Hey guys! I promised another chapter at some point this weekend, so here ya go!

~Ra1n

Previously...

"Sire, we need to go. Now."

Arthur didn't need to be told twice.

The hallways had never been so long. As Arthur skidded through the castle with Merlin in his arms, he wondered how he'd never noticed the sheer amount of stairs and hallways there were between the dungeons and the physician's chambers. Shouldn't they be closer together? How often did prisoners need medical attention?

Behind him, the guard's boots slapped the stones rhythmically, his breathing fast. Although the guard hadn't been needed once Arthur had gotten Merlin off of the floor, there was no time for a discussion or a dismissal.

"C'mon, Merlin," Arthur whispered, glancing down at the pale face half-covered by the guard's red cloak. Each step jarred Merlin's spine and ribcage hard enough to bruise Arthur's forearms, but he took comfort in the shuddering breaths he could feel beneath each bone.

"Just a little bit longer…"

"Arthur?"

Someone shouted his name as he passed, a purple blur on the edge of the hallway. Arthur didn't bother to check who it was; he didn't need to. He'd recognize Gwen's voice anywhere, and right now she was one of the last people he wanted to see.

What explanation could he possibly have for what he did, anyway?

"Arthur!"

Gwen sounded angry, confused, and maybe slightly frightened, but she couldn't have possibly known what was in the cloak. As far as anyone was concerned, Merlin had died over a month ago on the pyre, and if Gwen had spoken more than a few words to him since then, he couldn't recall them. He didn't want to know how she was going to react when she found out the truth.

He kept moving.

"What is going on?" She shouted, now far behind him. The guard had stopped and was now trying to speak to her calmly, but her voice still echoed off the stones and followed Arthur down the hallway. He blinked rapidly as the tapestries fluttering around them blurred, her voice ringing in his head the same way it had the day of Merlin's supposed death.

She had known of Merlin's arrest almost immediately. The king's own manservant had been arrested within the castle's walls; the entire kingdom was murmuring their suspicions. It was only a matter of time before somebody would want answers. Arthur had expected Gwaine, but he had been wrong.

"Arthur, what is going on?" Gwen's hands were on Arthur's shoulders, trying to pull him back as he passed their chambers. Despite her size, Gwen was strong, and she had determination on her side. Arthur found his exit slowed. He spun on his heel to face her in the doorway.

She was inches away from his nose, staring him down with a hand still on his shoulder. Her eyes and brow were fierce, her hair unkept. She had been waiting for him to return from the dungeons. He brushed a few stray hairs away from her face, but she leaned away from his touch, still frowning.

"Guinevere…" he whispered, but he didn't know how to say the rest. How was he supposed to explain to her that their best friend had betrayed them all? That he was returning from the dungeons after chaining an unconscious Merlin to a wall to await his fate? How was he suppsed to tell her that there were guards readying for his interrogation, that she was going to need to live the next few weeks, months, maybe years with her ex-best friend locked in a cell somewhere beneath her feet?

Merlin had made too many friends during his time in Camelot. He had tricked too many people into loving him.

The knowledge would break her.

It didn't matter that the crime he committed was the worst act of treason, nor would it matter that he was Morgana's ally. Somebody would try to come to his aid sooner or later, be it a knight or a peasant or Morgana herself, and then Arthur would be forced to punish them, too. How could he live with that? How could Gwen live with all of that?

The knowledge would break everyone.

And so Arthur had decided, as he stared into Gwen's angry eyes, that it would be better for her, for everyone, if Merlin died that day. He would die a traitor, yes, but he would die as yet another person Arthur had allowed to get too close. They could grieve him if he was dead. They could hate him and move on with their lives. They could receive closure, something that wasn't possible if they knew he was living beneath Camelot.

Gwen's scowl had faded into horror as Arthur cautiously told her the tale of Merlin's arrest, carefully leaving out his suspicions of his alliance with Morgana. He choked on his words as he described a fictional sentencing wherein Merlin's death had been decided, and stood very still as she raged at him and beat her fists against his chest. It was a long time before she calmed enough to sob into his shoulder:

"You can't let that happen."

Arthur, who had been hugging her close with his eyes squeezed shut, suddenly released her. The lie might have been pounding in his ears, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out her own words of betrayal.

She wanted to save Merlin. She wanted to save a sorcerer, and she wanted Arthur to help her.

The next words he spoke were clipped as he stood from their position on the floor. Gwen looked up at him with confusion.

"There's nothing to be done," he ground out.

"Arthur, you must try! Merlin is a good man. He does not deserve to die."

"No..." he said, staring out the window behind her, "...I think he does."

Gwen's eyes widened, and she stood slowly, her eyes on Arthur's.

"What?"

Arthur met her gaze.

"I said, I think he deserves it."

Gwen's hand went to her mouth. "Arthur-"

"And if anybody thinks differently, they can join him." There were no lies in his words this time, and Gwen's mouth snapped shut.

This time, when he left the room, Gwen didn't try to stop him.

"Arthur Pendragon!" She shouted before the door shut between them, and Arthur looked back once to see her eyes were cold, her brow furrowed with anger once again. When she spoke, her words were even and true.

"I will never forgive you for this."

Arthur smirked sadly, but said nothing.

He had a fake execution to organize.

Arthur sniffed, trying madly to blink the tears out of his eyes as Merlin grew heavier. He had lied to his wife's face and put his servant through Hell. He didn't want to face the repercussions now.

Glancing down at the bundle in his arms, he was struck with the thought that, maybe, he already was.