astolat reblogged
"I suppose if we stop, he won't have a chance to catch us," Merlin said.
Arthur was silent, then he said, "If it were just for glory—but Merlin, these creatures are menaces. They steal livestock from the weakest pens, and attack the poorest folk, who cannot afford either defense or to travel around them. We can't sit idly by and let that happen. Whatever the consequences to ourselves." Arthur did that sort of thing every once in a while, like shrugging off a cloak, and it always made Merlin feel strange, like he was seeing Arthur and somebody else at the same time. Somebody who wasn't ordinary flesh and blood, not just a king but the shape of a king, the truest meaning of the word, and Merlin really really hated it. "Merlin," Arthur said. "Yeah?" Merlin said. "We aren't going to need to worry about the bard catching us if you keep that up." "What?" Merlin looked up. There were vines curling gently up the posters of the bed, and up the walls and twining around the windows and the mantelpiece, huge flowers of purple and gold and pink opening on them.
Aww, lovely! 💐
