MERRY CHRISTMAS, JAMI! Fic: With Grace in Your Heart (Merlin/Arthur, PG)
Title: With Grace in Your Heart
Author: mrsvc
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
A/N: Make sure to have After the Storm by Mumford & Sons queued up before you start reading. This fic is what I see in my head every time I listen to this song, from the very first time I had ever heard it. I know you asked for cuddles, Jami, but I hope you will settle for hand-holding and feelings. Merry Christmas, Jami!
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
~ "After the Storm" Mumford & Sons
Arthur felt like his skin was steaming. It was hot under the red sun as he strode up the small hill to survey the land. The battle has been long, starting with the first light and rallying on and on until the sun had reached its zenith and bore down on the back of Arthur's neck. His armor was tight, like a metal trap around his body, and he kept wiping his hand across his brow to mop away the sweat.
He heard Merlin's footsteps on the grass behind him so he didn't start when he felt fingers unbuckling his chest plate. "Are you hurt?" he said quietly, lifting the stifling metal cage from Arthur.
"Not seriously," Arthur replied dismissively. Merlin's face blanched so Arthur reassured him, "just a few cuts and scraps, Merlin. Nothing deep."
Merlin nodded, his lips in a tight line, and took his place at his Prince's side. "How many have we lost?"
Arthur sighed, the burden of his men's lives weighing on his shoulders. "Too many. I've asked Sir Leon to gather the Mercian dead and burn them."
Merlin nodded, the wind ruffling his hair as he watched the activity below. The knights could be seen dragging corpses to the pyre, thick oily smoke rolling up into the sky. The dead of Camelot laid in state on the other side of the field and he was relieved to see none of the knights he knew laying among them. "It seems like such a waste, doesn't it?"
Arthur's ire immediately rose up, boiling over to where he spat out at Merlin: "These men did not die in vain!" Merlin stood serenely by as Arthur raged on. "You do not have the foresight to see what this means to the kingdom. I would never take my men on a fool's quest, Merlin, and you would do well to remember that."
"Whose vision are you fulfilling, Arthur? Your own, or your father's?" Merlin countered, defiantly looking Arthur in the eye.
Arthur turned away, unable to watch Merlin's face as he said, "My father's vision and mine are the same."
"If that was true," Merlin whispered, "then you would have had me killed long ago." Arthur had known about the secret that Merlin carried for some time now, but they had never talked about it in frank words.
"Don't question my judgment, Merlin."
Silence reigned for a moment before Merlin said, "Never yours, sire."
They stood side-by-side once again, listening to the shouts of the men and the crackle of the burning bodies. Arthur knew that Merlin was smarter than he'd ever imagined before; that Merlin was wise and good and his best resource among a council of advisors and noblemen, even though he was a servant and a sorcerer. He let everything that had passed between them flick through his mind (the questing beast, the Fisher King's Trident, Lancelot, Gwen, Morgana) before he spoke again. "I truly believe that this battle was not a waste." Merlin nodded. "Taking this section of land from Mercia, it will expand the claims of Camelot."
"For the good of the king's coffers?"
"For the good of the people therein."
Merlin smiled then, all teeth and ears and wind-ruffled hair and said, "There, now, that wasn't so hard."
Arthur scoffed. "You've been leading me on this whole time. You're a tricky bastard, Merlin."
"I just want you to think for yourself, Arthur," Merlin said, suddenly earnest. He turned towards Arthur, leaning forward as if to say, 'just listen to me before you go off'.
"I do-"
"Don't pretend that you do. Not entirely. Your father may say you are ready to be king but really, you are only ready to replace him." Arthur scowled. It wasn't what he wanted to hear but he didn't keep Merlin around to scrape at his feet, not really. "I will stand by you until you are ready to succeed him, Arthur."
Arthur was secure in Merlin's loyalty to him. It was as sure to him as the sun rising and setting the same way everyday, but it always settled somewhere deep in his stomach to hear Merlin repeat his oath. "And after?"
"And after," Merlin assured him. "Until the day I die."
Arthur stretched out his hand and laced their fingers in an uncharacteristic show of affection. Merlin's fingers were smooth and sure and he could feel the soothing pulse of Merlin's magic underneath his friend's skin. He felt it, the wind whipping around them, a whirlwind of leaves and flowers encircling them as they stood on the hill.
Arthur laughed and reached up with his free hand to pull the flower petals from Merlin's unruly black hair. "Only you, Merlin."
"Let's see, what insult should you use today?" he smiled, eyes crinkled and bright. "Hopeless, hapless? Am I a girl's bonnet today?"
Arthur huffed. "You act like a girl everyday, Merlin."
Merlin smiled again, squeezing Arthur's hand. Arthur let himself smile a little; an anomaly on this field of blood and death. They stood there at the crest of the hill, hands entwined, and surveyed the land they were both prepared to protect, even to their deaths. Their shoulders brushed and their fingers tightened in a silent admission of fealty and love that they couldn't speak out loud.
"Someday, Arthur, you will get to be the king I know you can be."
"Until then?" Arthur said, squinting into the sun.
"Until then," Merlin said, rubbing the back of Arthur's hand, "we protect each other."
Arthur nodded. The sun had started to descend and the winds had swept the smoke out of the valley to leave them with a clear view of the forest and hills and the villages filled with the people who would bow before him as their king someday. He watched the trees bend and the leaves fall and Merlin's eyes and felt content to wait for that day.
Author: mrsvc
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
A/N: Make sure to have After the Storm by Mumford & Sons queued up before you start reading. This fic is what I see in my head every time I listen to this song, from the very first time I had ever heard it. I know you asked for cuddles, Jami, but I hope you will settle for hand-holding and feelings. Merry Christmas, Jami!
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
~ "After the Storm" Mumford & Sons
Arthur felt like his skin was steaming. It was hot under the red sun as he strode up the small hill to survey the land. The battle has been long, starting with the first light and rallying on and on until the sun had reached its zenith and bore down on the back of Arthur's neck. His armor was tight, like a metal trap around his body, and he kept wiping his hand across his brow to mop away the sweat.
He heard Merlin's footsteps on the grass behind him so he didn't start when he felt fingers unbuckling his chest plate. "Are you hurt?" he said quietly, lifting the stifling metal cage from Arthur.
"Not seriously," Arthur replied dismissively. Merlin's face blanched so Arthur reassured him, "just a few cuts and scraps, Merlin. Nothing deep."
Merlin nodded, his lips in a tight line, and took his place at his Prince's side. "How many have we lost?"
Arthur sighed, the burden of his men's lives weighing on his shoulders. "Too many. I've asked Sir Leon to gather the Mercian dead and burn them."
Merlin nodded, the wind ruffling his hair as he watched the activity below. The knights could be seen dragging corpses to the pyre, thick oily smoke rolling up into the sky. The dead of Camelot laid in state on the other side of the field and he was relieved to see none of the knights he knew laying among them. "It seems like such a waste, doesn't it?"
Arthur's ire immediately rose up, boiling over to where he spat out at Merlin: "These men did not die in vain!" Merlin stood serenely by as Arthur raged on. "You do not have the foresight to see what this means to the kingdom. I would never take my men on a fool's quest, Merlin, and you would do well to remember that."
"Whose vision are you fulfilling, Arthur? Your own, or your father's?" Merlin countered, defiantly looking Arthur in the eye.
Arthur turned away, unable to watch Merlin's face as he said, "My father's vision and mine are the same."
"If that was true," Merlin whispered, "then you would have had me killed long ago." Arthur had known about the secret that Merlin carried for some time now, but they had never talked about it in frank words.
"Don't question my judgment, Merlin."
Silence reigned for a moment before Merlin said, "Never yours, sire."
They stood side-by-side once again, listening to the shouts of the men and the crackle of the burning bodies. Arthur knew that Merlin was smarter than he'd ever imagined before; that Merlin was wise and good and his best resource among a council of advisors and noblemen, even though he was a servant and a sorcerer. He let everything that had passed between them flick through his mind (the questing beast, the Fisher King's Trident, Lancelot, Gwen, Morgana) before he spoke again. "I truly believe that this battle was not a waste." Merlin nodded. "Taking this section of land from Mercia, it will expand the claims of Camelot."
"For the good of the king's coffers?"
"For the good of the people therein."
Merlin smiled then, all teeth and ears and wind-ruffled hair and said, "There, now, that wasn't so hard."
Arthur scoffed. "You've been leading me on this whole time. You're a tricky bastard, Merlin."
"I just want you to think for yourself, Arthur," Merlin said, suddenly earnest. He turned towards Arthur, leaning forward as if to say, 'just listen to me before you go off'.
"I do-"
"Don't pretend that you do. Not entirely. Your father may say you are ready to be king but really, you are only ready to replace him." Arthur scowled. It wasn't what he wanted to hear but he didn't keep Merlin around to scrape at his feet, not really. "I will stand by you until you are ready to succeed him, Arthur."
Arthur was secure in Merlin's loyalty to him. It was as sure to him as the sun rising and setting the same way everyday, but it always settled somewhere deep in his stomach to hear Merlin repeat his oath. "And after?"
"And after," Merlin assured him. "Until the day I die."
Arthur stretched out his hand and laced their fingers in an uncharacteristic show of affection. Merlin's fingers were smooth and sure and he could feel the soothing pulse of Merlin's magic underneath his friend's skin. He felt it, the wind whipping around them, a whirlwind of leaves and flowers encircling them as they stood on the hill.
Arthur laughed and reached up with his free hand to pull the flower petals from Merlin's unruly black hair. "Only you, Merlin."
"Let's see, what insult should you use today?" he smiled, eyes crinkled and bright. "Hopeless, hapless? Am I a girl's bonnet today?"
Arthur huffed. "You act like a girl everyday, Merlin."
Merlin smiled again, squeezing Arthur's hand. Arthur let himself smile a little; an anomaly on this field of blood and death. They stood there at the crest of the hill, hands entwined, and surveyed the land they were both prepared to protect, even to their deaths. Their shoulders brushed and their fingers tightened in a silent admission of fealty and love that they couldn't speak out loud.
"Someday, Arthur, you will get to be the king I know you can be."
"Until then?" Arthur said, squinting into the sun.
"Until then," Merlin said, rubbing the back of Arthur's hand, "we protect each other."
Arthur nodded. The sun had started to descend and the winds had swept the smoke out of the valley to leave them with a clear view of the forest and hills and the villages filled with the people who would bow before him as their king someday. He watched the trees bend and the leaves fall and Merlin's eyes and felt content to wait for that day.