a lot.”
“But not everything,” Arthur says. “There is something rather important we need to discuss. Something the witch mentioned.”
“Is there?” Merlin asks him.
“She said I wasn’t just your friend,” Arthur says.
Merlin swallows. “She did.”
“And then something about a lost love so unfulfilled,” Arthur says.
“Yes.”
Arthur’s fingers brush across his cheeks, his eyes focused on their movements before lifting to meet Merlin’s once more. “I don’t want that.”
Merlin tenses, preparing for the inevitable rejection. “Oh.”
“No, I—” Arthur sighs. “I don’t want it to be unfulfilled. I don’t want us to spend our lives apart and then die not knowing what it was like to have the one thing I wanted— that I never believed I could have.”
“What do you want Arthur?” Merlin asks, needing to hear him say the words before he lets himself hope.
“You,” Arthur says. “I want you.”
“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Merlin asks him. “Or the lightning didn’t hit you?”
“Funny, Merlin,” Arthur says. “I’m trying to be serious and here you are cracking jokes.”
“You surprised me,” Merlin says. “I’ve hid my feelings for years thinking you could never feel the same.”
“And how do you feel?” Arthur asks him.
“I love you,” Merlin says. “Always have.”
Arthur smiles and leans down, his lips brushing softly against Merlin’s. “I love you.”
“It’s about time!” Gwaine shouts.
“Gwaine,” Lancelot hisses. “Let them have their moment.”
“It’s ours too,” Gwaine says. “Maybe now I can finally get some sleep without one of them keeping me up bemoaning that their love is hopeless.”
“Even when we tried to assure them it wasn’t,” Leon says.
“Maybe now they’ll listen,” Gwaine says louder.
Arthur sighs and rests his head against Merlin’s. “We could leave them here.”
“They’re your best knights,” Merlin reminds him. “And our friends. Even if they are sticking their noses where they shouldn’t.”
“Perhaps you’re right,” Arthur says. “Just this once.”
“Only this once?”
“Don't push it, Merlin,” Arthur says. “Need I remind you that I'm still your king?”
“But you love me,” Merlin says.
“Maybe I have hit my head,” Arthur says.
Merlin rolls his eyes. “Very funny, Arthur.”
“I do have my moments,” Arthur says.
“Yes, I suppose you do,” Merlin says. “What do we do now?”
“Now, we go home and we rest,” Arthur says. “I have a feeling starting tomorrow we're going to be very busy.”
“You're going to get a lot of resistance,” Merlin says.
Arthur nods. “I know, but I've been planning this for a long time, Merlin. I won't change my mind. On any of it.
Merlin smiles and takes Arthur's hand. “Then let's go home.”