My plot gremlins and I are back with more than one plot idea for this sequel to a different path that we have decided to make it a mix of one and two shots that can be read as one story. As always I do not own the characters from Merlin, I am just playing with them.
The lords who had been members of Uther's council, (at least the ones that were still alive after the battle with Cenred and Odin's men) and fully expected to be part of Arthur's, gathered in the council chambers waiting to begin the meeting the new king had called.
The Lords ignored the servant that came in and placed jugs of water on the side table then stood ready to serve them during the meeting. She was quiet as she observed them and waited for her service to be needed. She knew over half of them would not be returning after the meeting was over. Sir Leon caught her eye and raised his goblet up in a silent request. Gwen walked over a poured some of the water into his cup.
" do you know how long they are going to be?" Leon asked quietly
"not long I think," Gwen said her eyes on the door Leon followed her gaze as she stepped back and returned to her place. Merlin was holding the door open for Arthur and Morgana.
None of the lords knew for sure what the meeting was going to be about, though some did try and guess. They were so engrossed in their speculating conversations that they did not notice when Arthur came in followed by Lady Morgana and his manservant. Sir Leon and Sir Bedaveir nodded at them from their places at the table, Leon was about to speak but Arthur motioned for him not to. Gaius saw this and raised an eyebrow wondering what Arthur was up to, he shared a look with Merlin who just gave him a small smile as he walked past him.
Merlin made his way over to stand by Gwen, she gave him a little smile and watched as the Arthur pulled out a seat for Morgana and then sat on his own. Merlin took one of the pitchers of water and went over to fill Arthur and Morgana's cups before returning to his place beside Gwen. The Lords had still not noticed their king was in the room.
"their not very observant are they?" Morgana finally spoke after a moment.
This caught the attention of the lords, they finally noticed their king and Lady Morgana sitting with them at the table. Each of them stood up and bowed.
"My Lord," a few of them said.
"my apologies sire, we should have realized you had entered the room" Lord Torrin spoke
Arthur motioned for the lords to be seated. Except Geoffery of Monmouth who hadn't bothered to stand, he was too old for that nonsense.
"it's alright," Arthur told him. The fact that these men were so engrossed in their own conversation that they didn't notice three people enter the room just made what he was going to do easier.
"you are probably all wondering why I have called this meeting"
There was a murmur from the lords, they all nodded their heads in agreement. They had that very morning received messages telling them to meet the king in the council chambers after the midday meal, however, none had been told why.
"I have called you here because I wanted to inform you personally that I will be making some changes to the council, and I will no longer require some of your services"
"Sire you cannot be serious" one of the lords protested.
"I served your father for twenty years you can't possibly." another said
"you need us" another spoke.
Arthurs stood from his seat and slammed his hand on the table to get the attention of the lord.
"quiet all of you" Arthur's voice was loud without actually yelling. Then continued in a calmer voice.
"I understand your confusion, you have served my father for years and you expected to serve on my council as well."
Arthur had the attention of the Lords as he sat back down.
"I have been thinking this decision over since before I was crowned and I know I am making the right one," Arthur said as Morgana took a sip of her water.
"While my father did everything he could to ensure the safety and prosperity of Camelot I have over the past couple of years found myself disagreeing with some of his views, my father himself admitted some of these views were wrong on his death bed. I intend to make some changes that I believe this kingdom has needed for a long time"
"Sire I don't see why you cannot make these changes and keep us as your council, we are loyal and you know we will support you as we did your father" Lord Graise spoke.
"I appreciate your loyalty, but I have no need of people who will agree with everything I say as. I have observed you tended to agree with my father to his face and yet having been heard disagreeing behind his back" Arthur said
The Lords bristled and sat up straighter in their seats letting out grumbles of disagreement.
"I need people who will tell me if they think I am making a mistake, people who are not afraid to disagree with me to my face."
Lord Torrin moved to speak but was cut off.
"I do not believe trying to save your place in the council counts Lord Torrin," Morgana told him.
"besides the king did not say you would all no longer be on the council just some"
"Lady Morgana is correct, some of you are to be sent home to take care of the people in your care as lords," Arthur told them. " I believe you would serve the kingdom better in this manner"
"Sire if I may ask, who will be staying on the council?" Lord Graise asked
"Lord Monmouth of course and Gaius will be staying along Sir Bedavier and Sir Leon" Arthur told them
Merlin watched the council members from his place by the wall, observing their reactions to losing their places which gave them the ear of the king. None of them seemed happy about it but that was to be expected, the servant slash protector was looking for any lords who seemed to be more put out more than the others.
"I would like to know what these changes you plan to make are Sire," Lord Graise said
Merlin's eyes moved to Lord Graise, it was a reasonable request but there was something about the tone of the elder man's voice. Lord Graise was known to not be very fond of change especially if it affected his power over people.
"for one Lord Graise, I intend to hold what I call a large council meeting on a bi-monthly basis" Arthur told him.
"large council Sire?" Geoffery spoke
"yes Large council, this will be made up of one member of each noble household and a chosen representative from each village or town in Camelot. At these meetings, we will go over how some my changes are affecting the people and will be a place to bring up any concerns or problems the people may be having." The king spoke
"Sire, will we be members of this large council?" Lord Fremont asked
"you or whichever member of your family is chosen to be, each noble family will decide for themselves who will be attending the meetings of course"
Merlin noticed Lord Fremont seemed to relax at this news, Lord Fremont was getting on in years and it was rumoured that while he valued his place on the council he didn't like having to travel the three hours from his home every week. His daughter and son inlaw had just had their third child and there was some speculation that the Lord wanted to have more time to spend with his grandchildren. It was the reason that Arthur had decided against keeping him on the regular council.
"another change I plan to make involves Camelots laws involving magic," Arthur told them
The room went silent as the lords took in what the king just said.
"Sire, what more can we do against the evils of magic," Lord Graise asked
"it is already punishable by death"
"Magic is not evil Lord Graise" Morgana spoke sharply.
"that is one of the things I found my self disagreeing with my father about" Arthur spoke before any of the lords could say something that would upset Morgana or Merlin, his eyes found the servant's eyes for a second.
"and one of the things my father confesed on his death bed was the true reason he hated magic, Gauis if you would you were there and can explain it better than I"
"of course Sire," Gauis said
"As some of you are aware it was concidered a miracle when Queen Ygraine became with child because it was believed she could not bear children, however, it was infact because of a spell that Uther had asked Nimue to perform. She and I both warned him that this kind of magic would come at a price a life for a life but Uther was desprate for an heir, it did not occur to Uther that the person to die would be Ygraine"
"No this can't be true Uther would never use magic, he fought against it with everything he had," Lord Graise said standing up leaning toward Gauis.
"I am afraid he is telling the truth Lord Graise, sit down" Arthur spoke. He waited for the lord to sit down.
"My father confesed as much before he died"
" how can you be sure sire, it could just be something Gauis has made up so he can start practising magic again perhaps he never stopped" Lord Veron Accused.
"Arthur and I both heard Uther's confesion ourselves only moments before he died," Morgana told him
"Gaius was not even in the room at the time and did not enter until a moment after Uther died"
"I know some of you will be wary of the changes I plan to make but these changes will not happen all at once" Arthur tried to assure the men who had for twenty two years been made to believe magic was the greatest enemy they would ever face.
"most of you are old enough to remember what the kingdom was like before the purge" Gaius spoke
"yes sorcerer practising their dark art, using there ill gotten power to curse crops and," Lord Torrin said.
"yes" Gaius cut him off "many sorcerers abused their powers, however not all of them did and many were depended on to keep the ones who did in check. The truth that everyone has ignored is that we had far more problems after Uther out lawed magic than we did before"
"and what of the druids, have any of you ever actualy seen or heard of a druid harming anyone?" Morgana questioned.
The Lords glanced at each other considering Gaius and Morgana's words, they knew they were right.
"if I may ask sire, how do you plan to implement these changes? Surely you can't expect people to accept magic after being told for so many years that it is something to be feared." Lord Veron said
"the first step will be that it will no longer be illigel to study the history and concepts of magic. We will also no longer be hunting those with magic abilities or dealing with bounty hunters who bring in people suspected of having magic. unless they use their abilities to commit a crime that they would be persued for anyway. I also plan to broker a peace with the druids. "
"Sire what if a sorcerer sees this and decides that Camelot's relaxation in these laws makes it prone to attact?" Lord Fremont asked
"Then that Sorcerer will be dealt with acordingly," Arther told him with a no nonsence tone.
"Gentlemen I would like to thank you for your dedicated service" Arthur said as he stood up.
"Those of you who have been named as remaining on the council are expected to be at the first meeting of the new council tomorrow at the same time as this meeting started today. The rest of you are dismissed from the small council"
Merlin and Gwen followed Morgana and Arthur out of the room as the Lords started talking behind them. Merlin thought it had gone well considering a large fraction of them would no longer have as much power as they had before.
The small group entered the small royal dinning room where Elyan, Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival waited for them.
"how did it go princess?" Gwaine asked not moving from his place at the table with his feet up.
Arthur glared at Gwaine as he sat down at the table, it had no effect on the knight who just waited for his question to be answered. Merlin rolled his eyes as he sat down.
Morgana and Gwen walked over and sat down with the group, Morgana's eyes flashed gold for a second as she used her magic to push Gwaine's feet off the table.
"it went better than I though it would," Arthur told them ignoring Morgana's use of magic.
" but from their reaction to the changes for magic I think taking things one step at a time is the best way to go"
" I expected there to be more argument about that point," Morgana said pouring her self a drink from the jug on the table, batting away Gwen's hand when she tried to do it for her.
Merlin smiled at the womens antics, Gwen was having trouble getting used to Morgana wanting to do thing for herself. Merlin had learned to just let the lady do her own thing unless she specificaly asked for something to be done.
Especially when it was just their group of friends gathered by themselves.
"how did they react to Merlin being a member of the council?" Elyan wanted to know.
"He didn't tell them," Morgana said as she lifted her cup to take a drink.
"I didn't tell them who any of the new council members are, besides as far as anyone out side this room besides Leon and Bedevier know Merlin is still just my manservant." Arthur said
"and why is Merlins promotion to Advisor being kept a secret again?" Morgana asked
"it's not a secret it just hasn't been officialy anounced yet," Arthur told her.
"but it's been two weeks since you named him as your advisor" Morgana pointed out
"you have to tell people at some point"
"Morgana it's fine, there are more important things to worry about," Merlin said recognizing Morgana's argument tone.
"She is right though" Leon spoke from the door way as he walked in followed by Bedeveir and Gauis.
"unless Merlin is going to be a secret advisor there is going to need to be an official anouncement"
Arthur sighed he knew they would need to tell them eventualy, The king still couldn't believe he had let Merlin talk him into it. Some times he wondered about what went on in Merlins head.
"Merlin is going to be still acting as my servant for the time being, and the only people who are going to be aware of his possition as my advisor are the members of the round table council" Arthur informed the room.
There was silence for a few seconds as everyone absorbed this information. As Arthur and Merlin expected it was Morgana who spoke first.
"you can't be serious, after everyting he's done for us," Morgana said
" thats messed up, Merlin deserves better than that and you know it," Gwaine said
Merlin shook his head and sat up straighter in his seat, he looked at Arthur who was giving him a say something look.
"it was my idea" Merlin spoke getting everyones attention.
" my possition as a servant makes me near invisible to visiting nobles, and as such give me a way to discover any threats. If everyone were to know I had the ear of the king it would make discovering plot against Arthur and or Camelot more difficult"
"so your going to spend the rest of your life pretending to be just a servant?" Lancelot asked
"it's only temporary," Arthur told them.
"once all the steps have been taken and Magic is once again accepted and officialy legal Merlin will be named Camelots court sourcerer. He's agreed to let me get a new servant then"
"there's no reason you can't have more than one servant Arthur," Merlin said
"no but that would mean less work for you and I know how you love mucking out the stables, polishing my armour doing my laundry exercising my dogs" Arthur listed of some of the chores Merlin did most often.
Gwen smiled at the antics of her boyfriend and her friend. She caught Morgana's eye as the lady rolled her eyes at them. Just over a year and a half before if anyone had told the servant that she would be looking forward to magic returning to Camelot she would have not believed them. If anyone had told her she would not only be the sister of a knight but also being courted by the King she would have though there was something wrong with them, but now as she watched the group of friends made up of nobles and commoners each being treated as equel friends she couldn't imagine her life anyother way.
"I'd like to know how the stuck up lords will react when they find out Morgana and Gwen are both on the council" Bedeveir spoke.
"I don't think it's ever been done before"
"no it hasn't," Gauis said "at least not in my life time"
"well if anyone has a problem they'll have to get over it," Morgana said
Gwen raised her goblet in agreement.
That night Merlin stood at his window and looked out over the city. Most of the city had been repaired with special protection charms secretly added by a joint effort with Morgana and himself casting the spells and one or two of the knights who were in the know about their magic keeping a look out to make sure they didn't need to worry about getting caught.
Morgana walked up behind him and leaned her hip against the wall beside the window, she looked out at the veiw.
"you know your going to have to move to the new room Arthur gave you eventualy," Morgana said
"yeah I know, it's just going to be strange not living with Gauis any more," Merlin said
Morgana shifted and stood beside Merlin resting her head on his shoulder. After having spent over a year traveling together they had developed a trust and were completely relaxed together.
"it's not like you won't still see him everyday and he's probably already making plans for the room," Morgana said
"how about it, tommorow we'll find some boxes and get you packed up to move. You can be sleeping in your very own room by tommorow night"
Merlin glanced over his shoulder at the mess that was his room, he didn't have that much stuff as it was he would be surprised if he needed more than one box.
"Alone" came Arthurs voice from the door way.
"I have made sure there is a working lock on the door and I fully expect it to be locked when Merlin is sleeping so a certain sister of mine can't cause my advisor's honer into be questioned"
Morgana rolled her eyes and didn't bother responding to her brother.
Morgana had taken to sneaking into the physicians courters and making her self comfortable either in the chair at the small table in Merlins room or on the floor by his bed. Sometime Merlin would wake up and trade places with her putting her in the bed and taking the floor him self.
Merlin had slept in one day and Arthur had come to get him with a bucket of cold water. Arthur not noticing Merlin sleeping on the floor believing the bundle of blankets was just a bundle of blankets proceded to dump the bucket on the dark haired person on the bed who turned out to be Morgana.
Morgana was livid at being drenched the fact Arthur had thought she was Merlin not making matters any better for him. Arthur was not happy that his sister apeared to be sleeping with Merlin, it took a few minutes to calm the brother and sister down and explain to Arthur that nothing was going on. Merlin pointing out that he had been on the floor and not actualy in the bed with her.
"I'm not staying Arthur," Morgana told him lifter her head from Merlin's shoulder.
"I haven't snuck into Merlin's room for the night in a week"
"yeah and I bet the night gaurds stationed at the end of your hall way have nothing to do with that," Arthur said offering her his arm. "come on I'll escort you back to your room"
Morgana sighed and took Arthurs arm, she bid Merlin goodbye and allowed Arthur to lead her out of the room.
"you do know those gaurds are not that hard to get passed right, I don't even need magic to do it" Merlin heard Morgana say to Arthur.
Merlin smiled and his eyes flashed as he closed the door behind them with a wave of his hand.
So here we are the end of another chapter, I know it's slow starting but I am hoping the plot gremling future one shots will have some more action to them. I am not sure what I am going to do with Agraviane I am pretty certain that he had sided with dark Morgana willingly but since Dark Morgana does not exist in this universe I don't know if he'll still be a traitor or not . Till next time .
