Day 15: Merlin, "Blackout"
Title: The Candles in the Shadows
Fandom: Merlin
Rating: PG
Characters/pairings: Merlin, Arthur, Gaius
Warnings (including spoilers): Sort of sad in that way it always is.
Wordcount: 300 words
Summary: On the longest night of the year, the citizens of Camelot snuffed out every lamp in they owned.
AN: So, not sure this entirely ended up fitting the prompt, but hey. It went where it did, and I like how it turned out.
[*]
On the longest night of the year, the citizens of Camelot snuffed out every lamp in they owned, every smithy and every fire pit. Everyone who lived within a day’s travel gathered for a candle lighting ceremony to honor those who had lost their lives in the war against magic.
Merlin hadn’t known about the tradition until his first year in Camelot. His village was several days away from the castle even with horses and they did not celebrate it. On the first of December that year Arthur lit a candle in his chambers and asked Merlin to help him make sure it remained burning for the whole month. He was unusually solemn and Merlin agreed immediately; however, he couldn’t help but ask why.
“It’s for my mother,” Arthur said quietly.
“But why the candle?”
The prince looked confused for a short moment. “I forgot, you’re practically from another kingdom.” He proceeded to explain the tradition.
Merlin’s feelings on the matter were skewed. On the one hand, far too many men had died fighting the war and Merlin was glad that their families had the opportunity to mourn them. On the other hand, there was no recognition for the thousands of innocent magic-users who had been slain.
No public recognition anyway. Merlin discovered that the king turned a blind eye when Gaius didn’t show up for the public ceremony. After he had taken care of the prince’s dinner and tended to the late queen’s candle, Merlin found Gaius in the quarters they shared. The healer was sitting motionless in front of an unlit rack of candles. Merlin came up beside him, then muttered the words that sent small flames to the wick of each candle. Gaius nodded to him and squeezed his elbow, and they watched the flames in silence.