Written for Merthur Week 2020.
Day 2
"I'm so proud of you." + Established relationship
Merlin was woken up by an increased knocking on the door.
Next to him, Arthur grumbled unhappily at the noise, pulling a pillow over his head in a futile attempt to cover up the sound while Merlin hid under the covers.
Maybe if they ignored it, it would go away.
The knocking became more persistent.
Grudgingly, Merlin crawled out of bed, hissing at the cold stone under his feet and stumbling thanks to his bleary, sleepy sight.
Opening the door, he found Morgana on the other side, dressed in her favorite winter dress.
"…'Gana?" Merlin greeted as he tried to stifle a yawn, "Why are you dressed so nicely at this hour of the morning?"
The Princess simply raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten what day it is" Morgana said with clear exasperation as she bypassed him and entered the room, "Where's George?"
From their bed, Arthur grumbled again at his sister's loud voice, his complain of "Go away, harpy" ignored by both sorcerers.
"I gave him the day off" Merlin replied, still trying to fully wake himself up. He felt like he was missing something important.
"Well, I suppose that explains it" Morgana simply said, "Either that, or your magical experiments have finally messed with your memory"
Something in her wording was familiar to the warlock.
Merlin looked around the chambers, trying to jog his memory by object assimilation. There was his husband dropped in the bed, his silver circlet hanging on the changing screen, the speech for the opening of the school resting neatly in the desk next to his new spell book-
His eyes widened.
Magic.
Speech.
Opening of the school.
"Oh, FUCK" he shouted, sprinting to the changing screen and divesting himself of his sleep clothes while calling forth an outfit from the closet with his magic.
"I am the worst" Merlin bemoaned, nervous fingers desperately trying to lace the strings to his breeches without making a tangled mess, "How could I forget about this?" he exclaimed, reaching for a tunic.
"Stressful times, dear Merlin" Morgana said from the other side of the screen, "It happens"
"And yet, you will never let me live it down" he accused, trying to fit his head through an overtunic before realizing that he's been reaching onto the wrong hole.
"I will not" the Princess confirmed with an amused tone.
Clothes finally put on without further problem, Merlin stepped out of the privacy of the changing screen, adjusting his belt and pouting at his sister-in-law.
"Mean" he said. Morgana smiled innocently at him, and gestured to the bed.
Merlin rolled his eyes fondly at the sight of the King of Camelot, who had hoarded the duvet and pillows over him in an attempt to muffle his sister and husband's voices.
"Arthur?" the raven called, reaching inside the closet to look for an outfit for his husband.
"Wa?"
"Arthur, love of my life, the wind beneath my wings, man who I would gladly lay my life for" Merlin sweetly said, dropping the King's outfit at the edge of the mattress, "Get up"
"Noooo" came the muffled groan from under the covers and pillows.
"Arthur!" Merlin called, trying his best not to laugh, stomping to the bed and pulling the quilt off his husband and shaking him while Morgana simply cackled, "Arthur, today's the day!"
"The day in which we lie down and don't do anything?" the blond asked as he glared at the warlock. It only made him look like a grumpy kitten.
"Try again, brother dear" Morgana gleefully called as she settled herself comfortably on Arthur's favorite chair.
"… It's not your name day" Arthur mussed, squinting. Merlin huffed a laugh, shaking his head in confirmation.
"… Definitely not our anniversary"
"Not unless you've been hibernating all this time" Morgana quipped.
As Arthur still seemed to be suffering from a heavier sleeping memory loss than he had, the Prince Consort took pity of his husband.
"Trysor" Merlin said a in a low voice, smiling, "It's the school's opening day"
The King's eyes widened comically.
"Oh, fuck"
And hastily grabbed the clothes Merlin had laid out in bed, rushing to the changing screen with the same haste his husband had done, the sorcerers snickering.
In no time, Arthur came out properly dressed, taking hold of the hanging silver circlet and approaching Merlin with a small smile, who was quick to return it before bowing his head slightly so his love could place the accessory, placing a kiss on his brow when done.
A little ritual between them since their marriage.
"Get a room" Morgana complained.
"Get out of our room then" Arthur shot back.
Merlin rolled his eyes at the siblings, used to their bickering. He interlocked his fingers with Arthur's, taking hold of the scroll containing the speech with the other hand.
"Come now, the others must be waiting for us in the hall for breakfast"
The idea for a magic school had been on Merlin's mind ever since he was a child. Many nights he mourned not being able to attend a place that could offer a formal magical education; a secret confession he'd made to Arthur not long after the reveal of his magic, in a moment were they both been feeling vulnerable.
He'd been extremely surprised and elated when Arthur had reacted positively at the moment, the warlock having expected a scoff or hurtful indifference all those years ago- and here they were now, walking towards the newest constructed building in Camelot.
After Morgana discovered her magic and confided in both Merlin and her brother, the school became his and Morgana's special project, or their baby, as Arthur liked to tease them in the times were the two sorcerers had been planning the construction and logistics of the school by candlelight, hidden in the Prince's bedchambers to avoid Uther's suspicions.
One Arthur took the throne and the repeal of the magic ban began to be drafted, the King also became personally involved on the planning, adamant in helping his then secret lover and sister archive their goal in training the new generation of sorcerers of Albion.
Merlin liked to jest that it was all a metaphorical kick to Uther's balls, and the Pendragon siblings never disputed it.
The teaching staff consisted of hidden sorcerers who had not given over to bitterness and Druids, excitingly offering their services in training the new generation. As for the students themselves, the great majority were children from the five kingdoms who'd been sent to live on Camelot by their parents, trusting Emrys and the last High Priestess to take care of the younglings.
Merlin, after some convincing from his loved ones, had also agreed to teach the children. Not because he didn't like working with kids, but because he'd been lacking the confidence in teaching, worried that he would be horrible at it; something Arthur, Morgana and Gaius had been quick to tell him to be wrong in the thinking- Morgana quietly admitting Merlin had been better, kind and more patient teacher than Morgause.
Once he'd conceded, it was decided that the large group of children was to be divided in two so one half could be under the tutelage of the Prince Consort, and the other half being taught by the Princess.
There were even future plans involving the knights of Camelot, if the younglings later decided they wanted to try a hand in non-magical combat training.
"Are you ready?" Arthur whispered on his ear as they entered the school, approaching the little crowd of excited children in the hall.
For a moment, the warlock looked at the future sorcerers, all of them looking up at them with hope and eagerness in their little faces, thinking back to his yearning in childhood.
He felt his eyes sting with tears of pride on what they were about to achieve, and forced himself to take a calming breath.
"I am" Merlin confirmed.
The rest of the day had been hectic and full of thrilled chatter, the adults guiding the younglings through the introduction of life in the magic school.
By the end of the day, everyone had taken to spending the last hours of sunlight in the snow, Merlin opting to sit at the end of the entry stairs and watching the children and Morgana manipulate the nature around them.
He was briefly startled by feeling a presence sitting next to him, but relaxed when he recognized his husband. Arthur gave him a wide smile that Merlin was quick to return.
"Satisfied, cariad?" the King asked as he placed a kiss on the back of the raven's hand, "Is it what you dreamed it would be?"
"Very much, yes" Merlin replied, feeling a rush of warm affection at his love's look of wonder at the little courtyard they found themselves in, "The children are all been sorted out in their respective chambers and have been introduced to the rules and class schedule. We taught them an introduction to nature magic"
"I can see that" Arthur said with a chuckle as he gazed at the flower crown on top of Merlin's head, a gift from a shy boy by the name of Deagal, "They must be having fun making flowers in the middle of winter"
"They are" the Prince Consort laughed, "Fair warning, there's a high chance the gardens will be in full bloom a few seasons early"
"I sincerely doubt someone will complain" his husband said with a wry smile, pulling the warlock onto an embrace, Merlin placing his head on Arthur's shoulder, feeling content.
They stayed silent for a while, simply witnessing the children play in the snow with their magic and offer flower bouquets to anyone who happened to pass by.
Sensing the King's eyes of him, the raven turned his head slightly to stare at him with curiosity.
"I can hear you thinking" Merlin murmured, taking in the warm and affectionate smile his love was giving him, "What is it?"
For a moment, the King is silent, watching one of Merlin's younger apprentices happily conjure up a shower of rose petals over an amused Morgana.
"I'm so proud of you" Arthur softly said, placing a kiss on top of his head. Merlin flushed at the praise, and his husband chuckled lightly at his embarrassed state, "Really, I am"
With a lump on his throat, Merlin could only offer him a watery smile, the tears of happiness that had been threatening to drop finally falling. Arthur carefully wiped them off his cheeks, placing kisses at the corner of his eyelids.
"Thank you for supporting this" Merlin managed to say, tilting his head up to kiss his husband, "Thank you so much"
"It's a step forward to healing father's damage to the land" the King replied, resting their foreheads together, sapphire eyes bright, "And you know I'll do anything to make you happy"
Grinning, Merlin kissed him again.
"I love you" he whispered when they broke apart, trailing his fingers over Arthur's cheek, who took the opportunity to place a peck on the inside of Merlin's wrist.
"I love you, t-"
The King was cut off by a snowball impacting on his face, startling both men.
Slowly, they turned to the direction where the snowball came in, discovering a smirking Morgana and her apprentices holding up more makeshift balls on their hands.
"Morgana" Arthur began to say slowly while the Prince Consort stifled a laugh behind his hand at his husband's look of playful outrage, "What is this?"
"A declaration of war, brother dear" the Princess dramatically announced, the children next to her snickering and getting into position.
"Oh, no" Arthur bemoaned, hiding his face on Merlin's neck, "We're doomed"
"Oh, yes" Morgana cackled, "You're both going down"
By the corner of his eye, Merlin located his own apprentices hiding behind a snow fort, an unseen blind spot to Morgana's small army, giggling as they assembled their own projectiles.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that" Merlin commented offhandedly, subtly guiding Arthur's sight on the children, who smirked.
The warlock conjured a bowl of berries before he and the King settled themselves into a comfortable position in the stairs, ready to watch the chaos unfold.
AN: Trysor = Welsh for 'Treasure'
Cariad = Welsh for 'Love'