Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Categories:
Fandom:
Relationship:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Collections:
WinterKnights 2017 - a Merlin Winter/Holiday Fest
Stats:
Published:
2018-01-13
Words:
3,881
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
97
Kudos:
1,956
Bookmarks:
242
Hits:
11,855

The Gift at Yule

Summary:

At Yule Arthur had started a new tradition - changing one of the laws or bringing in a new one. This year he was intending doing something spectacular. Something that would change lives. Especially Merlin's.

Notes:

Written for the Winter Knights fest.

Work Text:

Camelot in winter was a bleak place.  The lands were barren and frozen.  The city innkeepers thrived in the evenings as people gathered inside the establishments to keep warm, then were reluctant to venture out again later.  Even the castle with its solid walls and carefully tended fires was cold.  The days were short and the nights were long – although sometimes it seemed that the opposite were true.

“So Merlin,” Arthur sat back in his chair, pushing the empty breakfast platter away from him and leaning a little closer to the fire. “What’s on my agenda for today? Hmm?  Hunting? Perhaps some training with the knights?  Please tell me it’s not something dire like listening to Leon drone on about border patrols, or having to mediate between neighbours who think they both own the same cow?  I’m not in the mood.”

“Your life is very hard,” Merlin told him, managing to insert just the right tone into his voice that made it sound as if he meant quite the opposite.  “And today is the feast to mark the start of Yule.  The clue would have been in all the decorations that have gone up in the castle over the past week in preparation.  And the fact that people have talked of little else for days.  You must have missed all that.”

Arthur hadn’t missed them, and knew exactly what day it was, but he enjoyed baiting Merlin.  He particularly liked the startled then annoyed expression that his next words produced.

“Ah yes.  How’s my speech going?  Have you finished it yet?”

Strictly speaking, writing the king’s speech should be the job of a senior advisor, or a scholar such as Geoffrey of Monmouth.  But Merlin was excellent at writing speeches (probably because he talked so much) and Arthur rather liked arguing any little points that he didn’t quite agree with.  Still, on this particular occasion…

“You said you were writing this one yourself!” Merlin exclaimed, slamming the dishes that he had started to gather up down hard on the table.  “I mentioned it a week ago, twice, and you said you’d got something special planned and go away and clean the stables Merlin!  Which, incidentally, George says is not a suitable task for the king’s manservant to be doing.”

“True,” Arthur drummed his fingers on the table, pretending to ponder this quite accurate nugget of information. “I should do something about that.”

“Yes!”

“Hmm… I could demote you, then it would be absolutely fine.”

Merlin just rolled his eyes and started gathering up the plates again.  Arthur was sure he heard the word ‘prat’ muttered under Merlin’s breath.

“So, I suppose I should start writing that speech,” Arthur sighed.

“Haven’t you started yet?” Merlin exclaimed.  The plates went back down on the table again, although more carefully this time.  “Arthur, the feast is only hours away!  You’ll never finish it in time.  Oh, I’ll do it.  What is it you’re going to change?”

At Yule Arthur had started a new tradition. As it was near the close of the old year he tried to change one of the laws or bring in one new one.  Something that improved the lives of his people.  It had gone down very well for the first two years of his reign although so far it had only been small things.  This year he was intending doing something spectacular.  Something that would change the lives of a lot of people.

“I can’t tell you that.  Wait and see like everyone else.”

Merlin frowned at him, so Arthur frowned back.  He knew exactly what was going on in Merlin’s head.  Merlin would be worried that Arthur had come up with something inappropriate.  Honestly, sometimes it was hard to remember who was king.

“But if there’s no speech written, there won’t be any change.  And there’s hardly any time.  We need to start work on it at once!”

“Oh… Yes.  I forgot.  I did write something after all.” Arthur opened up the drawer under his desk and brought out a tightly-rolled and sealed scroll.  Merlin made a grab for it but Arthur held it out of reach.  “No.  It’s for the feast.  But now you don’t need to worry. You can see that it’s complete!” Arthur beamed at Merlin, whose frown deepened into a scowl.

“I should read it through.”

“Again no, because I’m the king. You keep forgetting this.  And Gaius has already gone through it with me and he’s very happy with it.”

“Gaius?”

“Yes.  One of my oldest and most trusted advisors.  Very intelligent man. Court Physician.  Your mentor. Owner of the most disapproving eyebrow in all the five kingdoms. Surely you recall him?”

Merlin picked up the dishes again and drew himself up rather stiffly.  “You’re in a very strange mood.  I’ll just leave you to it.”

“Good.  Come back later to help me dress for the feast.”  Arthur was perfectly capable of dressing himself, but he liked Merlin to do it.  Really, he liked Merlin to be around him as much as possible.  If all went well at the feast then he hoped Merlin would want them to remain close in the future.  He was counting on it if he was honest.  “And I want you to wear a new outfit yourself,” he added.  “George will bring something to your quarters later.  It doesn’t do for the king’s manservant to dress like a peasant.”

“I am a peasant,” Merlin reminded him grumpily, turning to leave. “This had better not be that stupid hat again.”

“Just do as you’re told,” Arthur insisted. “Oh, and Merlin?”

Merlin glanced back at him warily.

“Don’t bother trying to ask Gaius what’s in the speech.  He’s sworn to secrecy.”

Honestly, if looks could kill…

---

The Yule feast was going extremely well.

Arthur thought it was probably his favourite feast of the year.  The castle looked so festive, the people all seemed happy despite the cold outside.  It was a chance for some of the townsfolk to come up into the castle and enjoy the food and warmth.  His father had never allowed that.  Uther had sent the servants down into the town with food for the townspeople, but never let them into the halls of the castle.  Arthur still did that, but he also held a lottery to invite a hundred townspeople to the feast each year. Everyone had a fair and equal chance at it and the people loved it.  Also he knew word had spread that at the Yule feast every year he was going to try to do something to make a difference to Camelot.  Nobles from further afield had made the effort to attend because of that.  He’d heard people discussing what the change might be this year.  Last year he’d lowered the taxes a little.  That had been particularly popular with everyone except the royal accountant.  But there were rumours that this year it would be something really big.

Arthur could well imagine where those rumours started.  Merlin had spent most of the day pestering either Gaius or Arthur about what the mysterious speech contained, and his often less than subtle attempts had eventually been noticed by Gwaine.  And once Gwaine had an interesting piece of gossip in his head then they may as well shout it right across Camelot.

Well, it was a big change, so a little warning probably wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.  And it definitely did Merlin good not to know every single little thing that was going on.  He’d definitely interfere in this. 

Merlin was wearing the new blue jacket that Arthur had asked Gwen to make for him.  It fitted him well, even though he did keep tugging at the hem and fiddling with the cuffs.  Gwen was an amazing seamstress and had done a fine job.  Perhaps he would ask her to design an entire new wardrobe for Merlin once this was over.  He was going to need one, after all.

“Stop fidgeting,” Arthur hissed as Merlin started picking at one of the buttons.  “And bring me some more wine.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to just check through that speech for you?” Merlin whispered as he poured the wine.  “You know, in case you’ve put in something that people won’t appreciate.”

Arthur just smiled, and tipped the goblet towards him in a mock toast. “Quite sure. Now, why don’t you go and stand respectfully behind me while I do this.”

Merlin made a noise that didn’t sound very respectful at all, but he did at least stand to one side as Arthur stood up.  The general hubbub in the hall faded to almost nothing as everyone turned to listen to their king.

Arthur started as he always did by giving thanks for the harvest and the prosperity of his kingdom, then praising various noble deeds by his countrymen over the past year.  Everyone smiled and laughed at the appropriate places, and raised their goblets when they were asked to.  But he could tell they were only being polite.  They all wanted to know what the change would be this year.  He’d heard Gwaine running wagers with the other knights on what it might be.  None of them had come close.

Finally, Arthur brought out the scroll and unsealed it.  He heard a ripple of conversation go around the room, and saw Merlin craning his neck trying to see what was written there.  Arthur carefully turned the scroll away from him, hiding a smirk at the annoyed look Merlin gave him for that.

“And now I come to the most important part of the evening – when we do something to change Camelot for the better.  This year I am rectifying an error that is long overdue.  First, I would like you all to raise a glass in memory of my father.  He was a great king and made Camelot what it is today.” He held up his goblet.  "To my father.”

There were echoes around the hall of “To King Uther!”  Arthur waited for them to subside, then continued.  He wanted to honour the late king, because he knew his father would not be happy with what he was about to do.

“You will all be aware that my father waged a long and bloody war on magic-users.  They were persecuted and driven from their homes. If they were caught they would be executed regardless of whether or not they had done any harm.”

There were a few murmurs around the room, but Arthur noted that nobody seemed to be coming out loudly in favour of his father’s policy.  That boded well.  He glanced to his left, and found that Merlin was watching him intently, his face deadly serious.  Arthur gave him a reassuring smile, then continued.

“It is our new tradition that we use this festival as a time for change.  In recent years we have still had problems with sorcerers using magic for evil.  Those people will continue to be persecuted, as will any other citizen who commits any sort of crime whether magical or not.  None of us would want that to change.”

He saw Merlin’s shoulders slump a little.  But Arthur was not finished yet. 

“Magic, however, could have other uses.  Wouldn’t we all want to have healing magic back in the world?  Think how much good could be done.  Perhaps having the crops blessed would bring forth a more prosperous Camelot?  Is there really any harm in someone using magic for those things?  And what about protection?  Are we not making ourselves vulnerable to attack by isolating ourselves from all magic users?”  He paused, taking in the atmosphere again.  There was still a great deal of murmuring, but he could see heads nodding in agreement.  Inevitably there were some shaking their heads and looking angry, but Arthur had never supposed that this would be easy.  “And so as my Yule gift this year, I am lifting the ban on magic.  If you commit a crime using magic then you will be punished just as you would if you had committed the same crime without magic.  But all other magic use will be allowed.”

He glanced at Merlin again.  His manservant now was gazing at him, wide-eyed, his mouth fallen open in surprise.  Hopefully he would recover from the shock quickly, because Arthur would need Merlin at his side now more than ever. 

Around the room loud conversations were breaking out, arguments mixing in with the general hubbub.  Arthur let them go at it for a while, taking a little break from talking before the next part of his announcement. 

“What do you think?” he whispered to Merlin.  “Do you approve?” 

Merlin nodded vigorously, not taking his eyes off Arthur.  “Yes.  Oh yes, definitely. You’ve done the right thing.”

“So you’re with me on this?”

Merlin gave him a slightly puzzled look for a moment, then just shrugged.  “Always.”

That was good to know.  Some of the arguments were starting to get a little heated, so Arthur tapped on the table for quiet, and began again.

“I hope we can all work together on this.  I realise it’s a major change, but I think it’s one that needed to be made.  I would like to make peace with the druids, and with other kingdoms that don’t understand Camelot’s stance on magic.  I believe this will bring peace to our land, and I hope that in time we will all see the benefits this will bring.”

There was still some murmuring and muttering, but it was muted.  Taking heart from that, Arthur continued.

“Obviously my knowledge of magic is minimal, although I hope to rectify that in the coming years.  I want to understand all the people of Albion, not just the non-magic users of Camelot.    So, I am appointing an advisor on magical matters. I think the official title should be Court Sorcerer.  I have a candidate in mind, but is there anyone else who would like to be considered?”

He waited.  Nobody came forward, but then given Camelot’s bloody history as far as magic users was concerned that was no surprise. Merlin was fidgeting awkwardly in that way he had when he desperately wanted to say something but felt that he probably shouldn’t.  Arthur hid a smile, wondering just how long it was going to take.  Not much longer, hopefully.  Down on one of the main tables, Gaius was gesturing to Merlin as discreetly as he could.  Apparently it was just too discreet for Merlin who didn’t appear to have noticed.  Merlin still couldn’t seem to tear his gaze from Arthur.

“Very well.  We’ve all heard tales of the warlock Emrys over the years.  The druids revere him and I’ve been told that there is a legend that says his future is entwined with mine.  That we are supposed to bring about a new age together.”

It was impossible not to smile at the slightly strangled noise Merlin made at that.  Arthur looked down for a moment, trying to hide his amusement, then looked over to Gaius.  Gaius made one last attempt to gesture to Merlin that he should step up and take the honour, but as Merlin appeared rooted to the spot Gaius just rolled his eyes and half-turned away in despair.

“What you may not have heard about is the fact that for many years he has protected Camelot and taken no credit for doing so.  Many of us would not be standing here today if it were not for him.  I know that he has risked his own life to ensure that Camelot endures.  I have seen it for myself, although he tries to hide his magic from me.  I say that there is nobody more suited to stand at my side and I would like him to take up the role of Court Sorcerer.”

Silence fell over the hall.  Arthur was aware of Merlin’s breathing coming heavy and fast beside him.  He hoped Merlin wasn’t about to faint or run off or anything.  That wouldn’t do.

Then Lancelot stood up and began to applaud.  A moment later Gwaine followed suit.  Leon, Elyan and Percival were all frowning at them in puzzlement.  Leon and Gwaine were having a fierce discussion over something.  Merlin, judging by the shocked look that Leon was now directing at Arthur’s servant.  Lancelot knew about the magic and had been very forthcoming once he realised that Arthur did too but Arthur hadn’t been sure about Gwaine until that moment.

“Merlin?” Arthur heard Leon exclaim very loudly. But then Leon got over his shock and stood up to applaud even more vigorously than Gwaine was doing.  Elyan and Percival immediately joined in, big smiles on their faces.  The support of the senior knights made all the difference.  It encouraged others, and soon Arthur found himself in front of a cheering crowd of people. 

Arthur turned deliberately to face Merlin.  “Well, Emrys?”

“How long have you known?” Merlin said finally, his voice barely audible in the noisy hall.  He didn’t look as delighted as Arthur had hoped.  In fact he looked pale and frightened.  If Arthur had any doubts about whether he was doing the right thing in removing the ban on magic, they faded when he saw the look on Merlin’s face.  That fear of discovery was a reflection of what so many of his innocent subjects must have felt every day of their lives.  It was what Merlin must have felt every day. 

Arthur was determined Merlin would never feel that way again.

“A while,” Arthur replied.  “I would have liked you to tell me yourself but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.  And I do understand why.  But it’s time to stop hiding.  I need someone I can completely trust for this role and there’s nobody that I trust more than you.  What do you say?  Will you do it?  Bring magic back to Camelot?”

Finally Merlin’s face broke into a smile.  It was small and nervous at first but quickly widened into the bright and friendly one that Arthur knew.

“It’s been here all the time!”

“I know.” Arthur held out his hand for Merlin to take, then helped him step forward to stand at Arthur’s side.  It was where Merlin should be, after all.

“This is why you made me wear this fancy thing,” Merlin growled under his breath.

“Yes.  I can’t have my court sorcerer looking like a servant.”

“Clotpole.”

“Oh good, articulate as ever.  Council meetings will be fascinating.”

“Knight him!” Gwaine yelled from the crowd.

“Now there’s an idea,” Arthur smiled.  Lancelot had insisted the same thing when he’d talked with Arthur a few days earlier, although far more eloquently.  “Very fitting for your new status.”  He held up his hand for quiet, and the hubbub in the hall died down.

“I present to you our first Court Sorcerer. He has saved me and saved the whole of Camelot more times than I can count.  He is the bravest of us all and as much a knight as any standing here, although he fights on a different battlefield to the rest of us. He should be recognised as such.”

“What are you doing?” Merlin hissed as Arthur drew Excalibur from its sheath.

“Shush,” Arthur whispered back.  “And kneel.”

Merlin glanced worriedly over at Gaius and Gwen who were sitting together smiling happily at him. 

“I’m not going to chop your head off!” Arthur hissed.  “Kneel!”

Reluctantly Merlin did as he was bid, looking up at Arthur nervously once he was on his knees. 

“Bow your head!” Lancelot called.

Merlin did, briefly, then couldn’t help looking up at Arthur again.  This time there was a hopeful smile on Merlin’s face, his eyes wide and wondering. 

“Keep still,” Arthur warned.  “I don’t want to chop your ears off by mistake!”

Merlin nodded quickly, then kept very still.  Solemnly Arthur touched his sword to Merlin’s right shoulder and then his left.

“Arise, Sir Emrys.  Knight and Court Sorcerer of Camelot.”

Merlin was looking up at him adoringly and Arthur thought for a moment that Merlin was just going to stay on his knees.  But then Merlin seemed to remember what he was supposed to be doing and got up.  Naturally, being Merlin, he did so in the most ungainly way possible and almost fell over his own feet in the process.  “Oops.”

Arthur tried not to roll his eyes. Instead he gestured to the space at the table next to his own.  “Sit here, Sir Emrys.”

Merlin of course managed to scrape the chair noisily across the floor, and clatter the dishes near to him as he seated himself.  Arthur’s eye-rolling restraint was being severely tested.  He addressed the room once more, raising his goblet again.

“I give you a toast, finally, to the newest addition to our court.  Sir Emrys.”

“Sir Emrys!” echoed around the room in what might have been a polite murmur had it not been for the knights.  They ensured it was anything but quiet.

“It remains for me to wish you all a blessed yule, and a peaceful and prosperous year to come.  Please, enjoy the rest of the feast.”

Arthur settled back down in his chair.  Merlin had been served a generous helping of roast chicken and still looked a little dazed by everything that was happening.  The knights made their way over to congratulate him, as did Gaius and Gwen.  There was a great deal of hugging and back-slapping, and more than one request that Merlin oblige them with a small magic trick. 

Arthur found he had a small dragon made of flames hovering in front of him.  It was a little unnerving, but he was determined not to show it.  Finally Merlin’s admirers went back to their seats and Arthur was left alone with his beaming court sorcerer. Arthur was going to miss that smile in the morning.

“Thank you for doing this,” Merlin told him.  “You won’t regret it.”

“I’ll regret it as soon as George starts his new duties as my manservant. Perhaps you could stay on?  Court sorcerer and king’s manservant?”

“It’s inappropriate for a knight to clean the stables,” Merlin grinned.  “So no.  But I’ll wake you If you like.  Always fun to see your grumpy face in the morning!”

“Grumpy because you’re always late.”

“Late because you’re always grumpy!”

“I’m the king!”

“And I’m the court sorcerer! By royal command!”

“Hmmm… Sir Emrys,” Arthur mused.  “Perhaps it should have been Sir Emrys of the tavern, as that’s where you spend most of your time.”

“I never go to the tavern,” Merlin admitted. “That’s just an excuse when I’ve been off doing magic.”

Saving Camelot, Arthur realised.  Gaius had already told him about the tavern being a lie, but it was fun to bait Merlin.

“Are you magically making ale vanish, Sir Emrys?” Arthur asked sarcastically.

 Merlin shook his head and took a bite of the chicken.  “Mmm. That’s good. I’ll make that vanish. So, are you going to be calling me Sir Emrys all the time?”

“No,” Arthur assured him.  “You’ll always be my Merlin.”

And from the adoring smile that produced on Merlin’s face, Arthur knew that was the right thing to say.

“And you,” Merlin said softly, “will always be my king.”

---