Hey guys sorry that this isn't a super long chapter but school has been super crazy lately. We're coming up on spring break and the workload is getting pretty bad. Anyway... here's the latest chapter.
It was like that, that the court sorcerer of Camelot walked into an already in-session council meeting, wearing crinkled clothes with disheveled hair and dark circles under his eyes, looking more frantic than most had ever seen him.
Despite trying to sneak in quietly, everyone in the room stopped to watch as the warlock lurked in and took his seat on the left of Arthur. Gwen, who was on the king's right with Amr in her arms, gave him a worried smile. The man in the center of the two remained stoic but internally was screaming.
"Right," a noble in bright orange robes said, "as I was saying, Sire, we cannot allow them to live there any longer. The people are becoming wary and many parents have found their children out late, playing with them in the forest. The children of course say that they were just picking flowers and playing games but that's exactly what a child would say if they were under a spell."
Merlin rolled his eyes. This was the entire reason that he had requested the meeting. Some nobles and counselors were still trying to get rid of the druids who lived outside of the town.
Arthur let out a tight sigh before responding, holding up a black-gloved hand to silence the man.
"Lord Perigant. The druids are peaceful. The children are not under any spells. I have had my court sorcerer-" Merlin felt his chest swell at the pride in Arthur's voice when he said 'court sorcerer', "take a look at all the children who have been playing at the settlement. Merlin, why don't you tell the counsel what you discovered?"
Merlin cleared his throat, trying to look important. "None of the children were under any sort of spell, enchantment or anything otherwise, except for one girl who had fallen and skinned her elbow, which was wrapped with herbs and a small healing charm."
"So none of them were in danger then?" Arthur continued.
"No sire." Merlin answered dutifully.
"And the tales of picking flowers?" The king asked.
Merlin pulled out a small chain of purple wildflowers that had been woven into something of a crown.
"It appears, sire, that they were picking flowers." Merlin said happily.
The king smiled at the nobles defeat. The court sorcerer did the same. Somehow their banter came in useful when it came to putting rioting nobles back in their place.
Lord Perigant, who had been standing with a very stupid look on his face suddenly turned angry.
"My lord, if I may, are you really going to trust in this... This enchanter? If king Uther was here he'd have him thrown in the dungeons and executed within minutes I don't unders-"
The king slammed his fist down on the round table before him angrily. "Lord Perigant I suggest that you silence yourself at this moment before you say something that I don't agree with."
The puffed up man deflated almost instantly and sat back down, looking very much like he was attempting to sink into his chair.
Riled up, Arthur continued. "My father was a great king but he was not always correct. He feared the things that he did not understand and as such many mistakes were made that cost Camelot a great deal. As the king I am trying to right my father's doings, that includes the unjust persecution of magic."
Merlin looked down at the flowers in his hands with a proud smile. Never in a millennium would the raven-haired man have thought that he'd hear those words from the king's mouth, let alone to an entire room of very powerful men.
The meeting progressed as usual until the subject of grain-distribution came up. The winter was not far off and the subject needed to be addressed as soon as possible to begin preparing.
"We must set aside a portion of the stores for the outer villages and the settlement as well." Arthur said with a bored drawl. One of the counselors looked stricken and Merlin sat up straighter in his chair.
"My lord I must object. The outer villages have their own farms and stores and the settlement, well surely you can't expect us to give our hard-earned food to them?"
The man in question was older, not as old as Gaius but definitely late into his 50th year and as thin as Arthur's sword. Merlin was actually surprised that he had challenged the king.
"The outer villages farm, yes, but they have little stores as most of it goes towards taxes and there were far too many deaths last winter to ignore. As for the settlement, the druids help in farming. The cast charms over the fields to create a larger crop, surely you cannot say that you have not noticed the over-abundance this season?"
The counselor looked sheepish. "Well, yes, Sire, the fields have been plentiful this year but that could just have been due to the weather. There is no proof that their... Magic, has anything to do with it."
"My lord," Merlin interjected, noticing that the king looked bored and irritable, "if I may, the druids have been using a very old earth magic that aids in the farming process. If my figures are correct," Merlin said, looking at a complicated set of numbers on a piece of parchment that he had brought along with the flower wreath, "the fields should yield about double what they normally would. That doesn't seem like it could have just been caused by the weather."
"No, it certainly doesn't, does it?" Arthur asked, looking directly at the counselor, who apologized and went back to working on his own figures. From across the table, Merlin could see him scribble down a sizable amount under the settlement's name.
Over the course of the meeting Merlin had managed to remain awake and alert but as time wore on and the day got later and later, he felt himself beginning to tire. Gwen had passed Amr off to a nursemaid long before and Merlin had slipped the prince the flower crown that he had brought.
After a short while the warlock noticed Arthur glancing at him every-so-often. Eventually, in the middle of a heated debate on where to source the stone for a new portion of the castle, the king cleared his throat loudly.
"The meeting with continue tomorrow at noon, you are all dismissed." He said and the room dispersed quickly, obviously as bored of the subjects as Merlin was.
"It's like listening to George explain all the different ways to polish copper." Merlin said with a weary sigh after the last man had left the room.
Arthur cracked a smile. "Or like listening to that one story of Gwaine's concerning a busty barmaid and a very angry goat.
Merlin chuckled, knowing the exact story. Gwaine had told it time and time again but always seemed to forget that everyone had heard it multiple times.
From the other side of Arthur, Gwen peeked over.
"How are you feeling, Merlin?" She asked softly, her dark eyes brimming with concern.
The warlock smiled reassuringly. "Healthy as a horse."
A look of disbelief flashed over the king and queen's face but they kept silent.
"Now, I believe that I will go see about the pratling." Merlin said, getting up as smoothly as he could manage and fighting the urge to sit back down and not get up.
"That 'pratling' as you call him in the prince of Camelot and you will show him the respect that a prince deserves." Arthur said, trying to sound stern but failing.
Merlin looked stricken. "Sire I am! After all, I used to call you a prat all the time when you were a prince."
"Yes and it was very inappropriate!" The king retorted.
Smiling, Merlin replied cheekily, "But look at what a king you've become, and all because I was there to humble you."
Despite being concerned for the warlock, Arthur opened his mouth in protest. As Merlin dashed out of the counsel room a loud "MERLIN!" could be heard echoing throughout the castle.
Merlin found the toddler in question playing in the gardens with his maid. The prince was wearing the flower crown and chasing around a small whelp with loud shouts of joy. The puppy in question had been a gift from Arthur to his son for his last birthday. The dog would one day join the elite hunting hounds of Camelot but for now was simply a companion for the young prince.
"Unkie!" The prince cried when he caught sight of Merlin. The nickname had been bestowed upon the warlock when Amr first learned to speak. At one point Merlin had referred to himself as "uncle" when speaking to the toddler and much to his delight, and Arthur's horror, the boy had repeated a mangled version of the word back to him and it had stuck.
"Ah, your royal highness!" Merlin said with a low bow, putting on a show for the boy. "What would we like to see today?"
Amr's eyes lit up and he screeched "pony pony pony" excitedly, dancing circles around the warlock.
"Alright, pony it is!" Merlin laughed happily and held out his hand. He whispered a few words of the ancient language and his eyes flashed gold as a herd of galloping horses appeared like smoke in the air and began prancing around the two.
Amr clapped his hands in glee and began chasing the smoke around, followed closely by his dog and then Merlin, who brought up the rear.
After a few minutes of running, where Merlin had to pause several times to catch his breath, the warlock collapsed happily into the grass and shut his eyes. It was growing close to Autumn and the air was cool but not cold, the sun bright and warm on his skin.
"Oomph!" Merlin exclaimed as something hard slammed into his stomach. He opened his eyes to see two blue orbs staring back at him, inches from his face.
"Unkie tell story." Amr demanded.
Merlin put his arms behind his head and made no motion to move the boy, who was stretched out along his torso with his arms folded underneath him.
"Hmm... Let's see. Okay I've got one." Merlin said after a moment.
"Once upon a time, there was a great, big, nasty dragon." He began, putting together a haphazard story in his mind.
"This dragon, he wasn't very nice at all. He would always stomp over the fields and set fire to villages and send people running and screaming."
Amr put his head down on Merlin's chest and closed his eyes but the warlock knew that the prince was still listening so he continued.
"And this dragon, he was also really sad and lonely, because he didn't have any friends. Everyone was afraid of him, so he'd go out and stomp their fields and set their houses on fire because he was sad."
"But one day, a knight came along. He was the bravest and noblest of the knights. His name was Lancelot."
Merlin's chest got tighter at the mention of his friend but he tried to keep his voice steady and upbeat.
"And the knight he found the dragon one day in the forest and the dragon said to him 'who are you and what do you want?' And Lancelot responded, 'I am Sir Lancelot! The bravest and noblest of all the knights! I've come to slay you dragon!' And with that Lancelot took his sword and charged in at the dragon."
"No one had ever been brave enough to try and slay the dragon before so Lancelot managed to deal a blow on the creature's arm. The dragon had never been hurt by a sword before and so he cried out in pain and shock."
"Lancelot got ready to attack again when he noticed the dragon crying and he asked 'why are you crying beast? I've come to slay you, tears will not help you now!'"
"The dragon cried out 'I just wanted someone to talk to! I never meant to stomp the fields and burn the houses I was just lonely!' And Lancelot stopped."
"You see, Lancelot had grown up without any brothers or sisters and so he knew what it was like to be lonely and he took pity on the dragon. 'I'll be your friend.' Lancelot said to him and the dragon stopped crying."
"After that no one's fields ever got stomped on and no one's houses ever burned because deep, deep in the forest the lonely dragon and the bravest, noblest knight were laughing and talking and having fun together. The end."
Merlin glanced down at the toddler on his chest and saw that he was fast asleep. With a smile the warlock reached out to pet the puppy who had snuggled up on his side and closed his own eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his skin.