Almost done school, I will be dropping off for the week of exams but I will be back and this story will have a lot more attention until Jan 9th or so.

10: Exile

No one moved a muscle. Morgana looked terrified; Arthur wasn't sure what to do. This was the moment that he would have to choose between his father's beliefs and what was fair. He knew magic wasn't evil after all he wasn't evil, Morgana certainly wasn't evil and Merlin…

Arthur had to think about that one. Merlin had snuck into Camelot and became very popular with the serving staff in a short time. Even the knights respected him as did Arthur…sometimes. The boy was a mystery; a very powerful mystery. Supposedly his loyalty was driven by a prophecy but Arthur knew better. He'd sworn his loyalty to Arthur and Arthur accepted.

Merlin wasn't evil.

Merlin was his loyal servant, his protective knight…his friend.

"What…?" Uther couldn't find the words. His face was steadily turning red; Arthur knew there wouldn't be much time for talking in a few minutes. How long had he been standing there?

Then Uther howled and drew his sword. Deep down, Arthur knew he'd never be able to perceive his sweet ward Morgana with having magic. Arthur didn't have his sword and in his panic, he felt his magic surge. Arthur's sword flew off the desk and into the path of Uther's sword. At the same moment Merlin pulled Morgana back towards him and out of range of the King.

"It can not be!" Uther raged, looking at Arthur's floating sword and at the gold flash in his eyes.

"Father, listen to-" tried Arthur but Uther wouldn't hear it. He swatted Arthur's sword aside; Arthur felt his wrist burn as if he'd actually been disarmed. This time Merlin stepped in and when Uther tried to cut him down he was blasted across the table into a wall.

"Merlin!"

"He was going to kill you! Pack a travel bag. Come on!" Merlin waited for Arthur to pack as if for a hunting trip and then took Morgana's hand. They raced through the castle, slowing down when they encountered people. No one knew about Uther yet; they still had time.

"Where are we going?" Arthur demanded.

"Gaius' chambers," Merlin burst in, startling the old physician.

"Uther knows," Merlin told him before going up to his room and coming down with his own bag a moment later. He also had a staff wrapped up in cloth.

Gwen came into the room out of breath like she had run after them.

"Arthur, what's going on?" she asked.

"Gwen! Perfect timing!" Merlin took her shoulders. "Take Morgana to her room and help her pack for travel. Do it as if your life depended on it!"

"But what-?" Gwen and Morgana disappeared from the room.

"Merlin?"

"Follow them and take Morgana to the stables," Merlin snapped and Arthur knew that just this once, he'd have to listen without question. This new authoritative Merlin was starting to scare him. He left Merlin in Gaius' room and hurried after Morgana and Gwen.

"I'm coming with you," Gaius said, packing up his medicine bag with a sack of some other possessions.

"Gaius, no," Merlin objected.

"I have to come with you," he affirmed.

"Uther doesn't know about you, you don't have to leave," reasoned Merlin.

"He'll know I've sheltered you; that's more than enough reason for him to have my head. You can't help Arthur and Morgana alone," Gaius looked Merlin in the eyes and Merlin knew Gaius was coming or else.

"Then go to the stables and steal a horse," Merlin passed Gaius his pack and clapped his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"If we run out of time, we'll need a diversion. If I don't make it, take them to Ealdor," Merlin ran out of the room and into the corridors.

Arthur waited for Gwen to finish helping Morgana.

"You'll have to come with us," Arthur realized. He had told Gwen everything. She'd been understandably shocked and her tan face had paled a bit but she showed no other signs of fear.

"I know," she replied as she tied off the end of Morgana's braid. Morgana had abandoned her green dress in favor of plain looking trousers and a cloak with a hood that was brown.

"And you still chose to help?" Arthur asked.

"Of course; since my father died, the two of you have been the most important people in my life. Where would I be without you?" Gwen looked up at him.

"Thank you," Arthur managed. Gwen's sincerity had moved him…there was always something about her that could.

"Come on, when Uther wakes up…" Morgana shouldered her pack and the three ran from the castle into the Lower Town where they found Gaius by the stables. Three of the five horses they would need were saddled.

"Where's Merlin?" Arthur demanded. Merlin's pack was with Gaius but the long staff was not.

"He's waiting for the alarm to sound," Gaius mounted his horse and had Merlin's tethered to it. Morgana, Gwen and Arthur mounted theirs and started trotting towards the gates.

The bell tolled; the guards started to move to their proper posts, waiting for orders.

"We need to move," Arthur put his hood up kicked his horse into a canter. Something near the castle exploded. Arthur looked back to see the Bell Tower come apart.

"Merlin…" he couldn't help but whisper as debris rained down on the castle.

Merlin held his staff in one hand and his shoulder with the other as he ran from the guards through Camelot. A piece of debris had caught him as the Tower exploded.

"Don't let him escape!" shouted Uther. Merlin ran towards the courtyard but Sir Leon was massing a lot of men there.

The only way to go is down…

He headed for the dungeons instead. No one was guarding them right now, everyone was searching for Merlin. After his stunt at the Bell Tower, Merlin was sure that Uther had forgotten all about Morgana and Arthur for the moment.

The Great Dragon seemed to be waiting for him when he burst into the cavern and leaned against the wall.

"Trouble, Young Warlock?"

"Uther found out about us," Merlin panted.

"And the explosion that I could feel down here…?"

"Diversion."

"I see; and you're down here because you have no where else to go," reasoned the Dragon.

"I have a deal for you," Merlin stood up off the wall.

"Oh?"

"If you can get me out of here and swear not to exact revenge on Camelot, I'll free you," Merlin panted, his shoulder was throbbing.

The Dragon paused for a moment. The sound of soldiers coming down the stairs was growing louder.

"If you could hurry," Merlin snapped.

"Alright, Young Warlock; you have a deal," agreed the Dragon.

"You'll swear as the last of your kind that you won't attack Camelot?"

"I swear, now hurry, Young Warlock," the Dragon urged.

Merlin pointed the staff at the chain. "Anrheithia!"* he shouted at the chain snapped. The Dragon reached over with his head and Merlin climed on.

"Hold on tight," the Dragon ordered and took flight through the cavern. A simple metal grate large enough for the Dragon to fit was all that stopped them.

"Anrheithia!" Merlin shouted again and this time the gate was blown outwards. The Dragon vaulted out into the open sky with a mighty roar.

"We have to find Arthur," Merlin started scanning the landscape.

"We will, but first, to get away from the castle. To find your friends now would only draw attention," the Dragon angled low over the forest and they disappeared around the mountain.

Arthur had seen the Dragon take off into the distance and couldn't believe it. The four travelers had speedily made for Ealdor, hoping to outrun the patrols that were sure to follow. Now that the sun had gone down, little blots of torches could be made out in the trees. Dozens of them. The four kept moving as quietly as they could. In the early hours of the morning they stopped for camp in a cave Arthur knew of. Then they had waited.

Arthur kept watch at the entrance. Gwen was showing Morgana how to build a fire without magic. Once they'd gotten past the arrangement of the wood, Morgana lit the fire herself.

Arthur was surprised that Gwen was so calm about all this. So much had changed today for her and it hadn't needed to.

Gaius approached him; he was worried about his ward, Arthur could tell.

"Sire," he greeted.

"Gaius."

"Merlin will be fine," Gaius said, more to himself than anyone.

"I know," Arthur assured him and then continued. "Magic might not be evil in itself Gaius, but it does cause a lot of strife."

Gaius nodded. "What happened today was not your fault, Sire."

"But it was; if we had been more careful...if we had taken more precautions..."

"Merlin and I knew that our current plan might not work. We knew that it might eventually come down to this. In fact, Merlin had a bag packed in his room for three months waiting for this day. He's had a while to plan for this eventuality. I had hoped it wouldn't happen...but..." Gaius stopped and seemed to frantically comb the dark forest with his eyes—searching for a wayward, dragon-riding, reckless, manservant with no sense of self preservation...or subtlty, appearantly...

"Merlin planning ahead...I keep underestimating him," Arthur chuckled, half joking, half meaning it.

The wind gusted through the trees, at first Arthur thought a storm was blowing in but the gusts of wind were too rhythmic, and too short.

Without warning the Great Dragon crashed into the clearing outside the cave. Arthur saw a hunched figure sitting at the base of his neck.

"Merlin!" Arthur called. Gaius ran out.

"He has exhausted himself...and he was injured in the destruction of the bell tower," the Dragon lowered his head and Merlin fell off onto the ground with a dull thump.

"He will be alright in time," promised the Dragon before taking off again. Gaius examined Merlin's unconscious form.

"Is it safe to move him inside?" Arthur asked.

"I think so," Gaius said and Arthur gently lifted Merlin up and into the cave.

"He's so light," Arthur commented. Gwen and Morgana spread out Merlin's bed roll and Arthur set him down. Gaius looked at his shoulder.

"It's only bruised...maybe a slight sprain," Gaius breathed a sigh of relief.

"We can't move during the day; the forest will be crawling with knights," Arthur looked at the entrance.

Merlin took a sharp intake of breath as he woke up. He sat up, pointed at the cave entrance and spoke a spell so fast that not even Gaius was following what he was saying. At the end, his eyes glowed a faint gold. "We're hidden. It looks like an ordinary hill," he said and passed out again.

"He's overextended his magic already," Gaius shook his head in disapproval.

"What did he do?" asked Morgana.

"He warded the entrance so that no one could see us," Gaius answered. "Solid objects will still pass through so try not to disturb the illusion."

Arthur sat by Gwen next to the fire. Morgana was already lying on her bedroll, trying to sleep.

What happens now?

*Destroy

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