THIRTY-ONE: BEAUTIFUL (272 days)

Merlin stood at the recently built balcony overlooking the dragon enclosure - with a set of stairs leading down into the enclosure itself. The enclosure was finally finished. He may have sped up the process with his magic a bit.

Or a lot.

He had gotten too impatient waiting for the men to finish building it manually, and so he'd ignored Arthur's suggestion and finished it with magic. He was sure he would get an earful about that later, but for now, he didn't care. The enclosure finished, and it was actually quite large. Not nearly as large as the underground cavern Kilgharrah had been kept in, but it was certainly large enough for a growing dragon, when Scathach deigned to return her, that is. Being female, Aithusa was unlikely to ever get as large as the Great Dragon.

For now, though, it was empty. Sunlight streamed in, as the enclosure was completely open to the sky. Well, it would be. Merlin had placed an enchanted net over the whole enclosure - fortified with his Dragonlord magic. It was a spell that he hadn't known had existed until he'd needed it. Dragonlord magic was strange that way. He planned to keep the net there until he and Aithusa were both comfortable with her flying around Camelot freely. He had a feeling it would be a while before they got to that point.

He heard his door open and close with a snap. He looked over in surprise. "Mordred?"

The druid knight leaned against the door, his eyes wide. He put a finger to his lips. Merlin frowned, wondering what was going on. Mordred didn't usually barge into his rooms without permission. Then there was a knock on the door, and Mordred gave a startled jump. Lady Carys, he said into the warlock's mind.

Merlin nodded in understanding - he could at least understand why Mordred would want to hide in his chambers, though he had no idea why Lady Carys would be following him - and moved toward the door. Hide. I'll take care of her.

Mordred scrambled behind the dressing screen that Merlin never used. Why would he bother with a dressing screen now, when he had never used one before in his life? But Merlin hadn't had much say in the decor of his chambers. And, apparently, it made for a good hiding spot.

Merlin opened the door, smiling widely at Lady Carys. The woman was tall and thin, but she had an aura about her that made her seem much bigger than she really was. And despite the fact that wasn't quite as tall as the sorcerer, she still managed to look down her nose at him. "Lord Emrys," she greeted, causing Merlin to grit his teeth. He hated the title, and the whole castle knew it. "Have you see Sir Mordred? I thought for certain I saw him coming this direction."

The warlock shook his head. "I'm sorry, my lady. I'm afraid I haven't. He may be in the lower town, though. He sometimes visits his belo- He sometimes visits his friends there."

Her nostrils flared angrily. They both knew that Merlin had been about to say 'beloved,' even though Mordred wasn't currently courting anyone. At least, not that Merlin knew about.

With a huff and a flip of her brown hair, Lady Carys left.

Once she'd turned the corner, Merlin closed the door. Mordred came out from behind the screen, looking relieved.

"Lady Carys?" Merlin questioned.

Mordred shuddered. "She's terrifying. And I spent time with Morgana, when she was at her worst, so that tells you just how terrifying Carys is."

"Why is she looking for you?"

The younger man sighed. "She has somehow gotten it into her head that I an interest in her. I don't know where she could have possibly gotten that idea."

"Arthur," Merlin growled, shaking his head. "He's still trying to play matchmaker? I thought our little picnic stunt would make him back off."

"Picnic stunt?" Briefly, Merlin explained how he and Kerenza had manipulated the king. Mordred shook his head. "So that's why Arthur hasn't been able to look you in the eye for the past two days."

Merlin grinned. "He still thinks that we don't know he was there. He's probably convinced that we actually did have sex out in the forest. Idiot." He sighed. "Damnit. It looks like we're going to have to get creative if we want to scar him enough to keep him from anymore matchmaking attempts."

"What should I do about Lady Carys?"

"Hide," was Merlin's only advise.


"Arthur."

The king looked across the table at his wife. They were just finishing their midday meal. "Yes? Is something wrong?"

Guinevere shook her head. "No. I just wanted to discuss something with you before your meeting this afternoon. About the babe."

He set down his fork, giving her his full attention. "Yes?" he asked again.

"I know that it's customary for mothers of nobility to have wet nurses, but I don't…I want to nurse the child myself." She took a deep breath, then added, "And I strongly dislike the idea of hiring a governess for our son."

"Guinevere," he said gently. "That isn't how things are done among royalty. A prince is always given a governess, as is a princess. It's simply how things are done."

She arched an eyebrow at him, challenging him. "Just as a king never marries a commoner? We've bent the rules before, Arthur. We can do it again."

"Guinevere." He reached out and took her hand in his own. He understood her reasoning for wanting this, even though she hadn't had a chance to express her reasoning yet. He knew why she wanted it. She had grown up in a different world than he had. Her father had been there every day of her life, personally teaching her all that she knew. While Arthur's father had been more of a king than a father to him. He didn't learn how to walk from his father. It was governess. He didn't learn how to read from his father. That was also his governess. "We are the king and queen. Even though I dislike the idea of a governess almost as much as you do, we will not be able to raise this child without one. We don't have that luxury. We have far too many responsibilities."

"I know, Arthur. I do realize that we will need help. But I do not want a governess raising our child for us."

Arthur sighed. He didn't want that, either. Of course he didn't want that. He remembered his own childhood. He'd spent nearly all of his pre-adolescent years being raised and taught by his governess. His father had never played with him, and had hardly even shown any interest in him before he turned thirteen. Arthur didn't want that for his own son. He didn't want his son to remember his governess with more fondness than he remembered his own parents.

He may be king, but he was also going to be a father. He was determined to be more than just a king to his son. He wanted to be the one to teach his son how to walk, how to swordplay, how to read. He didn't want a governess to do it all for him. So he understood exactly where his wife was coming from on the matter. He understood, and he agreed.

"I think we should be fine without a wet nurse, unless the midwife deems one necessary." That was an easy decision. Guinevere smiles at him, looking somewhat relieved. "But I doubt we can get away with no governess at all."

Guinevere's face fell.

Arthur continued, "However, perhaps the governess we hire will be responsible only for caring for the child when neither of us is available to do so. She will not be in charge of raising our child. Is that acceptable?"

The queen bit her lip as she folding her hands over her midsection. "I suppose."

"Guinevere, I promise that we will the ones during the majority of raising him. I want him to have as carefree of a childhood as he can, despite being the heir to the throne. I know he'll have a lot of weight on his shoulders, but I hope that we will be able to make it more bearable. With you as his mother, I'm sure he'll be fine."

She rolled her eyes affectionately at him. She was grinning slightly. "Flatterer."


Merlin hummed as he made his way through the main part of the castle. He and Mordred had continued talking for nearly an hour, discussing some of their favorite spells. Their friendship was much easier now that Merlin wasn't worried about the druid trying to kill Arthur.

Surprisingly, Mordred had never asked what had made the warlock suddenly trust him again, and Merlin didn't feel the need to explain, so it went unsaid between them.

Once Mordred had left, Merlin had decided to make his way to the vaults again. He still had a few more sections to look through and organize. His task had remained unfinished due to the chaos of him being poisoned, his mother's arrival, the trial, the festival, then Kerenza.

Kerenza had been very distracting lately.

He was just walking past the smaller throne room when Kerenza herself turned the corner in a rush. For a brief moment, Merlin was worried that he had actually projected his thoughts to her. There you are, she said, her lips not moving. I've been looking for you.

He frowned at her. Why are we using mind-speak? We're alone. They very rarely spoke through their minds at all, and never when there was no one else around to overhear them.

I saw Arthur coming this way, she explained. He didn't see me, though. I have an idea. She didn't give him a chance to ask about her idea before she was pushing him against the wall. With a devious smirk, she ran her fingers roughly through his hair, making it even more unkempt than it usually was.

Well. That answered his question. He was rather liking this idea of hers.

Merlin's hands naturally fell to her waist when she crashed her lips to his, as they always did when she kissed him. He pulled her against him, wanting to be as close to her as was physically possible.

Kerenza's hands slipped themselves under his tunic and began to roam higher, grazing along his bare skin. Merlin gasped at the feeling. This was the first time in all of their kissing sessions - both real and exaggerated - that her hands had actually wandered under his tunic.

It felt amazing.

But then her hands stilled. She broke the kiss, pulling her face away from his with a frown. Before Merlin could wonder at her actions, she was yanking his tunic over his head.

He was too surprised to resist.

This was bold, even for her.

Her fingers found their way back to his chest, but in a much gentler fashion than before. "Merlin…" she muttered, and there was something wrong with her voice. Was she crying?

"Ack! Merlin! Kerenza!" They both jumped, looking over to see Arthur standing at the end of the corridor, his hands scrubbing at his eyes as though he'd seen something truly repulsive. He was already turning away from them. "This behavior is entirely inappropriate, especially in the middle of the castle, where anybody could see you! Besides, you're not even married!"

"So?" Merlin challenged. He wasn't quite as concerned with the idea of waiting until marriage. After all, his mother hadn't been married to his father when they fell in love. But he mostly said it to annoy Arthur.

It worked. The king - who still hadn't looked at them beyond his initial discovery - threw his hands up in frustration. "Apparently, you and I need to have a discussion about propriety. As soon as I get out of this meeting, we're going to have a little chat, Merlin." With that, he left.

Merlin shook his head, grinning. "Well, that seemed to work. He couldn't even look at us. But was it really necessary to take my tunic off?" He looked down at her, but she wasn't looking at him. Well, she wasn't looking at his face. Her eyes - wide and green and full of tears - were riveted to his chest.

More specifically, the scars that littered his chest.

Oh. Maybe it was better that Arthur hadn't been able to look at the two of them. Merlin was sure, had he not been traumatized by their passion, he would have noticed Merlin's scars as well.

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the wall. In the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten about his many scars. Most were small, simple injuries from battles over the years. Those kinds of scars covered his arms and legs, too. Most of them were barely visible. But some were large and noticeable and ugly. For so many years, Gaius had been the only one who knew about them all, let alone had seen them all. Not even his mother knew about most of them.

And while Arthur and Gwen had been told of all of his various…adventures, they didn't know of all of the injuries he'd sustained in those adventures. They'd never seen his scars.

He felt oddly exposed, with Kerenza staring at him like that. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel her stare. "I know they're hideous. You probably hate them," he whispered. What girl wouldn't? "Most of them -"

"Merlin, they're not hideous. They're…Well, I won't say beautiful. Except…" she trailed off, one finger lightly tracing over the scar left from Nimueh's fireball, the biggest scar on his chest. It was also the ugliest, red and uneven and fresh-looking. "Except that they are beautiful. Because they're marks of your bravery, of your loyalty."

And then she was pressing her lips softly to the scar. He shuddered at the feel of her mouth there. It felt...intimate. "They reflect everything that makes you who you are, Merlin. I love them, just as I love you."

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Merlin had finally opened his eyes, to stare down at her. But she seemed to have realized what she'd said. Neither one of them had said that before, those three small words. Merlin had been feeling it for the past couple of days, that intense feeling. He knew that he loved her, was in love with her. But it had gone unspoken.

Until now.

Kerenza buried her head in his shoulder, groaning loudly. "I'm sorry. That was stupid. I shouldn't have said -"

He pulled her face up, as gently as he could in his haste, and kissed her. "Kerenza," he whispered, against her lips. "Yes, you should have said it. It wasn't stupid."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you saying?"

He rolled his own eyes. "What do you think? I love you."

A slow smile spread over her lips, and then she kissed him again.


Whew. I hadn't really meant for Kerenza to find out about his scars in this one. It just kind of happened. As did the confession at the end. And I know it wasn't a lot with Mordred, but there was a little bit.

To shadowswithouthope: Thanks! I'm still chuckling over it.

To Lollypops101: Good. I was laughing my head off while writing it.

To Linorien: I agree, and I plan to put more of it in here.

To NerdGirlAlert: It was entertaining to write. I was cackling to myself as I wrote Arthur's reaction, because I already knew what Merlenza were really doing.

To mersan123: With Arthur's stubbornness? Lol.

To The View From Up Here: Thanks! Personally, I'm not a fan of Mordred, but he is a main player, so I'll try to incorporate more of him.

To SisterOfAnElvenWannabe: Yes, but when does Arthur do as he should? And where would the fun be if he did?

To geekyglamour413: Awesome! For some reason, I seem to have an inability to write a story that doesn't have a lot of chapters.

To xxxLeanniexxx: Of course Gwaine is eager to create more-I swear, that man lives on mayhem and mischief. And oh my gosh, Arthur writing to Hunith or giving Merlin the little warlock talk? Hilarious. Little warlock talk. He, he.