The Adventures of a King and His Warlock

The Last Goodbye

                                                                        TheLast Goodbye

By Gracie1009

"I'm happy to be your servant...till the day I die."

It was too late, Arthur realized, to fix those mistakes that he had made, to apologize in a way that always ended with that wide grin from his manservant, and a long list of chores for him to do in the meanwhile. Too late, to listen to his "funny feelings" as the man would always put it, too late for him to hear his laugh one last time, and treasure it close to his heart till the end of time. No, it was much too late for that, for all he had was the present, and the future, which seemed so much more grim and disheartening as the minutes wore on. Much, much too late...

The last banter...

"Is there anything you can actually do then Merlin?" The king teased, watching as the poor man tried and failed, yet again, to mount the oversized horse, and fell to the ground.

"Of course, sire." The servant replied as he stood, dusting off his trousers, which were much too dirty to ever completely get the stains out of anyway. "You're just too pig-headed to notice."

"I could throw you in the stocks for a comment like that."

"And I could just as easily lace your wine goblet with poison." 'Or obliterate this entire kingdom off the face of the earth.' He thought bitterly. The thought had crossed his mind before, usually when Arthur was being more of a prat than usual, but it was all in jest. Mostly. His powers were still a mystery, even to himself.

"Careful, Merlin. Threatening to kill the king is treason."

They had left the castle soon after, hoping to catch a meal before the day was out. It hadn't just been them on the hunting trip, the other Knights of the Round Table, the original members, had joined them. Gwaine, Leon, Percival, and Elyan. Ever since the last assassination attempt made on the kings life, Arthur hadn't trusted anyone else to be near him, except for his most trusted friends, including his servant and wife of course.

The last laugh...

The group had caught two rabbits, a pheasant, and a deer since their departure three days ago, a fine catch for a group with so little time to spend for free moments such as this anymore. Back when he was prince, Arthur would leave for weeks on end, and would come home with a bountiful assortment of plants and meats alike. He still had the skills for such a feat, even now when he was king, but lacked the time to enjoy such 'pointless endeavors' as Merlin would put it. But even Merlin would have to admit that he was enjoying himself though, for it had been a long while since any of them had had the opportunity to be so care free.

Now, they all lounged by the fire, savoring the meal that Merlin had prepared for them, a stew of his own design, with rabbit meat and some sort of liquidy substance than none would recognize upon tasting. Gwaine had just finished a tavern story, the one where he and Merlin had jumped from the top of the building and into the haystack below, and had proceeded to save Arthur's life, in the quest for the fisher king's trident.

He had even elected a rise out of Merlin, who had laughed so loudly when hearing of Arthur's rather unfortunate encounter with the bugs in order to open the hidden door, that he erupted into a coughing fit, and Percival had to forcefully pound it out of him.

None had heard the man's laugh for so long, and it was a relief to hear it again, for it was a sign that everything would be alright. But how wrong they were...