A strange sort of stillness had fallen over Merlin.
He sat crossed legged in a cave, with his back to entrance, humming very quietly to himself. The pouring rain outside had soothed Merlin into a state of deep meditation which he had been sitting in for almost thirteen days.
In.
Each breathe came in slowly and deeply.
And out.
He released his pent up tension into his surroundings.
In.
The scent of petrichor flooded his synapses.
And out.
He felt his magic pulsing out of him, spreading out like a fog throughout the forest and beyond.
In.
The movement of hundreds upon thousands of creatures rippled like tiny particles upon his magical wave.
And out.
They were so full of life.
In.
He was alive.
And out.
Arthur was not.
In.
It had been three weeks.
And out.
.
.
.
"Good morning Milady"
The curtains were thrown back and the rays from the early morning sunshine flooded the chambers. Gwen opened her bleary eyes to see her new lady in waiting patiently at the foot of their bed with a tray of breakfast in her hands.
Stupid stupid! Her bed. Not theirs! Not anymore.
"Would you like to get dressed or eat first?" the girl asked timidly to Gwen. Gwen closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Oh how she missed waking up next to the ruffled blonde haired man.
"Milady?" the girl interrupted her thoughts, Gwen snapped her eyes back open.
"I'm sorry about that, I think I'll go and get dressed first if that's alright," Gwen said, sitting up in the bed.
"Of course Milady!" the girl curtsied before walking over to the wardrobe to find Gwen's outfit for the day.
It has been three weeks to this day she had been officially crowned Queen and Ruler of Camelot. A lot had changed since then. The whole kingdom had been in morning over the loss of their King; the castle had seemed a whole lot emptier without him striding down the corridor or sitting in the Council Chambers. And it wasn't just him, Merlin had never returned and his empty presence had just as much dominated the empty space as much as Arthur had created. Together they had enlarged it. The two were always side by side; they rarely left each other for anything.
She wasn't the only one longing for their presence again. Leon and Gaius had been much more subdued since her coronation. Several hours later, Percival had come in mud streaked and tear stained, holding the feeble body of Gwaine. Guinevere, who had to keep up appearances in Court, tried to sooth the unstable to no avail, but in the isolation of her chambers, she had broken down herself and cried with no one to comfort her. Although they hadn't spoken as much in recent times, she remembered the times when Gwaine first arrived at Camelot, his playful flirting and carefree banter with the other knights.
Now that was gone too.
Camelot had lost a great deal and it would take a long time to heal, but Gwen had to give hope to the people. Give them strength and the determination to carry on otherwise the kingdom would fall and everything that Arthur had built would have been for nothing.
Arthur and Merlin. Gaius had told her the truth about what had really been going on since Merlin had arrived at Camelot. The Kingdom's secret protector.
With her newly gained insight, Gwen decided there needed a time for change. It had taken two long weeks of arguing, tossing between whether they would allow the new law or not, debates in council chambers. But finally she could change things for the better.
Gwen was going to lift the ban on magic.
.
.
.
In.
The water was about to spill over the banks of the creek to the North.
And out.
A young fox cub had taken its first few wobbly steps around the den.
In.
The rain was beginning to lessen now.
And out.
A rabbit dashed across the clearing, trying to stay as dry as possible.
In.
The chirping of the cricket echoed around the cave.
And out.
The rain finally stopped.
.
.
.
Gwen smoothed down the crease in her navy blue dress, a sense of nervousness settling over her. Leon stood by her side as her new Chief Advisor, as well as a Knight of Camelot. Around the Round Table were gathered the Knights, Gaius, several lords, (and to her request) several townsfolk. Gwen felt if she was going to change the biggest law in all of Camelot, then she would want the support of citizens and not just the nobles. Gwen wanted everyone to have a say in what was happening so it seemed only fair to invite people who she knew who it was going to affect the most.
"Good afternoon, we are gathered here today to degree a new law. The lift of the ban on magic."
She saw several of the lords frowning with distrust at her, but she continued to soldier on in her speech.
"We have all been blinded by Uther and his hatred of magic that we ourselves have grown to fear it. However it is not always used as an instrument of evil, but can be a force for good as well. It was magic that brought you our beloved former King of Camelot; he was born out of a force so strong and pure which he has managed to project onto Camelot. Yet Uther persecuted people who dared to use magic, condemning them for the rest of their lives and putting them for death just because they could perform one simple spell, which could be difference between life and death for some of the townsfolk. However people began to rebel against it, trying to hurt Uther, which only strengthened Uther's stance that all evil is magic and should be destroyed."
She glanced over at Gaius who gave her a small smile.
"However this isn't the case. We have already seen that the Druids are a peaceful people as you all know that Arthur stopped the persecution on the Druids. But it went much deeper than that. Arthur had a magical protector by his side for ten years, thwarting every piece of evil that has tried to penetrate these walls. He stood silently in the shadows, never taking any credit, wanting only to see the rise of the Kingdom. You better know him as Merlin, Emyrs to the druids, manservant and best friend to the King. Although they are both gone, their spirits shall live on forever in Camelot and rise we shall.
From this day forth, I am herby lifting the ban of magic. People will be judged on their actions against the Kingdom, not on their ability to perform magic."
The whole of the hall was silent for a few moments. Then Percival gave a big cheer.
"FOR THE KING! AND FOR MERLIN!"
"MERLIN! MERLIN! MERLIN!" the Knights began to chant. Percival began whooping, Leon clapped as hard as he could, but Gwen sought out Gaius and saw that he was smiling and laughing quietly to himself. For the first time in free weeks, she felt some of the burden and hardship beginning to lessen slightly.
At last magic was free.
They were so busy celebrating, that nobody noticed one of the townsfolk slip quietly out of the chambers.
.
.
.
In.
Blue patches in the sky began to appear through the clouds.
And out.
Arthur had blue eyes.
In.
A few weak rays of light shone onto the ground below.
And out.
A timid squirrel peaked out of her hidey hole in the tree, checking if it was safe to come out.
In.
The forest was beginning to wake up once more now the rain had passed, the birds were twittering away in the trees and in the far off distance was the growl of the wildcat.
And out.
The world was bright once more.
In.
Light was scattered through the leaves off the overhead trees.
And out.
Suddenly Merlin felt a change in atmosphere. Something dark was penetrating the side of his magical wave, so Merlin instantly withdrew his shield back to himself. His eyes shot up and his heartbeat began to thump double time. There was something coming. Something so dark that it had awakened him instantly from his dream like state, something so unnatural and cold. Merlin had never felt anything like this before.
Merlin had attuned himself to the forest, but now even the simple peace and tranquillity had been disturbed.
.
.
.
Authors Note – I'm sorry for the late update, I'm currently in the process of revising for two A-Level exams which I've got next week (Maths and Physics *hangs self*), so the next one or two updates will probably be slower. However now that we've seen what Merlin and Gwen have been up too, there should be a bit more action happening (whether it will be in the next chapter or the one after that I'm not sure but I do promise that it is coming up soon so you won't have to wait long I promise!)
Thank you for my lovely reviews, it always makes me smile to see that you've enjoyed this! Thank you for reading and I hope you stay with me!