When the Kingdoms' Come

Rated T for violence, language, and hinting at sexual themes.

Will be changed to M later.

I own nothing of Merlin, BBC does. Yes, the plot is very, very similar, but there are some significant differences.

Chapter 10: Wreath of Fate

Merlin was agitated the rest of the journey home. His magic swirled tensely around him, Arthur noted. When they arrived back at Camelot, the young warlock silently led the horses to the stable and carried their bags up to Arthur's chamber, staying a step behind the prince the whole way up. Once inside Arthur's room, the raven teen began to unpack, still without uttering a word.

"What's wrong Merlin." It came out as more of a statement than a question, but it was obvious that something was bothering the servant. Arthur bent over in his chair to start unlacing his muddy boots as he waited for a response.

"I…"

Arthur looked up at the other boy, standing by the wardrobe with one hand grasping Arthur's pack.

The raven turned slowly to look at him. "You're not…afraid of me, are you Arthur?"

The man in question frowned. "Of course not. You weren't fighting me; if you were I might have been a little frightened, yeah." Merlin's face clouded and he seemed to shrink a little. Arthur mentally slapped himself at his poor wording. "As long as you're on my side, Merlin, I will never fear you. How could someone be afraid of a clumsy servant like you?" That got a small half-smile from the warlock.

"I just feel so alone," Merlin said, more to himself than to Arthur. He put the pack down and went to stand by the window. "I feel like I'm the only one here with a magical secret. The only one with a terrible death sentence on their heads if anyone found out. It's so hard, hiding my magic, keeping it in. All I want to do is let it out; it hurts sometimes to keep it so restrained." Merlin turned now to look at Arthur, the sunlight pouring around him again like it was the first time he woke Arthur. 'He looks like an angel,' Arthur thought distractedly.

"When we were in the forest, and the bandits were all around us, I knew I would have to use my magic to escape. It was just little things, like the vines and the branches. Then I saw the knives at your throat and it was like something just snapped inside me." Merlin hesitated, breaking his eye contact with the prince to look at the floor. "I couldn't even bear the possibility of losing you, Arthur. You're the best friend I have here, the only other one besides Gaius who knows of my magic." He looked back up into Arthur's deep blue eyes. "And I let my magic take control."

The young warlock sank to the floor and gathered his long legs to his chest, back pressed to one of the posts of Arthur's bed. "I could have killed them, Arthur. I'm not a killer," he whispered.

Arthur's heart broke a little at his words. He walked over to the raven and sat down beside him. "Of course you're not. You're a powerful sorcerer protecting his destiny. It's a force to be reckoned with." Arthur tried to chuckle to lighten his servant's mood. "Even if you had killed one of the bandits, I wouldn't have thought less of you, Merlin. I'm honored that you fought as you did for me." Merlin looked over at the blond, a grin ever so slowly forming on his face. He nudged the other teen with his arm.

"You're welcome, prat."

"There's the Merlin I know!"

"But seriously, I do feel alone here with my magic." The mood went somber again. Arthur sighed.

"You do know I haven't told anyone but you about my ability to detect magic, right?" Arthur raised an eyebrow at the warlock.

"Oh yeah, I guess that's true. I forget sometimes that you can do that. Have you always been able to do that?"

The prince shrugged. "I think so. I don't remember I time where I couldn't. And if my father ever got word that I can 'see' what I can see, he'd likely burn me at the stake with the rest of the witchcraft community." Merlin shuddered.

"But you're his son, the heir to the throne!"

"It doesn't matter," Arthur muttered tiredly. He had had this argument with himself many times before. "Uther despises all magic, in any form. Even though I can't do any magic myself, this…abnormal ability automatically makes me a threat by his logic."

Merlin nodded. "Magic isn't bad, there are just bad people who use it for their own gains."

"Exactly."

The two sat in companionable silence for a while. Arthur felt every movement of the younger teen beside him, every brush of their shoulders as the younger squirmed slightly on the floor.

"Merlin…"

"Mm…yes?"

"Will you do some magic for me?" The raven turned his head to look at the prince in surprise. Sometimes he forgot that Arthur was just another curious young man like himself. Merlin looked around the room for inspiration, eyes finally landing on a vase of flowers on the table. He brought his knees down to cross his legs on the floor as he summoned the vase over to him. Arthur smiled as the glass container floated leisurely over to the sorcerer. Merlin twirled the flowers around in the vase with his magic, hands occasionally gesturing his magic to his bidding.

Arthur watched as the winter lilies turned into spring daisies, that then began to change color from white to green to purple, then finally settled on alternating shades of red and yellow. In the blink of an eye the daisies multiplied, pushing against the inside of the vase. Merlin lifted the flowers out of the vase with an invisible hand and formed them into a ring, quiet whispers leaving his lips as the stems shortened and wove together. In a minute a halo of red and yellow daisies sat in Merlin's hand, fully in bloom and smelling of sunshine. The warlock moved to kneel on one knee in front of Arthur, holding the flowers in both hands in front of him. Arthur felt a gentle force on the back of his head bowing it down. Merlin settled the crown of daisies on top of Arthur's head.

He shuffled back to look at the prince's beaming face, christened with Camelot's colors. "That was amazing, Merlin," the blond whispered. Merlin blushed and looked down at his scruffy trousers. He felt a hand on his chin, tilting it up to look at the prince. Merlin's eyes widened as he realized how close the blond had gotten; granted, he was sitting right in front of him.

"Let me give you something in return," Arthur said, voice slightly husky as he leaned close to the warlock. Merlin's eyelids fluttered closed, heart pounding against his ribs as he realized how much he actually wanted Arthur to kiss him. Merlin could smell the enchanted flowers, could feel Arthur's presence as he slowly closed the gap between them. The warlock gave a small gasp as Arthur's lips touched his, feather-light and hesitant. After a moment the prince added a little pressure, the thumb on Merlin's jaw gently stroking the pale skin there. Then he withdrew.

Arthur opened his eyes and looked worriedly at Merlin. The warlock was stock-still, eyes still closed and mouth parted slightly. Arthur sensed his magic vibrantly surrounding them both, thick golden strands occasionally breaking away to curl around Arthur's wrists and drift near the crown. Merlin opened his eyes and looked at Arthur, tongue darting out to moisten his lips. Arthur's eyes followed the movement, then flicked back up to lock to the swirling sea of Merlin's eyes.

A thousand thoughts and emotions churned within those dark depths as Arthur gazed at the younger teen, unable to look away. There was mystery, confusion, appreciation, and sadness, and maybe just a little bit of hope too. Arthur understood then the gravity of the situation. This was his life-mate, his destiny, and his best friend. He had just crossed the border into the unknown realm, having given into the impulse to kiss his manservant sorcerer. Whatever decisions he was to make, no, they were to make, would follow them to the end of the line. It was like an invisible, unspeakable, unbreakable vow had suddenly tied them together, just with their simple brush of lips on lips.

Merlin swallowed and folded his legs under him, sitting between Arthur's parted legs. His eyes flickered over Arthur's face, taking in every expression change and thought that crossed the prince's mind. His eyes were deep and sad, the revelation of the burden set upon them weighing much heavier in his mind.

"Is this what the dragon meant?" Merlin spoke quietly, voice cracking and dropping off at the end. Arthur reached for the raven's forearm and clutched it comfortingly.

"I don't know." A pause. "You don't hate me, right?" Arthur searched the warlock's face almost desperately, seeking to understand why his friend was so glum.

A small smile appeared on the face of the younger man. "Of course not, my prince." Arthur's stomach did a strange flip at the magician's words. "It was just, unexpected, I guess. What do we do now?" the younger teen asked.

Arthur stood up and pulled Merlin up with him. The raven swayed dangerously, and Arthur put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "First, we're going to rest from the trip, before you fall and hurt yourself. Then, we'll figure out the mess we just got ourselves into."