The Search ➳ Merthur

epilogue

I'm screaming on the outside

-

Arthur stared out the window of his chambers, not paying attention to the sounds of his manservant bumbling around behind him. It was time for the End of Spring Festival, and the court of Camelot had invited some special guests to commemorate the occasion. They were to arrive soon, and Arthur was leaning forward and backward on his feet, anxious for their arrival. He was anxious, as it had been a month since the ban of magic had been repealed, and the guests were going to be the neighboring Druid tribe. Arthur had never met them before, and he was wondering on how he was supposed to act.

The repeal was still fresh; many of his citizens still looked down on magic and hated it. They thought Arthur was a horrible king for not following in the steps of his father, but he didn't care less. Magic allowed for people to do impossible things, things that would help themselves and others. He had instated a Court Physician that had knowledge of magic, knowing all possible remedies for any sort of ailment. In the past month itself, Gaius has saved countless lives with the use of magic.

He also had added a group of sorcerers to his knights. They learned to fight with weapons yes, but they would also be trained in the skill of offensive sorcery. It continued to save his men's lives, and currently in court, he was debating with his advisors whether to make all knights learn at least a few baseline spells in magic as well. It would certainly make a difference if every single knight was aware of how to make a wound stop bleeding with magic, or how to use their surroundings to their advantage in a fight.

Arthur had no qualms about his decision at all. As far as he was concerned, everything had gone right. And yes, sorcerers still attempted to enchant him or kill him, but their attempts were usually in vain when Arthur was surrounded by people even further skilled in magic than they. He sighed, glancing down to the castle entrance as people milled about the courtyard, going about their lives. Many of them smiled and spoke with each other, laughing about one thing or another. It made him happy that his peoples' lives were safe.

There was a sound of bells, the type used to welcome guests into the courtyard, and Arthur jumped in his spot at the suddenness of it. He saw a group of hooded figures—no more than thirty, he presumed—enter into the court, and he scurried off out of his chambers to go and greet them. He walked quickly through the halls, trying to avoid running into the servants or other people. On his way down the steps, he met Morgana, who was waiting for him.

"Arthur, where have you been? You know this is important." She said, and Arthur rolled his eyes but nodded at her.

"I was waiting for their arrival in my chambers, I'm sorry." He said, and walked in front of her as she followed behind him. They made their way to the front castle steps, and watched as the group of Druids came closer and closer. As the distance grew shorter, Arthur's anxiety grew higher. What if he messed up?

They finally came to a stop in front of him, and Arthur felt a slap on the back from behind him. He turned to find Lancelot and Gwaine grinning at him, offering their support. The congratulatory look on their faces made him smile, and then he turned back toward the group of Druids in front of him. There was a single member in the front, with their hood still up and covering their face. To their left, the man Arthur had met so many months ago, stood, Iseldir. To their right, the face that he would never forget, that escaped from his dungeons, Mordred.

"Camelot and its king welcome the Druid people, from now and until forever. I am proud to have you all here, to consider you my own people, and I hope you all think well of me." Arthur said, taking a breath. His heart beat too quickly in his chest, and for some reason his anxiety grew, though he didn't know why.

"We are thrilled to be under the protection of Camelot's king, Arthur Pendragon." The voice that spoke was not Iseldir, as Arthur had expected, but rather the person in the middle. It made his heart race even faster, the sound of that smooth voice speaking his name. After the full fourth month had passed, Arthur had concluded that he would probably never hear that voice again. It was fine, he'd said, if Merlin was happy wherever he was, that was all that mattered. And yet Arthur had continued to cry himself to sleep various nights of the week since then.

The figure in the center pulled his hood off of his head, and Arthur saw the face he'd been longing to see since Merlin had left four months ago. It took everything in him not to weep right there, because he was here, his Merlin was here. He could only watch as Merlin took a few steps closer to him and bowed low before him. Arthur stepped down to the ground in front of him, and as Merlin rose and smiled at him, with the corners of his eyes crinkling and his eyes shining in the bright sunlight, a slight pink flush on his face, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close.

"I missed you, so much." Arthur said into Merlin's neck.

"I missed you, too." Merlin said, and Arthur felt a tear drop onto his neck. He pulled away from the hug, aware of the stares from his knights and advisors, as well as those from the Druids. When he took a glance behind Merlin, he saw Iseldir with a soft smirk on his face, but then he put all his focus back onto his love in front of him and saw the changes he had gone through in the past few months. He had grown stronger, and when his arm drew out from his cloak to place his hand on Arthur's cheek, he saw it covered in runes from top to bottom.

Merlin had changed, and yet he was still the same person Arthur had fallen in love with, and would continue to love. And so, Arthur kissed him, right there, in front of the entire court, because he never wanted to have to bear to be without him.

Merlin kissed him back, knowing he would make sure Arthur would never have to search for him ever again.

FIN.

-

It's over holy fck

I just wanna thank y'all for reading this and I really hope you liked it!!

Now that this is over, I'm going to finish writing the next part of Monster, and then I think I'm going to start another chaptered fic.

Thanks again, comment & vote!!

~Dev ❤️