He swore if Arthur says any more 'magic is evil' in an hour, he'd strangle him and break that royal neck. Many people would have witnessed it for all he cared.
A knight was reporting on full detail about his patrol today. There was a lack of druid movement, and he said that they came across a sorcerer-burning in a village. And that poor excuse of a fair and just king had to sit back and smirked in a smug manner, lolling out the wretched indoctrination again.
Magic is evil.
There,
Boom!
The bomb had dropped.
The world should've stopped to wait and watch the calamity that was about to unfold. Hell hath no fury like a patient man poked with stick on a constant basis.
But Merlin didn't advance with his promise. Instead, he couldn't move. He saw the room disappeared into darkness. He probably was closing his eyes, or he probably wasn't.
He prayed for the soul of the burned man.
Magic is evil, he had heard.
And he snapped.
Snapped. In his ear, it sounded distinctly like a twig breaking in half, because he was breaking in half. Broken.
And he ran.
Like a madman, he ran through the darkness. Though he thought, wasn't he always? All these years of running around after Arthur, he had no idea if he was doing the right thing or not. He kept Arthur alive while making sure that he was in shape to be the proper king that would bring the magic back to the land. It was all gambles, no certainty at all.
Gaius, Arthur called me evil. It isn't right. He isn't right.
The darkness gave him the light he's been looking for. It opened his eyes in a way that made him see what he supposed to do.
I'm gone. Don't try to look for me. I don't want to be found. I'm done with this.
He intentionally put the first three sentences in one line and the rest in another so Gaius could rip it off in case he needed to show it to everyone else.
He bet there'd be riot.
After all, regret always comes too late.
He wanted them to feel regret. Because that was all that he felt. He hated Kilgharrah for being a manipulator, but mostly he hated himself for being so gullible. Too naive for his and everyone's good.
And the knowledge that comes with regret,
All those I could'ves and what ifs swam in his head for the past two days of fast-walking from one forest to another. He walked non-stop until he found that stone castle with a tower.