Finally, it's time for the festival. I hope it lives up to all of your expectations.


TWENTY-SEVEN: BREATHTAKING (286 days)

Arthur helped Guinevere into a tall chair - a line of them had been placed in front of a large platform. Queen Annis, King Rodor, Princess Mithian, Lord Godwyn, and Princess Elena settled into their own chairs. Arthur's closest knights stood nearby, as well as Gaius and Hunith. The sorcerer's mother was looking proudly at her son, who stood near the platform, talking quietly with Kerenza. They were both dressed in somewhat formal clothes. Merlin wore black breeches, with a beige tunic over the top. Over that he wore a pale blue, open robe, belted at the waist. Kerenza wore a bright red gown, with only thin straps for sleeves. The material fit her form well, but wasn't so tight that it was distracting. A gold, swirled band rested on each of her upper arms. It was the first time Arthur had seen her wearing something so regal, and he had to admit that it suited her.

The young king glanced at Elena. "I must apologize, again, for that mishap this morning." He'd already apologized twice so far.

She gave him a reckless grin. "I've told you before, please, don't apologize. That was the most exciting thing that's happened to me in a while."

Godwyn shook his head, but he had an indulgent smile on his face.

Of all the people it could have happened to, Arthur was grateful it had been Elena. She had taken the brief transformation in stride. She had even enjoyed it! Arthur remembered his own experience with becoming - if only partially - a donkey. He had not enjoyed it one bit.

Fortunately, Godwyn hadn't been upset to find out that his daughter had been transformed into an animal for a few hours. He'd claimed that, as there had been no permanent damage, it wasn't worth the trouble to get upset over.

Arthur made his way onto the platform, clapping his best friend's shoulder along the way. He looked out over the bustling marketplace, and cleared his throat loudly. "People of Camelot!" he called, as loud as he could without actually yelling. Slowly, gazes turned in his direction. "I grew up, as many of you have, in a kingdom where most of the magic that I've been exposed to has been used for wicked ends, where many sorcerers have abused their power. My father once told me that to know one sorcerer was to know them all.

"He was wrong. A sorcerer is a human, and humans are different and unique from each other. I have known many evil sorcerers. I have also known some who are good. This week, we are going to have a chance to see the good that magic can do. We are going to see a side of magic that has too long been stifled and forced to hide in the shadows.

"And so, I present to you Kerenza, the Court Physician's apprentice, and Merlin Emrys, the Court Sorcerer. Together, they will mark the beginning of this festival with a demonstration of the beauty of magic."

With a gesture toward Merlin, Arthur stepped down from the platform and took his seat.

The two magic-users stepped onto the platform and faced one another. The crowd was silent, waiting. There was a slight tension in the air, reflecting the apprehension of his people. Arthur knew that the only way for them to move past their fear of sorcery was for them to witness it being used in a way that didn't bring about destruction.

Arthur himself was looking forward to the display. He wanted to see the good side of magic. For too long, he'd only seen the darkness in it.

Merlin and Kerenza grinned at each other, then raised their right arms slightly. They each spoke a different word in a strange language, but the golden glow that briefly lit their eyes was the same.

"Wanfyr."

"Waetercynn."

A flame, an unnatural shade of red, appeared just above the center of Merlin's palm. In the same instant, Kerenza's palm held a floating sphere of water. A murmur ran through the marketplace.

Another whispered phrase from both of them, another flash of gold in their eyes. "Upastiye draca." The elements they held took the shape of dragons, unfurling their small wings.

Arthur was speechless. The dragons were fairly small, a little smaller than the size of domestic cats, but surprisingly majestic. Sparks flew off of the fire-dragon, while droplets fell from the water-dragon. They stretched their necks, opening their maws, though no sound came out.

Merlin and Kerenza muttered, "Frician," and the elemental-dragons took flight. They flew in circles around the pair on the platform, spinning and somersaulting in the air. Several times, they came close to touching, but always pulled away at the last moment. Arthur wondered what would happen if they connected. Would they destroy each other? After all, the two elements were opposites.

Merlin and Kerenza were twirling their hands, as though directing the creatures' movements. And then the elemental-dragons flew into the crowd, eliciting gasps as they soared over the heads of the people. They danced above the crowd.

Arthur felt himself smile. He could see the tension slowly easing from most of his subjects as they watched the dance of the two elemental-dragons through the air. It was a beautiful sight.

A young boy, no more than four years of age, was sitting on his father's shoulders. His face was one of pure enjoyment. It struck Arthur suddenly that his own son would grow up with the wonders of magic in his life. He could easily imagine himself in this father's place, holding his own child on his shoulders as magic swirled through the air. It was a vision that brought hot moisture to his eyes, though he refused to let the tears spill over. Not here. He blinked them away.

The boy reached out, just as the water-dragon passed him. The father began to reprimand the child, but the creature flew back to hover in front of the child's face. It opened its maw and blew a small stream of water onto the boy's cheek. The child laughed loudly and without abandon as the water-dragon continued its intricate flight. Arthur was certain, if he looked at Kerenza, he would see her grinning fondly. She obviously had a soft spot for children, to do that unplanned surprise. Beside Arthur, Guinevere practically crooned at the boy's reaction.

On the platform, Merlin and Kerenza clasped their right hands together, lifting them high in the air. The fire-dragon curled itself around Merlin's forearm, not quite touching his skin, as the water-dragon did the same with Kerenza's arm. The contrast - Merlin in blue with a red dragon, and Kerenza in red with a blue dragon - was breathtaking and obviously planned.

The dragons stretched their necks so their heads were above the clasped hands. They reached toward each other, causing the crowd to hold their breath.

Snout met snout.

A cloud of steam enveloped both dragons. In less than an instant, the cloud had vanished, taking the dragons with it. A collective sigh went through the people, mourning the loss of the enchanted creatures.

Merlin and Kerenza released their hands, each saying one last spell.

"Blostma."

"Ye-wican leef."

An explosion of color filled the air around the two magic-users. Arthur watched, entranced, as pale blue butterflies fluttered into the sky. Red, strange-looking flowers floated slowly to the floor of the platform.

Merlin and Kerenza stared at each other, smiling widely. Then they turned so they were side-by-side, and entwined their fingers together. They bent at the waist, bowing to the crowd. It would have been more appropriate for Kerenza to curtsy, but Arthur wasn't even sure if she knew how to curtsy. He hadn't seen her do it even once since he'd met her.

Cheers erupted. It was exactly the reaction that Arthur had been hoping for. He knew there would still be some people with reservations, and he didn't entirely blame them. But this display…this display had shown so much beauty, all as the result of magic.

Merlin had far exceeded the king's expectations - not that Arthur would ever tell him that.

Arthur stood as Merlin and Kerenza left the platform, their hands still clasped. He moved to take their place. "My dear subjects, I hope that you were as moved by that demonstration as I was. Magic is to be celebrated. So, please, enjoy yourselves. Learn about the good things that magic can create. The druids who I've invited here are more than happy to share some of their knowledge. We will have another demonstration of magic tomorrow, and one every day of the festival. Let the celebrations begin!"

The bustling began again almost immediately. Arthur didn't move just yet. He looked out at the crowd, at his knights, at his physician, at his friend's mother, at his royal guests, at his wife, at his best friend.

His subjects were buzzing with conversation, several crowding around the booths of the druids. There was excitement and hope on the faces of many of them.

His knights mostly looked amazed. Mordred seemed especially happy at the display of magic. Percival was grinning widely. Gwaine's smirk was downright ridiculous. Leon and Elyan had their mouths open slightly, just staring at their friend.

Hunith had pride shining in her eyes. Arthur could only imagine how happy she was now that Merlin could finally be himself. And Gaius looked proud as well. Proud and fond. He had obviously come to think of Merlin as his own son. The affection he felt for the sorcerer was evident on his face.

Queen Annis actually looked impressed. He'd only seen that expression on her face once or twice in all the time he'd known her. Elena was practically bouncing with her excitement. Godwyn seemed pleasantly surprised. Mithian and Rodor both appeared stunned, though neither seemed to be angry or fearful.

Guinevere had a large smile on her lips. She looked amazingly happy.

And Merlin…Arthur had never seen his friend so content and happy. Grinning himself, he approached the sorcerer.


Merlin smiled as his king approached. He could feel Kerenza's hand still in his own and knew that he should pull away.

He didn't.

"Arthur. Those were very impressive speeches. I'll have to congratulate George when I see him," he teased.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Merlin," he said, but the words had no bite to them.

"I thought you were going to announce the…" Merlin trailed off, nodding to Gwen to emphasize his meaning.

"I will on the last day of the festival. That was…" Arthur trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words. There was an odd look on his face, almost one of awe.

Merlin smirked. "Amazing?" he supplied.

Again, the king rolled his eyes. He sniffed once, shrugging a single shoulder. The look of awe disappeared, to be replaced with one of apathy. "Eh," he said, in an unimpressed tone. "It was all right."

Merlin just shook his head. "Is it actually physically painful for you to give an honest compliment? Are you that emotionally repressed?"

Arthur just shrugged again. He clapped Merlin's shoulder once before leaning in to whisper into his ear, "She has a flower stuck in her hair. Perhaps you should help her with that, hmm?" Then he walked away, toward the queen.

Merlin looked back at Kerenza - she was watching the crowd with a happy smile, not paying any attention to him. Sure enough, one of the red nerines that she'd summoned had gotten caught in her long strawberry-blonde hair. He wasn't surprised that she'd chosen such a unique-looking flower. She was unique.

Even though his heart still occasionally ached for Freya, and the fact that they never had a chance to build a real relationship, he was finding himself more and more drawn to Kerenza. And the soft, caring look on her face as she'd had her conjured water-dragon interact with that young boy…It was yet another side of her that he wanted to get to know. He loved that small glimpse into her nurturing side. He had seen it briefly a few times before, when she was helping Gaius care for a patient. She was a loving person, beneath her fierceness.

Gently, slowly, he lifted the flower from her hair. She turned that bright smile in his direction. It nearly took his breath away, and…

And he wanted to kiss her.


She wanted to kiss him.

Something in the way he was looking at her, twirling a red flower in the hand that wasn't entwined with hers, made her want to pull his face down to hers and press their mouths together. She had kissed him before, but it had been a meaningless kiss.

She didn't want a meaningless kiss this time.

Before she could move, Merlin was letting go of her hand. He took one step closer to her and gently cupped her face between his palms. Then his lips were descending on hers.


Okay, I'm actually completely in love with how this chapter turned out. It went way better than I thought it would. I'd been worried that the whole magic show wouldn't be all that cool, butI think I did a good job.

Pretty much all of the spells that I used in this chapter did not come from the Merlin Wikia. I found an online English-Anglo Saxon translator (I believe most of the spells used on the show were in Old English), and used that. So take it with a grain of salt. It's probably not the best way to come up with spells, but that's what I'm going with. I'll still put the translations here, according to how I put the spells together. Forgive any inaccuracies. The translator isn't all that great. I'm doing my best.

Wanfyr-lurid flame

Waetercynn-water form

Upastiye draca-dragon, rise

Frician-to dance

Blostma-flower

Ye-wircan leef-to create a life (I have no idea what the plural could be, so I just left it as is)

To NerdGirlAlert: I knew there was a reason I wanted to post that last chapter before my nightshift, instead of after! I'm so glad that it brightened your day. I couldn't imagine Elena being anything other than cool with it. And the "duet" wasn't an element battle, but your comment about a dance did totally inspire most of it. I had already planned to use fire and water, but you just sparked something better than what I'd originally been thinking. Thanks for that. I hope you like how it turned out.

To thegirlwiththerainboweyes: Yes, always blame Gwaine.

To SisterOfAnElvenWannabe: Yay! You're all caught up! I love that you've reviewed every chapter, one right after the other. My email was going crazy the other night! I kept getting these notifications that there was another review.

To mersan123: Elena is amazing. And you're very welcome.

To xxxLeanniexxx: The thing that I love about Merlin is that, despite being the most powerful sorcerer, he kind of is an idiotic bumbling fool. And nothing will ever change that.

To guest: Thank you. I'm glad that the chapter didn't seem to drag the story down. I had asked my mom (who loves the show as much as I do - it's the TV show that she's actually gotten obsessed about, which is strange because she never gets obsessed about stuff) if it was too ridiculous. She said, "It's no more ridiculous than anything else on that show." Merlin, as powerful as he is, definitely has his fumbles. And I do think it's good to show that occasionally.

Thank you all for the lovely reviews. It seriously makes me so happy to see that you're all enjoying my work. I hope you all loved this chapter as much as I did!