Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was just a normal Monday in Camelot, well, as normal as you can expect with the people who live there. The castle was bustling with activity, the servants carrying on with their chores, the guards patrolling the corridors, the knights training, the members of the council were complaining and so forth. 

King Arthur was in his study, having just started on the letters from neighbouring kingdoms that needed a reply, when someone knocked on the door. 

The king took a deep breath and rubbed his temple, it was way too early for the interruptions to have started already. He wasn’t going to get anything done today if it continued that way.

“Come in.” Said Arthur, looking up from one of the letters as he mentally prepared himself to deal with the complaints of some council member about raising the taxes or something.

The door creaked open and a mop of black hair appeared in the room.

“Ah, Merlin. Shouldn’t you be running around the castle, helping out Gaius with his patients right now?”

The servant just closed the door behind him and walked closer to Arthur’s table. His characteristic energetic demeanour was a little off today. Merlin was fidgeting nonstop with the sleeves of his shirt, and kept shifting his weight on his feet, something that he was clearly trying—and failing—to hide by pretending to glance around the room. Arthur frowned and was about to ask if something was wrong when–

“Can I take a few days off? Please, Arthur.” Merlin’s eyes were imploring with such desperation to them that there was only one thing left for the king to do.

“Uh, all right. You can have the next week off.” Arthur was slightly baffled by the whole ordeal. His servant rarely asked for a day off, much less days. Something had to be happening and his friend just wasn’t telling him. “Is everything okay at home? Did something happen to Hunith or…?”

“Oh, no! She’s fine.” Merlin was quick to reassure him. “I’m just…really tired, yeah. I just need to rest for a while and I’ll be good as day.” 

There was something off about the servant’s expression, but Arthur couldn’t point his finger at what it was. He was about to try to wrangle information out of his friend when an annoyed guard appeared at the door.

“Sire, the council is restless. They want to see you to talk about their proposition regarding the taxes.” There it is, Arthur thought. 

The last few days the council had been pestering him day and night about the possibility of raising the taxes for the common folk. Ok, not the council as a whole, just a few, very loud and very old—and very greedy—council members that he was already thinking about replacing. The problem is that they were making a lot of noise and preventing the discussion of more important—and less self-serving—topics, such as the floods that were plaguing the farmers at the south of Camelot.

Accepting that the day had officially begun, Arthur dismissed the guard and turned to Merlin, only to realise the servant was already gone. Well, I’ll ask about all that later.

And so, the king proceeded to follow the agenda of the day. The weird behaviour of his friend forgotten in light of more pressing issues regarding the ruling of his kingdom. It was not until much later that the subject would come to light again.

It was the afternoon of the same day, Arthur was leaving the throne room, his back aching from sitting for such a long time. 

He was thinking about having Merlin prepare a relaxing bath and then having dinner with his wife, when he spotted Gaius coming fast in his direction. The physician rarely left his quarters at the castle, unless it was to deliver remedies, so the king was quite confused about the fast approaching healer.

“Your majesty.” Gaius said, a little out of breath. “I would like to request the Sunday off next week.” The certainty in his voice leaving little room for discussion. 

Arthur cared a great deal about the physician. He had been by his father’s side since before he was born, and had shown nothing but loyalty to his family. So, to him, there was little Gaius could ask that he would not grant him, within reason, of course. It didn’t, however, stop Arthur from being surprised by the coincidence. 

“Of course, Gaius. Is there an outbreak happening in a village that you need to go to?” Was it too much of a coincidence his and Merlin’s request about a day off on the same day? Or was he being just paranoid? 

“No sire, I merely wish to…visit my sister.” 

“Sister? I didn’t know you had a sister.” Arthur was just now realising that he didn’t know a lot about the man before him, even though he trusted him with his life. 

Now that he stopped to think about it, it dawned on him that he doesn’t really know about the lives of the people closer to him. In an attempt to deal with the burden of the crown he was distancing himself from the personal side of his relationships with his friends. Arthur knew very little even about the personal lives of people like Leon or Gaius, both who had watched him grow into the man he is today. 

Ok, that’s a little depressing. Do they even consider me their friends?

Arthur was brought back from his impending crisis by Gaius’ answer, which the king had honestly forgotten he was supposed to be waiting for.

“It’s been many years since I’ve last seen her and I wish to fix that.” The emotion on the physician’s voice was very touching, and it made Arthur think about Morgana. 

How happy he was when they found her after she went missing for so long. After that, Uther came out and revealed that they were in fact brother and sister, which didn’t really change their family dynamics very much. They had always acted like siblings, the only difference is that now Morgana had the authority as his older sister to tease and scold him when he screwed up, and boy did she use and abuse that birth given right . Especially now that he was king and she was his sort of unofficial councillor. She claimed not wanting to get involved in politics but had an opinion about everything the council did. Arthur suspected she just didn’t want to have to face the council members daily, which he can’t really blame her for.

Before he got lost in his thoughts again—what was happening that made him so distracted today?—, he responded, “Of course. If you ever wish to invite her to spend a few days here at the castle, please feel free to do it. I would love to meet her.” With that and a nod, the king continued on his way to his chambers.

As he was nearing the end of the corridor, Arthur thought he heard Gaius muttering something like “you already have”.

Arthur was ready to leave it all behind, but as luck would have, it wasn’t possible.

Lancelot cornered him Tuesday morning at the training grounds while the other knights were still getting ready. 

The knight that was usually calm and centred had a look of such fierce determination that, once again this week, Arthur was rendered momentarily speechless.

“Please, sire. There are personal matters that I wish to attend this Sunday.” No way, what planetary alignment was happening this Sunday?? “Is it possible for me to be exempted from my knight duties that day?” 

“Sure thing, Lancelot. May I ask what? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wish to.” 

Damn, Arthur was really curious right now. Of course it was completely ridiculous, but he found it funny to imagine Merlin, Gaius and now Lancelot doing the same thing on their day off.

“I have a 10 year wedding anniversary celebration of an old friend of mine to attend.” Lancelot said and Arthur almost choked on air. He didn’t know the knight had connections to his life before coming to Camelot, let alone an old friend . Not noticing the king’s surprise, he continued. “I wasn’t there on their wedding day, so it would mean a lot to them, and to me, to be able to attend this celebration.”

Well, now Arthur’s imaginary event that Merlin, Gaius and his sister, and now Lancelot would be attending on Sunday was a wedding anniversary. The plot thickens. Ok, I’m the king, I should probably be doing something important right now .

Arthur obviously gave Lancelot a nod, just in time, as the rest of his knights quickly filled out the training grounds and began to spar. 

The king was delighted to have something to do to take his mind off the serious and dense subjects brought by the council today, even if just for a few hours. 

At some point, Arthur saw Merlin arrive and pull Gwaine to the side. Something that the servant said made the knight beam and turn in Arthur’s direction before he was pulled back by the chainmail and had something whispered in his ear. 

If there weren't already so many things in his mind, the king would have—probably—given more thought to that weird interaction. But now, at this moment, the less thoughts going through his head the better.

Arthur decided to face it as a prank when next came in Gwaine, Wednesday morning—morning—asking for Sunday off.

The worst thing? Apart from the gaping hole in his personal knights by his and Lancelot’s absence, Arthur had no real reason to deny the request.

“Thank you so much, princess! I’ll make sure to arrive to training on Monday with only a minor hangover.” And with that the knight winked and practically ran away, probably to not give his king a chance to change his mind.

So now Arthur’s imaginary wedding anniversary celebration consisted of Merlin, Gaius and his sister, Lancelot and Gwaine. The guest list is expanding, I see.

By Thursday the king decided that he must be looking like a jester. 

Morgana, of all people, cornered him after the council meeting in the morning ended. When Arthur first saw her coming in his direction, the thought of her asking for a day off never even crossed his mind. Ever since he became king, Morgana made sure to always be present and aware of the business of the kingdom. She was as involved with taking care of Camelot as Arthur and Gwen themselves, so much so that she never took days off. Not for a lack of trying, though. The king and the queen tried time and time again to convince her to relax for a little, but to no avail. 

So that leads to where Arthur is now. Jaw hanging open and eyes almost jumping out of his face, facing an innocent looking Morgana who’s clearly trying—and failing—not to laugh at his face. 

“What, Arthur?” She said, smile still lingering in her face. “You and Gwen are always saying that I should take some time to rest. So here I am, telling you I’m taking some time off to rest.” Morgana managed with an innocent look. There is no way she isn’t plotting something.

Wiping the gobsmacked look off his face, the king responded. “Well, yes. But does it have to be now ?” Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Is there something going on? An event in the lower town? A ploy against the crown? Anything?”

“I don’t see why would there be. What makes you think there is some conspiracy happening in Camelot?” She said with a frown.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “You are the fifth person to come to me this week requesting a day off.”

The king could feel his sister visibly restraining herself from rolling her eyes as well. “Well, have you considered that everyone just had a rough week?” The playful tone then left her voice. “There was a lot going on this past month in the castle, maybe they are just tired.”

“Yeah, maybe that…” Arthur was still not convinced, but it was a much more plausible explanation than a conspiracy involving his most trusted friends happening right behind his back. 

His musings were quickly interrupted by Morgana. 

“Well, I have to go.” She said, turning around and shouting over her shoulder. “Promised Gwen that we would go through that farmer’s request together, she must be expecting me by now.” And with that his sister followed down the corridor after Guinevere, disappearing from view.

As Arthur made his way through the castle, he was having a hard time trying to fit Morgana into his story about the event everyone would attend together. What would her role there be… The king was suddenly hit with an idea, so much so that he stopped walking quite abruptly, causing one of the maids that were passing through the corridor to stumble upon him. 

After assuring the maid that there was no need to apologise, Arthur went back to his idea. Morgana would be the one officiating the ceremony! There was nothing that his sister liked more than organising and planning things. Morgana could be brutal in that regard, actually. So it was official, the only roles missing in that mysterious wedding anniversary celebration were the couple themselves. 

Did his friends actually have a mysterious friend in common that Arthur wasn't aware about?

It was Friday morning and the king was preparing himself for a very important meeting. Merlin should be the one doing that, but since he was out collecting herbs for Gaius, and Arthur had sent George to prepare the throne room for his guests’ arrival, it was up to him to put all these layers of clothing alone.

Arthur had been in secret contact with the Druids for the past few months. He first contacted them after something Merlin had said under his breath, thinking the king wouldn’t be able to hear. Arthur heard his friend muttering about how all his experiences with magic were bad ones because those people had been harmed by the magic ban and were all seeking revenge. It struck a chord in the king. 

The fact his servant—and most importantly, friend—truly seemed to believe that, but was apparently afraid to say it to Arthur’s face, made the king stop and think. He was already having his doubts about maintaining his father’s magic ban, so it didn't take much for him to go out and contact the Druids. He had been exchanging letters with a Druid chieftain called Iseldir about a pardon for the Druids and a gradual lift of the ban.  

Today was the day that Arthur arranged with the elder for him and a small group of his clan to come to the castle. The plan was for the King to bestow the pardon on the Druid group and propose, in front of all the people present as witness on the throne room, that this would mark the beginning of the gradual lift of the magic ban. This way, his advisors and council members, many of whom were still loyal to his father’s policies, wouldn’t be able to object.

And that’s where Arthur found himself now, waiting for the party to arrive. 

The king was sitting in his throne when the heavy wooden doors were pushed open to reveal a guard. The man had clearly run up the stairs, for he was desperately trying to recollect his breath as he announced, voice wavering. 

“The Druids, sire. They’re here and wish to speak with you.”

This was the moment Arthur had been waiting for. “Let them in.” 

A heavy silence fell upon the throne room. All the lords and servants and knights who were present stopped what they were doing to stare at the king. It seems like everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen once the Druids, a group persecuted by the kingdom, were welcomed by the king itself into the castle.

Not a minute later the doors to the throne room opened and a small group led by an old man Arthur assumed to be Iseldir stepped inside. The Druids walked slowly, as if to not give the guards reason to jump in their king’s defense, but with purpose until they were situated in front of the throne. 

Once there, the old man stepped forward and broke the silence. “Your majesty,” he bowed, “my name is Iseldir. I am the leader of the group of Druids here present.” The man paused, gesturing with his hand to the ones behind him. “We have come here to declare our loyalty to the crown of Camelot.” 

With the end of that brief speech, all of the Druids of the group bowed to the king sitting on the throne. The people present at court started to whisper among themselves, even the servants stopped what they were doing to exchange a few words. 

It was like throwing a pebble into a lake and watching the ripples slowly grow. Only in this case the pebble was a boulder , the king thought. Arthur didn’t even know why he bothered with speeches, when gossip could do a far better job at reaching all corners of his kingdom in no time.

Before it became rude for taking too long to answer, Arthur solemnly stood up from the throne and with his best kingly voice declared “I accept your pledge of allegiance to Camelot” He let the words rang loud and clear for a while for all present to hear. “The Druids, from this day forward, are to no longer be persecuted by the kingdom. Any attack on them will be considered an attack on Camelot.” 

There, the first step was completed. The council could no longer attempt to change his mind about the decision, not after a proclamation such as the one given just now. 

Now that the theatrics were over, Arthur was interested in getting to talk in person with the man he had been corresponding with for so long. He had so many questions yet to be asked about magic and the Druid’s way of life. 

An idea occurred to him that would allow the king plenty of opportunity for mingling, and perhaps even give the initial push towards the integration between their people. 

Arthur cleaned his throat to regain the attention of the court, a difficult task at the moment. “I would like to propose a feast tonight, in honour of this new chapter in Camelot.” Oh, that got the attention of the nobles all right. So he continued to propose the rest of his idea. “Iseldir, you and your party are invited to stay for the weekend here in the castle as my guests.”

When an uncertain look passed through the old man’s face, Arthur thought that perhaps he should’ve stuck with the script. He could see the Druids exchanging uneasy looks between themselves. When it appeared that they had reached a conclusion, Iseldir corrected his posture and turned towards him.

“We are deeply honoured to attend the feast, Your Majesty.” The uncertainty returned to the man’s face. “However, we can’t stay here in the castle for the weekend. We’ve been invited by someone we consider a legend, a god, who is the closest to what we Druids have to a king, to attend a celebration of their own.”

“I…see.” Arthur did not see.

Does this mean that whoever that person was also held the loyalty of the Druids? Isn’t there a possibility of conflicts of interest there somewhere? Arthur wasn’t aware that the Druids even had a central authority figure similar to a king. Well, that’s something he would have to think about later, in preference not in front of the whole court to be debated.

“Very well, the feast it is then.” He said, gesturing for the staff of the castle to begin preparations. 

After being excused from the throne room, the Druids were shown to their temporary rooms where they would be able to prepare themselves for the feast in a few hours. 

Arthur was strolling through the corridors, thinking about the day’s event when he felt someone touch his arm. He turned around to find an apprehensive Iseldir standing behind him. 

“King Arthur, I just wish to clear any misconceptions that the surprise back in the throne room might have caused you.” 

“Please, let us walk around the courtyard then.” At least maybe he would have some answers now. 

As they began to walk side by side, the elder began to explain.

“I understand it might sound…strange to you for us to be loyal to two different figures, even more so since I compared Emrys to a king.” 

Who the fuck was Emrys?

“The truth is, he is more like our god.”

Uh?

“There are many prophecies about his destiny, some dating back thousands of years. But there’s no reason for Your Majesty to worry about our loyalty, Emrys is loyal only to you. It is his destiny to aid you in your rule.” Satisfied with his explanation, Iseldir turned and left, going back to his quarters to prepare for the feast. 

Arthur, on the other hand, could be easily mistaken by a gaping fish with his mouth hanging open the way it was. Deciding that that was too much to unpack at the moment, the king simply went back to start dressing himself, choosing to focus on the feast. He would deal with all that troubling information later. Preferably with Merlin, when he returned from his trip to the lower town in which Gaius had sent him.

Merlin turned out to take too long in the lower town—he’s probably at the tavern again—so much so that he wasn’t even present at the feast, leaving Arthur to ponder by himself what Iseldir told him a few hours ago. 

Arthur had barely started to unpack all of that new information when he decided that could wait until he saw Merlin again for that. Is not like he was in a hurry anyway.

Instead, the kind decided to occupy his mind with that hypothetical event everyone would apparently be attending. It amused him to realise that the Druids’ celebration fit into the—what was it? Wedding anniversary?—timeframe. 

So, Morgana was presiding over the wedding celebration, obviously the king/god/legend of the Druids is the one celebrating 10 years of marriage, with Merlin, Gaius, Lancelot, Gwaine and the Druids themselves as guests. But who was the other person getting engaged? And most importantly, how did they all come to know of each other? Was there a secret book club going on in Camelot that the King wasn't privy to? Could he join— No .

Saturday came, and when Guinevere dismissed George after he was done serving breakfast in their room, requesting that no one disturbed the royal couple unless necessary, Arthur was quite frankly expecting his wife to turn to him and tell she was also taking a few days off.

What happened instead, was Gwen leaning in and turning a conspiratorial look towards him. 

Whispering, as if someone could be hearing them in the safety of their chambers, she began. “Have you also noticed the weird behaviour of some of our friends this week?”

Arthur breathed a relieved sigh, he wasn’t going crazy after all. “Yes!” He leaned in, mirroring his wife’s conspiratorial body language and whispered back. “Every day of this week someone requested me a day off, even Morgana.”

“So I heard. After all the time we spent trying to get her to take some time off, she finally decided to do it now. Why?”

“I don’t know!” The king exclaimed, voice rising well above the volume of a whisper. “It’s been driving me crazy this week, I can’t stop picturing everyone going to the same secretive event. Even the Druids have something to attend this Sunday.”

Guinevere was quiet for a second, a thoughtful expression on her face. 

“It’s not only that…”

“What do you mean Gwen?”

“Haven’t you noticed our friends' behaviour?” Not giving Arthur time to respond, she continued. “They don’t look like people who are tired and looking for a day’s rest.”

His queen was right, Arthur realised. Now thinking back to the past few days of the week, it’s almost as if the castle was humming with excitement, certainly it couldn't all be over a few days off.

“You’re right. Now that you mentioned, I think I even saw Merlin skipping through the corridors a few times.” He snorted. “Merlin is always quite chipper, but I think that’s a little too much, even for him.”

Guinevere smiled. An idea suddenly crossed her mind. “Is he courting anyone? What if he asked for some time off to see someone?”

No, that can’t be, can it?  

“When I asked him, he said it was just because he was tired…” Arthur trailed off with the look he received from his wife. “Oh.”

She gave him a fond smile. “Yeah, don’t you find that even a little suspicious?” 

The king was about to answer when Gwen stood up, pushing her chair back with a screeching sound. 

“I know what we can do!” The queen turned around and went for their wardrobe, pulling several items of clothing out or the way until she found what she was looking for. Guinevere turned around, two capes thrown over her arm. “What if we follow them tomorrow?”

“Them?”

“You said you keep imagining them all going to the same place, what if they are? Don't you think it’s too much of a coincidence for half of our close friends’ day off to overlap?” She had an expectant look on her face.

“Well, yes. But aren’t we going to be invading their privacy? I don’t think they would want their king and queen to know whatever it is they do when they have time to relax.” Arthur deflated a little. His title was always a hindrance when it came to making friends, their power imbalance always created a certain wall of formality, a chasm the king never really quite knew how to bridge.

As if sensing the direction her husband’s thoughts had gone to, Guinevere’s expression and voice softened. “That’s nonsense. They are our friends, Arthur.” She put their capes on the bed and waked until she was standing beside his seated figure. Running her fingers through his hair, Gwen continued. “Besides, we don't have to spy on them. We could always ask to join, or just see where they are going and then turn back and return to the castle.”

Arthur slowly pulled back, looking at his wife and smiling. “You’re bored, aren't you?” 

“Completely.” Guinevere laughed. “Let us just pretend for one day that our biggest concern is the mysterious party our friends are secretly throwing together, and not the outrageous propositions of the council members or people trying to take the throne.”

“Okay.” He could take his mind off the problems of the court for a day, it would be fun. “So, what’s your plan?”

The royal couple exchanged conspiratorial smiles and began to plan for the next day. Their laughter could be heard all morning by anyone passing through the corridor, even with the wooden doors closed. They had to stop their scheming after lunch to attend to matters of the council, but their smiles lasted throughout the rest of the day.

When Sunday came, the king and queen of Camelot were like little kids bursting with excitement. To be fair, so were the rest of the people of the castle who had taken their day off.

After George left the couple’s room, having served and then collected their breakfast, the plan was set in motion.

Okay, maybe “plan” is too strong of a word for whatever it is that they have.

“Do you have your cloak with you?” Guinevere said to her husband while grabbing her red one.

Arthur was rummaging through his wardrobe, his back to Gwen. “Just give me a moment…” The king then finally grabbed his dark green cloak he had been struggling to find and let out an exclamation. “Yeah, I’m all set.” He smiled conspiratorially at his wife.

A few moments passed while the couple finished getting everything they wanted to take on this little adventure of theirs. A little food that had been ordered from the kitchen and delivered with their breakfast, their waterskin, Excalibur. Gwen was just finished adjusting her boots with her riding pants when Arthur stood up, ready to go, and asked:

“So, it’s set that we will follow Gwaine, right?”

“Yes. Merlin left yesterday to visit his mother and Gaius this morning to go see his sister, Lancelot already left for that wedding anniversary of his friend, Morgana is nowhere to be seen in the castle, and following the Druids so soon after making peace with them could cause some unrest.” The queen paused to breathe. “So that leaves us with Gwaine to follow.” 

“Great.” Arthur deadpanned. “I guess at least he won’t be too hard to follow, he’s probably going to some tavern in the lower town.” 

The royal couple wasn’t caring much about where they went in this little adventure, they were interested in the thrill of following a friend of theirs and trying to do so without being detected. Since they were both very public figures, that would be a little tricky, hence why the cloaks. 

No, that wasn’t completely true. They were pretty curious about their friends' lives as well, and by following them, Arthur and Gwen hopped to get a little peek of their lives outside the castle. Even though Guinevere lived that life herself, she sometimes felt as though since becoming queen, she lost touch with that part of her. 

Breaking out of this line of thought, Gwen pointed to Arthur the figure of Gwaine walking towards the gates of the castle on his way out. The royal couple quickly gathered their things and proceeded to move undetected past their own guards and slip through the caste gates after their friend.

Even though the king was happy that they got past the guards without any problems, he couldn’t stop thinking about ways to improve their ability to detect people sneaking around through training.  

Seriously though, something needs to be done about the security of the castle, it was ridiculously easy getting past the guards, no wonder there’s an assassination attempt every other day.

“Why is he going that way?” Gwen's whispered voice interrupted Arthur’s daydream about his knights tortu—training sessions. “Isn’t the tavern in the other direction?” 

Arthur rolled his eyes, giving his wife a fond smile. “It’s impossible for Gwaine of all people to get lost on his way to the tavern.” 

Gwen giggled. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Her face got serious again. “So where is he going? I thought you mentioned Gwaine implied that he was going there.” 

“No idea, but I still think there’s alcohol involved somehow.” 

“He’s heading in the direction of the forest!” The queen grabbed her husband's cloak. “Let’s follow him before we lose him from our sight.” 

After over a candlemark had passed, Arthur was very concerned for the integrity of Camelot’s defence. How come Gwaine hadn’t noticed that he was being followed? By two people no less? It’s not like the king and queen managed to be completely silent! But deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth, Arthur opted to save that thought for training later.

The rest of the knights will love that , Arthur thought, they’re apparently all horrible at detecting the presence of someone around them, first in the castle and now this in the forest.

Hearing some new sounds, the king came to an abrupt halt. “Hold up Gwen, I think I’m hearing some voices.” 

The silence stretched among them as the couple strained their hearing trying to discern the new voices that were now added to the mix. 

“They’re familiar but I can’t remember from where…” Said Arthur.

Gwen hummed in agreement.

“They’re moving, let’s keep going.”

“Arthur, I think Gwaine and the voices are heading to the same place.”

The king was very confused about his friend—okay, Gwaine was more of Merlin’s friend, but he liked to believe that that title extended to himself as well by now—, had he any group of friends besides the residents of the castle? How could he know these people and why were they trekking together? And to where?

That last question was soon answered as the group seemed to come to a stop, having reached their destination. It was clear that there were also a bunch of other people already at the location, for the number of voices seemed to have increased exponentially.

Honestly what was all this? Another plot against the crown? At that point Arthur was considering just handing over the throne to whoever could answer most of his thousands of pressing questions.

“GWAINE!” 

Hold up, was that–

“Merlin??” Exclaimed Gwen in a whisper as she stood hidden by his side.

“That can’t possibly be him.” Arthur didn’t know whether he was trying to convince Guinevere or himself of that. “He told me he was going to take a few days off to go visit Hunith.” 

“MERLIN!” Came the excited response.

Yep, that was definitely his useless, lying excuse of a servant.

“I’m so happy that you could make it!” The royal couple could hear the smile on their friend’s voice and the noise of people hugging, as they remained hidden by the thick foliage before the opening of the clearing by the lake. “And I see that you’re not alone.”

“Much less alone than you can imagine…” Maybe Gwaine suspected that he was being followed after all.

“Yeah, I see that you’ve brought Iseldir and his clan with you.” 

Arthur instantly turned to his wife and mouthed “how does he know them?”, to which Gwen replied with a look that screamed “I don’t know”.

“Oh, we met Sir Gwaine on the way here.” A voice that now Arthur could pinpoint as being from Iseldir spoke up. “He was good company, entertaining the children with tales from your exploits together.” 

As if Merlin could’ve gone on many exploits that were interesting enough to entertain children. 

“Oh please, call me Gwaine.” 

“Guys! Let’s come in, everybody’s been waiting for you all to get here.” Everybody? “Come on, I need to make the introductions before anything else.” Introductions to who?

“Uh… Merlin, mate.” Gwaine sounded a bit embarrassed and proud at the same time. “I didn’t come alone.” 

The sound of Merlin’s laughter filled the clearing. “Yeah Gwaine, I saw that. The whole of Iseldir’s clan is here as proof.” As his laughter died down and the silence stretched, the sound of someone coughing—probably Gwaine—reached Arthur and Gwen’s ears. 

In a voice that was way more serious than mere seconds ago, the knight explained a bit awkwardly. “That’s… not what I was talking about.” There was a sound of some shuffling as he dragged his feet through the ground. “I might’ve let some people—who should be here in the first place, by the way—follow me here.”

Arthur kept exchanging looks with his wife throughout Gwaine’s little speech. So his knight knew they were following him, and most importantly, he thought they should be here for some reason. Some reason that had to do with Merlin, who apparently did not want them here. 

“What are you… Oh.” Merlin’s voice acquired a serious tone as the realisation of what Gwaine was implying dawned on him. “Why would you do that today of all days?” He said, sounding a little bit mad and betrayed.

“Well,” began the knight with a far more gentle tone than Arthur had ever heard him use, “your whole support group is here. I thought they could help your case if it ever gets to needing that.”

A few seconds of consideration passed before Merlin spoke up again. “At least you thought this through, huh.” A little bit of mirth returned to his voice, maybe a little bit of hope too.

“You know me, I wouldn’t gamble with something so important to you, Merls.” Arthur couldn’t see from where he was, but he would bet his sword that there was a wink accompanying that statement from his knight.

“Thanks, Gwaine. You’re a good friend.”

Not seeing any more reason to stay hidden now that everyone knew that they were there, the royal couple decided to stop out of their hiding place and face their friends and this weird situation they now found themselves in.

Chapter Text

It was a very awkward situation for everyone involved, seeing the king and queen of Camelot stepping out of their hiding spot like two chastised children. Including for the couple in question.

Once they were out in the open, the royal couple took in the scenery around them. There was a lake, with a little house by its shore. The lake itself seemed almost ethereal, with soft rays of sunshine reflecting on its surface and creating stained glass-like projections on the house. This one by itself already looked like something out of a fairytale, in Arthur’s mind. With complete disregard for the blooming season of each plant, the place was entirely covered by flowers of different species. This, coupled with the lake and its ethereal projections, made the place look truly magical.

Arthur was suddenly pulled out of this almost trance he was in by Gwen’s hands grabbing his arm and her loud gasp. 

The king looked around, trying to find what made his wife react that way and froze.

Their friends.

The people he thrusted.

They were all there.

Not simply there, no no. They were sitting on chairs, facing the edge of the lake where, standing on some sort of rock platform, stood a beautiful woman. 

If Arthur and Gwen thought that the place looked ethereal, this was nothing in comparison to this lady. The white and flowing dress she wore gave the impression of behaving like the way the waves move, with the soft breeze that was blowing her way. The petals from a nearby tree floated slowly around her, as if being filled by an invisible force.

However, as soon as she noticed the commotion, the ethereal lady turned towards them. Not knowing what kind of reaction to expect, Arthur was baffled by the radiant and very much real smile sent their way. 

“Merlin! Come on, introduce me to Arthur and Guinevere so that we can begin.” She said waving towards them, smile still bright on her face. “I’ve waited way too long to meet them.” 

What?

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little out of depth. “Uh, so… Arthur, Gwen, this is Freya.” Arthur faced his friend in time to see him look softly at the ethereal woman. “My wife.”

With that Arthur’s brain officially short-circuited and begged for its turn with the day off. 

The saving grace was Gwen, who was apparently so much better at dealing with all of this… whatever this was. 

“What! Merlin, why didn’t you tell us you were married?” Gwen was kind of lost between being happy for one of her oldest friends and being mad for only finding out about it now. “I’m so sorry,” she turned to Freya, “I’m Gwen and this is Arthur, but you apparently already knew that.” 

“Oh, that was awfully rude on my part.” Freya stepped down from the rocks, walked towards the couple and grasped their hands in her’s. “It’s just that I’ve been hearing about both of you for so long that I feel like I know you already, Your Majesties.” She bowed, head almost touching the hands that were still in her hold.

Arthur, bless his heart, was still getting there. “I-I don’t understand…” 

“Freya is my wife.” Merlin patently explained. “And we’ve been married for the past ten years.” 

Oh, that hurt.

“But why didn’t you told me this? I’m your friend.” The king of Camelot was not positively looking like a kicked puppy, he really thought that Merlin also considered him his friend. “I would’ve come to your wedding, or helped you plan, or-or…” The idea that he didn’t want Arthur to participate in his personal life cut the king to his core.

“Arthur, Gwen,” Merlin stepped forward, placing his hand above Freya’s, who was still holding the royal couple’s hands. “please listen to me.” Merlin paused to stare at both of his friends’ eyes and see if they were indeed listening to him. “I wanted you guys to be part of this chapter of my life more than anything, but it’s not that simple. I… uh.”

“Take your time Merlin.” 

The warlock looked up to see the loving gaze of Guinevere upon him. Even though he could see the hurt in her eyes, it was clear his friend—his first and oldest friend here in Camelot—was willing to listen and forgive him. 

That spark of hope alone gave Merlin the strength he needed to go through this conversation.

“Okay, so I’m not a sorcerer. I’m a warlock.” He paused to gauge Arthur and Gwen’s reaction. Sensing a bit of confusion on their faces, Merlin explained. “It means I was born with magic, I had it since I was a baby.” 

“Then why did you come to Camelot?” Came Arthur’s empty voice.

Merlin looked down, closing his eyes for a moment. “My friend Will found out and my mother got scared that somehow word would get to Cenred and someone would come and forcibly recruit me for his army.” He looked up again, meeting his friend's gaze. “I came here because Gaius is my uncle, and the only person we knew outside of Ealdor. I never planned to infiltrate the royal household or anything of the sort I swear.” Merlin was pleading now. With a voice barely above a whisper, he continued. “I just wanted to find my place in the world.” 

Hands gripped his harder than a moment ago.

“Merlin.” Came the king’s voice, this time filled with unexpected emotion. “I–We never doubted your intentions. You’re our most loyal friend and I trust you with my life.” Arthur left out a shaky breath, breaking eye contact with his friend. “The only thing that hurts me is that you apparently don’t trust me the same way.”

“Oh Arthur, that’s not it.” 

“It’s fine, there’s no need to–”

“No. You don’t understand.” Merlin interrupted, the ghost of a smile forming on his face. “At first I didn’t want to put you in the position of having to choose between protecting me and lying to your father. After you became king it seemed like I had waited way too long and I was afraid you would hate me for having kept such a secret for so long.” 

Arthur opened his mouth to respond, but Merlin didn’t let him, he wasn’t finished yet.

“There’s also… well–”

“It’s all right, love.” 

The warlock met his wife’s eyes, her smile encouraging him to tell their tale.

Meanwhile, the royal couple was trying to work out what the significant exchange of looks meant for their friend. After what they had heard already, the weight of the mysterious tale that was about to be told seemed misplaced.

Merlin was still fidgeting, but once the exchange of looks ceased, he fixed his posture and began.

“Right, so… Arthur, do you remember the Bastet you killed many years ago in the courtyard?” At Arthur’s confused nod, he let go of his friend's hands, holding only his wife’s now and breathed. “The Bastet.” 

And with that the magic couple waited for the pin to drop.

“Wait… Hold on a second– does that mean I stabbed you?!” Arthur—doesn’t matter how much he denies it—shrieked.

“What?” Guinevere exclaimed in a similar tone, turning to face her husband.

“I-I thought I killed the Bastet that night.” 

Merlin was about to try to explain the situation in a delicate manner when Freya spoke up first.

“Oh but you did! I’m dead.” The Druid cheerfully concluded, smiling impishly to Arthur.

Oh, fuck me if he goes apoplectic and dies right now , came Merlin’s very helpful thoughts.

The king and queen froze (as expected), but apart from that they seemed fine, in terms of health (a pleasant surprise).

Deciding Arthur and Gwen had enough time to process that particular information and not wanting to permanently ruin the day’s mood, Freya added the last bit of information. “But it’s all in the past now, thanks to you my curse is now broken and I became The Lady of the Lake. I can now alway be there for Merlin whenever he needs me, since now we’re both immortal.” 

“That’s… so much to process.” The queen looked positively flabbergasted.

The king nodded in a slow fashion, not even trying to process that much information anymore. “Yeah, and here I thought today was gonna be a silly day of following Gwaine around.” 

The sound of someone loudly clapping their hands together brought the four friends out of their little bubble.

Gwaine’s voice reached the group. “Come on guys! There’s a party underway and the dragons are getting restless.” 

“Dragons? ” Arthur pinched his nose and let out another deep breath. “You know what? Sure, dragons, plural. Fine, I'll accept that.” 

Merlin’s sheepish voice answered. “Yeah, I am the last dragonlord after all, so…” He shrugged.

“Can’t wait to meet them, Merlin.” Gwen said, smiling towards her friend.

Oh, thank gods for Gwen.

“You’re right, can’t wait to meet the dragons of which you told me I killed the last one, Merlin.”

Thank gods only for Gwen.

As the group of friends walked towards the direction of the ceremony, more and more people that the royal couple knew appeared in the crowd. Most of their inner circle was there, as well as at least half of the castle staff. Arthur also pretended not to see—and avoided eye contact at all costs—some nobles from other kingdoms. Which, what the fuck were they doing there?

They followed Gwaine to a vacant table at the front and sat down. Arthur took a moment to look around and actually breathe in the atmosphere of the place. Even though it was extremely cliche, the king could only describe it as truly magical, and as he looked to his side, he could see his wife reached the same conclusion.

The peaceful moment, however, was broken when Merlin and Freya reached the dais. But it wasn’t the couple who broke it, no no. It was Morgana who started speaking. Morgana who was definitely not off to have some rest, as she had told Arthur. He shouldn’t really be surprised at this point anymore.

The king couldn’t really get mad, though, because he got the part about his sister being the one presiding over the mysterious event everyone was attending right. Looking back now, Arthur came to realise he got a lot of the things about this whole ordeal scarily accurate. 

Maybe Morgana isn’t the only Seer in the family after all . 

And with that, the ceremony started.

After the ceremony, they all sat together on various tables spread around the lake and chatted.

“So let me get this straight, you all knew about this before me?” Arthur took time to look at each of his knights—of which were all present for some unfathomable reason—in the eye. Or at least he tried to, since they were all avoiding eye contact like the plague.

Never having heard a silence quite this loud, Arthur turned instead to his most trusted knight in the hopes of a little support there, but it appeared that he was also trying to find his will to live—which he had apparently dropped earlier on in this conversation—laying on the floor by his feet. 

“Even you, Leon? ”

“Well, preventing you from getting murdered every other day of the week is only possible due to our skills in passive observation” Pipped Elyan, imediatelly slapping a hand on his mouth after what he said to his king caught up to him.

Arthur was flabbergasted, gaping like a fish. 

“And you all never told me about this, why?!”

Leon was the one who answered this time, maybe now his most trusted knight would shine through– 

“It wasn’t my secret to tell, and it’s Merlin! He isn’t a threat to Camelot, so…” The knight said with a shrug of his shoulders.

–nevermind.

“So, who is it that you want me to meet again Merlin?” Arthur asked while Merlin led him through a path in the trees towards some clearing up ahead. 

“Oh, his name is Kilgharrah! But you’ve already met him before, you were just not, er… properly introduced?” 

Arthur was so caught up in trying to think about who that person could be, that he almost fell when he tripped on the root of a tree. That earned a snort from his friend, but before he could threaten him for laughing at his king, Merlin stopped abruptly and turned to face him.

“Okay Arthur, they’re just over there.” He said, pointing at the clearing of which Arthur could only see a little sliver of at the end of their path. “Please don’t freak out.”

“Hold up. They ?” The king now looked confused at his friend. “I thought I was only meeting this Kilgharrah guy.”

Merlin snorted. 

“Yeah, you are. But apparently he also brought Aithusa with him.” A fond smile grew on his servant’s face.

Now Merlin is just making up names to fuck with him, it has to be.

“Ai– who?”

The warlock rolled his eyes and started tugging Arthur’s shirt, pulling them along the rest of the path.

“Aithusa. Now come on, you’ll meet them soon enough.” 

As soon as they entered the clearing Arthur stopped dead on his path, completely immune to Merlin’s tugging.

“Are you telling me,” Arthur slowly draw out, maybe a little due to shock (or at least it would’ve been it he weren’t already immune to any more surprises after the day he had had so far), “that the dragon I supposedly killed years ago, is not only very much alive and healthy, but is also this Kilgharrah buddy of yours?!”

Merlin opened his mouth to answer, but before he got to that Aithusa’s head peeked out from where she was hidden by the Great Dragon’s side and Arthur immediately zeroed in on the moment.

“And there’s more now?! ” The king was trying his best not to faint, he really was. But the sight of not only one dragon, but two… it was testing his limits right now.

“Yes!” Said Merlin, oblivious—or just simply choosing to ignore—to his struggles. “Isn’t she a beauty?” 

Don’t push it, Merlin.

“Anyway, I called her forth from the egg we went searching for a few years ago.” 

“Oh, you mean the one you told me was crushed?”

“Yep, that one.”

“Good to know.” 

Of course, if there were any limits of how weird this day could get, Arthur apparently still hadn’t reached it somehow. Because the next second, the dragon—who, again, was supposed to be dead—started talking to him about some nonsense about coins and destiny.

It honestly left Arthur more confused than everything that had happened on that day coupled together. How the hell Merlin could understand, much less put up, with that overgrown lizard evaded the king.

As the day came to an end, the guests began to leave the lake area, going back to their respective villages, cities, and (Arthur still couldn't wrap his head around this) kingdoms.

After almost all of their friends had left, the king of Camelot grabbed his queen’s hand and they both turned to say goodbye to their dear friend and his spouse—spouse! 

Freya was quick to say that they should come to visit now that the secret was out, pulling both of the royals into a bone-crushing hug. Seriously, how could someone so tiny have that much strength?

When Freya stepped back from the hug, Arthur began to overthink all the ways that the revelation could alter the dynamic of his friendship with Merlin, and he could see the exact same thoughts going through Guinevere’s head. Would he even want to go back to the castle after all that? His friend had a whole file out here after all…

His friend, though, didn’t leave him in the dark for much longer.

“See you on Monday, sire!” Merlin cheerfully waved both of his friends goodbye.

Yeah, things are gonna be ok.

Arthur waved back and with Guinevere by his side, the king and queen of Camelot set back towards the castle. 

As they were walking through the trees, the couple could only think that if that’s how all days off usually go, then it’s a good thing that they had always so much to do with running a kingdom and what not.