Hello everyone!

So, first things first, I really want to thanl my Beta because she truly had been stellar with all those corrections she made!

Oh and also... She was confused about the tenses in this one shot and well... I'm sorry about that. This was me trying to remember my english lessons.

Anyway, I just wanted say that I really had the crapiest day EVER so I'm just happy to be there and post this chapter and I hope your reviews will brighten my day (because I'll definitely need that those days as I feel I might want to cry all day... But I'll be fine, right. I'm always fine).

And to finish I'll just say thank you to the person (can't remember who sorry :/) who told me she was writing on her blackberry because know I'm doing that and this is AWESOME ! Now I can really write everywhere discreetly !

Oh and, I hope you'll like this chapter.

I'm not quite sure you will however.

See you soon!

Prompt by: star that shines on angels win
I want merlin to burn at the stake! 0_ PWEASE!

Burning

If asked Merlin wouldn't have been able to say exactly how his day had gone from the relatively uneventful one of Prince Arthur's manservant to the one of a prisoner condemned to death.

The day had begun just like any other. Waking Arthur with some cheery good morning and a throwing open of the curtains. Choosing some clothing for the prince while listening to him complain about the food - how is one sausage supposed to be enough for a future King like me, Merlin? - before following said future King to an early council session.

And that was when things had begun to get tricky.

Well, maybe not at the beginning. It had just been another boring meeting between stuffy old lords discussing some matter or others and so Merlin had quickly let his mind wander, gaze lost in the sky.

He had just been about to let a probably far too audible sigh out when suddenly the doors had been blasted opened and a young man entered, eyes still blazing with power.

Part of Merlin had sighed - this day had really been too uneventful, of course it wouldn't last, he should have known - while he had tried to find a spot to hide.

He hadn't had any more time to think about it, let alone star moving, before the unknown sorcerer blasted everyone on the ground keeping them there with his magic.

Fortunately for him, Merlin's magic had reacted without a conscious, cushioning his fall and, keeping him from being frozen on the spot. However, he had forced himself to stay still as it would probably his only way to protect the prince unnoticed.

During that time, the sorcerer had begun one of the usual you-killed-my-entire-family rants that Merlin frankly didn't listen to anymore as he waited for the right moment to make one of the room's many chandeliers fall on him.

It turned out that he had waited for a few seconds too many as at the same moment Merlin had begun chanting his spell the sorcerer's eyes had burned gold again and a dagger had been sent flying towards Arthur.

Merlin had only been able to lie powerless on the floor as it had embedded itself tight up to its hilt in the other man's' chest,

A fraction of a second later and the candelabra had fallen on the sorcerer's head, knocking him down.

But it had been too late.

Merlin hadn't waited to see whether the sorcerer was unconscious or even dead, he had already been up and at Arthur's' side, not even noticing that everyone else had still been paralyzed.

"Arthur!" He had cried out, falling to his knees, hands already pressing to the wound.

Arthur had opened his mouth to talk but he hadn't been able to; he could only just breathe, his lungs constricted by blood and the embedded blade.

Merlin had panicked. He hadn't even known what to do. Well, no, that wasn't exactly true, he had known the solution but it was almost more terrifying than what had been happening under his own hands.

But hadn't it really been any choice to make? Not really.

He had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath to calm his nerves before focusing on his magic.

A few seconds later and he had opened his eyes again, irises burning bright gold as healing magic left him.

Distantly he had heard gasps and a few fearful cries of "sorcerer" echoing through the hall but he had been too focused on his prince to acknowledge them.

It had been tricky and long but after several never-ending minutes, when Arthur had taken a deep breath beneath him, he knew it had worked.

Merlin's heart had soared with relief but it had been short lived as almost immediately after that he was roughly grabbed by two guards who took him away from the awakening Prince to make him kneel a few paces away, a sword held against his back.

He had watched, his heart pounding against his ribcage, as Uther stalked angrily towards him.

"You're a sorcerer!" He had immediately yelled, disgust and hatred clearly shining in his tone. "You betrayed the crown with your evil arts! Therefore I sentenced you to death. You will be burned at the stake tomorrow. Guards, take him away from me and lock him the dungeons. Don't let anyone see him!"

Merlin had wanted to protest, to somehow defend himself but shock had frozen him on the spot. It had felt as if his life was falling apart right in front of his eyes without him being able to do anything to stop it.

He had been hauled to his feet by the guards who had had painful grips on his arms and his eyes had fallen on Arthur. And the hurt, confused and almost fearful look in the prince's eyes had been like a dagger through his heart.

Something in him had shattered at that and the fight had bled out of him leaving him numb as he let himself be led through the well-known corridors of Camelot's Citadel.

He had seen servants point at him and whisper but even that hadn't touched him anymore.

Arthur hated him now.

Arthur even feared him.

They had arrived in the dungeons and the Guards had led him to the furthest, darkest cell and, putting heavy, cold shackles around his wrists, unceremoniously thrown him in.

So that was how Merlin found himself sitting on the cold, humid floor, mind and body numb as he tried to understand how everything had turned so bad, so quickly.

I'm going to die in a few hours.

Strangely enough he didn't feel scared.

Not yet.

He couldn't think of anything but Arthur's look.

Even if he had somehow expected it, in all the thousands of scenarios he had imagined up about Arthur's reaction to his secret, fear and hurt had been there most of the time but seeing it for real was so much worse.

And there was no way he could explain himself to his former friend.

I'm going to be burnt at the stake in a few hours.

He suddenly thought about Gaius. Had the old man been told of what had happened already? Was he being questioned right now? Was he about to be sent to his death too? For harboring a sorcerer, a traitor?

And now he felt afraid, fear for his father figure making its way to his heart violently, shaking the numbness away.

No, this couldn't be.

Gaius would be safe. He had to be. He was a trusted member of the court. He would just have to lie, say he hadn't known.

He could do it.

And what about Gwen?

What was she going to think of him now? Would she now be scared of him too?

Depression began to steadily make its way through his mind, battling with the fear, making him wish he could go back to the state of numb shock.

And, suddenly, thoughts of his mother entered his mind.

Would Uther go all the way to Ealdor to punish her?

Who would tell her?

He realized he had failed her.

And now he felt so guilty.

The pain he would cause her just because of his foolishness and his oh so stupid destiny! She didn't deserve that! He had promised her that he would be careful. Promised her that he would not get killed!

Who would take care of her now that he wouldn't be there?

Oh god, I'm going to die in a few hours.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he could escape if he wanted to. Nothing was binding his magic. But he also knew he could never do that.

Escaping would mean living a life always on the run, always afraid, always endangering the people who would help him and the people he cared about in Camelot.

He couldn't risk that.

So he waited and waited for an atrociously long time. Thoughts after thoughts chased around his head, pushing him deeper and deeper into a panicked haze. Things he had wanted to say, things he should have done differently, so many things he still wanted to do, things he still wanted to learn.

And as time went on, he became more and more agitated.

He didn't want to die.

He didn't want to burn.

He wished he could see his mother one last time.

And Gaius.

And Gwen.

And Arthur.

Oh, how he wished he could at least say sorry to the prince. Sorry for having lied to him for so long.

Sorry for abandoning him.

He heard footsteps echoing down the corridor and he knew the Guards were coming for him.

It is time. I'm going to die.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He knew his friends would be watching the execution and he didn't want to show them how absolutely terrified he was.

Burning at the stake had always been his worst fear and now it was a reality.

I'm going to be burned at the stake.

Two nameless guards pulled him up and began steering him away from his cell.

And there, he tried to struggle, he knew he was stupid but he couldn't stop himself.

I don't want to die!

He was rewarded by a strong punch in his gut that left him panting and unable to do anything else but follow the guards.

He only got his breath back when they finally reached the courtyard.

The sun momentarily blinded Merlin but when was able to see again, the first thing he saw was a pyre surrounding by a small crowd of people.

He shivered, panic rising, and fought to keep his breath under some measure of control. His heart beated in his temples.

As if anticipating his need to try and escape, the guards squeezed his arms painfully, making him wince.

Merlin dropped his gaze to the ground as he was forced to walk through the parting crowd.

He could here all sorts of whispers above the sounds of the execution drums.

It seemed that not everyone had head of what had happened in the council room for once.

He couldn't work out if not everyone knowing he was a sorcerer was a comfort or not.

Far too soon they arrived at the foot of the pyre, Merlin was pulled on it and, before his mind was able to catch up, he was roped on it.

A few minutes later and Uther came out on the balcony overlooking the courtyard.

He began talking but Merlin wasn't listening to him as his eyes found Arthur, standing half a step behind his father.

His face was unreadable and he wasn't looking directly at Merlin but the warlock could still feel the hatred that was almost rolling off of him.

Merlin sighed, eyes filling with tears as he let them fall from where the royal stood.

Suddenly, a torch was lit to his right and Merlin's breath suddenly hitched again.

I don't want to die.

He lifted his eyes again and found Gaius in the crowd.

The old man looked so sad and guilty and scared. Merlin tried to tell him with his gaze that it was alright. That he wasn't to blame but he was so terrified that he wasn't sure he succeeded.

I don't want to die.

Gaius' eyes filled with tears and Merlin closed his, unable to face the old man's grief.

Oh god, I don't want to die.

And then he felt it.

The warmth. The horrible, burning, warmth.

He re-opened his eyes to find his view obscured by thick black smoke.

He took a breath and felt it enter his lungs, clotting them, making him cough.

I DON'T WANT TO DIE.

He couldn't think straight anymore, his mind was in a uproar of terrified thoughts.

The warmth was unbearable and indescribable pain was quickly making his way through his body.

And he couldn't breathe anymore.

And then, suddenly, he woke up, still panting, panic still making his heart beat far too fast and tears still running down his face.

"Merlin?" Gaius' voice asked as the old man opened the door to the warlock's small room. "Merlin? Are you alright?"

The physician came to sit on his wards' bed, worried at the younger man's obvious distress.

"Merlin? What is it?"

The young man didn't answer but instead put his arms around his guardian and hugged him, needing the comfort of the proximity of the old man.

"Shh. It's alright Merlin. It was just a dream. It wasn't real." Gaius cooed, rubbing a soothing hand on the warlock's back.

The physician didn't know what the nightmare was about nor did he want to ask. He knew that if his courageous young ward was this distressed, then it would be bad enough that he wouldn't want to talk about it and Gaius wasn't going to make him.

So he contented himself with hugging the young man tightly, hoping this would be enough to show him that whatever had scared him wasn't present anymore.

So yeah... I couldn't resist...

I have to say that first I wanted to have Merlin burning as a common dream between Arthur and Merlin in the early series (like series 2) with it impacting slightly Arthur and also Merlin.

But then I began writing and in the end I wasn't even sure about the last scene.

But well... I couldn't just kill Merlin this simply and I'll never write enough Gaius/Merlin hugs (damn me for killing him in A Universe Is Trapped Inside A Tear)

So yeah... What do you think about it? Would it have been better without?

Again, see you soon ! (hopefully with some knights doing Merlin's work but shhhhhhhhhhhhh)