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1500 years was a very... very long time. That’s how long he had been alive and all this time he promises he'd not been sitting idle, waiting for something his soul knew would perhaps never happen but his heart refused to believe. He became a doctor-to honour Gaius's memory then an Engineer to honour the changing times and to prove to himself that even without his Magic he was capable, a scientist- that was for Gaius again, an MI6 agent- this profession was a necessary evil, the government had gotten too hard to deceive in the new technological world and steps had to be taken to learn the tricks to never be detected. Once when life got too overwhelming, he even turned himself into a Tree and became one with the soil over which Arthur had once ruled centuries ago. It was the closest experience he'd ever have to being buried.

His magic was just as strong now as it had ever been before, if not stronger. Magic did not disappear quickly from the World, it evolved first. Countries like India and China were so different from Albion - now Britain- that it was even apparent in their magic. He travelled the world for many years, learning and immersing himself in magical cultures so different from his own that he almost believed he was on a different planet. Their people- all their people- lived in Harmony. It was so apparent that there had been no Uther in these countries- his tainted influence had never penetrated these lands and it was there that Merlin realised what it could have been like had he succeeded in his own destiny.

Or perhaps not.

The damage to Albion had been done way before Merlin even entered Camelot, way before Arthur became King... the damage had been irreparable ever since the Dragons perished, ever since the peaceful druid clans were decimated to pitiful numbers, ever since the magnificent Isle of the Blessed was turned into a ruin. There was nothing Merlin or Arthur could have done to reverse such great crimes.

The destiny he had believed in so much, the destiny he had sacrificed so much for had been no more than a farce. No more than a lie... and this lie had the name of the Tripple Goddess written all over it. For who else could deceive a Dragon? Kilgharrah had fully believed in the prophecy, it was the only reason that dragon had remained sane in those 20 years of captivity. No, Kilgharrah did not have the means to deceive him but the Goddess did. Much like The Disir had.

It was that realisation that destroyed Merlin's mental health entirely and he retreated to the Sidhe World, to Avalon. When he finally felt healed enough to return... the world had changed yet again. There had been a new religion and in its wake, it had destroyed the already weak hold of Magic over Albion. Once Albion's magic disappeared completely the rest of the world followed soon enough and Merlin realised then why Albion was so important for Magic's survival. Albion was the lynchpin, the birthplace... the deal-breaker, call it what you will. That chain reaction ended with Magic's collapse. His last world tour was made in the hopes to find something he had missed, some hint of magic- Anything! But not even Avalon survived. The Sidhe died one by one as Magic was sucked away and from that day on Merlin was left truly alone.

It was Irony in its truest form that as the World weakened, Merlin strengthened. He was no more than a vessel for Magic, so as it disappeared from the world, it all just seemed to accumulate IN Merlin. Just like it had during the Great Purge, all that magic that Uther destroyed had to go somewhere- That was where ‘Emrys’ came into the picture. The misplaced magic from the Death of the Dragons and the sorcerers had created Emrys. The balance had been restored then by the Old Religion but since there was no more Old Religion, there was no more balance. Merlin was overwhelmed with power, bursting at the seams and thought perhaps he would die this way too. There was no balance between the world and Merlin, it was as if the scales were broken, for Merlin's side was forever tipped. He could end the earth and the Universe then and there if he wished and he'd even been about to do it in 2012 but then...then he dreamed of an Impossibility. Of the Past and the present colliding.

It had taken more than two decades but it seemed as if Merlin had achieved the impossible. He had finally cracked the movement of TIME and managed to turn it back. Again and Again. He tested the combination spell on an apple first. Then he killed a mouse and made it alive again... then he tested it on a criminal. Once. Twice. And then finally he tested it on himself but went back only a short amount of time. Then went back in time for a few months, a year, a few years... and sighed, Merlin had just lived five years of his life in the past and had repeated all his actions from memory.
Would he have to hop back in time or could he make the long trip at once? Was magic even being used along with his scientific calculations? He didn't feel a lag on his magic so not a great amount must be being used but would his magic last until he got back to his time... he ran a tired hand through his hair. It was in these moments that he needed Gaius.

He measured his magic then and checked how much was being used, for thirty minutes trip into the past, a week's trip into the past... and then finally tiring of small tests he made a big decision. He jumped a decade into the past... lived the 2000's again and gradually started exchanging his money for the purest form of gold in the market. He gathered as much knowledge as he could on his magical memory- the music, the medicine... how to make paper, everything he thought could be useful. When he had checked his magical consumption after the decade long jump he realised he had not even dipped into his magical reserves and smirked.

Once he had figured out all the technical stuff he reverted to the stuff that was more important. What will he do once he went into the past? What decisions will he take...what will he do DIFFERENTLY?

He remembered the first five decades after Arthur's death, he'd kept beating himself over what-ifs- what if he had confided in Morgana about being Magic or given Mordred the benefit of the doubt? What if he had confided in Arthur sooner about his magic- Arthur would have been angry- yes or ballistic- definitely, but at least he wouldn’t have died before his time.

(In part) It was not Mordred that killed his King, it was Merlin’s lies, his deceit and his cowardliness.

The healing of his Mental health in Avalon had been difficult as the first step had been accepting that he was gone. Forever and with no hope for a return regardless of Kilgharrah's words and to tell the truth, later... much Later Merlin had even been glad. To have Arthur in a world where there was no Camelot... Merlin shook his head at the grief of such a World. Uther had forgotten that Camelot's every brick had been infused with Magic, so as magic got weaker... so did Camelot.
It was also that Merlin just couldn’t see Arthur in the 21^st century. He couldn't see Arthur accepting a world where hunting had been declared illegal, where Horses were not meant to be ridden as often as bikes and cars, where people preferred to live in cities filled with metal rather than in a majestic castle surrounded by lush green forests.

Arthur was the Born King not the born Prime Minister or President. A king. A legendary hero. The world in the 21st century has already lost magic and though it also sometimes loses its way to Humanity and has in the past has had many brutal wars and conflicts, it needs a democratic leader… not a King.

For Arthur even imagining a world beyond Albion would have been an impossibility and in this century, Merlin could travel to Japan and reached back Home the next day... if Gwaine had been alive now it would have been infinitely more difficult to track him for there were so many pubs in the world, he chuckles.

Next step to mental stability had been Self-Confidence. In Camelot, as a peasant, Merlin had never felt that he could be something other than a servant. Something other than A shadow or an invisible shield. As he slowly grew into the title of Emrys, he had felt liberated, free of self-doubts, knowing his own worth and living life as it came.
Not worrying about who is going to enchant the prince next like he had done in Camelot, just... living, though that too was difficult sometimes. Only after multiple careers, many lovers and many magic-less victories had he become confident about himself and the decisions he took.

He was now more decisive than ever. He didn’t need help making his decisions, he didn’t follow blindly as he had with Kilgharrah and Gaius. He was still open to the opinions of others but his decisions were his own and will be forevermore.

 And lastly, he had healed by sharing. Everything he felt, everything he had been through. He spoke to the Sidhe, many of whom had been as close as family before they too had died. He'd started writing then, letters to Arthur, to Mum, to Gaius and Balinor. To Morgana and Mordred and then now... he sang.

He sang everything he felt or had felt over the centuries, everything he went through or regretted. It was much like writing a book but in beat. He'd even become famous, selling millions of copies of his albums. He was a household name, popular with the adults for the depth in his songs and the young for...well he didn't really know why they liked him but they did and today, was his last performance. He'd told the world he was retiring.

As far as they knew, Merlin was retiring to spend a few years searching for inspiration and getting to know himself better in India.

As he got out of his car, put on his shades and entered the stadium where he'd be performing his assistant ran up to him and whispered making Merlin wince. Viktoria was apparently waiting for him backstage... he will need to break up with her too, should probably do it by tonight. He was NOT looking forward to that. She will probably hate him, but if all these years of unfinished romances had taught him something, it was that it’s better for them to hate you and think that you were an assh*le than them waiting their whole lives for something that was never going to happen. In his immortal opinion- Anger is always better than agony and regret.

For now, he skips going backstage and instead goes out to greet his fans directly. The cheers drown out Merlin's internal thoughts for a second and he smiles widely. It was going to be a long night, but he was sure that it was also going to be worth it.

Chapter Text

After the concert and a ‘talk’ with his girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend now, he gets into the car waiting for him outside and tells the driver to ride around London until he says to stop. One last time he wants to see the evolution, the growth that has happened. In a way, it was magic beyond what he could do.
This World was a train collision waiting to happen but even that in its morbid way was riveting. There were already talks of relocating to Mars but humans had failed to realise what a great gift they'd been given in the name of Earth if they think they will be happy on Mars... Merlin shakes his head. Mars didn't have waterfalls, or changing seasons. It didn't grow trees, there were no flitting butterflies. Mars was an already dead planet compared to Earth's slowly dying.

Will it be different the next time when he is 1500 years old, again? Or the same? Doesn’t matter really. What did matter, at this very moment was London.

It’s loud people, its streets, different music blaring from every corner and so much history in one city that every construction plan had the chance of turning into an excavation project. No matter where Merlin travelled in his years after Camelot, he would always end up here, in this city. He will miss it and his home here, the food, the people and especially…the bathrooms. He would miss the freedom of thought and Being this time provided. People were free to choose their genders, to choose their partners regardless of their gender, choose their religion... they had a choice in everything. A human was never free from social chains but he knew the 21st century came very close. He remembered the druidic festivals and the pagan culture where Merlin had felt a similar sort of freedom only on a smaller scale of people.

It was not going to be easy, Merlin thinks. The social change itself will give his mentalities a shock but Going back in time was also something many had always thought of but never attempted for a reason. The amount of energy - or magic in his case-released to go back in time will be felt by all the timelines - the past, the present and the future and it would probably destroy them too but they were already being destroyed anyway. A quick death is always better than a slow one.

He knew he shouldn't meddle with Time but he was ready to deal with any manner of consequences if it meant he would get to go back and try again. Get to see Arthur again. Merlin closes his eyes, God's he had forgotten what Arthur even looked like...he remembered the basic things like he was blonde, blue eyes, plush mouth and strong of stature but he'd forgotten the shade of those eyes, the emotion in them. He'd forgotten if Camelot's walls were pure white as his soul said or off-white as logic commanded. He'd forgotten if Gaius's right eyebrow rose higher than the left or if it was the other way around. He'd forgotten Gwaine's favourite dish to eat and Lancelot's pitch as he said Merlin's name.

This past year many things had also been coming into focus, like why the Druids had been so adamant about calling him Emrys, even after repeated reminders that his name was Merlin. Why every magical creature called Arthur, the Once and Future King. Perhaps it was because they somehow knew that this would happen, a loop in time and space created just for the King and his Warlock – a repeat of everything.

They knew how the ‘Once’ would end, knew that Merlin would fall for their warnings against Morgana and Mordred. They knew that he would come back to right his wrongs in the ‘Future’. They knew Emrys was the Immortal one. That he would live for centuries to come. The only thing they didn’t know was whether they were in the ‘Once’ part of the prophecy or the ‘future’- whether they were living the same thing twice or for the first time around. So why should he be scared of meddling with Time when everyone had meddled with him? When it had already been foretold.

When he got back to his hotel suite- for he had already sold his house in London- he ordered Room Service and informed them that he would be checking out tomorrow morning. He was already packed and all that was needed was food, check he'd packed everything and Rest.

After eating the food he double-checks he has everything he needs for the trip back in the past...all of his gold, Arthur's Mother's Sigil that he had kept wrapped in a leather pouch, Merlin's signet ring from his days as a court sorcerer in Queen Guinevere’s court, an entire bag full of modern medicines, soaps and shampoos, the thousands of books he'd collected over time and minimised into his duffle bag. He would have carried Excalibur as well but after Magic had disappeared so had the sword.
Last he checked on The three teardrop-shaped Dragon eggs that had turned into stone as magic receded from the world. He hoped that when he turned time, these too would heal, they were beautiful regardless though. He'd found the eggs when he had been travelling around the world for the last time, A Raven Black egg, a Sky blue egg and a Ruby red egg were Merlin's most precious treasures. He'd found these last remnants of magic just before they too disappeared and protected them with his own magic, stopping their complete death. The eggs showed no signs of life though, they were cold and hence Merlin believed them to be stone but hope had never harmed anyone except the one hoping.

He wished he could say that these dragons would be exactly like Kilgharrah had been but the truth was none of these eggs had been laid in Albion, Aithusa's egg had been the last hope that another dragon-like Kilgharrah would exist but these would be similar. He closes his eyes and sees the vision that Kilgharrah had shown him once of Uther smashing Dragon eggs while laughing. If only he could kill Uther and be done with it... that man had caused so much harm that now the Earth was crumbling right in front of Merlin's eyes and he was powerless to stop it. Even after Gwen's reign, not many Kingdoms had allowed magic back into the lands. Only Nemeth, Gawant and Caerleon had followed Camelot’s lead but only for a little while. The fear was too deep-seated to ever completely fade from the hearts of men, the time for that change by then had been far past and whatever could have been salvaged had been destroyed by Morgana's reign of terror over many Kingdoms leaving only Camelot standing in the end.

The dream of a United Albion facing a Golden and Magical Age under King Arthur had died right there near the shores of Avalon, in Merlin's arms. Gwen had tried, she had repealed the ban, tried to bring other Kingdoms together, tried to make Merlin feel happy by giving him the position of Court sorcerer but no one, not even Gwen, had the right fortitude for any of those actions. Only Arthur did. So alliances had crumbled, magic had been prosecuted still and Merlin had resigned soon after Gaius's death.

He strokes the eggs and sends his magic into them as he had been doing for centuries... hoping for any sign of life. He had found the Black egg deep in the Mir mine in Serbia, nestled amongst some of the biggest diamonds Merlin had ever seen. He found the Sea-blue egg deep within the sea, in a seashell, nestled like a pearl and being guarded by the world's most dangerous aquatic predators. The last, red egg had been found in one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The egg survived the heat, but no one else could have... Merlin had had to use his magic to protect him and still, he had left the Volcano naked and covered in soot but victorious. All these eggs had been carefully hidden in places where only a dragonlord could find them.

He had once promised himself that even if he were to find a dragon egg, he won't hatch it. He had failed Aithusa as a Dragonlord and he did not deserve a second chance but after centuries of hoping to see some form of life stirring in those eggs...he knew that if he got the chance again while in the Past he would hatch them and he would love them. Aithusa had never recovered from her stunted growth and died at a very young age. Merlin had said his goodbyes before she had passed away, but she had still resented him for Morgana's death, she had even been happy that Merlin would have to live forever alone... he had realised then that a Dragon took on the personalities of the person who reared them much like children. Kilgharrah was a manipulative lizard because his human had been manipulative and Aithusa had been bitter and resentful because that was what identified Morgana in the end.

Merlin thinks that now perhaps things could change, that this would be a second chance for all of Them. Himself, Aithusa and Morgana. Maybe there will be a world where the Golden Age of Albion will be true and when it is, Merlin vows that dragons will fly over Albion once again.

With everything checked, Merlin stripped and jumped inside the covers of his bed falling asleep in under ten seconds.

Chapter Text

Merlin woke up at dawn with a sense of excitement and nervousness. He brushed his teeth and quickly freshened up before making his way to the kitchen. He had his ritualistic cup of coffee, showered and dressed in clothes that would easily blend in with the past. He had his breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Just as he is signing over the checkout sheet the receptionist said,

"We saw your performance yesterday. You were brilliant." Merlin's eyes flicked up to meet hers and he smiled,

"Thank you, I am glad you liked it." He signed the paper napkin she forwarded with a hopeful smile and turned to leave. It was time.

The sun was yet to rise but still, he took a walk in Hyde Park and hitched his duffle closer to himself before breathing in deeply... by now he had done the spell so many times that it almost rolled off the tongue.

“Recipe me ad initium. Incipiat nova fabula vetus. Occide Amrys, praeteriti temporis illius iacturam cum me pondera. I, Emrys, elementorum filius, hoc temporis exigo, vita et magia... ita fiat.” (Translation at the end of the chapter).

Merlin closed his eyes but he could see regardless, his magic saw better than his eyes did. The weave around the world was untangling at such a fast pace that movement was almost invisible. The years of monotony for Merlin flit by, he was a singer, a doctor, an engineer... he was everything and nothing at once. Violence, World wars, disease. Merlin looked at the things he had worked hard to forget and moved his hand in a sweeping gesture to make everything move faster for he had no wish to see. The pace of unwinding the thread of Time became faster, so fast that Merlin only got a glimpse of a time before it was changed. The world was moving backwards and he could feel his heart beating so fast in anticipation that he thought his entire being was pulsing... the years kept coming and passing. Merlin finally shut all his senses and let his magic do the work. He was starting to feel the pull after a while, starting to get tired but just as his reserves started getting dangerously low-- Merlin suddenly landed on his ass on hard... hay?!

He takes account of all his limbs, making sure they are all there and smiles when everything is right where it's supposed to be. In fact, Merlin would go so far to say that he was feeling alrigh- suddenly a pressure comes from his chest, forcing him to lean down to his left and puke his stomach's entire contents out. Urgh... actually, he takes his comment back. His entire body ached and his head was pounding while his magic lay dormant as if tired.

He scrunched up his nose at the smell and pinches his lips, It could be worse, Merlin thinks. He could have landed right in the massive mound of horse dung beside him. He was now sitting in between a mound of dung and his own puke, lovely. He gets up and winces, the hard landing had made him glad that he put a ‘no-damage’ enchantment on his bag, he just wished he had used the same enchantment for his backside too. He cocks his head to the side as he hears the wind whisper familiar words in an achingly familiar voice "...Is your little bottom sore, Merlin?", he chuckles. That stupid clotpole, Merlin closes his eyes and allows a tear to slip past his eyelids as his magic senses the golden thread tying his soul to Arthur's, shining bright like the purest magic. That same golden thread that had dissolved the day Arthur had died leaving him feeling like someone had torn a piece of him, debilitating him.

It was the thread at the end that confirmed that Merlin had made it to the past. Finally did it.

He opens his eyes and groans as he comes face to face with a horse, he puts away the emotional baggage for later, pushes the horse's face away and cheers himself up to face a new day in the Past. He also looks down at himself and is pleased to find that he still retains the body that has changed throughout these years and not the lanky, nineteen-year-old, no coordination body he had in the past. The changed appearance would be hard to explain to people who know him, but he would take that over his younger body anytime.

His magic skims the place and it makes him pause as something irks him. Some form of instinctive-magic alarm buzzes through his senses and Merlin can’t pinpoint what it is that he is feeling. These are not Camelot stables he realises, he had cleaned them often enough to have memorised them for life... in fact-

-He goes outside the stables and sees people milling about, he's not in Camelot at all. But he does recognise this village. It was the village he had spent a night in when he had been on his way to Camelot for the first time. In fact, he slept in a tavern's stables if he remembers correctly, which was a good thing as Merlin was quite hungry and tired.

It’s a slow afternoon at the tavern, with only a few people ordering anything to drink. He makes his way over to the counter, where the barman is wiping the sticky countertop.
He orders a drink with some food and absolutely inhales them before paying and tipping the barman right into a conversation.

After talking for a few minutes of random talk, Merlin finally questions him about Camelot,

“So, what news hails from, Camelot.” The barman passes Merlin another drink and sits opposite him.
“Urgh, just the same, young man. The war’s done quite a bit of damage to Camelot, but people are happy with their victory. Uther has been planning quite a big celebration for the Prince.” This gives Merlin a pause.

War… what war?
Merlin hadn’t seen any damage on Camelot'S walls when he had entered it for the first time.
Had his interference in time caused a bloody war?! Though he was relieved to know that Arthur was safe and that Uther was showing him some appreciation for winning the war for Camelot.

“Victory celebration. That’s a good idea for people’s morale.” Merlin says nodding sagely.

“Aye, that too. But more like a Birthday Celebration, Prince Arthur turns 19 this year.” Merlin who had been about swallow a massive gulp of mead spat it all out on the recently cleaned countertop.
The barman grumbled and got up to clean it and started to suggest something to Merlin, but he wasn’t listening.

19th birthday…19th Birthday?!
This explained the war, as Merlin remembered Camelot and Mercia had fought around that time but it just gave way to more questions.
Merlin was sure that he had entered Camelot a day before Arthur’s 21st birthday. Not 19th.

After confirming that the Barman hadn’t been spewing rubbish and that it really was two years before Merlin really had to enter Camelot. He started to question. Had something gone wrong? It didn't seem like it.

But then what was he doing here so early? Two years before he was really needed. Or perhaps... perhaps his magic brought him so far back for a reason.

Merlin’s eyes widen and he straightens when he realizes that the old religion is at play here. This was the feeling that he'd tried to shake since the time he'd arrived back in time, the feeling of being early. There has to be some reason for which Merlin has been brought here, to this village, years early and not Ealdor.

He sits back down and starts to think of what he can do while he is here, maybe then he could think of a reason. He could leave for Camelot now, or go back to Ealdor. An early start of de-pratting Arthur sounded good but he senses that this is not what he is supposed to do. Ealdor was his past, and Camelot his future. What was his present supposed to be?

There had been multiple times during his life in Camelot when he had resented his destiny and his Mother for sending him to Camelot and wanted to come back to this particular time. After Ealdor but before Camelot. Merlin had dreamt of multiple scenarios, each time a different dream. In one such dream, he had joined the druids and spent his life peacefully with them. Doing things with his magic that he could only dream of then.

Another dream consisted of him defying his mother’s words and actually moving to a completely different kingdom than Camelot. Rheged would do as they were not as strict with magical restrictions but... no.

There had always been one dream that had always stood out. He had dreamt this when he wasn’t being overworked in Camelot or running for his life. A time when he was still young and wanted to save everyone. The druids that held him in such high esteem, the Catha that sacrificed their lives for him and even the magical creatures.

He had dreamt of a place, more beautiful than paradise, where people lived and loved. Where people were free.

It had been a daydream of his from which Merlin had been jarred quite rudely by Arthur's pillow being thrown at his head. Merlin of that time did not even have enough time to eat lunch, leave alone create such a place. He couldn't leave Arthur while he was in danger and that was that. Arthur had been his priority but the old religion will keep Arthur safe for two more years before Merlin was needed...

He looks down at his hands fiddling with Ygaine's sigil for a moment when suddenly… it clicks. Arthur is his priority but magical people are his responsibility... he had time and the will. He had the power too.

This is what he is supposed to do. He is supposed to create this place, he wants to create such a place.
This time around Merlin plans on saving as many lives as he can, he has lost too many people, too quickly. Arthur….Will, Balinor, Lancelot, Freya- to count only a few of the many that lost their lives for no reason or too soon.
The druids, the Cathas, this time everyone was Merlin’s to save. This time he won't allow Uther to decimate his destiny, won't allow that wretched man to kill magic singlehandedly.

Once he realizes that, Merlin starts to plan.
For achieving all this, he will need to build a safe haven- a place for people with or without magic to come and live peacefully.

Merlin knew for sure that this was the reason that he was here, his purpose was to find a place where he could turn his dream into reality. Where he could deserve being called Emrys, where he moved one step closer to preserving Magic in Albion.

In fact, Merlin already had a place in mind. It was a land, which if he could revive and heal, would be perfect for what he was planning.

The Perilous Lands.

The land of the fisher king had long since been declared dead, dry and dangerous. But Merlin, he knew the truth, knew that the fisher king awaited him patiently. In the past, Merlin was already so tied up in his destiny that he could not do much for the Tired and ancient king apart from giving him a chance to end his tiring life. This time, he could do much more.

He jumps up, picks up his bag and heads north.

The journey to the lands of the Fisher King was just as difficult as the last time, there were many bandits on the way and animals wanting to kill him for food.

Soon though, he reached the much familiar narrow bridge of the lands where he was faced by the same elf that had greeted him the last time.
What was called again? Brebbir? Tredir? Gebbir?

“Grettir, Emrys.” The elf interrupts him and looks as if amused by Merlin’s thought process. Mind reading…

“Not mind-reading, Emrys, although your mental walls are impressive so you shouldn't doubt them. I just answered the confusion which was so clear on your face.” the elf chuckles and Merlin looks at him closer. Grettir’s magic is similar to that of Anhora's, but unlike the Unicorns, his was tied to this land.
He is powerful, Merlin realises, a good security measure against the people wanting to harm these lands and also to protect the people living on them. He opens his mental walls and feels the elf search his intent and his plan.

He makes his face blank and tries not to scowl when the elf, Grettir, scrutinizes him so closely as if he was trying to count every fleck in Merlin’s eye.

“You have come for a different reason than I had thought you would Emrys but I can’t say that I object to this plan you pose. In fact, I support it fully. It's time that someone took charge and helped." The elf leans back out of Merlin's personal space before continuing,

"This place was a paradise, a very long time ago. It will be good to see it being used again in the same way.” Grettir then bows to him and moves aside for Merlin to pass. Merlin thanks Grettir with a dip of his head and crosses the bridge.

It was exactly like Merlin remembered it, the red wastelands, sweltering heat and no life anywhere close by except, of course, the wyverns.

The wyverns come at him all at once in a fit of hunger but stop at the last moment when Merlin lets his Dragonlord side emerge to the surface, his eyes turning gold as he growled at them almost inhumanly, letting them know that he was not food. The wyverns recognize his soul similar to their own and wisely retreat. Instead, Merlin magics in at least fifty sheep, feeding the hungry wyverns.

When the land is revived they will have plenty of food, Merlin will make sure of it.

He remembers where to go from the last time he was here and he reaches the castle when the sun is about to set. Merlin doesn’t hesitate before heading straight to the throne room, where like the last time a very weak corpse of the Fisher King sat.
Just like this land, the King was almost dead. If not for the wyverns and an occasional pheasant, there is nothing living on this land.

The fisher king lifts his head to look at him and says,

“Ah, Emrys. You are here. I have waited for you for a long time and had thought I would have to wait a bit more. But here you are. Believe me, if I could stand up, I would bow but since I can't, please forgive me.” His voice is tired, raspy but still, Merlin can detect a hint of happiness underneath it.

Merlin shakes his head and smiles at the King.
“It is not you who should bow but me, my lord." Merlin bows and looks down at his feet before saying, "I also know what you need from me but before I give you over to Avalon, I have a request to make.” Merlin waits patiently but also nervously.

“Ah, Merlin,” Merlin is surprised when he hears his given name from the mouth of the Fisher King, but before he can think much of it the King continues, “I know what you request of me. There is no need. I give this land to you freely, to do whatever you wish with it. It used to be a great kingdom but under your rule, I am sure it will be even greater.”

Merlin frowns, Yes, it was true that he wanted to create a safe haven, but he had never aimed for a Kingdom leave alone rule it. He had planned to choose one of the druids as the leader of the haven, perhaps Iseldir before he left for Camelot.
Merlin is not a leader...or god forbid, A King. That was Arthur's job.

“A Kingdom? My lord, you mistake me. I am not a King. I am Emrys. A warlock, meant to serve the Once and Future King.” Merlin said stressing on the ‘Emrys’ and the ‘King’ whilst looking the Fisher King in the eyes, trying to explain to him as he would a small child. But all king did was laugh, a raspy noise as if snatched from his throat.

“You are Emrys, yes. But you are also Merlin. Son of the Dragonlord Balinor Ambrosius and Hunith. And though I am known as the Fisher king, not many know what my given name is.” The wounded king pauses here not for dramatic purposes but to cough, his whole body shaking with its force, after which he takes a deep breath- his chest rattles with it- before continuing.

“So, let me introduce myself to you Emrys. My name is Makarius Strogen Ambrosius. Former King of these lands and your Great-great grandfather. Which also makes you the apparent heir, by the way. Blood of my Blood.” The fisher king smiled at Merlin as if he was presenting him with the most wonderful gift with this knowledge, and who knows maybe he was. It’s just that Merlin didn’t feel the same way.

“B-but, if that is the case then I have it on good authority that Balinor is still alive. He should rule this Kingdom. I can’t be a King and fulfil my destiny.” Merlin sputtered. If he was King he would have to take part in the proceedings of the kingdom and be present for it at all times. It won’t be possible if he was to go to Camelot and protect Arthur in two years time.

“Balinor can help you rule the Kingdom but he can’t be the King. The land will only accept the eldest as the King, Emrys, and it is safe to say that you are older than even myself. ” The fisher king knew, knew that Merlin was not just old but ancient. While Merlin processed this the fisher King had steadily stood up and walked towards him on weak legs.

“Emrys,” He whispered, his voice almost gone, “this is the reason you are in Albion way before your destiny. You are meant to rule these lands, the Old religion planned it so.”

He puts one of his hands on Merlin’s shoulder for support and with his other hand, he gave Merlin the vial containing water from the lake of Avalon.

“Only your power can revive these lands Emrys and only the Ambrosius blood in your veins gives you the permission to do so. This land won’t listen to anyone but an Ambrosius.” The weak King raises his head and looks Merlin in the eyes. “After all these years I owe it to this kingdom to give it a good King again. You are Emrys, even time mends at your command, this- the ancient king chuckled- is just a Kingdom.” The wounded king then proceeded to remove his crown and placed it atop Merlin's head.

Merlin was panicking. In his long life, he had only left a few careers untouched. Being a king, or a leader of any sort was one of them.

The reason behind that was simple. It reminded him of Arthur too much but also because he knew that he wasn't kingly material. He is not patient enough, he was not even a diplomatic person for god's sake. In fact, he is one of those people that have to say whatever they feel like no matter who they are speaking to or when. Arthur had often times reminded him of his insolence and Merlin too knew that no one else other than Arthur would allow Mrlin the liberties he took.

He had always pitied Arthur when he had seen him mince his words for propriety’s sake but the truth was that Arthur had been a master at saying ambiguous sentences that held double or sometimes even triple meanings. He could be friendly with his words while keeping his eyes cold whereas Merlin would just roll his eyes and blast his enemy through the door. No, he was not a King...

But then he mistakes looking into the eyes of the Fisher King in front of him, who waited for him for hundreds of years, only for this moment, this opportunity to find someone worthy. A chance to die in peace, knowing that his lands will be in good hands. This relative of his whom Merlin had been unaware about, a grandparent who had been protecting his lands with the help of Wyverns and Grettir.

Merlin took a deep breath and exhaled trying to calm himself. He knew that what the King spoke was true, that this is what the Old religion wished. He could feel it too.
He just hoped that he wouldn't regret this or disappoint others while he learned how to rule.

Merlin closed his eyes in acceptance and bowed his head. The weight of the crown sat heavily on his head. Both literally and Metaphorically.

He knew that it was time for him to give the wounded king his due, a peaceful death. Merlin did not have the bracelet on him so he did the next best thing, he touched his thumb to the Fisher King's forehead and commanded life to leave the man peacefully, painlessly.

He looked at Merlin as if he had given him the greatest gift and closed his eyes in relief, a tear slipping last his eyes.
The old King smiled and slowly faded away as if the wind itself carried him to Avalon gently. Merlin smiled sadly too.

Goodbye Makarius Ambrosius, the legendary fisher King.

After the fisher king had vanished before his eyes, Merlin looked around the throne, took a deep breath and clapped his hands together.
Well, he thought, no point in lazing around.
This place was going to need a deep clean if it was ever going to be fit enough to become a Kingdom.

It took Merlin and his army of enchanted brooms and mops full five days to finish cleaning the castle. This process had been essential because now Merlin had gained full knowledge of the castle’s siege tunnels and secret exits. He had also spent a full day familiarizing himself with the castle library which, Merlin was happy to see was almost as extensive as his own.

He had decided to adopt Blue and Gold as the colours of his Kingdom– Blue which was the Ambrosius House colour and Gold because that was the colour of his magic. He had also chosen a Dragon, which, unlike the Pendragon crest, was roaring in flight with a dragonlord riding on it, as the sigil for his kingdom. The flag was going to be a midnight blue with a Golden Dragon and Dragonlord on it.

He looked into some more basic details and asked Grettir questions whenever he couldn’t understand something. The elf had centuries of knowledge related to this land and had proven to be quite useful to Merlin.

It took Merlin a week to regain the strength he had lost during the time travel and cleaning the massive Castle. He hadn't been depleted completely but he had wanted to be on full power charge for what he planned to do next.

He makes his way outside to the middle of the wasteland called the Perilous lands, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He spreads his arms wide, tipping his head back up towards the sky and calls the magic of the earth and water to himself. Calls the Magics of the air and fire as well to balance the elements and they greet him with such love that Merlin's face lifts into a grin. The earth was so strong, the water so pure and the wind so cool compared to the elements of the future where earth's will was failing, water was poisoned and the winds were so hot in some places they could bake a person alive.

He kneels on the ground and promises that he won't allow the Earth to weaken again. He splays his hand up to the sky and brings it down forcefully in a punch to the ground, as if trying to bring the sky down to the land.

For a second nothing happens.
Then a drop lands on his bowed head, prompting him tilt his head up and open his eyes from which bright Golden light emanated. Two more drops hit his cheek and lip, he sucks his lip, tasting the freshwater and smiles. Thunder crackles in the sky scaring even the wyverns and a second later clouds burst open and rain comes down in abundance.

But his job is not done yet, Merlin thinks. He looks back down to see blood flowing freely from his knuckles. The earth below him soaks up his blood and water together like a sponge, but it’s not enough.
He slashes his other hand's palm and presses it to the ground along with his already bloody knuckles. Remembering what the Fisher king had said, ‘Blood of my blood’.

Merlin focuses on the dead, wasted life of the land and urges it to heed his bidding. He wanted the land to heal itself and be capable of growth and life once again. But the earth didn’t respond. The rain continued coming down in sleets but the land won’t budge. Merlin had realised that all things connected to him had a dose of stubbornness to them, even this land it seemed.

Oh Merlin knew what he needed to do but was still reluctant. He had accepted the crown from the wounded king but he had yet to accept that he was now the King.

He needed to accept his new role as the King of this land, take on this responsibility and promise the land that he will take care of it. Only then will the earth beneath his feet prosper. Merlin continued feeding his magic and blood into the land, but this time not as Emrys but as Merlin Ambrosius, Heir and ruler of this land. With that thought in mind, he tried once more.

He commanded the earth beneath his feet to obey, commanded its trees to grow, land to flourish, its water to flow and the kingdom to be magical. He commanded its creatures to be friendly to the people of this kingdom but ferocious to those who mean to harm it and its people. He was Merlin Emrys Ambrosius, a warlock, a dragonlord and a King.

‘Finally,’ the earth seemed to say as it yielded and shifted beneath his- now healed hands, the trees grew and fruits emerged on them. Flora of such vibrant colours that Merlin thought they would leave residue on the fingers of whoever touched them. Everything was so beautiful that even the wyverns stood still to watch as the land repaired itself and roared in happiness.

As he stood up and walked, flowers grew dogging his steps as if laying a reverse floral carpet for him. He looked around and then his eyes fell on the Castle.

He was left dumbfounded by what he found. The castle was resplendent, its walls so high and mighty that he was sure they would stand for ages to come. Waterfalls came through tiny openings in the castle, making it look beautiful but at the same time fearsome and alive.

The flag of the Kingdom was high in the sky with the wyverns flying around it- a warning in itself, as well as a promise of protection- and the land that had been decaying for decades now looked magical. Melrin let out a belly deep laugh and covered his mouth with a hand, this was all just like the stories he had heard when he was young about this Kingdom.

He sobered and realised that it was now time to give the Kingdom of Ambrosia its people. To give this Kingdom someone to care for.

He closed his eyes again and sent a call to every magical person and creature in and around Albion. His call was received by the druids the quickest, by the Catha with most amount of wariness. It was heard by the normal everyday people who hid from everyone in different Kingdoms like Gilli. He called to the people who had been on run for years like Ruadan and Sefa.

To the people who had left their families behind in order to save them like Gaius’s Alice, the cursed who could not find a place to stay among their own like, Freya.

He sent the call to the different magical creatures, like gryphons that had to resort to killing people when the food was scarce, the centaurs, the fairies… everyone he could find and they responded with the most amount of love for Emrys's call had finally arrived. A ray of hope in dark times.

He asked them to come to this Kingdom if they had ever felt opressed or had no choice but to stay in a kingdom where they were hunted, praying for their lives everyday and hiding a part of themselves that defined them.

To come to his kingdom if they felt that Magic deserved a chance to survive. If they thought that the time of living scared and in hiding was over. Anyone with even a bit of magic in them would be able to hear him, to feel that he was Emrys, to feel safe and happy.

To feel that the time of oppression was soon going to come to an end. That Emrys would protect them from every harm and if not then at least he would nurse their wounds.

He then also called on people without magic, but only those he trusted. Like his mother and Will. He called for Gwaine because even though he had been Arthur’s knight, he had always been Merlin’s friend first (Also, Merlin had a feeling that he would be needing Gwaine if he was to remain sane during this new challenge).
Merlin tried to call on Lancelot as well, but something was telling him not to, that the noble Knight's destiny was in Camelot and not in Ambrosia.

Last he called for Balinor, his father.

And then when he was finally done, he opened his eyes and smiled, feeling euphoric and high on magic. He picked a mango from a nearby tree and bit into it, moaning as the juice ran down his chin.

He had done his part, now it was time to see how many people would turn up.

Chapter Text

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Chapter Text

It had only been 3 days since Merlin had completely accepted that he was now the King of Ambrosia and he was already regretting it. Currently, Grettir was forcing Merlin into clothes with such scratchy material that it felt like he had multiple ferocious cats fighting in his nether regions.

“You have guests approaching Emrys, you can’t address them in-,” Grettir was searching for an appropriate term for his clothes, “-peasant garb. I have a reputation to keep.” The elf muttered with as much disdain as he could manage towards a piece of clothing.

Merlin snorted, which made Grettir look at him sharply. He knew he was thin ice, but he couldn’t resist, so he went ahead and said, “What reputation?”, seriously, Merlin had never heard of a fashion elf called Grettir. But all that Merlin got in return for this was a glare that could kill (even though he was immortal) and a hard tug on the belt which made Merlin gasp for breath and hold it in.

Merlin looked down to see Grettir smirking. Cheeky little shit.

“Meet me at the border in 10 minutes, Emrys!” the elf shouted before leaving. Merlin gritted his teeth and made sure that Grettir had vanished completely before discreetly making his belt looser and taking a breath of relief.

“8 minutes, Emrys!”

Merlin jumps. Blasted elf!!

The animals had been the first to arrive since their senses caught the pull of magic much more easily than sorcerers or people with no magic. Hordes of Griffins and Hippogriffs came at once and made their nest in the forest behind the castle. Merlin had also been glad that they seemed to accommodate well with the Wyverns already there. He had also been happy to see some fairies, as well as some vilia(water spirits), become resident on his lands.

Then, Merlin saw something he had only read about.
Horses.

But they weren’t just horses, no. These horses could fly. Pegasus was a magical breed that was very rare, almost extinct and the fact that they were here - at least fifty of them blew Merlin’s mind.

Merlin was embarrassed to say that he had spent a whole day in the stables that day. Voluntarily.

But today was the first time someone was coming to the Kingdom. Hence all the manhandling of a poor warlock by a torturing elf.

In the past three days, Merlin had decided a few things regarding the Kingdom. He and Grettir had sat down together and started planning the city. The druid homes, the residence of the Catha and the marketplace was the first to be a part of that plan. Merlin also wanted to build a school for magic and a place for Dragons specifically.

Sometime in the future there will be Dragons and when that time came, he wanted them to feel at home in Ambrosia. He had magically built houses and huts in the town so that the people that came could settle down immediately.

It was finally starting to look like a real kingdom.

Merlin reaches the border and senses someone waiting. Grettir was going to pelt him to death with his pudgy hands.
He grimaced and already had an argument ready - not all of us can vanish into thin air, Grettir!
Or could he?
He will have to speak to Grettir regarding that at a later date. But for now, he looks up to greet the visitor.

It was his mother.

Merlin’s features grew slack as he saw her for the first time in more than a thousand years.
Ohh, how he had missed her every day of his life. Merlin has to calm himself, it may have been a thousand year for him but it had definitely not been that long for his mother.
He looks at her to find her crying. Tears down her face as if she doesn’t believe it’s him. Mentally thinking, isn't he the one supposed to react like that?

“Mum.” It’s that word that does it for Hunith.
She runs to Merlin, barreling herself into his chest, and after a second Merlin can feel her tears seeping through his shirt. He doesn't think much of it because he is in a similar state.

He wraps his arms around her small figure and hugs her to him for dear life.
She was the one person who had always know him for what he was and still loved him like no other. She would always box his ears whenever he thought that he was a freak of nature. She will never have any idea how many times he had needed his ears boxed in the past thousand years.
He could hear her saying, ‘my boy, my dear boy’, again and again, as if she has to make herself believe that he was there in her arms.

He is confused for a second, but also glad for it- as now he doesn’t have to hide how much he has missed her. He had expected a reaction like this from himself but not from his mother.

They part after Hunith has stopped shaking, but she still holds his hand, afraid to let go. When he hears,

“Where were you?” He looks past his mother for the first time since she got here and sees Will. He feels sudden guilt. Both at not seeing him at first and also because Merlin couldn’t save him, his best friend, in the past life.

“Will!” Merlin shouts and goes to hug his friend. They pat each other on the back like they used to.
Merlin gets assaulted by all the memories they had together, all the pranks they played.

“We missed you, Merlin!" Will says in his ear and then repeats his previous question after they are done hugging their hearts out, "Now, where have you been?” his voice questioning.

“What do you mean?” asks Merlin. He had assumed that since he found himself in the stables of the village near Camelot, then his past self must have just left Ealdor to meet Gaius. So, this question didn’t add up to Merlin.

“You have been missing for two years, Merlin.” this comes from his mother, who still hasn’t let go of his hand.

“You left for Camelot, but you never sent word that you’d reached.” Hunith’s other hand flows to her mouth in a vain attempt to stop the sob that comes out. “When a month passed and you had still not sent anything, I assumed the worst and sent Will to Camelot to speak to Gaius.”

Merlin was getting worried here. But before he could say anything Will continued from where his mother had left off, “When I spoke to Gaius, he told me that you had never even reached Camelot. Then I searched for you everywhere- Mercia, Caerleon and even went as far as Rheged. But no one had seen anyone that resembled you.”

Merlin was silent for a moment. He had known that time travel would have adverse effects on both the timelines involved, but he had never expected this.

This was starting to make sense now, why his mother had reacted so strongly to seeing him, why he now had two years extra before starting his destiny. He had left for Camelot early in this life- he would have been of sixteen summers, but he had also arrived back in time, Early. Full two years early. Just as long as he had been missing, apparently.

Somehow, the Old religion had managed to maintain balance in even this. Merlin smiles ruefully at that.

At least there was one upside to this whole ‘missing’ thing, thought Merlin. His mother and Will were not questioning his appearance- which was a whole lot different than his previous self.

His hair was longer and he had a bit of a stubble but the main change was in the body. Merlin’s body type was now more similar to that of Gwaine’s than his previous self.

The downside was that Merlin definitely didn’t pass as an 18-year-old kid. He looked more like a 23-year-old man. This could get a bit hard to explain and he was suddenly very glad for Grettir as the elf came at that very moment to tell them that they should probably go inside and not stand at the border all day, 'because that was his job!’, and gave Merlin a bit of time to make up a good excuse for missing for the past two years.

Safe is to say that it was not a good excuse.

Merlin had spewed some bullshit for about thirty minutes before realizing that no matter how many years passed, he was always going to be shit at lying. So, he had decided to give them the truth, or at least as much truth as he could manage without making him sound like a madman.

“I don’t know how to explain, but i-it had something to do with magic.” Merlin pauses, trying to decide the best way to say this,

“I have a destiny and that required me to leave to…... learn. And I couldn’t do that from Camelot, so I had to leave...” He then chances a look at Will and says, “I would have told you, but I didn’t plan this. I was…. unwillingly transported to a different world from where I couldn’t reach you. But- but I missed both of you every minute of every day that I was gone, and I am here now and I will never leave again, I promise” He takes in air shakily, that is as close as he can give them without actually telling them what really happened.

He waits for them to say something, he looks at his mother first, who smiles at him and nods, gently pushing a hand through his hair.

And then he looks at Will, who unlike the Will he knows has been silent instead of loud and boisterous. But Will isn’t looking at him, but Hunith, and addresses this to her,
“How can you believe what he just said?!” he then turns to Merlin and continues,

“If you can’t tell us the truth Merlin, then the least you can do is not lie to us.”

Will stops then, waiting for Merlin to say something, anything, Merlin doesn’t know what else he can say, so he closes his eyes and faces away from Will. He waits for a minute more.
“ok then, that means I’m leaving.” Will turned and started to walk the way they’d come.
“Will-,” Merlin called after him,
“No! I only came here to drop Hunith anyway!” That was a lie, Merlin was sure of it. Will had a bag on his back, which surely contained all of his meagre belongings.

Merlin grits his teeth and looks at Hunith, a plea of ‘what should I do’ in his eyes.
His mother gives him a smile she would always give whenever he was being a …. well a dumbass.
“He never stopped you know, never stopped looking.” She takes a deep breath here, “He went everywhere to look for you, every. single. day.” She looks pointedly at him before adding, “He is your closest friend, Merlin. He deserves the truth, the full truth …. even though you are not ready to tell me. Yet.”
She cups his face and kisses him on the head, then she looks him in the eyes and says, “Go”.

Merlin ran and caught up to Will quickly, he tried to make him stop walking but Will stubbornness almost, almost rivalled Merlin’s own. This ended up in them fighting, wrestling on the ground and playing tug of war with their tunics- all in the span of 10 minutes.
By the end of which, they were both panting and asking for a break.

“You…. were…. never this good at… wrestling!” says Will, still trying to catch his breath.
Merlin flashes him a cheeky grin and after a moment says, “Are you ready to listen to me now?”

“Are you ready to tell me the truth now?” Will throws back. They stare at each other, both unyielding.
And then Merlin asks“Can we at least sit down first?” at first Will tries to look rebellious, but then accepts realizing that his back aches from lying on the ground, no matter how much grass it has on it.

They sit on one of the benches and Merlin turns to face Will. He takes a deep breath and says, “I am going to tell you everything, but”, here Will’s eyes narrow, “you must promise that you will listen till the end and not interrupt.” Merlin waits for Will’s nod before starting.

.

.

“I don’t know where to start from?” He says after full 15 minutes of floundering for the right words. He looks at Will who rolls his eyes fondly and replies with, “Start from the beginning, mate. What happened after you left for Camelot?”

Merlin frowns here and says, “I left for Camelot when I was 20 years old, not 16.” Will’s jaw is tight, he thinks Merlin is lying to him again, Merlin holds up his hands in front of Will to prevent him from getting up.

“No! no, listen. I promise to tell you the truth, all of it. Just let me finish and don’t interrupt." Will is glaring at him now, so he adds, "Please” voice beseeching.

Will must have seen something in Merlin’s face because he sat back down and moved his hands in a flourish- as if giving Merlin the stage.

He takes a deep breath and starts,

“In a different time, I left for Camelot when I was 20 summers old.” He chances a look at Will before continuing, “On my first day there- I met the prince of Camelot, was thrown in a dungeon and pelted with potatoes in the middle of the market.” He smiles here. Even Will was trying hard not smile and Merlin knew that whatever way Will reacted to this information, they will be fine.

This relieved him, so he continued, “Now you would think that no one could have a more interesting start in a new city, I thought so too. But then…. Oh boy, then I met the Dragon…...

*

By the time Merlin is done telling Will every major detail, it’s dinner time. But before they get up Merlin looks at Will, biting his cheek. Waiting for his reaction.

For a minute Will does nothing but stare at Merlin, his face showing blank- but his eyes, his eyes were a different matter. Merlin had never wanted to be a mind reader before, but these eyes made him wish for it. Will nods without a word and then says,

“I knew you looked older.” A look of triumph on his face, as if he finally managed to solve the Rubik's cube, and a hand pointing at Merlin’s face.

Merlin’s mouth falls open, he literally just told Will that he is a mega-powerful warlock, who can kill with a thought but sucks at dying himself. He told him that he has the history and experience of a thousand years in his mind and all that Will has to say is that he.....looks older?

He can’t help it, a snort manages to escape him. This was just like Will, to latch onto the most inconsequential thing, and once Merlin starts there is no stopping him. He laughs like he hasn’t in centuries, Will joins in a second later.

And this is how his mother sees them entering the castle. An arm on each other’s shoulder and still laughing their hearts out.

Hunith smiles, relieved and shakes her head fondly, boys.

After the dinner, he shows Hunith to her chambers- fit for the mother of the king, as Grettir had put. He knows that he will have to tell her everything sooner or later, starting with the reason of why he looks older but for now he just wants his mother. And, maybe she wants it too, that’s why she doesn’t ask him any further questions, just kisses him on the head again and retires.

Merlin then takes Will to the room he chose for him, it’s a room for a knight of Ambrosia.

Will enters and mutters a ‘woah’ at seeing the room. He opens the closet and sees the Ambrosian knight uniform amongst other things. Will doesn’t look at Merlin immediately, but when he does there is an understanding in his eyes.

He won’t fight for a noble, but he will fight for a friend.

*

That night just before Merlin is about to retire, he hears Grettir in his mind.
'My lord,' Merlin straightens, Grettir only calls him that when people are present.

'Grettir?' He asks questioningly.

'You are needed at the border.' Merlin thinking that it must be an emergency goes to his balcony and whistles loudly (he learnt that trick when he was trying to hail his first cab in London). For a second nothing happens.

Merlin is thinking about whistling again but then a pure white Pegasus comes zooming into his view. Merlin beams, he knew it would work!

Merlin recognizes the Pegasus, its Gemini. He had come to know each and every Pegasus’s name in the full day he had spent with them in the stables. She is one the 12 females and they are even rarer than males. And Gemini out of all the females is the only one that is unicorn white in colour.
Merlin jumps on her and they fly towards the border. He is there in a matter of seconds. It was just like flying a dragon, he thinks…. only with more chances to fall.

When Merlin reaches Grettir, he senses something but can’t pinpoint the magic. It’s a bit like Grettir… but also not really. He turns to the elf, questioningly.

“My lord, when you healed this land and called for every magical creature, that gave us hope.” Merlin smiles, if he is proud of one thing, then it is giving magic a home, no matter in which form it came in.

Grettir bows his head and continues, “It was because of that hope, I took the liberty to call on my kin.” Merlin suddenly feels someone move, from behind the tree. In Merlin’s eye, he can detect a small figure, much like Grettir. Then the figure multiplies, from one to ten, from ten to hundred and soon at least three hundred Elves are facing Merlin.

They are the most adorable looking, nothing like Grettir, Merlin smirks mentally at that. They have huge eyes and pointy ears (Arthur would say, much like Merlin’s) and Merlin can feel his grin grow at the thought.
One of the elves comes forward and bows so low, Merlin was sure its head was touching the ground.

“We heard your call Emrys, but didn’t know if we would be welcome.” The elf now raises his head to look at Merlin in the eyes, “we heard then that you mentioned that anyone who had felt repressed was welcome. We have been repressed all our lives, Emrys. I contacted Grettir, our kin, as soon as we drew closer to the border and realised that the kingdom was the previous perilous lands and asked if you would welcome us.” Merlin chances a quick look at Grettir, the elf looks quite proud of himself, really.

“What did he say?” Merlin asks the elves, still looking Grettir.

“He said that he had never met a kinder,” Merlin smirks at Grettir, who was starting to look a little red in the face, no longer proud, “wiser”, his smirk widens, Grettir looks more like a tomato now, “man than you. And that everyone was welcome.” Merlin turns back to the elves now.

“Everyone is welcome in the Kingdom of Ambrosia.” The elves beam all at once, looking at their families, hope in their expressive eyes. They really are cute.

Merlin turns to Grettir, “Why do you not look more like them? They are related to you, right?” Grettir exhales huffily as if offended Merlin would question his looks.

“My father was a goblin,” Merlin’s eyes widen, his one encounter with a goblin hadn’t been good. Grettir rolls his eyes, “Not the kind of goblin you are thinking, but a better- behaved goblin, and my mother was a house-elf just like them.” Merlin frowns at the ‘house-elf’, Grettir notices, the elf really was intuitive.

“House-elves are elves that live to serve. They take pride in their work. They love taking care of people under their care and once they have pledged allegiance, no one can be more loyal.” Grettir sobers and turns to look at the lands, which now is the Kingdom of Ambrosia. “I pledged my allegiance to this land centuries ago, and now I pledge my allegiance to you, Emrys.” Grettir bows. Merlin liked the elf, he really did. He didn't treat him like a god, well, most of the time. He tilts his head in recognition of the vow.

"It will be an honour to serve you, Emrys." said the elf who Merlin now knew was called Friggo. The elf bows and says, “We pledge our allegiance to you, for as long as we shall live." The rest of the elves following after him.

Merlin blinks, and blushes- he needs to stop doing that! He is a king for god’s sake. But he is still overwhelmed with this level of freely given loyalty. This is how Arthur must feel, he realises. Merlin addresses them as he thinks Arthur would.

“I promise to return your loyalty with my own. Please remember that you are free to be who you are in Ambrosia. You will be treated with kindness and are free to choose any occupation you like, not just serving.” Merlin knows that someone is always different, not everyone likes to be a servant and not everyone likes to be served.

“I welcome you to the Kingdom of Ambrosia.”

Merlin had asked Grettir to give the elves a place to stay in the Kingdom, but the elves had already made a home in the servant quarters of the castle, no matter how much Merlin argued with Grettir about that. They had also taken up the Kitchen duties and cleaning.

Friggo, who the elf Merlin had spoken to on the border was the leader of them, he had assigned himself as Merlin’s servant- he knew Grettir had a part in it, as all of his ‘peasant’ clothes were now being used as mops.

A few of the elves had chosen to not serve but to decorate. In two days’ time, the castle looked like it was in a time of celebration. Deep blue curtains and golden rails followed along the hallway, every important room had glass chandeliers, which though were quite common in the 21st century, had not even been discovered in the 5th century.

But nothing could compare to what the elves had done in the throne room, candles floated in the air lightening every corner and the roof had been enchanted to imitate the sky outside. It was marvellous what the elves had achieved in a few days.
Every corner of the castle made Merlin happy.

Another elf, called Dobby was more interested in the castle library. He had been reading nonstop and had self-assigned himself as the castle librarian. He could answer any question Merlin had regarding the castle history. He would often see Grettir and Dobby debating on some matter or the other.

Dinky, another elf, had taken a particular liking to his mother and followed her everywhere. Hunith was making herself busy by managing Ambrosia’s finances and food stock in a much similar way she had taken care of Ealdor.

The only one terrified of the house-elves was Will, especially after one of them had offered to dress him. Will had locked himself in his room and come out screaming and running when he realized that house-elves didn’t need doors to enter a room.

He hadn’t seen Will since then. He should probably go look for him.
Merlin paused on it for second and then thought,
‘Nah.’

*

Next day

In the morning Merlin woke up to the delicious smells of his breakfast. He sees Friggo waiting on him, and compliments him.

“Thank you, Friggo. This smells amazing.” The elf smiles and lets him know that Grettir required his attention as soon as he woke up.
Urgh, what does the ruddy elf want now? Merlin nods at Friggo and eats his breakfast before contacting Grettir through mind speak.

‘Yes, Grettir. Friggo told me to contact you?’ Merlin asked. And then Grettir replied in a very casual tone. As if he was telling Merlin the time of the day.

‘Yes, Emrys. I wanted to inform you that the Druids are here.’

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Merlin had never dressed quicker and he was sure that if it wasn’t for Friggo there, he would have surely gotten tangled in his own clothes and fallen face first. Looking nothing like the powerful King he needed to be.

Once he is dressed he calls Gemini the same way he had the last time and together they zoom towards the border.
He senses the druid before he sees them, the magic around the sorcerer is forest green and feels like tea fields on a crisp morning.

Merlin walks up to greet the Druid, Gemini on his side and is not at all shocked to see Iseldir.
He was the proclaimed leader of the Druids and it was a well-known fact that Iseldir’s tribe was the largest among the druid people and one of the most well-hidden too.

“Well met, Iseldir.” He bows his head towards the side, acknowledging the other.
Iseldir’s eyes, that had widened at the sight of him widen even further when he realises that Merlin already knows who he is his, a whisper of ‘Emrys’ on his lips.

At first, the druid doesn’t say anything else, too shocked for words. But someone else does.

“You are real.” says a voice, too high to be an adult speaking. Merlin looks to the side, where hundreds of Druids, tribe after tribe has emerged from hiding behind the trees. He smiles at all of them and then his eyes land on a small figure. A girl.
For some reason, she looks familiar, but no matter how hard Merlin tries, he just....can't place her.

He walks up to her and kneels to be on the same level as her, “You know who I am then?” she is a bold girl, he can tell in the way she juts her chin out and says,

“You are Emrys. Everyone knows who you are! All of them hoped you would be here, except my aunt.” Merlin smiles at this, he did have many people who were keener on accepting him and then there were a few who hated his guts.
This ‘aunt’ sounded like the latter.

“And, why does your aunt not like me?” Merlin asks the little girl, questioningly.

“She doesn’t think you are real.” At this, Merlin hears a sharp call of a name,

“Kara!”

Merlin looks up to see a female druid beside them, she was blonde, tall and stood a few meters away as if scared to approach. She looked quite angry, although if it was aimed at him or the girl, he didn't know.
That's the aunt, then.

He turns back to the girl and smiles as guilelessly as he can manage. Then he reaches forward for her hand and gently places it on his cheek. The girl gasps but smiles a second later.

“Real enough?” he asks, his voice low as if imparting a secret but still clear enough that it must have reached the aunt.

The girl nodded her head so quick Merlin was sure she must have had a whiplash.

It is then that Iseldir decides to interrupt.

“Emrys,” he waits until Merlin turns to him, a smile on his face. “I apologize for not receiving you properly before, but it is not every day that we meet someone like you.” The reverent tone which had always made Merlin uncomfortable still made him uncomfortable.
At least now he wasn't blushing.

Merlin smiles and Iseldir continues, “We had been told by Rigga, our seer,” he points to his left where an ancient woman is staring at him like he is the Sun. Merlin smiles warmly at her before turning back to Iseldir, “that Emrys’s and the Once and Future King’s time was drawing close but we didn’t want to hope in vain. We wanted to see to you for ourselves and now that we have, I would like to thank you for calling us here.” At this Iseldir bows and the rest of the druids follow him. The chant of ‘Emrys’ on everyone’s lips.

“It is perfectly alright and you are most welcome. Although,” Merlin replies with a smile and continues, “let’s continue this inside?” No one really passed these forests anymore, but they were still dangerous.
Iseldir nodded and Merlin signalled Grettir to check the perimeters for intruders before leading all the druids into Ambrosia together.

As soon as they entered the lands, the group that had been bubbling with excitement suddenly fell silent. He didn’t blame them, this Kingdom had the ability to do that to people. It had been several weeks for him since he revived this land but sometimes he would go up to the highest tower and look down and still was unable to believe that something so beautiful and magical could exist.

He gave them a minute before turning to face them, only to see the old lady from before standing just behind him. She raised her shaking hands up, towards him.
Merlin understood what she wanted, he took hold of her wrists and gently lowered his face between her old, wrinkled hands.

He then met Rigga's eyes and smiled, she looked like she was seeing the Sunrise after centuries.
This was the woman who had held on hope and waited all her life for the time of Emrys, for the time of the Once and Future King. This was the woman who must have seen the Great purge happen in her visions before it happened in real life, and was unable to stop it. For her, he was hope. A hope of living in the world full of magic again.
He didn't think he was worthy of such reverence and just hoped he won't let them down, won't let his people down.

“You have come back, Emrys?” her voice not above a whisper, shaking with repressed emotion.

“I have.” replied Merlin, just as low.
He had been sure that at least one of the druids would recognize that he was older than he looked. He had guessed that Iseldir would be one to see but now thinks that Rigga should have been the obvious choice. She was the most powerful seer he had met, more powerful than Morgana ever was. Her aura was everchanging as if trying to not only predict the future but also her moods.

Merlin waited for her to remove her hands before moving to greet the rest of the druids.

They all wanted to meet their ‘saviour’. All, except the girl’s aunt- who he had come to know, was called Manon- she was in a corner still sneering at Merlin and he was sure that he heard the word ‘fake’ being used quite a few times when she was explaining something to her niece. Merlin laughed, he wished he as fake.

Meanwhile, most of the druids were having a hard time believing that he was really here. Many of them even put their hands on his cheek, much like the little girl, in order to make themselves believe that he was here for them.

But when they did believe some of them burst into tears and hugged him hard, while some beamed so wide that it put Merlin’s own grin to shame. Some fussed over him like mother hens, whilst some bowed to him respectfully. The children had also taken the liberty to hang on him- with at least two on each arm, one sitting on his shoulders and two of them latching to his legs like koalas on a tree. He welcomed such affection from his kin but what he didn’t welcome, came from the middle generation, who were closer to his physical age.

The druid girls gave him appreciative glances, giggling whenever he passed them and the guys were not much better.
He tried to ignore both the genders but it was getting quite hard when they would try to touch his biceps, his stomach and much more unacceptable parts of his body because ‘they were still having a hard time believing that he was real’. This one time, a boy thought that it was alright to touch Merlin’s genitals to make himself truly ‘believe’.
Merlin electrocuted him before his hand could even touch the garment covering his man-parts.

Damn, but these kids were handsy!

The druids had always been very open-minded regarding the matters of pleasure found in human flesh. They followed the pagan ways very seriously.
It was common to see polygamy and open families very frequently in druid tribes.
Literally, nothing was hidden amongst them and even the children, above 13 summers were allowed to take part in such .....physical activities. It is said that it was all a part of their practice in staying connected to nature.

Now, Merlin was not against sexual pleasure. At all. Hell, he could probably even be an ambassador for it, he has had enough encounters with people of both genders. And he also accepted that sex- ed was important.
But there were some things that made even him very uncomfortable.
Merlin shivered to think what would happen during Beltane, this year.

Merlin pushed these thoughts away and led them further into the kingdom. He showed them around the battlements and introduced them to the different magical creatures staying in the area.

They were at first quite scared of the wyverns and the griffins, but later started getting used to them. They also loved the Pegasus and the fairies.
Merlin showed them their accommodation, which he called the ‘Druid grove’.
He and Grettir had designed it specifically keeping the druid people in mind. It had mammoth trees providing complete cover and a stream of water passing through, there were many trees with fruits on them too for children to eat whenever they liked.

Merlin could hear ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as they looked around and was glad that they liked their accommodation, but still offered that if someone didn’t want to live amongst nature then they could very well choose the houses and huts in the town.

Once the people started settling he turned to leave, but before that, he called Iseldir to follow him outside the grove. They walked for a bit before Merlin asked him,

“Iseldir,” Merlin started, “I hope your journey here was safe?” He knows that his magic would have repelled any bandits or patrols but he was not seeing some faces he had expected in the crowd, so he needed to make sure.

“Yes, it was without any hindrances, although few of the tribes had to stay back in order to not raise suspicion.” Merlin frowned at that which the druid noticed and added, “Essetir keeps an eye on all the Druid settlements, and to maintain appearances they had to stay back. They will come here eventually after the watch on them has decreased a bit.” Merlin nods at this.

Even though magic was not banned in Essetir, it was closely monitored, and every move is treated with suspicion.
And even though his spell would have prevented them from being seen and caught, the sudden disappearance of the druids would have been a cause for alarm.

He also concludes that Freya and Mordred were part of the few tribes that had stayed back.

He then approaches the next topic with the druid, “Iseldir, I also wanted to talk about a few things regarding the kingdom with which I will require your help. I was hoping that once you have settled down we could have a discussion?”

The druid beamed at this and replied with an affirmative nod before sobering and saying, “Emrys, I request you to forgive Manon. She has the wrong ideas about certain…. things. But she is young and makes mistakes.”

Merlin’s brows furrowed at this, he had already forgiven the girl’s aunt. She hadn’t done anything against him, she just didn’t like him that much and.... that was ok.
Merlin turns to look at Iseldir and says, “There is nothing to forgive, Iseldir. Everyone is free to have an opinion.” He smiles at the druid and leaves him to settle down with his family.

But on his way back to the castle, there is only one thing he can think of. Only one name, that no matter how much he tries, he can’t place it.

Kara.

*

Over the next few days, more and more people with magic entered Ambrosia. It was finally starting to look like a fully formed Kingdom with its citizens roaming about. He regularly saw some familiar faces, like Gaius’s Alice and Ruadan with his daughter Sefa, they had all entered a day after the druids had.

He had been continuously busy to even pay attention to anything apart from the allotment of houses and creating some more because soon there was going to be a shortage of huts and houses. There was so much influx of people that it just went further to prove that Uther had failed terribly at vendetta against Magic. This made Merlin smile, like a lot of things recently.

People in Ambrosia were happy, they had been through a lot. Magic on a whole had been through a lot, but he could see then bouncing back. He could see the children playing in the street with a ball made of complete magic.

He could see a mother teaching her daughter how to plant flowers and make them grow with a spell. He could see a father and son levitating rocks and playing some kind of a game he.....didn't understand. But what he did understand was that Magic was life, and you can't kill life any more than you can kill sunlight or make water be dry.

The citizens of Ambrosia had started selling food, small trinkets, series of potions(none harmful- he had checked) and many other things that were required during the day-to-day life of a person or a sorcerer, in the main market of the kingdom.

Traders who had magic, came into Ambrosia to sell their wares(They had been made to swear an oath on their magic to not expose any knowledge related to the Kingdom to anyone).

The druids had also made themselves busy by growing crops magically and the animals helped with some heavy lifting.

Merlin had also approached the topic of opening a school for many kids in Ambrosia and had received a very positive response from Iseldir and Rigga, who Merlin found out was the sassiest old lady he had ever met.
HIs reason behind the school was because when he was young, there was no one to guide him and that had led to many accidents. If these kids can learn how to manage the power they have been given from such a young age then they will be more capable of handling it once their magic grows.

Moreover, some of the commoners including Will had started to train with the magic warriors that had fled Essetir. The magic warriors had been treated worse than slaves all their lives and had run away at the first opportunity as they had only stayed in Essetir because magic was banned everywhere else.

The Catha had also arrived a few weeks later and Merlin had greeted them all with a warm smile, especially Finna who had sacrificed her life to save Merlin’s in the past.

He was treated with the same reverence he was being subjected to everywhere, only this time Alator also presented him with a sword.
Saying that ‘Emrys was going to need it in the coming future’

It is not a very positive thing to say, was Merlin's first thought but as soon as he had looked at the glass sword, he knew, knew that the sword was meant for him.
It was black in colour and so sharp that Merlin thought that if anyone was to even touch it, then it will surely draw blood.

But nothing could compare to the feeling Merlin felt when he held the sword from its hilt. A shockwave of pure magic went through him making him gasp along with the people around him.

This sword was the weapon of Emrys. Made for the ancient sorcerer and almost just as old. Now he knew why he didn’t have this sword in the previous life. It was because he wasn’t ready for it, then.

Merlin performed a few swipes with it and felt it slice through the air, ringing with vibration.
He had improved quite a bit at sword fighting. In fact, so much so that he was sure if Arthur knew, he would be very proud.
At one time Merlin had even been the best in the Kingdom, though his skills were a bit rusty right now.

He thanked Alator for the sword and took them to their accommodations, still in a daze.
Afterwards, he practised with his new sword until his hand ached. He knew what he was going to call it from the moment he had picked up the sword. When he had touched the black hilt it was like the sword had introduced itself to Merlin.

Introduced itself as Obsidian.

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Gwaine, as always, was late.

It was good three days after most people had arrived in Ambrosia before Grettir contacted him telling that ‘strength’ was here. And that today was the 5th day that the Dragonlord had been keeping a watch.

Balinor, Merlin had been told, had been keeping an eye on the kingdom. Trying to find ways to breach the border without letting the elf know.
He wasn’t succeeding.

Merlin understood why his father was being cautious but 5 days was just taking it too far and that is why he had decided to take a wyvern instead of Gemini this time. Maybe his father would finally show himself in the presence of kin.

When Merlin reached the border, he could feel his father looking at him from behind the trees, when he was greeted by Gwaine. Or rather Gwaine’s sword.

He was just like Merlin remembered him to be, if not a bit younger and more hot-tempered. Merlin had come that particular judgement when Gwaine put the sword against Merlin’s throat without any kind of greeting and asked,

“Who are you," sorcerer? The wyvern behind Merlin growled at Gwaine but quieted when Merlin raised a hand - to stop. Gwaine cast a wary glance at the wyvern but didn’t move the sword from Merlin’s throat, in fact, pushed it harder.

“I am a friend,” Merlin replies, making his voice as calm as possible. Behind him the wyvern twitched, Merlin knows any sign of pain from him and the wyvern will attack Gwaine without a second thought. This species was very protective.
So, he pretends that the sword on his neck is not about to draw blood.

Gwaine snorts at that and then looks at him from head to toe. When he meets Merlin’s eyes again, there a wicked glint.

“I may have shagged you, pretty boy” his tone teasing before turning threatening again, “but I don’t become friends with Nobles.” Merlin’s eyebrows had risen at the ‘boy’ comment but he refrained from showing any other indication that would confirm that they had in fact shagged, that too not once but multiple times.

“I am not a noble. Just a peasant who got lucky. But we are friends. If you follow me, maybe I can show you.” Merlin knew Gwaine.
Knew that he was as curious as a cat and was considering Merlin’s offer but, he could still say no, and once Gwaine had decided, there was no changing his mind.

So just to make him choose the right thing, Merlin added,
“So, what do you say, Gwaine. You up for the challenge?” Raising only one of his eyebrows. Baiting him. He also knew that Gwaine never backed down from a challenge.
He was one of the biggest adrenaline junkies Merlin had ever met, and he had met a lot of them.

Gwaine gritted his teeth and looked away. Then very slowly he removed his sword from Merlin’s throat and nodded.
“Fine, 10 minutes. That’s all you have before I run you through.”

Merlin smirked and nodded. He only needed 5.
He could feel Balinor trying to sneak in with them, but the border won’t allow it.

They made our way into the lands, which Gwaine, previously knew as the perilous lands. He could see Gwaine’s eyes widen and his mouth drop open, but Gwaine’s pride won’t allow him to ask Merlin questions regarding this change in scenery.

Merlin led them towards the waterfalls and sat on the bench in front of the majestic view. Gwaine turned to him, eyes still trying to soak in the nature around them.
He saw animals, that flew and spewed fire at the same time.
Children playing skip rope and performing magic side by side.
His eyes were wide with disbelief.

Merlin gave him a moment and then said, “I can show you exactly how I know you. But for that, I will have to give you access to my memories through physical contact.” Gwaine just looks confused. The boy was very sharp when he had to be, but the rest of the time, he was just thick.

Merlin just grabs his neck, Gwaine stiffens on contact but does not pull away and leans their heads together. Once Merlin’s and Gwaine’s foreheads are pressed against each other, he connects their minds and starts sharing all his memories of Gwaine, all that they had been through together.

Merlin shows him the bar fight, the impromptu trip to the perilous lands to save Arthur's backside. Showed him how he was the only one Gwaine ever told his noble past to, he showed him saving Gaius, showed him Percival, Lancelot, Elyan and Leon but most importantly he showed him, Arthur.

The king that he would become, the prince that he was, our destinies together. Showed him how Courage, Magic and Strength belonged together.

When they finally opened their eyes, Gwaine looked at him, not with the suspicious eyes people often had whilst looking at sorcerers but with the eyes of a friend.
Hopefully, that means that Gwaine believes him.

“You were my only friend.” Says Gwaine and Merlin exhales in relief. For a minute Merlin had been scared that Gwaine would just accuse him of ensorceling him and leave. Merlin wouldn't have stopped him.

Merlin looks at Gwaine, really looks at him. The rogue had been alone for a very long time. When Merlin had met Gwaine in the past the knight had always covered up his real feelings with humour and sex, and Merlin though was the closest to Gwaine - he was guilty of being too involved in Arthur to pay too much attention to his other friends.

They had become closer when they started ‘shagging’ but that was usually for stress relief and Arthur still had been first, in Merlin’s priorities. Merlin doesn’t think he deserves Gwaine looking at him with such adoration. So, he replies Gwaine with,

“Only at first, and then you became friends with Percy and Lance.” Merlin pauses here and adds, “You even considered Arthur a friend.” He looks at Gwaine and they both laugh when Gwaine mutters a “Princess”.

Merlin became reacquainted with Gwaine over the next few days and finally gathered the courage to ask him if he would like to be a knight for his kingdom until they left for Camelot.

To which Gwaine grinned and said,
“I was waiting for you to say that. And yes, Merlin. I will be your knight, but….. Only on one condition.” Gwaine was very serious for a second, which prompted Merlin into seriousness as well, and then,

“Only if you point me towards the closest tavern.” Merlin laughed and called for an elf, he was sure would have a tonne of mead. “Mindy”, the elf as Merlin had been told, brewed the best meads and wines in the land, and the best part. They had no adverse effects, that means no damaging the liver and though there was a hangover, it could be easily cured with water.

“Yes, my lord,” Mindy replied when she appeared out of thin air prompting Gwaine to unsheathe his sword. Merlin raises a hand in front of the knight to stop and addresses the elf,

“Could you please get Sir Gwaine and me, a tankard of your best mead.” The elf blushes and nods furiously and vanishes, only to come back laden with a full tankard of mead, glasses, grapes and cheese.

Merlin and Gwaine get drunk that night, he replies to all the questions Gwaine asks about their life in Camelot, except one- where he still wants to know whether he and Merlin ever shagged.
Merlin just rolls his eyes and changes the topic.

They laugh so hard that by the end of the night both of them have tears leaking their eyes. The memories and the ideas of all the pranks they could play on Gaius and the Knights- the possibilities were endless.
And it is the first night in many to come when Merlin falls asleep with a smile on his face.

The castle and the town look beautiful. The theme of Blue and Gold suits the landscape, clashing nicely with the waterfalls and the bright sunshine- which is a constant in the Kingdom of Ambrosia.

Merlin takes a walk in his castle and sees high ceilings with beautiful mirrors engraved in them and the blue silk draped over the walls with gold linings.
Long floor to ceiling windows, enchanted to be unbreakable.

The hallway shines with the sunshine hitting multiple facets of mirrors and creating a rainbow on Merlin’s skin. Everywhere people are immersed in doing something or the other. Busy settling into their new lives.
The court Physicians chambers are accessible to all public and they look so similar to Gaius’s chambers that it brings back so many memories and moisture to his eyes.
His mother is busy guiding the elves about the chandeliers and the dinner on the right and beyond her every flag has the vigil of Ambrosia threaded on it.

The gardens surrounding the castle have flowers of so many colours that if Merlin was to paint them all, it would rival a rainbow.
All the people of the Ambrosia were in good spirits, especially the elves that looked beyond happy while wearing the kingdom uniform.

Will was amongst some boys and girls, aspiring to clear basic training for being a knight, the next batch was with Gwaine, training a bit more extensive sword moves and further, they had Ruadan and Alator- teaching war magic on the grounds, along with the magic warriors.

It is when Merlin looks further, he sees Rigga. Everything else blurs except for the ancient woman- who now that Merlin notices, seems to be saying something- eyes unfocused.

He makes his way to her and tries to call her attention,
“Rigga?” she doesn’t seem to hear him, so he moves closer in order to hear what she is murmuring.

“Beware of the blonde witch, Emrys.”

Merlin wakes to his name being called and the weird feeling of the warning still ringing in his head.

“Emrys” he hears and judging by the exasperation in the voice he knows not the first time he’s been called.

He sits up and replies,
“What is it, Grettir?” he asks the elf, still a bit disoriented.
“The Dragonlord is asking for you.” the elf replies his exasperation, either aimed at Merlin or Balinor. Probably both.

Finally. Merlin thinks to himself but replies to Grettir with,
“I will be there in a few minutes.”

*

He decides to walk to the border this time rather than calling on Gemini or Rawr (He thought the name fitting for the wyvern) to take him across.
He needed some time to gather his thoughts.

Merlin sees the people in the market selling wares and colourful dresses, along with mouth-watering foods and other daily-need requirements.

The castle had enough money to continue comfortably for years, but after starting the school they might have to decide on a proper taxing system and construct a bit more around the city as more people were starting to come in every day.

Merlin nodded at people who tried to catch his eyes.
He even indulged the kids on his way by swinging one of the girls into the air before gently depositing her back on the land and playing a bit of skip rope with the others.

When Merlin made their rope a bit longer to accommodate more jumpers, they squealed loudly, making him laugh and glad that he had decided to walk instead of just flying.

He failed to notice how the people had all stopped and stared with awe in their eyes, watching Emrys laugh and play with their kids. They were happy to have such a King. You could see in each Ambrosian’s eye that they adored their king and were proud to be his subjects. All except one. Manon.
Merlin was going to have a chat with her soon.

He visited each of the market stalls and they all tried to hand Merlin a freeware. He smiled and took some and humbly declined some- when his hands were as full as his stomach and vanished all the wares to his room, telling Friggo to take care of them.

Merlin reached the border and took a deep breath before stepping out to greet his father. The dragonlord.

Balinor had his sword out but at least wasn’t pointing it at him. Ready to defend and suspicious but also ready to listen. But, Merlin has planned this. He is going to wait for his father to ask questions.

“You are a Dragonlord.” It was not a question. Balinor said it as if he was stating a fact- which he was. But still, Merlin nods and waits for his father to say something else.
Who, Merlin notices, is shaking his head in disbelief as if he refuses to believe that it’s possible. Looking at the ground, he continues,

“But that is not possible,” now he looks at Merlin, his sword hand, shaking. “Uther murdered each and every one of them.” Balinor’s face contorts in grief at this but he recovers in less than a second, so fleeting was his loss of control.

Merlin knows that his father requires some explanation. Some words that will make him feel… not alone?

“Not all of them, obviously.” He looks pointedly at Balinor.

He then continues with a formal introduction, “My name is Merlin. Known to some as Emrys. Born to Hunith of Ealdor, son of …. The last dragonlord.” Balinor’s hands start to shake, and they drop the sword that had been on the side when Merlin says, “It’s good to see you, Father.”

“My son?” Balinor whispers questioningly, ironically this is his first question since they started talking.
Merlin just smiles and nods.

Balinor does not hesitate to follow Merlin into the Kingdom anymore. Without Merlin saying anything, they both travel in silence.
He thinks that his father is in shock, both with the knowledge that he has an heir and from the beauty of this Kingdom. He is also sure that the fact that he is Emrys plays a part in the shocking process.

Merlin feels the need to explain, “You had already left when I was born and mother never told me who my father was. B- but eventually, I found out through someone else and I knew I had to find you.” Here he chances a glance at his father, who is already looking at him.

Merlin knows it’s an inevitable question, so he shoulders on and asks, “I was hoping that you would…. Would like to stay with us. Here.”

Balinor looks like he wants to ask so many questions, but then he settles on one.
“Us?” Merlin knows who he is asking after. He won’t torment the man further.

“Us… as in me and my mother.” Merlin replies and Balinor instantly turns his head towards the castle as if he would be able to see her if he concentrates hard enough. So eager.

When they do reach the castle, Balinor stops and takes a deep breath before entering, its already lunchtime and his mother would be waiting in the Dining hall at this moment.

Merlin had expected that Balinor would need a moment to clean himself up and then come to face his mother, so he calls on Friggo and asks him to escort Balinor to the room Merlin had asked him to prepare this morning and he himself heads to the dining hall.

The dining hall, Merlin reckons is his favourite part of the castle- the ceiling of the dining hall is made of enchanted glass that shows the clear afternoon sky and chandeliers float in mid-air.
Magic is wonderful.

He greets his mother with a kiss on the cheek and takes a seat at the head of the table. It is a private afternoon, Merlin had planned it specifically keeping in mind that Balinor would be joining them today.

Also, because he knows that his mother has been wanting to spend some quality time with him.
“Well, isn’t this nice. I have missed you so much, Merlin.” Says Hunith, Merlin just smiles in response and lets her know that this is his best part of the day.
Royalty suits his mother, she looks beautiful in her cream gown, Balinor won’t know what hi him.
“How are you settling in the castle, mum?” Merlin asks her, he knows she misses Ealdor, but Merlin needs her here.
“I am settling in well, my boy….. I have been meaning to tell you that I am so proud of you.” His mother looks at him, pride in her eyes, Merlin blushes but does not break eye contact. Thankfully though, his mother changes the topic when she sees him getting flustered.

“Also the druids are wonderful people and the elves are so efficient at what they do, especially Dinky here.” The elf serving us blushes and stammers a quiet thank you to Hunith. Merlin smiles at Dinky and bows his head in gratitude for keeping his mum happy and busy. And then remembers something.
“Oh, Dinky. Would you mind setting up another chair and showing our guest into the dining hall?” Dinky bows and vanishes and then a minute later another chair and plate is ready opposite Hunith. She looks at Merlin in confusion and Merlin explains,
“I have invited a guest for lunch, mum. I called him here for…. you.” Merlin hopes his mum does not hate him for hiding this from her. She is about to say something when the door opens to reveal Balinor.
Balinor has cleaned up well, is Merlin’s first thought. He has shaved and trimmed his hair and donned a perfect attire for lunch.
Merlin looks at his mother and sees that she is shell-shocked. She is so still that Merlin fears she has stopped breathing.

He then glances at Balinor once, but even he is looking quite transfixed.
It’s up to him then.

“Mum,” Merlin calls out, but Hunith is still not looking away from Balinor, so Merlin tries to get Balinor’s attention.
“Father,” Merlin says it a bit more loudly than he intends to and Balinor drags his eyes away for mum. “Let’s sit and have lunch?”

“Ah, yes.” He looks at my mother again and says, “Hello, Hunith.” His mother had come out of the daze when he had addressed Balinor as his father.
“Yes, Hello.” She said to Balinor, dismissively and then calls Dinky to serve the food. Lunch had never been tenser.
Merlin could see that Balinor was trying to catch his mother’ eyes but after getting over the shock she was actively ignoring him.

After the lunch, Merlin took his leave and left them to it, this was for them to sort out. And he had his first council meeting to get to.

Merlin had decided on the council members.
These were the people who would help him run the Kingdom on a daily basis. They would stay in the chambers allotted to them in the castle and it had been decided that the meetings would take place every other day at a specific time unless there was an emergency.

Merlin had also chosen a roundtable as the council table, it reminded him of Arthur and would encourage him to be a better leader, he hoped.
Slowly the people started filing in and Merlin was brought out of his musings. The table sat in the middle of the room and Merlin sat directly opposite to the doors of the council chambers.

The first ones to enter were Iseldir and Alator. Iseldir who would be managing the school and advising Merlin sat at Merlin’s left. Alator who was looking after the magical combat training sat beside Iseldir.
Next to come were Grettir and Ruadan, who Merlin could hear were discussing the border patrols. Ruadan nodded at Merlin before sitting beside Alator and comparing some notes regarding the combat training. Friggo was called by Merlin and looked surprised to be there, he looked disbelievingly at Merlin for a moment but turned when Grettir called him to take the seat beside him. Merlin didn’t miss the look of gratitude on Friggo’s face before he sat down. Alice and Rigga entered together- apparently, both of them had been getting on well- they sat beside Friggo.
Both of them smiled at me maternally and took part in the conversation taking place between Friggo and Grettir. Gwaine and Will entered and they took their places beside Rigga. Two more spaces were left.

One directly on Merlin’s right and the one beside it, Merlin had assigned those chairs to his Mother and Balinor who had still not arrived. Merlin waited for 10 more minutes before he gave up and decided to start the meeting.

“Welcome Everyone to the First council meeting of The Kingdom of Ambrosia. I hope you all-,”
It was at that moment that the doors opened and in came his mother and Balinor. They both looked quite dishevelled and Merlin didn’t want to go into the details of what made them look so un-put together.

His mother sat beside him and Balinor took the seat beside her. He could see that they were holding hand under the table. Merlin smiled mentally, happy that they had sorted their problems and continued.

“As I was saying before, I hope you all have settled into your new homes nicely.” He waited until everyone smiled and nodded their answers. Before resuming,

“Everything that will be discussed here will not leave this room, and if it does, the crime will be treated close to treason.” Merlin gives them a minute to digest that. “Each and every one of you holds my utmost trust, do not break that.” He looks fleetingly at every face in the room. “I will be allotting duties related to what some of you have already been doing. This meeting is just to make that title and job official.”

Merlin looks at Iseldir and says, “Iseldir your main task, apart from advising me on magical problems, is to take care of the school as the head and let me know at the end of each council meeting, what progress each student makes and if there are any problems. I want to know if someone is having trouble with something or if you need some extra help at the school.”
He moves on only when Iseldir nods and confirms with “Yes, my lord.”.

“Alator and Ruadan. You both are responsible for teaching the knights magical combat. Our knights should be ready for anything. And as a magical Kingdom, they should be able to protect it from any foe, magical or otherwise.” He takes a deep breath here, “Alator, you will teach them the ways of the Catha and Ruadan, you will teach them every evasive technique you knew from your renegade days.” Both the council members bow and Merlin moves on to Grettir.

“Grettir, you have to continue doing what you already have been doing. Your magic is like a shield around this kingdom- I know- I have felt it on multiple occasions. You are responsible for keeping our borders safe, along with the wyvern and gryphon unit. If you feel anything on our borders, it is your duty to let Balinor know.”

Grettir nods and replies with “You already have my allegiance, Emrys but I will repeat for the council’s sake.” Grettir looks at every face on the table, “I will keep this Kingdom and its King safe, I promise on my life.” Merlin blushes at that but tilts his head in gratitude, before moving to Friggo.
“Friggo, the elves are under your leadership. You are the household manager and your job is to take care of everyone’s needs and make sure that the Kingdom has enough food to hold off a siege. You will need to coordinate with the Lady Hunith occasionally regarding the castle events and their requirements.” Hunith and Friggo nod at each other. Merlin continues,

“Your management is essential for the castle to run smoothly. You also take care of the elves themselves, they trust you to take care of them, and I trust you to tell me if they need anything or complain against anyone who isn’t treating you and the rest with the respect they deserve.”

The elf looks at him with tears in his eyes, he doesn’t say anything but nods fervently, prompting Merlin to smile and he moves further down the table.

Alice is already waiting for her turn when he addresses her, she sits with her back straight and her hands on the table.

“Alice, I have heard amazing things about your talent in the healing arts. I want you to use them for this Kingdom. You should take on an apprentice- my mother,” Merlin nods towards Hunith, “can help you in choosing one. You should make your rounds daily, seeing if everyone is healthy in the Kingdom. Your job is also to let me know if there is any magical malady or curse that would require my attention.”

Alice nods and Merlin moves to look at Will and Gwaine.
“You two are responsible for training the same knights that Ruadan and Alator train, but in Physical combat. You will be working with every weapon you know. But that is not the only job you have. You both do not have magic, that makes you both perfect representatives for the people who do not have magic in this Kingdom. I know there are quite a few. You need to let me know if they face any problems.”

Both Will and Gwaine had nodded and accepted their tasks. Merlin knew that people who didn’t have magic were a bit wary of approaching him directly thus Gwaine and Will made the perfect median for the people without magic to talk to him.

Next is Rigga, “Rigga, you are the most powerful seer I have come across in my lifetime” For many that was maximum 25 years, but Rigga knew that Merlin was older than all of them combined. So, she took it as a compliment it was. “I want you to take care of our Kingdom. Keep your eyes open, your visions could save this Kingdom from grave peril.”
The power of the seers was unparalleled than any magical power. It was painful but if people mastered looking into the future, then they could very well be the most powerful allies or the biggest enemies. He thinks of Morgana but is jarred from that thought when Rigga replies,

“I am at your service, Emrys. What I see, you see it as well.” She closes her eyes -in a makeshift bow- and Merlin moves to the next person on the table.

Balinor.
He takes a deep breath and starts, “Considering that you will be staying in this Kingdom,” Merlin makes his tone playful, looking pointedly at his parents adjoined hands, “You would be responsible for all the Magical Creatures.”

Balinor’s eyebrows shoot up but before he can say anything, Merlin holds up his hand in a ‘wait’ gesture and continues, “the wyverns can be easily tamed with Dragon tongue, and all the other creatures are quite self-handling. The gryphons are good friends with the elves, thus when training them, take an elf with you. Same goes with the hippogriffs. These three creatures would be used for military purposes, as they can’t be harmed with metal weapons.” Merlin looks on and continues, he knows the next part of the job is even more challenging than the previous one.

“Along with that, your main job is to train the riders. There are volunteers from among the knights and some druids who want to be trained in this art. All animals respond to mind-speak, thus give orders through that median.” His father still looks anxious but nods nonetheless. He knows there will be questions later.

Which brings him to the last member of the table, his mother.

“Hunith,” it feels weird to address her such, but he knows that his mother appreciates it,
“your job is to look after the Kingdom’s finances and help Friggo with problems regarding the food supply.” His mother looks unsure, so he reassures her in a way he knows he can.

“You have lived alone all your life and thus have experience in taking care of Ealdor’s food supply and finances whilst you were also singlehandedly responsible for my upbringing.” He can see Balinor flinch from the corner of his eyes, but this is necessary for Hunith to maintain her confident persona. He likes her this way. His mother is an extremely capable and intelligent person but rarely has she been complimented for that.

Merlin adds, “The kingdom’s coffers will only be open to you and I. Anyone who needs finances, will come to you directly. You need to prepare a report for the council meeting at the end of every month, calculating the average expenditure of Ambrosia and the money coming into the kingdom from trade and taxes.”

His mother takes a deep breath and exhales before nodding once. He knows she can do it.

“Well then, council dismissed.”

After dinner Merlin didn’t feel like going to bed yet so he did what he used to when he was feeling a bit low in Camelot - He went to the highest tower in the castle, in his castle.

He looked down at his Kingdom. Merlin had never in his wildest dreams ever thought that he would be King, he knew he had a responsibility to the Druids but only now did he realise to what extent he responsible not just to the druids but to all that was magic.

He feels something come towards him and recognises it as the Pegasus - Gemini. She and Merlin had bonded over these past months.

She was a wonderful creature and he had told her about all Arthur. Speaking of whom…

He stroked her soft mane and wondered what Arthur was doing at this moment. A strong feeling of longing hit him hard in the chest.
He was so close and yet so far. All he had wanted to do since he had come back in time was to see his golden prince.

The longing Merlin felt was too strong to ignore on some days. Today was one of those days. But he had no other choice.
Even while Merlin had been with different people which included both women and sometimes men, Arthur had always been at the forefront of his mind.

And when Arthur had married Gwen...... something had changed. In both, him and Arthur. Merlin had felt bitter towards Gwen and then hated himself for it afterwards. He had hated every minute he had spent outside Arthur’s chambers in the morning, hoping that he wasn’t going to interrupt something. Arthur had stopped roughhousing with Merlin and those fond looks that Merlin had craved so much had also stopped.

For a few days, even the knights had thought that they were having an argument, but really that had been the new ‘normal’.
He knew that he had always been possessive about Arthur, and surely that was just a side-effect of the ‘two sides of the same coin’ business. At least Merlin hoped it was…. a side effect. He wasn't romantically in love with Arthur or anything, just....he liked it more when it was just Arthur and Merlin and not so much when it turned to Arthur and Gwen.

Merlin looks down at the city and tries to get himself out of this mood. The lanterns floated in the sky above the market, giving it a soft glow.
Gemini had fallen asleep to Merlin’s gentle ministrations and even the people below were walking home after a long day at work and Merlin…... Merlin thought that perhaps it was time for him to retire too.

The next morning Merlin wakes up to his mother sitting at the edge of his bed, waiting for him to wake. He pushes himself up and leans against the headboard, silently giving her the ‘go ahead’. She looks at him and smiles, it’s a happy smile Merlin notes, not the smile she sometimes fakes when she is trying to hide something from him.

“How did you know, Merlin?” he knows what she is asking, how did he know that Balinor was his father. He doesn’t know how to tell her that in a few years’ time, Gaius will tell him that the last dragon lord was his father and how later he dies because of Merlin. So, he tells her this,
“The Great Dragon told me.” Hopefully, she won’t go looking for any great dragons in the near future. His mother nods and then says, recalling.
“He and I were going to marry.” It was said in a mere whisper as if a huge secret she had held close to her all her life.

“He had come to Ealdor in search for shelter from Uther's laws and he… was wounded. I helped him heal, but he stayed even after he was well enough to run.” Here she smiles and continues,
“I was happy about that, for some reason. I wanted his to stay with all my heart and soul….It was then when I realised that I felt something towards him, that- that I loved him.”

She looks me in the eyes and pauses as if counting the similarities between him and Balinor.
He had often wondered what that look was for when his mother would just gaze at him. Now she knew that she saw Balinor’s likeness in his features.

She continues before he says anything, “He was a bit gruff on the outside, but he had the gentlest of hearts.” His mother pauses and looks down at her lap.
He can see that she is readying herself to tell him something, “It was good, I was happy. We both loved each other and wanted to tell each other the extent of our feelings ….But then he had to leave because Uther wouldn’t give up in his search for the last dragonlord." A tear escapes his mother's eyes.

"He left that night and stayed away all these years to keep me safe, to keep us safe.”

Her voice wobbles and Merlin leans forward to clutch her hand in his. She squeezes my hand once and continues,
“I never got to tell him that I was expecting and I never could speak to you about him because it hurt so much. But Merlin I still love him and I was hoping that if it was alright with you… maybe- maybe we could give this a chance? Give our family a chance.”

His mother is looking at him with such hopeful eyes that he would have given her anything at that moment.
He beams at her and says, “About time, mother.” And then hugs her to him, hard. His mother deserved another chance at life, she deserved someone to love her.

She had given birth to Merlin at such a young age that she had the rest of her life left to live. But unlike last time when she spent all her life alone, this time she was going to have someone who would cherish her and love her. And maybe he will find out what it was like to… have a father?

After speaking with his mother, Merlin got ready and had his breakfast and then headed for training. He sparred with Gwaine and Alator mostly – sometimes together and won most of time.
His sword hand was a bit rusty but he was getting better. Gwaine was an excellent swordsman but Merlin had been a swordsman for centuries.

He had more experience.

The perks of being an immortal are that you are generally good at almost everything, and Merlin knew that. Sometimes the magic warriors and the physical warriors would attack Merlin all at once- now that was what he called- a challenge.

The council meetings had been going splendidly, apart from the fact that he had to keep reminding himself that he was the King and that meant him leading the council. Merlin spoke and sparred with Balinor too, the old man was a very skilled swordsman and a sorcerer.

He got to know his father better and told him about his plans of travelling to Camelot in the future.
Balinor had disapproved greatly at first but then remembered that he was not only his son but also, Emrys.
He had given in after that and promised to take care of Ambrosia in his absence.

His school was also almost constructed and classes had started taking place. He had already planned the curriculum. Iseldir, Finna and Rigga were going to help him teach the children.
Iseldir was going to be head of the school in his absence and he was to teach them everything the druids knew, about the land, the old religion and the balance.

Finna’s lesson was going to be about discipline and courage, she was also going to educate them in the ways of the Catha.

Rigga had been a new addition to the teaching group as there were a lot of Children having nightmares of the future.
The topic of nightmares had also reminded Merlin about Morgana. He had already asked Rigga to make something for Morgana that will help her with her visions. She would have it ready for him when Merlin was about to leave for Camelot.
He had also not forgotten the dream-Rigga’s warning,

“To beware of the blonde witch”

Merlin had a fair idea who it could be, and he had been made aware of her presence closer to the borders recently by Grettir.
So, he was going to wait until Morgause contacted him first.

He was going to give her the benefit of the doubt but until her loyalties were made clear he would have to conceal his identity. He could not give Morgause a chance to recognize him if she chose to be his enemy. His face had to remain a secret from his enemies.

*

It had been good 8 months that Merlin had travelled back in time and the changes that he had made since were miraculous.
One of the biggest changes was- Ambrosia.
Then, he knew for a fact that Thomas and Mary Collins now owned a flower stall in the market. They sold flowers that didn’t wilt for months and Candles that kept burning for longer.

Edwin Muirden, who had tried to kill Uther and Morgana with his beetles was now helping Alice with her patients (He was the new apprentice, he and Alice worked well together). He had been very bitter when he had entered Ambrosia but since coming here, his soul had started to heal with the help of Alice who treated Edwin like a son.

Gilli was in Ambrosia as well, he had been training with the knights. His ring, though provided him with some real advantage, he didn’t want to use it. He wanted to learn combat without the help of his ring.

Even Kara, who kept asking Merlin for 'more red' was settling in well with the children in the school, even though he had to ask Iseldir to convince Manon to send her niece to classes. She really hated him for some reason he could not fathom.

Everything( except that) was coming along perfectly. He wanted to make sure that everyone and everything was settled and protected before he left for his destiny. He had amped the security at the borders, his magic along with Grettir’s already existing magic, had formed a shield between Ambrosia and the rest of the world.
Now, no one could enter his Kingdom without his specific permission and when he left the border will listen to his parents and his closest advisors as they will be the ad-hoc rulers in his absence.
He had also created an area where people who hadn’t been allowed to enter Ambrosia but wanted an audience with him could wait.

But before Merlin planned any further for the future, he had one particular job that he needed to do.

He needed to break into Camelot.

Chapter Text

A trader had come into Ambrosia and though that was common enough occurrence, Merlin just could not shake the feeling of uneasiness. There was something off about this trader.

But all thought had left Merlin’s mind when he had spotted something in his caravan. It wasn’t anything flashy or eye-catching. It just a simple spiral, or rather a part of a spiral. A part of the Triskelion.
Merlin had picked it up and studied the part carefully. This was it. This trader must have been the one who sold Julius Borden the first piece of the Triskelion.

Merlin had already been gifted the part of the triskelion that the Druids owned. Iseldir had given it to him after the 1st council meeting. Now that he had found the second part of it, He couldn’t not go look for the third piece.

He looked up to see the trader looking at him.
“How much for this?” Merlin asked, all suspicion forgotten. He had all his attention on the Triskel.
“I c-can’t sell you that. Someone else wants it.” The trader replies after he gets over his shock of being spoken to by Merlin.
“Who?” Merlin asks, walking towards the trader, who Merlin notices casts a worried look to Merlin’s right before replying.
“No-one. I will just them that I didn’t find it. You can take it.” Merlin knows that the trader is hiding something. What, though….. he doesn’t know.

Merlin pays the trader with three gold coins and turns back towards the castle. He sees Manon and Kara standing on his right and the little girl comes running to him, barrelling into his arms.
He hugs her and pulls her up with him, and then he walks towards the aunt.
“How are you, Kara? Are you liking your class?” Merlin asks the little girl. He always loves spending time with her.
“I am good, Emrys! And I love my classes, especially the charm classes with you! I can’t wait to learn battle magic and teach it to More-red!” The enthusiasm with which she says this makes Merlin chuckle. He is glad she loves the school…. Although what’s with the ‘more-red’ again?
He asks her this and she replies that he is her cousin, son of her aunt Manon.

He remembers Kara mentioning a sibling when they met-
“Kara! Stop wasting Emrys’s precious time.” Merlin is brought out from his thoughts at the sharp chastisement towards the little girl. He forces a smile and lets Kara down,
“It’s no waste. I love children.” Manon only sneers at him.

He tries, he really does, but can’t remember doing anything against anyone named Manon. Then why does she hate him? He frowns and asks,
“Why do you dislike me so, Manon? Have I done something to you?” His voice is friendly, open. But it doesn’t seem to change anything as she grits her teeth and glares with the full might of her eyes, replying with only two short words,
“Not yet.”

Manon roughly grips Kara’s hand and walks away and Merlin is left confused. He knows what she means but it can’t be….
It’s not something he has done, it’s something he will do.
He shakes himself out of this thought. He will try and not harm Manon in any way, hopefully. But for now, he enters his chambers and joins the first part of the triskelion(that the druid’s had given him) with the second part of the key that he bought from the trader. He joins them both.

Now all that’s left is the piece in Camelot.

*

Merlin had given the idea of hatching the dragons a bit of thought.

The eggs that he had found during his travels were ready to be hatched. If Merlin delayed a few more years then he wouldn’t be able to spend enough time with them.
It was possible that he would get too busy with Camelot like he had been during Aithusa - who had turned away from him due to his neglect.

He could not make that mistake again, all his dragonlings will receive full care and attention from him, and for that to happen- he could think of only one solution.

He needed to hatch the eggs as soon as possible as he still had a year and a few months more to go before leaving for Camelot and when he did leave, his father could look after them in his absence.

Merlin knew he needed to break into Camelot. Tonight.

*

At dinner, he spoke to his mother and father about his plans regarding the eggs.

Balinor had been ecstatic to hear that Merlin had found dragon eggs and couldn’t wait for Merlin to hatch them, he had also said ‘it’s the most beautiful thing you will ever see, Merlin. When a dragon comes out of the shell. It feels like the purest of magic.’
Merlin didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had witnessed it himself. He just listened to his father talked on and on about the three dragons he had hatched.

Merlin had offered Balinor that he could hatch the eggs if he liked, but his father had refused, saying that ‘I have hatched a few dragons in my time, Merlin. But after seeing them all slaughtered at Uther’s hands, I don’t think I could bear to hatch an egg ever again. Anyway, a dragon takes after its hatcher. It has to be you, Emrys.’

It had been one of the few times when his father had referred to him as Emrys. But Merlin had understood completely.
Emrys was ancient, powerful and wise. It would do well if he- as Emrys hatches the eggs- as the Dragons usually take after the dragonlords that hatch them.

This was going to be the Golden age of Albion. This was going to continue. If Emrys hatched these dragons, then they will be immortal. Just like him, with many of his personality traits. They will be the only children he ever has.

Merlin had bowed his head in gratitude and Balinor had only smiled and ruffled his hair. His mother at his side. He had realised then, that no matter how old you get, you will always be a child to your parents.

*

After dinner, Merlin bade his Mum and Balinor good night and made way to his own chambers.

He changed into his dark clothing, which was one of the things he had brought back in time with him- fake leather of very good material and it helped that it was the darkest piece of clothing he had in his closet.

He got the hood up and checked himself in the mirror once. His clothing sat tight on his body, Obsidian hanging down from his waist.
He would need something to cover his face, Merlin thought. His face must remain a secret.

Merlin looks around but cannot find anything in his room that would be useful, so he concentrates on what he needs and an eye-mask materialises in his hand.
The material is thin but sturdy.
He puts it over his eyes and wills his magic to make it permanent until Merlin, and only Merlin removes it.

This was his identity will be a secret even if he is captured. He won’t get caught- but he has to think of all possibilities.
He looks at himself in the mirror again and deems himself ready.

Time to break into Camelot.
*

Merlin flew over Camelot on Gemini. It had been so long since he had seen this Kingdom.
After Arthur had died, Merlin had stayed at Camelot only for Gwen’s reign. He had promised her that he would support her until her last breath, and he had kept that promise.
Merlin had left Albion after Gwen passes away, he could not stay in this land a year longer after all his friends had passed away to Avalon.

It was then that Merlin had decided to travel and when he had gathered enough courage to come back after centuries of travel, he came back to nothing. It was all rubble where Camelot had once stood. After so many foes, the mighty Kingdom had fallen to the mightier Saxons. Just like the stories Arthur had spoken of during patrols, the story of the Kingdom of Daobeth.
How such a mighty kingdom fell to the fires of Dragons, Camelot fell to the change of time.

It looked serene at night. No one could imagine that in this place thousands had been murdered or that many had given their lives for it voluntarily. It was like the dark of night hid every demon Camelot had.
But even from this far he could see a golden ray, bright as the sun. Merlin knew if he followed it, the ray would lead him straight to his Golden King.
It was hard for him to ignore it, but he kept his focus, at least for now. He landed Gemini in the forest near Camelot and enchanted her wings to make them invisible to make her seem like a normal horse.

Sneaking in and out of Camelot had never been a problem for Merlin, he even glided his way into the vaults. ‘Why were the guards so ridiculous?’ was Merlin’s constant thought in order to distract himself from the call of visiting Arthur.

Merlin opens the vault door with magic and makes his way in.
The vault was filled with multiple small objects, most of them were magic and the non-magical things were mainly jewels and paintings.

One painting, in particular, caught Merlin’s eye. It was of Ygraine Pendragon. Merlin had seen Arthur’s mother once before and it was safe to say that she was a true beauty.

Merlin could see why Uther was so heartbroken after her death but nothing, nothing could justify mass genocide. Not even love.

Merlin moves further into the vaults, and then he sees it. There on a red velvet pillow was the 3rd and the last piece of the Triskelion. Merlin checks the area for traps and when he comes up with nothing he picks up the circular disc and makes his way out of the vault.

Merlin’s next destination was the dungeons. He had to speak with Kilgharrah.
But he hadn’t planned this well. He was on the roof of the castle, but in midst of being excited and a little bit nervous, he had forgotten that between the Vaults and the dungeons there were Arthur’s chambers.

Once he was right on the top of Arthur’s chambers, Merlin couldn’t stop himself anymore. The call of his other half was too strong, he could feel it. Arthur’s and his soul calling for each other. It was like an invisible thread of golden light between them.

Merlin was strong but not strong enough to ignore his soul’s deepest cry and wish.
Surely, he won’t disturb destiny with just one glimpse of Arthur.
That’s it. Decision made, Merlin magically opens Arthur’s window and climbs into the room after making sure that the prince was asleep.

And there he was. His Golden Prince.
Merlin tries to think how long it’s been since he addressed Arthur as a ‘prince’ and not as a ‘king’, but he can’t come up with an answer. His brain has literally stopped working.

It’s due to this reason, that he left the window open to cold air.

Arthur is faced away from him and sleeps soundly. Merlin had always loved Arthurs snores, it made him look less perfect. More human. He is sleeping without any shirt on, which worries Merlin because it is quite cold outside.
What was Arthur’s current manservant thinking?

He walks around the bed in order to look at Arthur’s face. It’s a face that has yet to be marred by age and betrayal. It’s the face of an Arthur, Merlin has never seen. He has never seen Arthur so young. He is now 19, Merlin had only ever seen Arthur after he 21. It’s crazy how much difference these 2 years had made on Arthur.

He looked more innocent somehow and less like a prat who bullies everyone.
Merlin is pulled out of his thoughts when he sees Arthur shiver. It is then that he realises that he had left the window wide open when he had come in. Sometimes the sheer stupidity of himself astounded Merlin.

One look at the window and it shuts with a click. Merlin then looks down at Arthur and bends to straighten the bunched-up covers over his waist and makes sure that they cover Arthur fully. The prince won’t do any good with a fever.
He had always been a pain when he ill.

Merlin decides to leave then, he had already over-stayed. He gives the prince one last look and exists the same way he had come in, this time remembering to close the window.
Not noticing that the young prince had stopped snoring.

*

Now to Kilgharrah.

Merlin made his way through the confusing spirals and staircases and multiple turns deep into the heart of Camelot where the dragon lived. When he descended those familiar steps leading to the Dragon’s cavern, Merlin couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

When he entered, it was to find the Dragon already waiting. Merlin smiled at him.
“I felt your presence in Camelot, Emrys.” The dragon bows his head as a greeting and Merlin does the same.
“I also heard your call to every magical being to come to your Kingdom. I tried to come as you can see-” Kilgharrah lifts up his shackled paw for Merlin to see. The shackles have dried blood on it, and Kilgharrah’s paw had deep welts on its tender skin, still healing.

Merlin feels his mouth go dry. He looks up at Kilgharrah with an apology in his eyes.
“It wasn’t your fault, young warlock.” Merlin flinches at the name. He was anything but young.

Merlin does not get a chance to correct him though, as the Dragon continues
“It was my utter stupidity and frustration, to know that all my kin were together whilst I was here. Rotting like a living corpse. Well, you can imagine how that didn’t sit well with me.”

Merlin can see why Kilgharrah must have hated that. And though Merlin hadn’t planned to release Kilgharrah today, he was thinking about it.

If he was to hatch the dragons, it would be good to have Kilgharrah there.
His father could only do so much in his absence, he would already be handling the Kingdom in his stead, the dragonlings could prove to be a bit too much.
Not only that but, Kilgharrah was a Great Dragon, he belonged in the skies.
With that thought in mind and his decision made, Merlin produced Obsidian from its scabbard and presented it to Kilgharrah.

“I will free you now.” He said but before the Dragon could burnish the sword, Merlin held up a hand- to stop- he first needed a promise from the Dragon.

“Only if you swear to me that you will not harm Camelot or any of its citizens out of spite and revenge.” The dragon that had looked happy at the prospect of being free again now looked mutinous.

Kilgharrah stands on his hind legs and is about to roar. Merlin had just enough time to cast a quick silencing charm when the dragon roars loudly and breathes fire in the air. The roar bounces back from the cavern walls in deep echoes.

When the Dragon comes down, he says,
“Then you might as well not free me, Emrys. I will have my revenge. He killed my children, my brothers… all whole kin. I cannot and will not forgive Uther for that.” Merlin should have guessed that the Dragon would react in such manner.

Kilgharrah stands on his hind legs again, preparing himself to take flight and disappear into the cavern. Merlin needs to stop him.

“Wait! Dragon!” Shouts Merlin. But the dragon is now hovering in the air, not stopping
“Kilgharrah!” The use of the name shocks the dragon into landing again.
“W-what did you call me?” Kilgharrah demands, his voice shaky.
“Kilgharrah, the great dragon.” The dragon is still in shock, Merlin takes advantage of that fact and continues.

“I promise you that you will have your revenge. And justice will be served.” here takes a breath here before continuing, “But it will not be with bloodshed, but with a victory.” Merlin knows he has captured Kilgharrah’s attention with his words, he continues.
“I came here to Camelot, today, for a purpose. To retrieve this,” Merlin pulls out the spiral disc that he took from the vaults and the half-finished triskele from his pocket. Then in front of the Dragon, he joins the third part of the key, completing it.

“I came for this, the key to the tomb of Ashkanar.” The dragon still looked unimpressed, cheeky lizard. “It’s the tomb that contains a Dragon egg.” Now, the dragon looks shocked and hopeful. Merlin knew he was getting to him.

“This is the key to revenge, Kilgharrah. Uther aimed to kill your species, to kill magic. The best revenge is by surviving. The best revenge is when he realises that his daughter has magic. The best revenge is when he realises that his son would undo all the work he did and bring magic back into the land.” The dragon is listening and hanging to his every word.

Merlin knows that look, it’s the look of determination in the Dragon’s eye.

“Kilgharrah, if you decide to take revenge now. I won’t stop you.” The dragon narrow’s his eyes, “But know this, you will not be harming Uther at all but killing thousands of innocent people and the castle walls may burn with your fire, but he won’t, the coward is protected by the walls of Camelot. Revenge is true when we hit him where the walls don’t hold. It is not revenge but stupidity if we attack now, it will only work in making Arthur bitter towards everything that is magic.”

Kilgharrah closes his eyes at this and exhales a heavy breath, defeated by Merlin’s words. He had always known that the Dragon had regretted killing so many people in the past, even though he hadn’t accepted in so many words.

“Alright Emrys. Free me and I promise not to harm any innocent. But don’t ask me to not kill Uther if I ever see him. I won’t be able to show face to my kin in Avalon.” Merlin nods and knows that’s as far as he is going to get with Kilgharrah.

So, he holds up his sword up again and presents it to the dragon to burnish it. With a newly burnished sword, Merlin jumps and lands near the shackles.
With eyes glowing golden and as much force as he can manage, Merlin swings the sword and cuts through the chains like butter. He then climbs on Kilgharrah’s back and they both head towards Ambrosia.

*

*Back In Camelot*

Arthur jerks up on his bed as soon as he hears the sorcerer leave. All he can think of was why was a sorcerer in his room, if not to harm him. Arthur shivers remembering the moment he had felt the presence.

The sorcerer’s presence had been very strong. Almost electric. Arthur had woken up as soon as the sorcerer had used magic to close the window, the air had sparked with residual magic.
In a contained room the sorcerer’s presence had been stifling.

He had wanted to grab his sword more than anything when he had realised that someone was in the room but something….. had stopped him, so he had just opened his eyes a little bit.

He wasn’t able to see anything much, but he had seen a pale hand with long and elegant fingers trying to get his covers up. He had also spotted a ring. The most exquisite ring he had ever seen.

It had a sapphire stone but a shiny bird in gold and in-flight could be seen through it. He didn’t know what kind of a bird it was, but he remembers seeing it on one of his hunts.

Arthur gets up and heads to the window, opening it to see if the sorcerer was still there, and was disappointed when he saw nothing. He was going to close the window but something stopped him.
The same intuition that had prevented him from attacking the sorcerer.
He waits for another fifteen minutes but when nothing happens he shakes his head and is about to move away when from the corner of his eyes he spots something.

No, it couldn’t be.

A Dragon! Arthur didn’t know that Camelot had dragons! And this Dragon definitely came from the dungeons.
What surprised Arthur more was that there was a person on its back. His eyes widen when he realises that- that must be the sorcerer.

Multiple questions rose in Arthur’s head. He knew that he should probably go and alert his father, but his father had been keeping secrets. He was sure that the Dragon was one of them. Arthur had heard stories about a dragon beneath Camelot and had asked his father multiple times regarding it, but each time his father had shut him down and declared that they were just stories.

Who was this sorcerer? Why did he come to his room but did not hurt him nor steal anything? Well except the dragon, that is. Was he so powerful that he could command dragons and ride them?
Arthur knew that the answer to the last question was, yes. Yes, the sorcerer had been very powerful. Even Arthur had felt it. The power that surrounded the stranger like a shadow.

He was going to ask Gaius some questions first thing tomorrow morn.

He lies back down on his bed still trying to figure out why would a sorcerer come into his chambers and not steal anything from the room, he had multiple things worth stealing……

Arthur falls asleep and dreams of dragons, sapphire rings and beautiful hands.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Balinor had been ecstatic, if not a bit guilty when he and Kilgharrah had their reunion.

Merlin already knew what had happened, Uther had betrayed Balinor and captured Kilgharrah in the process. Balinor had never been able to free the great Dragon.
The only reason that his father was alive and with them today, was because of Gaius. Kilgharrah understands, he knows that it was his destiny to be freed by Emrys and his fate to be captured and be a prisoner.

Uther had destroyed many lives, in comparison Merlin's life was better than most.
The reason was that he had a family now, it was something not many sorcerers had the good fortune of having.

Merlin had already briefed Balinor and Kilgharrah with his plan. Merlin and Balinor were going to fly to the Tomb of Ashkanar later today and Kilgharrah was going to stay on standby in Ambrosia. The reason that Merlin wanted Kilgharrah on guard was because he had been notified by Grettir that Morgause had been keeping an eye on the borders, she had even sent Merlin a Mind-speak message, well more like a threat that if he didn’t help her in attacking Camelot in the future then she would take it on herself to get rid of me and lead Ambrosia to war herself.

Merlin had just snorted at that. Mentally. That was the reply he had graced her with. She was the first person that had come to his mind when he had been warned by Rigga.
She had been the main reason that Morgana had turned against them. If she hadn’t made Morgana the source of her sleeping spell, then Merlin wouldn’t have had to poison his friend.

He wasn’t blaming others for his mistake, no. It had been his decision at the end that had pushed Morgana towards Morgause but he had been forced to choose, and if the choice was between Arthur and Morgana, or even Arthur and the world. Merlin knew what he would choose.
Every. damn. time.

But it wasn’t just that, Morgause had used Ygraine as a pawn to turn Arthur against Uther. This to Merlin was, unforgivable.

We all wanted Uther dead, but to use his own son as the killer and his dead wife as a pawn in the plan- was a level of cruelty that blogged Merlin's head and made him want to stay as far from Morgause as possible. Merlin shudders.

Every sorcerer deserved a second chance, but not when their only goal was to have revenge. If Morgause had at all been interested in saving magic then she wouldn’t have threatened the King of Ambrosia- a kingdom solely constructed for people with magic. A refuge.
Her main objective was Revenge, and that made him pity her. She had been given an opportunity to let go of all the hate but all she wanted was revenge- and in the future, she had taught the same to Morgana.

Even when Morgana had captured Camelot the first time, the only thing that she had done was kill innocents- people with and without magic.
If she had really wanted to give the people with magic a place to live then her first step should have been to reverse the law against magic, not deploy men to hunt for Arthur.

He shakes himself away from these thoughts and focuses on the present. On this particular quest. The triskelion had been both- a key and a trap last time- that means that they will need to be careful this time whilst retrieving the egg. He had a way to prevent the tomb from falling over their heads, basic science should do it, he just hoped that it would work.

Merlin had started his morning with training. He sparred with Gwaine whilst defending himself against Alator and had a class to teach at the school in an hour.
They had planned to leave for the egg after the class got over and once they were done with lunch.

Merlin had previously mentioned repeatedly that he was going to hatch the eggs as soon as they got back from the quest and his mother had already started planning for the Hatching ceremony.
On one such occasion Kilgharrah had asked him a question, ‘Why do you keep saying ‘eggs’ instead of ‘egg’ whilst you talk of hatching, young warlock.’

Merlin had just given the old lizard his signature cheeky grin and left without answering. Kilgharrah was going to get the shock of his life, Merlin muses and chuckles.
Both by the fact, that there were multiple eggs and…..that Merlin was elder to Kilgharrah by at least five centuries.

The classes that he was in charge of included- basic mathematics, charms and transfiguration. He sometimes also took charge of Magical and Physical combat, but during those lessons, a crowd would usually gather around the training field to watch Merlin spar with the knights and that sometimes still, made him uncomfortable.
So, he usually just stuck to his normal training and teaching in the school.

Merlin still had those days when he stumbled on thin air and had two left feet, but those days were very few and in between- but whenever they did come, it was worth seeing Hunith’s face.

It was like she had been given a gift when she got to see some of the younger Merlin’s habits come to the forefront. He knew that his mother was having a bit of a hard time getting used to the new Merlin, they sometimes had to flounder for topics to speak on but usually, his mother would just spend their time together noting the new habits he had.

How he was now more graceful than a dancer, more confident than a born leader and more dangerous than a fleet of dragons.
But he knew that she accepted, the new him. Whether he was the clumsy Merlin or King Merlin, he was always her son, First.
Everything else came later.

He also tried to visit the town, the druid grove, the Cathas and even the stables as frequently as he could but he was getting busier day by day, which hindered his plans of visiting regularly. They all knew though, that he was there for them is they needed him. They came to Merlin with their problems and he tried to solve them to the best of his abilities.

Teaching at the school was the best part of his duties. The children there were like an excited bunch of puppies and he loved each one of them dearly.
After teaching the class on basic enchantment, Merlin made his way back to the castle for lunch. Usually he had his food on the go but today his mother had asked specifically for him to eat with her and Balinor.
A step towards family bonding, apparently. He had laughed at it but promised that he would be there.

Lunch wasn’t as tense as it had been the last time but his parents couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Personally, he couldn’t decide what he preferred more.
A tense lunch? Or a lunch where he wanted to throw up more than he wanted to eat?
Thankfully though, it was over quickly, and soon both Merlin and Balinor were ready to depart.

They both rode a Pegasus, each. Merlin on Gemini as always and Balinor on Blackjack. Both of the Pegasus looked really good together because Gemini had the purest of white coats and Blackjack was, well…. Black.
They flew in the direction of the tomb of Ashkanar and landed right in front of it a few hours later. Merlin led the way from there and stood in front of the entrance.

He took out the Triskelion from his pocket and studied it for a bit before using it as a key on the door. He was ready with a shield for the poison gas when it came after which they together made their way through the tomb.

Last time Merlin had been in a hurry, but today they had all the time in the world. Merlin didn’t go straight for the egg this time instead, he looked around a bit. He had known that tomb had multiple chambers, although for what reason- he was going to figure that out today.

A brief look around had him understanding that each room was devoted to a dragon. It had a single scale from their hide on display and their characteristic mentioned below it. There were at least 15 rooms, which means that there had been at least 15 dragons catalogued in this tomb.

So much history! And it had all gone and turned into rubble when the tomb of Ashkanar collapsed the last time. There was so much information on the history of Dragons and Dragonlords that he was sure even Kilgharrah would be hard-pressed to know some of these facts.
Merlin had never been gladder for the time-travel spell. This was an opportunity to learn something new, and that was something rare for Merlin nowadays. To find something new.

The main room contained a thick black tome, which when Merlin looked through- told the ways how Dragonlords and their Dragons formed a stronger bond by doing certain activities. He had very minimal knowledge about his own legacy, coming from a long line of Dragonlords and Balinor had taught him all he knew but the facts mentioned inside the book were completely new.
Uther had burned all books on Dragons and Dragonlords during the start of the Purge- this book/tome could very well be the only remaining book on Dragonlords.

He stopped himself from nerd-ing out completely and picked up the tome before putting it in his satchel, this was going to prove very useful in the future- he just knew it.

Each room was so beautifully carved that he felt guilty for letting it all go to waste the last time. He was going to prevent the tomb from befalling the same fate it had the last time.

He had remembered to bring the weight stone with him, this stone weighed exactly the same amount as a dragon egg. If replaced immediately, the tomb should hold, although, he wasn’t completely sure.
His father who - now that Merlin noticed - had all his attention focused on the egg like Merlin had in the past.
In his first lifetime, he had been guilty of paying no attention to anything but the egg. He moved towards his father.
It was time.

“Ready?” Merlin asked when he reached his father. Balinor nodded. They had already planned this part. His father was going to pick up the egg and the moment he picked it up, Merlin was going to stop time.
This way, Merlin will have enough time to replace the egg with the weight stone.
The tomb, hopefully, won’t collapse and all this history would live on.

Merlin counted down, “One, two, three!”
It went exactly the way Merlin had planned it. Thankfully.
When he restarted the time, Balinor was holding the egg.
His father hurriedly handed the white egg to Merlin, hands shaking and too scared to drop it. Merlin gladly took it from him, amazed that he could feel Aithusa awaking at his touch inside the egg.

Together they made their way out of the tomb, both of them were relieved. Only to come in face-to-face with Julius Borden.
It all happened really fast after that. Julius had been standing ready to ambush them as soon as they came out.

He shot Balinor in the leg with a crossbow and threw a knife at Merlin. His father fell and Merlin tried to dodge the knife but before he could even breathe- the knife had already hit him in the chest. Right in the heart. Merlin gasped and time slowed down, he could feel the knife moving deeper in his heart, his pulse slowing.
From the corner of his eyes, he even spotted Julius Borden smirking and starting to move towards Merlin.

He could hear the echo of Balinor’s shout- his name being dragged by the slow movement of the time- but his sole focus was on the egg which was going to slip through Merlin’s shocked fingers any second.

So, he did the only thing he could to save the egg.
He called to her. Called to the innocent life that had been through so much in her previous that even the possibility of her death was unfair because that’s what happened when people dropped eggs. No matter how long-lived a dragon-egg was, they were very fragile.

With the last of his breath, he shouted.
“Ai-thu-sa!”
The egg fell in slow motion.
And a moment later so did Merlin.

*

Merlin woke up in a pool of his own blood, still disoriented. God-dammit! It hurt like a bitch every-fucking-time. You would think that after dying at least once every century- more if people decided to have wars- that Merlin would have gotten used to dying by now. But nooo! Every-fucking-time!

He was only starting to get his senses back. His hands and legs felt fine, but his chest was on fire, also…. what was that on his stomach. It felt like someone’s head. Merlin wanted to shout at whoever it was to stop jumping. Which reminds him,

Balinor! The last thing he remembers is being hit in the chest with a knife and his father shouting his name.
He can also hear weeping, it was coming from somewhere on his right. That confuses him. If Balinor is not anywhere near him, then what the hell is weighing Merlin down?
The weight on his stomach just keeps on getting heavier, it was starting to hinder his breathing efforts now.

Merlin opens his eyes fully and turns his head towards the right ignoring the weight, in search of his father.

“Fah-,” Merlin’s voice comes out whispery, barely there. He swallows and tries again.
“Father.” His voice is still weak and raspy, but Balinor hears him. His father quickly drags himself towards Merlin, his eyes disbelieving. Blood flowing freely from his crossbow wound on his thighs.

“Merlin!” His father’s voice betrays his incredulous-ness, face so pale that he looked like he had seen a ghost. He takes Merlin’s hand and squeezes, and checks the pulse there, then just to confirm, he puts his hand below Merlin’s neck and checks for a pulse, again.
Only when he feels the strong movement of life beneath his fingers does Balinor remove his hand.
A moment later his father says,

“You died.” Merlin’s father says, eyes wide and voice low. “I saw you die.” He is still looking at Merlin as though he can’t quite believe that he is speaking to him.
“How…?” He asks, his head and hands shaking from repressed emotions, tears still flowing freely. Merlin can feel himself getting stronger now, so he decides to console his father. The man looks like his world just slipped from beneath his feet.
He tries to think of the best way to tell Balinor the truth but every way he thinks of sounds worse than the other. So, Merlin decides to use the direct approach. He has learned something over the years.
The quickest way to stop tears- shock.

“I am Emrys, father." He pauses to breathe deeply before explaining further, "I do die, but not for long.” Merlin replies and waits for his father to say something but…. all he can see is a look of relief on his father’s face. He had expected more disbelief but this reaction of relief shocks him.

“I’d thought you were dead, Merlin. For a while, I had really thought-,” Balinor needs to stop to swallow a sob, before continuing, “To watch their own child die, Merlin, is something I won’t even wish on….Uther.” Merlin smiles, he knows his father’s hatred for Uther is unmatched, so for Balinor to say this means a lot to Merlin- who never got the chance to experience having a family. To have a father. He had Gaius but it just wasn't the same, somehow.

To reassure Balinor he says, “I am fine, father.” Even though he smiles his chest does hurt like a truck trying to level him to the ground. Which reminds him,
“Tell me, what became of the egg?” Merlin asks anxiously, surely Julius Borden didn’t kidnap Aithusa…. Or worse.

Merlin was starting to panic; he had tried to cushion the fall of the egg but his magic had been a bit busy stopping time…. his magic had never failed before but eggs were really fragile, and if it cracked before Aithusa emerged then it could have unseen effects on her, it could even kill her.

Merlin is brought out of his dark musings when Balinor’s smile lights up his face like a Christmas tree.
His father points towards Merlin’s stomach and he feels something move on it. He jerks his head up from the neck and comes face-to-face with a newborn Aithusa.
She is beautiful and as far as Merlin can see, she seems perfectly fine. His magic must have given her enough time to hatch before the egg touched the ground. He has never felt gladder to have instinctual magic.

She looked so adorable right now, looking at Merlin with her head cocked and her deep blue eyes boring into his own. She looked like she was calculating something and a minute later seemed to come to a conclusion after which Merlin felt her carefully moving from his stomach and onto his arm, keeping away from his chest, and wobbling onto his shoulder. He knew then that his shoulder was going to be her perch for a few years until she outgrew him. He smiled and raised a hand to stroke the fin-like skin on her back.

Balinor later tells Merlin about what happened with Julius Borden after Merlin was stabbed. Apparently, Gemini had seen Julius Borden stab Merlin and had taken it upon herself to stomp Julius to death before he could move to steal Aithusa.
Merlin turned to look at the Pegasus and found that she looked immensely proud of herself.

Merlin laughed after cringing at the gruesome death. Merlin shouldn’t feel sorry for him.
He had killed him, or with an intent to kill.
Still, he digs up a grave for him and lays him to rest. And then, he focuses on how this came to be.

He knew that he had been betrayed… someone from the kingdom must have told Julius Borden the direction and tipped them that Merlin and Balinor had left to retrieve the egg. If that didn’t prove Merlin, the third castle Pegasus standing with Blackjack proved that someone had betrayed their King. Committed treason.
The Ambrosians knew of Merlin’s quest because his mother had announced the Hatching ceremony and invited the entire Kingdom to attend. She hadn’t known that someone was plotting against them.

The trader who had given Merlin the key had looked quite dodgy but there was no way that he could betray the Kingdom. All the traders had been made to take an oath on their magic as soon they entered Ambrosia, by Grettir himself and every guest in the Kingdom was escorted with an elf at all times- the border even removed the memory of Merlin’s face and the directions of the Kingdom from every visitor. They had been very careful with security, there was no way that one of the elves had betrayed him or Grettir- who though bantered with Merlin, would also lay down his life in an instant for him.

So, it couldn’t be the trader. It was- it had to be a citizen of Ambrosia. And for some reason, that conclusion made Merlin extremely sad. This was to be a place of love and no hatred.
He had an idea who it could be. There was only one person who hated him so much in the whole Kingdom that could do this. Only one person who had been keeping tabs on Merlin, thinking that he wouldn’t notice.
She was even present when the trader had sold Merlin the 2nd part of the Triskelion.

Manon.

And all Merlin could think of was Rigga’s words. And he kept thinking it over and over in his head,

“Beware of the blonde witches.”
Had the warning always been in plural?

He had always thought that the one to attack him will be Morgause.
He had hoped that seeing her niece happy would make Manon soften a bit towards him. Forget whatever made her hate him.
He could have forgiven her if only he had been hurt, but he turned to look at Balinor and saw his father bleeding, he felt Aithusa’s thankful presence on his shoulder and gritted his teeth his anger.

Manon had put his family in danger. He didn’t take well to that. She could hate him as much as her heart pleased- it was fine with him. But to harm the people he loved, that was not something Merlin forgave easily.

Merlin jolted back from his thoughts when Gemini neighed loudly to catch his attention and saw his father already seated on Blackjack- looking like he had already tried to call merlin’s attention a few times before Gemini called.

He nodded once and mounted Gemini- From there the party of two men with a baby dragon and two feisty Pegasus, made their way back to Ambrosia.

His mother- by some mutual agreement between Balinor and Merlin- was not told about the recent attack on Merlin. She did fuss over Balinor’s leg injury though, even after Alice declared Balinor fit enough to walk.
Merlin’s chest was still giving him some discomfort but it was nothing that he couldn’t handle.

Still, when Alice asked him to stay back- after his mother and father had left the physician’s chambers- he had thought that she wanted to talk about something related to the Kingdom so, he asked Balinor to take Aithusa to Kilgharrah and waited until his parents were completely out of the room before turning to Alice.

He wasn’t surprised though when she demanded that he lift his clean shirt off so that she could dress the wound on his chest.
Doctors somehow always knew. And she really was an amazing healer. A minute later his chest felt like nothing had happened except for a slight scar.
He thanked her and left the chambers that looked so like Gaius’s that sometimes he made the mistake of moving towards the back- thinking his room was there.

After that, he made his way towards the grove to meet the one person who had given themselves away by looking shell-shocked that he was back. Manon.

When he reached her hut, he saw Kara, Manon and Tribal- a young man who had been training with his father to be a wyvern rider. Kara ran to hug him and after returning the embrace, he asked the boy to take Kara towards the courtyard where the Hatching ceremony was going to take place in a few minutes.

He waited until they were out of earshot before slamming the hut door shut with his magic and locking it while sound-proofing it as well.

He then turned towards Manon who had jumped to her feet as soon as the door had moved. He cornered her to a wall and brought his face mere inches away from hers, arms at either side. His body crouched over hers in a way that many people would assume to be intimate but only Merlin and Manon knew the feeling of being so close to the dangerous magic oozing from Merlin’s every pore. The whole room was filled with crackling static.

“Today you planned to harm me.” Voice low and calm, he continued, “That’s fine. To hate me for something I have done, or even, will do- is fine. But you tried to hurt my family today. The family I have only managed to get after waiting for so. Many. years.” Merlin stopped, stressing on the last three words, his longing for a family and his fear of losing them taking over his every sense. His eyes turned golden, responding to the fear he felt at the thought of losing his mother, he didn’t stop there,

“No one! And I mean NO ONE will take them away from me!” Merlin’s voice was still low, but his tone had never been more dangerous.
Manon was starting to whimper, her bravado falling away. "If you harm even hair or a scale on any one of them, ever again, I will incinerate you."

Merlin increased the distance between them after that, giving her some space and him too. His magic was going to lash out if he didn’t control his emotions.
He left after that without a backward glance, so, he didn’t see Manon dragged herself on the wall and onto the ground, looking every bit helpless on the outside as she felt on the inside.

Merlin had warned Manon this time, next time…. Well, she better hope that there wasn’t a next time. He had already asked Grettir to keep an eye on her movements and report to him if he sees anything out of the norm.

He takes a deep breath to calm himself and makes his way towards the courtyard.
He had a few dragons to hatch.

Chapter Text

Camelot

Arthur had woken up very groggy and tired this morning- the result of sleeping so late last night and even dreaming about the sorcerer he had seen.
Only a morning since the stranger had breached his chambers and Arthur already had a bruised ego and body.

Consequently, he had been a big ball of frustration all day, grunting and moaning after every five minutes of training-he even cursed at Leon, when the knight landed yet another blow on Arthur’s person and his pride during a spar.

He cursed at the sorcerer, this time - he was the one who deserved it, not his most loyal knight.
The sorcerer from last night had been on his mind repeatedly since he saw him. The questions won’t leave him alone, like, what had he been doing in Arthur’s room? Was Arthur cursed and that is why he couldn’t get the thoughts of the intruder out of his mind?
Who was he, if he could ride dragons and do magic without uttering a single word or gesture… then was he even human? His presence hadn’t felt human.

So much power couldn't be in one ordinary man.

Arthur stops the training, finally giving up on actually getting anything done with a bleeding arm, a wounded pride and a distracted mind.
Leon catches up to him, he looks out of breath but happy- Arthur rolls his eyes- Leon did get his first hit in 3 years. He turns his head away and sees Morgana's pretty maid looking at him, he is about to smile at her when he hears Leon say,

“You should go see Gaius, sire.” Arthur turns to look at Leon and sees him looking worriedly at Arthur’s arm, which now he realizes is bleeding more than he previously thought.
His whole tunic arm is soaked and his fingers are dripping with a few drops.

Where is his mind! He hadn't even realized that he had been painting the ground red with his blood.
“Yes, Leon. That is where I was headed,” Arthur speedily changes direction but before he leaves, he casts one last look at the maid, Guinevere - who blushes, still staring at him, he notes smugly- using the opportunity to also congratulate Leon on having a good day at training.
Not many knights managed to get a hit on Arthur's person since he turned 18 last year, today being the exception.

He pauses when Leon remarks, “You have been very distracted today, my lord. I have never seen you so….” Leon makes some kind of action with his hands that is supposed to convey ‘lost’.

“Yes, I-um-I didn’t sleep well last night.” He doesn’t wait for Leon to ask any more questions or make any more remarks.
He rushes towards Gaius’s chambers, glad that he got hit now because he could use this situation as the perfect opportunity to ask Gaius some much-needed questions.

“Gaius.” He calls out when he reaches the physician’s chambers and sees the old man hunched over some potion or other before heading over to the worktable.
“Sire! You are hurt!” Gaius exclaims as soon as he sees the Prince and rushes to hold up his arm and put pressure against it.

Arthur had known Gaius, forever. The man had always been there for him, without fail. In fact, they used to be so close that he also remembers calling Gaius ‘Dada’ when he was very young.
He doesn’t know why or when he stopped calling the old man that but was sure his father had something to do with it.

Uther barely used to see him when he was young, too busy running the Kingdom and grieving for his mother. Arthur also thought that it had something to do with how similar Arthur and his mother looked. In those times it had been Gaius that had given him the love of a father and a grandfather.
He shakes his head to get out of these thoughts and smiles at the old man.

Shrugging at Gaius’s ‘questioning eyebrows’ and conveying the message of ‘It just happened’ to the physician.
For Arthur and everyone in Camelot, the eyebrows worked as an alternative form of speech for the old man – they were ridiculously expressive. They aslo were the only thing that could still make Arthur feel like a child sometimes.
He sat on the patient’s chair and Gaius helped him removes his tunic and started cleaning the wound with some water.
Arthur knew this was as perfect a time as any to start asking questions.

“Gaius, you have been in this kingdom for a very long time, right?” He had to get some answers today and Gaius was the only one privy to the biggest secrets that the Kingdom had. He was a sly old man and kept many secrets for his father..... and others.

“Yes sire, I came here as a young man…. Your father saw the talent and hired me as the apprentice to the court physician, then. Those were…. the good days.” Gaius ends with a sigh; his tone had tuned questioning at the end- as if wondering why Arthur was asking questions to which he already knew the answers to.

According to the prince, old people love to reminisce. Arthur just has to be subtle enough with his questions that Gaius shan't realize that he was actually trying to get some answers out for some not so obvious questions.

“So… Gaius,” the physician is busy sowing his arm back together so just replies with an ‘hmm’
“What do you know about the Dragon underneath the castle?” Arthus finishes asking the question in a rush. Yupp, subtle enough. Not.

The next stitch was more painful than the ones before it, he winces “I know nothing, sire.” Replies the physician calmly. Arthur knows himself, knows that he is almost as subtle as the dragon itself at asking questions. He just closes his eyes and does what he can… he pleads.
“Please Gaius, this is important.” He also uses his most persuasive voice.

The old man looks at him for the first time since he had started stitching Arthur up.
Gaius's look is at first chastising but when his eyes catch Arthur's and see that he is very serious, they turn considering. The old man stared at him for so long that he seemed to be read into Arthur's soul before a tired a sign passed his lips.
Gaius looked like he was having a debate inside that clever head of his, taking a deep breath to stall - as if still deciding where to start from and what to tell him.

“I will tell you but whatever is spoken in this room does not reach your father or I will never share anything with you ever again.” The eyebrows are raised again, this time prompting a nod from Arthur. He was finally getting somewhere.

Not everything reaches his father anyway.
There had been many times that Arthur had broken the rules. Some rules were something his Father would definitely not approve of breaking, in fact, he might throw a hissy fit.
Like teaching Morgana sword fighting or going to the tavern with the elder knights. But these rules his father would forgive him for but there was one more thing he did that went against his father's very strict rule. Tumbling.

Tumbling with girls or widowed ladies of the court. His father had made it very clear that he did not want Arthur having relations with any woman before he got married but he was the prince and getting girls was a perk that came with this position and his inherited looks- he knew this was not ideal but he was still a growing man and had some... needs. And he always made sure to pull out before he came and also to satisfy his partner.
He had been suggested that tumbling with men was a more appropriate option- like many of his knights- because that lessened the risks of a bastard child but Arthur had never been attracted to one before. Ever.

He turns to Gaius and nods his assent once more, more decisively.

Gaius nods once too and then says, “Almost 20 years ago your father, the king, killed all the dragons.” He pauses there, before saying, “All but one. The great dragon, who was captured by him and kept prisoner beneath Camelot…. Both as a warning against magic and a-,”

“A trophy” Arthur cuts Gaius off by finishing the sentence.

Gaius looks at him once and then lowers his eyes, he doesn’t need to say anything to confirm that Arthur is right. He just continues with, “The Dragon's hatred for Uther, matches Uther’s hatred for magic. Your father killed his family and children in front of his eyes before chaining a creature of skies to rot underground. God save Camelot if he ever manages to get out... He alone is powerful enough to roast Camelot and eat it too.” Gaius finishes grimly.

It feels like multiple stones dropped in Arthur's stomach at the same time and lodged themselves deep in his body because he suddenly feels heavy dread settle over his countenance. If such a creature was to break free- which it had- then it would not bode well for Camelot.

He looks at Gaius, waiting for him to continue but the old man raises his hands to his front and says, "That is all I know, sire.".
Arthur knows that this is definitely not all the physician knows but lets it go, this was the maximum he was going to get out of the old man regarding the dragon.

Arthur purses his lips and nods to himself. This had been a stupid mistake by his father, to imprison a Dragon underneath Camelot was a very bad move- his father's need for show-off might just become their end.
He had always known that his father was blind when it came to magic, many nurses that had dared of telling Arthur any stories that contained even the mention of magic had been burned at the pyre. He had been made to watch and sobbed his heart out each time. He still had nightmares about that.

After the first 3 had been burned, Arthur stopped talking to any that came after them. They might think him spoiled but he was not ready to lose another citizen that he knew was innocent. He had become spoilt for both their protection and his.

Magic had intrigued him since he was young but he felt guilty every time he thought of magic in a different light to what his father preached. It had killed his mother. It had broken his father.
But how many mothers had Uther burned, how many children drowned… he knew that at least one of his nurses had a family- with a loving husband and 3 kids. Those kids were the only friend he had when he was young but they were never seen again after their mother was burned at the stake.

He shook his head again. He just had to remind himself that magic was dangerous, a power from the devil himself, something… evil.
Just like his father said. And then out of nowhere the sorcerer from last night pops into his head.
Arthur grits his teeth and convinces himself that magic is pure evil, almost.
He asks Gaius the next question he has.

“Have you come across a Sorcerer that could perform acts of magic without the aid of…. spells or…. gestures?” Arthur wriggles his fingers in an attempt of mimicking magic.
Gaius frowns, hand on his forehead and eyebrows jumping once again to the forehead at the question.

“I think who you are speaking of sounds like.... Warlocks, sire." Now Arthur's eyebrows are in his hair. He has no clue what that term means and is glad when Gaius continues "These are the people born with magic. They are born with their power; thus, they don’t need spells for most things. Or in some cases, gestures as well. Depends on how powerful the warlock is or how early did the magic manifested in them. Some Sorcerers can also do some spells without incantation when they have had a lot of practice.”
Arthur nods, thinking. He had already known that the sorcerer in his room was very powerful now, he just had a name for him- Warlock.

If this warlock had freed the great dragon then it definitely didn’t bode well for Camelot. Although, the way Gaius had explained things then this warlock and Dragon together would have been more than enough to level Camelot. The fact that they didn’t, should speak for something. Right?

While Arthur is lost in these thoughts, he doesn’t see Gaius studying him very carefully. The next question brings Arthur out of his thoughts,
“Sire, I have told you what you wanted to know. Now, if you don’t mind me asking… why these questions?”

Arthur didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to acknowledge that something had happened- something that he should have reported to his father as soon as he saw it but… didn’t. That for once he wasn’t the prince his father wanted…. Wait, cancel that- He was never going to be the prince his father wanted but this was going against everything his King preached.

But Arthur also knew if he was to ever make Gaius his informer or confidante then it had to be a mutual trust relationship. He couldn’t just ask for information from the old man without ever giving anything in return.

He looks at the old physician, the one who had taught Arthur many things in his younger years. He knew that the old man had magic himself but refrained from using it because of the law. Surely if Gaius was the man he knew him to be then magic couldn’t be all bad. The sorcerer that had been in his room, didn’t have to be all bad, right? If a warlock was a child born with magic then, How could someone be born evil?

He would tell Gaius what he could- no more, no less.
He couldn’t share the memory of the sorcerer in his room- that was his memory. He didn’t know why he guarded the memory so protectively but he did. Even from himself. Only a few times over the course of the day had he allowed himself to think of the tender moment when the sorcerer-warlock- had dragged his covers to his shoulders when he had shivered from the draft.
He had been awake then- awake enough to remember the ring, awake enough to remember the long, elegant fingers.

So, he tells Gaius this, “I don’t think that the Great Dragon is beneath Camelot anymore, Gaius.”
The old man who had looked away for a while whips his head towards Arthur, a gasp answering him, the old man suddenly seemed to lose his will to stand and sat down heavily on the workbench, all the while looking at Arthur for an explanation.

So, he continues, “Last night, I... heard something and woke up to check. I looked out from the window and a humungous shape was flying away in the air. It rounded over Camelot once before flying away and when it rounded… It was the dragon, Gaius. I am sure of it.” Arthur was looking at Gaius intensely and saw that the physician’s mind was already working a mile a minute. The wheels churning.

Gaius only knew of two people that were capable of such a feat. One of them wouldn't dare to return to Camelot after he was almost executed the last time and the other....

He was not stupid.
Gaius, like many other magical beings, had heard the call of Emrys, felt his presence in his mind. Not once but twice.
Once when Emrys had been born- a shockwave had passed through every magical being, every practitioner of the old religion- many wouldn’t have understood what the shockwave meant but they must have felt the feeling of joy and hope resound through the bodies. Gaius had known exactly what it meant.

A feeling of pure magic, felt by him only a few times. Once, when he was in the presence of the white goddess and the second time was when he was standing very close to the great dragon breathing fire.
And the last time, he had felt it when Emrys had come into this world. 18 years ago.
But, what he had felt recently was completely different.

This feeling had been more intense, more magical… just more than anything he had ever felt. The power he had felt invading his mind when Emrys had made a call to his Kingdom was…. earth shattering.
More powerful than even a fleet of dragons. Emrys’s power had reminded him of good days. A time where magic was ichor of life, the beat of Camelot’s heart.
The feel of Emrys in his mind this time, was not of joy, the feeling he had felt recently was something much more dangerous- like the feeling of Victory or survival. Good but Dangerous.

No other person could break through those chains, no other.

It was Emrys.

“Who is Emrys?” Gaius was brought out of thoughts with the sudden question. He had completely forgotten about the present Prince. He must have said the last thought out loud.
“Who. is. Emrys, Gaius?” The prince asked him once more, looking at him intently.
He sighed, the prince was as inquisitive and curious as ever. It had been a problem of his since he was but an infant, Gaius also knew that the prince won’t let this matter go until he replied. so, he resigns himself and answers.

“He is a legend, sire.” Arthur raises his eyebrows at this, Gaius sees this and continues, “Emrys is a mythical figure, I am not… not sure if he is even real, but if he is, then he is only one” Gaius pauses, amending, “One of the very few who could free the great dragon and prevent the attack the Dragon was surely planning on Camelot.”

Arthur thinks of his warlock. A man who had held so much power in his body that it oozed from him without prompting. A man whose presence alone had filled his chambers with static. He remembers the brief touch on his shoulders when the warlock's fingers had barely skimmed his bare shoulder, he had almost jumped at the electric touch but had forced himself to stay still.

Emrys was real, he was sure of it.

“Sire, what we spoke of today… should not reach your father. It’s imperative that it does not reach your father.” Arthur lifts up his eyes and looks at the physician point blank, nodding once Arthur turned to leave.

As he said, not everything reached his father anyway.

*

Geoffrey of Monmouth was the slowest man ever, in Arthur’s opinion.
Arthur had entered the library in hopes of finding a particular book, but instead here was Geoffrey that wouldn’t stop talking about some random ‘theorem’ or some other stupid bullockery that Arthur was just not interested in.
Right now, he just wanted one thing and couldn't understand that why did he- the prince- had to wait for so long to get a book from his own castle library.

“Now sire you see, this man was very good at politics. Aristotle-,”

“Geoffrey! Just the bird book please!” Arthur cuts off the old librarian by demanding the book through gritted teeth for the umpteenth time and finally after a few more minutes- that felt like months to Arthur, he gets what he asked for.

Arthur returns to his chambers and locks the door before taking a seat at his table and looking through the thick tome.
What he is looking for- It would definitely be classified under ‘small’.

Arthur looks. Diligent.
.
Keeps looking. Determined.
.
Still looking. But a little bit less determined after an hour passed, he never knew there were so many types of birds.

Until he finally stops when he finds what he is looking for under the ‘falcons’ section.
There… right beneath the Du-Bois sigil of his mother is the exact bird he had seen shining through the sorcerer’s ring, engraved in gold.

A merlin.

Chapter Text

Kilgharrah had been both -ecstatic and angry- to know that there were three more dragon eggs.

Ecstatic because his race now had a big chance of survival and because he could feel ‘the sweet taste of revenge on his tongue’ his words, not Merlin’s. Anger because, ‘how dare the young warlock hide such a thing from me?!’ again, Kilgharrah’s words and not Merlin’s.

One day, Merlin promised…. One day, he was going to call that scaly lizard- young dragon. He had never thought that one day he would be proud of his old age.

They were in the balcony of the castle, looking over the castle courtyard where hundreds of people had gathered to watch the first hatching ceremony in centuries. Kilgharrah was perched on the roof with a clear view of the ceremony, and Aithusa was perched on Merlin’s right shoulder.

She had refused to get down from his shoulders since she had seen him enter the courtyard. Merlin could sense her need to be close to him- it was similar to what he felt- but more intense. She liked Balinor well enough but Merlin was her Dragonlord and didn’t like being left behind, that any kind of distance from Merlin was difficult for her.
Merlin had never felt so tender towards anyone or anything- maybe a sleeping Arthur, but then the prat woke up and Merlin hadn't felt tender anymore.

The three eggs had been placed on the pedestal in front of him.
When the crowd Merlin began to settle down and look towards Merlin, expecting, he started,
“As you all must have heard, I hatched Aithusa, The Light of the Sun, first, not even a few hours ago.” There were many cheers from the crowd, all welcoming Aithusa with open arms. She was the first dragon to be hatched in at least 20 years.

Aithusa chirped happily in reply and then the crowd went silent when Merlin raised his hand. He announced,
“Now, it is time to bring the other three dragons into the world. These dragons are the future of the Dragon breed and these eggs have been saved for this exact moment for centuries.” he sweeps his eyes across the courtyard and is glad to see Manon missing, "I am happy that you all could be a part of this historical moment." he finishes.

Merlin then looks to Kilgharrah and his father, both of them nod their assent to continue, then he promptly brings his hand over the First egg.

It is a luminous Black egg. He can feel the life inside already eager to be called out.
The eggs had all stayed dormant these past centuries when they were in Merlin’s basement. This was the first time Merlin had felt their presence inside the egg- he had started to fear that the eggs were dead. It was like the Dragonlings knew that it was time to be born- like a baby kicking at the walls of a Mother’s womb. How did they know that it was time to come out?
There were a few questions in this world that made Merlin gawk at the obvious presence of a superior being- call it a God, Goddess- anything.

So, this time, he was the mother. Calling this life into the world, he called out to the Dragon inside.

"Kalinda!” Merlin spoke out, loud and clear, "The Power of the Sun”. The egg cracks and slowly the head emerged, a pure black head with golden eyes and then came paws and the wings. The skin of this dragon was leathery, smooth enough to slip through someone's hands.
It was a female dragon, the colour as black as Merlin’s hair. Her eyes glowed an intelligent golden and she, like her sister climbed on Merlin’s shoulder, left one and sat.

He then brought his arm over to the next egg, which was a red so bright that it reminded him of Arthur’s cloak.

“Yddraig!” he commanded the life inside the egg to prosper. “The Bringer of Victory”. This dragon came out with a roar of its own- as if it had been waiting a long time for his birth. This dragon was a male and as predicted was a deep, almost angry red colour. Merlin couldn’t help but think that it would suit Arthur perfectly. He smiles at the dragon and offers it his right palm, the dragon jumps on it and stands on his hind legs. The crowd couldn't contain themselves- cheers don’t seem to stop and all three dragons seem to love the attention. Even Kilgharrah seems to turn into a cat- purring at the new dragonlings.
Merlin chuckles and then extends his arm over the last egg, The sea blue egg.

“Ryojin!” Merlin births the last dragon, “The Might of the Sea”. When the head came out of the eggshell, Merlin was shocked. The eyes of the dragon were so different, he had never seen something so beautiful. It was another male dragon. His coat a luminescent blue, barer than the others but still shined like the sea on a sunny afternoon. His eyes, when they met Merlin’s, were a calm so deep, that Merlin felt all his tensions fade away.
No really, for a second he was like- Blonde witches? What blonde witches?

He offered his left hand for Ryojin to jump on. He stood on Merlin’s palm like his brother, greeting the people of this Kingdom with his chest high. The Druids were weeping and the Catha banged their staffs on the courtyard floor- producing a voice like loud claps-resounding throughout the kingdom, all the children were laughing and hooting from the shoulders of their parents. still trying to get a better view of the Dragons.

Merlin took a deep breath and raised his arms above as if hugging the sky and then together- Kilgharrah, Aithusa, Kalinda, Yddraig and Ryojin roared as loud as they could into the skies. Fire sprouting from Kilgharrah’s.

Merlin threw up his head in the sky, eyes golden and luminescent shapes of different coloured dragons formed in the night sky. Kilgharrah the golden dragon in the middle, frozen in flight, the images of young white, black, red and blue dragons on the Elder dragon’s four opposite sides.

The people of Ambrosia matched their roars with their own and shot sparks of magic into the air.
Fireworks of multiple colours lit the night sky.
This is the way it should have been, Merlin thinks. This was the way it always had to be.

This was the start of Albion. An Albion with Magic.

*

Merlin and Balinor had started taking care of the hatchlings right after the Hatching Ceremony. Merlin had a year and a few months left to spend with his babies and he had promised that they were going to be together each and every day until his destiny demanded that he be away from them.

Merlin had asked Balinor if he wanted to hold them for a while but his father had just stood beside him, with his arms around Hunith and his proud gaze on Merlin, occasionally slipping to the dragonlings as well. His father had replied with ‘I am good right here, son,' holding Hunith to him tighter and looking at Merlin with fatherly adoration.

Merlin had blushed then because he had known that his father was proud of him, known that he was glad to have Merlin as a… as a son.
He had never seen Balinor look so broken than when his father had thought that Merlin was dead or ever seen someone so relieved to see him alive, either.
His love for Merlin had been instant, there from the first day he entered Ambrosia.

Balinor had accepted Merlin as his son long before Merlin had considered him to be his father. It was harder for him because for so long he had been without a father, his soul had grown used to that fact. But he accepted now, he not just called Balinor ‘Father’ but also loved him like one.

He looks down at the dragonlings and realises that he was now a father, himself. These dragons were probably going to be the only children he was ever going to have, thought Merlin.

They were too young to breathe fire yet and thus their food will have to be cooked. Hipsy, another house elf had been given specific instructions regarding the food for hatchlings. She was now in charge of anything that the Dragonlings ate.

The first offering of food had been made by Merlin, apparently, it helped the dragonlings bond better with their Dragonlords. He had read that in the book he had brought back from the tomb of Ashkanar. There were many other things mentioned like teaching the Dragons how to speak the common tongue, connecting their minds and training together- but all that comes later.

After they had all tired from dinner and some play, Merlin put the hatchlings to sleep in the nest he built himself under Kilgharrah’s instructions. Before leaving he stroked each Dragons head- even Kilgharrah (to which the old Dragon snorted but did lean into the touch for a second)- and then retired to his own bedroom.
He can’t remember the last time he had felt so happy, so full of wonder. These dragons will stay with Merlin, be his companions in the long life he will have to live again. They were just like him, magic and immortal. He won't go insane, won't try to end himself multiple times or go through years of insanity. The relief he felt was overwhelming.

Merlin takes out his guitar from his travel bag for the first time since he travelled back in time, sits at the foot of his humungous bed and plays. Plays what he feels, plays until his fingers ache.
He strums for a while thinking about what he wants to sing then starts a tune.

He was happy today, happier than he ever remembers being in a long, long time. Just like he had been in Camelot, a very long time ago.

Even some of the bad times in Camelot were good-like when he had drunk poison for Arthur and Arthur had done the same. The countless quests with and without the knights. Gwaine and Lancelot. He remembers all of them.
He remembered Gwaine’s different ways of lifting his mood after he had just been from the stocks or Lancelot’s selfless friendship. Their loyalty to both Merlin and Arthur.

“Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags
I’ve come to know that memories
were the best the things you ever had”

The time before Morgana went evil when she used to fight for justice and equality, like that day in Ealdor. When her heart was as beautiful as her body. When she was kind to Merlin when no one was, she was the only noble who was ready to help at the drop of a hat. Before Merlin poisoned her.
When there was no Morgause.

“Awoke to the fog where all around us
The bloom of summertime
We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods, so happy-hearted”

The time before he freed the dragon and killed the king, a time when he still considered telling Arthur all about himself. Coming clean about his magic and showing him by counting the different ways he had saved lives, that magic was a force for good. But after the dragon burnt Camelot down and the King died- Merlin gave up all hopes of ever changing Arthur’s mind.

“And the warmth rang true inside these bones
As the old pine fell, we sang
Just to bless the morning”

When Gwen was still Gwen and not your Majesty. When she was still Merlin’s friend and his no.1 confidante. Not the Gwen who was on the inside an insecure girl, worried about her place in the castle as the peasant queen and appearances that she frowned every time when Merlin called her by her name instead of her station.

When she had been a woman in love and not a woman in want of power. She had been a good queen, a just queen after Arthur died but when she blamed Merlin for her husband’s death after Percival dragged him back from the lake of Avalon- and though he knew that it was said in the heat of the moment, Merlin had still broken up inside but on the outside, he had just quietly accepted it. It was true.

Later she had apologized and made Merlin the Court Sorcerer, asking him for advice on every matter of state and repealing the law against magic with his help. He had respected her as his queen but Merlin never had the guts to call her 'Gwen' again. Even when she was dying and he knew that she needed the ‘friend’ Merlin and not Emrys beside her, he just... couldn’t manage.
He didn’t see her as a friend anymore, he hadn’t since Arthur died.
She was Queen Guinevere until the end. Not Gwen- never Gwen.

“I’ve come to know the friends around you
Are all you’ll always have”

When he was still the young lad that had stumbled his way into Camelot and mocked the prince of Camelot on his first day. When he didn’t know of his destiny. When his father didn’t die in his arms, when Aithusa didn’t turn away from him..... before he realized that Arthur was the one in his thoughts- every waking moment and every non-waking moment too. Before Freya, Will and everyone else died. Before the beautiful lake of Avalon became a crypt.

“Careless and young, free as the birds that fly
With weightless souls now
We stood”

He remembers that he had been very happy in Camelot but in the later years- especially since Mordred came to Camelot- it had always been overshadowed by looming dangers and the anxiety over Arthur’s safety to actually enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

For the first time in centuries, his happiness was much greater than his fear and anxiety over the future. He felt like the young Merlin today, free as a bird.

He just hoped it stayed that way.

He finally put his guitar aside and cracked his knuckles, then changed into his night clothes before moving onto the bed.

But just before he fell asleep he heard his chamber windows crack open and something peek inside the room. Merlin smiled as he knew immediately who it was. He stood up and walked over to the window and cracked it further- which made Kalinda rush in and smack her head on the sill of the window- Aithusa right behind her- who fell over Kalinda and Yddraig and Ryojin following close after.
Kalinda turned and looked at Merlin sheepishly. He laughed and a second later tilted his head to the side as a prompt and then...

Then, they all entered his room and one-by-one climbed on top of his bed- waiting for him to come to bed. He laughed again and made his way over and lied down.
He watched amusedly as his dragons made themselves comfortable on his person.
Kalinda settled herself on Merlin’s pillow, behind his head, paws in Merlin’s hair.
Aithusa had her head nestled on Merlin’s right shoulder and Ryojin was on his left side- similar to Aithusa.
Yddraig had his tail wrapped around Merlin’s bicep- his whole body stretching straight on Merlin’s upturned forearm, face resting close to Merlin's pulse.

Well, guess they didn’t like their nests then, Merlin thought. A second later all four of the dragons were asleep, leaving Merlin to his thoughts. They emanated such heat that Merlin thought that he was never going to need a cover ever again and made him glad that he had left the window propped open.

What did make him question was Ryojin.

Merlin turned his head left and noticed that out of all his dragons only Ryojin had a normal temperature, same as Merlin’s and not like the other hatchlings. Even his breath was cold. Merlin swallowed…. This... was strange.

Even the book on Dragons had not mentioned anything about cold-er dragons- he knew that Ryojin was different- He was the calmest of all dragons but his roar had been the loudest out of all the baby dragons.
As if hearing Merlin's thoughts Ryojin lifts up his tiny head from Merlin's shoulders and looks straight at Merlin- their eyes catch.
He smiles and nuzzles Ryojin with his nose, the dragon scoots closer to Merlin’s shoulder. Merlin decides then that he shall leave all anxieties for tomorrow, today was a happy day.

He smiles and falls asleep listening to the deep breathing of his Dragons

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Chapter Text

Ambrosia

Over the course of the next few months, a lot of things changed, but many things remained the same. The Dragons spent all their day with Merlin. They slept in his room and woke him up every day.
Merlin had come to accept quite early after their hatching - that it was probably worth it to wake up at dawn if it meant waking the way he woke up every day.

Usually, he woke up to four dragons sitting on his chest, just waiting for him to open his eyes. He was then soon after assaulted with tongues on his face and jumps on his chest - from the excitement of going out for their daily walks – as soon as they realized that he was awake.

He laughed and tried to ward off four very energetic dragons from licking every inch of his face for a long minute before eventually giving up- He at least needed to pretend that he didn’t like it at some level. Even though he loved it.
Also, the dragons had made it very clear that his pitiable attempts to not get licked were not going to work anyway.
They had learned teamwork quite early in life, according to Merlin.

But seriously, who wouldn’t want their mornings to start this way? Of course, as long as they washed their face afterwards.

Friggo and Hipsy had also formed some kind of a schedule which made it possible for Merlin to have his breakfast with his Dragons at dawn. While he ate his breakfast and got some work done by pouring over some reports, his Dragons would have their meals- that Hipsy provided them with- beside him.

He turns his head to look at them and sees Yddraig cooking his food with fire and helping Ryojin with his food too. The first few months the dragons had required cooked meals, but after 5 months they were now completely capable of breathing fire and roasting food themselves.

All except Ryojin.

It had come as no surprise to Merlin when Yddraig had been the first one to breathe fire, he had been so determined and had been tirelessly trying to breathe his first fire for months before he managed it. He had used it for everything but food the first month.

He remembers Friggo running around his chambers like a headless chicken trying to put the fire out.

Next had been Aithusa. She hadn’t been trying for that long, but he had come to know that she was very particular about how her meat was cooked.
One day, she had stopped eating and Merlin had been very worried about that but not too worried because sometimes animals chose not to eat- The next day though when Hipsy brought in food- Aithusa in anger (or Hunger) tried to cook her own meat by trying to blow fire on it. At first, there were only wisps of smoke and no fire, but gradually she improved and cooked her food exactly the way she liked it.

Kalinda had been the third one to breathe fire but unlike the other two dragons, her fire wasn’t the usual orange flame that we see- it was instead blue. Fire still, just a bit cooler, a bit gentler. Her fire showed that Kalinda wasn’t a warrior but a scholar.
Blue fire was known to meld and carve- creation took place with blue fire. Her character seeped into every part of her being. Her coat was also one of the most sensitive one’s unlike Aithusa, Yddraig and even Ryojin- Kalinda’s coat was leatherier.

Kalinda had breathed her first fire 2 months ago.
Ryojin was yet to do anything.
It wasn’t that Merlin needed him to breathe fire or something- god only knew that Yddraig breathed enough fire for all of them combined. But, this inability left Ryojin vulnerable and that… worried him.

He knew that Ryojin wasn’t like the other dragons, instead of emanating heat, Ryojin emanated only calmness and his temperature was closer to Merlin’s than to that of even Kalinda.
He focuses on his dragons again and sees Ryojin eating his food heartily that Yddraig cooked for him.

Over the few months, Merlin had come to realize a few things about the newborns. Aithusa was the eldest by hours but it was Kalinda that led them. The group of four Hatchlings would follow her anywhere like they had followed her into Merlin’s room the night they had been born. She was a natural leader, even Yddraig who was the most independent and rebellious dragon of all, followed her.

The relationship between Ryojin and Yddraig was very symbiotic, whenever Yddraig disliked someone or was in a strut for some reason, he would always calm down when Ryojin was close. He had also found that Yddraig was very protective of Ryojin. He was like the bodyguard, the cook, the friend and an angry mother-hen all at once. They were best friends in Merlin's opinion. Much like him and Will or him and Gwaine.
Same could be said for Kalinda and Aithusa, the pair got along splendidly. If Aithusa represented Justice then Kalinda represented Wisdom- and we all know that both these qualities go hand in hand with each other.

On their usual morning walks Merlin would take a round of the town, the druid grove and visit Kilgharrah. The older dragon had changed completely. He did not recognize this jovial animal in front of him. Kilgharrah mainly spent time on the roof, or flying or hunting or playing with the hatchlings. Rarely did he stay in the cave built for him.
All this time in the outdoors had brought out a more positive side of Kilgharrah than he had ever seen. He even suspected that the company of his father had to do something with the change as well, along with the presence of Kin.

Merlin had asked even Kilgharrah about Ryojin but the old dragon had come up with a blank, he did not know what was causing the delay with Ryojin- they were all worried. Even the book he had brought back with himself from the tome of Ashkanar didn’t help him in discovering what was wrong with Ryojin.

Merlin had concluded after mulling a lot over Ryojin’s lack of fire that it must have something to do with the dragon’s origin. The egg for the blue dragon had been found by Merlin in the deep depths of the Pacific Ocean, it had been nestled between two massive seashells- like a pearl. Maybe being from the water had taken away his capacity of ever breathing fire. Even his body was different from his siblings.

He had a growth of… what seemed like feathery-scales over his luminescent body. His tail looked more like a fin tail than that of a razor whip tail that the other dragons possessed.

His eyes though were still the most striking feature of the dragon, they were so beautiful and deep that they always managed to lure Merlin in. Always managed to calm him- they only had this effect on him and Yddraig- for everyone else they were just beautiful eyes. They were more like a faun’s than a dragon- big and almost almond shaped.

Ryojin must have felt that Merlin was thinking about him because he stopped playing- what Merlin called the ‘catch Kilgharrah’s tail’ game and hobbled over to his Dragonlord.
“Mer-lin.” He smiled at this. Unlike with the fire, Ryojin had been the first one to speak. Although he was still on single syllable words and Merlin’s name was the only name he could manage.

He was not ashamed to admit that he cried like a girl and hugged Ryojin to him when then dragon had first uttered Merlin’s name.

He lowers his arm for the dragon to climb on and has to remind himself to hold his arm stiff so that he doesn’t drop him by mistake.
In these 5 months, the dragons had also gotten a lot bigger than before, almost double to what they were born. In the first month, they could all easily fit on Merlin’s person, now it was even a struggle to keep even two still on his arms and shoulders (It was usually Kalinda on his shoulders and Ryojin on his arm. Aithusa and Yddraig preferred to walk).

Merlin missed those days when his dragons were still tiny and when he could enter a class with Kalinda lost in his locks of hair. Aithusa and Ryojin sitting on his shoulders and Yddraig usually loved to stay on his arms and back. The children always used to gush over them and his little devils loved the attention.
They were soon going to learn how to fly from Kilgharrah and had already started with the basics and were going to have a test flight, today.

Ryojin nuzzles under Merlin's chin and is about to say something when Grettir calls to Merlin.
“Emrys”
He frowns, he didn’t know he was expecting someone, why else will Grettir call out to him. Especially this early, it was around 7 am in Merlin’s internal clock. But that wasn’t all that was making him frown, the elf sounded tired, like sleepy, during mind speech.

He had never seen Grettir sleep.

He lowers his hand again for Ryojin to get down again, who makes a sound of protest but Merlin just strokes his head and smiles before leaving, he then sends his father a mind-message to come and take care of the dragons with Kilgharrah while also whistling for Gemini.

He had been learning from Friggo and Grettir how to vanish, but was having little success. Gemini is really fast but in some situations, he would really like to just be able to ….vanish.
He tells Gemini to wait at the border while he went to meet his… guest.

He turns to greet Grettir but the elf is nowhere in sight. Literally, all Merlin can see is shadows of trees where the elf was supposed to be standing and nothing else.
Nothing else until he feels something. A flash of magic aimed at his back which he deflects with a flick of his hand before turning.
He had been expecting her. To be honest, he was only surprised because she had taken so long to attack.
Morgause.
The blonde witch’s face is startled at the easy deflection for only a second before she smiles and says in a sickly sweet voice, “Hello. I wanted to see if what they say about you was true. It seems that in some of their lies, there was at least some truth.”

Merlin furrows his brows, if she really now knew that he was Emrys then why was she gathering her power? Was she that stupid?

“What do they say about me?” Merlin asked, confused. She wasn’t attacking him, yet. In fact, her stance was very relaxed even though Merlin could see her aura.
The aura that was growing every second- her magic that had been spread in the air- now wrapped like a blanket around her. Ready for use.

She smirks, knowing that she has captured his attention- grows bolder- now circling around him like a predator intimidating her prey- playing with it before she eats it.
Merlin has to hold in a laugh, thinking. The ‘so-called’ predator does not realise that it is the one that is the prey, yet.

Merlin smiles his goofy smile at that thought, she raises an eyebrow looking quizzical but continues, “They said that you were very powerful, courageous,” a pause where she takes a deep breath and clicks her tongue, she thinks that he doesn’t notice the magic trying to invade his mind, but he lets her. Showing her one useless imagery after the other. One fake memory after the other.

He is doing what he does best- pretending to be harmless. Stupid compared to a High priestess of the Old Religion. It had always worked in his favour.
She continues as if trying to distract him further, “ So... handsome.”

Merlin looks at her, forcing himself to blush. She was trying to distract him in order to view more of his memories and while Merlin was quite powerful- imagining fake memories was not in his repertoire, especially whilst trying to keep his eyes from turning gold.
Yet, he kept holding her at bay.
“These things are true, unlike some.” Merlin didn’t reply. Couldn’t reply, all he could allow himself to think of was Will. He was making more memories of himself and Will hanging out in Ealdor, fake knowledge of him finding out that he had magic at the age of 12 and how Will was the first person he showed his magic to. How he had been mocked for being a bastard- memories that were unimportant. All the while trying to edit his name out of the memories, sticking with the adjectives.

Morgause just takes his silence as curiosity and continues, “ Things like you are the Emrys. We both know that is a lie- Emrys is supposed to be old and wise, with more power than your body can even imagine of …. You are just someone who wants to be Emrys in fact - with your Kingdom it seems like you want to be the Once and Future King more than you want to be Emrys.”

“Do I?” Merlin asks, his tone is seriously questioning as if Morgause’s words come from the fountain of wisdom. Though the smirk he sported was mocking. Good thing then that she didn't see it.
“Yes.” She answers, sounding smug with the thought that he already thought of her opinion in high regard.
“I admire people who want power and I also think that you and I will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming future.” He knew why she said it. She expected to see him with her against Camelot, that they will both gain from Camelot’s fall- what he didn’t expect was a walk down memory lane with her words.

The way she said that sentence made Merlin think a true memory. It made him think of the day when he emptied the cup of life, killing the immortal army - when he almost killed her. When Morgana finally became insane.
Morgause had said some very similar words then. Only last time, the words had been more on the…. negative side and she had been standing over him with a sword to his throat.
This memory cost him, he realized.
It had jarred him from creating false memories, and the image of an older Morgause, flying through the air and falling to what was her closest experience to death- was on the forefront of his mind- completely open for anyone reading his mind, to see.

Morgause’s magic recoiled from Merlin head space as if burnt. Her horrified eyes on Merlin.
“What was that?” she whispered, her magic crackling at her fingertips, reacting to her shock.
“What was, what?” asked Merlin, looking at her straight in the eyes and shaking his head a little, still acting as if he had no idea what she was asking about.
It was highly believable; his acting skills had improved considerably since Arthur died. He could be the most powerful sorcerer in one second and in the other be a deer caught in headlights- it was up to him who he wanted to be seen as.
“Nothing,” whispered a still shaken Morgause, she was yet to collect herself from the scene she had witnessed, but when she did, she looked straight at Merlin and asked viciously- her true from coming to the front due to the fear she was still feeling- she had even increased the distance between her and Merlin.

A pitiable excuse he was for a memory faker but he knew when to stop asking questions. He was glad though that his eyes hadn’t turned gold- if they would have then she would have known that he really was Emrys and he preferred to be underestimated at the moment.

Merlin's eyes were different from the rest of the sorcerers, while their turned yellow, or red in case of dark magic- his were always, without fail a shimmering Golden, as if borrowed from the sun itself. The difference was recognized by very few but he was sure that a high priestess would have spotted it.

“We need to go against Camelot.” Declared Morgause, bringing him out of his musings. He looked at her and she continued, “I have Essetir’s army at my disposal, the most powerful magic around,” now this was a clear diss at Merlin, he just rolled his eyes and she continued to look at him disdainfully, “and you have considerable amount of power as well- and many great sorcerers at your disposal excluding the magical animals. Also, the magical warriors you stole from Essetir.”

She ended with a flourish as is she had already won this argument, Merlin just raised his eyebrows and sighed deeply.
“I don’t think so.” Merlin said looking at her regretfully, he knew how obsessed she was with her usual theme of ‘taking over Camelot’ but Merlin was not going to attack Camelot, even if someone cursed him to.
“What.... did you just say?” Morgause looked angry and disbelieving, so Merlin knew that she had heard him, although why she was pretending to be deaf was beyond him. He just pursed his lips and spoke slowly and loudly as if… well, as if speaking to a person hard of hearing.

“I. Said. That. I don’t think so. Morgause.” He finished, but Morgause was just getting angrier, he could feel it. Huh, was it something he said?

“How can you call yourself Emrys and not attack Camelot?” she asked, her anger and disbelief pouring from every word. Merlin decided to put up a question of his own.

“How can you call yourself a High Priestess yet not do anything constructive for the magical community?” He started moving closer to her, his questions seeming to pour out of him. Morgause was stepping back now, her fear of the vision still on the forefront of her mind- he knew because now he was the one invading her mind, her personal space without any permission. He wanted her to feel how it felt but unlike him, she did not have power enough to produce fake memories. Memories were not just images, they were images with feelings. You may be able to fake images- that was the work of a rookie- but you will never be able to fake feelings- it was why it had been so difficult for Merlin, especially without revealing himself, for her, it would be near impossible.

So he keeps asking questions to distract her,
“How do you call yourself a high priestess if you only care about your revenge, too busy to see the world around you, falling apart? Too petty to see anything beyond yourself and Camelot.”
Morgause looks rebellious, venom dripping from her eyes, her gaze would have been enough to kill Merlin before when he was just a servant, or at least made him cower.
“So self-absorbed that you use people like toys and lives as something inconsequential.”
In her memories, he sees Cenred, sees the army she spoke about…. But he already knew all about that. He wanted to find out how she knew that he had animals protecting the Kingdom, he wanted to find out how she knew anything about Ambrosia. He wanted to know where Grettir was.

And oh boy, did he find out.

All, he could think of, while gritting his teeth was that ‘he had warned her’. He retreats from her mind. He was not going to use his magic for such an act anymore, he was not going to fall as low as her.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him that Manon was up to something again, but it did. He had really hoped that last time had taught her something- like self-preservation. He had hoped that Manon’s love for Kara would have prevented her from doing anything outright again.

And she had, for 5 months there had been not even a peep from Manon but now he realizes that was mainly because Morgause and Manon had been communicating. Planning. The informer had been Manon all along.

He shakes himself, he was going to take care of Manon later, but first, he needed to handle this blonde witch. He turns to face her when she has gotten over her seething and is starting to speak,
“You will regret this... whoever you are." the witch spat, before adding, "You are either with me or you are my enemy and I can promise you that having me as an enemy is not in your favour.”
Merlin just replies distractedly with, “I’ll stick with my decision, thanks”, already looking for Grettir through his magical senses.

He senses the elf in the pond behind him and now is just waiting for Morgause to leave. Seriously, how long can a person threaten you for? In fact, she should be happy she was still standing and not dead, his automatic reaction to anyone entering his brain without his permission would have been serious magical lash into their own brains. That coupled with the history they have had, Morgause should be considering herself very lucky to even be breathing still. Not threatening him.

Then suddenly, Morgause’s eyes look as if distracted, looking over to the side- as if trying to hear something better, after which she focuses back on Merlin a second later.
“Fine then, goodbye. Our next meeting won’t be so docile.” she smirks then, confusing Merlin, 'I can promise you that.'
She leaves right after whispering this in his mind and he quickly makes his way to the lake and asks the Mermaids in Mermish to kindly give his elf back- usually by now Grettir should have been dead, if lack of air wouldn’t have done it then the Mermish people would have- they are not known for their hospitality, but in Ambrosia- no creature can harm the other, hence Grettir was passed to Merlin.

He was looking quite blue though and his pulse was almost gone, non-existent. Merlin hopped onto Gemini and rushed to the castle wing with the Physician’s chambers. He shouted for Alice, who came rushing over- first sweeping her eyes checking him for injuries, then rushing over to the elf who Merlin had deposited on the cot.

He tries to contact his father through mind-speak but there is no reply, he concludes that Balinor might be busy with the Riders Training he had planned for this afternoon. He paces for a few minutes, anxiously, then sits down on the chair beside the cot, knee bouncing up and down so quick that it could have been too fast for the naked eye to track.

Alice is the specimen of true concentration when she is with her patients but even she looks up from Grettir to see Merlin who had gotten back up from his chair and is again wearing the floor with his anxious paces.
Just to calm him down and also because it’s true she says, “He is going to be fine, Merlin. I promise.”

Merlin pauses his walking and looks over to Alice confusedly. Huh? he thinks mentally. He realizes only a second later that Alice is meaning that Grettir will be fine but for some reason, he was still worried, he had already known that Grettir would be fine, even before he brought him here…. but, Something else was eating at him though.
He replies Alice with a smile and says, “Of course he will, he is in your hands.” Before returning to his worried pacings and distracted gaze.

He contacts his father again and when he receives no reply for the second time, he starts getting irritated. No matter how busy a person was, sending a mind-message took less than a second and even less effort. Even Grettir had been able to call to him before fainting.
His heart rate is increasing by the second and he is having trouble breathing. In less than a few seconds, his breathing changes from slow and even to a bit fast until now when he is panting.

He sits down and registers Alice rushing towards him but all he can feel is a feeling of great dread. The kind of feeling he got whenever something was going to happen or already was happening but he couldn’t figure out WHAT!
All through the struggle of breathing he could hear Alice giving him instructions when he doesn’t listen, she speaks in his mind.
'Hush, Emrys. Breathe.' He swallows and tries to do as she tells him to.
'Just breathe with me. In. Out. Then in. and out again. Take deeper breaths, yes, keep going.' Merlin repeats the process at least 10 times before he calms down enough to even do something.

Something has happened or is happening…. He just doesn’t know what. Nothing has ever elicited such a reaction from him. He knows that it’s is not a spell or a curse because he magically cleansed his body of any residual magic with Morgause’s signature.
He stands, hurriedly thanks Alice and asks her to inform him as soon as Grettir wakes and is about to leave to go to Kilgharrah when suddenly he hears Grettir’s voice in his ears.
“Emrys...” He whips his head to the cot once more and rushes to the elf’s side. He holds his hand and lets him know that he is here, he lets some of his magic seep into the elf for some strength.
Grettir swallows and said something too low for Merlin to catch, he leans forward to listen properly- waiting for the elf to repeat.

Then he hears what the elf was trying to convey. A name.
“Balinor.”

Merlin’s eyes widen and he rushes to his feet, flying across the room and rushing to where his father should be.

When Balinor is nowhere to be found, even Hunith who had been with Friggo, going over the food reports had no clue where his father could be. Merlin was getting more worried with every passing moment- he hadn’t even received a reply when he had called Balinor to take care of the Dragons.
At least his dragons were safe, Kilgharrah was with them when he had left them.

He quickly contacts the Great Dragon, sure that he will be able to find his father.
“Kilgharrah, have you seen Balinor?” Merlin asks, his tone urgent.
“No, young warlock, not since you left and he came to pick up Ryojin for a test.” Kilgharrah sounds distant, wary and his answer rehearsed.

Merlin feels his blood run cold. He had called Balinor to look over the dragons, none of them were supposed to leave Kilgharrah. It was all his fault.

Especially Ryojin who can’t even breathe fire yet, he was completely defenceless without Merlin and his siblings there to protect him. Why would Balinor take Ryojin away right after he left?
And test! what test? Merlin had asked around for the reason that Ryojin had yet to breathe fire…. But there were no tests planned for any of his dragons.

Was he being betrayed by his own father? His breath whooshes out of him. This is what Arthur must have felt all those time he was betrayed.

He looks at Hunith who is wringing her hands anxiously and he knows immediately that Balinor is somehow responsible. He takes his mother’s hands in his and asks her what’s wrong.
She looks at him with fear filled eyes and starts explaining.

“It all started three days ago when you and your father had been out saving sorcerers from the pyres.” Tears are welling up in her eyes now, “I hugged you and then I went to hug your father but… he didn’t hug me back. I thought that I was being petty and that it was probably the sadness of losing a sorcerer or failing to save someone. But then he kept being distant, asking questions related to Kingdom and... ”
His mother holds in a sob and retracts her hands from Merlin because he realized that his magic was becoming angry and confused. Making his skin feel like static- it wouldn’t have been comfortable for her.

She starts pacing, much as her son had been a few moments ago. Then continues, “ and, I was going to speak to you about it during lunch today. Balinor has been acting very weirdly since both of you came back from saving some sorcerers. Even the Dragonlings were hissing at him once when he went too close to them- guess they were sensing something off about him. But then I asked Kilgharrah and though the old dragon frowned- he didn’t say anything to me. Just upped and left.” Balinor must have commanded Kilgharrah to maintain his silence and leave, there would be no other reason for the Great Dragon to not say anything to Merlin about it.

He really needed to speak to Kilgharrah. The Great Dragon was lying to him!

His mother is still speaking, her tone hysterical. But something sticks with Merlin when she says,
“Merlin, I can promise you that Balinor would never betray you, not intentionally. He hasn’t been in his right mind for a few days now. Something is seriously wrong.”
All Merlin could think about was that he hoped that his mother was right, he had no intention of thinking that Balinor had betrayed him until he saw the proof with his own eyes. And God forbid, if something were to happen to Ryojin he would burn the person responsible, himself.

His world seemed to be falling apart today. First Grettir, then Balinor and now... now his Dragon. His Ryojin.

If Ryojin had been harmed, He will not forgive. The one who hurt him will know the wrath of skies.

He rushes to the field where Kilgharrah was supposed to be teaching the Dragonlings how to fly but when he reached- no one was there. He had expected this.
He followed his link with the Great Dragon and finds him curled protectively around the three Dragonlings. Aithusa, Yddraig and Kalinda sitting near Kilgharrah’s stomach and his tail wrapped protectively around them. As if he was getting ready to ward off any attack on them. He relaxes a bit when he sees that it's just Merlin and his dragonlings rush towards him.

Yddraig is spitting fire along with Aithusa, he can feel both their anger whereas Kalinda..... The black dragon mostly looks sad and disappointed for some reason. He picks her up and nuzzles her. An effort to comfort both of them. He feels a water drop on his shoulder. A tear.
He knew the reason- There was no blue dragon in sight.
Merlin swallowed loudly, he was sure that he could hear his own heartbeat. It had been long since he had felt such terror. Until now he had nothing to fear- in fact, he had even stopped worrying about Arthur for months. He had just lived in the present with his dragons, his family. They had been Happy, goddamit.

He demanded Kilgharrah about what happened, as a centuries-old Dragonlord and Emrys his commands would always supercede any other dragonlord, and though Kilgharrah was shocked, he recognised him as the superior power and started to tell him all that had gone down in the mere hour that he had been gone.

The Dragon told him how Balinor had reeked of Dark Magic for days, how he had commanded Kilgharrah to not tell anyone about him- how Ryojin had tried to stop Balinor from taking Kalinda and had been taken in her place instead. Now, he knows why the black dragon was so sad.

He told Merlin how Ryojin had only shouted the one thing he knew how to shout, whilst being dragged by the neck by his father because the dragon-speak had not worked on the hatchling. How Ryojin's voice had grown hoarse because of the pressure on his neck, how the other dragons had tried to save Ryojin but Kilgharrah had to stop them- both under the commands of a Dragonlord and because he had been scared that they would get hurt in the process.

Merlin's eyes tear up, both with anger and worry. He imagines Ryojin shouting the only word he had learnt to say. The only name. His name.

“Mer-lin.”

It was all his fault. He needed to find his father and Ryojin. He imagines his dragon in pain, suffering because he tried to save his siblings…. Because his Dragonlord had been absent.
He lets himself feel the worry, the anger, the helplessness wash over him, and can't stop the teardrop from sliding down his face once gets the image of Ryojin shouting his name repeatedly.

At least now he knew that his father was under a curse of some sort. Both by the way Kilgharrah described his father, ‘he reeked of Dark magic’ and by the way he handled Ryojin. NO dragonlord, could ever, ever handle seeing a Dragon in misery- let alone inflict it themselves. Even if he had for even a second believed that his father had turned against him- this would have cleared it up. Balinor would have never hurt Ryojin intentionally, but... Morgause would.
He puts Kalinda back on the ground again and mentally demands Alator and Gwaine to come and meet him at the Druid Grove.
He had someone to torture.

On his way, he promises himself one thing... Morgause won’t live to see another day. That witch was going down.

Camelot
Uther’s P.o.V

Uther had just been informed, by the man who was in charge of giving food to that blasted dragon beneath Camelot, that the dragon had not been eating.
At first, Uther had smirked and thought that the dragon had finally given up on his measly existence and died- another victory for Uther against magic.

But as the man had continued speaking, the smirk had slowly dissipated.
Uther was told how this peasant- man had walked further into the cavern, concerned when the sheeps had been continuously coming back alive even after 3 months.
This had been the fifth sheep that had come back alive – when he had decided to delve further into the cave to investigate.
The dragon had been known to keep hunger strikes- an act of rebellion, he thought- but never had he gone as far as three months.
It was then, that the peasant had seen the shackles that had once held the Great Dragon as a prisoner. Empty.

Fury had swept through Uther like it always did at the mere mention of magic, but this time he had more than one reason for it. Someone from the Kingdom had helped the dragon escape- how else could someone enter the borders- the kingdom- without anyone noticing them. He had guards placed everywhere. None could slip past all of them without being caught. And the dragon could not escape without any outside help.

The only one that could free the dragon- had to be a powerful sorcerer.
A sorcerer in the Kingdom, Uther thinks. He feels his inner hunter rise to the front- he had always loved the chase.
Especially since there was a chance that this sorcerer was already in the castle.

He was going to hunt each one of these magicians like the parasites they were, less than the rat scum. For a second he mourns his ancestors for abolishing slavery- If they hadn’t been the shitty kings Uther knew them to be, then he would have even thought of keeping some of the sorcerers alive to clean his chamber pots.
Only the powerful ones though. Like that bitch, Nimueh. She would have made a perfect slave... for more reason than one.

He growls, his fists clenching at the mere thought of her. Then he tries to remind himself of his Ygraine- his beautiful wife and Queen- Ygraine, to calm himself. He breathes deeply and tells the guard to take the peasant man away to the dungeons. Why you ask? The dragon had only been allowed to have one sheep a month- the basic necessity for his continued existence. The man had mentioned how the 5th sheep had come back alive, in three months. That's 2 more than he had rationed.

A month in the dungeons and only one meal might cure the peasant from being too charitable. Uther will be docile though because the peasant did bring him the information on the dragon – fine, he rolls his eyes and decides- one meal a week, then. That was as kind as he could afford to be.

Coming back to the Dragon. He decided that he had been stolen from- Helping the dragon escape was a form of stealing from him.
The great dragon had been a form of a trophy for Uther and his fight against magic. If someone had freed the Dragon, he wanted the found and maimed, their eyeballs scooped out with a spoon and their tongues chopped off.

He had tried to call on the Witchfinder but Aredian was investigating some other sightings of sorcery, he will have to find another Witchfinder and soon…
He had immediately called on Gaius and Arthur. Arthur was still young and naïve but he was good at what he did. He needed to find whoever it was that had freed the dragon and bring them to Uther, his king.
Gaius will advise him on how to deal with this situation and probably have a replacement for the Witchfinder in mind. He needed both of these men if he was to get his Kingdom rid of magic as soon as possible.

He already some of his best spies working on a mystery.
It had been through them that Uther had heard a news- mere whisperings, but the possibility of which made the blood in his veins run cold.

When his son and Gaius did enter his chamber, he asked them to take a seat.

*
Multiple P.o.V's

Arthur and Gaius entered the king’s chambers, shooting wary looks at each other. They hadn’t spoken to each other about magic since the last time but they had come to a mutual understanding that Arthur would ask the old man for information and would one day repay Gaius for his help.
It was also in Gaius’s favour as the young Prince would become King one day.

Currently, though they were both wondering why they had been called so urgently- Gaius smelled of herbs and Arthur…. Well he was just coming back from training so smelled more or less like, sweat.
As soon as they enter the chambers they see the king- who was pacing quite anxiously, asking them to take a seat.

“What I am about tell you both, must not leave this room. Is. that. understood?” Uther looks pointedly at Arthur, he nods. Uther stops and holds the back of the chair in front on him. His grip, white-knuckled.

“The dragon beneath the castle has escaped.” His father pauses for a second, gritting his jaw.
Arthur has to pretend to be surprised as his father keeps looking very closely at him and he is sure he even manages to look decently surprised- as Arthur wasn’t even supposed to know that there was a dragon underneath Camelot, leave alone know that he had escaped- so yes surprise with a little dash of hysteria was the right thing to look like, he concludes.
He then chances a look a Gaius.
Though he was sure he had been a nice ‘surprised’ - nothing could beat the look of utter shock on Gaius’s face, that man should have been a performer, Arthur mused.

“But how, sire and how do you know?” asks Gaius, his expression completely clueless, eyes filled with disbelief. His father then tells them about how he came to know.

“Gaius, I need you to look for a Witchfinder as soon as possible, I fear that this Kingdom is running rampant with sorcerers. Aredian is busy, get me someone else! GET. ME. SOMEONE!” the King commands Gaius, who is looking more hopeless by every passing second.

“Sire, please think about this, once. Witchfinders are very hard to find- it is a very dangerous occupation, and we are not even sure if there are any sorcerers in Camelot at all. ” Gaius requests the King, who just looks at the physician with the eyes that would have invited no argument. Gaius waits for a second, hoping that the king would change his mind- so he does the best he can. He tries to hold the king off for a while,

“I will find a Witchfinder, although it might take some time.” Gaius finishes saying pointedly and thinks mentally that he will have to warn all his friends discreetly, in and out of the kingdom.

What Gaius had said was true though, Witchfinders were especially hard to find and Uther knew that. So he just nodded once and then paused, as if just coming to a revelation.

“Actually, Gaius. That might be better. Take as much time as you need- we need to make the sorcerers in the Kingdom feel like they are not being hunted, that they have gotten away with breaking the rules. But in truth, we are just waiting for them to get comfortable.
Animals are easy prey when they think that they are not being hunted.”

All Gaius could feel was dread. ‘Is this the start of the second purge?’ this was the lone thought in Gaius’s head but nonetheless, he nodded before Uther moved on.
He chances a look at Arthur. The boy has a frightened look on his face, as if seeing his father in such a state, scared him. He doesn’t blame him, Uther obsession with anything magic had only been worsening recently and then with the Dragon escaping…..

He jars himself out of his musings when he hears the king talk, “But that is not the worst news, today. I have heard whispers that somewhere in Albion there is a Kingdom of Magic.” At this both Arthur and Gaius gasp, this time the shock is completely genuine.

His father grits his teeth and continues, “The reports I have heard from my spies mention that there has been a serious absence of druids from the forests. Most magical creatures are gone as well, leaving but a few. Even Essetir has lost some of its best mages and knights that have magic. Not only that but all of the house elves from Rheged have also fled.” Arthur and Gaius share a loaded look before turning back to the King.

“Another source tells me that witches and sorcerers are being saved at the last minute by some mysterious…smog- a mixture of smoke and fog.” The king looks a bit ashamed at the mention of something that sounds so… impossible. Arthur just sees his father grit his teeth and continue, “They wouldn't have noticed it if the ash held no remains, no pieces of hollowed bones or teeth. Nothing that would confirm the death. Just ash…. but that could have easily just been the pyre.”

The king gets up and goes closer to the window now, “According to them, all the ashes that miss to confirm, have one thing in common. The Smog. Apparently, this smog appears right after they light the pyre and dissipates when the fire simmers down.”
Now Arthur would have to admit that it does sound magical, especially this… smog. The presence of smoke was obvious but… fog?

“All this and more has led me to suspect that the dragon is in this refugee… Kingdom. A kingdom of Evil- wherever it is. And if I am right and the dragon is in that Kingdom, then it is only a matter of time before they use that dragon against Camelot.” Uther looks at Arthur again for only a second before sliding his gaze to Gaius.

“Gaius, do you have any idea where this Kingdom could be. Heard anything at all ….”
Gaius shook his head, responding with a ‘no, sire’ and Uther seemed to believe him but Arthur sure that he was lying- by now he knew that Gaius was an excellent liar and a sly old man. He will be asking Gaius some questions of his own it seemed.

His father then turned to him.
“Arthur, I want you to double the guard and lead patrol, every week.” Arthur nods but he is also getting worried on the inside especially when his father shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath before shouting, “I WANT THIS KINGDOM FOUND AT ALL COSTS!” The King of Camelot then grabs the back of the chair- the one he had held moments ago and whirls it across the room.

Gaius and Arthur dismiss themselves after that from the King’s presence.

Arthur wants to talk to Gaius but he knows that he won’t get anything from the physician when he is so highly strung. He lets Gaius go when the physician all but runs away from him and returns to his chambers where he is greeted by his own personal Satan.
Morgana.
The Bloody Harpy.

“So,” she starts, he had been expecting the question coming at him since she saw him enter his chambers. She leans back in his study chair, one leg crossed over the other and one hand on the table. She then uses her nails as a tool of intimidation- making a very irritating noise when she drops each finger timely on his mahogany table. Starting from her pinky to her index.

“So?” Arthur prompts her. Telling her to hurry the fuck up with his tone.
She stops making the noise but still continues smirking. And then,
“So, what did Uther want?” she asks, sitting at his table like she has every right in the world to. He shakes his head and hurriedly removes the parchment he had on the table with multiple sketches of sapphire rings and gold falcon birds.

Morgana tries to look at the paper but he quickly hides it in his drawer, locking it.

“If I tell you, will you leave me alone?” Arthur replies after a full five minutes of being stared at, finally tiring under the gaze. He wanted her gone. The harpy smirks and replies with a “maybe.”He exhales and sits opposite to Morgana.

He smiles then. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
“I will tell you everything,” Morgana is looking gleeful, her eyes excited, Arthur smirks “But only… and only if you will ask Guinevere to go on a picnic with me.”

Morgana looks rebellious now… rebellious and angry. As if she cannot believe his gall nor can she excuse it.
She is about to storm off when he stops her by catching a hold of her hand, “I could have just asked her myself,” going by the eyes the maid had been making at the golden prince all week, she would have definitely said yes, “but this is my way of asking your permission, Morgana.”

Arthur releases her hand, raising his eyebrows in question. He likes Guinevere, she is the prettiest maid around. Also, for some reason, Morgana thinks that Guinevere’s virtue is her responsibility. It’s really not, Guinevere is her own person and can decide for herself. Her being off limits just.... kind of excites him.

But, if he was to take her out for a picnic then she would need a day off. And he would need someone to cover for him.
Morgana was the person who could help him in both cases.

He can see that she is already considering the suggestion. He knows that she will expect Guinevere to say no, but he knows the truth. He knows that the maid likes him. That she will say yes.
She breathes out a sigh and a curt ‘fine’ before Arthur smiles and gestures her towards the chair again.
Once she is seated he continues.

“Father has asked complete secrecy on this but I am sure he will be fine with me telling you, just… don't go asking him about it though.” He waits for Morgana to nod before speaking, they had shared multiple secrets over the year. Including their first kiss. They had all remained secrets, why not add another one to the list.

“Apparently there had been a Dragon underneath Camelot for the past 20 years and according to the man who was responsible for feeding it, the dragon has escaped.” Morgana’s eyes could get any bigger even if she tried. She was about to ask something but he raised his hand and said,

“I have told you, everything I know. Now leave.” he walked past the table and opened the door. A clear dismissal. Morgana stood up with a huff and left, shouldering past him. But before she left she murmured, "that is not all you know."

He banged the door closed and changed into his sleep attire. He didn’t know why he didn’t mention the possibility of the existence of a Magical Kingdom to her.
Maybe he was scared that she would like that possibility too much.

Morgana had never supported his father’s fight against magic, and he was sure that he had seen a hint of joy when he had mentioned that the dragon had escaped.

For a second even Arthur allowed himself to feel happy for the dragon. 20 years of prison was bad enough for a man, leave alone a dragon, they are creatures of the sky. He had always hated kings and queens that preferred to have birds as pets. Their freedom was what made them happy, the sky was their home. Your cage can never compensate for it, no matter how many jewels you stud on the metal.
His father was blind when it came to magic and often turned cruel and if Arthur had been the Dragon, in captivity for 20 years, he would have burned the city down that held his captor.

He was glad though, that the Dragon didn’t. It just made him question everything.

Was it magic, that was evil, or his father?

Chapter Text

The door to Manon’s hut banged open before Merlin even touched it.
He would need to keep this quiet - the druids were peaceful people, they won’t take well to torture.

Merlin, Alator and Gwaine make their way inside the hut where he saw- Brigand- the man who was one of his Father’s riders- had his arms around a sobbing Manon.
Kara was on the opposite side of the hut, sobbing too but she looked more angry than sad and once she saw him, she came hurling into his arms. She was mumbling something through her tears but it was too low for Merlin to hear.
Both Manon and Brigand had gotten up as soon as they had realized that he was in the room, Brigand bowed and elbowed Manon into doing the same.

Merlin didn’t move his eyes away from Manon even once, her aura was scared, her magic lashing against her own soul, self-betrayal. Even the magic inside Manon recoiled at her actions. He hears a little voice call his name, “Emrys”, Merlin turns away from Manon to look at Kara.

“I heard her telling Brigand what she has done.” Merlin closes his eyes, he knew what Kara was about to do, she was about to ask for leniency and he was going to have to disappoint her. He kneels on the ground to come to the same level as Kara, to explain to her that what her aunt has done was wrong and will require a proper punishment.

But what Kara says in continuation shocks Merlin. Shocks him with how much she understands. Kara’s eyes were red with tears but her face was of stone.

“She had her reasons for what she did but nothing can justify putting an innocent life in danger.” She turns to her aunt and addresses her and Merlin both when she says,
“Ryojin was my friend and Lord Balinor and Emrys have treated us with nothing but kindness.” Her eyes turn cold here, Merlin is glad that those eyes are not aimed at him.
“I will support you in any decision you make Emrys…. I promise.”

Merlin chances a glance at Manon who had started sobbing even more profusely and he now realizes the reason for her tears. These tears weren’t of guilt but of abandonment.
Even before Merlin came into the hut, Kara had already passed her sentence against Manon.

Kara had overheard them speaking and realized that what her aunt had done was jeopardize the one safe place, the one home Kara had ever had. Ambrosia was more important to Kara than it ever was to her aunt.
She will not forgive her for this.

Merlin who was already kneeling turns Kara towards himself, cups her face in his hands and says, “Hey, it’s going to be alright. We will bring Ryojin home and Lord Balinor home- and then everything will be okay. Don’t worry.” He didn’t know who he was trying to console, the sobbing girl in front of him or himself.
He smiles at her and gestured for Gwaine to take her to the school, away from the Druid Grove.
She hugs him one last time and then follows the knight outside.
No matter how angry he was, he will always put children first. Kara shouldn’t hear what happens next.

Merlin gets up and looks at the people in the hut. It’s just Manon, Alator, Brigand and him left now. He spits out a curt “Out.” And waits for the people not required to file out.
Alator follows his command without hesitation but the boy beside Manon doesn’t even remove his hands from around her. He just keeps looking at Merlin rebelliously.
Merlin raises his eyebrows at this but the boy- Brigand- still doesn’t move.

Merlin huffs out a laugh. “You do know that you don’t stand a chance against me, right?” Merlin doesn’t let him reply, just continues, “and you also know that by trying to test me, you are just making it worse for her. Not better.”
“She is a woman. I am not leaving her alone, no matter what you say.” Brigand replies, his eyes fire- as if he totally believes the woman in her arms is helpless.

Now, a genuine laugh forces its way out of Merlin. “Trust me, Brigand.” The boy looks shocked at being called by his name. He probably thought that Merlin didn’t remember him.
“If a woman has the gall enough to attack my family not just once but twice. Innocent people. Then that woman is far from helpless.”

The boy just grits his teeth but his arms do loosen a wee bit when he is reminded of the previous attempt on life made by the person he was defending.
“This kind of a woman is capable of incinerating you, this kingdom, in fact, this whole world if she thought that she had a reason to,” Merlin says this thinking of Morgana. She had incinerated his world.
Merlin purses his lips and scrunches his nose- shrugging, “I bet she can handle me.”

The boy looks at the sobbing mess in his arms and quietly mumbles, “She does have a reason-,”
“-And that is why I am here. And she is not already dead.” Merlin cuts him off. He was getting tired of this shit and needed him to leave. He had to find out where his father and Ryojin had been taken, but before that he needed to know the reason.
The reason why Manon hated him, hated his family. He had never hurt anyone- at least not in this life.

At first, Merlin had thought that Manon was one of those females that didn’t like men idol worship- and living amongst the druids- he understood that. The Druids worshipped the ground he walked on and to be completely honest, he hated that.

Then there were some people who just didn’t like Emrys, because…. They just didn’t.
He respected that. He didn’t like peanut butter in the 2000’s that was his opinion. He thought that for Manon, he was.... peanut butter. Hatred for no reason, a hatred that's closer to indifference.

But then, she tried to kill him with Julius Borden- then he realized that her hatred ran much deeper. So, he wanted to know what made her want to kill him, kill his father and help Morguase- when literally all he remembers doing that even involved Manon- was giving her a place to live and loving Kara.
Finally, though after what seemed like ages, Brigand unwrapped his arms from around Manon and walked towards the door, before leaving though he turned back once again and said, “I will be just outside.”

Seriously?
Merlin had finally had it! He just rolled his eyes and magically threw the boy out of the door, locking it behind him. All the while not even looking away from the person who caused all this. Manon.

“We both know what your power is, don’t we Manon?” Merlin was referring to her magical powers. Like some people had the power of seeing the future- seers, like some people, had the power of prophecies- oracles, then like those people, some people had the power of mind-reading.
That was how she had been able to fool Grettir for so long. That was how she must have known where his father’s location at all time. Known when Ryojin was alone….
But he also knew that she couldn’t read his mind. It was why she was scared. Was it her fear that led to her hatred?

“Now, do you know why I am here? Did you read Alator’s mind?” he starts circling her, it’s taking everything he has to keep his magic from lashing out at her. He sees her nod after a second and she replies,
“You were coming here to torture me.”
Merlin smiles. He never said that he couldn’t turn cruel if he liked. Over these course of these long years, Merlin had been through a lot of things himself- he was tortured, maimed during wars, he had committed atrocities in the name of Albion. Everything. He had faced death in almost every way.

In the past (during Camelot), his biggest fear had been abandonment.

Fear that people won’t like him anymore if he turned into a cynic after everything he had faced. That people will think him evil if was ready to kill for his family.
Blame his magic maybe. But then he had realized after Arthur’s death that it would have been better than people fear him than pity him.
The most powerful sorcerer in the world couldn’t save his best friend from dying. Couldn’t save Freya, his lover from dying. Couldn’t save Lancelot from dying…. All because he was such a 'People Pleaser'.
He had been scared of what Arthur would think of him if he would have killed Morgana sooner, had killed Mordred sooner.
Then after 1500 years, all this fear was ash. Nothing. No matter what he had done or not done- they had all abandoned him anyway.

Now, Merlin didn't care about what people thought of him, the people that really mattered to him knew him (or will know him). Knew his true self and that was what mattered. They knew that he would love to the measure of infinity, but he could also hate. He could be kind and be cruel. He could be an angel, a gift from Gods for some but for the people who wronged him- he would be the devil himself.

Manon had wronged him.
“Yes,” Merlin replies, “I was coming to torture you here for some answers.” He stops right in front of her, and continues in a low voice, “So, there are two ways we can go about this. You either answer all my questions truthfully …. Or, it wouldn’t take long for me to call Alator back in.” He makes his face innocently confused, “You do know that he is good at getting information out of people, right?”

Manon physically shudders and closes her puffy eyes. Nodding.
“So, which one is it going to be?” He asked. She looked at him before swallowing,
“I’ll answer.” Merlin smiles a feral smile at her, closes in on her once again like he had the last time he had warned her.
“But you do know that you are not the only mind-reader in the room, right? If you answer any question with a lie, I will know.”
She nods frantically and Merlin moves away. Her sobbing resumes.

“Why?” he asked his first question- It was an easy enough. He waited with his hands behind his back while Manon just kept sobbing and blurting some useless phrases like, ‘I told her not to take him…’, or ‘she fooled me.’
‘Never my intention.’
Merlin waits for good 10 minutes before his patience runs thin. Somewhere in Albion his Dragon is being tortured, and all this woman cares is for herself?
“WHY?!” Merlin shouts this time, Manon jerks up and stops her sorry attempt at crying. He had never raised his voice before, this was the first time he had shouted at anything.
She clenches her jaw and stands straight. And then answers my question with a question of her own.
“How far would you go for your family, Emrys?”

Merlin’s anger spikes up, he is sure that his eyes now have specks of gold in them.
“I think, Manon. That you are about to find out, to what lengths I am really capable of going for my family.” His voice is calm, assured. Right now, only assuring her death because it seems like she is threatening his family once again.

But her smile shocks him, it’s sad but at the same time accepting. As if she got the answer she was looking for. “Exactly, Emrys. Exactly.”
“Explain,” Merlin says, head cocked to the side- mind confused.

“Whatever I did, the attempt on your life, the attempt on your father's-” Merlin cuts her off with, “The attempt on my child- on my Dragon.”
Her fearful eyes rise up to mine, regret shining in them, “That was not the part of the plan, I promise.”
Merlin raises his hand to stop her, “You were protecting your family by trying to hurt me. Trying to protect Kara?!” He would never hurt Kara. This was the stupidest reason. Ever.

Manon huffs out a hysterical laugh but stops when she continues,
“No...” her voice shaky now, “I was trying to protect my son. My Mordred.”

Merlin’s eyes widen. His mind fleets back to the time when Kara kept mentioning the words ‘more-red’ together when she mentioned that she had a cousin.
More-Red
Mordred.

How could he have been so stupid? And Kara too! How did he not realize that he had seen her in his previous life, in Camelot? She had been the cause of Mordred’s betrayal.
Merlin swallows, something had been blocking him from this realization, how else could he forget such an important detail.

The old religion had made him forget all about Kara so that he could give her- his unbiased love. So that she would be loved in the way she was supposed to. So that she wouldn’t turn away from him when he punished his aunt for her treason.

Was his whole life controlled by the Old Religion? If the goddess could make him forget such important details of his own past then was he just a puppet? Was his life and feelings- a game?
He was left completely baffled. But he also knew that in 1500 years, it had been the old religion that had kept him company. Kept him sane. If his magic hadn’t been there, he would have surely….
After Arthur died, Merlin had stopped eating, stopped drinking water. In all reality, he should have died but his magic had kept him alive and he was glad for that. He wouldn’t have been able to help Gwen with her Kingdom or come back in time and make this Kingdom or… hatch his dragons.

He frowns then, confusion marring his features once again.
He hadn’t killed Mordred. Arthur had. That was his other half’s destiny. Manon had her facts wrong.
“And why hurt me for your son? I haven’t even met him yet.” That was a lie, but she didn’t need to know that.
She closes her eyes and inhales deeply. And then she says something that sends chills through his bones, “I was told by Rigga, that Emrys is my son’s destiny. His doom.”

Morgana had been told something similar by the Gate-keeper in the previous life.
And to be fair, Merlin had been Mordred’s doom- indirectly. He had never trusted the druid, never accepted him. But, that is what he wanted to correct this time. He feels the sudden need to smack his head with his hands at this stupidity.

Manon didn’t know that Merlin was back in time to correct his mistakes, back in Albion to give them all another chance. Another chance for him to be-friend Mordred like he should have. Prevent his doom, not be it.

“Rigga told you?” Merlin shifts his line of questioning.
“Yes, but she didn't mean to tell me.... she had been dreaming and because it mentioned Mordred- I read her mind” Manon looks down guiltily.
Merlin’s mouth twists and he looks at the blonde witch before him that had made his life difficult. Yes, he thinks, ruefully, he knows all about these dream-warnings and mind-reading. The act itself could be useful but it involved invading other's privacy and that was not the most acceptable practices.

“And why Ryojin? Why not any other child from the Kingdom? Or even my mother? Why choose the most innocent of all of us to torture? Huh?” Merlin feels his anger and worry returning. A tear escapes Manon’s eyes at the mention of the blue dragon.

“I promise, Emrys. I am guilty of every other charge- but Ryojin’s.” Merlin frowns at this and Manon explains further, her voice growing shakier “Morgause contacted me through mind-speak. She had been keeping eyes on the kingdom when I collaborated with Julius Borden against you. So, she knew that I... disliked you.” Merlin snorts mentally, that’s putting it mildly.

Manon looked ashamed but continued, “I only supported her in turning Balinor against you- I told her where your father was going to be that day when you both left to save some sorcerers. She looked into his most recent memories but when he held her off through sheer will- she put some kind of a snake at the back of his neck and then demanded he tell her….”

“Tell her what?” Asks Merlin. He already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it.
She looks up from the ground and replies, “Tell her how to hurt you best.”

Merlin grits his teeth, that makes sense. That must have been how she knew about Ryojin. Out of all the Dragons, Merlin was closest to the Blue Dragon.
Both because Ryojin needed continuous protection (Merlin’s insistence) and also because both of their natures were very similar to each other’s. It was like Ryojin felt whatever he felt, sometimes he would look into Merlin’s eyes and say so many things without uttering a single word.
Sometimes Merlin would see Ryojin with Yddraig and instead of seeing the dragons, he would see himself and Arthur.
Merlin is brought out of his reminiscing when Manon continues,

“We were going to use your father to lure you, but she tricked me and because she couldn’t enter the Kingdom herself- she used Balinor to go and kidnap one of the Dragons. Both because according to Lord Balinor you were closest to your Dragons and after luring you and killing you, Morguase plans to use the dragons for her…. personal use.”

Merlin’s brain translated this whole sentence as, that Morgause had plans of turning Ryojin and the others into her little pet of destruction, against Camelot and Ambrosia.

Hell, if Merlin will let that happen.

Merlin knew where to look for Ryojin and his father. He also knew now that his father had been subjected to the fomorrah.
He stops, he hadn’t even realized that he had started pacing. His magic was so anxious that he could feel how tightly stretched it was with the fear it felt for both his father and Ryojin. Like a string on the bow.

He turns to looks at Manon, “Anything else you have to say before I leave?”

She looked hesitant but straightened and squared her shoulders.
“Emrys,” Merlin raised his single eyebrow, this was the first time she had actually addressed him with his druidic name and meant it, “please, I beg you to promise me one thing. From one parent to another.” Merlin was always hesitant in giving out any promises, but he would listen to what she had to say.

She had tears dripping down her face and was looking 100 years older than her age.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Promise me that you will not hurt my Mordred.” Aaah, Mordred again. The boy hadn’t even entered his life yet but had already caused so much trouble.
Merlin couldn’t promise her that. He couldn’t promise that he won’t hurt Mordred- what if the druid boy turned Evil? What if he tries to hurt Arthur? He couldn’t jeopardize the whole future for a mother.

“I can’t promise you that, Manon.” Merlin sees her face crumble, she falls to her knees and pleads with him mentally. Merlin closes his eyes and now realizes where Mordred got his habit of speaking mentally from.
The druid boy had pleaded in the same way when he had been stranded in Camelot.

Merlin remembers the young boy, so innocent, who had lost his life and his loyalty to Arthur because of Merlin’s decisions. Remembers the hero worship he had for Merlin. Remembers that how after every win against the knights during practice he would look at Merlin, hopeful, that maybe finally his Emrys would deem him worthy.
He had wronged Mordred.

He takes a deep breath, sighs. It was because of those thoughts in his mind that he adds,
“I will think about it.”

Manon looks at him thankfully and then fearfully when he calls upon Alator. Brigand comes running in as well.
He ignores the boy who is fussing over the blonde witch and looks at Alator, “Take her to the dungeons.”

Merlin leaves then. He had his family to save.

*

The dark tower was exactly as Merlin remembered it to be. Dark.
Skeletons surrounded the land, everywhere, almost as a warning.
Mab had already said, ‘Hi’, in her own way- with a frigging riddle. Her riddles had always been foreboding but this one… this one was almost… playful. Still somewhat of a warning.

For some reason, this had scared him the most.
That and the fact that the rhyme/riddle seemed to be talking about Merlin getting tempted by something. Or someone.

“Beware of the powerful mage,
resist the temptation only they can sake,
don’t fall for it, don’t fall for them,
beauty is a danger because of them.

Queen Mab and Merlin were both immortal and had stayed in contact through all these years- though she didn’t have any memories of them, she knew that Merlin was older than he seemed. Their souls did recognize each other though.
His despair had been unmeasurable after 1000 years and Mab was the queen of Despair. They had gotten along quite splendidly.

Merlin and Gemini flew right to the entrance. He commanded her to leave for Ambrosia right then, he was not going to put his friend in danger as long as he could prevent it.

Gemini protested for a bit but had to give into her King’s command, she lowered her head one last time to be petted and then took flight into the air.
He watched until there was not even a little speck of white in the skies and then made his way into the feeling of foreboding emanating from the doorway.

Each stair that Merlin stepped on made his magic lash out- he had to hold it in otherwise his magic would have levelled the whole tower even before he entered it. A chorus of different screeches pierced his head with every step up. They were so ear-numbing that Merlin had to hold his hands over them to even think clearly.

He remembers the words Mab had said once, ‘The tower is the place of the heart’s despair.’ Yes, he felt it, many minds had been lost in this place. The screeches he was hearing were of both men and women- all those people who had lost their minds here. This place symbolized both the Heart’s despair and Despair’s heart.

Over the centuries Merlin’s magic had increased, doubled…. Tripled. He also had enough time hone it perfectly- that sometimes played against him- last time when he had entered the tower in a rescue mission for Gwen with the Knights and Arthur…. Merlin had only felt the foreboding feeling and maybe… a little buzz in his ears. Like an errant mosquito.
Nothing like this time- this time if he focused enough he could even hear the screeches of some people he knew and loved, it was a game the tower played.
All that along with the emotional turmoil he had been in throughout the day had made his magic confused and very over-reactive.

That wasn’t a good thing. He realizes now that he should have brought someone with him. Alator, maybe Ruadan- maybe none would have been able to stand against Morgause- but they would have been able to hold their own against Balinor.
Because if Merlin was right, and it was the fomorrah…. Then his father would side with Morgause in attacking him.

This place was overwhelming for him. For his magic. He had never set foot in this place after they had gotten Gwen back- he had hated this place then and he still hated it more now. The overloading of senses along with his magic lashing out at this place and his trying to contain it had adverse effects on Merlin.

This was no place for him… there was too much dark magic in this place and though Dark Magic couldn’t touch him, it still irritated him.

Still, he pushes the room where they had found Gwen last time. He didn’t know what he expected to find, Gwen had come back from the tower as a completely different person. Her mind convoluted by Morgana. Will Ryojin be the same?

He sees the blue Dragon as soon as he enters the room, he moves forward coming in the line of the dragon’s sight.
He waits until Ryojin sees him, and when he does he croaks a weak, “Merlin.”
The dragonlord feels tears prick his eyes, all thoughts of Ryojin turning against him fly out of the window and he nods and smiles at his little Dragon. Apologizing for not being there with his eyes. He starts rushing towards his Dragon, uncaring about his surroundings.

It was then when he feels it, two other people in the room, watching the whole thing carefully. Merlin whips towards them, protecting Ryojin with his person.
He sees Balinor and tries calling out to him but his father is rigid, unmoving. His eyes are unfocused and not even turned towards Merlin. They are turned towards the other person in the room.
Morgause. A smirking Morgause.

“You don’t look as powerful today, Merlin.” She walks towards him, stopping a meter away. Still too wary to come close to him then, he remarks in his sluggish brain.

Another thing he remarks is that she knows his name now, there is literally no other way left for Merlin to leave this place without killing her first. He needs to protect his identity if he is to ever go to Camelot.

He also realizes with dread that he can’t use his magic because it was too much like holding back water in a broken dam. It was the most unpredictable thing right now and Merlin could not take the risk. He would still be able to do instinctual magic but not anything of use.

His control was already stretched thin with holding his magic in check, blocking the mandrake screeches for both him and Ryojin whilst also trying to find a way to get rid of the fomorrah in his father’s neck.
If he let himself loose now then the whole tower could come down.

Morgause might die but so will Balinor. He couldn’t have that.
Also, Ryojin might be an immortal like him but he was still in a stage of growth- if something drastic happened now, then his growth would be stunted forever, much like Aithusa’s had in the past.

So, no magic then.

Well, it was a good thing then that over the years he had developed multiple other skills. Like using a sword, properly. It wasn’t as good as his magic but obsidian was a magical sword, it could deflect and cut through anything. Another plus? It was forged in Kilgharrah’s breath. He just needed to use his sword to defend himself and his dragon from the fireballs Morgause and Balinor were already aiming at them. Well, him.

Merlin can’t put Ryojin in danger so he moves away from him in the direction of his father- who is throwing fireballs at Merlin too, but usually missing.
One thing he had come to know in this past year with his father was that Balinor was an excellent shot.
He realized then that even on a subconscious level Balinor wasn’t doing his best to kill Merlin, similarly like Merlin hadn’t done his best in killing Arthur in the past.

His focus is split for a while between his father and Morgause but mainly, he was focusing on Morgause. At one point, he could see Morgause getting tired and he hoped that she would stop soon and…. hopefully, die.
But then she smirked and instead of attacking him, she produced her biggest fireball yet and aimed it ….at Balinor.

His father didn’t notice, no, too busy and tired creating fireballs of his own. The fomorrah wouldn’t have allowed his father to move and Morgause knew that.
That’s alright, Merlin could help his father. He started running towards Balinor when he saw Morgause produce another fireball.

Helplessness is what Merlin felt- as he saw in slow motion- as Morgause aimed the next fireball at Ryojin.
It was a choice now.
His son or his father. He knew he couldn’t save both. He knew both his magic and his sword were useless.

His eyes connected Ryojin’s. The Dragon’s beautiful eyes had widened at the sight of the fireball. Not the one aimed at himself but the one aimed at Balinor. Merlin knew he couldn’t save Ryojin, he was too far from him now- but he could save his father. Once his mind had decided, Merlin’s body obeyed.
He ran in front of his father, waiting to take the full brunt of the fireball on his body. He would be lucky if he didn’t suffer severe burns all over his body.

Ryojin was a simple dragon at heart. All he had ever wanted was to see his Dragonlord happy. His lord and father had been through a lot in his very long life.
Ryojin had felt it, all the anger, the frustration and the tremendous sadness that resided in his lord’s heart. There was love there too, so pure and so golden that Ryojin had wanted to chirp in joy every time his lord would show that love to him, extend him the love only a few had the seen and even fewer had the honour of being at the receiving end of.

When the witch had aimed a deathly fireball for both him and his lord’s father. He had mentally begged his lord to save his father.
Ryojin was immune from Fire as Emrys was immune to dark magic. It won’t hurt him.
His lord didn’t know and thus looked so broken when he realized that no matter what he did, he won’t be able to save Ryojin. He had felt for his lord then; his despair had been palpable through their bond.
Even stronger than the sadness he carried in his heart. Stronger than anything.

Ryojin had been practising and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to show something to Merlin but never had the perfect opportunity to- besides now- he opened his maw wide and sent a jet blast of water aiming at the place where the fireball was going to hit his lord and took his own fireball on his body.

And like he expected, when the fire touched him, he felt nothing except a slight sizzle. As if water had been spread over a hot pan just off the stove. It didn’t feel good but it was far from painful. He had discovered this when Yddraig (clotpole) had been excitedly spewing fire everywhere in his first month and had accidentally woken up a sleeping Ryojin with it. Least is to say that Yddraig had been very sorry later...

Ryojin opened his eyes, which he knew were as deep as the ocean he was born in but in middle of his eyes was glowing golden. Much like his lord’s, as if he had not borrowed the sun but absorbed it. Powerful and fiery.

Fire can never hurt water, just like dark cannot overwhelm light. He looked over to his master who was soaked top to bottom but he could also feel a feeling of deep relief spread throughout his lord's body.

Merlin had never felt more relieved as he had felt when the fireball that had been aimed at Ryojin just sizzled on his body, not even harming a single scale. In fact, the blue dragon was not just blue anymore, some of his scales had also taken on a golden hue. Merlin smiled when his mind supplied with a mental shout of ‘Atta boy’ at Ryojin’s dorky face.

He would literally take a thousand fireballs on his person if that meant that it would keep all his family safe.

Merlin had been so relieved and tired that he didn’t notice anything happening until it did.

Balinor took Merlin’s sword and used the pommel to hit him on the head.
He was the most powerful sorcerer in the world, but his head was much like anyone else's. Merlin crumpled to the ground but could still hear what was being said, Ryojin was screeching angrily again, spitting water everywhere. But when someone rested Obsidian right above Merlin's heart- Ryojin quietened immediately, trying not to make the person more angry.

He then felt Morgause kneel beside him.
She then spoke but he knew that she wasn’t speaking to him but herself. Her tone …. Wondrous?
“Now, how did you hold us off for so long… without even using a drop of magic, huh?” Merlin would have punched her if he could move his arms.

A second later, he could hear some metal box being dragged behind her and she whispered under her breath, “Always safe than sorry I suppose.”

Merlin felt himself being dragged too and his arms getting painfully shackled to the wall and then she whispered a spell… He could feel the level of vile magic notch up in the room and a second later something latched onto his face.

From then on Merlin knew nothing but darkness.

Chapter Text

Morgause had been watching the King of Ambrosia for over two hours now. What can she say… the beauty of this king was worth staring at.
Pale skin stretched over clean-cut lines of muscles and bone. Most of it marred by scars while some marred by some…. Strange ink that seemed to have been permanently engraved onto the skin. The masculinity of this man astounded her. It seeped from each pore of his being.

At first, she had thought that the King was powerful. Powerful enough to revive the perilous lands, control old-religion creatures and have the druids respect him…. But now, sensing that the king still had magic left in him even after she had released the Gean Canach on him…
That was what baffled her.

Next thing to baffle her was the presence of Merlin. When the King walked into the tower, she had felt it… the magic in the Tower had recoiled from Merlin as if the Sun itself had taken over the night. The tower would have made someone like him mad but it had only succeeded in making his magic anxious and confused.

Every second the possibility that this man could be Emrys was increasing.
But then why would Emrys choose not to attack Camelot, instead choose to protect it. Make a kingdom of his own? Was Emrys also the once and Future King?
No, this man couldn’t be Emrys… no matter how much magic this man possessed.

She tried to break into his mind, but again with no success. She had been trying to get access into his mind for the past 2 hours with nothing! Nothing at all. It was like his and Morgause’s mind were on completely different levels. Even that stupid whore- Manon- hadn’t been able to crack into his mind.

She now knew that everything she had seen when they had first met…. Was either false or he had allowed her to see it. There was no other way- if she couldn’t even enter his mind when the man was unconscious- at his weakest- then it should have been impossible for her to see the images she had seen when they had met.

This was the reason why she had tied him to the most powerful iron shackles she had. They should safely keep his magic at bay and she would be allowed to ask him a few questions and later kill him.

She leans forward and strokes his cheek once, letting her thumb dip lower to trace his lips….. she catches herself when she sees his eyes flicker and then slaps him, hard.

Merlin was in and out of consciousness- where you are not really awake but you can sometimes hear stuff around you.
Someone walked towards him and kneeled in front of him, it was then he realized that he was on his knees as well, his arms stretched so tight that it was bordering on extreme pain-he was shackled to the wall like an animal.

Merlin awoke fully to the feeling of being slapped.
His first thought had been- Urghhh! Not again.
Why does security always lets Melissa in! He had broken up with her thinking that he would finally be rid of her bullshit but she comes in every other day at bloody dawn to slap him tell him that the fault was in him and not her. He completely agreed but any day now he was going to blast her to hell with his magic.

Magic!

Someone slapped him again, jarring him fully awake. He then suddenly remembers the events that led up to him being in such pain. The time travel, the kingdom, Ryojin…. Morguase.
Well, at least the screeches had stopped, he was glad for that.

He raised his head a bit and saw Morgause- He really should have killed the bitch when he had the chance.

He had blood in his mouth, he spits it out aiming it at Morgause’s boots and in return gets a kick in the stomach- also, why the hell was he naked?! He looks around for his clothes and sees them lying in a heap a bit away from him, Obsidian lying on top of the heap as if forgotten.

“Why am I naked?!” Is Merlin’s first question to his nemesis. She laughs, head thrown back.
“You are shackled to the wall, you have no more magic, your dragon is under my command and the first thing you ask is … why are you naked?”

Merlin shrugs as much as he can and winces when he pulls a muscle- he felt like he had been run over by a truck- all his muscles ached. Also, what the hell was she talking about? He does have magic, still.
“Fine, I will answer the questions you ask but for every question you ask me, I get to ask two.” Merlin made a movement with his eyes that suggested that he didn’t care but in reality, he needed this time of distraction.

He had to get out of these shackles. He also needed to thank Morgause for whatever she did because suddenly his magic did not feel like it was about to burst out of him. It was still a bit shaken but ready to be used.
He had a plan, but for it to work, he needed Morgause distracted.

“You are naked because you are nice to look at and I feel that everyone’s body tells a story. Don’t you think, Merlin?” He turns his head towards her, this was the second time she had addressed him by his name. Morgause smiles- “now you are wondering how do I know your name?”
He nods once.
“Well, your dragon did screech it all the way here to the dark tower.”

Merlin closes his eyes at the thought of Ryojin screeching his name all the way to the tower. He really really should have killed her when he had the chance. He had never hated someone more in his life.
He needs to kill her and for that he needs time. Time or…
He is thinking when he hears a sugary sweet voice say, “My turn!”

He doesn’t open his eyes because his head hurts to even look at anything. Why is this place causing him such discomfort?
“Merlin…” she tuts, he doesn’t see her but he does hear her when she comes even closer and drags a fingernail on his shoulders, she then grabs a handful of his hair and pulls his face up to look at him closer. Her face inches from his, their breaths mingling. He feels disgusted.

“Now Merlin, tell me the truth.” She pauses here for emphasis, “Why did the Gean Canach burst after five minutes of sucking your magic and why can’t I, access your mind?”
Oh, it must have been the Gean-whatever that took the edge off of his magic, Merlin thinks

He swallows because his throat feels like dry parchment and then answers with a cheeky, “Maybe… because you are not as powerful as you think?”

Just for that, she grabs his hair harder.
At this rate, his hair might just choose to fall off. Merlin flicks his eyes to hers, rebellious and angry.
For a second he thinks that he sees her eyes flicker down to his lips but then he snorts at his own imagination and puts it down to the delusion that this place encouraged.

What he didn’t notice though was that Morgause was having a very hard time not touching Merlin. Once she had touched that skin… she couldn’t stop. Even his skin vibrated power.
All this excuse of ‘everyone’s body telling a story.’ Was just that- an excuse.

In truth, Morgause had never been more attracted to anyone than she was to the King of Ambrosia. There was something about him that was…. not ordinary. His presence was like the Sun like nothing could touch him. Not even time. Even the first time she had seen him…

She had tried telling Nimueh about him but the older High priestess had just ignored her. She was too busy planning Camelot’s and Uther's demise and had asked Morgause to take care of Ambrosia’s king.

The dragon had been a surprise. She had thought that all Dragons were dead, killed at the hands of Uther Pendragon but apparently not. Another thing that had attracted her to the King- his dragons.
The Blue Dragon had already spent hours under the most powerful mandrake roots but they seemed to have no effect on him. Dragons were very powerful creatures but mandrake roots affected anyone with a brain, so she had left the dragon to get some rest while she entertained the master. The water had been a surprise too, but she could use it to her advantage.
Not many knew but water was even more dangerous than fire sometimes.

Still, she believed that this man couldn’t be Emrys, even Nimueh had said so. Emrys was supposed to be old, and wise and…. not…. Well, whatever he is.
But... the Gean Canach, the last of its kind had burst. Morgause was having doubts.

As she had mentioned, the magic of the tower should have made Merlin mad, completely out of his mind. Comatose. But all the spell had achieved to do was make him a bit confused and lose focus. Another fact, that he had been able to hold himself against Morgause and Balinor without even using magic was commendable. She was a High Priestess and Balinor was a warrior in himself.

But all these thoughts of Emrys had flown out of the window when she had the King of Ambrosia naked, at her Mercy. She had always loved power but something about seeing Merlin on his knees gave her more satisfaction than ruling any Kingdom had ever given her. She would give up Essetir just to have the pleasure of seeing Merlin on his knees.
He himself possessed so much power that she could feel it in her bones. It was stupid of her to miss it before- and this was after the Gean Canach. By all rights, this man shouldn’t have any more magic left….

And this strange ink he had over his body, the script did not make any sense. Neither did many of the scars. Nothing she knew could cause these scars. Such holes on skin- they looked small but deadly.
This man had been through a lot, she could see. Her attraction coupled with her curiosity had led her to play a game of questions.

“Next question then,” her hand now on his biceps, she licked her lips at the feel of them- then realized what she was doing and forced herself to stop touching him.

“Why do you not want to attack Camelot with me?” she asked him, she wanted him to be with her. She could give him more power, more control than he had ever seen, why could he not see that?

He looks at her for a long second, sees that she is really curious and replies, “The people are innocent. Only Uther is at fault. What you want is revenge, not justice. I do not support that.”

Shame, thought Morgause, sadness and loss seeping into her at the knowledge that he couldn’t be hers.
He was a lot more attractive than that savage Cenred.
She is brought of her thoughts when her prisoner calls out for her,

“Morgause…. Could we maybe continue this conversation after you have loosened the chains around my arms? They are starting to really hurt and I won’t be able to answer your questions when I am in such pain.” His voice was raspy, she knew that he was thirsty.

She looked at him suspiciously, then glanced at his arms. When she saw that really, she had tied the chains quite tightly, she moved to loosen them a bit.
When she had loosened the chains around both the hands, she turned towards him and looked at him, she slowly glided towards the jug of wine she had brought for herself. She poured a cup in full view of Merlin and brought it close to her prisoner.

She kneeled, could see that Merlin’s full focus was on the cup of wine. He was thirsty and she knew that. She was now so close to him that she could feel his breath on her cheeks. Morgause slowly brought the cup of wine to her lips and downed it in one go. Her eyes never leaving Merlin's.

When she lowered the cup, she could feel a drop of wine still wet on her lips, she saw the moment Merlin’s eyes dipped to her lips for a second before he turned his head away, hurriedly. Heat flushed throughout her body with that single gaze.... what would happen when she saw him in ecstasy?- she stopped a moan escaping her lips at that.

Merlin was still looking away, No, we can’t have that, thought Morgause. She let the cup fall from her hand and brought it back up to clutch Merlin’s hair again. She forced his head to turn towards her and he looked at her with hatred, holding his neck stiff.

She felt anger course through her body, she knew for a fact that she was pretty. More beautiful than even the Lady Morgana she had heard so much about. But she had never, never felt so strongly towards someone else and for him to so outrightly reject her was not something that was acceptable to her.
She will show him, thought Morgause and jerked his head harder this time, backing the push with some magic this time, forcing his lips on hers.

The King of Ambrosia remained unresponsive for a minute, rigid as a pyre, she kept at it- trying to gently part his lips, taking the sliver of honey she could taste. Then after what felt like hours, she his lips give, part under her ministrations. She cupped his jaw, pulling more of a reaction from him.
The glorious moment when she felt his lips move had her gasping, he was responding to her- just a little not too much. She could still taste his reluctance.

She had to use another approach, this was too good to give up on. Maybe Morgause would keep the King of Ambrosia as her pet after this. Maybe enchant him to love her or lust after her. She smiles at the thought.
Then she pulls back. Merlin didn’t seem to be having much fun…. They couldn’t have that. She moves the hand that had come to rest on his shoulder. She brings it to his chest, tracing the burn mark there- keeping her touch deliberate.

She then moves lower, caressing his milky white skin while mapping the numerous wounds on his stomach and sides. She looked at him from beneath her lashes and saw that he was looking at her suspiciously… good, he had a reason to be, she smirks mentally. She was going to shake his world.

Morgause drags her hand even lower, slower, more deliberate, past his abdomen- she never stops looking at him and at one point sees him swallow, she smiles.
She goes past the smattering of hair and boldly takes the King’s strong length in her hand, she hears Merlin take in a sharp breath through his mouth and look at the ceiling. A blush spreading from his neck to his chest.

The manhood wasn’t hard yet but she could always remedy that…. She gives a hard and deliberate pull, magically lubricating her hands. She sees him swallow again, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down with each swallow. The length grows harder with her each pull, longer than even before. A manhood worthy of a King, she thinks in her head. He groans and it's music to her ears.

Now, he looked more like someone who was interested, she again pulls on his hair and this time Merlin comes to her willingly. Their lips meet and this time Morguase gets to know how it really feels to be on the receiving end of his attention. She tries to battle for control but has to give it up to his skilful mouth and tongue. She had never been kissed like this, so fully, a moan escapes her, her finger tangling themselves deeper into his hair. They should have done this much sooner.

She flicks her finger over the slit of his cock and is rewarded with another deep groan. He kisses her with a renewed passion now, they clash, a battle of wills and even when he is tired and in pain- he seems to dominate. In his mouth, she finds victory and surrender, both.
The kiss for her is divine. Merlin was divine. Nothing could be better. Every flick of his tongue, every groan that she had managed to coax out of him were like gifts to her. His cock was perfect, his body was perfect- even with the scars and the strange ink- even his bloody hair, that tangled around her fingers were perfect.

In Merlin’s head? The only thought in his head is that he was almost there. Just with another flick of the finger, and it will come apart. The lock, he means.
For the past hour, Merlin had been trying to get the lock to open, it wasn’t that these cuffs stopped his magic or anything.
Nope. It’s just that if he was to use magic before he really needed to, it would alert Morgause. And we didn’t want that now, did we?

So, when Merlin had asked Morgause to loosen his shackles, he had deftly pulled one of the pins in her hair. He had then recalled his MI6 days and managed to open the lock with it, all the while distracting Morgause.
He was officially ready to end their brief altercation and put this all behind him.

He finally lets himself use his magic and summons obsidian from the other side of the room and pulls the cheapest trick out of the hat.
He commands his magic to run the sword through Morgause as he had done in the past with the questing beast. He feels Morgause jerk when she realizes that his arms were free and that the magic she was feeling was not her own but he only kisses her harder, pushing his hands in her hair, holding her in place.

He opens his eyes a second later when he hears Morgause gasp again but unlike the gasps she had made earlier, this one had nothing to do with pleasure.
To avoid him the sword had somehow swerved itself to pierce Morgause diagonally- entering through her neck on the right and exiting at her left underarm. It had not only pierced her heart but also cut her major arteries.

He had personally hoped that the sword would pierce him too, this had been one of his cheapest victories. He would have lived but at least he would have been in pain for a while.
He had never done something like this before and now he knew why. He hated being underhanded.

He hated how her eyes widened for a second and filled with pain and betrayal- even though she had nothing to feel betrayed for- and then she looked down at the exit wound, dripping with blood. She knew it was not an ordinary sword that had pierced her. When she looked back up, Merlin was laying her to the ground. He was yet to meet her eyes. Once she was comfortable, Merlin lifted his eyes. He knew his eyes were golden like the Sun itself.

Her eyes widened even more than they had when the sword had pierced her.
She whispered the name ‘Emrys’ and closed her eyes for the last time. Hand on the wound falling limp.
"I'm sorry," Merlin whispered to the corpse, He allows himself to feel sorry for a minute before getting up and putting his clothes back on. They were still a bit wet but Merlin spelled a warm wind to blow them dry and then he moves back into the room where he had seen Ryojin last.

When he enters the room, he sees his father unconscious on the ground and his Dragon tied to the dais, Ryojin's foot is bleeding from where the shackles had cut into him whilst trying to get to Merlin. When Ryojin sees him, he jumps into a seating position and warily calls out his name.

Merlin feels a smile bloom on his face. Even after what he had done, nothing could take away the happiness of seeing his Dragon alive and well again.

He magics the shackles off and the dragon half flies and half jumps into his arms. Merlin discreetly heals his foot and clutches the dragon to his chest. Hugging as if they hadn’t just been away from each other for like a day but years.
He even feels the dragon sniffing him at some point, but if it was because that Ryojin takes comfort in his scent or …. He smells Morguase on him, he doesn’t say.

He then lets Merlin know through choppy mind-speak that the snake that she had used on his father is in the room below.

They go downstairs and burn the Mother fomorrah, he even takes the dead fomorrah out of his father’s neck and closes the wound with magic, burns the last head of the snake and goes out of the dark tower with father still unconscious and Ryojin, once again in his arms.

Merlin is not letting go of the dragon any time soon.

It's dark outside the tower and he whistles not once but twice this time, for both Gemini and Blackjack. He sees Mab looking at him proudly and she flies towards him. Sitting on his shoulder.
“So, the riddle wasn’t a warning for me then?” asks Merlin.

She cackles, “It was. You are the mage. You are the beautiful temptation, Enrys. The riddle was a warning against you.” He frowns but otherwise ignores her and she cackles once more.

He had already buried Morgause as soon as they had come out of the tower, no matter what she had done, she deserved a burial.

He turns to look at the tower and asks Mab in a low voice, “Can I bring this tower down, Mab?” He turns to look at her when she whips her head towards him.

“You want to bring this wonder down, Emrys?!” In the most delirious voice, he had heard from her. Merlin shrugs and brings his hand forward.

She flies and hovers in front of his hand, “Don’t you dare.” Merlin flicks his eyes to her and raises his eyebrows, she very well knew that he would dare. This place had given him enough trouble to last a lifetime. She sighs and explains,
“The tower needs to serve another purpose, after that is done… You and me, both can bring it down. Together.”
Merlin is already thinking what this hated tower will be used for again but lowers his hand.

Merlin knew that Mab was a Queen in her own right, in fact, some of the fairies in his Kingdom still loved and missed their Queen. He also knew that Mab had visions of the future, directly from the Old Religion, so no matter how much he hated this tower. It had to stay.

When Gemini and Blackjack arrived, he magically fastened his father to Blackjack and himself mounted Gemini with Ryojin on his back.
He shouted when they had just taken off, “And Mab! I am not beautiful!” handsome, maybe. But. not. Beautiful.
He could hear her cackling for a good 5 mins after that.

When they reached Ambrosia, Merlin all but fell on his bed after handing Balinor to Alice. Hunith stays with his father in the physician’s chambers.
Ryojin and the rest of his dragons followed Merlin to his chambers and they all fell into a relieved slumber.

*

The next day.

“You ready for your first trial ever, mate? He hears someone say behind him, Merlin already knows who it is. Not many people would dare to enter the King’s chambers without knocking first.
He turns to greet his friend- who is already busy with his dragons.
“Hello to you, too, Gwaine.” He says to a person who completely ignores him.

Seriously, sometimes he thought that Gwaine only came to his chambers to pet his dragons. Currently, Aithusa is playing with Gwaine's hair and he is loving it. Merlin notches up his voice, “And, it is not my first trial ever, as you very well know.”
Gwaine gets up and walks towards him, looking at his official clothing and making a face. Merlin laughs.

“What I meant was, your first trial ever that you preside over, your decision is now law. Your judgement is final.” Gwaine looks at him seriously and Merlin takes a deep breath in and releases it before replying.
“It’s a bit stressful but I think I can handle it.” He says, feeling somewhat confident.
Merlin knew he had to be sure of whatever he decided. Whether it was execution or banishment or anything else. But he had friends around him and that gave him assurance because they will be there to help him.

His dragons, his mother, father… his friends. They all were wise in their own way. They will help just like he used to help Arthur. He smiles at that memory, remembering the good old days.
He feels Gwaine clap on his shoulder,
“Well, if it’s too stressful then I am always here, you know.” Gwaine winks and Merlin throws his head back and laughs. All tension seeping out of his body- that’s probably what Gwaine had intended.

During one of their drunk nights, Merlin had confessed to Gwaine just how right he was in saying that they had ‘shagged’. Gwaine had taken it in stride and had tried to make a move on Merlin that very moment. Even Merlin hadn’t denied it, he had just replied with a ‘maybe later’.

Right now, Merlin replies him with a shove to the shoulder and in a very fake stern voice he says, “I have kids now, Gwaine.”
Gwaine sighed theatrically and like a good husband had said, “Fine then darling.” He then casts a sidelong look at Kalinda, and leaned closer to Merlin to add a little ‘Gwaine’ touch to the answer with a whisper,
“After the kids are asleep then.”

Merlin had laughed all the way to the throne room.

As soon as he entered the courtroom, Gwaine behind him (to which he scoffed and pulled his friend beside him), people stood on their feet and greeted him. Both mentally and through words and gestures.

He made his way towards the throne and felt…. Very uncomfortable to say the least. Wasn’t the King’s throne supposed to be comfortable? Beside him on the right, was his mother and on his left, was Balinor.
Kara was standing with Brigand, with a stone face and looking everywhere but at Merlin and Manon.

His dragons were with him as well. Kalinda and Ryojin at the top of the throne seated while Yddraig and Aithusa sat on opposite arms.

In front of him was Manon in shackles.
He magicked the shackles away and commanded the guards to stop holding her before he began.
“Manon of Iseldir clan. You stand here charged with treason.” People gasp around Merlin. He had hoped that by now they would already know what Manon had done… but apparently not.
He raised his hand, the room went silent.
“You have been accused of collaborating with Julius Borden for the act of assassination. He tried to steal the egg of Dragoness Aithusa, and shot Lord Balinor and I both quite severely.” At this, he only hears one gasp. His mothers.

“You have also been accused of collaborating with the witch Morgause. Who threatened your king and his family. Lord Balinor and Ryojin, my dragon, were abducted yesterday. You aided and abetted her in doing so, except for your lack of participation in harming Ryojin.”

He takes a deep breath here and again has to silence the audience. “How do you plead?”

“You already know my reasons, Emrys.” Merlin sighs and says, “Yes, I do know your reason. You were punishing me for something I am yet to do.” He pauses, “You are punishing me because of a prophecy.” He grits his teeth and calls forth Rigga.

“Rigga, the druid seer. Manon here claimed that you had unconsciously warned her of the dangers I posed to her son, Mordred.” Here Gwaine gasps. He knows the story, he knows who Mordred is and what part he plays in the prophecy.

“Emrys, I predict many futures every day. Some of them come true, some of them don’t. It is usually people trying to stop the prophecy who actually make it happen in the end. It is the reason why I never give out the future, voluntarily. The dreams? Those are the prediction that the Old religion wants me to tell the person involved. I have no hand in them.”

Merlin nods. He personally knew the discretion of the old religion. The goddess was a complicated entity.
“And do you remember what the future had said to hold in your vision?”
“Of course. I never forget a vision. It said,

‘Young is his heart, but broken it will be.
His heart’s rage will bring down the king,
And when he starts hating the king- know that Mordred had fallen and
know that it was Emrys who was the cause of the fall.
But also know that love was the cause of it All.’ ”

Merlin looks at the ground. This prophecy could eerily fit into his past life.
Mordred’s heart was broken because Kara died. His rage had brought down the king. He had hated Arthur for killing Kara, and thus like an angel- had fallen into the arms of Morgana.
Merlin had not directly but indirectly caused both Arthur’s and Mordred’s death.
And, Love. It was something Merlin still didn’t understand- and it had been 1500 years.

But how could love be the cause this time? Kara was Mordred’s cousin sister in this birth.
He was just going to ignore the love bit and continue the trial, for now.

“Thank you Rigga.” He nods at the old seer and gets a nod in return too. He turns back to Manon and asks again, “How do you plead, Manon?”
She looks at Kara, smiles at her niece and turns back to Merlin. She doesn’t see the tear that escapes Kara’s eyes as soon as she turned away, but Merlin does.

“Guilty, my lord.” Her voice hadn’t shaken once. Merlin nods.
He looks at the audience beyond him. Sees the faces filled with sympathy and tears. He looks at Kara and sees the young girl crying in Brigand’s arms. He turns towards his mother, whose eyes are also filled, and seem to be saying that, ‘I would have done the same for you.’ Merlin knows that he can’t execute Manon for multiple reasons.

1. If he executed her then there was no guarantee that Mordred or Kara won’t turn against him. He hadn’t met this Mordred yet but the Mordred he knew- didn’t forgive easily.

2. Whatever Manon had done, she had done for her son. After going toe-to-toe with Morgause for Ryojin, he had realized that he would go to any lengths for his children too. He could not bear to lose them. Ever. Family was important.

3. Though Manon was guilty of punishing him for something that hadn’t happened yet, so was he. He had punished Mordred was something he hadn’t done when they were in Camelot. If Manon was guilty, then so was he.

But he couldn’t just let her walk away with it. He couldn’t jeopardize his family or his kingdom ever again.
He looked at Ryojin and Aithusa. These two had helped him come to this decision. It was both kind and just. Ryojin had made sure that Merlin wasn’t too hard on the judgement (Though Yddraig had pushed for a harsher punishment) and Aithusa had made sure that this was just. A punishment worthy of the crime, without being deadly.
And Kalinda had helped them find a way to achieve it.

He walked down the stone steps that led to the throne and stood right in front of Manon.
“Manon. I will give you a choice.” He sees from the corner of his eyes, that Kara whips her head towards them.

“You either are exiled from this Kingdom to return on the pain of death. If you choose this then you will never see Kara again, or if Mordred chooses to come to Ambrosia- then you won’t see him either.” Merlin waits for Manon to take that in. Then continues,

“Or, you will work in Ambrosia at the fields with full allowance to see Kara and Mordred- with the exception that you will have a guard following you at all times and….” he pauses, he had seen Manon’s face at this choice, it was like she couldn’t believe her luck. She will after she hears him complete his sentence, “and your magic will be taken from you.”

People all around him gasp. He hears the whisperings of ‘is that possible?’, ‘Manon deserves much worse’, ‘poor kids’ etc etc. But his full attention is on Manon who is watching Kara.
Merlin knew that both the sentences were just.
To never be allowed to see your child again was more painful than anything else in the entire world. More painful than anything, except losing your magic.
Merlin knew and remembered what losing it felt it when he was young and scared.

It was like losing a part of you that makes you complete. You can’t imagine your life without it. So, yes. Many people would say that she should die, but Merlin didn’t agree.
Death caused more pain and suffering to the people who remained alive, who were innocent. There was no punishment in death. Death, in fact, for Merlin was precious.

"I choose the second option, Thank you," she looks like she wants to say something more but is hesitating, Merlin nods and she continues, "Have you decided on my Promise, Emrys?” People around them quietened when they heard her say that.
“What promise?” he heard Gwaine question, always ready to protect Merlin.
“The promise that Emrys won’t harm my son.” To be honest, Merlin had given this a lot of thought.

He had every angle possible and he had come up with a solution.
“I will give you a promise,” he said to Manon, “Although, I have added something of my own.” She narrowed her eyes but knew that she was already stretching this too far. Looking the gift horse in the mouth and all.
“I promise you on what I love most that I will not harm your son, Mordred- if he does not deserve it. So, mote it be.” He could feel his magic binding him to the oath.

Merlin knew that he will try his best not to hurt Mordred. If he did hurt Mordred then he would make sure that he deserved it first. This oath will act as checks and balance for Merlin too. Keep him from hating the druid boy for something he had not done.

He then proceeded to take the magic from Manon. He was Magic, he had remembered. All that was Magic, was his. Made to be his. His to command, his to yield and his to love and cherish. All he had to do was command the magic in Manon to come to him, and because her magic was already lashing against her, it wasn't too difficult.

When the magic came to him, he guided it to the land. He won't take it, he already had too much of his own. Instead, he sent the magic to help the land protect the people in it, to help them become wiser, to help them love each other. Merlin was Magic. The earth was magic. The earth was his to yield. Forever.

He turned back from the view of Kara hugging her aunt and looked at his own family. They were looking at him with proud beams on their faces. Even his Dragons, whose grins looked more like grimaces (he got the message beneath it, though). He carefully looked at each member's face- Hunith, Will, Balinor, Gwaine, Kalinda, Aithusa, Ryojin and Yddraig. He looked at them and mentally sent a prayer to the triple goddess that when he leaves for Camelot in a few months time, let them remain safe.
Because Goddess only knew what he will do without them in his life.

Chapter Text

The last few months of his stay in Ambrosia consisted only of his dragons.
Now that they could all fly, they would regularly go on rides- Merlin usually was on Gemini or Kilgharrah. Sometimes, Merlin would take them places like- the crystal caves or the lake of Avalon.

Sometimes they would read together from the tome on dragons, and do the multiple activities mentioned in it – like Mind-connection. As a Dragonlord that gave birth to these Dragons, Merlin could connect his mind to theirs and see what they were seeing, or share memories. It was like showing a photo album to someone.
Other times Merlin would sing to them, strumming on his guitar- which, Merlin would like to mention, now had several bites and claw marks and had been repaired multiple times already, all thanks to Yddraig.

Sometimes they would just watch Merlin teach or train. Other times they would all sit around Kilgharrah and Merlin would ask the older dragon to tell them stories of the time before Magic was banned. The old dragon loved it, he was like a typical Grandfather, telling them bedtime stories of the time when hundreds of dragons flew the skies.

The old dragon was still obsessed with prophecies- especially the once and future king and Emrys’s destiny together. But he never mentioned Mordred or Morgana. He never warned Merlin against them in this life. In fact, in this life he kept telling Merlin to 'be who he is’, to show his true self to Arthur. Only then will the Prophecy be fulfilled- last time Kilgharrah had said something completely different. He had warned Merlin to death to hide his Magic.

On one such occasion Merlin and his dragons were again surrounding Kilgharrah whilst he was remembering the day when Merlin had been born into the world, how the balance in the world had returned the moment Emrys had taken his first breath. How magic had rejoiced and the trees had sung. How winds had swished and water had splashed.

Once the story got over, his dragons started prepping themselves for flight, they were going hunting.
They could do that now- catch their own food and eat it too- the whole of the forest surrounding Ambrosia was welcome to them.
Before they left, Merlin had to make sure that they would back on time, so he said,
“Remember to be back for the ceremony.”
Kalinda, the natural leader of the group turned and replied with an affirmative and he waited until they were out of sight before turning to Kilgharrah.

Merlin smiled at him for a second and then said factly, “You know, don’t you?” He didn’t wait for the dragon to reply, just kept remarking.
“You know now. You didn’t know before.” Which made him question... frowning he asked,
“Since when do you know?”

The cheeky lizard smiled, his eyes filled with amusement and wonder.
“I know since the day you were looking for your father- when Ryojin had been kidnapped.” Merlin winces at the memory but still doesn’t understand what gave him away. Kilgharrah sees this and continues, “Since you commanded me to tell you ‘what happened’- I wouldn’t have been able to break out of Balinor’s commands until an.... older dragonlord commanded me otherwise.”

The dragon paused, before speaking again, “That day I knew that you were old and powerful. But, the day you sentenced that witch, Manon,” the dragon lowers his head as if in respect, “That day, I knew you were also wise.”

He is showing all of his teeth- smiling- and continues “Wiser than a 23-year-old-looking boy could possibly be. I knew then, that you were fully Emrys, that this is the future part of the prophecy.” He pauses there for a second, as if thoughtful, then said,
“So, this time be yourself. Choose your own ways, make your own decisions. And remember.... the king is your other half.” Merlin frowned at the end- he already knew that but still, he smiled, nodded and left the dragon after that- vanishing into thin air as if he had never been there. He had finally mastered that trick.

Today was an important day. Not only was Merlin getting ready to leave tomorrow at dawn but also it was an important day for the Kingdom as a whole. They were celebrating the festival of Beltane and the 2nd year anniversary of Ambrosia a little early. The reason for that was that Merlin had to be in Camelot for Arthur’s birthday.

But that was not all, right now in an hour, his parents were getting married!! Finally.
Since he was the king, he was also conducting the ceremony.
It had to be the most bizarre marriage ever.
Balinor had come to ask Merlin for Hunith’s hand (yeah, that wasn’t comfortable at all), Then their son was reading the rights as their king. Also, it was Beltane- Merlin didn’t even want to think about that- he shudders- he was not going to imagine what it was like having Beltane and your first night coincide.

He shakes his head to dispel the thoughts and changes into his ceremonial robes.
He then goes to the throne room to conduct his parent's union.

*

The ceremony had been wonderful. His mother had never looked happier and his father…. Well, Merlin finally knew where he got his huge smile from.
Balinor and Hunith did not let go of each other even once after the ceremony- they remained touching somehow. As if they couldn't believe that this was real and had to touch each other to confirm. To know that this won't be taken from them. Merlin was happy that they were happy, that was all he could ask for.

The elves had outdone themselves this time. The whole castle was decorated with sunflowers (Hunith’s favourite flowers) and her dress was magnificent golden and cream.
Merlin had gifts made for his parents too since they were going to rule Ambrosia in his absence he had thought it fitting to get them something that made that title official. They had both vetoed against crown so Merlin had compromised and gotten them circlets.

It was at the end of the reception that Merlin decided to visit the grove as well, his dragons following him. The grove looked wonderful too, there were multiple lanterns in the sky- lighting the way and the barks of the trees were covered with colourful cloths. He laughed when he saw Gwaine already drinking and flirting.
Beltane was in full swing and many people tried to coax him into dancing but he declined. With the druids he usually could not control himself, if he had danced then he would drink the mead that they provided- and it was not a normal mead- the concoction that the druids made you drink came with the guarantee that you will forget everything that happened the night before. The mead also had an aphrodisiac in it which encouraged many other activities…

He was the guest of honour and his job was to sit, eat and watch. So, that is what he did, no more- no less. People were dancing around the fire, many had already started making out- either on the forest floor or in the huts provided. Merlin was doing his best to avert his eyes, but it was everywhere…

Merlin laughed at his own prude-ness. 1500 years of going through phases when he was a naked hippie and having sex with strangers to now… when he was getting awkward just by looking. But an hour later it stopped phasing him, he became comfortable and started having fun. His dragons were on the trees above him and people around him were chatting to him- some even going far enough to touch him intimately- he didn’t reject it but didn’t encourage it either. He also had to decline many men and women offering him their beds. He just wasn't in the mood- too excited for nothing else but Camelot!

When midnight came close Merlin took his leave and made his way back to the castle. His dragons had left for dinner an hour ago and he assumed that they had already retired to his chambers. His dragons were getting too big for even his chambers now and had started sleeping on the roof of his chambers but since this was his last night in Ambrosia, they had decided to make themselves uncomfortable to be able to spend these last few hours with him.

The druids had given him multiple going away presents- which included fine cloaks and throws made of animal skin. They were not as expensive as his cloaks and throws but they were perfect for him to take to Camelot.

When he entered his chambers, he saw that the dragons had made Friggo take his bed out of the room so that they will have enough space for the night. Currently, Friggo was also spreading a massive throw that covered the whole floor, while his dragons lit the candles (no it wasn’t by blowing fire at them- they were doing it magically) and the fireplace.

When he entered, they all looked up and Merlin smiled. He thanked and squeezed Friggo’s shoulder when the elf was leaving.
He then quickly made his way to the bathroom to wipe away all the grime and changed into his night clothes.
By the time he returned his dragons had already settled themselves on opposite sides to each other, leaving enough room in the middle for Merlin to fit in.

When he sat down Kalinda turned to him and said, “When will you be back?” he voice was calm and gentle. Merlin had never heard something so melodic than her voice. Merlin turned towards her and replied, “I’ll come to visit you guys often.” She still looked morose so Merlin added, “I promise to come back for Every Beltane, all of your’s birthdays and whenever you call me, I will come. I promise.” Now that he could vanish, he could be anywhere, anytime within a blink of an eye.

Now she looked… well, not happy but she did look comforted. Ryojin was next to speak, “We won’t call you that often, only when we miss you.” Always the one to understand, Ryojin.
His voice was something Merlin could fall asleep to. Ever heard waves lapping the shore? If we could ever translate that sound into a voice- it will be Ryojin’s.
It was so calm and so deep that Merlin could listen to him talk for ages.

Merlin nodded to Ryojin and smiled before he heard another of his dragon’s speak.
“And when can we visit you?” He sighed. Yddraig was always the one to get in trouble. He turned to his red dragon, whose voice was perhaps not so soothing as the other two but it was husky, seductive in a way only violence was. He didn’t speak much but when he did it was usually to suggest something completely dangerous.

“Never,” replied Merlin. “You are to not visit me in Camelot. Ever.” He could see Yddraig getting ready to say an excuse but Merlin did not let him speak, just continued, “No. Not even if there is an emergency.”
Kilgharrah could very well contact him through mind-speak if there was an emergency and if he was needed. He will not let his children come anywhere close to Camelot, no matter what.

Then he heard the voice of the last dragon. The dragon of justice.
Aithusa had been helping Merlin with everyday court problem and will continue to do so with his parents. Her voice was always measured, never biased and always spoke the truth.
He had cried the first time he had heard her speak. Because it was truly the first time she had spoken- in her past life she had been injured beyond repair. Her vocal chord had been damaged too.
He shakes himself when Kalinda nudges him, he smiles at her thankfully and pays attention to what Aithusa was saying.

“Father is right, Yddraig. Camelot is no place for dragons…. Yet. Our place is in Ambrosia.”

Merlin smiled victoriously and could see Yddraig sulking. But he also knew that the reason for his sulk was not Merlin or Aithusa. It was Ryojin.
The blue dragon had rejected all of Yddraig’s plans of going to Camelot, and the red dragon wasn’t happy about it. Yddraig could go against anyone- even Merlin- but he will never go against Ryojin.

These both together were trouble, but Merlin knew that Ryojin was more sensible and he would allow something that would put Yddraig in danger. That relieved him.
He kissed each of his dragons on the snout and magically snuffed all the candles, keeping only moonlight as the sole source of light.

They slept then, close to each other, cuddled in each other's warmth, in wait of Dawn.

*

Dawn came and so did the time for Merlin to depart.
Before leaving, Merlin visits Rigga one last time.
When she had entered Ambrosia, he had asked her to make something for him- well for Morgana. Rigga, like the seer she was, was already standing in wait with a necklace.

It was a beautiful piece of jewellery. An Amethyst pendant- enchanted with the blessing of the Triple goddess set in a silver frame, dangling from a silver chain. This pendant’s purpose was much like the bracelet Morgause had given Morgana, only now Merlin would be the one to help her instead.

He leaves only with the bag he came with when he travelled back in time. Only this time it was three eggs short. The bag still contained his miniature library, his iPod and some jewels. He had packed his guitar again and some clothes as well. Obsidian also hung from his waist, although he had enchanted it to not draw attention.

He also had to remove his signet ring and wear it around his neck like a pendant, it would have attracted too much attention otherwise. Merlin was in his dark trousers and a white tunic, he could have passed as a trader if it wasn’t for his mother forcing him to take his midnight blue cloak.
It is a cloak fit for king, not for a peasant. Merlin had argued but Hunith had not budged, no matter how much sense he put into his argument.

He saddled Thunder- another black Pegasus. And mounted him before departing.
He had realized a few days ago, at the start of Beltane that he could not take his trusted Pegasus Gemini, to Camelot.
Why?
Well, because after spending so much time flying together, Blackjack had not only warmed his way into Gemini’s heart but also penetrated into not so... hidden places.
When he had seen Gemini next, he had known that she was carrying. He couldn’t put her or her foals in danger by taking her to Camelot.

Thunder was very good too. They had become friends when Merlin had spent multiple days in the stables and though Merlin had ridden Gemini on most days, he had always wanted to ride Thunder, at least once.

His coat was a glossy Black but his legs turned grey halfway down. Hence the name. Thunder was very loyal and very courageous- He was also the fastest Pegasus out there and according to Gemini- worthy of Merlin. He had volunteered to come with Merlin to Camelot.

He clicks his tongue and Thunder unfurls his wings to fly.
Merlin turns to look at the Castle, even staying away for a few months without seeing his family made his heart ache. But that was also the reason why he was leaving at dawn.
He liked dawn because usually, everyone was still asleep. He loved dawn because he didn’t like goodbyes.

Goodbyes for him were final. He had said goodbye to Arthur when he had died.
Gaius, Gwen… all of his friends. Never to see them again. For him, Goodbye was the synonym of death. So, he won’t say ‘Goodbye’ to Ambrosia today, won't say 'goodbye' to his family. But he did smile to say, ‘See you later’.

He will see them soon, but for now, it was time for his destiny.

Chapter Text

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