Hope
The mornings after, Merlin would wake still exhausted and trudge to his duties, look at Arthur and see ghosts of the fear or hatred or revulsion or apathy he'd seen the night before.
But then Arthur would smile. Arthur would frown thoughtfully and ramble to Merlin, questioning the way things were and his ability to rule justly. Arthur would be the good man Merlin knew him to be and hope would chase the last vestiges of fear into the dark corners of his mind, extinguish the nightmare flames.
And then Merlin would smile. And Merlin would dream of Albion, waking.
And that's the end, there. It's been a great ride and ironically this is the first multi-chapter I've completed, lol.
Have a magical day!
M1ssUnd3rst4nd1ng
