MrsMagnusB:
He's worried by other things actually...
Guest:
Some injuries are coming right up ;-)
Amethyst49:
Yeah, it probably feels pretty cool for Merlin :-)
Vaughntronic:
Yep, I looove my cliffhangers...
Great, I'll have my lawyer draft something suitable and then we'll talk... Every other week sound good? ;-)
Nance:
A feast might just be coming up, and definiately pranks!
Phanstarlight:
More is on the way :-)
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.
Moving on
It's time to make peace with the past and step into the future, in more ways than one.
Seeing Merlin standing there, hands stretched out in front of him and concentrating on upholding the shield that separated Arthur from the rest of them, with defiance and sadness in his eyes felt like a sharp kick to Arthur's guts. Suddenly he realized what he'd done to them and how he'd treated all of them, just because he felt miserable about himself. And all they'd tried to do was to help him. He felt like the lowest of lowlifes and slumped where he stood.
"I'm sorry. I didn't…" His voice faltered and he reached out towards Gwaine. "Gwaine, I'm sorry, I wouldn't…"
"Don't worry about it" Gwaine gruffly responded.
"And Elyan, Percival, I'm sorry, I shouldn't treat you like that. And Merlin…" Arthur looked even more ashamed of himself. "I know you were only trying to help, I…"
"Was a downright prat" Merlin supplied sharply.
"Yes, yes I was" Arthur admitted straight away and Merlin's eyes softened a bit. It seemed that he deemed it safe to release the spell because he lowered his hands.
"I'm sorry" Arthur said again. He could see that Merlin was still hurt but he knew he'd get over it with time.
"I need to find Leon" he said and turned to leave. "I'm really sorry, I'll just…" His voice trailed off and he gestured vaguely towards the tent opening before stepping outside.
"Well, wasn't that an eventful evening" Gwaine remarked when the king had left the tent. "I daresay I didn't expect that. That's the most times I've heard princess say sorry for the whole time that I've known him." He propped his feet up on the table and slouched back in his chair comfortably. Percival on the other hand looked very uncomfortable and kept glancing uneasily at Merlin, and when Merlin looked back at his he averted his gaze quickly. Merlin sighed.
"Why don't we take the opportunity to stuff our faces while Arthur's gone?" he suggested in an attempt to lift the mood.
"Well, you certainly don't hear me complaining" Gwaine pitched in, grabbed the nearest plate and started to fill it but stopped when Percival made no move to join in.
"Oh, don't tell me you're jealous because…" Gwaine started but was interrupted by Percival.
"I should have defended you" he blurted out, shoulders hanging and avoiding meeting Merlin's gaze. "I'm sorry." Elyan's face bore a similar expression while Gwaine rolled his eyes.
"For the love of…" he muttered and Merlin elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up.
"Don't think about it." Merlin turned to the other knights. "Seriously, I mean it" he insisted when the both of them still looked guiltily at him. "It was Arthur that was acting stupidly, not you."
"But this is hard for him." Leon said, having returned to the tent without anyone noticing. When he heard what Merlin said, he jumped straight to the king's defense.
"He is under a lot of pressure but he still acted out of line" Merlin said. "You have to stop being too loyal, Leon." Leon's frown deepened and turned to leave but Merlin grabbed his arm. "I didn't mean to be rude. But you are so loyal to Arthur that you sometimes overlook things that you wouldn't have accepted from anyone else."
"He's my king" Leon simply answered, yanked his arm free and then left again. Merlin sighed again and passed a hand over his forehead. So it was to be one of those nights, he thought grimly. He admired Leon's loyalty but sometimes he wished that the knight would dare to criticize Arthur more. Luckily the others didn't make a fuss about it and they moved to serve themselves of the food instead. As they ate most of the tense atmosphere dissolved and Merlin decided to talk to Leon later.
Meanwhile Arthur had searched through the village and finally found Leon. The knight was standing at the outskirts of the small village, looking out over the lake and seemed deeply in thoughts. Leon must have heard him approaching but he didn't turn around or say anything. Arthur squared his shoulders.
"Leon?"
"Yes, sire?" Leon's voice was flat and he still didn't turn. Arthur winced a little but at the same time he knew that he probably didn't deserve Leon making things easier for him.
"I'm really sorry" he said and tried to put every bit of guilt and sincerity into his voice, to make Leon understand how bad he felt about what he'd done. Leon simply nodded at this but Arthur could see that his shoulders were less tense and dared to step up to stand beside the knight.
"I'd never do anything to Merlin" he continued. "Or the rest of you." Leon still didn't answer but Arthur could definitely see that he was warming up.
"Please, I'm sorry." Arthur hated that he sounded so desperate but he couldn't bear one of his closest and most trusted knight and friend turning his back on him. "I know it's not an excuse but this whole situation, it's too much, I don't know what to do… And Merlin, even though he helps, he seems to think it's some kind of joke." Leon turned to face him.
"Maybe Merlin's magic makes it a bit difficult for him to realize how hard this is on you?" he suggested. "You can't blame him for that, sire, magic is natural to him. And he's waited a long time to be able to stop hiding it."
"I know, but it's not natural for me."
"I know. Trust me, I of all people should understand" Leon grimaced when imagining what it would be like to grow up with Uther with his views on magic as a father and then realize being a shapeshifter. "But haven't you thought of everything that you can do, sire?" Like what, licking myself? Arthur moodily wanted to answer but he didn't say anything and shook his head instead. He figured that he'd already filled his temper tantrum quota today.
"No?" Leon asked. "Haven't you even thought about all the conversations that you can listen to, you can get to know what people really think of you, you can spy on people, sneak up on them, and you can hide really easily. Haven't you even considered this, sire?" Arthur's wide open mouth suggested that he really hadn't and Leon chuckled at the sight.
"Maybe that will be something to think about next time you're feeling frustrated?" he suggested and Arthur nodded sheepishly. It was at times like these that he felt exactly the way he had when he was younger, Leon patiently explaining something to him and all he wanted to do was to hurl his practice sword across the field and stomp his foot because he felt stupid for not having figured it out himself.
"What did I ever do to deserve you Leon?" he asked and Leon caught him in a headlock.
"What grievous sins did I ever commit to deserve to be stuck with you, you mean" Leon grumbled, mock-annoyed, and rubbed his knuckles roughly over Arthur's head before an impromptu wrestling match ensued and both of them ended up laughing on the ground.
When Arthur and Leon returned, the plates were as good as licked clean and Arthur scowled momentarily before he saw that someone, probably Merlin, had set two large plates aside for them.
"I'm nice again" Arthur declared to the assembly and Gwaine snorted. Arthur pretended not to hear him and continued.
"I'm sorry, again, that I was such an…"
"Arrogant, pratty idiotic clotpole?" Merlin pitched in and Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Don't push it, Merlin" he grumbled. "But yes, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier." Merlin smiled.
"I'm sorry too. I know this is difficult for you and Gwaine and I," Merlin elbowed Gwaine who straightened up and tried to look contrite, "… and Gwaine and I are sorry that we've been a bit hard on you. And Leon…" Merlin turned towards the blonde knight who held up his hand.
"We're good, Merlin. We were both a bit right in what we said, yeah?" he said with a smile and Merlin nodded and smiled back relieved. Arthur looked around at everyone.
"So, are we good?" His question was met with nods and he sat down at the table. "Thank gods, I'm starving. Merlin, bring me some food." Merlin rolled his eyes and turned to get the plate but then he seemed to remember something. He stopped, murmured a quick spell and the plates soared through the air and landed neatly on the table.
"Show off" Arthur muttered and tucked in.
When his plate was as empty as the others he leaned back contentedly. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed now and they'd talked about how they'd spent their respective afternoons.
"Where were you two?" Arthur asked, suddenly remembering Gwaine's and Percival's disappearance.
"Percival got kidnapped by a bunch of kids" Gwaine smiled. "They didn't let him go until he'd played with them."
"And Gwaine couldn't stop showing while practicing so he got a bunch of teenagers on his heels, demanding lessons in hand-to-hand combat" Percival countered.
"And you taught them?" Arthur asked a little surprised.
"Of course. Wouldn't want to deprive the young ones of my vast wisdom" Gwaine answered pompously and then turned serious. "They don't train combat skills at all. Maybe those who want to could come to Camelot to train, and at the same time teach us about magic defenses. Maybe they could even become knights?"
Arthur looked even more surprised and Gwaine quickly noticed.
"You thought we were off somewhere to shag each other's brains out, didn't you?" he smirked and Percival blushed crimson red and tried to cuff him over the head.
"Well…" Arthur sheepishly shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm hurt princess." Gwaine dramatically put his hand over his heart. "I'm a changed man now."
"I'll believe it when I see it" Elyan muttered and the rest of them snickered.
"And also, I couldn't convince Percival, he said it was too many children around" Gwaine continued winking and Arthur rolled his eyes.
"A changed man indeed" he muttered. But it was an interesting idea and he would definitely give it some thought.