Albion United
A Merlin Story
As I write this I have only watched the first eleven episodes of the first season, and so can only guess at what will come next for the characters, but this story came to me, and I thought that I would write it anyway.
Arthur was dead.
Arthur was dead and Merlin didn't know what to do. He had spent three days holed up in his room, but Gaius had chased him out the fourth morning, telling him that he was not going to be allowed to stew for forever and that he needed to find some way to work it off or go and talk to someone.
That was how Merlin now found himself sitting in Morgana's room. He had spent a few hours roaming the city, but had eventually made his way to Morgana's room, rationalizing that she was one of the few others who had actually known Arthur and not just the Prince. When he knocked on the door, it opened on Gwen's tear streaked face, and she had begun telling him to leave before realizing that it was him and inviting him in. When he entered the room, Gwen led him to where Morgana's bed was, and he saw the usually tall and cold woman curled into a ball and crying. Gwen had climbed into the bed, which he assumed she had only vacated to open the door, and gestured to a chair nearby. Merlin had pulled up the chair, which was a very comfortable one with several soft pillows and blankets that Merlin hardly noticed in his grief, and pushed it right up against the bed and curled into it.
The three friends talked and cried for hours, telling stories and mourning what would never come about again. Eventually they each drifted into a restless kind of sleep, the two girls curled around each other, and Merlin still in his chair.
Gaius came to check on them several hours later after servants had been sent for them several times but found the door locked. As Morgana's physician, Gaius had one of the few keys, Uther being one of the only others, but he was too deep in grief even for his Ward. When Gaius saw them, he merely smiled sadly, closed the curtains, and blew out the candles, relocking the door behind him.
o0o
It was two days later that Gaius and Merlin were sitting down to eat their supper that Merlin finally asked the question that would determine the course of the rest of his life: "What am I supposed to do now?"
Gaius looked at him, silently asking what he meant. Merlin dipped his bread in his stew and sighed before he continued. "My destiny. I was supposed to protect Arthur, and together we would unite Albion. He couldn't do it himself, he needed me, and I definitely can't do it without him."
Gaius put down his spoon. "What if you don't have to. You will always have Arthur with you, even if he isn't still alive." Merlin looked at him in confusion, but Gaius merely picked his spoon back up. "Think on it."
o0o
"Gaius said something the other day."
Morgana looked up from her stitching to look at Merlin. He was sitting at the table in her chambers, working on something. Since they had spent the day in Morgana's rooms for the first time, they had all been reluctant to be apart for any length of time, and had taken to spending as much time as possible in Morgana's rooms. Gwen had only gone out to grab some food for the three of them.
"What did he say? I assume that it was important to you if you bring it up."
Merlin put down his work and turned to look at her. "You remember what I told you about my destiny?"
Morgana nodded. Merlin had told them about the dragon and about his magic on that first night. Gwen had told Morgana that she suspected he regretted never having told Arthur about it, and was telling them because he didn't want to make the same mistake twice.
"Well," Merlin continued, "Gaius said that even though he wasn't still alive, Arthur was always with me."
"So you think that you might still be able to do something even though Arthur isn't here? That you can still unite Albion?" Morgana guessed.
"Sort of. We all carry pieces of Arthur with us. You and Gwen and me especially, which means that I will need all of your help. I can't do this alone."
Morgana rose from her seat and crossed the room to stand next to Merlin. She put one hand on his shoulder and used the other to gently lift his face to look at her. "I promise that I will help you in every way that I can, and I'm sure Gwen will too. But Merlin, you were his best friend, his closest friend, and you carry by far the largest part of Arthur. You were closer to him than even his father. Even my relationship with him pales in comparison."
"I'm sure-" Merlin started, before Morgana cut him off. "No Merlin, you and Arthur were the best and closest of friends, maybe even brothers. I know that he loved me, but I'm not sure he knew how to act around me. We were certainly never able to have the kind of friendship that the two of you shared. I'm not jealous, Merlin, I'm just glad you had each other."
Morgana sat down next to him, removing her hands from his shoulder and chin. After a minute or so, he took her hand, and the two sat together in silence until Gwen brought the food back. They all ate the food and tried to be happy, but they could all feel the hole in the conversation and in their hearts that had not yet been healed or covered.
o0o
Gwen and Merlin were in the market getting some things for a new dress for Morgana, some supplies for Gaius, some delicacies that Morgana was partial to, and a dozen other assorted things that seemed rather frivolous to them. Gwen held up a scarf for Merlin to check with the dress that she had on, which was the same color as one of Morgana's. Merlin had a better eye for color than any of the rest of them, although he was horrible at any other kind of fashion.
"I think that I need to leave." He made a face at the scarf that Gwen had picked up, and rifled through the others that the vendor was selling, pulling three to try against the dress. When he turned back around, he finally noticed the face that Gwen was making at him. "What's that face for?"
"I don't want you to leave." Merlin put the scarves back on the table and took hold of Gwen's forearms, wishing that a more comforting and friendlier gesture was appropriate in public. "Not forever Gwen, I'll come back eventually, but I have a destiny to fulfill."
Gwen made a face, obviously still not liking the idea. Merlin released her forearms and moved to wipe tears off of her cheeks that she hadn't even noticed building up, let alone falling. Suddenly her face set into a determined look. "I'll come with you."
"You can't Gwen. I wish you could, but you can't," he lifted a finger to silence her, "I wish you could, but Morgana will need you. She has challenges ahead of her, and she will need you."
"And you won't?" She didn't seem convinced.
"I've got my..." he looked around, suddenly conscious of the many people around him, "gifts, and it would look weird for the two of us to travel together, anyway. Morgana will need you more than I will." Merlin suddenly looked more serious and broken than Gwen had ever seen him. "Protect her for me? I couldn't keep Arthur safe, and I don't want either of you to be hurt or -" he chocked off the word, not able to voice his nightmare that had come true. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Just... take care of her. And yourself. Take care of each other."
Gwen reached up to wipe Merlin's tears, a mirror of his previous action. "We will Merlin. Just make sure that you come back to us alive."
Merlin pulled her into a hug, no longer caring what anyone else would think. "I'll do my best Gwen. I love you both like the sisters I never had. I won't do anything too reckless. I promise I'll try to come back to you."
They parted finally, and returned to choosing scarves. When they returned to Morgana that evening, they shared Merlin's plan, and eventually all fell asleep there again, Merlin in a chair again, and Gwen and Morgana on the couch.
o0o
"I hear that you are leaving."
Merlin nearly dropped the pile of laundry that he was carrying. "My Lord?"
Uther sighed. "I have heard from my Ward that you will be leaving us soon. It is a pity. She is quite fond of you."
Both could hear what neither of them had voiced, that Arthur had also been quite fond of Merlin.
"Yes. I will be leaving the day after next."
"And where will you go?"
Merlin had no idea why the King was taking such an interest in him. Perhaps it was an odd sense of duty to his dead son.
"To my mother's house for a while. After that, I don't know."
Merlin realized now that he hadn't known where he would go. Now, though, he did think that he would go visit his mother. Maybe she could give him some guidance, but he also just wanted to see her.
"Art-" the King chocked off his words, taking a deep breath before starting again. "I have been told a bit about her. She sounds like a kind woman. She is lucky to have a son like you." Uther turned and quickly left the way he had come, Leaving Merlin standing bewildered in the middle of the hallway.
He shook himself back into motion. 'I wonder what that was. I'll have to tell Gwen and Morgana about it and see what they think. It sure was weird though. It's like he doesn't hate me anymore.'
Merlin continued on his way, thinking about his mother and his journey. He wondered where he would be in a year.
o0o
Merlin was sitting on his horse, a gift from Arthur shortly before his death. He had said that he needed to be able to get places without his servant's inferior horse slowing him down. Arthur always was very good at delivering gifts with enough insults that you weren't sure whether it was a gift or not. Merlin really missed him. All of the people that he was close to were gathered around him.
Gaius stepped forward first. "You know that I love you as well as if you were my own son, right Merlin?"
"Yes, Gaius," Merlin smiled down at his mentor, "and I love you as the father I never knew."
"Take care of yourself, Merlin. And be careful with your gifts."
"I will Gaius. You take care as well. I want you to still be here when I come back."
The older man chuckled, patting Merlin's leg, the only part of Merlin that he could reach from where he was standing. "I will do my very best, Merlin, my very best."
Gwen and Morgana stepped forward together, neither one wanting to leave the comfort of having the other standing there with them. Gwen pulled something from behind her back. It was long, and wrapped in red cloth. She carefully unwrapped it, revealing a beautiful sheath from which she withdrew a sd.
"My father made the sword for you. Morgana and I both helped find materials for the sheath, and chose the words to be engraved on it. It's a gift from all of us."
Merlin took the sword with reverence, strapping the sheath to his waist and carefully putting the sword in it. "I will carry it with pride, and always remember my sisters by it." He leaned down and kissed them each on the head, before straightening in his saddle.
"Goodbye my friends, I will write to you."
"Goodbye Merlin."
He kicked his horse lightly, and off they went. Gaius, Morgana, and Gwen all watched until he was out of sight, but he never once looked back. He looked only forward with determination.
o0o
Hunith looked over at her son. He had been with her for nearly a week now, and she could tell that he was getting restless. At the moment, he was working on fixing one of her tools that had broken the day before. It was delicate work, and he was putting a lot of concentration into it, but she could tell that he was beginning to become frustrated with it.
"Merlin?" she called to her son. He looked up at her, his eyes bright with frustration.
"Yes, Mother?"
"Do you have a plan yet for uniting Albion?"
He muttered a few words and the tools flew into a pile and moved to a shelf on the other side of the room. "No. I have no idea how I am going to accomplish this, I just know I have to."
He stood suddenly, his eyes darkened with grief. "I need to take a walk. I'll be back."
Her son was different now, no longer the boy she had sent to Camelot, but now a man in his own right. He was a fighter and a man of great honor, and she was proud of him. If only he could be proud of himself.
o0o
'What am I supposed to do!?'
Merlin wanted to scream at the world. Scream until his throat was raw and he couldn't anymore. He didn't know what to do, not what he wanted to do and not what he was supposed to do. How was he supposed to do this without Arthur right next to him.
He sat down on a log, and put his face in his hands. 'Think, Merlin, think!'
He took a few moments to breathe, focusing on counting. 'In, 2, 3, 4. Out, 2, 3, 4, 5. In, 2, 3, 4. Out, 2, 3, 4, 5'
'Alright. What would Arthur do? Probably charge in, cape flying and armor gleaming(both of which I cared for and repaired, of course) and make grand speeches and drive of oppressors with force.'
'But no. The dragon said that he needed me. So, what would I advise him to do?'
Merlin sat there and thought for a while. There was so much that he would have advised the royal prat to do, so many comments that he would have made, but without said royal prat there, it was hard to figure out what they would have been.
'I definitely would have told him to be careful. Probably to be nicer. And I also would have done a lot of subtle saving him from the background.'
'Now I just have to figure out how to combine the two. And that's what we were both good at: Thinking quickly under pressure, but not very well when not under pressure. He would figure out what to do as he went. He knew that he had to do both his part and Arthur's part, now he just needed to figure out where to start.'
o0o
A week and two days later he had left his mother and was now in a small village on the outskirts of Camelot. He had been staying with the town physician, who he was helping with small things, similarly to how he had helped Gaius, in exchange for room and board. The man's name was Matthew, and Merlin enjoyed his company well enough.
It was mid-morning, and he was delivering a draught to a new mother to help with her recovery, when the realization hit him. He was doing nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Arthur would have socked him up the side of the head and told him off for being an idiot by now. If he was going to do something, he had to do it now. He couldn't dawdle, and he couldn't stall, he had to start working.
He turned to the woman, gave her her draught and a smile, and set off to do some talking. He was going to get this town on their side, telling stories and inspiring courage. He would not let Arthur down.
o0o
He had spent another week in that town before moving on. In the past three weeks he had sent four letters to Gwen, Morgana, and Gaius, and had received two from the girls and one from Gaius. In each letter he told them where he would be next, and they would find someone who was traveling in his direction.
About a week ago he had crossed the border and left Camelot. There was more to Albion than just Camelot, and it was his duty, his destiny to see that all of Albion was united, not just the portion of it that was Camelot.
He was traveling through a forest on horseback, when someone else came galloping from the other direction as fast as was possible.
"Turn around! Move! It'll get you!"
Merlin did as he was told, assuming that whatever it was that had spooked this man so badly must not be friendly. Together the two men fled for a while before wheeling back around.
"You go left, I'll go right!" the other man shouted, out of breath.
"Works for me!" Merlin responded, a grim and determined look on his face.
The creature turned out to be a wild boar that was about four times the size that it naturally should be. Merlin, true to the plan, went left, pushing the beast to retreat toward the other man, who in turn threw two spears in quick succession, killing the boar.
Merlin dismounted, tying his horse to a nearby tree, and approached the beast.
"Thank you, kind sir. It was good of you to-" the man cut off what he was saying as he looked up at Merlin.
"Merlin?"
"Lancelot?"
Each man seemed as confused, but still delighted, as the other.
"What are you doing here?" Merlin didn't expect to see Lancelot outside of Camelot. To be honest, he hadn't expected to see him at all.
"I could ask the same of you. What is the Crown Prince of Camelot's manservant doing in a forest outside of Camelot without any sign of said prince?"
Merlin sighed. "So you haven't heard?"
Lancelot looked at him in confusion. "Heard what?"
"Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot, is dead." Merlin carefully kept all emotion out of his voice, knowing that if he showed any emotion it would take over and he would not be able to continue on. He had had a bad week, and he really didn't want to add to it.
"I had not heard. I am truly sorry for your loss." Lancelot was probably the first person to respond to the news of Arthur's death by consoling Merlin. It was strange, but also nice to have someone acknowledge that Merlin was Arthur's friend, and would have been hurt by his death.
"I'm fine, but thank you for your kindness."
"It's nothing. That still doesn't answer the question of what you are doing out here, though."
So Merlin told him. He told him everything, leaving nothing out. It was a risk, but it paid off, and Merlin gained a friend and travelling companion. Together they set off, and Lancelot added his story of Arthur's kindness to a common man to the stories that Merlin told, and together they made progress toward the completion of the challenge set before them.
o0o
Two months later, Merlin got a letter from Morgana and Gwen.
"Our dear Merlin," the letter read, "How fare you and Lancelot? I hope that you have made much progress, but we must request your presence back in the capitol as soon as possible. Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot, has died this past day of sickness, brought on by grief and age. As the former heir is also not with us and no others of the line survive, it has been decided that the Lady Morgana will take the throne. As your friends, we ask you to return to us for a while to help us with some of the challenges that may arise, and as your partners in your quest we ask for your help in beginning to build a kingdom that could extend to all of Albion in the way that Arthur would have built it. Come with all haste, my friend, and return to your family.
We are ever yours,
Morgana and Gwen"
Turning to Lancelot, Merlin delivered the news of the king's death, and together they packed up their things, took leave of the family that they were staying with in that village, and returned to Camelot with all possible speed.
o0o
It was barely a week later that the biggest milestone yet in their quest was reached.
Merlin and Lancelot had returned just in time to thwart a plot on Morgana's life the night before her coronation. They had come across the assassin quite by accident, and had quickly knocked him unconscious and deposited him in a cell. The knights and guards had panicked, while Morgana had smiled at them and led them into her rooms for a chat, Gwen had fussed over a few cuts and bruises, but was generally calm, and Merlin and Lancelot, once they were sure that the assassin was the only one, didn't even bat an eye. The coronation had gone smoothly, as had everything else that they had done since.
Today, though, they had no idea how this would turn out. Today, they were going to abolish the law banning magic.
Mogana, decked out in her full Queen regalia, rose from her throne and everyone fell silent. With a glance at Merlin, Gwen, and Lancelot, who were standing just to the side of the dias, she began.
"My dear friends and subjects, today I stand before you to usher you into a new age. Uther Pendragon was a good man and a good King and I loved him as I would a father, but even he has made errors, the greatest of which I hope to begin to undo today. This error was the outlawing of magic, with the death sentence on any who practiced it or associated with it. Magic is not evil, but is merely a tool which can be used, as any other, either for good or for evil. I know that I cannot bring back those who have already been killed, but I promise that while I rule this land, no more will be unjustly killed for no reason other than possessing magic. I hope that you will stand with me in ushering in a new age of magic."
With that she turned, and Merlin and Lancelot, one on either side, took her hands and helped her off of the dias. Lancelot fell back after she had descended and offered an arm to Gwen, who had been standing with them off to the side, and together the four of them left the hall, heads held high and hearts full of hope.
o0o
If was foretold by the prophets and Seers of ancient times, that Albion would be reunited and magic restored by Emrys and the Once and Future King. It came to pass, though, that Prince Arthur of Camelot, son of King Uther Pendragon and he who we suspect of being said Once and Future King, died and never became King. Thus Emrys, known as Merlin, was left alone to complete this task.
But in this quest he had allies. Queen Morgana, Lady Guinevere, the Royal Physician Gaius, and Sir Lancelot helped him and together they reunited the land. It is said that they did this with stories of the late Prince, and Emrys is said to have declared that it was only through the parts of Arthur that they all carried with them that they were able to complete the destiny foretold for them.
Queen Morgana, it is told, died without issue, and that the oldest daughter of the Lady Gwen, as she was known to her friends, took the throne and started a new line. Emrys, it is said, never died, and is instead living and waiting for the time when Albion is at its greatest need. At such a time the others will rise to defeat the evil, and will protect the land. It is unknown whether or not this will include Arthur Pendragon, but it is known that the line of Queen Artha, daughter of Lady Gwen and first of her line, reigned in Albion for many years, and that Albion never fell while one of that line was on the throne.
o0o
I hope that you liked this work.
The passage at the end was supposed to be something out of either a mythology or history book, whichever you choose to imagine it as. I have tried to leave it fairly open ended while still tying everything up well enough that no one is left hanging.
Please let me know what you think, comments mean the world to me.
Also, I have proofread and scanned twice for any errors, but I am only human. If you notice any errors, please just let me know and I will fix them as quickly as possible.
Thanks,
RavenLilyRose