A/N: Written for the May 2011 Merthur Party on Tumblr, for the prompts: Magic Reveal and Dark!Merlin
Canonverse, Magic Reveal, and Violence
Rated: PG-13 for violence Genre: Angst Warnings: Violence, Dark!Merlin
If Merlin had to sit through another of Uther's never-ending rants on the evils of magic, he might snap and turn the King into a frog. Or maybe a bulldog, since he reminded him of one.
Merlin followed Arthur closely as they made their way to the days meeting, and smiled at Leon when they met up with the older knight outside the throne room. The guards opened the heavy doors and the group of people waiting outside entered and found their seats and places around the room. Merlin stood just behind Arthur's right shoulder, leaning on a conveniently placed pillar. He was just preparing to tune out for the meeting when Uther entered with an unusual number of guards, and a prisoner. The person in custody was tied up and had their head covered with a sack, so Merlin had no idea whom it could be, but they were small in stature. This was worrying.
Uther's deep voice boomed out across the throne room,
"Today I bring before you a disgusting example of why sorcery is not allowed in this kingdom. This traitorous beast was caught working a spell over a dead woman in the village, and shall be executed at once. I wanted to bring the prisoner in front of you all as a reminder that even the most innocent appearing citizen may be an evil doer at heart."
At his last line he motioned for the bag to be removed from the prisoners head, and many people audibly gasped when they saw that the person bound and gagged before them was a little girl, no more than ten. She was dressed as a boy, in trousers and a shirt, but that sometimes happened when a family had no money for cloth for dresses. She was crying and shaking, and Merlin wanted so badly to go over and hold her. Surely someone would stop Uther. This was too much. Killing a small girl was going too far.
He was right. Leon spoke first,
"My lord, perhaps we can spare the girl? She is only a child and could not have known what she was doing."
Uther glared at the knight.
"Sir Leon you presume too much. This "little girl" is a danger to us all and must be eradicated."
Merlin clenched his fists, and saw Arthur do the same. But his prince did not speak, not yet.
Next Gaius approached Uther and said in a low voice that only the people closest to him could hear,
"My lord, please, consider the child's age and your image in the public's eyes. Some people may not like the execution of a girl so young. It could be damaging to the crown's popularity."
Uther simply said,
"I will not have sorcery."
Merlin was sure he was turning red with rage at this point. If Uther killed this little girl he did not know what he would do. But he knew that it wouldn't end well for Uther. Suddenly a voice in his head startled him.
Emrys. Emrys, please help me.
The girl was speaking to him within his mind just as the druid boy Mordred had. She must be a druid as well. Merlin concentrated and connected to her just as he had discovered he could with Mordred.
I'm going to save you. I don't know how, but I will. Now, what's your name?
The girl stopped fighting her bonds a little and was shaking less. She responded to Merlin,
My name is Eilis.
Merlin said back, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone,
Hello, Eilis, my name is Merlin. Or Emrys if you prefer. I'm thinking of a plan, just wait. And be ready to run if I tell you.
Eilis looked up at Merlin and their eyes locked. He nodded at her, hoping no one would notice.
I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, you know. The woman was dying anyway and I found her like that when I went into the house. I thought it was abandoned. I was trying to save her.
This made Merlin even angrier. She was only trying to help and she was punished. Uther's reign of terror had to end. He looked around him and, when he saw that no one was looking, he smiled at the girl. His smile must have proven that he really would help, because Eilis began to try and shift into a more comfortable position that would also aid in her escape. But Uther noticed her movements and swooped down from where he was.
Something must have made him especially furious about the situation, because Merlin was surprised at what he did next. He kicked Eilis.
Arthur stood up so fast that he knocked his chair over. Leon shouted out. Gaius looked furious. And everyone else in the room was staring at their king in horror.
"Father!" Arthur shouted. "Father, stop this. You are acting like a lunatic. Do you even see what you just did? You just kicked a bound child, like a common slave driver."
Uther turned on his son with anger bright in his eyes.
"When will you understand that this is not a child. It is a weapon of sorcery, and I will not tolerate it in my kingdom. It probably cannot even feel pain."
With that he made a move to kick Eilis again, but before he could, Merlin threw out his hand and sent the king flying back into the wall of the throne room.
Merlin wasn't even surprised at himself. He had made his mind up. Uther needed to be stopped, and he was the only one who could do it.
"Uther Pendragon, I have watched you do horrible things. I have watched you kill people's sons and burn their uncles. I have watched you destroy families and separate friends. I have watched you murder people like me. And I will not watch any longer."
The entire room was silent as a crypt. No one spoke. No one made a move. Arthur was staring openmouthed at his manservant, who was now striding towards the king. Uther was trying to stand up, but Merlin stopped that by pinning him to the wall and sliding him up it until he was hanging on the stones of his own throne room like a mounted stag's head.
Anyone could see that Merlin's eyes were burning gold, and power radiated from him in almost visible waves. With his right hand he held Uther dangling, and with his left he lazily made motions in the air to release the cords that bound Eilis, freeing the druid girl.
"Uther Pendragon, I have listened to you rant and rave about the evils of sorcery since the first day I set foot in your city, and that ends today."
His vaguely threatening statement shook Arthur from his shock.
"Merlin," he said in a calm, even tone, clearly aware that he was dealing with a very dangerous person, "why don't you let my father down and we can talk about this. I promise I will not let him harm the child or you."
Merlin turned fully around, still keeping Uther up in the air with minimal effort, and looked Arthur straight in the eye.
"Arthur, I love you with all my heart, and I will serve you until my dying day, but right now you will not interfere."
He looked up to survey the shocked and uncertain faces around the room, and said
"None of you will."
And with that he pushed his power out and forced every standing person to the floor in a sitting position. They were all glued to the stone and could not move, even Gaius. He also made it so none of them could speak, so he would not be interrupted.
He had previously been worried that maintaining several spells at once might have been a drain on his energy, but Merlin was pleased to see that it wasn't. Working multiple spells felt right and the more power he used the better he felt. He grinned darkly and turned back to face Uther, who was staring at his son's manservant with terror in his eyes.
"Now, Uther, I don't plan to harm you, but my plans may change. For now you are going to listen to me tell a story.
It is the story of a young boy who grew up being ridiculed by the other children in his town. A boy who was beaten by neighbors for playing with leaves in the wind without touching them, and who was yelled at for making water figures dance in the pond. Even his mother pleaded with him to not use his strange gifts. He grew up and learned to only do magic by himself, far out in the woods so no one would hurt him.
One day the boy left his village, hoping to find some place where he could create smoke pictures and make flowers sway to music for other people and not be hated for it. He came to Camelot.
He later found happiness, friendship, and love in Camelot, but he did not find peace and acceptance. On his first day he witnessed a young man being killed for practicing magic. From that day onward he saw a king full of hate kill many others for 'threatening the safety' of Camelot with their dangerous sorcery. What the king didn't know what that almost all of the people he killed for practicing magic were harmless. Just like the boy, they only wanted to use their magic to help others.
Now, this story has brought us to this exact moment in time, when the boy happens to be confronting the king about his hatred and reign of terror.
Uther, the child you were going to kill was only trying to help save the woman, who had been dying for days. The child you were going to kill had to skulk around looking for abandoned houses to stay in for fear of being found and killed for simply having druid tattoos. And the child you were going to kill has a name, it's Eilis.
But you will not kill Eilis. And you will not kill me. You will not kill any other child, mother, father, neighbor or friend only because they have magic. You will not kill anyone else for simply being blessed with the power to help others."
Merlin looked at Uther, relishing in the fear he saw etched into every line on the man's face. He felt drunk on the power that was rushing through his body, and loved that the man who had caused so much pain to others was not so terrified.
Merlin turned to face Arthur again.
"Arthur, I truly can take someone apart with less than one blow, like I told you the first day we met. I could kill your father with a wave of my hand."
Arthur tried to stand up and shouted soundlessly at him, but Merlin shook his head at his prince and lover.
"Arthur, I wouldn't do that to you. You mean more to me than anything, and I would never take something away from you like that. But you must realize that your father is a terrible, cruel man."
Merlin searched Arthur's eyes, and felt relieved when the blond nodded in agreement. Without removing any spells, he walked over to where the man he loved was sitting and gently placed his hands on either side of Arthur's face.
"I love you so much, my Prince. But I cannot live here while your father is alive. I am going to leave Camelot now. Eilis will come with me. Perhaps I'll go to the druids. You can try to find me, but you will not until I hear that you are king. I know you will be a great king, better than you father ever could hope to be. I will return to Camelot when he is dead."
He paused and pressed his lips to Arthur's, secretly happy that the other man actually responded to the kiss instead of sitting there. He broke it off, saw the hurt in Arthur's eyes, and felt a stab of regret at what he was about to do.
He bent to whisper in Arthur's ear,
"I will leave Uther with a reminder of my power though, he will not survive this unmarked by me."
When Merlin stood up and looked into Arthur's eyes a final time, Arthur surprised him by nodding.
Merling smiled grimly at Arthur, and turned to Uther again.
"Goodbye, Uther Pendragon. I shall not be seeing you again."
With that he grabbed Eilis by the hand and left the throne room, making sure to keep all the spells intact. While he walked he formed complicated spells for a time stop in his mind and eventually spoke the words out loud, placing a selective time stop over the castle of Camelot. He hurried through the hallways of the castle with Eilis, passing frozen maids and guards. He reached his room in Gaius' tower and gathered all of his things he could carry. He raided Gaius' food store and stuffed enough bread, cheese, and dried meat for two people to last a few days in his pack. Grabbing Eilis' hand again he set out for the stables. He asked Eilis if she could ride, and, when she said yes, selected a small pack pony for the girl and tacked up his mare along with it. They road out of the courtyard and raced through the village of Camelot, leaving the castle under it's time-stop behind them. After they had traveled for an hour he finally signaled to Eilis to halt her pony and turned back to face Camelot.
"What is it, Emrys?" she asked.
"I have to finish what I started" he said in a quiet voice. Then he slowly removed the complicated spells he had left in place, and added one other, this one only affecting Uther.
Everyone in the castle unfroze, and the shocked people in the throne room found that they could move again. Uther dropped to the ground and crumpled in a heap against the wall. Arthur rushed to his father's aid, wanting to make sure he hadn't broken anything. He asked if anything hurt, but when his father tried to say something, nothing came out.
His voice would no longer ring out across the throne room preaching death to all who used magic.
Uther Pendragon would never accuse someone of sorcery again.