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Merlin felt like she was about to collapse as soon as she entered her bedchambers in the evening after a fifth day of not only having to do her duties as the Queen of Camelot but her husbands as well as he was away from Camelot.
When the yearly week-long hunting trip came around, neither of them were happy about it. Arthur didn’t want to spend a whole week away from Merlin, they had only been wed two months earlier. Merlin had actually been the one to ensure that he went on the trip, saying it wouldn’t be the same without the King but honestly, she would have much rather have him stay with her, not only because she wanted to be with the majority of the time but also because she was very new at being a royal. She had a lot of responsibilities now that came with the title of Queen of Camelot and with Arthur gone, she had even more.
She still had her friends, some of the knights that hadn’t gone on the hunt, Gaius and the rest of the council who were more than happy to help her but it only took a small amount of the load off of her, there was a hell of a lot to do for the King and the Queen.
When she had first become Queen, she had refused to have a handmaiden or any kind of servant and requested that Arthur do the same, but after he had whined and complained, she had let up and he now had a manservant. As his wife, she could help him dress, bathe and feed him, not that the man needed any help, he was just too often too much of a clotpole to do things for himself. The manservant would only be helping him out with chores that the King couldn’t do or needed help with if he was too busy.
Merlin undressed herself, throwing the day’s dress and other articles of clothing into the wash basket with the rest of her dirty clothes. She would have to take them down to the kitchens soon, where the maids would clean them along with the rest of the castle’s laundry. Although Merlin didn’t do her own laundry, she still liked to try and do her bit.
She got herself dressed into her nightdress and climbed into the large bed that felt even bigger now that she was sleeping alone. When she slept alone her mind tended to wander, which most times wasn’t a problem, but right now, it was painful. All she could think about was Arthur.
She remembered when she was eighteen years old, stepping foot into Camelot for the first time. She had met the prat Prince Arthur and he had her thrown into the stocks, not long after she became his maidservant, her “reward” for saving the man’s life, as decree by the King. As the years went by and especially right now, she was very, very glad the King had done what he did.
Over the years of her being his maidservant, the two had been closer, their first kiss shared in just the first year that they had known each other. She was still his maidservant at the time, but their feelings were obvious to each other but there was only so much that the two could do without their love being exposed, if it was ever found out by any of the kingdom and especially by Uther…Merlin could expect her life to be ended very shortly.
They’d managed to keep their relationship a secret whilst advancing it, somewhat too far that they should have but they were young, very much in love and didn’t want to be parted. Uther had eventually caught the two together but it hadn’t broken them apart, it had taken them a long time to gain Uther’s trust back and Merlin was very lucky to still have her head.
Five years passed by quickly and Uther’s hatred of magic had caused his death, a sorcerer ending his life as retaliation for the family members of his Uther had had killed. His time as King of Camelot had come to an end and now it was time for Arthut to take over. Despite the sadness of losing his father, he was happy that he could finally marry his true love.
They had gotten married shortly after and then two months later, here they were, a young married couple. Merlin twenty-three and Arthur twenty-six. There had been talk of children before they married, it wasn’t something that they were rushing to, if Merlin became pregnant, then she became pregnant and they would become parents, but for now, it was only something in the back of their minds.
The thought of little versions of her and Arthur running around the castle did make her very happy. Maybe she and Arthur would need to have a more serious talk about having children soon. She was sure that Arthur would be on the same page as her, there was always the small chance that he had changed his mind, unlikely, but she needed to check. She knew that she wanted more than one child.
Both she and Arthur had ben only children, they had people who had been close to them, Morgana for Arthur and Will for Merlin, but no siblings. She wanted her children to grow up with siblings, not even sure she wanted to stop at two children. She knew that childbirth could be dangerous but she had plenty of people around her to help, the best medicine and practitioners and they were not in the same position as Uther and Igraine when they’d had Arthur and Igraine had passed away.
Merlin’s thoughts drifted to Arthur and what he might have looked like when he was younger. She imagined him with pale blonde hair, she knew a few blondes back in Ealdor who had very pale blonde hair when they were younger, which darkened as they got older, some even turning brown.
She also thought that he probably would have been a chubby child, which had changed into muscles as he had reached puberty and was forced into training by his father. Yeah, young Arthur could have been cute, chubby and very blonde.
A knock at her door startled out of her thoughts, opening her eyes to a darker room. It was much darker outside than it had been when Merlin had entered her chambers for the night.
“Enter,” Merlin called out and a knight, who she recognised but could not for the life of her remember his name, entered the room with a piece of rolled up paper in his left hand.
“Your majesty, a letter has arrived from the King,” he said, staying by the door.
“Really?” Merlin said, excitedly as she jumped off the bed and ran over to the knight. He passed the paper to the Queen, giving her a quick bow before leaving the room, his face slightly red from seeing the Queen in just her nightdress.
Dearest Merlin,
The last few days have been nothing but a bore without you by my side. Sometimes I miss when you were my servant and could have to accompany me on my hunts, but nothing pleases me more than knowing that you are my wife and I get to wake up beside you almost everyday. I am counting down the days until I return to Camelot and to you. I hope you are prepared for when I arrive back on Sunday night.
Forever yours,
Arthur
Arthur sounded like such a sap when he wrote her letters, Merlin thought as she grinned. A blush did spread across her face when she read the last line of the letter, one week without her husband also meant a week without any kind of sex. She had relieved herself a couple of times but that wasn't as satisfying now that she knew what sex was like, what sex with Arthur was like.
It wouldn’t be too long until she would finally be with her other half again. The thought made her very, very happy and she fell into a peaceful slumber that night, for the first time since Arthur had left Camelot.