TWENTY-FOUR: INTERFERING (288 days)

Arthur glanced briefly at his best friend. Merlin's expression was entirely unreadable, which was unnerving in and of itself. Even more unnerving was the fact that the sorcerer hadn't said a single word throughout the trial. Arthur hadn't needed him to say anything; the evidence that had been found was enough for the king. But he had been expecting his friend to say something.

Surprisingly, Kerenza hadn't said a word, either. He'd been worried about her, when he saw her follow Gaius into the room. But she was standing there, staring at the floor, her fists clenched tightly. He knew she was angry, but she had kept her mouth closed throughout the trial. He was actually quite impressed with her silence.

Merlin's silence, however, was more than a little disconcerting, considering the circumstances. Merlin was never silent, and these two knights had tried to kill him. Arthur would have expected his friend to give some kind of response. He had expected him to be angry and to lash out in some way.

Arthur looked back at the two knights on their knees in front of him. Geraint had his head bowed, guilt stamped across his face. It wasn't guilt of his crime. It was guilt of having been caught for his crime. Brennis glared, keeping his mouth pursed tightly.

"This decision was not an easy one for me. You have both served on this council for many years, and I regret being put in a position where I have to decided whether or not to have you executed. But I…This crime cannot go unpunished. Murder is one of the highest crimes that can be committed. And so, with a heavy heart, I must sentence you both to death. You attempted to murder a fellow council member. The only reason you failed is because of Merlin's natural powers. I will not stand for council members trying to kill each other."

Geraint looked up at the king in fear. "Sire -"

"You will be executed in the morning," Arthur interrupted, struggling to keep his voice neutral. There was nothing left for anybody to say. The trial was over. He sank into his throne, signaling for the guards to take the prisoners back to their cells.

The throne room slowly began to empty, until there were only five people left.

Arthur sighed, scrubbing his face with one hand. Guinevere wrapped a soft hand around his free one. "You did what you had to, Arthur," she reminded him gently. "They gave you no choice."

He knew she was right. It didn't make it any easier. "I know. It still feels like such a waste. They're both wonderfully skilled knights. But they committed a crime that I can't overlook." He glanced to his right, where Merlin stood, staring off into the distance. He still hadn't said anything, and his face gave nothing away. Arthur wasn't used to not being able to read his friend's expressions. "Merlin. What are you thinking?"

The sorcerer looked at Arthur and sighed. "I'm thinking…that I shouldn't be glad about their fate. Yet I am," he admitted. And he almost sounded ashamed of that. "I can't find it in myself to mourn their loss, not after what they did. I'm just relieved that it's over."

The queen smiled at the sorcerer. "We are all relieved that it's over. It is so good to see you well again."

Merlin returned the smile. At least it was a genuine smile. "I feel normal again. My strength is back. I'm ready these celebrations in two days. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do my part. But I feel fine now."

Arthur stared at him. "You're not serious."

The sorcerer frowned. "About what?"

"You are not performing in the festival."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I am, Arthur."

The king shook his head. Why was Merlin always so…Well, Merlin? "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. You asked me to, remember? Why wouldn't I?"

Arthur could hear Kerenza chuckling softly in the background. Gaius sighed loudly. And Guinevere was shaking her head. "Merlin, you just spent nearly two days unconscious. And then it took you yet another day for you to feel like yourself again. You don't need to be doing even more magic right now."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "The only reason I was unconscious for so long is because I was performing extremely complicated and powerful magic. The spells I have planned for the celebrations are simple. They'll take hardly any magic at all, let alone energy."

"Merlin," the king said tiredly. "I don't want to see you like that ever again." The memory of his best friend lying prone on the cot…It was a sight he never wanted to see again.

"I know my limits, Arthur."

Guinevere cut in at that moment. "We know that, Merlin. But, please, for our sakes, will you consider not participating in the celebrations?"

The sorcerer sighed, sounding a little irritated. "Gwen, I promise that I will be fine. I won't overexert myself."

"Will you at least consider performing with someone else, then?" the queen questioned. "So you're not using as much of your own energy. Maybe if you're only performing half of the spells, instead of all of them, you can save some of your own strength."

Arthur grinned, even as Merlin shook his head. "That's really not -"

The king interrupted him. "No. I like it. You can do a…" he trailed off, trying to think of the right word. "…duet with another sorcerer."

Merlin stared at him. He almost looked disgusted. "A duet? Arthur, I'm performing magic. I'm not singing. I don't need any help."

"Please," Guinevere stated. She deliberately placed her hands over her belly. There was still no physical evidence of her pregnancy, but the few people remaining in the room were fully aware of her condition. "I'm not sure that my body can handle the stress of worrying about you. I believe you were the one who told me that I needed to lessen my stress as much as I possibly can."

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the queen. Arthur stared at her as well. She had been quite manipulative recently. He wondered if it was simply because she was with child.

"That was underhanded, Gwen," the sorcerer informed her. She just gave him an innocent smile. He sighed. "Fine. I'll do my performance with someone else. Did you have someone in particular in mind, sire?" he questioned Arthur, his voice teetering toward sarcastic.

"Me?" Arthur asked, surprised. "I don't know any sorcerers. Well, hardly any sorcerers. Besides, most of the ones that I know are already participating. Wait. Kerenza," he called, a wonderful idea coming to him.

The druid girl looked at him, obviously surprised to be pulled into the conversation. "Yes?"

"You weren't planning anything for the festival, were you?"

"No, sire."

He grinned. "Excellent. You can help Merlin with his performance."

Guinevere gave him a look. "Arthur," she warned. "You promised."

Merlin looked between the two monarchs, confusion in his eyes. He, of course, had no knowledge of their conversations about his love life - and Arthur's promise not to interfere with it. "Promised what?"

"I'm not interfering," Arthur insisted, ignoring Merlin like he often did. "I'm simply providing an opportunity. It's up to them what they do with it."

They were attracted to each other, as had been pointed out to Arthur before. Kerenza had admitted as much to him earlier. And they were already becoming great friends. Arthur wasn't trying to push them into a courtship. He was just giving them a chance to…explore their attraction. Perhaps their friendship would turn into a courtship. Guinevere seemed to think that it would. She was convinced that the two of them would eventually fall in love. Arthur was just giving them the time together for that to be a possibility. Guinevere had been right when she said that Mithian and Merlin weren't quite right for each other. Kerenza...could be. He wasn't sure about how compatible the two magic-users were, but maybe they just needed a chance to find out if they could work together, one way or the other.

His wife sighed. "You can call it whatever you like, Arthur, it amounts to the same thing. You're interfering, and you know it."

"I'm confused," Merlin muttered.

Arthur grinned. He couldn't resist. "Aren't you always?"

The sorcerer sent a half-hearted glare his way. He couldn't deny that he had walked right into that one. "Prat."

"Idiot."

"Clotpole."

"Fool."

Merlin arched an eyebrow at him. "Is that really the best you can come up with?"

Arthur scowled. "Shut up, Merlin."

Merlin and Kerenza walked through the lower town together in silence. They were going out to the meadow where Merlin often met Kilgharrah in, to practice his - their - performance for the festival. The flaw in Arthur's plan to have someone help him, was that now he would have to practice all of those spells even more in order to get the routine right with someone else involved. But he'd found that he could very rarely argue with Arthur's skewed logic.

He wasn't entirely certain what his king was plotting, but he knew it was something. Most likely something stupid. The conversation between Arthur and Gwen had been...strange, to say the least. There was something that they weren't telling him.

"What sort of spells were you thinking of using?" Kerenza asked, as they left the town altogether.

He shrugged. "Mostly nature and elemental spells. Making shapes with flames and water, creating a mass of butterflies. Simple things like that."

Kerenza stared at him. "Creating a mass of butterflies? As in, creating them out of nothing?" He nodded. "Merlin, creating a life, even one as small as a butterfly, is no simple magic. Let alone creating a mass of them. Nobody can create a life. Only the gods and goddesses have that power."

He scratched the back of his neck, suddenly embarrassed. "I can. Only small animals, like butterflies, though. And for me, it is a simple magic." He looked at her sharply as something else she said sank in. "You called me Merlin." Since he had known her, she'd always called him by his druidic name, which had bothered him. This was the first time he'd heard her use his given name.

He liked the way she said it.

Her cheeks turned bright red. Why was she embarrassed by that? "I did, didn't I? I...hadn't even realized it. Do you prefer Emrys?"

"No! Absolutely not. I don't really like my friends calling me that. I don't even know what it means."

She kicked her feet in the grass as they walked. "You might not want to know what it means," she said softly.

He sighed. He had figured that she knew the meaning of it. He was sure most druids, if not all, did. "I know. It's why I haven't asked. I have a feeling that the meaning is going to be something I'd rather not hear. I think, at least for a little while longer, I'll be happy in my ignorance."

A smile pulled at her lips. "So what was all that back in the throne room? It was like the king and queen were speaking in some sort of code."

Merlin nodded in agreement. "I think they were. I just don't know what they were speaking about, though I get the feeling it was me. Actually, I get the feeling it was me and you."

"Hmm," was all she said. But her eyes narrowed suspiciously. She had a guess as to what they were going on about, Merlin could see it in her eyes. But then she shook her head and grinned, just as they entered the meadow. "Show me what you want me to do. But just so you know, I can't conjure a whole flock of butterflies from thin air. I will leave that part of it to you."

He grinned back at her. "I have an idea…"

Oh, Arthur. I'm not really sure why he's so obsessed with setting Merlin up...I'm not really meaning for him to do it. It just keeps creeping its way into the story.