Morgause was dead. Arthur looked at Merlin triumphantly. The sorcerer stood up and wrapped his arms around his lover, rejoicing for all that had transpired. Things couldn't have turned out better. The former prince grabbed Merlin's head and pulled it towards him, pressing their lips together and claiming Merlin's mouth as his own forever. Their tongues intertwined in Merlin's mouth, each fighting for dominance, until Merlin's won and pushed Arthur's tongue away into its own mouth, following it closely and sliding along Arthur's teeth.
"Shall we finish this in the cave?" Arthur asked, breaking away for a second and taking in a deep breath.
"Aha," Merlin replied breathlessly. The two young men walked back towards their cave. The mare was drinking water from the river when they arrived. She lifted her head, looked at them, and bent back down as if nothing had ever happened. They hurried into the cave and Arthur pushed Merlin into the wall, consuming his beautiful full pink lips.
"You," he managed to get between kisses, "Are. Simply. Amazing. Merlin."
"So are you," Merlin breathed out. He pushed Arthur away and then turned around and pushed Arthur into the wall. Merlin hungrily kissed his former master and trailed a nervous line with his hand down to the prince's erection, cupping it tightly. Arthur shivered at Merlin's touch. Who could have told him, a few days before, that he would be at the mercy of Merlin's sexual drive?
"Now you are my master," Arthur whispered, his voice breathy and husky in Merlin's ear. It was enough to make Merlin's blood boil with desire for this beautiful blonde man that was standing so close to him. He pushed Arthur to the floor and carelessly undid his shirt, revealing the beautiful golden sculpted chest. He pressed hot burning kisses all over the wonderful Pendragon skin and traced a line from the collarbone to the navel with his magical tongue. He splayed his fingers across Arthur's chest, massaging the rock-hard skin.
"Merlin," Arthur shuddered, "I want you so bad."
"You will soon have me," Merlin replied. He clumsily took off his own shirt and then lowered himself so that their chests were touching. Although Merlin was still as thin and scrawny as he had been the day before, he was more confident of himself now – he knew that Arthur was completely entranced by him, for some strange reason or another, and that he was beautiful to the former prince. The heat bouncing off the skin of each man's chest was enough to warm them up, even if Merlin's everlasting fire were to be put out. Merlin grinded himself against Arthur, their abdomens causing friction, making everything hotter, and their rock-hard erections colliding in spite of the barrier of clothing.
"I want you naked," Merlin whispered hungrily. He undid the laces on Arthur's trousers, and Arthur happily sat up and pulled the trousers off. Merlin looked at his wonderful lover, his muscular columnar legs gleaming in the fire. He pressed kisses all over Arthur's thighs and knees and shins, until he got to Arthur's feet, where he gently massaged and placed kisses.
"Now you," Arthur replied. He pulled Merlin to his feet and took off his trousers so that the black-haired beauty stood bare before him. Arthur pounced on Merlin the moment he got the chance. They claimed each other's lips simultaneously, each one battling for dominance. Arthur pushed Merlin into the wall, released his mouth and instead claimed his neck, licking and nipping at the skin while placing feverish kisses all along the length of that beautiful snow white neck.
Merlin turned around, pushing Arthur into the wall, and immediately knelt, taking Arthur into his mouth without any warning. Arthur gasped as he felt Merlin's lips closing in upon him. Merlin pushed himself towards and pulled himself away from Arthur, keeping him in his mouth at all times, sliding his tongue along the entire length. He splayed his fingers across the prince's beautiful round buttocks. Arthur shuddered as Merlin sucked hard on him and licked him and pleasured him. He lost his hands in Merlin's pitch black hair, caressing the other boy's scalp. He felt himself getting closer and closer, but Merlin didn't let him arrive. He pulled away just in time and rose to his feet, kissing Arthur again.
"Take me," Merlin whispered. So Arthur did. He pushed Merlin to the floor, face down and got into the young man, thrusting himself in and out powerfully, causing friction and giving Merlin the most pleasurable kind of pain he could imagine. Merlin rolled his eyes into the back of his head and arched himself back to make Arthur go deeper and deeper. It was all he wanted. Arthur was all he wanted. Merlin felt himself shuddering and as it grew faster and hotter and even more painful, he tripped over the edge and shot out a mass of white into the cavern floor. "Arthur..." When Arthur felt his lover shuddering in his grasp, coming for him, whispering his name, he felt himself going hotter and sweatier and more explosive until he finally released himself within the depths that were Merlin. The two lovers pulled apart. Arthur sat with his back against the wall and held Merlin in his arms. Merlin's head was resting on Arthur's chest, and he could hear his heart beating rhythmically; first speedy and then going slower and slower until he relaxed.
"Now there is nothing that can break us apart," Arthur said.
"No. Never, Arthur," Merlin replied.
"I can't believe I've killed Morgause," Arthur said softly, "My father would be so proud." Merlin's heart clenched inside his chest; he couldn't take it that Arthur was in such pain because of Uther. Of course, he understood, but he didn't want Arthur to ever be in pain about anything. He took the prince's hand in his and squeezed it.
"I'm sure your father would understand if you gave him a chance to get used to the fact that you respect men and women of all classes and ranks. Uther isn't a bad man. He's just had a difficult time – he battles magic because he has misused it, and he wants that divide between royalty and serving men even though Gaius is his best friend. Your father's problem is not cruelty, but denial. He was raised in a way that taught him there should be boundaries and reverence to your sovereign."
"Wasn't I raised with his same values?" Arthur asked.
"But you are nobler than him, Arthur. Your heart is pure. It's unblemished. No matter how much pain you may feel, you never turn your back on your friends."
"I turned my back on the whole of Camelot," Arthur replied, "What does that say about me?"
"That you are a romantic."
"No. That I am a coward. I was afraid that my father would hang me if I kept on caring for you."
"You know that would never happen. No matter how hard Uther tries to knock some sense into you; to discipline you into following his values and beliefs, he loves you. And he would love you no matter what kind of messes you got yourself into. You are his one and only son, Arthur."
"But what if he hanged you, Merlin? Perhaps that is what I feared the most. If my father should harm you, he would be killing me in a way that is worse than hanging or beheading. That loss would be irreparable."
"I can't control what your father does to me. I am just a serving boy with no family name to support my pleas. And if I should try to save myself using my gifts, that could only condemn me to a far more painful death – a death by burning. But I would rather die than watch you suffer."
"I'm not suffering," Arthur replied, "I'm not going back home. I want to stay here with you, where we are both safe and happy."
"It's getting slightly cold now..."
"Let's get dressed then," Arthur replied, pressing a soft kiss to Merlin's beautiful satin cheek. They both stood up at the same time and started putting on their clothes.
"Are you tired?"
"Yes. I just battled with an evil witch and almost died...what do you think?"
"Well then, we should get some sleep."
"What if someone should walk in on us and kill us during the night? Bandits, perhaps."
"Entranthe caferneh sealethe!" Merlin said, his eyes shimmering a beautiful golden hue. Arthur stared into his lover's eyes as they changed colour, at his lips as they formed the strange words, and at his cheekbones as they tightened. Merlin was truly a powerful sorcerer. He had gifts like none other that Arthur had watched using magic before.
"What are you looking at?" Merlin asked.
"You...you are so powerful."
"Until you kiss me," Merlin replied, grinning, "Then I'm hopeless and useless."
"Well, not useless to me," Arthur whispered, smirking, "So what did you say?"
"I have sealed the entrance to the cave using magic. Nobody may walk through until I order the barrier to dissolve.
"What if I decide to make a run for it during the night?" Arthur asked.
"You won't."
"And why is that?" Arthur said slowly, his deep voice husky, pulling Merlin close to him.
"Because you love me."
"Indeed I do," Arthur replied, kissing Merlin softly on the lips.
Merlin smiled at him and they both went down to the floor, snuggling up and covering themselves with the blanket they had brought.
"And just for the record," Merlin said, "I love you too." He was facing the wall, but he could feel Arthur's breath on his neck. He could feel how it lightened as he heard the loving words come out of Merlin's mouth.
The two boys slept comfortably; more comfortably than they had slept since this whole tragedy/blessing had come upon them. Now they were safe and free – they had nothing to worry about. All they needed was each other, and that was all they had. The birds started chirping lightly at the break of dawn. Arthur's eyes fluttered open. He took in his surroundings. In his comfort, he had almost forgotten that he was sleeping on the floor of a cave. He scowled at the ugly nature of the room he was in, but then looked down at the sleeping Merlin who was curled up into a ball, and his face softened as he smiled. Arthur pressed a soft kiss on Merlin's head, deciding not to wake him up just yet, and stood up, untangling his arms from his lover's body ever so gently and unnoticeably. He desperately needed to bathe in the river, but he knew he couldn't get out of the cave until Merlin ordered the barrier to disappear, so he decided to explore. He took a twig in his hand and lit it using the everlasting fire Merlin had set up for them during their first day here.
Arthur walked into the darkness of the cave. There were a number of different passages, but he decided to go to the middle one, not wanting to get lost. It was a long and fairly thin passageway, and Arthur feared it would take him nowhere, but he kept on going nonetheless. He lifted his torch up to the walls, the magical fire roaring and sending light all around the prince. At first there was nothing to see, but as he walked deeper into the cave, Arthur started to realise that there were some markings on the walls. He tried to read what the words said, but they were not in a language he had ever encountered before. He scrunched up his eyebrows, feeling defeated, but continued walking nonetheless. Finally, after a very long and tiring walk, he arrived at an iron gate. He tried to open it, but there was no way of doing so. There wasn't even a key. Arthur realised that the entrance to the cave had been meant to be sealed shut. He looked through the bars at what lay beyond.
His heart stopped. It was a crypt; a beautifully decorated crypt, with white crystals all around the cavern walls. It had been left in its natural state. There were no more added items, except for the stone sepulchre that stood erect in the middle of the cavern. The top of the sepulchre was sculptured into the shape of the most beautiful young woman Arthur had ever seen. The stone woman lay with her eyes closed, facing up, with her small nose and lips still forever. Her hair was spread all around her shoulders and went down to cover her breasts. She wore a long stone dress that looked like it would have been made of rich materials had she been living and made of human flesh. Arthur noticed some inscriptions on the side of the sepulchre.
Here lieth one loved and cherished. Thy death shall be avenged. Here lie the remains of the fair queen, Ygraine Pendragon.
Arthur fell to his knees, holding on to the iron bars, desperately wishing he could open them up and run to his mother to embrace her dead bones. He wanted to be next to her; as close to her as possible. He had never been so close to her, apart from her conjured image by Morgause. But that had not been his real mother. This; this was his real mother. The mother who had died giving birth to him. Tears ran down the prince's cheeks. He wished he could have met her. He wished she could have been here. Although he had never known her, he knew deep in his heart of hearts that his mother would have accepted and loved him regardless of his feelings for Merlin. Ygraine was not Uther – Arthur could feel it in the air around him. She was embracing him, holding him. Her spirit surrounded him. And he was filled with the love he had longed for ever since he had opened his eyes; a newborn baby – the love of a mother.