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winterknights2016-12-10 01:08 am
winter-mod.livejournal.com) wrote in winterknights2016-12-10 01:08 am
FIC: To Sail Away In A Moonbeam [Merlin/Arthur - 4000 - G]
Title: To Sail Away In A Moonbeam
Author/Artist: ANON
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur, Morgana/Gwaine
Prompt: 38 (2016)
Word Count/Art Medium: a handful of words short of 4k
Rating: G
Contains (Highlight to view): *Minor character death*
Disclaimer: Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: First thank you so much to the mods for being SO patient with me! Second, all the love to my beta, N!
Summary Arthur’s lived in the same seaside town for his entire life where one of his only connections to the outside world is the pirates who dock twice a year to restock their supplies on their way to bigger and more exciting things.
Read it on AO3
They met for the first time on Christmas Eve. The weather was uncharacteristically warm and Arthur, wrapped up in a scarf one of his mum’s friends had knitted, walked hand in hand with his mum on the beach. She was in the middle of telling Arthur what Camelot was like when her attention was caught by screams ahead of them.
Arthur, being all of seven years old, merely glared at the offending noise. He was much more interested in hearing about what it had been like when he and his mum lived in Camelot with his father and sisters. He couldn’t remember anything about it but sometimes Morgana came to visit with her mother and she told amazing stories about it and he was always looking for something that wasn’t his usual streets.
He was about to tell his mum to ignore it when another scream joined it and Arthur was racing across the beach with his mum chasing after him. The second scream had been Gwen--and she was just little.
Arthur found the source of the commotion nearly immediately--Gwen and another kid were on the sand and there was a man standing next to them. He ran as fast as he could and then threw himself at the man--he knew that Gwen could hit really hard and she could probably deal with someone her own size. Arthur bounced off the man’s legs and landed nearly on top of Gwen and the other child.
“Arthur!” Gwen cried, laughing, grabbing onto him.
“Are you alright?” Arthur asked but then the other kid--pale, dark hair--and a Stranger, glared at him.
“Why did you do that to my dad!”
Gwen’s laughter was gone with the other kid’s glare, “Yeah, Arthur! Don’t be mean to my friend’s dad!”
“Your dad?” Arthur glanced up to the man but he was looking at his mum.
“Balinor,” his mum smiled, “I didn’t know you were here.”
“Had to get the little one and his mother out of Camelot. I knew there were friendly faces here.”
Arthur’s head whipped around at the mention of Camelot and the boy just shrugged and trailed his fingers in the sand, “you live in Camelot?”
“Used to.” He frowned, not meeting his eye.
“Me too!” Arthur turned to his mother, “Mum--they have to spend Christmas with us too! He’s Gwen’s friend!”
“We couldn’t impose.” Balinor said immediately but when Arthur looked to his mum, she had her Determined face on and he knew they’d be coming over.
“Nonsense, you and Hunith are always welcome in my home. Plus, the Smith’s are already coming over so it’s not like we’d be going out of our way putting three extra plates out.”
They both shared an Adult Smile, which means they weren’t saying what they really wanted to say but Arthur now had someone new to talk to about Camelot and that was the best Christmas present he could get.
“I’m Arthur,” he introduced, sticking his hand out when they all stood up. Elyan and Gwen’s Dad were walking over to them with another woman but Arthur couldn’t trust adults to tell him about what Camelot was really like.
The boy shook his hand, “Merlin.”
“Come on, Merlin, my Mum’s made dessert and I always get to eat dessert first on Christmas Eve.”
“It’s true!” Gwen added, giving Merlin a little nudge forward.
Merlin smiled and allowed the two to all but drag him up the beach.
Merlin and his parents ended up staying for several weeks but, just when Arthur started to get used to having them around, they set sail for home and Arthur had cried for days after they left. The thought of home being anywhere but this stupid town was so cool.
They met for the second time several years later, this time a couple of weeks before Christmas. Arthur, now fourteen and practically an adult, was unceremoniously pulled into the Smith’s home by Elyan.
“Arthur,” his friend had began, “I know you’re a Prince and your sister the Princess darkens our doors at upsettingly frequent intervals but you have to keep this a secret.”
“What is it?” Arthur asked, ready for something exciting and illegal.
“Merlin and his father are back.”
Gwen kept in contact with Merlin, writing him long letters that had to be tied together with string, so of course he remembered him and his father. They said hello to each other through Gwen’s letters occasionally and she always kept him updated on her friend’s life.
“And why is this a secret?” Arthur regarded Elyan carefully. He knew Merlin and his mother had to flee Camelot under suspicious circumstances and it would probably be a disaster if his father’s men ever found out his whereabouts. Did Elyan really think he had no idea of consequences? He wasn’t going to write to his father about Merlin.
Elyan raised his eyebrows and looked at him evenly, “Um, maybe because they’re pirates?”
“Pirates?” Arthur gasped, somehow that little piece of information never got to him.
“Arthur,” a voice said from behind them and Arthur turned around to see Merlin standing there, arms crossed.
“I didn’t know you were pirates.” Arthur told him blankly and Merlin’s expression didn’t change.
“Because you’re the Prince.”
Shrugging, Arthur made a show of looking around the room, “What am I going to do? Throw you in a dungeon?”
“I’ve seen a man die before.” Merlin tried to make the words sound like a threat but he was just too small for it to make an impact.
“You’re too young to be a pirate.” Arthur told him and behind him, Elyan slipped from the room.
“And you’re too stupid to be a prince and here we are.”
By the time Merlin, his father, and the rest of the crew left a few days later, Arthur still had a black eye and Merlin was still proudly sporting a split lip. Both boys clutched their Christmas presents to each other in their hands as the ship sailed away and Arthur reread the book (probably taken from Balinor’s cabin but that just made it more exciting) until the spine started to break and Arthur started sending his own letters along with Gwen’s.
With Merlin now sailing on his father’s ship, it took forever for them to get responses. Sometimes they’d see Merlin again before he got their letters. He and the rest of the pirate crew docked twice a year with worrying punctuality. If anyone was on their trail, they’d be an easy catch but for some reason, no one ever caught on.
It was midsummer when Arthur’s mother died and Merlin found him sitting in the surf, the palms of his hands pressed to his eyes, not caring if a riptide carried him off. Merlin dragged him onto the ship and shut him away in the Captain’s quarters.
Morgana arrived a few days later and if she was surprised to see her brother spending more time in a pirate ship than his own home, she didn’t show it. The Princess’ arrival prompted a swift departure of the ship but Merlin promised to write as soon as he was able.
His first letters came a week later and Morgana, who had sworn to stay with him until she was dragged back to Camelot, was so interested in them, Arthur became paranoid that she was going to have them arrested. It took Gwen and Elyan both weeks to convince him she was just being noisy.
Morgana was still there when Merlin came back that winter. It was coincidently the same day their father sent men to bring her back home and the resulting panic made Arthur realize just how comfortable he was with Treason. Morgana left in a whirlwind and one of the pirates, Gwaine, accompanied her to the city. To this day Arthur didn’t know why Gwaine went to Camelot or what happened there but a month later a letter came from Morgana announcing that Gwaine had been Knighted. Neither of them told the story the same way twice but Arthur was pretty sure Gwaine didn’t have the stomach for brutally beheading someone.
It was winter two years later when the ship came into the harbor smouldering, badly damaged. Merlin had been shaking, covered in blood and Arthur had known as he raced down the dock that Balinor had been killed. Merlin stayed with Arthur in his empty house until the ship and crew were fit to return to sea. Merlin was voted the new captain and when they set sail, Elyan went with them. They renamed their ship The Fall of Camelot probably because they all thought they were hilarious. They were some of the worst pirates Arthur had ever heard of--they did more for Camelot than they did to plumage and hurt it.
The following winter Morgana appeared the day before Merlin--now sporting the rediculous nickname Dragonlord--set sail and bullied her way aboard the ship. Arthur, Merlin, Elyan and Gwen spent the night trying to calm her down but she was determined to leave and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Gwaine arrived a few days later in the middle of a snow storm with order to return with Morgana or stay with Arthur indefinitely. When he found out Morgana had gone with Merlin and Elyan, he merely kicked back and shrugged.
With Morgana gone Arthur fully expected to be called back to Camelot but it never happened. Their eldest sister, Anna, was the Crowned Princess and her mother was the Queen. The fact that Arthur and his siblings all had different mothers never seemed to matter much, but now, for whatever reason, Uther was all but formally announcing that Arthur no longer existed. It could have been because he was so close with Morgana who had actually caused fairly extensive damage to part of the castle during her dramatic exit or it could be because he didn’t want Arthur to have any claim to the throne.
Honestly, Arthur didn’t care much about what went on in Camelot anymore. He busied himself making sure his tiny part of the country survived.
The summers and winters came and went and Merlin’s pirate crew slowly transitioned into bi-yearly friends who sometimes wrote to Arthur about literally anything. Percival, tall, menacing and disgustingly nice, and Elyan once wrote him a three page letter about how Merlin missed him. Gwaine hung it up in Arthur’s study and Arthur never bothered to take it down. Merlin had turned bright red when he noticed it during one of his visits and honestly, that was worth it. Morgana never ceased to order him to stop messing around and to join them.
Everyone had asked him at least once to sail with them but he knew his place and it wasn’t on The Fall of Camelot.
Then of course came the Christmas everything changed, like they all knew it would eventually.
Arthur paced on the beach, dangerously close to the waves. The air was sharp and it stung his cheeks and fingertips but he just pulled his cloak around him tighter and ignored it.
The Fall of Camelot had been due nearly two weeks ago now and it took everything in the prince to not seize a ship and go look for it himself. They were terrifyingly punctual and if his father had caught up with them, Arthur honestly didn’t know what he was going to do.
The sky was grey and the clouds threatened to start snowing at any moment but Arthur continued to pace the shoreline. If something had happened, all his friends needed to do was make it to the horizon and he’d sail out to help them.
He turned his head when something caught his eye to see Gwaine meandering towards him. Arthur immediately narrowed his eyes when he saw the distracted smile on his face. That plus the marks on his neck equaled only one thing...pirates. Spinning around, Arthur tried to catch someone watching him--if they were here and they hadn't announced their presence yet, they were up to something.
If they were here, but their ship wasn’t, but Morgana still had time to attack Gwaine’s neck--
He was going to kill them. He didn’t know what the hell it meant.
Gwaine looked up and smiled. His eyes went wide and his smile faded, “Uh--Gwen needs you at our place?”
“Have you been with my sister?”
Throwing his arms out in disbelief, Gwaine just said, “You better pretend to be surprised, apparently they busted their asses to make it here by Christmas,” and led the way back to their home.
They opened the door to a sea of red and a cry of “surprise!” and “Happy Christmas!”. It took Arthur a moment but he quickly realized that the lot of them were sporting Camelot’s navy uniforms.
Arthur let out his breath and was surprised to find himself laughing. “Are you all mad? Father would have the lot of you killed!”
“Or he’ll knight them.” Gwaine interjected, raising his eyebrows. He was so proud of being a pirate turned knight that it was no wonder he had been all but exiled with Arthur.
“Your father is never out this far, that’s why he’s sent you out here to govern this fishing village.” Merlin looked much too proud to have apparently striped his father’s men of their uniforms.
“Careful, Merlin, the way you said govern just there was dangerously close to treason.”
“I’m a pirate.”
“Come on, are you all hungry.”
“Not if you cooked.”
“Don’t worry--I did!” Gwen told them and he wasn’t even surprised to see she was wearing a red and gold jacket as well. Arthur was immediately pulled into a round of greetings as his friends all tried to update him on the past six months at once. Percival had been shot three times and Leon had lost two fingers.
Lance pulled him away from the mess and, for a moment, Arthur thought he was about to have a serious conversation. Then Lance handed him a red jacket and smiled, “we got you one too, of course!”
Arthur rolled his eyes, “I don’t think a stolen navy uniform is the best thing for me to wear around town.”
Merlin looked up and Arthur knew what he was going to say even before he opened his mouth, “You’re the prince but you’ve never been anywhere else.”
“I've told you before this is where I belong. This is where I'm needed.”
“Arthur.” Merlin gave him a level state that he had to look away from. Luckily for him, that’s when Gwen and Gwaine came out with food and they all let the subject drop.
After they all had lunch, Merlin pulled him away to the ship and dragged him into the captain’s quarters. “I’ve got your Christmas gift in here, I didn’t want to give to you in front of everyone because Morgana always accuses me of playing favorites.”
He never said it, but sometimes Arthur got the feeling Merlin was jealous Morgana had the highest reward listed on her wanted posters.
Merlin rummaged around a trunk for a moment before he pulled out a long object wrapped in a cloth.
“Not a book?” Arthur asked despite himself. Every single Christmas they spent together Merlin had gotten him a book. His room was filled with books on maps and ropes and stars, describing foreign ports that Merlin knew intimately. Merlin had never attempted to be subtle with his desire for Arthur to join him on his ship.
Merlin shook his head in response to Arthur’s question, “Not this year.” He handed Arthur the gift and he immediately unwrapped it.
“A sword?” Arthur looked from Merlin back down to the sword in his hands. It didn't look like much but the way Merlin handed it over made it seem Important.
“Excalibur.” Merlin said, chin raised, a slightly wild look in his eyes.
The sword was suddenly heavy in his hands, “What?”
Merlin looked to him, the wild look still in his eyes. Arthur knew what he was going to say next--this wasn’t anywhere near the first time--but this time he honestly didn’t know what he was going to say in response. “Come with us. Excalibur is destined to the man who’s going to save Camelot and that’s you Arthur. You’ve been locked away here for so long you don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the kingdom. They need you Arthur.”
“I can’t leave Gwen and Gwaine behind.” The words were weak in his mouth and Arthur felt his world start changing as Merlin’s eyes went wide and he leaned forward.
“You’re the only thing keeping them here. You all know the ship. You know the crew. Arthur. Come see Albion with us. Come see the world that’s been kept from you.”
Arthur had imagined standing on the deck of The Fall of Camelot so many times it felt a bit pathetic. He longed to see different people, different streets.
“Gwaine misses the sea. Gwen’s dying to leave this town.” Merlin continued, and Arthur knew that Merlin knew this time he wasn’t going to say no.
He looked down at the sword and then back up to Merlin, “Yes.” Arthur’s voice sounded foreign, an odd mix of terrified and excited.
Merlin went absolutely still, “What?”
“Yes, I’ll come with you. Yes, I’ll finally leave this town. Yes, let’s go. Yes, to everything you’ve ever asked of me. When you we leave?”
“Holy shit,” Merlin whispered and then he bolted from the room, leaving Arthur standing there with Excalibur in his hands. The ship swayed as he listened to Merlin’s footsteps fade, stop and then grow louder again.
He burst through the door and grabbed onto Arthur’s shirt, pulling him close and kissing him. He was unable to stop smiling and Arthur couldn’t help but echo it. Merlin pulled away, “this is going to make everyone’s Christmas.”
“Hopefully not in the same way it’s made yours.”
“Honestly Gwaine might kiss you as well--and we’ve got to talk about this but come on, let’s go tell everyone.”
Arthur dropped Excalibur on the bed and allowed Merlin--feared pirate captain The Dragonlord--drag him from the ship and back to Arthur’s home. Arthur was going to be in for such a culture shock: when they were on land his friends were so ridiculous it was hard to imagine them as competent pirates.
Merlin burst through the front door with such force, Arthur was a bit surprised it didn’t break.
“He said yes!” Morgana gasped and the room went quiet.
“Pack your bags we’re leaving as soon as we’re ready. Percival, go round up the others. Gwaine--”
“Aren’t we waiting? Until at least morning?” Arthur’s pulse sped up and he could almost physically feel the ocean calling to him.
“And risk someone trying to stop us?” Gwaine shook his head, already heading up the stairs to pack his things and avoid whatever Merlin was about to ask him. “Of course not.”
“Why would anyone try to stop us?”
Lance put a hand over his mouth and Percival groaned. Morgana smirked, “I told you he really didn’t know he was under surveillance.”
Arthur turned to her, “What? Are you telling me I’m being watched?”
“You have been since you were a kid, it’s no wonder you’re used to it.” Gwen shrugged, looking a bit guilty, “we had to make sure no one suspected anything so we never told you.”
“What is going on?” Arthur demanded but Merlin shook his head.
“Later. The important thing is getting out of here before your father’s men catch on.”
It really shouldn't have been as easy as it was to round up the entire crew and set sail with just the light of torches and the moon but nevertheless within a couple of hours, Arthur was finally sailing away from the only life he had ever known.
The next morning dawned cold and gold and Arthur leaned against the rail, unable to look away from the horizon.
“We’re headed for Caerleon for a bit.” Merlin said as he came to stand next to him, “It’s far enough away that word of your new profession won’t get back to your father too quickly. Let him think that you’ve been kidnapped or simply run away for a bit. We’re going to avoid direct contact with your father’s men for as long as possible to let the rumours do their job. Plus it’s South so it’s warmer there.”
“The Prince of Camelot fighting alongside the Dragonlord.” Arthur said, feeling a bit uneasy over how much he liked the sound of it.
Merlin laughed and shook his head, “Mum’s going to throw a fit and a half when we’ll be lucky if she doesn’t ambush us to see you.”
“Do I get to know what’s going on now?”
For a moment, Arthur thought Merlin was going to tell him no but then he shrugged and looked out over the waves, “basically, we want to put Anna on the throne. We don’t want to murder your father but, Arthur, I don’t think you quite realize just how bad it is. There’s a lot you don’t know but basically our parents started this. Your mother and my father started this plan to overthrow the King and here we are still carrying it out. Obviously we could just off him and be done with it but everything’s too unstable and it’ll lead to war--which is the last thing we need. Anna’s come up with--”
“Wait--both my sisters are in on this?”
Merlin drew in a breath and then let it go again, “I really didn’t realize just how little you know. Sometimes I forget I only see you for a week or two every six months.”
“So get talking--you know Anna?”
“You’ll like her. But listen--I got you another Christmas gift but we have to go to my quarters because the men will seriously mutiny if we do it here.”
Arthur spun to look at him, “the only Christmas gift I want is for you to tell me everything that I’ve been oblivious to. Where are Morgana and Gwen? Come on--”
“Excuse me, I’m the Captain of this ship.” Merlin called, sounding indignant.
“Am I telling you how to run your ship? No. I’m telling you to get me updated on exactly what we’re doing.” Arthur headed below deck, brushing past Leon who barely hid a smile.
“Oh god,” Merlin whispered loud enough for Arthur to still hear him, “he’s going to get himself killed the in the first battle we have.”
“Merlin!” Arthur shouted and Merlin ran to catch up.
He turned to Leon who was doing a shit job at pretending not to watch them, “Can you find Morgana and Gwen and send them to my quarters? This is going to take a while.”
The ship rocked beneath his feet and he knew he was going to like absolutely none of what Merlin was going to tell him, but, still, for the first time, everything felt right.
Author/Artist: ANON
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur, Morgana/Gwaine
Prompt: 38 (2016)
Word Count/Art Medium: a handful of words short of 4k
Rating: G
Contains (Highlight to view): *Minor character death*
Disclaimer: Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: First thank you so much to the mods for being SO patient with me! Second, all the love to my beta, N!
Summary Arthur’s lived in the same seaside town for his entire life where one of his only connections to the outside world is the pirates who dock twice a year to restock their supplies on their way to bigger and more exciting things.
Read it on AO3
They met for the first time on Christmas Eve. The weather was uncharacteristically warm and Arthur, wrapped up in a scarf one of his mum’s friends had knitted, walked hand in hand with his mum on the beach. She was in the middle of telling Arthur what Camelot was like when her attention was caught by screams ahead of them.
Arthur, being all of seven years old, merely glared at the offending noise. He was much more interested in hearing about what it had been like when he and his mum lived in Camelot with his father and sisters. He couldn’t remember anything about it but sometimes Morgana came to visit with her mother and she told amazing stories about it and he was always looking for something that wasn’t his usual streets.
He was about to tell his mum to ignore it when another scream joined it and Arthur was racing across the beach with his mum chasing after him. The second scream had been Gwen--and she was just little.
Arthur found the source of the commotion nearly immediately--Gwen and another kid were on the sand and there was a man standing next to them. He ran as fast as he could and then threw himself at the man--he knew that Gwen could hit really hard and she could probably deal with someone her own size. Arthur bounced off the man’s legs and landed nearly on top of Gwen and the other child.
“Arthur!” Gwen cried, laughing, grabbing onto him.
“Are you alright?” Arthur asked but then the other kid--pale, dark hair--and a Stranger, glared at him.
“Why did you do that to my dad!”
Gwen’s laughter was gone with the other kid’s glare, “Yeah, Arthur! Don’t be mean to my friend’s dad!”
“Your dad?” Arthur glanced up to the man but he was looking at his mum.
“Balinor,” his mum smiled, “I didn’t know you were here.”
“Had to get the little one and his mother out of Camelot. I knew there were friendly faces here.”
Arthur’s head whipped around at the mention of Camelot and the boy just shrugged and trailed his fingers in the sand, “you live in Camelot?”
“Used to.” He frowned, not meeting his eye.
“Me too!” Arthur turned to his mother, “Mum--they have to spend Christmas with us too! He’s Gwen’s friend!”
“We couldn’t impose.” Balinor said immediately but when Arthur looked to his mum, she had her Determined face on and he knew they’d be coming over.
“Nonsense, you and Hunith are always welcome in my home. Plus, the Smith’s are already coming over so it’s not like we’d be going out of our way putting three extra plates out.”
They both shared an Adult Smile, which means they weren’t saying what they really wanted to say but Arthur now had someone new to talk to about Camelot and that was the best Christmas present he could get.
“I’m Arthur,” he introduced, sticking his hand out when they all stood up. Elyan and Gwen’s Dad were walking over to them with another woman but Arthur couldn’t trust adults to tell him about what Camelot was really like.
The boy shook his hand, “Merlin.”
“Come on, Merlin, my Mum’s made dessert and I always get to eat dessert first on Christmas Eve.”
“It’s true!” Gwen added, giving Merlin a little nudge forward.
Merlin smiled and allowed the two to all but drag him up the beach.
Merlin and his parents ended up staying for several weeks but, just when Arthur started to get used to having them around, they set sail for home and Arthur had cried for days after they left. The thought of home being anywhere but this stupid town was so cool.
They met for the second time several years later, this time a couple of weeks before Christmas. Arthur, now fourteen and practically an adult, was unceremoniously pulled into the Smith’s home by Elyan.
“Arthur,” his friend had began, “I know you’re a Prince and your sister the Princess darkens our doors at upsettingly frequent intervals but you have to keep this a secret.”
“What is it?” Arthur asked, ready for something exciting and illegal.
“Merlin and his father are back.”
Gwen kept in contact with Merlin, writing him long letters that had to be tied together with string, so of course he remembered him and his father. They said hello to each other through Gwen’s letters occasionally and she always kept him updated on her friend’s life.
“And why is this a secret?” Arthur regarded Elyan carefully. He knew Merlin and his mother had to flee Camelot under suspicious circumstances and it would probably be a disaster if his father’s men ever found out his whereabouts. Did Elyan really think he had no idea of consequences? He wasn’t going to write to his father about Merlin.
Elyan raised his eyebrows and looked at him evenly, “Um, maybe because they’re pirates?”
“Pirates?” Arthur gasped, somehow that little piece of information never got to him.
“Arthur,” a voice said from behind them and Arthur turned around to see Merlin standing there, arms crossed.
“I didn’t know you were pirates.” Arthur told him blankly and Merlin’s expression didn’t change.
“Because you’re the Prince.”
Shrugging, Arthur made a show of looking around the room, “What am I going to do? Throw you in a dungeon?”
“I’ve seen a man die before.” Merlin tried to make the words sound like a threat but he was just too small for it to make an impact.
“You’re too young to be a pirate.” Arthur told him and behind him, Elyan slipped from the room.
“And you’re too stupid to be a prince and here we are.”
By the time Merlin, his father, and the rest of the crew left a few days later, Arthur still had a black eye and Merlin was still proudly sporting a split lip. Both boys clutched their Christmas presents to each other in their hands as the ship sailed away and Arthur reread the book (probably taken from Balinor’s cabin but that just made it more exciting) until the spine started to break and Arthur started sending his own letters along with Gwen’s.
With Merlin now sailing on his father’s ship, it took forever for them to get responses. Sometimes they’d see Merlin again before he got their letters. He and the rest of the pirate crew docked twice a year with worrying punctuality. If anyone was on their trail, they’d be an easy catch but for some reason, no one ever caught on.
It was midsummer when Arthur’s mother died and Merlin found him sitting in the surf, the palms of his hands pressed to his eyes, not caring if a riptide carried him off. Merlin dragged him onto the ship and shut him away in the Captain’s quarters.
Morgana arrived a few days later and if she was surprised to see her brother spending more time in a pirate ship than his own home, she didn’t show it. The Princess’ arrival prompted a swift departure of the ship but Merlin promised to write as soon as he was able.
His first letters came a week later and Morgana, who had sworn to stay with him until she was dragged back to Camelot, was so interested in them, Arthur became paranoid that she was going to have them arrested. It took Gwen and Elyan both weeks to convince him she was just being noisy.
Morgana was still there when Merlin came back that winter. It was coincidently the same day their father sent men to bring her back home and the resulting panic made Arthur realize just how comfortable he was with Treason. Morgana left in a whirlwind and one of the pirates, Gwaine, accompanied her to the city. To this day Arthur didn’t know why Gwaine went to Camelot or what happened there but a month later a letter came from Morgana announcing that Gwaine had been Knighted. Neither of them told the story the same way twice but Arthur was pretty sure Gwaine didn’t have the stomach for brutally beheading someone.
It was winter two years later when the ship came into the harbor smouldering, badly damaged. Merlin had been shaking, covered in blood and Arthur had known as he raced down the dock that Balinor had been killed. Merlin stayed with Arthur in his empty house until the ship and crew were fit to return to sea. Merlin was voted the new captain and when they set sail, Elyan went with them. They renamed their ship The Fall of Camelot probably because they all thought they were hilarious. They were some of the worst pirates Arthur had ever heard of--they did more for Camelot than they did to plumage and hurt it.
The following winter Morgana appeared the day before Merlin--now sporting the rediculous nickname Dragonlord--set sail and bullied her way aboard the ship. Arthur, Merlin, Elyan and Gwen spent the night trying to calm her down but she was determined to leave and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Gwaine arrived a few days later in the middle of a snow storm with order to return with Morgana or stay with Arthur indefinitely. When he found out Morgana had gone with Merlin and Elyan, he merely kicked back and shrugged.
With Morgana gone Arthur fully expected to be called back to Camelot but it never happened. Their eldest sister, Anna, was the Crowned Princess and her mother was the Queen. The fact that Arthur and his siblings all had different mothers never seemed to matter much, but now, for whatever reason, Uther was all but formally announcing that Arthur no longer existed. It could have been because he was so close with Morgana who had actually caused fairly extensive damage to part of the castle during her dramatic exit or it could be because he didn’t want Arthur to have any claim to the throne.
Honestly, Arthur didn’t care much about what went on in Camelot anymore. He busied himself making sure his tiny part of the country survived.
The summers and winters came and went and Merlin’s pirate crew slowly transitioned into bi-yearly friends who sometimes wrote to Arthur about literally anything. Percival, tall, menacing and disgustingly nice, and Elyan once wrote him a three page letter about how Merlin missed him. Gwaine hung it up in Arthur’s study and Arthur never bothered to take it down. Merlin had turned bright red when he noticed it during one of his visits and honestly, that was worth it. Morgana never ceased to order him to stop messing around and to join them.
Everyone had asked him at least once to sail with them but he knew his place and it wasn’t on The Fall of Camelot.
Then of course came the Christmas everything changed, like they all knew it would eventually.
Arthur paced on the beach, dangerously close to the waves. The air was sharp and it stung his cheeks and fingertips but he just pulled his cloak around him tighter and ignored it.
The Fall of Camelot had been due nearly two weeks ago now and it took everything in the prince to not seize a ship and go look for it himself. They were terrifyingly punctual and if his father had caught up with them, Arthur honestly didn’t know what he was going to do.
The sky was grey and the clouds threatened to start snowing at any moment but Arthur continued to pace the shoreline. If something had happened, all his friends needed to do was make it to the horizon and he’d sail out to help them.
He turned his head when something caught his eye to see Gwaine meandering towards him. Arthur immediately narrowed his eyes when he saw the distracted smile on his face. That plus the marks on his neck equaled only one thing...pirates. Spinning around, Arthur tried to catch someone watching him--if they were here and they hadn't announced their presence yet, they were up to something.
If they were here, but their ship wasn’t, but Morgana still had time to attack Gwaine’s neck--
He was going to kill them. He didn’t know what the hell it meant.
Gwaine looked up and smiled. His eyes went wide and his smile faded, “Uh--Gwen needs you at our place?”
“Have you been with my sister?”
Throwing his arms out in disbelief, Gwaine just said, “You better pretend to be surprised, apparently they busted their asses to make it here by Christmas,” and led the way back to their home.
They opened the door to a sea of red and a cry of “surprise!” and “Happy Christmas!”. It took Arthur a moment but he quickly realized that the lot of them were sporting Camelot’s navy uniforms.
Arthur let out his breath and was surprised to find himself laughing. “Are you all mad? Father would have the lot of you killed!”
“Or he’ll knight them.” Gwaine interjected, raising his eyebrows. He was so proud of being a pirate turned knight that it was no wonder he had been all but exiled with Arthur.
“Your father is never out this far, that’s why he’s sent you out here to govern this fishing village.” Merlin looked much too proud to have apparently striped his father’s men of their uniforms.
“Careful, Merlin, the way you said govern just there was dangerously close to treason.”
“I’m a pirate.”
“Come on, are you all hungry.”
“Not if you cooked.”
“Don’t worry--I did!” Gwen told them and he wasn’t even surprised to see she was wearing a red and gold jacket as well. Arthur was immediately pulled into a round of greetings as his friends all tried to update him on the past six months at once. Percival had been shot three times and Leon had lost two fingers.
Lance pulled him away from the mess and, for a moment, Arthur thought he was about to have a serious conversation. Then Lance handed him a red jacket and smiled, “we got you one too, of course!”
Arthur rolled his eyes, “I don’t think a stolen navy uniform is the best thing for me to wear around town.”
Merlin looked up and Arthur knew what he was going to say even before he opened his mouth, “You’re the prince but you’ve never been anywhere else.”
“I've told you before this is where I belong. This is where I'm needed.”
“Arthur.” Merlin gave him a level state that he had to look away from. Luckily for him, that’s when Gwen and Gwaine came out with food and they all let the subject drop.
After they all had lunch, Merlin pulled him away to the ship and dragged him into the captain’s quarters. “I’ve got your Christmas gift in here, I didn’t want to give to you in front of everyone because Morgana always accuses me of playing favorites.”
He never said it, but sometimes Arthur got the feeling Merlin was jealous Morgana had the highest reward listed on her wanted posters.
Merlin rummaged around a trunk for a moment before he pulled out a long object wrapped in a cloth.
“Not a book?” Arthur asked despite himself. Every single Christmas they spent together Merlin had gotten him a book. His room was filled with books on maps and ropes and stars, describing foreign ports that Merlin knew intimately. Merlin had never attempted to be subtle with his desire for Arthur to join him on his ship.
Merlin shook his head in response to Arthur’s question, “Not this year.” He handed Arthur the gift and he immediately unwrapped it.
“A sword?” Arthur looked from Merlin back down to the sword in his hands. It didn't look like much but the way Merlin handed it over made it seem Important.
“Excalibur.” Merlin said, chin raised, a slightly wild look in his eyes.
The sword was suddenly heavy in his hands, “What?”
Merlin looked to him, the wild look still in his eyes. Arthur knew what he was going to say next--this wasn’t anywhere near the first time--but this time he honestly didn’t know what he was going to say in response. “Come with us. Excalibur is destined to the man who’s going to save Camelot and that’s you Arthur. You’ve been locked away here for so long you don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the kingdom. They need you Arthur.”
“I can’t leave Gwen and Gwaine behind.” The words were weak in his mouth and Arthur felt his world start changing as Merlin’s eyes went wide and he leaned forward.
“You’re the only thing keeping them here. You all know the ship. You know the crew. Arthur. Come see Albion with us. Come see the world that’s been kept from you.”
Arthur had imagined standing on the deck of The Fall of Camelot so many times it felt a bit pathetic. He longed to see different people, different streets.
“Gwaine misses the sea. Gwen’s dying to leave this town.” Merlin continued, and Arthur knew that Merlin knew this time he wasn’t going to say no.
He looked down at the sword and then back up to Merlin, “Yes.” Arthur’s voice sounded foreign, an odd mix of terrified and excited.
Merlin went absolutely still, “What?”
“Yes, I’ll come with you. Yes, I’ll finally leave this town. Yes, let’s go. Yes, to everything you’ve ever asked of me. When you we leave?”
“Holy shit,” Merlin whispered and then he bolted from the room, leaving Arthur standing there with Excalibur in his hands. The ship swayed as he listened to Merlin’s footsteps fade, stop and then grow louder again.
He burst through the door and grabbed onto Arthur’s shirt, pulling him close and kissing him. He was unable to stop smiling and Arthur couldn’t help but echo it. Merlin pulled away, “this is going to make everyone’s Christmas.”
“Hopefully not in the same way it’s made yours.”
“Honestly Gwaine might kiss you as well--and we’ve got to talk about this but come on, let’s go tell everyone.”
Arthur dropped Excalibur on the bed and allowed Merlin--feared pirate captain The Dragonlord--drag him from the ship and back to Arthur’s home. Arthur was going to be in for such a culture shock: when they were on land his friends were so ridiculous it was hard to imagine them as competent pirates.
Merlin burst through the front door with such force, Arthur was a bit surprised it didn’t break.
“He said yes!” Morgana gasped and the room went quiet.
“Pack your bags we’re leaving as soon as we’re ready. Percival, go round up the others. Gwaine--”
“Aren’t we waiting? Until at least morning?” Arthur’s pulse sped up and he could almost physically feel the ocean calling to him.
“And risk someone trying to stop us?” Gwaine shook his head, already heading up the stairs to pack his things and avoid whatever Merlin was about to ask him. “Of course not.”
“Why would anyone try to stop us?”
Lance put a hand over his mouth and Percival groaned. Morgana smirked, “I told you he really didn’t know he was under surveillance.”
Arthur turned to her, “What? Are you telling me I’m being watched?”
“You have been since you were a kid, it’s no wonder you’re used to it.” Gwen shrugged, looking a bit guilty, “we had to make sure no one suspected anything so we never told you.”
“What is going on?” Arthur demanded but Merlin shook his head.
“Later. The important thing is getting out of here before your father’s men catch on.”
It really shouldn't have been as easy as it was to round up the entire crew and set sail with just the light of torches and the moon but nevertheless within a couple of hours, Arthur was finally sailing away from the only life he had ever known.
The next morning dawned cold and gold and Arthur leaned against the rail, unable to look away from the horizon.
“We’re headed for Caerleon for a bit.” Merlin said as he came to stand next to him, “It’s far enough away that word of your new profession won’t get back to your father too quickly. Let him think that you’ve been kidnapped or simply run away for a bit. We’re going to avoid direct contact with your father’s men for as long as possible to let the rumours do their job. Plus it’s South so it’s warmer there.”
“The Prince of Camelot fighting alongside the Dragonlord.” Arthur said, feeling a bit uneasy over how much he liked the sound of it.
Merlin laughed and shook his head, “Mum’s going to throw a fit and a half when we’ll be lucky if she doesn’t ambush us to see you.”
“Do I get to know what’s going on now?”
For a moment, Arthur thought Merlin was going to tell him no but then he shrugged and looked out over the waves, “basically, we want to put Anna on the throne. We don’t want to murder your father but, Arthur, I don’t think you quite realize just how bad it is. There’s a lot you don’t know but basically our parents started this. Your mother and my father started this plan to overthrow the King and here we are still carrying it out. Obviously we could just off him and be done with it but everything’s too unstable and it’ll lead to war--which is the last thing we need. Anna’s come up with--”
“Wait--both my sisters are in on this?”
Merlin drew in a breath and then let it go again, “I really didn’t realize just how little you know. Sometimes I forget I only see you for a week or two every six months.”
“So get talking--you know Anna?”
“You’ll like her. But listen--I got you another Christmas gift but we have to go to my quarters because the men will seriously mutiny if we do it here.”
Arthur spun to look at him, “the only Christmas gift I want is for you to tell me everything that I’ve been oblivious to. Where are Morgana and Gwen? Come on--”
“Excuse me, I’m the Captain of this ship.” Merlin called, sounding indignant.
“Am I telling you how to run your ship? No. I’m telling you to get me updated on exactly what we’re doing.” Arthur headed below deck, brushing past Leon who barely hid a smile.
“Oh god,” Merlin whispered loud enough for Arthur to still hear him, “he’s going to get himself killed the in the first battle we have.”
“Merlin!” Arthur shouted and Merlin ran to catch up.
He turned to Leon who was doing a shit job at pretending not to watch them, “Can you find Morgana and Gwen and send them to my quarters? This is going to take a while.”
The ship rocked beneath his feet and he knew he was going to like absolutely none of what Merlin was going to tell him, but, still, for the first time, everything felt right.