Chapter Text
A week had seen a lot of change at Camelot Castle.
For one, a pact had been struck between Uther and the wolves, and the rest of the vampires of Camelot. Gaius acted as intermediary with Morgana by his side. Gwaine was right when he told Merlin that only very few vampires got visions - unsurprisingly, they proposed much less of a threat to the “integrity of Camelot Castle” than Uther had made out. Uther was a man of fear and building walls; luckily for them, Gaius was not.
The new pact meant new students could now attend Camelot. Uther was reluctant, but assured by the conditions of the pact that no being would do harm to another at Camelot or its surroundings, so long as they were all treated equally.
Merlin moved back into his room the day after his talk with Arthur. His body still pained him; it would take a long time to heal completely. But his visions did not plague him nearly as often, and when they did, he could share them with his trusted friends; Gaius, Morgana, Gwen, the pack and even Arthur. But not Uther - one day he would get the courage to tell him, but not now.
Other things stayed the same - Morgana remained at Camelot Castle for the last week before winter break, and was expected to return the year after as tutor to the new students. She was thrilled at the opportunity, and even managed to be in the same room as the headmaster without arguing. Most of the time.
She stood behind Gwen, who, with the rest of the pack, huddled excitedly around one of the long tables at the mess hall. Her hands wove through her curly brown hair, pinning it in place with elegant metal pins. Merlin smiled at the familiarity of the scene, and at his friends assembled together. Gwaine and Lancelot ignored the crutches still perched firmly under his arms as they ran over and hugged him. Merlin winced and smacked them away lightly.
“Ready for the party, Professor ?” Gwaine teased, his tone playful.
“The headmaster is very pleased with Arthur’s grades. You wouldn’t know how he managed to scrape that together, would you Merlin?” He elbowed Merlin lightly and wiggled his eyebrows at him.
“I have no idea what you mean.” Merlin grinned goofily. He was certain they knew about their tutoring arrangement, what with the thought-sharing ability that meant none had any privacy from the others. He found that this fact didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would, now that everything was out in the open. Yes, he was a seer, and Arthur was a werewolf. But he’d wager that their paths would have crossed no matter what world they lived in, in whatever form their friendship grew.
“Right, we’ll see you lot in an hour.” Morgana smiled. The fondness in her red eyes was mirrored by that of the boys; unlike Uther, they saw no problem in their differences, and were not willing to lose a friend because of them. They whooped as the two girls span excitedly with each other and ran out of the hall to get ready. The rest of the group dissipated soon after to ready themselves.
----
Rain did not hammer down on the grey cobblestones that made up the grand entrance to Camelot Castle, the ancient and imposing backdrop to a remarkable and momentous few months of Merlin’s life. Torches flickered in their sconces along the walls, enclosing the space in warmth, so much so that Merlin barely felt the chill in the air. Around him hung an elegant cape of deep blue - a gift to himself with the spare coin he had saved since tutoring Arthur. He felt majestic, even as he leant heavily on his crutches still. Morgana waved him over. She looked spellbinding in her long gown of emerald green, her long dark hair intricately braided on top of her head. Merlin recognised the pattern as the one Gwen had been practising for her wedding - a wedding which now would never happen. Her lips were painted ruby red, and he could sense the admiring eyes looking in her direction.
“You look beautiful.” He walked up beside her and looked out towards the assembled students, dancing with each other in pairs or in boisterous groups.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” Merlin had barely a chance to speak with her now, with her role as intermediary and advisor to the Camelot Coven and the Castle, not to mention tutor to a whole new intake of students, taking up most of her time. She relished in the work and the ability to help and work with others of her kind.
“I never apologised to you, Merlin. For what Morgause-”
“Please, you don’t need to apologise for anything. It seems even with our advantages, we can’t see everything.” Merlin smiled.
“I trusted her as a sister.” Morgause sighed. “Yet I find myself creating a new family, not of blood or shared history, but of bond.” She looked over to a laughing Gwen, being twirled by an even happier Lancelot, and then over to Gwaine, who leant against the wall on the far side, talking animatedly to the three girls surrounding him. Percival and Leon were engaged in some sort of dance battle that made neither look like competent dancers and both look like giddy teenage boys, whilst Elyan looked on, laughing and clapping. Other students danced, or drank, or chatted merrily with each other. They were both quiet for a moment, soaking in the atmosphere of the night.
“In a few moments, Arthur is going to approach you and ask to dance with you. Have fun, Merlin. You deserve it.” Merlin was surprised when she winked at him, and skipped off to the musicians, whispering into the ear of the violinist at the front. She smiled at Merlin as she did so, and his stomach dropped.
Someone cleared their throat, the sound startling him from his fear. Arthur looked resplendent in a cloak of pale blue that brought his eyes to the forefront of Merlin’s attention. His hair was combed back smartly, golden in the warm light.
“You don’t appear to have a dance partner.” He started, formally. He looked the way he always did when he was nervous - a little bit rigid and a lot like he could use a stiff drink of something full-bodied with notes of almond or honey.
“I don’t appear to be able to use my legs particularly well at the moment, either.” Merlin replied, hiding his smile. As he spoke, the tempo of the music shifted, a lighter song emanating from the strings of the band at the front of the Castle steps. Merlin rolled his eyes as he caught sight of Morgana thrusting two thumbs up into the air at him.
“Hmm. That is inconvenient.” Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.
“I could probably manage a melancholic sway roughly in time to the music?” Merlin asked, still keeping the smile from his face.
“I don’t know about melancholic, but if I don’t get to dance with you tonight I will be an unhappy man all winter break.” Arthur extended his hand out to Merlin chivalrously. Merlin set the crutches against the wall and took it.
Arthur led him onto the dance floor. Lancelot whooped as he saw them approach the middle of the courtyard, as various other couples filtered on or off the floor. Arthur shot him a look which said either I’m going to kill you if you do that again , or Please gather some more people so we aren’t the centre of attention here , before they began to half-dance, half-sway under the dark sky.
In that moment, Merlin was at peace. He was not thinking about the visions. He was not thinking about threats to Camelot. He was not thinking about medicines, nor of the future, nor of Uther Pendragon. His arms wrapped around Arthur’s neck and he was happy, genuinely happy, for the first time in a long while. He smiled at Arthur, whose cocky smirk was enough to tell him that he felt the same. Arthur’s hands were solid around his waist as they pulled each other closer.