Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
When the councilmen left the chambers Gaius came up to Merlin, hugged him and whispered. "I'm so proud of you, my boy." Giving each of them a nod he went out, leaving the king and his new First Advisor alone in the council chambers.
"What the hell was that?!" exclaimed Merlin, looking angrily at Arthur.
"We have just overcome twenty five year old prejudices," Arthur replied with a hint of pride. "I admit, the work isn't done yet, but..." the king trailed off, seeing his friend's folded arms and raised eyebrow, prompting him to abandon the facade. "Fine! I didn't tell you before, because I knew you would have never agreed to become my First Advisor."
"Of course I wouldn't!" confirmed Merlin. "I don't want it! I see no problem with advising you, after all I have been doing it for five years as your servant and could continue doing so without a title."
It showed what kind of man Merlin was. He wanted no power or authority, it had to be practically imposed upon him and Arthur could find no one better, whom he would entrust it with, including the power derived from magic. Despite the die being cast, the king wanted to be in agreement with his friend, because that was when they were the most successful.
"Unofficially, yes." Arthur continued to persuade Merlin. "But you would have still been a servant with no actual rights, whom any noble could walk over." The warlock opened his mouth to protest, but Arthur raised his hand and didn't allow to be interrupted. "Let me finish, because you know that I'm right." Reluctantly Merlin nodded, letting him speak. "I never thought like that about you." First Advisor snorted. "All right, I did but only at the beginning. Anyway, I wouldn't have always been able to help you making you vulnerable, even as an advisor," he amended.
Merlin sighed and shifted on his feet for a second. "I'm not happy about it, but I see your point." he conceded. "So you gave me a title, however you didn't have to make me your bloody First Advisor!" he exclaimed, emphasising on the rank. "It only aggravated the lords at the time when you need their support most."
"Yes, I do need their support," admitted Arthur as he saw Merlin's point. "but they need to remember that I'm the King of Camelot, and they swore fealty to me, not the other way round." The monarch smirked. "With this one move, I've put them in their place and made sure they realise whose word I will believe above others."
Merlin was touched by his friends declaration and saw the wisdom of such a decision. When the king was sure there would be no more protests, he got up and said. "Come on, we have to get ready."
"Ready for what?" asked the confused warlock.
"For the announcement of the new law of course." Answered the king, already on his way out the door.
"You mean, that you have to get ready and need me to help you, right?" clarified Merlin, used to the routine and reference of 'We have to get ready'.
"No, I mean that both of us need to get ready, since you will be accompanying me and Guinevere on the balcony." Arthur smirked, but was forced to turn around, because the warlock abruptly stopped.
"What?!" he exclaimed. "You can't be serious!"
"I can and I am," he countered to Merlin's shock making the king's smirk only grew. "Because as my First Advisor and Advisor of Magic you are required to be there to show your support. So come on, we don't have much time." Saying this, Arthur pulled his friend and they continued on their way to the king's chambers.
Merlin was still waiting for the last events to catch up with his brain. First Arthur proclaimed that he would allow Druids to use healing magic and make the warlock his Magic Advisor. When Merlin finally managed to wave it aside, he was met with the fact of becoming a noble and, as if that wasn't enough, First Advisor. To top everything off he had to be present on the balcony during Arthur's announcement, and that's where he was heading now.
Merlin looked at himself and grimaced. Arthur had made him wear far too posh and decorated clothes for his liking, even more than the one he wore at the meeting. They almost equalled to the ones worn by the king. The warlock was aware it was expected for the announcements, but didn't have to like it, especially when applied to him.
"People of Camelot," Arthur started, Gwen by his side and Merlin a little behind, in the shadow. "My father always claimed during his reign we had experienced peace and prosperity, which I also tried to achieve. Recently I came to realization he wasn't totally victorious and neither was I."
The people were silent and a little shocked, not expecting such an admission. "I always attempted to make my father proud and thought him infallible. I was wrong." That started murmurs, but Arthur continued, raising his voice a little bit. "He was a man and as such could make mistakes. His biggest mistake concerned magic."
Having heard that word, which defined most of Uther's reign, made people talk for good. Arthur let it continue for a while, then raised his hands and waited until it became quiet again.
"I know what you are thinking and I'm not going to repeal the ban of magic. However lately I realized there is more to magic than I was aware of, so I consulted the matter with our Court Archivist and Court Physician, as well as conducted a search myself. I found out there was a time before the Purge, when magic was used for the prosperity of kingdom." That caused murmurs again, since Arthur was practically speaking treason, but the whisperings soon died out as everyone wanted to hear what more the king had to say.
"Druids are known to be peaceful people who have never sought to attack Camelot and seem to somehow have managed to avoid the corruption of magic. I am were aware of the danger, but I also came to the conclusion of the advantages of using it, which may prevail the risks. However," Arthur made a pause for a better effect, "it needs to be closely supervised. That is the reason I created the position of an Advisor of Magic. I have carefully considered the candidates and eventually chosen the one that served me loyally for years as well as helped in defeating every magical threat, making him one of the most knowledgeable of the topic of the people of Camelot. I name as the new Advisor of Magic the ward of Court Physician, Merlin of Ealdor." Arthur wasn't finished yet and didn't allow for applause. "Also in recognition of his loyal servitude I'm naming him my First Advisor and a lord of Camelot."
Merlin took step forward and shyly smiled. The proclamation provoked an eruption of cheers making the warlock visibly relax. He even waved his hand after a while, happy the people didn't hold the promotion against him.
When it was quiet again, Arthur continued. "Thereby henceforth Druids are welcomed to Camelot and allowed to practise healing magic with the permission of the person in question and under the supervision of a Knight of Camelot, Court Physician or Advisor of Magic. Hence today, I also abolish death sentence as the only penalty for practising magic."
The crowd was silent for a moment, then shy cheers started, followed by more, which were louder than ever before and lasted until the King and Queen of Camelot, along with their new First Advisor, left the balcony.
As soon as he was hidden from view, Merlin leant on the wall and took deep breaths to calm his rapid pulse. Finally he looked into his friend's face and said with pride. "You did it. I'm so proud of you." The warlock's eyes were suspiciously shiny.
"No, we did it." The king corrected his former manservant.
"We couldn't have done it without you," Gwen agreed, smiled at Merlin and hugged him. Arthur offered him only a friendly punch. "Good work," he said. "See you at feast. You will enjoy being served instead of serving."
Merlin was certainly looking forward to it.
I have a question. Would you prefer me to write what happens in more details now or rather just the summary of what happens and e.g another fic with 'missing scenes'? The summary would have sped up the moment when the real action begins :)