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lady_bug_kayAuthor: ladybugkay
Fandom: Merlin (BBC)
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG-13 (for the innuendo)
Word Count: 729
Setting/Spoilers: future fic and no real spoilers for the show. Hell, you don't even need to have seen a single episode to read this one.
Summary: In the future, this is what they will say of Arthur and Merlin, and it will all be true, but it will not be all of the truth. So much exists between the lines.
Disclaimer: Oh, to be the brilliant BBC and everyone else who own the rights to these versions of the characters owned by no one. Alas, I am not and am making no money off this ficlet or any other.
A/N: I blame
demon_faith entirely for getting me into this show and this fandom. So this one's for her.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships- and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.”
-Lewis Carroll
They said that Guenivere was barren because of some malicious plot by scheming nobles, jealous maidens, or foreign kings. They said she bore the pain of her childlessness stoically, like a queen, and never allowed anyone to see her weep tears over the tragedy, not even her servants. She was a strong woman, a great queen, with a dignity and humility rare in a woman of so high a position.
Arthur was kind and compassionate, also, and never spoke a word against her for failing to give him an heir or not living up to her duties as a woman and a queen. The people loved him more for being so generous of heart and forgiving of the weakness of mere mortals who, unlike him, were untouched by the hands of destiny. He was never heard to lament the lack of children in his marriage, and he never failed to give his queen time and opportunity to be on her own and mourn her barren womb, leaving her in peace and precious solitude while he went off with Merlin on some grand, mysterious errand that would undoubtedly bring yet more glory to Camelot and the kingdom.
They said Arthur spent hours closeted with Merlin, receiving sage counsel and acquiring knowledge to which no king had ever before been privy. It was the words of Merlin, saturated as they were with uncanny wisdom and unnatural awareness of future events, that contributed immeasurably to Arthur’s greatness as a ruler and as a man. Merlin made Arthur stronger, wiser, and more of a king than any throne or crown.
Arthur would never be without him. To those who knew him best, it was obvious whenever Merlin had been away too long in a cave or a forest somewhere, for Arthur would grow ever more anxious until the moment Merlin was in his sights once more. He depended on Merlin, on his advice and support, and seemed to draw comfort and strength from his mere presence.
They were rarely apart. Wherever Arthur went, there would be Merlin, close by his side, his head leaning in towards Arthur’s, speaking words too low or too mysterious to be heard or understood by anyone save the king. All were accustomed to such sights and trusted that things were well when they saw them thus.
And if some thought it strange that Arthur, son of Uther, would heed so closely the words of one who worked magic, they accepted that it was all to the good for their king and for Camelot, and they kept their reservations to themselves.
No one feared that Merlin would bring harm to their beloved king, for such thoughts were foolish beyond imagining.
Merlin never permitted Arthur to go into battle without first secreting them both behind closed doors for as much as a full day, during which he must surely have dispensed invaluable words of wisdom and charms of good fortune, for nothing ever touched Arthur in battle. Indeed, strange and often remarkable things sometimes occurred on the fields of battle that made it clear Arthur was blessed by fate and protected by nature herself. And after every fight, they said Merlin would take Arthur aside again in order to go over every action and ascertain the consequences of every blow struck or avoided by the king. It was hardly any wonder that Arthur remained both undefeated and the greatest warrior in the kingdom, given the personal attention Merlin provided him before and after each occasion Arthur had to raise his sword.
In the end, they said Merlin died before Arthur, although certain accounts told of him coming back to life and remaining at the king’s side; or they said Arthur died before Merlin, although Merlin was never seen again after Arthur’s death.
They said King Arthur and his trusted advisor and dear friend Merlin died old and rather grey, yet the stories their children’s children told spoke of Arthur dying young and Merlin being bearded and bent with age.
But no matter how the story changed and the legend grew, they all said Arthur trusted Merlin as he trusted no other, and Merlin was loyal only ever unto Arthur until the end of his days.
They said many things, in many languages and for many years, and they spoke truth, for the most part, but they didn’t say everything.
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