Arthur was acting strangely.

Mordred could tell. He was not himself.

The king had quite suddenly invited him out on a hunting trip, which Mordred was more than happy to go on, but his suspicions were raised when Arthur brought him to an inn completely off route and in the middle of no where.

His first thought was that Arthur was ashamed of him. He only wanted to be with Mordred as far away from Camelot and his home as possible. Mordred felt dirty and disgusting at the prospect, like he was just a cheap toy to be played with at Arthur's will.

However, he soon noticed the fear in Arthur's eyes when there was a sharp noise or when they saw someone remotely suspicious. Arthur didn't want to be away from Camelot because he was ashamed of Mordred, he wanted to be away from Camelot because he was scared.

Mordred didn't blame him. His castle was where he was supposed to be safe but there had been two attempts on the king's life in the past month and within his very walls.

Arthur lay quietly on his front. His chin rested in his hands and eyes looked distant. Mordred lay on the bed beside him, watching his lover. The innkeeper had been surprised when they said they wanted a double bed, quite predictably. Thankfully, they didn't know who Arthur was.

Mordred rolled over, his chest pressed against Arthur's back. The young boy placed kisses over Arthur's shoulder, frowning when he got no response.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" Mordred whispered against Arthur's skin, continuing with his kisses.

Arthur was quiet for a moment, before replying, "I'm fine, Mordred. It's nothing."

"Well it's clearly not nothing," Mordred shifted onto his side, brushing Arthur's locks out of his eyes, "I can read you like a book, my lord."

"Really? Then you tell me what I am feeling."

"You're scared. Scared of your own castle, scared of your own friends."

"Arthur also turned on his side, resting his forehead against Mordred's, "Is it that obvious…?"

"No, just to me."

"There's a traitor in the castle, Mordred. Someone close to me. I don't feel like I can trust anyone."

"They will be found, Arthur. I can promise you that. All the knights… I…" Mordred sighed, "I won't let anything happen to you."

"I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid… of being betrayed. I'm afraid of whoever that person is that has tried to kill me. Because it might mean I lose a friend or loved one."

Mordred could only kiss Arthur softly, "I'm sorry if that happens. But I can promise… that you'll always have me."

"Arthur rolled them over, so Mordred was trapped between himself and the mattress. The both smirked, "As long as I have you, everything will always be good."

~X~

"I have to go."

"Where?"

"I can't tell you."

"Something's happened Arthur," Mordred hardly looked down the corridor to check before raising his hand to caress Arthur's cheek, "Please tell me."

Arthur pulled away and started to move in the opposite direction, "I can't."

Mordred grabbed Arthur's arm, "Well at least let me come with you!"

Arthur caught Mordred's face and pressed his lips harshly against the Druid's, effectively shutting him up and leaving them both breathless, "You can't. You… can't. I need you to trust me."

Mordred nodded, "Okay."

Arthur looked nervously down the corridor but chose to plant another light kiss to Mordred, "I'll be back in a few days."

"I'll miss you." Mordred breathed.

Arthur grinned, "I'll miss you too."

When Mordred saw Merlin and Gaius rushing down the corridor with a 'dead' man and a woman's hand slipped off the cart they were pushing, Mordred knew there was something wrong.

Although he had promised Arthur to stay out of it, he was never one for promises.

Mordred followed Merlin and Gaius out of the castle on his horse. They met Arthur in the forest and Mordred could just about make out the queen unconscious. What on earth was going on?

Mordred continued to follow Arthur and Merlin's tracks, keeping his distance away from them. Eventually, he arrived at a cliff where two horses were left.

Curiously, he jumped off his horse when he heard a piercing cry.

Arthur.

Mordred grabbed his bag and rushed towards the sound. His breath was harsh and panicked. Arthur was in trouble. Arthur was in trouble. That was all that would run through his head.

Mordred found Guinevere lying on the stones, still as unconscious before. He grabbed her face, checking her pulse which seemed fine. Then he heard a shout of Merlin's name again.

The dark haired boy ran to the side of the cliff and saw Arthur laying on the rocks below, struggling to get his trapped arm free. Merlin lay a few metres away from him, motionless. Mordred's eyes widened and he scrambled to get a rope out of his bag.

"Arthur!"

Arthur's head shot up and Mordred smiled in response to seeing his beloved's face. Arthur sighed in relief, tilting his head back.

"Check on Guinevere!" Arthur forced out.

Mordred winced for a moment, he always got jealous when Arthur showed signs of caring for Guinevere but simply said, "I already have, sire! She sleeps soundly."

Mordred rescued Arthur and then they both carried Merlin up the cliff. They found a cave to rest for the night and then Arthur explained what was happening. Guinevere was enchanted by Morgana and she was the one trying to kill Arthur. Mordred controlled his anger as he talked to Arthur, clenching his fists. He saw how scared Arthur was because of Gwen.

He wanted to kill her.

Later on in the evening, Merlin left the cave for a bit of fresh air and they were finally alone. They almost immediately found themselves enveloped in an embrace by the fire, Arthur rocking Mordred back and forth in a comforting manner.

"I'm annoyed at you." Mordred stated, but still clung onto Arthur.

"Yes, I know."

"Why didn't you ask me to come with you? It feels like… you've run off with someone else."

"She is my wife, remember that Mordred. And I do love her," Arthur looked to the boy for his reaction but the boy cast his eyes away, "You're jealous."

"How can I not be?"

"I understand. But I had to come, Mordred. I had to try and reverse the enchantment. She's my wife and queen-"

"And she tried to kill you!" Mordred hissed, finally pulling out of Arthur's arms, "She deserves nothing less than to rot in hell!"

"She's under a spell," Arthur said calmly, "You wouldn't be saying this if weren't jealous of her."

Mordred sat a few metres away, his arms and legs crossed. He looked like a spoilt child, Arthur thought, "You love her more than me and that hurts."

"You're talking rubbish, Mordred."

"I'm not though! You know I'm right!"

"Do you really want to know why I didn't bring you along?" Arthur said, finally losing his temper slightly, "Because Gwen has to go willingly into the lake. And I am the one who has to persuade her, with my love, to go into that lake so the enchantment can be broken. I knew, if you were there then I wouldn't be able to persuade her with all my heart. You distract me, Mordred. I love you more than I love Guinevere and it would be hard to profess my love for her when you're standing next to me. Do you understand? I want to keep you and Guinevere separate in my life. I do love Guinevere, but not the way I love you. My duty, and my love. I need to keep you separate, Mordred and you must understand that."

Mordred sniffed, wiping away a few years, "Sometimes I just wish we could go out and not have to worry about being caught. I wish everything could just be… normal between us. I wish it could be simple… when I see you with her, when everyone sees you with her, I feel like a dirty little secret."

Arthur gasped, shaking his head. He bent down next to Mordred, wrapping his arms tightly around the smaller form, "Don't you ever think that. I love you more than anything, Mordred. We have to keep it a secret… because people wouldn't like it. It's supposed to be wrong."

"It's not wrong…"

"We know that. But others don't. I'm sorry that we have to keep it a secret. But it's that or not be together at all."

Mordred allowed a loud sigh to escape his lips and he nuzzled his nose into the king's neck, "It's not fair."

"I know. I know."

Arthur knew he would be distracted with Mordred there. He tried to tell Guinevere how much he loved him, but he was very much aware that he kept glancing at Mordred. His lover looked hurt which was understandable.

He could feel Guinevere pulling away, he knew it wasn't working. He considered giving up, leaving Guinevere to die because he couldn't truly tell her he loved her anymore. That way, at least he and Mordred could be together, the way Mordred wanted them to be. But he couldn't do that to Gwen. Because even though he had fallen out of love with her, he still cared for her and couldn't let her die. And the type of relationship Mordred wanted, they could never have because they were both men.

So Arthur thought to a time when he did love Guinevere and chose to recall that. It worked. Gwen followed him into the lake willingly and the curse was reversed. It was a haze; Arthur felt his duty was to watch Guinevere, make sure she didn't feel like turning back but his heart wanted so much to check on Mordred.

He and Guinevere rode home together and Mordred and Merlin followed behind. Mordred was quiet and Arthur felt guilty. He couldn't even turn around to look at Mordred.

He knew that if he saw Mordred profess his love for another in front of him, he would be devastated, not to mention jealous. He never wanted that to happen. Yet he had done it to Mordred. He made excuses and excuses and more excuses but he was hurting the person he loved, and that should be unforgivable.

Arthur didn't see Mordred until the next day. He spent the night with Guinevere, pouring in as much enthusiasm as he could, trying to block the druid boy from his mind for a while. It was hard but he think he had masked his feelings well, for Guinevere's sake.

They passed in the corridor in the morning and Mordred put his head down, mumbling a greeting and tried to scurry past. Arthur almost continued on, however he just couldn't. He turned around abruptly, grabbing Mordred's wrist and pulling him around a corner and out of sight. He pressed Mordred against the stone wall and held the smaller boy's hands.

"Let go, Arthur…" Mordred tugged out of Arthur's grasp half-heartedly.

Arthur released one of Mordred's hands and brushed Mordred's dark locks out of his eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I'm not sure sorry is good enough anymore." Mordred wouldn't look Arthur in the eye.

"I know, Mordred, you deserve more than this. I know you do, but I'm begging you to forgive me," Arthur said with a broken voice, "I can't escape my duty as king and we won't ever be able to be together the way we want to be, but I can promise you that I will always love you. I love you more than I've loved anyone before, Mordred. I need you to tell me whether you're ready to live a life like this, where we do need to sneak around and keep it a secret in order to be with each other. Or whether… you want to break free from this now. Because you do deserve more, Mordred. And… if you want more, I won't ever stop you."

Mordred savoured the feeling of Arthur's fingers brushing his forehead. He finally looked up to reveal his stunning blue eyes, "I will do anything to be with you, Arthur. I'm going to have to get used to seeing you with the queen… and getting hurt sometimes."

"I won't hurt you."

"I fear you might, and you won't know."

"Mordred…" Arthur kissed Mordred's cheek lovingly, "Come with me, to the fields outside the castle. Hardly anyone goes there. I want to be with you today."

Mordred smiled, rolling onto his toes to kiss Arthur's lips, "I'll race you."

They found themselves in the secluded meadows around Camelot, strolling and holding hands. They chatted about nothing important, nothing that mattered. Because they needed time where the rest of the world was cut out and they didn't need to think about anything else than each other.

"Can you stand on your hands?" Mordred asked with a grin.

"Hand stands? I haven't done one since I was young." Arthur chuckled, looking at Mordred curiously.

"I've never done one…." Mordred pulled away from Arthur, standing with his hands in the air in preparation.

"How have you never done a hand stand?"

"I didn't have a very… playful childhood, should we say…" Mordred said casually. He then threw his arms forward onto the ground, his feet not lifting far off the grass.

Arthur laughed again and Mordred pouted, "Here, I'll catch you," Arthur stood about a metre away from Mordred, holding his arms out, "Don't be scared, go for it."

Mordred tried again and this time his legs went flying into Arthur's chest. He giggled as Arthur held him, the older man grinning at Mordred's behaviour.

"It feels weird…" Mordred said, "My head feels weird…"

"Because you're upside down, Mor."

"Mor?"

Suddenly, Mordred lost control and his arms gave way, Arthur still holding his legs so he banged his head on the ground. Arthur let go automatically, only for Mordred to fall onto his back.

Arthur gasped and dove forward onto the floor, cradling Mordred's head to his chest, stroking his hair worryingly, "I'm so sorry Mordred, so sorry, are you alright? Does anything hurt?"

Mordred opened his eyes slowly and let another giggle escape his lips, "I'm fine… I'm fine."

Arthur groaned, "You're an idiot."

"Thank you," Mordred laughed, "Oh dear… I don't think I've laughed so much in my life."

Arthur hugged Mordred close, "It's nice to see you laugh. You don't often."

"I'm quite a serious person."

"I don't think you are, not at heart. I'm glad that I'm able to see the real you."

Mordred tilted his head up for a quick kiss, "It's only when I'm with you…" Arthur smiled and kissed Mordred longer and deeper, "So… what was that you called me…? Mor…?"

Arthur's cheeks heated up in embarrassment, "It just… came out."

"I-I like it." Mordred blushed, tucking his head into Arthur's neck.

Arthur started to stroke the back of Mordred's neck affectionately, "I'll have to use it more often," Mordred almost purred at the feeling of Arthur's fingers against his skin, "Tell me about your childhood."

"Why?"

"Because you never tell me anything about when you were younger."

"You knew me when I was younger."

"Not really. Not the you I know now."

"Well… The druids travelled around a lot so I was never in the same place for long. I never knew my mother, my father was all I had."

"What was it like living with the Druids?"

Mordred smiled, "They're good people. Always helping others, using their powers for good. They raised their young to be the same. I'm proud to be one of them."

"Were you lonely when you were younger?"

"When I lost my father, yes. It was hard going back to the Druids after that. I wasn't close to many others. Not many my age. I left when I was fifteen to find Morgana. And I was on my own for three years. Until now."

The king grinned, kissing Mordred's forehead, "Are you happy now?"

Mordred nuzzled his nose into Arthur's, "Happier than I've ever been and more than I ever will be."

~X~

Arthur pushed Mordred roughly up against the door of his quarters, slamming their lips together in a searing kiss. Mordred entwined his fingers in Arthur's hair, smiling, as he arched into Arthur.

"Arthur… it's the middle of the day, someone could come in at anytime…" Mordred chuckled against Arthur's lips, "Merlin… Queen Guinevere…"

"They won't… because we'll be quick." Arthur smirked.

Mordred allowed a breathy laugh to escape which turned into a moan. Arthur dragged Mordred towards his large bed, throwing him down onto it.

"Ow, my armour…" Mordred complained, sitting up on his arms.

"Sorry, sorry."

"You should be, you're the one who makes us knights wear it all the time."

"Not the time for complaints, Mordred."

Mordred giggled when Arthur started to kiss his neck passionately. Arthur knew it was Mordred's weak spot and he soon became a puddle of moans. Arthur removed Mordred's armour and quickly following his cotton shirt underneath.

The kisses started trailing downwards, only for Mordred's sounds to grow louder.

Arthur was too caught up to notice the door unlocking and opening. Mordred was too occupied by pleasure to notice someone, probably the very last person standing in the doorway, watching.

It was only when she gasped and cursed loudly that Arthur and Mordred noticed Guinevere watching them.

The lovers jumped away from each other, automatically pulling the covers over themselves even though they were still mostly dressed. Arthur quickly crawled out of the bed when Guinevere rushed out of the room, following her down the corridor.

Mordred lay left in bed, curled up in a ball. Abandoned.

"Guinevere, wait a minute and let me explain!" Arthur yelled down the corridor as he chased his wife.

"Explain?! What is there to explain, Arthur?!" Guinevere said with disgust, "You were with a man! A man!" She shrieked.

Arthur caught Guinevere's wrist, pulling her back and he was greeted by a sneer of repulsion, "Let's go somewhere quieter. Please."

Gwen accepted, the appalled look on her face not leaving. They moved back to Arthur's chambers. Arthur wasn't shocked to find that Mordred had already left. Guilt hit him. He hadn't said a word to Mordred before running after Guinevere and he knew that would have hurt his love.

Arthur looked back to Gwen. She was the one who would be most hurt right now and he needed to concentrate on her. Arthur had been dreading this happening. Because it was going to happen eventually. It was inevitable. Despite knowing it was going to happen, Arthur had no idea what he was going to say. He had no idea how to defend himself. Because he had no defence. He had acted selfishly and betrayed his wife.

It was unforgivable.

"I don't even know what to say to you, Arthur," Guinevere gripped her hair tightly near the roots and frustration, "With a man? You were with a man?! Actually, not even a man, a boy! It's wrong! It's filthy!"

"Look, I don't know what to say either," Arthur sighed nervously, "You know we've grown apart, I've tried to be a good husband and I've tried to stay in love with you, but it's just not there an-"

"But with a boy?! If it was with a girl I could at least understand it! With a boy, Arthur?!"

Arthur was quiet for a moment, his head hung low, "Because I love him. I love him more than anything."

Guinevere's face sunk and for the first time Arthur saw more than just anger, but heartbreak as well, "Why did you tell me everyday that you loved me then?"

Arthur softly took Gwen's hand in his, "Because I want to. I want to love you the way I did when we first married."

"Sleeping with a man won't help that."

"I know but I can't stay away from him," Arthur whispered, "I just can't."

"That's not because you love him. That's called no self-control."

"Well you know how I feel, Guinevere. You loved Lancelot the way I love Mordred," Guinevere lowered her head, trying to hide the pain at the mention of her first love's name, "I know it's always been Lancelot for you, Guinevere. I know you love me, but just not as much as him. I tried so hard to be better than him, to win your heart but it's always belonged to another. And now, now my heart has found who it's truly supposed to love. I want you… to understand. If Lancelot were to come back now… what would you do?"

Guinevere tugged away from Arthur, refusing to meet his gaze, "I would ignore him. Because I know it could never happen. Because we are married and we are to be together forever. We're married."

"On paper," Arthur insisted, "However not in soul."

"And what does that matter?" Guinevere hissed, "I've had to make sacrifices, you do too, Arthur."

"You expect me to break it off with Mordred." Arthur stated.

"Not only me, but your kingdom and court would if they knew."

~X~

Arthur knew Gwen was right. He and Mordred were never going to last forever. Firstly, Arthur was married. Secondly, they were both men and it was unnatural to love another man. Realistically, they were not destined. Realistically, they both knew this.

They weren't going to last.

But that didn't stop Arthur hanging on, clinging on to the idea of them being together. He told himself anything; they would remain to keep it secret, they could sneak around for the rest of their lives because they could only be happy together. Or the court would know, the queen and Arthur could have an open relationship and he could live his days out with his lover.

That would never happen.

Arthur avoided Mordred for the next few days. He needed time to think things over. He loved Mordred, he knew that. But could he not keep his love and duty separate anymore? Was his duty too much for his love…?

Did he have to give Mordred up…?

He did. He knew this.

But he didn't want to accept it. He didn't want to give Mordred up. He didn't want to stop loving Mordred. He didn't want to be apart from Mordred.

Mordred.

How was he going to tell him?

He really didn't want to hurt Mordred. Mordred was so much more sensitive than he appeared. He would be heart broken. Arthur knew Mordred loved him far too much for his own good and he would be devastated. He didn't want to do that to Mordred. He never wanted to do that to his love.

But he was going to have to.

He ended up outside Mordred's door, as he had so many times before. It reminded him of when he came to apologise to Mordred after they had slept together the first time, another time he had broken Mordred's heart. He had done it a few too many times now. Mordred always seemed to take him back though. He didn't deserve him.

Arthur knocked quickly on the door, stepping back and sighing. He wriggled on the spot, listening to the steps approaching the door from inside.

Mordred opened the door, his eyes widening when he saw Arthur there. He put his head down, resisting the urge to slam the door in his lover's face.

"Can we talk?"

Mordred recognised that tone and it didn't mean well. It meant it was serious. And when it was serious, Mordred always seemed to end up hurt. And he was fed up of ending up heart broken all the time. Mordred gave everything to Arthur, everything. He had even give up who he was for Arthur, to be close to him, to serve him. He was a sorcerer and kept it a secret all for Arthur. He gave Arthur all his heart and soul and Arthur would constantly stamp on it like it meant nothing.

Not anymore.

Mordred allowed Arthur to creep into his room and they stood there awkwardly for a moment. Inside, Mordred's anger was building and creeping up on him. It threatened to burst out of his chest at any moment, but he chose to control it somewhat and let out a pained whisper instead.

"Have you come to break my heart? Again?"

Arthur scrunched his eyes together, guilty. Those words twisted in his gut horribly. They made him feel sick.

"I don't want to hurt you, Mor," Arthur reached out to Mordred but the younger boy shrugged him off, "But Guinevere doesn't want us to be together, quite expectantly. And… she's right. It's not good for me as king. It's not good for the kingdom."

"Just go away, Arthur." Mordred hissed.

"What…?"

"Just fuck off, okay?!" Mordred pushed Arthur away clumsily, "I've had enough of your shit! You left me the other day, on your bed like your slut as you ran after your wife! You break my heart over and over and you expect me to come running back like your little puppy each time! I don't give a shit about your kingdom or duty, or your wife for god's sake! I wanted to be with you, that's it! But nothing I can do is enough! You've made me so many promises and you've broken every single one of them! So I don't care anymore, I want you to leave me alone! Leave me to be!"

"Mordred…" Arthur said brokenly, "I'm sorry- I-"

"No more apologies!" Mordred yelled as he punched Arthur's shoulder, "Fuck off! I hate you, I don't want to see you anymore! I'm your knight, that's all I am to you now! Not even friends! Just leave me alone!"

The king choked on his words and for the first time in his life he felt his confident front completely shatter, "Mordred- please listen to me-"

"Go away!" Mordred screamed painfully, piercing straight through Arthur's chest. A sob tore from Arthur's throat, however he backed away from Mordred, towards the door.

Arthur opened the door, his face ridden with tears when he took one last look back at Mordred. The pain in Mordred's eyes were almost unbearable to look at. They were red, blood red in Arthur's memory, as red as the Camelot's knight's capes. He was paler than ever, contrasting with his pitch black hair. Pain.

But the thing that stuck in Arthur's head the most, the thing that haunted his dreams was the change in Mordred he saw. He couldn't pinpoint it. It may be that he never saw Mordred smile again after that day. It may be that he the eyes he were so fond of never looked at him the same way again. He didn't know.

He did know that the change scared him.

~X~

Empty.

In every sense.

His bed was empty at night. He was only ever joined by Merlin during the day in his room. Even when he was sitting at the round table, surrounded by people.

His heart. At least before his heart had never been quite filled, there was always a part of him missing. Now, Mordred had left him and sucked every part of his soul from him too. No, he had been the one to leave Mordred, he broke it off.

He had done this to himself.

Arthur saw Mordred every day around the castle but they never said more than two words to each other. They had fallen into a mutual agreement to just not speak to each other. Not that it was working. They were forced to interact really.

One day Mordred came to Arthur's chambers. When the king saw Mordred standing in the doorway, his heart started to fill again. However he knew it wouldn't last. Mordred wouldn't come back to him, he had his last chance, he had too many chances in fact.

And again, there was that change. Mordred didn't look at Arthur with the same admiration anymore. Not only that, the druid looked like a different person now.

"Sire…" Mordred didn't- couldn't look Arthur in the eye, "My lord… I wanted to apologise for the way I behaved those weeks back… I was completely irrational and said some very disrespectful things. I hope you did not take offence and I'm sorry for saying them."

"Mordred…" Arthur raised an arm to place a comforting hand on Mordred's shoulder but Mordred just shrugged it off.

"No…" Mordred muttered, "My lord, I am your knight and nothing more now. I will serve you with all my loyalty but I cannot be anything more than that, please don't ask that of me. I wanted to set boundaries, to establish a new relationship- a different relationship. I think you'll agree that it is more appropriate."

Arthur' heart started to sink again. He hated the formality of Mordred's words nearly as much as what they meant. He remembered the days when they would talk forever, about nothing important. There were things they couldn't talk to anybody else about and they would speak so freely, they didn't fear being judged.

"I understand… and agree," Arthur replied much to his dismay, "It is definitely more appropriate."

With a handshake, Mordred left the room and the situation became ever so slightly easier. They could at least interact without completely dreading being in each other's company and were able to fall back into a knight and king relationship.

They still avoided each other when possible. They would hide around corners purposely to keep out of the way of the other and try to take routes far from each other's rooms. Like destiny, they still were always brought together in some way but their attempts were fairly successful.

And for two broken hearted men, their lives had proceeded quite well considering. They were hurting on the inside, and probably always would be, but they knew it could be worse.

Until she came.

Cara had been corrupted, Arthur knew this the first time he laid his eyes on her. She probably wasn't a bad person really, although it could be argued that Morgana was not really a bad person too. Nevertheless, she posed a threat to Camelot. She had killed and she didn't seem hesitant to kill again if she needed to. Plus, they were in a time of war. Arthur knew he had to be reasonably ruthless with his decisions.

She was to be executed, it was decided and was to happen. Arthur tried not to think much more of it and he was to carry on as normal.

But when Mordred came to his quarters begging for Kara to be pardoned, to be released it changed the situation forever. No longer was she just a criminal, she was a girl who Mordred knew, who Mordred cared about and with her death could potentially hurt Mordred more than he ever had done before, and he had hurt Mordred a lot. Not only that, though he knew it was not what should consume his mind, he was jealous of her.

It was another decision between duty and love. Between his head and heart.

He chose his head.

And as far as he could see, Mordred didn't react as bad as he thought. He certainly didn't approve of Arthur's decision, but he accepted it for the most part.

Arthur went to his ex lover in the evening. Mordred was completely shocked to see him there but still let the king into his room.

"Who is she to you?" Arthur asked, hiding the envy laced in his voice.

"She's my first love," Mordred replied simply, "Not my only, but my first."

"Do you still love her?"

"Yes. Not the way I used to, but I care for her a lot. First loves always hold a special place in one's heart. I do not want to see her dead."

There was a pregnant pause where Arthur didn't know what to say. His head was a hazy mix between jealousy, guilt and desperation.

"Please don't kill her, sire…" Mordred whispered with pleading eyes, "Please."

"I'm sorry, Mordred. I have to. She's too much of a threat." Arthur said strictly.

"Is this some-" Mordred pressed his lips together in frustration, "Is this just out of jealousy? Because I've known you to be a noble and fair king and this isn't fair. If this is because of us then please- stop this now, I do not want Cara to die because of us."

"Mordred, I can assure you it is nothing to do with us," Arthur began to speak with more detachment and authority, "You're blinded by your love for her. I know you, Mordred. I know you would realise her crimes the way I do if you had no emotional attachment to the girl. I'm doing this for Camelot… and you know, better than anyone, that I will do anything for Camelot."

"Arthur… if you kill her I can never forgive you."

Arthur hesitated but said, "Then that may be the price I pay."

Arthur saw Mordred for the penultimate time that night before he disappeared. Mordred came to him and gave a convincing apology. Arthur actually believed him. He thought that Mordred genuinely saw the errors in his ways and judgment and was sorry for what he had done.

How wrong he was.

When Merlin informed Arthur of Mordred's plan to free the druid girl and he saw the empty cell, Arthur knew he was to remain broken hearted forever.

He would never have his Mordred back. Any hopes of that vanished.

They found Mordred and Kara with almost no effort and they were brought back to the castle. Percival had knocked Mordred out cold.

He watched an unconscious Mordred being carried on Percival's horse while Kara was dragged behind by Gwaine. Arthur looked to the sky. It was a clear night and the stars shone over their heads. The same stars he and Mordred had watched only a month ago as they sneaked out of the castle, spending the night simply cuddled close, mapping out the constellations and kissing.

How times had changed.

Mordred woke up shortly after and him and Kara were locked in the cells of Camelot.

Mordred asked him his fate. Arthur said he didn't know which was the truth. And that was the last time Arthur saw Mordred in the castle, as his knight. Mordred was soon to become someone completely different to Arthur. At least in role. Maybe not in his heart.

Arthur tossed and turned that night in bed, the events of the past days lolling over in his head. He hated the thought of having Mordred locked up in the dungeons, cold and hungry. But that wasn't even the thing concerning him the most.

The outcome of Kara's execution. Arthur could feel there was something brewing. Whether it was the decision he had to make about what to do with Mordred or something completely unexpected, Arthur didn't know. He just knew something was coming.

It was something unexpected of course.

Mordred broke out of his cell using magic. Arthur knew Mordred was a druid and was bound to have some magical abilities, something he overlooked in the past, however it seemed Mordred was much more powerful than he thought.

A part of him wished Mordred to have a happy life. He wished Mordred would go start off somewhere new, find a woman or even another man to live his life out with. The other part of him wished for Mordred to be here, with him again. He wished Guinevere never found out about them and he wished Kara had never been executed.

But none of that was the outcome of Kara's death. Arthur knew that with Mordred's magic and his strong will he would go straight to Morgana, someone he once trusted and loved. Arthur had given Mordred every reason to hate and fight against him.

Not only was Arthur now fighting his own sister, but the person he was in love with too.

How quickly someone could become an enemy, Arthur mused.

~X~

A/N: Soo I bet you're all as devastated as me that Merlin has come to an end, it was a fantastic ending though. Hoping there will be a spin off series (fingers crossed!). If not, hoping to see lots of fanfictions popping up!

I wanted to keep going with this story because with everything that happened in the last series, it felt wrong to leave it at that! Gwen seems like a real bitch in this story, which I didn't mean to happy so I'm sorry for that, but it worked I think?

There's gonna be a last little chapter which I haven't actually started yet but I think it will round this story off.

Hope you all have liked it and if you do, please review!