In a land of myth – DM x JD

Happy 100 one shots everyone! This one is based around the Merlin TV show cause the idea came into my head late one night and well it's stuck. So apart from Merlin, his mum, Arthur and Uther the rest of the characters will be the same.. Oh and the main 4 knights and Kris is replacing Will.

Enjoy

Two babies are born to two families in two completely different parts of the kingdom. On one side the long-awaited heir to the throne is born. On the other, a baby boy is born to a poor struggling mother in a small village who's partner just left her. It is almost like they are in two separate worlds that will be joined together one way or the other. They are a year and 6 months apart, but these boys will become great friends one day. For now they will just grow up with no knowledge of the other existing really other than simple terms. The peasants and royalty the most common divide between otherwise normal humans in the kingdom of Camelot. Magic has been outlawed since the death of the queen a year and a half ago.

The mother holds her new-born son on her bed. The little baby boy had just become fussy, so she picked him up from his little bed. He opens his brown eyes and looks at his mother for the first time. Her heart swells as she bonds with her son. Her son will do amazing things when he grows older she is sure of it. She sings a lullaby to the baby to get him off to sleep. She was tired and she needed to go to sleep soon. They live in a small village and the news of the new arrival will spread quickly tomorrow morning when she leaves her small house. She will get a lot of visitors over the next few days and she wasn't sure she was ready for it. She'll know how the king felt about it by the end of the of the week.

The king had been swarmed with guests when his son was born. He had unfortunately lost his wife to the birth process which led to him outlawing magic. The villagers who live around Camelot were in fear as there had been several executions over the last year and a half and they were not about to stop now the prince has been toddling around the palace driving everyone in charge of his care going crazy. The king was using the executions as a way of grieving for his wife. Afterall, who else would be behind the death after the birth of his heir. He knew many of the magic people in his kingdom already hated him. It was not out of the realms of possibility that the pregnancy was cursed. Anything is possible in the world of Camelot.

The new mother gets her piece of paper and writes down her letter to her close friend Gaius. A man of great wisdom who she hoped would take her son in when he was older. If her new-born is anything like his father, then there would be only so much she could do to help him with his magical powers. He has been born in a very dangerous time for people like him, so he needs the mentorship of the wiser man to guide him through what looks to be a very troubled adult life. She wanted to let her friend know about the birth of the baby. He is a happy and healthy baby boy with no idea of the life he has been born into or the life he will lead as he grows up. She only wished that his father stayed for longer than he did.

He vanished one night in the middle of the night with no note or any form of explanation as to why he abandoned his relationship with her just before the baby was born. She was devastated because she hoped that he would stay to at least meat his baby whose gender was unknown until she pushed him out literally 2 hours ago on her own and using her initiative because she was too poor to afford to get a physician and even though she knew Gaius would help her there was no way of letting him know in time because she had no idea of when she was going to go into labour or how long it was going to last for. That was the downside to sending letters. They take a long time to get to the person you want to send them to and you could never meet up the next day because it would take two days to get there.

~ 5 years later – Margo Murillo p.o.v~

"Daniel, please be careful," I tell, my adventurous five-year-old as he runs around. He has been no problem for me, but his magic is still very much uncontrollable at this stage. Luckily the king has no interest in coming to my small village, so Daniel is safe for now. I know he had heard me because he briefly stopped to look at me then he carried on racing around the garden. He carried on for a little while before he came to stand next to me. "See Ma, I was fine," he tells me, the ever-cheeky boy. He is still too young to understand my fears and concerns about him. He doesn't know or think that he is any different to any of the other children he plays with. "I know you were my boy," I tell him then I tickle him.

He laughs and I just enjoy soaking in all of the innocence. I am not going to lie and say it has been an easy five years, but I am definitely enjoying raising my son as best as I can on my own. He has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I take him inside to give him something to eat. The less he is outside the better to be honest. I don't want to lose him because someone comes at the wrong moment and he accidentally casts a spell he has no knowledge of doing. I know a lot of people would gladly give up their own children, friends or even family members because there is now a monetary reward for giving them up. When you are as poor as we are any offer of money especially from the king himself we would do anything for.

I would never give up my son for money, no matter how tempting it might seem to be at first. My son's life is worth more to me than any amount of money. Daniel is so grateful for anything he gets. We have some food and I made him a very basic lunch. "Thank you ma," Daniel says, I taught him manners from an early age, and I was happy to see that it had paid off. "You're welcome baby," I tell him. I don't have a lot of food, but I will happily have no meals myself just so my son can have meals to grow as healthily and as strong as he can be. Of course my young son is desperate to run around and burn some of the energy he has just gained from his meal. I let him have some more time in the garden.

He comes running in sometime after with a terrified look on his face. The knights must have gone through again. "What's the matter?" I ask him, as he runs into my arms. He was too scared to talk to me, but he pointed to the door where a knight of Camelot was standing. "It's okay Daniel, it is just a knight from Camelot," I tell him. I picked him up, to calm him down and to help him realise the knights are nothing to be afraid of. "Sorry to disturb you. I just saw him running around outside and I wanted to make sure that he wasn't an orphan," the knight says. I know the knights of Camelot are very kind and considerate. "It's fine, I let him run around in my garden a lot to let out some energy," I tell the knight.

"He's a good lad. Again so sorry to disturb you. I'll be on my way," the knight says, and he leaves almost as quickly as he showed up. I forget they occasionally patrol through here to make sure that no one is plotting against the king or hiding anyone with magic. "See, he was not that scary," I tell Daniel as I put him down on the ground again. He decides to not go outside again which is fair enough. He has never met a knight before, I haven't let him play outside for a long period of time until now because I think he is old enough. I still worry that he might get caught one of these days and I am not ready for the consequences of it. I don't want my little boy to die just because he is a little bit different compared to everyone else.

Later on Daniel got too tired and ended up falling asleep on the floor by the fire. I smile and carry him to his small bed I had made for him for his birthday. I tuck him up and kiss him on the top of his head. I hope the world he grows into will be as kind to him as I have been. A lot has to change in the next few years in order for that to happen. I am not sure King Miles Decker is ready for the change that will come when people start remembering what magic is really there for instead of the whole magic is only ever good or bad. There are several magic gifted people I know happily trying to live out their lives in peace and then King Decker comes along and it's off with your head. It's very scary times for magical people.

~ 15 years later ~ Daniel's p.o.v

I have been in Camelot for a few months now and I thought that I should start writing my thoughts down, so I don't suddenly go insane. My mother sent me from our small little peaceful village to the great city of Camelot to stay with her friend Gaius. Gaius just so happens to be the court physician which put me right into the path of Prince Jorel. I am not sure I can say all I want to about Prince Jorel without being arrested for treason. My first impressions of the prince were not that great to begin with. He just seems to be an arrogant bully. I also ended up fighting the prince because he challenged me to a duel, and I would not be called a coward. I am not used to the social divide I have been seeing.

I suppose it is to be expected. Camelot is completely different to the little village I grew up in. For starters there were never any classes, and everyone was treated differently. I know what knights are because I saw many different ones growing up as they patrolled through making sure nobody was hiding anyone with magical powers. I saw friends and people I knew taken away for money and were executed. It shocks me at what lengths people will go to just to get a little bit of extra money in their lives. They can't change their mind once they hand their loved one over which means that their fate is sealed. They will ide all because of the kings hatred of magic cause by making a sorceress get his baron wife pregnant.

I suppose if he knew that the birth of Prince Jorel would have resulted in the death of his wife then King Miles would never have gone for it. Then again as I got more used to being Prince Jorel's manservant the less we hated each other and the more we sort of became friends. It didn't help that a great big dragon I had found underneath the castle told me that it is my destiny to protect the prince until he is able to become king and untie all of the kingdoms under one and call it Albion. I hated the idea especially because I found that Jorel was literally the worst person in the entire kingdom. I also didn't like the way that I became the prince's manservant either, but I have to do what King Miles has said I must do.

There was a lady who had been in the courtyard on my arrival in Camelot when her son was executed by the king for his magical powers. The woman swore that she would get her revenge for that and her method of doing so was to kill the prince. I ended up using my magic to save the prince, not that anyone noticed, and King Miles rewarded me with the position I am now in. I have managed to use magic to save the kingdom multiple times without them even knowing. I even admitted it to save Gwen's life and they still didn't believe me. Then again Gaius would never have let me die even if I wanted to. Jorel even came to my defence, admittingly it was to prove that I was an idiot and incapable of using sorcery.

I was also poisoned. There was a peace treaty between the two kingdoms and there was a big feast to celebrate. One of the serving girls for the other side had told me that the chalice was poisoned, and I warned the King about it just in time. He told me that because I am disposable that I should drink the chalice to prove my claims. I did and I was right, then I collapsed and was taken back to Gaius chambers where I spend most of the time comatose while Jorel for some odd reason decided to defy his father and retrieve a flower that was going to save my life. He got thrown into jail for it, but I was grateful that my life was saved. It was a sign to the start of a friendship between Jorel and I. I'll never forget that fateful day.

I love how my mentor disguised my attempts at spells as fever gibberish. It certainly worked when Gwen asked about it. She wasn't there when I used a spell to help Jorel despite my comatose state. Remind me to never trust pretty serving girls with their fake sob stories again. I don't think I want to go through that again even if I did end up being snogged by Gwen when I finally woke up from the coma. Even I don't think my life is worth risking Jorel's like that. My life is worth less than his even if we are to work together. It was the first time I have ever heard of Jorel squaring up to his father like that. He wasn't so arrogant and stuck up that time. I have also never seen Gaius so worried about me in his life.

The team work displayed by the three of them without even knowing about some things that went on was amazing. I am so lucky to have so many people care about me like this. I have been used to my mother and my good friend Kris caring about me until now. At least I made King Miles proud of his son. Even if it did mean disobeying him slightly. I think Miles needed to realise that he could not just keep his son under lock and key. He has to grow up sometime. He's not a little boy anymore and he was going to be a great king one day. He certainly proved that when he went to help my mother who came when our little village was attacked by bandits. We are technically in another kingdom and my mother did a good plea.

King Miles did his typical I will not go to war over such a small amount of people. I smiled when Jorel joked about me being the worst servant ever when I decided to go back to my home village to help my mother. Even Gwen and Morgana decided to help me which I did not expect. Gaius is definitely the closest thing to a father I have ever had, and I have appreciated everything he has done for me. I loved being able to spend some time with my mother even if it was under such horrible circumstances. Jorel disobeyed his father once again to come to my aid which I was again grateful for. I definitely knew how to use a sword by the end of it. Kris had words for me when I showed up to help defeat the bandits. We did miss each other though.

All the villagers wanted to help but Kris. I could understand the frustrations. It was nice to humble Jorel a little with village life. At least he was prepared to help the men. They will walk away from this battle with valuable skills and they would be better to defend themselves should anyone else try to attack our usually peaceful little village. Kris definitely disliked Jorel more when Matthew was killed. I know Kris is a bit of a pessimist but even I found what he had to say was ridiculous. I would even have called him a coward. He doesn't get that not everything can be solved with a simple magic spell. I would die if Jorel caught me using magic during the battle so I would have to be careful. It turns out I am a good pep talker too.

Gwen and Morgana were as equally as amazing as Jorel. We got the women involved, and Jorel was nice. He was being truthful, and I was proud to be his manservant. We were finally equals and it felt good. This is the kind of king everyone wants. I also secretly enjoyed irritating Kris because he knew that I was going to be right in the end. Even my mother did that thing where she knows what I am about to do. It felt good to wear the armour as well. I felt almost like a proper knight. I hope that King Miles would be as proud of his son as we all were that day. Not many princes would risk their lives to save their servants home village. I even used my powers right in front of Morgana, and it worked a treat.

Kris surprised me the most, I was so happy that he saved my life and he thought the cause was worth it. There was a moment that I thought that Jorel had discovered my powers, but Kris saved the day like he always did. We saved my village and I was so overjoyed. The one thing that did devastate me the most was the death of Kris. He even covered for me which he shouldn't have done. At least Jorel cared about him and didn't want him dead even if he was going to die from his wound anyways. We gave him a good send off which is what he deserved. I wish I could have stayed with my mother for longer, but I have to go back to Camelot. At least I went back knowing my mother is proud of me and my secret is still secret.

~5 more years later~

"Daniel," Jorel calls. I was walking down the hall to go to get something when the newly crowned King of Camelot stopped me. "Yes sire?" I ask, tuning to give him my full attention. I would be lying if I said that feelings have not developed between the two of us over the last few years. "I am going on a hunting trip in the morning and I would like you to come with me," he tells me. This is not unusual for him to ask me to come on the hunting trips with him. He does tend to find ways to insult me on any trip or mission we go on. "Of course sire, why would I be anywhere else but by your side," I reply. I don't expect to be anywhere but by his side because at the end of the day I am his manservant and I have to go with him.

Magic is slowly being reintroduced to Camelot. I know that Jorel is reluctant to undo everything his father has achieved as far as that goes. He also has a lot of reservations about people who use magic because of his father's opinions of magic users is all he has ever known and all he knows until Gaius and I help him see that not everyone is out to kill him or destroy the kingdom with magic. I have been tempted to show him outright that I am a sorcerer and magic is not as dark as his father believed it had been. He could snap at any time and I would be fired and also probably set on fire if I am not careful. I was almost murdered when that witchfinder came into Camelot because I had done something stupid.

I almost lost Gaius because we was defending me. I still see him as much as a father figure in my life now as I did back in the early days. He had confessed to save my life, and we could see Miles didn't want to do it. "Daniel, are you alright?" Gaius asked. I had gone back to our chambers while I was thinking about my guardian. "Yes, Gaius I am fine," I say. I had shaken my head to clear my thoughts a little. He saw straight through me like usual and we sit next to each other on the bench as he puts his arm around me. "You thought about the witchfinder again didn't you?" he asks, like he had read my mind. I look down and he took that as a yes. I thought I had gotten over all of the issues it had brought.

"Daniel, you know Jorel would never call the witchfinder again after the mockery he made of himself the last time. We are perfectly safe to live our lives in Camelot," Gaius says. It does little to reassure me, but I smile to make him feel better about it. I do not want to worry him too much now that I am leaving for a day or two in the morning. I have no idea how long Jorel wants us on these hunting trips so I can not give him a definite answer. "I know Gaius," I tell him, then dash off to get something ready before he asks me anymore questions about my feelings. I am not ready to go any further into my fears of being murdered by my king because I have powers that have saved his life on multiple occasions.

I pretend to sleep when Gaius comes to check on me later on in the night. "One day, you will feel safe enough to talk to me," he says, assuming that I am asleep. I know he cares about me and that I should feel safe enough to confide in him more often than I have been doing. Then I actually fall asleep not mentally prepared for the day that was to come. I am never mentally prepared for the day ahead of me because despite anyone else telling you no two days in Camelot are ever the same. There are always new challenges and threats to the king that I have to hide my magic from everyone. Like I said it was not worth showing Jorel my powers yet until I feel completely safe to do so because I don't want to die.

I get up nice and early for the day of hunting I have ahead of me. Jorel was already awake and starting to get himself dressed while I had brought his breakfast like I usually do. "Morning Daniel," Jorel says, smiling at me which is not like him first thing in the morning. "Morning Jorel," I reply. I am going to take him being in a good mood this morning as a good thing. I might be bullied less if he is in a good mood. "Ready for a day of hunting?" he asks, yet another unusual question for me. He doesn't usually care if I am ready to go and murder animals with him or not. He just kinda drags me along on this adventures. Or I just follow along because there is a high chance of him getting himself into trouble.

"Yes," I reply, eventually. I wasn't even sure what to say. This is all bizarre to me. I think he is suspecting me because I am not acting myself really. Then again he is not acting himself either. "Are you okay Daniel?" Jorel asks, we were walking towards the horses and I was silent for once. He stops us just outside the stables, so I looked at him. "Yes, I am fine," I tell him, trying my best to convince him that I was fine. Maybe if I start calling him a clot pole or a dollop head then it will get back to normal. Maybe then it will stop being so awkward. I feel like something is going to happen and it won't be me revealing my magic to him. No matter what is going on while Jorel is slowly adding more decrees to let magic be allowed. I am not going to reveal myself.

I am not prepared for the yelling that will ensue for all the lying I have done. I know that I have lied to defend myself, but I do not know if Jorel will understand. I have had several nightmare of this. Usually different ways of him finding out and then me being sentenced to death by either burning at the stake or being beheaded. "You are not okay," Jorel says, we had made our way to the horses now and we were about to get on. "I'm not sure what you are talking about? I thought you hated my constant talking," I tell him. He gently shoves me. We are now on our way to wherever we are hunting today. Sometimes we go a days ride away from Camelot because the patrols scare the animals away. It also depends on what Jorel wants to hunt.

"I don't always hate it. Sometimes when you have been away for a while I have missed it," Jorel says. Why is he constantly surprising me? This is all so unnatural to me. We continue the ride and I start going back to my usual way as I relax a little bit. I am slowly getting the feeling that I am not going to be going hunting with Jorel today. I think this is going to be something else. Something different that nobody is going to expect but him. "Do you not trust me?" Jorel asks me. We have been riding for some time now. "I trust you with my life Jorel. I just have a feeling that we are not actually going hunting today," I tell him. It is something that I would be honest with him about. I can't lie to him too much.

I'd managed to get in a fat comment when we had been on our horses for a while. He is heavier than I am, so his bottom is naturally a little more cushioned than mine. We come into this clearing in the forest where there isn't an animal in sight. "Yeah, we are not hunting today," he admits when we get to our destination. I tie up the horses while he does whatever it is that he wants to get done. It turns out Jorel wants us to have a picnic in this clearing. I raise my eyebrow at him. Servants do not have picnics with their masters. "Sit down Daniel don't be afraid," he tells me. Something about it just made me do it naturally. He gets some food out for us and we start eating. It slowly became more comfortable.

"Daniel, I have a question for you," Jorel says, breaking the comfortable silence that had been the two of us eating the food undoubtedly Jorel had ordered for us from the palace kitchens. I was not complaining though. "Yes Jorel?" I ask him. My thoughts are going way too fast for myself to comprehend. "I was wondering, if you'd go out with me. There are definitely feelings of something more between us," he says, and I dropped the piece of food I was about to eat back onto the plate. I was not expecting that confession from someone I felt the same way about. He looks worried like I am about to run off or something. "I didn't know you would ever feel the same way," I tell him, and he sighs in relief.

I don't know how this will work in the long run though. A king is supposed to find a princess and make them his queen and produce heirs so their legacy can continue. I don't see there being any spell which would ever make me either a woman or bare children. He touches my cheeks and pulls me into a gentle kiss. We both knew what we were doing, but it was like he thought I was made of glass or something. It was better than the satisfaction of my magic saving anyone in my entire life up until now. We are both grinning when it ends. "Now let's go hunting," he tells me, and I shake my head and shove him. Now I can do that, which is awesome. I am taking the let's go hunting as a let's not tell anyone this happened yet.

I can completely understand it even if it does hurt my feelings a little. He has a reputation to uphold as do I and there are no relationships like ours anywhere in any of the kingdoms or the little villages surrounding them. "What so I can scare them away and you get angry at me again?" I say, and he just laughs. We are back to the banter that we usually do, and it felt good. We can always pretend it happened and just have a good hunt. We actually had a good hunt for once, I did scare one bunny off. However, Jorel joked about how it was too skinny for anyone to eat so it's life was spared for now until it was fatter. Jorel was the happiest I had seen him in a long time. I wonder if I am the cause of it.

It was late by the time we got back to Camelot. We were both holding back yawns. There was barely anyone around either. I suppose those who weren't on night patrol had just gone to bed like we were going to do. We sort out the horses in the stables, there was no one around to do it and we knew what we were doing by this point. We were almost done and about to go our separate ways when I felt someone stand behind me. I turn around to see Jorel standing behind me. He puts his hands on my hips and I look into his eyes. We are both smiling, and I hugged him back. We had a brief kiss because we didn't want to get caught. We had said we are keeping the relationship quiet for as long as we can and only tell people who we trust.

Gaius was still awake when I got back to our chambers. "I can tell you two had a good day out," Gaius tells me. if I had a drink I would have spit it out in shock. I should have known that Gaius would have known already. He has that parental guidance with me, and I have mentioned my feelings to him once. "Yeah, it was completely unexpected," I tell him. I feel like I can confide in him about this. I don't want this relationship to all be nothing. He could easily chose Gwen over me if the time came to it. Who would want two kings and no heirs? The correct answer seems to be nobody. "I know and I know the new relationship worries you, but I can see by the way that Jorel looks at you that he will look after you," he tells me.

"Thank you Gaius, I guess my mind is going overboard when I should be excited," I tell him. I am so appreciative of his guidance. I sit next to him on the bench and he puts his arm around me. I enjoy the embrace. "This is new to both you and Jorel. Your excitement will come when the time is right, for now the best thing to do is to take it easy and keep it quiet," Gaius says, again he is completely right with his advice to me. I felt a little bit relieved after talking to my mentor/guardian. He knows how to help me rationalise my thoughts and I need that right now. I need to be able to keep my guard up when we are next in court. Nobody needs to know right now that the king of Camelot is with his servant in more than a friendly way. I go to bed and curl up under the covers. The exhaustion from the days events catches up to me and I fall asleep in no time.

And that is the end of the final one shot in this book! I hope you have all had a good holiday and a happy new year. The new book will be started as soon as I have done another chapter of a story because of how I roll.

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