I don't own Merlin!

"He is your destiny, and your doom."

His blue eyes snapped open, halfway through the night, and knew that something was wrong. He was out of his bedroom in under a minute, looking cautiously around the room. Gaius slept peacefully in his bed; the medicine bottles looked untouched. There was nothing there, and he felt his shoulders re –

The door burst open. Two knights strode through the door. Uther came right behind them, with another two knights behind him. They were holding someone – a dark-haired woman in clothes too good to be a servant. Morgana. She was kicking and biting and scratching, but Merlin noted that her eyes did not glow gold even once. She doesn't want him to have any evidence, he realised.

Gaius sat up in his bed. Assessing the situation instantly, he was out of his bed in half a second, a considerable fete for a man his age. "What on earth is going on, sire?" he demanded of the king.

"We have reason to believe you have a sorcerer for a ward," said Uther in his most pompous voice. Morgana paused to laugh.

"Merlin?" she said in disbelief. "Merlin, Arthur's manservant? You must be mad!" She laughed once more. The knight holding her right arm pulled down harshly, and she spat at him, aiming a kick.

"If he is not, then we will find that out in a fair trial," snapped Uther. Gaius looked at Merlin, horror in his eyes. The message could not be clearer if he had spoken aloud: Go.

Not without Morgana.

Eyes flashed gold and the knights went sprawling across the room. Morgana stood, no longer restrained, staring at Merlin. "You lied to me," she whispered in a faltering voice.

"Yes, would you mind if we talked about that later?" he asked. The knights were already starting to stir. Merlin raced across the room and grabbed Morgana's arm.

"Stop them!" shouted Uther. The knights were scrambling to stand and only Gaius stood silent. Above the din came a loud and indignant shout from Morgana:

"You lied to me, you - "

The room vanished.

"You told me you had no magic."

Merlin looked up. Morgana was sitting on a log next to the stream. Her face was demanding as she glared up at him.

"Yes, well," he started uncomfortably.

"Why did you lie to me, Merlin?" she snapped. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because you are - were - the king's ward. Even if you never said a word, he would notice if you acted differently towards me, and that would put us both in danger." Merlin looked at her, begging with his eyes for her to understand.

"There!" came a call. They both froze, looking around like deer in torchlight.

"Run!" shouted Merlin as he spotted the familiar red lion through the trees. "It's the knights!"

He grabbed at Morgana's hand and pulled her to her feet. They raced along through the trees. The knights were catching up - not only were both Merlin and Morgana considerably less fit than the knights, Morgana was still wearing her bedclothes - when Merlin twisted around, still running, just backwards, and shouted out a spell. There were a few spells and the sound of bushes cracking and breaking as the knights tripped and fell or flew backwards into them.

They continued to run until they could no longer hear the knights behind them. They slowed to a halt, Morgana heaving as she sat down beside the stream. The clear water gurgled down, clearer than any back in Camelot, looking extremely tempting after that run. The grass around it was soft under his feet and nice to sit on as he left his tired legs give up.

Suddenly, Morgana began to laugh. "I've been yelling at you for lying to me," she explained, "and demanding why you didn't tell me, but - well, I'm already living what would have happened. Honestly, what's wrong with me?" Merlin scooted over next to her.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he replied.

Morgana sat, patiently facing the entrance of their little hovel, twirling a knife against one finger absently. The door swung open, and, heaving, Merlin hauled in today's firewood. He sat it down next to the door and looked up for Morgana.

"Hello, Morgana," he sighed.

"Our people are dying!" she shouted at him. Merlin winced backwards. "How can you stand here and do nothing?"

"This is why I took longer than usual," muttered Merlin, mostly to himself.

"Uther is killing more and more each day," ranted Morgana. "He's killing them all – the priestesses, the monks, the druids, the children! And you're willing to sit by and let the butcher do it?"

"Of course I'm not, Morgana! But there's a way to go about things! By taking Camelot by force, do you really think the people will be loyal to you? There will be a rebellion within a week!" exclaimed Merlin.

"Which is why we use Morgause's method," countered Morgana. Merlin groaned.

"No, Morgana," he said. "No. That is not the cup's purpose!"

"It could be!"

"But it won't!" Morgana opened her mouth, but Merlin cut her off. "Morgana, remember a little thing the druids call me? I thought we agreed it's not a good idea to force me into things." Morgana promptly shut her mouth and glared at him. Merlin sighed again and came to sit next to her.

"Remember Gwen, Morgana? And Arthur, and Gaius, and Leon. Do you really want to fight them?" Merlin asked.

"No," she whispered. She set the knife down on the table and leaned into him. "They're my friends. I can't do that. But our people, Merlin… our kin."

"I know," he whispered into her ear. "We'll find another way, alright? We've already managed to make contact with Gwen. You know how much Arthur adores her. She can get him on our side. And then, when Uther dies, he'll make magic legal again – for us."

"I hope that works," she murmured. "It'll be a bit like a fairytale." Merlin kissed her forehead with a smile.

"Like a fairytale. Yeah, that's it."

A scream cut through the druid camp. Merlin's head twisted to see what it was. Morgana was on her feet, looking fearful.

"It's the tyrant!" shouted a child, "It's the tyrant, with his knights!" It would have been like a game, except his face was too scared for that. Merlin leapt to his feet and Morgana's hand found his.

"They've found us," she whispered.

"Come on, Morgana!" He tugged at her hand as he made his way out of the tent. She spotted the knights, fanning out through the camp with drawn swords, bearing the familiar arms of Camelot.

"Get out of here, Morgana," he told her. "I'll distract them…"

"No!" she shouted. "No. I'm not leaving you!"

He held her wrist and leaned in so that his forehead rested against hers. "Please, Morgana," he whispered. "I need you safe." Then he did something he had never done before. He leaned in and kissed her. He pulled away quickly and hurried off after the druids. Morgana stood alone, her fingers touching her mouth in shock as she stared after him.

"Lady Morgana!" called a young woman – Meia. "You have to come!" she grabbed Morgana's wrist and tried to pull her along.

"No!" she exclaimed, wrenching her wrist out of Meia's hand. "I'm going after him!"

"He won't thank you for it!" Meia reached out again, but Morgana stepped back.

"And I won't thank you if he dies and you kept me from saving him!" snapped Morgana, and turned away.

The battle was raging as she saw them. Merlin was nowhere in sight, and Morgana's heart stopped. She shook herself after a moment and continued, eyes flashing gold as a knight who she had always hated crossed her path. He flew backwards, knocking over another knight as he fell to the ground. Morgana smirked at him as she walked past. His mouth opened in shock as he stared.

The battle had mostly thinned when she next saw Merlin. He was being held by two men, pulled backwards. His eyes kept flashing gold, but his magic wasn't working. No, it was working – just not as it should have been. The knights were merely stumbling when they should have been off their feet and metres away.

"Merlin!" shouted Morgana as she saw him. She gasped as a rope flew around her and the irons were clasped around her wrists. Her magic flared instinctively, but nothing happened. She glanced again at the irons – running around the sides were tiny runes. She could guess what they spelled.

"Morgana!" shouted Merlin in panic as he saw her. His eyes burned gold and his irons fell to the ground with a clatter. Everybody within a fifty metre radius went flying, the trees disintegrating and flying everywhere as a wave of pure magic hit them. It had mostly faded by the time it reached them, but both of the men who were holding her stumbled backwards and one even fell to the ground.

Merlin started toward her, but the knights dragged her backwards and placed her in a cart. The door slammed shut behind her and she placed her face against the bars as she was dragged away from the world and man she loved.

Arthur stood at her cell door.

"I'm going to get you out," he said.

"No."

Arthur stared. "What?"

"No. I'm not letting you get banished for me, Arthur!" she exclaimed.

"Morgana…" he began.

"No! Arthur, you're meant to be king. You're destined to be king, and bring back magic, and I won't let you ruin all of that for me!"

"If you won't let him do it, then perhaps you'll let me."

Arthur stiffened with shock as he turned around. Morgana pushed herself against the bars as she strained to look at the voice's owner.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Arthur.

"Prat," said Merlin good-naturedly.

"Idiot."

"Clotpole."

"Merlin."

"Dolluphead."

"Is this important name calling, because I feel I should be higher on the list." Morgana's voice was sharp but not exactly annoyed. In fact, when they turned around, they saw her grinning at them.

"Look at this, your majesty!" came an exclamation from an unfamiliar voice. "Your own son, consorting with sorcerers!"

"Jude," said Arthur evenly as he turned around. "Father."

As the two people came into her view, Morgana gave a shout of rage and threw herself against the bars as she recognised them. "Traitor!" she screamed at one. "You foul, loathsome man, betrayer of your kin!" The man had light brown hair that was starting to grey, very short and rather fat. He had a very rat like look to him.

"You had your family and friends killed for money." Merlin's voice shook with disgust.

"I was simply shown the error or my way," said Jude is a piping little voice. Morgana spat at him.

"Put him in irons," ordered Uther. "Arthur, come with me." Arthur glanced at the two sorcerers. Morgana shook her head at him. After a second more of hesitation, Arthur followed after his father.

Merlin stood, still staring at Jude, expression dark, left arm shaking. Morgana could see, from his tense muscles and closed shoulders, he was having a very hard time keeping his magic from lashing out at the man. One of the guards walked forward and he slipped an iron on to Merlin's left arm. When Merlin didn't react – possibly didn't even notice – he quickly slipped the other one on to his other arm. The other guard unlocked Morgana's cell and shoved Merlin inside.

Jude, with a dark smile on his lips, left.

"You are sentenced to death," announced Uther.

"I love you," whispered Morgana.

"I love you, too," replied Merlin. Morgana pressed her lips against his.

"I will never, ever, regret any of this," she told him after she pulled away.

Thum. Thum. Thum.

The drumbeat marched on steadily as Merlin and Morgana were pushed into the sunlight. They blinked against the now harsh light.

"Merlin?" she heard someone call. "Morgana?" And then Gwen was there, sweet Gwen. She glared at the guards as she stood in front of them.

"Get out of the way," grunted one of their guards.

Gwen glared at him, opening her mouth. "No, Gwen," she whispered. "Please, don't get yourself in trouble." Gwen searched her face for a moment.

"My brother and sister," she said softly, "always."

"Always," agreed Merlin. They smiled.

The two prisoners continued on their way. They arrived at the pyre, gazing up at the imposing construction. A guard pushed them up on to it and tied them there, side by side.

"My destiny," she said to him.

"Our destiny," he replied.

The fire started. It licked up around them, until it enveloped them, and Morgana screamed –

"You could still use magic with the irons on?" asked Morgana as she allowed her burnt skin to dangle in the icy water.

"The entire time," he replied with his goofy grin.

"Emrys," she whispered in awe.

"Our destiny," he repeated.

They entered the throne hall hand in hand.

Arthur and Gwen walked down the aisle, crowns on their heads, to greet them.

"We've been waiting," Arthur told them.

Merlin pulled her closer. "So have we."