There was a slight sound of birds chirping, it seemed distant and echo-y but it was real enough nonetheless. Morgana moved slightly attempting to get up, her eyes barely opened yet though. Her head felt very heavy, in fact her whole body felt heavy to lift. Inhaling a vast amount of air, Morgana pushed her body up only to be held down by a force… or a hand.
"I believe you've earn a day in bed," a voice told her.
Her eyes shot open and her head was lifted to see the face in front of her. Merlin had a smile on his face; his eyes were soft on her.
"You're awake," her voice had a trace of disbelief.
"Because of you,"
Morgana looked around her. They were on Merlin's bed and he had been holding her the entire time she slept. She couldn't tell what time of the day was it but it could be near noon. The chirping sound came from the window and right enough there was a bird perched on the frame of the window.
"Thank you,"
Morgana looked at Merlin again, "Did it heal you?"
Merlin smiled once more, lifting his shirt in the process. Where the raw wound used to be now was a skin coloured scar. A scar but at least not a fragile bleeding gash, Morgana thought. She looked at the scar, she had done that and she knew it wasn't her magic alone. Merlin's hand brought her face to look at him, his eyes searched for hers.
"You healed more than just my scar and for that, thank you," Merlin pressed his lips against Morgana's. He pulled back and held Morgana for a period of time, "I'm so proud of you,"
"What for?"
"Conjuring that strong of a magic could not have been easy, Morgana," to hear him say her name again made her heart race. She knew it was silly to feel this way, it's not like they're just beginning to love each other but the circumstances she had been through, it made it seem like it had been a while since anything intimate ever happened between them.
"It didn't seem I was alone though, it seemed as though I was," Morgana thought of the right word to use, "assisted,"
"Assisted?"
Morgana's eyes dropped for a while. Her mind wandered about, thinking about the night before and how it felt like the magic was weighting her down. It took all her strength to muster up the magic needed to heal Merlin. Her chest felt tight when it began to grow in her and finally creating the glowing orb on the palm of her hands. Sparks were on her fingers, Morgana noticed, tiny little crackling lights that surged through Merlin when her fingers came in contact with his skin. She did not conjure the spark though, something else had, something accompanying her.
"Our baby," she said quietly.
Merlin was silent for a moment. Morgana still has yet to look up. She had mixed feelings inside of her, proud, but terrified. To know her child had created such magic even while inside her womb made her feel proud of the growing child, it was a miraculous deed. Her fear came when she thought of how her child could create such magic, could it live in this world without people looking at her child very differently, could they be in Camelot under Uther's ruling? Her child could be executed.
Morgana wrapped her arms around her growing body; no one will harm her child or even Merlin. If one ever so near and harms even a single strand of hair, she would set them on fire.
"Hey," Merlin tried to find her eyes.
The green crystals looked at him warily. He knew well enough what ran through her mind was bothering her and Merlin thinks he knows what was bothering her so much. He pulled her close, turning her around so her back rested against his chest. His chin found its way to her shoulders as he took her hands and wrapped it around her body. His palm rested against her stomach as her hands lay on top of his.
"As long as I'm alive, I won't let anyone hurt you or our child," Merlin promised, "I am so proud of what our baby can do,"
Merlin felt a light nudge against his palm. He smiled against Morgana's shoulders, there was so much going on, it seemed too much to take in all at once but Merlin knew everything will be going by fast and he would need to prepare. There was intelligence, power, beauty and magic growing within Morgana and the little bundle of joy would bring so much. For one second, it seemed surreal to Merlin.
-}-
Fingers drummed against the table as the Prince of Camelot stared off into space, deep in thought. A knock on the door surprised him out of his daze as his attention lead to the door.
"Come in," was his gruff reply. Whoever it was better had a good reason for disturbing his thoughts.
Merlin came in his chambers with his usual goofy grin. Arthur's jaw dropped for a moment before lifting himself off the chair to walk towards Merlin.
"Merlin! You're awake!"
"I am, yes,"
"How?"
"Oh… Gaius fixed some kind of cure,"
"Huh, he did it," Arthur paused for a moment before clapping both his hands against Merlin's shoulders, "Good to see you back, so I assume you can get back to work now,"
"Of course,"
"Great, I need you to polish my armour…" Arthur went on and on listing chores after chores for Merlin to do.
Merlin just grinned. He was glad to be back up and about and not suffering in silent pain. Returning to his work was something Merlin felt absolutely grateful for. Arthur could barely take care of himself and this field of work, taking care of people, was obviously not the substitute servant's best field. So, Merlin found himself in Arthur's room, rearranging the bed sheets, making sure it was flat with no crease in sight. He arranged Arthur's clothes properly – the tunics were just thrown into the cupboard so it was left on the floor of the cupboard. After Arthur's room was taken care of, Merlin took the armour and sword, beginning his least favourite chore, polishing, but he didn't complain or grumble today, in fact he was glad to be doing this instead.
By the time night fell, Merlin had done everything that was necessary. Arthur seemed impressed by Merlin's pace of work (not that he says it anyway, but his face betrays him for a moment). Bringing Arthur's dinner was his last duty before he would turn in for the night. His beloved would be waiting for him as always.
Merlin passed by Gwen in the corridors while Arthur's dinner was in one hand. After serving people for quite some time, Merlin had mastered the art of balancing plates in one hand with ease. Gwen seemed ecstatic to see Merlin up on his feet and moving about. She had given him a quick tight hug knowing he had to get to Arthur soon or else the prince would grumble like a child.
As expected, Arthur was pacing in his chambers; a serious facial expression masked his face.
"Ah Merlin, there you are," Arthur walked towards Merlin, passing by the surprised manservant, towards some clutter of objects by the door.
Merlin looked at Arthur searching the clutter and could only shake his head as he set the plate on the table and prepared the cutleries and poured the drink. It is so like Arthur to simply dump things and then misplace them within the pile he had created.
"Here, I need this cleaned by tomorrow and this shirt has got a hole, fix it and my chain, is my chain ready?"
"Yes, Arthur, the chain it ready, and what did you do to the shirt? Bite it?"
"Haha," Arthur sarcastically replied, "Just get it fixed,"
"Yes, sir, I there anything else I can do for you?"
Arthur lifted a finger and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Merlin raised an eyebrow.
"On second thought, nothing, you can be done after I'm done eating," Arthur went to the chair and sat before finally eating.
-}-
As Arthur promised, Merlin was dismissed from work right after he was done eating. Merlin grabbed his work for the night and left to the kitchen to leave the plate there. He had passed Sir Percival and Sir Leon on the way to Gaius' chambers, they seemed glad to see him up and working.
The castle walls glowed gold from the lit candles and the wind was cool, blowing through the windows as he passed an opened corridor. Merlin smiled for no reason at all. Come to think of it, he had been smiling for no reason at all for the entire day. It felt as if the heavy burden in him had been lifted, not entirely but it seemed as if there was someone assisting him with the weight, and he has never felt better. Well Morgana had made his life so much better but this is something else. This was a whole new level of lifted burden and Merlin had a feeling Morgana was somehow involved in it.
Morgana… What would he do if he hadn't had the guts to show her the true him? He often wondered what would happen to her if he hadn't.
When Merlin pushed the door to Gaius' chambers, the sight he saw shocked him out of his life. Morgana was lying on Gaius' bed as Gaius passed her some kind of clear drink in a small vile.
"Morgana, what's wrong?" Merlin ran by her side.
"It's just a cramp, it's normal for pregnant woman, Merlin," Morgana reasoned with a smile.
"Most other women don't have magic," Merlin muttered.
Morgana placed her hand on Merlin's cheeks, "Hey, I'm fine, you worry too much,"
Merlin smiled his goofy grin and blushed, "Really?"
"Yes,"
Gaius cleared his throat and looked at the two, "Well, Merlin she's right, you worry too much, she's fine; it's a normal thing, but Morgana" Gaius looked straight at Morgana, "Rest," his tone sounded like a father's.
Morgana got up and thanked Gaius before leaving the room to lie on Merlin's bed which she had grown comfortable to. Merlin sat beside her.
"You're sure you're fine?"
"Yes, you're such a worried daddy,"
Merlin blushed again, "I'm just looking out for you both,"
Merlin laid a hand against Morgana's stomach. The bump was obvious now; it made Merlin happy every single time that the reality of him being the father of the child that grew inside Morgana hit him. He leaned in a put his head against her stomach, his left ear pressed against it. He could see Morgana smiling at him.
I love you, daddy
The small child voice surprised him for a moment. Merlin knew right away that it was his child's voice; it couldn't have been anyone else's. Merlin smiled and whispered, "I love you too," too quiet for Morgana to even hear him properly. That was all he hears, the next second all was silent. And for a moment, Merlin was afraid. This world is too dangerous for his child to grow in. To think, the child of two powerful witch and wizard? Uther would have the child killed no matter its age.
Merlin stood up, too quickly that it shocked Morgana for a while. He stared out the window for a moment before finally composing a thoughtful face.
"You sleep first, I have polishing to do," Merlin leaned in and kissed Morgana's forehead, "Goodnight, love,"
"Good night, don't stay up too late,"
Merlin nodded before going out of his room. Thoughts invaded his mind; thoughts that made him want to shed tears of sadness and anger. This is not the world he wanted his child to grow in, he wanted his child to be free, to be able to live as how he wanted and not hide who he truly is. It seemed unfair.
Somehow, Merlin found himself in the forest, alone with fog coming out of his mouth. There he fell on his knees in a clearing, soft sniffling sound escaped from him. He's heard his child's voice; his child had told him that he or she loves him. If he couldn't fulfil his destiny of bringing magic back, Merlin felt as though he had let his child down. And so he had spent the night allowing the tears to stream down his face, letting the thoughts take over as he held on to the thoughts of Morgana and his unborn child.
Hello!
Hi, I know I updated this chapter a little late. Don't kill me. And I'm sorry if this chapter sucks. Don't kill me again. Hey, guys, I won't be able to update this chapter for about 2 weeks. I have an exam (it starts today and ends Friday next week, AHH!). So, sorry, I'll try to update ASAP right after my exam. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
