The Hollow Queen

Episode: The Hollow Queen
Category: Gen
Rating/Warnings: T


Did I do the right thing?

It was a question the soldier had asked himself countless times since he'd helped the sorceress and her dragon escape Sarrum's clutches. It had been a terrible, treasonous act, one for which he'd suffer tremendously if his secret were ever discovered. But in the end, it didn't matter – he'd had no choice.

It hadn't been Morgana's cries that had driven him to madness night after night. No, it had been Aithusa herself, the pitiful, broken wails of an innocent creature who couldn't possibly have understood why she was being subjected to such a cruel fate. She'd touched his heart, finding the one vulnerability that still existed for a man who'd long since abandoned any pretense of mercy where his enemies were concerned. Magical creature or not, he hadn't been able to hate the dragon, hadn't been able to convince himself that she deserved to be punished for what she was… or even for the fact that her allegiance lay with a despicable priestess he was sworn to destroy at all costs.

And so he'd released them both, one with a great deal of relief… and the other with the understanding that Aithusa would never find her way to freedom without her mistress at her side.

But did I do the right thing?

For the first time, he found something of an answer to that question. It was there in the horrified expression King Arthur quickly disguised as nonchalance as Sarrum described Morgana's captivity with no small amount of relish. Yes, it was there in Queen Guinevere's abrupt leavetaking, clearly so disturbed that she couldn't even stand to hear about how much the dragon had suffered.

But most of all, the answer was within himself, faint reminders of a younger man who'd once despised cruelty, believing in honor and compassion above all things. Despite all the atrocities he'd seen and sometimes even participated in over the years, he still had a merciful heart underneath it all, a truth he might have never known if not for Aithusa.

And with that thought, his lips curved into a bittersweet smile. Perhaps it wasn't too late after all.

Of course, there was no leaving his master's service, nor could he hope to disobey the commands he was given without paying for it with a great deal of agony, and in the end, his life. But to finally have proof that underneath it all, he was still his own man?

Yes, I did the right thing.