Version française sur wattpad KiraS63 (désolée, j'avais fait une erreur en répondant ^^') et AO3 Kira_Schevalier

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Chapter 5 : Ipomoea purpurea dragone

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Arthur, lying next to Merlin, was slowly falling asleep. This late afternoon had been full of emotion. If the wizard was suffering from Echo's disease, Gaius needed an Ipomoea purpurea dragone which he had to put in the form of a mixture. So far, there was nothing abnormal. It was the steps and the way of doing it that had surprised Arthur. Once made into a mixture, it had to be heated by the breath of a dragon, then swallowed after an incantation recited by a powerful sorcerer, other than the drinker.

Gaius had — by chance — the plant, rare and certainly the last one. He knew how to mix it, but the rest was strange. Arthur had learned that the dragon that was trapped under the castle was still alive, that Merlin was one of the most powerful wizards the earth had ever seen, and that he was also a dragons lord.

In short, Arthur felt totally excluded from Merlin's life. He was also offended, but that was not the point anymore: Merlin had to be saved. The problem was to find another wizard, a powerful one at that.

Arthur took one last look at the sleeper and sighed. He'd have a lot to say to him, but the anguish of losing him never left his heart. The vision of his death did not have to happen, because if their future son had managed to warn him, wasn't it to tell him that there was a way to save him?

...-M&A-...

At the same time, Gaius explained to Hunith that Ipomoea purpurea dragone was a psychotropic plant. For a man, it was only a drug, but for a wizard, it was something else. It allowed the drinker a small chance of having visions and in the case that it was used to save Merlin, Echo would be eradicated from his memory.

"But how are we going to do it?" she asked him worriedly. "Who will know how to recite the incantation when we know that the ancient religion has chosen my son as the great wizard?"

Gaius didn't really know, but he had some ideas.

"Merlin being under Echo's sway," the physician whispered in a voice that betrayed his fear, "I don't know if he'll have all his wits about him to realize what situation he's in. He is lost between two shores. Echo is pushing him to accept his dream and his goal is to kill him slowly."

"That's horrible!" she exclaimed.

"This disease is the most feared because we don't pay attention to its symptoms but," he said with a sigh of relief, "Merlin and Arthur will be lucky enough to have, one day, a wizard child and, given the state your son is in, it's only natural that he wouldn't listen to Charles..."

"But Arthur, he was able to listen to him," she completed to give herself some hope.

"Yes, and that intrigues me..."

"Maybe Charles is as powerful as Merlin?"

"Probably."

Hunith wanted to believe that this was not happening by chance. She had always wanted the best for Merlin, and if her son's heart was to be with the King of Camelot, then she would accept it... and besides, what a joy it would be to have a grandson named after his father!

"Hunith, I'm going to have to go away some days and find the answers," spoke Gaius. "I'm missing something in this whole story. As you just reminded me, Arthur was able to see and hear his son: why? He is not a wizard, but we know he was born with magic."

"How much time do you need?"

"Three days."

"What are you thinking about, Gaius?"

"I have a doubt about Charles' conception. To be sure, there is only one being who can answer me."

"Who?"

"The great dragon."

Hunith quickly looked around for a stool and sat down before she felt her legs go limp.

"Oh my God," Hunith muttered, lost in the memories she still had of Balinor. "When the magic no longer instills fear, a child with draconic magic will come into the world and reclaim what she left to men. This is... Charles, isn't it?"

"You know this prophecy?"

"Balinor told me about it... but it's too soon..."

"It is only a generation away, Hunith. Times change and evolve. If Charles is indeed what I believe, then the end of an era is approaching."

Gaius didn't want to talk about it again until he had spoken with Kilgarah.

...-M&A-...

The king woke up, still confused by the whole dream and reality thing. He placed a kiss on Merlin's forehead, got up quietly and left the small room.

"Sire," called Gwaine to him.

"Gwaine," he replied with a jaw-dropping yawn.

"Has he woken up?"

"No..."

The knight's face suddenly changed and his eyes gleamed with mischief. Worried, Arthur watched as Gwaine approached him and leaned into his ear.

"So? Just like that, you'll have to declare yourself?"

Arthur's eyes widened. He should have expected this question. This story had the merit of amusing a person.

"Surely," he answered, feeling the red rise to his cheeks.

" .ly?" chopped Gwaine by raising his hands to the sky, "of course it is!"

"I... yes, I will... make a statement to him... when he wakes up... well... I..."

"You're too cute to stammer like a courtesan!"

"I don't stammer!" he roared, pressing his lips together.

"Oh yes, you do!" persisted the knight, "and if you need help, I'm here!"

Arthur mumbled a few inaudible words. He didn't need to be told what to do with Merlin! He was still capable of making a statement and woo Merlin! Who did he think he was? A moron?

"I know how to do it!" said Arthur.

Gwaine dared to laugh and continued by giving him a mocking look.

"The proof is that your eyes got lost between Merlin's buttocks and lips since a long time! You have to move, sire! You have hands, don't you? So, action!"

"Just so you know," Arthur ruminated, "I didn't mean to make him uncomfortable..."

"Yeah, says the one who stutters, I say that, it's so that Charles will be among us very soon and then, to get to that point, you would have to take Merlin to the seventh heaven."

"Gwaine!" outraged Arthur, "I'm not stupid! I know how babies are made!"

"Yes, but he is a man and, moreover, a sorcerer, it's not the same thing. And maybe, you have to do some kind of ritual, you see, a kind of dance of love?"

Red as a peony, Arthur wondered where Gwaine could find so much bullshit! And why was he arguing with him?

"Don't be afraid of talking about... sex, fooling around,... because well, you will have really to make our little wizard scream for a little Charles to be born."

Arthur suddenly stared at the person behind Gwaine and thought to himself that he would never forgive the knight for putting him in such a situation. At least Gwaine had kept quiet when he met his gaze.

Arthur would have laughed if he had not been the victim of Gwaine's suppositions. But he gloated inwardly as he watched him turn scarlet.

"Hu-Hunit," Gwaine stammered, having just pivoted.

Unable to answer, the knight left the room, leaving Arthur to his fate. What could have been the more disconcerting? That of seeing his future mother-in-law who had heard the words of the knight or, the words she whispered to him afterward?

"He is right, sire," she smiled, "go and console my son."

Heart beating and eyes round, his cheeks turned scarlet. Arthur nodded because he didn't trust his voice and went into Merlin's room to avoid this kind of discussion with his mother-in-law.

"I'll be in one of the rooms upstairs if you ever need advice," Hunith added.

The next few days suddenly seemed long. He sighed nervously and then looked at Merlin. For the wizard, he was ready to do anything because he was worth it and he had secretly loved him for a very long time. As he thought about it, a smile lit up his face because Merlin had chosen him.

...-M&A-...

Merlin smiled as he felt a warmth at his side. He pressed himself against the torso that stuck to him. Shaken to the idea of returning to live with a king who saw in him only an idiot, he preferred the dream a thousand times over the reality because here, he knew, he could not embrace him. His Arthur was caring, nothing like the moron. Merlin had not premeditated anything. He had only hoped, one day, to find a woman who would accept him and his magic. Instead, those dreams had revealed to him his feelings for the king, a love he would never have suspected.

Suddenly, he frowned as he opened his eyes. Had he said dream? Merlin was aware of what he was thinking and was beginning to worry seriously about his health. He had never been selfish and would change that, if and only if, he hadn't been tempted by his Arthur and his son.

Merlin did not feel the strength to repress what he felt. Did this Arthur no longer need his services, or was he really with Arthur, in his reality? Merlin no longer knew, where he stood.

"Hey?"

Merlin smiled as he met his Arthur's gaze. It was only his own to observe him with such intensity in eyes. He placed a hand on the back of his man's neck and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Good evening, my prince," he murmured with a sigh of relief.

Arthur, with a panicked heart, bit his tongue because he didn't know what to do. He felt like a fool. He was so afraid that his valet would run away, that he let himself be kissed. He would have liked to deepen it, but Merlin's blue eyes were worth looking into because they sparkled with life.

"Good evening Merlin," Arthur whispered.

At these words, the wizard panicked. He sat up in one motion and suddenly looked around the room. His throat tightened as he discovered his small room. He tried to escape the embrace of King Pendragon, who was not his own.

"Sire," he whispered painfully, "I..."

"Hush," Arthur replied, tightening his arms around Merlin's body, "I am here, I will always be near you."

With tears in his eyes, Merlin did not understand what was happening to him.

"You're sick," Arthur continued.

"No, you're lying!" shouted Merlin, struggling like a madman. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Arthur held him as tightly as he could while holding back the tears at the edge of his eyes. Hearing the wizard's strangled breathing broke his heart. How could he bring him back to his reality if Merlin didn't want to stay there?

"You have visions, dreams from another time," Arthur tried to explain without letting up. "Your illness has a name, echo."

"No!" gesticulated Merlin. "This is a dream! A nightmare! I want to go back! You are not mine!"

Merlin, lost in the complexity of his feelings, refused to listen to this idiot king. He didn't want to live here anymore...

"Knock me out! Kill me! Or, burn me, but..." he sobbed, "for God's sake, finish me..."

"But do you hear yourself, Merlin?" yelled Arthur, knocking him back onto the bed while holding his hands on either side of his head. "That's hurtful what you're saying to me! You do realize that, I hope?"

Through his tears, Merlin saw that the king's gaze was different from the one he usually saw. There was no mockery, no real anger, but disappointment and sorrow. This was impossible. Dreams could not come true. Totally upset, his lips twisted into a rictus of pain. He felt too weak to resume his life. Too weak to become the man he had been.

Arthur didn't want to be so rough, but he had to get him back. Then, he released his hands and hugged him close, then rocked him gently.

"Merlin, I saw Charles..."

...-M&A-...

Not far from the kingdom of the ancient Uther Pendragon, Kilgarrah, who was dozing in a cave, awoke with a start. "What is yet unfinished can be avoided". It was his own voice ringing in his ears, and only the laughter of a child embellished his words. He sensed through the air of time that the master of lords of the dragons would need his help.

Glancing at Aithusa who was watching over their eggs, he watched her sleep as he tried to sort out his thoughts... because the child that was to be born of his two fathers love would sacrifice his life to save Merlin...