After they had gone to their rooms and settled in for a bit, Cendred requested their presence. Arthur and Merlin made their way down and about halfway Arthur turned to Merlin.
"Yes Arthur?" Merlin asked as he stared into the prince's eyes. Arthur simply smiled brightly and took merlin's hand in his. Merlin smiled and they made their way to the throne room. Cendred was sitting at a table in the middle of the room and looked up at the sound of the doors opening.
"Arthur, Merlin, come sit." He said motioning to the two chairs at the table. They walked over and took a seat. Cendred looked up at Arthur and then to Merlin. "I know why you have come here." Cendred said calmly. Arthur sighed.
"Yes, I know you will never reach peace with my father while he is still persecuting those of magic." Arthur said. Cendred nodded.
"You are correct. Then why have you come?" he asked. Arthur shrugged.
"It is my duty to come and do the kings bidding." Arthur explained. Cendred nodded.
"What will happen if you do not come back with a treaty of peace from me?" Cendred asked softly. Arthur glanced at Merlin who simply shrugged.
"I will be punished. Not severely, but I will still be punished. My father doesn't understand that his ways are wrong. He will see your refusal as you declaring that you are an enemy of Camelot." He stated. Cendred frowned.
"Would he declare war on me?" Cendred inquired. Arthur frowned and thought about it.
"No, probably not at first. You must understand my father may be wrong in his ways, but he still has some good in him. At first he would do nothing. Then he would believe you are using your sorcerers to plot against him. He would cut off trade and have the knights on standby at any moment in case you attack. Then he would let the thought of you invading consume him until he became obsessed and he would organize a stealth attack on your kingdom so that you would not have the chance to use magic against him." Arthur explained after thorough thought. Cendred's eyes opened in surprise, but Merlin nodded his head at Arthur when he looked at him for approval.
"So it would be in my best interest to form a treaty with Camelot?" Cendred said in a neutral tone. Arthur sighed.
"I don't want to seem like I am threatening you into this. But honestly yes, then my father will be more inclined to overlook this whole magic thing." Arthur explained. Cendred nodded, looking deep in thought. Suddenly he brightened.
"I propose something along those lines, but not quite." Cendred said with a smile. Arthur nodded, inclining him to go on. "Well, I will have a treaty with Uther that will stay until the time of his death at which time a treaty forged between you and I will be enacted." Cendred said. Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"You would make a treaty with me? You don't know what kind of king I will be." Arthur said questioningly. Cendred raised an eyebrow.
"You doubt that you will become a great king?" he asked. Arthur sighed and nodded slightly. Cendred broke out into a smile.
"That alone shows me how great of a king you will be. If you question yourself, your authority, you will always be aware of what is going on. You will be a wonderful king. Merlin would not be risking his life every day if he didn't have faith in you and as lord of magic I believe that shows you a great deal." Cendred explained. Merlin nodded and blushed.
"I've been telling you this Arthur." Merlin said softly. Arthur smirked at him before turning back to Cendred.
"So then, what will this treaty with my father entail?" Arthur asked.
"I will be in peace with him unless provoked otherwise. He can trade with my kingdoms as long as he doesn't arrest those who practice magic in my kingdom. I will keep this treaty as long as he is king." Cendred said and a scribe hurriedly wrote it all down.
"And once I am king?" Arthur asked softly. Cendred smiled.
"It depends on what your plans are." He countered. Arthur frowned, but then looked at Merlin who smiled at him encouragingly. Arthur took a deep breath and a moment for thought.
"It won't be like it is today. The people will not live in fear of the crown. The ban on magic will be lifted within hours of my coronation and the ban on love as well. I won't be my father. I won't let his tyranny continue. I also will not hide my relationship, I won't hide Merlin." Arthur said deadly serious. He looked ay Merlin and smiled lovingly at him. Merlin smiled as tears pricked his eyes, he had never heard Arthur be so passionate about anything, but here he was declaring that Merlin would basically be a king. Or a king consort, not shoved to the back like a dirty little secret.
"Then between us I say we become actual neighbors. Our kingdoms will be more than just treaties of peace. We will be allies we will uphold the honor of the other kingdom. We will allow magic to flourish. We will give each other advice when we feel the other needs it. We will not be ashamed to seek each other out in our times of need. Most importantly, we will be invited to each other's weddings." Cendred said sternly. Merlin blushed as he realized what Cendred was implying. Arthur nodded.
"Yes." He said simply. So it was drawn out, with agreements there and decisions made on other things. Arthur signed his part with a flourish and then handed the quill to Merlin who looked at it confused.
"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked softly. Arthur chuckled and looked to Cendred to explain.
"As future king you will need to be a part of these procedures as well. I would like to have a peace treaty with both kings of Camelot." Cendred said. Merlin looked at him like he had grown a third head.
"You're serious?" he said after Cendred continued to hold out the treaty to him. Arthur chuckled.
"Yes Merlin, he's serious. Now hurry up and sign the stupid document." Arthur said with a small smile that gave him away. Merlin nodded and signed his name on the provided line with a flourish. They all grinned at one another.
"Well, I suppose we will have to have a feast for you. Tell me Merlin, what is your favorite meat?" Cendred asked as he beckoned to a servant. Merlin blushed and stuttered, not used to being treated as more than a simple servant by anyone other than Arthur. Arthur and Cendred exchanged an amused look at Merlin's stumbling.
"He rather enjoys pheasant, isn't that right Merlin." Merlin nodded and smiled gratefully at Arthur. Then cocked his head to the side wondering how Arthur had known that. He was almost positive that he had never mentioned it, and completely positive that even if he had, the prince would have never remembered it.
"Well then pheasant it is!" Cendred said and a servant hurried off to alert the cook. He turned back towards Arthur and Merlin. "Well, the castle is open for you to explore, there are practice grounds. Feel free to treat this as your home." Cendred said and with a smile he ushered them out of the throne room.
"So, what do you wish to do?" Arthur asked Merlin. Merlin turned to him blushing.
"Umm, let's go to the tallest tower." He said softly. In Camelot the tallest tower was his favorite place to go. The guards no longer patrolled it and it gave him a place to sit and think. Arthur nodded and pulled Merlin by his hand towards the tower. They found it after about 20 minutes of searching. Merlin sat on one of the walls, straddling it and Arthur stared at him shocked.
"Aren't you frightened you'll fall?" he asked.
"I do it all the time in Camelot and… sometimes… I wished I would fall." Merlin whispered. Arthur stared at him.
"Why would you wish that?" He asked softly.
"I… It's just…. I." Merlin stuttered. Arthur smiled softly.
"Yes?" He cajoled softly. Merlin sighed and looked away.
"I used to let my thoughts get to me too much. Thoughts of being alone forever, of watching you love others as I sat there, nothingness in the background. I used to think of how angry you would be when you found out I had magic. I thought of many things up there. It just seemed like such a simple solution. To just fall, blame it on my clumsiness." Merlin admitted. Arthur shook his head and gathered Marlin in his arms.
"You're never to do that. NEVER. You may never think those thoughts again." Arthur commanded softly. Merlin smiled at him.
"I'm not going to now you prat." He answered with a smirk. Arthur nodded satisfied with his answer. They sat on the battlement, staring out across the castle, watching the workers hurry back and forth in preparation for the feast.
"Merlin?" Arthur asked softly, after hours of silence. Merlin turned to him.
"Yes." He asked, confused at Arthur's nervous look. Arthur smiled softly at him and took his hand.
"One day I will be King." Arthur began. Merlin nodded his agreement, confused as to where Arthur was going with this. "As King I will need someone to rule by my side." Merlin didn't even have time to process that before Arthur went on. "Will you do me that honor of being my king?" Arthur asked softly. Merlin looked up at him amazed.
"You're asking me to marry you?" He asked softly. Arthur produced his mother's ring, with the pendragon crest on it.
"You know that we can't be married now. With my father on the throne we will have to wait, but when I am king… When I am king I would very much like it if you would be there by my side." Arthur said softly. Merlin plucked the ring from Arthur's palm and held it up to his eye. Arthur watched him warily, waiting for some sort of answer. Merlin pulled the chain his father balinor had given him before his death, from beneath his tunic. He unfastened it and slid the ring on. He fastened it around his neck once more and let it slide beneath his tunic.
"I suppose so."