Season 1, Episode 8

Story 8: The Druid Boy

Chapter 7: Emrys

Aglain's face filled with horror. "The lady Morgana?" He asked angrily. "This is a trap! Erdic, rally the women and children and start packing everything up. We must be gone before we are ambushed."

"This isn't a trap!" Merlin said angrily, stepping forward. "We have been travelling for months to find this camp. Because of me, Morgana can never go back to Camelot, she can never have a normal life. Are you going to deny her the safety and comfort of a place to live as well? It is because of me and my magic that we are here. Do not punish her for my actions."

Aglain looked like he was ready to argue, but Mordred cut in. "They speak the truth," he told Aglain. "They kept me safe. Besides Emrys wouldn't betray his own people."

Aglain's jaw dropped. "Em-Emrys?" He asked uncertainly, looking at Merlin. It was the last thing he had expected. The man before him wasn't particularly extraordinary. There was nothing to set him apart from any another sorcerer.

"That is the name you may know me as, but I am Merlin," Merlin said with a sigh. "I didn't even know I had another name, which is really very strange, until Mordred called me it for the first time."

"Mordred has a gift. He can see things others cannot," Aglain said, glancing at Mordred. Aglain then did something that Merlin would never have expected. He bowed.

Merlin looked at Morgana uncertainly, but she looked as bewildered as he felt. "I… I um…" Merlin said, fishing for words. But this was so beyond the realm of possibility that he had no idea what to say, much less how to react. "Please, there's no need for that." Merlin was so embarrassed. He had never been a huge fan of attention.

"But there is," Aglain said. "I have heard stories about your destiny since I was just a boy. You are destined to change our world and help our young prince build a land free from persecution. The land you are destined to build has been foretold for centuries. I took an oath when I became the leader of my people to aide in the building of that land however I could, even if it meant my own death. It would be an honor to grant you what little comfort we can while you are here."

Now it was Merlin's time to be shocked. He had known that his destiny had been prophesized, but he hadn't realized just how long he had been waited for. "Thank you," he said relieved. Morgana would have a place to stay. She would be safe and cared for. The druid people would be able to do for her what Merlin hadn't been able to. "You have no idea what this means to us."

"It is not you who should thank me, but I who should thank you," Aglain corrected. "Enough talk of these dark topics. We will resume talk of such things in the morning. For now, let us drink and be merry for tonight is one of celebration. The prophecy that has been foretold is finally coming to pass."

From there, everything passed in a blur. Merlin never had to fetch his own drink. When one was empty, he soon found himself with a full tankard. Everyone wanted to talk to him and introduce themselves to him. It wasn't because he was Emrys, but because they wanted him and Morgana to feel welcome. Merlin wasn't aware of how much he had drunk until Morgana pulled him away from the campfire where the festivities were taking place.

"Morgana, what are you doing?" Merlin asked. His words sounded slurred to him, so he could only imagine how they sounded to Morgana.

"How much did you drunk Merlin?" Morgana asked him worriedly. Merlin thought her words sounded slurred as well.

"How much did I drunk?" He asked her with an amused giggle. The more he thought about it, the more he laughed.

"Obviously much more than I did," Morgana said, trying to sound stern, but failing as a smile threatened to break through her composure. Soon enough, she couldn't help but join in Merlin's laughter. She didn't know why they were laughing, but she couldn't help herself. She wasn't drunk, not exactly. It wasn't proper for a lady to get drunk. But she was rather tipsy and she was giddy with relief.

It took them several minutes to calm themselves down. Once they did, Morgana realized just how drunk Merlin had gotten. She had heard Gaius tease him a couple of times about how he couldn't handle his liquor, but she had never realized how accurate that was.

"Morgana," Merlin said in a sing-song voice. His face immediately scrunched up as if he were remembering something unpleasant. "I'm so sorry. I ruined your life. I know you must hate me."

"No I don't," Morgana said reassuringly. She felt as if she were comforting a child rather than a grown man.

"But you do. You really, really do. You may not realize it, but I pulled you from your home. You could have married Arthur and had a bunch of little Arthurs. And you would never have wanted for anything. You would have been happy and comfortable. And Uther would have been your father," Merlin said. Morgana couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the idea of having little Arthurs.

"I don't want any of that," Morgana told him. She didn't know how to get through to him and she knew he was being entirely honest. He was too drunk to lie.

"You say that now. But what can I give you?" Merlin asked her. "I have nothing to offer you."

"You've already given me more than I can ever repay. You've saved me from a loveless life. I don't think you realize that Camelot wouldn't hold meaning without you, not for me at least. I don't want to spend a single day without you," Morgana told him seriously. "Do you understand what I mean Merlin?"

She looked at Merlin and sighed when she realized that all she had succeeded in doing was confusing Merlin further. "I think it's time for bed Merlin," Morgana told him.

Merlin looked at her, his eyes looking very big in the moonlight. "I don't want to go to bed. Besides, this is the first time we've been really alone in months," Merlin told her, suddenly feeling much more sober. This was the first opportunity they have had to be with each other and all he had been thinking about was drinking.

"But we have all the time in the world now," Morgana told him with a small smile.

"You don't know that," Merlin said softly. "I think if we've learned anything, it's that our lives can change in a heartbeat."

Morgana squeezed his hand. "Alright then. But I'm not standing out in the cold," she warned.

"There's really no place else to go," Merlin pointed out. He mumbled out objections when

Morgana just walked away. Before he had the chance to pursue her, she returned holding a blanket.

"It's rather chilly, wouldn't you agree," Morgana pointed out. She hesitated before she turned to Merlin. "I only found one blanket."

Merlin shrugged. "Fine with me," he said. He sat down in front of a sturdy tree and looked at Morgana expectantly. Perhaps he wouldn't be acting so forward if his mind wasn't still clouded by the alcohol.

Morgana hesitated for a moment before she sat down next to him. She draped the blanket over both of them allowing a peaceful silence to fall over them. Merlin snuck his arm around Morgana's back and she leaned against his shoulder.

Neither Merlin nor Morgana remember falling asleep, but they certainly remembered the wakeup call they got the next morning. Merlin doesn't think he has ever blushed so much in his life.