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Merlin squirmed around in Arthur's arms, maneuvering so that he was straddling the prince's lap, but also so that he could face him. The woolen dress Merlin was required to wear was very large at the base, able to accommodate most changes in position while maintaining his modesty. They little shorts he had been given to wear would ensure that, but the Omega was a bit wary about seeming indecent, especially in front of a prince.
"Do you really want to hear about it?" He asked, his feline ears twitching atop his head. Arthur smiled and nodded his head, reaching up to rub his finger and his thumb along the soft fur lining. The action elicited a soft purr, to which Arthur responded with a deeper one of his own.
"Well... my name is Merlin... but you already know that." His ears twitched, trying to shake off Arthur's firm grip, but the prince held fast. He continued stroking the fur near the tip of his ear, gentle enough to tickle the tiniest bit. It was nice, but also a bit frustrating.
"And my name is Arthur. It's nice to meet you." The prince teased, jutting out his nose so that it bumped with Merlin's. Arthur looked so divine when he smiled, it made Merlin's stomach feel warm and full, like happiness was bubbling up within in and preparing to boil over.
"I'm trying to be serious!" Merlin whined, wiggling his face away from Arthur's but the Alpha locked his arms around Merlin's waist, keeping him secured in his lap.
"You're being adorable, I can't resist. Please continue though, I really do want to hear more." Arthur ran his hands up Merlin's back, digging his fingers in to the soft flesh and tense muscle that lined his spine. The Omega arched his back from the sensation, and Arthur took the opportunity to press his chest flush with Merlin's, savoring every point on contact he could make with his smaller mate.
"You're being distracting." Merlin pouted, but Arthur's embrace was comforting. Though the prince was doing strange things with his hands, he couldn't help but enjoy the electricity that would jolt through his body at every new connection of skin on skin. With every touch their connection was deepened, opening up a new channel Arthur could exploit to permeate more of his very being.
The Alpha didn't respond, but ran his stubbly chin along the side of Merlin's neck. The small itchy pricks in his skin were maddening, but Arthur's silence was a sign that he should keep talking before the prince interrupted him again.
"I was born in the village of Ealdor. I never knew my father, but my mother never took another husband. As far as I knew, she was just regular, a Beta, like the majority of the other villagers." Merlin sighed, remembering his old home fondly, even though his days there had been just as troubled as his time was now. He had been too young to be ruled out as an Omega by the other children, and no Alphas lived in the countryside farming for a living. It was a difficult time, for his mother to have to hide him every time someone would visit the village, under a thick blanket of dried herbs and layers of his fathers old clothing. But at least that was his home, he wasn't forced to be there, he chose to be there.
"I was born with... abilities. Magic. Since the day I was born my mother fought to teach me to control it, and I was getting pretty good at hiding it." Merlin wiggled his arms free from Arthur's embrace, and placed his hands on the prince's chest, revealing the full length of his iron restraints. They were thin sheets of metal, pure forged iron, with intricate and delicate looking runes carved along the circumference. Merlin could feel his magic, just beneath his skin as it hummed and sang in response to his own emotions, but he could never touch it. The iron distorted his ability to grab hold of what was inside of him, and though he knew it was there, he couldn't feel it's effects so long as the iron remained.
"Magic isn't a crime though..." Arthur murmured, running his hands along the delicate cuffs that adorned his Omega's wrists.
"For us, it is. When the hunters came, I tried to hide. They saw me using magic to escape. It is still viewed as incredibly undesirable to have a mate with free magic." Merlin lowered his eyes, remembering how the hunters had feared him, and no one would handle him until he had been proven harmless. Magic may not be outlawed, Merlin thought, but it wasn't widely accepted either. He was certain the hunters had found him in part by using magic, and he was positive they have bound him using even stronger magic. Perhaps it was punishment for hiding from them for so long, Merlin would never know.
"They don't give you a choice, when you're an Omega. It's either you go to the den, or you go to the den. Most of the time the hunters find you young, so you don't know any different, but Ealdor was small, and Cendred's men never cared much for the small village." Merlin remember many cold winters with very little to eat, and even worse springs, when the rains would fall so heavy the crops would swell up and die. Summers were bearable, because at least they could hunt to supplement their meager food intake, but wild game only lasted so long. He tried to help the crops grow with his magic, and the game plentiful, but Hunith had greatly disapproved of such actions. Merlin had never understood why, but the hunters could smell his magic on the crops and the livestock, it spread him thin over the entire village, instead of concentrated in one little body. It what was eventually gave him away.
"When the hunters found me, Cendred's den wouldn't take me. Even with bound magic, male Omega's are already looked down upon by the more desirable females. Even if we are stronger and have a higher chance of Alpha children, females are more coveted for their tempers and beauty. They are drawn to their mates while us males have a tendency to run, I guess. I was brought here, and Ellena felt guilty for my mistreatment, and took me in." Merlin lowered his head, letting his check rest against Arthur's broad shoulder. Recounting the story reminded him of his place in life, which was always a sad thing to dwell upon. He was not a second-class citizen by any account, Omegas were revered regardless of gender, just as Alphas were. But the drastic measures taken to protect their kind did not take their feelings in to account.
"Merlin..." Arthur whispered, bringing his hands up to stroke soothing circles in to his mates back, trailing one hand up in to his hair to scratch the base of his feline ears. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of this, I never really thought about what it was like... to be on the other side."
Merlin whined, a soft cry akin to someone humming a sad song, and they sat in silence for a long period of time, locked in an embrace to reassure them both that the other wouldn't leave them anytime soon.
"It's not all bad." Merlin finally broke the silence, lifting his head from Arthur's shoulder. He bumped his nose with Arthur's again, enjoy the way the simple contact changed Arthur's scent, from content, to smitten. Merlin needed the reassurance, and Arthur was happy to oblige.
"They took you from your home Merlin, when you were old enough to know what was happening, and they didn't explain to you why. They bound your magic, a part of your soul, just to make you more desirable. It's sounds all bad, if you ask me." The prince rubbed his check against the top of Merlin's head, and the Omega was able to detect the faintest scent of pure Arthur left behind. He purred softly in his chest, just enough to vocalize his pleasure at Arthur's scent-marking.
"But it brought me to you. I couldn't be happy with anyone else now that I've met you." Merlin lifted his chin, baring his neck to Arthur to show his submission.
The princes teeth began nipping small bites in to Merlin's soft flesh, leaving behind a trail of red marks. The Omega knew Arthur would need to be reassured as well, that once they left the room Merlin would not be spirited away by another. With the burden of their dying breed upon their backs they both needed proof that it would work, that it would be forever and that it was going to be worth the effort.
"They say there are fewer and fewer of us born every year." Arthur murmurs, his lips pressed tightly against the skin of Merlin's collarbone.
"I'm just glad I was able to find the one who makes me feel complete." A long sigh followed, and the prince brought Merlin's head down to his shoulder once more.
"There once was a time, when the world was full of us, Alphas and Omegas." He started, resigning himself contently to tell the story of their birth, filling in the gaps in Merlin's education. "Every Alpha had one Omega, the one who completed their very soul. Some never found theirs, some disliked theirs, some fought, and some refused to be mated. Destiny will always make sure they come together though, which is how to dens came about. Bring all Omegas in to one place, and the perfect partnership was guaranteed to be forged."
The story was one Arthur had been told when he was very young, trained under the tutelage of the dominant Alpha, his father. Uther had passed on the knowledge Arthur would need to rise to the role of dominant Alpha in Camelot, it was the only bit of his training his father was active in. Arthur had tried not to be resentful that his father wanted very little to do with the prince's life during his youth, but it was hard to see passed that on occasion.
"When Alphas and Omegas mated outside of their soul's partners, the Betas were born. They lacked the magic that runs through our bloodlines, the instincts that keep us strong and safe. Many were born without true magic, and the magic in the world began to fade." Arthur felt Merlin's feline ears twitch against his head, and he smiled softly at the action. This Omega was everything he could have ever dreamed of, and more. Male or not, Arthur knew Merlin would be the only one he could ever desire.
"Alpha and Omega dynamics go beyond gender in mating, it's about true love and perfect partnerships. It's about finding the one person who means more then the world, and keeping them safe forever, at least for us Alphas." The prince chuckled, enjoying the way Merlin's body was becoming more and more dead weight as the boy relaxed from the sound of Arthur's voice. Merlin's tail twitched occasionally, keeping him awake when his mind so desperately was craving rest.
"Betas though, can only mate with the opposite gender. Whether Omega, Alpha or Beta, their partner must be opposite of them for their copulation to be successful. It's not about finding happiness in another person, but the expansion of the species. Less and less of us are born now; you were the newest addition to this den, and you are already partially grown. One Alpha is still born for every Omega, our connections still span through our blood's magic and our ancient instincts, but many find it easier not to look for theirs; to find a Beta woman or man who will 'suffice'." Arthur gently grabbed Merlin's sleek black tail near it's end, and it reflexively wrapped itself around the prince's hand, allowing him to feel the gentle heat from the Omega's body through the downy soft fur.
"But why is my magic bound?" Merlin mumbled, not hiding the obvious drowsiness in his voice. A yawn punctuated his question, and he re-situated himself by rubbing his cheeks along Arthur's linen shirt in delicate circles to up all the scent he could steal from the prince's clothing. "How come I have to wear iron?"
The Alpha lightly traced the runes on the ankle cuffs, skimming over metal and flesh alike. The iron never seemed to warm, no matter how hot Merlin's small frame ran. Truthfully, Arthur didn't know. There had been other Omegas with true magic in Camelot's court, unbound and free. He hadn't seen a sorcerer bound like this since his birth. The prince sighed, feeling along the length of Merlin's cuffs for a weak place he could break them off from, but they were sealed with magic, raising more questions then they answered.
"True magic was blamed for the decrease in Alphas and Omegas. It was believed that those with true magic were upsetting the balance, and were punished by being made equal to everyone else. It's rare for true magic to appear these days, just like it's rare for us to be born. The old thinking is flawed, but I was lead to believe it hadn't been adhered to in many years. I don't know why you are bound now, we live in a different time, when all Omegas and Alphas should be embraced. Eventually I fear we will die out, and only Betas will remain." Arthur sighed, thinking back to his younger days at court. No Betas were ever found with true magic, only learned magic, further drawing the distinct assumptions that the influx of Betas in the world was more of a punishment then a conclusion.
Merlin wanted to say that perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps it was better is everyone was the same, is Beta children got to grow up with their families and got to pick who they mated with, only they called it 'marriage'. They weren't as strong as the Alphas, or as fertile as the Omegas, but coupling was easy for them. They had no destined mates, no scent bonding, no soul sharing. Their lives were easier in a way.
Instead he raised his head to see the sad, faraway look in Arthur's eyes, and placed a gentle kiss to his throat. They had found each other in this lifetime, and that was all that mattered to him.