Work Text:
"Put the swords down, or the servant dies."
Arthur's grip on his sword tightened, and he swallowed, fear flooding his system at the sight before him.
Merlin was barely conscious, bruised, and bloody; his hands were cuffed in front of him. And the man who’d spoken was holding him up like a human shield with a knife to his throat.
Arthur and his knights had spent the last week looking for Merlin, and they’d finally found him here, in the dungeons of some abandoned castle in the Forest of Essetir. They weren't about to lose him now.
"I don't like to repeat myself," The man said.
Merlin scoffed, his voice rough and annoyed when he said, "All you've done for the last week is repeat yourself."
The man pressed his knife into his neck, just enough to draw blood.
Arthur's sword fell to the ground. He put his hands up. "Just let him go. He hasn't done anything to you. He's just a servant."
The man smirked. He spoke with his mouth far too close to Merlin’s ear. "Just a servant, eh? Do you think your king would be so eager to save you if he knew who you really were?"
And what the hell was that supposed to mean?
“I wouldn’t make a very effective human shield if he wasn’t,” Merlin muttered.
The man snarled. “It would be worth it, to see you die.”
“Then why haven’t you killed me yet yourself?” Merlin asked.
“Merlin, stop taunting the man who has a knife to your throat,” Arthur said, terrified that Merlin was about to get himself killed by being an idiot.
“Listen to your king, Merlin. And you lot, I told you to drop your swords.” Four swords hit the ground. “All of you,” He emphasized.
Arthur glanced over his shoulder to see who hadn't listened. Leon ?
"At least one of you has a brain," Merlin muttered.
The man growled and pressed his knife into his throat again.
“Leon, what are you doing?” Arthur asked nervously.
But Leon wasn’t looking at Arthur. He was looking at Merlin. “Are those…?”
“Yes,” Merlin answered, despite the fact that Leon hadn’t asked a real question.
“Even…?”
“Don’t know, but I’m dying to find out,” Merlin said with what was probably meant to be a smirk but looked more like a grimace.
Leon sighed in exasperation and shook his head, like this was merely a minor annoyance and not Merlin’s life on the line. “That joke still isn’t funny, you know, no matter how many times you say it.”
How many times could Merlin have possibly made that joke?
And then Merlin, the idiot of all idiots, said the worst thing one could say in a situation like this: “What are you going to do? Stab me?”
And that was exactly what Leon did.
Time seemed to stand still as Leon took a step forward and plunged his sword through Merlin and the man holding him all at once. When he pulled it out, they both fell to the ground.
Everything except Merlin seemed to fade away as Arthur fell to his knees. He reached for Merlin, pulling him into his lap. He brushed Merlin’s hair to the side and watched as he spit up blood.
Arthur had tears in his eyes as he brought one hand up to Merlin’s bruised cheek. “You aren’t going to die, Merlin. We’ll get you out of here, and Gaius’ll fix you up, and you’ll be back to polishing my armor and telling terrible jokes before you know it.”
Merlin attempted to smile at him. “You’re not going to give me a day off after I got stabbed?”
“You’ve already been gone a week. My chambers are a mess,” Arthur said, choking on his own tears.
Merlin laughed, which quickly turned into a cough, and more blood came out of his mouth. “Prat.”
And then he went still in Arthur’s arms.
Arthur leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Merlin’s, his own tears falling onto Merlin’s face. “No,” He choked out in barely more than a breath.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Arthur.” It was Lancelot.
Arthur shook his head. “ No .”
Lance knelt down next to him and grabbed his face to make him look at him. Arthur saw that he was crying, too. “Arthur, we need to get out of here.”
Arthur nodded. He looked up at the other knights and saw three more pairs of teary, red eyes and one bloody nose. Arthur was almost disappointed he hadn’t been the one to cause it.
Gwaine looked angrier than Arthur had ever seen him, and Percival was barely holding him back from hitting Leon again.
Arthur wiped his eyes. He needed to be a king right now. He’d deal with Leon later. “Lance is right. We need to get out of here.” If his voice cracked, no one said anything about it.
Elyan and Lance each took one of Gwaine’s arms, so Percival could let go of him to pick up Merlin’s body.
Arthur led the way out, and Leon trailed quietly behind the rest of them.
They barely even remembered to pick up their swords before they left.
Eventually, they made it outside to where their horses were waiting for them.
“Stop,” Leon said suddenly.
They all turned to him. “Say that again,” Gwaine challenged, flexing his bruised knuckles.
Leon put up his hands. “Just… Just listen to me, please.”
“You killed him,” Gwaine said through gritted teeth, straining against Elyan and Lancelot’s hold.
“He’s not dead,” Leon said, nonsensically.
“What do you mean?” Arthur asked, not daring to let himself hope.
“He’s not breathing,” Percival said.
“Ok, he is dead,” Leon corrected himself. “But he’s going to be fine.”
“You better start making sense, or you’re going to be dead, too,” Gwaine said.
Leon turned to Lancelot. “You know, right? I know you know.”
Know what?
Lancelot furrowed his brow. “I know…” He glanced at Merlin’s body and shook his head. “But there’s a difference between that and coming back from the dead.”
“I know, but it’s Merlin . He’s done things that shouldn’t be possible before, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“Please. He should be the one to explain everything to you. I just need you to trust me.”
“Why should we?” Gwaine asked, glaring at him.
“Because Merlin trusts him,” Lance said hesitantly.
“Merlin’s dead,” Gwaine said. “ He killed him.”
Arthur was inclined to agree with Gwaine. In his head, he was already planning out exactly how Leon would pay for his crimes when they got back to Camelot.
“Well, it’s not like he’s going to get any more dead,” Elyan pointed out.
“Exactly,” Leon said. “I only need you to trust me for two minutes, and if I’m wrong, you can go ahead and kill me. I won’t stop you.”
“What do you need us to do?” Lance asked.
Leon pulled a small key out of his pocket. “I found this on that guy back there. I’m hoping they go to those handcuffs.” He nodded toward Merlin.
“What’s that going to do?” Gwaine asked, clearly not buying any of this.
Leon looked at Lance meaningfully.
Lance nodded slowly and then looked at Percy. “Put him down.”
Percy looked at Arthur, who gave him a hesitant nod, and then he set Merlin gently on the ground.
Leon took a step closer to Merlin, but Arthur stopped him. “Why should you be the one to do it?”
“Because if I let any of you get hurt, Merlin will kill me.”
Arthur looked at Lance, who nodded his head to the side, as if to say, ‘he has a point.’
“What about you?” Elyan asked Leon.
“If I get hurt, Merlin will probably just call me an idiot,” Leon said.
Arthur wasn’t entirely sure if he believed that. He’d seen how Merlin reacted when Leon was hurt before. But considering if this didn’t work, he was probably going to kill Leon anyway, he found it difficult to care. So he nodded to Leon and let Percival lead him off to the side with the other three knights.
Leon knelt at Merlin’s side.
The second the handcuffs fell from Merlin’s wrists, Arthur was nearly blinded by a bright light, he felt a strong force coming from Merlin’s direction, and he heard what sounded like a body hitting the ground hard several feet away.
---
Merlin took in a deep breath and shot up to a sitting position. He turned and coughed, and blood landed on the grass beside him. He wrinkled his nose and wiped his mouth, and then his eyes landed on a body a few feet away.
Leon’s body.
Shit .
He scrambled over on his hands and knees and checked his pulse, muttering to himself, “Come on, Leon, maximum of one death per day; it’s our only rule.” He let out a breath of relief when he detected Leon’s heartbeat. He quickly looked him over to see what was wrong and noticed dried blood under his nose. He reached out with his hand to see if it was broken.
“Ow.” Leon opened his eyes and swatted Merlin’s hand away.
Merlin let out a relieved laugh. “Idiot. What happened to your face?”
Leon sat up slowly, rubbing his head. “Gwaine wasn't very happy that I killed you.”
Merlin followed Leon's gaze to the five knights that stood by, looking at them in shock. He took in the red eyes and tear stains on their faces. Gwaine's bruised knuckles. “Oh.” He held up his hands. “I can explain.”
Gwaine looked pissed as he marched over to Merlin and pulled him to his feet, but then he hugged Merlin, holding him close like he was scared to let go. His body shook, and Merlin realized he was crying.
Merlin stroked Gwaine’s hair. “I’m ok,” He said softly. “I’m alive. I’m not going anywhere.” He pressed a kiss to Gwaine’s shoulder. “I’ve got you.”
“You died,” Gwaine choked out.
Merlin winced. “I know. But I’m here now. I came back. I’ll always come back to you, I promise.” He pulled back just enough to kiss Gwaine, trying to reassure him that he was here; he was real; he was alive.
“How?” Gwaine breathed out when they separated.
“You have magic.” Arthur's voice came somewhere behind Gwaine. He sounded like he couldn't quite believe what he was saying, but he knew it to be true.
Merlin looked at him and tried to joke, “What are you going to do? Have me executed for treason?”
Arthur glared at him. “Don't even joke about that, Merlin.” He wiped his face. “I just watched you- I never want to-” He took a breath. “I don’t want you to die, Merlin.”
“Careful, Sire. One might start to think you care about me.”
Arthur let out an exasperated sigh and moved closer, muttering, “Clotpole.” He pulled Merlin out of Gwaine's arms and into his own.
“Oh,” Merlin said in quiet surprise as he hugged Arthur back. “This is new.” Arthur had never hugged him before. Surely, Merlin would remember if he had.
Arthur buried his face in the crook of his neck, and Merlin realized he was crying, too. He softened and started rubbing Arthur's back. “I'm sorry,” He said quietly.
“Never do that again.”
“I'll try, but I can't promise that, Arthur.”
Arthur pulled back and put his hands on Merlin’s arms. “You aren't allowed to die, Merlin. I forbid it.”
The corner of Merlin’s mouth quirked up in amusement. “You can't order me not to die.”
“I can do whatever I want. I’m the King.”
“If you say so, Sire.” Merlin shook his head and turned back to Leon, who was still on the ground, looking a bit out of it. He pulled back from Arthur to kneel at Leon’s side again, bringing a hand up to his head. He still wasn’t amazing at healing magic, but he’d been working on it. And now that the others knew, it wasn’t as though he had any reason to hide it anymore. “Can I?” He asked.
Leon started to nod and then winced.
Merlin rolled his eyes affectionately. “Idiot.” He let his magic flow through him into Leon. After being contained for so long, it was difficult to focus, but he managed to heal Leon’s broken nose, concussion, and even a cut on his arm that Merlin hadn’t noticed before. But then the magic kept going. Once it had an outlet, something to do , it didn’t want to stop. It went into the Earth, into every living thing around him. Including his friends, healing every wound they’d incurred on their mission to rescue Merlin.
When the magic finally faded, everything around them felt brighter and warmer. All six knights were looking at Merlin with something like awe on their faces.
Merlin blushed and looked down. “Sorry.”
“What was that?” Arthur asked.
“Magic, obviously,” Gwaine answered, making Merlin smile slightly.
Arthur rolled his eyes. “I’ve never seen magic like that before.”
“You’ve never seen someone come back from the dead before, either,” Leon pointed out.
Merlin cleared his throat. “We should start heading back to Camelot.” Without waiting for an answer, he got up and started walking.
“Camelot’s the other way,” Arthur called.
“Yeah, but we should go this way.” He looked at Arthur. “I’ve got a funny feeling .”
“You and you’re funny feelings, Merlin,” Arthur sighed.
Merlin turned forward and kept walking with a small smile on his face. It took about three steps for Arthur to get it.
“That’s your magic, isn’t it?” Arthur asked tiredly.
“Yep.”
Arthur sighed and started following Merlin.
He walked slowly, giving them a chance to catch up to him, but he didn’t stop.
He felt more than heard Gwaine come up to him and put an arm around his shoulders as he walked with him. Merlin couldn’t help but relax into his touch.
Gwaine kissed the top of his head. “So this is the big secret you’ve been keeping?”
Merlin just nodded.
“There’s not anything else, is there?”
Merlin shrugged. “I suppose there’s more details to it, but that’s it, yeah. I have magic, and I’m immortal.”
Gwaine was quiet for a second. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s treason.”
“But you told Leon.”
“Technically, he found out on his own.” At least about the magic. The immortality, Merlin had had no choice but to tell him when he’d found out about Leon’s own. But he’d never actually told anyone about his magic by choice.
“But still, you trusted him more than you trust me?”
Merlin sighed. “That’s not-” He shook his head. “There are some things I can talk to Leon about that I can’t talk to anyone else about, things that aren’t mine to tell, but that doesn’t mean I trust him more than I trust you. I never thought you would turn me in. I knew you wouldn’t. But knowing would have meant that you were committing treason, too. I didn’t want to put that on you.”
Gwaine took a second to process that and then nodded. “Ok.”
“Ok?”
He shrugged. “Ok. I’m not going to apologize for punching Leon in the face though. He still killed you.”
Merlin laughed. “It wasn’t like it was the first time.”
Gwaine stopped, forcing him to stop as well and realize what he’d just said. Fuck .
Gwaine brought his hand up and pushed Merlin’s neckerchief out of the way to run his thumb gently over the scar that went all the way around Merlin’s neck. “Did he do that?” He asked softly.
“I asked him to,” Merlin responded, his voice just as soft.
“Why?”
“I wanted to know how it felt.”
“What? To have your head chopped off?” Gwaine asked incredulously.
“It is the most common form of execution.”
The forest itself seemed to fall quiet at his words.
“Merlin…” Arthur said, stepping closer to him. “You didn’t really think I would…”
Merlin took a breath and looked up at the slowly darkening sky, tears coming to his eyes. “The first thing I saw when I stepped foot in Camelot was a man beheaded for the crime of sorcery. I will never forget his face or the sound of his mother’s screams. I killed her, you know.” He looked at Arthur. “The sorceress who tried to kill you as revenge for her son’s death. I dropped a chandelier on her head. I’d never killed anyone before that. And for it, I was rewarded with a job as your manservant. And I wouldn’t change that for anything. I’m glad to be by your side, Arthur. But that doesn’t mean a small part of me doesn’t die alongside every sorcerer who has been murdered by you or your father or your knights. That doesn’t mean that that fear that’s been ingrained in me since birth will ever really go away.”
“Why?” Arthur asked quietly.
“Why what?”
“Why would you come to Camelot? Why would you stay?”
Merlin gave him a sad smile. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Pretend it isn’t.”
Merlin hesitated. His eyes went briefly to Gwaine. He turned around and started walking again. “We should find somewhere to set up camp before it gets dark.”
“Merlin!” Arthur called after him, annoyed.
Merlin ignored him.
Merlin sat between Gwaine and Leon in front of the campfire he’d started with his magic. Lance and Percival worked on dinner, and Arthur was talking to Elyan, but his kept wandering back over to Merlin.
Gwaine held Merlin close and kissed the side of his head. “I think you should tell him,” He whispered.
Merlin looked at him in surprise. He knew Gwaine was ok with his feelings for Arthur, but he didn’t think he would actively encourage them. “Are you sure?”
“The pining is getting a bit unbearable.”
Merlin nudged him lightly. “It’s not that bad.”
Gwaine just gave him a look.
Merlin sighed and got to his feet. “I need some air.” It wasn’t the best excuse, given that they were already outside, but no one questioned it.
He wandered a ways into the woods, outside of hearing range of the camp, and was unsurprised when Arthur followed him.
Merlin leaned against a tree and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at Arthur. “Stalking me, Sire?”
Arthur rolled his eyes and moved closer. “We never finished our conversation earlier.”
“Which one?”
Arthur took a breath. “Why did you come to Camelot?”
“You’re not going to punish anyone who kept my magic a secret, are you?”
“No, Merlin, I’m not. Gaius is safe.”
Merlin let out a small huff of laughter. He should’ve known that one would be obvious. “My mother sent me to Camelot, so Gaius could teach me how to control my magic. It was getting a bit… out of hand.”
Arthur nodded. “Did he? Teach you how to control it, I mean.”
Merlin nodded. “Yeah, he’s taught me a lot.”
“Is he still teaching you?”
“About magic?” He shrugged. “I don’t think he has much left to teach me. Why?”
“Why do you stay? And don’t say it’s obvious because it’s not. Everything you said, about watching other sorcerers die, about being afraid that I would kill you, what could be worth all that?”
Merlin looked at him. “You are, Arthur. I’d do anything for you.”
“You should hate me.”
Merlin shook his head and held out a hand to take Arthur’s. “I wanted to. In the beginning. When you were an even bigger prat than you are now. But even then I couldn’t. No matter what you’ve done, I could never hate you, Arthur.” He looked off to the side. “I was told once that a half cannot truly hate that which makes it whole. I don’t know if I really believe that we’re each only half a person, but I think the sentiment is true.” He looked down. “Time and time again, I keep choosing you over my better judgment. And I want to say it’s because I know you’ll be a great king, that you’ll return magic to the land and unite Albion, that more people will be saved in the long run with you as king than I could ever save on my own.” He looked at Arthur. “But I don’t know that for sure. I know that’s what destiny says, but destiny’s been wrong before. What I do know is that I can’t stand to see you hurt. That I would do anything just to see you smile. That I would burn down all of the Five Kingdoms and everything in between if you asked me to.”
Arthur looked at him for a second and just asked again, “Why?”
Merlin took a breath. “Because I love you.”
Arthur paused. “What?”
“I love you, Arthur. I’m in love with you. I have been for years. I don’t expect you to say it back or anything, but it’s the truth.”
Arthur furrowed his brow. “What about Gwaine?”
“I’m in love with him, too.”
“That’s not possible.”
Merlin shrugged. “I’ve done a lot of things that shouldn’t be possible. Though I think loving more than one person might be a bit more common than immortality,” He added with a small smile.
“You wouldn’t leave him for me, though, would you?”
Merlin bit his lip. “I’ll admit I’d be tempted if you asked. But I made a promise. And I’ve done a lot of questionable things for you, but I can’t hurt Gwaine like that.” He couldn’t lose another person he loved for Arthur.
Arthur shook his head. “Why would you tell me, then? Why would you tell me you love me if you know you can’t do anything about it?”
“That’s not what I said.” He bit his lip, hesitating a second before saying, “I know Gwaine’s willing to share.”
Arthur looked confused. “What?”
Merlin sighed. “It is possible for a person to be in a relationship with more than one other person. And it might be selfish of me to ask that I can have both of you, but I think I’ve earned the right to be a little bit selfish at this point.”
Arthur stepped closer. “I don’t…” He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s selfish.”
“Yeah?”
“If anything, I think it would probably be selfish of me to keep you to myself, no matter how much I may want that.” He brought a hand up and gently brushed the hair out of Merlin’s face.
Merlin’s heart raced. “You do?”
Arthur nodded and interlaced their fingers. “More than just about anything. There was a time when I wouldn’t have cared if that made me selfish, when I wouldn’t have even considered your or Gwaine’s feelings, but a certain idiot manservant of mine managed to knock that nonsense out of me.”
Merlin raised an eyebrow. “You said just about anything.”
“I did.”
“Can I ask what you want more than you want me?”
Arthur ran his thumb over Merlin’s cheekbone. “What I want more than anything is for you to be happy.”
Merlin’s breath caught. His eyes flicked down to Arthur’s lips. “I can think of something that would make me very happy right now.”
Arthur smirked. “Yeah? What’s that?”
Merlin looked in Arthur’s eyes. “Kiss me.”
So Arthur did, and it took Merlin’s breath away. He held Merlin’s face gently in his hand and pressed his body back against the tree. Merlin opened his mouth to Arthur’s tongue without a thought in his head. The kiss seemed to last an age but at the same time, not nearly long enough. When they pulled apart, it was just enough to breathe.
Merlin looked into Arthur’s eyes, not quite believing what had just happened.
Arthur’s eyes glanced down, and then he raised his eyebrows and let out a short, surprised laugh.
“What?” Merlin asked. He followed Arthur’s gaze to the ground and saw flowers that hadn’t been there before. He looked around and saw more. Bright flowers of every color had sprouted up in the area around them, all turning to face Arthur like he was the sun. Merlin smiled softly, his face warm.
“So does that mean it was a good kiss?” Arthur asked in an amused tone.
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” He smiled and pulled Arthur into another kiss.
When they made it back to the campsite, Merlin sat next to Gwaine with Arthur on his other side. He held his hand out to Gwaine, who took it and kissed his knuckle.
“So did you two work things out then?” He asked softly.
“Yeah, I think so,” Merlin said, putting his other hand on Arthur’s knee.
Unfortunately, he had to take both hands back to eat, but their legs and sides remained pressed together, so he didn’t complain too much.
“So Leon said that he’s immortal, too,” Gwaine said after a minute.
Merlin choked on his food. “What?” When the hell had Leon told them that?
“You have magic?” Arthur asked Leon incredulously.
Leon shook his head. “No, just the immortality.”
Merlin shook his head and cleared his throat. “He does have magic. It’s just not as strong as mine, so he can choose not to use it, and he refuses to let me teach him.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to learn magic?” Gwaine asked.
Arthur raised an eyebrow at him.
“I think I’ve been committing enough treason as it is,” Leon said, like he always did.
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Treason’s treason. What difference does it make?”
Arthur looked at him. “ Merlin. ”
“What? It’s not wrong to break the law when the law is wrong.”
“You realize you’re talking to the King, right?”
“When has that ever stopped me before?”
Arthur sighed and shook his head.
“What are you going to do about that?” Lance asked Arthur.
“About what?” Arthur asked.
Lance’s eyes went to Merlin. “About the fact that Merlin has magic, and magic is still a crime.”
Arthur hesitated, glancing at Merlin as well. “I… suppose… maybe it shouldn’t be a crime anymore.”
Merlin dropped his bowl and grabbed Arthur’s face, kissing him hard, not caring in the slightest about the five other knights watching them.
When Merlin pulled back, Arthur’s face was flushed, and his eyes were wide. “What was that for?” He asked breathlessly.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that?” Merlin asked.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”