In hindsight, Arthur thought, he really never should have gotten out of bed that morning. Or the day before that, for that matter. Not to mention a long string of days beginning with the Reaping ceremony that led him to his current plight.

"I believe," he spat between clenched teeth, "that I told you quite clearly not to follow me."

A salty ocean breeze stung his lips as a gust of wind sent the waves crashing against the shore on which the Labyrinth of Gedref came to an end. Merlin offered him a rather weary version of his trademark smirk as Anhora revealed that one vessel contained poison while the other contained an apparently harmless liquid. Not that he would trust the man further than he could throw him.

"Clearly Anhora wanted me to follow you," Merlin protested. Arthur was about to open his mouth to inform him that the only clear part of any of this was Merlin's complete idiocy, but Merlin shook his head and continued. "Whichever of these goblets has the poison in it, Anhora's done a good job of hiding it."

Arthur rolled his eyes in exasperation. "And you'd be able to tell because…?"

"My mother is an herbalist."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at that. "So you do have some useful skills, then?"

"All the liquid from both goblets must be drunk," Anhora cut in, sending Arthur's brain spinning off on a different track entirely. "But each of you may only drink from a single goblet."

Arthur's anger and frustration, simmering under the surface, finally came to a boil. "You can't be serious!" he exploded. "What kind of test is this? What on earth is this supposed to prove?!"

"That is for you to decide," Anhora replied, serene, even tone never faltering for an instant. Arthur wanted nothing more than to forcefully wipe the maddeningly composed expression off his old, wrinkled face, but he steeled himself, taking a sharp intake of breath and settling for tightening his grip around the hilt of his sword.

Silence hung heavily between the three of them for several moments.

"Let's think about this," Merlin interrupted slowly. "What if I drink from my goblet first?"

You self-sacrificing idiot, Arthur cursed mentally.

"If it's poison, you'll die."

"And if it's not, you'll have to drink from yours and you'll die."

Merlin leaned forward, propping his forearms against the crude wooden table in a slumped posture that mirrored Arthur's own. "There has to be a way around this."

Arthur sighed. "No, there's not. One of us has to die." He was quite plainly stating the obvious, but somehow voicing the inevitable fate that one of them faced made it more immediate. More real. And Merlin wanted to take the risk upon himself. Not for the first time, Arthur wondered to himself what the hell was a kid like that was doing in the Hunger Games.

"We have to find a way of determining which goblet has the poison," Arthur said finally. "Then I'll drink it." Merlin froze mid-nod, a strange, momentary terror flickering in his eyes.

"I will be the one to drink it." He practically ordered. There was clearly no use in trying to talk the other boy out of his half-baked determination to get himself killed.

"This is no time to try and be a hero, Merlin," Arthur offered in a last-ditch effort to change his mind. "It really doesn't suit you."

Merlin's eyes only hardened in resolution, and he rested his chin against his folded hands, listing several other courses of action that broke one or more of the guidelines laid down by Anhora, who watched in silence with a raised eyebrow.

The seeds of a plan began to form in Arthur's mind, and he changed the direction of the conversation slightly to serve as a distraction. "I had no idea you were so keen to die for me."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I can hardly believe it myself," he scoffed.

Arthur allowed himself a short breath of laughter. Ordinarily he would have demanded to know what exactly his companion meant by that, but then these were no normal circumstances. Steeling himself, he trained his gaze on the warped oaken panels between the two goblets and sighed. "I'm glad you're here Merlin."

His admission surprised himself, and for a moment he felt somehow lighter, but the feeling was gone as suddenly as it had come as Merlin muttered, "I've got it."

Arthur leaned back in his seat and Merlin continued. "We pour all the liquid into one goblet and then we can be sure it's poison. Then all the liquid can be drunk and it will be from a single goblet." Arthur's heart sank as Merlin came to the same conclusion as he had moments earlier.

Distraction, distraction, distraction, he reminded himself, deciding to try a different tactic. "You know," he smirked, "you're a lot smarter than you look."

"Is that a compliment?"

Merlin grinned, and Arthur took it in, suddenly only too aware that the other boy's smile was likely the last thing he would see. His fingers twitched against the tabletop and he took a slow breath, savoring the tang of the salt air against his tongue and steeling himself with a mental apology. I'm sorry father.

"Look, over there!" He exclaimed abruptly, gesturing randomly to a hazy blue point on the horizon over Merlin's right shoulder. As Merlin turned on reflex to find what he was pointing to, Arthur deftly grabbed both goblets and poured the contents into a single vessel just as the other boy turned around in confusion.

Merlin's eyes widened in horrified realization. "No! I will drink it." Part of Arthur wanted to laugh at the younger boy's ridiculous stubbornness.

"As if I'd let you. This test is for me, not you, and I won't have you die on my behalf." I owe you already, he wanted to say.

Merlin spouted something about dying this way not being his destiny, but it was barely distinguishable from the blood rushing in Arthur's ears. Or maybe that was the ocean.

"Listen to me!" Merlin urged him desperately.

Arthur did smile at that. "You know me, Merlin. I never listen to you." And with that, he poured the contents of the goblet down his throat, wincing as the strangely icy liquid burned his tongue. He fixed his gaze on Merlin's anguished expression, distantly wishing there was something he could do about the pain he saw there. The sound of the wind and the water melded into a steady roar, and his surroundings blurred until Merlin's blue eyes were all he could see. Then there was darkness.

A/N: Surprise! Happy November everyone! :)