Merlin leaned heavily on the wall, letting out a long breath as he saw the first flickering shadows of the guards racing towards him. He felt his legs begin to tremble and sank down, his back grazing the wall, as he reached the floor. The warlock slowly slid his eyes shut and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, maybe Arthur would listen to him, at least give him a chance to explain, but he knew it wouldn't be Arthur that he would be facing. It would be Uther and his absolute hatred of magic.

The rush of feet stopped and Merlin opened his eyes to see a group of knights stood facing him and his heart stuttered in his chest as he saw who had come to chase him down. Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, Leon, Lancelot and Arthur. He stood at the front of his most trusted knights, anger and betrayal in his eyes, the torch Leon held beside him illuminated his golden hair and Merlin had never seen the prince look so beautiful. His breath caught in his throat and suddenly tears were spilling down his cheeks. He couldn't even reach up to wipe them away, the energy completely drained from his body. His blue eyes met Arthur's and held his gaze for a few seconds before the warlock had to look away, letting his head fall forwards, not able to stand the look of sadness he saw. After a long silence, Leon stepped forward and cleared his throat. "You're under arrest. Your crimes are aiding convicted sorcerers to escape and suspicion of practicing magic-" He stopped as Arthur raised a hand and Merlin slowly looked up to see Arthur crouch down in front of him, bringing their faces level and so close that Merlin could feel the prince's breath.

There was a long, strained silence as Arthur continued to stare at his manservant. Merlin could hardly see through the tears still spilling from his eyes and he found that he could not look at his prince any longer, his eyes dropped and he took a deep, shuddering breath. "A-Arthur I-" The prince reached forwards and placed his hand over Merlin's mouth. "Not a word, Merlin." His voice was hard and cold and it made Merlin's stomach swirl with dread. He knew right then that he'd broken any chance he had of Arthur ever trusting him, ever confiding in him and calling him a friend. "We don't have much time. Leon, take the others and lead the guards elsewhere."

Leon hesitated, his gaze flickering between the prince and manservant. "But, Sire-"

"Don't argue with me."

The knight bowed his head and slowly backed away, motioning for the other knights to do the same. Gwaine and Lancelot hesitated, hanging back, keeping a wary eye on the pair. "If you do not leave us this second I will have you on the pyre in place of the family. Go." Arthur glanced over his shoulder at the two remaining knights and with a final glare, Lancelot and Gwaine turned and followed the other knights. As soon as they were out of sight, Arthur's whole body slumped and his hand fell from Merlin's mouth. The prince looked broken and Merlin wanted so much to reach out and hold him, run his fingers through his golden hair and tell him that everything was going to be okay. "Why? Why did you do it, Merlin?"

The warlock gathered his knees to his chest and curled up as tightly as he could, as if this could somehow keep him from falling apart in front of his friend. "I couldn't let them die."

Arthur ran trembling fingers down his face and his blue eyes studied the warlock's face. "You have magic. You used magic to free them. Nothing else could have done that damage to the door."

Fresh tears welled in Merlin's eyes as he slowly lowered his head in conformation, not trusting his voice to work past the lump in his throat.

"Why?"

The warlock choked and shook his head, unable to keep it together anymore. "They were going to die, Arthur. I couldn't stand there and watch a whole family die because of a simple mistake by a child. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry-"

Arthur cut him off by holding up a hand and sighing loudly. "Don't."

Another silence pressed down on them, using the precious little time they had left. The sound of shouts not far from their position made Merlin flinch and Arthur grabbed him by the arm and hauled them both to their feet. He dragged Merlin the short distance to the entrance and shoved him roughly away. "Get away from here. Leave Camelot and never come back." Merlin stood in stunned silence, so convinced that Arthur would turn him in after his betrayal.

"Arthur, Sire-"

"Go."

The warlock took one last look at his prince before stumbling back a few steps and running. His chest burned as he struggled to gain enough breath but he kept going, forcing himself not to look back, he wasn't sure he could stand to see that broken look in his friend's eyes again. Tears made fresh tracks down his cheeks as he choked, his steps faltering as he reached the edge of the forest. He fell to his knees in the dirt and clutched at the ground, heaving sobs escaping his chest. He knew he should keep moving if he didn't want to be found, no doubt the guards were leaving the castle as he sat there, but he couldn't bring himself to move. The warlock sucked in deep breaths and tried to calm himself down, he had to think of a way to stay at Arthur's side without getting caught, but first he had to hide.

Merlin rose to his feet and wiped his face on his sleeves, he knew crying did no good so he forced the tears away and took a deep breath before running on. He'd run no more than a few minutes when he heard the sound of hooves thundering behind him. Fear swept through his body and as he turned his head to look back he saw knights of Camelot had caught his trail and were fast catching up with him, though luckily they had yet to spot him. He pushed himself faster, darting between the trees, his eyes flashing gold as he hastily tried to cover his tracks behind him.

His legs ached and his lungs screamed for more oxygen, he knew he couldn't keep running much longer, he knew he'd shaken the knights a little way back but couldn't stop. Not yet. Not until he knew he was far enough away they wouldn't accidentally find him.