Arthur felt a pair of loving arms embracing him. He relaxed into the hug and felt the other person lowering themselves so that they were kneeling down next to him.
"Mother?" he asked.
"It's Merlin." Arthur turned around to face his lover, who was looking at him with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong, Arthur? Why are you crying?"
"It's my mother's grave, Merlin."
The young sorcerer looked up and noticed the sepulchre surrounded by crystals. He felt Arthur's pain, but most importantly, he was hit by a wave of shock as the crystals all turned into images. He watched as he saw Camelot burn before his eyes, as he saw the Lady Morgana smiling cruelly, holding a beautiful dagger in her hand, her eyes glittering gold. He saw the image shift to that of Gwen, cowering beneath Morgana's gaze, and Sir Leon and the knights all starving in the dungeon. An image of Uther came onto the crystals. The king looked frightened and shocked; possibly on the borderline that distinguished sanity from madness. He watched as Uther's eyes shifted from blue to gold to blue again. And finally, his biggest fear was realised. Not only was he burning at the stake, smoke rising from beneath his feet, but he was forced to look at Arthur, who was kneeling beneath Morgana, who had a sword in her hand, ready to cut off Arthur's head. Merlin looked away and burst into angry tears.
"Merlin?" Arthur asked.
"No!"
"Merlin, what's wrong?"
"We are doomed!"
"What are you saying?"
"Those crystals...they have shown me the future, Arthur. I have seen the faces of the future. And it is not bright or good. We must never go back to Camelot!"
"What are you saying?"
"It is my burden to bear."
"Your burdens are my burdens," Arthur replied, drying his own eyes and standing up, pulling Merlin to his feet with him, "Share with me what you have seen. If Camelot is in trouble, I must not let it pass by without doing anything. Even if I am banished, my people have done nothing to deserve this desertion."
"I can't let you."
"What did you see?"
"It was horrible, Arthur..."
Arthur held the young sorcerer in his arms and pressed a kiss to his forehead. He caressed the thick black hair and waited until the sobs subsided. They both walked back the way they had come, and Arthur paused where he had seen the markings before.
"Can you read this?" he asked Merlin.
Merlin lifted his head to the wall. Arthur shone the torch's bright flame on the wall so that Merlin could read properly.
"Yes. This is my language...the language of my kind..."
Merlin read.
"In this cave lieth a wife and a mother much loved by her husband, much longed for by husband and son both. With her lies a promise to avenge. The use of magic shall be banished, and here I make my oath never to use it again.
The crystals are all here where she lieth, where no man may discover them. No more futures shall be told, for they have shown a falsehood. They showed me not her death. So now there shall be no more magic in the city of Camelot.
Here, on this wife's grave, this I do so swear.
Uther Pendragon"
"What...how?" Arthur asked.
"It was in the images, Arthur. I think your father has magic..."
"But...but he can't! I mean...if he did...surely...surely he wouldn't kill others like him. It would be hypocritical, not to mention a complete betrayal of his kind...your kind..."
"Magic wounded him, Arthur. It took away the person he loved the most."
"I did that. She died because of me."
"He traded her life for yours without knowing it...it was nobody's fault except perhaps the enchantress who performed the spell...Nimueh – I've met her before. I killed her."
"You killed her?"
"Yes. I gave up my life for you once before, Arthur. But my mother fell ill instead of me. Nimueh tricked me like she had your father – she took my mother's life even though I had offered her mine. So I was going to trade myself in for my mother, but Gaius went there before me. And I had to go and save him. So I killed her and all debts were settled."
"Oh...what does this mean, Merlin? All that we have read..."
"I...I think we should talk about what I saw in the crystals...it was unfair of me to think that I could keep it from you. It is your right to know."
"Let's go back home..." Arthur said.
"To Camelot?"
"To our little cave..."
Merlin nodded and followed the young Pendragon to the cave entrance, where the fire burned brightly still. They sat down on the floor and Merlin put the blanket around him, shuddering from the memory of the images he had just seen. He invited Arthur to join him, and the young prince did, cuddling up next to him.
"Are you hungry?"
"No," Merlin replied, "I couldn't possibly eat after all that I've just seen."
"And what is it that you have just seen, Merlin? You're frightening me!"
"You should be frightened...Morgana is a traitor, Arthur. She is going to take over Camelot using magic."
"Magic?"
"I've known she has magic for quite a while now...but I thought she was good."
"You kept this from me!"
"I was protecting my own people. You would have told Uther and he would have killed her!"
"You have a point...what is she going to do?"
"From what I could see, she held a dagger, so there will be a lot of bloodshed, and Camelot will burn too. Gwen will cower before Morgana's gaze, but she would surely give in – she was in no dungeon. The knights are all imprisoned. Your father is afraid, and his eyes flashed gold – he has magic; I saw it. But it doesn't save Camelot from its fate...it doesn't save us...you..." Merlin's voice broke at the last word and he burst into tears.
"Us? Merlin...what about us?"
"I shall burn at the stake..."
"No!"
"Yes...and you shall be beheaded. I can't let that happen to you. We cannot go back there!"
"If we go before it all starts, then maybe we can prevent it," Arthur said, "We can get Morgana out of Camelot before she can do any harm."
"Do you mean kill her?"
"No...tell her that she is in danger because of her magic and that we have found a safe place for her and then trap her in it using yourmagic."
"She has allies, Arthur…the druids are all on her side – I should know; I saved their lives when you were chasing her in that camp. Mordred…Mordred is bad news. I should have let him die."
"He was a child, Merlin. You knew no better!"
"I did…the dragon told me…he told me that Mordred and Morgana would ally for evil one day. But I was too righteous to do that. I hate myself now for this doom that hangs upon us. Why can't things just be good and stay good for once?"
"We can always stay here and prevent anything from happening to us if you're frightened."
"Arthur, do you think I don't know you enough by now to know that you would never forgive yourself if you let Camelot fall?"
Arthur glanced at Merlin. He knew the young sorcerer was right. He put his arm around him and held him closer, kissing the top of his head. There must be something they could do. Arthur thought about different ways that they could handle this, but their thoughts were interrupted by a large mass of distant screams. They stood up, Arthur grabbed his sword and Merlin mumbled a few words to remove the barrier before they ran out into the forest and out of the Valley of the Fallen Kings.
And right before their eyes, they watched from afar as Camelot's fire started to spread.
"It's begun," Merlin said.
"Saddle the horse, Merlin," Arthur replied, sticking his sword into his belt, "We ride for Camelot now."
