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“Pack your bags, we’re going to the North for the week.” Arthur didn’t give Merlin even a moment to say hello as he strode into the room, already barking out orders.
Merlin blinked a few times, startled. “Ah, hello to you too?”
Arthur walked over to him with purpose in his steps and pulled Merlin into a deep kiss. Merlin let out a surprised noise from the back of his throat, wide eyed, before slowly letting himself melt into the kiss. His lips moved back against Arthur’s, matching his desperation, and buried his hands in Arthur’s hair.
Arthur’s hands gripped his waist tightly. Merlin distantly wondered what the occasion was, but gods, thoughts were far from the forefront of his mind at the moment.
“What was that for?” Merlin gasped when they finally parted. Arthur just placed another quick, much more chaste, kiss to his lips before stepping back and heading to his wardrobe.
“Go to your chambers and get packed,” he ordered again, pausing to open his wardrobe. He shot a glance back towards Merlin, who stood, confused, and slightly turned on, across the room. “We’re going on a trip to see the druids.”
“What?” Merlin gaped at him.
Arthur took a loud, deep breath as he tugged a random couple of outfits from the wardrobe. “We’re eloping, Merlin, catch up.”
“What?!” Merlin repeated, voice rising half an octave.
"But your father—"
"Fuck my father!" Arthur paused, before scrambling to add, "I mean don't fuck my father, but—fuck my father!"
Merlin blinked slowly, staring at Arthur a moment. "I'm getting very mixed messages here."
“Merlin, go pack, dammit! I want to marry you and I'll not let my father keep me from doing so,” Arthur said, a firm tone to his voice that sent shivers down Merlin’s spine. Oh, gods, this was really happening. “We’ve been talking about it for ages now and…well, I asked Morgana how one would go about getting married, if it was…forbidden…and she said, very suspiciously might I add, she would go to the druids and have them perform this…this ceremony…”
“What ceremony?” Merlin asked, slowly making his way over to Arthur. “Is this really happening?”
“This is happening as soon as you pack some damn clothes for a week-long trip,” Arthur swore. Then, he added, voice softer, “it’s a ritual to bind two souls…” Merlin sucked in a sharp breath. “My father will be told we’ve eloped, but he won’t know of the magic, I swear it, but he…he won’t be able to take us apart if we do this. Nothing will… You’d be stuck with me forever.”
“Arthur, I was already stuck with you forever,” Merlin snorted. He bit back the giddy grin threatening to form on his face.
“Well, now you’ll really be stuck with me, and I’ll be stuck with you,” Arthur huffed, “soul bound, actually. If you…want to be.”
“Arthur!” Merlin laughed, stopping in front of the prince. He wound his arms around Arthur’s neck, leaning in and pressing their foreheads together. “Of course, I want to be. I… Of course, I want to be.”
“Right… Right!” Arthur grinned. He wrapped his arms around Merlin’s waist and held him close. “Great, because I’ve already made arrangements with the horses and had Morgana send a message to the druids in the North.”
“Well, I suppose I had better go pack for a few nights, shouldn’t I?” Merlin hummed.
Arthur hummed back, nodding—their foreheads rubbing together at the action.
“Arthur, you have to let me go first,” Merlin said. Arthur just sighed, pulling him closer.
“I know…”
“So…”
Arthur let out the loudest, most long-suffering sigh possible—really, it made Leon’s look weak—but let Merlin go and stepped back. “Go on, get ready. Meet me at the stables. Tell Gaius we’re going hunting if he asks.”
“Right, okay.” Merlin nodded. He glanced around the room and backed up slowly. Then, with one more smile and ‘I love you’ to Arthur, he turned on his heel and hurried out, nearly tripping over himself in the process.
Even when Arthur snorted and laughed and called him a clumsy idiot in that special fond tone, Merlin didn’t stop. He rushed right out of Arthur’s chambers and hurried to the Physician’s Quarters, grin wide on his face.
He was getting married.