Well here is chapter two, sorry for the wait. I can't quite get this chapter how I want it but if I keep fiddling with it then you never would have got to read it. I can always come back and have another look at it later :)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed or favourited this fic :)
Hope you enjoy it

Disclaimer: If I owned Merlin series five would have happened very differently.


Everyone was silent as the images grew clearer, watching as a familiar setting formed around them.

"We're in Camelot's throne room." Leon muttered, glancing round in confusion as the magic finally stilled.

"It's different though," Gwen said softly, "Some of the tapestries are wrong, and why has it been decorated?"

"It looks like its ready for some sort of celebration." Elyan noted.

"Well we won't find out by just sitting here, lets go explore a little." Gwaine said as he jumped to his feet, just to stop in surprise as the chair he had been sitting in vanished.

Everyone tensed, staring at the spot where the chair had been.

Finally Arthur took a deep breath and stood. Ignoring the fact his chair also vanished he looked at those still seated.

"Gwaine is right, lets move."

Warily the rest of the group got to their feet, exchanging uneasy looks when the chairs and table faded from view, the glow of the runes the last thing to disappear. For a few seconds nobody moved before Arthur huffed and, squaring his shoulders, led the way towards the doors.

They had managed no more than five or six steps when the doors suddenly slammed open, admitting a man that they all recognised, only he was a good twenty or so years younger than when any of them had last set eyes on him.

"Father?" Arthur breathed, taking another step forward, just to jerk to a stop once again as the King let out a ragged yell, full of fury and pain, snatching up a jug of wine from a table and launching it across the room.

"Father? What…?" But the king showed no acknowledgement and Arthur was pulled back as Uther shoved the small table over with a crash before launching himself at the decorative flowers wrapped around one of the pillars and wrenching them down.

"I don't think he can hear you Arthur." Merlin said quietly as they watched Uther tear the room apart. He let out another wordless yell and kicked the shattered table that lay at his feet.

"Oh… oh dear." Guais' quiet exclamation didn't go unnoticed by his companions and the prince whirled to face the pale looking physician "What is it? Whats wrong with him?" Arthur asked urgently

"Oh Arthur, I fear… We seem to be seeing…" Everyone winced as the King yelled again and Gaius sighed but before he could say any more the throne room doors were pushed open once again.

Everyone stared as a younger looking version of Gaius edged in to the room.

"Sire. I'm sorry." The words was spoken quietly, cautiously, and with evident sadness as the man moved forward, towards the King who now stood with his back to the doors, his hands clenched in tight fists.

"It is a boy Uther, you have a son."

"I don't care" Uthers voice was cold and flat and the physician winced at the tone.

An involuntary gasp escaped Arthur as pain flooded his chest at his fathers words and he took another step back, away from the cold king. He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Merlins, but he did not look round, his eyes fixed on the emotionless face of his father.

"Ygraine, before she died, she named him… "

Finally Uther's façade broke as he spun round to glare at the physician a wild look in his eyes

"Ygraine was murdered." He snarled startling the man in front of him "Murdered by one I thought a friend. I was a fool to trust the witch, to trust magic. I see that now. Magic does nothing but corrupt those who wield it. My mistake cost me my wife. I will not make that mistake again."

Gaius looked alarmed "Sire you can not blame…"

"Do not tell me what I can not do!" The king roared, drawing his sword and levelling it towards Gaius, who stumbled backwards fear written clearly on his face.

"I will give you a choice Gaius," the king said his voice soft enough that those watching had to strain to hear it, "a chance I will give no others, as a thank you for your years of service. Renounce your magic, swear you will never use it again and will stand beside me as I purge the evil from this land, and I will let you live."

"Sire, I beg you to see reason, there are hundreds of magic users out there who have done nothing to harm another."

"On the contrary I am seeing more clearly than ever before. My eyes have been opened. Magic is evil and corrupts all that touch it. It is only a matter of time before they turn on Camelot and I will not let them take it. I must strike first. Now make your choice Gaius."

"You are talking of a massacre…"

"Make your choice Gaius."

"You are grieving sire, Ygraine never would have wanted…"

The king pushed the blade more firmly against the physicians neck, the look on his face dangerous "Make. Your. Choice."

Gaius gulped then bowed his head slightly in acquiescence, "I will stand by you sire," He said softly "Like I have always done. I will not touch magic again."

The king withdrew the sword, sliding it in to its sheaf and clapping a hand to Gaius' shoulder as if he hadn't been threatening the man moments before.

"Good man." He muttered as he moved towards the doors, just to pause at Gaius' hesitant call.

"Your son Uther, Ygraine named him Arthur."

For a moment the king stood there, before nodding once "Find him a nurse." He ordered " I have things to do." And with that he strode out of the room, leaving Gaius standing in the middle of the destruction the king had wrought.

The old physician looked around the room, at the spilt wine and shattered jug. At the destroyed table and various other objects strewn across the floor and he shuddered, staggering over to a column and sagging against it his whole body shaking.

"May the Gods one day forgive me and have mercy on the poor souls I can not save." He muttered before straightening and hurrying out of the room.

As the doors closed behind him the magic started to swirl around them once more.

"What exactly was that?" Arthur asked after a few moments, his voice strained as he glanced towards the physician, the rest of the group also looking towards the pale man.

"Was it real?"

Gaius closed his eyes for a moment before sighing "Yes sire, it was real. Everything that just happened was exactly as I remembered it."

"So that was the past." Gwen said quietly, more stating a fact than asking a question.

"Yes." Gaius glanced round the group "I believe when Oswulf said 'watch what I will show you' and 'a chance to understand the past' I believe he meant this. We are literally going to see past events."

"So that was the start of the purge." Gwaine said thoughtfully.

"Yes"

"And you used magic before then?"

"Yes, I was never particularly strong with magic but it was enough to amplify the healing effects of many of my remedies, among other things."

"And Uther was fine with that before what we just saw" Gwaine scowled "Trusted it even from the sounds of it."

"What my mother said was true" Arthur whispered, seemingly not having heard the others conversing, "The purge started because of my birth."

Merlin moved forward concern evident "Arthur…"

Arthurs eyes snapped to look at Merlin "You told me it was a trick, but it wasn't. That really was my mother."

Merlin's hands went to the princes shoulders "Maybe it was Arthur but I still believe some of it was a trick. Your father loved your mother deeply, there is no way he would have willingly sacrificed her." He could see the desperation in the princes eyes to believe what he was saying. He squeezed his friends shoulders "Maybe Uther knew that a life would be taken but if he did I doubt he realised it would have been your mothers."

"It still doesn't stop the fact that I was born of magic, that it was my birth that started the purge, that it was because of me that all those people were killed."

"It is not your fault." Merlin said firmly "You are not to blame for your mothers death nor for how your father reacted to it. He loved your mother and he loves you, even if he doesn't know how to show it."

The prince looked away, desperately trying to keep his churning emotions hidden from those around him. He didn't know what to think.

His mothers life had been taken so he could be born and as a result hundreds, if not thousands of others had lost their lives due to his fathers guilt over this fact. Would things have been different if his mother had survived? If he hadn't been born?

He knew so little about his mother, the king didn't like to talk about her and because of this no one else would talk of her either. And now he had a good idea why his father was so reluctant.

His thoughts stopped for a moment, focusing in on something Gaius had said in the scene they had witnessed. Ignoring the knights who were failing to hide their curiosity at what had been said between Merlin and himself he looked towards the physician.

"Was… was it really my mother that named me?" he asked quietly

Gaius bowed his head "Yes sire, it was."

"No one ever told me that." He whispered. No, he hardly knew anything of the mother that he had lost, but to know she had named him, that was one more connection to her.

The magic seemed to jump before a panicked womans voice echoed round them mingled with a babies cry

"Please my lady, lay still!"

The golden strands of magic cleared in front of them, solidifying to form images, though this time it was though the group were looking through a window rather than in the room.

"Give… Give me my baby." A woman lay panting on a bed, blood staining the linens, her blonde hair plastered to her forehead, her skin so pale it was practically translucent.

"Mother" Arthur whispered.

The younger version of Gaius hurried in to view, carrying more cloths which he shoved in to one of the midwifes arms.

"My lady" Gaius pressed his hands lightly against her shoulders as the woman tried to push off the bed. "Ygraine! Please lie still, we must stop the bleeding."

The queen gave a pained laugh "I am dying Gaius, there is nothing you can do." She caught the physicians arm "please, let me hold him once before I die."

Gaius looked pained but he nodded, moving out of view for a moment just to return with a bundle in his arms.

The queen reached for the bundle, taking it carefully despite the way her body shook with obvious pain.

"My baby," she whispered "My little golden prince" hand shaking she lightly stroked the cheek of the now quiet baby, who was staring at her with bright blue eyes.

She looked up at the hovering physician "I love my husband Gaius but I fear what my death will do to him." She shook her head as he went to protest "I'm dying my friend, we both know it, but I am thankful that I was granted long enough to hold my son." She took a shaky breath "Watch over him for me Gaius where I can not. And watch over Uther to. I fear he will not show his care for our son as I would like. Promise me you will do whatever you can to protect them both."

Gaius nodded swiping impatiently at the tears gathering in his eyes "I promise my queen"

The queen gave him a weak smile before she looked back towards her son, the shaking of her body more pronounced than before "He'll be a great king someday, I can feel it. Greater than his father even." She took a unsteady breath. "Arthur, he shall be called Arthur." She brought him shakily to her lips to press a kiss to his forehead. "I love you my boy and gladly give my life for yours." Her eyelids fluttered and her grip lessened.

"Ygraine!" Gaius moved forward, his alarm evident as he pulled the once again crying baby from the queens lax grasp, shouting orders as people hurried around him.

As Gaius clutched the baby the queens gaze found her child one last time

"He'll change the world." She whispered, her eyes closing a final time as her body went lax.

The image faded from view, the panicked shouts and babies crying echoing around them for a few moments more before it became silent.

Arthur continued to stare at the point the images had formed in a kind of daze until the silence was broken by the sound of a sob

"Oh Arthur."

He half turned, looking towards the rest of the group who all looked sad and grim. It had been Gwen who had broke the silence, her cheeks damp from tears.

She moved forward, reaching up to touch his cheek and he realised that she wasn't the only one to cry. Hastily he looked away, swiping his wet eyes as he did so, but she just wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in to a tight hug. He hugged her back, closing his eyes and turning his face in to her neck, for a few moments just relishing in the comfort she offered.

Finally he pulled back, feeling Gwen slide her hand in to his, he squeezed her fingers lightly in thanks.

Standing straight and looked towards the rest of his friends who all gave him nods and weak smiles, except Merlin who moved to stand at his side, knocking his shoulder against his in a show of support.

Arthur cleared his throat and was pleased that when he spoke, his voice sounded no different from normal.

"Was that scene also how you remember it Gaius?"

"Yes" the physicians voice was shaky as he replied "both scenes were exactly how I remember them."

Arthur swallowed "Well, as the magic has yet to release us obviously the circumstances of my birth are not the only things we are meant to see."

"You are correct sire," They all jumped at the unexpected voice, spinning to see Oswulf standing calmly a short distance away. He smiled. "That was merely the beginning."


Well there you go. Hopefully you enjoyed that.

If you see any mistakes let me know.

I'll try and be quicker with the next chapter but no promises.

Let me know what you think :)