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You know what I would do, if I had managed to knock the King of Camelot and his most fearsome knights out? You know what I would have done, if I were a Druid who had been wronged by King Uther and wanted revenge? I would have killed them.
No hesitation, no questions asked.
But these guys?? No. THEY decided to be extra.
They, whoever they are, decided it would be funny to put the King and his knights on an island and let them wake up there. Let them fight their way out and maybe get their revenge on the people who put them there.
If I knew Emrys to be involved, I'd run. Never look back, never try this nonsense at all and just make sure I get my sorry ass out of there.
Because I! make good life decisions.
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The currents washed ashore with a foaming sound. Softly, almost gently, the water washed around the bodies who lay face down in wet white sand.
Their soft breathing was drowned out by the sound of the waves, while a cold blue sky illuminated them sparsely. The water never reached their noses, but the salt water was bound to be a problem for their armor.
Getting corrosion of armor was not a task you would wish on any servant.
A mob of wet blond hair groaned first, before tasting sand. Irritated he heaved himself up and spit out what little dirt he had on his tongue.
"Huh?"
He blinked around to find another mob of wet hair sleeping not too far from him. That one lay there on his back, snoring loudly. Arthur Pendragon got on his knees to put a tired hand on his manservants chest. He was the only one on his back and the only one not protected by armor.
"Merlin, wake up!"
The man groaned in response and turned on his side to avoid this conversation, only to inhale a fresh wave of water. Choking, he as well rose up. Disoriented, he moved his head around, until finally he focused on the King.
"Huh- what-? Where are we?"
"That's a good question, MERlin.", said the King, as if it were somehow Merlin's fault for them being stranded here. He heaved, his expression softening. He knew it wasn't Merlin's fault. He was just the easiest to blame at times like these. Arthur tried to do it less, but habits die hard. "Come on, we have to wake up the others."
Merlin huffed, then nodded, before getting on his feet with silent sounds of protest.
Together they managed to rise the other knights from their *cough* wet dreams ;). Get it? Because they were soaked? Not funny? Your loss.
Percival, a hunk of a man, slept like he had been knocked out with a concussion. It took Merlin heaving him up under straining effort, to get him to somewhat respond.
Gwaine however, rolled over much like Merlin had, as soon as Arthur kicked him with his shoe. He looked like a wet dog, with his big eyes and the hair slapping in his face. He tried to puff it out of his face, but gravity undid his hard work in a second.
Elyan blinked awake, squinting at the white clouds, before calmly picking himself up.
"Where are we?" He was the only one who asked reasonable questions.
"Has anyone seen Lancelot?", asked Merlin, from where Percival was still slowly waking up. He was leaning against Merlin, seemingly unsure what thin tree he had leaned on in the night.
"He was with us.", he added, as if they didn't already know.
Suddenly, there was a rattle in the bushes at the beginning of a forest. Looking closer, there was a fire just outside at the beach side.
Arthur got the sense that this looked suspiciously a lot like the beach he had been to, when Merlin and him had been searching for Anhora that one time. Then again, beaches all looked suspiciously a lot alike.
Alerted, the knights, minus Percival, drew their swords at the noise. But out came only Lancelot, holding up a few rabbits.
"Ah, you're awake. Finally. I was getting worried."
"Stupidly perfect knight.", Gwaine muttered under his breath and gruntingly sheathed his sword. As if that were an insult.
"Lancelot. Why didn't you wake us up?", Arthur asked, relieved to see the familiar face.
Lancelot shrugged. "You were all fast asleep. I couldn't even wake Merlin. Don't worry, I would have tried again in a few minutes. I thought it would be better, if I could prepare a fire and some food, for when you guys woke up by yourselves." He smiled at them.
Merlin grinned and let Percival fall, before walking towards his friend. "I can help you skin those, if you want.", he pointed at the rabbits. As if this were normal for them, Lancelot put them in Merlin's arms. Arthur swallowed down a comment.
"That would be great, yeah. You guys should take off your armor and dry it. How we didn't drown in them is a wonder." Humming, Lancelot took off Merlin's neckerchief and wrung it out before positioning it next to the fire.
Arthur ignored how his guts felt strangely like Lancelot had wrung them out along with it.
"What do you mean 'not even Merlin'. He sleeps like a log.", he said instead.
At that, Merlin and Lancelot exchanged humorous glances that absolutely did not make him jealous, thank you very much.
Arthur coughed. "Anyway. Do you have any idea how we got here?"
Lancelot looked around, then shook his head, as he found Arthur's eyes again. "I know as much as you do, Sire." Then he paused, before he put a hand inside his pocket and pulled out a small piece of cloth that he then held out to Arthur. "Except for this."
Arthur stared at Lancelot, then the cloth and reached for it. Lancelot handed it over without hesitation. For a moment Arthur stared at the cloth, then he looked up at his most noble knight in question.
"I found this in my pockets. I don't know where it came from, but Leon has also found one in his pocket."
Arthur was absolutely not going to point out that he had forgotten that his first knight should also be around. In his defense, they were a lot of knights, plus Merlin.
"Leon? Where is he?"
"He's getting more wood.", Lancelot nodded at the fire.
"What's on the cloth? What is it?", asked Merlin, eyes drawn in confusion and lack of patience.
Lancelot smiled his way. "Those cloth pieces have names and titles written on them. Mine says "find the God of magic." Leon's says "find the Dolma". I believe these people might know how to get us from this island."
Merlin paled. "Who?"
Arthur blinked. "Do you think we all have one of these?" He handed Lancelot the cloth back and began searching his pockets. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Gwaine, Percival and Elyan do the same.
Elyan was the first to find one. "Mine says: find the King of the Druids.""
Percival then pulled something from shoulder plate: "Find the last Dragon Lord."
Gwaine pulled one out from his shoe, along with water and what looked like a Seastar. "Dragoon.
HEY, I know that guy!" Because of course they would all remember the old guy who used them as stairs once. Leon had told Arthur all about it, because none of the others were willing to admit that they had been outsmarted by that tattered old man.
Arthur was the last to find his piece, he was too distracted by Merlin's frozen state.
"Emrys.", he read out, once he found his cloth piece. Hmm... that name rang a bell.
"Merlin, what's on yours?"
Merlin opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked terrified. With shaking hands, he reached into the pockets of his jacket and pulled out another cloth piece. His eyes widened. Then, as if someone had hit him, he threw the cloth in the fire.
Everyone stared at him.
Merlin stared back.
There was a pause.
"Merlin, what was on yours?" Arthur pushed his hand into his hips to showcase how done he was with his favorite idiot servant. He bridged his nose with one hand.
"What was on what?"
"What name -", Arthur began, a bit confused, uncovered his face and then settled on walking over with a raised pointed finger.
Merlin smiled anxiously at him.
"Was. On. Your. Cloth. Piece!!!" Arthur's face came close to Merlin's as he kept poking his servant's chest, but Merlin just smiled at him with innocent eyes.
"What cloth piece?"
"What cloth - MERlin, you just THREW IT IN THE FIRE!"
"I did no such thing." Merlin was outright lying.
Arthur closed his eyes. "If we DON'T get out of here, because you burned your task, I will murder you."
"Of course, Sire. I would never lie to you, Sire."
Arthur closed his eyes, trying not to hit him on the head for his insolence.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Do any of you know who these people or...", Arthur looked at Lancelot, "entities are?"
Everyone shook their heads. Even Lancelot. For some reason, Arthur had expected him to know something. He somehow always did. It's probably why Merlin looked at him with so much admiration.
Arthur averted his eyes. Even now. Merlin gave Lance that wide eyes look again and it seemed like Lancelot could read him.
Arthur hated to agree with Gwaine, but fucking perfect Lancelot!!! Always being so goddamn... perfect. Urgh, whatever. (Though Gwaine did have better hair.)
In that moment, Leon broke through the bushes, piles of wood in his arms. He looked a bit tired. He always looked tired. Lately the bags under his eyes were getting worse again.
That reminded Arthur: "Good to see you're alive, too, Leon.", he pat him on the shoulder, making several logs fall from his arms. Arthur didn't bother picking them up.
"Have you figured out where we are?" Where Lancelot was annoyingly perfect, Leon tended to be all knowing, wise and exhausted on main.
Leon gave him a look. "We're on God island."
Arthur's expression did not change. He still smiled. "The what?"
Leon heaved a sigh. "It's a very annoying island that the druids like to speak in riddles about. But when do they not, so whatever." He turned 90 degrees and just threw the logs on the ground. Unlike Lancelot he had not taken off his armor and was still soaking wet.
Arthur just glanced at him expectantly, before Leon registered the silent question.
"It's an island that belongs to the God of magic. It's supposed to hold all facets of his identity, his ghost as you will. His history and personality and stuff. I don't know the specifics."
"How do you know it's this island?", Arthur couldn't hide his curiosity. Also, great. Of course Lancelot would get tasked to find the one entity who lived on this island, while none of the rest had any clue of what to do with their cloth pieces.
Leon gave him a deadly stare. "Whenever shit like this happens, there comes a little bird to me to tell me the most useless information, before he flies off, instead of TAKING US ALL OUT OF HERE -", Leon's voice grew louder as he now yelled at the sky. "FUCK YOU, KILGHARRAH!"
Oh, nice, he was in a good mood today.
Leon kept stomping around and screaming and yelling at the non responsive sky after that.
"Okay, then.", Arthur nodded, because in his world nothing ever made sense, so the best solution was just to accept what destiny threw his way. Like Merlin. Merlin never made sense either. Disappearing in taverns all the goddamn time, but never drinking with Arthur. The audacity.
Anyway, Arthur turned his back on Leon and stemmed his hands into his hips, while the man kept screaming in the background.
"Merlin, when's lunch?"
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They started their mindless search soon after their last clothing had dried. Normally, the knights would have kept their armor on. But with the sun rose the temperature on the island and soon it was way too hot to stay in a metal box.
They had little water on them to begin with and the next river was, according to Leon, a long way from the beach. Also the armor was full of sand and salt and everything about it had become unwearable. So they left the armor at the beach, despite Merlin's complaints.
Which was ridiculous. Merlin was the only one of them without amor, what was HE worried about? He always survived the bandit attacks without as much as a scratch.
Besides, Leon had managed to tell them that only chosen ones would ever be "invited", as he called it, while Arthur would rather call it "kidnapped" to the island.
So the risk of meeting bandits here seemed relatively low.
Merlin kept complaining, until they reached what looked like a graveyard.
The sun was shining through the leafs of the forest and hit the stone plates just enough that Arthur noticed the engraved markings in the stone.
"What's that?" Arthur paused and knelt down beside one of the stone plates.
If this was a grave yard, the stone plates were too expensive to belong to commoner. Turns out, this was one anyway.
Suddenly, Percival spoke up. "These are Dragon Lord names."
Arthur looked up at the man, who held up his cloth piece.
"I think this is where I'm supposed to search."
Arthur opened his mouth, but Lancelot beat him to it. "What makes you say that?"
Percival turned his cloth piece around. "The name is glowing."
It was true. The small cloth piece was shining golden in the sunlight. It's letters enlightening shadows around them.
When everyone else checked their cloth pieces, it became clear that Percival was right. None of the other cloth pieces had begun to glow.
Arthur walked over to him and looked at the stone plate next to Percival.
"This looks like a pedigree." Arthur moved his hand over the rich engraved lines. The stones were grown over with moss, but the names were readable. The last name on that stone plate looked familiar too.
"Looks like Balinor is the last of an old blood line of Dragon Lords." Arthur paused. "I can't read that language. But their family name seems to be 'Feorh-hyrde'."
Merlin blinked up at him. "Are you sure?"
Arthur rolled his eyes. "It's what's written here. I don't understand this language, MERlin. But I can read."
Merlin sighed. "You're pronouncing it wrong though. That is the language of the Old Religion. You have to pronounce every letter and the 'h' is more of a 'ch' sound. And you should roll the 'r' more." Merlin walked over, exceptionally wise for once as he examined the plate himself.
"How would YOU know that?" Arthur felt a bit gobsmacked at the revelation.
Merlin just sighed again. "We get attacked by sorcerers pretty much every week. You think Gaius and I just figure out what they curse us with by GUESSING? I LISTEN to what they say and then tell Gaius. It helps to pay attention. You should try it sometime."
"Oh, SORRY, Merlin, that I'm more occupied with my men not DYING to listen to sorcerers mutter nonsense at me!", Arthur said to mask his embarrassment. Merlin had a point. That WAS reasonable. Why did Merlin have to be smart at times? It was easier for Arthur when the man was incapable of anything. It made him easier to protect and less likely to head into danger. Not that Merlin wouldn't do that anyway, but he'd be more cautious at least.
Merlin wasn't listening to Arthur anymore. "It means Protector.", he said quietly, because of COURSE Merlin could also translate it.
"Protector of what?", asked Lancelot, because Lancelot always asked good questions and made Merlin smile when he asked them. Arthur gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He could see Gwaine do the same and they nodded at each other with a silent promise to keep an eye out on him.
Percival cleared his throat. "I think they mean this more literally in this case. Protector of life. When I was young I would sometimes listen to the druids that came to our village. They mostly came to trade, but they told us children a lot about the Dragon age. Maybe that's why I was given the 'last Dragonlord' to find."
Arthur stared at him. He had never heard Percival speak for that long. "And what's the story?"
Percival shrugged. "It's just a tale. Apparently the first Dragon Lords were a the kings of Albion at the beginning of the Dragon Age. They struck a bargain with the first Dragons who were thought to be gods at the time. They had names like 'Life' or 'Strength' or something like that.
I thought you would know. That's where your last name comes from, after all."
Arthur still stared. "My name?"
Percival tilted his head. "Pendragon comes from the word for 'dragon of great strength'. It's Welsh though. I suppose your ancestors aren't in the direct lineage of the Dragon Lords, but there is definitely a connection."
"Oh." That was awkward. Was his family listed on these stone plates too?
"Well, if that's true... do you think there is a king left whose last name is "Life" or something?"
Percival thought for a while. "Well, 'life' in the language of the Old Religion would be 'lifan'." (1)
Now that was unhelpful.
"Well, I don't know anyone like that." Arthur sighed and felt quite relieved that the word didn't sound at all familiar.
Percival smiled. "Yeah, I figured. After all, there shouldn't even BE a Dragon Lord left. But sometimes you still find towns whose names root in the language of the Old Religion."
Merlin laughed. "Yeah, like my home village."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Ealdor?"
Arthur merely said the word, before Percival's usually stoic expression exploded with a wide grin. "Seriously? Doesn't your mother live there?"
Merlin snorted, but nodded, which then made Percival pretty much bend over. Arthur had never seen this before. Percival wasn't supposed to be this energetic... or humorous.
"Why? What does it mean?", Arthur felt wary. Percival wasn't usually engaging this much with Merlin. This was becoming dangerous. They had their own LANGUAGE. The HELL.
Merlin shook his head. "It means parent."
Percival paused. "It can also mean a man of nobility."
Now that was all fascinating and all.... but Arthur didn't like the way Merlin was beaming at Percival.
Percival grinned. "Merlin, how much do you actually know about Dragon Lords? I've never really met someone who is interested in the history. I would LOVE to share some of it's stories with you."
Arthur blinked. 'Excuse you?', he didn't say. He hoped the daggers in his glare would reach Percival, but the man didn't seem to notice. Merlin, however, was beaming even more than before. Suddenly the two were reading what was on those stone plates and reading the names out loud and laughing and commenting on their meaning.
Arthur stood there, completely LOST on what to do.
Eventually Gwaine noticed his distress and put a hand on his shoulder, as if to show him some sympathy and support. Like Arthur were PINING over his manservant, which he WAS NOT, thank you very much.
Arthur felt like a kicked puppy.
The other knights seemed to care little about this place and instead went to collect some berries from nearby trees, while Leon went to the nearest river, where he got them some drinkable water.
Suddenly, Percival yelped and the cloth piece fell from his hand. Right before their eyes, the piece glowed golden once more and then evaporated in the air.
None of them understood what it meant.
Only Merlin watched the scene as if his life suddenly made sense.
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The next one who was granted precious Merlin time appeared to be Elyan.
Arthur had not been pouting while Percival and Merlin could speak so freely about literal treason, but Merlin looked so happy that Arthur didn't dare say anything about it.
Neither of the men seemed to even realize what they were doing, so Arthur held back.
They decided to keep searching the island, when they came to an old Druid camp. "I thought you said only chosen people would be on this island.", said Arthur to Leon while he was decidedly not watching Merlin and Percival, still, like a creep.
Leon gave him a blank glance. "The camp is empty, Sire. And someone must have spread the tale."
That made sense.
Elyan's comment came out of nowhere. In hindsight, Arthur should have known that that meant trouble.
"You know, when I left Camelot, before I became a mercenary, I was living a bit with the Druids." He pulled out his cloth piece and smiled, strangely enough. "I knew it, that's why." He held up the piece to show them that it was glowing.
"I think this is the reason why I'm supposed to find their leader." He walked around the left over tents and looked inside. He waved them to do the same and one by one, Arthur's knights left to explore those tents.
"Wait, you lived with Druids? Why did you never say anything?" Arthur felt scandalized. Another one of his knights was keeping some illegal knowledge from him!
Elyan shrugged. "It never came up. The Druids are really peaceful people. But they aren't really on good terms with Camelot, are they?"
Arthur shook his head. "They don't exactly LOVE me, that's true. But I wouldn't say they are enemies." Okay, Arthur got why that would be confusing. But Uther used to treat the Druids more like a nuisance, than enemies.... for some time. Until he didn't. Even Arthur found that wrong.
Elyan laughed a little, as he looked around. "I always found it peculiar, how Uther could hate them so much. The Druids I travelled with refused to hunt animals."
And that was the moment Arthur paled. He used words like 'peculiar'. Oh no.
Merlin, who had still been chatting with Percival, snapped his head around so fast, Arthur feared it would off.
Apart from fancy words, Merlin LOVED animals. Merlin LOVED to interrupt every hunt. He hated the killing. He rarely even ate any of the stew he made for the rest of them. It made absolute sense that he would light up at the mention of Vegetarian Druids and the audible expessed adoration for them in Elyan's voice.
Arthur exchanged a glance with Percival and noticed with satisfaction how the eyes of the big man looked berethed of Merlin's attention. 'Mood.', Arthur decided and went to pat his shoulder. It was as high up as he could reach.
"I know. I always told my father that they were peaceful. But -", Arthur was fighting to hold the conversation, but Merlin cut him off.
"The Druids ARE peaceful!", he insisted and Arthur's sanity was lost with the excitement that reflected in Merlin's eyes.
And soon Elyan and him were engaged in a wild discussion about Druid customs. Arthur covered his face with both hands. He needed to get a grip.
"I find it hard to believe the Druids have a king. They seem more like nomads to me.", Elyan was just saying, while Merlin nodded along.
"Absolutely. They govern themselves well on their own. Why WOULD they even need a leader?"
That made Elyan pause, as he studied his cloth piece along the way. "Well, I mean, they ARE hunted by law of the kingdom. It would be good, if they had a spokesperson who could arrange meetings with the king of Camelot and figure out a way to let us coexist."
You know? Like Arthur wasn't RIGHT HERE.
Merlin tilted his head in thought. "That does make sense. But... I mean, they do have LEADERS. We met Iseldir a while back, didn't we?"
Merlin glanced at Arthur and he opened his mouth, ready to get back in the conversation, when Elyan interjected.
"But a leader of them is only for their smaller tribes. Not for their collective. They should elect someone to speak FOR them. That would be better."
And then it went back and forth and Arthur had no way to participate in the conversation. So he decided to, instead, stroll through the Druid camp and look inside the tents. Maybe they could find something useful in here. Like blankets or something. None of them knew how cold the nights would fare to be out here. They didn't know how long they would be here or how to return. And it seemed like a good idea to use this camp as their return point.
This was, after all, an island. It's not like they would find a bridge or anything that would safely return them back to Camelot.
So Arthur found Leon to make sure they would all be informed of that decision.
While rummaging through the tents and what few belongings he could find, namely blankets and pelts, as well as some food, he found a treasure.
It was placed on a blanket in the middle of the biggest tent around the area. There he found a circlet.
It was silver with dragon ornaments and a glow to it that made it look almost magical. But in a good way magical. Like the magical that the Druids liked to advertise. It gave Arthur an idea.
He grabbed the circlet and walked out of the tent, where he found Elyan and Merlin still talking. Somehow, Percival was back involved in the conversation as they were inspecting runes that were painted on the tent openings and on those various banners around the tent.
"I think they are used as protection." Arthur just heard Merlin nerd his way through the conversation.
Percival agreed. "Absolutely. I think that one stands for growth and that one for strength." He pointed at the different runes, while Elyan examined them in thought. "I think some of these are -", he was interrupted, when Arthur unceremoniously put the circlet on Merlin's head.
Shocked, Merlin turned around, hands already grabbing for the circlet, as if he feared it would curse him.
Arthur grinned at his accomplishment.
"Look at that. I think we found the Druid King.", he said, because he thought it was funny. Merlin's terror made him reconsider and his face fell.
Then Elyan snorted, as did Percival and Arthur felt some kind of relieve, because Merlin seemed to get that it was a joke.
He took off the circlet and marveled at it, which gave Arthur time to ruffle his hair. "I found this crown in one of the tents. And I figured, since you KNOW so much about ILLEGAL things, you might as well wear their crown."
That was a lie. Merlin simply looked nice with a crown on his head.
Any idiot would look through that ruse. All his knights already knew it was a ruse. But Merlin was an oblivious idiot and Arthur loved to walk that dangerous line of having him find out and stay completely clueless.
"I'm not a druid!", Merlin said weakly, but Arthur took the circlet and put it back on his head.
"Behold! The mighty king of the Druids!", he said and mock bowed to him.
That was the moment that Elyan yelped. The cloth piece in his hand was burning and soon it evaporated just like Percival's had done.
It was quiet between them after that. Merlin was even paler than usual.
Arthur sighed. "I guess whoever brought us here is messing with us. Or they don't know WHAT they are tasking us with."
Percival hesitated. "Maybe they don't need us to find the person, but we have to figure out what happened to them? I mean, we found the grave of the last Dragon Lord, whose name was Balinor, right? And now you found the crown of the Druid King."
Arthur stopped, then shook his head. "That wasn't really a grave yard. More like a memorial. Merlin and I met Balinor before and we were the ones who burned him."
"Oh." Percival looked down, Merlin averted his eyes.
"But maybe you're on to something." Arthur thought about it.
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It was in the late afternoon that Gwaine came rushing towards them with the biggest grin they had seen him wear ever since they came to this island.
"I found a tavern."
"A tavern?" 'Here? On THS island?' Arthur's eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Gwaine grinned. "And it got the best name EVER. It's called 'Bad excuses.' I mean, there is no one there, but they have ale and wine! Anyone wanna come?"
Leon's answer sounded exasperated. "Why is there a tavern on a deserted island?"
"I don't care, Leon. It's free ALE. Now come on!"
Arthur glanced at Merlin. The man had once again put down the circlet and was trailing the thing with his fingers, as if he could find answers in the metal.
The circlet looked great on him, as Arthur had known it would, but that was not his current focus.
"Don't you want to join him?" With how often Merlin was at the tavern, he wondered why the man hadn't already jumped to the occasion.
"Me?" Merlin had the audacity to look surprised.
Arthur decided he was having none of it. Besides, this was the perfect excuse to get him away from his new found nerd fan gang something.
"Whatever, we're going. I want to see what that bad excuse of a tavern looks like."
Merlin let himself be dragged along, but not without putting his crown back on, much to Arthur's satisfaction.
...
The tavern that Gwaine had lead them, and by 'them' he means Merlin, Arthur, Percival and for some reason Lancelot (stupid, perfect Lancelot), to an old hut that looked by every means like a totally normal, run down tavern. As Gwaine had promised.
Leon and Elyan had refused to come. Elyan didn't drink and Leon only drank alone.
With that they were five people who entered the small building. Gwaine immediately began to put drinks on the table.
Arthur still side eyed the sign out the door. As he did, he wondered why someone would name their pub 'bad excuses'. 'Bad decisions' he could understand, but 'bad excuses'?
It was a dusty place they were in, but the ale did taste quite nicely.
"Gwaine. Your task is glowing.", said Lancelot all of a sudden and their head turned to Gwaine. Gwaine had tugged his cloth piece into his belt and from where they all stood, they could see the name 'Dragoon' burning through the unlit hut.
'Handy', Arthur's mind said, because the glow did enlighten the place quite a bit.
Just like that, Gwaine put the glowing piece on the round table between them and grinned at them.
"Well, i suppose that means that this is where Dragoon spends all his time, am I right?"
"Or he's a bad excuse of a sorcerer.", Arthur countered.
He glanced at Merlin, hoping it would make him laugh, but saw him frown instead.
Tough crowd tonight.
At least Gwaine was laughing. "You know, I like him. I mean, sure, he killed the king and all, but that guy was funny as hell."
Arthur tried to ignore the reminder. But if they were to find the man, he needed to make sure his knights knew how he stood on the matter.
"Honestly, I don't believe he killed him on purpose."
That got him the attention. Merlin's included. Score.
"Honestly, I think so, too.", Gwaine agreed and took his first sip of the ale. "When we met him, I was ready to run him through. But I mean, he stacked us knights as stairs. I have never seen a sorcerer use their magic just for shenanigans. He is a genius and if I had magic, I would abuse it just the same." He paused. "Also, if he wanted to kill us, I'm pretty sure he was powerful enough to do it."
Arthur smiled at that a little, even if the reminder was bitter. "I haven't really told any of you, but when I searched for that sorcerer who was meant to help my father and I found him instead, I was so confused.
I mean, the last time he came to Camelot, he was seen to try and make it look like he enchanted me and Gwen to be in love with each other. I mean... that potion had no effect. All it did was that my father had someone to blame for my courtship with Gwen. It saved her life." He apologetically glanced at Lancelot. "Of course, before we broke up."
He took his own sip of Ale next, pleased to see that for once, Merlin was only listening and not getting distracted by the topic at hand.
Lancelot smiled and raised his own goblet at him, before politely ignoring his justification.
Arthur cleared his throat. "Well, the point is, all he wanted from me was to promise I would free magic users. That I would stop the death sentence.
He looked so relieved when I agreed to the terms. I made no sense that he would kill my father. He knew it would harden my heart.
I was crushed at first, obviously. Condemned magic and all. But I was blind with rage. I think he really meant well. And I'm really sorry that I didn't keep my promise."
"You are?" Merlin's eyes were wide. So wide in fact that Arthur had to stop himself from patting him lovingly on the cheek. He nodded instead.
Gwaine hummed. "I absolutely agree. He had such a vibe to him. Leon told me that when he was brought to the king he was insulting him to his face. What did he call you again, Arthur?"
Arthur laughed. "A toad, I think. It was really funny, to be honest. He tried so hard to insult me, but I think he couldn't really find any good ones. I think he kind of liked me and was really annoyed that he did."
"Maybe he just had so many insults in his mind that he couldn't chose which would fit best.", Merlin muttered next to him, making Arthur grin all over.
Arthur turned to him. "Oh yeah, Merlin? Since you're the expert on insulting your king, why don't you enlighten us? I'm sure you have plenty insults prepared."
Merlin looked at him, ready to retort, but then closed his mouth, as if at a loss for words. Arthur grinned with amusement. That was exactly the expression that Dragoon had been wearing.
Merlin looked almost helpless, as he met Arthur's eyes. His eyes were fond, and, as Arthur had stated before, annoyed of his own adoration for Arthur.
And yes, Arthur knew there was something there. No one, not even Merlin would put up with Arthur as long as Merlin had, if he didn't get attached to him in SOME way.
Even Uther's attachment with Arthur wavered at times. Merlin never did.
And well, Merlin had always shown extraordinary loyalty and hope in Arthur's leading capabilities. So, it made sense that he would now hate himself for believing in Arthur and the kingdom he intended to built.
Still, the comparison was pretty much spot on. They even had similar eyes.
Gwaine put his cup down and poured more into it.
"You know, princess, you can still make magic legal."
Arthur pretty much flinched in his direction. Merlin was even mirroring his reaction.
"You think?", Arthur asked. Because he honestly felt that it was a bit late for that.
Merlin's head turned to Arthur so slowly that Arthur feared he had said something wrong.
Gwaine wore an amused expression but sighed. "You know, you said it yourself. The druids are mostly peaceful. I don't think every sorcerer is bad. And it's clear that you're not really mad at Dragoon for the accident."
Arthur looked down, then away from Merlin. "Sorry, Gwaine. But... there can be no place for magic in Camelot."
Collective silence filled the room, as Gwaine put his cup down. "What? Why?"
Arthur bit his lip and tried not to look at Merlin. This was between them. He wouldn't make Merlin responsible for that decision, because it was Arthur who had made it. Just because Arthur would do anything for Merlin doesn't mean Merlin was responsible for these actions.
Arthur had taken Merlin's advise. He wouldn't betray Merlin just because he had some doubts.
"Arthur -"
Arthur turned to meet Merlin's eyes again. There was fear in them. It only hardened Arthur's resolve. "Allowing magic back in Camelot ... it would mean restarting the war that my father fought for over 20 years."
"Does it?" Gwaine looked doubtful. "You know, in Caerlon magic is not illegal and we never had wars like Uther had. We had magic users fighting magic users. We had non magic users accuse magic users for abusing their powers. But we never blamed magic itself."
"Gwaine-", Arthur began and suddenly startled, as he felt Merlin tugging at his sleeve.
Immediately, Arthur looked back at his servant and tried not to get distracted by the way the crown made him look almost ethereal in the shine of the magic light. His eyes conveyed something to Arthur that looked like a plea and regret. Arthur knew what he was saying with those pretty eyes. But it made no sense.
Arthur opened his mouth, then closed it.
Merlin was an enigma. Merlin defended druids. Merlin smuggled them out of the castle. Merlin's childhood best friend was a sorcerer. But when it came down to it... he had told Arthur not to trust in magic. He had been ready to let Mordred die for that decision. Why was he changing his opinion now?
Gwaine interrupted the awkward silence by drinking more ale. "Hey, Merlin. If you had magic, would you pull pranks on Arthur with me?"
Merlin looked back at Gwaine and suddenly his pain was exchanged with something like glee. The sudden change in emotion made Arthur lean away a bit.
"Of course! If magic were legal -"
'If magic were legal.' Arthur lost trail of the conversation, as the two idiots began making schemes to prank several different people in the castle.
While Arthur would love to join that conversation, he felt lost at Merlin's strange behavior. As he watched Merlin, his eyes alight with mischief and excitement, he wondered if lifting the ban on magic would make Merlin smile more. If THIS was what he looked like at the mere idea.
Or maybe he should give Merlin a special permit to do whatever the heck he wanted, including magic.
Arthur would have to admit he was absolutely gone for this boy, but like... it was Merlin. No one would even think of arresting him, accept maybe Uther and even HE had been hesitant once he had gotten to know Merlin.
Merlin was a marvel. The world was a much better place, when Merlin was happy. The entire kingdom would back Arthur up on that.
It was then that the light went out and once again a cloth piece evaporated in the air between them.
In the sudden darkness, Percival let out a last comment.
"Well. That was it for our light source."
Stupidly perfect Lance, of course, then provided them with candles.
------------------------------------------------------------------
There wasn't just a tavern on this island, as the five slightly drunk knights realized once they left the tavern and were suddenly faced with Elyan and Leon.
"What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to stay at the camp?", asked Arthur.
Leon gave him his cloth piece, which had begun to glow. "It started when I found the clothing store."
"What?" Arthur blinked and then was reminded by the glow whom Leon was meant to search for.
"Oh, that makes sense. The Dolma likes to be paid in clothes."
Leon stared.
Arthur stared back.
Gwaine waved his hand between them to see if any of them would flinch. Neither did.
So, apparently it was Leon's turn to talk with Merlin, Arthur's sloshed mind concluded. Because that was the only thing that glowing seemed to really indicate.
At least, it was the only thing that really happened when those cloth pieces started to glow.
"So.... you think we can lure her here by buying her clothes?", Leon asked very, very slowly.
Arthur blinked very slowly as well.
Gwaine gave them a thumbs up. "Us, shopping clothes for an old hag, count me IN."
Arthur did not want to know.
...
So, apparently, there was a shop on this island. That had lots of dresses and costumes stored in it. Gwaine and Percival had somehow gotten to try on several different outfits and had long forgotten whom they were shopping for.
Arthur found himself finding very nice and soft fabrics that he did not try to make Merlin wear at all. They wouldn't suit him anyway. Arthur's love language was NOT gift giving, leave him ALONE.
In fact, Leon and Merlin stood awkwardly aside, while the other knights kept having fun. Without their armor and only the thick fabric that one wears underneath as to not cut yourself on the metal, burn your skin off in summer and freeze to death in winter, finding new clothes was actually a survival skill.
This was NECESSARY, Arthur thought as he tried to figure out how he could make Merlin wear Pendragon red.
His thoughts were promptly interrupted, as he overheard fragments of Merlin and Leon's conversation.
"It's not embarrassing Merlin. Gwen forced me to wear a dress once too.", said Leon and Arthur immediately paused.
"THAT's what you're focusing on? You KNOW, Leon! That's .... I don't... HOW?"
Leon had his arms crossed. "I'm the only one here who was there when the Dragon attacked, remember. I was half conscious and I heard you."
Arthur blinked. Had Merlin worn a dress when they fought the great Dragon? Arthur could have sworn he would remember that.
"Your secret is safe with me. Always has been."
"Because you wore a dress once?"
"Wha-, NO.", Leon flicked Merlin on the head. "Because you're our friend. And believe it or not, I don't want to have THAT conversation with Arthur, when he finds out."
Arthur had to admit, Leon had a point. Seeing Merlin crossdressing would probably awaken something in him. Not that he didn't already know Merlin did that. He had seen him steal dresses far too often for that. Now that he thought about it, perhaps they had some dresses for Merlin here too. Would he appreciate that? Having his own dresses? Or would he think Arthur was messing with him? Well, Arthur was always messing with him, no matter what. He could search for one, just to be sure.
"So... we're good?" Merlin's voice was small.
"Of course we are." Leon paused and Arthur could already hear the telltale sign of the cloth piece destroying itself.
"Oh, look at that. Found her." Leon grinned at Merlin, then ruffled his hair.
Arthur even only send him a small glare for that, before Leon disappeared outside.
The rest of them spend far longer inside, fooling around.
-------------------------------------------------------
OF COURSE it would be Lancelot's turn next.
Arthur had at this point realized that it was fruitless to try and find actual people. Or gods, for that matter. It was more like... figuring out that they existed and getting into the mindset of who they were that fulfilled their tasks.
Arthur was not surprised that they found a shrine that was dedicated to the god of magic.
He was also not surprised that Lancelot was to fulfill his task first.
He was, however, furious.
And annoyed.
Everyone else got the satisfaction of, for once, beating Lancelot to something. Everyone but Arthur. He wished the days back when he was still allowed to hit the man with a broom stick.
Technically, he still was. But Merlin always looked so angry when he did it.
"So... a shrine, huh?"
Arthur was trying hard not to glare. Lancelot and Merlin stood side by side, comfortable with being so close, while Arthur wilted on the inside at the sight. No, he was still not jealous, what are you talking about?
"Shut up."
Yeah, shut up, Lancelot.
"Sire, could you please stop glaring at Lancelot?", Leon sighed and dragged him away from them.
"I'm the king, I can glare at whoever I want."
"I have seen a glorious mirror over there, my KING. Let Lancelot make a prayer to the god of magic and then we're one step closer getting from this island."
"Are we? Because so far, those magic tissues have done nothing but steal our time."
"You mean, steal YOUR precious time with Merlin." Leon rolled his eyes.
"I'm not jealous!"
"I didn't say you were." Leon paused. "You are quite obsessed with Merlin though, Sire."
"I am NOT-", Arthur sputtered and glared at his first knight. "YOU'RE obsessed with him. Everyone HERE is obsessed with him. A barely talked with him today!"
Leon didn't even mind that an answer. But Arthur was RIGHT. Everyone was talking with Merlin today and Arthur hadn't even gotten to give him that new dress he found for him!
Arthur was being REASONABLE, okay?
Leon finally put him in front of a giant mirror that they had not seen before, which was ridiculous, because it was GIANT and had a GOLDEN frame and was somehow tugged in a cave.
"Look at it, Sire. You look pathetic."
Arthur looked into the mirror and saw himself pouting like a child. Leon had a point, but he couldn't just say that.
"You forget who I am, Leon."
"No, YOU forget who you are. Merlin is your servant. No one here is trying to take him from you. I don't even know what gave you that idea! You're been like this since we went to that memorial graveyard or what that was!"
"Like what?"
"You've been glaring at ALL of us none stop! That you do it with Lancelot is normal, but I'm half certain you're going to murder him tonight.
You were jealous of ME in that shop! ME! Are you nuts?"
Arthur saw himself frowning now. "I know, I know. It's just...", he sighed. "I'm worried for us, alright? We're lost on an island in the middle of nowhere. Merlin is the only one who calms me down on missions like these. It's driving me nuts that I haven't gotten time to talk alone with him yet. He's MY servant. None of you should even WANT to talk to him. he's far below your status."
He saw Leon cover his face with one hand, as if trying very hard not to punch Arthur.
"You are the Once and Future King, Arthur. Look at this mirror and try to remember what that means for Albion, alright? Not just YOU. Not just Merlin. Think about the future of your kingdom, alright?"
With that he turned around and left.
Arthur couldn't even blame him. And since he didn't want to watch Merlin and Lancelot be all buddy buddy, he decided to sit down here and do exactly as Leon had suggested.
And he couldn't help but think: "But Merlin IS the future of Camelot." Or at least, he wanted Merlin to be. Merlin was everything that Arthur stood for. Everything he wanted in a kingdom. And everything that he wanted by his side to rule it.
It was in that moment, that he felt something tugging at him in his pockets.
Curious he pulled out his own cloth piece and saw it glowing before him. He looked up, met his own eyes in the mirror and blinked.
What the hell did this mean? Why would he be told to find 'Emrys' here? Now? He had no idea what he was looking at! Who even WAS ...
In the mirror, a figure approached him with a giant smile on his face.
And suddenly it all began to make sense.
Arthur's hand fell to the ground beside him as the information of the past few hours began to gather and connect in his mind.
Merlin changing his mind about magic. Merlin knowing the language of the Old Religion. Merlin knowing Druids.
Someone had once told him of the legend of the Once and Future King. And they spoke of his right hand, of the one who helped him make everything he dreamed of come true.
They spoke of a sorcerer, a legend. They didn't say much more than that, but Arthur's mind successfully connected the dots anyway.
And not just those. Everything that happened today.
He had been right. There was a reason why each time their cloth pieces began to glow, they would all suddenly hold heartfelt conversations with Merlin.
And the others knew as well. Gwaine knew Merlin had magic. Percival realized Merlin was a Dragon Lord right off the bat. Elyan must have figured out who the king of the Druids was during their little conversation somehow, because the man was perceptive as hell and Lancelot probably knew everything already and only needed to wrap his mind around the fact that Merlin was a GOD, apparently.
Arthur looked in the mirror and he saw the Once and Future King. And he saw Emrys coming to a halt right beside him.
Every concern Arthur had ever had about that legend left him in that very moment.
Because finally, Merlin made sense.
With a smile, he saw the cloth piece evaporate in the air before him. Because Arthur didn't need to exchange a single word with Merlin to know him for who he was.
-----------------------------------------
"You found Emrys?" Merlin had seen the cloth evaporate then.
"Yeah." Arthur paused and pat the spot beside him. "He can sit right here, if he wants." Expectantly, Arthur looked at Merlin and saw him pale.
"For the record, I'm glad it's you."
"Wait... you've heard legends of Emrys before? I could have sworn you had never-"
"I had a life before I met you, Merlin.", Arthur said, even though it was a lie.
Slowly, Merlin sat down next to him.
"So... are you mad?"
Arthur blinked. That hadn't even crossed his mind. He looked at Merlin. "No." 'Except if that means you will ask for days off to hang out with Druids, then I WILL be upset.', he did not say, but he felt that Merlin knew that already.
"Then... how DO you feel?", asked Merlin, hesitantly and Arthur wanted to ruffle his hair again. Stupid, lovely little servant.
"A bit silly, because I stole you a dress and now I learned that you only crossdressed as a cover story. But I still think you could have chosen a better dress for the Dolma story. And you really need to work on your excuses. I don't know if you noticed, but they named a whole tavern after them."
Merlin slowly turned his head. "Why would you get me a dress?"
Arthur smiled mischievously. "Because I wanted to be supportive."
Merlin kicked him for that, which made Arthur laugh.
"So, Merlin. Turns out you're the last one to fulfill your task. Tell me, what name was on yours? Destroyer of worlds? I mean, you are a GOD, so what is it you need to still find?"
Merlin raised both eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Arthur tilted his head. "That's what this is about, isn't it? Leon mentioned it, didn't he? GOD island? This place holds the answers to who you are, Merlin. We were all meant to find a part of you that we didn't know yet. I figured you don't know every legend about yourself. So what is it about yourself that you don't yet know?"
Merlin stared at him. "That's all you want to know? Only what my task was?"
Arthur sighed. "Well, I do still want to know why you wanted Mordred dead so bad that you would condemn magic for good. But we can have that conversation another time."
Merlin swallowed. "It's... it's Merlin."
Arthur blinked. "I know your name... Pretty much all of them, I hope." Honestly, he wasn't so sure about that anymore.
"It was my task-", Merlin shivered a sigh and hugged his legs.
"to find Merlin."
Arthur glanced over and decided to reach out his hand to pat Merlin on the leg.
"You know... I know a Merlin. He's a really important person to me. But don't tell him I said that. It would get to his head."
Merlin looked up, mouth agape. "What-"
"I suppose... between all those names it can be really hard to be yourself, can't it?"
Arthur gave him a meaningful smile.
Merlin stared.
Arthur couldn't help but ruffle Merlin's hair. It was just so addicting, he couldn't stop himself.
It made Merlin close his eyes, before Arthur accidentally tugged at his hair.
"Ow, Arthur, stop it!"
"I know how you feel, Merlin.", Arthur said, feeling surprisingly unbothered by the whole revelation. In fact, he felt only relief and gratitude. Emrys was meant to rule beside the Once and Future King. If that didn't speak of a grand future, then Arthur didn't know what did.
"Being the prince of Camelot is an entirely different job than being the crown prince. Being Urthur's son was a lot different than being King. Being a knight has different responsibilities than being first knight.
Until I met you, I didn't even know who Arthur was." He smiled at his servant.
"I can't be mad with you for trying to be what people told you to be, Merlin. You shouldn't have to pretend to be someone else.
All of these names are a part of who you are. And perhaps you have been stuck as manservant for so long, you forgot to see yourself." Arthur waved at the mirror.
Merlin gaped at him, then clapped his mouth shut as a small smile played at his lips.
"I'm still going to make you wear a dress though, for all the lies.", Arthur added despite himself and laughed as Merlin shoved him for that.
Then he laughed. So full of disbelieve and fondness that Arthur felt no longer uneasy about not speaking with Merlin all day (which he did, but Arthur needs MORE). Seeing him this happy, sighing with so much relieve, it was worth it all.
(1) I looked these up. The translations are kind of different depending on the dictionary I use. But I did know that Ealdor-men means something along the lines of nobility, due to my favorite class, medieval studies :) It has MORE fun translations though that make BBC Merlin look so stupid and brilliant at the same time. I mostly used the Bosworth Toller's Anglo/Saxon Dictionary. Please not that words change meaning over time.