Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to the BBC and the four J's - Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps
and Julian Murphy. It's not mine. If it were, I'd make Merthur canon!

A/N: It's my first Merlin fic – be kind. I wrote a TON of descriptions about a special room – which is not usual for me. But descriptions are my weak spot, so I challenged myself to do that. I hope you like that part especially! I need to credit my mom for the idea of the diary, and also thank her for being a wonderful beta. Sorry this is later than I expected but I have finals coming up and you know how that goes.

A/N2: I'm very thankful for my regular reviewers Ondori-Naramaki, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, Loulou2a, mersan123, ulqui's-girl, and MyriadProBold. You guys keep me going!

.~.

Chapter 10: Discoveries and Announcements

.~.

The next day

Arthur faced the council with his head held high, his presence radiating with quiet power. Several of the men leaned forward in their chairs, eager to hear what the king had decided. The room was deathly quiet as Arthur waited to speak, wanting to build the suspense.

"Yesterday, you presented me with quite a quandary," Arthur finally began. "I have thought long and hard about it and I have made my decision. I wish to repeal the law against magic, therefore I will agree to your terms. I will wed a woman of noble birth within a month's time, in hopes of providing the kingdom with an heir."

Quiet applause broke out among the councilmen. Geoffrey of Monmouth nodded his head in approval and Arthur nodded back. When he first heard them, the king had been furious with the terms to marry within a month, but he had to admit that it was a good idea. It was his duty to produce an heir to carry on the royal bloodline after he died. He wished it didn't have to be so soon, as he wanted more time with Merlin without the complication of a wife he barely knew. But his loyalty to Camelot had won out, as did his desire to allow Merlin and those with magic to be able to practice their craft freely, without fear of execution or persecution.

"I am also informing you that at the end of my coronation, I will be announcing Merlin as my Court Sorcerer. I do not need your permission to do this, as such appointments have always been the king's privilege. I just wanted you to know ahead of time, so that you aren't surprised when the announcement is made."

A few of the older council members looked outraged, and were about to complain but something about Arthur's determined gaze stopped them. They knew it wouldn't do any good if they protested – Arthur's mind was already made up.

"If there's nothing else…" Arthur looked around but no one spoke up. "This meeting is adjourned." He quickly left the room, leaving the men to speculate amongst themselves about Arthur's decision.

.~.

After asking around, Arthur found Merlin taking breakfast with Gwen and Morgana in her chambers. Merlin quickly swallowed a bite of bread as soon as he saw Arthur enter the room.

"How did it go?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, tell us," Morgana encouraged.

"As good as can be expected." Arthur sat down next to Merlin and swiped a slice of his bread. "They seemed relieved that I was going to get married soon. But a few of them seemed disgruntled after I told them I was appointing you as Court Sorcerer."

"You can't please all the people all the time," said Merlin, but inside he was worried. "At least they know."

"I suppose." Arthur reached for Merlin's hand. "I wish I could stay and talk, but I need to work on my speech. The coronation is tomorrow, after all. Can I take these? Thanks." He grabbed two sausages off the plate that Merlin had been saving for last, without waiting for an answer. But Merlin couldn't find it in him to scold him, not when he just announced to the whole council that he was making Merlin the Court Sorcerer.

"Good luck with your speech," Merlin called after him.

.~.

While Arthur was working on his coronation speech, Merlin took on the massive task of removing Uther's possessions from the king's chambers and bringing in Arthur's. The king had protested earlier when Merlin volunteered for the task, reminding him that he didn't need to perform menial tasks anymore. Merlin had insisted that he was happy to do it, especially because he could freely use his magic. The young warlock knew that every spare pair of hands was needed for preparation for the coronation, and this was something that he could do more quickly than anyone else. Gwen and Morgana were happy to help him, thankful to escape the hustle and bustle of servants running about.

Merlin thought this would be an excellent time for an informal lesson for Morgana on learning how to enchant objects. They would start with something small and build her confidence. He hoped that in a few weeks, she would feel ready enough to tackle how to control fire. That was one of Morgana's fears. There had been one night where she accidentally set fire to her bed by fixating on a candle's flame that sat at her bedside. It had scared her half to death, knowing that she had such magical power. Merlin knew he could help her quell that fear.

Merlin cautiously opened the door to the king's chamber. No one had gone inside since they removed Uther's body. He tiptoed inside, almost afraid that he would be greeted by the angry ghost of Uther. When no such ghost appeared, he chastised himself for being stupid and then motioned for Morgana and Gwen to come in behind him.

"It feels weird to be in here," said Morgana, echoing how Merlin felt as they walked around the darkened room. "Like we aren't supposed to be in here, like we're disturbing something. I know technically these are the king's rooms, but I will always associate them with Uther. I know they belong to Arthur now, but…"

"I know," said Merlin. "It's strange."

"Agreed," said Gwen, throwing open the curtains, allowing the sunlight to stream into the gloomy room. It was just like Gwen to shed some light on the situation. "But we can't let Uther's memory distract us from the task at hand. We'd better get started if we want to move Arthur's things in here by today." That was Gwen, ever the pragmatist. Merlin was more than happy to take her advice.

The first thing they did was sort through Uther's belongings. The girls helped Merlin decide which pile to put things in. The options were: give away to the needy, save for Arthur, or for the more precious items, hold in the vaults for safekeeping. Merlin had a pretty good idea of what sort of things Arthur would want to keep for himself, and if he wasn't sure, he placed them in the 'save for Arthur' pile.

As they sorted, Merlin showed Morgana how he moved objects from one place to another using a levitation spell. Morgana tried it on a comb, but couldn't move it at all during the first two tries. However, the third time was a charm, and she successfully levitated the comb a few feet into the air before it clattered back down onto the table.

"Very good," said Merlin with a smile that she returned. "You've taken your first step into the world of magic. Well, magic that you can control. How did it feel?"

"Really excellent," said Morgana, a look of awe upon her pretty face. "I didn't know it could feel good when I used magic."

"That's just the beginning," Merlin promised. "I can teach you many uses for your magic, as well as how to control it instead of letting it control you."

"Thank you, Merlin!" Morgana hugged a surprised Merlin. "You don't know what this means to me."

"To feel like a freak because you have magic? I have an idea of what that feels like," said Merlin, but there was no bitterness in his voice. He had come to terms with what he was a long time ago. Now he was determined to help others like himself realize that their magic was not a disease, but a gift that they could use to help others.

"You two are just amazing," said Gwen, who'd been watching with wide eyes. "I knew you both had magical abilities, but I've never seen either of you use it. It's incredible! "

"It certainly helps making chores go faster," said Merlin with a grin.

"Did you use magic to do your chores before it was legal?" Morgana asked.

"Well…" Merlin trailed off, a telltale blush giving him away. "Sometimes. Gaius would give me a talking to if he ever caught me. But it was just so much easier to do with magic that I couldn't help myself."

"I'm just glad that it's legal now," said Gwen. "For both your sakes."

"We have Arthur to thank for that," said Merlin.

"And you," said Morgana, as she handed Merlin the sheets and bed spread that had been stripped from the bed.

"I'll take these to be washed," said Gwen, grabbing them as well as some dirty laundry.

Merlin was glad to get a little time alone with Morgana, to give her a little further instruction on levitation as he cleaned out Uther's chest of drawers. He found mostly old documents and odd little knickknacks. He doubted Arthur would want any of those things. He was almost about to close the last drawer and move on when a small iron object caught his eye.

"Morgana! Come look at this," Merlin motioned for her to come over.

"I wonder what it goes to?" Morgana said as she picked up the dusty key. "It's smaller than the rest that open the dungeons."

"Why don't you try your spell on the key?" Merlin suggested. He was almost done sorting Uther's things. Merlin figured that once Gwen came back, they could rid the chamber of traces of Uther forever and concentrate on moving Arthur in.

Merlin finished emptying the last trunk of clothes, and turned his attention to Morgana, who was having some success at moving the key.

"Look, Merlin! I'm doing it!" she cried, as the key hung dangling in the air.

"Very good," said Merlin, deciding to give her a bit of a challenge. "Can you try moving it a little to the left?"

"I'll try." Determined, Morgana waved her hand just a little to the left. Slowly, the key moved an inch to the left. Unfortunately Gwen came in at that exact moment, and the sound of the door opening distracted Morgana.

"Oh no!" Morgana exclaimed as she dropped the key that she'd been levitating. It rolled under a tall wooden wardrobe that stored all of Uther's formal attire. "I can't reach it."

Merlin held out his hand to call the object to him before Gwen interrupted.

"Wait!" She cried.

"Why?" asked Merlin.

"Can you move that instead?" Gwen said, indicating the wardrobe.

"I can," said Merlin, not really sure where she was going with this.

"Show me. I just want to see if the future Court Sorcerer can live up to his name." Gwen's eyes sparkled with mirth.

"I will accept your challenge," Merlin said with much formality, but his telltale grin gave him away. Of course he was thrilled to have the opportunity to demonstrate his powers, especially to impress his friends. There was the fact that he'd never moved an object quite that heavy before, but after defeating Questing Beasts and evil sorcerers, he imagined it wouldn't be that difficult.

Merlin whispered a spell and suddenly the wardrobe began to float a foot in the air, revealing the key underneath. It took more of his magical strength than he was expecting but he was able to move it relatively easily about five feet to the left and set it down. Morgana was about to reach down and pick up the key when Merlin and Gwen both let out a gasp. All thoughts of bragging about moving the furniture left Merlin's mind as he stared at the wall in wonder.

"What?" said Morgana, stooping down to grab the key.

"Look!" Gwen exclaimed, pointing at the wall.

Morgana stood up, key in hand, and saw what they were looking at. Hidden behind the furniture for many years was a secret door!

"I had no idea this was here!" Morgana squealed with delight. She automatically reached for the doorknob, but predictably, it was locked. "Let's open it. I'll bet this is the right key."

"I don't know," Gwen cautioned. "I've been working here for as long as I can remember, and I've never heard of an adjoining door to the king's chambers. Have you?"

"No, I haven't," Merlin said truthfully. He was mystified as to the door's clandestine existence. Why had it been hidden for so many years? Uther must have known about it. He must have been the person who ordered the furniture placed over the door. But why?

A crease appeared in Gwen's usually smooth forehead. "What if it's locked for a good reason?"

Merlin reached out with his magic and sensed if there were any threats inside the secret room. "It seems safe to me," he announced.

"Alright," Gwen said reluctantly. "But I'm not going in first."

Morgana was more than happy to go first. She fit the key into the lock and turned it clockwise. The door slowly swung open to reveal a room arranged much like the king's chamber, only smaller. However, the main difference between the king's chamber and this room was that this room had clearly belonged to a woman.

A tarnished mirror edged with gold filigree hung on the wall. Beneath it stood a small table, playing host to different sized bottles that upon inspection, Morgana found that they held perfume, face powder, and creams. Next to the bottles lay a silver comb and hairbrush, along with a wooden jewelry box. Near the far corner sat the dresser, topped with a tall glass vase that still held withered red roses. The bed was small, meant for one person. It was covered with a periwinkle blue quilt, embossed with a giant golden lion. A few rays of sun streamed in through the stain glass window that overlooked the courtyard. The window was framed with blue drapes that matched the quilt. Adjacent to the bed stood a bookshelf, stocked with aged manuscripts. Everything was covered in a blanket of cobwebs and layers of dust.

Merlin coughed as he got a whiff of the musty smell when Morgana reached for one of the books. Gwen was not unaffected either. She sneezed three times in a row, not reacting well to the dust that was stirred up.

"Look at the terrible state of this room!" Gwen exclaimed. "I wonder when it was last cleaned? It's filthy." She sat on the edge of the bed, marveling at the artistry of the quilt. If she had to guess, it was a coat of arms.

"Look at this!" Merlin opened the jewelry box and found several sparkling gems on gold chains. He found a diamond, a sapphire, and a ruby – all with matching earrings. But he was drawn to a simple silver heart necklace that glistened in the sunlight. He picked it up and turned it over. Etched onto the front was a scripted 'Y'. He passed the necklace around so that Gwen and Morgana could see it. All three came to the same conclusion. The "Y" obviously stood for Ygraine.

"I think this must have been her room. Arthur's mum," Merlin elaborated. "Uther must have given her a separate chamber, for times that she wished to be alone and undisturbed."

Morgana opened the book. Inside, written in fancy script read Property of Ygraine de Bois. "This must be her diary," said Morgana. "Since she's using her maiden name, I'm guessing she started writing in it before she met Uther." She moved to turn the page and read further but Merlin stopped her.

"What's the problem?" She asked.

"I dunno - I think Arthur should be the first one to read it," Merlin insisted. "It was his mum's after all." Gwen immediately agreed with him, much to Morgana's disappointment.

"Very well – Arthur can have the first look. I presume it's been perfectly preserved the way it was right before she died," said Morgana. She saw something sticking out behind the headboard. "What's this?" She pulled out a portrait of the young queen with Arthur's father. She guessed that Ygraine was about eighteen or nineteen, and that Uther was in his late twenties. Both were gazing at each other and looked very much in love. "Uther must have been so overcome with grief that he locked the room and had the furniture moved to block the door so he wouldn't have to be reminded of her. That's so sad!"

"Arthur looks so much like his mum. It's uncanny!" said Merlin as he inspected the portrait. "His eyes are her exact shade of blue. And he has her golden hair."

"Do you know what this means?" Gwen looked expectantly at the others.

"Yes. Arthur will be thrilled!" Merlin grinned. "This room will give him a piece of the mother he's never known." The young warlock already looking forward to delivering the happy news to his king. "Especially the portrait. His father looks like a kinder, gentler man in the picture. And the diary, of course. Hopefully they will give Arthur some comfort and a bit of an insight into their lives."

"Well, yes, there's that," said Gwen. "But once this room has been cleared…"

"Ooooh!" Morgana squealed, quickly catching on to Gwen's train of thought. "Once Arthur's moved in, this can be your room, Merlin! You can spend the night in here, only a room away from Arthur. No one will question Arthur's servant sleeping in an adjoining room so that he'll have better access to tend to the king's needs."

"It will be perfect! You can have your 'alone time' with Arthur in the king's chamber, and once he falls asleep, you can sleep in here," said Gwen. "It's foolproof."

Merlin had turned beet red when Gwen mentioned having 'alone time' with Arthur. But he was relieved beyond belief that they had found the secret room. Morgana was right. No one would think twice if he moved in to a room next to Arthur. They could be together at night and no one would have to know!

"If you hadn't dropped that key, we never would have found the room." Merlin hugged a smug Morgana. "Thank you. I can't wait to tell Arthur!"

"Oh no, I just thought of something," said Gwen, sounding disheartened.

"What?" Merlin's heart sank. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good.

"When Arthur marries, he'll have to give this room to his future queen."

"Oh." Merlin bit his lip, trying to keep the disappointment from spilling out. "You're right."

"But you can stay here for a month," Morgana reminded him. "At least you'll have that time with him."

"It won't be nearly enough," Merlin said sadly. "Once his wife's moved in, I don't know how Arthur and I can be together."

"Between Morgana, Lance, and I, we'll find some way to help you two. We could guard an empty room in the castle or you could use our house sometimes," said Gwen.

"No." Merlin said firmly. "I couldn't impose on you like that. And I don't want to have to hide and worry about being discovered. Arthur wouldn't want that either. I don't know what we'll do. We could stay away from each other for a while if we had to, but we couldn't do it forever. I need him and he needs me. It's that simple."

"We'll help you Merlin," Morgana promised. "Somehow, we will."

"Let's not worry about this now," Gwen said gently, in an effort to cheer up a morose-looking Merlin. "We still need to bring Arthur's things into the king's chamber and give it a thorough cleaning."

Merlin helped do just that, but he didn't say a word for the rest of the morning. They continued their work through the afternoon, only stopping to break for lunch.

.~.

Morgana, Gwen, and Merlin finished readying the king's chambers just before Arthur returned.

"You three did all of this? In a day?" Arthur was flabbergasted as he looked around the room. His things had all been moved in and from the looks of things, neatly organized.

"We used magic," said Morgana.

"I know, but even so." Arthur focused his attention on Merlin. "You always keep coming up with ways to surprise me. You're amazing." Arthur's hand brushed against Merlin's cheek, who couldn't help but lean in to the touch. Merlin let out a soft sigh, loving every little moment that he and Arthur shared. He felt extremely proud that Arthur was pleased by something that he did.

Morgana cleared her throat, bringing Merlin and Arthur's attention back to her and Gwen. "We cleared out most of Uther's belongings, but we saved the things that Merlin thought you might want. They're on the bed."

"Thank you," said Arthur. "I was dreading having to do that. I'll probably get rid of most of it, but I might save a few mementos that remind me of my father."

"A thank you from his highness? My, my," teased Morgana. "I think he's dismissing us, Gwen."

"We'll leave you two alone, then." Gwen gave them a cheeky wink, then disappeared behind Morgana. They shut the door behind them, and the sound echoed throughout the chamber.

"We're in your father's chambers, Arthur," said Merlin. "It's weird."

"A bit," Arthur agreed. "But he's gone. I'm in charge now and this is my room."

"Actually, about that…" Merlin wasn't sure how to break the news to Arthur about his mother's chamber, so he just blurted it out. "You inherited more than one room."

"Merlin, have you been hitting the cider again?" Arthur joked.

"No!" Merlin said indignantly. "I'm serious. Look over here. It was behind your father's wardrobe all this time, forgotten for over two decades."

Arthur's blue eyes widened as he took in the sight of a door where the wall was supposed to be. "Have you been inside?"

Merlin nodded. "I think you'll like what's in there, Arthur."

Arthur slowly approached the door. Merlin had left it unlocked, so the door swung open easily as the king pushed his way inside. He gasped quietly as he took in all of the furnishings. Arthur immediately recognized the blue and gold lion bedspread for what it was – the du Bois coat of arms. He quickly put two and two together.

"This was my mother's room," Arthur said in an odd voice.

"Yes," said Merlin, not sure if Arthur wanted some time by himself in his mother's old room. If he wanted privacy, Merlin was happy to give it to him. He took a few steps away, thinking Arthur wouldn't need him for a while.

"Get in here with me, you idiot," Arthur commanded.

That answered that question, Merlin thought as he joined Arthur in the secret room.

"There she is!" Arthur had found the portrait of his parents. "This is unbelievable! Look how beautiful she was."

"She definitely reminds me of you," said Merlin. "I also assume she's where you get your kind and generous heart from. It certainly wasn't from your father."

"Merlin, you shouldn't speak ill of the dead," Arthur frowned, but they both knew he didn't mean it. "I obviously got those things from my mum."

"There's something else you should see." Merlin picked up Ygraine's diary and handed it to his king. "Morgana found it earlier. She wanted to read it, but I told her that you should have the first look. We think it was your mum's diary."

Arthur opened it, greedily flipping through the pages - most of which were full.

"You're right – it is a diary. I wonder what she thought of my father the first time they met. I'm pretty sure their marriage was arranged," said Arthur. Then he yawned, bringing him back to the present. "I need to eat, bathe, and get some rest – in that order."

"Yes, Sire," said Merlin, this time without sarcasm. He disappeared to go get their meal, leaving Arthur alone in his mother's room.

"This is better than anything I could've imagined," Arthur muttered to himself. When he'd been a child, he went around to everyone who had known his mother and pumped them for information about her. He asked typical questions. Had she loved him? What made her fall in love with his father? What were some of her favorite things to do for fun? It had never seemed quite enough. But to have this tangible link to his mother, to the woman she was… it was overwhelming.

Arthur's eyes blurred with tears as he tried to read the first entry in his mum's diary. On second thought, maybe he should leave the diary for tomorrow. That would probably be for the best.

Merlin returned within a few minutes and they tucked in to their dinner.

.~.

Later

"I can't believe that my coronation is tomorrow," said Arthur as they climbed into bed. He ended up keeping only a few of Uther's posessions, knocking the rest to the floor. Merlin couldn't say he was surprised. If he'd had a father like Uther, he wouldn't have wanted to keep much of his. There would be too many bad memories associated with the object.

"I can't believe it either," said Merlin.

"Finally, the moment I've been dreaming of since I was a child will be here!" As he lay next to Merlin, Arthur's mind was far away from this bed, imagining the scenario that was to take place the next day. God, he hoped that he didn't trip. That would be bloody embarrassing!

"I hope it's everything you've wanted. You've mourned your father. Now it's time to celebrate your reign as King Arthur," said Merlin. "I'm looking forward to seeing you wearing your crown after they make it official."

Arthur scoffed at him. "Why? It's so heavy and I'm always afraid it will fall off. Crowns are overrated."

"It reminds me just how powerful you are," Merlin said in a low voice.

"You really like it on me that much?" Arthur said knowingly.

Merlin's ears turned bright red.

"I see." Arthur smirked at him. "Well. I'm sure if I asked my faithful servant to fetch it for me, I could wear it to bed."

"Arthur!" Merlin protested, when the king's hands went exploring under the covers.

"What?" The king tried to sound innocent and failed miserably. He reluctantly pulled his hand back into safer territory. "You started it."

Merlin tried to steer the conversation back to safer topics, at least for now until they finished discussing the events of tomorrow. "Shouldn't you be thinking about your speech and how you're going to announce me as Court Sorcerer?"

"No," Arthur said confidently. "I know exactly what I'm going to say."

"Yes but, what if they don't accept me?" Merlin worried. "There hasn't been a Court Sorcerer in over a hundred years."

"They will," Arthur assured him. "They know of all the great deeds you have done to protect me and Camelot. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a round of thunderous applause."

"Are you sure you don't want to run through your speech one more time?" Merlin offered.

"I know the bloody thing backwards and forwards! Will you give it a rest with the speech?" Arthur glared at him, but then softened his expression as he looked deep into Merlin's startled eyes. "Right now all I want is to get lost in you."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Merlin caved in.

"Mmm, I've been waiting for this all day," Arthur admitted.

"I have too," said Merlin, glad that he wasn't the only one that felt that way.

They reached for each other and didn't let go until sleep claimed them.

.~.

The next day, Arthur promised before the court, select servants and villagers, that he would uphold his sacred duty as king of all Camelot. He knelt down, ready to receive the symbol of his reign. Geoffrey of Monmouth placed Uther's crown upon Arthur's head. When he stood up and turned around, he embodied royalty. Merlin's eyes watered just a bit - he could not be more proud of Arthur and what he stood for.

"Thank you for this honor to formalize the commitment I have made to my people," said Arthur. He continued his speech that Merlin had pretty much memorized after helping Arthur with it. Merlin couldn't believe that the man before him wearing the jewel encrusted crown topped with golden fleur-de-lis was his. Arthur may have to marry for duty, but Merlin would be the one he kept in his heart. Merlin would just have to keep reminding himself of that in the months to come.

"And now, I have announcement before we conclude the ceremony. I wish to introduce to you my new Court Sorcerer, Merlin. I know you all will treat him with the respect that he deserves." Arthur motioned at Merlin to come forward. He shook his hand and raised their joined hands high above their heads, clearly sending a message to the crowd that he and Merlin were practically equals. Merlin wasn't sure what to do, until he saw Arthur's blinding smile. Merlin returned it, and smiled at the crowd – finally seen for who he truly was.

Arthur had been right – the applause was deafening.

.~.

End Chapter 10

A/N: Reviews are great! I wrote this one on vacation for you guys. You're welcome!