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Chapter Text

Arthur!" The king heard Merlin shout his name, reaching towards him with his hand out as if that would help now. His manservant was leaning precariously over the edge of the cliff watching with horror written across his face as Arthur fell. Quite frankly, the king was a little miffed. This is not the way he was supposed to die. He was either going to be killed in battle or live a long, wonderful life with his beautiful wife, Gweneviere, dying only when old age caught up to him. He wasn't supposed to fall off a cliff when the earth had given way beneath him, turning to sand. He wasn't supposed to just splatter on the ground, dead and desecrated.

Then the unthinkable happened. Arthur watched as Merlin's eyes turned liquid gold and felt as the air cushioned around him. Shocked, Arthur felt around him, patting the layer of air and finding that it was completely solid. The king looked back up at Merlin, at the sorcerer, and stood on his little patch of nothingness. He saw the sorcerer gulp slightly, a wild look in his eyes. He saw as the man he once knew lifted his hand towards himself, pulling Arthur's little air cloud with it.

He climbed onto the cliff, slapping the sorcerer's hand away when offered. The former manservant looked affronted, as if he had a right to be offended! Arthur stalked away and ran his hands through his golden hair. Everything was so backwards, so broken. Merlin couldn't be a sorcerer! He wasn't an evil person! Arthur would know. But then, the evidence was all there. He had seen it with his own eyes.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked tentatively, not shouting this time, but somehow sounding more urgent.

Arthur rounded on him, snarling into what had seemed to be an innocent face, "Did you really think it would work?" Merlin stared at him, confused. Arthur growled and continued, "Don't play dumb with me! Did you really think that by getting close to me I would think you weren't evil? Did you really think that you could pull the earth from beneath my feet and then save me, having me miraculously change my views on magic? Who do you think I am? It doesn't count as saving me when you're the one who causes me to be in the life threatening situation in the first place!"

The king finally let the sorcerer have a word in, during which he just spewed more lies about not causing him to fall and saving him because he was his friend. He even had the audacity to claim that he only used his magic for Arthur! What kind of fool did he take him for?

Arthur cut his former friend's spiel off by raising his hand. He thought wryly to himself that it was only now that the traitor decided to listen to orders. Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm, feeling bile rise up in his throat at the thought that he was touching something so evil. Then, quick as a flash, he pulled out his dagger and swung at the evil sorcerer.

The man ducked out of the way, trying to pull from himself from Arthur's grip. His eyes were wide with fear and Arthur just spat out, "Monster!" He swung his dagger again, managing to cut a gash across one side of the sorcerer's face. Then he felt himself flying backwards, propelled by magic.

For a moment, Arthur just sat there in shock. He knew that Merlin was evil. He had to be since he was a sorcerer, but for some reason, he never thought that Merlin would fight back. He never thought that he would attack him.

When he stood up and looked at the sorcerer, he noticed that he seemed shocked too. He looked at his hand as if it weren't a part of him. Then the traitor looked up at Arthur, his wide blue eyes terrified, blinking out blood from his cut. Arthur distantly realized that Merlin hadn't even screamed. Then, the sorcerer held his hand in front of him, as if he were warding Arthur off. That's when it really hit Arthur that his manservant was evil. Completely, irrevocably evil.

Arthur raised his head and panted slightly. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take Merlin down with just a dagger, so he glared at the man and ground out, "You are hereby banished from Camelot. If anyone sees you, they are under orders to kill you on sight and bring your body back to the castle for a reward. If anyone is found to be harboring you, they will suffer the same consequences. You are officially the top of the list of fugitives to be found. I would recommend that you run and run far away, but I want to see you dead, so I won't. This is not over, sorcerer."

Even though Merlin was still holding his hand up in defense, Arthur saw the look of pure, broken sadness that crossed his face when Arthur spit out the word sorcerer.

Arthur finished recounting his tale to the Round Table. With him were Gwen, Gaius, Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, Percival, and Elyan. Arthur had to force himself not to think the sorcerer's name. He saw varying emotions flicking across his closest friends faces.

On Gwen's he could see sadness that Merlin was gone and disbelief that he would lie to them. Gaius showed shock and he looked heartbroken, but Arthur figured that he already knew about the magic. Gwaine looked furious and seemed like he was trying to find the right words to say without killing someone in the process. Lancelot had his mouth open and looked as if he had been physically hurt. Leon seemed as if he was having trouble reconciling the image of the smiling manservant with someone capable of hurting his king. Percival sat silent, digesting the news and keeping his expression neutral. Elyan kept glancing around at the others, unsure of what to do.

Arthur looked down for a moment and then said, "I know that this is hard to accept, but we must. Merlin is a sorcerer and he is evil. We-,"

He was interrupted by Gaius, who choked out, "He's not a sorcerer."

Arthur grimaced in sympathy. He had thought that Gaius had known, but evidently Merlin was even better at keeping secrets than he thought. He was about to say something when Gaius said, in a clearer voice, "You don't understand, sire. He has magic, yes, but he's not a sorcerer. He's a warlock. That means that he was born with magic."

The king grimaced again, not even for a second believing the physician's words, "Oh Gaius, I'm so sorry. It seems as if he's enchanted you. We'll try to see if we can find a way to break the enchantment, but we might not ever be able to. I'm so sorry that he did this to you. That he did this to all of us." Arthur directed his last sentence at the entire group.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lancelot was shaking his head viciously, and he asked tentatively, "Lancelot?"

Lance looked up at him and Arthur reeled back, shocked. He had never seen such a look of anger on the normally calm man's face. When he spoke, his words were lined with venom, "You should be sorry! But not for the reason you think. Merlin gave up everything for you! Everything! And you just stab him in the back, or rather, face, the first chance you get. How could you do that to him? Do you even know how many times he's saved you?"

Arthur frowned at him, "It seems as if Merlin enchanted more people than I thought. Does anyone else share Lancelot and Gaius' views?" He paused and everyone shook their heads no, even Gwaine. Then he help up his hand, "Wait. Does this mean that you knew of his magic, Lance?"

Lancelot nodded tersely and Arthur sighed, giving the two aforementioned men looks of remorse, "That must be it, then. You discovered he was practicing that evil trade and he enchanted both of you to keep you under his thumb and believing in his innocence. Hopefully if he travels far enough away the spell will wear off."

The bravest and noblest of knights rounded on Gwaine, practically growling at the drunkard, "How can you think that death is what Merlin deserves? He was like a brother to you! He is your best friend!"

Gwaine clenched his jaw, grounding out, "The lies that he told us was my best friend. Sorcerers are evil. They killed my father and, eventually, they killed my mother and my sisters. Anyone who practices that art will be corrupted. I… believe that men with magic can start out innocent, but they will always be corrupted. Always." He finished in a whisper.

Lancelot stared at him with wide eyes, leaning away from the man as if he had punched him. The knight turned to others and the table and saw the same opinions mirrored there. He reeled back, knocking his chair over in the process. He stumbled away from the table, going even farther back when others got up to help him. Lancelot glared at them, "You're all heartless. You are betraying the best of us and you'll all be sorry when he's been gone for a while. You'll see how much you needed him. And I'll be there by his side to tell him what you did. I'll make sure that he never comes back and that he gets a better group of friends than you traitors!"

Arthur glanced at Gwaine and Percival, translating his intent through his eyes. They both nodded to him solemnly. As one, the three men lunged at Lancelot, pinning his arms behind his back and taking his sword away from him. When the king was sure that they had the enchanted knight held, he told the two that they were to lock him in the dungeons until the enchantment wore off. Then Arthur turned to Gaius warily, "Will the same precautions need be taken with you? Will you try to run off and force us to lock you in your chambers, or will you fight against the spell and stay with us, where you belong?" He distantly heard Gwen sobbing behind him, but he just continued to stare stonily at the Court Physician.

Gaius said slowly, as if it were difficult to get out, "I will stay here, sire." Arthur sagged in relief and turned to embrace his wife, hugging her close to him and running his fingers through her hair.

He turned his head slightly to Leon, saying, "Up until the time that Lancelot breaks free from his enchantment, I want someone to be with Gaius at all times, awake mind you. Switch the duty out to the Knights of the Round Table." He turned to Gaius, "It's not that I don't trust you, but that I believe that the spell might overtake you. This is to keep you safe."

The old man nodded solemnly and said, still speaking slowly, "Thank you, sire." Arthur nodded back to him in response, murmuring soothing words to his beautiful wife.

Away in the forest, Merlin huddled on the ground in a cave. The nights were cold and he spelled a fire into existence. With a wave of his hand, a mirror appeared in front of him. He opened his bag of medical supplies and started to clean the wound and to seal it up with stitches. He bemoaned silently to himself that he wasn't any better at healing.

Cleaning the wound and cringing at the pain caused by the disinfectant, Merlin realized that he should have treated it earlier. He was lucky it hadn't become infected yet. The truth was that he was just so worried about Arthur alone in the woods that he had created a blue orb to follow him, watching his movements. When the king reached the city, Merlin shrunk that orb and let it follow him. He heard his king tell the story of what happened and he saw all of his friends' responses. They broke his heart. Lancelot spoke the truth and Merlin realized that he would never forgive them.

Even now, sitting in the dirt and stitching up his wound, looking at the disfigurement gashed across his face, Merlin made the decision to screw destiny. If this was what he would have to go through for it to happen, then he didn't want it to happen. He was done with someone else pulling the strings in his life! He would travel the world and learn more about magic. Maybe someday he'd return to Camelot and see how it fared, but he didn't think that he would ever be calm enough to do it.

Then Merlin thought of everyone who he'd miss. Lancelot and Gaius were loyal to him and always would be, but eventually they would realize that he wouldn't come back and they'd pretend to 'break free of the spell'. He couldn't begrudge them that and were actually hoping they would realize it soon so they could get on with their lives. The young warlock would miss all of the other servants, of course and all of the people in the lower town. He would desperately miss his mother, but he didn't dare visit her lest Arthur tracked him down to that spot. Merlin wondered idly what the other servants and the lower townsfolk would think of him being a warlock, or sorcerer as Arthur would surely tell it.

As Merlin thought of everyone he had lost in a split second decision to save his king and best friend, his eyes turned gold and the mirror was smashed to pieces. He wept for a while and eventually recreated the mirror, hanging it on the wall of the cave. He decided that he would camp out in that place for as long as it took for his face to heal or for people to find him. Whichever came first. When he looked back into the mirror, he realized that his eyes had stayed molten gold. There was no going back now.

Morgana laughed delightedly, actually clapping her hands with joy. Mordred smiled his cold, shark's smile next to her and Agravaine gave his signature coy smirk from behind her.

That went so much better than she thought. At first, Morgana had thought that she would get Arthur alone (with just his manservant for company, of course, since the rat went everywhere with him) and then cause his untimely demise. He would be too far away from the court for Emrys to save him. Although the death she chose for him wasn't in front of an audience like she'd always dreamed for it to be, it would still be agonizing and painful.

But then Merlin had saved the king with magic! It was almost too good to be true. The king's manservant was Emrys! The clumsy, meddling oaf was the greatest warlock to ever walk the earth. He was her supposed doom. And then it got even better when Arthur banished him from Camelot and tried to kill him! Emrys would never try to save the man now. Arthur was as good as dead without his magical helper and Morgana had an open path to the throne! How could this day get any better?

Then she whispered a spell to watch him tell the others of Merlin's 'treachery' and her smiled grew even wider. Her brother had managed to imprison his most loyal and best knight and had managed to alienate Gaius, who knew of everything magical. Morgana was actually a little disappointed that after all that she had worked for it was going to be this easy to take the throne. Oh well, she could have fun afterwards. Tomorrow she would initiate her plans and soon, all of Camelot would be hers for the taking.

Chapter Text

Arthur rolled out of bed and sighed angrily. For just a second when he woke up, he had seen the sunlight streaming through the cracks in the curtains and was thinking about yelling at Merlin for not waking him up earlier. Then he remembered that Merlin was gone. That he was a sorcerer and was evil. And then he remembered the conversation at the Round Table and Lancelot's reaction. The man would be sorely missed until he broke free from the enchantment.

The king wondered about that. How was it that a strong willed, intelligent, stubborn, young knight was unable to break free from a spell, but a cranky old man (not that he would ever say it to Gaius' face) could? It just didn't make sense to Arthur, especially since Gaius would have had the spell on longer than Lancelot. How did that work?

He felt the bed shift beneath him and rolled over to see Gwen smiling up at him. It wasn't her usual smile that could cause a field of wilted flowers to bloom, but it was a smile more the less and more than he had expected. She had been so heartbroken the last six months, sobbing into Arthur's chest and holding onto him as if he were the last string connecting her to sanity. But now she laughed weakly and Arthur smiled at her in confusion, "What? What are you laughing about?"

She didn't say anything, but continued to laugh, gaining strength. Arthur smiled fully and continued to ask what as he snaked an arm around her waist and rolled her on top of him. He wished for a moment that Merlin wouldn't walk in and see them like this before he remembered that he was never going to walk in here again. Period. Gwen threw her head back and laughed, putting her hands on Arthur's chest. He asked, "What?" one more time before he started to pepper her face with light kisses.

Her laughter died into giggles and she captured his lips, kissing him deeply before letting go and rolling to lie down next to him. She smiled at him and said, "It's nothing really. It's just that you had such a look of concentration on your face. You looked so serious and it was so funny. It's what Merlin would have called your 'Attempting to Think' face." As Gwen realized what she had just said, her smile wilted and she frowned at him, saying, "Oh."

Arthur sighed and nuzzled into her hair as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. He rubbed her arm gently saying, "It's going to be hard getting used to… the traitor being gone. He was everywhere in our lives since he literally went everywhere with us. But we'll get through it. We have to. We're strong enough and we have each other."

Gwen's smile came back in full bloom and she snuggled deeper into his arms, "That sounded quite romantic, Arthur Pendragon. It was quite inspirational, too. I'm pleased." She grinned at him.

Arthur nodded in mock self-satisfaction, although he was actually quite pleased with himself; he didn't even need Merlin's help with this one. Then he remembered, again, that Merlin was gone and chose to respond, "I thought so. It's just the thing I say to my knights when they need cheering up."

Gwen sagged in his arms before propping herself up on an elbow. She stared at him in a silent reproof for a moment before dragging herself off to bed. As she grabbed out a dress and went behind a dressing screen to change, Arthur threw his hands in the air and cried out, "What? What did I do?"

After she had arranged her dress properly, Gwen walked out around the screen and gave him a look. He started pulling on his clothes and was about to open his mouth to protest some more when she finally answered, "Really Arthur? That's what you say to your knights when they need cheering up? It's not just something romantic that you said to your wife to make her feel better? I'm not being petty, but I had given you brownie points for being romantic and you completely lost them by talking about your knights. Women don't like to hear about their man's friends when their man is attempting to be romantic. Honestly, Arthur." She huffed out the last sentence.

For a second, Arthur wasn't sure how to respond, but then he spread his hands out and gave her a brilliant grin, saying, "Aw, but I must be pretty romantic since you married me!" Gwen laughed brightly and looked down, biting her lip, trying to keep in a smile. Arthur exhaled in relief. He got that one. The king was just starting to think that maybe it would be easier to forget the sorcerer than he thought since they were having such normal mornings the past week when he heard Leon's voice from outside his door.

Arthur called out, "Come in!"

Leon rushed in, frowning deeply. He said, "I don't know if this concerns you, sire, but Percival passed word along to me that Gaius is going to the cells to see Lancelot. Percival thinks that it may have something to do with Mer- with the sorcerer's enchantment." Arthur nodded to his first knight, conveying his thankfulness for bringing the information to him and for not saying the traitor's name.

Arthur turned to smile at Gweneviere. His queen frowned in concern at him and he tried to smile reassuringly back to her. He murmured, "Don't worry, I'll be back before breakfast gets here." She gave a slight smile and he smiled back. He was so proud of his brave queen. Then he turned and followed Leon to Lancelot's cell.

It took them less than ten minutes to navigate the winding hallways and find themselves in the prison. Arthur motioned that Leon should be silent and he crept against the walls, turning slightly to peer around the corner and effectively spy on his physician and knight.

Gaius didn't seem at all concerned or guilty looking. He even had Percival standing right next to him (but thankfully not blocking Arthur's view of the prisoner).

Lancelot stood up and grabbed onto the bars of his cage as Gaius shuffled closer. The knight asked hesitantly, "Are you two going to help me escape? You know I have to find Merlin." The dark haired man sounded so desperate and Arthur's heart went out for him. How hard must it be to be living under such duress?

Gaius smiled weakly at the young knight and said, "Yes, I am here to free you." Arthur felt Leon tense beside him. He knew that the old man had said 'I', not 'we', so he was wondering what Gaius thought he was doing. Then the physician continued, "I am here to free you from the trap that the sorcerer put on your mind." Leon sagged against the wall in relief. Gaius continued, "I myself have broken free of it in time. It, sadly, took me the last six months to do so, but I did. I believe that you can do it as well. You can know that I am always willing to listen to you if you need to talk to someone who went through the same thing as you. Just think hard. Think about what people want to from you, about what some people are praying for you to realize. Hopefully I'll see you soon, Lancelot."

Lancelot staggered back from his spot by the bars. He fell onto the little wooden plank that had served as his bed for the past two months. Gaius looked at him expectantly and Lance just bit his lip and whispered, "I'll do my best, Gaius." Gaius nodded, satisfied, and left the room in a flourish of twirling robes. Arthur nodded to Leon and they quietly left the room.

The king turned to his second in command and said, "Have one of the Round Table Knights come to his cell every morning and see if he is truly ready to be set free. Hopefully he is and we'll have his help soon."

Leon nodded solemnly and was about to respond when the warning bells starting ringing over the town. Arthur was ashamed to admit that his first reaction was to see if Lancelot had somehow escaped while they were talking, but he hadn't. The man was still sat there, looking around him in confusion.

Arthur took the stairs out of the dungeon two steps at a time, with Leon and Percival coming up behind him. The three were stopped short at the top of the stairs by Gwaine running to meet them. He said, slightly out of breath, "The whole… lower town… it's burning… On the outskirts… of town… people have sighted… Morgana, Mordred, and Agravaine… What… should we… do?"

The king bit his lip indecisively and said, "This was the first time she attacked and we had the advantage of time, however little of it. Get the Knights of the Round Table to the throne room immediately. We're going to have an emergency meeting."

"Where are you going, sire?" Leon called as Arthur headed back down the stairs.

Arthur called back, "I'm going to set Lancelot free. We'll need him to win this battle!"

Merlin ducked his head to hide his smile and, still, to hide his golden eyes (he didn't think that he would ever stop trying to hide those, not after he had been doing so for so many years), waving cheerfully as he walked. After taking three weeks for his face to heal, Merlin had left that cave and found a nearby druid camp. Somehow Iseldir's group was there (that man managed to be at every druid camp that Merlin went to) and he had welcomed Merlin, comforting him. The young warlock had expressed his wishes to learn more about magic and the druids had been more than happy to help him.

In the five weeks Merlin had camped with them, the druids had taught him to harness the power of telepathy. The druids showed him the art of prophecies and visions. They had shown him how to hone and strengthen his healing abilities to the point that he had healed a little girl's broken arm. She had clung to him like glue from there on out, but he didn't mind.

After he left the druids, he decided to go to Annis' kingdom first in the search of different magic. He figured their rustic ways were likely to produce old fashioned magic. The young dragonlord followed in the footsteps of his father and found shelter in caves, living off of the land. Finally, he had found people willing to teach him and he had learned animal magic. It was a way of communicating with animals and setting their spirits free. They taught him other magic things useful in battle and showed him how to better survive in the wilderness.

After a month with them, he left. His next stop was Bayard's kingdom. He stayed there for a month, leaving after he learned all that they could teach him of the art of magical potions. By the end of his time there, he could name any herb, plant, poison, cure, or edible food in Albion and create most of them with his magic, too.

When his month there was over, he traveled to King Rodor's land. When he had spent a week wandering around the land and finding no one willing to help him learn, he left. The rest of that month was a brief visit to his mother when he deemed it safe and learning the powerful battle magic of Cenred's old lands.

His six month of banishment brought him across the sea on the back of a dragon to different kingdoms he had never known. One of the men there taught him a spell to translate languages even as they left the other person's lips. By the time that month was over, though, Merlin had actually learned their language and the languages of several other countries nearby. On the first day of his seventh month, Merlin picked up his supplies and started walking to the next country.

Merlin looked up and realized that he had been walking for about a half an hour by now. He had spent most of the time planning his living quarters for future reference. He glanced around the forest, smiling at the birds in the trees and the squirrels racing across the ground. The young warlock was appreciating the different hues of green that the forest had to offer when he saw a fire.

At first he thought that someone was camping nearby and he just hadn't noticed, but then he realized that the tree was on fire. He raised his arms and whispered a spell to create water, but nothing happen. Panicked, he looked closer at the fire and saw that it was spreading. Then the strangest thing happened: in place of the burning tree, a burning house appeared. After that, people started running around, fleeing the homes that were cropping up out of nowhere.

With a start, Merlin realized that this was a vision! No vision had come to him unbidden before! That's when it occurred to Merlin that this was destiny at play. He saw a red cloaked man helping children to safety and concluded that this was what was happening in Camelot right now and Arthur was in trouble. Well, I don't care! Merlin shouted at the vision, wishing for it to go away. If anything, it became sharper, more focused.

The lower town was on fire. Men, women, and children screamed and cried as their homes and families were consumed by the relentless flame. Others screamed as their bodies charred and blackened, slowly crumbling to dust. The guards and soldiers ran with a grace given to them by determination. They swooped down to pull babies from the rubble and they hoisted the elderly and children onto their backs, forcibly removing them from harm's way. Other red cloaked men carried buckets of water to the burning houses, covering their faces with their cloaks. Merlin could smell the singed buildings and the burning flesh. He could taste the charcoal on his tongue. He could hear the crackling of breaking wood. He could see the consistent death. He could feel the flame eat away at his body.

Then the worst horror came. Flames parted and smoke was funneled away as Morgana strode through the waste. Her eyes glowed a dark golden hue and her lips were parted in a snarling smirk. Behind her, Mordred and Agravaine strode, sneering at those who dared reach out for their help. Agravaine even went so far as to kick a dying woman who had clung to his cape. In a voice powerful enough to be heard throughout the entire city, Morgana called out, "I am coming Arthur Pendragon, dear brother mine!" She cackled and the vision disappeared in a cloud of golden dust particles.

Merlin blinked to himself. Well, that was horrifying. On the one hand, he had managed to stay standing this time, which was more than could be said for most of his vision attempts. On the other hand, he wasn't going to be standing much longer. Merlin plunged onto his knees, heaving into a bush. Even after his lunch and breakfast were gone, he continued to dry heave. The smell of burning flesh was almost as bad as the actual feeling of being burned alive. He had dreamt of it of course, but he had never actually experienced it.

Merlin carefully checked over his limbs to make sure that nothing was crisped, even though he knew that a vision couldn't have physical effects on the viewer. He took several deep, calming breaths and stood up. The young warlock started heading back towards where he knew Camelot to be, but then stopped. What was he doing? He had told himself that he was going to forget about destiny and have his only worries be the hardships of travelling. But then, how could he just sit there and let those people die?! They were innocent! They didn't deserve this.

But he couldn't do it. Merlin could not return to the home of so many traitors. He figured that when the people discovered who they were saved by, they would clamor to kill him, taking turns to beat him up as he had seen people doing in the lower town. After a few more tense minutes of deliberation, Merlin made up his mind and headed in the other direction, firmly ignoring the last traces of screams that echoed in his ears. He would go Annis' kingdom and that was final.

Morgana stormed up to the castle. After her rather well-timed dramatic phrase, she had borrowed some of Mordred's power and spelled them into the throne room. The black haired Pendragon grinned at the momentary look of panic that covered her brother's features. She heard someone rushing up behind her and turned around just in time to see Mordred fling Gwaine backwards, into a wall. Morgana let out a tinkling laugh, smiling at Mordred. She said, "Well done, Mordred! Agravaine, won't you make sure he's tied up. You and Mordred can tie up the rest as well."

Elyan laughed in disbelief, "Do you really think we're just going to stand here and let you do that to us?"

Morgana smirked at him, "Oh yes that is exactly what I think." Her emerald eyes melted into gold and the knights found they couldn't move. In a corner of her mind, Morgana noticed that Gaius and Gweneviere were there as well. Then she saw one man and said, "Ooh! You finally let little Lancelot out of his cage! Well, that's too bad." Here she stuck her lip out in an exaggerated pout, "I'm just going to have to put him right back in again." Her pout turned suddenly into a grin and she laughed. Agravaine's harsh chuckles joined in.

Once all of them were tied up, she released the spell. Lancelot surged forward and rammed his shoulder into Morgana's catching her off guard. She stumbled back with an oomph and Agravaine punched Lancelot soundly, knocking the noble knight unconscious. Morgana grimaced, "Good punch, Agravaine. Now there are two unconscious knights. That's unfortunate." She shrugged and turned her attention to Arthur, her voice brightening, "Arthur, dear brother! It has been a while, hasn't it? I have so missed you! You've been awfully quiet so far. Why is that?"

He just glared at her before spitting out, "What do you plan to do with us Morgana?"

Her whole face turned hard and demented. Her voice sounded insane as she leaned forward and whispered, "I want to make you suffer." She sat down in the triumphantly in the throne and grinned again, the insane edge leaving her voice, "All of those gathered here today are going to live in the dungeons. You and the knights will stay there, but Gaius will come out during the day to treat any sickness or injury that might come to my people. And Gwen, well, she's going to be my maidservant. I mean, that's all she is, right? A lowly servant who DARED TO SIT ON MY THRONE!" Morgana breathed in deeply, calming herself slowly.

Even Morgana's own people stared at her in slight fear. Gwen had tears slowly rolling down her face. Morgana glared at them, saying, "You have heard my decree. So it has been said, so it shall be written, so it shall be done." Mordred and Agravaine then carried/herded the members of the Round Table into the cell that would soon become their home.

Chapter Text

Arthur sighed again, aggravated, and smashed his fist against the walls. Where was she? Gwen was normally brought back to the cell earlier than this! She's never been this late in the past six months that they'd been here. The former king paced, wearing a circular dent into the ground. Lancelot looked up at him and frowned, "Pacing isn't going to help her get to you faster. She'll be here. Don't worry."

For a moment he was tempted to snap something at the knight, but found that he couldn't when Lance continued to stare at him unblinkingly, unafraid. Arthur sighed for a third time and slid down the wall, leaning his head against it. Just moments later, the door to the dungeons opened and Arthur scrambled up, anxious to see his wife. The other members of the cell smiled weakly at his antics.

When the person came to the cell, however, it wasn't Gwen. Arthur's shoulders slumped when he realized that it was Mordred. The young druid smiled just as weakly as the knights and asked hesitantly, "Waiting for someone?"

Again, Arthur was tempted to snap at him, at anyone for that matter, but the look on the boy's face stopped him. Mordred looked so small and so lonely and so very conflicted. So instead, Arthur did what he'd been doing for the past month or so when Mordred came down. He talked to him like a friend, "Yes, actually. I'm waiting for Gweneviere. She doesn't normally take this long to come back and I'm worried for her. I'm worried about what Morgana might have done to her. But, that doesn't matter. How are you? Why are you done here?"

Mordred had flinched at the venom in the older prisoner's voice when he mentioned the druid's employer, but he continued on anyway, "I am well, thank you. I have come to give you your food. The usual guard is… ah, indisposed currently. The Queen is looking into a new one." If he noticed that Arthur clenched his jaw when the boy called Morgana a queen, he didn't comment.

Gwaine stood quickly, coming to the bars. He asked in barely concealed anticipation, "So where's the food? Did you bring it already, or are you going to bring it soon?" The rogue knight craned his neck around as if he would be able to see any further down the corridor.

Mordred smiled at him and said, "Its right here." His eyes flared gold for a brief second and the food floated to slide under the slit in the wall. The door was only opened to allow prisoners to enter or exit. Nothing else.

Arthur's gaze went flat. Leon offered him some food, but Arthur snarled, "I won't have food that was touched by magic." He ignored Mordred's obvious flinch at his tone, choosing instead to stalk back to his designated sleep area. He sat down and pointedly didn't look at Mordred's heartbroken face. It reminded him too much of his former manservant's face when he had called him a sorcerer.

With a final whispered phrase that everyone heard, Mordred swirled around and stalked out of the room. He had said, "Do not fear that which you do not understand."

After another thirty minutes which were spent in silence, Gwen was bustled into the cell by two large guards. She huffed at them once they had left, but then immediately turned into her husband's embrace, hugging him furiously. Arthur smiled a genuine smile at her and then said, "Why were you so late today? Are you alright? Did they hurt you because if they did-,"

He was cut off by Gwen laughing and putting her finger on his lips, effectively silencing him. After she greeted everyone and the two sat in their area, she started talking, "Well, you know I can't very well just go and walk to the cell by myself. The men who walked me here were late coming to the throne room to pick me up. Then there was this commotion and a messenger ran into the room, quaking in his boots. Poor thing was about to fall over. He said that some people had started rioting in the lower town and you all know that there are never riots because the people are too scared of Morgana. She was furious! She stormed all the way to the lower town, half of the court, me included, following her. When we got to the lower town, there was indeed a riot and people were throwing things and generally being a nuisance to the guards.

"Then Morgana just shouted for everyone to be silent and everything became eerily quiet. She asked, in the quietest, most terrifying voice ever, why they thought they could riot in her kingdom. Some brave, foolish soul stepped in front of the crowd and said things about Morgana being an evil witch, and how her reign must end, things to the effect of: the monster queen should burn at the stake. For a moment, Morgana didn't do anything. She just stared, with her head tilted to the side. Then she started laughing and she k-killed the man right where he stood. She told them that she better not find out who started those foolish mutterings and then she just turned and walked away. I was escorted back here. I'm so late because of how long it took for us to get to the lower town and back again." Gwen finished sadly. Arthur wasn't sure if he should be happy that even after all this time she was still affected by death, or if he should be worried.

Elyan asked slowly, "Who could this sorcerer be? Why would he come to Camelot?"

Arthur scoffed, "He probably wants to join forces with Morgana." He had been slowly coming to accept that maybe not all magic was evil, until Mer- until the traitor showed him his. That's when he reverted back to his usual magic-hating self from before his manservant. His sister's acts solidified his hatred of the vile practice even further.

Before anyone could further comment, Mordred came rushing down the stairs to the cell, sobbing.

Morgana was not pleased. Not even the smallest bit. Even Mordred could tell that as he nervously watched her tapping irregular patterns on the arm of her throne. He wanted to reassure his mentor, to help her if he could, but he didn't know how and wasn't entirely certain the expression would be appreciated. He knew that their words about her being a monster and a tyrant didn't bother the young queen. It was their refusal to bow to her wishes that bothered her. He was about to speak when she turned her cold emerald gaze on him, "Mordred?"

He hesitated, "Yes, my lady?"

She said, "I want you to bring my brother to me. I'm going to kill him in front of my people. Hopefully that will put an end to the people's foolish ways."

Mordred gasped in shock. Surely Morgana wouldn't really do that! The young druid had come to love the elder Pendragon as a brother from his visits to the cells. Even though the man hated his magic with a passion, he still treated Mordred fairly and, most of the time, fairly. His queen continued to stare at him dispassionately. He eventually stuttered out, "There must be another way! I mean, that cannot be the only thing that will convince the people of your right to the throne."

Morgana looked at him sharper, half standing from her throne, "You have fallen for Arthur's ploys, haven't you? He's actually convinced you that he likes you and that you should like and trust him back! You have betrayed me!" She was practically shrieking by the end.

Mordred stared at her, wide-eyed, "No! Of course not, Morgana!"

He was interrupted from his pleas by the woman he named saying quietly, "I cannot tolerate this. You will be punished. Hopefully then you will realize your foolish mistake. Guards, take Mordred's arms! Don't bother struggling, dear Mordred, nothing can help you now."

Mordred watched in complete horror as she opened a box that he recognized and had wished to never see again. She opened it slowly, reveling in his terror. She then whispered some words that he didn't catch and the creature came forth from the box. It was a Gean Canach. The slug-like thing inched its way closer to Mordred, who was by now struggling with all of his might. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Agravaine smirk and thought that the man had always wanted to see the young druid fail so he could have Morgana to himself.

By the time the slug started climbing its way up Mordred's leg, he was sobbing, begging Morgana to reconsider, but she had made her decision. There was no going back now. And then it reached his face, clinging onto it like some static filled cloth. When the creature jumped off and inched back into its box, Mordred fell to his knees, numb. He couldn't feel anything. There was nothing there! Where was it? Where was it?

Morgana sneered down at him saying, "Get out of my sight."

He stumbled to his feet. It was as if he couldn't see. The young druid continued to stumble down the hallways. Servants and guards stopped and asked him if he was alright, but it was as if he couldn't hear. He could tell that tears were tracking down his face, but it was as if he couldn't feel. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He couldn't feel. He couldn't taste. He couldn't smell.

Suddenly he realized that he had rushed down the stairs to the dungeons, sobbing uncontrollably. He fell against the bars, his sobs dying down until he was just sniffling, but tears still ran freely down his face. Arthur came to kneel by his side and asked, "Mordred, what's wrong? What happened?"

So Mordred told them of what had occurred in the throne room, ending with the fact that Morgana had set a Gean Canach on him. The knights looked at him in total confusion, but Gaius understood and reached out to give him an awkward side hug. He looked back to the group and said, "A Gean Canach is a slug-like creature larger than your head. It was born of the tears of a goddess and they were thought to be extinct. Evidently Morgana found one. When they latch onto a magic user, they devour the person's magic, making it so they have not a lick of it left."

Arthur frowned, "But isn't that good? Now you're free from the taint of magic!" Arthur directed his last statement to Mordred.

The boy just stared at him horrified for a moment before saying, "I cannot believe you Arthur Pendragon. I lost my magic protecting you and you repay me by insulting me! Magic… I cannot describe to you how it feels to have magic. Until now, I did not know what it was like to not have magic. You know I am a druid. We are born with our abilities. Now that they are gone, it feels as if I am missing my arms and my legs. It feels as if I am… empty… useless… broken. You should never wish away someone's magic because it hurts."

Arthur looked at him in shock and Mordred instantly felt guilty. He blushed and said, "I am sorry for being so rude." Arthur made a noncommittal sound and leaned back, seemingly deep in thought. Mordred thought to himself that it looked as if his thinking process was going to take a while. He figured that maybe he would come back in a little bit.

Then it hit him. Arthur didn't have a little bit. Arthur had practically no time. Mordred was sure that Morgana was sending someone (most likely Agravaine) to come get the former king now to kill him.

The young druid stood up abruptly and started fitting a key into the lock on the cage. The others stood up with him. Leon demanded quickly, "What are you doing?" Mordred noticed that the former knight went to stand protectively in front of his king.

Mordred looked up at them with a determined expression, "I am setting you free."

Arthur pondered on this druid boy who was now leading them through the forests to a hut that someone had shown him years ago. On the one hand, he had once possessed magic and still seemed to covet it, but on the other hand, he was helping them and seemed genuinely concerned for their well-being. The king wasn't sure what to think of that. He was also obviously distressed that someone who he had come to see as almost a friend was so upset, but he didn't approve of the reason why he was upset. What was one to do when in this situation?

It reminded him suddenly of how he had felt in those moments he was held suspended in mid-air by Merlin's magic. He quickly cut that line of thinking off, miffed by how often that traitor popped up in his thoughts.

Before he knew it, he was walking alongside his knights into a medium sized cabin that was obviously abandoned, but might be some sort of trick. The more rational part of his mind assuaged his worries by pointing out that it would make no sense to go through such an elaborate set-up to get them to go here. They were already at the magic-users' mercies.

Mordred and some of knights set up the table with some chairs and dusted if off quickly. The all sat down, graciously allowing him to have the head. Mordred propped his head up on his chin and asked quietly, "What are we going to do now?"

Arthur frowned and said, "We have to win the kingdom back."

Gwaine rolled his eyes good-naturedly and said, "We know that, Queenie. We want to know how we're going to win the kingdom back. It's obvious that we can't fight our way to victory. There're too many sorcerers and Morgana alone is enough to take us all down."

Gwen directed her question at Gaius, "Do you know of anything that can stop her? Maybe there is something like the… Gean… Canach, I think, that can stop her from using magic. Maybe some herb or something?"

Gaius bit his lip and opened his mouth to say something before evidently thinking better of it and shaking his head no instead. Arthur, however, knew him better than that, "Gaius." He started voice dangerously low, "If you know of something that would help, tell us now. We need to know."

The old physician wet his lips and thought for a moment more before saying, "There is something, sire, but I'm afraid you won't like it. There is a person who is destined to be Morgana's doom. He is the light to her dark and the love to her hate. That person is the only one who can defeat her."

Arthur wasn't sure why Gaius why hesitant, so he demanded, "Well, who is he? Where is he?"

Gaius swallowed and answered slowly, "I'm afraid I don't know where he is, sire, but I do know who he is. That person… he's… his name is… Merlin."

The former king reeled back in shock, along with most of the other members of the table. Arthur choked out, "No. No, no, no! There is absolutely no way! I will not go to him for help! He is a monster and a traitor and I will not accept help from a sorcerer anyway!"

There was complete silence for a moment before Lancelot's voice rang out, cold and hard, "It doesn't matter if you don't want to go to him for help, sire. That is the only way to defeat Morgana and it is the only way to save your people. You. Need. Him. Sire." The title at the end was more mocking than Arthur would have cared for, but Lancelot did bring up a valid point.

He wouldn't do it, though! The last time he consorted with a sorcerer, it had gotten his father killed. He would never do it again. Then Gwen looked up at him and said, "You have to do it, Arthur. Like Lance said, it's the only way. Please, do this for your people. Do this so we can rid the world of one more evil. I know it is hard, but we don't have to forgive him. We don't have to like him. We just need his help."

Arthur took a deep, shuddering breath, momentarily hating the way that everyone looked to him for this answer. Then he said slowly, "Fine. We will go to… that sorcerer for… aid. We don't even know where to find him, though!"

Leon frowned and said, "Well, we should be able to trace his steps by thinking like him. We could start where you left him and then… maybe go to Ealdor, to his mother?" He phrased it as a question.

Percival spoke up for the first time, "No, he wouldn't do that. Not right away, at least. He wouldn't want to attract any unwanted attention towards his home and his family."

"Okay," Gwaine stared, sounding unsure for once, "Where would Merlin feel is a safe place to go? I assume that he went somewhere he knew."

Mordred's face lit up and he said, "I think I know where he might have gone! It was the summer when you banished him, right?" Arthur paled at how easily Mordred said that, but Elyan nodded to the druid. Mordred continued, "There is a druidic encampment near there run by Iseldir that only camps there in the summer. All magic people feel safe in a druid camp."

Gaius grinned at him, "Good work, my boy!"

Arthur frowned, "So, we're going to this druid camp to see if they saw Merlin a year ago and find out if they know where he went after that?" He received a chorus of yeses as his people already started filling out the door and into the night.

Merlin had had a great past six months. He had learned all sorts of things such as: storing spells, crafting weapons, disguise, painting, and shadow travelling, raising magical animals, controlling the elements, and even fighting without his magic. He hadn't had many problems other than the obvious one of attempting to hide his golden eyes and the small one of trying to ignore the slight pain that popped up every once in a while in scar across his face. They had yet to turn back to their original blue. Now he had returned to his original teachers, the druids led by Iseldir.

All of the druids had been very interesting in what he had learned. He showed them as much as he could without tiring himself out too much. Then one of the children asked him to create a tornado, without sending them all flying into it, of course. He had smiled and said yes, as he always did. Before he began, Iseldir sent a message to him; there are visitors at the entrance. Be sure to keep the tornado going until I come back. I would love to see it.

Merlin sent him a mental cheeky smile in return, responding, Why do I feel as if there is more to this than that? He heard Iseldir laugh out loud and he rolled his golden eyes. Then he lifted his hands, whispering a powerful spell. A great tornado whipped out of the ground, gently pawing at the humans below, but not causing any damage. It grew larger and large until the people on the inside of the circle could reach out and touch it if the wished. No one did.

The young warlock felt Iseldir come up behind him with some other people and he turned to smile at him. That's when he saw who was with him. His grin dropped along with his hands, causing the tornado to disappear in a puff of air. Merlin didn't care. He had turned around fully and was staring with shock at the people before him. All he could say was, "Arthur?"

Chapter Text

Arthur, his wife, his knights, and his physician walked up to the entrance of the druid camp. They had been led there by Mordred and had taken many 'shortcuts' which resulted in a faster travel, but a lot more mud and low hanging branches. Gwen peered around at the entrance and frowned. Gwaine asked her question for her, "So, now what?"

Mordred said, "We wait. They know that we're here. It will only be a matter of time before someone comes to let us in or turn us out."

Arthur stared at him, "Wait, what? They could not let us in? You neglected to mention that!"

Mordred frowned and looked as if he was rethinking everything he had said, but then he shrugged and said, "It should have occurred to you anyway that they wouldn't let us in. You are notorious for your hatred of all things magical. Why should they willingly allow you to enter their home?" The former king held the druid's gaze for a moment before looking down.

Finally, there was motion at the gate and Iseldir stepped out, frowning at the group. He was about to speak when Gwaine's eyes grew wide and he squeaked, "What is that?!"

Everyone looked behind Iseldir to where he was pointing and felt their breaths stick in their throats. It was a tornado. As they watched, it grew out of the ground and became larger and larger until it was taller than any castle and wider than a normal house. Arthur's became slack-jawed and Iseldir smirked at them, "That is what magic can create. You'll notice that it is not moving nor harming anyone. It is a completely controlled tornado."

No one said anything for a moment until Gaius spoke up, "Ahem, we have come here to ask you something." He looked pointedly at Arthur.

Arthur cleared his throat and nodded jerkily, still staring at the tornado. He tore his eyes away from it and started speaking, "Yes, we've come to… we were wondering if… perhaps Merlin came to this camp… it'd be about a year ago."

Iseldir's gaze sharpened and his voice was cold when he spoke again, "Why should we tell you of his whereabouts, current or past? You have betrayed him and hurt him. You have severed the ties of destiny and now you wish to hurt him further. Why should I allow that? Only you may answer this question, Arthur Pendragon." He added when it looked like Gaius was about to speak.

Arthur glanced desperately around at his friends' faces. He was confused, more than confused. What destiny was this druid talking about? How had he betrayed Merlin? He shook all of the thoughts out of his head and said, "I am not here to intentionally hurt him, nor am I here for any destiny. I am here because my kingdom is in peril and he is the only one who can stop it. I… I need his help." Arthur admitted in a small voice.

Iseldir narrowed his eyes at him as if trying to see whether he spoke the truth or not. Then he nodded his head and said, "You have come here because of destiny. The Fates will not be denied. They are trying to fix what you have broken. Come this way."

The king glanced askance at Gaius, but the old man only waved his hand in an 'I'll tell you later' motion. The group was led towards the tornado, which had grown even larger as they had talked. As they looked, they noticed that it seemed to be controlled by a single man. He was tall and lean, whipcord muscles standing out on his arms and legs. He had disheveled black hair and stood with a sort of confidence. A royal blue cloak lay discarded on the ground next to him. He was wearing soft leather boots and black breeches. He had on a navy blue shirt and what looked to be a silver neckerchief, although it was hard to tell from behind. Around his waist was a belt that held a sheath with a sword in it and a small bag that had many compartments on the other side.

Iseldir walked right up to the man, the group from Camelot following close behind. When they stood right behind him, their hair being ruffled by his magic, he turned his head around, a smile quirking his lips. Arthur and his group reeled back in shock. It was Merlin. His eyes were glowing a bright golden color. Just below his hair line a slightly raised, white scar began. It traveled over his eyebrow and stopped, restarting again at the top of his cheekbone. It continued down, curving to cross over the edge of his lips and it stopped completely just before his chin. Arthur felt sick. He had done this to Merlin.

Then Merlin turned fully around, lowering his hands. The tornado disappeared behind him and all the druids turned to look at him in confusion. He only had eyes for one man, though. He said, slightly breathlessly, "Arthur?"

Arthur couldn't say anything. He supposed he was in shock. All he could see was the angry line marring Merlin's features. Iseldir turned to Merlin and quietly said, "Perhaps we could bring this into the forest where there aren't so many onlookers." Everyone in the group from Camelot could hear them, but the other druids couldn't.

Merlin snarled back, "I'm not going anywhere with him." His eyes flicked to Iseldir and then back to Arthur, staying there. Arthur noticed with a sort of fascination that Merlin's eyes were still golden even though he wasn't using magic anymore. Iseldir continued to stare at Merlin and it seemed as if they were having a conversation, but neither of them was saying anything. Eventually, Merlin clenched his jaw, swept up his cloak and stalked into the forest. Iseldir motioned that they should follow him. They did.

When they finally made it to the forest, Merlin continued to go deeper until he found a little area with logs set up in a circle. He motioned angrily for everyone to sit. They did. Gaius broke the silence by asking quietly, "My boy?"

Merlin's head whipped up and he smiled at Gaius. Gaius smiled back and suddenly Merlin threw himself into the old man's arms, laughing delightedly, "Oh Gaius! I've missed you so much! You should have seen the places I've been, the things I've learned. We always knew that I had a lot of power, but traveling the world really helped me to unlock the pieces of it that were locked away. And there were even some people who were patient enough and skilled enough to train me how to use normal weapons. I need not rely on magic so much in a battle anymore!"

He was going to continue describing his adventures when Lancelot said, smiling, "Don't I get a hug Merlin?" Merlin laughed again and promptly launched himself into the older man's arms. Lance laughed too and engulfed him in a hug, as if he would lose him if he didn't hold on tight.

Eventually Merlin pulled away and he beamed at the two men, his eyes still strangely golden, "Thank you, both of you, for standing up for me all that time ago. I'm sorry that you got thrown in the dungeons, Lance. And I'm sorry that you ended up with an escort, Gaius. I was hoping that you would just pretend to break free from the so-called enchantment that I supposedly put on you. I suppose you did if you're here now."

"Ah," Gaius started, wincing slightly, "Lancelot here was only let out because he was needed for a battle. He proved himself trustworthy, I guess, during the battle."

Merlin's shoulders slumped and he finally turned to look at the entire group. He asked, "The battle against Morgana? Where she set fire to the lower town?"

Arthur put his hand on his sword, clenching it tightly to maintain calm. He could tell that the rest of his knights were as nervous and anxious as he was. Arthur growled at his former friend, "How do you know about the fire and the battle? You were there, weren't you! You helped my sister attack Camelot!" The accusations fell from his lips without him really noticing.

Merlin's face hardened into a look of anger and he took a menacing step forward. Arthur was ashamed to say that every one of them (aside from Lancelot and Gaius who stood on one side of Merlin) took a step backwards, away from his rage. Merlin took a deep, calming breath and said tightly, "I was not there. I was across the sea visiting different kingdoms. I believe that I was just leaving France at the time of the attack. While I was here with the druids, they taught me about visions and how to induce them. Let's just say that I didn't induce that one. It was a vision of the lower town burning and Morgana, Mordred, and Agravaine walking through the fire and smoke and Morgana saying 'I am coming, Arthur Pendragon, dear brother mine'. That was destiny's way of telling me to not ignore it. Didn't work to well for destiny."

Gwaine shook his head and asked, tentatively, as if he felt he would be rebuked for speaking, "What is this destiny that everyone is talking about? I think I heard someone say something about a prophecy at some point too."

Merlin was about to answer, but Mordred answered for him. Arthur was secretly glad that he did. Mordred said, "Among the druids, we have a prophecy that says that Emrys, the most powerful warlock who has ever and will ever walk the earth, will help to aid and guide the Once and Future King in uniting Albion and bringing magic back to the land. Arthur, you're the Once and Future King. Merlin… is Emrys."

Arthur stared at Merlin, but he wasn't paying attention to the former king. Merlin said quietly, "What are you doing here, Mordred?" The young druid's face fell and he was about to answer when Merlin held his hand up, peering at him slowly, and "There is something wrong with you. You feel… empty." Mordred clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything. Merlin's eyes opened wide and he put his hand to his mouth. He whispered, "Your magic is gone." Mordred nodded.

Elyan said, "Not to sound insensitive, but can we get back to the reason we're here?"

Merlin turned his harsh golden stare on Elyan and he flinched violently. Merlin asked, "Why are you here?"

This time Arthur spoke, "Morgana has taken over Camelot. She is killing everyone who stands up to her. If Mordred hadn't helped us escape, I'd be dead right now too."

The sorcerer didn't even blink. His voice was flat as he asked, "So?"

Gwen reeled back in shock, "So? People are dying Merlin! And you're the only one who can save them. You have to save them. Perhaps, perhaps if you save them, your soul won't be corrupted anymore. You won't be evil and you can stop practicing magic. It is your duty to save them!"

He let out a harsh laugh, "My duty? Ha! I have no duty to Camelot anymore. All of you betrayed me and shunned me. And to say that I can stop practicing magic! Did you not even hear Mordred say that Emrys is a warlock? Do you not remember Gaius explaining what a warlock is?"

Arthur thought back to that day that was a little over a year ago and Percival spoke, "What of your destiny, then? You are destined to protect Arthur to your last, dying breath."

Merlin tilted his head to the side, looking dangerous again, "You dare to lecture me about my destiny? Arthur is the one who forwent destiny and tried to kill me! Someone once said to me that one cannot hate that which makes them whole. They were talking about Arthur and me. We were two sides of the same coin, until he severed the coin in half. He is the one who turned his back on destiny first! I only did it when he did." Percival nodded thoughtfully and went to stand next to Lancelot and Gaius. Arthur had the feeling that the mountain of a man had just chosen a side. And it wasn't with his king.

"It didn't know!" Arthur finally cried out, frustrated, "I didn't know that I had some… some destiny! No one told me!"

Merlin scoffed, "And would you have made a different decision if I had told you? If I told you while your father was still alive, or just after you were crowned king that I was an all-powerful warlock destined to protect you, would you have even believed me? Would you not have still tried to kill me if I proved it to you?"

The golden haired king swallowed thickly. Yes, he would have still tried to kill him. Leon, however, frowned and said, "Warlock."

Everyone turned to stare at him exasperated. Gwaine said, "What are you going on about?"

Leon muttered, "Warlock," again before his voice got stronger and he said, "Emrys is a warlock and Merlin is Emrys. That means that Merlin is a warlock. That means that he was born with magic." He looked the warlock right in the eyes and Arthur saw some understanding pass between them.

Gwen gasped and said, "Really? You truly were born with magic?"

Before he could answer, Arthur butted in, "Of course not! He's lying to trick you into sympathizing with him! The stupid prophecy probably said sorcerer and something got lost in the translation."

The black haired warl- sorcerer stared at him unbelievingly, "You know Arthur, if you're trying to get me to help, which I won't do, then you are going about it all wrong."

Arthur ground his teeth in frustration when he was reminded of why they had originally come here. He spat out, "What would it take for you to help us?"

Merlin frowned and his eyebrows scrunched in concentration. It was such a… Merlin-like motion that Arthur felt his heart break a little. It was Lancelot who eventually answered, "You have to beg him to help you. He's deserves it and so do you."

Seeing that the man was serious and that Merlin had no qualms about the idea, Arthur ground his teeth together again. He slowly climbed down onto his knees and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, opened them again, and then said, "I beg of you Merlin to help us defeat Morgana and save Camelot. If not for us, then for the people of this kingdom."

Merlin looked down at him and bit out, "Fine. I will help you, but on one condition."

By the time he was done talking, Arthur had already scrambled into a standing pose, not wanting to stay in that other position for much longer. Arthur said, "Anything. We need you!"

Merlin nodded and said, "If you regain your throne once again, stop the bans on magic. Obviously you wouldn't do it all at once, or even in big steps. You'd set little laws first and then, once the people began warming to each little law, you would put another one in place until, eventually, magic is free. That is my price to help you."

For a moment, Arthur wondered at Merlin's consistently selfless ways, but then that started conflicting too much with his views on magic-users and he stopped the train of thought. He looked at his wife and his knights and saw the indecision swirling in their eyes too. If he removed the ban on magic, then evil would be allowed to run rampant. Wouldn't that be worse than Morgana ruling? Wouldn't that cause more deaths?

Arthur's mind geared up as he tried to think of something to do, something to say that would work. Then he thought of it: the perfect plan. He would agree to this price and then, when he finally had his throne back, he would kill Merlin. A simple sword to the gut and he would never have to make good on this 'promise'. It wasn't the most noble of solutions, but it was the one that saved the most people. Morgana would be gone and the evil of magic would still be eradicated. The golden haired king looked at his former manservant and said, "I accept your price and will pay it in full when and only when Morgana is destroyed and I regain my throne." Merlin searched his face, trying to read something there. His eyes narrowed and a brief look of anger flashed across his face, but then he went eerily calm. He nodded. The entire group sighed in relief.

Within ten minutes, they had left the forest and Merlin had gathered his supplies. Somehow, Iseldir knew to be waiting for them with horses already packed with food and other necessities. Arthur watched as Merlin hugged Iseldir and smiled warmly at the gathered group of druids. They laughed with him and cheered at something he said. Some of them even started to cry when the group started to wind their way out of the camp. Gwaine had noticed this too and asked, "Why are they crying?"

Merlin answered quietly, "I was supposed to stay here for the rest of the month. I've only really been here for a couple of days and they haven't seen me in about ten months. They've missed me and haven't really gotten a chance to see me again before I'm already gone."

They sat in silence for a while longer before Elyan asked, frustrated, "Can't you just teleport us into the city, or something? Why do we have to travel this slowly?"

The young warlock sighed and said, "I can't teleport this many people at once. I could maybe do five at the most, but I'd have to rest for three to five days after before I could attempt bringing the next group. Or I could do it one at a time and be able to only do one person per day. I haven't teleported very often, so I'm not as good at it as I might be."

Lance coughed on Merlin's side and Merlin looked at him expectantly. Lancelot laughed and said, "Sorry, it's just that that was not the most normal thing I've heard."

"And anything I usually say is normal?" Merlin waggled his eyebrows at him pointedly. Lance laughed again, Percival and Gaius joining him. Even Gwaine and Mordred smiled.

Arthur was about to say something when Merlin's eyes grew wide and he shouted, "Bandits!"

Chapter Text

Merlin, quite frankly, was not surprised. When had they gone on a trip through the woods and not run into either bandits or mercenaries? He couldn't remember a single time. Well, there were times where it was slave traders instead. Merlin shook his head. This was not helping the battle that was about to occur.

All of the former knights and their companions leapt off their horses (which, by the way, why would they do that? When on their horses they had a clear advantage) and jumped into the fray. Merlin rolled his eyes and sighed. Then he saw Arthur fighting three men at once. He took one out and just managed to block the second when the third swung his sword at the king's unprotected side. There was no thought. It was completely instinctual when Merlin threw his hand out, sending the third man flying into the trees. Arthur finished off his last opponent and looked back at Merlin, eyes wide and disbelieving. Merlin looked away.

The young warlock took in the scene in front of him in between opponents. He (like a smart person) was fighting from the back of his horse with his spatha, a Roman cavalry sword. He noticed that there were too many enemy fighters. They would never win this battle with swords alone. Merlin sighed again (he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately), closed his eyes and whispered a spell, "æþrýtnes á hwa gewill æt ege mín gesiþþe áwierdnes ondforþringanhíe."

He watched with magic filled eyes as his spell took hold. All of the bandits were lifted into the air, flailing and struggling. Their eyes widened in terror and they started to scream as they rose ever higher. Their breathing quickened and their struggles grew stronger as whatever was holding onto them grew tighter. And then suddenly, they disappeared. Just like that. One minute there were hordes of bandits flailing in the air and then there was nothing but the clear blue sky. Everyone turned as one to stare at Merlin. He simply raised an eyebrow at them.

Arthur stalked menacingly towards him and Merlin quickly changed his spatha back into a sword. He held it loosely with the tip pointed to the ground in a show of surrender. His former best friend growled, "What did you do to them?"

Merlin tipped his head back and looked to the sky. He regained his cool and then looked back down at Arthur, "What do you mean? Would you rather that they were here fighting you? Because you would have lost! There were too many of them. Would you have preferred to die and let your people suffer under Morgana's reign?"

The young warlock noticed Percival, Gaius, and Lancelot come up next to him, some pulling their swords out to defend him. Arthur must have noticed it too because he stopped moving forward and simply said, defeated, "You still didn't have to kill them like that, where they didn't have a chance to fight back. I know that you have magic and the impulse to do evil comes first, but you didn't have to."

Merlin, in an equally defeated voice, said, "I didn't kill them, Arthur. The impulse to do evil never even comes to me, let alone coming first. I simply sent them somewhere else. I really have no idea where. That's for the magic to decide. If it pleases your highness, I could show you where they are right now. I could find them with my magic." He added on the sarcastic title because he was really starting to get annoyed with Arthur about now.

He just didn't understand how Arthur could be that obtuse! Arthur had killed more people this day than he had! The clotpole had seen Merlin defending him. Merlin could have let everyone but himself and the three standing behind him die and he could have disappeared, living happily off the land and taking his friends to the places he'd been. But he didn't. He chose to save them all and this was the thanks that he got! Merlin quickly got his anger in check when he noticed the wind start to pick up and clouds start to form on the horizon.

Arthur's anger had noticeably deflated, but he didn't say anything to apologize for it. He clenched his jaw and stalked away, helping Gwen onto her horse before climbing onto his. Merlin just shook his head scornfully and waited for his friends to get onto their horses before following what used to be his king.

AAAAAA

Arthur was… well, he was embarrassed. He had accused Merlin of murdering all of those bandits when he had just put them somewhere else. Then it occurred to him that he had just accepted Merlin's word as law. How did he even know that the sorcerer was telling the truth? He could be lying through his teeth! The traitor would have known that Arthur wouldn't have questioned his word. Agh! This was all becoming too complicated for Arthur. He was just going to stick to his plan and work his way forward from there. He wouldn't think about anything else. Just stick to the plan.

He called for the group to halt and set up camp for the night. To his surprise (and relief), Merlin didn't use any magic to set it up. He simply did what he had done every other time they had set up camp together. It was… bittersweet. Arthur wondered suddenly about how long Merlin had had magic. He was obviously lying about being born with it because you can't be born with magic. Maybe he started in Ealdor. There wasn't a lot to do around there and Merlin wasn't exactly the best person for farming. Maybe he started magic just for something to do that made him feel worth something.

Arthur ignored the fact that he might have started while in Camelot. He already felt betrayed by the man; he didn't think he could take anything else.

The former king noticed that the party separated into two distinct groups. They sat on opposite sides of the fire. On one side were Merlin, Gaius, Lancelot, Percival and Gwaine. Arthur wondered idly when Gwaine chosen Merlin's side and was more than a little miffed that he did in the first place. On the other side were Arthur, Gwen, Elyan, Leon, and Mordred.

The two groups talked amongst themselves while Gwen made dinner (Arthur didn't trust Merlin to not poison it or something equally diabolical). After dinner was passed out, silence reined. When that was done, Merlin spoke up, "Do we have any sort of plan, or are we just going to burst in there randomly like we do most times?" Arthur could hear the sarcastic lilt in his tone.

Through gritted teeth, Arthur asked, "Did you have anything in mind?"

"Yes, actually, I did," the warlock answered, "I cannot go in there like I am because Morgana will know that I am Emrys by now. I can-,"

He was interrupted by Arthur saying, "Why is it bad that Morgana knows that you're supposedly Emrys?"

Arthur noticed him close his eyes for a second, evidently regaining his calm, and then he said, "There are more players in this destiny than just you and I. You are the Once and Future King. I am Emrys. Gwen is the Once and Future Queen. Gwaine is the Green Knight. Lancelot is the Bravest and Most Noble of Them All. Elyan is the White Knight. Morgana is the Witch. Mor… I don't know the other's titles, but you all play a part in this destiny. Morgana is the – don't you dare scoff Arthur Pendragon – she's the evil to my good." Merlin paused for a moment before continuing in a softer voice, "At least, she was when I still took part in the destiny. Not anymore."

Leon frowned and said, "You were going to say Mordred's role in the prophecies, but you didn't. Why not?"

Merlin pursed his lips and glanced momentarily at Mordred who tilted his head at the older magic user. Merlin answered, "It is not always wise to learn of the future. Horrible things can come of it."

He seemed so heartbroken at whatever memory he had that had given the traitor that bit of wisdom. For a second, Arthur felt bad for him, but then he stopped himself. He could not let the sorcerer soften his heart to him. He would go through with the plan. Speaking of plans, "Alright, what's the rest of the plan then?"

The traitor turned his molten gaze up to Arthur and said, "I am going to disguise myself as some trouble-making vagrant sorcerer that you all found wandering through the woods, shouting my hatred of Morgana. I'm assuming that Morgana thinks that Mordred escaped alongside you all, but we could play it that he saw you running whichever direction you ran to escape and he went after you. He finally caught you and he caught me while he was at it and he brought us back to his Queen to get in her good graces once again. That way, Morgana will bring us all to the throne room so she can humiliate you all and kill Arthur, possibly returning Mordred's magic beforehand. Um, we obviously don't need to be tied together until we're closer to the castle. We'll release the horses a little ways outside the city."

Lancelot asked, "What'll happen when we're in the throne room?"

Merlin scowled good naturedly at him and said, "I haven't gotten that far yet. I'll call Kilgharrah a little later and ask him about it."

Gwaine frowned, "Who's Kilgharrah?"

The traitor adopted a slightly guilty expression and said timidly, "He's a dragon."

Arthur's mouth dropped open and he practically shouted, "A dragon! There are no dragons left. I killed that last living one and the egg was destroyed in the collapse of the building."

Merlin winced and Percival shook his head, "What did you do this time Merlin?"

The still-stick-thin sorcerer spoke to the ground saying, "Well, the dragon that attacked Camelot, Arthur really didn't kill him. No one did. That's Kilgharrah, the great dragon. I told him to go away and never come back. I said that if he did come back, I'd kill him. And then for the egg, well, that didn't die in the collapse. I got it out and hid it in my saddlebag and then hatched her when we got back to Camelot. Her name's Aithusa and she joined Morgana."

Arthur stared at him, shell-shocked, "Morgana has a dragon?!"

"Yes." Merlin began, and then quickly amended, "But it's a small dragon. She's really just a little bit bigger than a horse and she can't fly that well or even talk."

Elyan frowned, "No dragons can talk."

Anger flared in Merlin's eyes (Arthur noticed that that had been happening a lot lately. He wondered if Merlin always got this angry and just hid it before) and he snapped at Elyan, "Dragons are majestic creatures, creatures of sentience and power and knowledge like no other. They are wiser and stronger and smarter than any of you could hope to be. They can talk and think and feel love and pain like you and I. Everything about them is raw human emotion and knowledge and they do not deserve your slanders upon them."

Even his group was staring at him open-mouthed. He was rather passionate about dragons. That's when Arthur clued in on something else Merlin had said, "You told a dragon to leave and he did it? Just like that? I thought only dragonlords can do that."

"That's true." Merlin answered evenly, suddenly calm again.

"So you're a dragonlord?" Arthur waited for Merlin to nod yes before continuing, "Then why wouldn't you have just ordered the dragon away before? Why did you let so many people get killed, including that other dragonlord?"

This time it was Percival who got angry, asking, "Do you even know how a dragonlord acquires their powers?" He didn't wait for Arthur to answer before continuing, "The powers are passed on from father to son in death."

Gwen gasped from next to Arthur, "Balinor was your father?" Merlin nodded solemnly.

Without thinking, Arthur said his next thought aloud, "You cried when he died and I told you that no man was worth your tears. I told you not to cry about your own father's death and then cried when my father… passed away."

Merlin sent him a terse smile and said quietly, "You didn't know."

Gaius suddenly grinned at the two of them and said, "It seems as if the two of you can be somewhat civil towards each other. I was starting to get concerned for a moment." Merlin playfully pushed Gaius' shoulder.

LLLLLL

There were several moments of silence until Leon broke them by saying idly, "I'm exhausted."

He regretted the comment instantly when Merlin's gaze swept over to him. He wasn't quite sure what to think about Merlin. On the one hand, he would never go against his vows and leave the side of his king like some of the other knights had done; but on the other hand, he truly believed that Arthur was in the wrong about this one. There was no way to convince the young ex-king of this, though, so Leon wouldn't try.

Merlin frowned at him and Leon leaned back a little. Then the former manservant said, "I think we should wait on this plan."

Leon winced inwardly as he saw Arthur's head snap up to glare at Merlin. Arthur growled at him, "And why should we do that?"

Merlin sighed and bit out, "We should do that because you are all extremely weak from your imprisonment. I expect that all of you will start feeling exhausted sometime tonight as you finally come down from your incredibly long adrenaline high. I will try to heal you as much as I can, but you will also have to train for a while to regain some of your muscle mass. Otherwise, it would be unlikely that you would even make it the castle, let alone fight any guards that you'd need to."

The first knight could tell that Arthur wanted to argue with Merlin just to make the sorcerer wrong, but then the king must have realized that Merlin truly was in the right because he sagged and ground out, "Fine."

Merlin sneered back, "Fine."

Leon sighed to himself. This was going to be a long night.

GGGGGG

The next morning shone bright and Gwaine stretched out noticing that most everyone else was asleep. The only other person who was awake was Merlin, who seemed to be making breakfast. Gwaine sniffed the air and realized that yes, he was making breakfast. Awesome! Gwaine had totally missed his friend's cooking skills and was more than ready for whatever he was making. The knight sniffed again and tried to discern what on earth the boy was making. It smelled good.

Then the drunkard heard the sounds of the others waking, most likely woken by the aromas coming from the pan held over the fire. Lance groggily sat up and groaned, muttering loudly, "What is that wonderful smell?"

Merlin grinned at them and Gwaine was pleased to note that it was closer to his usual grin. The warlock answered, "That, my friend, is the smell of waffles. They are flawless! It's basically a batter mix that's similar to pancakes – but then you don't know what pancakes are. Anyway, it's like cake, but fluffier and lighter. Then you can put spices into the batter, like vanilla or chocolate. I personally prefer cinnamon, which is what is in these. You put stuff on top, like sauces or even fruits. I warmed up an apple and sugar mix to put on top. It's amazing, really." Merlin continued to prattle on about the making of waffles and Gwaine grinned at him.

That's when the drunkard noticed Lancelot staring at him with a clear message in his gaze: come with me. Gwaine nodded to him and then stood up, announcing loudly, "I've gotta go take care of business if you know what I mean." Gwen blushed prettily at his obviously lewd comment.

Lancelot rolled his eyes and commented lightly, "I might as well come with you."

They walked a ways away from the camp, which was already being taken apart. Arthur had commented on knowing a place with a rather large clearing where they would be able to train in peace and they would be there by about noon that same day.

After a few more seconds of walking, Lance finally turned to Gwaine, asking coldly, "What do you think you're playing at, Gwaine?"

Gwaine frowned at him and stopped walking, "What do you mean? I haven't done anything wrong. If anything, I did well by realizing how wrong I was about magic. I mean, only Merlin could have really shown us the truth about magic."

"That's just it," the noble knight started, "You changed just like that where before you were almost as bad as Arthur when it came to the morals of magic. I just want to make sure that you aren't going to do something to hurt Merlin. He has given up everything for us and he has had a horrible life. All for us. He's excited that he's changing people's hearts, though he wouldn't admit it. Merlin still is as selfless as he always was even though it doesn't seem that way. You know he saw the Round Table meeting where Arthur told us what happened. Just… please don't hurt him anymore."

The drunkard looked at Lance with more appreciation, realizing just how much he cared about the goofy raven haired man. He looked him right in the eye and said, "I will not ever willingly hurt Merlin and will stand by him forever. I will never make the mistake of doubting him again. You can take my word for it." Lance nodded and smiled at him, nodding again before heading back to the camp.

When they got there, there were two waffles left, waiting out with the apples spread over them. Gwaine dug in eagerly, finishing half of his waffle before even sitting down. He noticed that everyone was staring at him, mostly in amazement at his eating speed. Two faces, however, stood out. Merlin was watching him with guarded hope, obviously hoping that he would like that waffles. Lancelot was watching him with suspicion, knowing that this was the moment where he could prove his new commitment to Merlin. Gwaine grinned easily around his waffle and said truthfully, "This is awesome. I could eat these every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of them. Where did you learn how to make these?"

Merlin grinned back, "France, actually. France was fun. There were a lot of fun things to do there, but they don't think much of magic. I mean, the king thinks magic is amazing, but has to pretend otherwise for his people. Most of his trusted advisors, of which I was one, are magic users."

As Merlin continued to talk about France, guided by questions from both his and Arthur's groups, Gwaine realized that maybe they could work this all out. He realized that destiny had its own plans and would not allow these two spectacular men drift apart. Ever.

Chapter Text

"Are we there yet?" Gwaine whined from his place to the left of Merlin. Arthur ground his teeth. This was the fifth time Gwaine had asked that question in the last half hour. The king knew that he shouldn't have told him that they were close.

Arthur's head was reeling. He had just listened to Merlin go on and on about all the different countries he visited and all the things he could do now. He even showed them some of the things he could do, glancing underhand at Arthur as if to say, I dare you to stop me. That wasn't even the worst part. For some strange reason (because Arthur was most definitely over the traitor's betrayal by now), it grated on his nerves when he heard Merlin talking about all the different kings, queens, princes, and princesses that he had been royal advisor to, or servant of, or best friend of. For each name that Merlin listed, Arthur had a brief moment when he wanted to shout why can't you be my royal advisor, my servant, my best friend? But he didn't, and he wouldn't because he was over Merlin and he didn't need the sorcerer.

Then the blonde haired king saw an opening in the trees and grinned to himself. He answered Gwaine, "Yes, Sir Gwaine, we are there." He found it humorous that everyone sped up their horses to get to the clearing. Merlin was the first one to shoot off, sending his horse careening toward the lake.

Then, halfway to the lake, the sorcerer froze. Everyone moved their horses in behind him to see what was wrong, but Arthur couldn't see anything. He called out hesitantly, "Merlin?"

Merlin didn't appear to hear him, choosing instead to get off his horse, his eyes glued to the lake like it was his lifeline. He started walking closer. Lancelot and Gwaine swung off of their horses, suddenly serious, with Lancelot calling, "Merlin? Merlin! What's going on?"

"Freya?" The former manservant's voice broke halfway through the word as he waded into the water. He stopped when he was knee deep in the water. Arthur and the others heard Gaius gasp at the name, his wrinkled hand coming up to cover his mouth. Arthur was about to ask what was going on when the lake started to twist and ripple, centering at a spot about ten feet away from Merlin. The king took an unconscious step forward to help him, but stopped when he heard Merlin's breath catch in his throat. The whole group stood frozen as the lake formed a shape.

When the shape had smoothed out, Arthur saw that it was a woman. She was pale with large chocolate brown eyes and waist length, silky black hair. She was wearing a purple dress that looked fit for a princess. Arthur noticed offhandedly that she was walking on water. Her eyes were focused entirely on Merlin's still form.

Arthur had the strangest feeling like he had no idea who this woman was, but he did at the same time. Besides, he had to know her if Merlin was looking at her the way he was. Well, he might have met her in Ealdor. Maybe she was the person who taught him magic since she was obviously a sorceress with her coming out of a lake and walking on water and all that. He watched as she stepped forward a reached a hand out toward Merlin's face, gently cupping his cheek as she whispered, "Merlin."

He leaned into her touch put his hand on top of hers, saying, "Freya."

The girl, Freya, smiled delightedly at him and Arthur could practically feel the love coming off them in waves. He reached over and held onto Gweneviere's hand. Then Freya looked around and saw the rest of the group, who were watching in slight awe. She smiled again and pulled Merlin to sit in the shallowest part of the water with her. She gestured for the others to come sit on the shore around them. They did.

There was a long pause of silence and Arthur was just starting to get fidgety when Freya said, "Hello, I'm Freya as I imagine you gathered. In your prophecies, I am known as the Lady of the Lake. I guard Avalon and I, when it was still here, guarded Excalibur."

Arthur fingered the hilt of his sword in confusion before saying, "I don't understand."

Freya glanced at Merlin quickly and the sorcerer nodded his head to her. She said, "When Merlin christened the sword in dragon's breath, the Great Dragon told him that no man may use the sword except the Once and Future King. Well, your father used the sword, so Merlin had to put it somewhere no one else would find it ever again. He put it here, in this lake, but that was a little bit before my time." She turned to smile at Merlin again and he smiled back. Even Arthur had never seen him smile so radiantly before.

Gwaine asked the question that they had all be waiting for, "So, you and Merlin, you got something going on between you, or what?" Inwardly, Arthur gritted his teeth at Gwaine's less than eloquent way of putting the question.

The Lady of the Lake laughed a light, tinkling laugh and said, "Merlin is the love of my life. We will be together forever and nothing will come between us. He saved me in so many ways and in such a short period of time. I love him." By the end, her focus was entirely on the former manservant once again.

The sorcerer smiled at her again, but this time it was tinged slightly with a tone of sadness, "And I love you. I just wish we could have had more time together. Even one more week, to show you around the castle, maybe even have you meet my mother." His smile was more genuine and teasing towards the end, but Arthur could still see the heartbreak there. It seemed as if Arthur could see every emotion that Merlin had play across his face. He had thought that before the… incident that he could read the sorcerer, but now he knew that he had only seen a fifth of what went on in Merlin's head.

Gwen asked tenderly, "What do you mean about not having more time together? Aren't you with each other right now?"

Freya smiled sadly and slipped her hand into Merlin's, "I can only appear like this when I am not busy in Avalon, which is few and far between and really, any day that you spend not in the arms of your loved one is a sad and lonely day. When I say we had a short period of time, I mean we only knew each other for, what, three days, before I died."

"Before you," Mordred began and had to start again, "Before you died?"

"Yes Mordred, before I died. I don't regret dying other than not being able to spend my life with Merlin. We were going to run away together, you know. I remember that you were getting the horses and the packs ready for us. You had just brought me this gorgeous dress and said that I looked beautiful in it and that you loved me." By the time she was done talking, she was once again focused entirely on Merlin. Arthur had thought that he and Gwen were obvious with their love, but those two couldn't keep their eyes off one another. Then what she said started to sink in.

Evidently it sunk in for Percival too, who raised his head and asked in alarm, "You were going to run away? Even before… all of the other stuff went down?"

Merlin looked Arthur straight in the eyes and said, "If you ever truly knew love, you would understand that you would do anything for the one you love, even shirk your destiny and leave behind everyone you know." He turned back to face Freya, "Your loved one is worth every bit and more." The sorcerer leaned in and bumped noses with the woman, both of them smiling as if their lives were complete right then and there.

"You're really in love, aren't you?" Gwaine asked quietly, his face serious for once.

The two answered in unison, "Absolutely."

Elyan coughed hesitantly and, when he had everyone's attention, said guiltily, "Uh, this is probably a little insensitive, but, uh, Fre- er, Lady of the Lake, how did you, um… die?"

Again Freya let loose that tinkling laugh and Merlin gave her a strained smile. Even Arthur couldn't help but grin a little to himself. Then Freya answered, "You don't have to worry about being insensitive. Both Merlin and I made peace with my death." She looked to her love almost as if seeking approval of her answer, and at his brief nod, she continued, "He was packing our bags and getting the horses ready, but I left the tunnels I was staying in with the intent to leave the city. I thought that I wasn't worth everything that Merlin would give up for me. I was… a murderer and a monster." She ignored Merlin's protests and continued over him, "I was cursed so that at the stroke of midnight, I would turn into a Bastet; a giant winged cat."

This time, Freya ignored Arthur and Leon's gasps and they figured out exactly what happened. She went on, "Well, I got hopelessly lost and ended up being spotted by some guards. I fled from them and ended up trapped in a corner with no way out; Arthur, Sir Leon, some guards, and Halig, the slave master who brought me to Camelot in the first place, were there. Then the clock struck midnight and I changed into my monster form. I… I killed Halig after Arthur wounded me and then I flew a little ways away, into the courtyard. I was once again surrounded, but then I saw Merlin standing behind the circle. He looked me in the eyes and I knew that he knew that it was me. He used his magic to drop a griffin statue in front of me so I could get away.

"He found me again in the tunnels and he came up to me while I was still in Bastet form. It was beautiful. Then I changed back and my human form couldn't take the injury. Merlin helped me into this dress and carried me to the waiting horses. He put me in front of him on one of them and started to ride away. We got to this lake and he dismounted and sat me on the grass. We talked a little and then… then I died. He put my body in a boat and filled it with flowers before pushing it into the water and setting it alight." She finished her story and her and Merlin once again shared their little smile.

Lancelot, Gwaine, and Percival were staring at him with obvious hate and even Gwen was looking a little horrified. Arthur thought back to something that Lance had said almost a year ago: 'Merlin gave up everything for you! Everything! And you just stab him in the back, or rather, face, the first chance you get. How could you do that to him? Do you even know how many times he's saved you?' and he realized that Merlin really did give up a lot for him.

Arthur remembered that Merlin had been a little down and out of sorts that week and he remembered that he had given him a nuggie to make him feel better. It all seemed so stupid and so simple compared to now, but Arthur would go back to that time in a heartbeat because Arthur realized that Merlin was his best friend and his advisor and his counselor and everything Arthur needed him to be just because he wanted to. Arthur realized that Merlin gave up everything for him and that Arthur gave him nothing but hatred and sadness and scars in return. And Arthur realized that maybe, just maybe, magic didn't always corrupt the user.

Chapter Text

It had been almost a month since they had come to train at Freya's clearing. Merlin spent the vast majority of his time talking with Freya and on the days that she was busy, he would sit at the edge of the lake and stare off into the deep waters.

He was doing it now, his golden gaze seeming to see past the azure waters and into the land of the dead which waited just beyond it. It made Arthur wonder something and for the first time since finding his manservant again, the blonde king started a conversation with the man simply to talk. He asked, "Do you… do you ever… would you ever purposefully die to be with her?"

Merlin closed his eyes and let his face contort into one of pure grief. Arthur had to look away. Finally, the younger man answered, "I tried, actually. It's not something I'm proud of, but it happened. It was a few days after she died and I was not in the right state of mind. Another sorcerer had just been executed for helping his neighbor's crops to grow stronger. I went to the top of the east tower and stood at the edge. I lifted up a foot and tried to step off, but I couldn't. It wasn't my resolve that stopped me. My resolve was firm and I wanted to do it; I really did. My magic wouldn't let me. It literally pulled me back and onto the parapet. Destiny was telling me that I still needed to complete it and that I could not stop it."

He paused for a moment and Arthur almost said something before he continued, "I don't know why I didn't go through with it after you left me bleeding in the forest. You had broken the bonds of destiny, so there was nothing holding me back anymore. Destiny tried to convince me that there was, but it couldn't hold me." The sorcerer laughed humorlessly, "Nothing can hold me…"

Arthur tried to say something again, but this time Leon interrupted them by calling out, "Sire! We are gathering to train right now!" The king sighed and stood up to walk over to them, only glancing back at the despondent man sitting in the gently lapping water once.

When he got to the group of knights standing together in ragged clothing that could only be mended so much with their limited supplies, he noticed that Gwaine, Lancelot, and Percival were all staring at Merlin with concern scrawled across their faces. The blonde haired man sighed before calling out, "Merlin! Come here."

Merlin called back moodily, "I don't want to!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and said, "Well I'm the King, so you're going to!"

A few of the knights froze for a moment, waiting to see what Merlin's reaction was going to be. After a tense pause, Merlin stood up and meandered his way over to the group. Arthur looked at his former manservant for a moment. There were the obvious differences like the scar the crawled across his face or the golden eyes set under his black eyebrows. Then there were the subtler differences like the change in clothing color, the royal cloak that swept behind him as he walked, and the sword that dangled tantalizingly at his waist. Finally, there were the minute differences that only his closest friends could see: the proud set of his shoulders, the finally relaxed muscles, the power that radiated off of him in waves, and, most significant, the darkness the swirled beneath the golden hue of his irises.

Then Merlin was standing before him, a slight smirk twisting his lips at the corners. He raised an eyebrow in an impressive rendition of Gaius and asked mockingly, "Yes my lord?"

The Lord in question just gritted his teeth and shot the sorcerer a forced smiled, saying, "I was thinking about that sword that you have. You said that you learned how to fight from other countries. It stands to reason that they would have alternate fighting techniques and I figured that you might be able to show us some of these techniques so we could better defend ourselves when we overtake the castle." Truthfully, Arthur had an ulterior motive in mind. He wanted to get a look at Merlin's new fighting style so that when the time came to kill him, he could be a little better prepared. Arthur froze when Merlin's eyes narrowed dangerously at the king, almost as if the raven haired man knew what he was thinking.

Then his eyes went back to normal and he smiled at Arthur, lazy danger swirling in every tensed muscle, "What a fine idea, Arthur. Besides, it'll be nice beating you in a battle." Arthur started to get nervous when Merlin didn't seem at all perturbed about it. He couldn't be that good, could he? And Arthur wouldn't even be able to tell if he was using magic because his eyes were always gold. Suddenly the king regretted making this request.

The two sides (Merlin on one and Arthur on the other) bowed to each other before scrutinizing the opposing side, trying to sense who would move first. Suddenly, Merlin swung at Arthur, his sword slicing through the air where Arthur had been seconds before. The former manservant was already twisted around and taking another swing at Arthur before the older man had time to lift his sword. The former king barely blocked the second blow with Excalibur before Merlin rolled into a ball, sliding underneath Arthur and coming back up behind him, already swinging his sword.

Arthur dove to the side, rolling as he tried to avoid Merlin's quick slashes. Finally, the knight managed to catch Merlin's leg and knock the sorcerer over. He was more than displeased when Merlin simply flipped back into a standing position before Arthur was even halfway up. The king frantically blocked Merlin's vicious strokes as he tried to get off his knees and into a more easily defendable standing position.

While Arthur was focusing on standing, he didn't notice Merlin's sudden swing to the left, knocked the air out of Arthur's lungs and forcing him to lose his breath. Within an instant, Merlin had jammed the hilt of his sword into Arthur's hand, knocking Excalibur from the king's grip. Merlin held his sword to Arthur's throat and asked in a voice shaking with power, "Do you surrender?"

Arthur raised his hands and said carefully, "I surrender."

It seemed to take a moment, but Merlin pulled his sword away from Arthur's throat and went to sheath his sword. Lancelot called out quickly, "Wait! Can I see your sword?"

Merlin nodded and held it out slightly, allowing his friend to look at it, but not actually hold it. Arthur took the chance to look at it too. It was a dark gray color with silver edging and silver runes etched all along its blade. The hilt was wrapped with brown leather marred by burned in runes. When he looked closer, Arthur noticed that the part of the hilt not covered by leather seemed to be made of onyx. Percival's fingers hovered over it and he whispered, "What is it? It's beautiful."

Merlin answered, "She's called Moralltach, which is Celtic for Great Fury. The Celts named it that when I got, um, a little upset with some people. Moralltach is made out of stygian iron edged in silver on a hilt of onyx and blessed with a dragon's breath."

Gwaine whistled under his breath, "Wow."

Arthur refused to compliment the sword, choosing instead to loudly mock Merlin for calling it a girl before remembering that he was going to kill Merlin later and that bantering with him probably wasn't the best idea. The king was subdued for the rest of the afternoon thinking on that fact.

Later, as they all sat around the fire enjoying one of Merlin's new meals, Gaius said, "I think that we are all up to the strength needed to start our trek back to the castle. Morgana has no doubt done some nefarious things while we were gone and we need to stop her before she does any more. Merlin, have you thought of anything further than us all being escorted to the throne room."

Merlin, who had suddenly become cold and angry, said, "There really isn't much else to do but hold Morgana off until the others have taken out the guards. I would appreciate it if you would all leave the throne room so I don't have to worry about casualties while fighting the Witch, but I have a feeling you wouldn't do that. Other than that, I guess I'll convince her people that I shouldn't be messed with and that they should either swear fealty to Arthur or go away." He shrugged and went back to his food.

"You guess?" Arthur exclaimed, "That's all you have? You'll probably do that and you guess you might do this? What was the point of going to get you if you can't think of a plan?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Merlin started, his eyes going darker and his face drifting into shadows, "I just hadn't realized when I decided to help the people who betrayed me and tried to kill me that I would have to not only do all of the actual hard fighting, but also think of the plan and try to figure out a way to leave Camelot without you trying to stab me in the back after I helped you."

There was silence for a moment as everyone processed his outburst. Arthur was shocked. Somehow Merlin had known of what Arthur was planning on attempting. Then Arthur realized that he had first thought of it before Merlin had agreed to join them. The manservant was still so selfless, wanting to help people even though he knew that the person he was helping was planning on killing him the moment he turned his back. It was humbling to think about.

Gwen turned her sweet face to her husband and asked hesitantly, "Arthur? What is he talking about?"

The King of Camelot glared fiercely at the upstart, dangerous sorcerer and ground out, "Nothing. He didn't mean anything by it. Everyone get some sleep. We're leaving early in the morning." With that, he left to go set up his tent, leaving his dishes for Merlin to take care of.

MMMMMM

Morgana laughed cruelly, staring down at the people before her. They had been such fools falling into this trap. In a week, she would be queen of all of Albion and magic would truly be free, for the first time in a long time. She would make sure that everyone was accepted and she would rule with an iron fist just like her sister had taught her. Thinking of Morgause always put a damper on things, so she turned her mind to other things.

Kneeling on the floor in front of her, King Alined, King Olaf, Princess Mithian, Queen Annis, and King Lot stared up at the madwoman, terrified.

Chapter Text

Lancelot trekked through the woods tied to the others. He was firmly convinced that Gwaine was purposefully tripping so they would all fall, but so far he couldn't prove it. Gwen and Gaius were tied to horses instead of in a line like the others. They were less than a mile from the castle and Merlin had made the executive call to be tied up when they saw the first patrol. Speaking of Merlin…

The noble knight looked back at the warlock, still shocked by what he saw. It was like he was an entirely different person. Lance knew that all of them had been confused when Gaius had casually asked if Merlin wanted to use the aging potion again, but Merlin had said something about Morgana recognizing that disguise. Instead, Merlin put to use some of the tricks he had learned in other countries.

He had smeared some sort of berry juice across all of his exposed skin, causing it to look tanned, like the skin of a hardworking farmer. He had pulled out a rather large bottle of some gel-like chemical from his pouch which was not nearly large enough to have something of that size in it. Oddly enough, no one commented on that. Merlin brushed the chemical through his hair, making it slicked back and flat, something that his hair would not be capable of on its own. He found some eggs and broke them open, taking a thin piece of membranous material. They had all been horrified when he cut them to a particular size and poked a hole in them, placing them over his eyes. The warlock claimed he could still see, but he looked completely blind. He grabbed from his saddle bag some ragtag clothing that had seen many better days and reeked of beer. Then, Merlin wrapped a neckerchief over his head, effectually covering his admittedly recognizable ears. Finally, Merlin took a different berry and spread the juice out in specific spots on his face, seeming to change the very shape of his face. The effect was amazing. Without a lick of magic, the raven-haired wonder looked like an entirely different person.

Dependable Leon had asked Merlin why he didn't just use magic and Merlin had gone into a ten minute lecture on the subtleties of magic and how other users could sense and identify a person by their magical 'scent' and how Morgana knew Emrys' and that it really would not do to be recognized that quickly. Lancelot had laughed at the glazed look in everyone's eyes at the end of the speech.

Lancelot was distracted from that line of thought when the whole group went down again, pulled by Gwaine's 'accidental fall'. Arthur called out angrily from two people behind Gwaine, "Mordred! Untie Gwaine and retie him at the back of the group so if he falls he'll just be dragged along behind us!"

Gwaine failed at repressing his chuckle and everyone glared at Mordred diligently moved him to his new position in the line.

Ten minutes of awkward silence later, Elyan finally asked, "How about we have someone sing or something so this isn't so boring?"

Merlin snorted from behind Lancelot, "We've only been like this for about an hour. Try doing this for four days with your hands and feet tied to each other. Makes this seem like a ton of fun."

Percival gave the youngest 'prisoner' a strange look and Merlin just shrugged nonchalantly as if being part of a chain gang was an everyday occurrence for the formerly secret sorcerer. Eventually Percival shrugged as well and turned his attention back to walking.

After another forty minutes or so, Mordred told the group, "We're almost to the castle gates. You should all be prepared for the worst. I don't know what kind of reception I'll get after I ran out of the castle with you."

Merlin reassured him in a soft voice, "Morgana doesn't know for certain that you ran out with them. Coming back with all of us tied up and at your mercy should be enough to convince her that you didn't. It'll be fine, Mordred. We'll just go along with the sort of plan and we'll be fine." He added a smile at the end to convince the young druid of his idea.

Mordred set his shoulders back and nodded, suddenly seeming again like the man who took over a kingdom alongside a maniac witch. Lancelot shuddered as he thought about what would have happened if Mordred hadn't decided to help them that night in the dungeons. He could have easily blamed them for his loss of magic and killed Arthur like he was supposed to. Lance frowned and then called out, "I think we forgot something!"

Gwaine grinned easily at him, "It's a bit too late to go to the bathroom, mate."

"What is it?" Merlin asked quickly, shooting a confused look back at Gwaine.

Lance answered, "How do we explain how we got out of the prison without a key?"

Everyone was silent for a moment before Gwaine answered thoughtfully, "We could say I picked it."

"With what?" Arthur asked skeptically.

"A chicken bone." Gwaine answered in a matter of fact voice.

"A chicken bone," Arthur repeated, "And you expect anyone to believe that you picked the dungeon lock with a chicken bone."

"I've done it before!" Gwaine protested.

Arthur seemed like he was going to start an argument, but Merlin saved them by saying, "It doesn't matter anyway. Mordred can just say that he went to the dungeons to see if he could muster up the will to kill Arthur and saw that the cage was open. He caught sight of someone disappearing around the corner and took chase. That way it would make sense that he had no idea how you escaped and if she asks you how you got out, you can just act defiant and say that you aren't going to tell her."

"Hm." Elyan nodded his head at the end, seeming to accept Merlin's idea.

"That makes sense. Thanks Merlin." Lancelot smiled back at his friend. He didn't miss the warring emotions that passed across Arthur's face, but he wondered at them. Both Arthur and Merlin had casually dismissed Merlin's comment about being stabbed in the back, but it seemed to the noble knight that perhaps there was more to it than what was said out loud. The two powerful men had seemed to be bonding again, something that Lance did not approve of, deeming Arthur not worth the trouble and heart ache, but after last night they seemed to have taken several steps backwards in their relationship.

Finally, the gates of Camelot came into sight.

MMMMMM

Morgana's gaze flicked to Agravaine who stood peeking into the throne room where the Queen lounged taunting her prisoners. She snarled at him, "What do you want?"

He scuttled into the room and she found it hard not to lean back in repulsion of the fawning mass of quibbling fat who called himself her second in command. He pranced up to the throne and bowed almost in half, smirking up at her, "Your majesty! Mordred has returned with Arthur, his queen, his knights in tow!" Morgana put a hand to her temple as his sniveling voice echoed throughout her head. He wasn't yelling because he was excited. He was just yelling.

Then it finally sunk in what Agravaine had said. She sat up straighter and grinned a shark's grin at her captives. She then turned her vicious glance on Agravaine, saying, "Bring them into the throne room immediately!" When he had left the room, she turned to one of her guards and told him, "Bring in the box. It seems as if Mordred did learn his lesson. We shall have to return to him what is rightfully his." She smirked to herself as she thought of the person she had once considered to be a son to her.

Soon, that selfsame person had walked in, bowing to her slightly and letting the smallest bit of hope cross his face. Behind him, one guard was pulling Gweneviere and Gaius along on a rope and another guard was pulling Arthur, Leon, Elyan, Percival, Lancelot, Gwaine, and… someone else on a separate rope.

Before Morgana could say anything, the guard returned with the box and Morgana motioned Mordred forward with a curl of her finger. She didn't even notice the horrified looks of her new prisoners as they saw the former royals of the other kingdoms. The young druid boy who Morgana and Merlin had saved all those years ago walked up to her throne and knelt down to one knee, looking up at her through his eyelashes. She grabbed the box from the guard and opened it to reveal a slug-like creature. Mordred reeled back quickly, terrified of the thing that had taken away his very core.

Morgana gently wrapped her magic around her shoulders and pulled him back towards her. He stared up at her, still scared, his eyes flickering around as if looking for an escape route. With that, she whispered the spell that released the Gean Canach. She spoke lovingly to Mordred as the thing latched to his face, "I'm so glad that you proved to be loyal to me. I was so very upset when you left and I do admit that I let the thought that you betrayed me enter my mind. I'll make sure that never occurs to me again. You have proved to be a most faithful servant. This is just me returning your magic to you. It'll all be alright soon. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

When the Gean Canach was done with its deed, it crawled back into the box and Morgana snapped it close, giving the chest to the same guard who had brought it out in the first place. As Mordred stepped back, still looking slightly shell-shocked and looking at his hands as they sparkled with gold flames, the rightful Queen of Camelot turned her emerald gaze onto her new captives and smiled. Then she saw that strange blind man in between the noble man and the drunkard.

She tilted her head to the side and addressed Mordred, "Mordred, dear? Who is that blind man there? With the black hair?"

Mordred answered slowly, still euphoric from the feeling of magic flowing through his veins, "He was some vagrant sorcerer who was declaring his disloyalty to you, cursing your name. I figured I would bring him with me as a gift apologizing for being disobedient."

"Oh," Morgana ran her fingers through his curly hair, "You didn't have to, but I am ever so pleased that you did. You know how much I love punishing the wily." He gave her a strained smile that she missed, already turning to Arthur. She said, "You know, I was going to kill you, but I think I'll have to wait a little bit for that. I'm sure you've seen my other captives by now. I'm planning on killing all of you at the same time and taking every single one of you as my prisoners." She paused before directing her attention to the guards, "Take all of them to the dungeons. Now!"

AAAAAA

Annis, Olaf, Alined, Mithian, and Lot were all put in the cell next to the one Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, Percival, Leon, Elyan, Gaius, and Lancelot were in. Merlin was placed across the hall in a cell that had scratched up bars. Arthur turned his attention to Merlin and yelled angrily, "Why didn't you do anything? We had a plan and you just sat there! Me-," He quickly cut himself off as Morgana swept into the room, her robes billowing around her.

She flipped her hair and sniffed daintily at them before glancing snootily at Merlin. Then she froze and stared closer. Arthur's half-sister started laughing like crazy, holding a hand to her stomach and leaning against the wall. Gwaine cried out angrily, "Why are you laughing?"

Morgana wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and said, "Because of this." She grabbed a torch from the wall and swung it closer to Merlin's cell, illuminating it. Arthur finally saw his former manservant and his heart stopped cold in his chest. In front of him, Merlin was unconscious, twitching in pain and suspended by his wrists, his feet not even touching the ground. Arthur didn't start breathing again until he realized that Merlin was breathing. The breaths were few and far between, but it was better than the alternative.

Lancelot ran up to the front of the cage and yelled at Morgana, "What did you do?!"

She laughed again and said, "If you noticed, the cage has runes carved into the bars and runes are also carved into his cuffs. They are to suppress magic so he can't use it to escape. The more powerful you are, the more it hurts. There is only one being who is so powerful that they would be knocked unconscious from it. You brought Emrys straight to me."

Chapter Text

Morgana had left them soon after that statement. She had just laughed some more and waltzed up the stairs and out of the dungeon, primly holding her dress up so as to not dirty it. Gwaine glanced desperately back at his friend. The poor bloke was still unconscious, hanging there and twitching in pain. Once again, Gwaine started to feel guilt trickle through his veins. There was the chance that this, all of this, wouldn't have happened if Gwaine had just stood up for Merlin all that time ago at the Round Table. Instead, when he heard that his best and possibly only true friend was alone and injured in the forest, he felt no concern for him, choosing instead to adopt anger.

The drunkard had convinced himself that the reason he was angry at Merlin was because he hated magic. That was it. Magic was evil and so Merlin was evil and Gwaine hated evil stuff. But now, watching Merlin's face contort with pain and listening to the hitches in his breath every few minutes, Gwaine realized that he had been angry because Merlin didn't tell him. He was angry because the person who he confided everything in, who knew his every secret had been keeping so many from him. How was that fair?

Gwaine finally understood that it was fair. He had seen the results of Arthur finding out. He had seen everyone's reactions to finding out. Merlin must have been so scared, so worried about what everyone was going to think. Merlin had come to Camelot knowing that everyone in it would kill him the second they found out who he was – what he was. To live in that constant terror of rejection and execution… It was understandable that Merlin didn't trust a lot of people with his secret. It still hurt and it probably would for a while, but Gwaine knew in his heart of hearts that he would eventually forgive Merlin and that Merlin had already forgiven him.

That's what made it worse, really. Merlin had forgiven him and Percival after they abandoned him in his time of need. He had readily taken them in and joked around with them like nothing had changed. Merlin was the best friend that anyone could have and Gwaine was just sad that it had taken him this long to figure that out. Lancelot seemed to have known it from the very beginning.

Before Gwaine could go too far into that train of thought, someone started to clatter down the stairs. Everyone stood up and turned to face… none other than Mordred. The young druid gently pushed some food into the cells except Merlin's. Gwaine noticed that Mordred held onto the bars of the cell longer than necessary and wondered at it. Arthur's voice cut through the silence, "Are you still going to help us, or are you Morgana's pet again after she gave you your magic back?"

Hurt flashed rightfully across Mordred's face and he answered quietly, "I'm still going to help you. I've been once again given the task of giving you your meals. Each time I come in, I'll scratch out one of the runes on Emrys' cage. Soon it will be weak enough for him to at least wake up. He will help you then and eventually the spell will be weak enough for him to escape. I have to go." The young man turned abruptly and stalked out of the chamber.

Two days later, Merlin finally woke up. No one had noticed at first, but eventually the sound of clinking woke Gwaine up and he gazed blearily across the dungeon to where the noise was emanating. His brown eyes met blind ones. He was confused for a moment before he remembered Merlin's disguise and it finally clicked that this meant Merlin was awake. Gwaine called out, "Everyone get up! Merlin's up!"

At the sound of his name, Merlin blinked heavily and focused more on Gwaine's face. The look in his friend's eyes made the drunkard wish that he was in that cell with him so he could comfort him. Lancelot rushed up to the bars next to Gwaine and pressed his face against them, asking, "Merlin? Are you feeling any better? Does it hurt any less?"

The warlock blinked owlishly at the two of them for a second before answering with a voice slurred with pain, "I'm feeling a little better, thanks."

Suddenly Arthur was standing up to the bars on Gwaine's other side and the Queenie asked his former friend, "Why does that cell and those chains hurt you more than other magic users?"

Merlin forced his eyes open again and whispered, "I'm more powerful, which makes it hurt more. I'm also not like sorcerers or druids or witches. I don't have magic. I am magic. It's understandably painful when the magic's suppressed."

Percival's quiet voice sounded out in the resulting silence, "I know you're powerful. The prophecies say that you are the most powerful magic user who has ever walked the earth and who ever will. Why is it that these runes can stop you from escaping?"

When Merlin answered this time, his voice was even quieter, "I've been told that I can control the elements, that I can defeat any creature, vanquish any foe. Yet I can't get out of this cell. It's the same with my not so amazing skills at teleporting. I have the ability to do those things, but I just haven't built up the strength. I guess a better way to say it would be to say that I haven't unlocked the strength. There are numerous other things I can do, but I haven't unlocked the ability to do them yet." He tried to shrug and Gwaine winced at the pain that crossed his friend's features.

Gwaine said, "We need to find a way to get out of here and get the other royals to safety before Morgana tries to kill us."

Merlin whispered raggedly, "I think that we should wait until she tries to kill us. We'll be faced with her and it'll be easier for me to fight her if I'm directly faced with her. Besides, that way we know we'll all be together and we'll all be prepared for when the time comes. After a few more days, I should be able to break the chains on my wrists and then make it look as if they're still on. It'll be easy to escape from there. I don't know about the royals though. I don't want any of the kings, queens, or princesses to be injured in the battle."

Princess Mithian raised her slim hand slowly and said, "I'm not sure what's going on." The other nobles nodded their agreement and Gwen and Gaius motioned to the others that they would explain the situation while the others could continue making plans.

Arthur nodded to his wife and turned back to the imprisoned warlock, "A few of the knights, headed by Leon, can lead them to a secret hallway and protect them there while the battle goes on."

The warlock nodded slightly and winced at the pain before saying, "You, Gwen, and Gaius should go with them."

Gwaine sighed at the inevitable argument he knew was coming. Lancelot decided to speak up before it could happen, "At least have Gwen and Gaius go with them. Leon and Elyan can protect them. The rest of us will stay in the room during the battle. We're staying. No matter what."

Lancelot gave Merlin a look that Gwaine couldn't decipher and it seemed to work because Merlin sighed, "Okay." It seemed to Gwaine that they had had that argument before. The rogue knight only wished that he could have joined them. Ah well, it was too late now.

The king of Camelot then announced primly, "Everyone get some sleep and try to keep up your strength. In a few days, we go to war. We all know what we're supposed to do, so let's do it. Be prepared and stay sharp. I'll see you all in the morning."

Chapter Text

Arthur heard Merlin groan in pain after a painful attempt at a laugh. The day before Merlin had finally managed to break his chains. He had just lain on the floor for a while, practically sobbing with the sweet breath of painlessness. Eventually, he had gotten up and scratched out the runes on his cuffs and a few more on his cell. It had hurt for Arthur to watch, really. This was a person who had, despite all the lies, once been his best friend and an integral part of his day to day life. Now he was hanging from the ceiling of Arthur's own dungeon, trying to maintain his strength and focus his magic.

It was funny how easy it had become for Arthur to start saying magic and sorcerer. He had even made a few slip ups and said warlock in reference to Merlin. He knew that Lancelot and Gwaine had noticed, but with a look from Merlin, they didn't comment. That's what had made it worse, really. Merlin didn't ignore Arthur or argue (not banter, not anymore) with the king. It was as if the sorcerer had come to peace with their former relationship and the shambles that it was now. It was as if he didn't blame Arthur anymore.

He was supposed to blame Arthur! That way the king would be justified in killing him when they defeated Morgana! But with each day, it got harder and harder to convince himself that he was in the right and Merlin was wrong. It was especially hard seeing his former best friend in pain because the man had decided to help Arthur reclaim Camelot. How was he supposed to blame the young man when it was his own fault that Merlin was there in the first place?

Maybe, Arthur reasoned with himself, maybe he wouldn't kill Merlin. Maybe he would just reinstate the 'leave and do not return on pain of death' rule that he had before. It had worked out pretty well. On second thought, it hadn't worked very well. Camelot had been taken over in less than a year, whereas when Merlin was around, Camelot was never truly taken over. Arthur's half-sister might have taken over briefly, but not as long as she did this time.

The King of Camelot didn't like that particular line of thinking as it was erring too close to what Merlin had been saying all this time, so he stopped those thoughts and started thinking about his wife instead. Before he could get too far in that line of thought, the door to the dungeons crashed open and Leon frowned, "It's too early for food. Who is it?"

That question was answered quickly when Morgana marched down the stairs, manic smirk in place. She ordered guards to go into Merlin's cell and put another magic-muffling pair of cuffs around his ankles and take him down from the ceiling. Arthur saw the others all flinch when Merlin crashed to the ground with a muffled groan. Arthur decided to try and take control of the situation, "What's going on Morgana?" He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Mordred had stalked into the room behind the 'Queen of Camelot'. Agravaine followed close behind.

Morgana just laughed before announcing smugly, "I'm going to kill all of you in front of your most loyal members of the royal court."

They were all tied together by Mordred and dragged upstairs.

When they made it to the court room, Merlin was still unconscious, having to be dragged behind them by two guards. Arthur looked around and saw about twenty other guards and around ten people in the various liveries of the five kingdoms. He subtly signaled to the knights, indicating that they should get the noble advisors out of the room with the other royals. His ropes constricted his hand movement and he hoped that all of them got the message correctly. Arthur thought wryly that Merlin wouldn't have been able to get it with or without the ropes.

Morgana sat on his throne, back straight and yet somehow still seeming to lounge. She smirked again and started her speech, "You courtiers of the five kingdoms will spread my message and the news of their rulers' deaths. I want all to know that those who defy me, those that choose to fight, they will surely die. But those who do not resist, those that choose to welcome change, they will have a future in Albion. Everyone has a choice. Tonight we will have a gallows built and all those who defy me will receive their punishment. This has just begun!"

She continued to speak, but Arthur wasn't paying attention anymore. He was looking around, making certain that everyone was ready. He glanced again at Merlin's unconscious form, concern for him and concern for the fate of Camelot swirling in his pit. Arthur turned away, but a movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He looked back towards the chained warlock and saw that one eye was open, glancing around carefully. The king was surprised to see gold staring out at the world instead of the milky blindness of the egg remains. He must have wiped it out at some point. Then gold eyes met sky blue ones and Merlin's mouth twisted up in a wry grin and he winked quickly at Arthur before shutting his eye again.

Suddenly Morgana was screaming from the front of the room, "Bring forth Emrys! He will be the first to pay! He has betrayed our kind by protecting the Pendragons, Arthur and Uther alike! He stopped me from killing Uther in his sleep and he stopped Arthur from killing Uther in a fit of rage! He stopped Morgause and Nimueh and Aulfric and Sigan and so many more! I will kill Emrys and usher forth the freedom of magic!" Arthur frowned as he processed everything Morgana had said. Had Merlin really saved him that many times?

He shook the thought off as he saw Morgana's men start to drag Merlin's body towards the throne. Arthur and Gwaine shared a look. Merlin had said that he would wait until she was trying to kill them, but they didn't think that he would wait this long.

Then, suddenly, Merlin was standing and the two guards had been flung into pillars across the room. His cuffs flew off in a cloud of metal powder and his skin sparkled with the golden glow of power.

Arthur was frozen for a moment before Lancelot literally pushed him into action, propelling him towards the swords that Mordred had hid in the throne room over the course of the week. The knights all threw off their ropes that Mordred had purposely tied to be easily removed.

Lancelot, Gwaine, Percival, and Arthur fought the guards, ducking, twisting, rolling, and slashing at them as Leon and Elyan grabbed the noblemen and royals and led them out of the room, killing a few guards as they went. Arthur noticed, to his relief, Gweneviere and Gaius run after them into the door. It closed firmly behind them and as far as the king could tell, no one had noticed it.

As Gwaine delivered the final blow, effectively killing or knocking out all of the guards, Arthur heard a boom come from where Merlin and Morgana had been. He looked over, Excalibur in hand, and saw burn marks and broken glass littering their mini battlefield. The boom sound had come from Morgana's hands as she let loose a fire ball easily larger than Arthur's bed, canopy and all.

Merlin didn't have a chance of getting out of its way. He tried to dive to the left, but it still caught his side and sent him reeling to the ground. Arthur froze again as he watched Merlin who smelled like burnt clothing and wasn't moving and Arthur knew that no one could come back from that and there is no way that Merlin could actually be dead and –

Merlin stood up. He slowly pushed himself from the ground, revealing burnt skin all along his right side, but he was otherwise alright. Morgana screamed unintelligibly at him and then snarled out a spell. Another fireball formed and she shot it off, forming a third one and firing that immediately afterwards. The battle was awe-inspiring to say the least.

But then there were two fireballs coming at Merlin and he could only see one of them. The first one he caught and started to extinguish it, but it wouldn't be fast enough to see the other one before it slammed into him. Arthur shouted, "Merlin! There's a second one!"

Merlin spared a quick glance at Arthur and then threw the fireball. It slammed into the first one and they exploded in a tower of flames. Morgana and Merlin both threw up shields to protect themselves. There was silent pause as the flames died down.

And then they were fighting again, throwing objects and fire and light and shadows. Arthur noticed with a sort of sick fascination that by this point neither of them was speaking. They were simply firing off the spells and blocking. He hadn't thought that was possible.

Then Morgana pulled a trick move. She flung three swords at him with her magic and he was so focused on them that he didn't see the small but deadly dagger that flew underneath them. Arthur didn't see it either until it slammed into Merlin's abdomen blade first. Merlin rocked back a little and glanced to his stomach, watching slowly as the bloodstain grew larger and larger.

With the last ebbs of his strength, he looked back up towards Morgana and raised a fist to the sky. The earth started to buck and roll, twisting and cracking beneath their feet. The wind picked up to the point that it was almost a tornado, tearing at Morgana's hair and blinding her with debris. Then the ceiling blackened and curled. Arthur realized that clouds were forming. They broke into a downpour, but it wasn't rain that was falling. Liquid fire sizzled into Morgana, the wind blowing it at her from so many directions, battering all of her shields. Somehow the fire didn't touch the knights, leaving them awestruck at the devastation Merlin could create by simply raising his fist.

Merlin, his hands covered in blood, his side burned raw, a long jagged cut across his face, and his powerful golden eyes lowered his hand slowly, lessening the impact on Morgana, but not removing it. When he spoke, his voice showed none of the pain he must have been feeling, "You have one chance Morgana! You can surrender now and I will not kill you! This is your last chance! Take it! Please! I don't want to kill you or hurt you, so please take this chance!"

Her voice was shrill with pain and fear and insanity, "NO! I will never surrender to you! I will never surrender to anyone! This is my rightful throne! This is my rightful place in life! You cannot take it from me!"

Arthur could hear Merlin's bone weary sigh as his hand lifted again and the wind, the liquid fire, and the earthquakes intensified once more. Then he opened his fist and a bolt of lightning flew down from the black clouds and lit up the room. For a moment, Arthur couldn't see.

When the light had cleared, all that was left of Morgana was a pile of ash. Arthur, Lancelot, Gwaine, and Percival cheered, but then Arthur looked towards where Merlin was. The savior of Camelot was laying on the ground, unmoving, a pool of blood rapidly spreading.

Cold fear stopped Arthur's heart as he yelled, "Merlin!"

Chapter Text

Gwaine was ashamed to admit that he hadn't even noticed Merlin. He had been so caught up in the thrill of freeing the kingdom that concern for his friend hadn't even crossed his mind. Obviously Lancelot had noticed first and had been already running towards the young raven haired man, but Gwaine and Percival only saw his prone body when Arthur had shouted the manservant's name.

Lancelot dived to his knees next to Merlin, not at all concerned about the blood that stained his pants, Arthur freezing behind him, a stricken look staining his face. Gwaine kneeled down next to Lance, barking at Percival, "Get Gaius! Now!" The mountainous man ran towards the hidden door, yelling out for Gaius. Gwaine winced; he hadn't realized that Percival could be that loud.

The usually drunken knight stared in horror while Lance tried to stem the flow of blood from Merlin's side wound without pressing on the younger man's extensive burns until Gaius knelt down next to them, knees popping in protest. Gaius, his old face wrinkled with worry, turned quickly to Gwen, "You know what to get from my chambers. Bring two of the knights and get it quickly. We can't afford to move him now. It will only hurt him worse."

Gwen nodded, dragging Leon and Elyan with her. The other royals meandered around in the background, uncertain of what to do. Mithian seemed honestly concerned, sadness at seeing Merlin like that etched into her face. Gaius instructed Lancelot to keep doing what he was doing and unashamedly commanded Arthur to move out of the way. The King did so, not concerned in the slightest about a subordinate being so rude. Gwaine thought wryly that if this was Uther and it was even Ygraine lying on the ground, he still would have yelled at Gaius.

Finally, finally Gwen, Leon, and Elyan returned with the supplies piled high in their arms and Gaius barked that everyone except Gwen and Lancelot had to get out. It took Percival pulling him away for Gwaine to leave, but he eventually did. He was jealous that it was Lance that was in there helping Merlin and not him, but he figured that it was better that way. If he was being honest with himself, Lancelot was most definitely the better friend out of… well, out of all of them.

After an hour of tense pacing all around (with Arthur more lost in thought than Gwaine had ever thought he'd see the king), the door to the throne room creaked open and Gwen stuck her head out, a great smile lighting up her cherubic face. Arthur stepped forward anxiously, "He's alright?" Gwen was too overcome to correctly answer, smiling broader and nodding quickly. Her eyes started to form tears and she and Arthur embraced.

Gwaine pushed past them, not ready to deal with those two and their hypocritical ways. Yes, he had betrayed Merlin too, but he had helped Merlin and started to reconcile with him, knowing that he had made bad decisions. But them, they had threatened Merlin and said horrible things about him and all of a sudden they were amazingly happy that he had survived and would do fine! It was ridiculous! And Gwaine could feel that they would just turn around and betray him when he was feeling better.

They all filed into the room, taking in the lack of blood on the floor and the fact that Merlin's eyes were open. Gwaine smiled broadly and Merlin grinned his signature grin back. Before anyone could say anything, however, Mordred scrambled into the room. He had a black eye and there was a thin trail of blood coming from his disheveled hair. He spouted quickly, "Agravaine is coming! I couldn't stop him! My magic isn't yet what it used to be and he surprised me before I could do much!"

Everyone, except Merlin of course, were on their feet and turned towards various exits within a moment. Merlin had tried to rise to his feet, but was pushed down by a disproving Lancelot. Nothing moved for a second and nobody dared breathe in case they somehow missed his entrance. After an extremely awkward pause, Elyan laughed shakily and said, "Well, he must have slipped out sometime during the battle. You know how he is."

"Slippery little weasel," Gwaine agreed carefully.

All conversation halted when Arthur stopped in front of Merlin. He lowered himself to the ground so they wouldn't have such a height difference during the conversation. Gwaine watched curiously as Arthur took a deep breath and let it out before saying, "I… made a mistake. I acted too rashly and you paid the price. I realize now at least some of what you have done for this kingdom and for me and… I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. Is there any way you can forgive me?" Gwaine saw Lancelot's minute shifting in stance and his tight clenching of his jaw. He obviously did not approve of this any more than Gwaine did.

Merlin, for his part, simply smiled and said, "I can't forgive you. Not yet anyway. You have done so many terrible things, scarred me forever. You even did things during my time by your side that I convinced myself that I'd forgiven you for, but I really haven't. I don't know if you're going to bring magic back to the land as you were destined to do, or not, but I can't forgive you. I'm not saying that it's entirely your fault. I made mistakes too in what I did." Gwaine itched to correct Merlin. None of this was his fault. This situation was made by the knights and their king and queen, but not Merlin. Never Merlin.

Arthur physically wilted at that, but didn't say anything, just nodded. There was nothing more to say anyway.

AAAAAA

Arthur was surprised that Merlin had decided to stay and clean up. The warlock claimed it was to help clean up the mess he had created in the throne room, but Arthur suspected it had more to do with deciding what he and his friends wanted to do. The King knew that Gwaine, Lancelot, and Percival had wanted to leave with Merlin and never come back. They had wanted to travel the world with him and leave their mark on all of humanity, but Merlin had said no. For one, Gaius would never leave. He had been loyal to Camelot and its physician chambers since he was a young boy and he could never willingly leave it. For another, Merlin had told them that they made an oath to be faithful to Camelot and her King.

He had overheard Gwaine saying that none of them had become a Knight for Arthur or even for Camelot. They had all become a knight for Merlin (well, except for Percival who did it just because Lancelot was doing it) and that they were loyal to him, not to Arthur. Gwaine had made some ridiculous comment about being the Knights of the Druid Court since Merlin was like their king or something. Merlin had just glared at him.

Either way, it was incredibly helpful to have someone with magic helping to clean the debris up. It went a thousand times faster even if Merlin couldn't perform to his full extent due to his healing wounds. Arthur, Gweneviere, Gaius, Mordred, and the Knights had all been introduced to Kilgharrah and Aithusa and a few other Druids and fairies Merlin had become friends with here and there.

Arthur's pride was still stinging from Merlin's rejection of his apology, but Gwen convinced him that Merlin was in the right here. She had tried to apologize to Merlin, but got the same result.

After almost two months of putting the castles back together, catching all of the renegades (except Agravaine, who turned out to be a slippery little weasel indeed), and restoring order to all of the land, Arthur made the official announcement that Magic was to return to Camelot. Messengers soon informed him that the other five kingdoms were doing the same. The blonde haired king relished the feeling that came along with the smile the shone on Merlin's face when he heard the news.

Then, when they were all having dinner together in a private dining room, Arthur put out the idea that had been fermenting in his head for a while, "Merlin."

"Mhm?" Merlin replied loudly, mouth stuffed with food. Arthur rolled his eyes and Merlin grinned.

Then Arthur continued, realizing that he had the attention of the entire table, "Merlin, I want to make you the Court Warlock."

Said warlock's eyes grew wide and he swallowed quickly before allowing his mouth to drop open in shock. He stuttered out, "W-what? You want what?" He didn't allow Arthur to reiterate before he was already saying, "That's amazing! I would be an awesome Court Warlock! Do I get the title of Court Dragonlord too? I could do magic and dragon-y stuff!" His somehow still innocent smile lit up his face again and Arthur inwardly beamed.

On the outside, however, he gave a mock sigh and said, "Merlin. We don't have a Court Dragonlord."

Merlin put a hand over his chest, mock affronted, "Well, until today we didn't have a Court Warlock either. And besides, it should be made a position before it dies out. I mean, I'm the Last Dragonlord and if I don't have any male kids then there won't be any more Dragonlords to assume the position."

Lancelot interjected his logic here, "If there most likely won't be any more Dragonlords, then what's the point of making a position. You'd never be able to fill it out again."

Merlin glared at him and was about to say something before he gasped. Arthur look up, wincing as always at the jagged scar that ran over his eye and the burns that covered a portion of his face. Then he saw what made Merlin gasp. Protruding from his chest was a huge sword. It suddenly twisted and Arthur looked up to see Agravaine standing behind Merlin, continuing to twist the sword. Gwaine stood up and pulled his ever present sword out, cutting Agravaine's head clean off his neck, but it was too late. Merlin crumpled to the floor and was only saved from pushing the sword further into himself by Lancelot catching him.

Arthur didn't even spare his Uncle a passing glance as he ran to Merlin's side, pushing through the people crowding around Merlin's body. He ended up crouching next to Gaius who was trying to treat the wound. Everyone sat in silence as Gaius worked, Merlin face scrunched up in pain.

Eventually Merlin croaked out, "Don't bother, Gaius. It's not going to save me. It's alright." He even smiled at the end.

Arthur cried, "We can't just stop trying Merlin! You can't die. We lost you when I betrayed you and I don't ever want to lose you again!"

Merlin smiled again, this time sadder, "I'm sorry Arthur. I'm sorry I made so many mistakes and I'm sorry that I let destiny fall apart. Most of all, I'm sorry that it took so long for me to forgive, but I want you to know. Before I go, I want you to know that I forgive you. I forgive you Arthur."

And then he was gone, faded away into the other world because of a last desperate attempt from the insane. Merlin died in his friends' arms staring into the faces of people that he loved and people who loved him. With his dying breath he forgave the last person he needed to forgive. He was finally set free, no longer betrayed and broken.