Shadows of Regret
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters, and I make no profit from this.
The people gathered around the executioner's block, waiting, and longing for the death. The axe fell. A scream.
He had done it. He had killed her.
The blood all but trickled down his aged palms, staining his crumpled fingertips. The life of his own ward - all her jealousy and furious passion, her persistent and yet treasured council. Gone.
He had sent her to her death. Morgana, who was like a daughter to him. She had been his trusted confidant, his friend.
And yet she was a seer, a sorceress. An enemy of the kingdom. 'Those who practise magic know only evil.' He had said it himself.
Why should he care about her death? Why should it pain in him in the slightest?
And yet, as the mighty Pendragon turned away from the crowds, it did.