Work Text:
When one started receiving lost items from their soulmate, it was supposed to be an exciting day. It was an opportunity to learn things about them and about their life. People loved making speculations about who their soulmate was based on the clothes, childhood toys, or other things that their soulmate lost, and therefore ended up in their possession.
The phenomenon, of course, often began when a person was too young to really understand what was happening, so it was the parents, much more so than the children, that got to make the earliest predictions. Indeed, it didn’t take Hunith long at all to stop being surprised when her young son began periodically waking up with more blankets- rather nice blankets, actually- than he had fallen asleep with. She didn’t even question it much when she would turn her back for five minutes while preparing dinner only to return and find him playing with a toy she had never seen before.
Hunith figured out rather quickly that Merlin’s soulmate was much better off than she and her son were. Even if it weren’t for the sheer number of things that found their way to him, the quality of them was a dead giveaway. Most of them were so fine that it would take her months, if not years, to have any hope of affording even the materials to make them, let alone the completed products themselves.
So, Hunith figured, it was probably someone from the nobility. This wasn’t altogether uncommon, of course. Whatever magic was in charge of assigning soulmates didn’t much care about a person’s station in life. While it was true that most people ended up with someone in a similar station to themselves, largely because that sort of bond was so much easier to form with people who had similar backgrounds, her Merlin certainly wasn’t the first peasant to be bonded with a person of noble blood. In fact, it was commonplace enough that, except for the inevitable few bigots who thought money made them better than everyone else, it rarely caused much of a fuss when it happened.
That didn’t worry Hunith much. In fact, she was secretly rather happy about it. It meant that her son would most likely have a much better life than she would ever be able to give him. After all, what good mother wouldn’t want that for their child?
She did, however, worry about the deep red and gold colors that frequently adorned the items that came into Merlin’s possession. It meant that, more than likely, his soulmate was from Camelot. While there were still some kingdoms where magic was legal, and even embraced, Camelot certainly wasn’t one of them. The thought of what the king would do were he to find out that somebody in his court had a powerful warlock as a soulmate was one that caused her no small amount of unease.
Still, she figured that it was unlikely that the Soulmate Magic would choose someone too close to the king for her little boy. There was no way it could be so cruel. So she held onto that sliver of hope that remained, the one that told her that Merlin’s soulmate would be able to love and accept every part of him.
It wasn’t until Merlin was ten that real fear seeped into her heart.
“Mother!” Merlin called as he burst inside the house, anxiety rising in him as he fought to regain his breath after his run from the river.
“Merlin? What is it?” Hunith asked in alarm as she turned from where she had been tidying up across the room.
“I was just- I was playing by the river and I took off my cloak so I could climb a tree, and when I came back, this was sitting on top of it!” He shoved the beautiful golden circlet into her hands. He couldn’t find it in himself to do anything other than stand there, eyes wide, watching as his mother stared at it unblinkingly for several moments before collapsing into a nearby chair, her eyes never leaving the ornament.
“Merlin,” she said finally, her voice quiet and shaky, but as serious as he’d ever heard it. “Are you positive that nobody else could have put this with your things? You’re sure nobody was pulling a prank on you?”
It was a fair question. Though Merlin had mostly learned to ignore it by this point, there was always a certain amount of teasing that he fell victim to due to the fine clothes he could often be found in. They were just jealous, his mother always assured him. Not everybody was lucky enough to receive such gifts from their soulmate. Merlin didn’t really understand why, because sometimes he thought he’d much rather have the beautiful wood carved toys his peers got instead of the rapidly growing pile of practice swords in a corner of his house. He wasn’t a knight. He didn’t want to be a knight. He had magic, so what did he need a sword for?
Nonetheless, this didn’t seem like teasing to him. There wasn’t anyone else in the village, as far he knew, who might have reason to be in possession of a crown.
“I’m sure,” he told her confidently.
Hunith nodded and sighed, her shoulders slumping. Finally, she tore her eyes away from the circlet and fixed them on Merlin. He could see the concern etched deeply into her face as she said, resigned, “Well my boy, I think we know who your soulmate is.”
Merlin nodded seriously. “The prince.” When Hunith only nodded, not saying a word, Merlin approached her, resting a comforting hand on her arm, trying to put more calm in his voice than he really felt. “It’s alright, Mother. I’m getting better at hiding my magic. He won’t find out, I promise.”
To his surprise, Hunith shook her head vehemently. “No, Merlin. You must believe that, if the prince is truly your soulmate, you’ll be able to tell him one day. I don’t pretend to know how this will work out, but have faith little one. A soulmate will love you for everything you are.”
For all the fear in her eyes, her voice was filled with so much conviction that Merlin couldn’t help but believe her.
The plan that Merlin and Hunith had come up with was that Merlin would travel to Camelot when Prince Arthur took over as king. For all the faith they held that he would be able to accept Merlin’s magic, they held no such hopes for Uther. While there was a chance that he would be willing to accept that Merlin and his son were soulmates, the risk of him deciding to put Merlin to death the moment he even got a hint of his gift was far too great. Merlin wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of possibly having to wait several years or even decades to meet Arthur, but the whole thing would be pointless if he couldn’t live to enjoy it, so wait he would.
As was the case with many great plans, though, this one was not destined to play out as intended. By the time Merlin was nearing adulthood, his magic had grown powerful enough that he had no hope of being able to contain or control it without some sort of training. Unfortunately, without Merlin’s father being around, Hunith knew of nobody in Ealdor who had the knowledge to be able to help him.
Eventually, they came to the conclusion that the only chance Merlin had of learning about his magic was to send him to study with Hunith’s Uncle Gaius. She knew that he had at least mostly put his days of magic behind him since the purge, but she knew of nobody else that had the knowledge and that she trusted enough to keep her son safe.
So it was that Merlin prepared to leave his mother and travel to Camelot during the height of Uther’s reign. He gathered up his things into a pack he could carry on his back, kissed his mother on the cheek, and made his tearful goodbyes, assuring her over and over again that he would be careful.
It was time for Merlin to go meet his soulmate.
Merlin caught the air of excitement as soon as he entered the city the next morning. He wasn’t immediately sure what was going on, but he resolved to investigate once he had found Gaius and introduced himself.
He made it to the citadel a few minutes later and, after stopping to ask for directions two or three times, made it to the court physician’s chambers. Thankfully, the man didn’t try to keep him long, just welcoming him, showing him his new room, and releasing him to spend the day exploring his new home. He wrapped a simple but fine blue cloak around his shoulders- one he had gotten from his soulmate, of course- and set out to do just that.
Merlin quickly found the reason for all the excitement when he went outside and followed the sounds of cheering to an arena where a tournament was taking place. Before long, he was in the middle of a huge crowd and watching two knights who were in the middle of a sword fight.
He was mesmerized as he watched them fairly dance across the arena, neither having a clear advantage, at least not one that was noticeable to the eyes of an amateur like him. He couldn’t help thinking of the pile of weapons outside his house in Ealdor that had accumulated over the past several years, and he wondered if his soulmate was here somewhere. After all, even in a small village like Ealdor, Merlin had heard rumors of how great a knight Prince Arthur had become. He let his eyes wander and noticed a raised platform on the edge of the arena where a man who must be the king sat next to a beautiful noblewoman, but the prince didn’t seem to be with them.
He put it out of his mind for now and fixed his attention back on the action before him. A moment later, one of the knights was pinned and the other was declared the victor, and Merlin found himself cheering loudly along with everyone else as they left the arena.
The two departing knights were soon replaced by two others, helmets in place and ready to fight, and Merlin watched as they shook hands and then backed away from each other, holding their swords and shields at the ready. It was then that Merlin saw something that made his breath catch.
There was a ratty piece of blue fabric tied around the arm of the knight closest to him. He subconsciously raised his hand to his throat as he remembered the fruitless search for one his neckerchiefs while he was packing to leave Ealdor a few days ago and dared to wonder if that was it. Heart beating rapidly, he turned to the person next to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and asked, “Excuse me, do you know who that knight is?”
The man looked a little annoyed by the distraction, but he spared a moment to say, “It’s Prince Arthur of course!” without ever turning his face away from the action.
Merlin’s heart stopped, realizing that this was his first glance of his soulmate. He subconsciously drew his cloak further around him, an expression of awe on his face as he watched the man glide across the arena with more grace than any swordsman he had ever seen.
Before long, the prince’s opponent was pinned, and then Arthur was helping him up and both men removed their helmets. Merlin’s eyes widened as he caught sight of the golden hair and vibrant blue eyes of the prince. Even with that cocky smirk on his face, Merlin thought that this must be the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Only a moment passed as the knights shook hands, and then they were leaving the arena.
Merlin wasn’t really sure what to do at first, but before he knew it, he was skirting around the edge of the crowd, trying not to draw too much attention to himself, but unwilling to let his soulmate out of his sight now that he had found him.
Merlin caught up with the prince just as he was about to enter a large tent. He panicked for a moment, not sure what exactly he would do if Arthur went inside, because it wasn’t like he could just follow him in, and he was fairly sure someone would eventually catch sight of him lurking outside the prince’s tent and, quite reasonably, question the behavior.
“Wait!” he shouted without thinking. But then the prince turned around, one eyebrow raised as he saw Merlin standing there, and any rational explanation he might have been able to give fled in the face of Arthur’s scrutiny. In the end, all that came out was a very awkward, “Um, hi, my lord. I’m Merlin.” He held out his hand to shake and Arthur just looked down at it, bemusement written all over his face.
“And?” was all Arthur said when he looked back up to Merlin’s face.
Merlin quickly drew back his unshaken hand using it to instead grab the edge of his cloak nervously, an action which Arthur clearly noticed. He seemed to really look at Merlin’s clothing for the first time. He studied the shirt and pants that, while quite worn, were clearly very well made, and at one point must have been suited to nobility. But mostly, he noticed the cloak with the little golden dragon that held it together.
“Hang on,” Arthur said before Merlin could find the words to explain what he was doing here. “That’s mine!” His voice was filled with awe, and he reached out to run his hands over the familiar fabric.
Merlin nodded, despite the fact that Arthur was still fixated on the cloak and wouldn’t notice, his face reddening rapidly in response to his soulmate’s closeness. “Yes,” he replied softly once he was able to speak again. “And that’s mine.” He reached out to place his hand gently on the blue fabric tied around Arthur’s arm.
Arthur looked up and met his eyes, the gaze all the more intense due to its closeness. “But that means you’re my-” His voice trailed off. It seemed that, like Merlin, he was very unsure of what to say.
Merlin nodded again, a soft smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “Yeah.” It was barely a whisper, but Arthur clearly heard him, as a smile began to light up his face in response.
“Merlin,” Arthur repeated, and Merlin relished the sound of his name coming from his soulmate’s lips for the first time.
“Arthur,” Merlin responded.
“It feels like I’ve been waiting forever,” Arthur confessed. “Where have you been?”
Merlin suddenly felt guilty. Despite the fact that he truly did have good reasons, he couldn’t believe he had waited as long as he did to come to Camelot, even though he knew who his soulmate was, had known it since he was ten years old. He suddenly couldn’t meet Arthur’s gaze, staring instead at his shoulder as he said, “I’m sorry. I wanted to come, but I just-” He shook his head in frustration.
Arthur stopped him before he could continue his explanation, gently placing a hand on Merlin’s chin and lifting it until their eyes met again. “It’s fine, Merlin. I’m just glad you’re here now.” Then, Arthur drew him into a warm hug, and Merlin felt all of his fears about who his soulmate was, about his magic, melt away.
“Me too,” Merlin said into Arthur’s shoulder, and then repeated it. “Me too.”
That evening, Gaius gave Merlin a spell book. “You must keep it hidden, my boy. If the king knows you have it, he’ll kill you.”
Merlin nodded solemnly, reverently opening the book and flipping through its pages.
Then, as an afterthought, Gaius continued, “Oh, and don’t lose it. You don’t need Arthur coming across it either.”
Merlin had lost his spell book. He could have sworn he had left it under the floorboard in his room like he usually did, but when he went to grab it to look something up, it wasn’t there. He began to panic, rooting through his bed, his closet, through all of the few possessions he had, but it was nowhere to be found.
Well, Merlin reasoned, just because he had lost it didn’t mean Arthur had found it yet, right? Maybe it was just in the prince’s chambers somewhere, still unnoticed.
No sooner had he decided to sneak up there to check than the door to Gaius’s chambers opened without warning, Arthur striding in purposefully, a hand behind his back and a smirk on his face. “Merlin,” he called, his voice dripping with amusement. “Did you lose something?”
Merlin froze, his face blanching. He really hoped this wasn’t what he was afraid of since Arthur didn’t seem particularly angry. But then, Merlin had only known him for a few short weeks, so he certainly hadn’t mastered reading his emotions yet.
“Um… No?” Merlin tried, his voice questioning. “I don’t think so.”
Arthur rose an eyebrow. “Really? Are you sure?” Merlin just shrugged, so Arthur continued. “Because I’m pretty sure this isn’t my magic book that I found on my bed” He drew his arm from behind his back, flinging the offending item onto Gaius’s work bench. “And I don’t think any of the servants would be quite stupid enough to leave such a thing in plain sight in the prince’s chamber.”
“I, uh. That is, um. Well, you see-” Merlin stammered, completely unable to muster any sort of coherence as he tried not to look as terrified as he was.
Arthur snorted, moving the last few steps toward Merlin and knocking the back of his head playfully. “Relax, idiot. I’m not going to kill my soulmate.”
Merlin’s eyes widened almost comically. “You- You aren’t?” he managed to ask.
Arthur looked almost offended. “Of course not!” he said. “Merlin, even if I did agree with my father’s stance on sorcery, which I don’t, by the way, I can plainly see that there isn’t an evil bone in your body. Too many flower crowns have found their way into my possession over the years for me to believe that of you.” He tilted his head to the side, looking at Merlin narrowly. “Thank you for that, by the way. I’m still not sure I ever managed to convince Morgana that I didn’t make those myself.”
Merlin felt his face burn crimson at that, but he couldn’t help the surprised laugh that escaped him. “I hope you know that if you’re expecting an apology, you’ve got another thing coming. You’ll be lucky if I don’t start encouraging those ideas.”
Arthur glared. “You wouldn’t.”
“No?” Merlin asked. “And why is that?”
Arthur scoffed. “Because I’m your soulmate of course! Soulmates shouldn’t embarrass each other so blatantly.”
“Hmm,” Merlin said, looking thoughtful. “But where would the fun in that be?”
Arthur clearly didn’t have a comeback for that, because he just rolled his eyes and changed the subject, tapping the spell book on the table, the air turning very serious all of a sudden. “Just don’t lose this again Merlin. Next time it could be someone besides me who finds it, and you don’t want them connecting it back to you.”
Merlin nodded solemnly. “Thank you, Arthur,” he breathed out, trying to pour as much meaning into the words as possible. He wanted Arthur to know how much it all meant: his acceptance, his trust, his friendship, the love he could already feel blossoming between them, all of the things he didn’t yet have the courage to put into words.
Arthur just stared intently into his eyes for a few moments, nodded to himself as he seemed to come to some sort of a decision, and stepped forward until he could draw pull Merlin close and kiss him.
Merlin, his heart fairly bursting with happiness, was more than happy to return it.