Hey, all! This is the last part of episode two! I've been working crazy hard to get this to you. It might be a little while before episode three is put up, because I haven't got an idea for it yet! Thanks for all your reviews! As always, I hope to do the characters justice and please enjoy!

Episode 2: Sorcerer's Bane (Part Three)

"Has this ever happened before?" Arthur asked, standing up from his desk.

Merlin looked nearly frightened as he stared at his hands. "I can't recall… I mean, I don't think… Maybe once…"

Arthur placed his feather pen in the ink bottle. "It must be because of that flower. I may not be attuned to all of your sorcery madness, but I can tell at least that much."

When Merlin looked up at Arthur from across the room, the king's stomach dropped. The sorcerer, for perhaps the first time, was no longer a sorcerer. Was that a good thing? Arthur couldn't help but muse about that question. No more annoying situations. No more Merlin messing things up. No more worrying that anyone would find out. So… why did Merlin look so upset?

"Merlin, I…" Arthur was interrupted when there was a number of knocks on the door to his chambers. "Enter."

A knight walked in, looking calm, so Arthur knew it wasn't anything urgent.

"My lord," the knight began, "Some knights found someone skulking about outside Camelot's walls. We captured and threw this person in prison."

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. It was normally his duty to question outsiders, but Merlin was having such a girly crisis. He decided Merlin's problem could wait, as the person could be a spy sent to destroy the kingdom. Also, Arthur figured it was just a mistake and he'd get his magic back soon enough.

Arthur walked for the door, but when he passed Merlin, he put an encouraging hand on his shoulder, saying nothing to his servant as he exited his chambers with the knight.

The king arrived in the dungeon after ten minutes, the only light that kept him from tripping down the stairs were the lamplights hooked to the wall.

"My lord, she is in cell number seven," the knight mentioned, following the king closely. Arthur nodded in reply and continued walking. He stopped at the directed cell and looked into it, surprised. A beautiful woman was sitting on the other side of the cell, just beside a ray of light that came in from her single window. She had blonde, wavy hair that cascaded down her back, but the most interesting of her features were her gray eyes. Even in the dimly lit dungeon, her pale skin illuminated, giving her a strange, fairy look.

"Has she said anything?" Arthur asked the knight.

"No. She refuses to speak."

"Leave me."

"But, my lord-!"

"That's an order."

The knight was hesitant, but nodded and trotted back up the stairs.

"Arthur Pendragon," the woman spoke with a soothing, sweet voice. It didn't match her otherwise dark demeanor.

The king frowned. "And what is your name?"

The woman didn't answer as she stood from her corner and glided over to the cells' bars. She reached out with her pale hand and caressed Arthur's cheek. The king allowed it, as he was trying to prove a point. By showing he couldn't care less about her getting so close, would give her the idea that he knew he could defeat her. At least, this is what his father taught him.

"Such a beautiful face. It's no wonder Emrys bends to your will," the woman continued with her seemingly sweet voice. She stroked Arthur's cheekbone with her thumbs, but the King of Camelot stood tall and didn't flinch.

Dismissing her comment, Arthur asked again, "What is your name?"

The woman's thumb traced his cheekbone to his nose and trailed down his face until she gently and slowly ran her thumb across his bottom lip. "My name is Aya, my lord."

"A woman gave it to me," Merlin had said, "A woman named Aya…"

Arthur's hand immediately reacted and he grabbed her thin wrist strongly, looking furious. The woman whimpered at the tight hold, but she remained still on the other side of the bars.

"You tried to kill Merlin," Arthur said in a warning tone. "You will pay for what you have done."

"Oh, so you know?" Aya questioned with a confident smirk. "It's strange he hasn't been burned at the stake, yet."

Arthur didn't answer her, but instead replied in a tighter squeeze to her fragile wrist.

Aya hissed in pain, "You would hurt a woman?"

"You're no woman, you're a sorcerer!" Arthur yelled back, his voice echoing in the dungeon, but as soon as he did his grip on her loosened slowly; so slowly until Aya could finally pull back her hand through the bar and cradle her injury. Arthur's eyes widened at what he said and his heart squeezed.

Time ceased in that moment and all Arthur could do was stare into oblivion.

"We are human, you know." Arthur recalled Merlin saying. Arthur knew that. Of course, he knew that. The only difference was that sorcerers could use magic. Given it was quite strange, but that didn't change who they were, right? Merlin had always been Merlin.

Arthur wasn't sure how much time had passed when he blinked and found himself back in the dark dungeon, staring at a woman who had been hurt. Arthur swallowed the lump in his throat and held his hands together behind his back.

"You will be released tomorrow under two conditions," Arthur suggested with a much different tone.

"Oh? And what's that?" Aya scoffed sarcastically.

"You will tell me how to return Merlin's magic and you must never return to Camelot."

"Wouldn't that be doing you more favors? After all, I want you dead and I'd like to leave."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Me? I thought you wanted to kill my servant."

Aya scoffed and smirked. "Emrys is your strongest defense. Without him, you are easy to kill."

"I haven't done you any wrong."

Aya didn't answer, but instead replied with, "How will you change your demands if I refuse to comply?"

"Considering your situation, you don't have much to bargain."

Aya's voice suddenly hitched to a yell. "And what did your people have to bargain with as they murdered my mother?! 'She's a sorcerer'! That's hardly a bargain!"

Arthur clenched his teeth together and tore away his gaze from the woman as he realized why she wanted him dead instead of Merlin. It wasn't the sorcerers fault. They were probably just like Merlin; innocent and born with something that couldn't be understood. They and they loved ones died for nothing and Arthur upheld that law even after his father passed away. Arthur was directly involved with countless sorcerer murders. He was beginning to feel something; something so horrible that it nearly made him weep. He was beginning to feel the heavy burden of the deaths of all the innocent sorcerers. The burden was beginning to weigh on his shoulders, attempting to crush him.

"I am… sorry," Arthur said, trying to lighten the weight.

"An apology? Do you really think that's enough for murdering my mother?"

"I'm sorry," Arthur repeated, his voice getting quiet. The weight was beginning to crush him. "I'm sorry."

Aya went quiet as she stared in solemn shock at the King of Camelot sinking to his knees under the heavy burden. Arthur grabbed onto the bars and dipped his head forward. The king continued to repeat his apology until Aya began to sob.

The two fated enemies sat there in the near darkness, separated by metal bars; one allowing tears to escape and the other holding them back.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Arthur was quickly making his way through the vast corridors towards Gaius's chambers when he looked at the small bottle in his hand. Truth be told, Arthur let Aya leave without making her promise anything. Surprisingly, she decided to help and said she would leave Camelot forever, because 'it didn't suit her needs'.

Arthur chuckled a bit after recalling what she had said with a smile on her face. Aya had made the potion in Arthur's hand and said it would reverse the effects of the Sorcerer's Poison flower. In all honesty, Arthur had thought about never giving Merlin the potion. Life seemed easier when no sorcery was involved, so he thought his servant would have a better life without it. However, he only thought about it for a moment, because he knew it was wrong. Merlin was Merlin and Merlin was a sorcerer. Sorcery was a part of him and without it, he wouldn't be Merlin.

The King of Camelot smiled warmly as he pushed open Gaius's door with new meaning. Perhaps, with Merlin's help, the newly found weight on his shoulders would lighten every day.

[cue Merlin ending]

END OF EPISODE 2