To You I Pledge (BBC Merlin)

Chapter 15 - A New Way

Merlin woke up three times in the night. He and Arthur had talked all evening about what would be expected of him now and such things before moving on to more trivial chatter and it had been late when Arthur finally took his leave, but Merlin still couldn't sleep properly. It was simple really; the bed was too big. Somehow he had become accustomed to Arthur filling the space on the other side and now that he had his own bed there was far too much room in it. He wasn't fully recovered yet and he needed to sleep, but that didn't seem to stop his subconscious prodding him into wakefulness every hour or so.

"Merlin, what did you do?"

He started awake to find that after the third time he had turned over, thumped the pillow and demanded his body sleep he had managed it until at least light, but he had the feeling all was not well. Arthur sounded not annoyed exactly, but more shocked.

He opened his eyes to find Arthur standing in his nightclothes in an archway next to the fire place. The major problem being that there hadn't been an archway there the previous evening.

"Oh," he said as what he might have done began to dawn on him.

"Oh," Arthur repeated back at him, "is that all you have to say, or would you care to explain why you thought the castle needed some remodelling?"

Merlin sat up, at least it was a nice archway; it wasn't as if he'd just made a huge hole in the wall.

"I didn't think," he tried to explain, "at least, that is, I kept waking up because I'm kind of used to you being there and, well, I haven't been doing magic lately and I did explain that weird things sometimes happen if I don't and, it must have, that is ..."

Arthur was looking at him a little incredulously.

"Are you trying to say your magic missed me and so it made a new doorway?" Arthur asked, sounding a little exasperated, but also kind of fond as well.

Merlin nodded; that was the only explanation he could think of.

"If I wake up one day and there is no wall at all I will be most displeased," Arthur said with a shake of his head and then turned and walked back into his own room.

What Merlin wanted to say was something along the lines of 'if you let me sleep with you we could be sure it didn't happen', but he wasn't that brave and instead, hurried out of bed. He ran his fingers over the stone of the arch; faced stone as if a master craftsman had done the job and he couldn't help feeling a little pleased with himself, even if he hadn't done it deliberately. His magic at least knew good workmanship it seemed.

"Um, I could try and fill it in again if you like," he offered, wandering into Arthur's room.

He quite liked the arch, but was well aware that Arthur might not.

"And have the wall fall in?" Arthur said in an offhand tone, "I think not."

Merlin was pretty sure that was Arthur's way of saying he'd rather keep it.

"We can put up a curtain or something to stop a draft blowing through," Arthur decided and that seemed to be an end to the matter.

The other thing that caught Merlin's eye was the fact that Arthur's breakfast had already been set out on Arthur's table. What whoever had done it would have thought about the arch he had no idea, but he was trying to decide if he could acquire a little of the food; he was starving. He had always had a good appetite and now that he was doing magic again, all be it unconsciously, it was back with a vengeance.

"Sit down then," Arthur said, moving to the table himself; "we need to get an early start. There is so much to do today."

Then and only then did Merlin notice there was a second plate sitting under the first and he hurried over and did as he was told as Arthur put it in place next to the second chair. He had become used to eating with Arthur, having been confined in Arthur's rooms and, much to his pleasure, it seemed as if Arthur was happy to continue the tradition.