Merlin's magic (Oneshots)

With and without you part 2

Summary:  Continuation to with and without you (I'll rearrange the chapters later. I don't want to be confusing with what's new and what isn't.)

It seemed, Arthur was not the only one who could pass through the barrier of the universes. He meets Merlin. A Merlin who took his own kingdom by force, and never met an Arthur. Because in his world, Arthur is dead.

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It took a couple months for Arthur to prepare a literate draft for a law on magic. He'd have been faster but Merlin insisted on getting it checked about a dozen times by Geoffrey and the court. He himself checked it too, on spelling errors, on errors on how magic worked, etc. And he had Arthur checked at least four times on potential brain damage before finally admitting that he had magic. Let's just say there was a lot of checking involved.

Every step, every little change was documented. Every reason to delay a law, any specification was noted elaborately. It was the most complex work of law that Arthur had ever tried to get through. And the only reason why he hesitated to officiate it was because Merlin wanted to be sure.

They even lay the first draft open to the people of Camelot so they knew what was happening. Another was brought before the druids to have a second opinion (Technically, it was the 12th opinion). Anonymous opinions were inspected carefully and cross examined by several people of the court.
This law was important. It wasn't JUST the most complex, it was THE most life changing, society altering piece of work ever written by any King in the history of Albion. And everyone was witnessing it and inspecting every move of their King.

Arthur had been sent note by Queen Annis and King Lot that they were watching this process and how it would affect Camelot. And if it worked, they would follow his example. Until further notice, magic users were no longer executed by previous laws, but held in dungeons until the law would pass. The world watched, breath on hold, and a keen eye out on Arthur's choices.

Arthur was so goddamn tired. And whenever he entered his own chambers, he could tell that Merlin was too. The man was even more involved than any advisor of Arthur's would have been, and not just mentally. Merlin was helping where he could while keeping up his usual work as well as he was able. And whenever Arthur came to his rooms from a last meeting about something minor - less important than the magic law, yet still important - Merlin was draped over his working table, softly breathing against the parchment.

Arthur sighed and walked over to him. Then he put a hand on Merlin's shoulder to wake him. Merlin stirred softly. Blurry eyes vaguely noticed Arthur, then he closed his eyes again. "You're back already?"

"The meeting lasted three hours, Merlin. It's past midnight."

Merlin tightened his arms around his head. "'s was that important?"

Arthur sighed. "Just something about food distribution in times of need. It's important... but not dire. You need to get up and into an actual bed, Merlin."

Merlin didn't seem to fully listen. "'d have told you sooner, I would. Srrry." He slurred in his half awake state, making Arthur smile softly.

Arthur knew this was about Merlin's magic. Not because he could read Merlin well but because they had this conversation nearly every night. "I know you wanted to. I understand why you didn't. Come on, champ." Arthur was a lot softer in waking Merlin than it was the other way around. Arthur had to admit he was driven by guilt. Finding out Merlin's secret had been great and all, but it hadn't opened him up to the full truth. In the first few weeks, after Merlin was finally convinced that Arthur's brain hadn't been damaged in some way, Merlin had spent a significant time of his to force Arthur into more conversations. In which he told Arthur EVERYTHING there was to know about Merlin and his history with protecting Arthur.