(no subject)
Arthur stood before the Lake of Ascetir, jaw tight and body alive with nerves. Merlin would meet him soon, but until then he had only his thoughts and the night crickets for company. Needing something to do with himself, he gazed down at his torchlit reflection in the lake's surface.
It was a marvel, he thought, how far he and Merlin had come; How much they had gone through to find their way to this place. Time had tested them, and now this moment and all those to follow would be their reward. To Arthur, their decision seemed the inevitable conclusion of the time they had spent together. A step so natural that it was more direct consequence than choice.
Arthur glanced up at the night sky, and let loose the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The air around him was warm and thick with the humidity of summer, but his mind still felt focused, clear.
For as little as he understood about magic and fate, he could sense the depth of meaning behind this ritual. It involved an old and powerful magic, one too dangerous to be handled with anything but the utmost sincerity. Even the spell itself cautioned against people invoking it, as the mark it left on mortal lives was permanent, inescapable. Arthur had understood the warnings, and accepted every consequence with a full heart. Everything from the casting on would be different, he knew, but not because of some resulting change in heart or mind. Their lives would be different because they would no longer be theirs, alone.
Not that they had ever been.
The forest hummed around him as he turned back to watch the clearing's edge.
It was a marvel, he thought, how far he and Merlin had come; How much they had gone through to find their way to this place. Time had tested them, and now this moment and all those to follow would be their reward. To Arthur, their decision seemed the inevitable conclusion of the time they had spent together. A step so natural that it was more direct consequence than choice.
Arthur glanced up at the night sky, and let loose the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The air around him was warm and thick with the humidity of summer, but his mind still felt focused, clear.
For as little as he understood about magic and fate, he could sense the depth of meaning behind this ritual. It involved an old and powerful magic, one too dangerous to be handled with anything but the utmost sincerity. Even the spell itself cautioned against people invoking it, as the mark it left on mortal lives was permanent, inescapable. Arthur had understood the warnings, and accepted every consequence with a full heart. Everything from the casting on would be different, he knew, but not because of some resulting change in heart or mind. Their lives would be different because they would no longer be theirs, alone.
Not that they had ever been.
The forest hummed around him as he turned back to watch the clearing's edge.