AN: I'd always wanted Arthur's revelation to come in almost three separate epiphanies as prince(the initial emotional side), knight(seeing Merlin as physically strong), and now in this chapter...more as a king would see things. So...more Merlin and Arthur feels in this one, plus an interesting magical twist :) Next chapter back State-side...but maybe not with the character you think ;) hehe
LinBates: here's some Mooooorre! LOL thanks for the review
Guest: glad you like it, thanks!
TiP: Thanks! I always figured Gwen would be the best one to set him straight. :)
Nance: hehe yes he is a grumpy old man, even when he tried not to be.
IcarusLSU: Thanks! I always thought Merlin would resemble Methos from Highlander, moreso than the way a lot of other stories portray him. So, my idea seems to be working.
CarolynneRuth: Thanks! Hope you like this part of Arthur's wake up call too.
Leah0812: Thank you very much!
AWanderersHaven: Itty bitty bit of Gwaine at the end of this chapter. Next couple chapters will have a lot more of him.
FeedtheFlamies: Ah flamie...hope you got that speech done. I held off on this chapter as long as possible, just so I wouldn't distract you. ;) You've been workin so hard, consider this now your reward...lots more Arthur and Merlin feels :D
Credit goes to Nance for proofing and IcarusLSU for flow reading.
On with the story:
"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." - Robert Louis Stevenson
He sat in a chair near the bed. His blue eyes closed as he searched his mind for the information he wanted.
"Guinevere suggested I get to know you."
"Mmm."
"Well, how can I do that, if you won't talk to me? Come on, Merlin. You never used to shut up."
"Well, I guess I finally learned how. Hey, there's something you didn't know about me." A lopsided grin covered his face.
Snorting softly, Arthur considered throwing a pillow at the other man. "The way you've been just...sitting there...it's making me nervous."
"I make you nervous?" The sapphire eyes opened and glanced at Arthur, silently laughing at the king. "I thought you didn't get nervous."
"Merlin..."
"Shut up?"
The two men looked at each other and started to chuckle. Arthur's ended in a groan of pain.
"You'll be able to laugh again soon, my friend. I promise."
"I hope so. Can I ask you a question, Merlin?"
The warlock shrugged and motioned, palm up, for the king to continue.
"Years ago, after I was bitten by that beast..."
"Which one?"
Arthur rolled his eyes, but didn't take the bait. "You said, you would be happy to be my servant until the day you died. I never forgot that."
Merlin's smile faded as the memory returned to him. "I thought I was going to die. I had made a bargain to save your life from the fatal poison of that bite. I got you water, from the Cup of Life, which required a sacrifice of a life to maintain the balance. Instead of taking my life though, it tried to take my mother's.
"I blamed Nimueh for a long time for that, but now I realize the Old Religion couldn't take me in exchange...so it went for the closest living blood relative..."
Arthur was shaken to his core, hearing the details of what was possibly just one of many times he guessed Merlin had done such a thing for him. "We didn't find the Cup of Life until years later..."
Merlin sniggered, "Correction: YOU didn't find the Cup until years later."
"Well, if you knew where it was, why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know it still existed. I thought I destroyed it, when I destroyed Nimueh."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. His lips curled up in a disbelieving sneer. "You destroyed Nimueh? Girlish little you? I could see that now, but back then?"
Ignoring the insult, Merlin asked, "Can I finish my story?"
Arthur's mouth grudgingly closed and he nodded.
"You're worse than my granddaughter was..." The warlock muttered.
"...Your granddaughter?"
Merlin's eyebrows disappeared under dark bangs. He waited for Arthur to realize he wasn't going to answer that question...yet. When he was satisfied that the king would remain quiet, Merlin continued, "Where was I?...Ah, yes. The Old Religion is based on keeping nature in balance. As my closest relative, it chose my mother, instead of me. I thought Nimueh had tricked me...but it wasn't her choice. Just like with your mother, she was the vessel who cast the spell, but was blind to the path it would ultimately take..."
"What do you mean, 'with my mother?'"
Chiding himself, Merlin pursed his lips and sighed through his nose. He decided to go for the shortened version of his story. "Anyway, I went to try and save my mother, but Gaius beat me getting to Nimueh and offered himself in exchange. I arrived just as he lay dying. Nimueh conjured a sphere of fire and threw it at me. She thought I was dead...For a moment, I thought I was too. I got back up and...felt something come over me. It was the first time I felt it..." His blue eyes seemed to cloud over, thinking about that day.
After a few moments of silence, Arthur began to worry. When Merlin finally spoke again, his voice was low and deep, as if completely caught up in the memory.
"Up until then, most of my magic had been more wind...and time based. I learned to play with the wind when I was about Aurie's age...using it to make leaves dance. If I wanted something that was out of reach, it would come to me. When I was probably four...Mother had stepped outside to get wood and left a pot of porridge on the fire. I was so hungry I tried to get some and it spilled. My instincts saved me, and I..." He tried searching his mind for the right description. "I guess, it was like a pocket of time was slowed around the hot porridge, and I managed to step out of the way."
Merlin blinked, as if waking from a dream. "Anyway, I managed to get up and kill her."
The blond man's eyes narrowed, "You left something out. What were you saying before...what did you feel?"
Frowning, Merlin scratched his head in thought. "I really can't describe what it was...or is. It's a connection to everything...to very ebb and flow of the Earth and stars. I can do something Nimueh never could. I can see the paths available to keeping balance. I don't think I even realized that, until this very moment."
"How many centuries have you been alive...and you just figured something like that out now?"
"Well, I was a little too busy for contemplation back then; with saving your sorry ass every week...on top of all the chores you used to give me."
"...And since then? What have you been doing with your life?"
Merlin shrugged, "Keeping myself occupied."
Arthur rolled his eyes and groaned at yet another thing that hadn't changed: Merlin's ability to sidestep around conversations. "You mentioned a granddaughter. So I assume you had children at some point?"
A proud smile beamed out from Merlin's face. "Yeah, two of them. Blasine and Gawain. Blasine's youngest daughter looked just like her grandmother Mithian."
"Ah, that was fortunate, I'm sure. To have your daughter marry a son of Princess Mithian." Arthur nodded, impressed that the Nemethian royal would allow her child to join that of a servant's. "It showed an open mind on her part, although I'm not sure what King Rodor would have thought about that. However, Mithian's brother was the heir to the kingdom, so I can see that marriage for political reasons wouldn't have been as important, especially with a youngest child.
"So says the king who married a maid. However, I need to correct you on your assumptions."
"Oh, I'm sure there are other details, Merlin. There always are, but they are probably relatively minor in the grand scheme of things."
"Actually, one of the 'other details' isn't that minor."
"No?"
"No." Merlin leaned towards Arthur in a conspiratorial fashion. "Blasine married Sir Galahad, a Knight of Essex, with no relations to Nemeth."
He could see the confusion in the king's face, as Arthur attempted to work out what his friend was trying to tell him. "If Princess Mithian was the grandmother of your granddaughter, but it wasn't her son who your daughter married...then...how...?" Blue eyes widened when the answer finally dawned on him. "Noooo!"
Merlin sat back with a smug look. "Yes. You aren't the only noble to have married a servant. Difference being: I was bestowed a title, before she and I even began courting."
Arthur visibly paled momentarily, before he felt the laughter bubbling up through him.
Pinching his lips, Merlin watched as the king alternated between groans of pain and his failed attempts at ceasing his laughter.
Martha walked into the room, followed by Gwen and Cassie. She shook her head. "You're going to hurt yourself worse if you keep that up."
"Merlin, I thought you were going to be working on a spell to heal him?" Gwen asked, distressed by seeing her husband still in pain, even if it was brought on by his own inability to quit laughing.
"I was...but some spoiled little prat wanted a bedtime story instead."
"...And you told him a funny one, to aggravate his wounds?" The warlock's wife accused. She moved over to the bed to check her patient.
"He did that all on his own."
"Guinevere, can you believe this idiot thinks he can get me to believe that he was granted a title AND married Princess Mithian?" Arthur still chuckled lightly, while Martha took his pulse and began her updated assessment of the incision sites.
Merlin's amused look turned dark and he shifted in his seat.
Arthur felt the change in the atmosphere and glanced at his friend in disbelief. "You were serious?"
"Yes, Arthur. I was." The lighthearted tone from the conversation was gone. Merlin continued, his voice now authoritative and strong. "After Camelot fell, Leon and I made our way to Nemeth with the remaining knights, and other refugees. King Rodor installed Leon as a commander in the Nemethian Army. He also granted me a minor title as reward for saving him and Mithian years before, and for helping to bring peace between him and Odin. I then started working with their Royal Advisor on Magic. Soon after, he retired, leaving the position on the council to me."
The king visibly gulped. He once again, witnessed the change in Merlin from friend, to the commanding man now speaking to him.
Arthur began to wonder what he would have done, had he returned to Camelot, knowing about Merlin's magic. Would he have seen this same powerful man? Would he have granted Merlin an advisory position...or, would he have tried to keep things as they had been, and missed a great opportunity to have such a strong voice at his Round Table? He made a mental note to himself again, not to underestimate his former servant in the future. The trifecta of revelations gave the king a more thorough view of Merlin. First was the much more stoic exterior he was met with in the first hours after being awoken. Then the ability to see the sinewy warrior instead of the scrawny peasant...Now the package appeared complete with Merlin's no-nonsense report of what happened after Camelot fell.
"It doesn't look like any permanent damage has been done by your outburst, Arthur. You should be grateful." Martha said, when she had finished listening to his heart and lungs.
"I am..." Arthur said, looking at Merlin and hoping his thoughts were silently conveyed. It was not only for Martha's prognosis, but also for the wake-up call he'd just received. It seemed whenever he spent time speaking with Merlin, he learned something new about the man. Finding out that it was not only his most trusted knight, but also Merlin who took the refugees to Nemeth, wasn't nearly as surprising as he thought it would be.
Merlin seemed to understand. He nodded and the tension eased.
"Merlin, are you going to be able to do the spell today?" Martha asked.
He noticed that her voice sounded slightly flustered, and wondered if something had happened that he wasn't aware of. "I should be. Why?"
"I just received a call from my superior. I'm being recalled to help prepare for a possible viral outbreak. It's only in the States, thus far, but it could reach pandemic status quickly if we're not careful. I would like to be sure the spell works before I leave."
Merlin nodded, "I'll get right on it, then." He turned to the king. "Are you sure you want me to do this? It's probably going to hurt, even with the painkillers."
(*~*~*~*)
Without the pressure of the operating theater in the foreign military base, surround by doctors and technicians all waiting to see what would happen, Merlin felt more relaxed. He didn't need to rush to save Arthur's life this time.
Martha and Cassie were nearby, ready to intervene if needed, but the warlock felt more confidence that his efforts would work this time around.
He calmed his breathing and centered his thoughts on the task at hand. In his mind's eye, he could visualize Arthur laid out on the bed before him. Arthur's life was strong and steady, emitting a golden glow. Merlin could feel the way the world balanced, and he saw Arthur's path through the web of fate.
The specifics were difficult to pick out without intense concentration, or with a catalyst like the Crystal of Neahtid, to focus his efforts...but he didn't need to waste the energy on that right now. He still took a moment to admire the beauty of the web. Arthur's own string began where his mother's ended and grew bright for a time, before it became virtually invisible. Merlin almost chuckled when he realized, if he had known he could do this long ago, his life while waiting for the return of Arthur, may have turned out quite differently.
Arthur's current place in the line flickered; dimming and brightening in relation to his health. As far as Merlin could see, it would continue that way if he did the spell correctly. Merlin could also see, though, that there was a possible divergence in the line...the choice of life or death...hinging on this moment. He saw his own line: a brilliant purple at the current point in time; joined by Martha and all the others surrounding him. It was all very similar to how Martha had explained it to Percival months before.
At the edges of his internal vision, he noticed another line. A faint white, almost like a wisp of a cloud, was barely discernible among the rest of the intricate pattern. His brow furrowed. He couldn't tell who it belonged to, or where it really was...only that it seemed to tie in with his own strand.
"Are you going to do this sometime today, Merlin?"
Gasping, Merlin came out of his meditative trance, feeling a little dizzy. He hadn't meant to go that far into the hypnotic state. "Uh..." Martha reached out and touched his arm. He felt more grounded in that instant. "That was...odd."
"What happened?" She asked with loving concern.
He shook his head. "I'll tell you later. I'm fine now."
"Good, can we get on with this?"
"You have somewhere you need to be, Arthur?"
"No, but I thought your wife did." The king smiled smugly.
Merlin couldn't offer a retort, but he smirked, "Fine. Let's do this."
(*~*~*~*)
"Don't let anyone in...or out...of your place. Got it?" Gwaine whispered, into the phone.
"I take it, this thing we're hearing about, is coming from your end?" Merlin asked, referring to what the world news was calling a global pandemic in the making. According to the reports, it was some new flu strain outbreak...supposedly, originating along the Mexican-American border. Although, knowing what he did about his friend's work and his own historical encounters with the way diseases spread, he guessed this wasn't something that had begun naturally. He still had his suspicions about the Bubonic Plague, but nowadays...time-travelling royalty aside...it was rare.
Martha had received a call earlier that day from UNIT to prepare for the potential situation. As a medical doctor for UNIT, she was on the first responder list.
Mickey and Percival took similar calls from Jack Harkness. Even Torchwood was being called in to try to find some alien link and/or cure to this newest outbreak. The news from all sides, didn't seem too bright. Merlin had an aptitude for the naturopathic side of medicine, and had even owned apothecaries from time to time, but modern medical science was beyond him. He still felt a shiver race down his spine every time he heard of a new disease spreading.
Merlin refused to answer his phone, when the UNIT Base inside Mount Snowdon called. There was nothing he could do to stem the flow, and he wanted to remain close to the house with Arthur, Gwen, and Aurie. Something potentially big was happening, and now with Gwaine's hushed words, he had a better idea of what it was.
"Too late for that, I'm afraid. Any info I can pass along to Martha, if she calls?"
He heard Gwaine sigh. "It's out of this world...if you catch my meaning. Look, Merlin, I need to go. My sister just texted me with a 911."
"Alright. Good luck." He heard the phone line go dead on the other end.
"Is everything okay?" Arthur asked, coming out onto the balcony above the great room.
The spell had taken nearly thirty minutes, once Merlin had started. The warlock was able to, not only heal all the damage, but to also dissolve every bit of metal inside Arthur's body. The pain had been intense, especially when Merlin had reached the sternum, which was still held together by metal wires after the surgery.
Merlin was sweating from the exertion of carefully putting his king back together with his magic. Once it was finished, an intense wave of vertigo had come over him, and he collapsed onto the floor for a few moments.
Arthur could tell his friend was still feeling fatigued, even an hour later. Although, he himself, was feeling better than he had in years. He vowed silently, to use that new-found energy to be more alert to those around him...especially the raven-haired man at his side.
"Yes." Merlin answered, a strained smile on his face. "Why wouldn't it be?"
The king clasped his friend's shoulder and gave it squeeze. "Because, I'm not as dense as I used to be. I can see it in your eyes. There's something wrong."
The dark haired man inhaled deeply. "I fear this is just the beginning of what's to come, and I think that the answer lies somewhere in the files from Dr. Jackson."
"You'll figure it out, Merlin. You always do, and I will help you, however I can."
Thanks for reading! Please review!