A/N - I don't own Merlin.

Enjoy.

In a Mirror Darkly, Merlin.

Divergence.

The warning bells had gone off as soon as he managed to sneak out of the castle walls and he managed to cross a large distance away from the city, and for a moment Merlin turned and took in the sight of the city he had almost thought of as home, despite the never-ending conflicts, despite the constant need for himself to keep himself hidden.

Now it was all over. All of those years of work, all of those sacrifices for his own happiness and his desire to know more about magic which had been kept silent due to Uther's insane hunts whenever he picked up on the signs of a sorcerer in the castle or in the citadel. All of it, gone. He let out a sigh and he turned his back and continued walking away deeper into the forest.

He was no longer welcome here. From now on, Camelot would be hunting him and what was left of his brethren for what had just happened to Uther. If they caught him then they would kill him or try to capture him so then he could be taken back to Camelot for a public execution. Arthur would have his revenge. Merlin felt a kind of hollow grief, an emptiness in his soul. For a long moment, the warlock wondered to himself if this was what Nimueh had felt when she had realised the scale of the mistakes she had made, but he pushed those thoughts aside.

He had failed in his destiny to help Arthur become the Once and Future King. One of Merlin's greatest fears was his secret would be revealed to everyone - contrary to what Gaius might have thought, especially before that mess with the Witchfinder, Merlin really did take precautions with his powers, but now the necessity was gone since Arthur now knew the truth, he found he no longer cared about what people thought of him.

He knew by morning the entire city would know he was a sorcerer.

They would know he had murdered Uther. Merlin had no doubt Arthur would be organising patrols and send them out to track him down, but he wasn't going to let the prince who would soon be crowned King of Camelot have an easy time of it. Merlin had seen a great deal of the Five Kingdoms since he had become Arthur's manservant. He had a myriad of hiding places, and as long as he was incredibly careful nobody would know where he had gone.

He had no intention of travelling to any of the other kingdoms and make his presence known, not when he could easily take refuge in their forests and scrounge up a meagre living by living off the land. A few of them had been enemies of Camelot in the past, and a few of them had long memories; if they saw him, they would likely kill him, and in any case, it would only be a matter of time before they discovered that he was a sorcerer. That would only make things worse. Merlin knew that he could take refuge in a different castle, but he had no desire to do that since he had spent the last few years of his life cleaning one up, and he didn't want to go through that again.

Merlin wished he could find a way of getting to Ealdor, preferably before Arthur did. The Prince was so predictable. He would send a gang of knights to his home village, and if that happened…Merlin had no idea if Arthur would order his mother executed in his place, and it was something he really wanted to avoid.

Merlin stopped when his ears caught the sharp cracks of twigs being snapped, and he heard the rustling of leaves. He stopped. For a long moment, he wondered if the knights had found him, but he doubted it; the knights would be trampling all over the fields near Camelot on horseback, and he would have heard them long before now, giving him plenty of time to find a decent hiding spot and keep his head down. No, this was something else. Unable to hide his curiosity, Merlin followed the sounds, and he realised he was following someone deep into the forest. Whoever it was, they were rushing through the forest so fast Merlin had no trouble keeping pace and keeping a distance so they did not realise that he was there.

Finally, the figure stopped as they came to a hovel that was nestled neatly in between the trees. The house itself was so dark and it was in the middle of a small trench that was so overgrown it seemed to merge with the nearby scenery. Indeed if it wasn't for the gentle golden light coming from the windows and the gaps in the walls, then Merlin knew there was no chance anybody could have seen or found it. But the figure had definitely known it was here, and they had clearly come here before while it was late at night, or they would have missed it by miles.

Merlin watched as light from the house fell onto the figure, and he saw the other's face.

It was Agravaine.

Merlin clenched his jaw. He had never liked nor trusted Agravaine's uncle, and now he had a good idea what the slimy man was doing here. There was no doubt in the warlock's mind this was where Morgana had ended up. His heart went out to the woman he had once loved with the same passion as he had felt for Freya as he saw visibly what the whole mess had cost Morgana.

Merlin walked over to the door slowly while Agravaine knocked on the door, uttered a few whispers through the door and stepped inside. Creeping over to the door, Merlin listened.

"….what is it, Agravaine?" Morgana's distinctive lilt flowed through the air. Merlin closed his eyes, listening to the once lovely, innocent voice of the woman who was now bitter and warped by his stupid mistakes, his cowardice and his lack of common sense.

"He's dead, My Lady. Your charm worked brilliantly."

Merlin hissed through his teeth. It didn't surprise him Morgana would try to kill Uther, especially after she had successfully shattered the man when she had taken over Camelot. But hearing this… Morgana must have learnt Arthur was seeking out a way to heal his father, using magic, and she had found a way of making it possible.

Somehow it didn't surprise Merlin all that much just like his suspicions were confirmed about Agravaine. He had taken note of how many times Arthur listened to every single thing that came out of his uncles' mouth, and he would do it without listening to his own good sense. Family was everything to Arthur, which did not surprise Merlin all that much, given how he had known only one family member in his life, Uther. Arthur must have asked for advice about using magic to heal the king, which meant….

That meant… that meant he was not the one responsible for Uther's death. These two were - Morgana for devising the spell which countered his own healing spell, and Agravaine for telling Morgana what Arthur had in mind, and planting the charm on Uther in the first place. Arthur and Merlin also had to shoulder some of the blame as well, since one of them had talked to others instead of keeping it limited to a few people who weren't ambiguous.

But Merlin was also troubled.

Morgana had been the one to create the counterspell. Surely she knew what Arthur would do when he got it into his head magic had killed his father? Either Morgana was too wrapped up in her own rage to focus properly, or she had become so warped she no longer saw the damage she was causing.

Merlin knew Morgana well enough to know how contemptuous the woman could be without actually voicing it. She clearly did not think much of Agravaine when she spoke next. "I didn't doubt that. How has Arthur taken it?"

"That's the thing, My Lady. The old sorcerer who was brought in to heal Arthur… was actually Merlin."

The warlocks closed his eyes when he heard Morgana's intake of breath. It was like a blacksmith filing away a sword. "What?" The witch shrieked, making him wince, although he gave her that.

Morgana had good reason to be bitter with him after everything he had done to her.

"What did you say?!"

Agravaine seemed to realise the danger he was in, as he spoke slowly and hesitantly. "I barely managed to get the story out of Arthur, My Lady; he was hysterical with rage, and I needed five goes before he began to make any kind of sense. Apparently, Merlin is a secret sorcerer, who has been hiding in Camelot all of this time. Arthur thinks he has been manipulating events from behind the scenes from the moment he appeared in Camelot."

In the brief moment where Morgana assimilated the startling revelations, Merlin took the time to reflect on the news Arthur still believed he had been manipulated by him all this time. He didn't want this; a part of him was tempted to surrender himself to Arthur, hoping that if he could just get the prince to listen, things would not go the way they seemed inevitably destined to go, and he would be destined to become a fugitive…

No. It was too dangerous.

Even if he could get close to Arthur, the prince would likely try to kill him, and if that happened the prophecy and the future he was trying so hard to build to allow magic to be free again would be lost. Sure, Morgana would likely succeed in taking over the throne, and she could bring magic back, but Merlin was more worried about what she would do later.

"Merlin is a sorcerer? The treacherous little bastard! He knew!" Morgana's voice broke through his thoughts, and Merlin had to hold back the urge to suddenly cry, as he listened to the woman whom he could have helped but hadn't, choosing instead to listen to the flawed advice of two aged individuals who either refused to see the world was not set in stone or who didn't want to get involved and wanted to just keep their head down.

Was he just destined to ruin others' lives including his own?

"He could have helped me, and if he had then I would not be living like this!" There was the sound of smashing tables and pottery from inside the hovel; Morgana had definitely lashed out at something, but he didn't care what it was. Merlin knew he would deserve to be on the receiving end of her temper. After everything he had done to her, he knew he deserved it.

"That traitor…. I will make sure he answers for his crimes," Morgana was spitting with rage, uttering threats and promises of pain and death. "He will be begging for death by the time I'm finished with him."

"What do you want me to do with Arthur?" Agravaine didn't sound interested in hearing any of Morgana's insane promises. Merlin was thankful for the slimy man for that.

Morgana was silent for a few minutes and Merlin realised his old friend was calming down to better think of the right way to answer that question. "Encourage him to hunt down Merlin. I will do the same. In the meantime, I will be putting in the plan for Caerleon."

Merlin took a deep breath. Caerleon? King Caerleon? What was the plan these two had come up with for him?

"Do you think it will work?"

Morgana spoke in that impatient way that Merlin had heard for a long time, that she considered herself to be a genius in a world of idiots. Still, there was a measure of uncertainty in her voice. She clearly had doubts of her own the plan would work out the way she expected. "It will if the enchantment I will place on him holds. Don't forget your role."

"I won't," Agravaine's voice was low and dangerous, "like you I want Arthur to pay for Ygraine's death, and thanks to your help, that bastard has paid the price for betraying her. Ygraine always hated her life with Uther, especially as she was happy with her old marriage."

Ah, I see. I think I'm beginning to understand why Agravaine's betraying Arthur, but how did these two meet one another? Did he meet her first or was it the other way around? But does he really know what Ygraine would have wanted? Gaius always told me Ygraine loved Uther and Arthur but was that to reassure me? I wish I knew what it was, Merlin thought to himself with a shake of the head. No matter what happens, I always seem to find myself unsure about the Pendragon family… there is always some buried half-truth, some lie. But what is the truth here?

Morgana changed the subject. She truly did not care about the man's feelings, to her Agravaine was just a spy, a tool. But it was clear she needed him, otherwise, she would not have said what she said next. "I understand, Agravaine. We will both get our revenge on Camelot, and Arthur; while I wish Uther was still alive in a way, so he can see magic returning to the land, I'm glad the liar is dead. If he had told me the truth, things could have been very different."

Merlin was unsurprised by Morgana's typical need to twist things out to be all about her; it had become a primary part of her once caring and kind-hearted personality since Morgause had allowed her to return to Camelot (he freely admitted to himself that he still didn't know what Morgause had done to make Morgana what she was now, but Merlin knew he had to take responsibility; it was just painful seeing what she had been warped into). Merlin took the opportunity to take a peep through the gap in the door, and he caught sight of the faces of the two conspirators.

"About Merlin, My Lady, how am I to persuade Arthur to flush the sorcerer into the open?" Agravaine asked.

Morgana's beautiful face twisted in thought. "A long time ago, around the time of his arrival, a man Uther accused of sorcery was executed," she said at last, "He was the son of a sorceress, Mary Collins. Unlike other sorcerers, she was unafraid of Uther, and she promised to kill Arthur; she had seen her son murdered by Uther, therefore she would kill his."

Merlin's breath caught in his throat as the implications of Morgana's story filled him with horror. He remembered what Morgana was talking about, the very first time he had used his magic to save Arthur's life, but he also remembered Mary's threat…. No, surely Morgana wasn't suggesting what he thought she was-?

"What do you have in mind?" Merlin clenched his fists without even realising it as his low opinion of Agravaine sank even more.

"Merlin has one parent, that I know of. Arthur has met her. All you need to do is suggest to Arthur to go for her, and Merlin will go back to Camelot," Morgana spoke with the kind of casual callousness which Merlin had always hated from Nimueh, but he barely heard it as he looked at Morgana in horror before the implications of what she was actually saying sank in.

Morgana was ordering Agravaine to tell Arthur to go for his mother, a woman who had done her no actual harm, to get to him…

Merlin's anger began to grow. It had been sparked by Agravaine and Morgana's casual talk about Uther's demise and it had been growing and building as he had listened to them outline their plans for him and the kingdom, but Merlin had not felt anything for any of their threats and promises and when he looked back on this earlier, he would be stunned to realise this. But right now it boiled is a seething rage as it took hold in his heart, the threat to his mother was occupying his mind and he felt his magic react.

He could feel the potency of his magical powers surging through him while he struggled to keep his emotions and his control, feeling every ounce of rage towards these two conspirators who had already done a huge amount of damage and only planned to make things worse. His anger with Morgana began to burn deeper within him, pushing aside his previous infatuation with the woman since she had come up with the threat to his mother's life so casually.

Something dark in his mind, the part Merlin always pushed aside whenever he wished he could have done things differently or urged him to strike down his enemies in a more brutal manner than his usual methods allowed, called to him to make these two regret their schemes. Considering who was in danger of their schemes now and what would happen to Hunith, Merlin found it hard not to give in to his rage.

"There's a chance Arthur will kill his mother before that actually happened, you know how hotheaded he is," Agravaine said unaware of the danger lurking outside.

Morgana was just as indifferent. "It doesn't matter, Merlin would have suffered and that's all that mattered."

That was it.

Merlin blasted and ripped his way through the wall of the hovel with just a thought, and his magic obeyed. With a bare flick of his hand, Merlin magically waved the dust away from his face before he attacked the startled Morgana, whose eyes widened when she saw the gold in Merlin's eyes, to Agravaine who was cowering away.

Merlin blasted both of the conspirators through the far wall of the hovel, and he walked after them, using his magic to keep them restrained. He did not like violence, but this was going to be one of those moments where he would enjoy making someone truly regret crossing him.

X

Arthur's face was set as he rode with a squad of his finest knights after Merlin. The prince was acting on instinct rather than reason right now, and if he were thinking logically he would have realised it would be hopeless to find a single man on foot in the dark while on horseback, but Arthur rarely thought logically.

If he had put his mind to it, he would have realised Merlin would find a hiding place deep in the forest where the trees would be so close to one another, finding him on horseback would be virtually impossible. Merlin had not taken a horse out of the castle, all of the horses were accounted for according to the stable boys, so that meant he couldn't have gotten far and Arthur wanted to find him quickly before he got too far away, perhaps to a rival kingdom.

As a knight himself, trained in strategy and combat, Arthur had worked that much but it hadn't once occurred to him that Merlin could move easily through the forest, between trees so close together horses could not follow, and the fact he and his men were using the roads hadn't yet reached his mind. Arthur was running on rage and it had clouded his reality and judgement, but it was all he had to go on while he and his squad looked for the evil sorcerer who had been manipulating him all these years.

They would catch him.