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Merlin's soft lips pressed against Arthur's as he kissed him enthusiastically. One hand propped himself up over Arthur on the bed with a strength Arthur had never expected from him, but probably should have. Arthur closed his eyes, moving one hand to Merlin's curly hair and kissing down his neck and chest, mouth brushing against sparse black chest hair before moving back up until their lips met again.
Perfection. Kissing Merlin was perfection. Warm, sweet perfection. Better than winning a tournament in its own way. Better than anything. Why had he waited so long?
He moved a hand to Merlin's back and flipped them so Merlin was under him now, adoring the little "oof" sound Merlin made in response to his actions.
"Squishing me," Merlin complained.
"Am not," Arthur made sure he was not in fact squishing Merlin, then captured his lips yet again.
Merlin pushed him back, both hands against his chest, "Yes, you are, you clotpole." His eyes flashed gold, and suddenly Arthur found himself under Merlin again. "Cheating," he complained breathlessly, and then gasped as Merlin's lips traveled down his chest.
"Not cheating. Magic," Merlin breathlessly told him and went lower still.
And that was all it took. Arthur lost himself in a haze of desire and acted on it. They pleasured each other until they both lay sweaty and panting, arms around each other in the dark of the night.
"We need to do this more often." Arthur grinned up at the ceiling of his rooms
"More often than every other night?" Merlin asked. "Well, if you work on the decree legalizing magic during the day, I suppose I could agree to every night. We'll be caught eventually, but that was going to happen anyway, and you're the king, so I think you can get away with that." He was grinning as well.
"I already work on it during the day when I can. It's just that I cannot work on it exclusively and ignore everything else."
Being king made one remarkably busy. Merlin was more than aware of this. But Arthur was throwing everything into the work. "I'll be ready to show the council soon," Arthur added. He knew how much legalizing magic that caused no harm would mean to Merlin.
"I suppose in that case I can agree to every night," Merlin told him, still grinning. "I'm spoiling you. You're going to be a spoiled king."
"You want it just as much as I do," Arthur retorted argumentatively. "Stop trying to pretend that you don't."
Merlin laughed, "Alright, alright!"
They fell asleep like that in each other's arms. Arthur could not have said what woke him again in the middle of the night, but as he watched the sleeping Merlin breathe in and out, and look so innocent, he was suddenly struck by the need to ask something.
"Merlin," he shook his sleeping warlock. "Merlin."
Merlin groaned and opened his eyes, apparently used to nighttime disturbances.
"When you confessed, you said you used your magic mostly for good. I need to hear about the parts that weren't good. I need to know. He hadn't processed back then what mostly for good meant, but now, in the dark of the night, as shadows crept across the room, the knowledge that Merlin's magic had not all been for good started to eat at him.
For a long moment, Merlin was silent. Arthur could just make out his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed in the darkness.
"I… I was the one who freed the great dragon."
Roaring filled Arthur's ears. How could Merlin have been so stupid!
"I knew he might attack, but I thought… I thought I could stop him before he hurt anybody… He made me promise on my mother's life to help him." Merlin continued.
That explained it at least. It had still been stupid, but Arthur couldn't really blame…
"I poisoned Morgana to stop the Knights of Medir. She was the one making everyone asleep… the dragon told me… I never told her about my magic. Perhaps if I had…"
More roaring in his ears. They would never know then if that's what had been the final straw for Morgana. Merlin must have thought he didn't have a choice, but still…
"Morgause… When she told you about your mother, it was true. Well, I think it was. I don't think your father knew it would kill your mother, but he must have known someone would die. You were born of magic."
And the roaring overpowered everything else.
Arthur stumbled out of bed, throwing on a shirt and pants
"Arthur? Arthur…" Merlin pleaded from behind him.
"I need to think," Arthur told him and stumbled out of his bedroom.
A few hallways later, with his hand pressed against the cold stone of the castle walls, it finally occurred to Arthur that he hadn't really given Merlin much choice but to lie. It still hurt that Merlin had lied, but he had done it to stop Arthur from killing his father; that was partly on Arthur, too. No sooner had he thought of this than something hit his head, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
He came to with a moan. Arthur opened his eyes and blinked furiously as what was above him slowly came into focus. What looked like giant bones criss-crossed with a stone ceiling a ways above them. He pushed himself to a sitting position, ignoring how his head ached, and found more of the crossing bones around him. He was in a cage made of bones and surrounded on the walls by various instruments of torture. Not the best thing to wake up to.
"You're awake," he heard his own voice say, only his lips were not moving. Arthur turned toward the voice, temporarily disregarding the mysterious cage, and found himself. Or rather, someone who had taken his form.
"I wanted you to be awake, Arthur Pendragon. You're in a dragon-bone cage, one of the ones in a hidden room your father saved for the most dangerous sorcerers, the ones that could actually affect regular metal."
Arthur took a deep breath. He would not give this second self the satisfaction of seeing him upset or scared. "So you've captured me. Who are you, and what do you want with my image?"
A cruel smile, Arthur hoped, would never be seen on his actual face.
"I am a Bregdanere. A shapeshifter. My name doesn't matter. I have plans.”
A chill went through Arthur. He had heard about Bregdaneres, magical creatures or magic users with a gift for changing shape, the most wily and dangerous according to his father. He knew his father was wrong about many things, but this was still horrible news, because if this man took his place, there would be nothing to give him away. Unlike normal magic users who claimed a new shape, reflections would not show the true self.
"I'm legalizing magic. You don't have to do this." Arthur tried reason, hoping that despite kidnapping him and putting him in the cage, this creature, person, could be talked out of whatever they had planned.
"Too late!" the Bregdanere hissed, "Much too late for me and mine. So I am going to take your place and punish those who should have stopped all this violence against my kind. I might not be able to get back at Uther anymore since I spent a long time trapped. But I can make Emrys suffer.I’ll tell you everything I do to him, so you suffer as well.
Arthur was on his feet in an instant, testing the strength of the bars. "If you hurt Merlin. I will kill you."
The monster's smile widened tauntingly."That will be hard to do from in there."
He was right, damn it. The bone bars left him helpless. Arthur would find a way to get through them, but that would take time. And by the sound of it, he didn't have time.
Arthur cast around for the right words, something, anything that would turn this creature's need for revenge from Merlin, even if it turned against him in the process.
"Listen to me. I am truly sorry for what you and your kin went through. I know you say it's too late for you. But it's not Merlin's fault. It's easy to say he should have told me sooner, but he didn't know if it would make a difference. It's my fault. I didn't see the truth about magic sooner."
The Breganere snarled, "Yes, you should have stopped being against magic sooner, and he should have helped you turn towards it, but neither of you did so. I will punish you both."
"Wait!" Arthur hated to beg, but he would if he had to. Internally, he cursed himself for not realizing the truth about magic sooner. He cursed his father for turning against it the way he had to ease his pain and guilt. And he cursed the creature that wanted to hurt Merlin. "Wait!" he got down on his knees. "We will find another way,"
The creature holding his form smiled cruelly again, "I do like seeing you begging, but it doesn't change anything. It's time to go and start my plan, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it, Arthur Pendragon."
Arthur didn't come back that night, and eventually Merlin went back to his own room. He kept telling himself he had done the right thing in being honest with Arthur. But Arthur’s reaction still hurt.
Merlin would give him time. In time, perhaps he would forgive Merlin. Or Merlin hoped he would. He was sure he would.
He went out of his way to get a good breakfast the next morning with meat, cheese, and fresh grapes. As he made his way to Arthur's room, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
He pushed open the door to Arthur's room with one hand. "Arthur… Please let me explain."
To his surprise, Arthur was already sitting awake in bed, and the look he gave Merlin could have peeled paint.
"I'm not interested in your excuses.”
Merlin winced. He still had to try, "I'm sorry for keeping it from you. I had to say something; it would have destroyed you to kill your father-"
Arthur jumped to his feet with a roar, "I said I was not interested in your excuses. You claim to use magic for me, but you didn't really. You only used it for what you thought was good for me. You never asked me!"
Merlin winced. There was enough truth in those words to hurt. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you about the magic… So I focused on doing what was best for you… What I thought was best… I saved your life countless times. I saved Camelot… But I should have told you. I should have involved you. I will involve you from now on."
Arthur waved a hand dismissively. "It's too late, I no longer trust you, Merlin. Anything we had is over."
And those words felt like someone was stabbing him and twisting the knife. "It… Everything.. you no longer…"
"It's over, Merlin. Because of who you are! Now leave me!"
Merlin didn't see the cruel, uncharacteristic smile that came to Arthur's face as he turned, set down the plate, and rushed from the room.
Arthur was forced to listen as the Bregdanere gloated that afternoon.
“And you should have seen his face when I told him everything that both of you had was over because of him. Poor, pathetic Emrys. I think I broke his heart."
Arthur could almost see Merlin's expression in his head, those bright eyes growing dim, the frown that came to his face as he thought Arthur ended things. In his mind, Merlin wiped away a tear, leaving him furious.
His hands clenched around the bone bars of his cage, his teeth gritting together. He was working on grinding through the bones using the bit of harder metal on his ring. One hand covered that now as he squeezed tightly.
"I'm going to escalate, you know." The monster told him. "Just breaking his heart is not enough."
"I will kill you," Arthur repeated his earlier words, meaning them completely.
The monster laughed, "I'm not just going to hurt him, Pendragon. I'm going to kill him. but not yet."
Arthur threw himself at the bars harder, but remembered at the last moment to keep his hand hiding the bone he was grinding through. "I won't let you! None of this is his fault, you monster! You're just taking out your anger instead of trying to make anything better! At least we had good intentions! At least we didn't give in to hate!"
He had thought long and hard about what to say. The hours stuck alone in this cage, grinding down the bone bars, allowed him to be so eloquent now amidst a burning rage.
The monster stepped forward with a snarl. Arthur hoped he would approach; he was fairly certain that if he did, he could reach through the cage, grab him, and kill him. Perhaps the monster would blast him back or something, but it was worth a try.
The monster apparently knew this, too, because he stopped himself before getting within grabbing range.
Instead, he turned and walked out of the room.
Knowing the truth about the bad things Merlin had done seemed to have broken something in Arthur.
He was bullying people with his knights, like he had the first time Merlin met him. Only then did he take a step further; it wasn't just regular people, he was bullying his knights in training too.
It had gotten so bad that Merlin wondered if someone was enchanting him. But any spells he did on Arthur to make enchantments go away revealed he wasn't being enchanted. His reflection was clear in mirrors, and water too. Arthur was just the worst version of himself.
Merlin tried to talk to him, only to be yelled at and given more chores for his troubles. The only thing that gave him hope was the fact that Arthur was still working on the document that would make magic legal.
"Arthur," he came to his room one afternoon, desperate to resolve the issues that were making Arthur so irritable.
"Go away, Merlin. I told you I don't want you around me anymore. Go muck out the entire stables or do errands for Gaius."
Merlin winced at the hate in the tone and the seething look Arthur gave him, but stood his ground.
"We need to talk… this is destroying you… You are acting like you did when we first met! I’ve tried waiting for you and obeying your orders, but nothing is getting better. I understand if you don't want me." Those words cost a great deal to say, but they had to be said. "But you can't live like this! You're pushing everyone away!"
Arthur stood. "How dare you try to tell me how to live my life! "
"I care about you!" Merlin retorted, voice raised, "I'm your friend!"
A cruel smile came over Arthur's face. The kind of expression that Merlin had never seen on it before, the kind of expression that had first made him doubt this was even Arthur. It was him, he knew that, but Arthur had changed, or perhaps Merlin's own actions had broken him. Perhaps they had revealed what he was all along, as much as Merlin didn't want to believe that.
"You're not my friend. You were my servant. I loved you, but that love is gone now. I don't even want you as my servant anymore, but I will keep you because you cling to it to try to be close to me."
Again, there was truth in Arthur's words and observations, and Merlin's heart was breaking into even smaller pieces as he heard Arthur say the words "That love is gone now”.
"Then take it out on me. Stop taking it out on others." He moved a hand to his chest, bunching up the clothing into a fist.
"You don't get to give me advice anymore, Merlin," Arthur spat his name with such venom, slamming his hands palm down on the table in front of him. "I hate you."
Merlin closed his eyes, struggling with the agonizing pain
"I hate you because you lied to me for so long about so many things. I hate you for the mistakes you have made. You cannot honestly believe anyone could love you after those!"
Each new word was like an arrow stabbing into him. He could feel his eyes overflow.
"It's not like you to be this cruel," He whispered. It was a plea more than anything else.
"Perhaps you never knew me as much as you thought you did, Merlin. I'm not being cruel, I'm being what I'm entitled to be, and I'm not the one who got people killed by releasing a dragon; I'm not the one who lied to the person he claimed to love. I'm not the one who turned Morgana against us."
"I didn't know," Merlin opened blurry, tear-stained eyes. "I didn't know… If I had asked her about it, she might have said no…So I had to poison her. I thought I could kill the dragon. I wanted to stop you from killing your father. It would have destroyed you."
"Stop making excuses!" Arthur snarled. "Get out of my sight. I loathe you to the depths of my being. I hate your voice, I hate your pathetic attempts to control me."
"I'm not trying to control you," Merlin snapped, "I'm trying to make you see that taking this out on other people is wrong. You're not acting like yourself… Or perhaps you're right, and I never did know you! Perhaps I deluded myself that you were a fair and just king. I even checked to make sure you weren't enchanted, and you still looked like you in a mirror, because I was so sure you weren't the kind of person to do any of this. But perhaps I was wrong.
He shut his eyes tightly again as if to guard against the pain inside
Perhaps I convinced myself of things and was lying to myself all this time.
He didn't say the last line, but rather thought it inside his head. He had been so sure he knew Arthur, but what if all that had just been a way of coping? What is all that has been wrong?
"Guards!"
Merlin's eyes snapped open,
"Guards!" Arthur called again
He should run, Merlin knew that, but his feet were like lead. He stayed standing there, not truly able to believe what was happening. It had happened during the goblin incident, but he had told himself it was because Arthur was forced to and had the misfortune of running into him. That Arthur truly did not want to arrest him; he had just had no choice. But this time, he definitely had a choice.
The sound of stomping feet. Soldiers in metal surrounding him. Merlin finally opened his eyes in time to see the twisted hate on Arthur's face and hear the last words he had expected to hear from Arthur's mouth now, despite everything.
"This man is an evil sorcerer and tried to enchant me. Arrest him. While I hope to make good magic legal, it seems that one more sorcerer must die first."
Merlin’s knees gave way, and the soldiers caught him. Betrayal burned inside like a molten sword.
Arthur wanted him dead. He had never seen the true Arthur. Arthur wanted him dead.
They tried to spring him from the prison. The knights are first, then Gwen. None of them understood. If Merlin escaped with them, Arthur would suspect something. It would put them in danger. He could escape himself if he wanted to, but every time he considered it, his body felt heavy. Arthur wanted him dead. Arthur wanted him dead. Arthur would surely change his mind, or Merlin would wake and find this was a horrible dream. He was still telling himself that when his execution day came.
"Today I kill him," The Bregdanere gloated to Arthur.
Arthur held onto one of the bars, hiding the break he had made in it. The second area he was grinding through, just above it on the same bar, he hid by pressing his body against it. He was almost all the way through, and once through, he would escape and save Merlin.
The creature had shown him he was powerless against it. It had come into range to taunt him, and when Arthur had grabbed it, it blasted him back. Somehow, it hadn't seen that almost completed grinding-through-the-bar job Arthur had done to the cage. He had been remarkably lucky. He prayed that luck would still hold. Perhaps he could take the monster by surprise when he escaped.
"DON’T!" Arthur didn't have to fake the terror in his voice. What if he didn't make it in time? No, he would make it in time. "If you hurt him, I will kill you. This is your last chance. Leave Merlin alone or die." The monster gave him an odd look, and Arthur realized it likely expected begging, not the sheer rage of a man who knew he was about to be free. Arthur would give him that, no matter how much it riled him to do so. Nothing mattered except that he had a chance to get out of here and save Merlin. "Please," he added. "Please don't hurt him... Please! We can find another way. There is another way, don't do this, don't hurt him! I'll do anything!"
"You can't give me anything I want, Pendragon. Except your death. Perhaps after I kill Merlin, I will kill you and then lead Camelot into dust.”
“You're trapped and at my mercy." The monster laughed, "I am going to go kill the man you love now. There is nothing you can do to stop me. How does it feel to be that helpless, Pendragon?" The monster turned and left the room through the spinning wall that led back to the main halls of the castle.
He wouldn't do it. Arthur wouldn't truly kill him. Merlin couldn't believe it. Not after everything they had shared. He couldn't believe it as he was dragged to the river in cuffs. He wouldn't believe it as Arthur stood near the shore, watching him with hate-filled eyes. He had decided against burning he announced to the court. Merlin was to drown as many victims of The Purge had. Gaius had mentioned that to Merlin. Uther had been creative in how he killed magic users, sometimes the pyre, sometimes drowning, sometimes beheading.
But he would call this off at any moment, Merlin knew. As a pair of knights shoved his head under the water, he waited for the inevitable moment when they pulled him up. But it did not come. It was there, forced underwater, trying to hold his breath, that Merlin finally realized this was actually happening. Arthur was actually killing him. His breath was running out. Merlin finally struggled, but the hands holding him under held firm. He couldn't breathe! Pain pierced through his lungs. Air.. He needed air!
His panicked, air-deprived mind tried to call on his magic, but nothing happened. He had to be in cold iron cuffs. The panic of not having enough air swamped him. He struggled futilely against the burning of his lungs, against the hands that held him under. He couldn't think… he couldn't breathe. And finally, Merlin gave up. What was the point? Arthur wanted him dead, and he could not stop it. He started to slip into a very peaceful unconsciousness. The world became distant. He couldn't feel pain. Couldn't feel the lack of air. or the cold water. There was only darkness.
Distant panicked voices interrupted his peaceful slip into oblivion. Merlin ignored them.
A voice he knew well, begging, pleading. Merlin attempted to slip further back into the darkness away from the noises. This didn't make any sense. Arthur hated him and wanted him dead. No doubt he wanted him back so he could hurt him again. Merlin clung to the peaceful darkness.
Air was forced into his lungs, making them expand. A mouth over his own, one he recognized. For someone who wanted him dead, he was sure doing a lot to try to bring him back.
As soon as he thought of this Merlin lost his grip on the darkness. A cough exploded out of him. His lungs seized and worked on their own, straining to bring in air. Merlin returned to the world amid his own violent coughing, vomiting, and gasping.
The arms cradling him tilted him so he could cough up the water better, and as Merlin's eyes opened, the frantic face of Arthur Pendragon came into view.
"Merlin?! I'm not too late! I wasn't too late! Merlin, it wasn't me, it was a shapeshifter!"
He couldn't speak, still coughing violently, but just behind Arthur, he could see another Arthur lying on the ground with a sword through his gut. Well, one half looked like Arthur, the other was of a random man. As he watched, more of the body transformed slowly into the stranger. The shapeshiter’s magic faded in his death.
A hand moved to his face, cradling his cheek. "It wasn't me, none of it was me, ever since you told me about my mother.”
It hasn't been him. Merlin could feel a lightening in his chest. It hadn't been Arthur… Arthur never hated him; Arthur had never wanted him dead. It hadn't been Arthur.
Arthur pulled Merlin closer now as his coughs finally stopped, holding him protectively, clinging to him like he was something deeply precious.
“When I pulled you up, I thought I was too late," he whispered.
Merlin immediately wrapped his arms around the man he loved, his fist closing around the fabric over his shoulder.
"I'm here. You- you forgive me for lying about M-Morgause?"
"I forgive you," Arthur told him, "You were trying to stop me from doing something I would always regret. Whatever it said to you, those were lies."
Merlin shut his eyes tightly, feeling tears begin to form. Arthur's forehead pressed against his own as he held him.
"You've done so much more good with your magic. You made mistakes, but you've used it for good. For my kingdom. For me. You've saved countless lives, including mine."
There was a slight rage to Arthur's voice, and Merlin knew it was hard for him to be this open, but he was making himself do it for Merlin, "I love you," Arthur told him.
Merlin could feel a tear run down his cheek. There were no words for what this meant to hear. So he didn't try to find them; instead, he teased. "So, does that mean you're not going to call me an idiot anymore?"
"No. I'm afraid you will always be an idiot., Arthur told him, "I will be calling you whatever I feel like."
Merlin laughed, coughed a few times, and laughed again, "Prat." He struggled to take a deep breath in, and a wet wheezing sound came out instead. His hand went to his chest, where it felt like his lungs would not fill with enough air.
Arthur’s brow knit together immediately "Gaius!"
Suddenly, Gaius was there by his side, chanting a spell Merlin didn't pay attention to due to his panic at this new inability to get enough air.
Then, slowly, his breathing eased as he felt healing magic at work inside his body.
He looked at Gaius to hear him talking.
"Some of the river water must have actually gotten into his lungs and caused damage. I've healed what I can, but it is likely he will have a fever, sire.
Merlin felt a flash of annoyance. "Am right here," he reminded them
Gaius looked down at them. "Oh my boy, yes, you are. I thought we lost you for a moment.” he squeezed Merlin's shoulder, then his eyebrow rose. “Now you are going to rest. I do not want to hear of you leaving bed until the fever is over.”
Before Merlin could protest, he was swept up in Arthur's arms as Arthur stood. "I'll tend to him, if that will be safe. Have cold water and a cloth brought to my bedchamber."
For the first time, he could see the crowd around him. A few of the knights, like Lancalot, Elyan, Percival, and Gwaine, looked like they had tried to stop his execution and had been held back. Or at least the bruises on their arms hinted at that. Gwaine moved forward and spat on the shapeshifter's body. Lancelot and Gwen found each other and wrapped their arms around each other. He was distracted by Gaius’s voice, and focused on him again.
"It should be safe, sire. Call me if it gets any worse than a fever."
Arthur nodded once, regally, and then carried Merlin away back towards the castle.
Merlin had planned to say something, but he must have fallen asleep instead. When he woke, he was in Arthur's bed, and felt horrible.
He groaned and looked around to see Arthur sitting on the bed next to him. Arthur placed a cool cloth on his forehead and reached for another dry towel, wiping the sweat from Merlin’s chest and face. The moment he saw Merlin was awake, he set aside the cloth and reached for a bowl nearby. "You've been asleep for a few hours. I went down to the kitchen to grab this. You still need to eat when you're sick.
Merlin tried to sit up, only for Arthur to press him back down against the soft pillows. His hand went to the back of Merlin's head, and he lifted a spoon of the soup.
Merlin could feel a grin form on his face. "Never thought I'd see you working like a servant, attending to me."
Arthur gave one of his most prattish looks. "Sick or not, I can and will shove this towel in your face."
Merlin grinned wider. "That would stop me from eating the soup. I-"
He broke off as Arthur used the opportunity to shove a spoonful of said soup into Merlin’s mouth.
Merlin chewed quickly and swallowed, but when he opened his mouth, Arthur shoved in another spoonful before he could talk. "You were saying, Merlin?" He taunted.
"Clotpole," Merlin managed the word through a full mouth.
Arthur shook his head. "You're acting like an ill-mannered peasant talking with your mouth full, but then you are an ill-mannered peasant at least until we marry, I shouldn't be sup-" He broke off and turned red.
Merlin swallowed. "You want to marry me!?"
Arthur looked away. "Yes…? I mean, I don't know… Yes?" Arthur set down the soup and ran a hand down his face before picking it up again. "It wasn't supposed to come out this way. I wanted to wait until we were together for at least a year before… this is all your fault!"
"How is it my fault!" Merlin was struck by the unfairness of the situation
"Because I don't know… you're sick and nearly died, and I wasn't thinking straight, and it slipped out and I should have waited at least a year and I'm blaming you!" He shoved another spoonful of soup into Merlin's mouth, which was doubly unfair because now Merlin couldn't respond right away.
"When you're ready to actually propose, let me know so I can say yes." He finally managed around a mouthful
"Right," Arthur told him, face still red. "Right… I'll tell you. I mean, it will be a good proposal like you deserve, so you'll know."
"Right," Merlin agreed, eyes already growing heavy. "I'll know." His heart was singing happily as he fell asleep.
He woke shivering. Merlin’s least favorite part of a fever was the cold part. So, of course, it had to happen. But there were warm arms wrapped around him, and he could tell he was covered in blankets. He nuzzled his head into Arthur's neck. This was actually kind of nice.
“Merlin!” Arthur reprimanded as they lay on his bed together.
"Shhhhhh…" Merlin whispered, nuzzling even closer.
"I'm the king, Merlin, you can't tell me what to do," Arthur told him, adjusting his arms around Merlin's slightly.
"Never stopped me before…"
Arthur's snort was all the reward he needed.
"You should try to sleep this off," Arthur told him, "Gaius says it's normal, and when it stops, your fever will have broken."
"Don't want to go back to sleep," Merlin argued, and kissed Arthur's neck.
"This is bribery to try to get me to agree to you staying awake, isn't it?" Arthur asked softly.
Merlin had not intended that, but he replied with a firm, "Yes."
"I will have you know, Merlin, I will not be taken in by bribery."
Merlin called on his magic to fill the room with dancing lights and patterns, knowing Arthur always marveled at the magic when he did this. If he was committing to trying to bribe Arthur into letting him stay awake, he was committing fully. He lifted a trembling hand and turned Arthur's face toward himself, pressing light, tender kisses all over it, knowing that Arthur's vision would be full of his magic and his mind full of the kiss.
"I may be slightly taken in by bribery. Just this once." There was a marveling, loving tone in Arthur's voice. Merlin knew he was probably seeing the light dragons of his magic swoop around in the room. Perhaps the figures of them kissing happily.
He could feel the awed expression on Arthur's face under his traveling lips. Arthur pulled him even closer.
They stayed like that in the room, holding each other amidst Merlin's magic until the fever broke.
"You're a miracle, you know," Arthur told Merlin. “I thought I was never going to have the chance to tell you.”
Finally feeling better, Merlin kept his hold on the man he loved. "I thought I was an idiot."
"You're an idiot, too, but you're also a miracle. Your magic is a miracle, but you're more of a miracle than just your magic.” He paused,“Promise me one thing."
"Anything," Merlin responded. And in that moment, he truly would have promised anything. No one had ever called him or his magic a miracle. He could hardly have imagined those words from Arthur, but perhaps nearly dying had earned them and caused the king, who normally had a hard time giving compliments, to open up a bit.
"If there is a me that says they hate you or want you dead, never believe them again. I will never say either of those things. You need to know that. And know to act on it."
"Deal." Merlin agreed immediately. He had no hesitation. After Arthur calling him a miracle like this, he would never believe that Arthur hated him again. “I promise I will never believe it again.”
Arthur seemed to relax. “Good,” And they held each other in the room until the sun finally rose.