Title: Out of the Ashes
Disclaimer: All characters are fictional and are not of my creation. They belong to BBC Merlin.
This is my first Merlin fan-fiction. Hope you enjoy it!
Betrayal
It was so ironic; what had brought them together had now broken them apart. It was a perfect moment of déjà vu.
Arthur couldn't believe it. When he learned the truth – saw the truth - it hurt him more than anything else could. It felt like a sword to the heart.
Merlin had used magic to save him.
But Arthur's father had told him that magic was evil. Those who practiced it were corrupted by it and only sought to destroy the kingdom. They lusted only in power and wealth.
But this could not be true. What Arthur had witnessed that day proved that not all magic was evil – he himself would have died, had it not been for magic. And it would never have happened if it hadn't been for magic.
Arthur had seen many sorcerers burned at the stake and never felt for them as he watched them being consumed by the flames. What had Merlin done to him that had made Arthur feel like what he was going to do to Merlin so wrong?
He has broken the law, and now he must pay for it.
But Arthur couldn't bring himself to think of Merlin as a traitor. He couldn't possibly be.
If Merlin had told him about his secret before, then maybe he wouldn't be burned the next morning. Maybe Arthur could have done something.
Maybe it didn't have to end this way.
It was dark in the cell and he was ashamed. Ashamed that he failed Arthur, that he failed his destiny. The Great Dragon had told him that his downfall would be trying to see the goodness in people.
He tried to see the good in her, and now, he had to face the consequences.
He shouldn't have been so careless – Gaius had told him to be careful. He had used magic many times before to save Arthur. He shouldn't have been so careless this time.
But it was too late. His secret was out. What was done was done and there was no turning back.
Awe, fear, anger… sadness all flashed across Arthur's face when he had learned the truth. But not in the way Merlin had intended Arthur to learn about who he was.
Only afterwards, when Gaius had come down to talk to him, did Merlin realize who the person was who wanted to kill Arthur.
Morgana.
He was sick of her name. Because of her hatred of Uther and his laws against magic, she wanted nothing more but to see Arthur dead. And now, with himself gone, she would most certainly be able to kill Arthur. Driven with hate, it blinded her, just like it had blinded Uther from seeing sense.
But Merlin understood her anger. He finally understood that he should have helped her; he should have told her from the very beginning - and guided her. But he hadn't, and now, she had found her half-sister, Morgause. Morgause was now her leader, the person she could confine all of her darkest secrets with, the person whom she could talk freely about her magic with, the one who taught her about her magic, about her power. Morgause was the only person Morgana could trust.
He sat in the cell, alone, in the darkness.