Disclaimer: All rights to Merlin belong to the BBC, I just play on their playground.
A/N: As usual thoughts and spells are italicized. I know this chapter is later than usual, I struggled to write this one at the beginning, then at the end it became easier. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or put this story on alert since last chapter! This story has reached 100 reviews! Woohoo!
Chapter Twelve: A Fate Decided
I'm going to legalize magic.
Time seemed to have ground to a halt as Arthur's words hung in the air around them. Mordred's mouth opened slightly but no words came out. A moment before he had been almost certain that Arthur was about to banish them, but now...
When he had first woken from Morgana's spell he had felt as if he was trapped in a nightmare. Now he again felt that he must be dreaming, but this time it was the kind of dream that you never wanted to wake up from.
Mordred glanced over at Merlin. The warlock was staring at Arthur with a thunderstruck expression, his mouth hanging open.
The silence seemed to stretch forever before Merlin finally broke it, "Truly?" his voice sounded hoarse, "Do you really mean that?"
Arthur blinked, "Of course I mean, it, Merlin." he scoffed, "Do you think I'd say something like that if I wasn't serious?" The familiar, irritated tone of his voice broke the spell his announcement seemed to have cast over them. Mordred and Merlin both laughed, and after a moment Arthur joined in.
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Merlin couldn't seem to stop smiling. Arthur was alive! They were all alive! And Arthur was going to legalize magic! The day before it had seemed like everything was lost, and now suddenly it was as if everything was falling into place.
He could tell that Mordred was having similar feelings, though a hint of sadness lingered in the young Druid's eyes, reminding Merlin that their had been a price to pay for the things that were happening now. How high a price, Merlin didn't yet know, having embarked on this journey immediately after the battle.
"How are we going to get off this island?" Arthur's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Briefly, Merlin was tempted to summon Kilgharrah, if only to see the look on Arthur's face when the dragon appeared. But he doubted the old dragon would be very impressed if he was called up for such a simple errand.
"I can summon a boat." he said instead. He glanced at Arthur for approval and the king nodded once. Merlin turned toward the lake and extended his hand.
"Naca, onwrêon!" A wooden boat, large enough to fit all three men comfortably, appeared, bobbing slightly on the water. Merlin glanced at Arthur to see his reaction, but the king's face was unreadable. It still felt incredibly strange to openly use magic in front of Arthur.
Arthur climbed into the boat and Merlin and Mordred followed.
"Astýre," Merlin murmured, and the boat began to move towards the shore.
Arthur looked at the other two, a serious expression on his face, "This won't be easy." he warned, and Merlin knew he was referring to changing the law, "There is much fear of magic in Camelot. We will have to proceed with caution." Arthur's tone was businesslike. Clearly he was attempting to treat this as if it was any other matter of state.
He looked at Mordred, "I would like to contact the Druids, could you help me with that?"
Mordred nodded, "Yes, Sire." He glanced at Merlin and Merlin could tell that it felt just as surreal to Mordred as it did to Merlin to be talking about these things to Arthur so openly.
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Guinevere stood at a window, staring down at the palace courtyard. There had been no news of her husband since Gaius had told her that Merlin and Mordred were taking him somewhere where he could be healed.
To say that the queen was worried would be an understatement. In the aftermath of the battle at Camlann, she was kept nearly constantly busy with various duties, and she was grateful for this. It didn't leave her much time to think and worry. But at night, when she was alone in the chambers she usually shared with Arthur, Gwen was left unable to sleep by worry and fear. She would pace her chambers, wondering where Arthur was now, whether he was all right, whether she would ever see him again.
Then there were the moments like now, moments between her duties, when Gwen would find herself staring out the window into the courtyard hoping desperately to see her husband walking through the gates-
Gwen gasped. Three figures had just entered the courtyard below: Merlin, looking the same as he always did, despite what Gwen believed she had learned about him from Gaius, Mordred, dressed in strange, dark armor, and walking between them, looking perfectly healthy and strong, Arthur.
Gwen turned from the window and began to run down the hallway, not caring in the slightest that she probably didn't look a bit like a queen at the moment.
She raced down the stairs, passing startled servants and knights, and out into the courtyard.
Arthur looked up a smile lighting his face as Guinevere ran toward him and threw her arms around his neck.
"Arthur!" she gasped, "You're alive! You're home! You're all right!"
Arthur smiled, "Of course I am."
And then he kissed her and for the first time since he had woken up and run from their tent muttering something about Merlin, Guinevere felt at peace.
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Mordred and Merlin walked ahead into the courtyard to give the king and queen some privacy.
Mordred looked over at Merlin and saw that the warlock was scrutinizing him with a strange expression on his face.
"What?" Mordred asked, feeling slightly self-conscious.
Merlin grinned, "I was just thinking… you look better in red."
Mordred stared at him for a moment then started to laugh, glancing down at the dark armor he was still wearing, "I don't even have a clue where all this came from." He waved his hand up and down to indicate the armor. He only had the vaguest memories of the things that had happened when he was under Morgana's spell. He thought he remembered her fastening a black cloak around his shoulders.
He rolled his eyes, "I suppose I'm meant to look villainous and intimidating." e tried to assume an appropriately cold and sinister stare but could only hold it for a moment before it melted into a grin.
"Right," Merlin said, holding back laughter, "You're very, very intimidating. Or you might be, if you weren't grinning like a five-year-old."
Mordred attempted to look indignant, which only caused Merlin to burst out laughing, and Mordred joined in, laughing more fully and freely than he had in months.
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Mordred sat in his seat at the Round Table, his stomach clenching with nerves. He had had a discussion with Arthur just before the meeting, and he knew that after this meeting, the secret he had kept for so long would no longer be a secret.
At least it wasn't a full council meeting. That was a small comfort. Only those who were closest to Arthur were in attendance: the queen, Leon, Percival and Gwaine, along with Mordred himself, and Merlin, who was leaning against the wall in his usual place.
Still Mordred was terrified at the thought of how his friends might react when they learned what he really was.
Arthur rose from his chair and all eyes in the room snapped to him.
"I called you here because there are things I want to discuss with all of you before I make them known to the rest of the council, or the kingdom as a whole."
He glanced around at the gathered party, "Firstly, I intend to seek a meeting with the Druids as soon as possible."
Leon frowned, "It may be difficult to get the Druids to agree to such a meeting, Sire."
Arthur nodded, "I realize that. That's why we need someone who is both one of them and one of us."
Leon looked puzzled, "But we have no such person, Sire."
"Actually, we do." Arthur countered.
"We do?" Gwaine repeated, as he, Leon and Percival exchanged confused glances, "Who?"
Arthur looked at Mordred and nodded very slightly. The queen, who naturally knew everything already, gave him an encouraging smile.
Mordred took a deep breath, "Me."
Dead silence fell as his friends stared at him.
Leon was the one to break it, "You're a Druid?" his voice was unreadable.
Mordred swallowed hard, "Yes."
"And you have magic?"
"Yes," Mordred repeated.
Silence fell again. Mordred shifted under the weight of his friends' stares.
Finally Leon broke his gaze away from Mordred and turned to Arthur, "Why do you plan to seek a meeting with the Druids, Sire?"
"If I can manage to gain their support, it will be invaluable in the days ahead," Arthur said. He took a deep breath, locking eyes with each of his knights one by one, "I intend to legalize magic in Camelot."
The stares that had previously been directed at Mordred were now fixed on Arthur.
"Magic healed me after I was wounded in the Battle of Camlann." Arthur continued, "And you all witnessed the magic that was instrumental in our defeat of the Saxons. I believe this is the right decision," he paused, his gaze sweeping the room, "But, of course I would still like to hear your opinions on the matter."
Gwaine was the first to respond, his eyes on Mordred rather than Arthur, "I always believed all that "magic is evil" nonsense, was just that, mate: nonsense." He gave Mordred a quick grin.
Mordred felt some of the weight on his shoulders lift.
Leon too looked at Mordred as he answered Arthur, "I was raised to believe that magic was evil. I held that belief for many years, until the Druids saved my life using the Cup of Life. Then I began to question it. Since then I have seen other things that have altered my beliefs about magic. I trust your decision, Sire."
Mordred looked at Percival. Like the other two, the large knight looked at Mordred as he spoke rather than Arthur. Mordred understood, his friends were responding to the revelation that he was a Druid as much as to Arthur's question.
"I wasn't raised in Camelot." Percival began, "There were no laws against magic where I grew up. There was an old woman in my village, a healer, who practiced magic. She had no family of her own, but everyone in the village referred to her as Grandmother Eleri. What she couldn't heal with herbs and scientific remedies, she healed with magic. There were very few things she could not heal. When I was seven, I fell ill with a fever. Grandmother Eleri came to my house and the next day I was running and playing again. Perfectly healthy. I didn't realize until many years later that the sickness I had had was nearly always fatal, and even when it wasn't ordinarily left the victim bedridden for weeks."
Percival paused, seemingly noting the eyes of the others on him, "When I was ten some men came through our village. When they realized that Grandmother Eleri had magic they were furious and frightened. They cursed her and all of us for accepting her. After they left, I asked Grandmother Eleri what had made them so angry. She said, 'There are some who believe magic to be evil, because they have seen it used to harm people. They do not understand.' She picked up a flower from her table and showed it to me. 'This is nightshade.' she said, 'I use it to heal, but it can also be used as a deadly poison. Magic is like that, it can be used either for good or for evil.' Since that day that's how I've viewed magic."
Gwaine broke the silence that followed Percival's story with a little laugh, "Mate, I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk."
A feeling of warmth and relief was flooding through Mordred. His friends hadn't rejected him. Not one of them had condemned magic, or condemned him. He no longer had to hide his true self from his friends.
As each of his friends spoke, he had felt the weight he had carried for as long as he could remember lighten a little bit, and now as he looked around the room at all of his friends, and met Merlin's gaze as the warlock grinned widely at him, he felt it disappear entirely.
A/N: Merlin's first spell translates to "Boat, appear!" and the second is something along the lines of "move". Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts!
