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Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a glow on his face while he slept. A few moments went by before he roused from his sleep, instinctively throwing his left arm to the side in a possessive hold on the body there, but…. it wasn’t there.
He rose with a jerk and stared at the empty space in the bed beside him. Where there was supposed to be a raven head full of hair poking out of the blanket.
“Merlin”, Arthur called out. Expecting his manservant to open the door carrying their breakfast. A few moments went by and his manservant still had not come back. He decided to get dressed and go look for him. As he was lacing his shirt closed a knock sounded on the door.
“Sire”, a voice called out. Recognizing it as Leon, Arthur bid him permission to enter. “What is it Leon?”, Arthur questioned. Leon stood there, a horrified expression on his face to match his pale complexion.
“It’s Merlin, Sire, He’s in the dungeons, he’s...he’s to be tried as a sorcerer”. Leon stammered out. Cold fear ran through Arthur’s body.
Arthur ran out of the room and headed towards the dungeons.He ran along the wall of cells until he found the one Merlin was in.
“Merlin, are you alright?”, Arthur asked, trying to keep worry out of his voice so as not to upset Merlin.
Merlin looked up at Arthur from where he was sitting on the cot. Thin, threadbare blankets below him. Chained to the wall in cold irons. His face bloodied and one of his fingers bent at an awkward angle. Arthur visibly pailed, then turned red with anger as he thought of his father ordering Merlin to be hurt.
“Arthur, i’m so glad you’re here. I can’t get out of here. They’ve bound my magic.” Merlin looked as if he was in a lot of pain not being able to have free reign of his magic. Arthur stared at him for a moment before making his decision.
“Merlin, I’m going to go talk to my father and get you out of here, okay”, Arthur hoped he could convince his father to release Merlin. Arthur looked at Merlin to make sure he was okay. As he turned to leave Merlin called out after him.
“Arthur,remember no matter what happens, I love you. I will never hate you for what your father decides.”He finished. They stare at each other, quiet acknowledgment between them. They understood each other better than they understood themselves, and with that Arthur left the dungeons.
He searched for his father and found him in the throne room discussing pyre arrangements with his advisors.
“Father, do you care to explain why my manservant is in the dungeons and being tried as a sorcerer?” Arthur glared at his father, keeping his head held high.
“Eyewitness accounts tell that he was caught lighting the hearth in Gaius’s chamber using magic. The boy is a sorcerer and he will burn at the pyre tomorrow morning. You know how evil sorcerers are, what if we hadn’t found out and he hurt you.” Uther explained.
“Merlin would never hurt me, he’s nothing but kind and loyal and he’s obviously not dangerous. I demand that you release him.” Arthur yelled at his father, something he had rarely ever done before.
Uther was enraged. veins popped out in his forehead and he clenched his fist. His face the picture of rage. “Arthur how dare you speak to me, your king in that tone, I will not release the boy, he will burn on the pyre tomorrow. In the meantime, you should look for a new manservant”, Uther finished in a matter-of-fact tone.Turning back to speak to his advisors, ending the conversation with Arthur.
“Father, I will not allow you to burn Merlin.” Arthur raised his voice gaining the attention of everyone in the room.
Uther turned around and in a large booming voice commanded “Knights, bring the Crown Prince to his chambers and don’t allow him to leave until after the boy has burned.” And with that Uther’s closest knights grabbed Arthur and started dragging him out of the throne room.
Arthur struggled against the men. “Let go of me”. He tried to command, but they were obeying Uther’s orders and would always choose Uther over him.They silently dragged the still struggling Arthur out of the throne room, through the castle halls, and into his chambers. As soon as they deposited him onto the floor they left the room and stood guard outside.
They would not allow him to leave and would not allow anyone to enter. Arthur rammed into the doors repeatedly, yelling and cursing for the guards to open the door. He continued for what seemed like a very long time and only stopped when his shoulder became entirely too numb to move.
Exhausted, he sat down and tried to come up with plans to get Merlin free and keep him from dying. While making plans he became tired and decided to rest his head for a bit. He didn’t even realize he fell asleep.
He woke with a start. Sunlight was streaming through the window. His shoulder hurt from ramming the door for what felt like hours the day before. He had to get out, he had to find Merlin.
He went to the door and opened it. He braced for a struggle but it opened freely, no one stopping him as he made his way out of the castle and into the courtyard.
The sight that greeted him was horrifying. Merlin was tied to the beam of the pyre, cold irons still around his wrists preventing him from using magic. He scanned the crowd, many of the citizens were there with pained expressions on their faces. They had known Merlin, he helped them when they were sick and saved some of their lives. The pained expressions were from knowing someone so kind was going to die such an awful death.
Uther was standing on the castle balcony surveying the scene before him, seemingly eager to burn the sorcerer to ash.
Arthur rushed towards Merlin, getting fairly close before Uther noticed him and had his knights keep Arthur from getting any closer to the pyre.
“Merlin”, he called out from where he was struggling against the knights to get to the person he cared for the most.
Merlin looked up and started struggling against the bounds as soon as he saw Arthur. He looked as if he would snap the knights necks if they dared hurt a single hair on Arthur’s head.
“Merlin, don’t worry I’ll figure something out. I’ll get us both out of this mess”. He got one of his arms free from Uther’s knights and made a break for it before getting pulled back.
Merlin seemed paler than before. The irons taking more out of him and exhausting him more than before. The look he gave Arthur sent shivers running down his spine. It was the face of a man that had given up fighting.
“Arthur it’s fine, it probably won’t even be that painful, don’t worry about me. You need to continue on and become the great king of Albion. It’s your destiny”. Merlin said in a pleading voice, worrying Arthur even more.
“Merlin, no don’t give up, I’ll get you out of here just wait a bit please!”He exclaimed. He started struggling even more but at this point the knights were tired of it and decided to pin him to the ground under their body weight.
“Arthur, remember this, I love you I always have and you were the best thing that happened in my life”, Merlin was biting back tears trying to appear strong for Arthur’s sake.
“Merlin no, this is not the end”, out of the corner of his eye. Arthur saw the executioner come closer to the pyre with a lit torch. At this point he no longer cared about any dignity or being the Crown Prince of Camelot, he had to get to Merlin and keep him from being burned alive.
He started bucking like an animal under the weight of the knights pinning him down, letting out inhuman screeches. His head was slammed into the flagstones beneath him. He was disoriented for a moment but when he came to completely he wished he was having a nightmare.
Arthur stared in horror as Uther gave the go ahead to the executioner for the pyre to be lit. The fire spread from the corner slowly to the other corners of the platform. Merlin looked terrified as the flames licked closer to his skin. He coughed violently as smoke filled his lungs.
Arthur screamed for his father to call off the execution and get the flames doused, no one paid him any attention as he screamed for these things to happen.
The flames finally were entirely in the center. Arthur getting one last look of Merlin before the wall of flames became too great and completely covered Merlin from sight. Arthur listened as his lover screamed while the flames devoured him.
After what felt like hours, the screams subsided along with the wall of flames. There in the center of the platform was a burnt body, completely unresponsive. Uther’s knights got up, letting Arthur up from the ground. He listlessly walked towards the pyre as everyone else left the courtyard, with strained and tear stained faces. Uther leaving with a disappointed look at his son who stood not too far from the pyre.
As everyone finally left leaving him completely alone in the courtyard, Arthur fully realized the gravity of the situation. Merlin, his best friend, loyal and the most important to Arthur, the one that loved him back evenly if not more, was dead.
He sank to his knees in front of the pyre a broken wail leaving his throat. His head hung low between his hunched shoulders as sob after sob left him shuddering on the ground, completely broken.
A husk of a once great man.