A/N: Happy Quarantine! Please enjoy! And thank you all so so much for your lovely reviews!

Arthur paced his cell like a lion in a cage. This couldn't be happening. This could not be happening. There had to be a way out. They couldn't just execute Merlin. He wouldn't allow it. He was the prince and he wouldn't allow it. He wanted to shout, to yell. To call the knights to arms and get him and his friends out of there, but in his heart he knew it would be useless.

It didn't help that their telepathic link had been severed by the magic restraint cuffs. Arthur hadn't felt this lonely in ages.

From his tiny, barred window, he could see the sun setting and before long it grew dark. He was giving up hope when suddenly he heard someone. The light of a torch could be seen around the corner as he heard the changing of the guard. Arthur sighed and leaned back against the wall; it was stupid to get his hopes up.

"Hey Princess. Why the glum face?"

The sudden question broke him from his reverie. And there was Gwaine, the smile on his face not quite matching the determination in his eyes. Leon stood guard at the end of the hall.

"Gwaine!" Arthur cried, running to the door. "You've got to rescue Merlin."

"We're already on it. Percival and Elyan are on guard duty while Leon and I bust him out. We wanted to give you a quick update though. The lower town is in chaos. After everyone learned your identities and the king's decision, they're rioting. We've got a full blown revolution on our hands." He couldn't quite contain how excited- and scared- he looked. "We'll get Merlin to safety. Once we give the signal, Percival knows to bust the rest of you out. From there, it's your call Arthur."

Arthur barely registered the rest of what Gwaine was saying. Merlin would be okay. "Thank you. Thank you. We'll be here. Good luck."

Gwaine nodded. "Right. Leon, let's go."

Leon gave him a firm pat on the shoulder as they passed. "We won't let you down. You or Merlin."

:::::::::::::::

Merlin was scared. He hated being scared for himself, because when he was scared for himself the adrenaline made on edge and giggly. It was awful. He was going to be tortured, a process possibly bordering on dissection, and he was trying hard not to laugh.

The guards left him alone in the small chamber, strapped down to a wooden chair, a blood stained table laid out before him. These damn magic cuffs. He tried channeling some power into them and he felt them take it and dissipate it into the air before it could form any sort of real spell. He tried again, and again, and again, each attempt more desperate than the last.

Finally the door opened and in walked Uther and the witch hunter. A soldier standing guard went to close the door, but at the last second Gaius snuck in. No, no, Gaius shouldn't see this.

"Anything to say for yourself, sorcerer?" Uther asked.

"Nothing you're willing to hear," Merlin replied.

"How long have you been planning to overthrow my kingdom?" the king demanded as the witch hunter pulled out his tools and began to arrange them.

"Whatever rebellion is going on is your own damn fault, not mine." Smartest thing to say? Definitely not. But when did Merlin ever say the right thing. If he was going to go down for his so called crimes, he was going to earn it. Uther ground his teeth in frustration.

"How long have you been poisoning my son and ward with your ideals? Even corrupting Morgana to the point of practicing magic!"

"Ever since I came to Camelot. I saw who they were taking their lessons from," he said, nodding at the king. "And decided I better do something quick so they wouldn't end up as pompous, prejudiced, frankly bad smelling-"

Merlin was cut off with a sharp slap to his cheek.

"You'll show me respect or you will receive no mercy from me-"

"Mercy was never an option under your laws anyway." The declaration stilled the room. Eventually Uther growled and gestured to the witch hunter.

"Do your worst. Let me know when he's more… complacent."

"Never gonna happen," Merlin laughed to himself. That damn adrenaline again.

Uther swept out of the room and Merlin and Gaius exchanged a look before Gaius followed him. Now it was just Merlin and the torturer. He picked up a rather mean looking screw device, a curious expression on his face.

"Shall we begin?"

::::::::::::::::::::

It seemed like an eternity before Merlin's screams started and another eternity before they ended. Gaius waited with bated breath, muttering prayers to every god he could think of that his surrogate son would be alright. He had to be alright.

An eon later, the witch hunter emerged from the room, wiping his hands on a blood stained cloth, and looking surprised that Gaius was there. He turned to one of the guards.

"Fetch the king."

Gaius followed the torturer back into the room and nearly cried. Merlin was alive and breathing, if momentarily unconscious. Steam was rising from his hand cuffs; blood matted his hair and coated his hands. He could see quite a bit leaking through his shirt as well. Gaius began examining him, digging in his bag for some smelling salts. Merlin came to with a jerk seconds before Uther walked in.

"Step away Gaius." The physician backed away reluctantly, using all his willpower to do so. Uther stepped forward and tilted Merlin's head up, grabbing him roughly by the chin. "Well. Changed your tune? Anything to say?"

Merlin looked Uther in the eyes with a fire that actually scared him. Somehow, he managed to smile.

"Your son will be a greater king than you ever were." And then he spit on him.

Gaius and the torturer gasped. Uther growled and wiped the saliva on his face, then turned to the torturer.

"He's to be executed at dawn. Start making thepyre."
"Yes m'lord." The man left and Merlin slumped in his chair, completely drained.

"Return the prisoner to his cell," Uther commanded the guards and started to leave.

"Sire!" Gaius called. "May I at least treat hiswounds?" Uther just raised a hand as a response and continued stalking down the hall.

The guards dragged Merlin back to his cell, Gaiusfollowing them the whole way. As soon as they had put on the manacles, Gaiuswas in there patching him up.

"Reckless… foolish..." Gaius muttered as hedabbed some salve on his wounds.

"Worth it," Merlin hissed as the salve stung him.

"Worth your own execution?" Gaius asked, looking him in the eyes. Merlin shrugged.

"I was doomed anyway. At least now, I've stood for something in my life rather than hiding in the shadows."

"But at least back there you were safe."

"What's the point of me being safe if others aren't?" he asked. Gaius pursed his lips and worked in silence before finally saying, "I can't lose you Merlin. I can't. And neither can your mother." Merlin's heart dropped. She would be devastated.

"Take this,"Gaius said handing him a small vial. "It'll help with the pain."

"Thank you." He chugged it in one quick gulp.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Merlin admitted. "But I won't die tomorrow. I promise Gaius, I won't."

Gaius looked him in the eyes, holding back tears, and finally looked away, patting Merlin on the shoulder in place of a hug. "I believe you my boy. Now, get some rest. You'll need it. And I'll pull what strings I can and see if we can't be prepared for whatever comes."

::::::::::::::::::::::;

Gwaine and Leon jogged down the dungeon passageways towards the most secure cells with wrought-iron doors and no windows.

"Glad you brought a torch," Leon said as whatever light from behind them quickly faded.

"You and me both. Now we don't know exactly which cell it is, but-"

He was cut off by an explosion from behind the door right in front of them. Smoke issued from under the door and they heard coughing inside. They exchanged a glance and launched themselves at the door, unlocking it and swinging it open, coughing as the smoke hit their own faces.

Inside, Merlin was sitting against the wall waving a now free hand in front of his face and looking with pride at the now smoldering manacles at his feet.

"Merlin?" Gwaine asked.

The sorcerer looked up in surprise, then smiled. "Gwaine! Am I happy to see…" Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground. Gwaine swore and ran to Merlin's side, scooping him up on his lap and checking for a pulse. It was there and he was breathing, but it was faint.

"Is he alive?" Leon asked.

"Barely. He's been tortured." He looked down at the twisted metal of what had once been the magic restraining manacles and whistled. "Damn. And he blew his way out of those. C'mon. Let's get him out of here."

Gwaine picked his unconscious friend up in a bridal carry and nodded at Leon to lead the way.

They crept to the very end of the dungeon where a barred gate guarded an exit through the sewers. Leon pulled the gate off and Gwaine stepped through before Leon followed him and replaced the door.

The trip took longer than they liked, though any trip through the sewers takes too long in Gwaine's opinion, but eventually they emerged outside the castle and in the lower town. It was almost dawn, the last stars just fading into the lightening sky. Contrary to what one would expect, the town was quite busy, people running and shouting to and fro, not in a chaotic or panicked way, but organizing, preparing.

The two knights wove through streets, receiving friendly nods from the villagers and making it to their destination before the sun even peeked over the horizon.

Leon knocked on the door and a moment later an older woman opened the door.

"My gods, what happened to him? Come in, come in."

"Well, on top of torture he blew up the magic restraints," Gwaine explained as he set Merlin down on a nearby cot. "So I don't blame him for being passed out."

"Neither do I," the woman agreed, with a tone somewhere between awe and exasperation.

"Thank you for helping us Joanna."

"Of course, of course. We can't have one of the Dragon Knights- especially this one- be executed. How are preparations outside?"

"Busy, by the looks of things." Gwaine peeked out the window, then turned back to Leon. "We better go give the signal to get Arthur and the others out. It's gonna blow soon."

"Agreed. You'll fill him in?" Leon asked Joanna.

"Yes, yes. Now go. I'll take care of him."

With another hurried thanks, the knights left, leaving their friend in Joanna's care.

:::::::::::::::;

Merlin hurt all over. His body felt like one big, tangled, tense bruise. Even as Merlin drifted between sleep and waking and felt his body's soreness, he also felt the pain easing and the tenseness going away, as if someone was untangling those knots and smoothing them out. He felt warm and content. And with that, he finally woke up.

Screams and the sound of fighting came faintly from outside. The curtains were drawn and a small fire was in the fireplace. Next to him was an older woman. Her hands were on his chest and she was chanting some sort of spell, eyes glowing gold. They made eye contact and she stopped, pulling away. Her forehead was slick with sweat, but she smiled.

"Feeling better?"

"Much. Thank you. Where-"

"Ah, let me explain." She paused. "Is too much. Let me sum up. Sir Gwaine and Sir Leon rescued you. I've healed your most pressing injuries and helped replenish some of your magical energy. It's nearly noon. They went to free the prince and the others and, currently, we're trying to take the castle."

Merlin blinked. Well, they had expected a rebellion.

"Right. I guess I better get out there and help then. Thank you…"

"Joanna."

"Thank you Joanna. Really." He stood and stretched a little before heading for the door. "See you on the other side." And with a smile, Merlin plunged into the chaos.

It wasn't hard to find the source of all the commotion. The gateway to the upper town was thrown open, villagers against guards, knights loyal to Arthur versus knights loyal to Uther. And suddenly guards were getting thrown back into each other and against walls. Vines were growing, rooting Uther's knights to the ground. A wind whipped up, blinding those about to get the upper hand. The villagers looked around, confused. The knights looked around hopefully.

"Clear a path!"

And there was Merlin, shouting and casting spells left and right. Dirty and bloody, wearing plain and torn clothes leftover from their last mission, he looked nothing like the powerful sorcerer he was. But there was something in his eyes, not just the golden gleam, but a fire, a tenacity that he had a goal in mind and would do whatever it took to reach it.

People quickly cleared the way as Merlin focused his gaze on the castle ahead of him. He looked around and was awed by what he saw; the knights were rallying and smiling at him like he made the sun come out, the villagers looked ready to fight, and he was using magic in public and, if he looked closely, saw some other villagers casting a spell or two.

"Follow me!" he bellowed. The crowd roared and together they surged towards the castle.

Uther's knights quickly fell back, trying to make it to the gate before the crowd. Already guards on the other side were trying to shut it, holding it for a split second for their comrades to get through before slamming it shut.

Continuing their march, Merlin turned his face towards the sky. "O Aithusa! Fthengomai au se kalon su katerkheo deuro!"

A murmur ran through the crowd at the ancient language and the power that radiated from the words. Merlin held up a hand for them to stop. There was a pause and then a whistle turned to shriek was heard as something flew overhead and launched a fireball at the gate, blowing it off its hinges.

People screamed at Aithusa's extreme entrance and Merlin couldn't blame them. The dragon hurtled through the now open gate, continuing to blast flame at anyone who came close. Merlin ran forward, followed by the knights, and eventually the villagers.

"Good job Aithusa. That was a great entrance." He patted the dragon's neck and Aithusa gave him a dragonish grin.

"I'm just glad I didn't miss all the action. What's going on?"

"Well, the king knows who we are, I was supposed to be executed, and the others are in the castle, still prisoners as far as I know. And we're attempting a coup."

Aithusa blinked. Then he looked angry. "Well we can't have that." His gaze drifted to the stairs of the palace and then noticed the unused pyre sitting in the courtyard. He crouched down like a cat and growled. "I'm going to destroy that thing. And then I'll keep people busy out here. You go rescue the others."

"I'll call if I need you. Thank you Aithusa. Leon! Gwaine!" The two knights looked over at him and he gestured towards the palace. "Let's go!"

The three of them ran through the entryway and through the halls. Merlin reached out with his mind, desperate to make the connection with his friends again.

"Arthur? Morgana? Gwen? Is anyone there?"

"Merlin!" came the reply from all three, nearly in unison.

"Gwaine, Leon, and I are in the castle. Aithusa and the others are holding outside. Where are you guys?"

"Gwen and I got separated from Arthur. We were headed to the throne room, but then Agravaine showed up so Gwen and I held him off."

"Right. Arthur?" But there was no response. "Arthur?"

He swore and started sprinting.

"Merlin?" Leon asked.

"Arthur's in trouble. Throne room."

The others picked up speed and within moments they were there. With a push of his hand, the doors blew open, revealing the nearly empty throne room, sunlight streaming through the windows and Uther, pulling a sword from Arthur's lifeless body.