I apologize for updating this late... from now on, it'll take me longer to update since I'm preparing my university tests...
this chapter is a bit vanilla. i have written it to describe merlin and arthur as parents and a few details, useful for future chapters.
from next chapter, there will be more action.
N.B.: arthur= papa; merlin=daddy
WARNING: no graphic torture, no graphic rape, male breastfeeding, minor character death
The day after the birth, Merlin was lying in bed, still tired and sore from the effort made. Arthur was with the Council to be reported about the situation after Morgana's brief but disastrous reign and to announce the birth of the future king of Camelot.
Currently, the so-called future king was sleeping in his daddy's arms with a pure peaceful expression on his little face, after drinking Merlin's milk...
Merlin had never seen anything so perfect. He would have never thought he could love someone so intensely ... he smiled down at his child.
"I love you so much, Mordred. I will take very good care of you, my love... Come what may, my love for you is bigger than the sky, deeper than the sea, stronger than the trees of the forest and eternal like magic…"
...
Suddenly, the doors of the royal rooms opened wide and five women marched inside. Two of them were in their twenties, while the other three were clearly older, probably in their fifties.
They approached the bed and the oldest one took Mordred from Merlin's arms. Then, they headed toward the open back door of the bedroom, leading to the Queen old rooms, now turned into a nursery.
After a moment of shock, Merlin realized the situation. He jumped out of the bed, ignoring to pain in his lower abdomen, and closed the door of the nursery, using magic, blocking the women's path.
"Who the hell are you and what do you want with my son? If you do not give him back to me immediately, I swear to you that the tortures of the damned will be nothing compared to what I will do to all of you!" Merlin yelled. His eyes shone with magic and rage, while he kept watching his child and the soon-to be- ashes women.
The oldest passed the now crying infant to her colleague and turned, bowing, toward the furious king. "Your Majesty, we did not want to bother you. We regret not being able to come sooner and that you had to endure the presence of the prince for so long ... one of Your importance should not be in contact with an infant for so long. Do not worry, My Lord… now we are here... The best nannies and wet-nurses in the Kingdom. Leave Prince Mordred to us"
Merlin was shocked… "WHAT?" he shouted with all his strength.
In that moment, the door of the chambers opened again. This time, King Arthur himself came in, warned about the turmoil in his rooms by the guards outside the door.
"What's going on here? Who dares disturb my Consort?" Arthur churched, authoritarian, only as a real Pendragon could do.
"Arthur! These women have dared enter our rooms and take Mordred away from me! Why?" Merlin asked, taking Mordred back in his arms with magic. As soon as the child felt his daddy's close presence, he calmed down immediately.
Arthur frowned, confused, "THIS is the problem? Merlin, they are Mordred's nannies and wet nurses. it's their job to feed and raise the children of Camelot nobility... what's the problem?"
The brunet was astonished. "I hope you're kidding me ... WE are his parents!"
"Love, we have already done our duty... we have created and brought him into the world. Now it's up to others to raise him, while you and I rule our kingdom. We royals cannot waste time between hysterical tears, baby food and everything else. Don't tell me you want to BREASTFEED him yourself! It is not appropriate. It is tradition among the royals and nobles for parents to see their children every now and then when they are infants… once a day when they are older. The fathers take care of the male children only when they are ready to start training with the sword or to become kings. But even then, they are considered knights and princes; not sons ... the mothers do the same with their daughters."
"Who told you this nonsense?" Merlin asked, clutching Mordred closer to him, as if he was afraid that one of the crazy women would take him away again ... not that he would let them do it!
"I told you ... it's tradition. My father also taught me as a child that being king is more important than being a father ... and that others can raise a baby, but only one person can rule"
Merlin took a deep breath. He turned towards the women and, in a voice that did not accept rejection, said, "I'm sorry ladies, but your services are no longer required ... never again! Now, I want to talk in private with my husband ... OUT!"
When they were alone, Merlin spoke again, "Arthur, my opinions on how being parents are very different from yours. In other circumstances, I would have tried to find a compromise between our two traditions, but when you said that it was UTHER the one teaching you how to be a father, I changed my mind ... from now on, I'll decide how to raise our son and the first rule is that WE will raise him, NOT some strangers! Prepared yourself, Pendragon! In the coming months, you will sleep little, sing lullabies not stop, have baby vomit on your expensive clothes and your pretty face will be filled with dark circles under your eyes..."
He was about to lie down on the bed again, when Arthur recovered from the shock, "Wha ... what do you mean that Uther made you change your mind? And are you kidding me? I'm a king, not a nanny! Nor are you!"
"Let's be honest, Arthur ... Uther is the last person I would take as an example of how to be a good parent. He had been so good that everyone hated him and his own DAUGHTER killed him. By the way, I'm not kidding ... from now on you will have to divide your time between your duties as king and your duties as a father ... I will not have another Uther Pendragon as my son's father and as a husband. Furthermore, before being a good king, you have to be a good person. Show your people your good heart and you will receive respect and love from them ... show coldness and hatred and ... well ... we know how that turned out with your father. It's the same with Mordred. I think you have to choose what kind of father you want to be: like Uther or a good one. You already know how your relationship with Mordred will be if you go through Uther's path."
That said, Merlin started to fall asleep on the bed with Mordred by his side. Arthur left them with many things to think about.
...
Later, in the evening, when he came back to his chambers, Arthur found his husband still lying in bed, eating grapes, while Mordred was sleeping in his cradle.
Disturbed by the sound of the door, the child began to cry. Normally, the child should have been in another room and now there would have been paid women calming him down.
Arthur looked at Merlin ... his husband was looking at him in return.
After a minute without anyone moving and Mordred still crying, Merlin rolled his eyes, resigned and ready to get up and go to the child, when Arthur picked up his son for the first time and began to rock him, singing an ancient Celtic lullaby.
He looked at Merlin, lifting an eyebrow, as if to say, "This is my choice, problems?"
The brunet beamed at him, proud.
Arthur looked down, blushing, obviously embarrassed. Therefore, he tried to take away the attention from himself.
"Are you really going to raise him without help?"
"I have help: I have you… my mother, our friends, who believe themselves to be the funny uncles (especially Gwaine)… but I'm going to ask their assistance only if extremely necessary… I'll never put Mordred in danger. I just want him to stay in the family."
Arthur nodded, "You are right, my love. What are you going to do when you will be engaged in you king duties?"
Merlin shrugged, "I'll just take him with me! So I can breastfeed him whenever he needs it"
The blonde's eyes widened, "You mean that you are going to bring him with you and to feed him during the Council meetings too? Are you mad?"
Merlin smiled cheekily at him, "Watch me ..."
True to his words, a week later, Merlin entered the Council Room for his first meeting after the birth, carrying a basket with little Mordred inside, sleeping. When he sat at the head of the table next to Arthur and placed the basket on the table, all the advisors looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
As expected, many council members were indignant and one of the oldest councilors dared to express his opinion against the king that he had never liked.
"My lord, why is prince Mordred here? Shouldn't his nannies be taking care of him?"
Merlin looked straight at Lord Harold in the eyes, "No, the prince is exactly where he should be: with his parents. If we are here, why should he be somewhere else? Besides, why should I justify myself to you?"
The Lord breathed deeply, offended, "I am a faithful and important member of Camelot court, and I do not accept a baby being in my presence ... I have never even liked the presence of my own children!"
This time, it was Arthur to intervene. "I now understand why your son is the laugh of the knights and your daughter had five children from five different men out of wedlock ..."
Lord Harold was fuming, but remained silent, humiliated.
Arthur nodded, moving Mordred's basket, so that it was positioned between him and Merlin, in a clear sign of how things would be from that point on. "Well ... now we can start the meeting"
...
One hour from the start of the council, Mordred began to cry in hunger. The men thought that by then the kings would call for a wet nurse, but once again, they were shocked…
King Merlin took the child in his arms and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his right breast. Under the eyes of the speechless men and a mesmerized Arthur, he began to feed his baby, sighing sweetly at the sensation he felt when Mordred sucked his breasts.
That was too much; Lord Harold jumped up from his chair and pointed his finger at Merlin and Mordred. "This is INAPPROPRIATE and INDECENT ... I expect king Merlin and Prince Mordred to be removed from the room!"
Arthur's face darkened and with a voice falsely quiet said, "That's enough! Insulting my family will not improve your already compromised position ... oh yeah, I know that during the reign of my sister you have been the first to bow to her feet and not to resist ... but since I'm a magnanimous King, I'll help you. Since you cannot stand the sight of my husband feeding our son and your future king, I will make sure that you are no longer forced to look at them. GUARDS! ... Take Lord Harold in the dungeons and scratch the eyes out of him ..."
Arthur looked toward his husband, expecting words of protest for his cruel decision; but instead, Merlin was impassive, as he cradled Mordred. Apparently, when Mordred was concerned, Merlin was ready to forget his gentle nature.
From that day on and in the following two years, the people of Camelot became accustomed to always see Prince Mordred with his parents. Merlin took him with him during his hiking in the forest to study the new herbs and animals that the increasingly magic was creating. On the other hand, Arthur took him with him to the knights training, leaving him to play on the grass under his watchful eyes. During breaks, he and the knights enjoyed making him laugh.
Arthur noticed that the child was always more restless when he was with him and that he much preferred being with Merlin. In more than one occasion, the blond was sure that he had seen a dark light in Mordred's eyes when he looked at his papa. But since Merlin had told him that he was paranoid, Arthur decided not to think too much about it ... probably, Mordred simply preferred his daddy, because he had spent nine months in his belly and there was a magical bond between them.
During these two years of almost peace, a few important things happened in Camelot.
Lancelot and Gwen got married at last and for a day, everyone forgot about the slightly more closed attitude that the girl had showed since the end of the Morgana's reign.
..
A year and a half after Mordred's birth, during a picnic in the forest that Merlin and Arthur organized to be alone for once, they were attacked by mercenaries and were accidentally separated. The bandits, working for Morgana, captured Merlin. The brunet found himself in the girl's hut, chained to her bed. The chains were made to block magic.
This time, Merlin could not avoid Morgana's attentions and for three days, the witch raped him, riding him almost continuously. In those moments, Morgana confessed that she had drunk a potion to increase her fertility and ability to conceive. Fortunately, Merlin was a Dragonlord and his very nature prevented him from creating a new life with someone who was not his mate, chosen by his magic, in a few words: Arthur. After three days, Merlin found the spell to destroy the chains and escaped.
For a week, the two kings staid in their rooms, making love ... Merlin needed to feel safe again in Arthur's arms, feeling his again.
None of them had noticed Merlin's eyes turning gold after one of their many orgasms. However, two things were clear: there was a traitor in Camelot, since few people knew where the kings were going to have their picnic, and Morgana was back.
…
Unfortunately, a month after that, Hunith died in her sleep. She had never recovered completely from the death of her beloved Balinor, but at least, she had been able to spend two happy years together with her son and her grandson, who she had spoiled as much as possible.
Merlin suffered greatly for the loss of his mother, but Arthur and Mordred did not leave him alone and for that, he was grateful.
Arthur was worried that Merlin would rise against him now that Hunith was gone ... but quickly, he abandoned the idea. Merlin had accepted him and Arthur still had the knights of Draken to use against his husband, despite the fact that the men had become some of his best friends, and above all, he had Mordred, the best hostage of all.
….
The kings did not have much time to mourn Queen Hunith, since they knew that Morgana was near and that she would attack.
What they did not know was that it was about to happen much sooner than expected.