A/N: This is my entry for the Camelot Remix fest, in which I remixed the beautiful artwork by AltoCello called "Alban Arthan and Alban Helfin." It's a stunning piece of work that I was beyond excited to work with and which has produced a piece that I'm very proud of. But it does require some background information.
This combines the canon legend of Emrys and the Once and Future King, but it melds it with the celtic/druidic myth of the Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King represents light/warmth/growth and the Holly King represents darkness/cold/death. The two of them do battle biannually. The Oak King wins at the winter Solstice and brings with him the longer warmer days of spring and summer, while the Holly King wins at the summer Solstice and brings back the shorter cooler days of autumn and winter. It's about balance and the cycle of life, and the symbolism of it all (even just the trees themselves) works really really well with Merlin and Arthur. I tweaked it a bit to make it more romantic, because that fit really well with the epic poetic structure I used, sort of recalling the Shakespearean (and similar authors') tradition of playing around with the relationship dynamic of famous or infamous pairs.
So here you go, please enjoy my vaguely homoerotic iambic pentameter ode.
From beams of golden sunshine came a King
Whose noble voice did through the forest ring
And those upon whose ears his words did fall
Would bend their knees and offer him their all,
For with him came the light of longer days,
The woodland's children basking in their rays
As by their King in grassy cloak did sweep,
And in the Otherworld the Night did sleep.
And yet when blessèd Summer reached its height
Did Winter's chill come creeping through the night.
From whence the cold wind shook the branches down
Another rose to claim the leafy crown:
His lips of berry-red and skin moon-white
Did serve him well to dim the Oak King's light.
With hair as glossy-black as raven's wings
Came Emrys, King of all the darkest things.
The velvet night hung heavy 'round his throat
And leaves of thorny green comprised his coat,
But not a single prick did pierce his hide
For all this soon would by his rule abide.
Upon a grassy knoll the two did stand
When nigh the Summer Solstice was at hand.
The reigning King stood tall before his foe
While winds of Fate around them both did blow.
Though grimly he unsheathed his deadly blade,
His enemy no move toward him made.
Instead he lay his staff upon the ground
And laughter sweet did through the wood resound.
When first their lips in place of steel did meet,
Unto his foe did each admit defeat.
As Holly King tossed off his nightly shroud,
So too by Oak was conflict disavowed
And soon he had beneath the dark'ning skies
His golden King laid bare before his eyes.
Across the softest skin of tawny hue
His gentle hands did quest for pleasure true
And desp'rate cries poured forth from bitten lips
As lightning danced upon his fingertips.
With ev'ry tender touch and murmur low
The golden glow upon his skin did grow,
Til lastly did his lover come undone
And Emrys knew his battle had been won.
The Oak King trembled through his little death
And looked to Emrys on his final breath.
Said he, "I feel I've seen thy face before."
Sighed Emrys, "No, nor will you evermore,
For only now upon this solemn eve
Will you and I be granted this reprieve;
Not even my great power can abate
The never-ending spiral of your Fate.
So rest, my love, and know the time will come
When you will rise and I to you succumb."
The Holly King, he knelt upon that hill
Until his love did in his arms grow still
And then he bowed his tired head to weep
As Fate's chill wind around them both did sweep.
The Oak King's flesh, once firm and warmly gold,
Beneath the new night sky did soon grow cold
And sooner yet dissolvèd into dust
To soar and dance as still the wind did gust.
When time did come that Emrys glimpsed the dawn,
Each noble swirling mote at last had gone
And fin'lly did he boldly stand alone
To take the crown and mount the lonely throne.
From round his neck the cloak of night unfurled
To softly blanket all the weary world
And draw it close to hold against his breast
That all his subjects might be laid to rest.
Thus so the Holly King did hold his court:
The Summer waned and all the days grew short.
As Autumn came, so too did Summer's fruit
And harvest saw from flow'r to leaf to root.
Throughout the land the trees, which once had worn
Such verdant coats, by cold were slowly shorn
And creeping frost the sun's sweet warmth did take
As all the earth the Oak King did forsake.
The bite of Winter through the land did fly
As Emrys kept a close and watchful eye
On ev'ry beast and creature slumb'ring on
Til Holly King did see the Solstice dawn.
When they by Spring's first glowing morn were blest,
The brightest rays of sunlight coalesced
Into a form as true and strong and proud
As all the mountains stood fore'er unbowed
And to the sky he turned his beauteous face
As Nature did its truest King embrace.
The flow'rs did spread their petals and rejoice
To hear once more the Oak King's noble voice;
His glory forced the Winter snow to flee
As all his subjects took to bended knee.
This Emrys saw and knew his wait was o'er
For soon his humble reign would be no more.
Again they met each other face to face
Yet of their previous ardor was no trace
For this Oak King was freshly born anew;
No mem'ry held of trials they had been through.
But Emrys! O, poor Emrys did recall
Each second, ev'ry touch, both big and small,
Each lustful moan and ev'ry trembling breath,
Each splendid birth and each accursed death,
For Fate it had decreed when Time began
That always would he live to serve this man,
This wondrous King whose name would e'er be spoke
As long as Fate did hold them in its yoke.
The Oak King from its sheath did draw his blade,
Which glittered with the finest stones inlaid,
Then raised it up to hold in ready stance
And waited for occasion to advance.
So too the Holly King his staff did raise
And set the azure gem atop ablaze
With pow'r enough to easily dispatch
A hundred men, yet here he was no match.
A single heavy blow did meet its mark
And thus saw Emrys flung into the dark.
By Oak was Holly banished unto sleep
But Emrys through the Veil his watch did keep
For though his love condemned to yearly fight,
He could not bear to let him from his sight.
And so he kept his vigil from afar
As constant as the lonely northern star
That still he might protect his Fated ward
From any threat not felled beneath his sword.
As Spring did grow with warmth and light sublime
The Holly King did sit and bide his time
Through Summer til that too began to wane
And time had come for him to rise again.
Once more upon that knoll the two did stand
When nigh the Summer Solstice was at hand
And though they raised their weapons as they'd done
At Winter's death when last the Spring had won,
The Oak King threw his head back with a laugh
As did they set aside both sword and staff
For now he knew his foe to be his friend,
A watchful gaze meant only to defend.
Beneath each other's hands they both did writhe,
One broad and strong, the other tall and lithe,
And lips did wander 'cross their tender skin
As lightning built, as always, from within.
Its chill was hardly felt beneath the heat
Of pleasure creeping o'er them, ever sweet,
Until its glow was brighter than the sun
And Emrys knew his battle had been won.
Again he knelt and held his lover tight
As thus the setting sun turned day to night.
He brushed his lips across his love's pale face
As though his care could Fate's decree outpace,
But still he felt cruel Death's relentless tide
And knew another year he would abide
To rule in place of Albion's true lord
Until unto them all he was restored.
As Emrys tightly held his trembling hand,
The frigid winds of Fate swept o'er the land.
The Oak King spoke as still his heart did slow.
"I ask thee, villain: why dost thou hate me so?"
A slow, sad smile on Emrys' face did spread
And to his love—to Arthur—so he said:
"A heart as true as yours must know the soul
Holds naught but love for that which makes it whole."