Oh shit, I never told you that Merlin isn’t my actual name??
Igraine reveals… one hell of a secret, and not the one you’re thinking of:
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4(final part)(coming soon)
TW: Uther being a Jackass I guess?
Arthur knows about his dumbass servant’s magic. He wasn’t best pleased, in fact, he was furious when he first found out; how is supposed to protect his servant-turned-best-friend-except-that’s-super-secret-even-from-himself if he’s off doing stupid shit like Sorcery in Camelot?!
He was a lot more sympathetic when Merlin explained that he’d been born with it, and that his destiny was, literally, tied to Arthur’s. That, mixed with the fact that Arthur tended to get himself into a LOT of trouble, without even realising it most of the time, means Merlin has no choice but to be doing stupid shit like Sorcery in Camelot.
Merlin is currently giving Arthur the silent treatment, not that Arthur seems to notice. The two of them were waiting for Morgause to finish whatever it is she was doing to, apparently, allow Arthur to speak to his mother.
She doesn’t take long, and though Merlin keeps his distrustful gaze on her the whole time, he still can’t quite tell what it is Morgause has done. She looks to them with a blank expression, though her focus is mainly on Arthur as she gestures him forward:
“It’s ready, Prince Arthur. Close your eyes, both of you.”
Arthur frowns briefly but does as told. Merlin raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms, and staring Morgause down; she rolls her eyes and huffs quietly when she realises that he isn’t going to take his eyes off her, but gives in, turning away and performing some sort of simple looking (though Merlin gets the distinct impression that it isn’t simple) ritual.
The Witch lets out a deep breath and steps back, and Merlin’s hard stare is finally drawn away from her when a shower of golden sparks materialises in a cloud in front of The Prince.
Arthur opens his eyes to see Igraine standing there, practically glowing, looking every bit the glorious Queen she once was. She gives him a soft smile, and Arthur can only stare, his mouth moving of it’s own accord:
“Mother?”
Merlin stares on in suspicion as Igraine’s smile grows:
“My son.”
She pulls him forward into a tight hug, and though Arthur had started off forcing himself to be wary, he falls into the hug easily, struggling to hold his tears in. They pull back after far too short of a time, and though Merlin was still distrustful, he wishes she had held Arthur just a little longer.
Merlin’s heart breaks as Arthur goes on to apologise for being born, but his feelings quickly turn to anger as Igraine explains the truth, how his people were being hunted, burned, vilified, all because Uther was too much of a hypocrite to admit his mistakes or listen to reason; but he couldn’t lash out now, this time was for Arthur, not him.
Igraine’s face falls even further, and she grips Arthur’s shoulders tightly:
“But we do not have time to talk of this, I can feel the other side pulling me back, I must be quick. Arthur, my son, you have a brother, and you must find him.”
Merlin’s eyes go wide and he tenses in place; this had better not be some twisted trick on Morgause’s part to destroy Arthur, because he would destroy her in return if it was. And he would do it in a far messier way. Arthur just looks shocked:
“A brother? How?!”
Igraine smiles mournfully:
“A twin. He was so small when he was born, I thought he wouldn’t make it, but though I can’t see his face, I know he lives, I can feel it. He had hair dark as the night sky, a complete contrast to your golden wisps-”
She lifts a soft, gentle hand, and runs it through Arthur’s hair with a smile:
“-but his eyes, oh his eyes were just as golden as your hair, before they faded to the colour of the sky.”
Arthur gasped but Merlin tensed even further, certain that this must be some sort of trick:
“He was magic?”
Igraine smiles again and nods:
“It’s not common, but not completely unheard of for people to be born magic. Your brother was, and it was beautiful.-”
He smile falls into something more angry, though she’s clearly trying to hide it:
“-Your father... did something. I do not know what; by the time my soul was restful enough to be able to look back upon the world, it was too late, he was gone somewhere I could not see. I know he still lives, your father was too much of a coward to admit his mistakes, but too much of a hypocrite to keep to his convictions and destroy the child, which I can be grateful for. I feared he had been sent far away, but you must find him, restore his heritage.”
Arthur nods vigorously, his eyes wide and desperate, and Merlin finds himself desperate to believe that this spirit is true and genuine:
“What else can you tell me about him? Do you know where he is? What he looks like now?”
Igraine’s face falls into a soft smile again, though she shakes her head mournfully:
“He is powerful, extremely so. I worried he was dead until I suddenly felt him; he appeared in Camelot, around three and a half years ago. His power is vast, I can sense it stretching for miles and miles, though I can not pinpoint the epicentre; he is somewhere within the Kingdom, you must find him.”
Merlin frowns in confusion, stepping forward to interrupt, though he desperately doesn’t want to:
“Did you name him? Your son?”
Igraine looks to him suddenly, as if she weren’t aware they had company, but quickly turns almost her full attention to Merlin with a soft smile:
“You. You looked after my boy, thank you. Thank you for all that you have done. And yes-”
She looks back to Arthur:
“-I named him, though I whispered it with my last breaths, Uther would certainly not have used it, and I do not know if Gaius heard me.”
Arthur responds quietly, his cracking voice heavy with too many emotions to name:
“What is it? What’s my... my brother’s name?”
“Myrddin.”
Merlin takes in a quiet gasp, and Arthur, always with at least one half of his brain focused on his manservant, turns to him:
“You know that name?! Merlin, do you know someone in Camelot with that name?”
Merlin just stares at Igraine, his eyes wide and his hands shaking:
“How... how do you think he got out of Camelot? How would Uther have sent him away?”
Igraine’s face is confused, but mostly curious as she takes a step towards him, still with one hand on Arthur’s shoulder:
“Gaius and Balinor possibly, perhaps Nimueh, though I imagine she fled rather quickly. They were Uther’s closest friends before the purge, and they all practised magic, they would have been... sympathetic, tried to help the child. Why? Are Arthur’s questions relevant? Do you know my son??”
Merlin’s eyes flickered between the two of them, but when Arthur says his name again, his voice nothing short of desperate, his gaze fixes on The Prince:
“Arthur, I... I never told you, because I didn’t think it was... relevant, but... Merlin isn’t my real name.”
Arthur recoils, shocked, and utters a dumbfounded “What?!”. Merlin gulps, and looks to Igraine briefly before resuming his fearful, and slightly confused, stare on Arthur:
“When I was young, my magic was still strong, but I had no control over it. I would subconsciously summon animals to my side constantly. Mostly small things, but the occasional stag or bear would wander through the village to find me. But... but what came most often where the birds; the village is essentially in the middle of a forest, and... and there were thousands of merlins. So I got that as a nickname, Merlin, and it just stuck.”
Arthur just shakes his head, caught off guard but mostly just annoyed:
“You heard my mother, Merlin, we don’t have much time, what is this-”
Merlin interrupts him:
“Just listen!! My real name.... it’s Myrddin.-”
Igraine takes in a quiet gasp, mumbling more to herself than anyone else “Gaius heard me.” but Arthur just stares. Merlin holds his gaze, but after a few moments, he looks back to Igraine:
“-My mother... she... she wouldn’t lie to me, nor would Gaius... this... it’s a mistake. It’s... it’s a common name, right?!”
Igraine responds in a hushed tone, though Arthur barely moves, still staring at Merlin as though he had gained a new head:
“Show me some magic, my boy.”
Merlin stutters and shakes his head, laughing incredulously before he notices her pleading face and looks to Arthur, almost for permission. The Prince gulps before nodding, just once, and Merlin lets out a deep breath. He holds his hand out in front of him, palm up, and without even needing to mutter a spell, a single flower grows; a Camelot-red Tulip, it’s petals dipped in gold.
When his eyes fade back to blue, he looks up to see the others’ reactions: Arthur is smiling softly, always eager to see Merlin’s magic, as if he had forgotten the situation at hand, but Igraine... oh, Igraine was staring at him with such wonder, tears slipping down her pale cheeks.
Merlin drops the flower without a second though and shakes his head minutely, but Igraine just nods, allowing the hand on Arthur’s shoulder to slip down to his hand so she could tug him forward, towards Merlin:
“Myrddin, my boy, my son. You came home all on your own.”
Merlin just shakes his head again and steps back:
“No. No this... this isn’t real, this is a trick, or... or something. How do we prove it? How do we know you’re not lying or some trap laid by Morgause?!”
Igraine sighs, but nods, understanding:
“Ask Gaius and your... your mother, and thank her for me, for raising you with so much love. The doorway is closing, I can feel it.-”
Her gaze moves lovingly between then two of them, and when she steps forward once more, she takes Merlin’s hand before he can move away, pulling the two of them into a tight hug:
“-I am so endlessly proud of you both, and I love you, always.”
She fades from the air, and within seconds Arthur’s arms are falling in on themselves, nothing under them to hold their weight and forceful pressure.
The Prince’s head whips towards Morgause, who until that point had been completely forgotten about:
“Bring her back!”
Her stare is fixed on a frozen Merlin, though she slowly looks to Arthur when he takes an intimidating step towards her and goes to open his mouth again:
“I can’t. The doorway closes of it’s own accord, I can’t bring her back again. But that was... unexpected. I apologise, you shouldn’t have had to find out like that.”
Arthur shakes his head angrily at her denial, but quickly refocuses and looks to Merlin, who still hasn’t moved an inch. He puts a soft hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly until the other man looks at him; Arthur isn’t quite sure what he was expecting, but Merlin’s eyes to be filling with tears definitely wasn’t it:
“I... this can’t be real. My mother, Gaius, Kilgharrah, they all would’ve known. Why wouldn’t they tell me?”
Arthur pulls him into a hug, silently vowing to stop Merlin’s suffering as soon as he’s possibly able, that they would discover the truth no matter what. Merlin’s arms just hang limply at his sides, though he does push his face into Arthur’s neck as The prince responds:
“I... I don’t know, Merlin. Maybe they thought it would get in the way of that destiny of yours, maybe they were waiting for my... for The King to pass.-”
He pulls back, but keeps his hands on Merlin’s shoulders:
“-Lets just... get back to Camelot, and we can figure it out. We can go downstairs to talk to Kilgharrah.”
Merlin shakes his head, stepping back and wiping his sleeve over his eyes roughly before walking purposefully towards the horses:
“No, he’s the least likely to be honest, we’ll talk to Gaius. Though if any of this is true... I’m having some bloody harsh words with my... with Hunith.”
Arthur flinches slightly at the anger in Merlin’s voice, but after a quick glance to a slowly retreating Morgause, he follows him to the horses and they start the fast paced journey back to Camelot. The only words exchanged, around an hour in, were Merlin’s quiet, humourless:
“Gwaine’s never going to believe this.”
And Arthur’s responding snort of derisive amusement.
~
They manage to stay out of sight when they arrive back in the city, which is good really. Arthur’s lowly simmering rage had been reaching taller and taller heights with every pound of the horses’ hooves against the hard ground. But before he confronts his father, they need confirmation, in the form of Gaius.
They stalk quietly through the castle, using servant corridors and hidden passages to avoid being seen, but all bets are off when they reach the Physician’s chambers.
Gaius looks up with a quiet gasp when the two men burst in, locking the door behind them. Arthur’s blank stare and Merlin’s barely concealed anger force his shock and relief to morph into confusion:
“Merlin, Prince Arthur, where on Earth have you been? The King has been panicking, sending out patrol after patrol to search for you.”
Arthur’s face remains blank, and when Gaius looks to him for an answer he just moves his gaze to Merlin, allowing him to determine the pace of this much needed conversation. Merlin’s dark gaze is now fixed on the floor, though his jaw and hands are tightly clenched, and his breathing is shaky in his anger. His voice comes out lethally quiet, and Arthur can tell that it’s only a matter of time before he explodes:
“Gaius, what’s my name?”
Gaius just looks slightly taken aback, like he hasn’t quite grasped Merlin’s meaning despite its plainness:
“My boy, whatever are you-”
He’s interrupted when Merlin looks up at him sharply, his eyes blazing and his face turning slightly red:
“It’s a simple question Gaius: What’s. My. Name?-”
Gaius’ eyes flicker to Arthur in confusion, but Merlin breaks from his near frozen stature, moving with a speed that Arthur had never seen in him before to slam his hand on the table:
“No, don’t look at him, look at me. What’s my name, Gaius?!”
Gaius nods, his eyes sad as he gulps before answering quietly:
“Myrddin, but you already knew that.”
Merlin takes a deep breath and nods, his fingers tapping rhythmically, though a tad aggressively, against the table. Arthur goes to step forward to put a calming hand on his shoulder but Merlin shoots him a withering look and he stays back. Merlin’s hard stare returns to the resigned physician:
“And my parents?”
Gaius gulps again but straightens his posture, putting up a confused façade, though it’s easy to see through:
“Hunith is your-”
Merlin slams his hand on the table again, much harder this time, and a voice in the back of Arthur’s head—the one at the forefront was spitting obscenities and planning rather gruesome ways to murder his father—makes a note to check his hand later, a hit like that had likely broken something, though Merlin was clearly too furious and confused and upset to notice:
“DON’T LIE TO ME!”
Gaius is taken aback at Merlin’s bitter yell, but he softens again at the tears on his ward’s cheeks; he collapses into a chair on the other side of the table, rubbing his eyes tiredly before looking up at the distraught man:
“Uther and Igraine Pendragon. You are a year older than your mo- than Hunith led you to believe, and you are Arthur’s twin brother.-”
Arthur turns away angrily, vocalising the curses that had been playing on a loop in his mind, and Merlin nods, pushing his injured hand into the table without even realising:
“-I am so sorry, my-”
Merlin shakes his head and holds a hand up to stop him but doesn’t say anything, not pulling away this time when Arthur steps into place beside him and puts a hand on his shoulder, waving the other one aggressively at the elderly physician:
“You had no right, no right to keep this from us. I grew up being taught to hate magic, miserable and alone, and Merlin grew up hating himself, just as miserable and alone, if not more so. You had no right to take us away from each other.-”
Gaius goes to respond, but Arthur stops his excuses before they even make it past his throat:
“-No. There is no excusing this, you and my father took my brother from me, and there will be no forgiving that. I’ve known about Merlin’s magic and our entwined destinies for over a year, you’ve had every opportunity to tell us, but you didn’t. That’s not even mentioning the nature of my... our mother’s death. You are a coward, and in your cowardice you have been cruel; I will not stand for it. Where is my- where is The King?”
Gaius nods slowly, standing on almost wobbling legs before gesturing to the door:
“The King is with Sir Leon trying to figure out where to look next, they’re in the council chamber. You are right, and I am sor-”
Arthur cuts him off with a sharp gesture and a dark look, taking Merlin’s uninjured wrist and pulling him towards the door. The servant (Prince?) follows easily, unable to meet Gaius’ gaze and allowing Arthur to drag him briskly through the corridors towards the council chamber.
By the time they reach the chamber, Merlin has broken out of his stupor, wiped his tears, and pulled his wrist from Arthur’s grip, instead walking alongside him and using just as much force when they both push the doors open and stride in.
Uther and Leon both look up rapidly, startled at the sudden intrusion, but whilst Leon looks relieved and sends the two of them a small smile, Uther looks angry:
“Arthur. Where have you been? I have had search parties out looking for you. Arthur?”
Arthur doesn’t answer for a few moments, but a glance at Merlin by his side gives him the confidence boost he needs and he straightens his back, draws his sword, and stares The King right in the eyes:
“I know what you did to my mother, and I know what you... what you took from me.”
Uther stands tall, glancing to Leon briefly as he announces:
“Leave us. No one is to enter.”
Leon looks between the three other men, but doesn’t make it to his second step towards the door before Arthur has his sword pointed at his chest, though The Prince’s gaze stays on his father. Leon knows it’s less of a genuine threat and more of a way of emphasising his words, but that doesn’t stop him from taking a slight, wary step back:
“No, Sir Leon, you will stay.”
Leon glances nervously to the red-faced King, but doesn’t move. Uther looks furious at Arthur’s denial of his orders, but The Prince pays him no mind, finally turning to look at Leon with a slightly softer look in his eyes:
“Sir Leon, do you bear witness?”
Leon frowns slightly, looking between Arthur, Uther, and Merlin once again, frown deepening as he spies the unshed tears in Merlin’s eyes and the purple bruise forming over one of his hands. He finally looks back to Arthur, moving to stand to attention with one hand held over his heart and the other resting on the hilt of his sword:
“My Lord Prince Arthur Pendragon, I, Sir Leon, bear witness.”
Uther just splutters angrily, but Leon pointedly keeps his gaze on Arthur until The Prince nods at him and is the first to look away. Merlin had stayed silent the entire time, but visibly relaxes when Leon swears to stay, and that just makes the knight even more curious; this seems to be just as much about Merlin as it did Arthur’s parents.
The Prince moves his gaze—and his sword—to be pointed at The King once more, and he takes a deep breath before forcing the words from his mouth:
“You used magic, against my mother’s will, so that you could conceive. Is this true?”
Uther huffs angrily, gaze dashing to the other two men before it settles on Arthur again:
“This is preposterous, Morgause has lied to you.”
Leon is practically holding his breath at the side of the room; he can clearly tell that Arthur is moments away from striking his own father down, but does he interfere? Does he let it happen? And he still has no clue what’s bothering Merlin so much, other than the obvious pain in his hand.
Arthur takes slow steps towards Uther, inching the blade closer and closer to his throat:
“You are the one that’s lying. You started a genocide because you insisted on blaming magic for your own mistakes, and that’s not even the worst thing you did.-”
Arthur lets out an incredulous laugh, and Uther takes a step back as Leon tenses and Merlin stays blank:
“-I had a brother, a twin born with magic. You were too much of a coward to admit your mistakes but too much of a hypocrite to stick to your convictions, so you sent him away instead of killing him.-”
Uther goes pale, taking another stumbled step back as Leon’s eyes go wide, his gaze jumping to Merlin with a sudden, dreaded clarity.
(Perhaps Leon had picked up on Merlin’s magic a few months ago, and perhaps he had come to the conclusion that the younger man was the best protector Arthur could have.)
“-Do you even know his name? Mother said you would likely refuse to use it, but do you even know what it is?!”
Uther quickly regains his anger, his fury snapping into place as he gestures threateningly and thunders:
“It was an abomination! A creature of magic that destroyed your mother and almost tainted you! I should have slaughtered it where it lay-”
Merlin takes in a sudden breath at his words and Leon clenches his jaw; itching to comfort the younger man, but knowing that he wouldn’t exactly be welcomed right now. He’s meant to be here as an impartial third party.
Arthur throws his gauntlet down before Uther can finish his aggressive assertion, and Merlin gulps, moving properly for the first time since he’d entered the room. He grabs Arthur’s arm and pulls him back slightly:
“Arthur you can’t, he’s your... he’s The King.”
Arthur glances to him:
“I don’t care, he took you from me, he had no right.-”
He looks back to Uther, who is now staring at Merlin with a shocked venom. No one notices the way Leon quietly draws his sword; impartial his arse, he’d protect Arthur and Merlin to his dying breath:
“-You are the abomination, and you will pay for your crimes. Perhaps you should’ve sent Myrddin, that’s his name by the way, further afield, perhaps I’d have been more inclined to keep you alive until I found him. Pick it up.”
Uther’s gaze doesn’t move from Merlin as his face grows redder and redder. He doesn’t look down to the gauntlet, nor does he look at Arthur, nor does he notice Leon creeping closer:
“You. You foul, hellish, beast!”
Without another second’s of hesitation, he lunges forward and draws his sword all in one move. Arthur reacts too slowly, not expecting The King to attack Merlin instead of him, and Uther pushes him out of the way, swinging the sword down harshly toward Merlin’s chest before Arthur can block him. Merlin is too shocked and angry and scared and upset to even think of using his magic, so just stumbles back helplessly, falling and landing harshly on his already broken hand, yelping slightly.
Before anyone can even blink, Leon is there, stood over Merlin with blazing eyes and his sword raised. He parries the King easily, and by the time Uther has processed one of his own knights turning against him, Merlin has scrambled back, injured arm held to his chest, and Arthur has moved to stand at Leon’s side, sword raised.
Uther can only stare in furious bewilderment, but it doesn’t take him long to concede that he has been outmatched. He calls for the guards, though once they’ve spilled into the room, six in total, they stutter to a confused stop when they see The Prince and The First Knight seemingly defending a servant (a well-loved, well-known servant), from The King.
Arthur, without looking away from Uther, speaks harshly, his voice controlled and forceful and, frankly, Kingly:
“Arrest The King and escort him to his rooms. Remove all weapons and bar the windows and doors, I want him under constant guard.”
Uther screeches angrily, both at Arthur’s words and the fact that the guards make no moves to detain The Prince and the knight, like he clearly wants. Before he can actually say anything, Arthur speaks again, his voice even louder than before, first to the guards:
“NOW!-”
And then back to Uther:
“-You will either be arrested for your crimes, both against our family name and humanity as a whole, or I will kill you where you stand.”
Uther tries his best to stare Arthur down, but there really is no competing with the fire in his eyes, and it only takes one short nod from Leon for the guards to step forward and confiscate The King’s sword before they pull his arms around his back and push him towards the door. He digs his heels in and begins screeching again, though they can only make out the odd word, it’s mostly just “BETRAYAL!” and “SORCERY!” and “HOW DARE YOU!”. Arthur pulls Merlin to his feet gently, frowning at his purple wrist and knuckles before sighing and rolling his eyes, nodding to Uther and muttering, just loud enough for Merlin and Leon to hear:
“I don’t suppose you could do something about that, could you?”
Merlin looks shocked, but huffs out a gentle laugh when Arthur just raises his eyebrow in question. He looks to Uther just as the guards struggle to open the door, muttering a quiet spell under his breath, his eyes flashing golden. Leon takes in a slow breath at the obvious display of sorcery; he’d been constantly on edge since he discovered Merlin’s talent, desperately fearful that someone would find out. Thankfully, the guards are entirely focused on the task at hand.
Uther quickly goes quiet, his head drooping, and Arthur grimaces as the guards struggle to hold his sudden dead weight. He has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing aloud when they turn to him with questioning looks; he just nods and gestures regally for them to keep going.
Soon, the room is quiet again, only the three men remaining. Leon looks between them apprehensively but Arthur just takes a fortifying breath before focusing his attention on Merlin’s arm, holding it gently in front of him and frowning worriedly:
“I’m guessing you haven’t gotten any better at healing magic since the arrow incident?”
Merlin scoffs and rolls his eyes:
“That wasn’t my fault, you’re the one that yanked it out of my shoulder and left the damn head in. And for your information, yes actually, I’ve been practicing. But I really think we have more important things to deal with at the moment, like the fact that the council is going to freak out when they find out you had The King arrested.”
Arthur shakes his head, giving Merlin a firm look:
“Merls, I just found out that you’re my twin brother, you are the important thing right now. Heal your hand, I don’t care how long it takes. Leon will take care of the council until we get there.”
He looks pointedly to Leon, and the knight nods, clearing his throat with a confused frown as he replies:
“What... uh... what would you like me to tell them, My Lord? Before your arrival? And where would you like them?”
Arthur smiles, grateful that Leon knows to take cues from him, knows what to focus on, knows that he is being trusted:
“Take them to the Throne Room. Tell them that Uther has been forcibly removed from the throne, that I have discovered the existence of my magical twin brother, whom I intend to have announced as Crown Prince within the week, and that I plan to legalise magic.”
Merlin, already pale and shaky, flinches, starting up with a “But I don’t want-” but Arthur cuts him off with a harsh, though fond glare, looking back to Leon to see the knight’s face shocked and pale. He purses his lips, before humming thoughtfully and speaking again:
“Actually... that probably wouldn’t be for the best. Just inform them that it’s an emergency, reassure them we haven’t started a war or anything, and tell them I’ll be arriving shortly.”
Leon visibly relaxes and nods, giving Merlin a soft smile and ruffling his hair quickly before striding from the room. Merlin huffs at the affection, but Arthur can tell he’s secretly pleased and copies Leon’s fond smile. Merlin looks to him confusedly:
“Why will the council have to wait? It’ll only take a few moments to heal myself.”
Arthur raises an eyebrow, nodding at Merlin’s hand pointedly and crossing his arms as if he were expecting failure. Merlin just rolls his eyes before looking down to his injury and muttering a few words, grimacing as his knuckles realign, and the bruise recedes. It doesn’t disappear completely, but the bones and deeper muscle tears have obviously repaired themselves, and Merlin looks very proud of himself as he looks back to Arthur:
“That’s the best I can be bothered to manage-”
Arthur huffs disapprovingly but knows he isn’t going to get any better than that:
“-so why are the council waiting?”
Arthur sighs, putting a hand on Merlin’s shoulder and leading him to the door:
“Well, you look one stiff breeze away from keeling over, and I imagine you’ll want to speak to Gwaine?”
Merlin looks to him suspiciously, but allows Arthur to lead him through the castle towards where Gwaine was almost certainly pacing worriedly in his rooms:
“I thought you didn’t approve of Gwaine?”
Arthur grins wolfishly:
“Oh, I don’t, especially now that I know that you’re a Prince, and my brother, but it’s my duty as the oldest to threaten him more than I already have.”
Merlin stops suddenly in the corridor and pulls Arthur back:
“Hang on a minute you prat, first off, when have you ever threatened Gwaine? And second, who said you’re the oldest?”
Arthur’s smile just grows and he grabs Merlin’s uninjured wrist to start pulling him down the corridor again:
“Literally the day I found out he was attempting to court you, which was about a month before you figured it out by the way,-”
Merlin grumbles, but doesn’t argue:
“-and I’m the oldest because I said so, and mother said naming you was... was one of the last things she did, so you obviously came out second, idiot.”
Merlin rolls his eyes yet again, but doesn’t say anything as they come to a stop outside of Gwaine’s room. He takes a deep breath, and Arthur moves his hand up to his shoulder again, giving him a small smile and a supportive nod.
The Warlock knocks on the door, and Gwaine opens immediately. The knight relaxes significantly when he sees that it’s the two of them back from God knows where, though he tenses again as his eyes run over them; he takes note of Merlin’s red eyes, injured wrist, and generally shaky demeanour. He also quickly catches on to the protective way Arthur is standing behind him, and the way The Prince’s loose hand shakes slightly with left over adrenaline.
Despite himself, Merlin relaxes and smiles when he sees Gwaine; with everything that had been going on he hadn’t really had a chance to think about how much he missed him, about how much he needed his support.
Gwaine pulls them into the room quickly, shutting the door behind him and turning around to see Merlin looking at him sheepishly, and Arthur staring at him with a predatory smile:
“What happened? Where have you been? Is everything ok?!”
~
End of Part 1!!
Hope y’all enjoyed this!! I probably could’ve fitted more in, but I figured this was a good point to stop. Part 2 and 3 are out (link @ top), part 4 won’t be too long!!
oh my god, the twins au!!!!!! it's incredible!!!!!!! holy shit, it's perfect!! just what i imagined when i first saw it on the list!! not to mention, aus like this are literally my shit, all the way. i love them.
the way they found out was fantastic. Igraine just suddenly dropping a bomb like this on them, Merlin's confession, the utter confusion and shock, oh my god!!!!
the confrontation with Gaius!!! the way Merlin got angry, aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! it was perfect!!! Merls definitely deserved to get angry, he's been lied to his whole life! i can't wait for him to confront Hunith!!
and then the whole thing with Uther!!! Leon staying in the room, and protecting Merlin, the proper way to act be damned!! Arthur arresting the king!!! yes!!!!! the way this whole thing played out was fantastic!
and the ending aaaaaaaaaa!!! Arthur teasing Merlin about his healing magic skills! and about his relationship with Gwaine!! and them arguing over who's older, that's such a classic, hahahaha! oh my gosh, i love it all so much. they were already best friends and now they'll get to be legit brothers!! i can't wait!!!
i'm so excited to see what else you've prepared for this au, oh my gosh. Gwaine's reaction, the problems and headaches the council will without a doubt create, the talk with Hunith, the kingdom's reaction!! also, what about Morgana, because i don't think she's been mentioned anywhere??? aaaaaaaaah, i can't wait!!!
(Referencing This Fic)
Thank you so much anon, I love y'all!! <3
I adore writing angry Merlin. I feel like it's a good way for other characters to realise that they don't actually know him very well, but also he deserves to get angry!! His life has been kinda shit!! Both in canon and in this fic!!! I guarantee that the blow out with Hunith will be worse than the one with Gaius. I feel like, especially when it comes to The King and magic, Merlin subconsciously semi-expects bad advice/hypocrisy from Gaius, but from his mother?? Nah, that's gonna be tough.
Leon being ultra protective of Merlin (and Arthur as well tbh) is one of my favourite things, plus I especially enjoyed writing the subtle implication that the guards and other knights respect Leon more than they respect even The King. It's literally impossible to have twins not argue over who the oldest technically is. Impossible, I say.
Morgana, Gwen, and the other knights (timeline be damned) make their appearances really early on in the next part!! They're currently all gathered in the throne room whilst Arthur tells the council what's up.
Before I forget to ask again, would y'all like Arthur shipped with anyone in this?? I haven't written him in a pairing yet but it's still early days and I can edit things. At the moment I'm tossing up between the traditional Arwen, or the rarer Arthur/Lancelot (no OT3, I'm afraid). Or would y'all prefer him to stay unpaired? Let me know!!!
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