Saving Destiny (A Merlin Fanfiction)

x | in the time of danger

"My oh my, how the boys will gape."

Merlin grinned and twirled around for Gwen and Freya, who both giddily clapped their hands. The princess chuckled and hugged both of her friends, before pulling away and musing how wonderful they both looked today.

As what she had promised for the Winter Ball, Merlin asked for the royal seamstress to make dresses for her roommate and their friend. Guinevere was stunning in a red, floor-length dress, hugging her just at the right curves. Merlin couldn't wait to see Lancelot's reaction once seeing his girlfriend. Freya, who chose not to wear her odd-shaped spectacles, was beautiful in a midnight blue dress, this time billowy as opposed to Gwen's curve-hugging dress.

The princess, on the other hand, was wearing her signature old rose-colored dress. Ever since she was young, her mother always chose for her to wear such shades of colors because it brought out the brightness of her blue eyes. Her dress was simple, yet elegant, with pink, petal-like designs embroidered on the long skirt.

"You look wonderful," the princess sighed. "Both of you."

Freya prettily blushed and fidgeted a little. "Of course, nobody can beat you, Princess Merlin," she complimented back, prompting the future queen to grin.

"Well, shall we?" she asked, hooking both of her arms to Gwen and Freya. "I'm sure the boys are already dying with boredom."

Gwen and Freya exchanged a secret glance, a conversation regarding the princess and her head bodyguard running through their minds. Wordlessly, they wondered how Arthur would react upon seeing Merlin.

__________

Arthur should have anticipated this.

Women always had this weird habit of taking a long time to dress up. He wondered if it was innate in all the women in the world. Glancing around the corridors of the dormitory, he observed that only a few women could be seen roaming around, about to go to the reception hall for the Winter Ball. He had this inkling most were still inside, prettying themselves up.

The head bodyguard sighed and looked at his watch. The princess seemed to have this knack of being a little late for her appointments and activities. He knew that a princess is supposed to be prompt, but Merlin seemed to overlook this fact. She really overlooked a lot of facts, now that he thought about it. It still made him feel weird that their roles were reversed, that he was the one doing the serving in this lifetime. Ever since he was young, he had always been awarded for his exceptional leadership skills. That was why it was not surprising that he was chosen to become the head bodyguard of the Crown Princess. But now assuming his role as such, he was more of a personal bodyguard to the princess than a leader to her group of bodyguards. And it made him feel odd, because he was not used to it at all.

He had been observing Merlin for months already and he knew that most of the time, she was uncomfortable with her title. Whispered conversations at night made her share some of her insights as a princess, how she sometimes felt she did not belong, and wished to feel ordinary even just for a day. Those were the times when Arthur mused and wondered as to the real reason why in this lifetime, their roles were reversed. Their past incarnations always stuck to the roles of the originals, and it was only now when the reversal occurred, making Arthur think that this lifetime was special.

Something big was about to happen.

But, despite all the discomforts and odd feelings, Arthur surprisingly felt satisfied serving the future queen of their country. It taught him a lot of things he never learned prior to becoming the head bodyguard. His position was humbling, there he say it, especially because he always was a king or a leader in his past reincarnations. There were times when he pondered that perhaps this was destiny's way of rewarding him and Merlin for a job well done every time they were reborn – that maybe it was time that the mighty King Arthur steps down from his throne and relieve him from his kingly duties; maybe it was time that the loyal, legendary Merlin be rewarded with a title and prestige for being a faithful servant through and through.