The kiss is sweet, mingled with tears and laughter.
Merlin breaks away to look at Arthur, still entwined in his arms. "You were actually worried I'd say no, weren't you?"
"Well, um…"
Merlin kisses him on the nose, laughing. "Clotpole."
He gets up and pulls Arthur to his feet, looking around at his chambers in wonder. "This is amazing, Arthur," he says, gesturing at the rose petals and silk strewn around the room. "Morgana really outdid herself."
"I should have known you'd like it," Arthur mutters. "You're such a girl, Merlin."
Merlin ignores him; he's eyeing Arthur's bed, which is mercifully free of rose petals. When he looks back at his king, there is a glint in Merlin's eyes. "I love you," he says. Then he pushes Arthur onto the bed and leans forward to kiss him.
Morgana is in her element, bossing around everyone from the knights to the serving girls. Business at Camelot seems to have come to a standstill in preparation for the wedding. Arthur wanted it to be a quiet affair, but Morgana wouldn't hear of it. Now, he can't walk through the courtyard without a blush creeping up his neck, watching the extravagant spectacle forming before his eyes.
Merlin has locked himself in Arthur's chambers – hiding, no doubt, from Gwen, who is has been trying to force Merlin to try on his clothes for the wedding for weeks.
Arthur comes in to see Merlin curled up on their bed, reading again. "You know, the wedding is tomorrow," he says. "What if your clothes don't fit? You really should let Gwen have her way."
"She took my measurements!" Merlin protests.
Arthur just chuckles and throws himself onto the bed next to Merlin, batting the book away to give himself full access to Merlin's neck.
Merlin hums appreciatively for a minute, but suddenly stiffens.
"What?" Arthur draws back, alarmed to see how pale Merlin has suddenly gotten.
"It's Nera," he whispers. "Her second wish."
Arthur's heart sinks. The last time she needed their help… well, it was hardly pleasant for either of them. He glances longingly out at Morgana's preparations, suddenly feeling rather attached to them.
"I think we'll have to postpone the wedding," Merlin says softly.
"Alright, Nera, this had better be good," Arthur says. Merlin shoots him a sharp look, but Arthur can't help being annoyed. In one more day, he was going to be married to the most wonderful man in the entire world, and now Nera's interrupting that plan; of course he's not happy.
"I need your help," she says steadily.
"Yes, we figured as much," Arthur grouches, but Merlin shushes him.
"What is it Nera? Is your family safe?"
"My family is fine… for now. It is everyone else's family that I'm worried about."
"What's the problem? What do you need me to do?"
Nera gestures for Merlin and Arthur to sit down on the forest floor. "Ever since you saved my family, I have been uneasy. We beat the Guhey that one time, but they will not stop. It is not just my family, but all of my people who are at risk every day." She draws herself up and takes a deep breath. "I want you to give me absolute power over all of the wood nymphs – my people and the Guhey both."
"What do you mean?" Merlin asks, genuinely confused. "There's no way to do that."
Nera simply hands him a very old looking piece of bark with words in a foreign language scribbled over it. Merlin starts to read, and his eyebrows draw further down by the second.
"It will give me irresistible power," Nera explains. "All wood nymphs will be forced to obey my command, whether they want to or not. I can command peace, and it will be so."
Merlin just looks at her, his face blank.
"It needs to be done at the full moon," she continues. "That is in two weeks. I suggest you take time to prepare whatever you need to."
She makes to get up, but Merlin starts making a choking sound before bursting into speech. "Nera, you can't possibly ask this! Give you absolute power? No one should have that power, it's not right. What if you go crazy? What if you become a tyrant? I can't do this…"
"You can and you will," she says coolly. "I have your word." Her face softens a bit. "Merlin, I do not ask this for personal gain. I wish only to bring peace and prosperity to my people. With the absence of war, the Guhey will prosper, too."
"I – I'll have to… come back. At full moon," Merlin says. "Meet me here."
"I will be here."
She turns and slips into the trees, leaving a stunned Merlin and Arthur staring at her back.
"You aren't seriously considering doing it?" Arthur asks.
Merlin shakes his head, not in denial, but rather in confusion. "I don't know. I gave her my word that I'd grant her three wishes – if it wasn't for her, you'd be dead, Arthur. And she only wants to bring peace, but…"
"But absolute power goes to people's heads," Arthur finishes for him.
"Come on," Merlin sighs. "Let's get back to Camelot. We can think what to do there."
The ride back to Camelot is silent, and when they arrive, Arthur takes it upon himself to tell Morgana the bad news, that the wedding is postponed, at least until after the full moon. Merlin, meanwhile, goes to talk to Gaius.
The next few days are a blur of arguments, research, and more arguments. Try as he might, Merlin can't quite convince himself to do it, no matter what he's promised Nera. If he creates a monster…
A week has passed before Morgana finally comes to see him. "Merlin."
He jumps as she comes up behind him.
"Morgana," he says, squinting at her through tired eyes.
She sits down without waiting for an invitation, fixing him with a penetrating stare. "Merlin, I've been watching you. You haven't found a solution, have you?"
"I don't think there is one," he says hopelessly. "I've been trying to find a way to end the war without doing as Nera asks, but really, I don't see any other way."
Morgana hesitates, before plunging in. "Merlin, do you remember that… that night?"
Merlin stiffens. "We promised never to speak of it again."
"Yet now me must," Morgana says steadily. "I think Nera needs you to do for her what you did for me."
"Morgana, that nearly killed you! There's no way I'm doing it again, even if Nera does agree to it!"
"What other choice do you have?"
Merlin just shakes his head wordlessly. Morgana squeezes his shoulder. "You should speak to Arthur about it. He needs to know."
She leaves before Merlin has managed to collect his whirling thoughts.
"Arthur?" Arthur opens his eyes groggily.
"Merlin, it's the middle of the night."
"I need to tell you something."
Merlin's grave tone has Arthur sitting up in bed at once. "What is it?"
Merlin just bites his lip.
"Merlin, what is it? You can tell me."
"I promised Morgana I'd never speak of it," he says softly. "I would never break my word… only she came to me just now. Told me to tell you, told me I'd have to do it again. I don't know if I can, Arthur…"
"Stop, stop. Merlin, take a deep breath and tell me what you're going on about."
He does as Arthur instructs and takes his hands before beginning. "Morgana was… losing herself. She was having dreams… she saw what she was becoming Arthur, well before your father died. She was terrified, terrified she's become the monster she fights. I – I had to help her."
"What did you do?" Arthur's voice is barely above a whisper.
"A spell," Merlin whispers back. "There was an old spell – a bind on her power. She didn't want to be able to use her magic for evil – so I made sure of it. The spell leaves her magic alone while she uses it for good, but as soon as she starts using it for evil, her magic is cut off and she has no more power than a commoner."
Arthur absorbs this relatively quickly, shoving away and shock at Merlin's revelation – not to mention the fact that he kept this from him – away for later. "She wants you to do that to Nera. Give her the power, but only if she'll use it for good."
Merlin nods reluctantly.
"Well… why not? It sounds like a good idea."
"Arthur, it's not that simple. Having your power bound… it nearly killed Morgana. I still remember her screams… Even if Nera does agree, she may not survive the process. I – I'm not sure if I can do it."
"What if you – I don't know – bound the power before you gave it to her? Morgana's magic is in her, but you'll be giving Nera the power over her people. What if you gave it to her already bound? Surely, it wouldn't hurt her then?"
Merlin is silent for a moment before jumping up, optimism blazing in his eyes. "I need to go talk to Gaius!" he says, bounding out of the room. Arthur flops back onto his pillows, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"Nera. Glad you're here."
"I wasn't sure you'd come," she says. "Part of me didn't think you'd honour your word."
"I will – but I will not give you absolute power without limitations," Merlin says.
He proceeds to explain what he's done, modified the spell so that Nera can't abuse her power. He and Arthur wait on tenterhooks as she considers.
Finally, she smiles. "Of course. I only ever wanted to use my power for good, anyway. Let's do this!"
Merlin grins and sits down in front of Nera, their crossed knees touching. Arthur watches as Merlin closes his eyes, takes Nera's hands, and begins the spell.
"Stop fidgeting," Gwen mutters, adjusting Merlin's tunic.
"I can't help it," he whines, tapping his foot. "What if I trip? Or if I knock over a pitcher of wine all over the tunic? You know how clumsy I am, Gwen."
"You'll be fine, Merlin," she says soothingly.
To distract himself from his nerves, Merlin tries to think of other things. It's been a week since he did the spell on Nera – a week since peace was finally enforced among the wood nymphs. He and Arthur wasted no time on getting the wedding back on track, both eager to be officially committed to each other forever.
Now that the wedding day is here, though, Merlin is wishing they had given it a bit more time. He glances out the window, but he can't see anything from here – Gwen has been deliberately keeping him from the hall where they're doing it, telling him that he's only to see it when he's walking in.
Merlin wrings his hands as Gwen fusses and finally steps back. "Perfect," she says.
When Merlin doesn't look like he's going to move – or even like he's capable of moving – she takes his hand and pulls him downstairs. There is no one in sight – everyone is already in the hall. He bites his tongue, telling himself that it will be fine. There are only a hundred or so people, all of whom will be avidly watching him. Nope, nothing to worry about. His hands start sweating.
Gaius is waiting for him at the door as the music starts. Gwen grabs her bunch of flowers and kisses him on the cheek. "Go on. Arthur's waiting for you."
Gaius takes Merlin's arm, and leads him inside.
Merlin can feel the weight of hundreds of eyes on him, but he has eyes only for the end of the hall. There is his mum, standing behind Arthur. There's Morgana, beaming. The knights are arrayed around, their eyes shining. Merlin hardly sees them, though. He sees only Arthur.
Arthur's eyes lock with his and don't leave as Gaius leads him down the aisle. Merlin seems to float on his arm, and he realises with a shock that his nerves have left him. Of course it's going to be ok. Arthur is right there, and he's Merlin's. Forever.
Merlin hardly hears the words spoken over them. He is hyper aware of his hand as Gaius passes it to Arthur. Then he's looking into Arthur's blue eyes, lost in them. He feels their skin touching through their palms, and in that moment, it's as if they are alone in the room.
It blurs, the rings, the garland, the memorised words they both speak – all he is aware of is Arthur, standing so close to him, staring at him with such love in his eyes that it takes Merlin's breath away.
Finally, finally, the word is given, and Arthur leans forward, sealing their bond with a kiss.
"I love you," he says, loud and clear.
"I love you," Merlin replies.
Holding hands, they turn their bodies towards the crowd, though they have eyes only for each other. As everyone stands up and starts applauding, Merlin closes his eyes, trying to immortalise this moment in his mind forever. He leans into Arthur, how puts and arm around him.
As Merlin looks at him, he feels joy spreading outwards from him, seeming to infect the crowd around him. Arthur is his, and nothing is ever going to change that. Ever.
To be continued
That's the end of part two – third and final part coming soon! :)