Uther came running over and forcefully yanked Merlin to his feet. "What do you think you are doing?"
Merlin looked up at the king. "I don't know, sire, I honestly don't know what's happening to me."
Uther rolled his eyes and called the executioner over. "Do it again." He turned to Merlin. "And no more of your tricks!"
Merlin sighed and followed the executioner. Laying his head on the block a second time, he took in a breath and waited for the pain.
Uther watched with satisfaction as Merlin's severed head fell to the floor with a dull thud. The courtyard was silent, but as he watched Merlin's decapitated body began to move towards the head. Before his eyes the head connected to the body and instantly began to meld together as the veins, muscle and flesh regrew and rejoined. Merlin lay silent for a few seconds, before his eyes snapped open and he began to scream.
Merlin sat cross-legged in the dungeons, contemplating what the execution events had meant. He felt around the base of his neck, felt a raised scar and shuddered.
"Merlin?"
Merlin looked up to see Arthur leaning against the bars of the door and moved over to sit by it. "Arthur."
"You know father is going to try to get rid of you in any way possible." Arthur paused,"it's best you leave. I can let you go, leave you a horse and cover you up, say you escaped or something."
"No, I won't leave you" Merlin sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen. I'm so confused."
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I died, but I was sucked back to life again. Oh, Arthur, the pain. It hurt so much."
"What does it mean?"
"How am I supposed to know? I've died too many times? I have no idea."
Arthur sat down and snaked his arm through the grille and took Merlin's hand. "I won't let him hurt you."
The comment took Merlin off guard, but it touched his heart. "I know."
Arthur stood up and leant against the metal door. "I have to go."
"I know, training" They both said 'training'at the same time and laughed. Arthur, without thinking about it, leant forward and pressed his lips to Merlin's through the grille, the cold metal pressing against his face. They broke apart and stared into eachother's eyes for a minute, before Arthur turned his back and ascended the staircase, heart thumping inside his chest and thoughts rushing through his mind.
Merlin slid down the wall to sit on the floor, thoughts rushing around his head in a dizzying way and heart beating a mile a minute beneath his rib cage. He felt slightly elated, but also confused. He had wanted that for so long, but the way Arthur turned away suggested he didn't. He sighed and shut his eyes, the questions would have to be answered another day.
"Merlin?" The familiar voce of Thomas broke his thoughts.
Merlin looked up to see the ghost lounging in mid air. "Oh, hello Thomas."
"You sound cheerful."
"No reason to be."
"I say, what's got up your arse?"
"You know what's wrong; I don't need to tell you."
"Oh…It's the prince, isn't it?" The ghost drifted across and sat cross-legged next to him, floating as close to the ground as he could get.
Merlin nodded. "Mmmm"
"He kissed you, didn't he."
Merlin nodded again. "Yeah."
"Then why are you so sad?"
"Because of Uther. You know he hates magic. He gave me a chance, and I blew it. Now he's trying to get rid of me. I can't be in Camelot."
"I said it was a bad idea."
"I don't need any of your 'I told you so', I know! I don't know what's going to happen now, something bad probably."
"Hey, cheer up, there's a silver lining in every cloud and all that nonsense." Thomas pulled a face and Merlin couldn't help but smile. "There you go, see? That wasn't hard, was it?"
Merlin dropped the smile and feigned a deadly serious look. "It was incredibly difficult." They both burst into fits of laughter, much to the bemusement of the guard who had taken up his post outside.
Dawn broke over Camelot and Merlin stirred. Sitting up, he yawned and rubbed sleep from his eyes. In the corner, a stale looking lump of bread had been left with a wooden cup of water. Merlin got to his feet and shuffled over, quenching his thirst with the water. He left the bread; it wasn't worth the effort of eating. He curled up again in his 'nest' of hay that had been laid on the floor, and returned to a light and uncomfortable half sleep.
Arthur couldn't concentrate. As he swung his sword round, it clashed with his partner's skilful block. He brought it back round, but didn't have the usual eagerness and quick-footedness he usually possessed during training. He kept finding his eyes drawn towards the courtyard, where he knew Uther was going to have a second try at executing Merlin.
"Arthur, are you okay?" A hand on his back roused Arthur from his thoughts.
Arthur looked up to see Sir Leon, a worried expression on his face as he studied the prince. "…No, it's just….I don't feel well."
"It's Merlin, isn't it?"
Arthur shook his head. "There's nothing I can do about him." He sighed. "I'm going to go and see Gaius." He gave the fellow knight a weak smile and left the training ground, scything half heartedly at the air with his sword as he went. He didn't know why he had denied the fact that Merlin was in his thoughts, leaking into his mind like water through fabric.
That evening, Merlin was led from the dungeon into the courtyard, already knowing what to expect. In the centre, a large pyre had been built out of drywood and hay. Merlin was quickly bound to a crosslike 'centre piece' and then raised up against the rest of the structure. In the dying light of the day, the fire glowed brightly, licking and consuming the hay in a matter of minutes. Soon the flames had reached Merlin, and the pain had taken hold. Merlin resisted the urge to scream, refusing to give the king that satisfaction.
Soon, the pyre had completely burnt out. The reminants gently lay, smouldering on the cold stone floor. The only traces of the warlock were the charred bones that lay among the embers, and the acrid, sickening smell of burnt flesh that hung in the air.
Uther surveyed the scene, feeling confident that the magic had been dealt with. It must have been, the magician's body had been destroyed, and there was no way it could return.
To Uther's surprise and shock, the charred bones had begun to move. Slowly, they slid across the stones, found eachother and began to fuse together. They began to whiten and grow and more bones formed, rapidly becoming the familiar skeletal shape. To Uther's absolute disgust, New muscle began to grow, and spread across the bones, rapidly covering them over with red flesh, and on top of them veins began to surface, and in the chest a rhythmic thumping began as a heart regrew, sending blood rushing through the new veins. Skin began to meld across the flesh, fresh and new. When the process was over, Merlin was laying still on the stone ground, glowing eerily in the silver moonlight, chest rising and falling slowly. He took a moment to come to, and then began to scream.