Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Chapter Twenty Five
"Are you seriously reading again?"
Usually tidying up Arthur's room consisted of picking up dirty clothes and weapons and whatever objects Arthur had thrown at Merlin that day. It didn't typically consist of collecting books scattered from one end of the room to the other.
"Sacred Texts of the Old Religion? A History of Magical Power and Persecution? BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SORCERY?"
"Would you please lower your voice?" Arthur hissed, grabbing the books out of his hands. "The last thing I need is some guard in the hall overhearing and spreading rumors."
"You're learning magic?" Merlin didn't intend to sound horrified, but he couldn't help himself. It wasn't because he thought magic was evil. It was that…well, magic was his thing! Arthur had the king thing and the warrior thing. Couldn't Merlin just have this one?
"Of course I'm not learning magic, you idiot," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "I've been learning about magic, which is entirely different. Apparently my destiny is inescapably tied to a sorcerer. A little bit of research doesn't seem absurd to me."
Appeased, Merlin took the books back and stacked them tidily on Arthur's desk. "I guess that makes sense. What did Geoffrey say when you asked for the books?"
"I had Gaius get them for me under the pretense of doing research for a potential magical threat. And maybe put those in the drawer," he added, glancing at the door nervously. "Not that anyone would search the king's chambers, but you never know who might happen to be in here for some reason. No point in leaving them out where they're easy to spot. And…" he trailed off.
"What?"
Arthur took a deep breath and stood up straight, which instantly made Merlin nervous. He'd found it was a general good rule of thumb that if Arthur was uneasy, he should probably be uneasy too.
"I have an odd request."
"Okay," Merlin prompted, watching him warily.
"I…well, in the future when you're cleaning up or doing chores and I'm the only one around…I'd like for you to start using your magic. At least sometimes." Arthur looked puzzled for a moment, like he couldn't understand the words coming out of his own mouth.
Merlin dropped one of the books.
"What?"
Arthur let out a noisy exhale and glared at the floor. "You're right. Your magic makes me nervous. And I need to get used to it, which means I need to be around you while you're doing magic."
Merlin stared in disbelief. "You want me to use magic? To do my chores?"
"Don't make it into a thing," Arthur grumbled. "Just do it. When I'm around, at least."
Still in a bit of a stunned stupor, Merlin used magic to open the desk drawer and tuck the books away, watching Arthur out of the corner of his eye the entire time. Arthur tried hard to hide it, but the flicker of fear in his eyes was difficult to miss.
"Okay," he said with a relieved exhale once Merlin closed the drawer and his eyes turned back to blue. "If you're done with that, I have something to show you before the meeting of the round table this afternoon."
"It is something you need cleaned?" Merlin griped, and Arthur snickered.
"No, although I'm sure I can find something if you're bored." Merlin glared at him but kept his mouth shut, earning him a grin from Arthur. "Look at that – you are capable of learning! Now come on."
"Where are we going?" Merlin asked, following Arthur through the halls.
"I told you, I have something for you."
"For me?" he repeated. "I thought you had something to show me."
"A little bit of both," Arthur said vaguely. "Well, two things really. Here we go." He pushed open the door to the table room and gestured Merlin inside.
Confused, Merlin looked around the familiar chamber. "I've actually already seen the round table, Arthur," he pointed out. "Many times."
Arthur sighed, but otherwise ignored him. Merlin surveyed the room again. There wasn't much to see. Apart from the round table and the seven chairs, the room was empty. Although something about it did look a little bit off.
The chairs.
Merlin's heart stopped.
He counted again. Definitely seven chairs.
And then he counted in his mind, mentally going around the circle – Arthur, Leon, Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, Lancelot. Was he forgetting anyone? He counted one more time.
"What is this, Arthur?"
Arthur took a deep breath, and to Merlin's surprise, the king looked nervous as he walked up to the new chair. "It's your seat at the round table. If you want it."
"You want to make me a knight?" he asked in confusion. "You have seen me with a sword, right?"
Arthur snorted. "No, Merlin, I'm not going to make you a knight. But this table is where we make the most important decisions for Camelot. And if you're willing, I'd like you here. Not standing off to the side with a water pitcher."
Merlin knew he should feel excited or honored or any number of other emotions, and some of those emotions buzzed in his stomach. But they lurked behind a stone of disappointment he didn't fully understand.
"Why?"
Perhaps he shouldn't ask; he certainly didn't want to talk Arthur out of the idea. But something about the whole thing felt off, and he knew he couldn't accept until he figured it out.
"Because I value your counsel," Arthur said, as though it should be obvious.
"Because I have magic?" The words twisted a little bit in Merlin's stomach as he spoke them, understanding setting in, and he saw Arthur blink in surprise.
"Because you…?" he started, then he looked puzzled, as though he hadn't thought about the question before. "No," he said slowly. "I don't think magic really has anything to do with counsel."
"Then why now? Why…" Merlin swallowed. "Why did you not want my counsel until you knew I had magic?"
Arthur drummed his fingers on the back of the chair as he thought. "First of all," he pointed out, "I've always wanted your counsel. You didn't have a chair before, but you've never shied away from sharing your opinion in here, and I've never stopped you. But before…" Arthur frowned, and Merlin almost felt pity for him as he watched him struggle for words. "Before, there was always a distance there. With you. I trusted you, Merlin, but some part of me understood that I didn't fully know you. I'm not sure I could have put it into words, but I sensed that you were somehow…apart from the rest of us. And now I feel like that curtain between us is gone. Does that make sense?"
"I think so." He was surprised the distinction was so clear for Arthur. He knew that previously he had always felt like he lived separate from everyone else, but he hadn't thought Arthur would sense the change quite so much.
"I don't want Emrys," Arthur said in a low voice, looking at the table. "I want Merlin. The man who went on my quest with me and talked me out of marrying Princess Elena and yelled at me when I accused Lancelot of treason. I just needed to know who Merlin was – including Emrys – before I could make this request."
The stone of disappointment lifted at Arthur's words – I don't want Emrys. I want Merlin – and the floodgates opened for a surge of other emotions. Excitement and uncertainty and pride and hope and elation all tumbled on top of each other, overwhelming him.
"Are you serious, Arthur? Are you sure?"
"I'm certain."
Merlin could hardly process the idea. His pulse raced, but his mind was blank.
"What will people say?" he asked finally. "How would you explain having a servant seated next to you?"
"The knights of the round table will understand, and for now, no one else would know. And that brings me to the second thing." Arthur pulled a packet of papers out of his jacket and placed them on the table.
Merlin circled the table slowly, and Arthur took a step back when he reached the chair. Merlin pulled it out and sat down. The whole thing felt dreamlike.
This was his seat. At the round table.
Merlin had sat at this table before, but back then it was just a table in an abandoned castle. It was different now.
He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then reached for the papers. He skimmed the first page and the second, and he had to go back and look at them a second time to understand what he was seeing.
"I've been meeting with Gaius and Leon for the past several weeks," Arthur explained quietly. "They've helped me draft a six-step, two-year plan for legalizing magic, with some limitations and parameters. I'd like your feedback on it. Keep in mind, we'll have to go slow to avoid panic or rumors that I've been enchanted. But starting after next week's council meeting, I will no longer enforce the death penalty for sorcery, and guards will be instructed to only arrest sorcerers if they are also guilty of other crimes. The laws won't technically be changed yet, but it's a start."
Merlin stared speechlessly at the papers.
The plan to legalize magic.
That he was reading while sitting in his chair at the round table.
He looked up at Arthur, not sure how to even articulate a question, but Arthur didn't say anything. He seemed to be waiting for Merlin's reaction.
The noise of approaching footsteps and voices at the end of the hall broke him out of his thoughts.
"The knights are on their way," Arthur said softly. "What do you say, Merlin? You can vanish the chair if you don't want it. Or even if you just don't want it today."
He wanted it. He definitely wanted it.
But what would the others think? They were knights of Camelot. Would they object to a servant sitting at the table? Would they object to a sorcerer?
But then again, when had they ever objected to him joining them? Granted, he hadn't seen much of them since the incident with the Deilen, but they'd been friendly at the tavern, just as they had always been friendly before.
No. Not friendly. They had been friends.
You are only as alone as you choose to be.
"Merlin."
He looked up to find the king staring at him intently.
"Do you want it?" Arthur paused, and Merlin could see the uncertainty in his eyes. Then the uncertainty shifted to resolve. "Say yes." The words were somewhere between an order and a plea.
Merlin took a shaky breath.
"I want it."
Leon was the first in the room. He hesitated only for a moment when he saw Merlin at the round table, and then he busted out laughing. Merlin felt a quick flair of panic and hurt – was the idea of him there really that ridiculous, that they would just straight up laugh at him?
Then Leon shook his head as he sat down and said, "It's about time."
Elyan whooped. Percival patted him on the shoulder so hard Merlin was certain he was going to have bruises.
Gwaine, strangely enough, was the most composed. He just stared soberly at Merlin for a moment as he took his seat, then turned his gaze to Arthur. He didn't say a word, but he nodded to both of them, and Merlin saw a look of pride in his eyes he wasn't sure he had ever seen before, although he wasn't entirely certain whether Gwaine was proud of Merlin or Arthur or both. Then the knight cleared his throat and said roughly, "You know, if we're upping the standards this much, we might need to reevaluate Percival."
The larger knight shoved Gwaine, nearly knocking him out of his seat, and Gwaine cracked up laughing, the moment broken.
Lancelot was the last to arrive. He stopped in the doorway, his eyes widening at the sight of Merlin seated next to Arthur. Then his face split into a grin, and Merlin couldn't stop himself from returning it.
"Look at that! He can still smile," Gwaine joked, and Merlin let himself laugh.
These were his people.
Creature of magic or not, he had people.
-End of Part Two-
AN: This story naturally falls into three parts, and I realized actually labeling those parts might be helpful for communicating flow. I've gone back and added notes in chapters 15 and 16 (where the break is between parts one and two). And I have, obviously, included an indicator here that this ends part two. Onto the third and final portion!