"What are you doing here?" Merlin asked suspiciously. He knew Mordred couldn't be trusted. He was Arthur's bane after all.
"You don't have to do everything on your own, you know," Mordred said softly. He was looking right at Merlin. He tried to tell Merlin that they both wanted the same thing. They wanted to keep Arthur safe and not be judged by their abilities. He couldn't exactly say that out loud, but he tried to imply it. "You can trust me."
"I know that," Arthur said. "We were just trying to be discrete."
Merlin couldn't help but chuckle at the confused look Mordred shot towards Arthur. Mordred hadn't been a knight long enough to realize how egotistical Arthur can be. While Mordred had clearly been talking to Merlin, clearly been trying to earn Merlin's trust, Arthur was in his own world and assumed Mordred was talking to him.
"What's so funny Merlin?" Arthur asked.
"Nothing," Merlin quickly lied. He put down his bags and considered Mordred. He tried to make his decision.
Mordred was Arthur's bane. He was told this. He knew it to be true. That's why Merlin was trying to keep Mordred away from Arthur. Merlin was getting ready to prepare an argument for Arthur as to why Mordred shouldn't stay. He would play on Mordred's youth and his inexperience. He had to fulfill his destiny. He had to prevent the future.
Merlin felt his heart pound as he remembered a very different time when he thought exactly that. He sought to prevent the unthinkable future. The circumstances were entirely different and it was a long, long time ago. The only thing that was similar was that he tried to prevent the future. And in doing so, he caused it.
He as remembering when Arthur had gotten a dagger for Morgana. Merlin had been so relieved that it wasn't the dagger he had seen in the future that he had teased Arthur for not getting Morgana something prettier. While Merlin didn't realize it at the time, Arthur had taken his advice seriously. But instead of getting her a pretty dress or some jewelry, Arthur got her a prettier dagger. The same dagger Merlin had seen Morgana use to kill Uther in the vision.
Merlin slowly realized that it was his attempt at preventing the future occur that caused that exact future to occur.
If Merlin hadn't interfered, Morgana would have gotten that little dagger Arthur initially got her. She wouldn't have been standing over Uther's bed, ready to kill him when Merlin got there just in time.
Could that happen here? Could it be Merlin pushing Mordred away that caused Mordred to become the man that would kill Arthur.
Because, if truth be told, Merlin didn't see that in Mordred. He didn't see hatred for the king. All he saw was the legitimate need to be accepted. An acceptance that Merlin also longed for.
But at the same time, it was Mordred's destiny to kill Arthur. Destinies don't change. If it isn't Merlin's doing, something else will surely turn Mordred's allegiance. If Merlin sits around to do nothing, Mordred would just get closer to the king. It would give him more opportunity to harm Arthur.
It could also make it more difficult for him to kill Arthur. The closer they become, the more Mordred might come to think of Arthur as his friend. Mordred's destiny can't change, but that doesn't mean it had to be fulfilled.
Merlin had to withhold his sigh. How can such a grave decision be forced onto one person? He had to choose between life and death, but he didn't know which choice was which.
He wished that he could have help, could know for sure that interfering would more certainly cause the future. But he was the only one that has tampered with the future as far as he knows.
It took another moment to realize that wasn't true. He didn't think of this at first, because the outcome was one that he was pleased with. But now that he thought about it, he could remember with startling clarity the steps Morgana had taken to prevent a future she had seen.
She tried to prevent Gwen from becoming Queen. But it was her that planted the seed in both Arthur and Gwen that there was hope for them. If it weren't for her, Arthur and Gwen would never have gone on their secret – not so secret – outing. They may have never realized the full extent of their feelings for one another. They may have continued loving one another from afar.
Merlin truly believed this. He had never seen Arthur as desperate as when he thought Gwen was going to be burned at stake. It changed him. Arthur got a brief glimpse at a future without Gwen and decided he wanted nothing to do with it. That was the moment when he subconsciously realized he needed Gwen in his life. That was all thanks to Morgana. She had ensured that the future she had dreaded, happened.
It was with that knowledge in mind that Merlin made the most difficult decision since he came to Camelot.
Merlin took a deep breath. "I would be grateful for your help," he said to Mordred.
Reviews are welcome!