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“I’ll give you a tip,” he said quietly. The sound of polishing stopped, and Leon heard Merlin look up. “When you meet a nobleman,” Leon said, turning around, “don’t introduce yourself.”
A canon compliant first meeting between Leon and Merlin, set just after S1E4 "The Poisoned Chalice."
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 948
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 40
- Kudos:
- 515
- Bookmarks:
- 48
- Hits:
- 2,384
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
14 Jun 2026
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Leon regains consciousness after the Lamia Incident with a headache and a healthy helping of guilt. He has failed in responsibility and friendship. Merlin can't stand his and the other knights' presence anymore, and, recalling his violent behavior, Leon can't blame him. But he has no intention of losing Merlin to distrust or letting his fellow knights stew in self-hate. The damage must be repaired, for the sake of them all.
The question is, how long has the damage been there? Does Leon even have the ability to fix it?
*COMPLETE*
Series
- Part 1 of The Knights Find Out
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
14 Jun 2026
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After centuries of waiting for Arthur’s return, and the ancient king showing no sign of resurrecting anytime soon, Merlin decides to turn himself into a stone statue and wait out the remaining years in a semi-conscious state. He places a charm upon himself, making it so that he will change back once Arthur returns and finds him. A plaque on the statue’s plinth reads as much: “Whoever holds dominion over this soul of stone / Need only touch it to turn it to flesh and bone.” It becomes something of a must-try in the city, and despite thousands of people interacting with the statue every year, no one succeeds in turning him back into a human. That is, until one day…
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 20,028
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 116
- Kudos:
- 3,765
- Bookmarks:
- 724
- Hits:
- 41,927
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
14 Jun 2026
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in the arms of your protection (darling, i am yours to hold) by stolenstars for HadrianPeverellBlack
Fandoms: Merlin (TV)
29 Dec 2023
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Merlin knows it’s better him than anyone else - it’s the mantra he repeats like a lifeline with every aching step he takes up the endless stairs in the castle, bones protesting and bruises littering his mauled chest. It’s better him than Gwen, he thinks, hands shaking as Arthur hands him off to Lord Something-Or-Other, known for whipping his servants into submission. It’s better him than the laundry girls, barely older than ten, trembling in fear as Sir Newest Knight throws a predatory gaze like a promise.
It’s better him. He has magic, so he could fight back, if need be. No one else has magic, so they couldn't fight back. It’s that simple.
(It’s really not)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 7,071
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 30
- Kudos:
- 1,270
- Bookmarks:
- 234
- Hits:
- 9,034
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
14 Jun 2026
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There are those who would be alarmed at seeing their best mate covered in blood and holding a knife, careening around a corner so wildly that he almost claims an additional victim entirely by accident.
And then there’s Gwaine.
(five times gwaine didn't find out about merlin's magic and one time he did)
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
13 Jun 2026
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When one of Camelot's outlying villages reports being attacked in their dreams by a malevolent sorcerer, King Arthur answers the call, taking with him a band of only his strongest and bravest knights.
And Merlin, of course.
But when Merlin volunteers -- against Arthur’s express orders -- to take a curse intended for Arthur, the king is forced to face the fact that his trusted servant may not trust him in return.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,949
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 110
- Kudos:
- 1,382
- Bookmarks:
- 259
- Hits:
- 11,279
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
10 Jun 2026
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Merlin has many secrets but Arthur sees more than anyone knows. This is the story of a prince and a dragon. A canon changeling!verse AU, deviating around season 2.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 34,375
- Chapters:
- 5/5
- Collections:
- 7
- Comments:
- 206
- Kudos:
- 7,190
- Bookmarks:
- 1,663
- Hits:
- 82,713
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
10 Jun 2026
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It has been five years and ten days since the death of Uther Pendragon, and five years exactly since Arthur's coronation.
It has been five years and Merlin isn't any less in love with him, Arthur isn't any less of a prat (but only to Merlin, these days), and he still doesn't know about the magic.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,871
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 4
- Comments:
- 80
- Kudos:
- 5,971
- Bookmarks:
- 851
- Hits:
- 62,456
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
08 Jun 2026
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“Merlin?” Arthur squinted at the ridiculously attractive, shirtless, twenty-something in front of him and tried to connect him with his toothy, scrawny playmate who would always fight kids twice his size on the playground. “I – I mean Emmett. Emmett Ambrose. You’re Emmett Ambrose?”
“Fuck,” Emmett – no, it wasn’t Emmett, it was Merlin – gaped at Arthur incredulously. "Holy shit."
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 2,565
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 4
- Comments:
- 140
- Kudos:
- 6,089
- Bookmarks:
- 678
- Hits:
- 35,185
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
08 Jun 2026
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“I was just pointing out,” Gwaine says cheerfully, “that Merlin’s talents must clearly come from you. You raised him, and he’s now teaching our esteemed king in rational thought—”
“Gwaine,” Arthur says, raising his eyebrows.
“It’s not so much teaching as steering in the right direction,” Merlin says, and receives a tap to his head for that. He just jostles his shoulder against Arthur’s, and Arthur’s expression softens. “He’s not so bad, really.”
Or: There’s a reason you shouldn’t keep secrets from your mother. During a visit to Ealdor, Gwaine happens to mention Merlin’s father. This shouldn’t have as many consequences as it does, and one by one, several truths come to light.
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
08 Jun 2026
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“It is not like you,” Arthur muses suddenly, and very, very quietly, “to lie to me.”
Merlin’s lungs freeze in his chest. “What?” he chokes out.
Or: yet another 5x05 The Disir AU.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 7,062
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 186
- Kudos:
- 2,518
- Bookmarks:
- 617
- Hits:
- 15,318
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
08 Jun 2026
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Summary
Look, alright, Arthur does try to give Merlin the benefit of the doubt, but when he walks into his room to see him immediately stand up straight, hide something behind his back, and that something is jingling, what exactly is he supposed to do?
Well, if Merlin is to be believed, state his business and leave Merlin to his.
But when a pouch of coin leads to a confrontation that reaches far beyond their normal spats, Arthur starts to uncover something very troubling about Merlin's time in Camelot.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 4,244
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 43
- Kudos:
- 2,083
- Bookmarks:
- 289
- Hits:
- 12,172
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
05 Jun 2026
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Arthur is not too proud to admit that, had he not met Merlin, he would have responded quite differently when the servant flinched from him.
Series
- Part 1 of The Troubles in Camelot
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 4,520
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 51
- Kudos:
- 2,080
- Bookmarks:
- 192
- Hits:
- 15,640
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
05 Jun 2026
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Summary
Merlin's first Halloween party of university is going swimmingly, right until a knight in shining not-really-armour accuses him of getting his costume wrong.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 1,400
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 28
- Kudos:
- 451
- Bookmarks:
- 38
- Hits:
- 2,711
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
04 Jun 2026
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Summary
(Camelot as we know and love, in a world where everyone is born with wings, save the rare 'Wingless'. )
Merlin is a supposed-Wingless, manservant to King Arthur, post-magic ban repeal. Merlin is fine, he promises, but he deeply misjudges how tenuous his grasp on nomalcy is. When visiting nobles take their hate for the Wingless too far, it's finally time for Merlin to let Arthur into yet another secret. And maybe the King can finally help him heal from the past.- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 41,773
- Chapters:
- 15/15
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 157
- Kudos:
- 2,137
- Bookmarks:
- 488
- Hits:
- 30,142
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
03 Jun 2026
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Summary
The sob that escaped him was a tiny thread of sound, little more than an embellishment upon the air. He did not wail. It was too big for that, too much, all the more painful for being unexpected. Not Arthur's betrothal, but his own reaction to it. It was as if all the nebulous uncertainty of the day had crystallised into a blade.
Worse, he had no one to blame but himself. He had never told Arthur how he felt. It had always seemed like a step too far, and now it was too late.
Tomorrow, he would pick up the pieces of himself and find the strength to bear the scars of it. He would be the friend Arthur needed, and he would pretend that was enough.
Tonight, he mourned.
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When Arthur announces his courtship to Lady Aveline of Spirehold, Merlin resigns himself to never speaking of his love. Yet the universe has other ideas. Stuck in the same, repeating day, can Merlin find his courage and break free, or will he lose his last chance to speak of what lingers in his heart?
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 24,006
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 266
- Kudos:
- 1,145
- Bookmarks:
- 239
- Hits:
- 11,287
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
03 Jun 2026
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Summary
A hand grasped his arm, sending a brief thrill down Merlin's nerves as he was forced around to face the person behind him. Armour gleamed in the firelight: supple chainmail glinted, and the solid iron of a pauldron curved lovingly over one broad shoulder. The length of a sword blade separated them. The point hovered, steady and sure, over Merlin's heart, braced to run him through, but he did not care about any of that. He was too busy drinking in the sight of the man before him.
He could never forget him, no matter how many centuries had passed.
'Arthur?'
When Merlin ultimately fails in his destiny, the fading remnants of magic that linger in the modern world fling him not just back in time, but sideways as well. He ends up in a Camelot where all his friends are alive, well and aware of his magic.
He ends up in a Camelot where his alternate self died almost a year ago.
Can he, Arthur and their friends still forge the golden age he was once promised, or will grief and suspicion tear them apart?
Series
- Part 1 of Hiraeth Universe
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 507,440
- Chapters:
- 100/100
- Collections:
- 16
- Comments:
- 10,998
- Kudos:
- 11,056
- Bookmarks:
- 3,042
- Hits:
- 645,474
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
01 Jun 2026
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A snapshot of the confrontation between Arthur and Uther after Morgause summoned Ygrain’s ghost. And what it might look like if Merlin said something different.
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
26 May 2026
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Merlin gets hit with an aging spell.
It doesn’t turn him 80. It turns him four.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 25,530
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 131
- Kudos:
- 2,366
- Bookmarks:
- 451
- Hits:
- 19,769
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
25 May 2026
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Summary
“Merlin,” Arthur grumbled to his servant, who was sitting by the fire Merlin looks over his shoulder at Arthur curled up in his bedroll. “Get over here, it’s cold.”
“You want me to come and cuddle you for warmth?” Merlin asked, tauntingly, but makes to stand up anyway.
“It’s not cuddling,” Arthur insisted, though he opens his arms for Merlin to crawl into them. “It’s called survival. I’m stealing your warmth. It’s your duty to make sure I’m kept comfortable, is it not?”
~~~
Arthur doesn't realise Merlin is his Favourite. Merlin has no idea what a King's Favourite even is. Everyone else in Camelot knows Merlin is Arthur's Favourite.
Bookmarked by Introverted_Tree
25 May 2026