Title: Sail Thou Forth
Link to Work Remixed: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1004451
Pairings: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 37,070
Warnings: Infidelity (Consenual, not M/A)
Summary: Trapped in a marriage of convenience, Merlin Emrys doesn't believe in love at first sight - or true love at all, for that matter.

That is, until he meets Arthur Pendragon, an extraordinary man whose courage inspires him to begin the career that he has always longed for, and in whose arms Merlin begins to hope for better things.

But society isn't kind to men like them, and both must overcome tremendous obstacles before they will be free to live the life they've been dreaming of.
Notes: Cookie, I hope that you have as much fun reading this, as I had writing it. It was a joy to read your work (although I had already read many of your stories before) and when I happened upon this story I knew that I had to chose it for remix.

A huge thank you to my beta reader!

As Cookie notes in the original fic, their story is based on Now, Voyager (1942), starring Bette Midler and Paul Henreid http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035140/, which in turn is inspired by a novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty (Inception enough for you yet?) who borrowed her title from the Walt Whitman poem “The Untold Want”.

I will confess, I have never seen the film, nor have I read the book, so I am basing my story on Cookie’s fic (and Whitman’s gorgeous poem). But maybe I will have successfully channeled both.

As with Cookie’s fic, there is a strong theme of infidelity (consensual) running through the story (not between Merlin and Arthur). And also period-typical homophobia.

( Sail Thou Forth )