Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"She's a troll" Merlin insisted, as Arthur looked at him incredulously.

"Merlin-" He started, before being interrupted by his manservant.

"Look I know more about these things than you and we both know it" he pointedly reminded the prince, raising a challenging eyebrow. "Trust me Arthur. Catrina's a troll"

Arthur sighed in defeat, grudgingly accepting that Merlin did in fact, have far more knowledge of all things magical than him. Admittedly, he was still getting used to the prospect of his manservant being a sorcerer, having found out not too long ago when he had walked in on Merlin carelessly using magic to polish pieces of his armour in mid-air. Safe to say, initial reactions and confrontations had not been pleasant for either of them, but in time Arthur had learned to accept Merlin and his magic, who in turn had promised not to keep anymore secrets from him.

"So what do you suggest we do about it? My father's hardly going to take kindly to his guest being accused of such deception" he scoffed, shaking his head in disgust at the thought of a troll living in their castle.

"Well usually I just keep an eye on things until I can do something about it. Or somehow convince you to do something about it, save your life and pretty much the entire kingdom while you attempt it, then let you think you survived all by yourself and brag about how you saved Camelot afterwards" Merlin ranted, clearly enjoying the fact that he no longer needed to keep secrets.

Grimacing, Arthur rolled his eyes at the warlock who now wore a slight smirk, with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"I'm serious Merlin" he warned, crossing his arms while his friend huffed and raised his palms in surrender.

"I know I know. But there's really not much we can do until-"

A loud banging interrupted Merlin's next words, startling them both. Arthur whipped around to face the door, a frown on his face at the uncharacteristically insistent knocks.

"Yes?" He called in question.

"Sire, the king wishes to see you immediately. There's been a situation that involves-"

The two occupants of the room shared a glance, at the abrupt cut off of the guards words. Clearly he'd been about to disclose more information than he had intended to at first.

"Sire?"

Arthur slowly made his way to the door, signalling Merlin to remain silent. Two guards came into view as he pulled it open, carefully leaving no room for the guards to see much past him. Closing the door tightly behind him, he strode confidently in the direction of the throne room, releasing a breath as he heard the guards fall into step behind him. He'd learned to trust his gut feelings from a very young age, and he wasn't about to stop now when something was clearly not right about this situation.

Time Skip

Urgent footsteps echoed down the hall as Arthur practically ran towards his chambers, after having sent his guards off on a wild goose chase. He knew exactly where the subject of their search was, and he'd be damned if he let any one of them find him. Merlin. He had to get to Merlin, he thought desperately as he quickened his pace further, cursing the hallway that seemed to have lengthened just to spite him. Finally, he reached the door to his chambers and burst through.

"Merlin!" He called, "You have to leave"

Said manservant whipped his head around from where he had been neatly folding a pile of Arthur's clothes. A frown painted his face as he stared at the prince sceptically.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"Leave. Get out." He insisted urgently, slamming the door shut as his breath came out in short gasps from the combined effect of his speed walking and anxiety.

"Well you don't have to be rude" Merlin huffed in annoyance, clearly misreading his tone. "What did I do now?"

"According to our guest, you've stolen her sigil" he gritted, fists clenched at the outrageous accusation from the disgusting creature.

"What?!" Merlin cried indignantly, "I did no such thing!"

"I know that. But my father will never believe you over her- it? Oh you know!" He groaned in frustration. "He will throw you in the dungeons, and that might be the best case scenario" he grimaced.

"Arthur- "

"We don't have time. You need to go before they find you" Arthur repeated, a slight note of pleading in his voice.

His eyes spoke volumes of the panic bubbling inside him at the prospect of something happening to Merlin, and he didn't bother to hide it.

"Please Merlin" he implored, holding the other man's gaze and hoping to convey the weight of his plea.

"Very well" Merlin sighed, eyes softening as they stared into Arthur's relieved one's.

Then, with a few long strides he was crowding Arthur's space, and before the prince could process the events, there were lips on his. Thankfully, years of honing his reflexes kicked in, and he was able to react before Merlin pulled away. Pulling the warlock against him, he poured every ounce of affection he could muster into the kiss, expressing everything he didn't have time to do with words.

When they parted, he found his feelings reflected tenfold in the other man's eyes, and god how he wished he could get lost in that mesmerising gaze and stay in Merlin's arms forever. After the initial moment of shock, Arthur was struck by just how incredibly right this felt. And to think he'd been stressing over Merlin not reciprocating these feelings for who knows how long, only to find out he'd been worried for nothing. If only this had happened under better circumstances; curse that damned troll. Arthur would take great pleasure in driving his sword through the horrid creature. But then again, how much longer would he have waited to hold Merlin like this, if not for their current situation?

"We will defeat it, I promise" Merlin insisted, breaking Arthur out of his thoughts. His voice so gentle but with such conviction, that the prince could do nothing but believe him.

Arthur could've cried when Merlin pulled away from him. He turned and made his way to the other door and, throwing a last sad smile over his shoulder, disappeared behind it.

Arthur stared at the empty spot where Merlin had been, something heavy weighing in his chest and a sinking feeling in his stomach. He only had moments to regain his bearings, before his door burst opened and two guards came rushing in; then immediately stopped in their tracks as they saw him.

"Sire!" One exclaimed, startled by his presence. "Apologies sire, we didn't-"

"He's not in here. Must have caught on and left before we had the chance to catch him" he informed them, having regained his composure.

He strode swiftly past them, silently willing them to follow him away from any direction Merlin may be heading in. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard their footsteps behind him, and a small smile graced his lips as he confidently marched off to lead the latest wild goose chase.

__________________________________

**Bonus epilogue**

Merlin stood in the corner, silently watching as the guards carried off the troll and the king conversed with his very-much-alive son. He shuddered, remembering vividly how close it had been. How close he had been to losing Arthur. And just when he'd felt what it was like to be held by him; kissed by him.

Wow. He'd almost forgotten in the frenzy of what followed, that he had kissed Arthur. Arthur. The prince of Camelot. The once and future king. His lips still tingled, and the edges of his mind still blurred as he thought about it. He'd locked eyes with Arthur a few times in the past few minutes, increasingly intensifying shivers running down his spine with every look.

But the excitement of those thoughts, were sadly drowned each time by the flashes of Arthur's pale, almost-dead face that invaded his mind uninvited. And the pain in Merlin's heart was quite a common thing by now (considering the sheer number of times Arthur's been on deaths door), but he never got used to it. He knew this was yet another much-too-close call, that would be added to his nightmares.

His fingers itched to go and snatch Arthur away from his father, away from everyone and just....hold him. To reassure himself that the prince was solid and real and alive. But it wasn't his place, he knew.

Finally, finally, the remaining people filed out of the room. The king being the  last one to leave, following after Gaius. The door closed behind them, and the sudden silence hit Merlin like an avalanche. He shuffled nervously as he waited for Arthur to break it; said prince was still facing the door and had yet to move.

"Arthur?", he finally asked tentatively, unable to bare the weight of the silence any longer.

No response. Though Arthur shifted, turning towards him, and Merlin braced himself for...what exactly? Their eyes met, and the warlock was startled by the sheer emotion Arthur's held; a thousand unspoken things, that had maybe built over a much longer time than either of them realised. So many secrets, and half-truths and desires. Merlin wondered if his eyes told a similar story.

He didn't have much time for his musings though, as the next second Arthur was striding towards him purposefully. He stopped mere inches from Merlin, their eyes still locked with an intensity that was lighting some kind of fire inside Merlin. A good kind of fire, he thought.

"Arthur", he spoke again, apparently unable to form any further words; he blamed Arthur's stupidly pretty eyes and his stupidly gorgeous face.

"Merlin", the prince replied, quirking an eyebrow in a familiar way. "So...you didn't kill me then"

And he knew Arthur was probably going for their usual banter, but he couldn't help the wince that twisted his expression as he averted his eyes.

"Hey", came the soft, worried voice, startling him enough for him to snap his head up.

He was met with the heavy concern and affection in Arthur's expression, that disarmed him entirely for a few seconds.

"Are you alright? I was joking Merlin, I knew you would save me"

There was no reason for Merlin to not believe him; other than his own traitorous self-doubt.

"I almost didn't", he whispered, finally saying it out loud, "you almost died"

"What else is new", Arthur huffed a laugh, then softened when Merlin winced again in response, "Merlin I'm alive. I'm right here, and it's thanks to you. Like always"

Merlin searched his eyes and found nothing but sincerity.

"You saved my life. You know, like you ways do", he said, with a teasing smile. Then, his gaze turned into something serious and his next words were spoken with the utmost conviction, "I would trust you with my life over and over again, for as long as we live Merlin"

And if those words didn't absolutely melt what was left of his heart, the soft feeling of Arthur's hand brushing against his face most certainly did. He smiled, blinked back tears, and brought up his own hand to entwine their fingers. His other hand snaked around Arthur's waist and pulled him in closer, the prince providing no resistance at all.

The beautiful thing between them that grew brighter and stronger every single day, beckoned to Merlin now. It pulled him in like magic (and who knows maybe it was), and he was entirely too captivated to resist -why the hell would he? Who was he to argue with something that'd been written in the stars, and weaved between the intricate threads of his fate before he'd even been born?

"I love you", he blurted the words like they'd burn his throat if he'd held it in for a second longer.

Arthur's eyes widened a little, before a grin that could rival the sun lit up his face. He inched closer and his lips brushed Merlin's ear when he whispered.

"I love you too Merlin"

Then, their lips touched again, and again, and again, and Merlin decided that there was really nowhere else in the world he would rather be.