A/n Final notes and reveiw responses at the bottom! Also, sorry for being gone for so long! My life kind of got in the way of writing for a while.
Arthur winced as the afternoon light nearly blinded him; he squinted and then growled when he caught sight of the woman that was hurriedly picking up what appeared to be bed linens.
"Hi. I'm Merlin."
The woman smiled and took the hand that was offered to her.
"Cara. You're Arthur's servant. That must be such an honor."
"Oh, yeah. It is. Well, you know someone's got to keep the place running."
Arthur snorted and stepped back next to Gaius who was watching the whole – altercation with a firm scowl; it was something Arthur could agree with.
"Thank you, Merlin."
Merlin looked confused until the woman laid a hand on top of the stack of linens. She smiled and finally Merlin seemed to get it, and nodded, a blush that made Arthur embarrassed for him staining the man's pale cheeks.
"Oh, right. Yeah. Er, no problem."
She smiled and turned, calling her partings back over her shoulder.
"It was nice meeting you."
Merlin looked dazed and Arthur sighed, shaking his head.
"Shouldn't you be busy running the place?"
Arthur laughed.
The scene changed and Arthur found himself in his chambers as Merlin reeled backwards from a stack of clothes fanning his face, the dark haired man coughed and turned to his younger self with a look of disgust.
"When's the last time these were cleaned?"
"Last year some time. Before the Feast of Beltane."
Merlin frowned; he cautiously picked up the jacket before setting it back down.
"Did it end in a food fight?"
His younger self smirked.
"Don't all feasts?"
"I wouldn't know. The airs and graces of the court are a mystery to me."
"Not after tonight they won't be."
Merlin smiled then.
"I'm going to be at the banquet?"
"Not quite. You'll be there to make sure my cup doesn't run dry. If I have to sit through Bayard's boring speeches, I don't see why you should get out of it. Be sure to polish the buttons. Do you want to see what you'll be wearing tonight?"
Arthur's heart sunk.
Merlin frowned and pulled at his jacket and plain blue shirt.
"Won't this do?"
"No. Tonight you'll be wearing the official ceremonial robes of the servants of Camelot."
Arthur couldn't bring himself to laugh at the look on Merlin's face when he knew what was to happen at the feast. He should have known. Oblivious to the King, his younger self smirked and Merlin looked disgusted for the second time in less than five minutes.
"You can't be serious."
The scene changed.
They were in the banquet hall now and Arthur found himself standing between Gwen – who appeared to be only barely restraining her laughter – and Merlin.
"Nice hat."
She giggled and Merlin scowled and ripped the hat from his head. Merlin's head swiveled until he was staring at 'Cara' and Gwen smiled at Merlin.
"She's pretty isn't she? For a handmaiden, I mean?"
Merlin once again looked dazed.
"She's pretty for a princess, let alone a handmaiden."
Gwen hummed and turned away from him then as the crowd applauded and Bayard stepped forward, a merry grin on his face.
"People of Camelot, for a great many years we have been mortal enemies, and the blood of our men stains the ground from the walls of Camelot to the gates of Mercia. And though we remember those who have died, we must not allow any more to join them."
"As a symbol of our goodwill, and of our newfound friendship, I present these ceremonial goblets to you, Uther, and to your son, Arthur, in the hope that our friendship may last."
He closed his eyes then, he didn't need to see to know what happened next, except he did because the moment he heard 'Cara's voice alight with what he knew must be fake concern he knew there were things he had missed the first time around.
And wasn't that becoming a trend?
He followed behind the two, leaving Bayard droning on in the background.
"Tonight we toast a new beginning for our peoples. We look towards a future free from the toils of war…."
The two figures ducked into a corner of the empty and darkened corridors, 'Cara' looked properly distressed but unlike the concerned Merlin, he knew it was a farce, he knew what was going to happen, he knew and he couldn't change anything.
He wasn't used to being powerless.
"It wasn't until I saw him give the goblet to Arthur that I realized..."
Merlin frowned.
"Whoa, slow down. Start from the beginning."
"Two days ago, I was bringing Bayard his evening meal. We're supposed to knock. He didn't expect me to walk in..."
"So what are you trying to say?"
"If he knows I said anything, he will kill me."
Merlin lay a hand on her shoulder.
"I would not let that happen to you, I promise. Please tell me what you saw."
"Bayard is no friend of Camelot. He craves the kingdom for himself. "
"Cara...Tell me. What has Bayard done with the goblet?"
"He believes that if he kills Arthur, Uther's spirit will be broken and Camelot will fall."
"What has he done with the goblet?"
Cara looked properly distressed here.
"I saw him putting something in it."
"What?"
"I shouldn't! He'll kill me!"
"Please, tell me! Was it poison?"
The woman nodded and Merlin who, having fallen for it, turned and dashed away, the last thing he saw before the scene changed was the smirk on 'Cara's' lips. His stomach dropped. He closed his eyes quickly. He didn't want to see this. But then he opened them just as quickly. But see it he would.
His father grinned.
"And to fallen warriors on both sides."
They all – including his younger self – raised their glasses in a toast and just as the tainted liquid would have gone down his own throat the doors burst open. He remembered being annoyed that Merlin would be so idiotic as to interrupt such an event like this.
He wanted to close his eyes now.
"Stop! It's poisoned, don't drink it!"
He ran up to his younger self then and grabbed the goblet taking it into his hands and pulling it far away from his younger self.
"What?"
"Merlin, what are you doing?"
"Bayard laced Arthur's goblet with poison!"
"This is an outrage!"
The sound of swords being drawn briefly deafened him.
"Order you men to put down their swords, you're outnumbered."
"I will not allow this insult to go unchallenged!"
His father turned towards Merlin then.
"On what grounds do you base this accusation?"
His younger self sighed, self sufferingly and stepped forward with a confident air. Arthur really just wanted to punch him, and wondered why it was only now that he recognized the sound of the thousands of bells he should have heard that screamed danger. And then, protect.
"I'll handle this." His younger self smiled and grabbed the goblet from Merlin's hand. "Merlin, you idiot. Have we been at the slow gin again?" His father taking no note of his younger self's attempt's to diffuse the situation stepped forward and towards Merlin with a threatening air.
"Unless you want to be strung up, you will tell me why you think it's poisoned."
Merlin swallowed.
"He was seen lacing it."
"By whom?"
"I can't say."
Bayard scoffed.
"I won't listen to this anymore."
"Pass me the goblet."
"If you're telling the truth…"
"I am."
"Then you have nothing to fear, do you?"
Bayard sheathed his sword and reached for the goblet but his father tutted and held it out of his reach. "No, if it does prove to be poisoned, I want the pleasure of killing you myself."
His father forced the goblet at Merlin.
"He'll drink it."
Arthur couldn't hear through the roar in his ears. He'd thought Merlin was nothing but an idiot who was out to cause trouble, he hadn't believed and then – he didn't want to see Merlin crumple to the floor, he didn't want to see the look in Gaius's eyes, didn't want to see his darling Guinevere's fear filled eyes.
He didn't want to remember how it felt to know that Merlin was dying. But if there was a reason he was seeing this, if there was a reason he was being shown all these things – then he had to see it, he knew things turned out all right, still that moment when –
He watched Merlin fall, down, down, down.
- He thought Merlin was already dead, was impossible to describe. He closed his eyes and the scene changed.
He found himself in Gaius's chambers once again as his younger self almost gently lay a pale Merlin down on the spare bed. "– He's struggling to breathe, Gwen, fetch me some water and a towel." The chambers were in chaos and in the middle of it was his younger self looking guilty and just a tad lost.
"Is he going to be alright?"
His younger self was ignored and he remembered being confused, and at the time, though he would never admit it, terrified.
"He's burning up!"
"You can cure him, can't you Gaius?"
Gaius looked sad, and old, and every bit as terrified as his younger self felt.
"I won't know until I can identify the poison. Pass me the goblet."
Gaius looked it over, spinning it around and around until the glinting jewels became dizzying, he sighed when Gaius finally found what he was looking for and pulled it out with a pair of tweezers – or what he thought were tweezers.
"Ah. There is something stuck on the inside."
"What is it?"
"It looks like a flower petal of some kind."
Guinevere's voice was a background roar.
"His brow's on fire."
"Keep him cool; it'll help control his fever."
Gaius franticly flipped through a book of what Arthur thought were herbs until finally he let out a sound of triumph and began to read.
Ah. The petal comes from the Mortaeus flower. It says here that someone poisoned by the Mortaeus can only be saved by a potion made from the leaf of the very same flower. It can only be found in the caves deep beneath the Forest of Balor. The flower grows on the roots of the Mortaeus tree. A Cockatrice guards the forest. Its venom is potent. A single drop would mean certain death. Few who have crossed the Mountains of Isgaard in search of the Mortaeus flower have made it back alive."
His younger self swallowed.
"Sounds like fun."
Gaius looked up alarmed.
"Arthur, it's too dangerous."
He remembers appreciating the sentiment but –
"If I don't get the antidote, what happens to Merlin?"
–The man who just saved him – his life was more important.
Gaius sighed then.
"The Mortaeus induces a slow and painful death . He may hold out for four, maybe five days, but not for much longer. Eventually he will die."
The scene changed and Arthur found himself in his own chambers, standing over the fire as Morgana entered. He had forgotten this.
"Say what you like about the food, but you can't beat our feast for entertainment."
"Morgana – "
He looked up then.
"– I'm sorry, I should have made sure you were alright."
"I'm disappointed actually. I was looking forward to clumping a couple around the head with a ladle."
Despite themselves, both Arthur's snorted.
"I'm sure the guards could have handled Bayard and his men."
"Yeah, but why let the boys have all the fun?"
"Morgana, you shouldn't get involved. It's dangerous."
She snorted then and he remembered who he was looking at, what this woman would become, but he couldn't bring himself to hate her because in this moment she had been just what he had needed, she had been the push that spurred him into action.
He wondered what happened to her to twist her so spectacularly. Was it really magic? Was that all it was?
"Spare me the lecture; I've already had it from Uthur."
"If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one."
She smiled then, all dark hair and green eyes.
"Not that I listen to him. Sometimes you've got to do what you think is right, and damn the consequences."
His younger self looked at her then.
"You think I should go?"
"It doesn't matter what I think."
But all the same he had known, he did know, that she had wanted him to go and save Merlin in that moment.
"If I don't make it back, who will be the next king of Camelot? There's more than just my life at stake."
"And what kind of king would Camelot want? One that would risk his life to save that of a lowly servant?" She drew his sword then, the metal glinting in the firelight. "Or one who does what his father tells him to?" She curtsied and handed it to him.
The scene changed.
His Guinevere sat next to a fevered Merlin her hand on his forehead. A frown marred her lips and she turned to Gaius.
"He's getting hotter."
Merlin turned his head into her palm.
"Him, Liffrea, wuldres, wealdend, woroldare forgeaf."
He was muttering spells! The idiot.
"What language is that?"
Gaius looked concerned and frowned as he picked up the boys wrist.
"None, the fever's taken hold. None of those wards are his own. His pulse is weaker."
Arthur noticed the rash on Merlin's arm just as Guinevere did, she reached down to touch it but Gaius snatched her hand back and raised the arm so he could stare at it up close. She frowned and looked down at Merlin.
"What is it?"
But Gaius wasn't paying attention he was now franticly flipping through a book.
"That can't be right. The rash isn't supposed to appear until the final stage," then "It says here that once a rash appears, death will follow within two days."
Gwen looked up sharply and he could see the fear in her eyes.
"You said he had four days."
"Something increased the flowers potency. It warns that the effects of the Mortaeus will be more rapid in an enchantment is used during the flowers preparation."
She frowned.
"An enchantment? But Bayard's no sorcerer."
Gaius nodded.
"No he isn't…..it can't have been. She wouldn't dare come here. Unless…."
"Unless what?"
"What happened to that girl?"
"Which girl?"
"Just before Merlin burst into the hall one of Bayard's serving girls took him outside."
Gwen nodded then.
"She had dark hair. Very beautiful."
"Find her. Quickly."
Oblivious to everything, Merlin rolled over still muttering.
"Arthur….swa…."
The scene changed and Arthur found himself at Merlin's bedside some time had passed and now Gaius sat in Gwen's place, his hand on Merlin's arm, turning the angry red arm this way and that. Merlin stirred but just as quickly fell back under.
He looked up as his Guinevere entered a troubled frown on her face.
"Let me guess, she wasn't there."
"No one has seen her since the banquet. Who is she?"
"Not who she claims to me."
"But you know, don't you?"
"Cara. Though, that's not her name, not her real name, anyway."
"Then who is she?"
"A powerful sorceress."
"Well, we should tell Uther. Maybe he could send riders out after her."
"No, she'll be long gone. It's impossible to know where, though…" then, "Oh no…."
Gwen looked concerned then.
"What?"
"She knows the only place an antidote can be found is in the Forest of Balor. Arthur could be walking into a trap."
Merlin's fevered mutterings then, were the only sound.
"Arthur….Arthur…."
It was night now both Gaius and Guinevere sat at Merlin's side, both holding a hand. Arthur was having a hard time thinking of his mantra of 'it all ends okay' when Merlin was whimpering like a new born animal that had been abandoned.
Merlin twitched in his sleep, his throat working.
"Arthur, it….it's a trap. It's a trap…."
Guinevere looked over at Gaius, her thumb stroking the skin of Merlin's hand.
"His fever's getting worse, isn't it?"
Gaius sighed, old and weary.
"The poison's setting in."
"eft gewunigen wilgesiþas, þonne wig cume."
Gaius hushed him and then turned to Guinevere.
"Could you fetch me some more Wolfbane?"
Guinevere nodded and hastily stood.
"Yes, of course."
She left then and the few candles keeping the room a light flickered casting shadows on both Merlin and Gaius. Gaius who was gripping Merlin's hand tightly and was staring down at the young man's face with a kind of aged sadness.
"Merlin, you must fight it."
The scene changed, not much time had passed because Gaius was still alone, but in the short time Merlin had become even more restless.
"Arthur. It's too dark. To dark. Fromum feohgiftum on faeder bearme. Fromum feohgiftum."
Then something glowed and Gaius lifted the sheets folding them back to reveal a glowing ball of blue light tucked neatly in Merlin's hand. A very familiar blue light and Arthur choked because, fuck, he knew that light.
That light had saved him.
"Merlin, what are you doing?"
Merlin didn't answer; instead he began to twist, as if to fight off an enemy, but in reality only managed to get himself tangled.
"Leave them, Arthur…"
And then.
"Go. Save yourself. Follow the light. Go faster. Follow the light! Move, climb! "
Finally Merlin stilled, the ball of light disappearing the same time he knew it must have disappeared in the cave, because it had done what it needed to.
Merlin had saved him again.
But now he was still, and Arthur knew he wouldn't like what came next.
The scene changed and Arthur found himself blinking in the sunlight streaming through the windows in Gaius's chambers.
"He hasn't got much longer. Has Arthur got the flower."
Guinevere closed her eyes and then sighed.
"I don't know. Uther won't allow anyone to see him. Is there nothing we can do to help?"
Gaius sighed.
"Only the leaf of the Mortaeus flower can save him."
"And we have to find out if Arthur has it." Then, quieter, "I could sneak into the dungeon."
Gaius looked up.
"That would be very dangerous."
Merlin wheezed, and both Gaius and Gwen's eyes met and Arthur found himself loving her a little more in that moment.
"I have to; he'll die if I don't."
Gaius nodded.
"Be careful."
The scene changed, he watched as Guinevere rushed in a crushed flower in her hand, she handed it to Gaius and looked anxiously around the room.
"How is he?"
"His breathing's worse. We have to hurry."
Gaius nodded as Guinevere settled herself at Merlin's side and Gaius hurriedly began to work on grinding up the flower, only to stop.
"The posion was created using magic. We may need magic to make an antidote."
And Arthur knew that before the purge Gaius had been a sorcerer, knew that he had sworn to stop practicing and in that moment he knew that Gaius had broken that oath for a raven haired nineteen year old idiot, who somehow could endear himself to anyone.
He also found he wasn't angry, only relieved.
"But we can't. It's forbidden. Even if we could."
"I'll try and make it work without it. Oh, I need some fresh water."
She nods and takes the bowel he offered leaving the chambers in a clamber, Gaius doesn't notice though he only pulls the bowel closer to his face and frowns before beginning to recite.
"Sythan…"
He stopped and glanced around, his eyes finding Merlin.
"Sythan arrest wearth feasceaft funden. Denum efter dome. Dreamleas gebad he gewinnes longsum."
The potion simmered and frothed and sizzled and Gaius smiled as Gwen rushed in handing him a full bowel of water before rushing to Merlin's side.
"Thank you."
He pours the still frothing liquid into a small cup and went to Merlin's side.
"Hold his nose."
Guinevere does as is asked of her and then Gaius poured the frothing mess into Merlin's open mouth, before holding it closed and massaging Merlin's throat.
"Swallow, Merlin. Swallow it."
"He's stopped breathing, what's happening? Gaius?"
Gaius didn't answer only laid his ear to Merlin's chest and in that moment Arthur knew what was to be said.
"His heart has stopped."
But, Merlin was alive, he was alive and whole, and back in Camelot, in the dungeon's, but even so he was alive and – he was at least - had him being here changed something? Would he awake to a world without Merlin, a Merlin that had died years ago?
Would he awake to a different world then the one he knew?
He didn't know, all he knew was this moment hurt more than the moment he found out what Merlin was – how he had been lied to – and that – that had hurt the most hadn't it? – and, oh god, Merlin's heart had stopped. Merlin who was awaiting his fate in a cell, Merlin who he –
"He's dead."
"He can't be, he can't be, it was his destiny – "
Gaius stood then, quickly followed by Gwen who folded into Gaius's chest, crying.
"It's my fault. If I'd have got here sooner. If I'd have been quicker."
She muttered and then sobbed.
"No, no, it was me; I should've looked after him better. It's my fault."
But it was really Arthur's fault.
Then:
"That's disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're old enough to be her grandfather."
They both looked up then.
"Merlin…you're alive."
Merlin grinned weak bly.
"No, I'm the ghost come back to haunt you."
Arthur snorted. Merlin was – he wasn't –
He was alive.
Then Guinevere kissed him and Arthur stared wide eyed, because Merlin – and Guinevere – and fuck, well he hadn't expected that. He wasn't jealous that Merlin had kissed her first, not in the least, still he did clench his fists a bit too tight and perhaps feel that Merlin deserved to muck out the stables sometime earlier then after the week he was given to recover fully.
Still he was alive. Still alive in Camelot, in the dungeon's, and what did this change?
He didn't know.
"Sorry, I just…I thought you were dead."
"It's fine. It's more than fine….erm…what happened? The last thing I remember is drinking the wine."
The scene changed.
Gaius and Merlin were sitting at the table, a blanket wrapped tightly around Merlin's shoulders.
"Arthur may give you a hard time, but at heart he's a man of honor. There aren't many who'd have risked what he did for a servant."
"It all would've been for nothing if you didn't know how to make the antidote."
Gaius nodded and pointed a finger at Merlin's still full plate.
"Eat your dinner."
"I still don't understand why she went to all the trouble of framing Bayard, she could've just kept quiet and killed Arthur."
"But destroying Arthur and Camelot wasn't all she was after. She knew you would be forced to drink that wine. It was you she wanted to kill. Seems someone else knows you're destined for great things, Merlin."
There was a strange tint of foreshadowing in those words.
The scene changed.
A/N: Fuck, just no, my babies, Merlin, Kilgharrah, and Arthur. And then - it ends in three episodes. The only consolation is i live in the states and it will be here in January ( i believe) and i can watch it again. But wasn't the whole part of Merlin to show Arthur and Merlin before they did all these great things, and they can't do these great things if they go off and die. Oh god, why?
I've become to attached.
Question for you: Favorite Merlin Pairing?
Bonus Question for you: Your theory for the end is?
Now for the reviews!
Mika271170: Thanks so much, i'm glad you liked it!
CarolinaEirasSa: I honestly thought i was the first to think of this. (facepalm) but i'm glad mine isn't boring! One of the things i hate most is when one starts a story with two characters that they need to develop to make an ending believable, but only focuses on one and then just ends it picture perfectly. I don't want that to ever be something i write, and i'm glad i'm succeeding so far.
Thank you!
Saroura92: Indeed he is! :D
1983Sarah: oh don't worry, just look at mine!
TrickyVicky: Thanks!
Angeleyenc: Yes Gwen, but she's back now. Thanks!
Amethyst M: Thanks!
Ruby890: Thanks! And thanks again for the site! Now heres the thing, i have a certain point in this story that i want Arthur to realize everything. It's not yet. So subconsciously and when things like - Merlin being poisoned - are happening Arthur is going to be all protective. But consciously - he's not there yet. Basically he's going to be a hypocrite for a while. Unfortunately. But i hope that when it does finally click it will meet everyone's expectations.
Nameless Secret Keeper: Glad to see i wasn't the only one who found those parts funny!
Gergiaj3: Thanks!
Iamsherlocked1450: Thanks and i plan to!
Finally Thank you to all who participated in my little AN pole, i think i know where i'm going as far as Merlin's side of the story now, there are a few changes that i have made to my story map that i hope make this story better.