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As Merlin slowly pushed the door open, he felt an intensity of magic permeating from the room. He pocketed the key and took note of his surroundings.
It was one of the storage rooms in the castle, which contained a whole bunch of items stored but unused in years, like old armour and construction materials. They were all shoved to the back of the room to make way for the bright object right in the middle of the room. There was a square table about knee height, with a shiny object sitting on a plush violet cushion. As Merlin walked closer, he noticed that it was a jewel that was a burgundy color, around the size of his palm.
The moment Merlin laid eyes on it, he felt drawn to it. All sense of caution and apprehension melted away with each step he took towards the jewel. He knew he should stop and inspect it a little more, but his magic, which he always relied on to assess potentially dangerous situations such as this, blocked away all reason and even encouraged him to approach the jewel.
He raised a hand and stopped an inch away from the seemingly harmless object. At that moment, it was his sheer will holding him back. Without meaning to, gold tendrils of his magic came out of nowhere, and surrounded him and the jewel. Merlin could feel why - he felt calm, safe and protected. He truly believed it. Although, that didn’t mean he had to give into this almost irrational urge to touch it.
Merlin closed his eyes. He trusted the druids, and his magic felt such unwavering trust towards their gift, but he didn’t want to risk it. Should this be some elaborate trick to harm Arthur, it’s better to do something about it now than later. With that thought, Merlin let go of his last strain of willpower and touched the jewel.
He felt a sharp pain on his chest, which sent him falling to the floor, but he felt something cushion his fall, as if a pillow or bed materialized. However, there was nothing visible but the floor beneath him.
He felt incredibly overwhelmed. His magic hummed with life more than it’s ever had before, streaks of gold and starlight swirling all around him and the entire room. He felt like screaming - out of excitement and pure, immense joy. He felt comfort and security. Most of all, he felt a t home , as if he left for a millennia and finally, he’s welcomed with open arms because he’s back where he belongs.
Then, as quickly as the rush of emotions crashed through him, it was gone in an instant. Merlin felt like himself again. He checked in with his magic fearing it might have disappeared along with all the sensations he’s felt a few moments earlier, and he still felt the familiar undercurrent of his magic within him, always there and ready for him.
Merlin heard footsteps outside the room. He stood up abruptly, and braced himself for whoever the intruder was. The footsteps grew louder and stopped right outside the door. A moment later, he heard knocking.
“Merlin?” Tobyn asked.
Merlin sighed in relief and opened the door. “Hey.”
“Are you alright? As I was about to return here, I passed by Gaius. He said he was looking for you.”
“Did you tell him where I was?”
“No, of course not. I told him that I’d ask one of the other guards to look for you.” Tobyn peered through the door. “Oh, what’s that?”
Merlin grabbed his shoulder and stepped in front of him to block his view. “It’s nothing.”
“I wouldn’t call that nothing,” Tobyn insisted, his neck craned and eyes transfixed at whatever he was looking at. Merlin turned around to check.
The jewel now glowed a bright gold. Merlin’s heart stopped. What in the name of the gods did I do?
He came back to his senses when he felt Tobyn attempt to push him aside and look at the jewel further. He forcibly pushed him back this time, and closed the door. Merlin tested the knob to confirm that it wouldn’t budge.
“You’re no fun,” Tobyn said, pouting.
“Just because nothing happened to me this time, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t still be dangerous," Merlin lied. He could still feel phantom sensations of the magic. "Better to be safe than sorry, my friend."
“Whatever. All that matters is that you owe me, my friend,” Tobyn smirked, and resumed his post in front of the room.
“I know. Thank you,” Merlin said sincerely.
“Anytime,” Tobyn replied, nodding. “Go and see Gaius first before attending to the king.” He winked.
Merlin rolled his eyes, but he felt his cheeks heat up nonetheless as he walked away.
---
Merlin picked up Arthur’s clothes as he undressed himself behind the changing screen.
“So, how was the feast?”
“Better than I expected. Most of the druids became more at ease as the feast went on. Even though discussions formally start tomorrow, they already pitched some of their ideas to me.”
Merlin smiled. “That’s good to hear, sire.”
He’s happy that his king is finally doing what he’s destined to do. He hopes Arthur’s actions would make more of his kind see sense, and help Arthur in his quest to unite Albion. Merlin also knew that meant revealing himself to Arthur, as the excited voices of the druids kept reminding him. He still wasn’t sure how to do that without sacrificing all efforts being made towards the legalization of magic, though.
Merlin approached the bath to heat it surreptitiously with magic. As he touched the water, he startled when he realized it was already in the perfect temperature.
Huh. He must have heated it first before doing anything else when he brought it up. He shrugged, and informed Arthur that his bath’s ready.
Once Arthur settled in his bath, he was quiet at first. This was one of the moments wherein Merlin knew not to disturb Arthur. He was most likely ruminating about the day’s events, which he would tell Merlin about eventually. Though he wondered if that included whatever distracted him prior to the feast.
As Merlin silently worked, however, his magic went haywire.
He was fixing Arthur’s bed when he heard the sounds of metal clinking against metal and he saw Arthur’s plates, utensils, even the jug of wine and glass, were all noisily moving to be stacked together into a neat pile.
Merlin willed his magic to calm down, while at the same moment, Arthur was turning around towards the noise.
Merlin suddenly shouted. “Arthur!”
Arthur whipped his head towards him, at the other end of the room, looking confused and alert. “What is it?”
“Um,” Merlin scrambled for an excuse for his outburst. “Do you have training tomorrow?”
Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. “Training?”
“Yes? With the… knights?”
Arthur looked at him as if there was something wrong with him. “You do know I’ll be in the council chambers the whole day tomorrow for discussions on the repeal of the magic ban.”
Merlin nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, you’re right. Well, I have to go polish your boots and prepare your clothing, then.”
“Good to know you have initiative, Mer lin,” Arthur remarked sarcastically. He turned away from Merlin and resumed his bath as Merlin put a hand on his forehead, and sighed heavily. That was so close.
Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the only magical mishap during the night.
Merlin tripped as he tried to grab one of Arthur’s trousers flying past him, causing Arthur to shake his head and sigh in resignation, as if he expected nothing less from his manservant. Worst of all, Merlin had to calm the fire which suddenly raged high in the fireplace, flames dancing wide enough to rival a jester’s magic tricks in court, when Arthur stood up from his bath. Merlin was lucky that Arthur wasn’t facing him then, or else he would have difficulty explaining the unusual size of the fire, or the way he kept staring at Arthur’s backside for an awfully long time before he realized what he’s doing.
Throughout Merlin’s hardly discreet struggle with his powers, Arthur relaxed and told him stories from the feast. One of which was a story wherein one of his councilors, who was as adamant against magic as Uther was, had a horrified expression on his face when some of the druid children played magical tricks in front of him. Merlin laughed, and Arthur actually joined in.
Later on, Arthur stepped out of the changing screen in his night clothes, he approached Merlin and held out his palm. “Give it to me.”
“What?”
Arthur looked annoyed, but tired enough not to rise to the bait. “The key, Merlin.”
“Oh, right.” Merlin dug inside his pocket and handed him the key.
Arthur walked to his bed and sat down, still holding it. Merlin’s question was out before he thought about it.
“What exactly is the room guarding?”
Arthur touched the key’s surface and stared at it in contemplation. “Something that I should’ve known about long ago.”
“What do you mean?”
Arthur shook his head. “Not now, Merlin.” He sighed, sounding weary. “Not now.”
Merlin felt so confused, and he would’ve pressed Arthur further were it not for his expression. He looked stricken, almost bitter.
Merlin assumed that this may be Arthur coming to terms with the presence of magic in Camelot. It wouldn’t have been easy for someone like Arthur, who has been raised to believe that magic was evil. Then, the druids gave him some precious stone that was magical in nature. Whatever it was, it triggered something unpleasant in Arthur.
What Merlin didn’t understand was the onslaught of positive feelings he felt from the jewel. It conjured emotions so strong that Merlin was sure Arthur would have felt it, too, when he received it. He supposed Arthur may have felt something different entirely.
It was also troubling that his magic has become quite uncontrollable since the ordeal. Add to that the bizarre shift in the jewel’s colour to gold. He has never heard of this kind of magic before, so he can’t be sure if what happened was normal, or if he needed to change it back before Arthur returned to the room.
Merlin sighed, shaking his head. It’s time to consult with their visitors, even though Merlin wanted to avoid them at all costs.
“Good night, sire,” Merlin said.
Arthur looked up at him and smiled. “Good night, Merlin.”