Author's Note: Thank you all for reading this fanfic! As of 4:44 PM EST on May 31, 2012, 7,445 people have ready this story. I can't believe it. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this story. Please check out 'Aberration of a Warlock' – my newest Merlin fanfic – if you will. OK, now, on with this chapter – the last chapter of 'Winds of Change'.
Three months had passed since Arthur and Merlin's adventure at the Isle of the Blessed. Things were better, at least Merlin thought. Now that the King knew the truth about Merlin, and had come to terms with the fact his best friend and warlock was a servant, Arthur had lifted the ban on magic. The only people persecuted for their craft were those who committed a crime (as it should be).
It had taken Merlin all three months to fully heal. The wound had closed up nicely in a matter of two weeks, but regaining blood, strength, and energy had taken much longer. After a full six weeks, Gaius had allowed Merlin do light weight work, like shining boots, getting clothes, and dusting. By his second month of recuperation, he was allowed to get Arthur's meals and polish armor along with the dusting and boot cleaning. It was only in this third month that Gaius deemed him well enough to go out hunting and draw baths as well as the other work. The physician still didn't think it was wise for Merlin to carry water or muck out the horse stalls and so a different servant did those chores.
For some reason, Arthur had declared that he wanted to go hunting, even though it was snowing a little bit with Merlin. The warlock didn't have a clue why, but he went along with it anyway. And, so King and servant rode through the woods of Camelot. The ground was lightly dusted with snow like a wedding cookie and everything sparkled in the morning light. The scenery was dazzling.
Seeing a stag, Arthur raised his bow and arrow. Aiming, he fired. The arrow whizzed through the air and struck the beast. It took a step and then another; then the deer fell to the ground – dead.
Pleased, Arthur grinning as he hopped off his horse. Shoving the reins into one of Merlin's gloved hands, he ran over to the fallen animal. Pulling out his bone knife, Arthur began to saw off the antlers. He might have been Prince and he might be King now, but Arthur knew how to prepare a deer. He actually liked doing the manual labor of the job. It was one of the few times he felt… normal.
Merlin didn't come to help. He could not stomach the disemboweling and dissection of a deer. Besides, Gaius still did not want him lifting heavy things. The warlock figured a deer carcass would be put in the category of 'heavy things'. Even though he didn't like playing with dead things, I.E. skinning them and cutting antlers off of them, Merlin was still bored and he really wished he had something (almost anything) to do besides hold onto the reigns of Arthur's chestnut horse, who was very anxious at the moment.
Seeing a light that glowed blue, Merlin cocked his head. It floated towards him and slowly the lights separated to become two orbs. They lowered themselves to the ground and then in a blink of an eye, two humanoid forms appeared.
"Arthur, do you see what I see," asked the warlock as he looked over at the King.
The blonde-haired ruler had stood. He held his bone knife at his side. His mouth dropped open wide and his eyebrows arched so that they touched his eyebrows. "Yeah," he breathed.
The woman, honey-blonde haired and pale faced, held the hand of a boy of seven or eight years of age. He had bright blue eyes and pure blonde hair that framed his round face. Like his mother, he wore golden colored clothes.
"Hello Arthur. Meet your son, Artair. I named him after you," Sophia said.
"How is this possible? It's only been three months."
"I'm a sidhe. Our growth period is speedy, even though we live for a very long time," she explained. Sophia looked over at Merlin and smiled. "I see you are well. You have a very stubborn friend on your hands. I could hardly pull him from his task."
Merlin's mouth had dropped open. "How is it possible? I-I killed you and your father. I watched you explode before my very eyes," asked the warlock.
"I thought you might ask me that. Sidhe's don't die – easily. You merely temporarily destroyed my essence. But, I regrew and in fact I'm stronger than ever. I'm not mad, though. You were just doing what you had to do to save your friend."
"Uh, I'm glad," stammered Merlin.
"We must go now. Because of you, Arthur, I was allowed back into Avalon. Thank you," purred Sophia. "Say good bye Artair." She pushed the child towards Arthur. "Go on."
The young boy ran over to Arthur. He wrapped his arms around the King's waist and squeezed. After a moment, the child let go. He then went back to his mother.
"Can't he…can't he stay at the castle with me," asked Arthur. He didn't know how Sophia would react to that question and the King wasn't even sure why he was asking, but he thought he'd at least try and see what the answer would be.
"Perhaps one day. But, you are busy. You're King. Right now, Camelot needs you. Besides, Artair is young. He needs to learn many things and he needs to grow. He's still a baby, even though he looks like an eight year old," promised Sophia. "I need Artair to be with me so I may return to Avalon."
"I see," said Arthur in a tone that clearly said he didn't. He looked over at the boy. "Well, Artair. You have a fine name and a sturdy look about you. It was, uh, good to meet you. You mind your mother now. Listen to her."
"Oh, he will. He's a good boy," promised Sophia. She took Artair's hand. Before Arthur and Merlin, the two sidhe turned into the blue orbs. They floated off and then they were gone.
"Wow…you have a son," Merlin muttered. He stared at Arthur. "You played around in bed, making love while I bled to death in front of a stranger."
"She enchanted me!"
"A likely story," Merlin jested.
"She did!"
"Whatever you say," the warlock said with a droll.
"Mer-lin!" shouted Arthur as he hefted the deer onto the back of his horse. "I'll have your head for that."
"You gotta catch me first!" Merlin cried out. With both reins in hand, Merlin rode off with Arthur running after him.
The End
Well, that's it! What did you all think?
