Arthur
Chapter 23: Arthur
Gaius peeked out of the door of his quarters, seeing the battalion of soldiers stationed in the courtyard and wondered what in the blooming hell what going on.
Just one quiet year. Just one.
Was that really too much to ask for?
Merlin had never really liked snakes. Far too slithery and wily for his liking, no, he preferred birds if he were honest. But staring at the serpent coiled around itself in the bowels of Camelot's castle, Merlin was just praying that somehow the giant thing would continue sleeping and they would somehow escape from this place unscathed.
Others were silent, eyes huge, as they took it in, the scales moving in unison, in and out, in time with its breaths.
"It's asleep, so for now, we're safe."
"Oh yes, I feel very safe, Merlin." Arthur said, the sarcasm practically dripping from his words. Merlin turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised and the King's face slackened a bit, as if he'd just realized that Merlin was, in fact, Merlin. His arm shot out and grabbed him painfully by the upper arm, near his shoulder.
"Merlin!"
"Yes, Sire. I would whisper if I were you, we don’t want to wake it." Merlin walked past his King and knelt near the puddle of basilisk blood on the cavern floor. He'd read somewhere in his research on basilisk's that their blood was extremely corrosive, so this was a long shot, but maybe.
"Ah ha!" It was working. He touched the manacles to the blood again and watched it corrode the runes on them, effectively releasing the enchantment on them and weakening the metal enough for him to use the little magic that was slowly returning to him to snap it easily off his wrists. He winced, rubbing his wrists, the cuts stinging. Helga gently stopped him from scratching them and gently stroked over the cuts, and leaving Merlin to watch as the broken skin wove itself anew over the cut. He smiled wanly at the beaming redhead when she drew her hands, clasping them behind her back.
"Thank you Helga. You've been practicing and it's paying off handsomely." He patted her head affectionately. He was rudely summoned by Arthur with a violent thump to the back.
"Merlin! It is – It was – You were Elladora!" Arthur was sputtering now, and Merlin was half tempted to call him out on it since it was the one thing Arthur hated doing.
"I was." Merlin watched as Arthur's expression turned from surprised to indignant. The warlock was only now just beginning to realize that he no longer had Elladora to hide behind. With the disguise gone, so was his familiarity with the King. Now he was back to being the criminal manservant who'd been run out of Camelot, and to hell with it, he had no idea how to behave. It seemed as if Arthur had forgotten what had transpired between them or he was ignoring it. Either way, Merlin was as stiff as a stick in the mud, and clearly it was showing. Arthur didn't seem pleased by Merlin's monosyllabic answers.
"Why the hell wouldn't you tell me it was you?" The warlock snorted in derision at the idea.
"Oh yes, sure, because that would have gone splendidly. 'Oh hello, Arthur, about that, I've been lying to you for seven years, I'm not actually a woman, I'm a man. Also, I'm the man that you kicked out of Camelot, and I'm back now, sorry!'" Merlin's deadpan expression told the king all he needed to know about Merlin's opinion on that particular idea. A loud snorting huff from the direction of the basilisk sent them scurrying farther into the caves, as Merlin peeked a look at it.
"Still asleep. Alright. Morgana's not likely to stop looking for us, but she knows that thing's down here so she's probably expecting it to make a quick dinner out of us. That leaves us with a very short amount of time to work with before she comes down here to make sure we're good and dead."
"So what do you propose we do then?" This was Leon, slowly coming back into his role as the strategist of the group.
"There's an exit at the other end of the caverns, which opens near the rear courtyard. I know the way, if we're quiet, we could be out of here rather quickly."
They began to walk down the cavernous walls, being careful to make as little noise as possible as they went. All the while, it seemed Arthur had finally found his voice again, going back to their earlier conversation.
"You still could have told me." The tone was mutinous, as if Merlin had been the one to commit the crime. Technically he had, but that was beside the point.
"Told you what? I've been down that road, and it's not one I want to go down again, thank you very much." The others, following on tiptoe behind them, exchanged glances. This didn't seem like the ideal time or place to be having this row. Helga seemed to want to try to calm them down, she approached them, tugging on both their sleeves.
"You're the one that's practicing forbidd-"
"Oh for the love of – how many times do I have to say it? It's not by choice! It's just there, I didn’t exactly get a vote! I was enchanting flowers before I could speak! " Merlin wrung his hands in frustration. How like Arthur to speak but never listen.
"Uh, boys? Maybe we ought to -" Lianora tried to intervene but failed when Arthur just talked over her, his voice growing stronger as he grew more surly. Leon made to interfere but Percival put an arm out, shaking his head. The others realized that this was something that had been a long time in the making. Merlin's banishment and his magic wasn't something that could be swept under the rug.
"And it never crossed your mind to maybe tell me that you had this?"
"What good would it have done? You hate magic! You would have thrown me in the dungeons or worse!" Helga tugged on Merlin's sleeve a little more urgently. "One second Helga, I'm a little busy." Merlin held up one finger to her, not looking at her as he continued his retorts to Arthur's needling.
"Now that's not fair -" Arthur protested in his defense, ignoring how Helga had switched her attempts to Arthur, grabbing his fingers and pulling, but he didn't look at her either, just pulling his fingers free and patting her on the head and saying "Not now, Helga, the adults are talking. Just wait, please." Helga wrung her hands in aggravation, eyes darting between them.
"Fair?! That's not fair? Do I have to remind you how I left Camelot? With your sword to my back! All for the trouble of saving your clot pole-d arse!"
"I didn't ask you to!" Merlin rolled his eyes, of course he wouldn't change. Come hell or highwater, Arthur Pendragon was the same through and through.
"That's just it though, isn't it? You never asked for it. You would sooner stick your fingers in your ears like an infant than actually listen for the reasonable explanation for the situation!"
"You never gave me one!"
"The fact that I was your friend should have been reason enough!"
"What friend lies like that?!" Helga pulled at him more and irritated, Arthur snapped at her, yanking his hand away. "Will you stop tugging at my sleeves, child? Who taught you your manners?!"
"Hey, you do not talk to my children like that!" Merlin pointed his finger in Arthur's face, offended. The King seemed more aggravated at Merlin's rebellious manner.
"Your children? How are they yours? I thought you adopted them, or did you get up to more than you're letting on in that get up?" Arthur mocked him and Merlin's blood boiled. It was times like this that Merlin seriously questioned the judgment of the fates to be letting a man such as this be the man who was o bring about Albion's golden age.
"Now you're just being crass and you know it."
"Crass? How am I being crass -"
"You're behaving like some spoiled princess -"
"I could have told you that ages ago." Gwaine deadpanned, flinching when Gwen and Lianora whapped him upside the head simultaneously for the ill timed barb. "Ow!" He looked to Lancelot, Leon, Elyan and Percival for help but they shook their heads at him, as if to say 'you're on your own'.
"that's throwing a temper tantrum over not getting his way!" Merlin ignored them all, turning away from the sputtering King trying to get his emotions under control.
"Well, I'm sorry!" Merlin blinked, chest heaving, staring at the blonde haired man across from him, not scarcely believing the words he was hearing.
"Pardon, I could've sworn – what?" Arthur huffed, his face coloring from embarrassment.
"I said I was sorry, okay? I wanted to call you back as soon as you left. But – but – listen, you were supposed to be the one I trusted the most. Finding out that you – you – were lying to me, that just, it wreaked havoc in here." He pointed to his head, right on the temple, then scrunched the finger back into his hand, creating a fist, bringing it loosely down to his side.
"You know I would have told you if I could. But, you didn't give me any reason to think you would believe me. You put a sword to my back, like I was some turncoat." Merlin couldn't help the betrayal that seeped into his voice and he didn't miss Arthur's visceral response to it, recoiling. But before they could say anything further, Helga grabbed onto their sleeves again with renewed vigor.
"Oh for the love of – What?!" They both turned around and finally looked the young girl in the eyes only to see her looking around nervously.
"Helga, what is it?" She pointed around her, biting her lip.
"Listen."
They were all silent as they strained to hear whatever it was that Helga was telling them to listen for.
"To what? I don't hear anything." Godric grabbed Rowena's hand, and Salazar's. He'd noticed it as well.
"It's stopped." Godric said, eyes fearful and trembling, in his hand, was the sword he'd used to kill the basilisk.
"Stopped? What stopped?" Gwaine ground out. He was tired of running around and being just that much behind everyone else here.
"The snoring's stopped."
Salazar whispered. Almost instantly there was silence amongst them as they heard a low gargle of noise, like the rattle of snake's hiss but infinitely larger. They crouched low to the ground, the orange glow of the cave still flickering.
Then over them, was an overwhelming shadow. A shadow that left very little to the imagination.
"RUN!" Percival yelled, he grabbed Helga and Salazar under the stomach, hauling them up like luggage and ran, the others following suit. They all split into pairs, running off in separate directions in a bid to confuse the beast, not daring to look anywhere but straight ahead for fear of making eye contact with it.
Behind them, the rocks crashed to the ground as the basilisk shot through, reducing the boulders to rubble, audible hissing noises alerting them to the way in which it was moving. This way and that, the slithering motion in it's movements made the cave rumble, the ceiling beginning to rain pebble sized rocks down on them with each heavy impact its body made on the walls and the floor.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Salazar screamed from under Percival's grip. "Don't kill it! You can't kill it!"
"Why the hell not?! It's doing a pretty decent job of trying to kill us!" Elyan yelled as he and Leon veered off to Percival's left. The boy wailed, clutching his head. He could hear the basilisk, understand it even. All it was doing was screaming in pain, like it was some abomination, born of unnatural processes.
"It’s not it's fault! He's not – He's not normal!"
"Really!? Whatever gave you that idea? The fact that it's probably as tall as the whole damned castle?!"
The fact that Lancelot was swearing spoke volumes to the stress he was under. Not unsurprising for their situation but yet Merlin couldn't help but crack a smile at the yelled words. Lancelot and Gwaine were sprinting with Rowena sandwiched protectively between them, off to the back of the cavern towards where they'd been originally heading.
"How the hell do you know it's a he?!" Gwaine narrowly ducked the tail whipping over his head, escaping decapitation by a hair's breadth. Arthur and Gwenivere jumped over it as it came towards them, with Gwen bunching her skirts in an effort to streamline her efforts to be just as fast as Arthur in moving. They caught sight of Gwaine, Rowena and Lancelot running towards Lianora and Godric and gave chase, the group reuniting.
"I can hear it! He's not even saying anything, just screaming! He doesn't know what he's doing!"
Merlin thought fast. It was essentially a snake, a big one with killing eyes, but a snake nonetheless. If he did this properly, it could work.
"Percival! Put Helga down over there!" He pointed to the wall opposite where he was sitting and called out to the others. Percival looked at him strangely but did as he said, putting the freckled redhead down where Merlin indicated.
"Now, hide!" He made a motion towards Helga who stared at him confusedly, initially, glancing back fearfully as the slithering form of the basilisk neared them at an alarming rate. She slid back into a crevice in the rocks behind her, waiting for Merlin's next signal.
"How the bloody hell do you suppose we do that?!" Lianora finally found her voice. Rowena smacked her on the side as they continued to run. "There's a giant snake thing chasing us and it can probably see this whole place in a blink of its honestly really bizarre eyes!" She was currently off somewhere to Merlin's left, hiding behind a huge formation of rocks.
"She's got a point, Merlin! It's going to eat us faster than we can get out of here!" Arthur yelled, covering Gwenivere from the falling debris coming down from the roof of the cavern.
"Just do it!"
"Okay, but how?! There's not exactly a lot of options here!"
"Auntie Lianora! The cloak! The thing Kilgrraah gave you!" Lianora's eyes suddenly had a flash of understanding as she whipped out the shimmering cloth, the fabric glimmering in the dull cavern light.
"Oi, you lot, front and center. If we're going to hide, we have to do this right or we're going to end up snake bait!" As the group huddled in closer, she threw it over them and Merlin gaped as they blinked out of sight, the place where they had been standing, looking like nothing more than the rocks they stood in front of. Merlin backed into a column of rocks behind him, keeping eye contact with Helga and holding a finger to his lips, indicating the need for silence.
He kept his eyes averted as the basilisk reared up, the pale yellow eyes sweeping its eyes over the caverns, looking for its pray. It hissed when it found none, swinging it's head around.The silence in that moment was stifiling, and everyone held their breaths, fearful of even moving slightly. Helga kept utterly still in her hiding place, gritting her teeth against her fear, focusing on Merlin's blue eyes, eyes that she could see clearly despite his being halfway across the room.
Under the invisibility cloak, Gwen winced, her leg was beginning to cramp, and she tried to relieve herself of the pain, smacking herself in the upper thigh. But Arthur grabbed her hand, shaking his head minutely. They couldn't afford to attract its attention, but in grabbing her hand, Gwenivere's leg slipped, kicking a stone and sending it skidding out, clattering against the floor, the sound echoing loudly in the cave.
The basilisk froze, it tongue slipping out to taste the air before it. It turned its reptilian head, saliva dripping steadily from its half open mouth, and eyes blinking so slowly that it seemed they didn't blink at all. It lowered its head, breathing slowly and studying the rocks below it, Lianora held her breath as the great big head came that much closer. Just a touch more and they would be mincemeat.
Then, there was the sound of footsteps. Loud and stomping. The basilisk raised its head in the blink of an eye, fast and focused, listening and looking for the source of the sound. Then, it happened again. Slow, loud and deliberate footsteps. Merlin peeked out slightly, looking to the far end of the room, the end they had come down into from the castle halls, and there he saw, flickering slightly, the pure white silhouette of a woman, slightly translucent, stomping on the stone floor, almost dancing, she was swirling her hands in the air, using the force of the wind she created to move stones.
The basilisk honed in on her immediately, zooming past Merlin and Helga instantly just as the figure ducked behind a formation of boulders. Lianora, seeing the basilisk rush by, removed the cloak, watching it go. She turned and saw the figure just before she winked out of sight, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the visage was a familiar one.
As soon as the basilisk was past them and well into the other side of the cavern, Merlin burst out of hiding.
"Now!" It hadn't taken Helga much to figure out Merlin's plan. There was only so much you could do control it without killing the basilisk. They each put their hands on the wall of stone and pulled, as if pulling out a sheet of cloth, making the wall rush out, the two panes stone walls travelling towards each other with frightening speed. By the time the basilisk turned and saw the walls closing around it, the thickness of the barrier being greater than the length of the snake itself.
Merlin struggled with the efforts of maintaining the spell, a toll he saw mirrored on the sweat beading on Helga's forehead.
"Bear with me Helga, you can do this!"
With a last grunt of effort, Helga and Merlin ran towards each other, pulling the wall with them like taffy, and just before the basilisk was upon them, Merlin slammed the wall shut, with mere seconds to spare.
There was violent wailing and hissing and banging on the barrier they'd created, the basilisk screeching its heart out. Lianora started as the glowing figure suddenly appeared in front of her, she was ethereal and soft, her hair flowing around her face like a halo. Suddenly, it came closer, caressing her face with one of its white hands.
"Lianora." The word was like a whisper, ghosting around her like wind. The figure suddenly seemed to come into focus, and Lianora found herself looking at a very familiar face.
"Madalen." She brought her hand up over hee mouth, in shock. The figure smiled blithely at her.
"In the flesh. Well, not actually, but you get the idea." Madalen's ghost, for there was no other explanation to her appearance suddenly twinkled out like a light, leaving her sister gasping in surprise. The others, who had been scared witless in her appearance fell boneless to the floor.
"No. I am out. I draw the line at ghosts." Elyan shook his head. The others in the group seemed more preoccupied with Merlin's abilities.
"My Lords, Merlin, you – you, you can do that?" Arthur sagged against the floor, boneless after the fright they'd gone through. Merlin hugged Helga close, reveling in the relief from having escaped near certain death. They were both clammy from sweat and stress.
"Well, I wasn't sure I could but it's great that it worked out, isn't it?" Leon and Elyan gawked at him.
"You mean you didn't know you could do it?!" Merlin shrugged, the elation of his scheme working still coursing through his system.
"Magic is a little touch and go. I'm not always sure what will work and what won't." Arthur groaned.
"You're incorrigible, you are. How do you even survive without me telling you what to do?"
"I managed just fine without for seven years." Merlin retorted, standing up and dusting himself off. He pulled Helga up as well, checking her for any injuries and patting her head.
"I'm sorry. That was a little difficult wasn't it? But you did splendidly, especially for your first time just following me."
Arthur put a hand on Merlin's shoulder, causing him to look up at him, when he did, the King gave his shoulder a firm squeeze.
"For what it's worth. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat." Merlin grinned and the King returned it tentatively. And just like that, the trust between them was back, though tenuous still, there was hope yet for their friendship.
"Okay, this is great and all, gents, but we've still got a batty sorceress up there with a bunch metal heads."
There was distant screeching again, a reminder of the basilisk that now lay trapped behind the stones. Arthur thought for a moment then motioned them close.
"Okay, so here's our plan of attack."
"What do you mean you haven't gone down yet?!" The men visibly quaked as Morgana thundered at them. They stood just around the corner from the opposite entrance of the caverns. One them was a great tall man, with a stern mustache and a belly so large that Merlin wondered whether
"Well, it's jus', I mean," the shorter one rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "There's tha' great big beastie down ther' and well I mea -" Morgana threw a hand out and clenched her fist, lifting it an upward motion. The larger man gasped as he flew in the air, hitting the cobbled stone wall with a sickening thud.
"Has she always been this hands on Princess?" Arthur grimaced, remembering his sparring days with her as a young boy.
"She was worse." There had been an incident where she'd somehow managed to hoist him by his pants and hang him on a clothing hook. The maids had twittered whenever they saw him for days. He shook his head. This was war, what was he doing remembering childish stories now?
"I didn't hire you to think you oafs! I have other uses for your kind if you don't as I ask when I ask it." The shorter one yelped and ran towards the tunnels, his fear of Morgana overriding his fear of the basilisk.
He turned the corner coming face to face with Arthur, but before he could make a sound, Percival clubbed him on the head, watching the man crumble and fall like a sack of potatoes. Elyan and Leon grabbed him before he hit the ground while Merlin and Arthur watched Morgana walk the opposite way towards the throne room, shaking her head.
"Fools. All of them."
"Go, now, quickly!" Arthur ushered Lianora, Godric, Salazar, Rowena and Helga towards the courtyard. "Take Percival with you, we'll take care of Morgana, so you figure out how to take out that armada out there. I'm sorry, if there was anyone else, I wouldn't have to ask this of you, but as it stands, we're all we've got."
Lianora lightly punched him on the arm, shocking him.
"No one else would be able to do this for you anyhow, King Arthur. We're smarter than any Knight you've got in the castle." She winked before grabbing Percival's arm and yanked him and the others away without another word.
Arthur goggled after her, staring as she left.
"Why is it that all the people you make friends with have absolutely no regard for royalty?" He shook his head, turning to Merlin who beamed back at him.
"Hey, I think she's quite the woman."
"Percival thinks so too." Gwaine quipped, eyes waggling suggestively, Elyan and Leon scoffed, and grabbed him up from his slouched position on the floor.
"This very much not the time, Gwaine."
"It's never not time for romance you old bears! Where's your sense of adventure?" Merlin sighed. Even in the face of war, the man couldn't be serious. And somehow, what he felt for this man trumped all of his strange faults. Arthur spoke up now, having been quiet thus far, calculating in his mind, the next step.
"Leon, Elyan, you two will take Gwenivere out of the Castle grounds, I can't risk her safety." Gwen's head snapped up, irritated that he was making the decision's for her.
"But I can help -"
"Gwenivere, this isn't up for debate!" The Queen's expression turned mutinous at the finality in Arthur's tone. His eyes softened at her obvious displeasure.
"I'm not saying this because I don't think you can handle yourself. It’s because if I lose you, then I don't know what I would do." He looked at her earnestly, clasping her hand in his. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him before she exhaled in defeat.
"You're lucky you're such a smooth talker Arthur Pendragon. I'll oblige you just this once." She held a finger up, signifying that this was a once in a lifetime occurrence, before she let herself be escorted out of the palace through the stables at their rear.
Now it was just Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine and Lancelot. Gwaine, who was currently whispering to Lancelot who seemed to be getting rapidly bored with whatever Gwaine was whispering in his ear.
"Alright, you gossip. Let's do what we came here to do." Arthur sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Morgana stared at the circlet in its overturned case next to the throne. It was thin and gold, the centerpiece made of a oval shaped ruby. It glowed a sparkling gold in the dull candle light. She reached a slender finger out to touch it, only to recoil when it sparked violently at her proximity.
"Ah!" She flinched, pulling her fingers back. Clearly the magic inside didn't want to be part of her, Morgana clenched her fingers into a fist, steeling her resolve again. She grasped it, enduring the sting of resistance, and put it on her head, over her coiffed hair.
That stung even worse than touching it. Morgana gritted her teeth, feeling the power that it had siphoned out of Merlin coursing through her. She leaned back, resting her head against the back of the throne. As rebellious as it was to her, the sorceress could feel his power rolling off of her, dancing from her fingertips in sparks, eager to escape.
Merlin. She growled, leaning her fingers to her forehead, rubbing in circles. I should have known, that scrawny twit surviving through all that? He had to have been magic.But for him to be Emrys! Oh, the heaven's are forever unjust. Here I am with the courage to do what needs to be done and they give all the power to a doddering fool who sympathizes with the ones who would kill us in a heartbeat.
Morgana realized that the two men she'd sent to go get prisoners had yet to return from their tasks. She snarled.
"If you want something done right, you best do it yourself." She got up, stalking off the dais when the door to the Great Hall swung open and in walked Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine and Lancelot.
"You! How – What -!" She sputtered, her face coloring with rage. Morgana stepped towards them, and suddenly swayed, the magic in her fighting against her at every turn.
Merlin stood behind Arthur as they faced his half-sister. She stood there, fury etched on her face, hands clenching and unclenching.
"Morgana this has gone on long enough, you have no right to this throne, not now, not ever. Especially not with the actions you have shown today!" Arthur held his shield up, displaying his crest as a Pendragon unintentionally.
"You have no right to judge me Arthur! I am far more fit for this throne than a murderer like you! You, you who abhor magic so much that you would sentence your best friend to death!"
"That's -!"
"You're wrong Morgana!"
They all jumped as Merlin strode out, defiant in his defense of his King.
"Unlike you, Arthur's isn't averse to change. That is the true calling of a leader. To be just and fair and to let themselves change and grow!" He pointed to Morgana's circlet.
"If you must take leadership by using force than it is no true leader who does so." Morgana fisted her hands, clenching her teeth in anger, the very picture of this rebellion enraging her. She swung back and made a throwing motion, releasing a sizable ball of energy towards them.
"Duck!"
They dropped to floor, narrowly avoiding the blast, the impact hitting the wall and sending debris crumbling to the ground.
"Guards!" Morgana screamed, and instantly at her call, a group of ten soldiers came running in, brandishing long spears and broadswords.
"Arthur!" The King nodded at Merlin.
"Go! We'll take care of them!" Merlin flashed him a smile before sprinting off towards Morgana who had taken off through the servants entrance.
"Morgana!"
Merlin caught up with her, as she tore through the hallways, and up into the turret hallways. She turned hearing his voice and smashed her fist against the wall. Instantly, bricks leapt out, skittering towards him. Merlin flicked them to the side effortlessly. He picked one up and chucked it at her.
Morgana let out a shriek of fury as it grazed her head, knocking the circlet off and sending it rolling down stairs to Merlin's feet. He picked up the thin ring an easily broke it over his bent knee. His head snapped back as the power from the crown rushed through him, the feeling surging through his veins and setting them on fire.
"NO!" Morgana shrieked, clutching at her hair, the sounds of rage becoming garbled in their intensity. "How dare you. That was mine!"
"Yours?" Merlin took a step forward, Morgana taking an equal step back. "That was my magic in that crown. You were going to use my power to turn Camelot into your personal prize in your vendetta against Arthur."
"He isn't fit for the crown!" She wailed, turning and running up the rest of the stairs until the stood on the top of the tower, the wind whipping powerfully around them while the sky began to turn golden in light of the fast approaching dawn.
"But neither are you! How long are you going to harbor a grudge for your lost sister?! Do you think you're the only person to experience loss?!" Merlin yelled at her, as they stood on opposite sides of the round balcony atop the turret. She looked genuinely betrayed by him, by what he was saying to her.
"You are supposed to be the champion of us. For all of us! How can we trust you when you fight against your own kind?" Merlin edged towards her, his back plastered to the shed behind him, where the castle maids stored the brooms for cleaning the balcony.
"You are not my kind Morgana. The Morgana who existed before revenge and fear tainted her, she was my kind. She was my ally. Now, it is you who is the murderer. Nothing more than the thugs we fought together. No better than Cenred."
Morgana rounded on him, her gown and cloak flaring behind her as her expression became wild, erratic and unpredictable. She stuck out an accusing finger at him, spittle and vitriol spilling from her mouth.
"LIAR! I AM OUR SAVIOR! I WILL SAVE US FROM YOU, YOU WHO WILL DOOM US TO A LIFE OF SLAVERY AT THE HANDS OF ARTHUR PENDRAGON!"
In one fell swoop, she leapt from the tower, swirling the cloak around her and with a spectacular mid air spin, she transformed into a massive eagle, large and black as night, with a golden head. Merlin's mind raced with possibilities.
He turned and ran to the shed, just as Arthur, Gwaine and the rest, with the exception of the Queen and her escorts, came up the steps and out onto the balcony.
"Merlin? What are you doing?" Lancelot asked, baffled as Merlin pulled one of the three wicker brooms from the closet and spiked it over the ledge, shouting as he did so.
"Itealaich!" The broom shot forward and then the warlock stood on the ledge, much to the terror of those behind him.
"Merlin! Have you gone mad?! Get down from there!"
He ignored them all and jumped, hearing the screams of those on the balcony. There was a moment of blind fear, that his plan failed, but then he landed on the handle of the broom, grunting from the pain of impact.
Morgana's eagle form flitted in front of him, and he cleared his mind, locked his legs as if he were on a horse, and leaned forward, the broom zooming forward.
Up on the turret, Arthur was practically hanging off the overhang, screaming for his manservant.
"MERLIN!" He bellowed, at the same time as Gwaine, who was shouting at the quickly disappearing form of the sorcerer.
Arthur suddenly turned to the four children, running past them to grab a broom from the closet as well. He held it up frantically in front of them, shaking it in their faces.
"Arthur what -" Lancelot cut off as Arthur held up a hand.
"Can you do what he did?" They looked at him, scared stiff. Helga seemed to be only one with semi working brain functions as her eyes flickered from the broom to his face.
"What? Bu -"
"Can. You. Do. It?"
"Itealaich!" Rowena passed her hand over it, flow of magic coating the broom. Arthur gave her a tight smile and ruffled her hair.
"Thank you."
Then Arthur ran at the ledge full tilt and jumped off.
"ARTHUR!"