Work Text:
He knew. He had known all along. That was just the thing. Merlin couldn’t figure out just when Arthur had found out. Arthur was just glad Merlin had finally picked up on his hints, ALL his hints.
Arthur had connected the dots after he saved Merlin from dying of poison. That ball of light had felt so familiar, like a protector. He had trusted it to lead him from the cave, and it had saved his life. Just like his servant had saved his life before, and many times to come.
At first Arthur couldn’t believe it, Merlin? A warlock? Preposterous! But where ever Merlin went a strange brand of luck followed. Too strange to be just luck. Then he had been angry. Why had Merlin lied to him? Why hadn’t he told him? Arthur had begun to think of them as friends. Then it dawned on him, Merlin couldn’t tell him. Arthur’s reaction could mean a fiery, if not extremely unpleasant death. After all, Arthur had been loyal to his father’s “Magic is EVIL! Must Destroy! BLARG!” policy. Merlin himself had witnessed the fate of the many people accused of magic. Gwen for suspected magic, her father for helping a known sorcerer, and that Druid boy, to name a few.
The last person Merlin would tell was Arthur! But Arthur already knew. What would he do about it? As far as he could tell, all Merlin ever used his powers for was to save lives! Arthur’s in particular. How could he be evil? With his goofy grin and big ears. He wasn’t remotely threating, if anything he was slightly adorable… Wait… never mind.
Well, he didn’t have an evil laugh, or a beard, or and evil bone in his body. He was even opposed to the idea of hurting fluffy animals for sport. Arthur swore he was clumsy on hunts JUST so the cute ones would get away.
So. Would he tell Uther? It was his duty. After all ANY form of magic was to be reported so it could be destroyed for the kingdom to be “SAFE”. But that would be a death sentence for Merlin. Nothing could stop Uther from burning him at the stake, nothing but Uther’s ignorance of the fact. If Arthur told his father, he would killing Merlin.
He would be killing Merlin. He couldn’t, He wouldn’t. Not Merlin. Of all the unjust punishments that Uther had given over the years, sentencing Merlin would be the worst. No one deserved protection from the king’s vendetta more than Merlin.
So Arthur wouldn’t tell him. He wouldn’t tell anyone. Not even Merlin. He would protect Merlin’s secret. He wouldn’t let him die because of Uther’s phobia. But now that he knew, it made it much harder not to see Merlin’s magic. How could he have been so naïve when Merlin used it so carelessly. He really was a useless fod! It was a wonder he hadn’t been found out already, the way he used it. Honestly, the whole town must know. It had been hard for Merlin, Gaius, Arthur, and an assortment of other ‘anonymous’ helpers to keep his magic secret from the king.
But they had done it. Now Arthur was king, and his father was much easier to handle. The battle for the kingdom had changed him. All the anger and sadness that had powered his extermination of all things magical was gone now. He still didn’t like it, but he had no way of squashing it when he saw it. Mind you, he still put up a fuss when he found out, and even more of a fuss when Arthur told him what the warlock truly meant to him. But in the end he found he could be happy for his son, after a long, long talk with Gaius, and a couple of drinks.
It had taken even longer for Merlin to realize what all of Arthur’s hints meant. In fact, Arthur had just got fed up with him. He decided to just pin Merlin to a wall and kiss him till his lips turned blue. That got the point across. He could really be dense about some things. Finally all was well with the world. Camelot was strong as ever, and the two were FINALLY together, magic and all.
There was just one problem. After a lifetime of secrecy, Merlin couldn’t help hiding his magic. It got to the point where Arthur had to give him a firm talking too. “Why do you still insist on hiding your magic? It’s perfectly safe now! Don’t you want to be recognized for all the good you do?”
“Of course I do!” He replied, he had been asking himself these same questions for months. “It’s just… I don’t want anyone to… Oh never mind.” Merlin turned away with a sigh, and Arthur said what he couldn’t.
“You don’t want anyone to treat you differently. You don’t want anyone to be afraid.” Arthur rubbed at his eyes. He could see Merlin’s point, after all the years his father had spoken of ‘the true evils of magic’, it would make sense that at least a few people would see Merlin’s magic that way. “Merlin, No one could possibly be afraid of you. You’re too daft to be of any real danger.”
“Don’t you see?! It wouldn’t be me they see any more! They would only think of me as ‘the warlock’! I would never just be Merlin again, I would never just be me!” Arthur couldn’t resist the tears growing in Merlin’s eyes. There had to be something he could do to make Merlin see that everyone loved Merlin for who he was, magic and all.
Then it came to him. It would take a lot of work, but he had an entire country to help him. Merlin was in for a BIG surprise.
Merlin was putting the finishing touches on the ceremonial armor he had been cleaning for Arthur. He had been ordered to get it done by the upcoming feast, and Arthur insisted it be done by hand. This newest feast was a mystery to him, as there were no visiting dignitaries, and any holidays were a long way off. He supposed Arthur had ordered the feast just to have an excuse to make Merlin polish his armor. And everyone else had been acting odd to, there was entirely too much smiling, and every time he saw Gwen she would giggle at him! What was so funny about having to polish Arthur’s stinking armor, TWICE! Even Uther was treating him nicer than usual. Something had to be up.
“There you are Merlin, you’re late!” Arthur swooped in and dragged Merlin away from the gleaming armor. Then proceeded to kidnap him all the way to the castle roof. That’s when Merlin got suspicious.
Dotted about on the roof were large piles of unlit fireworks. They were barely distinguishable from all the other debris on the roof (mainly birds’ nests), as the sun had just finished setting. A gentle hush had settled over the city as almost every citizen of Camelot sat outside watching the stars peak into the sky.
“What’s all this then?” Merlin eyed Arthur with thinly veiled impatience, Arthur was plotting something, and there was no way to convince him it wasn’t a terrible idea.
Arthur smiled in that dazzling way of his and gestured at the sky “This is for you. You’re going to show all of Camelot how amazing and beautiful your magic is!”
Merlin caught on quickly, “Oh no. No way. I am not mucking about with sparklers just so you can prove how cool you and your pocket magician are!”
“That’s not what it’s about at all” Arthur’s face fell, “I wanted you to know that everyone appreciates you for who you are magic and all. This celebration is for you, you nitwit. Because to me you are a firework, even brighter than the moon, you just need to let yourself shine!”
He didn’t really know how to respond to that, he was used to Arthur making grand gestures, but never for him and him alone. Arthur huffed and snagged Merlin’s fingers, tugging him into a gentle embrace, “you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but I’m sure it would be spectacular if you did.”
A smile curled up the warlock’s face, he had always wanted to let his magic stretch as far as it could, and Arthur had given him the perfect opportunity. He lifted his free hand as his eyes flashed more golden than the sunset, Arthur gasped as the first few rockets whizzed up into the sky.
What followed was arguably the most beautiful display of magic and fire ever to have graced the skies of Albion. Every color fire could burn painted the sky swirling in impossible patterns, transforming into amazing creatures, and even more daring knights, dazzling every eye in the crowd.
When it was over Merlin sagged content in Arthur’s arms, both exhilarated and exhausted by his display. “See,” Arthur whispered into his hair “you show them what your worth and they can only swoon in amazement.” This elicited a giggle from both of them as the cheering from the city grew in intensity. Not a single person in Camelot had missed the show and all who saw it had reveled in its beauty.
“If you think this means I’m going to start using magic to do all your chores you are sorely mistaken.”
“As if I ever have chores!” He retorted, laughing the couple went back inside to enjoy the feast and their lives together, now and forever.