A/N Alright, so this is the final part of sins of our father. I finally have a beta! She's one of my best friends and she's been helping me a ton, although ive been borderline crazy with this. Thanks, boo 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Mae looks to Merlin as Arthur faded from there sight. Merlin seemed not to notice as he continues to stare into the fire. The fire seemed to illuminate his eyes, making them bluer. He was absolutely gorgeous in the firelight. He is definitely attractive, his lean muscle tone. His goofy smile, and not to mention those huge ears of those. "Mae? Is there something on my face?" Merlin touched his face all around trying to figure out what she was staring at. Mae shook her head quickly, "No sorry, I was just spacing out." Merlin looked at her with concern. Was she still thinking about early today? Merlin began to feel nervous, his heart beating loudly against his chest. He stared at her as she began staring into the fire. There were no words to describe her beauty, especially her smile. She always seems full of life, her eyes light up whenever she does smile. Which is pretty much half the time. He could never get enough of her. Not to mention that she treated him like any friend would. Like he wasn't a servant or her a princess. Sometimes Merlin forgets that she is. "Mae...About what happened earlier." Mae seemed to know what he was talking about and began to blush, "Yes?" Mae seemed to lean toward him, staring him in his eyes. Merlin's eyes go wide slightly and he quickly looks away and starts to fidget with his pants. "Um, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable in any way. You're really a great friend." Mae smiled and laughed bitterly, "Friend". He probably was confused about the situation. Maybe it was just her imagination that he leaned closer early. It probably wouldn't work anyways, them being in two different classes. Him a servant and her a princess...her father would probably match her with a prince from far off place for an alliance or something. Not that she was totally happy about that, but what else could she do?"That's alright Merlin, you didn't. You're a really good friend too." Merlin clenched his jaw at the word friend. He nods to Mae, and then they both sat in silence staring into the fire.
Arthur ventured off into the woods. He needed to get away and think for a while. He secretly watched Mae and Merlin talk. They seem really close to each other, and he doesn't mean it as friendship. They are sitting too close to each other. Arthur narrows his eyes at Merlin, but then Merlin seemed to make his sister laugh. That brought a smile to his face. Maybe he's not a total idiot. But then again, its Merlin we're talking about. Arthur began to venture more outward and decided to sit on a rock near a stream, throwing whatever pebbles he could find. The sun had eventually gone underneath the horizon and the pale moonlight shone above. All he could think about his why would his father really not talk about his mother. Had he done something wrong? Something that he might feel ashamed. Because, dammit he and his sister deserve to know at least something about their mother. He started to angrily throw rocks into the stream, then after he had no more he heard a rustling noise from behind him. He quickly unsheathes his sword and points to the noise. "Come out who is ever there!" With an exasperated sigh, Mae came out of the bushes. "Would you put the bloody sword down Arthur, It's just me." Arthur started to blink in her direction and laughs softly, "Sorry, you can never be too careful in the woods. And what in the hell are you doing this far from the fire? Merlin should have stopped you." Mae gave him a knowing look. "As if anyone could stop me from doing anything." Arthur rolled his eyes, "Of course you're just as stubborn as I am." They both laugh at that. "Arthur, I came looking for you because it's late and you need to rest too." Arthur's face seemed to become neutral, he seemed almost indifferent about getting rest. Mae seemed to get the hint that he didn't care at all. "Arthur please, I feel safer with you around." It's not that she's lying, she does. But she also can wield magic and sort of can wield a sword so... She not totally at a loss. Mae's eye was pleading him to go back with her. "Yeah fine alright." Mae smiled cheerfully. "Let's head back little brother." Arthur groans, "Seriously Mae." Mae looked at Arthur, eyebrows raised almost most in a questioned manner. Arthur sighs, "Nothing." And so they headed toward the campsite.
The three gathered their belongings and started off again. Following Arthur's horse in whatever direction it was going. They came out of a forest only to see a giant lake with a waterfall in the distance. "Seems your horse has brought us to a dead end." Merlin states. Arthur's horse snorts and begins to walk into the lake, "Now where's he going?" Arthur shouts. Merlin watches Arthur horse go into the water steadily. "I think you're going to get wet." With a bemused tone, Arthur retorts,"You don't say." Mae begins to laugh and charges forward, the water splashing against Merlin. "Come on Merlin, it's just a bit of water!" Mae looks behind her and smiles brightly. Merlin smirks and shakes his head as he follows them into the water.
As they get near the waterfall, they see the hidden entrance from behind it. They come across another trail leading them straight to a castle. "Where are we?" Merlin questions, Mae seemed to be in awe gazing up at the castle. Arthur answers, "I don't know." They continue toward the castle. "If we weren't sure Morgause was a sorcerer before, we can be certain of it now." Mae scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Why should it matter Merlin whether she is one or not." Merlin shakes his head. Arthur smiled as if he came to a sudden realization, "That must have been how she defeated me. She was using magic." Merlin's lip raised slightly and shook his head, "Mm, It didn't look like she was.: Arthur angrily states, "And what would you know about magic, Merlin?" Merlin began to frown, his eyebrows in a straight line, "Nothing." Mae begins to laugh. "So when shall I set the date for?" Merlin and Arthur look back at her with a questioning gaze, She smiled mischievously, "For the wedding, you sound like an old married couple." They both grunt and continued in silence. In the quiet forest, all you heard was a booming laughter. After tying ropes to a couple of trees they secure their horses. They make their way into the castle following a set of hold steps leading in. Vines covered most of the walls, in the center of the room was a wooden block, an ax placed in the middle of it. Mae and Merlin began to look around nervously as Arthur headed toward the block, taking the ax out of it. "Now what?" he questions as he looks around for any sign of Morgause. Mae gulps, Merlin in a slightly sarcastic voice, "Maybe we should ask the horse." Arthur leers at Merlin.
Arthur swings the ax and places it back into the wooden block. Merlin chuckles nervously, "Well, there's no one here." Mae looks at Merlin with a bored look. Merlin shrugs and makes his way back down and stops suddenly hearing Morgause's voice. "You kept your promise" She states as she makes her way down a few steps from the opposite side of the room. Her hair curled, wearing a red and silver dress. Mae and Merlin look to Morgause with contempt. She makes her way toward Arthur, "What is the nature of the challenge you wish to set me?" She moves her hand and motions toward the block. "Place your head on the block." She takes the ax from it and waits for Arthur. "You gave me your word that you would do anything I asked." Merlin's eyes go wide as he walks quickly back up the stairs and toward Arthur, Mae begins to feel unsteady and walks beside Arthur, laying a hand on his shoulder. Arthur looks at her, Mae smiles softly and nods slightly. "Arthur, don't" Merlin pleads. Morgause and Arthur stare at one another, both studying each other. Arthur bites the inside of his lip and shifts his weight from one foot to another, looking down at the block. With conviction, he gets on to his knees and lays his head on it. Merlin shouts, "What are you doing? I won't let you do this!" Mae makes her way to Merlin and shakes her head, "It's alright Merlin. There's no need to worry." His forehead scrunches as he lips turn into a frown, his eyes pleading. Pleading her to put an end to this, he takes her hands into his. "Please, Mae." She shakes her head as Arthur shouts, "Stay out of this Merlin." Morgause takes the ax in hand and places it against his neck. Merlin lets out an exasperated breath, Mae holds hers as she watches.
Arthur clenches his jaw and breathes heavily through his nose, waiting. The ax begins to fall, tension filling the air. Suddenly she places the ax against the block and starts to walk away. "You have shown that you are truly a man of your word, Arthur Pendragon." Arthur scurries from his knees and breathes heavily. Merlin and Mae look at each other, feeling the tension leave their bodies. "And for that, I will grant you one wish." Arthur walks toward her, "Tell me what it is that your heart most desires." her lips turn into a smile. Arthur licks his lips and stares at her, "You said you knew my mother? Tell me all that you know about her." "Perhaps you would like to see her." Arthur's mouth opens slightly, his eyes focused on Morgause. "I want that more than anything." Morgause keeps her face neutral, "As you wish." Mae and Merlin look at her curiously and watches Arthur follow her.
They step outside and walk toward some pillars. Vines covering them just as it was inside the castle, grey clouds paint the sky. Morgause begins to light candles that have been set on some sort of table. Merlin watches from afar as Mae and Arthur stand beside one another waiting. Merlin walks toward them and whispers to Arthur, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Arthur leans in, "If you were granted the same opportunity, would you not want to meet your father?" Merlin looks away and sighs, "Uther won't forgive you if he finds out that you've collaborated with a sorcerer." Mae gives Merlin a look, telling him to step off. "What if my father's attitude toward magic is wrong?" Merlin's heart began to beat faster, what if Arthur doesn't agree with his father about magic. "You really think that?" He looks to Merlin, "Perhaps it's not as simple as he would have us believe. Morgause is a sorcerer. She has caused us no harm. Surely not everyone who practices magic can be evil." Merlin continued to be uneasy about the whole situation. "We don't actually know why she's doing this." Mae steps in, "Merlin is right. But, we need to see where this is going." Merlin gave Mae an are you kidding me look. Mae shrugs her shoulders. Morgause looks at the three, "It is time." She motions for both Mae and Arthur to stand near her. "Close your eyes" Both Mae and Arthur gulp and do as she says. Merlin steps backward away and watches Morgause closely. Morgause closes her eyes and then opens them to say the spell, "Aris mid min miclan mihte thin suna to helpe. Hider eft funda the on thyssum laenum life the gehldost waes." The wind seemed to pick up and then suddenly, everything was in slow motion. In front of them stood a beautiful woman with long blonde hair.
Mae holds back a choke as she sees her mother standing there. Just as beautiful as she was in the paintings that she has seen. "Arthur, Maelona." Their mother came close to them, grabbing their hands in hers. Arthur opens his eyes, and gasps under his breath. "Mother." She envelopes both of them, "My children. When I last held both of you, you were tiny babies." Her voice choking as she said the words. Tears form in their eyes and they smile to one another. "I remember your eyes, you both were staring up at me. Those few seconds I help both of you were the most precious of my life." Mae began to choke back her words, Arthur held Mae's hand and looks toward their mother. "I'm so sorry." Mae looks to Arthur, knowing he must feel responsible for her death. Tears in their mother's eyes, she smiled as she places a hand on Arthurs' cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry for." Arthur with his heart beating fastly in his chest and a knot in his throat. "It was our birth that caused you to die." Ygrain grabs onto Arthur, pleading with him. "No, you are not to blame." Arthur feeling all the dread in the world, "I cannot bear the thought that you died because of us." She grabs onto Arthur and Mae and holds them close to her, "Do not think that. It is your father who should carry the guilt for what happened." Arthur's face scrunches at her words. Mae closes her eyes, she knows what is coming next. The lies and deceit. "What do you mean?" Arthur sounding confused. Ygrain quickly says,"It is not important. What matters is that you both lived." Arthur still confused and a bit angry, "Why should our father feel guilty?" "It is better left in the past." "You cannot leave us with more questions. Please?" Our mother looks at us both with sad eyes, she looks away for a moment and then looks back. With an almost painful tone, "Your father, he was desperate for an heir. Without a son, the Pendragon dynasty would come to an end. But...I could not conceive." Arthur lowers his gaze, his eyelids shielding them, with heavy breathing "Then How were we born?" Ygrain takes a deep breath, her eyes lowered away from them. Arthur pleads, "Tell me." Ygrain's eyebrows from upwards and looks at the two. Mae looks deeply into her Mother's eyes, her mother began to speak. 'Your father betrayed me. He went to the sorceress Nimueh and asked for her help in conceiving a child. You both were born of magic." Arthur couldn't believe what he was hearing, he tried to make sense of it all.
Merlin watched from afar, wondering if anything this woman is saying is true. Merlin looked at Mae, She doesn't seem very surprised at the news. So it must be true. Arthur, on the other hand, was in such pain it was hard to watch. He wished that he didn't have to go through with this.
Arthur gulped and tried to defuse his thoughts, "That's not true." Ygrain tries to hold back her tears, "Your father has deceived you both, as he has deceived me. To create a life, a life must be taken. Your father knew that." Arthur shakes his head in defiance then quickly looks to Mae, Mae speaks up wondering, "Then I don't understand, who died for me?" Ygrain frowned. "I am not sure how it was that you were born Maelona. But I am so very much happy that you were. You both were there for each other. But your father did sacrifice my life so the Pendragon dynasty could continue. It makes you both no less my children nor me less proud of you both. Now that I see you both I would have given my life willingly." Arthur's and Mae's face are filled with pain at her words. Mae was not only in pain at her words but in pain for Arthur. Mae wishes she was telling the whole truth. Morgause had twisted her sweet words. She knew what would happen as soon as they had gone back to Camelot. He was going to try to kill their father. She would have to show him the truth. Would he hate her for keeping this a secret? Possibly, but in time she hoped that he would forgive her. Their mother continued, "Do not let this knowledge change you." And in an instant, the wind around them started to pick up again, and then she was gone. Arthur looks up and shouts "No, Bring her back." He looks to Morgause, "I cannot, once the doorway is closed it is closed forever. I am truly sorry that you both learned of your mother's fate in this way. I can only imagine discovering your father is responsible for her death. It is an unforgivable betrayal." Merlin and Mae watch Morgause leave. Arthur stood there stunned, but also a deep anger forming upon his face. "Are you both alright." Mae nods in Merlins direction. Feeling a frog stuck in her throat. "Arthur?" Arthur looks at Merlin, "Fetch the horses. We're returning to Camelot." Arthur quickly walks away, Mae sighs as Merlin places a hand on her shoulder. "Merlin, when we get back. It is not going to be delightful." Merlin felt his throat go dry, "What do you mean?" Mae looks at him with saddened eyes, "He's going to attack our father. I have to convince him not to." Mae placed her hand on top of his and slowly walked toward the direction that Arthur went. Merlin stood there with wide eyes.
They raced back home, the only stops they made were to water the horses and that was frequent. As they make it to the stone staircase, Arthur jumps from his horse. Mae quickly does the same. "Arthur wait!" Arthur with blind hatred did not stop, he quickly made his way to the council chambers in where their father sat. Mae raced toward him in hopes to catch him before he does something unforgivable. "Arthur Pendragon, you will stop this minute!" Mae booms toward him. His stops to look at his sister, sword already in hand. "You cannot possibly be okay with everything that mother said! It's all father fault!" Mae takes Arthur hand and holds it close to her. "Before you do something incredibly stupid. There is something I want to show you. And you will follow me." Mae glares into his eyes with anger that he had never seen before on her face. His anger did not almost see it, but with his hand, in hers, he gave in. He promptly sheaths his sword.
Merlin watched from afar as Arthur began to follow Mae. He hopes that whatever she shows him convinces him not to murder their father
"Where are you taking me, Mae?" Arthur could still not cool his temper. Who could blame him though? He just found out that his father used magic to help create him and Mae. "Just chill out for a second okay? Where almost there." Mae decided to lead him to the old wing of the castle toward where their mother spent her time. Her mother kept a journal of sorts that explained what had happened. "Alright, we are almost there." Arthur huffed and Mae sent him a death glare. That shut him up real fast. Mae stood in front of the door that leads into their mother's chambers. Mae took a deep breath and stood before Arthur, "Look, I found this before I was taken all those years ago, I never got a chance to tell you about it." Arthur narrowed his eyes at the door behind Mae. "It's mother's old chambers. She used to come here whenever she had a chance. She liked the alone time it gave her." Arthur cocked his head slightly, "How do you know?" Mae didn't answer and she led him through the door.
Arthur stepped through the door and look bewildered. This is where our mother used to go. Her bed stood away from the doorway and a few feet next to it was a vanity. A hairbrush and a trinket box slightly coated with dust sat on it. Mae let go of his hand and motioned him to sit on the bed. She walked toward a wardrobe on the opposite side, propped it open and took out what looks likes a small journal. She flipped through its pages until she found the page she was looking for. She made her way back to Arthur and sat next to him. Mae pointed to a passage, it read "It's been a few year since Uther and I had married. I am still not with child. Court is getting worried that I cannot conceive at all. I've had Gaius and Nimueh working on a potion that might help. But to no avail, nothing has worked. Nimueh had told both Uther and I about a spell that might help. Though she said it could have consequences. In order to bring a life, a life must be taken. It saddens me that I know what this means. Uther seems to think that it would be someone that we might not know. I fear what happens once our baby comes into the world."
Arthur sat and stared at the pages, he seemed to read it over and over again. Finally, he sets the journal down and walks over to the dusty window and peers through it. Watching the townspeople go about their lives. "I am indebted to you Mae, I had become confused. It is once again clear to me that those who practice magic are evil and dangerous and that is thanks to you."