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An alcove! Ugh. This is too small for me, but it’ll do. A Knight almost saw me! Good thing I’m used to this.
My first few tries ended with reprimands from Your Prattiness, Gaius, and 2 hours in the prisoner block, people pelting me with food. They don’t even aim for my mouth, so the food isn’t wasted!
Doesn’t matter. Focus, Merlin! Sorry, brain, thank you for such a wonderful input. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure…It’s Leon! Okay, time to sneak again!
For those of you that are wondering, yes, I am sneaking out at night.
No, it isn’t to cause trouble, or sneak to the tavern, like what Arthur always correlates me with.
No, I’m meeting someone.
I look outside the castle windows, reminiscing her instructions.
“Use some of that luck of yours, Merlin,and use your magic to go past the guards, and to the forests.”
It’s almost as if he can hear her sarcastic laugh and dry tone of, “Oh come on, Merlin! You aren’t like my idiot of a brother. His brain can be as dense as a stone. Surely you can think of something.”
The view from the Camelot castle windows is almost heavenly, especially at night. The moon visible through the windows.
The stars almost shine like jewels in the sky.
As pretty as this sight is, Morgana is probably waiting for me. Yes, the Lady Morgana Pendragon de Gorlois. Uther’s ward.
And also a Seer, but that’s between me and her right now. You might ask, “Merlin, isn’t Morgana a royalty?
How and when, and why are you meeting with her?!” Okay, let me make this as brief as possible.
Basically, Morgana is having bad dreams, Gaius won’t admit it is a sign that she has magic, born magic, like me, nor comfort her.
The royal physician still wants me to lie to her, and Kilgarrah is an old fart.
Yes, I said it! Screw you, Kilgarrah and your “Kill who gets in the way of “prophecy,” who only wants revenge on Uther’s bloodline and his Kingdom perish.He could sod off and fume, for all I care.
So of course, I took Morgana to an abandoned room, enchanted the place, and showed her the compassion, acceptance, understanding, and affirmation I never got.
Then I led her to the Druids once a week, at night, and the Seers in their midst teach her how to properly utilize her powers.
I also asked them to show me how to teleport, and we both teleport back and forth to the Druid camps, an illusion spell in place.
The rest of the days was us meeting at night, and me teaching her how to use magic.
Well,as much as I can teach her, that is.
Sometimes, she evens assists me in “removing” assassins that are out for blood on Arthur, and even Uther,
though she hates to have to kill assassins when she wants to kill Uther himself.
I try as much to reel her in, but it’s all good.
Which brings us to the castle courtyards, and speaking of Morgana, I see her standing in the shadows of the empty Camelot halls, using the invisibility spell, as always.
I wave to her, but then I tripped over, of course I did. Aurgh. Oh look, Merlin kissed the ground. Ha ha. Very funny.
I glared at the barrel I didn’t see, because I’m petty like that.
Morgana, on the other hand, is shaking from trying to contain her laughter.
She walks in my direction, to help me up, but not before teasing, “You missed the ground so much, didn’t you?”
“Ha. Ha. Keep laughing. It was accident!” I frantically gesture to the barrel clearly minding its own business.
“See? It’s in the middle of the path!” Morgana finally calmed down a little bit, but her eyes still sparkle with mirth-
.....And is that amusement?
“But it’s in the corner-”
“Yes, it is, but I just… merely didn’t see it, alright?!”
“Come now, Merlin, I’m merely jesting. If you want to trip on air, who am I to stop you?”
“Ugh.” I look around, and surely there is another Knight roaming the halls.
Ah. He saw me.
Morgana saw what happened, and we look at each other.
Like clockwork, we hold hands, duck and run to the nearest hiding spot, a nearby tree, and teleport out of there.
We were able to teleport to the secluded part of the forest, both of us looking at each other, and laughing our asses off.
Well then, time to tell her my plan.
“Oh, Merlin! That was fun, and dare I say, exhilarating!”
I laughed, "Right? It's a good thing it wasn't Leon, or we'd be dead!"
The Lady giggled. The moonlight shone on her jet black hair, and Merlin's breath hitched.
“....Hey, Morgana?”
Morgana hummed."What is it, Merlin?”
“What if we, you know..." He fidgets nervously, gesturing with his hands.
".....Fake date?”
Morgana’s eyes widened, and she looked down.
Seeing her reaction, the warlock fumbles with his words.
“Well, think about it. We are always trying to sneak past them once a week, right?"
"And I'm sure Leon is catching on to us."
"If we just…pretend to be secretly courting, they’ll be unaware of us actually practicing magic?"
"Perhaps, and it will get them off our backs, and avoid being suspected of magic of any kind.”
"Exactly! Will you fake date this humble manservant, my Lady?"
Her emerald eyes seem to be hyper-focused on the grassy terrain, almost as if considering what I said,
and gods, just agree- the suspense is killing me!
After a pregnant pause, she meekly replied, “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay. I think it is a great idea, plus,” She smirks.
I..... can see why many falls for Lady Morgana’s charms. Her smile is quite enchanting.
“It’ll be a delight to see Uther suffer seeing his precious ward being rebellious.”
“Of course...Arthur can be a klazomaniac all he wants, but i have many…”
she pauses, and with an evil gleeful smile says,” receipts that I can use against him should he try to do anything.”
It’s a really good thing that Morgana is now on the good side, because I am so scared right now.
“Shake on it?”
“Shake on it.”
Leon thought that he was subtle in observing the Lady Morgana’s actions.
But it appears not, as she quickly disappears once a week, to god knows where.
And quite more than once, is seen with Merlin running away together to the forests of Camelot.
Re-appearing quite disheveled, and one time, he even saw the Lady’s clothes in tatters, and Merlin’s in near ashes, as if they were….
He doesn’t want to talk about it.
Which brings us today, with the two running off to the forests yet again.
Percival, his night guard partner, asked Leon where Merlin and Lady Morgana are off to, to which he replied,
“I’m not sure, but it seems as though they do not wish to be caught, and honestly, I do not wish to see something unsightly, so I’d let them be.”
Gaius thought his ward was not as wary enough to stop garnering attention to himself, and this just adds to the list.
Sneaking to the forests with none other than Uther’s ward is a beheading sentence that’s just waiting to happen!
He cornered his ward at one point, giving him the Talk TM
His ward looks as if he is about to pass out. The royal physician allows Merlin to retire to his chambers after that.
The physician heaves a sigh and finishes his potion.
In the cot lies the old man across the castle, sick with fever, and he’d rather help him than try to pry more into Merlin’s life.
The poor boy wants some reprieve from Destiny, and Gaius will humour this escapade, though it might cause him death from Uther’s protective hands.
He sure hopes Merlin is careful enough to not get caught.
.
.
Arthur knows that Merlin was doing something idiotic behind his back
Again.
but he’d never imagine it would be secretly courting Morgana, of all people idiotic!
He looks from his chambers outside, and seeing that Morgana is once again walking with Gwen eases his worry a bit.
But he notices that she stared at Merlin passing by for more than 5 seconds, and with a loving smile!
His head is about to pop a vein as he reigns in his anger, but he has no choice but to observe and gather evidence for now.
Should he choose to confront Morgana about it, she’d bring up his dirty secrets that should never see the light of day-
and let’s face it, Uther would favor her over him any day. He’s certain she would win this battle.
If he should be honest, he’d let her have her way, even if she is annoyingly clever and stubborn, like him.
He holds fondness and exasperation for her, even if she is his adopted sister. He also doesn’t want Merlin dead on a guillotine, as he’d rather he die than allow his manservant any harm.
He won’t say it to Merlin’s face, of course. The idiot already has a defiance to royalty and an insulting personality that can fill a whole castle, best he keep it to himself.
Lest he definitely annoy Arthur to no end with his teasing.
That’s it. Gwen has seen enough of Merlin and Morgana sneaking about, and her just watching from the sidelines!
Of course, she gives them a benefit of a doubt, as she only heard this from the rumor mills at the castle.
But still, her friends is doing something dangerous, secretly courting under King Uther’s nose, at that!
This needs to stop, and Gwen is determined to make it happen.
She approaches Merlin as he was cleaning Arthur’s armor and sword.
“Merlin!”
“Gwen!” He swipes off the sweat off his brows, his face going from annoyed to happy.
It made Guinevere want to not say her speech, to spare her friend of embarrassment, but it must be done.
“Can we talk for a bit?”
“Yeah, let me put down this armor,” he scoops up the nearly-polished armor and sword, gently.
“ So His Prattiness wouldn’t complain that I got his precious armor dirty,” a quote that garnered a laugh from Gwen.
The two exchange pleasantries, with Gwen asking about Merlin’s day.
The two walked through the town square, snickering and laughing at the shenanigans the Knights and him and Arthur were up to.
The two servants soon arrive at a clearing outside the city walls, and the warlock gestures to a nearby tree so they could talk.
They sit down, and Gwen takes a deep breath, readying her mind.
Merlin awaits her with a gentle smile, asking,“What’s on your mind, Gwen?” tilting his head like a little puppy.
Gwen is taken aback.
Oh dear, this makes this even harder, why must Merlin be so adorable and kind?! Focus, Gwen, you can do this, just deep breaths, deep breaths.
“Are you and the Lady Morgana secretly courting?”
Wait. Merlin seems as if he was expecting this question. “Yes, Gwen, we are.”
“Wait, so the rumors were true?”
“Yes, and no. We….recently got to see each other at night, I sometimes can’t sleep at night, you see, and I go for a walk-
And I bumped into Morgana during one of those walks.
We talked, got to know each other, and… agreed to try and secretly court each other to see if we’d work out.”
Merlin hopes his and Morgana’s backstory script makes sense. He really wants to not get caught having magic and put on a stake.
Nor be seen with Morgana and be severely punished due to Uther’s ruthlessness to Morgana’s suitors.
He shivered.
“Even so! I…. I have to warn you of the certain…consequences of your actions, Merlin."
Lady Morgana is royalty, and a woman too, and doing…specific activities with her might get you in trouble.”
Gwen talks slowly and carefully, and it is as if she is scared I’d over-react. Wait, certain...activities…
The manservant put two and two together. The blush from his face to his whole body the same shade the Camelot flag.
“You…you don’t have to worry about that, Gwen! I’d never…we won’t….” He nervously says, hands frantically moving, as if trying to defend himself.
The maidservant is not so different, blushing profusely, voice high-pitched as she tries and fails to explain to Merlin the Talk TM
The warlock is now running back to the castle, blushing from head to toe, screaming back to the maidservant,
“ We won’t do that, Gwen! I promise!”
“But I have to make sure you won’t Merlin!”
“Merlin, don’t hold my hand so tightly!”
“I’m sorry, I’m just, really nervous.”
“It’s okay, I’ll do the talking.”
The door opens in front of them, and a servant whom Merlin recognizes as George, exclaims,
“Presenting Lady Morgana and her suitor, Merlin of Ealdor!”
“Okay, I don’t want to do this!”
“Merlin, please, stay with me, alright?” She faces him, with the door to the counsel room open, and kisses his temple.
T he manservant sighs, but gives a small smile to her, kisses her knuckles as he did so.
Merlin looks at the shocked and insulted faces of Uther’s counsel, along with a fuming Uther.
He takes a deep breath.
“Let’s do this, yeah?”
“Let’s do this. Father, we have an announcement to make!”
“Is Arthur and Leon gone?”
“Yeah.”
Merlin looks from the tiny gap underneath the castle’s closet door. He turns back to ask something, and comes face to face with Morgana’s face.
They look at each other in disbelief, and Merlin swears he sees their breaths mix with each other.
Emerald meets with aquamarine, and as if on instinct, they met in the middle.
Gods did it feel good to finally let go of the sexual tension that’s been building up.
He cups her face with one hand, and holds her waist in the other.
Morgana allows it, and even runs both her hands in his hair, the other groaning with pleasure.
They continue to get lost in each other, Merlin unconsciously using magic to pull her even closer to him.
Morgana gives a high-pitched groan at that, and frankly, she’s been secretly pining for him for a while.
Seeing that it is reciprocated is so satisfying.
As he adjusts her so her legs are hugging his waist, they hear the closet door open, sees blushing Knights, and a pissed Arthur.
The two stops their lovemaking, and Arthur says, ”Really, Merlin! Have some…decency, stupid!”
He gestures to Morgana trying to look presentable, " THIS IS A LADY THAT SHOULD BE RESPECTED!”
“Arthur, stop! If he’s in trouble, so am I. Take us to Uther, for all I care!”
Arthur did stop, and looking angrily at the two, he calls two of the Knights to arrest them and growls out, “So be it.”
“Merlin!” Gwen calls to her friend carrying Arthur’s freshly-washed clothes in a basket. He smiles, “Hey, Gwen!”
The maidservant remains silent, mouth opening and closing as if trying to say something but can’t find the right words.
After an awkward moment, she speaks. “Please do take care of Morgana’s clothes, Merlin. I saw you two coming back from the forests on your date."
Merlin balked. "What do you mean?"
"Last week! Her clothes were in tatters! And no, your jacket and her shawl can only cover so much of her body.”
The maidservant gasped, “What if her father, the court, or even the whole townspeople saw her in that state? She’s a Lady, Merlin!”
The warlock remembers that they encountered a Griffin, with sharp claws and large wings at that.
That a man named Lancelot saved them from it, along with some magic from Merlin and Morgana.
He asked the man to come along with them, and he can see some chemistry with him and Gwen.
So as a good friend (who is definitely NOT avoiding to answer his friend), he teased her,
“But that caused us to bump into Lancelot, whom I hear you have been eyeing for quite some time now, eh?”
The manservant ends with a teasing smirk and wiggling eyebrows.
He retreats as soon as he sees the red seeping throughout Gwen’s face and to her neck. With Arthur's clothes in hand, he dashes away to safety.
T he maidservant recovers and calls out in embarrassment, “Merlin!!”
“Is she okay? You said a while back that her leg got scratched.”
“She’s fine, Morgana. I’m a physician’s apprentice, remember?"
"I healed her, and she should be able to walk better in about a week’s time.”
“Good heavens, the Baby’s fine.” Merlin’s eyes soften, and kisses her cheek.
“The Baby’s fine.” Unbeknownst to them, Leon and the Knights, including Arthur-
Heard. the. whole. exchange.
They were in a middle of heading out for a hunt, and stopped when they heard the two talking.
T heir thoughts were “did I hear that right, a kid?!” and “THEY HAVE A KID?!” the last one being Arthur.
Leon sighs. “Arthur is angry at Merlin, Merlin causing his ire yet again. Just another day as a Knight.”
“Merlin! Come on, faster, ah! we don’t have all day!”
“Yes, I’m going as fast as I can-*thump* here!”
Gwaine was minding his own business, he was!
Until he heard from an empty room two familiar voices, and in a…very heated exchange.
He was walking back to the direction of the courtyard for sparring, but his curiousness got the better of him, and he listens through the door.
“We’re! Oh! Late for the…hmmmm…meeting with Father regarding our…ah! Arrangement!”
Gwaine could picture Merlin’s smirk as he says, “Best we finish this fast, then.”
And a litany of groans between sentences could be heard, and the Knight decided he heard enough.
With a blush that can rival the red cloak he’s wearing, he trudges to the courtyard, knowing that the information he’ll share will once again irritate Arthur.
On the other side of the door, is Merlin and Morgana applying ointment and burn creams on one another.
Hours ago, they met with Kilgharrah to deliver Aithusa. And of course, in his ire, burned them both, screaming, “HOW DARE YOU BRING THAT WITCH TO ME! AND HOW PREPOSTEROUS OF YOU TO GIVE THE YOUNGLING-
"TO AN EVIL WOMAN TO CARE FOR HER!”
Ending with them having to teleport to an empty room , near Morgana’s room, to lick the wounds.
“Yeah, that was fun.”
Morgana scoffs, “As if getting burned by a dragon is any fun.”
In retaliation, the Seer applied the ointment by adding a bit of pressure. “Ah! That hurts, you know.”
She laughs. “I know.” The witch continued to apply the ointment more carefully, and wrapped the wound with cloth.
“My turn, Merlin.”
“Hey, Morgana?”
“Yes, Merlin? What is it?”
“Do you regret fake-dating me?”
She ponders for a moment. “No. I quite like you even before we fake-dated, so this is ideal for me.”
“What if we date for real this time?”
“Oh Merlin, yes, a hundred times over.”