Chapter Four 

Separate 

“No!” Arthur was pacing his bed chambers. “Absolutely not. They’re sending you away?”

Merlin just nodded. “Tonight.” He said slowly. “I’m meant to be packing my things now.” 

“Because you’re…” 

“They believe I’m a piece of your prophecy. They believe you won’t achieve your destiny without me.” Merlin said quietly. 

Arthur scoffed and looked away. “They have so little faith in me.” He walked away, running his hands through his hair. “So what, they think you’re some “Great Sorcerer” and now they want to send you away?” 

Merlin looked down at the floor below him. “They say we both need to train  and learn to stand separate of each other.”

“And you believe all of this? You want to leave?” Arthur said. 

Merlin sighed and finally met Arthur’s angry blue eyes. “I do believe it, Arthur. It all makes sense, and it feels like its true.” 

“So you’re just happy to go along with this because it feels true?” Arthur said.

Merlin glared at him. “That’s what you did. You were all too happy to believe their prophecy when it was about you.” 

“I pulled a sword from a stone that no one else could! That was pretty apparent proof that I was the boy of the prophecy.” Arthur said. 

“And why do you get to have a destiny and I don’t? Why do you get to be the savior of Camelot and all I get is to be your servant?”

“Merlin…” Arthur began. 

“You want me to stay in your shadow. You always have. You can’t stand the fact I may have a destiny as well. That I may be more than your adoring servant.”

“That’s not true!” Arthur yelled rounding on Merlin. 

“Yes it is. It always has been. I’ve always been happy being in your shadow. It’s been a safe place for me to be. But that is part of the problem.” Merlin met Arthurs eyes. “I rely on you too much. I rely on the comfort you’ve given me and our friendship. And you rely too much on always having someone around who worships the ground you walk on.” 

“That’s not true!” Arthur said again, quietly this time, like he wasn’t quite sure he believed it. 

“Yes it is.” Merlin said back. “And now I have a role to play in your destiny and you can’t stand it. I thought you’d be happy for me.” 

“How could I be happy for you when your role requires you to leave me?” Arthur yelled, turning away quickly. He was crying, Merlin could see it from across the room. He took a shaky breath in. “It was supposed to be me and you against everything. It was supposed to be me and you side by side. And now you’re leaving, and we don’t even know for how long.”

Merlin inhaled sharply and cleared the distance between them. “I’m going to come back. It’s still going to be me and you side by side Arthur.” 

“When?” Arthur said weakly. He sounded like the street orphan he once was. Scared of when they would eventually die. Scared one would die before the other. 

“I don’t know.” Merlin said. “But I will come back, Arthur.” 

Arthur turned and looked at him, his brows knit together, his bright blue eyes glassy. He reached his hand out, catching the back of Merlin’s neck. Merlin mirrored him and they pulled each other closer until their foreheads knocked together. Arthur took a slow breath in that Merlin felt through his own bones. He leaned forward further and caught Arthur’s lips on his own. 

They didn’t do this. They never kissed. It felt far too intimate for best friends, but it felt like the only thing Merlin could do in that moment. Arthur kissed him back, wrapping his arms around Merlin’s shoulders. They separated and Arthur met Merlin’s eyes again. 

“Swear to me.” Arthur whispered. 

Merlin reached for the knife sheathed on Arthur’s desk, lifting the blade to his hand. They kept eyes as Merlin struck his own hand to draw blood. “I swear to you…” Merlin whispered, Arthur’s arms still around him. “That I will return.”

They kept their eyes locked on each other until neither could stand it and Arthur shoved their lips together again. It was fervent this time, all hints of promises pushed away by urgency. Merlin dropped the knife in favor of grabbing at Arthur’s hips, pulling them closer to his own. Arthur reached between them with one hand and Merlin had to hide his face in Arthur’s neck. 

It was over far quicker than usual, perhaps it was the panic of knowing they wouldn’t see each other for a long time. Perhaps it was the promise they made. Either way Merlin felt hazy as he walked once again to the Great Hall, Arthur next to him. 

They both were let in, the old man and King Elric were speaking quietly. They looked up. 

“Arthur, my son.” The King said. “Your destiny is starting to take flight.” 

“I understand.” Arthur said. 

“Merlin,” the old man said. “It is time.” 

Merlin took a deep breath and looked to Arthur. 

They met eyes once again and Arthur pulled Merlin into a hug. “Remember what you swore to me, Merlin.” 

“I’ll never forget.” Merlin said. He could feel a heavy knot forming in his throat. “I’m scared.” He whispered. 

“Don’t be. Your destiny is nothing you should be afraid of.” Arthur said quickly separating them. “Be brilliant, Merlin.” 

Merlin took a step away, then another never dropping Arthur’s gaze. 

The old man reached for Merlin’s arm, finally pulling him away. “I won’t forget.” Merlin said again. 

Arthur watched, his lips a tight line as Merlin was taken from the Great Hall and led towards the carriage. 

The old man climbed in first and Merlin began climbing into the travel carriage. 

“Don’t forget!” He heard as Arthur appeared once again. 

“I won’t ever forget!” Merlin yelled back. 

“Promise me!” Arthur said as the carriage began to move away. He started running after it. 

“I promise, Arthur!” Merlin said leaning out the side as Arthur chased after them. 

Arthur gave him that brilliant smile of his and continued running fast just behind the carriage. 

Merlin couldn’t help but smile back as the carriage picked up speed. He smiled even after Arthur stopped running. 

Arthur raised an arm and waved them off. 

Merlin waved goodbye for as long as he could see, his eyes tearing as Arthur faded further and further away until finally he could see nothing but the edge of the castle. 

He felt his smile fall as he leaned back into the carriage. 

“Fear not young one. Friendships like yours do not end.” The old man said quietly beside him. 

Merlin nodded and closed his eyes. “I’ve never been away from him. Even when we were children.” 

“Separation is good to strengthen bonds.” 

Merlin took a deep breath in and looked at the man sitting next to him. He was old and hunched over but he also looked incredibly warm and powerful all at once. 

“I am called Blaise.” The old man said looking towards Merlin. “That’s what you were wondering, was it not?” The old man tapped his hands against his knee. “You will refer to me as Master from now on. Do you understand?” 

“Yes Master,” Merlin said quietly. 

“Very good, Merlin. The monastary is not like the castle. There are strict rules you must live by.” 

“I understand.” 

“You’ll need to be cleansed upon arrival.” The old man looked at him slowly and Merlin felt his cheeks heat up. “Young desires are only too understandable, Merlin. But they are a thing of the past now. While at the monastary your devotion is to your craft.”

“I…” Merlin began but faltered. 

“There is no reason to lie or be ashamed. I care not of your reasonings or excuses. I am simply stated a ground rule.” 

Merlin swallowed down the odd embarrassment and nodded. “Yes Master.” 

“You will spend every waking moment learning and practicing. Your mind will be honed and pushed to its breaking point just as Arthur’s body is to be. You will spend the next ten years becoming the Greatest Sorcerer of all time.”

“Ten years?!” Merlin said quickly.

Blaise looked at him once again, that soft scrutiny made Merlin’s stomach climb to his throat. “Did you think this would be an easy process. A quick one? You are prophecied to be the Greatest Sorcerer of all time. You will pave the way for what magic is, Merlin. Millennia from now people will still speak your name. Ten years is a fragment of time you will need.” 

“That’s such a long time.” Merlin could feel his stomach churn at the thought of being away from Arthur for that long.

The old man chuckled softly. “I’m sure it seems that way to one so young. Realistically we would have preferred to have fifty years with you at the Monastary. But the danger that faces Camelot will arrive far before you are ready.” 

“What am I meant to do then? How can I defeat something I’m not ready for?” Merlin asked.

“You are special Merlin.” Blaise said once again. 

Merlin leaned his head back against the wall of the carriage. “Master, may I ask… what is the danger prophecied exactly?” 

Blaise faltered for a moment before resigning. “An unending darkness, an unending war. And evils we have yet to know.” 

Merlin had no response for such a prophecy. For the first time he wished that Arthur had never pulled Excalibur from its stone prison. He wished that Arthur had never realized his destiny. He wished he had never realized his own. Now there was no going back. Now he was trapped in a carriage moving further and further away from his best friend. Now he was hurtling towards a dangerous future filled with darkness and evil. He had never wanted greatness. Arthur had always been the one destined for greatness, Merlin was meant to only be the one in Arthur’s shadow. He looked out the small carriage window at the expanding countryside shadowed by night and wondered what the next day would bring him. He had never stood alone before. He wasn’t sure he could.