Disclaimer: Merlin's not mine

The Afterfall: Prologue

It didn't seem as though the chorus of Long Lives would die down any time soon, so eventually Gwen stood from the throne and bowed back. To Leon, Percival, Gaius, and the little remainder of the kingdom still with voices to call out for the Queen, she bowed back and walked, somehow down each step, somehow all the way down and out the throne hall. Long live the Queen. It was a rhythm to stride to. Long live the Queen. The King is dead. The rhythm is the same.

"Your majesty?"

Guinevere hadn't even noticed the rhythm stopped pulsing. She blinked and looked up—the voice belonged to a tentative, vaguely scared looking Percival. Gaius, tight-lipped and staring down, was behind him, along with the shut throne room door. How long had she been standing here? She supposed it didn't matter.

"Where is he?" she heard her voice say.

Percival cleared his throat. "He's downstairs, milad—majesty." Gwen spared him a glance and found she hadn't mistaken his expression. There was something definitely like fear in his eyes. "He said he'd wait in the hall outside Gaius's quarters."

"Gwen—" Gaius started.

"Thank you," she cut him off. Since meeting their stares did not seem like something her own eyes wanted to do, she swept away. Her shoes tapped the palace floor as she walked, click, click, click, click. The king is dead, long live the queen. Click click click click. Those stares she'd avoided burned at her back until she rounded the first corner.

Somehow the rhythm lasted her feet the entire way there, to the physician's home, to the tall, skinny man waiting, pale but not shaking, outside his door. The young man heard the pulse, heard the clicks. Guinevere wondered if she was deceiving herself when she saw his oversized ears move at the sound. He turned, and the Queen and Warlock stared at each other for a very long time.

Gwen's first thought was that Merlin looked awful.

"You look awful," she said.

His enormous and deadened blue eyes only blinked. "And you look stunning."

Guinevere shrugged in a way she hadn't since she married royalty. "They need me to."

Something like a spasm seemed to run through him. "What do you think they need of me?"

"Not the truth," Gwen answered. "Not yet. They aren't ready," she paused, shocked the breath she exhaled didn't shake, "But I am." His mouth tightened as he nodded too fast. "When I figured out who that old sorcerer on the mountaintop was, I stopped worrying about Arthur," she continued, trying not to falter at the jolt that ran through Merlin's eyes, "…I thought he would be safe, as he always has been, with you."

Every bone in his body shook, and his eyes filled with water, "I'm—I'm sorry, Guinevere."

It was the first pang of emotion, of anything at all, she felt since he returned with the news. He never calls me that.

"I'm sorry too, Emrys." Her voice sounded cold. She hated it.

Merlin made a strangled sound and let loose those tears. He dropped his head between his hunched shoulders and trembled, but he remained standing. Guinevere wanted to walk away from him. She also wanted to hold him until he stopped. So she stayed exactly where she was until he stopped, breathed deep, and managed to lift himself upright.

"In here?" he gestured to the physician's door. His voice sounded faint and he wouldn't meet her eyes, but it was enough. Gwen nodded and walked in as he opened the door for her.

"Where do you want to start?" she asked, frowning at the boy she met so long ago, the man she thought she knew so well.

Still not looking at her, Merlin pulled out a chair for his Queen. Guinevere bit her lip and shook her head, pulling out her own seat and slumping into it. Merlin blinked and sat down in the other. Waiting, she stared at him.

Suddenly, Merlin's eyes flashed gold. He held up a hand to her and sparks, yellow sparks, began to spring from his fingertips. Gwen gasped at the sight, and a few of the sparks pierced her skin and she felt a warmth and a snapping tingle, one that would have made her giggle on a normal day. The sparks died down, and she could only gape at the person in front of her. Magic up close…magic that was beautiful...magic from Merlin...

"I was born with it," he began quietly.


The horse making its way across the fields and through the lower town was dark and strong, huffing with exertion and drawing attention. A man on the roof of his modest house was hanging laundry when he glanced down and noticed the horse, along with the knight on it. He was dressed in chainmail and completely slumped over, bobbing up and down like a doll. Long hair hung over his face. The man on his roof squinted—he put his laundry aside, hurried down the steps of his house and grabbed a kitchen knife to be safe, in case it was a trick. The horse was almost at his own doorstep when he burst outside, and his mouth dropped at what he saw before him. The knight was unconscious and had been tied to the horse…

"Sir Gwaine?"


Hey, guys. Wow. The show is over. I still can't believe it.

I loved the finale, I really did, but as always with Merlin, there are things I wanted to do and respond to. If I continue this, and if you guys want to continue reading it, here's a warning-I'm not bringing Arthur back. There might be a couple scenes with him (flashbacks, mysticalness and things) but I want to make this a story about how Camelot moves on, and tries to stay a great kingdom without him (And sorry if it's hypocritical if I say that about Arthur and not about Gwaine, but...I couldn't do it. I can't write anything for Merlin without Gwaine in it. God, as if that finale wasn't sad enough already...after Elyan died, I was not okay with losing another knight).

Gwen and Merlin will be the main characters, but everyone's in the mix. Also, another warning-if you guys read exclusively hetero pairings or exclusively slash pairings, don't keep going with this story. I write everything depending on chemistry, and attraction has no guidelines, especially on a show like Merlin where every actor manages to convey so much with so little dialogue. The subtext in Merlin is endless and I want to capture that and remain true to it.

Sorry about the rant, but that attitude on this site has been bugging me lately. I'd love it if you reviewed, and I'll update this hopefully soon. Happy holidays, everybody :)