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It was strange. He was proud of all of his friends who were now being knighted in a time of need, and he was honestly pleased for them. Merlin sighed as they finished with Gwaine. It wasn’t like he was feeling left out. Well, perhaps he was a bit. He wanted recognition, just a tad, for what he has been doing for Arthur. He probably wasn’t built for being a knight, anyway. And a court sorcerer would be his dream, but that was definitely out of the question.
He clapped along with everyone else once the ceremony was over.
“It should be you there, Merlin.” Guias stated, in a whisper.
Merlin shook his head and chuckled lightly.
“I don’t deserve it, and besides, I’d have to put up with Gwaine everyday…” he replied, a little louder than he meant to. “It’s fine, Gaius, he wouldn’t—”
“Merlin.”
He gulped.
Looking up, the new knights were staring at him, with a look he couldn’t quite decipher. What were they planning? He finally looked at Arthur. He took a step back at the way Arthur was staring at him too.
“What?”
“Come here,” Arthur practically ordered.
“No, I’m okay over here,” Merlin replied before catching Gwen’s eyes.He hesitantly stepped forward to where the other knights were.
He glanced back at Gaius. The other man had a knowing look in his eyes and smiled reassuringly at him. It did not reassure him one bit. They didn’t have time for this. They needed to start planning the next phase of their mission. He was quiet for a long moment. Gaius gently pushed him forward again.
As he walked to Arthur, Lancelot patted him on the shoulder supportively. “You’ve got this, Merlin” he whispered.
Gwaine grinned and winked at him, which made him all the more nervous. Percival nodded. And when he finally got to Arthur, his heart skipped a beat. Looking at him properly in this light, surrounded by all of his friends in a time of need, just made him even more attractive than usual. It killed him that nothing could ever happen between them. It helped that he knew Arthur wouldn’t feel the same way. It meant that his feelings could be squashed and ignored. Most of the time.
“Merlin, you know why I’ve called you here—”
“I have no idea—”
“Shut it,” Arthur said fondly, not giving Merlin a chance to speak again as he continued, “I will never find another annoying, reliable, loyal servant like you again…”
“You don’t need to, I’m right here–”
“Merlin,” he said softly. “I’m being serious. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count. You’re always by my side and I just want to do something that no one has ever done before. I haven’t done this before, because I didn’t want to—uh, see you get hurt, or even killed. Only, now I need to see you’re recognised as well. I know that somehow, you’ll be able to hold your own. So, if you could kneel,”
Merlin gaped as he did as he was told, for once. He bowed his head, and tried to calm his heartbeat. There was a lot to take from that but there wasn’t time. He knew he was blushing a bit. Luckily, no one could see that at the moment.
“Arise, Sir Merlin, Knight of Camelot.”
The applause and cheers were deafening. A new era was about to begin. He swallowed heavily as he and Arthur shook hands. Merlin took note of how strong the hold was, but how much care was in the handshake. Arthur’s hand lingered for longer than it should have and it made Merlin have hope for the future.
Hope that anything could happen.