Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.
Little Leon
A desperate king travels to seek help to have an heir, accompanied by his loyal knight. A scheming sorceress assures that the visit gets a different outcome than anyone involved would have anticipated…
Two things very soon became screamingly apparent. One, they had no idea what had happened nor did they know what to do about it, and two, Arthur was one of the worst parents imaginable.
When Leon woke up from a nightmare crying Arthur told him that he needed to toughen up if he ever wanted to become a knight and when Leon was thirsty Arthur told him to go get a drink himself, which resulted in a very lost child and a massive search involving just about everyone in the castle. After that particular episode all the knights took it upon themselves to ensure that they were around to help whenever Arthur was responsible for the young boy.
Elyan made him a small dagger and taught him how to use it. Percival carved more wooden toys and carried him on his shoulders, making Leon grin with delight at how far up he was. Gwaine taught him to pay hide and seek and showed him all the nooks and crannies of the castle and Merlin generally spoiled Leon rotten and used his magic to entertain the child. Thanks to all the knights, bedtime had gone from simply getting undressed and going to bed to a whole ritual. Leon would sit on the soft furs in front of the fire, always with a jug of hot milk spiced with cinnamon, while Gwaine told adventurous stories about dragons and knights and Merlin used the smoke from the fire to conjure accompanying images. After that Percival would assure the young boy that there were no monsters under the bed and they'd all say good night and tuck him in. At first Arthur observed the whole ritual with barely hidden haughtiness but it wasn't many days until he was also curled up on the rug and listening to Gwaine's (thankfully child appropriate) stories.
As the time went on they could all observe the change in Arthur's behaviour. He still complained that the child moved around too much and that it made it impossible for him to sleep but there was no real fire behind the words and often his lips would be pulled into a fond smile when he looked at Leon. He only forgot about the boy's breakfast once, and every evening he made sure that there was a cup of fresh water on the nightstand if he got thirsty during the night. Arthur's old clothes from when he was young had been dug out of storage and even though the king still insisted on Merlin helping him dress, he was the one to pick out what Leon should wear and praised the boy when he with fumbling fingers managed to tie the laces himself.
Of course, the road to becoming a good parent wasn't always straight and narrow and there were a few mishaps as well. Arthur hadn't imagined how easily and how fast a small boy could get lost on a market day and he'd been sick with worry until he saw a mop of curly blond hair at the stall that sold pastries and sweets. His heart beat an alarming pace and ignoring the protests he swept the child into his arms and carried him back to the relative safety of the castle. But not before he'd bought Leon the candied apple that the child had been looking at longingly.
There was also that time when Leon had accompanied the knights to sword practice and as everyone's attention slipped for a moment, he'd managed to get injured when trying to lift a sword that was way too big and heavy for him. The accident prompted the same reaction like when immortal armies threatened Camelot and in no time at all the boy was under Gaius' care and half of Camelot's knights nervously paced the corridors waiting for news. When Gaius assured them that it was only a flesh wound that would heal with time and rest a collective sigh of relief was heard and over the course of the next days Gaius' chambers started to look more than a market stall selling toys instead of a physician's quarters.
One night after Leon had fallen asleep, and Arthur had checked on him to see that he was not too hot or too cold or having a nightmare, he sat down in front of the fire with Merlin. While the warlock was busy collecting the empty jugs, (the bedtime ritual now included everyone having hot milk with cinnamon, not just Leon), Arthur stared into the flame, deeply in thoughts.
"Arthur? What are you thinking about?" Merlin inquired softly.
"Leon. What if we never find a cure? How do we tell his family? I can't stop thinking about that and on the same time I'd really want to…" Arthur didn't finish the sentence and Merlin sensed that something was on his mind.
"You'd really want what?" he asked and at first he didn't think that Arthur would answer at all as the silence dragged out.
"I'd really like to keep him" Arthur admitted at last, so quietly that Merlin was barely able to hear him.
"You'd like to… aha…" Merlin repeated confusedly but then the king's words made sense all of a sudden. No one had missed the fond looks that Arthur gave Leon, the way he spoiled the child and at the same time tried to introduce him to the values of a knight. He'd started talking about getting Leon a tutor later on and had taken it upon himself to interview potential candidates to find someone suitable. Arthur had started to look at Leon as parent sees his child.
"And I know that it's wrong because he has his own family and all that but I can't help the way I feel. I want him to be happy and keep him safe and…" Arthur gestured helplessly. "You know what I mean?" he asked and Merlin nodded.
"I know" he said. "Gwaine and I have been talking about children too. Not now, but still…" Arthur was a bit surprised but tried not to let it show. It seemed that Gwaine had at last settled down. Merlin smiled as if he could read Arthur's thoughts.
"It seems I finally tamed him, doesn't it?" he chuckled and Arthur found himself smiling too.
"Yeah. His hair will look lovely at the wedding too" he said and tried to imagine Gwaine's long dark hair covered by the thin, white veil traditionally worn by the bride on her wedding day. Merlin snorted out a laugh.
"Don't let him hear you say that, he's bound to come up with something worse to call you than Princess."
"I'm not scared, I've got my Court Warlock to protect me" Arthur said full of bravado and Merlin smiled again. After that they settled into a comfortable silence for a while.
"I've been thinking" Merlin suddenly said after a while.
"Don't hurt yourself, Merlin" Arthur murmured sleepily and ducked out of the way from Merlin's sharp elbow. Merlin settled for glaring at him instead and then continued.
"I've been wondering about the part when that old woman said that you'd soon have a child, do you remember exactly what she said?" Arthur frowned, trying to remember.
"She said 'soon you'll have the child that you long for,' and then she gave us the blessing." Merlin looked thoughtful and Arthur impatiently waited for him to finish thinking.
"Well, I'm thinking that maybe…" Merlin started to say when Arthur jumped to a conclusion of his own.
"Wait, do you think that she meant that Leon is that child?" he interrupted, completely shocked. "Because she had no right doing that to him, even if I wanted a child I wouldn't want that to happen to him, I would never…"
"No, Arthur, calm down, otherwise you'll wake him up" Merlin said and laid a calming hand on Arthur's forearm and the king looked guiltily over to the bed where Leon still slept soundly.
"No, it was something Gaius said the other day and I've been thinking about it since. It is a common belief among those of the Old Religion that a child only comes to the right parents at the right time. And since you and Gwen have tried for so long with no result, well maybe it wasn't because of a physical problem but because you weren't ready to care for a child."
"So you're saying that…?" Arthur started angrily but then managed to reign in his temper. "Well, I guess that I was a bit of a disaster in the beginning, wasn't I?"
"To put it mildly, yes" Merlin answered.
"Yes, go right ahead and rub it in, will you" Arthur retorted but there was no malice behind his words. Instead he looked thoughtful. "So you think that this was her way of teaching me how to care for a child to get me ready to have children of my own? By turning Leon into a child?"
"Maybe." Merlin shrugged. "Who knows?"
"We're riding out tomorrow" Arthur decided. They had already sent patrols back to the village but the woman seemed to have disappeared without a trace but this time Arthur wouldn't give up. He would find her and make her turn Leon back into an adult again.
The next morning Arthur woke up because he was uncomfortably squished to the side of the bed. Someone rather tall and muscly was currently occupying the greater part of his bed and it didn't seem to be his wife. Said person also snored rather loudly and had a beard that tickled Arthur's shoulder. It most certainly was not Gwen and Arthur jabbed an elbow at the intruder to get some more space. Some annoyed, sleepy sounds were heard and then came a surprised shout, a slightly pained yelp and the crash when someone fell onto the floor.
"Sire? What am I doing in your bed?"
A couple of months later the king announced to the assembled court that the queen was expecting a child. Amongst the cheers and applauses the faint echo of a cackling laugh could be heard. It seemed that at last it was the right time for the royal couple to be blessed with a child.
