Until the Last Breath Leaves My Body

by Camelotpointe

A collection of short stories about the characters of 'Merlin'. Includes friendship, drama, comedy and more! Chapters 50 - 53: Too Much to Bear - Merlin is overwhelmed and struggling to cope with the weight of his responsibilities and the secrets he is forced to keep. Gwaine and Arthur are worried about their friend and try their best to help.

22. A Lost Love

A Lost Love:

This is part of a series of short one-shots dedicated to each character, some of which are humorous, while others are sad. I wrote these to give a bit more depth to some of the characters which I felt could have been developed a little more. This chapter is devoted to Leon. Hope you enjoy!

…

He knelt on the cold stone floor, not caring for the rough surface that bit into his knees and turned his legs numb. It had happened here, in this very spot. This was where she had died.

The corridor had been cleaned by the maids, and the casualties taken away, but he didn't know what had become of her body. He slumped against the wall, tears brimming in his eyes. He didn't want to see the others. He had passed them earlier, but kept his distance. None of them knew what to say, how to make things better, and he didn't want to hear their kind, well-meant words, each one that was like a dagger in his heart. He ran his hands along the floor, pausing when he felt something sharp beneath his fingertips. He grasped the point and pulled it from where it was stuck in the tiny crevice between the wall and the floor, then turned his hand over so that he could see it.

It was an arrowhead. Small and sharp, it rested gently in his palm, the coolness of it creating a tingling sensation that spread across his hand. He stroked it gently. It was smooth to the touch, the design almost flawless. He closed his hand over the arrowhead and slipped it into his pocket. He would keep it, as a talisman.

"Leon?" He looked up to see Gwaine standing before him, Percival and Elyan slightly behind the dark haired knight. "We have something for you." Elyan stepped forward and held out a crossbow. The design was flawless, the balance perfect. Leon smiled at his friends as he took the gift.

…..

So… This one started out quite sad, but I didn't want it to have such an unhappy ending. Hopefully you understood the twist at the end – it wasn't actually a woman who had died; it was Leon's favourite crossbow that had been 'killed' (destroyed) in a battle. I got the idea from 'A Servant of Two Masters' (which is actually one of my favourite episodes) when Merlin was asking Leon about a crossbow to kill Arthur and Leon was saying how beautiful the crossbow was.

If there are any characters you feel were underdeveloped and whom you would like me to dedicate a chapter to, please let me know and I will write one! Thanks for reading!