English is not my first language. Sorry for the mistakes.

The Miracle of the Snow

"So, today we have to discuss the matters of taxes," said Arthur, sorting his papers. It was a cold, gloomy day. Although it was early afternoon, the council chambers were in semi-darkness. Only a few candles were burning on the Round Table. Most of the chairs were empty, only the knights were present: Gwaine, Percival, Leon, Elyan, as well as Arthur with Gwen on his left. Apart from them Merlin was in the room who was standing behind the royal couple, holding a jug of wine.

Gwaine replied to Arthur's statement with a groan.

"Yes, Gwaine?" looked Arthur at the knight. "Do you have something to add?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," said Gwaine. "Why do you torture us with this? Why don't you discuss the taxes with the council?"

"Because, Gwaine, if I want to discuss something with the council, I have to ask the Knights' opinion first," said Arthur, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "Maybe you haven't noticed it yet, but you're a knight, too." Arthur sighed, then looked at his papers again. "So, about the taxes…"

"But it's cold."

"Gwaine!" snapped Arthur. Merlin was trying to cover his laugh with a cough, while Leon and Percival were shaking with suppressed laughter. Elyan turned to Gwaine, grinning. "It's winter, Gwaine. Of course it's cold."

"Yeah, I know it's winter," said Gwaine, slightly offended. "I just don't understand why we talk this over here. Why not in a room with a nice fireplace?" He pulled his red cloak tightly around himself. "Merlin, mate, more wine, please."

"This is tradition," said Arthur while Merlin stepped to Gwaine and refilled his cup. "The kingdom's matters are discussed in the council chambers, not sitting next to the fire, eating some chicken."

"Well, I will have frozen toes because of your tradition."

"For Heaven's sake..." muttered Arthur, burying his face in his hands. Gwen placed her hand on her husband's arm. "Calm down. Let's carry on," she said, smiling.

"Yes. You're right," said Arthur. He drew himself up, took a deep breath, then picked up the papers. "So, I meant to say before Sir Gwaine interrupted me," the king gave the grinning knight a sharp look, "that last time the council suggested the idea of raising taxes. I'd like to know your opinion about…"

"I am of the opinion that taxes shouldn't be raised, everything should remain as it was, everything is great, everyone's happy, we don't have to stay here any longer, and I can still save my toes!" said Gwaine.

"I can't believe it!" Arthur snapped. Merlin and the Knights couldn't hold their laughter any longer. Gwen was chuckling merrily, too. The sounds were bouncing off the thick stone walls.

"Seriously, it's really cold," said Gwaine eventually. "I hope it means it will snow!"

"Why would you like the snow to fall?" asked Leon.

"They are talking about snow," muttered Arthur, but no one heard him. "Great. Just great."

"Because it's fun!" Gwaine grinned at Leon. "Lots of snow means lots of fun."

"It rarely snows here in Camelot," Gwen joined in the conversation, too. "Even if it does, it melts away very soon."

"That's true. I don't remember a time when the snow remained for more than a day," said Leon. Elyan nodded. They grew up in Camelot and knew well that snow is rare here.

"That's awful!" Gwaine looked almost indignant. "Snow is the only good thing about winter!"

"Can I ask you to finish your little chat? We have more important things to settle," said Arthur, brandishing the papers.

"What? Don't tell me you don't like snow!" said Gwaine, pretending to be shocked.

"No!" Arthur snapped irritably. "I don't like snow! I hate snow! Because of the snow, swords and armours get rusty, clothes get wet, and it turns into mud that covers everything. And now that we have discussed this, let's get back to the question of taxes!"

"Percival, what about your home village?" Gwaine turned to Percival, not caring about Arthur's outburst.

"That's it. I give up." Arthur cast the papers aside and leaned back in his chair wearily. Gwen sent him a sympathetic smile.

"My home was far from here," said Percival. "It has never snowed there."

"What! Never?" Gwaine exclaimed, wide-eyed. "So you have never seen snow?"

Percival shook his head.

"I can't believe it," said Gwaine. "Well, Percival, you don't know what you've missed."

"It snows a lot in Ealdor," Merlin spoke for the first time since they had entered the council chambers. "The winters are harsh there. Lots of snow fall every year." His face broke into a broad smile. "Will and I used to play in the snow all day, even in the coldest times."

"Who's Will?" Gwaine asked.

Merlin's smile faded a little.

"He was my best friend in Ealdor. He really was a trouble-maker and we got into a lot of trouble, too."

"Oh, I like the boy already," grinned Gwaine. "I'd like to meet him once."

Merlin said nothing, his smile completely gone now. He turned away from Gwaine and poured wine into Percival's cup, which was still almost full. He seemed distracted. Arthur and Gwen looked at each other sadly. The Knights were confused.

"What is it?" said Gwaine. "Did I say something wrong?"

Merlin remained silent. He was staring at the jug in his hands, his head hung low. Gwen broke the silence eventually.

"Will is dead, Gwaine." Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. Still, they heard clearly.

Gwaine looked at Merlin, stunned. He still wasn't willing to raise his head.

"Oh," said Gwaine, sadly. "I'm sorry."

A heavy silence fell on the room. Only the whistling wind was heard as it rattled the windows every now and then. The orange light of candles was flickering on the walls and their faces. They all sent worried glances towards Merlin.

A few minutes later, though it seemed like hours, Merlin took a deep breath.

"He was a good man," he said. He still didn't raise his head. "A good man and a great friend. We got into a lot of trouble, it's true, but he always made me laugh. He always cheered me up, even when I was feeling down." Merlin finally glanced up, so everyone could see his sad smile. "His pranks were the highlights of the days."

Gwen smiled at him sympathetically. She didn't get to know Will well, while they were in Ealdor, but she was sure that the rebellious boy had a good heart.

The Knights looked at Merlin sadly. They felt his pain. They knew what it's like to lose a friend, a comrade, a brother. They all missed Lancelot.

Arthur was staring off into space with an unreadable expression on his face. Merlin saw his cup was empty, so he stepped there to refill it.

"Yes, he was a good man," said Arthur while Merlin raised the jug. "At least, he still was."

The jug stopped halfway in the air.

Everyone looked at Arthur, stunned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Merlin, confused.

"Don't make me say it out loud, Merlin. You know well what I'm talking about."

"As a matter of fact, no, I don't," said Merlin. He really didn't understand what Arthur meant.

"You shouldn't have kept this from me." Arthur said quietly, looking straight into his servant's eyes.

At that very moment, Merlin realized it.

Arthur thought Will was a sorcerer.

And Arthur thought magic is evil.

"You can't be serious." whispered Merlin. He was shocked. "After what he did… After what he did for you… You say he was evil?"

The Knights were puzzled. Gwaine looked at Leon questioningly: he has been a knight for the longest time. But he just shrugged: he had no idea what had happened in Ealdor. Gwen was biting her lip nervously.

"I didn't say that!" Arthur protested. "I just think that… anything could have happened. Maybe he would have changed."

"Never." Merlin said firmly. "I knew him very well. He was a good man and nothing could have changed this."

"You can't know that for certain," said Arthur, irritably.

"I can!" Merlin raised his voice. "You didn't know Will, you don't know what you're talking about!"

"And you know nothing of magic!" Arthur snapped, standing up. He stood in front of his servant, face to face. Merlin was about to answer but he pressed his lips into a thin line instead. He didn't want to say anything he would regret later. He stayed silent and looked into the king's eyes angrily.

"It's getting interesting…" muttered Gwaine.

Arthur looked into the angry servant's eyes for a long time. Eventually, he sighed and said in a quieter voice, "Merlin, I have already seen what magic can do. I have seen how it causes pain, destruction and death. I have seen how it corrupts even the purest souls. Magic killed my father, and you saw what it did to Morgana. I'm sorry I have to say this, but this would have happened to Will, too."

"He was a good man," Merlin repeated stubbornly, his voice trembling with rage.

"He was a sorcerer."

"He saved your life!" shouted Merlin. "Is it so hard to believe that not everyone is evil who has anything to do with magic?"

"Be care what you say, Merlin!" said Arthur. His voice was menacing. "You're talking about treason."

"Treason? I just want to defend the memory of my dead friend! So you say it's treason?"

"Enough!" shouted Arthur. His voice thundered throughout the room, bouncing off the walls. "I don't want to hear about this anymore. Magic is evil. It would be a miracle if a sorcerer had a good heart. And we all know well that miracles don't exist." He sat back in his chair. "Now let's discuss those damned taxes at last!"

Then he began to read the papers again. Merlin remained silent. He filled Arthur's cup then slammed the empty jug on the table. The others were sitting dumbfounded.

The silence lasted long.

"So." Eventually, Arthur began to speak. "Taxes."

"Arthur," Gwen turned to him, cutting him off. He groaned irritably.

"Yes, Guinevere?"

"I think now we should leave the taxes alone." Arthur was about to protest, but before he could do so, Gwen said, "We haven't finished our previous conversation yet." He looked at her questioningly. Gwen smiled. "About the snow."

"The snow," said Arthur, stunned. "But Guinevere, the taxes-"

"Can wait," insisted Gwen. "You think so, too, don't you?"

"But… but…"

Gwen sent him a piercing look. He sighed in resignation.

"Fine," he muttered. "Let's leave the taxes. Let's talk about the snow."

"Good idea, Arthur," smiled Gwen at him.

"Hey, Arthur, you're afraid of your own wife?" laughed Gwaine, but the laughter quickly died in his throat as Gwen shot him an angry glare. "I'll shut up, my lady…"

Everyone grinned widely at this. They were glad the tense atmosphere eased a bit.

Gwen turned to Merlin and said, "Merlin, why don't you tell us about the winters in Ealdor? We haven't seen much snow. What is your village like in the winter? What is life like there?"

Merlin sighed and looked at her wearily.

"Gwen, I don't think I should-"

"I'd like you to talk about the snow, Merlin," Gwen said emphatically and looked sternly into his eyes. Merlin gulped and nodded.

"Yes. Of course. The snow." He muttered.

"I seriously don't understand how she does this…" whispered Gwaine to Percival.

Merlin took a deep breath to calm himself then stepped to one of the empty chairs. He leaned on the back of the chair and began to speak after a few seconds of silence.

"So… As I said earlier, the winters are harsh in Ealdor. The crop… The crop was often destroyed by frost. We didn't have much food. It wasn't enough for winter. We had a couple of chickens and pigs but we couldn't feed them because of the food shortage. It was to be feared that the whole livestock would perish." Merlin stared off into space as he remembered those years.

A few seconds later he continued, "We traded with other villages. In exchange for the bread, we gave them anything we had: cloth, tools, pots. We didn't have gold. In a village like Ealdor, you can do nothing with gold. You can't eat it. However, the villagers held together, they always tried to help each other. But even so, there were deaths…" Merlin's eyes were filled with sadness, bitterness in his voice. "Mainly children died of hunger. The adults weren't spared, either. Many of them fell ill. Their lungs couldn't take the cold."

Everyone sitting at the table was silent and stunned. Camelot has always been rich in food. Although Gwen and his father used to live in narrow circumstances, they had always had something to eat.

It was especially shocking to Arthur. He lived in the citadel, feasts were held in his honour, and he could get anything for money. He couldn't imagine there were people living like that. For the first time, he felt some sort of respect for his servant.

"It was a hard life," said Merlin. "But we have never lost hope. If someone lives in circumstances like this, they learn to see the good and joy, even in the hardest times. And in winter, our only joy was the snow." Merlin smiled wholeheartedly. "There's no greater miracle than the first snowfall of the year. Up to that time, you are surrounded by the colours of autumn: green, yellow, red, brown. Then all of a sudden, when you look out the frosted window, you notice it's all gone. When everything is covered by snow, there are no colours. Only white everywhere. White that sparkles even in the faintest sunlight. Huge icicles hang from the roof and reflect the sun brightly." Merlin's eyes were shining happily as he became more enthusiastic.

"It's like a fairy tale, you can't believe it's true. You think it will disappear, that it's just a delusion. It's not enough to see it, you must feel it. You must know it's real, that it's not just a dream. And when you finally stand on the snow, when you hold it in your hands, it doesn't matter you're freezing. You don't care that your face is red from the wind or that you can't feel your fingers from the cold. You just enjoy the scenery. You enjoy the snow crunching under your feet, you think this is the most beautiful sound in the world. You enjoy the smell of the snow that cannot be described by words. It's so… fresh, so… pure. You take a deep breath to smell it and you don't care your nose hurts from the cold air, you just want to smell it. You just want to feel it."

Everyone listened to him with admiration. They were all wrapped up in the story. Arthur has forgotten all about the taxes. As if the world ceased to exist around them. They felt as if they weren't in the council chambers anymore, within thick stone walls. They felt as if they were in the open air, on a snow-covered landscape, in the world of miracles.

Merlin really enjoyed telling the story. Meanwhile, he took a seat at the Round Table, on Arthur's right. They were no lords and knights, kings and servants anymore. They were only people. People who are equal and no one is above the other. People who form a family and listen to their brother with pleasure.

"Will and I used to play a lot in the snow," smiled Merlin. "We made snowballs and threw them at each other. In the end, we were covered by snow from head to foot. Sometimes he hid behind a tree and threw snowballs at me when I wasn't careful." Merlin chuckled. "Once, I accidentally threw a snowball at Old Man Simmons' head. He chased me through the whole village. I've never seen such an old man run that fast," laughed Merlin and the others laughed with him, too. "He never liked me, anyway. Even less after that. The situation only worsened when I went to chop wood and… I nearly flattened him with a tree. Poor Old Man Simmons…"

"We loved making snowmen, too." He went on. "Big, ugly snowmen. The eyes were made with pebbles, the nose was a carrot. Once, Will asked me to go home for one of my neckerchiefs in order to tie it around its neck. When I got back, Will had already eaten the carrot," said Merlin, staring off into space with a smile on his face. As he recalled his memories he felt as if he relived his childhood. His life had been hard in Ealdor but he had been happy with his mother and Will. He had not bothered about the past, he had not worried about the future. He had not known the great and dangerous destiny and hard decisions waiting for him.

When Merlin glanced up and looked around, he saw that everyone was smiling at him. Suddenly, he realized that Camelot did not differ from Ealdor so much. It's true that he had a hard life here, too, but he was happy, just like in his home village. Since he had friends here. Many good friends who are worth fighting for.

"So, this is what winter is like in Ealdor," he said, getting to his feet. He slowly walked to the window. "If you want to talk about taxes, you'd better hurry. The candles are burning down."

"You are a great storyteller, Merlin," said Gwen. Merlin just smiled at her then looked out the window.

"Yes, it was amazing," agreed Leon.

"I wish it would snow here," sighed Gwaine. "I want lots of snow…"

"What a shame it's not going to occur," said Arthur. "Unless a miracle happens."

"Really, Arthur?" asked Merlin, amusement dripping from his voice. He didn't turn around, he was still looking out the window. "Then what's that out there?"

"What are you talking about?" Arthur looked at him.

"Stand up and come over here. You prat."

Arthur snorted but stood up anyway. He walked to his manservant and the others followed him.

"Well, Merlin, what's so-" he began, but gasped. "Impossible…" he whispered.

It was snowing outside. Big flakes of snow were falling on the city of Camelot. The roof of the citadel, stables and houses were covered by snow, huge piles were all along the streets. Children were running around the streets of the lower town, their playful laughter carried far. Horses poked their heads out of the stalls of the stable and snorted whenever a flake fell on their noses. The window looked out on the courtyard that was covered by a fresh blanket of snow.

"This is beautiful," breathed Gwen. She has never seen so much snow in her life.

"Amazing," wondered Leon, too.

"Percival, what do you think of the first snowfall of your life?" asked Elyan.

"There are no words for it," he smiled, fascinated.

"Maybe I will get to like it, too," said Arthur, admiring the scenery. "Look at that fool! He's wallowing in the snow."

"Arthur…" Merlin furrowed his brow. "That's Gwaine."

"What?" Arthur looked around the room, but Gwaine was nowhere to be seen. "He was here just now!"

"So, he's not cold after all?" laughed Leon.

"Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Percival with a wide grin on his face.

"You're thinking we should go and join Gwaine?" said Elyan.

"Precisely," smiled Percival, then he ran towards the door with Elyan on his side. Leon followed them after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Boys. They'll never grow up." Gwen shook her head. "I'll go after them. I hope they don't do anything foolish," she said then left the room.

Only Merlin and Arthur stayed in the council chambers. They stood silently side by side. Through the window, they could see as Percival, Elyan, Leon and Gwaine were throwing snowballs at each other on the courtyard. Gwen was standing on the stairs, making small snowballs.

"Do you believe in miracles, Arthur?" asked Merlin, breaking the silence.

Arthur didn't answer at once. He was watching his wife and knights with a smile on his face. Gwen laughed out loud when she hit Gwaine on the head with a snowball and his hair got wet. Finally, Arthur looked straight into Merlin's eyes.

"This once, Merlin. This once I do," he said, squeezing his shoulder, then he went towards the door to join his knights. Merlin followed him with hope in his heart, smiling happily. He followed the man who one day will unite the land of Albion.

One day, Arthur…

One day you will learn it.

One day you will understand it.

One day you will accept it.

And that will be a miraculous day.

THE END

So, guys, I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)