Marriage proposal.
Merlin stood bewildered in the middle of the court yard, one of the Knights a man in his mid twenties with shoulder length curly, dark hair and a round almost chubby face lunged the target practice board at him, without a moments hesitation Merlin caught the round heavy wooden board and a look of sheer confusion engulfed his mystically enchanting face.
"Prince Arthur isn't here to save your ass today" taunted the Knight as he tossed a dagger in his hand, he lifted the dagger to shoulder height and whispered 'run' before hurling it at Merlin.
Merlin quickly raised the board to his chest and darted across the court out of the path of flying daggers and howling Knights, another dagger came flying from the opposite direction, then another, then another.
Merlin felt the daggers slam against the board and it jolted against his chest each time, he kept running back and forth in front of the Knights who continued to howl and roar with laughter.
His arms were aching and his legs were becoming weary as if he was about to drop, but he knew if he was to fall down on to the floor or drop the board then he would become the Knights next target and he didn't fancy having daggers stuck in him, not today, not any day to be honest.
The daggers continued to fly towards Merlin and the board, Knights were now shouting taunts "come on you're making this too easy, run, faster, Merlin run" they all yelled, their snarls and whooping ringing in his ears.
Suddenly there was a high pitched shriek, then the daggers stopped and there was silence.
Merlin slowly lowered the board which was now raised to cover his chest and his face, he peered over the top and saw the bullying Knight sprawled out on the ground clutching his nose with Prince Arthur towering over him.
"Thought you would bully my servant did you?" Arthur hissed as he bent down and grabbed the Knight by the scruff of the neck and pushed him against the wall.
The Knight hit the wall with a loud thud, Arthur stepped closer to him with an infuriated look on his face "leave him alone or I will make it my duty to throw you in the jail and when you finally get out you will not be a Knight" Arthur snarled in to the Knights ear.
The Knight gave Arthur an apologetic nod, Arthur released the Knight and he hurried off towards the castle.
Arthur turned to face the other Knights who had joined in on the horrible game and taunts, he gave them an annoyed glare "what are you doing to him?" he asked them as he signalled to Merlin to drop the board.
A tall, well built Knight smirked "it's been fine before to use servants as target practice" he said as he grinned at Merlin.
Arthur's nostrils flared with anger "well not this one, he's my servant and he isn't to be harmed or taunted you got that?" he growled as he approached Merlin and pulled out all the daggers out of the board.
As soon as the Knights had all dispersed Arthur turned back to Merlin and gave him a comforting smile "are you ok?" he asked his voice full of sweet, caring concern.
Merlin rubbed his shoulder and returned a weak smile to the Prince then nodded.
Arthur reached out and touched Merlin's shoulder "I'm so sorry that they treated you like that Merlin".
Merlin tilted his head so that his cheek was touching the Prince's hand and let out a weary sigh "I know" he whispered before turning away and heading back to the Physicians quarters.
Arthur stared after his servant with a glint of passion in his eyes and a slight smile up on his face.
The night was long and Arthur found it hard to sleep, he felt so bad for the way Merlin had been treated that day by his Knights, Knights were meant to be noble and there to protect Camelot and its people, instead they found fun in ridiculing Merlin and using him as a human target practice, Arthur let out an awkward sigh as he remembered his and Merlin's first meeting, Arthur had done the same to his old servant, he had ridiculed him in front of his Knights and used him as a target practice, until Merlin had stepped in and stopped it.
Arthur smiled as he recalled the memory 'Merlin was so defiant and cute' he thought to himself as he rolled over in bed, he stared at the empty pillow next to him and thoughtfully gazed into it, Arthur slowly reached his hand under the pillow and pulled out a small folded piece of red material, he stroked it gently as it laid on the pillow inches from his face.
Slowly Arthur drifted off to sleep, his mind running riot with thoughts and images of Merlin.
His eyes flickered open, his gaze falling up on his hand that was clenched holding the red piece of material, Arthur pulled his hand in closer and held the material to his lips and gently kissed it.
Arthur sluggishly crawled out of bed still holding the red material in his hand, he strolled over to the window and stared out onto the town, his gaze immediately fell on Merlin who was stood by the chopping block talking to Gaius and Gwen.
His face looked irritable and troubled, Gwen gently swept her hand across his cheek and gave him a reassuring smile, Arthur leaned into the window to try and get a better look but it was useless he couldn't see what was happening and he really wished he could.
As he saw Gwen gently caress Merlin's face and arm Arthur felt a sharp bitter flash of jealousy run through his body and he turned away from the window, he gripped the red material in his hand and bit his lip as to calm him self.
Arthur turned to his wardrobe and lazily pulled the door open and eyed the clothes that hung inside, he sighed as he pulled out his usual outfit, red tunic, brown jacket and dark trousers.
He dressed himself slowly in between sulking and worrying about Merlin, he reached for his boots and smirked "rat stew" he muttered as he remembered when Merlin had made him eat the rat he had caught in the Prince's room, the rat that seemed to have a taste for Arthur's boots,
Arthur smiled to him self as he remembered when he also made Merlin eat the very same stew, he remembered how he held the spoon to the servants mouth and forced him to eat.
Arthur closed his eyes and inhaled deeply 'it had taken the Prince all his will to stop himself from leaning in and kissing Merlin right there and then, even though he wished he had on that occasion and so many before'.
Arthur hastily left the room and thundered down the corridor, down the stairs and out into the court yard, nearly knocking Morgana over as he flew past her, she shot him a curious look but carried on walking.
"Merlin.... over here" yelled a strange, husky voice as a slim, tall, mousey blond haired man hurried towards him.
Merlin looked in the direction of the voice and broke out into a wide, cheeky, happy smile "Edward... what are you doing here?" Merlin chirped as he greeted his friend with a hug.
Arthur witnessed this and felt another pang of jealousy run through him, he was beginning to hate it whenever anybody other than him touched Merlin, he even found him self sulking over Gaius attending to Merlin when he was running a fever a few weeks ago, Arthur attempted his best to nurse his servant by attending to his fever with a damp cloth and talking to him, but he was getting in Gaius' way and the old man was growing impatient with him and told him if he was to stay in the room then he was to leave Gaius to do his job and not fuss over Merlin.
Arthur being the stubborn Prince he was didn't like being told what to do, but in the best interest of Merlin he did just this once and he backed off, he spent the whole time sitting in the chair by Merlin's bed and only spoke to him when Gaius had finished his work.
As Arthur observed the two men in front of him he gritted his teeth, Gwen saw him approaching and gave him a sweet smile "morning Arthur, did you sleep well?" she asked as she bowed her head.
Arthur just gave her a short grunt followed by "I could have had more sleep, had an irritating thought in my head" he growled as he drew up beside Merlin and glared his eyes at the other young man Edward.
Merlin turned to Arthur and smiled "I need to ask you a favour, I have to go back to Ealdor, its Edwards wedding and he wants me to attend" gushed the servant as he beamed a huge idiotic grin, as soon as Arthur saw it he had forgotten why he was sulking and felt his heart skip a beat or several.
Arthur's gaze fell on Edward and he cocked his brow "a wedding, you're getting married, how nice" the Prince said his tone of voice calmed and more relaxed.
Merlin and Edward shot each other an idiotic grin which made Arthur roll his eyes, "is that an Ealdor trait" he asked jokingly.
Merlin shot him a confused look and raised his brow "what?".
Arthur laughed and shook his head "oh dear Merlin, it must be contagious".
Merlin and Edward shot each other a confused look, Arthur smirked "you two, you both grin like idiots" he whipped before wrapping his arm around Merlin's shoulder.
Edward shot Merlin a curious look before continuing to tell him all about his wedding and how he needs Merlin to be there, with Will dying Merlin and another villager were the only friends he had left from his child hood, he wanted to share his wedding with them, his best friends.
Merlin and Edward later returned to Gaius' quarters and sat talking for hours and hours, drinking wine and eating biscuits that Hunith had sent her son.
"We were such troublesome kids" Edward laughed as he reminisced over old times, Merlin wriggled on his bed to get comfy the two men were facing each other, top and tails.
Merlin smirked as he reran a memory in his head "well it was mainly Will's fault that we always got into trouble" he said as he remembered his friend.
Edward fell silent and studied Merlin's face "I can't imagine how you feel, losing... losing someone who you loved".
Merlin's eyes shot up to meet Edwards, his face sad but with a mysterious glint about it.
Edward swallowed hard before continuing with the conversation "I know you and Will were close, I know partly why you left Ealdor, people found out about you two and well.... I know you got taunted enough as it was but when they found out you and Will were having a romance, things must have been terrible for you" he said with concern.
Merlin smiled "it's all in the past, nothing can bring Will back, he died... he died saving Arthur and that was a noble thing to do" Merlin said as he bit back the tears.
Edward sat forward and leaned closer to Merlin "you're in love with Arthur aren't you?" he whispered.
Merlin nodded and a wry smile spread across his beautiful face, "Arthur is the most annoying, wonderful and beautiful person I have ever met" he gushed as he rested his head on his knee's and drifted away with thoughts of Arthur.
Edward nodded then took a final swig of the wine and laid down "night Merlin, sweet dreams" he giggled as Merlin playfully kicked his friend with his foot.
Merlin arrived at Arthur's chambers just as the Prince was waking up, he greeted Arthur with a sweet, boyish smile and the Prince snuggled back down into his pillow.
"Come over here Merlin" called the Prince as he helplessly held out his hand reaching for Merlin with a lost look up on his angelic face.
Merlin sat beside the Prince on his bed and stroked his hair "how long are you going to Ealdor for?" asked Arthur as he leaned his head on Merlin's side.
Merlin leaned down and kissed the Prince's golden hair and rested his cheek on his head, "not long, just a few days, I will be back by next tuesday" he said with a smooth, sweet, comforting tone.
Arthur snuggled into Merlin and wrapped his arm around the servants waist.
"That's too long without you near me" confessed the Prince.
Merlin let out a little smile as the words sunk in 'he doesn't want me to leave him' he thought as he once again kissed the Prince's head.
"Let me come with you" Arthur whispered as he pressed his jaw on to Merlin's hip, his words only just audible.
Merlin looked down at Arthur and raised his brow "come with me... to Ealdor... remember last time you went you hated it, you hated having to sleep on the floor, you hated the food... infact you wouldn't even eat the food my mother cooked for you".
Arthur groaned "Merlin....... last time we went to Ealdor we had a battle to fight, things were different, very different with us, I've changed.. I've become more tolerable of situations, I also have a good reason to want to go with you, I want to get to know your village, your friends and your family... the way I should, the way any lover should... I want to go with you as your partner, not your Prince, not your friend but as your lover" Arthur slowly confessing.
Merlin smiled and kissed Arthur's cheek then jumped up, "we leave later today, if you do want to come then, pack your things" Merlin chirped as he swung on the bed post.
Arthur raised his head to look at Merlin as he danced off across the room "you are such a girl Merlin" Arthur joked as his lover danced with Arthur's jacket before placing it on the end of the bed.
"Will you require your armour to ride in Sire?" he asked almost in a sing song.
Arthur laughed as he observed his servant dancing around the bed, he shook his head and fell back on to the pillows "no, I will not, I am going as a 'normal' person" he said as he stressed the word normal.
Merlin, Arthur and Edward saddled up and left Camelot, heading for Ealdor to attend the wedding, Arthur trotted ahead leaving the other two men to talk.
Edward whistled a tune him, Merlin and Will used to whistle as teenagers around the village, Merlin hadn't heard this song for almost a year and it brought a tear to his eyes as he once again remembered Will and how he was willing to die for Arthur, because he knew deep inside his heart that Merlin was infatuated with the Prince even though Will him self was in love with Merlin and had been for as long as he could remember.
Arthur heard the tune and instantly joined in whistling the joyous, cheery melody, Merlin looked up to see the Prince and smiled, Arthur also knew the song.
The men had been riding all day and most of the night, it was too cold to settle down to camp and if they kept going they would reach Ealdor by the morning, Arthur threw Merlin his thick jacket to keep warm as he noticed his lover was shivering from the cold.
Both men exchanged each other a heart warming smile and continued riding.
Edward had been observing these two men for most of the journey and he could tell that Merlin was highly infatuated with Arthur and Arthur returned the feelings for Merlin, Edward smirked to him self as he thought 'Merlin and Arthur Pendragon Prince of Camelot, lovers... well I never'.
They reached Ealdor just before noon and were greeted by Edwards bride to be, Hunith and a hand full of villagers who came to see the safe return of their villager.
Some were surprised to see Merlin and even more surprised to see Arthur trot into the village.
Hunith ran to her son and wrapped him up in a deep, warm embrace and almost cried with joy as she saw her only son return to the village.
Arthur dismounted his horse and approached Hunith and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek, she gave him a confused stare, followed by one from Merlin, Arthur sighed "I'm trying, I'm trying to be.... son in law material" he said awkwardly as he received an amused smirk from Merlin.
Hunith stared at him then at her son and gave them both a curious stare before realising what was going on, she shot her son a stern stare before shaking her head and walking off.
Merlin and Arthur both laughed as Arthur wrapped his arm around his lovers waist and followed Hunith in to the house.
That evening Hunith left Merlin and Arthur in the house to rest as she attended the bride and her friends and family to help her prepare for the wedding.
Arthur was kneeling on the floor in front of Merlin as they sat by the fire keeping warm and drinking warm tea, Arthur kept staring at Merlin and as soon as Merlin caught sight Arthur would shyly look away.
"Why do you keep staring at me like that?" asked an inquisitive Merlin as he moved closer to Arthur, sliding on his bum across the floor.
Arthur stared in to the fire "your mother, why did she give you that look earlier?" Arthur asked.
Merlin rubbed his neck with his hand and followed Arthur's gaze in to the fire "what look?" he said trying to pretend he hadn't seen anything.
Arthur sighed "you're a terrible liar Merlin, you know the look, the look she gave you after I kissed her cheek".
Merlin closed his eyes fighting back the dread he felt, he wanted to run out of the house and never answer Arthur's question, but he knew he had to, he took a deep breath, composed himself to the best of his ability and finally spoke, he didn't mean to let it all spill out but it just kind of happened and he instantly regretted it as soon as he had said it "my mother doesn't like my... sexuality, its part of the reason I had to leave Ealdor, I was in a relationship with somebody here and when the rest of the villagers found out we were persecuted and I was cast out, I didn't fit in as it was, he fit in more than me so he wasn't bullied as much, plus he could hold his own, nobody would mess with Will he was too tough" .
Arthur shot him a distraught look "Will as in Will who died for me?" he choked.
Merlin said nothing he only nodded and sunk back against the table, turning his head away from his lover to hide the stray tears that ran down his face, he wasn't crying for Will he was crying because he realised this revelation could be the end of the romance Arthur and Merlin shared.
The room was silent for a while, the only sound being the cracking and spitting of the fire as the flames danced casting a reflection on Arthur's face enhancing his radiant beauty.
The following day arrived sooner than anybody expected and it was time for the village wedding, little girls all followed the priest skipping behind him as he made his way through the village, Arthur and Merlin sat out side the house and watched the congregation of small girls following the middle aged, balding old man who was wearing ceremonial robes and carrying a bible.
"Please sir, can you marry my daddies bull and the other farmers cow, so they can have babies and we can have more animals on the farm" asked a little girl as she tugged on the priests robes, he peered down at her and smiled.
"Yes child, I will marry your livestock after I have married Edward and Anna belle" replied the man as he politely smiled at Arthur and Merlin.
As the children and the priest disappeared Arthur let out an hysterical laugh "he marries animals, oh my I take it all back, Ealdor is full of mad people" he screamed as he held his stomach with laughter.
Merlin shot him a glare "it's a way of making the children happy and teaching them lessons, it is sworn that two people should be married before mating and producing a child, so they teach that through animals, marry a cow and a bull, then they can mate and reproduce young" Merlin said educating the Prince.
Arthur raised his brow and pouted "you believe that?" he asked as he observed Merlin's sweet face.
Merlin coughed and walked off "Maybe, but I don't think the rules would apply to me, I'm hardly ever going to reproduce am I" he said as he made his way into the village.
Arthur smirked 'Merlin with kids' he thought then laughed.
He ran after Merlin and ruffled his hair "that makes two of us" Arthur whispered as he grasped Merlin's hand and held it intimately by interlocking their fingers and following his lover into the village centre.
After the wedding whilst the villagers were congratulating Arthur found himself sat opposite the priest who kept shooting him a concerned look every minute or two.
"My child, you look worried, troubled, may I help lift the burden?" the priest asked as he pulled up a chair to face the Prince.
Arthur bit his lip as he thought of all the troubles he had "where do I start?" mumbled Arthur as he ran his fingers through his golden locks.
The priest smiled sympathetically "where the trouble worries you the most" he replied.
Arthur groaned and let his head fall into his hands "its too confusing, well its not its just too awkward.... as you know I am the crowned Prince of Camelot, I have made a promise to my father to one day rule the Kingdom, produce an heir to the throne, protect Camelot and its people, be a true, honest and just king... like my father, only without the torture and murder of those who practice magic........... but how can I be that King when I am living a lie to everybody and the only person who really knows me...... the only person who knows me, who loves me, I am forbidden to spend my life with".
The priest nodded and straightened his robes as he made him self comfortable in the hard chair.
He nodded for Arthur to continue "I am in love with someone and its not.... its the kind of love that would be frowned up on, its even worse than being in love with one of Camelot's enemies where King Uther is concerned" he cried fighting back angry tears.
"Do you think its a bad thing, would you agree its worse than being in love with one of Camelot's enemies?" asked the priest.
Arthur shook his head "no... no it's the best thing I have ever felt.. even if it is wrong.. to me it feels so right and I wouldn't want to be in love with anybody else, he is my soul" Arthur confessed.
The priest smiled "is that all that troubles you?".
Arthur looked distant as he thought of life without Merlin for a moment he felt his heart breaking "how do I be the King I need to be, when I can't give my father what he wants, I can't give anybody what they need, I just want to give Merlin what he needs and stuff the rest" Arthur said as he rocked on the chair, the priest gazed towards the door and closed his hands as in a prayer.
"Are you praying for me?" asked Arthur as he cocked his brow, the priest laughed and shook his head.
"I am merely thinking, praying would be the sensible answer sire, but I'm not going to argue with the Prince of Camelot, if you love this person then there is nothing wrong with it, love is like destiny, we don't chose it, it chooses us and if you two love each other then... then you should be together" said the priest with a wise look before he excused himself.
"I must go marry a bull and his bride now" the priest laughed as he bid the Prince farewell.
The villagers all gathered in a nearby barn for the celebrations of the marriage between Edward and Anna belle, Arthur spent most of the day on the hills thinking as Merlin accompanied his mother to the after meal and after party dance.
Arthur had watched the day pass by after the wedding, loosing him self in his thoughts and his hopes, he knew it was getting late as the sun had gone down quite a while ago and he knew he had to make an appearance at the dance as the whole point of coming to Ealdor with Merlin was to spend time with him, his friends and family away from the prying eyes of Camelot.
Arthur strutted in to the barn and scanned the crowd for his raven haired lover who usually always stood out in a crowd, even though he was rather bland and didn't have anything about him that made him stand out in general, apart from his majestic blue eyes and his enchanting smile, he looked pretty ordinary.
Arthur's eyes skimmed the crowd and he eventually found Merlin standing near the back talking and joking with Edward, Anna belle and another young man who was rather handsome and mysterious looking with dark hair and equally dark eyes, as he and Merlin laughed and joked Arthur felt a pang of jealousy rage through his body like a bolt of lightning and he once again gritted his teeth as he saw his lover with another man.
The music started and everybody partnered up to dance, Hunith approached her son and asked him to dance, he smiled politely and took her arm and lead her on to the dance floor, they bowed and curtseyed to each other before they took each other and began to dance, Arthur watched as the man he loved danced with his mother, Arthur's attention completely stolen by the beautiful, enchanting man that was dancing feet away from him.
Arthur was loosing himself watching Merlin dance and laugh on the dance floor, he smiled to him self as he remembered Merlin dancing in his room the day before.
Arthur was interrupted by giggling village girls as they watched him from the side and whispered to each other, Arthur slowly edged away and rolled his eyes as he over heard them whispering a little too loudly "he's so cute".
The first dance ended and Merlin was still laughing as he spun his mother and did a little mock dance with some of the children, Arthur smiled to himself like a fool as he saw Merlin acting like a complete idiot, but an adorable idiot.
The second dance started and Merlin once again took his mother's hand and lead her in a dance.
Arthur admired them before smirking to himself and strolled over to the floor, he politely nodded to Hunith and she politely smiled back to him before stepping away from her son and Arthur stepped in to take her place "you have never danced with me Merlin, now is your chance" Arthur said a little too loudly so everybody in the barn could hear.
The villagers looked and pointed with amusement and shock as Arthur took Merlin in his arms and leads the dance, Arthur notices the villagers staring and whispering and smirks "looks like we have an audience, shall we give them something to really talk about?" Arthur whispers in to Merlin's ear before spinning him in a circle and pulling him back in close to his chest and then tenderly kissed him on the lips.
The barn erupts in a loud gasp as people witness the Prince and his servant in a tight embrace, they slowly break away and give each other a loving smile, Arthur raised his head and stared at the room and raised his brow and choked back a hysterical laugh as he notices the entire room were staring at them.
He leaned in to Merlin's ear and whispered "I don't mean to alarm you but.... every body saw that and they are all staring".
Merlin griped Arthur's waist and stared into his eyes "I'm done with running from this feeling, let them stare" he said before pulling Arthur's face down to his and passionately kissed him.
Arthur spent most of the night awake, thinking things over as Merlin was out cold from all the wine and ale he had consumed at the dance.
Arthur ran through the days conversation with the priest as he watched Merlin sleep, his chest raising and falling in perfect rhythm 'Merlin looks like an angel when he sleeps' thought Arthur as he found his hand wandering to the servants cheek and he ran his finger over the soft cheek bones and on to his lips, tracing Merlin's outline.
As he touched Merlin's lips the servant twitched and swatted the Prince's hand away, Arthur smirked as he touched Merlin's lips again and the servant groaned and once again swatted Arthur's hand away with a sleepy mumble "stop it".
Arthur checked the window and saw that the sun was almost rising, he continued to stare at Merlin before pulling himself up, gently placing a soft kiss on Merlin's cheek and headed out to pay the priest another visit.
The priest sat on the same chair as before reading a page from his book, which wasn't the bible.
Arthur gave the book a curious look and the priest smirked "it's a book on creatures, there's some strange looking things in here, the questing beast looks a nasty little bugger" he chuckled.
Arthur's stare shot up "questing beast.... it's not little, but it is nasty.. well it was before... before it was killed" Arthur muttered as he thought back to when he was in the cave with Merlin and the beast, he was terrified but he also felt safe being with Merlin, he put him self in danger to save his friend not because it was his duty but because he loved Merlin and didn't want to loose him.
"I've been giving our conversation yesterday some thought, to be honest its the only thing I've been able to think about... you will know that from the dance last night me and Merlin are far more than friends and well......... he is more than my servant, he... he's my lover, we are in love.. I love him more than I love Camelot.. now I know you do ceremonies for cows and I was wondering if you could.. no.. if you would perform one for Merlin and me, would you marry me and Merlin?" Arthur asked as he paced the floor.
The priest thought about what he had been asked for a few minutes leaving Arthur to pace the floor he then looked up at the Prince "I have never married two men before, it's not very common, religion wise it would be frowned up on as a rule, but I guess in some cases rules are made for breaking, if I were to marry you two it would be for good, marriage is for life, you couldn't decide if you two have an argument that you don't want to be married any more, marriage is for good" said the priest as he studied the Prince's face.
Arthur smiled "I know that's why I want it to happen, I want to marry Merlin, I don't care what my father thinks any more, I just care about Merlin" .
The priest nodded, closed his book and stared into the distance for a second then turned back to Arthur "I will marry you two, if it's what you really want Sire".
A huge idiotic smile plastered across Arthur's face and he whooped and punched the air with excitement.
"Now the only question is, doe's Merlin want to marry you?" said the priest as he shuffled towards the book shelf and placed his book on creatures back neatly on the shelf.
Merlin saw Arthur approaching Hunith's house, he smiled and waved.
Arthur returned the smile as he felt his heart flip and almost jump out of his mouth, his gaze fell to his hand and he studied the silver ring was wearing on his finger, he smiled to himself and pulled the ring off.
He drew closer to Merlin, Arthur over heard a woman snigger and loudly cackle as she chatted with another woman "it's disgusting, he's using Hunith's son, the Prince of Camelot, sleeping with his servant, like he really feels anything for the poor boy, he's the future King, why would he want to be with a mere servant, a peasant".
Arthur felt his face and his blood boil with anger as the woman's words stung in his heart.
As he approached Merlin he gently wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close "I have something important to ask you".
Merlin studied Arthur's face and stared intently into the Prince's bright blue, over powering eyes.
"What's wrong" Merlin asked with concern.
Arthur smirked "nothing , nothing at all, just these people don't think my feelings for you are real" he said as he shifted his gaze to the ground and fought back the angry tears.
Merlin's sweet face grew angry "what do they know? They persecute people for a lot less, they don't know us, they don't like people who are different, I had enough of there behaviour when I was with Will" Merlin spat.
Arthur winced as Merlin once again brought up Will, he seemed to haunt most conversations that they had had since returning to Ealdor.
Arthur felt uncomfortable and pulled away, he began to walk away with a look of frustration on his face.
He didn't want to loose Merlin to the memory of his dead best friend but he felt as if he was loosing Merlin more and more with every conversation that included Will.
Arthur stopped walking and clenched his fist, he inhaled deeply then turned on his heels, he paced back to Merlin, stopped inches from him, staring into his magical eyes, floating away in the deep blue, sinking faster and faster, Merlin's expression fell confused.
Arthur took one step forward and dropped on to one knee, he took Merlin's hand in his and looked up to his face "I love you, I can't imagine life without you, I don't want to have to live my life without you..... Merlin will you be mine forever, will you marry me?" he said slowly not once taking his eyes off of the servant.
Merlin's eyes grew wide as the words sunk in "marry you, but Uther will" Merlin began but a huge smile spread across his face as the words echoed in his head 'marry me, marry me'.
He nodded eagerly "yes, yes I will" he replied.
Arthur jumped up and grabbed Merlin and spun him around as he whooped and laughed, he gave Merlin a strong passionate kiss before running off, leaving Merlin standing with an idiotic grin plastered across his face and the villagers left shocked from what they had just witnessed.
'Was Prince Arthur crowned Prince of Camelot really going to marry his servant, Merlin?'
Arthur charged through the door to the vicarage and jumped excitedly on the spot "he said yes, he said yes" he yelled with excitement.
The priest smiled "looks like you are going back to Camelot as a married man" said the priest as he lifted a book off of the shelf "when do you want to do this?".
Arthur stopped jumping to catch his breath and he fell on to the chair "I'm getting married" he gushed with a grin.
The priest waited patiently for Arthur to compose himself "as soon as you can, we... we have to be back in Camelot by tuesday".
The priest flipped a page in his book and sighed "hmmm looks like we will have to do this today then, I have a cow ceremony tomorrow" the man said with a chuckle.
Arthur stared at the floor "today... yes today is perfect".
Arthur and the priest arranged everything, the ceremony would be held on the hills, it was more fitting for the two of them, Arthur just wanted a small ceremony with friends and family, Merlin's friends and family which consisted of Hunith, Edward, Anna belle and a few other villagers who were fond of Merlin.
Arthur had arranged everything with Hunith to get Merlin out to the hills, so he could surprise him with the ceremony.
As Merlin approached the top of the hill he met Arthur's gaze, wide smile, he looked enchantingly romantic with his hair blowing in the wind and his eyes only fixed on him.
Merlin drew closer with a shy smile as he realised what was happening, "we... today" he spluttered.
Arthur smirked "why wait?" he said as he reached out for Merlin's hand.
Hunith stood behind her son with tears streaming down her face, she snivelled and Merlin turned to her "why are you crying?" he asked as he pulled away from Arthur to comfort his mother, she gave him a weak smile.
"I just want to see you happy, if marrying Arthur is that then I want you to, I just don't want to lose you" she confessed as her son held her in his arms.
Arthur waited for Merlin to look back at him and then he gave him a sweet, loving smile "ready" he asked as he held Merlin's hand.
Merlin nodded and looked towards the priest, Arthur nodded to the priest and he began the ceremony.
"WE are gathered here today to join these two people in love and soul, marriage and unity, they will become as one, both sides of the same coin" the priest continued to do the ceremony echoing words that the great dragon had told Merlin.
At last Merlin and Arthur were joined as one in marriage, forever by each other's side.