Merlin one shots

"Merlin.......Magic?"

Arthur clapped him on the back. "You brought it down! You ought to be rewarded."

Elyan spluttered, "But I didn't - it was - is everyone in Camelot blind?"

He gestured wildly at Merlin, who appeared from behind the creature with a satisfied smile on his face. The smile fell when he saw Elyan pointing at him. "What are you on about?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, what are you talking about?" demanded Arthur.

"I - he -"

"Was useless, as always," said Arthur. Merlin nodded his approval.

Elyan refused to speak to either of them the whole way home.

"Lancelot," said Elyan, "can I talk to you?"

Training was probably not the best time for this conversation, but Elyan sincerely doubted it was going to make a difference.

"Sure," said Lancelot. "What is it?"

Elyan chose his words carefully. "It's Merlin... He's a bit, well, off. If you know what I mean."

Lancelot knitted his brows together. "Is something wrong with him? He's not ill, is he?"

"Ah, no that's not what I - I don't mean he's acting a bit off now. I just mean, off in general." He paused. "You've never noticed anything... weird?"

Lancelot studied him carefully. "What are you saying?"

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Elyan said, "I'm pretty sure Merlin has magic."

There was a hesitation, and then Lancelot laughed. "Of course Merlin doesn't have magic. Where would you get that idea."

"Well," said Elyan, "mostly from seeing him use it about three times in the last week. And don't tell me I'm crazy. I know I saw something."

"Yes, you probably did see something," Lancelot agreed. "But no, Merlin doesn't have magic." He must have noticed that Elyan was about ready to burst from vexation, because he added, "You'll understand eventually."

"I'm sure I will," said Elyan wryly.

When Merlin arrived ten minutes later and tripped Arthur up with magic to make him lose, Elyan didn't even say anything.

Elyan didn't particularly want to confront Leon about this matter, since he didn't know how Leon would react. Maybe he would hear the word "magic" and assume arrest was the best course.

On the other hand, Leon was also the one most likely to be the slightest bit helpful, so he decided to risk it.

"Sir Leon," he said one day in the corridor.

Leon stopped. "Sir Elyan," he said, looking a bit surprised. He waited, but Elyan didn't say anything. "Yes?" he prompted.

"Oh," said Elyan. "Ah..." He struggled to find a good way to put it. There was none. "Do you think it's at all possible that Merlin might have magic, maybe?"

"Yes," said Leon. Elyan almost choked on nothing. "Anything's possible," the knight continued. "In theory, of course."

"Oh, of course," said Elyan, deflating a little. "So, personally, do you think-"

"No. Absolutely not." Leon smiled politely and continued going past Elyan.

Lancelot was wrong. He was never going to understand how the bloody hell no one seemed to notice anything. Ready to scream at something, Elyan rounded the corner and almost collided with a none-too-happy King Uther.

"Sir... Elyan," the king said distastefully. Elyan pretended not to be offended. "Did I hear you say that my son's manservant is a sorcerer?"

Elyan gulped. "I-I was just discussing theories, sire," he said hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "Not popular theories, I mean - just probability of certain things, you know. Something along the lines of, 'What are the chances that someone could have been serving in the royal household for four years and keep magic secret?' Stuff like that."

Uther glared down at him, an eyebrow raised. "And?" he demanded. "Do you think there is a chance that this... Merlin has magic?"

"No, my lord," replied Elyan quickly. "Of course not."

There was an extremely long moment in which Uther stared and Elyan didn't think he was going to let it go. Then the king shook his head and swept by.

Elyan waited until Uther was out of sight before breathing a long sigh of relief. Then a slow smile crept onto his face, and he felt much lighter while walking now.

"No, sir," he said to himself. "There's no way Merlin has magic."

He finally got it.