Fanfic: "Beltane Cycle" by Astolat (Shalott) . [Arthur/Merlin] . [N8]
"Beltane Cycle" by Astolat (Shalott) . [Arthur/Merlin] . [N8]
First Read: 13.04.2009 (just first 3, as that was all there was published)
Second read: 13.02.2010 (first 4)
Beltane, Coming of Age, That Shall Achieve The Sword, and And Exile in Albion (and two other stories)
So the first two stories are a bit slow going but the third picks up the action quite a bit and the fourth is brilliant. Here's proof.
Quotes (with spoilers since they are from the later stories):
★ "Arthur, get out of here," Merlin hissed. "The only point of this was to save you!"
"Then the only point is for me to be worth saving," Arthur said, and tried hard not to think about what it was going to feel like to be burned alive in full armor.
“That Shall Achieve The Sword”
★ "there are reasons why a knight might not be able to use his real name. Reasons of-of honor," he added hurriedly, since that appeared to be a magic word meaning "behave stupidly without explanation."
★ "You're more a king than that procurer upstairs," Merlin said. "D'you really think I want-money, or titles, or-or clothes? This power-d'you think it's for something small? My mother sent me to Camelot even though magic was forbidden there-"
And then he stopped, groping, because that wasn't quite right. "No," he amended. "No, she sent me to Camelot-because magic was forbidden there. Because she feared what I might do, more than what-might be done to me."
He stopped again after he said it, because he knew, aching, that it was the truth. People will fear your magic, she'd told him, and she'd known they would because she feared it, even though she loved him. She would've taken away his magic, if she could have. She wouldn't have lain down again on Beltane if she'd been given a second choice. "Because it's too much to trust one person with," he said, low.
“An Exile In Albion”
2009, 2009: merlin fic, fanfic-2009, fanfiction, @read in english, merlin fic: Arthur/Merlin, *fanfic-novella-2009, author: shalott, merlin fic: Arthur finds out, merlin fic: recs, fanfic: read2, -podfic, [quotes], [quotes] fanfiction, [quotes] merlin, 2010: merlin fic, *fanfic-novella-2010, 2010, merlin fic