AN: In light of his resent death, this chapter is dedicated to Alan Rickman, one of the reasons I got into fantasy series. May he forever be remembered.
Also, I would like to thank everyone who has read, favorited, followed, or left me a review for this story. 75 reviews is an amazing thing. Thank you all!
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Chapter 25
The past month seemed to fly by. Merlin had spent most of that time split between his daughter, Morgana, Gwen, and writing the new magic laws. As much as he had wanted to, he had not had the time to help Gaius with potions and tending the sick, but Hunith had been filling in, so Merlin did not feel too bad about it.
He had completely rewritten everything. None of the laws from before the Purge had been any help. The old laws had prohibited various magics, even if they were being used for good. Necromancy was considered evil in the past. But if used correctly, it could be used to ask the dead about who had killed them so justice could be served, to allow loved one to say their goodbyes, to verify lineages and inheritance, or question dead enemy soldiers to protect the kingdom from invasion.
What irritated Merlin the most was that he had to list all of the good ways to use various types of magic as well as the bad and all of the punishments for each of the bads so that the punishment would fit the crime. He had made sure to never list pires or burnings as punishments. Those were a part of the past and should be allowed to stay there.
Morgana had been a great help. She still had much of Morgause's knowledge, so she was able tell him the various ways the witch had used spells and potions for good and evil. On top of that, she also knew where all of the magic related items, books, locations were for him to research types that neither of them had ever used were. It had been a long process, but it was nearly done. All he had to do was get approval from Arthur and Gwen.
Not that Gwen was in any state to be making decisions right now. She was in pain all the time, so much so that just that morning, Gaius had made her stay in bed for the foreseeable future. She was larger than any pregnant woman anyone in the city, shy of Audrey and Merlin, had ever seen.
Merlin did his best to comfort her. He told her stories about growing up in Ealdor, being married to a woman the size of Sir Geraint, and the joys and pains of having a child you hardly ever see, all the while rubbing the sore muscles of her back. Merlin doubted Gwen would be able to take the stress of this pregnancy much longer. He would never admit it out loud, but he was afraid of watching her die in childbirth like Ygraine and Bridget. He knew the Triple Goddess would never let that happen, but the fear remained.
Bridget had been about the same size as Gwen when she went into labor. She had been a strong woman, but the girls had been too much for her body to take. Merlin still blamed himself for her death. The similarity and inverse of how Merlin reacted to his wife's death to that of Uther's was not lost on Merlin. He knew that he could easily have become just as bad as the mad king had been, and he wasn't positive that he would not do something very regrettable if his first friend in Camelot died.
Merlin knew he should not dwell on these things, but he couldn't stop himself. When the dark thoughts got too bad, only Branwen could comfort him. She would cuddle with him, just hugging for hours on end. Hugs were Merlin's weakness. Only three people alive were aware of this fact; Merlin's daughter, his mother, and Gaius. Though Morgana had her suspicions.
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She had seen just how much tension a single hug from Gaius removed from Merlin's shoulders, or how a quick hug from Hunith would change his dreariness into cheerfulness. She had also walked in on a few of the father-daughter snuggle sessions after Merlin had returned from helping Gwen. Merlin was afraid. She understood why, but she doubted Arthur did.
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Morgana was wrong. Arthur watched his best friend relive some of his saddest memories as he helped Gwen. He knew Merlin needed to see Gwen survive this. If anything happened to her, Arthur doubted that that anyone would be unaware of the warlock's pain.
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Gwen had been asleep when it started, but it soon woke her. Gaius had placed her on bed rest over a two weeks ago due to the amount of pain she had been in. What woke her was the fact that the pain was gone. The aches in her back and neck were gone, but her belly seemed even larger than before.
Curious, the queen attempted to climb out of bed. As she endeavor to untangle herself from the bedclothes, a pain ripped through her like she had never felt before. As she laid gasping in agony, Morgana rushed in.
"Gwen? Oh gods!" The priestess rushed to the door and sent the guards to collect the king, Gaius, and Branwen. She quickly ran back to her friend's side.
"Gwen? Can you hear me?" As she placed her hand on the bed to angle herself to get a better look at the queen's face, she felt something warm and wet.
"I… I think they are coming." Gwen managed to say through her torment.
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When the guard had rushed into the council chamber, it was Merlin who panicked at the news rather than Arthur. The message was no sooner out of the man's mouth than Merlin rushed off to the royal chambers without waiting for the father-to-be. His mind was so focus on getting to Gwen that he did not even realize that he had slowed time to speed his journey.
He arrived at the royal chambers just as Gaius did. Inside, Bran and Morgana were comforting Gwen. When his eyes landed on Gwen he froze. Though he was staring at Gwen, it was Bridgit that he saw.
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As Hunith ran into the room behind the king, her eyes immediately locked on the to deathly pale form of her son. Instead of rushing to help the queen like the others, she walked up to her baby boy and slapped him across the face. The slap had an instant reaction.
His eyes snapped to his mother's as he pulled her into a tight and trembling hug. "Mum! It is happening all over again!"
Hunith smoothed his hair and hushed him. "It is not the same Merlin. Gwen is not Bridgit. Just because she died does not mean Gwen will as well. She needs you to help her, not hide in your memories of the past. Go clear your head. You will need that when the babies arrive."
"I'll take him down to the training fields with me." The mother and son jumped at the voice of the king beside them. "Branwen says she will let us know when it is time. Come on Merlin."
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Arthur practically dragged Merlin down the hallways. The goal given to him was the only thing keeping him from reacting in the same way as Merlin. He needed to put his energy and concentration into something other than thinking about Guinevere's pained cries and moans. Even if that concentration was just keeping Merlin distracted with some basic sword play.
When they arrived at the training grounds, Leon was waiting with two sets of armor and swords waiting for them. There must have been a questioning look on the king's face, because the moment the knight saw his face, he blushed and began explaining himself. As he did this, he began placing the slimmer set of hauberks and vambraces onto Merlin.
"Branwen called to me with her mind and asked for me to make sure the two of you got the birthing off of your minds for a while. So I gathered your and Merlin's armor and brought them down here." Leon punctuated the end of his explanation with a final tug to the strap of Merlin's left arm guard.
"Merlin's armor?" Arthur's face was pulled into a disbelieving smile. "Why would Merlin have armor? He can't even wield a sword!"
Leon's brows shot up as he sent a questioning look at Merlin. The warlock blushed and stared intently at his own boots.
"Merlin! You told me you were going to tell him!" The knight sounded very exasperated.
"I have been waiting for the right moment. Between the magic law, Gwen, and Morgana, I have not really had the time!" Merlin hadn't lifted his eyes from the ground, but he had begun making patterns in the dirt with the tip of his boot.
"You have had time to meet me out here every morning at dawn for the past three months to get your mind off of your past. All you had to do was get him to come with you. I am sure you could have persuaded him." Leon was clearly trying to perk Merlin up.
"I needed that time… It was the only time that I wasn't over thinking everything…" Merlin sounded so pitiful and sad.
Leon reached out and clapped Merlin on the shoulder. "Fine, but you should tell him now."
Merlin's head rose and grin began to form. "Or we could just show him…"
Leon returned the smile and handed him a sword before headed out into the training yard. Merlin jogged to meet him and the fight began.
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That had not been at all what Arthur had been expecting. It had started out slow, and the king was pleased to see that his servant managed to keep a hold of his sword. But then they picked up the pace and Arthur's view of Merlin was once again shattered as Merlin began using moves that Arthur had only seen in tournaments and from a distance. The worst part was that most of Merlin's was the mirror of Arthur's own.
Then it was Leon's turn to shock his friend. He picked up the speed again and began using Mercian and Essetirian moves to counter Merlin's Nemite and Lothian maneuvers. The two fought until they saw Arthur sit down on the bench and cover his eyes with his palms, unable to control his own emotions.
Poor Arthur jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Arthur? Are you alright?"
Arthur almost felt bad for adding more worry to Merlin's eyes, but this other secret that his friend had kept from hidden hurt too bad for him to fully care about Merlin's feelings as of that moment.
"All that times that I worried about where you were and if you were safe during a skirmish… After I found out about your magic, I brushed off those time as you not wanting to reveal your powers to me, and I understood that. But now… You have been hiding this skill from me for gods-know how long and never even thought to let me know, to allow me to focus completely on my own fight, to made me worry less…" Merlin looked infuriated and saddened at the same time.
"You Prat! Do you think I have ever enjoyed hiding things like this from you? If you had known, then word would have spread. I needed everyone to think that I was a harmless idiot, not an intelligent, sword-wielding warlock! People underestimating me is the only reason any of us are alive right now, so I am not sorry this time!" With that said, Merlin stomped off to the nearest training dummy and hacked at it as tears poured down his face.
Arthur just sat there, gaping, unsure of what to do. He was wound too tight to think clearly right now. He had his wife in the midsts of giving birth, a great deal of instability in the council as the new members settled into their new roles, and then there was the issue of Morgana. And now he had prodded one of the sore spots of Merlin's hidden issues. It was like kicking the leg of an overloaded, precariously-balanced, table. It was only a matter of time before it all came crashing down.
"He is both right and wrong." Arthur turned slightly to see his oldest companion settle down on the bench beside him. "He is sorry, but not for keeping this from you, but for upsetting you. He hated hiding this from you, but it was for your own good. Look at him. That is how he looks when he hates himself. I have seen that look far too many times in the past few months. He wants to be fully honest with you, but at the same time, he knows just how badly that pain will hurt you. You both are too stubborn to accept that there will always be pain, just don't let it harden your hearts against the love and happiness there is too."
The chief knight did not wait for a response from his king, he simply excused himself and walked over to Merlin. It was clear that Merlin had a deep pain in him that he hid behind banter and clumsiness, but just now, Arthur could see the weeping hole in Merlin's heart that secrets had formed over the years. The sight of that much pain and self loathing caused knots to form in his gut.
Without thinking, Arthur got up and walked over to his two friends who were in a deep conversation, none of which the king heard. When he was nearly in arms reach, Merlin turned to face his approaching friend.
"Arthur, I-" He has cut off as the man in question pulled him into a tight and apologetic hug.
Merlin didn't waste a moment before he wrapped his arms around the blonde's frame. From a few feet away, Leon's eye's sparkled with unshed tears and happiness. The two men clearly didn't need words to express their feelings and no one should expect them too. They were too stubborn for that.
Suddenly, Merlin went stiff. Arthur pulled back and stared worriedly at the warlock's far off expression. "Merlin?"
His focus never shifted, but words slowly flowed from his mouth. "Branwen is calling. It is time. We need to get back. Now."
Leon watched as merlin's lips moved and eyes glowed. And just like that, the two men in front of him disappeared in a whirlwind. The knight only hoped that Merlin had safely transported them back to the citadel, he didn't want to think about how badly that spell could go...
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Both Merlin and Arthur stumbled as they landed in the servant's chamber off of the Royal suite. Arthur felt sick and Merlin looked like he was about to fall over. As Arthur gripped Merlin's upper arm to steady him, the doom to the main room was pulled open.
"I am not even going to ask how you two managed to show up in here, but I suggest you get in here if you want to witness your children's birth, Sire." Hunith quickly grabbed Arthur's free hand and dragged him, and therefore Merlin whose arm was still firmly in his grasp, into the room.
Gwen was sweaty and flushed, but looked done the worse for ware. Gaius was ambling about with nervous energy. But it was Branwen that drew their attention. Her posture was perfect and her face was plastered into a comforting smile, but her eyes were the most notable thing. They were glowing white. The goddess had arrived.
"I come to welcome the Children of Hope. This day it the true beginning of the Age of the Once and Future King. The earth herself has waited for this moment. Peace has come." All eyes shifted from the god-possessed child to the Queen as she cried out and the world seemed to vibrate the news to all of Albion. The children of the High King were nearly here.
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AN: Sorry this chapter took so long. I had writers block about what to do after Hunith slapped Merlin... But that is in the past, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.