Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“…can’t see meeee….” Merlin cackled and skipped off across the square, naked but for the blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a knights cloak. He was on a very important mission – hiding from George (Merlin had already forgotten why. Perhaps it was because Merlin was running around the castle at midnight wearing nothing but Arthurs (replacement) bedspread).

Merlin stopped at a wrought iron staircase. This… this was exactly where Merlin would hide all the fine blankets and good food (plus why else would there be guards?). He was going in.

“…inviiisiiiiblllllle…” He muttered to the guards, slipping by. The majority of the castle guards were beta so it worked just fine.  George seemed to be the only beta that was immune to Merlin’s magic, but that was a problem for another day. Guard #1 looked at Guard #2, shrugged and turned away so Merlin could slip past with a cackle. The King had given Merlin discretion to go anywhere in the castle (especially not excluding the Kings private chambers) so they saw no reason to deny him entry.

There was an awkward moment when Merlin realized he had made a critical error. It was dark in there. After a moment of silence while Merlin impatiently tapped his foot, guard #2 helped detach the torch from the wall sconce and passed it down to him.

“…thank…” Said Merlin. Then thought better of it. “…magic light! Float! No Merlin!” Guard #1 looked skeptical. Guard #2 elbowed him in the ribs.

Guard #1 gasped in (mock) amazement. Merlin cackled and ran off down the tunnel stairway.

“Merlin.” Said the voice. Merlin knew that voice…

“…where…” he asked of the dark cave.

“I’m here!” Declared flappy dog-snake-thing, landing in front of him. “How small you are for such a great destiny!”

“…destiny…” Repeated Merlin.

“Your gift, Merlin, was given to you for a reason.”

Merlin hugged Arthur’s bedspread closer to himself and looked at flappy dog suspiciously.

“Arthur is the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion!”

“…wrong…” Arthur? King? Morgana would be king! And when she was she had promised Merlin all the second best blankets…

“There is no right or wrong, only what is and isn’t.” Said flappy dog.

“…kill…?” Suggested Merlin (there was only so much time you could spend with Morgana without being influenced).

“None of us can choose our Destiny, Merlin, and none of us can escape it.” Laughed flappy dog.

“…idiot!” Stated Merlin venomously.

“Perhaps it’s your destiny to change that.” Declared flappy dog before flying away.

Merlin didn’t think so. Three times now he had turned up in Arthur’s bed naked and still no bite. Arthur was clearly an idiot.

“…bad dog...” Muttered Merlin to himself. Realising it was damp and cold down here (and that there were indeed no fine blankets or food) he wandered back to the stairs.

“Arthur….?” Suggested Morgana at breakfast. “Mate….?” Arthur would be perfect for Merlin. Arthur was family so completely unsuitable for Morgana as a mate. If he had one major failing (in Morganas opinion), it was an unreasonably high resistance to poison (perhaps developed by her own past indiscretions).

More importantly, if Arthur mated with Merlin (before Uther got a chance to) he would most likely be disowned, making Morgana King by default when Uther was mysteriously poisoned a week later.

Merlin sighed. “…no bite…”

Morgana gasped in disbelief. Merlin was omega. Alpha did not refuse omega!

“…watch…”

Horrified, she watched as Merlin, in his servant role crossed over to the other side of the table on the pretence of pouring wine.

“…wine…?” Merlin asked Arthur, holding out the jug. Arthur looked suspicious, possibly because Merlin had been speaking with Morgana moments prior. Merlin took a sip from the jug to prove there was no poison. “…is good…” Arthur held out his goblet and Merlin filled it before tossing the jug aside (presumably to be caught by the ever-present George).

Arthur took a cautious sip.

“…bite…?” Merlin asked Arthur, tipping his head back and baring his neck. “…is good…”

“What?!? No!!” Declared Arthur, pushing Merlin off his lap (which presumably Merlin had straddled while Arthur had been entranced with Merlin’s pale neck). Arthur sweated wondering how long he had been mesmerized, clearly long enough for George to prepare a pillow to cushion Merlin’s fall, not long enough for Uther to do much more than growl low in his throat.

Merlin meanwhile had gravitated back to Morgana with a ‘told you so’ look on his face. Morgana sadly shook her head. Arthur was clearly an idiot.

“Knights of the realm, blah blah blah, 1,000 gold pieces!” Declared Uther (actual speech verbatim from omega perspective).

Tournaments. Merlin did not like. Too many alpha. And Arthur had insisted Merlin cover his neck, which was annoying and scratchy. He fingered the neckerchief absently. In revenge he had cut the red square from Sir Leon’s cloak (which had been disturbingly without context to Leon who had been wearing it when Merlin come at his back with a dagger in the middle of breakfast). Wearing another alpha’s clothes was, according to Morgana, a huge insult to Arthur.

Meanwhile, Merlin was getting very good at removing armor. Forget the buckles, it was much quicker once you realized you could just cut the leather straps with a knife. As long as Gwen didn’t see it was fine.

“I am Knight Valiant of the Western Isles.” Introduced the next alpha. Merlin rolled his eyes as the knight introduced himself. It was Snakey McSnake Shield. “I saw you watching my fight, omega.” Had he? All knights in armor looked the same to Merlin, so it wasn’t impossible.  “I understand the tournament champion has the honor of an escort to the feast. Perhaps you would allow me to champion you?” Valiant ran a finger around Merlin’s neckerchief suggestively. Unfortunately this had no effect on Merlin who had no concept of granting favors to knights.

Merlin shooed Valiant away only to be replaced directly by another nameless knight. It seemed every idiot alpha here had given their squire the afternoon off and needed help (which may have been due to Morgana magnanimously offering all the squires pastries early that day).

“Merlin!” Speaking of idiot alphas… Merlin abandoned the queue of knights (to George) to go see what Arthur wanted.

Having removed Arthur’s armor, Merlin hid at the back of the armory until everyone had gone (hid… napped… whatever… George liked it when Merlin was sleeping and always made a point of having a pillow and blanket  (possibly this was because Merlin being asleep made Georges life easier (but Georges motivations were a story for another day), the point was Merlin was happy to oblige) before emerging and dumping Arthurs armor on the bench where presumably George would fix it up later when he heard a hissing sound. He looked around and finally traced the sound to Valiant’s shield.

Merlin didn’t like snakes (snakes lived in cold, dark dungeons without blankets and food and kept decent omegas awake at night). Looking at the ugly beasts he was sure he saw one of them blink. He reached out to touch it when a sword was held to his throat.

“Can I help you with something, omega?” Asked Valiant.

Merlin would normally be perfectly capable of verbalising his response (unmarked omegas, we must remember, lived in a constant state of stress, slipping into mini-verbal dysphasia unless they were extremely confident or in the presence of stabilising alpha pheromones (generally a family member or partner). In this case, the stress of the sword at his throat certainly overpowered any stabilising influence Valiant might possess).

“…armor…?” Merlin pointed to the pile of Arthur’s armor on the table. Valiant did not move the sword. The sword that was currently at Merlin’s neck prodding the neckerchief.

“…favor…?” Merlin suggested slyly.

Valiant turned bright red, and the sword lowered. Merlin scrambled to his feet away from the shield. George had gone into great length about favors and champions and blah blah blah and Merlin understood now (as much as an omega could comprehend alpha motivations). Merlin removed the neckerchief and fumbled it at Valiant. Valiant took it reverently, held it to his face, inhaled deeply, groaned and then tucked it into his belt. “I will give everything to win this tournament, omega!” Declared Valiant, grabbing Merlin’s hand and giving it a sloppy kiss.

Merlin shuddered, grabbed the armor and made a run for it.

“Merlin? Where is your neckerchief?” Demanded Arthur. Not that he was being protective. Just he didn’t like the way other alphas looked at his... servant.

“…creep…” Said Merlin, dumping Arthur’s armor on the desk.

Noticing Sir Leon, who had been talking with Arthur before Merlin had arrived, Merlin pulled out his dagger with a grin. Leon quickly excused himself (ostensibly because getting his knights cloak patched had proved costly, and not at all the emotional damage caused by having to be a strong, silent alpha while an omega unwittingly carved your back up with a knife).

“Well… never mind. Get a new one later. For now come over here and help me undress.” Instructed Arthur.

Merlin wandered over and slashed the bottom of Arthur’s surcoat, before wandering out of the room again.

Day two of the tournament was… tolerable. There were a number of reasons for this.

1. Gwen and Morgana had bought cake.
2. Most of the knights (alas not all) that had insisted he help them undress had been discouraged from trying again when they realized the extent of the damage to their armor.
3. Cake.
4. CaKe.
5. CAKE.

”It’s most odd Merlin, look at these two small wounds.”

“…wounds…” Said Merlin, who having eaten all the cake decided to be indispensable to Gaius. He poked Sir Ewan’s neck feigning interest.

“Slow pulse… fever… paralysis…  the symptoms are consistent with poison.“

“…snake…” Said Merlin, rolling his eyes.

“Well. If it is a snake bite, I’d have to extract the venom from the snake that bit him to make an antidote, or I’m afraid he’s going to die.” Gaius fussed around. “It makes no sense! How could he have been bitten be a snake? He was injured in a sword fight with Valiant!”

Merlin was out foraging (necessitated by the fact that Gaius lived on a diet of porridge, soup and prunes). This involved sneaking into the guest quarters and seeing what was for dinner. Foraging for food was an instinctive omega behavior, and Merlin, having been raised in a poor village with few alphas had honed it to a fine art. Usually this just meant walking around the dining hall and stealing off alpha plates, but many of the alpha had opted to dine in their rooms and prepare for the next day of the tournament.

This is how Merlin came across Valiant feeding the snakes in the shield. Not that Merlin hadn’t eaten mouse before. Lots of bones, but meat was meat – Merlin however knew that cook had been making venison pie earlier so if he kept looking he was sure he could do better…

“Who’s there?” Shouted Valiant, giving chase to the hall way, but clearly having not seen Merlin. “Guards!”

“I haven’t seen anyone leave your chambers, My Lord.” Said Guard #1 with a shrug. He was starting to get the hang of this.

“…snake!” Declared Merlin, throwing open the door dramatically and entering the room where Gaius was tending to Sir Ewan.

“Slow down Merlin.” Instructed Gaius. “You’ve just seen what?”

“…ssssnnnaaaakkkkeeee…” Exclaimed Merlin again, over enunciating because he was talking to a beta after all.

“You saw one of the snakes in Valiant’s shield come alive using magic? Are you sure?”

“…snake… mouse… Arthur…”

“Is there any chance you might be mistaken?”

“…magic…”

“Perhaps, but have you any proof?” When Merlin looked affronted, Gaius added, “I fear you’ll land yourself in trouble. How will you explain why you were in Valiant’s chambers?” Gaius thought about that one and decided it was better to change tact. If Merlin really wanted to avoid a one-way trip to the Kings bedchambers than it was not the best idea to suggest he pretend to be visiting Valiant for other reasons. “You can’t go accusing a knight of using magic without proof. The King would never accept the word of a servant over the word of a knight. That’s the way it is.”

Merlin sighed.

“Well if we could cure Sir Ewan, he could tell the King that Valiant was using magic. The King would believe another knight. But how will we get the antidote… Well, that’s another matter.” Merlin got up in a huff. “Merlin? Merlin, where are you going?”

Merlin needed a new neckerchief. And Leon was wearing a nice blue cloak in lieu of his red one that was out for repairs. He sidled into the council room, dagger in hand.

“Long live Valiant!” Cheered the knights, toasting to Valiant, who had secured a bracket in the finals against Arthur.

“Blah blah blah… my son?” Asked Uther. (actual conversation verbatim from omega perspective).

“Blah blah blah.” Replied Valiant. Merlin rolled his eyes. But wait. If Valiant was here, there would be no one in his chambers guarding the shield. This was a chance!

Merlin scurried to Valiant’s guest chambers, using a spell to open the door (from a beta point of view, the spell looked suspiciously like the chamberlains missing keys).

“Merlin! However did you get this?” Queried Gaius, milking venom from the severed snakehead.

 “…dagger…” Stated Merlin proudly. To be fair, much of the accomplishment of this particular feat should go to Hunith, who had insisted Merlin become proficient at decapitating snakes as soon as she knew he was an omega. Merlin didn’t really see the connection, but Hunith was extremely proud of him. So proud in fact that any time there was an alpha visitor to the village she would get him to demonstrate it to them with a parsnip or carrot.

“I’ll get started preparing the antidote.”

“…prat…”

“Of course.” Agreed Gaius. “You’ll need this.” He tossed the snake’s head to Merlin.

Arthur was eating in his chambers. Rude! Sneaking Arthur a meal while Merlin was away…  Merlin unleashed a glare at George who looked suitably abashed and excused himself.

“Merlin...” Laughed Arthur nervously. “I thought you’d be in bed by now…”

“I just bet you did.” Said Merlin coldly, snatching a rabbit leg from Arthurs plate. “I don’t know why I bothered polishing all that armor when it probably won’t fit you tomorrow anyway, My Lord.”

“Merlin, did you just call me fat?” Asked Arthur in a tightly controlled voice.

“Be not cross with me, for I am but the bearer of these bad tidings.” Grunted Merlin around a mouthful of bread.

“Did you just come to insult me, or is there an actual reason you’re here?” At least clothed anyway. Merlin had made it very clear why he had been there the two previous nights.

“This.” Merlin fumbled with his pants and pulled out the snakes’ head, which he pushed across to Arthur.

“So… I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be getting from this. You’ve been walking around with a severed snakes head in your pants…?” Asked Arthur, bereft of context he could only presume it was some sort of strange euphemism.

“Well I could hardly walk around with it in my hands… wait! That’s not the point! The point is this snake bit Sir Ewan! That’s why Valiant was able to win.”

“That’s ridiculous. We all saw Valiant strike Sir Ewan down.” Huffed Arthur, already perturbed at just the mention of another alpha.

“You can see the puncture wounds on his neck where it bit him!” Exclaimed Merlin. ”I went to Valiant’s rooms and it came out of his magical shield and attacked me so I… “ Merlin made a slashing motion with his dagger. At Arthurs look of disbelief he added, “That's nothing, you should see what I can do with a cucumber.”

“You went to Valiant’s rooms... ?” Demanded Arthur.

“Well… Gaius said he would need the venom to make an antidote for Sir Ewan.”

“Alone? At night?” Merlin really, really didn’t think Arthur was getting the point here. “…and Valiant showed you his magical shield?"

“No!” Merlin rolled his eyes. It was getting more difficult to explain as Arthur’s anger increased, presumably Arthur was angry because Valiant had cheated in the tournament. “This time he wasn't there.” Merlin smirked. Which turned out to be the wrong thing to do. Stupid fat alpha and his stupid fat pheromones.  “… magic… danger…”

"This time?" Arthur was furious.

Valiant was not as oblivious to Merlin having been in his room as Merlin might have thought. Perhaps this was because of all the snake blood on the floor, the fruit missing from the bowl, or that Merlin had used the chamber pot before he left – or maybe it was some other form of intuition unique to Valiant, hard to say.

Luckily, Valiant was either not the brightest knight in Camelot, or slightly addled by the residual scent of omega (to be fair, the half-chub he was sporting could also have been caused by paranoia). Regardless, one of his snakes was dead, which meant someone knew. Best to take care of any loose ends by making sure Ewan didn’t wake and tattle.

“Why have you summoned the court?” Demanded Uther coldly.

“I believe Knight Valiant is using a magic shield to cheat in the tournament.” Explained Arthur.

“Valiant, what do you say to this?”

“My Lord, this is ridiculous, I’ve never used magic. Does your son have any evidence to support this accusation?” Gasped Valiant with indignation.

Arthur produced the snake-head.

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be getting from this, Arthur.” Stated Uther. Because context. So important.

“This snake came out of Valiant's shield and attacked Knight Ewan!” Declared Arthur.

“Let me see this shield.” Demanded Uther, and the shield was presented to him.

“As you can see, My Lord, it’s just an ordinary shield.” Wheedled Valiant, as Uther examined the snakes’ motif.

“Well he’s hardly going to make them come out when we’re all watching!” Fussed Arthur.

“Do you have a witness? Someone that saw him using magic?” Inquired Uther.

“Knight Ewan was bitten by one of the snakes from the shield. It’s venom made him grievously ill, however he has received an antidote. He will confirm Knight Valiant is using magic!” Arthur turned to Gaius and Merlin who were furiously signing for him to stop speaking… ah… no witness then.

“Where is the witness?” Demanded Uther.

“I’m afraid Sir Ewan is dead, Sire.” Interceded Gaius.

“So you have no proof to support these allegations. Have you seen Valiant using magic yourself, Arthur?”

“Well… no… but Merlin did.”

“Your servant? You make these outrageous accusations against a knight on the word of an omega?”

“…snake!” Declared Merlin in anger.

“Oh… Merlin…” Purred Uther warmly. “Come.. come…” He petted his thigh meaningfully, but Merlin did not take the hint and stayed standing. “Did the bad snakes scare you? It’s okay pet, it’s just a picture.” Cooed Uther rapping the shield with his knuckles.

“…snaaaaake!” Declared Merlin again, stamping his foot.

“I’m sure he was merely mistaken. The omega has been quite besotted with me.” Smirked Valiant, brushing his fingers over the red cloth token tied to his bicep. Somewhere amongst the gathered knights, Leon gave an audible gasp. “My Lord, if your son made these accusations because he is afraid to fight me, than I will graciously accept his withdrawal.”

“Arthur, is this true? Do you wish to withdraw from the tournament?” Uther demanded.

Merlin had tuned out after this point. It was obvious they couldn’t win without Sir Ewan and it was difficult to pay attention with so many alpha in the room.  That and there was a cheese board. Merlin went to investigate, which regrettably put him in range of Uther’s grabby hands.

“My father and the entire royal court think I’m a coward!” Moaned Arthur melodramatically.

Gaius rolled his eyes. The majority of the court were alpha and were much more interested in seeing how far Merlin would allow Uther to molest him before he released that wheel of cheese (spoiler: it had been surprisingly far and limited only by the fact that Merlin had given up on carrying it whole and taken his dagger to it).

Chapter Text

Actual conversation between Merlin and Arthur after the council meeting (as recalled by Merlin.)

Arthur: “Grrr. Me macho alpha!”

Merlin: “Please Sire, Do not fight Valiant in the tournament tomorrow! I fear for your safety!”

Arthur: “Me fight!”

Merlin: “No! You must not fight Sire! For Valiant will surely use the serpent shield against you! You must withdraw!”

Arthur: “Me no coward! Me fight!”

Merlin: “My Lord, please no! I fear for your safety!”

Arthur: “Arthur smash Valiant! Then Arthur claim Merlin!”

Merlin: “Oh Sire!  Why wait? But first… let us tear the breast from every game hen in Camelot and feast upon them!”

(Note: May contain some deviation from actual reality).

Well. Things had turned a tiny bit sour.

Valiant was supposed to swoop in, win the tournament with no one the wiser and retire a wealthy alpha with his 1000 gold pieces and lovely omega bride. Unfortunately the omega had seen the serpents and informed the Prince (presumably, as a demure and lovely young thing, that could allow harm to no living creature, Merlin had tried to save the Prince’s life) who naturally now suspected foul play. Even though the Prince had had to withdraw the accusation in lieu of evidence, it would be a little suspicious when he dropped in the tournament the same way that Ewan had.

Luckily, Valiant was, as previously established, not the brightest alpha. 

His solution was to use the shield, win the tournament and elope with the 1000g before anyone thought to check. The Prince would be dead, hence unable to level any charges. Once mated the omega would not be able to make accusations (of course we are aware now that omega have  ways  (such as selective hearing, wonton misinterpretation, timely throat slashing… that sort of thing) around mate commands, but this was not commonly known to alphas in Arthurian England (note: it was, however, well known to omega, hence the significantly higher incidence of mysterious deaths in alphas compared to betas).

Merlin sighed. The cheese was going to take at least three trips to get it all down here, presuming he could carry about 30-40 pounds per trip. Stupid monks and their stupid big cheeses.

“…my cheese….” Merlin scolded the dragon, taking care to stash it out of the chains reach. “…no touch….”

“Destiny touches us all, young warlock.”

“…hate…” muttered Merlin, still peevish about Arthur insisting he would fight in the tournament. “…no protect prat…”

“A half cannot truly hate that which makes it whole. Very soon you shall learn that.”

“…stupid…”

“That your and Arthur’s path lies together is but the truth.”

“…my cheese…” Warned Merlin giving the dragon the stink eye. He didn’t know about this destiny stuff, but if it thought for even a second he was sharing this cheese with Arthur…

There was a weird dog statue. Merlin had been eyeing it for a while now, because weird dogs were awesome. The kitchen had dogs that they kept to turn a spit that roasted delicious meats. Merlin thought it might not be so bad to have a dog.

That and practicing an animation spell on one of the griffin statues was probably not a good idea (the wings would just get in the way of the spit wheel).

Unfortunately Merlin also knew if he couldn’t carry a 72-pound cheese, his chance of moving the statue was low.

“Merlin, I know it’s not my place to ask, but…”

“….shhhh…shh…” Shushed Merlin placing a finger on George’s lips to silence him. “…George good… George strong…”

George might not be an alpha, but he also had zero immunity to praise, seeing as it was so rare in the Pendragon house (unless you counted Morgana adding a slightly less toxic additive to your meal if she approved of you).  He blushed brightly. “Where would you like it, sir?”

“What are you doing with that?” Asked Gaius once George had gone. Although this wasn’t the strangest thing Merlin had bought back to his rooms (that would be the unusually large turnip shaped like a fat bottom – Merlin had named it Arthur and shown half the castle before succumbing to temptation and eating it).

“…magic…” Explained Merlin, fetching the magic grimoire from his chamber.

Arthur absolutely, definitely could not die in this tournament! He was Merlin’s destiny (and he still owed Merlin four pence).

Merlin snuck stealthily around the arena looking for a location where he could cast the animation spell without being seen. If Valiant was too sly to allow the snakes to be seen, then Merlin would make them be seen. So dire was Arthur’s circumstance that Merlin made haste, only stopping for refreshments twice.

Peeking out from behind a pillar, he mumbled the spell animating the two remaining serpents (sans the one he had already decapitated, Merlin couldn’t help but wonder if the severed snakes head also came alive, it would be terribly convenient if it did come alive and took care of that very, very large, angry, not-spitwheel dog in Gaius chambers before Gaius returned).

The snakes came out of the shield. The crowd stood up in surprise.

“What are you doing? I didn’t summon you!” Hissed (pun intended) Valiant at the snakes.

“He is using magic!” Yelled Uther standing. Merlin rolled his eyes, because duh.

“And now they see you for what you really are!” Arthur taunted Valiant.

Still decidedly not the brightest alpha, Valiant decided it would be beneficial to try to openly assassinate the Prince in front of the castle guard, assembled knights and 200 other odd witnesses. He gave an evil chuckle, releasing the snakes to the ground. “Kill him!”

Arthur, who had in fact been disarmed earlier by Valiant (ironic really, that Valiant would probably have won without the cheat shield) backed up toward the stands.

“Idiot!” Called Morgana, snatching the sword from the knight sitting next to her and throwing it to Arthur. After all, she still needed Arthur to mate Merlin. Otherwise Merlin would have to take one of Morganas alphas. Morgana had seen Merlin ambush Leon with a dagger earlier and this was not acceptable. Leon was Morganas to torture.

Arthur caught the sword, and slashed the heads off both snakes in a single swing, which were twice as many as Merlin had killed. Merlin huffed. Alphas!

Arthur probably killed Valiant after that, because he wasn’t around later, Merlin wasn’t really paying attention, momentarily distracted by a platter of sweetmeats.

“Morgana save! Morgana champion!” Declared Morgana claiming the chest of gold.

“Uh, I wouldn’t say I needed exactly saving. I’m sure I would’ve thought of something.” Stated Arthur. Somehow he had survived this long living with an omega and never learnt better. In many ways Arthur was cut from the same cloth as Valiant when it came to IQ, a not-so-subtle segway that reminded Leon to reclaim that missing piece of his cloak from Valiant’s corpse.

“Saved! By omega!” Chortled Morgana.

“Because I wasn’t!” Denied Arthur.

Morgana hissed. It wasn’t worth arguing with an alpha. Belladonna spoke far louder than any mere words could. She stalked off in a huff.

“Can you believe Morgana? She says she saved me! Like I needed any help!” Moaned Arthur when he found Merlin.  Merlin didn’t reply, because it was bad to talk with your mouth full (some could fall out and be lost). “Did you see me kill those snakes Merlin? Two at once?”

Merlin rolled his eyes.