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Chapter Text

When Merlin had left along with Gaius to Camelot, he felt like he was leaving his still heart behind in Ealdor. For all he had left because of not wanting to cause further trouble for his mother, he still felt like his feet dragging along the rough path in reluctance.

However, he did feel his heart lifting ever so slightly when Gaius had led him through the lower town, having to navigate through so many people. The hustle bustle unusual compared to the low populated village of Merlin’s hometown. It was quickly dispelled though, when the duo had arrived in the courtyard to witness the execution of a man for his magic.

“So I have to hide my talents as well as who I am, here,” Merlin stated, his voice a hiss in Gaius’ ear so no one else would hear his words. Gaius shot him a look with his eyebrow raised high, but said nothing as they moved away, the people dispersing when no other wailing woman threatened to gather everyone’s attention.

Merlin weaved through the hallways, vials in one hand and a waterskin in another. To all others, it may have seemed that Merlin was only drinking mere water, or if he opened his mouth wide enough - though he avoided talking for the most part - some sort of red wine, when in reality, the waterskin contained blood that Gaius had collected from a rabbit earlier that day in his chambers. Despite having fed only a couple of days ago when traveling through the forest with Gaius, the smell of so many humans had been overwhelming for Merlin, and he found himself having to quell his hunger again, painfully reminded of when he had first turned into a vampire and couldn’t control his thirst for blood. Thankfully, Gaius had assured Merlin that soon he would be able to get used to being surrounded by so many people, and would be able to tolerate his hunger for around a week. While they hadn’t put to test that theory, Merlin wasn’t planning on trying to stretch himself thin any time soon. There was plenty of blood to be found around Camelot, animal wise.

He was broken out of his thoughts and automatic actions of giving vials to the assigned people when he heard a man’s surprised cry, irritation masked underneath but nonetheless, Merlin’s senses tuned into the man’s blood rushing fast in fear. Turning, he met the sight of a blonde man, geared with weaponry, laughing with his friends as he took aim and threw another dagger at the board held by the man whose rapidly rushing blood had tuned Merlin into reality.

The board suddenly fell, and as it rolled to Merlin’s feet, he stopped it by stepping on it, also stopping the servant from lifting it, beaming at the blonde as he did so.

“Hey, come on, that's enough,” Merlin said, smile firmly in place despite tensing as the man started to come closer. He hadn’t finished that waterskin yet, and while his stomach was full, his tongue could still taste the blood.

“What?” the blonde asked, grinning incredulously at Merlin.

“You've had your fun, my friend,” Merlin said, taking his foot off the board. The servant didn’t bother coming close, though.

“Do I know you?” By now, the man wasn’t grinning anymore, and though it tore him to do it, his hand still rose on instinct, years of manners drilled into his head by his mother.

“Er, I'm Merlin.”

The man stared at Merlin’s outstretched hand in disdain. “So I don't know you,” he said.

“No,” Merlin said simply, lowering his hand and not smiling himself either.

“Yet you called me friend ."

“That was my mistake,” Merlin admitted, almost apologetically.

“Yes, I think so,” the man crossed his arms, and Merlin felt himself getting irritated. If it weren’t for still wanting to be humane if not human, this man would have found himself torn to pieces by now, and not because Merlin was hungry anymore.

“Yeah. I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass,” he instead simply retorted, turning to walk away.

He was walking firmly and briskly, so he was several feet away when he heard the man mutter, and yet his words were clear to Merlin’s highly keen senses.

“Or I one who could be so stupid.”

Merlin stopped walking, but regretted it when he heard the man speak again, almost snobbily.

“Tell me, Mer lin, do you know how to walk on your knees?”

Merlin reluctantly turned around, readying himself. He knew that this man was clearly asking for it, but it wouldn’t do anyone any good if Merlin misestimated his strength and accidentally shoved the man into the castle wall, a good several yards away.

“No.”

“Would you like me to help you?” The man started grinning again, coming closer.

“I wouldn't if I were you,” Merlin said wearily, leaning back. All of a sudden, this didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.

The man chuckled “Why? What are you going to do to me?”

Merlin couldn’t help the slight scoff that escaped him at that. “You have no idea,” he said.

The man raised his eyes, as if surprised by Merlin’s boldness, and suddenly spread open his arms, while Merlin looked on, a tad bit confused.

“Be my guest!” he suddenly exclaimed. “Come on! Come on! Come on,” he goaded, and Merlin’s control snapped.

He swung an arm forward, and while he really wasn’t expecting the man’s arm to suddenly rush upwards as if to catch Merlin’s arm in a hook, he saw it, his eyes tuned in on the man’s movements. Immediately, Merlin pulled his arm away, and before the man could retaliate, Merlin swung his other arm, hooking it around the man’s arm that was still moving, too slow compared to Merlin’s speed, and stepping around, Merlin pinned the man’s arms to his back, his other hand firmly holding the man in place.

Almost immediately, Merlin felt arms tug at his shoulders, away from the man and he let go, finally registering the silence around the courtyard as he was pulled free from the man, while behind him, the men dressed in weapons were shouting in shock and surprise, as well as anger.

The man spun around, panting and stared wide eyed at Merlin, who was still held by men that Merlin finally recognized as knights, wringing out his arm.

“I’ll have you thrown in jail for that!” The man just about yelled, and Merlin snorted dryly.

“What, who do you think you are? The King?” Merlin asked, but suddenly the anger on the man’s face diminished, and he suddenly looked very smug.

“No. I'm his son, Arthur,” he stalked forward and punched Merlin in the stomach hardly. The man felt his body retract, but it was more from shock than pain - for all his punch was strong, it didn’t faze Merlin as much as the man - Arthur’s - words.

He just picked a fight with Prince Arthur of Camelot.

Him. A warlock, and a vampire.

Against the son of Uther.

He didn’t know why he did it. If anyone asked though, he’d probably say instinct, and it was the closest to the truth, really. One moment, there was a dagger flying in the air, heading for Arthur, and the next moment Merlin let his feet run forward, time stopping even as his vampire speed pushed him forward to drag Arthur out of the way. The prince’s feet must have been rooted to the ground in shock, for Merlin felt the tiniest bit of resistance against his arms before the man was on the ground, the smell of his blood strong against Merlin’s nostrils.

And when he had been awarded the position of Arthur’s manservant…

He was really going to need to have a talk with Gaius about stifling his sense of smell at the very least.

Chapter Text

“Any change?” Merlin stared hopelessly at Gaius, his face reflecting his utter misery.

“No.”

“Let me see,” Gaius started to move towards Arthur’s unconscious form, which is when Merlin notices that Gaius wasn’t carrying much of anything - namely, herbs.

“Is that all you got?” Merlin exclaimed, barely keeping his voice in check to avoid waking Arthur for the time being.

“The hills are crawling with saxons,” Gaius said shortly.

“There's no yarrow, no lady's mantle,” Merlin said, starting to feel the panic creeping in, barely hearing Gaius’ reply.

“I got comfrey,” Gaius said evenly, raising a knowing eyebrow at Merlin, which would have normally helped the vampire to calm down, but now it did nothing to help.

“You should've got sticklewort. There must've been sticklewort,” Merlin said, the panic now easily creeping in his voice.

Gaius turned to face him, giving the warlock his sole attention as he responded. “Merlin, why don't you water the horses. And make sure they're fed, we can't hide here for much longer.” They both could easily hear Gaius’ words for what it was meant to be; a distraction, and Merlin was all too willing for it as he left.

Without opening his eyes, Arthur suddenly spoke. Gaius knew that Merlin could probably hear them if he wanted to, but he seemed intent on the horses when Gaius turned to regard him before looking back at Arthur. Maybe Merlin was for once letting himself drown in the smell of blood instead of cutting himself off from it, something Gaius had always advised him against doing but the physician knew it was the only way Merlin would have been distracting himself so efficiently right now.

“He's worried,” Arthur’s voice was a silent rasp, and as Gaius turned to look down at the man he had also come to see as a son, he felt his heart clench when he took in the pale skin and deep, dark circles under Arthur’s still-closed eyes.

“He is your friend,” Gaius responded simply. “He has every reason to be,”

“He should probably leave,” Arthur muttered, and Gaius raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever for?” Gaius asked, shuffling to make himself more comfortable on the forest’s ground besides Arthur.

“Have him take word to Camelot. To Guinevere,” Arthur said, and Gaius sighed.

“You cannot send Merlin. I will go,” Gaius said quietly, turning his gaze towards Merlin.

“Gaius,” Arthur suddenly opened his eyes, looking wearier than his years as he turned to look at Merlin before turning back to Gaius. “He won’t be able to bear seeing me die, Gaius. I don’t want him to…” Arthur broke off, breathing deeply as he stared off into the distance, and Gaius felt his old heart pang for his boys. The bond between them was great, and yet their stubbornness was even more so.

“Arthur, even if anything were to happen to you, do you think he’ll just leave you?” Gaius asked, looking at Arthur until the king turned to meet the physician’s eyes. “He’ll always be with you, no matter what,” He paused for a moment. “And besides… He can do far more than me, far more than you can ever imagine. Arthur, he doesn't just have magic...there are those who say he's the greatest sorcerer ever to walk the earth,” Gaius ended, and Arthur gave a soft smile.

“He told me about that,” he said, remembering the day he and Merlin had had a long talk after Arthur found about Merlin being a vampire.

“I imagine you had a hard time believing it, sire?” Gaius asked, and Arthur didn’t reply. He didn’t have to - it was only after seeing Merlin throw off groups of men from the opposing army that he managed to get a glimpse of it.

But for all his powers, magic and vampire, Arthur had seen Merlin unable to do anything but watch in horror even as he was running forward when Arthur was stabbed, his speed only letting him be there to effortlessly break the murderer’s neck with a simple flick of his wrist as he fell on his knees, catching Arthur before he hit the ground.

“If you are to stand any chance of survival, you'll need Merlin to help you right now, sire,” Gaius said softly. They both look at Merlin feeding the horses from his hand, before Gaius starts to stand up and walk towards the warlock. He’s stroking the nose’s horse softly, looking for all the world as a mere human in this forest. A dejected looking human.  He doesn’t turn when Gaius comes to stand by him, but the stilling of his hand against the horse shows Merlin’s acknowledgement of Gaius’ presence.

“He has a fragment of sword embedded in his chest,” Gaius said, not bothering with beating around the bush.

Merlin stiffened, remaining silent for only a moment. “Then we'll use magic to draw to it out,” he said abruptly, turning around quickly, even as Gaius found himself shaking his head.

“No, the blade that struck Arthur is no ordinary blade. I fear it was forged in a dragon's breath. Its fatal power will not be easily denied,” Gaius said, watching as Merlin frowned in confusion.

“A dragon?” Merlin repeated in confusion.

Gaius sighed. “Remember when Kilgharrah had told you of Aithusa’ disappearance?”

Merlin nodded slowly. “She was captured by Sarrum-” Merlin suddenly cut himself off, staring at Gaius in shock.

“You’re not saying Sarrum had made Aithusa forge a sword for him?” he asked incredulously, but when Gaius stayed silent, Merlin’s shoulders slumped, despondent.

“The blade's point is travelling inexorably towards his heart,” Gaius continued to explain after a pause. “Not even you could hope to thwart such magic. It would take a power as ancient as the dragons themselves.”

“No,” Merlin shook his head, his eyes already roving around the forest as he mentally searched for an idea. “There must be something that we can do, Gaius.”

Gaius opened his mouth to mention a possible method, when Merlin suddenly looked back at Gaius, his eyes wide and hopeful.

“What if I turned him?” Merlin said, and Gaius blinked, taking a moment to comprehend. When he did, it was all the physician could do to not yell.

“You want to turn him into a vampire? Are you out of your mind?” Gaius exclaimed, but light of hope still didn’t diminish in Merlin’s eyes.

“No, really Gaius! It’s the only way - I could turn him, and then I could,” he suddenly paused, looking very unsure as if retracing his thoughts. But Gaius wasn’t as merciful, and finished that line of thought for Merlin to hear.

“You want to cut him open and take out that sword piece,” he stated dryly, watching Merlin visibly flinch, but he didn’t seem to back down.

“I know it sounds bad, Gaius, but if he’s a vampire then we won’t have to worry about him healing, he’ll heal naturally himself!”

Gaius’s eyebrow zoomed to his hairline.

“If it weren’t for the fact that a piece of silver metal forged in dragon’s breath is still harmful to a vampire as well, I’d ask what need you would have to take it out from him if he’s turned. As it is, there are already many flaws to this, starting with the fact that Arthur wouldn’t. Approve, to the fact that when - if you turn anyone - turning immortal is the one thing that isn’t instantaneous for a newly turned vampire. Which is also another flaw - have you not considered that you’ll be turning Arthur immortal?” Gaius exclaimed.

Merlin froze, his face turning pained. It was a moment before he spoke.

“I have to, Gaius. At least this way he’ll live, but if it’s any consolation, I will ask Arthur first,” and convince him no matter what, though Merlin didn’t say that. With a heavy sigh and a knowing look, Gaius nodded his consent. Light with the knowledge that Gaius at least grudgingly approves, Merlin made his way hesitantly to Arthur.

For a while, they stared at the fire, Merlin unable to speak just yet but Arthur merely waited patiently, not being the one to say anything first.

Eventually, Merlin spoke.

“There… is a way,” he said, not turning towards Arthur but feeling the weight of his king’s gaze on him anyway. When Arthur didn’t say anything, Merlin forced himself to continue.

“I could take the sword piece out from you, but you’d bleed out to death anyway, if the extensive pain doesn’t kill you first. However,” Merlin hesitated, and this time Arthur didn’t stay silent.

“However?” Arthur gently prompted.

Despite not needing it, Merlin took a deep breath to steel himself. “If I turned you, I could keep you alive with my magic long enough after I take out that sword piece from you for it to take effect,” he said in a rush.

He didn’t mention explicitly what he was talking about, but he didn’t need to. When he finally faced Arthur, dreading the look on Arthur’s face, he only saw clear comprehension of what Merlin was talking about, but nothing else. It pained Merlin, not only that it had to come down to this, for Arthur to face either death or immortality, living on even after his friends would die, but also that Arthur wasn’t saying anything right now either. Merlin wasn’t sure what to make of that.

When the silence became too heavy however, Merlin was forced to break the silence.

“Arthur?” He said hesitantly, and the king dragged his eyes back to Merlin from the distance.

“Do it.”

Merlin stared, not sure if had heard correctly, which he knew was impossible with his ears but unsure nonetheless.

“I-What?” He stared, but Arthur only looked back at him with his gaze steady.

“Turn me. There’s nothing that could go wrong if you’re using your magic as well, is there? And besides, you’re giving me a chance to live. What fool wouldn’t take the opportunity?” Arthur asked with a dry chuckle, wincing when the movement caused him pain.

“But… Arthur!” Merlin stared with wide eyes. “You-if I turn you,” he paused, lowering his eyes, and when he continued his voice was lowered. Funny, that for all he was ready to say anything for his king to accept, it was now himself who was hesitating and wanting Arthur to slow down and think of the consequences. “You’d become immortal.”

It was a while before Arthur spoke, and when he did, the sound of his voice made Merlin look up.

“And what’s wrong with that, hm? Yes, I know that I’d outlive everyone, Gwen, my knights, most likely my children and theirs… But I’d have you by my side Merlin. And that’s all that matters. Because even if I die now… then who will you have for eternity beside you?”

And that’s what did it. Looking up at his friend - no, brother - with unshed tears in his eyes, Merlin rushed forward and grabbed Arthur in a hug, mindful of his injury, and buried his head in Arthur’s shoulder, letting the tears fall.

They didn’t say anything, Arthur only bringing his hand up and resting it on Merlin’s side until at last Merlin pulled back, his eyes red rimmed but still holding on to Arthur. Behind him, Gaius started to approach them, having left them to their privacy all this time.

“If you’re ready… we can do it now,” Merlin said hesitantly. Arthur looked towards Gaius, and when the physician nodded, Arthur inhaled deeply, steeling himself for the pain he knew was to come.

“Do it.”

Merlin had bitten him first, right at the nerve on his neck, and Arthur’s blood rushed as he felt Merlin’s venom injected into him, rushing through his bloodstream. From there, he lost his awareness, only dimly registering Merlin incanting spell after spell, and then with his world bursting into white light, the sudden onslaught of pain in his side, feeling as if something was being dragged out of him, tearing his muscles and skin as it exited his body. The whole process, Arthur wasn’t sure how long it took, but to him the pain seemed to last on forever, before it ended just as abruptly it had started, this time his world going slowly black, Merlin’s soft voice disappearing from his senses.

Gaius had eventually gone to sleep, after spending around a couple of hours checking on Arthur’s vitals, before his face started morphing to confusion after a while when he realized he wasn’t able to feel Arthur’s pulse anymore, but not knowing if that was because he had been successfully turned into a vampire, or because he was truly dead.

Merlin, without anything else to do, and definitely being unable to sleep anytime soon, paced around their camp, his gaze flicking towards Arthur’s still unconscious form every now and then. He had been casting spells around their camp, preparing for when Arthur would wake, shielding the camp from sunlight by simply moving the tree’s branches and holding them in place for when the morning’s sun would rise, and blocking the area from any smells of blood. Merlin was also careful to cast a spell on Gaius so as to ensure Arthur would not be able to smell him when he awoke, and just in case anyway, he lured a small doe to their camp, feeling a little guilty even as he snapped the doe’s neck for a quicker death for the animal. And all the while, Merlin fed his magic into Arthur, ensuring the magic kept him from succumbing to death well before his vampire’s venom took over. And the irony of how that worked didn’t pass Merlin.

It was when the sun was starting to rise that Merlin felt it. A slight tug, a push before the return of the usual subconsciously welcomed embrace of Merlin’s magic that he had been feeding into Arthur. He stopped in his movements of stoking the embers of their fire, and grinned.

Arthur was awake.

Chapter Text

“Stop looking so panicked, Merlin,” Arthur grumbled after bearing through his servant’s incessant pacing for the past few minutes, which the pale man had started ever since he finished his story about him being magical. His tone lacked the usual joviality - especially after that long story, and to think there was more to come - it carried underneath the disgruntled tone, but only slightly, and it was that that made Merlin finally sit - albeit tensely - down at the table in Arthur’s chambers, across from said man himself.

They said nothing while Arthur refilled his goblet with wine by himself, and it was only after he took a sip did he speak.

“So, you’re a vampire as well then.”

That had already been established, several times in fact when Merlin was explaining about his time with magic, but Merlin went along with it anyway, nodding. He hadn’t elaborated much on his vampiric self, and he wondered if he should have done that earlier, so that it would have made sense beforehand to his previous conversation.

His gaze didn’t leave it’s spot from the table, but Arthur’s exaggerated sigh took care of that.

“For heaven’s sake will you look at me? It’s not like I’m going to order for the guards to drag you to the dungeons at any moment, I thought we’d already covered that?” Arthur exclaimed, and more out of shock than anything else, Merlin looked up.

“Thank you,” Arthur said a tad bit mockingly, once Merlin met his eyes. “Now,” And Arthur paused, his own eyes dropping to the table for a moment before he looked back up, and this time his tone was softer. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

Merlin glanced down, his hands fidgeting in his lap.

“Back in Ealdor, we don’t have much of anything to protect us from when the vampires come out at night as opposed to Camelot. Here, you train with swords made from silver, your armor is silver - which is why I try to get it polished or on you when I dress you as fast as possible - even the roads and castle walls are embedded with metal, some being silver. In Ealdor, however, weapons truly lined with silver were a rarity, something very few of us had. The only hope we had was to barricade ourselves within our home, using salt, garlic, even magical artifacts bought off from traders passing through the village, whatever we could use to help ourselves at any possible entrance. When night fell, it was like the village itself had died.” Merlin paused, sighing as he looked up, meeting Arthur’s eyes.

The prince looked thoughtful, listening intently with his hands crossed in front of him on the table, when he suddenly spoke.

“So, silver. It… weakens you?” Arthur asked. Merlin nodded.

“Yes, coming close to it makes me feel… heady in a way. To have to actively touch it for a prolonged period of time,” Merlin cringed. “While it’s not exactly… torturous, it isn’t a very pleasant feeling either. It’s as if,” Merlin paused, trying to find the right words to explain the feeling. “You’re being doused in cold water repeatedly, and then just being held there, and as you’re struggling to breathe, your skin gets all tight and you feel like you’re about to explode…” Merlin broke off suddenly, looking unsure as he took in Arthur’s pale face.

“...Arthur?”

The prince stared, before shaking his head. “Go on.”

Merlin looked back at the prince for a while, before deciding to move on.

“Well… As children, our parents didn’t let us know why we were doing what we did at night, only telling after we matured enough to learn how to protect ourselves properly. But Will and I, we hadn’t known back then. Probably my mother was going to tell us soon, but we didn’t find out that way.”

Merlin swallowed thickly, looking back down. “It was a dare, a stupid one really. Will basically wanted me to go and leave something - a rabbit’s foot if I remember clearly - in the forest, and when sun rose we’d both go and see that it was there to show that I did go,” Merlin sighed, shaking his head. “Like I said, it was stupid. I got attacked by a vampire, and I got bitten,” He heard Arthur inhale sharply, but he still didn’t look up.

“I was unconscious when my mother found me in the morning. She and Will dragged me back home. My mother… she had to chain me for days until Gaius came to help, feeding me her own blood,” Merlin looked away, his throat working as he remembered the memory, disgusted with himself now. If he hadn’t been chained, he would have drained his own mother from her blood.

“When Gaius finally came, he helped me learn how to use my magic to control my more potent vampire abilities, teaching me to hunt and satisfy my hunger from animal’s blood instead so I wouldn’t have to kill anyone. But I was still prone to letting into my vampire self, as I was newly bitten, not to mention people were already starting to give me weird looks. So I came with Gaius, and he taught me how to pass off as a human, how to depend on animal’s blood but also how to hold off my hunger so that I wouldn’t always wanting to be hunting. Else people would have wondered why I kept disappearing off to the forest every day, and there’s only so much herbs Gaius would need at a time,” Merlin gave a dry chuckle, thoroughly lacking any humor.

“Anyway, the first thing he taught me was how to make these potions by myself, using herbs and magic,” Merlin took out a vial from the pocket within his jacket, and staring at it with a wry smile, he gently handed it over to a curious Arthur, who looked at it, turning it over in his hands. The potion was a greenish black, but in the afternoon light it seemed to have golden flecks that glowed, a reflection of his magic. “It helps me walk out in the sunlight. If any of the other vampires came by this…” he shuddered, shaking his head. “But it helped me pass off as human, especially when I became your servant,” this time it was Arthur who let out a dry chuckle.

“I imagine you were thrilled to test out this potion’s potency,” he said as he handed the vial back, and Merlin carefully put it back in his pocket before he replied.

“Nah. I was too busy trying not to bite you,” at Arthur’s horrified look, Merlin winced. “Sorry, bad joke. I never was tempted to turn you.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows skeptically.

Clearing his throat, Merlin hastily spoke. “Anyway. You actually helped though. The only thing left was dealing with my natural sense of wanting to sleep away in the daylight, but what with having to serve you at that time, it wasn’t too long before I learned to sleep at night again.”

Merlin gave a small smile, leaning back in his chair as he felt a weight beginning to be lifted from his shoulders. Being able to finally let Arthur to know about himself, was more liberating that Merlin could have ever imagined in his dreams.

The look that Arthur gave him back was almost knowing, his eyes soft, but he still didn’t smile back.

“This morning… did you… you gave into your vampire.. self,” Arthur said. It was a statement, but his eyes were questioning.

Merlin sighed, leaning forward again but letting his hands rest on the table, mirroring Arthur’s position. As he did so, his eyes fell on the pitcher of wine and the spare goblet by it. Quick as a flash, he grabbed the pitcher and poured himself the wine. It was only when he was settling back in his chair and taking a gulp of the wine, wincing at the sour taste for anything that wasn’t blood was either bland or sour and that too at an extreme, that he noticed Arthur’s startled expression. That’s when he realized he had been moving faster than a normal human’s eye could follow, and that for Arthur, all he saw was a blur of movement until Merlin settled down with a goblet of wine.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t about his speed that Arthur commented on.

“Does it even… drinking wine? Does it inebriate you or… affect you in anyway?” Arthur asked.

Merlin scrunched up his face, pondering at the question.

“Well, it doesn’t fill me and it does taste sour, but that’s only because it has such a strong taste. As for inebriation… well let’s just say I can drink Gwaine under the table,” Merlin gave a mischievous glare, though he was only met with an unimpressed look.

“And I have yet to see that happen,” Arthur said blankly.

“Well, that’s because Gaius would rather prefer his ward to be away from the tavern,” Merlin said drily. “And yet every time I had to go off and save your royal backside from some magical mishap, Gaius tells you I’m at the tavern.

“Anyway,” Merlin moved on before Arthur could make a comment. “Like I mentioned, I hadn’t drank in a bit over a week. I was due for a feeding, but I couldn’t find any free time and at night as I was too worn out to hunt, and then you wanted to go hunting. Hunting, Arthur. I definitely wasn’t going to be able to control myself around even a drop of blood after not having eaten in so long.”

At this, Arthur looked pained.

“So… yeah. That’s why and how I lost control today,” Merlin trailed off, looking back to the table.
For a while, Merlin sat there in the uncomfortable silence, waiting for Arthur to speak before the prince eventually broke the silence by clearing his throat.

“Well. One thing is for sure. From now on, you are to make sure you feed yourself properly every week. I don’t want to find out that you’ve been missing on any meals,” Arthur paused, his tone softening when he continued. “I may not be my father Merlin, and for sure I will change things when I am king. But… whilst he is alive and well, you must be careful and not let anyone know of your true nature.”

Merlin looked up sharply, but Arthur hadn’t finished talking yet.

“Until then…” Arthur suddenly grinned, his smile smug and yet his eyes soft and concerned.
“I guess you might as well keep away from doing my armor. I’ll have George do it instead.”

It took him a while, but when he realized what Arthur was referring to, Merlin couldn’t help the flare of joy in his chest and grinned.
George may find himself with the task of having to polish the Prince’s armor from now on, something Merlin suspected the other servant would highly enjoy, but there was no way Merlin was letting anyone else put that armor on his King. Who else would make sure the enchantments Merlin put on it were safe and sound to protect the prat?

As Merlin started to get up, Arthur still seated, the prince asked his one last question.

“Is there anything else, Merlin? That you’d like to tell me,” Arthur paused. “I’d appreciate it if we didn’t hold any more secrets between us.”
Merlin pondered the question, and suddenly winced as he remembered that one last, teeny tiny detail.

“Uhm…” wondering how best to put this in words, and suddenly deciding it would be better to show him than say it, Merlin twirled around to show Arthur his back as he started to remove his coat and tunic.

“What on earth are you doi-” Arthur’s voice cut off as Merlin finally removed his tunic, letting it bundle to the ground as he focused on raising the smooth, dark grey wings behind his back, letting it unfurl from it’s position almost around his torso where they remained hidden under his tunic. After letting it unfurl completely, extending to its full length - almost the size of Merlin, if not longer, and really how he managed to hide it if anyone asked would need to be taught about the perks of having magic as well - and neatly avoiding the dining table, his wings raised up high almost as if Merlin was readying himself to jump and soar, the vampire turned around, his face sheepish.

“I know that you’ve seen bits and pieces of me,” Merlin said hesitantly, his eyes on the ground because he knew if he looked at Arthur now he wouldn’t be able to finish what he wanted to say. “And there’s a good chance you won’t ever see me in my complete form - I pray that no one ever has to really - but this is a really important piece of my vampire self, and it’s a bit obvious and you should obviously need to know about it since it’s a big, essential part of me and you wanted to know all about me so-” terribly aware that he was starting to ramble, Merlin cut himself off self consciously and slowly looked up to finally meet Arthur’s reaction.

For his part, the prince was still looking at Merlin’s dark wings held high above the vampire’s head, almost smooth looking but with a closer look Arthur found it to look almost… velvety, and he could just imagine it being soft to the touch. With the last of the sunset’s light and the fire from the fireplace, his wings, like the potion seemed to glimmer golden and red colors softly, shimmering and dancing in faded tones but the dark grey color outshone them nonetheless.

Arthur’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he got his voice to work.

“And you just remembered to tell me about this now?”

Chapter Text

He was about to faint.

Merlin wasn’t kidding, he was seriously close to fainting, and that was saying a lot since he was sure he had never fainted before in his life. Until he came to Camelot anyway.

And that brings him to his current situation. Being battered repeatedly by the crown prince’s sword - silver might he add - while he pathetically tried to protect himself with a shield, also made from silver. And while the heavy shield would normally be weighing next to nothing in his hands, all the silver that he was surrounded by was draining his energy faster than Merlin could enchant a spell. A spell no longer than a sentence.

What was with the people of Camelot and their uncanny use of mainly silver in their metallic weaponry and such?

“Honestly, Merlin!” The annoying sound of the prat’s voice brought Merlin back to the present, just as Arthur gave another particularly hard strike against the shield Merlin was holding up. “Even a girl could stand stronger than you!”

“Well then, maybe you should just have a girl to help you practice,” Merlin muttered, wincing against Arthur’s strikes.

“What’s that?” Arthur shouted, just before landing one last strike above the shield - and right on Merlin’s flimsy helmet.

Merlin crashed to the ground, blinking rapidly with wide eyes as he waited for the ringing in his ears to stop. It was only when it had lessened to a bearable level did Merlin notice that Arthur was crouching in front of him, looking concerned as he said something. It took another moment for Merlin to be able to hear again.

“-you ok? Merlin, are you okay!” Arthur’s voice wasn’t raised, but his tone made up for it, sounding firm as well as worried at the same time somehow.

Instead of replying to the question, Merlin chose to glare at Arthur instead.

“I said, maybe you should let Morgana teach you to fight if you can’t even beat a girl!”

Arthur huffed, standing up again and starting to walk away, the prat not even helping Merlin up. So Merlin let himself sit there for a while, trying to get his breath back but still feeling queasy with the armor still on. He heard Arthur mutter, and though he suspected Arthur didn’t mean for him to hear his words, the vampire heard it perfectly anyway.

“Says a girl himself, idiot.”

If Merlin hadn’t heard the concern not even bothered to be hidden in Arthur’s voice this time, he would have scowled fiercely. As it was, he couldn’t help himself, and when the Prince suddenly slipped on a patch of mud that had appeared out of nowhere, Merlin laughed along loudly with the other knights - however much their laughs were more hesitant.

Chapter Text

They were stuck in the forest, with bandits, a lot , of bandits surrounding them, drawing closer. And Arthur was alone, with Merlin pressed against his back, their particular position letting Arthur feel Merlin’s wings pressing against the prince’s armor.

Perhaps it was this that helped ground Arthur, but only initially. Merlin may have been a vampire, and a warlock, but Arthur wasn’t sure how that could help against this many bandits, even aided by his own skills as a warrior. Really, there were so many bandits coming down the hill, he dimly wondered why even the bandits thought there would be this many men required to take down only two. Either his skills as a fighter was really known throughout the lands, or this particular group was stupid. Arthur hoped it was the latter, because hopefully then it would be easier to take them down.

Nonetheless, his heart was beating hard with a strange sense of foreboding in his gut, and he couldn’t help but get Merlin’s attention, quietly so it wouldn’t make the bandits attack, not just yet.

“Merlin,” at the warlock’s huff of breath behind him showing that he heard Arthur, the blonde continued.

“If we don’t get out of this alive-” But Merlin cut him off with a small dry laugh.

“Oh no, I’m not letting you die on me now, after all I’ve gone through to get you this far,” he heard Merlin scoff, and Arthur couldn’t help his own grin. And then out of the corner of his eye he saw the first wave of bandits on Merlin’s side flying backwards and hitting the trees solidly as Merlin used his magic, and the rest of the bandits surged forwards, yelling out as they approached.

Arthur was soon wrapped up in the blur of fighting, dodging one parry and countering it with one of his own that struck true the next second. He let himself ease into the familiar motions, the sounds of metal clanging not blocking his sense of who was approaching from where, and every now and then he would let his eyes fall on Merlin, to see him faring well on his own.

Eyes and ears working at their peak, it was his ears that picked up the sound of an something whooshing through the air at high speed. His eyes never saw it, because the next second, an arrow landed right into his back.

“Arthur!” He heard Merlin’s scream, but he was too preoccupied with hearing himself grunt at the sudden pain, too busy seeing the bandit standing in front of him grinning in triumph. And after that, all his senses attacked came to see and hear one event underfold.

With a roar of fury, Merlin let his wings open to its full extent, the sound of his tunic and coat ripping at the back going unheard over the sound of Merlin’s wings flapping furiously, drawing Merlin up. Form straight as the arrow that struck Arthur, he flew at full speed to the bandit about to deliver his final, fatal blow to Arthur, and reached out to the bandit. Seconds had barely passed when the man had found himself in Merlin’s strong grip, several feet high up in the air, and the two remained there for a few tantalizing seconds, the bandit paralyzed at the sudden turn of events and body unsure as to how to react.

Everything was silent.

And then Merlin snapped the bandit’s neck, and let him fall with a heavy thud to the ground.

A minute had barely passed, the dead body had just hit the ground, and Merlin suddenly flew towards the trees, and a few seconds later, the sound of another body hitting the floor reverberated through the clearing.

Arthur finally let his eyes close, somehow still remaining upright on his knees, and let his head hang, not even flinching when the sound of wings flapping came closer towards him, followed by the soft thud of Merlin’s feet touching the ground.

“I leave you alone for a few mere seconds,” Merlin whispered into Arthur’s ear, the concern evident in his voice as he reached out to let his wounded friend fall into his steady hold. It wasn't his ears, or Arthur’s eyes, that dimly registered the vampire’s wings coming around to envelope the Pendragon.

Arthur grunted. Later, he would blame it on the blood loss for what he said next.

“Now will you take me flying with you? Without the neck snapping bit, that is. Or the dropping.”

It was against his head, that he felt Merlin’s chest expand in a surprised huff of laughter.

“Anything for my king.”

And there wasn’t even a hint of sarcasm in Merlin’s voice then that Arthur could hear.

Chapter Text

“I really don’t see why I still have to be your servant. It’s the 21st century, for Goddess’s sake, Arthur!” Merlin grumbled. Arthur, for his part, didn’t even bother to hide the smirk that broke out on his face, as he signed another paper.

“You’re not my servant, Mer lin. You’re my personal assistant . There is a difference, you realize?” Arthur replied calmly, not even bothering to look up as he pushed away the sheets of paper he finally finished signing. Turning on his Mac, he leaned back in his office chair, interlacing his fingers together while resting his arms on the chair’s arm rests, finally looking up to regard his harried friend.

“Sure. If by difference you mean an extra word, then yes, Arthur. There is a difference. But is there a difference in anything apart from the job name? No!” Merlin exclaimed, setting down a cup of ‘coffee’ with a pointed glare. Arthur winced as the dark liquid sloshed against the edges of the cups, a few drops spraying onto the glass desk. At least Merlin had remembered the coaster this time.

“You don't have to do my bed anymore,” Arthur pointed out, his tone helpful but his face teasing, as he took a napkin and swiftly wiped away the droplets.

Merlin opened his mouth as if to counter the statement, before shutting his mouth, then opened it again.

“Well I don't. But you have someone else to do it for you, along with cleaning your entire house,” he said.

Arthur raised an eyebrow as he leaned back, this time with the mug in his hands. “Isn't that the point?” He asked, pausing to take a sip of his ‘coffee’. Caffeinated blood, more like. Still did the job, just as well, if not better though. “As my personal assistant, you don’t do my bed. Had you been my servant, I'd have been paying you monthly instead of the cleaning services,” Arthur said, speaking slowly as if talking to a child.

Catching onto his own blunder, Merlin finally just decided to blind Arthur - thankfully, not literally - with one of his cheeky grins before swooping up the papers Arthur had finished signing a moment ago into one arm.

“Will you be wanting me to fax a copy of this to Morg- Katie , then, Arthur?” Arthur nodded, too busy taking a longer gulp of his drink to give a verbal reply. He didn’t say anything of the darker haired man’s blunder, though. The duo were still trying to recover from the initial shock of seeing an exact look alike of Morgana - minus the medieval clothing - walking into Dragon’s Inc. (owned by none other than Arthur, of course) who, for all intents and purposes, acted exactly as Arthur’s half sister would. Before she went all hell intent on murdering everyone, that is.

Instead, with the same fierceness that was so akin to his sister that Arthur felt a pang in his chest just thinking about it, Katie had her mindset on making sure her goals were accomplished. And this time, it was to further expand and ensure her own company, Serpents Corp. survival, success and high profiting. By starting a partnership with Arthur’s business.

So when Katie had sat down in one of Arthur’s meeting rooms, her own PA, whom Katie referred to as ‘Angeline, but Angel for short’ - and both Merlin and Arthur had to keep biting their tongues to avoid calling either of the women by the wrong names. With the sharpness of their teeth in particular, by the end of the day, there tongues were definitely sore and bleeding - standing behind her, Arthur and Merlin felt a strange sort of deja vu, barely registering Katie’s words as she laid out her plans, terms and conditions for a partnership.

And the way she spoke, the way she behaved, Arthur couldn't believe that it wasn't his sister that sat in front of him, with her back casually slouched, and yet alert and poised at the same time, with her relaxed tone but her sharp, assessing gaze. He wasn't sure if her had trouble believing or not that this was no longer the woman hell bent on ruining his life and legacy. Well, he highly doubted the former, but the latter he had at that moment yet to see. But it was so far clear that neither women had any recollections of who Arthur was before he started donning tuxes or jeans. But then again, perhaps Katie did, but Morgana had been an excellent actress, even in her time.

But now, with the official documents signed, Arthur was ready to start a shared partnership with the person who looked and behaved like his sister, with the hopes that he could one day form a relationship like that once again. But this time, avoid going wrong wherever it was like he did then, and try not to let her kill him.

Though he doubted that no matter what, she'd be anywhere close to being able to get rid of him this time around, what with being a vampire and all. He wondered if she still had her magic, though she probably couldn't be anywhere near a match for Merlin, who after all these centuries, had so much time to practice his magic that Arthur was sure the warlock could not completely wipe away the planet’s existence with just a thought, should he wish to.

On the other hand, there was also the woman who was once his wife…

“-Not listening to me are you? Fine. I have a daughter. And she's an adult. And she plans on making her wicked way with you,” Arthur blinked, his thoughts returning to the present and refocusing his gaze on Merlin from over the top of his mug - his now empty mug, he noted sadly. It was such a good cuppa too, and - he took a sniff - O blood group. His favorite.

“You're going to have to pardon me for not being interested with someone centuries younger than me, Merlin.”

The warlock blinked, and Arthur was sure that had it been possible, he would have blushed as well.

“Oh of course now you pay attention. Anyway, I was saying-”

“You don't really have a daughter though, do you?” Arthur couldn't help himself, as he asked. He didn't regret it though, not after seeing the myriad of emotions tumbling through Merlin’s face, from confusion to shock to embarrassment, and all the others in between.

“No! Goddess, no! I was just seeing if you were paying attention, like I said. Anyway,” he repeated, clearing his throat. “After I fax these, we’re to have a board meeting with your branch managers today at eleven AM, but before that you told me to remind you to send an email to Mr. Gallifrey about finally deciding on who you’ve wanted to appoint as the executive assistant, which you shall be informing everyone today at the one PM meeting, consisting of the Vice Presidents-” Arthur tuned out the rest of Merlin’s words. He had already memorized his schedule for today, but his attention was lost the moment Merlin mentioned the email. Right. He planned to get to that one immediately.

As soon as Merlin brought him another one of those special coffees.

Arthur sighed, swirling around his ‘pomegranate juice’ in its cup, staring with vague wonder at the tiny, almost minuscule bubbles that didn't escape his enhanced eyesight when they formed if he gently sloshed the juice against the sides of his cup - much more carefully than Merlin had been with his coffee that morning, especially as he was holding his cup near his meeting’s papers - as opposed to the slight downward incline resembling the beginnings of a tornado if he swirled his cup.

“They're all here Arthur,” Merlin muttered from his side, not even bothering to lower himself to Arthur’s ears, knowing that the fellow vampire would be able to hear him anyway.

Taking that as his cue, Arthur straightened his tie, standing up to regard all the men and women who entered. Apart from Katie and Angel, the former who was present for the meeting and sitting at the opposite end of the table with the latter standing behind her, there weren’t any other faces that had come back from their last, so the faces who looked back at him in this room were of those he had accumulated over his time in building his career as of this century so far. In a few years though, despite all of Merlin’s sleights to make it look as if the two Camelotians were aging, there would either come a time when Arthur’s ‘son’ would take over the career, or when Arthur handed his company to someone else and let himself start anew, with Merlin always loyally by his side.

Of course, the two had had their skirmishes and would temporarily separate over the times, but they had always gotten back together by the end, not necessarily as King and his servant, or even warlock, but more as Arthur Pendragon, and his friend , Merlin.  

“Alright. Good afternoon,” there was a small murmur as everyone returned his greeting, before he continued.

“I’d like to keep this meeting short, as I'm aware you've all most likely just come from lunch and are probably getting ready to fall asleep from full stomachs,” there were a few abashed grins that passed around, while Katie rolled her eyes. “We’ll start with this,” Arthur opened his file and took out a printed copy of his conversation with Mr. Gallifrey, along with another document. “As most of you should know, for as long as Dragons Inc. has been in business, we have yet to fill the executive assistant’s post, and I have come to a decision as to who should be appointed for that role,” he waited for a moment, watching as a couple of faces had turned into barely concealed greed for the role, making a mental note as to enquire those people’s positions in his company, before turning around to face Merlin.

“Congratulations, Col in. You've been promoted.”

He couldn't help but grin, watching Merlin just blink for a moment, doing a double take as he re-processed Arthur’s words. Without waiting much for a reply, he turned back to the Vice Presidents and Katie, watching in amusement as those who had looked greedy now either looked angry, a few people looked a bit crestfallen, but majority of the group seemed to be nodding in approval of Arthur’s choice.

Katie, just regarded Merlin with a cool gaze, as if to re-assess whatever she had thought of him earlier.

“Moving on…”

“You've made me executive assistant,” Merlin deadpanned, the moment Arthur’s office door shut behind him.

Arthur sat back in his chair, looked up at Merlin.

“Yes,” he answered simply.

Merlin didn't say anything, just raising his eyebrows as he looked at Arthur hopelessly, gesturing him to elaborate.

Arthur sighed, giving in. “Frankly, you've been complaining about being a personal assistant so much, I thought that this should help shut you up.”

Merlin stared at him as if Arthur had suddenly gone and gotten himself enchanted. Actually, he had a feeling that Merlin was going to want to check him to make sure that he wasn't under a spell, later.

“But executive assistant? Seriously, Arthur? Do you know how much more of a workload you've just assigned for me?”

Arthur burst out laughing.

“Oh, and you'll be getting your own office too!” He managed to say, before another wave of laughter overcame him.