Fall From Grace Author: Anon Rating: NC-17 Warnings: Magic!sex, Merlin/OMCs, language, descriptions of starvation Word Count:20K Disclaimer: I own nothing and I make nothing. Prompt: [info]nyargles asked for: Canon era, the harvest that year hasn't done very well. Arthur's worried about his people, and Merlin's worried about Arthur. Insert Merlin!magic. Notes: Thanks to the talented [info]blameitonmerlin, who is a gloriously fabulous beta. Merlin barely resisted the urge to press his naked body against the nearest stone wall. He imagined how cool it would be against his skin and the mere thought had him shivering in delight. Instead, he threw on his favorite tunic; made out of the softest material he owned and rubbed the worn material against his flushed skin. Because Arthur was off doing whatever it was he did on the trips with his Knights, Merlin put on the thinnest breeches he owned and with a brief thought, he shortened them with just a hint of magic, until they were just above his incredibly knobby knees. He was Gaius? apprentice today, not some pig-headed, prat of a prince and so who cared if he was running around like a peasant? After all, that was all he really was. Well, not exactly all, Merlin thought as he opened the door that led to Gaius? work room. The heat was blistering and it was only half nine. It was past the time of year for this kind of weather, but the days were still blistering like it was midsummer, not autumn. It drove Merlin mad and the heat made his skin crawl with pent up magical energy. He wasn't sure what it was about the heat that made him antsy to do something, anything, with his magic, but he knew enough to know that it was a prescription for trouble. Thankfully, Uther had knighted someone last night and Arthur had gone off for a few days to bond with his new charge. It lessened the chance of Merlin doing something spectacularly stupid and getting himself beheaded or burned at the stake, depending on the mood of the King. "What a pleasing thought," Merlin said out loud as he looked around Gaius? workshop. There didn't seem to be any experiments going or leech tanks to be cleaned, but Merlin spotted a scrap of paper with a list of herbs that need gathering. Most of them looked easy to find and so Merlin left his boots in his room, preferring to go barefoot; something Arthur forbade because he said it made Merlin look more common than he already appeared. "Common for a bloody warlock," Merlin muttered as he grabbed his satchel, a small dagger and made to leave the coolness of the castle and into the open heat of Camelot. Despite the heat, the castle bustled with life. Servants were moving around the castle with swiftness and Merlin smiled at those he recognized. He couldn't help but take the longer route around the castle so that he passed Morgana's chambers. The guilt burned deep inside of him as he passed Gwen, who was inside Morgana?s room. Lovely, compassionate Gwen who had been ordered to keep the unoccupied room fresh?as if by some chance Morgana would return. Gwen changed the linens with grace and Merlin paused to watch her through the open door. The windows were unlatched, the light of the morning spilling into the room and breathing life into the dark chambers. Merlin tried not to think of Morgana's face, screwed up in disbelief as the hemlock burrowed into her blood and choked the life from her. He tried not to think of her face but it haunted him in the day as well as in the cloak of night. He hadn't gotten a full nights rest since she had been taken. Before him, Gwen was placing fresh flowers onto the pillows of the bed, her lips kissing the empty space beside them. She paused and Merlin closed his eyes, praying that Morgause saved Morgana and was taking care of her. Even if it meant that Morgana was lost to Camelot forever, at least she would be alive. But it was hard to imagine, when and if Merlin got to see Morgana again, that she would understand the decision Merlin had had to make. Or if the phrase, 'for Camelot'-- for Arthur, had been tarnished by Uther forever. Merlin turned away as soon as Gwen started moving again. There was no reason to linger on losses that he couldn't change in the day before him. At least, that was what he kept telling himself between the hole Morgana left, the fear of what the Dragon had warned of her fate and his father's death. But it didn't stop their faces haunting his dreams. Nor Merlin's attempts to communicate with Morgana with hers. He hadn't succeeded yet and he wasn't not sure he wanted to; the fear of what he would see and what she would say was dizzying. Merlin left the castle and willed the sun to clear his mind. The courtyard was bustling with towns people and guards alike. He nodded to the few who acknowledged his existence and made his way out of the courtyard's stone and into the dirt path of the town. "Merlin!" He was just at the towns edge and he turned around to find a very familiar face. "Is that you, Princess?" Merlin called back to where the little girl was standing. She giggled and ran toward him to latch herself onto his legs. "Merlin," she chastised in a way only a child could. "I'm not a princess!" She stepped back and Merlin frowned playfully, crouching down until they were eye level. "You're not? Are you a Queen, then?" She shook her head, blond pigtails shimmering in the sunlight. "Well, you are far too pretty to be anything but a Princess or a Queen," Merlin said before he leaned forward and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. She smiled, brighter than the blazing sun and Merlin couldn't help but feel his magic stir. What was it about blonds that made him want to show off? "You know what you need?" The little girls large brown eyes were sparkling with curiosity and Merlin grinned, so glad to see her well as she had been Gaius' patient only a few weeks ago when they had first met. She had taken to him immediately, enchanted by his life in the castle and of Prince Arthur, who she wanted to marry and live happily ever after with. Merlin knew the feeling. "Close your eyes," he said. A crease appeared on Charlotte's forehead and it reminded him so much of Arthur, that adorable and royal scowl that charmed all the girls into thinking he was brooding. The resemblance of Arthur's frown to Charlotte's was too cute to ignore and Merlin found himself shaking his head and laughing quietly. "Close your eyes," Merlin said again with a little wiggle of his finger. The little girl pouted but closed her eyes with a scrunch of her nose. Merlin looked around quickly, finding himself and Charlotte still alone, before he stared determinedly at the ground. A thrum of magic flowed through him and suddenly a patch of tiny white flowers were at his feet, breaking through the dusty ground. He plucked them carefully from the mound of dust surrounding the broken dirt and weaved them into Charlotte's golden hair. He checked to make sure her eyes were still closed before he conjured up a small mirror. "All right then, open up." "Merlin, you didn't do anything!" Charlotte whined and glanced around her. Merlin looked coy. "I didn't?" he said as he held up the mirror. She squealed with delight, her hands palming the flowers in her hair with pure glee. She leaned forward quickly to give Merlin a kiss on his cheek before she pranced off, without a single thought of thank you. He could hear her bragging to her friends just up the way and he couldn't help the silly grin that spreads across his face. Princess indeed, Merlin thought as he pocketed the mirror and turned towards the forest. <3<3<3 "Stop following me," Merlin hissed behind him as he trekked back through the way he came, his satchel full of herbs for Gaius even though it had been extremely hard to find many of them due to the drought. The forest path was well worn but the trees still shaded the path from the beating sun and for that, Merlin was grateful, considering it was blistering hot and he couldn't get the family of bunnies to stop following him. He tried not to look behind him, as if denying them his attention would hold any barring on whether or not they followed him back to the castle. He had to admit that they were very cute. In a herd of bunnies sort of way. Their noses twitched whenever he stopped to peer at them from over his shoulder?their tiny, pink little noses. And okay, they were possibly the most adorable things Merlin had ever seen, especially the baby ones, but it didn't make it any less annoying that he had a warren of bunnies following after him. It wouldn't be annoying if it wasn't blazing hot out. Merlin wanted to go back inside the cool walls of the castle, but it might look a bit suspicious if he walked into the Camelot walls with a procession of woodland creatures behind him. A squirrel looked at him curiously as he passed and Merlin glared. "Don't you dare start," he said to the squirrel and then promptly chastised himself for talking to animals. Seriously, if he didn't get his head cut off for being a bloody warlock then surely being mad would have some consequence. He reached the edge of the forest without anymore animals following him. As soon as he stepped onto the well worn road that lead into town he glanced back to see a row of bunnies looking particularly pathetic at the edge of the forest, like Merlin had threatened them with a pot of stew to boil them in. He wasn't Arthur, for goodness sakes! "I don't know what you want from me," Merlin said. The largest bunny's nose twitched. "Stop it!" The bunnies hopped toward him, tails and noses twitching in a formidable display of cuteness. Merlin could only sigh. He always had a soft spot for woodland creatures and this ...
Mojaunicorn