Couldn't sleep and decided that Merlin deserves a quiet magic reveal
| Gen | but can be merthur if you squint hard | 570 words |
The day had come to an end, the king of Camelot and his servant finished up their respective tasks in the comforting silence of the royal chambers.
An usual sight, really, if there were ever any eyes to see it.
Merlin sat on his favorite spot by the fireplace, his back towards his king as he tried to make the most of the firelight while fixing up Arthur's equipment.
It had been a peaceful day — a peaceful week, even — with no sudden attempts on the king's life, no council members making ridiculous demands, no magical threats to fight.
Maybe that's what encouraged him. The peace.
Arthur had been king for a while, and finally, everything around the kingdom seemed to have settled.
That might have been it as well.
Not mentioning the lack of executions.
Whatever it was that made Merlin suddenly stop his task — his fingers working mindlessly in every link of the king's chain mail — and stare into the fireplace with empty thoughts, he would be forever grateful.
"I have magic," he said to the quiet room.
For a second, he tensed up. His heart skipped a beat, and he clenched his teeth while holding his breath.
He was as surprised as the walls, to have heard his own voice say the words. But say them he did, and so, he waited for what would follow.
"I know," Arthur answered from his desk, not even seven heartbeats later.
Merlin exhaled, still staring at the fire, and let tears pool his eyes.
"Oh…" Was all he managed to say.
He heard the sound of paper sheets as Arthur continued his work.
"Thank you… for telling me," the king said, "I… appreciate the trust."
Merlin bit his bottom lip and nodded to the fire, unseeingly — his tears blurring the world in front of him.
"Come read this speech. Tell me what you think of it," Merlin heard the sound of paper again.
He cleared his nose with a sniff, and dried his eyes with his hands, before standing up. When he looked back to the king, he saw that Arthur held the paper up while resting his elbow upon the desk. He hadn't turned his head.
Merlin took a step forward before hesitating. He looked down to where his work lay scattered, and trying not to think much about it, waved his hand, letting his eyes shine golden shamelessly.
"All right, let's see the disaster you've put up together this time," Merlin mumbled as soon as he reached the desk, taking the paper from the king without looking at him.
"Thank you, Merlin," Arthur whispered.
The tone of Arthur's appreciation startled Merlin enough that, when he next noticed, his eyes were meeting Arthur's own tearful ones. He lost his breath once again to the intensity in them.
"Just doing my job, my lord," he whispered back, still breathlessly. "Can't let you run around the kingdom with a half decent speech."
Arthur nodded and turned his eyes away, giving Merlin a chance to start his reading.
"Once you're done with that," Arthur started again, "I found a few interesting set of laws that became obsolete — what? About thirty years ago? — I was wondering if you would help me revisit them."
Merlin smiled.
"As you wish."
Both men fell silent once more, but the room rang with life as the sound of several metal objects, cleaning and fixing themselves, echoed through.
I find the idea of Merlin being unironically uther's favourite servant so funny because Merlin fucking hates that man. (For obvious reasons).
Like Uther is out here being amused, thinking 'Arthur's manservant is tolerable for a peasant', sincerely saying that Merlin is an ally against magic and telling him to take care of Arthur, breaking down Infront of him. While Merlin is in the background actively fighting down the urge to set him on fire. It's hilarious 😂
I wanted to do a master study of Frank Dicksee's "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and I thought Merlin and Arthur would be the perfect characters for it. The original depicts a knight enchanted with a beautiful magical lady, so I chose to show Arthur enchanted with his sorcerer.
I originally intended to put this out in December for the finale anniversary but I procrastinated and it took me ages, so here it is now! I'm never doing a study with so many individual leaves ever again.😆🥲
thinking about how thalia and percy are the only real forbidden broken oath children. the di angelos being born before the oath, jason and hazel being roman, tyson being a cyclops...they aren't weighed down by the cruelty of the styx, the debt they have to repay for their fathers. thalia and percy are the product of a broken oath on the styx and the styx cannot punish their fathers and must go after them instead.
thalia and percy being hunted to half blood hill and thalia dying to protect her family while percy kills to avenge his family. "thalia" meaning to flourish or blossom, "perseus" meaning to destroy. thalia and percy growing up under an abuser and being made to provide for the family with childcare and money respectively. thalia being heralded by virtue of her father while percy is feared by virtue of his father. luke believing thalia would be on his side and when annabeth considers what thalia’s choice would be, she simply asks percy what he would do because she knew thalia and percy were so alike that they’d make the same choice. if percy wouldn’t side with him, then thalia wouldn’t side with him.
percy and thalia being treated as equal and exchangable weapons and tools by both camp and the gods, pitted against each other but no one else understanding them the way the other does. two sides of the same coin. THALIA AND PERCY TWINISM WINS ONCE AGAIN
2087
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