ProcrastinationIsMyCrime: Thank you so much! No much to keep coming, only a chapter left, though! ;)

Bubzchoc: Your wish is my command ;) Thanks!

A/N: Only the epilogue to go, I'm so sad!

CHAPTER 21

"Well, you have me where you wanted" Arthur said as soon as he noticed how Morgana had taken him to the throne room. "Do whatever you want with me and let's finish with this"

"And miss all the fun? No way, dear brother. I want you to see how your kingdom falls. I want you to see how they kneel in front of their queen" Morgana said, her voice so full of venom that Arthur wondered when had she become such a resentful person.

"You already tried to be queen once, Morgana, and nobody in this kingdom supported you. What's going to be different this time?"

"This time I won't make the mistake of taking the throne while you're still alive, while they still have something they feel the need to be loyal to. But I intend to kill you right before their eyes. If you're not alive anymore, and given you don't have an heir, and you would never have it with this boy anyway, I'll be the only one with rights to the crown, won' not? I am a Pendragon, after all. Even you can see that, as will the rest of the kingdom. They won't have other choice than to recognize me as their queen"

"Do you really think you will get away with this, Morgana? Even if you kill me, my men will never accept you as their queen"

"Well, that can be easily changed, seeing as I can make them with my magic, can't it? When I'm finished with their minds, even your pretty little lover will be swearing his allegiance to me"

"You won't touch him!" Arthur shouted, moved by an irrational anger in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Merlin being threatened. In a quick movement he got his sword from his belt and pointed it at Morgana, but she reacted just in time and with only a flick of her hand he sent him flying towards the wall, which his head hit with force. Stunned, he could only let himself slid to the floor, willing himself to stay conscious as he noticed some blood dripping down the side of his face.

"I'm the queen now, dear brother, you will show me some respect!" Morgana ordered him, as she grabbed him by the neck and forced him to stand up.

"You can kill me now, Morgana, for I will never bow to you"

"You arrogant fool!" she angrily spat at him. "But worry not. I will kill you. If you're so willing to die, I will grant you this last wish immediately"

Morgana let go of him, but the pressure on his neck didn't diminish one bit. All the contrary: his breathing was being compromised, he was starting to choke from a pressure in his throat he could not understand. He managed to raise his eyes towards the sorceress, and he noticed she had her arm stretched towards him, her fingers closed in a fist that she kept closing more and more strongly. He wouldn't resist much longer: he was already feeling lightheaded and white spots had appeared right in front of his eyes. What hurt him the most, though, was the thought that the last thing he saw before he died wouldn't be the person he loved the most in the world, but the wicked grin on Morgana's face that indicated how much was she enjoying this.

Just then the door broke open and Merlin ran into the room. For an instant, Morgana must have been surprised, as Arthur was allowed to take a rush of air before the pressure on his throat intensified once again, once she had regained control.

"Merlin, I should have known you wouldn't let us enjoy this party on our own" Morgana spoke, only slightly irritated at their interruption.

"Arthur!" Merlin shouted as he saw the man he loved being pressed against the wall by an invisible force, blood dripping down his face and clearly chocking. "Let him go right now, Morgana"

"Or what?" Morgana asked with a laugh. "Are you going to stop me?"

"Yes" Merlin answered, surprisingly confident. "I'm warning you"

"You cannot stop me" Morgana answered in disdain, and with a flick of her hand the pressure on Arthur's throat intensified, eliciting a gaggling sound of him that scared and angered Merlin in equal parts.

"Stop it!" Merlin yelled at the top of his lungs, and his hand threw a spell at Morgana that made her fly across the room before she even realised what was happening.

The grip around Arthur's grip was immediately gone and he slid down the wall until he was practically lying on the floor, coughing and gasping for air. Merlin ran and knelt next to him in a heartbeat and he helped him to sit up with tender hands on the King's back, meant to comfort as well as support him until he regained his breath.

"Arthur" Merlin whispered, his voice full of worry and caring, "are you alright?"

Arthur only nodded, still unable to find his voice, and grabbed Merlin's hand in a strong grip, wanting to feel Merlin's strength, and Merlin responded by depositing a tender kiss on the top of Arthur's head.

"Isn't that sweet?" Morgana suddenly said, making both of them jump in surprise, as they had thought she would be unconscious at the least. "So I guess your hidden love for each other wasn't the only secret you were keeping. Was it, Merlin?"

"You can see it wasn't" Merlin answered cheekily, as he stood up to confront her again. He wasn't scared of her, and he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever was necessary to protect Arthur. Anything.

"And did you know?" Morgana asked his brother.

"Yes" Arthur answered.

"And he is alright with it" Merlin couldn't help himself from adding, proud as he was of Arthur and the change he had made towards magic.

"Oh, I'm sure he is. Maybe the fact you're his lover had anything to do with it" Morgana sarcastically replied.

"It's not only that. Arthur understands magic now"

"Now does he?"

"He is not Uther"

"It doesn't change anything. You've played your cards well, Merlin. Or should I call you Emrys?" Morgana asked, a cruel smirk plastered on her face. "All this time I knew there was something strange in you, something I couldn't figure out, but I never imagined you were like me"

"I have magic, Morgana, but I was never like you, and never will be" Merlin answered, eliciting a chuckle from the enchantress.

"Oh, so the almighty Arthur Pendragon has passed on you that feeling of superiority, then. You're as arrogant as he is. You think you're better than me"

"It's not a matter of being better, Morgana. This is just about the choices we make. And I won't let you get away with any of them" Merlin promised, confidently.

"I never had a choice. I was hated just because of who I was" Morgana explained, and something in her words made Arthur feel some sympathy for her.

"You can choose now, Morgana" Arthur unexpectedly spoke, surprising both Merlin and Morgana. "Things are very different now"

"A little too late for that, isn't it, dear brother?"

"No, it isn't. We can still fix this. We can still be brother and sister, like we once were even if we didn't know"

"Really?" Morgana asked in a hopeful whisper, surprised. "Would you really let me come back to Camelot as your sister?"

"Yes" Arthur answered, making a big effort to get off the ground to which Merlin quickly assisted him and didn't let go of him until he was sure Arthur could stand on his own. "You'll always be welcome in Camelot if you stop all this"

"And you'll forget about all my crimes?" Morgana asked, her eyes full of hope.

"Yes" Arthur quickly answered without the tinniest of doubts.

"That would be… wonderful" Morgana answered, her lips breaking into a smile that quickly turned into a wicked smirk once again. "If it wasn't for the fact I still hate you, Arthur, and I still want to be queen"

Arthur's shoulder sagged in disappointment. For a second, he had really thought Morgana, his sister, would come back to him and they would be able to put all that behind them. It was very hard for him to accept how much Morgana hated him.

Merlin felt bad for the emotions he could read in Arthur's face and body language, but he was more worried about the thread Morgana still represented, so he unconsciously walked a step forwards and put himself between the two siblings, trying to protect Arthur from the madness of Morgana, now they had seen there was no turning back.

"None of your sweet words are going to change anything now. I'm a high priestess, and not even you can stop me, Emrys. You will die at my hands too" Morgana announced, readying herself to attack on Merlin, knowing he was the biggest threat right now.

"No!" Arthur shouted, moving to stand beside Merlin instead of behind him. "You promised not to hurt him if I followed you"

"Are you really that naive, little brother? I'll do whatever I have to do to take what is mine" Morgana answered with a laugh.

"You take it, the throne is yours, just... let him go" Arthur pleaded, pointedly pushing Merlin towards the door.

"Arthur, don't" Merlin rebelled, not moving an inch from where he was standing.

"Yeah, I let you both go and you will never try to regain your throne back, I'm sure of that" Morgana sarcastically replied.

"I didn't ask you to spare me. Just... him. With me gone you'll have free access to the throne, and not even Merlin can't stop that, you said so yourself. Please" Arthur honestly pleaded.

"Arthur, what are you talking about? I won't let you do this" Merlin insisted, grabbing Arthur's shoulders to shake him into reason.

"Yes, you will"

"I'm not going without you"

"You will do as I say"

"I will fight for you"

"No, you won't. You promised"

"I don't care" Merlin answered, shaking his head to reinforce his words. He had never broken a promise to Arthur before, but he was going to do so now if that meant saving his life.

"Enough of that! I want you both dead!" Morgana shouted, and she quickly threw a spell at Merlin. What she hadn't counted on was that Arthur was an expert and quick fighter, and his reflexes were so fast he was able to jump on Merlin and get him out of the path of the spell just in time. He wasn't that lucky, though, and the spell still hit him. As he was moving, it only touched him in the shoulder, but it was still enough to hurt and make him fall half on top of Merlin.

"Arthur!" Merlin shouted as he manoeuvred Arthur's upper body on his lap, terrified the impact would have been fatal, but he was thankfully rewarded with a painful grunt and Arthur's open eyes looking at him, still alert.

"I never thought I'd see the day Arthur would stop being the selfish prat he's always been" Morgana joked, and Merlin couldn't stand it anymore: she had just almost killed Arthur, and she was still joking about it. Merlin knew it was now or never, he knew that as long as Morgana was alive, Arthur would always be in danger. And he couldn't stand it anymore.

In a quick movement he extricated himself from under Arthur's body and grabbed the sword still lying next to them and pointed it at Morgana, but he was surprised to hear her laughing.

"I'm a high priestess, no mortal blade can kill me" she laughed, but her grin suddenly left her face when Merlin strongly embedded Arthur's sword in her body.

"This is no mortal blade. It was forged on a dragon's breath" Merlin replied, satisfied, and he twisted the blade before pulling it out to make sure she wouldn't survive the attack. "Goodbye, Morgana"

"Arthur..." Morgana pitifully whispered just before life went out of her eyes and her body fell with a resounding thud on the floor.

Merlin breathed deeply a couple of times, trying to come to terms with what he had just done. He did not regret it in the least: he reasonably knew there was no other way to stop her, and he was only fighting to save his loved one and the kingdom they were supposed to rule together. However, killing someone he had known and cared about in the past hadn't been easy.

A distressed sob behind him took Merlin out of his stupor, and we he turned around he was appalled to discover the pain and the tears that were filling the King's eyes. Merlin's heart started racing in panic, afraid he had done the one thing Arthur would never forgive him for.

"Arthur..." he whispered, but Arthur ignored him as he crawled towards Morgana as well as he could due to his weakened state and sat beside her. Silently he picked her upper body and embraced it against his own chest, unable to contain his sobs.

"Arthur, she was going to kill you, I had to do it" Merlin tried to apologize, confused at Arthur's reaction.

"Merlin" Arthur spoke between sobs.

"You know we couldn't just arrest her, she would have found her way out" Merlin insisted.

"Merlin" Arthur insisted, but the warlock was far too worried about Arthur's unexpected reaction to listen.

"There was no other way to stop her, I couldn't let her keep hurting you like this"

"Merlin, I know" Arthur answered, lifting his face to look at his betrothed and to reassure him he understood. "You had to do it, there was no other way"

"You... you understand?" Merlin dared to ask.

"Of course. There was no way she was going to be who she had once been. We could have never brought her back, and the lives of all the citizens of Camelot were at risk as long as she lived"

"Especially yours"

"Yes, especially mine. I know you did it for me, Merlin. Don't feel guilty, please. It was the only thing you could do" Arthur explained, once again breakings into tears.

"Then... what's wrong, Arthur?"

"I just need to mourn my sister. The real Morgana, buried under all this hate and madness. The one I grew up with and whom I loved so much. You understand, right?"

"Of course I understand, Arthur" Merlin replied, kneeling next to the king to put his arms around him in a comforting embrace, placing a gentle kiss to the side of his neck. "We'll remember her as the sister she once was to you"

Merlin patiently held Arthur as he sobbed for his lost sister, the only family he had left now their father was dead. Merlin felt somehow relieved they were never going to have to fear Morgana again, but he understood Arthur's pain and wished he could share it with him.

"Come on, Arthur" Merlin gently encouraged Arthur to move. "We should go and have a look at your injuries"

"You're right" Arthur agreed with Merlin, and turned to look at the woman in his arms one last time. "Goodbye, my sister" Arthur whispered before he rested a kiss on her forehead, and then he finally let go of her and let himself be helped on his feet and away from the last member of his disgraced family.

With an infinite sadness in his heart, Arthur tried to focus at the warm arms around him, the ones that had always provided so much comfort and love. As much as he had lost, he tried to think in everything that would blossom in his life without Morgana's thread: they would finally have peace in Camelot and he would get to share it with the love of his life.

"Arthur!" A scared voice took the couple out of his stupor, and they noticed how Leon and their other friends had come to their encounter. "Are you alright?"

Arthur lifted his head from Merlin's shoulder and nodded unconvincingly. The fact he didn't even try to hide his tears from the knights told Merlin about how bad he was hurting, and he decided to speak on his behalf.

"He's alright, boys" Merlin assured them, warmly squeezing Arthur's body in silent understanding.

"But he's bleeding, and he looks kind of battered" Leon insisted, worried for his friend and his obviously troubled state.

"It's nothing" Arthur finally found his voice, letting himself be gently pushed to the door.

"Nothing a little bit of caring won't cure" Merlin added, making sure Arthur understood he was not going to let it go until he had made sure none of his injuries were serious. Nor that he expected Arthur to push him away from his side at a time like this, though.

"Is Morgana...?" Gwaine started, once Arthur and Merlin had moved and were not blocking his view of the priestess's dead body, but Merlin didn't let him finish.

"Yes" he interrupted, his arms squeezing Arthur's body against his chest even more strongly.

"We'll get rid of her" Elyan offered, feeling it was what their King and friend would want.

"No!" Arthur answered, a little more forcefully that he had intended.

"No?"

"No, please. I just..." Arthur tried to explain, but he didn't seem to be able to find the right words.

"Could you take care of her? For a proper funeral?" Merlin intervened.

"A funeral?" Percival exclaimed, surprised.

"Yes. The funeral Arthur's sister deserves" Merlin explained, hoping they would understand without having to give more explanations in front of Arthur, when his pain was just too recent and obvious.

"But sire..." Percival insisted.

"Of course, Arthur. We'll arrange it" Leon interrupted, immediately understanding the pain in his friend's heart. He had seen the siblings grow together, after all, and even he could find some place in his heart for a bit of compassion for who Morgana had once been.

"Thank you, Leon" Arthur sincerely thanked his best friend.

"Whatever you need, Arthur"

"I'll get this one to his room now to take care of him" Merlin said with a little smile as the knights moved to let them pass, all of them making sure to establish some kind of physical contact with Arthur –a pat in the arm, a caring hand on his shoulder– as an offer of comfort.

"What happened with the battle?" Arthur suddenly asked just before they were out of the room, suddenly remembering about what had taken them there.

"All taken care of. Without Morgana, they were no match for us. Essetir will not bother us again for a long time" Leon promised, knowing it was exactly with his friend needed to hear in a moment like that.

"Good. At least some good has come out of all this nightmare" Arthur said, apparently lost in his own thoughts, but he immediately remembered his position as a king. "If there are any prisoners, just let them go. I want to end with all this as soon as possible"

"We'll release them immediately, sire"

"Thank you" Arthur felt honestly grateful towards his knights, knowing they could count on them for anything and they wouldn't let him down.

He finally let himself be taken along the corridor by loving arms around his body, suddenly feeling the need of hiding in his room and away from anything and anyone for days. From anyone, except Merlin, of course. If he had anything to say in this, Merlin would hide away with him for all eternity and he wouldn't need anything else.

"Thank you" Arthur suddenly said in a soft voice.

"For what?" Merlin asked, surprised, looking at his lover straight in the eye.

"For loving me" Arthur answered in all honesty, taking a halt on their walk to fall in Merlin's full embrace, letting himself be engulfed in Merlin's love and understanding.

"You don't have to thank me for that" Merlin whispered in Arthur's ear, his hand establishing a rhythm through the hair that fall in the back of Arthur's neck. "It's not like I can help it" he joked.

"I'm glad. You're all I've got now, Merlin"

"As honoured as I am to hear you say that, I'm not"

"No?"

"No. You've got friends, very good friends, and a lot of people that love you. You know you're like a son to Gaius. And there's Leon, and the rest of the knights. And your people love you too, Arthur. You'll never be alone" Merlin explained, placing a gentle kiss just above Arthur's ear to reinforce his words.

"You're right" Arthur admitted with a little smile. "I should be grateful for all these wonderful people around me"

"You should"

"You're still the centre of my life, though" Arthur joked, getting them both walking towards his chambers again.

"I hope so" Merlin chuckled as he planted another kiss on Arthur's cheek, eliciting a small smile out of him. They had suffered a lot, and they had lost a lot. But they still got each other, and their love feeling stronger than ever. And that was enough for them.