Hello everyone. I apologise for how long its been since I published a chapter. I never realised it had been that long since I published Chapter 21, a whole 3 months ago. At the time I didn't know where I was going with the story, but I knew I wanted a few more chapters in there before it came to a beautiful end. I'd half completed a chapter, which was pretty rubbish, so I scrapped that draft and started afresh. So now with Chapter 22 being presented to you, there will be four more at the end, ending with an epilogue. My apologies again for my laziness. This chapter is called Merlin Works His Magic. Enjoy!
29th September
"Arthur? Have you seen my outfit for the night?" Merlin was up in their room rummaging around the place for his leotard, which because he couldn't afford a rather dazzling one, he was using the one that he took with him to college. Arthur meanwhile was downstairs helping Hunith tidy up. They were due some visitors on the late afternoon to view the property, a 'for sale' sign posted up outside the house. Merlin's voice was loud enough to hear downstairs, enabling Arthur to come to the foot of the stairs and shout back "It's in the bottom draw Merlin."
"What is it doing in your underwear draw?"
"I don't know. I must have got the washing confused."
"When I'm the only one out of the two doing gymnastics?"
"I don't know. Is it in there though?" Some rummaging could be heard as Merlin moved things around in the bottom draw. "It's in there. Thank you Arthur."
It was the early afternoon where Merlin was collecting his gear together for the show later on the night. Catrina was to arrive at the house by 3pm and take Merlin into Camelot, which he should arrive there within half-an-hour at the latest. Merlin would then do a dress rehersal before going back to the dressing room and waiting there until his performance, which he was due on last. Merlin dressed himself in a pair of jeans and a checked shirt, something which would be pretty easy to carry home.
"Merlin, come and get your lunch before Catrina arrives." Merlin left his bag on the sofa as he prodded into the kitchen with Arthur, who was already moaning at Merlin's messy hair. "Shut up Arthur," was his reply.
After Merlin had left the house on the afternoon, Gwen arrived at the house at four, carrying her dress and shoes with her. Her handbag contained her cosmetics in, which she would put on 10 minutes before they were to go. For the few hours they had, they slouched on the sofa together watching a DVD, taking their eyes off the screen for a moment or two when their phones buzzed. Gwen went to answer her phone at five, using the kitchen as a quiet place to answer it, soon coming back into the main room, joining Arthur on the sofa.
Arthur handed the bowl of popcorn over to Gwen. "Who was that?"
"Morgana. She tells us that they'll be here within 20 minutes." Arthur took his feet off the coffee table and went to stand, Gwen batting a hand for him to sit back down. "Don't worry. We don't need to get ready yet. We're not leaving until half-five." Hunith overheard their conversation and called out to Gwen. "You haven't seen how long it takes Arthur to get ready then. He's slower than Merlin and that's saying something."
"Hunith!"
Gwen couldn't help but grin and then nugged him. "Well then, if you're that slow then you better get ready now then. Can't be late for your boyfriend's show."
Arthur was a little concerned, a thought that couldn't escape his mind. Gwen noticed. "Arthur? What's wrong?"
"What if dad sees me? He's going to get me and drag me home. Then I'll be for sure barred from seeing Merlin altogether. Next he'll have the police tracking my movements."
"We're going to be fine. He won't see us. I've told Elyan that you, Morgana and I will be there tonight, so if they see us not to go bonkers and make things obvious. Elyan has let the other scouts know, so if they see us they'll just text either me or Morgana to say hi. And we're going to get all dressed up tonight so he won't see you. He won't notice you. He'll be too busy dealing with his own division."
Gwen got Arthur off the sofa and up the stairs to his and Merlin's room. Arthur got out his outfit for the night. He was wearing a three-piece suit on the night and brought his sunglasses with them. He was thinking about wearing his black coat over, but because they wouldn't be waiting for that long, there was no need. For his hair, Gwen helped him to put hair gel into his hair and ruffle it up as if he had just woken up. Apparently according to Merlin, the hairstyle suited him. Gwen on the other hand used the bathroom to change, using the bag to place her day clothes in. She dressed herself in a baby pink dress, containing an attached rippon that sits just above the hips, a rose on display on the left. Her heeled shoes matched the dress. Instead of tying her hair up, which she usually did at college and guides, on the night she allowed her hair to flow naturally. She had already painted her nails, and was waiting for Morgana to help her with her makeup.
Gwen and Arthur were just finishing off when the door rang. Hunith dropped her shoes by the foot of the stairs to open the door, just about ready to go. Morgana shook hands with Hunith and walked in, Catrina following. "Where's Gwen and Arthur?"
"Upstairs just finishing off. Gwen asks if you could help her with her make up?"
"Of course."
"She's in the bathroom." Morgana was dressed in a short black and purple dress that contained glitter, sequins and sparkly things coated across the entire dress. A black velvet bolero was worn over the dress to keep her shoulders warm through waiting outside in the cold air. Morgana also had high-heeled shoes to match. Her hair had been curled, and she was wearing a little bit of makeup. Catrina had also dressed up for the occasion, but in something not as bold as Morgana.
Hunith invited Catrina into the kitchen for coffee whilst the others were upstairs finishing off. Sitting at the table, they discussed Arthur and the scouts. "You know better than I do Catrina, when do the scouts arrive?"
"They plan to depart from the church at 6pm. Normally Uther and his team will wait until everyone on the list has arrived, but because they don't want to be left outside waiting in the cold for ages until they are admitted into the theatre, anyone who isn't on the coach by 6 will be left behind."
"Ah, and how many are going?"
"A good 20 or so. Because we have to travel further than they do, if we can get there and into the car park before 6:30 then we should manage to get inside and into the queue quicker."
"Merlin knows that when he comes onto stage not to look at Arthur directly otherwise it's going to be obvious. But he can look at the scouts and then take a glance across the audience and then towards us, knowing that we're there. If Uther goes to turn around, we'll sit so that he can only see you and Gwen, meaning that he can't say anything, especially if you're there."
"And where are they seated?"
"Merlin's given me a quick view of the theatre. The scouts will be at the front on the left, whereas we will be at the top on the right. They'll be way too many people in his view before he could even and glimpse Arthur. Basically, he's safe. He's let the staff know that we can directly come down to the dressing room once the performance is over where we'll wait for him."
"Does he know Morgana is going out along with you?"
"Yes. I told him I'd booked tickets for me and Morgana to go. He was curious as to why and I said that Morgana is a good friend of Merlin's so she has a right to go, and that I'll be there with her so she can't get up to mischief. You're there under Gwen's watch anyway, as well as Arthur's of course. If we sit in between them then he can't say anything."
"Good plan." Hunith got up from the table, taking her set of keys off the hook and went to the stairs. "Come on! Time to go!" The three came down, Gwen with her bag of clothing and dropped it into the boot. Morgana was squished in between Arthur and Gwen as they set off to Camelot Theatre.
Outside the church, Uther was collecting the permission slips as the scouts and explorers got onto the coach. Lance had since moved up to become an explorer, but was still allowed to attend the trips, and because Merlin was in his patrol, it was only fair that he should be allowed. Because Arthur was no longer attending scouts, it was known that Gwaine was to made Patrol Leader, with Merlin as Patrol Second. What Uther didn't know was that Merlin was intending to quit scouts so that the title would be handed down to Percival. Of course the news wouldn't reach them until later in the night.
Gwaine, Leon, Will, Lancelot, Elyan, Mordred and Percival had grouped together, making their way to the far end of the coach, making sure they arrived there first so that Elyan could pass on the news to the others. He mentioned about if you see Arthur, text him instead of waving or shouting hello so that it wouldn't give the game away, as Uther didn't know that Arthur was attending on the night, and if Arthur was caught he never see Merlin again, and it was unfair to tear them apart. All agreed to the plan and kept quiet on it, the other scouts being noted the same thing.
Managing to get through the traffic with ease, Catrina managed to find a car space pretty easily, parking down the road from the theatre in a side street, meaning that parking was free. Checking the clock in the car, the time was 6:25, meaning that they would have to do a quick-step if they wanted to avoid Uther. Although with wearing heels Gwen and Morgana would be behind, Catrina took the walk as a slow pace whilst Hunith at a faster pace, matching Arthur's speed. As they rounded the corner, Hunith slightly ahead, she noticed the coach pulling in, where Uther was directly looking out of the window. She gave the signal to Arthur "Glasses on." Arthur took the sunglasses from Hunith, who for Arthur's sake was carrying them in her bag and Arthur put them on, walking as if the world was less important than he as they entered the theatre.
Uther noticed from the coach Arthur in sunglasses, but took his son for another teen of his age and pointed to Tristan, who was next to him. "Teens these days! What teen goes around wearing sunglasses with a suit?"
"I don't know, maybe he's getting it from a celebrity or something?" All the scouts for once didn't have to wear their scouting uniform to an event and instead wore evening wear. All were in suits or shirts and trousers minus the few girls in the group who wore dresses, but they would have to stay together to avoid getting lost. Uther had hold of the tickets as everyone got off the coach and followed Aglain into the theatre. By the time they had got inside, Arthur and the group had already ordered their drinks from the bar and were sipping them at a table, upstairs from the reception, where a few others were. Of course with Uther's party, there would be too many of them to go up all at once, and so for the time being stayed downstairs, Uther counting up the scouts and doing the register to make sure he had everyone within reach.
Throwing the rubbish away, Arthur and the group rounded the corner - having a toilet stop on the way (Morgana's womanhood problems) - and queued up in line, being near the front of a small corridor, one to their advantage. As more and more people joined up, Hunith noticed the scouts making their way up. She couldn't see them but from the amount of noise coming from teenagers, she knew it was them. Behind them in the queue was Elena, Morgause, Freya and Mithian with Elena's parents, meaning that everyone had someone to talk to. Edging on to fifteen minutes before the show was about to begin, a member of staff came out and got everyone's attention.
"Excuse me everyone! Can I have your attention?" The member of staff waved a clipboard around and everyone went quiet. "Thank you. Now to make things easier and to get everyone in and seated on time, I'm going to ask for those who have a VIP ticket to step to the right of the corridor near the windows. Everyone with a standard ticket to remain on the left. Because Elena and her company didn't have VIP tickets, this meant the departure for the two groups. Hunith remained at the front with Arthur and Morgana behind her. Catrina and Gwen were at the back. The ones with standard tickets moved forward, Catrina cocking her head around to see if the scouts would appear now that the line had been cut down a bit. Once the lines were complete, Agravaine and Uther could be seen on the corner of the queue. Catrina passed on the message to Hunith, who only hoped for the VIP's to go in first.
"Now, if the VIP section go in first, we'll the standards go in after." Hunith felt a little bit of relief, but whispered to Arthur to keep as close to her as possible and once the tickets had been approved of, walk in as quickly as possible to avoid the targets. As the doors were opened, Hunith now at the front, a young lad checked the tickets, counting 2 adults, 3 students as the party walked in. Uther from a distance noticed the blond behind Hunith, but from a view, he was completely obvlious as to who it was.
"Hey Uther, isn't that your son at the front with that lady?"
"Who? Sunglasses guy? No, for one Arthur doesn't do facial hair. That guy haven't shaved." Good call Arthur.
As the tickets were varified, each party was given a programme of the night. The night would be split into two-halves, roughly each an hour long with a fifteen minute break in between - a bit like a theatre production really. Merlin was to perform a five minute routine, apparently using the entire stage as his training ground. As Gwaine came down the steps, he noticed Arthur and Morgana reading the programme together, which once he was in his seat at the other end of the theatre, he sent a quick text saying hi and to congratulate him on the cover up. He also mentioned about how stunning all the ladies were.
Arthur shortly got the text and showed everyone, quickly pocketing the device just as the lights were beginning to fade, everyone dropping their voices. The curtains were drawn and the audience applauded, where a middle-aged woman of around 50 came onto stage. She was a tall, thin woman, her dress size being around an 8, 10 at largest. She held a microphone as she began to speak.
"Good evening everyone and thank you all for coming. As some you know, some of you don't, this is our 10th year of the Camelot Community festival. This year it's bigger and better. This is the chance for our people of Camelot and the surrounding villages to show off their talents, giving up their time tonight to perform to you. The wonderful thing is that all the money made here tonight will go to charity, as we do every year with our shows, this year going to help children suffering from cancer." Everyone applauded. The tall lady continued. "As you might know all of our performers have worked incredibly hard in getting their performances right, so without further ado I'll shut up talking and hand you over to our first performers. An established well-known group our community, they had participated in the festival for 9 years, the leader of the group becoming inspired as a teen watching the first ever show, so here we have, the male-voice choir of Camelot."
As the performances rolled on, going from Jake and his ventriloquist performance to Nigel and his comedy performance to a few singers, the show came to the end of it's first half, Nigel bowing to the crowd - who at this minute were in stiches from his jokes, Uther wasn't too impressed though as he was in one of them as the tall lady re-emerged and announced the break. "The bar is up the stairs, through the doors, down the corner and on your right if anyone wants a drink or a bite to eat. The toilets are on your left as you come out of theatre but be quick as the second half starts in fifteen minutes."
Although Arthur needed the loo and no guys were with him at present, he needed an escape route to make sure he wasn't caught by any of the leaders, so Morgana would be his watchful eye. Hunith would get the drinks for everyone, Gwen giving a hand as the three made their way up the stairs. Once Arthur had done what he needed to, he finished up and texted Morgana and Gwen, Gwen outside the door waiting for Arthur and Morgana in the theatre. Both replied back that the coast was clear, Uther and some of the scouts were too busy waiting at the bar and so Arthur and Gwen made a dash back to their seats.
Finishing off their drinks and food, Catrina found a rubbish bin and they all sat down ready, Arthur communicating with some of the scouts. The lights went dim again just as the last few were re-entering and the second half started, kicking off with a dance-troupe from Camelot High, one of the dancers being Mordred's girlfriend Kara.
The evening went on as more performances were given, leading down to the final one, the time getting on for about half-nine, the second-half starting a little later than expected due to sets being arranged for each performance. An unexpected second break had been given to prepare the flooring for Merlin's routine. The lady lady came onto stage.
"I'm sorry to announce..." Arthur heart quickly throbbed and tensed up, thinking something had happened to Merlin and he unable to perform. "... but we're going to have to call a short five minute break whilst tech sets up the final act for tonight." The lights came back on which people used as time to talk about the acts so far. The lady came back onto stage to introduce the final act of the night. "Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great honour to announce the final act of the night. Our last performer has never properly performed a routine quite like this before, providing this is his 3rd festival he's participated in, he's a bit shy but I'll tell you now he's brilliant, so let me introduce to you the wonderful Merlin Emrys." The lights went dim as Arthur got excited, the scouts cheered and Uther was shocked, now knowing the reason why Merlin said he couldn't attend with the scouts. Uther then realised that Arthur must be here as well watching, but that could wait till later as he tried to enjoy the final five minutes. The curtains were pulled back revealing a very exposed Merlin at centre stage. Merlin was dressed in his leotard from college, but had added some glitter to the oufit to make it more appealing for the night. Thankfully the glitter could easily come off. Noah and Patrick had also come to event, helping Merlin train for it whilst he was at college for his first year.
Merlin glanced at the scouts and noticed Uther's face, trying not to laugh, and then glanced across the seated audience, up towards where his mother, his boyfriend and his other friends were sitting. Merlin also noticed Freya and his other friends at the same time, as well as Noah and Patrick, meaning he had tons of support. Before beginning, he bowed to the crowd and whispered to himself 'this one is for you dad," his eyes travelling up to the ceiling. Moving to the edge of the floor mat, the music begins to play, Arthur instantly recognising the music - it's the music that he first heard when Merlin first performed his floor routine. Allowing the weight to shift into his hands and knees, Merlin powdered his hands for grip and performed a cartwheel across the floor mat as he gripped the pole and spun around, performing the splits as he leaped and grabbed the pole with one hand, the other soon following, narrowly missing collision. He performed a routine on the bars, finshing with a double somersault as he automatically went straight into his floor routine, adding a little dance into the mix. Finally he went back to the pole and performed a routine on that, spinning down the pole and gambolling to finish off with a final somersault, where he landed doing the splits, raising his arms in the air to finish. From the performance, people were on their feet cheering, Arthur in tears and clapping that much that his armed ached. As he bowed, the other acts from the night came up on stage and bowed together. The lady came back on and bowed to the crowd, where a member of staff brought her a bunch of flowers to thank her for directing the show.
The lights came back on as people started making their way out of the theatre towards the reception, where some were waiting for their children or relatives, some to see friends following the show. Letting the scouts go out first, once the final scout had gone through the door, Catrina led the way out to be met with a member of staff, the five coming to a hault.
"Are you of the Merlin Emrys' party?"
"Yes."
"Good. Follow me then." The five followed the young lad, which by the time they had passed the bar and came down the stairs, the lad took them in a different direction to where everyone else was. Merlin had already come out to greet the scouts, Arthur's eye catching Merlin's as he winked at him, Hunith having to press onto him to hurry up through the doors as they were led to the dressing room, leaving Merlin with the scouts.
Merlin was hugged by his group of friends, and all-ground compliments were given. Noah and Patrick stopped off to congratulate Merlin before they left the theatre, leaving Merlin to his friends. The first to question his abilities was Mordred.
"Where did you learn that?"
"Tell us Merlin!," Gwaine added, eager to know.
"Well, I've been training since I was 9. Becuase there are no training grounds around here, I train at college."
"Well, I've never seen you train, nor has anyone," Lancelot commented.
"Do you remember back at college when sometimes I wasn't at lunch, even though I still had classes, or I'd eat lunch quickly and then I'd soon be off?"
"Yes."
"Well that's where I went, to train for tonight's performance. It also keeps me in shape "
"Well where was Arthur then?"
"Sometimes he was with me when I performed, encouraging me on and watching my performances. I only started working on that performance a few weeks ago, training in the holidays and then we came back to college."
"So Arthur knew the performance then since he comes to watch you?"
"No, he had no knowing of it." The scouts were cut short by Uther and the leaders, who came to congratulate Merlin, Uther also giving Merlin news, Merlin having news of his own to give.
Firstly Uther shook hands with Merlin. "Congratualtions Merlin, you've done very well tonight."
"Thank you."
"It must be tough work doing that."
"It is, but I enjoy it."
"Very well, but I have some news for you. Becuase of Arthur's departure at scouts and now that Lancelot has moved up into the explorers group with Leon and Jamie, I am promoting you to Patrol Second. Gwaine will be your new Patrol Leader. Next Monday we have two more scouts joining your patrol."
Before Merlin could give an answer, he was cut by Elena who asked a major question, giving him a one-sided hug at the same time, her parents and friends nearby. "Hey Merlin, well done tonight. I have one question though, it's nothing to do with tonight, but at home. Mum wants to know why is there a 'for sale' sign outside your house." No one knew of Merlin, Arthur and Hunith moving in the group, and so all were dazzled.
"I... Uther, I'm afraid my title of Patrol Second will be given over to Percival, and you will have three new scouts in the patrol come Monday. I'm due to being moving within 2 months time back to Amargh in Northern Ireland. Yes Gwaine, I'm Northern Irish, not Irish like you. Since the death of my father two months ago, my mother hasn't been able to cope without him, feels better if we moved back home. It was here that they eventually got married following my father returning home two years ago. Becuase of the endless amounts of work that need to be done, tonight is technically my last night. It's unfortuante that I didn't make it to explorer here but I'll continue on back at home, providing I can find a unit."
"I can transfer you over. That is not a problem," Uther commented, secretly shadowing his glee, knowing that Merlin would have moved away by the time Arthur's wedding would arrive, meaning no distractions.
'Thank you." A moment of silence passed, some horrified to hear the news. "Well, I better get dressed and cleaned up before going home. It was good to see you all and I hope I'll see you all at some point in the future. Most of you know where I work so feel free to pop down and we can have a chat."
Uther took Merlin's hand and shook it one final time before leaving the theatre with the scouts. "Goodbye Merlin, and good luck."
"To you too." Merlin raised a fist in the air chanting "We are Camelot", everyone reciting. Hugs were given as the scouts were led out of the door by Uther and Aglain. With the reception empty, Merlin went back to the dressing room.
Back in the dressing room, Merlin was met with Hunith, who directly gave him a hug the second he walked in. "Well done my son, dad will be very proud of you, getting the biggest seat in the room."
"Yeah he would. I dedicated the performance to dad."
"He'd loved that, and would love your routine."
"I know." The next hugs were given by Catrina, Gwen and Morgana, leaving Arthur last, knowing that his hug would be longer.
"Well done my petal," Arthur whispered, leaving a kiss behind as he broke away. "Thank you love."
Merlin took a well deserved seat as he spoke to the others. "Apparantely, I'm to be promoted to Patrol Second at scouts."
Catrina started. "Well done...", but Arthur cut her off, knowing that Merlin was to add more. "What did you tell him love?"
"I told him that the position would be going to Percival since tonight was my final night in Camelot as a scout."
"You've quit?"
"Yeah, although I'd have my friends there, it wouldn't be the same without Arthur, knowing that he could no longer show his face there."
"I see." Arthur came to sit on Merlin's lap, going straight in for a long, deep kiss. Seeing their intimate gesture, Morgana muttered. "Well we better be going, hadn't we."
Arthur broke off from Merlin for a second, cursing his sister. Catrina added in. "We're going to go now. I'm going to drop Morgana and Gwen home first, then come back for you two. I should be less than thirty minutes, dropping off you, Merlin and Hunith after." Morgana and Gwen said their goodbyes as the three went out of the door. Hunith began to get Merlin's makeup off, a matter of two minutes work, the rest could be taken off at home. Merlin nudged Arthur off him and grabbed his hand, mum, can you collect my things up please? I have to show Arthur something that he's been waiting for, we'll be five minutes.
"Sure. When does this place close?"
"10:30."
"And what time is it now?"
"10:10. Crap we better hurry, c'mon Arthur."
"Go on ahead you two, I'll meet you at the front doors in fifteen minutes."
"Thanks mum." Arthur followed Merlin, which a member of staff took Arthur back into the theatre, the room now empty. The curtains were now covering the stage and the lights were on, Arthur being guided to the front seats, practically less than a metre from the stage. Arthur was told to wait there. The lights went dim and music began to play. The curtains were drawn as Merlin came onto stage, only the pole being left on stage.
"Merlin? What is this?"
"What you wanted. A routine for your eyes only. Only this one you can't show in public."
"Explicit by any chance?"
"Much, much more explicit. Happy Birthday Arthur," and then Merlin's lycra suit came off, Arthur's eyes going wide.