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Chapter 6/ Surprise

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Merlin burst into tears again when Arthur dared to tell him about Charles. It was all dreams and nothing else. It was all because he was ill.

"Don't laugh at me," he muttered as he broke free of the king's embrace.

"Merlin, look," Arthur gently intimated.

Merlin shook his head and had to accept the situation, for it would never see the day. Stubborn as a mule, he didn't move when Arthur put a hand under his chin to make him look at something.

"No!" he shouted. From the corner of his eye, he could follow Arthur's movements as he pulled up his pants to the top of his thighs. Just because he was taken by curiosity, Merlin deigned to take a look, then his heart exploded in his chest.

There was a small hand mark on each of his thighs. He closed his eyes for a few moments to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he looked at the marks again, he could hear Charles' voice whispering childish words.

"I saw our little boy," Arthur revealed to him as he knelt beside the bed and placed a hand on his. "Charles looks like you..."

"I miss him," he cut him off as his lips twisted.

"Merlin, I know I don't necessarily act like someone who... forgive me..."

Merlin felt like he was seeing his Arthur: handsome, cheeks flushed and voice trembling.

"I..." the king continued, now stroking his hand. "Actually... I wanted to... you know..."

His heart was jumping in his chest. Arthur looked more and more like the one in his dream. His eyes were tender and loving. His voice did not reflect the mockery he was often subjected to. It was even gentle.

"There, Merlin, I am pitiful... I want you to know... that..."

The king didn't have time to finish his sentence when the door to the room opened suddenly, throwing a few knights to the ground...

"Gwaine!" exclaimed Arthur, staring at them.

Arthur could not believe his eyes! He was ready to tell Merlin how he felt and that stupid... no, three knights were lying on the doorstep, spread out like hay.

"Sir Leon!" snarled Arthur as he stood up to give himself more composure, "I am disappointed in you, and you, Sir Lancelot, how could you let yourself get involved in this..."

He frowned as he met the younger's amused gaze. Gwaine was going to put his foot in it again and he didn't want that. This knight knew how to embarrass him and Arthur refused to let him make a fool of himself in front of his sorcerer, but it was surely too much to ask of him as Gwaine rushed to the other side of the bed.

"Merlin," the young knight whispered in a low voice, "how are you feeling?"

Arthur could feel the mustard getting to his nose. It was up to him to comfort Merlin! Teeth clenched, he watched him as he framed the wizard's handsome face who smiled through his last tears.

"You know that Arthur had made us search the entire kingdom to find Charles" The king hiccupped in panic: traitor! Merlin didn't need to know that."He even stammered when he told me that he was in love with you."

Arthur, his cheeks violently scarlet cursed him because he had never said it like that!

"The knights and I were convinced that he had been in love with you for a long time, but you are so blind that you didn't notice."

Damn Gwaine! screamed Arthur inwardly when he saw Merlin's shining eyes. "No, no, don't cry,... I'll even make you smile... He likes to stare at your buttocks when you walk in front of him."

"Gwaine!" insurged Arthur.

His heart beating wildly, Arthur thought he was going to choke when Merlin's laughter rang through the small room. He had only one desire, to hold him in his arms and drive Gwaine away! But this scene was worth living: Merlin, who stopped laughing, suddenly put his bright eyes in his. A slight shyness appeared there as he asked him in a small voice:

"Is it true sire?"

Arthur was uncomfortable. The presence of the knights did not help him, but he managed to nod while keeping his cheeks horribly red. He could not, however, hear what the young knight had whispered in his Merlin's ear.

"Come!" cried Gwaine. "Mama Hunit has prepared your room for you, next to your king's!"

Motionless and with his eyes fixed on the knight, Arthur didn't know where to put himself.

"Arthur?" resumed Gwaine, quickly tilting his head to the side, "you could at least accompany him upstairs, couldn't you?"

"Damn Gwaine!" but what a pleasure it was to hold Merlin by the waist. The wizard was so weakened that Arthur prayed he would get better in the days to come. The wizard's smile embalmed his loving heart, forgetting the knights who followed him.

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Merlin took the time to breathe in the king's perfume. If Gwaine had confirmed to him that he could have a child, then he wished with all his heart, to experience what he had seen in his dream. However, his joy was short-lived when he stopped for a few seconds in front of an opening: the royal garden did not exist. There was no fountain. No red rose garden.

"Merlin?" the king whispered.

He resumed his walk, offering him a simple smile. He suddenly doubted that all this could ever come true...

...-M&A-...

For two days Merlin had been resting like a prince in the room next to the king. George looked after his well-being and as a good servant, he was true to himself. However, he missed Arthur. He came only in the evenings to see how his recovery was progressing.

His mother and Gaius had gone to find some answer about Echo. Since some people knew about his dreams and his illness, Merlin felt they were hiding something important from him. He understood that in his current state he couldn't help them, but he felt it had to do with his dreams and it was troubling him and his magic.

Was Echo wreaking havoc in his head? Should he try to talk to Arthur about it? Or was it too late for him to come back from his dreams? Merlin could see reality, though he found it hard to believe that anything could come true. Arthur was indeed in love with him and, Charles? Will he be there to confirm their love?

"Merlin?" Gwaine had just entered his room, greeting George who left them alone.

"How are you feeling today?"

Merlin looked at him and saw a glint in his eye that he could hardly interpret.

"Fine, Gwaine."

"Good!" he exclaimed with a smile, "I'm waiting for you to get dressed! I'd like to take you somewhere."

"But..."

"Merlin, didn't you eat your whole tray? Stay on the bed."

Merlin sighed as his friend held out his plate of chicken and potatoes.

"Come on, do a little spell to warm it up."

"Gwaine..."

"Merlin, if you want to see Arthur, you have to finish your meal."

"He never stays long," Merlin complained.

"I confess that it is I who forbid him, because... you see, my dear friend, Arthur has wanted you for so long that I am afraid he will break you in two. That's why you have to eat."

"I'm just asking that he stay next to me..."

"Um, I don't think you realize how much Arthur wants you Merlin. And tonight, you're going out with him."

At these words, Merlin blushed violently, but his heart was reassured.

"Where?" he asked, excited.

"This is a surprise! So, this spell?"

Merlin's eyes twinkled of gold, and Gwaine almost dropped the plate, so hot was it.

"Don't laugh Merlin," Gwaine feigned a sulk.

Gwaine was inwardly delighted to see that the wizard was getting better and better. Merlin needed to be fed and if he wanted to bear a child, he needed force.

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Merlin, suitably dressed, followed Gwaine without knowing what his friend expected of him.

"I would like you to stay here," the knight told him.

"Why don't we go out?"

In front of the door that led sadly to the backyard, his heart raced when the man of his dreams appeared in the distance. Eyes lowered to the ground for a few seconds, Merlin stammered to his friend:

"I'm a little scared..."

Gwaine smiled as he met the blue eyes that lit up like a starry sky.

"Do you remember? He has a surprise for you."

Gwaine could see that Merlin was different, that the illness had already trapped him in a magical life. Gaius and Hunith had prepared him for everything the future couple would experience. He anguished at the thought that nothing would work out as planned, but for the wizard, he tried to hold his head high. If Merlin could at least live with the king then that would be a good start.

He quickly detailed Merlin who was fidgeting like a teenager. His cheekbones were flushed, and he had a shy smile on his lips. Gwaine was proud of himself because his friend seemed eager to find the one who made his heart beat.

"Thank you, Gwaine," Arthur whispered to him.

Gwaine nodded and watched them walk out the door. He was startled when his lover came and took him in his arms. Leon, who was pressing his body against his back, placed a light kiss on his neck.

"Do you think Merlin will be happy with his gift?" asked Gwaine as he turned around before kissing Leon tenderly.

Gwaine moaned through the waltz of their tongues. When he pulled away, he rested his cheek against his lover's shoulder and closed his eyelids. He was lucky to have found in this man a perfect love, and he wished with all his soul that his friend Merlin could find the same happiness.

"You had a good idea," Leon finally replied as he hugged him and stroked his back, "I'm sure Merlin will be delighted with what we've done in two days and..."

"And Charles will finally be here!" he laughed as he pulled him by the hand, "come, let's join Lancelot!"

Leon, his heart pounding, shook his head, thinking that his young lover would always be a child.

...-M&A-...

Arthur, his body trembling with excitement, held one of Merlin's hands. He looked at Merlin's face as he marveled at his gift, dazzled by the discovery of the new garden. The wizard's gaze swept around and, like a torment, Arthur watched him cry.

"Arthur, it's..." stammered Merlin.

"Come on," he spoke, "let's take a walk..."

Arthur shuddered just to feel the frail body of his wizard against him. After a few minutes to savor this small moment of quietude, he embraced Merlin's hand which, to his great happiness, detailed with insistence each corner of the garden.

"It's just like my dream," Merlin murmured.

"You see," Arthur managed weakly to whisper, "I know how to be romantic."

The wizard's laughter warmed his heart.

"I never doubted it," Merlin laughed as Arthur pulled him close again.

"Merlin..." stammered Arthur suddenly.

His heart racing, Arthur had to make a superhuman effort not to kiss him right away. He looked into the wizard's eyes and continued "I... It's been a long time ago... I wanted to tell you that I care about you. A lot. There, I love you."

With trembling hands braced against the wizard's hips, Arthur shyly placed his lips against Merlin's. He had so many times dreamed to say his few words to him that he lost himself in the kiss. The tongue of his lover, inviting itself audaciously in his mouth, rolled up tenderly to his. He tightened his embrace to better feel it all against him then, by deepening their first -true- exchange, a whirlwind of new sensations took hold of his body.

He was a man and as any reaction to this kind of embrace, his crotch reacted violently to his desires. He moved away slowly from his lover and Merlin did not seem surprised. The look he saw in the blue seemed to incite him to push the thing further. Arthur swallowed and preferred to quickly remove his ungodly images from his brain. He had been longing for Merlin for so long that he was afraid of disappointing him. He finally hugged him again and whispered in a trembling voice in his ear.

"Merlin, would you like to share my bed?"

A lump in his throat, he listened as a "yes" escaped his lover's mouth.

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Neither of them could see the stares that weighed on them. At the opening of a window, the knights watched them with a mixture of hope and love.

"Oh, how cute to see our king blush like that," murmured Gwaine, "I'm sure he stutters."

"I'll call you back," Leon cut him off, "you were just like him."

"Noooo..."

The older ones burst out laughed when Guinevere's voice interrupted them:

"Lancelot, I was looking for you..."

The said knight, suddenly worried by the sound of her breathless voice, slowly approached his wife who quickly revealed with a smile on her lips:

"I am pregnant..."

"Wow!" exclaimed Gwaine, "it's baby season, it seems! And what are you going to name it?"

Lancelot was speechless as he listened to his Gwen answer:

"Pearce if it's a boy and Helena if it's a girl..."

"Oh how cute," said Gwaine happily. "Charles is going to have a friend!"

...-M&A-...

While the kingdom was living in a time of peace and two men destined to be together were about to strengthen their love, outside, far away from the eyes of the druids, eggs were being watched over by Aithusa.

If the wind was capable of being the bearer of future actions, Kilgarah could not ignore them. Mystical beast who had thought himself the last of his kind for decades had seen in the birth of Aithusa the hope of a future generation. For her to exist, it meant that more dragon lords would have to be born, for when his babies came out of their eggs, each one of them will have to find the sorcerer-brother to obey.

Now he understood the importance of Charles. Without the presence of this child and the draconic magic, his babies were doomed to wander aimlessly. That was why, through the air of time, Kilgarah could hear the childish laughter of the one who would become the Master of Lords. Charles had a destiny: to restore the lineage of future lords.

So today, as he flew over his cave, he thought about how this new present would affect his progeny. He, who had seen the work of men, remembered the cries of his fellow creatures, dying under the blows of lords of dragons, manipulated by Uther.

Merlin, his brother, as Kilgarah had always considered him, would never know this sad truth: Charles had sacrificed his life to save him. Kilgarah will do his best to undo what has not yet been done, but will he succeed it? Will he find a way to save this unborn child?