"Mister! Mister!"
Merlin paused in the lower town square as a boy, trailed by several other children, ran up to him.
"Is something the matter?"
"Sorry sir." The boy said, slightly out of breath, "It's just. People say your a magician."
Merlin blinked, "Well yes."
"And that you work for the king." Another one of the children piped up.
"I do." Merlin said slowly, "I have for a very long time."
"Well we were wondering, if the old king hated magic so much, why does King Arthur like it, and have a servant with magic?" The boy asked.
Merlin stared at the boy, "I see." He gestured for the children to gather closer as he sat on the steps to the square center platform. "You see Arthur's father, Uther, did not understand magic very well. It's neither good, not evil. It's all dependant on how you use it."
The children listened attentively as Merlin spoke, eyes full of curiosity as the warlock spoke. "Magic is all about balance, and so when Uther wished for something that upset that balance he paid a horrible price in order to restore it. And it killed his wife, Ygraine."
"But if magic isn't bad why would that happen?" On of the younger children asked.
Merlin nodded and then reached to his belt and pulled out a knife, "This knife isn't good or bad either. But if I didn't know how to use it, I could easily hurt myself, or the people around me." He put the knife away, "Magic is the same way. If you don't know what you're doing, someone is going to get hurt."
"So King Uther was mad his wife died?" A girl asked.
"Yes, he was blinded by a misplaced anger towards magic, and decided that it was responsible for taking someone dear from him."
"But King Arthur isn't mad."
"No. He's seen many people use magic for good. He knows it's a tool and nothing more, and something that should not be feared without reason."
"So he likes your magic."
"Well he'd be dead without it." Merlin laughed, "When magic was illegal, people would try and attack the king's family. And if they had magic, I'd always be there to stop them, even if they didn't know."
"So we could learn magic?" One of the boys asked excitedly.
"You could, but there are rules when learning magic, just like their are rules when your learning how to use a sword."
"Like what?" One of the older girls asked in fascination.
"First, you must never intentionally harm an innocent person. It's wrong, and unfair to them. Second, you must keep control of your temper. Anger and magic do not mix, and can lead to very bad things happening. Third, don't try experimenting with magic without supervision. You need a teacher, or you're more likely to hurt yourself and other people."
"But no one knows magic anymore."
"There are a lot more than put think." Merlin smiled, "There are still many magicians who have slowly made themselves know now that magic is legal."
"Are they strong?"
"Most aren't. Magic is a tool and so people usually learn magic that helps them. So a farmer might learn magic to help plants grow, or a Smith might learn magic to make his swords stronger. People specialize in magic the same way others specialize in trades."
"So, could a knight be a magician?"
"Of course. Several of the knights have magic."
"Sir Lancelot?" One asked excitedly, "I met him, he was nice."
"Not Sir Lancelot, his friend Sir Percival does though. It makes him very strong and can act as a shield when he need it. He's learned other types of magic too, to help on missions. And then there is also Sir Mordred, he's a druid."
"Druids are nice." One child said, "They come to the market now. One gave me a dessert with fruit jelly."
Merlin smiled, "Druids are very nice. They are typically peaceful people, but Sir Mordred believes that the best way to maintain peace, is to protect the peace. So he became a knight."
Merlin continued answering the children's questions until someone else called to him. He looked up to see Gwen hurrying towards him.
"Merlin!" She held up a hand, on which shone a familiar ring.
"You said yes!" Merlin cheered, standing to hug her.
"Of course I did. I can't believe you two managed to keep your mouths shut for so long." She laughed in delight.
She looked down at the children, "Who are these fine young ladies and gentlemen?"
"They're children from the market. They wanted to know about magic. Everyone, this is Lady Gwenevere. She is going to be marrying Sir Lancelot."
The children immediately began asking questions, swarming around the would be wife of the knight who had gotten a reputation for spending a lot of time in the lower city.
Merlin laughed as he watched Gwen furiously try and keep up with the children's questions.
"If you all will excuse me." He said, "But Arthur's probably wondering what's taking me so long."
He hurried away, tucking the books he'd been carrying back under his arm.
He climbed the steps to the citadel quickly, making his way towards he and Arthur's rooms while thinking about the contents of the books he held, which he had received from a druid in the market.
When he entered the room, he found it empty, Arthur no where to be seen. This didn't surprise Merlin, since they had learned how to control the magic of the ring and crown, which could actually turn into a ring as they discovered only recently, they'd been able to keep track of each other much easier than before.
He set the books down on the table, on the only spot devoid of other papers currently, before going to his own room and retrieving another book.
He sat in Arthur's chair and flipped open his book, which held a vast amount of knowledge on how magic could be passed from one person to the next.
In the past several months, Merlin and Killagarah had discussed the issue with Merlin being the last dragon Lord at great length seeing as Merlin had made it very clear he was not interested in having children. However the dragon had pointed out that the first Dragon Lord couldn't have been born with the power, so there had to be a way to grant it.
And so Merlin's research had began. He'd spent a lot of time searching for magic books, asking several druids to keep and eye out for any that might relate to the subject, along with Lyra, who knew a surprising amount about where to find magic books.
Arthur had done his best to help, however after a few weeks he realized that he was a bit out of his depth, so he left Merlin to his research as much as he could.
About a month ago, Merlin had struck gold and found something that he believed may be able to help them. This however had lead to even longer periods or research, which was starting to irritate the king, even if he wouldn't admit it.
After spending nearly an hour pouring over the different books, Merlin slowly began writing something down onto the only blank piece of paper he'd brought to the table. The spell was long, longer than almost any he'd ever cast. But once he set his quill down and reread it several more times, he nodded.
Arthur came into the room a few minutes later and looked at Merlin, who had leaned back against the back of the chair and was staring at the piece of paper. "Finished?"
"I believe so." Merlin sighed and looked up at Arthur, "I'm sorry it took so long."
Arthur walked around the table to look at the mess of book, "Looks like gibberish to me." He smiled, placing a quick kiss to the side of Merlin's head, "But then again, that's your job not mine."
"You wielding magic, is a very scary thought. You'd get yourself killed before the day was over." Merlin smiled and nodded to the paper, "Who do you think I should give it to?"
"Question, are you going to lose your dragonlord powers by doing this?"
"No, i've written the spell so it's essentially creating the same type of bond I have with dragons and using myself and my own bond as the templet. So I am required but it is taking only the imprint of the magic in my family."
"Than you could give it to multiple people?" Arthur questioned.
"In theory, yes." Merlin narrowed his eyes at the king, "What are you thinking?"
"I was thinking that if you gave it to more than one line, it'd be harder to kill off, that's all." Arthur assured him. "Why don't you give it to Sachi, or Lyra? They'd do well wouldn't they?"
"Better than most." Merlin admitted. "I was thinking one of the knights might be better though."
"Which one?"
Merlin raised an eyebrow, "I was thinking Lance. He's used to the dragons already, and he's pretty good with most magical creatures. Even if it is something he never has to use..." He trailed off and sighed, "We have plenty of time at any rate."
"Plenty enough time to go on a hunting trip?" Arthur asked conspiratorially.
"You just want to get out of the city for a bit don't you?" Merlin asked, but he was already pushing back the chair and standing up.
"I don't have anything extremely important in the next few days. I'm sure Morgana and Leon can manage without me for a few days. We could stop by your mother's and see how she's doing."
Merlin smiled, "Mom's, maybe go see Lyra and Sachi too?"
Arthur grinned, wrapping his arms around the warlock and putting his forehead against his, "Sounds wonderful to me. As long as we get some time to ourselves too."
"Of course." Merlin smiled, "Couldn't go without that can we?" He tilted his head slightly, noses bumping, "When do you want to leave?"
"Tomorrow morning?" Arthur suggested.
Merlin nodded, "Alright. But you're helping me cook while we're gone."
"But I catch the food."
"Please, I'm just as capable of catching a rabbit as you are. Just you can't cook."
"Ive never needed-"
Arthur was effectively shut up by Merlin kissing him. When the warlock pulled away he just smiled, "Just accept that I am right, and move on. You're not getting out of helping out."
Arthur looked a little miffed, happy about the kiss, frustrated at Merlin's stubborn position on the argument.
Merlin laughed at the pout and pulled away, "Come on. We should finish up everything you can get done right now. We're having dinner with the knights tonight, remember. Also Lance finally asked Gwen to marry her so I'm sure it'll be interesting."
Arthur nodded, "Alright. One moment though." He tugged Merlin's hand, stopping the warlock who turned to see what the king was trying to do.
Arthur wrapped him in a bear hug, head tucked into one shoulder, arm slung over the other.
Merlin stiffened and then relaxed into the king, squeezing back. "Did something happen?"
"No, no." Arthur mumbled, "I'm just happy."
Merlin smiled, turning his head to tuck his nose next to Arthur's ear, "Me too."
"Merlin."
"Yeah?"
"You..." He paused, seemingly trying to sort out his words and emotions. "You make me very happy, Merlin. You've changed everything. Forced me out of my comfort zone, and yet... I wouldn't change that for anything. Any of it."
Merlin nodded, "Nor would I." And with that the two went silent, listening to their steady breathing, and beating hearts, finally allowing themselves to enjoy the peace that they'd made for themselves.
∆∆∆
A/N: First of all I'd like to apologize for such the long wait. I feel horrible about it. I had a lot of things pile up all at once, and I got a job, a puppy, and other things that just added a lot of stress. I tried to finish this so many different times, there was one time it was almost done... And then I accidentally closed the window before it saved and I lost half of what I'd written.
Second: I'd like to thank everyone who commented and liked and sent messages to me while I went silent. It means a lot and some of you may have noticed me replying to a few comments. I would have replied to more but I haven't been in the greatest state. You're encouragement and general reactions to the story, did more than you will ever know.
Third: I'm going to delete my original work and rewrite it from scratch. But it won't be on Wattpad. If you're interested in reading it, I'm not deleting the old copy until I've finished and edited, and gone over the new one. So you have until then.
Fourth: Happy Pride Month! I wish you all well.
Fifth: as always I'd like you guys advice. I honestly thought about how I wanted to end this for so long and what you just read was the only thing that I didn't completely hate. So if you have ideas on how to better conclude things, I'd love some tips.
Sixth: College Prep sucks? Like a lot? Also people keep asking me where I want to go and it kinda makes me want to scream.
Seventh, and finally: Thank you for reading. This will be the final chapter, there may be a epilogue but this is the last legitimate chapter. I finally finished.
Again, IM SO SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT. But it couldn't be helped.
Thank you all, and I hope you all are having a wonderful day/night.
~LowKey