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Arthur loved Merlin with his everything, with his entire being. He would die for Merlin, he would kill for Merlin—he has died and killed for Merlin. But what he especially loved were Merlin's eyes, because no matter how he felt, no matter the situation, he could look into them and be brought back to what he knew.
To home.
Arthur hates magic; it was the one constant in all the horrible things that have happened to him. Magic is what killed his mother. Magic is what turned his father into the horrible man he is today. Magic is what made Morgana evil. Magic is evil.
It was mid-battle, an ambush like always; someone was always trying to kill them. Arthur had just taken down another man when he started looking for Merlin. Merlin was clumsy and could easily get hurt in the heat of battle.
Arthur looked around, finding Merlin—finding those eyes that he looked to so much.
But
When he looked into those eyes that he loved so much, he saw what he hated the most. It couldn’t be, though. No way did those eyes turn gold, because Arthur knows Merlin. He knows his Merlin, and his Merlin his love able, clumsy idiot of a Merlin doesn’t have magic.
So he did what he was trained to do—what he had known to do his whole life.
Kill.
Kill anything and anyone with magic.
As his sword went through this thing’s chest, he felt a little remorse. Don’t get him wrong; it did hurt because it was using Merlin’s face to deceive him. But in the end, he knew this Merlin wasn’t his.
With one last look into those eyes that tried to be the ones he had loved so much those eyes that tried to deceive him with the most disgusting thing in his life
He went to go find Merlin.
His Merlin.