A/N - Hello, if anybody is still here! Just a short one today, sorry! Made myself sad writing this one. Slightly canon divergent.
No. 8 – "Don't say goodbye" / Abandoned
"Arthur, please!" Merlin yelled as the guards hooked their arms under his elbows and pulled him from the room. "Arthur!"
Arthur stormed after the guards as they made their way through the castle, dragging Merlin to the cells. His sword was still in his hand, and the look in his eyes turned Merlin's stomach to stone.
"You. Lied. To me." Arthur shouted each word, his voice echoing off the cold stone walls. "You. Betrayed. Me!"
"No, Arthur –"
"Do you really think you could get away with such treason?!"
"But –"
"You're a sorcerer!"
The guards forced Merlin down the stairs, not caring when he tripped.
Merlin hadn't meant to use magic in front of Arthur but he'd had no choice. He'd had no choice! The other sorcerer was about to blast Arthur into dust like he had done to the guard who'd been standing at the door. There was no way Merlin could let that happen. Not while he had the power to easily stop it.
The way Arthur staggered back when Merlin dropped the other sorcerer to the ground with just a word and a tightening of his outstretched fist, Merlin thought he'd been too late. But Arthur was not reeling from a curse or magical blow, rather from the revelation of Merlin's true self.
He'd stared for a second, long enough for Merlin to lower his fist, long enough for Merlin's blood to turn to ice from the repulsion in Arthur's gaze. And then he'd yelled for the guards.
Merlin was thrown to the floor of the smallest cell, his face painfully hitting the straw-strewn stone. He scrambled to his knees, ignoring the tears that had sprung to his eyes from the impact. The guards retreated, leaving Arthur standing blocking the doorway, his sword half raised in front of him, the tip pointing at Merlin.
"Arthur! Please, you know me. You know I would never hurt you," he begged, shuffling forward on bruised knees. He reached a hand towards Arthur imploringly.
"I don't know you anymore!" Arthur spat, smacking Merlin's hand away with the flat of his blade. "You use magic. You're everything my father fought against."
"I only ever use it to help you!"
"I don't need the help of a sorcerer!" he thundered. He was shaking, his breathing heavy. He wouldn't look Merlin in the eye.
"Arth-" Arthur cut him off before he could speak any more.
"Goodbye, Merlin."
"No! Arthur, no! Don't say that!"
The door slammed shut, the finality of the bolt sliding across like a blow to Merlin's chest. The king turned and walked away.
A/N - Sorry! (not sorry...) Please leave a review... Pretty please!