Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Epilogue
"You look ridiculous," Arthur muttered to the cloaked man standing beside him.
"It's not like you gave me a lot of time to come up with a great disguise," Merlin retorted. "Besides, I'm not really going for style here. I just don't want people to recognize me."
"Believe me, Merlin, no one would believe it's you even if they did recognize you."
They were standing on the roof again, as they had two days earlier. But now instead of looking out over the beauty of Camelot's woods, they were watching the approach of Elric's army. All around them, Camelot's own army fell into position for the battle.
"You sure you're up to this?"
Merlin snorted.
"Am I up to helping you fight an army? That's actually not anything new for me, Arthur. This army isn't even magical."
"It will be different this time," Arthur pointed out. "People will see you help. After this battle, all of Camelot will be talking about the sorcerer who fought alongside the king."
Merlin smiled. "Maybe it will help people be less afraid of magic if they see it being used for good."
"And maybe someday magic can come back to Camelot?" Arthur raised his eyebrows at him and Merlin shrugged.
"It seems like it might not be a terrible first step."
To his relief, Arthur smiled back. "Not a bad first step at all." He hesitated. "Thank you, Merlin. For this, I mean. For standing against Elric. And for everything else too. I know I didn't always make it easy on you, and you stood by me anyway. You're a loyal servant. A loyal friend."
Merlin's eyes closed briefly. In his chest, something settled. Something that had churned and worried since he first set foot in Camelot was finally at peace. "You're welcome. Let's be honest, if you made it easy, I'd probably get bored. I'd have to find a more entertaining prat of a king to save."
"Good luck finding one who'd hire you." Then Arthur's expression turned serious and alert. "They're coming. All right, Emrys. You're up. Show Camelot what you can do."
AN: Thank you for sticking with me to the end, and thank you x10000 to everyone who reviewed! I've had so much fun with this story. This is the first time I've written something for others to read in a number of years, and it really forced me to think more critically about my writing. I learned a lot that I've been able to apply to my other writing (especially about pacing and structure).
On that note – the first chapter of my next story, Creature of Magic, is up! It is both angstier and fluffier that the other stories I have posted, and it was fun to do something a little bit different with the characters. If you enjoyed this, please consider checking that one out! I also posted a new one-shot called Challenging Destiny last week.