Another Twist of Fate

Chapter 2: Long Live the King and Queen


When I woke up I felt warm, I felt something rough and corse like rock against my skin...which, somehow seemed familiar. I reached out my hand to touch it and within seconds I knew what it was. It was Kilgharrah's scales.

I snapped my eyes open like in the mornings when I realised I was late, and instead of my small, messy room in Camelot, I woke up to the grassy, beautiful clearing by the Lake of Avalon. The old tower was across from me and Kilgharrah was curled around me like a giant cat. If he ever knew I'd compared him to a cat, I'd be ashes.

"Go on, say it," I sighed as I stretched my aching muscles, I still felt exhausted, but I didn't have time to lie around. It took me a while to stand up then I moved across to the still sleeping King Arthur who I noted with happiness, was still breathing.

"I will, young warlock," the dragon said sarcastically, "You have no idea what you have done. Perhaps one day Fate would have owed you, but now...you are indebted to Fate, you cannot escape it. You belong to Fate."

"Sure," I scoffed, "Like I wasn't Fate's puppet the minute I was born...No, wait...I was Fate's puppet even before then! If anything, it owes me now!" I shouted as I checked the wound on Arthur's side. The dried blood was still there, but the wound was completely gone.

It was still hard to believe. I had done the impossible; I had defied Fate. Albion would have its King, and I...I would have my friend back. I'd never felt so happy. I felt like I could scream and shout 'thank you' to the skies and make every forest in the world bloom with flowers while celebrating stars shone from the heavens to proclaim this momentous occasion to every citizen of the world.

"There will be a price to pay," Kilgharrah said, effectively ruining my happy mood.

"I know, I owe the Sidhe...and they're not the nicest things out there, but they were the only ones who could help me," I told him and he sighed in agreement. "How long do you..." I tried to ask but I couldn't finish the question.

"Not long...not long...and with the future changed I don't know if we will meet again. I do have one request to ask of you," he said.

"Name it," I said with tears in my eyes. I could help Arthur but not Kilgharrah.

"The hatchling...despite her betrayal...I ask that you let her live..." he said and I blinked in confusion. I knew Aithusa's betrayal had hurt him deep, any kin of his to bond with someone as evil as Morgana was a betrayal to magic itself.

"I..." I sighed, "I wasn't planning on doing any different, she's the only other dragon, how could I kill her? I'll have to watch her all the time...but...I can't kill her...you have my word, my friend," I said truthfully and he nodded, gratefully. "I hope...I hope I see you again...and I never said...thank you...for everything..."

"I will take you across the Lake," he said after a minute. I wondered if dragons could cry, he seemed to sound like they could.

I had no idea how long I'd been asleep on the island for, but it was getting dark, I couldn't travel in the dark with an unconscious king in tow without horses. It was suicide. I hadn't risked so much to bring Arthur back only to lose him to a bandit attack in the forest because I'd gotten careless.

When I stood back on solid ground on the other side of the Lake Kilgharrah waited while I rubbed my eyes and quickly searched for the body of Morgana. Without a word of remembrance or tears we burned the body and then he only stared at me for a minute before he took of with one last sadly, contented look.

I then set about searching for the horses while I kept Arthur in my sight, my eyes shone gold and after a few spells they quickly ran back to me. There was no way I could carry Arthur, or expect him to walk all the way back to Camelot. It was leagues away! I tethered the wayward animals to a fallen tree and set about making a pile of wood for the fire. Then I heard a quiet sigh and a moan, I looked across at Arthur to see him trying to open his eyes.

"Hey," I smiled at him as I started the fire with magic. "Look who's finally awake."

"...I'm dreaming?"

"No, sorry," I said.

"...I'm dead?" he muttered.

"No, not anymore," I shook my head.

"...I'm...alive?"

"Very much so," I nodded tiredly.

"How...you...did you..."

"I did...well...me and the Sidhe...but..."

"The what?"

"Long story, I'll tell you sometime, you'll like it," I sighed and he went quiet again, for a while I thought he was somehow sleeping despite having his eyes open. The sound of him breathing was all that kept me from panicking and thinking he was dead...again.

"Where are we?" he asked me a while later.

"On the borders of the Lake, I found the horses earlier, we'll start back for Camelot at sunrise," I told him quickly but he said nothing for a while again. I stared into the flames and thought back on my deal with the Sidhe...there would come a day when I would no doubt regret it...but Arthur was alive. Surely the ends justified the means, right?

"How did you do it?" the king asked me.

"I'd...rather not say...not yet..." I shook my head. I was still so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open but I needed to keep watch, Arthur was in so fit state to do so. It was best if he didn't know how tired I really was. At least not yet. "All you need to know right now is; you're alive, I'm alive, Morgana and Mordred are gone, and we'll be back in Camelot as soon as possible."

"Merlin..."

"Please...Arthur...you were dead...you were gone...and it was my fault...I fixed it...end of story," I sighed and leaned back against a tree behind me as I rubbed my aching head. Magical exhaustion; it felt far worse than any hangover.

"Okay...why did you do it? Is it worth it?" he asked and I could only stare in shock. I could vaguely see the fire I'd made flare up with my emotions, I was too tired to keep my magic in check and now it had been exhausted not long ago I had no idea what it would do.

How could he ask me that? After everything we'd been through how could I not risk everything in defying Fate to bring him back?

"...How...I..." I tried to answer but I just couldn't think of the right words. Even after al these years he was still a...a clot-pole! "After all the times we've saved each other how can you even ask me that?!" I asked him, "If I really was born to protect you, how could I fail like that? How could Fate have decided that your purpose was..."

"It wasn't your fault," he told me sincerely. The same sincerity I had heard from his dying lips not long ago.

"It was," I sighed heavily, "I did everything I could...and it wasn't enough...I knew...I knew Mordred would...right from the start..."

"...Right from...when?"

"...When we first met him...all those years ago when Morgana tried to save him...I was warned...I was warned that he would be trouble, that it was too dangerous to let him live...but I didn't listen...he was only a child..." I scoffed. "And that 'child' killed you!"

"It wasn't..."

"All of this was prophesied long before we were born, you know. You...me...Morgana and Mordred...even Camlann, all of it..."

"How..."

"And I'm sorry...I'm sorry I failed you...if I'd just let Mordered die then you wouldn't have made him a knight and he wouldn't have killed you. If I'd let Morgana go...if I'd just listened...but I thought she could be saved...she wasn't always so...dark...she used to be so kind..."

"...I know..." he frowned, "And...I don't blame you...it's not your fault..."

All I could do was sigh and stare into the fire as the whole thing replayed in my mind; all my decisions and all of the things I could have done differently, all of my failures and all of my successes.

"Get some sleep, Arthur, I'll wake you at dawn," I told him as I looked up at the shining stars and wondered if they too, saw what I had done as a betrayal of Fate.

"I can..."

"I'm not the one back from the dead," I said with the most convincing smile I could give, "I'm fine, really," I lied. I prayed he was too tried to notice...he did look it, hopefully I didn't.

"...Alright...but...wake me if you need sleep...and Merlin..."

"Hmm?"

"...Thank you..."

That was the second time he'd said that...it would've been easy for me to make a sarcastic remark, even this tired several dozen came to mind...but I didn't. I only looked across the fire at him as he smiled tiredly at me. He was sleeping again within minutes.


"Arthur..." I nudged the king's shoulder trying to wake him. I'd wanted to let him sleep but the sooner we made tracks the sooner we'd be back in Camelot. "Arthur, wake up!"

"Mrghhhh..." he muttered and I sighed. Why did he have to choose today of all days to act like his usual lazy self in a morning!

"Get up, you stupid clot pole!" I said and he opened his eyes.

"I am the King, you know," he scowled at me.

"And I'm the most powerful sorcerer, now get up," I countered without thinking. We hadn't discussed magic since...well...since he'd been dying.

Neither of us said anything else and didn't take long for us to be on our way. We'd make faster time going back than we had actually traveling towards the Lake. Last time I'd been scared of jostling his wound and making it worse also we hadn't pushed the horses to go any faster than a slow trot, now we could gallop at full speed.

"Without any delays we should be back in Camelot tomorrow morning," I said to him at about midday as we stopped for a while to let the horses rest by a narrow stream. He only nodded. He still seemed a little out of it, letting me lead the way, he stared ahead at the paths we travelled on.

"Merlin...you don't...why blame yourself for what Morgana became? It was her choice," he said without looking at me.

"Yes," I nodded, "But if I'd done something different, maybe she wouldn't felt that she needed to be queen...she thought Uther hated her...she had just as much hatred as him in the end...they were both just as cruel as each other..."

"My father..."

"Your father," I said as kindly as I could, "Butchered millions because his wife died. Magical beings despised him so much because he turned against them in his grief...I pitied him for that...but...I won't lie, Arthur, I also hated him...You're far more worthy to be king than he ever was."

"Why?"

"Because you take the time to see both sides, just because someone is a peasant doesn't mean their life is insignificant, he didn't see that, you do. The mark of a good king is to value all his subjects equally, I saw Uther condemn people from the word of a knight or a nobleman without even hearing the accused because they weren't good enough," I told him.

"My father was a good man," Arthur said confidently; deep down, like many of us, he was still a young boy who wanted his fathers' approval.

"He probably was once...he was probably a good king once as well, but not when I saw him. He cared about people...so long as they didn't have magic," I scoffed. All because he turned to magic for an heir but didn't like the price, granted Nimueh should have told him...but he shouldn't have taken the blame out on everyone with magic. One day, I would tell Arthur the truth. But for now, he had enough to deal with.

We set off once more and using my 'sight' I lead us down the quickest route to Camelot. Arthur and I talked of simple things, instead of asking me about my magic he talked of Gwen and the tedious meetings he would have to deal with now that he was among the living again.

But we were never in luck for long, around early afternoon I raised my hand to halt Arthur beside me...I heard footsteps...lots of footsteps.

"Bandits," I whispered to him and his hand quickly flexed around the ornate handle of Excalibur. "Don't," I told him. I didn't think he was in any state to be fighting off a large number of ruthless bandits. He had been regaining his energy fairly quickly all day, while I had only been loosing it from lack of sleep and mounting magical exhaustion, but at least I had a better chance of staving off an attack than he did.

Without warning the group of around 20 bandits charged at us waving swords and maces at us in the usual 'I'll kill you' manner. Really I'd be pleasantly surprised to see bandits who would think first and attack later. I sighed and quickly dropped several heavy branches from the tree tops to crush the first wave of the bandits. Fortunately Arthur had listened to me and he was still sat atop his horse beside me, his hand still around his sword.

But there were still around 12 bandits left and they were getting closer and closer. I quickly summoned a strong wind to throw them backwards against the trees and they were all knocked out...if they were lucky. What would've taken Arthur and a group of his best knights several minutes and numerous injuries, had only taken me about two seconds.

"Come on," I sighed at Arthur's stunned silence. He stared at me in shock and I rolled my eyes, but I was grateful I wasn't seeing the accusing, distrusting, disappointed glare I'd seen when he'd last seen me deal with a threat like this. I don't think I could ever bear it if he looked at me like that again.

"You've done that before too, haven't you?"

"What gave it away?" I asked sarcastically.

"I mean...the falling branches...the lucky escapes...it was all you..."

"Mm-hm," I nodded as we moved forwards again. None of the bandits had moved a muscle from the ground where they'd landed.

Arthur shook his head in incredulity and I gently encouraged my horse into a gallop. I wanted to have the castles tallest spires in view over the treetops by nightfall.

We rode as late as we could but when the stars finally showed themselves it was time to stop and make camp. I started to gather wood for a fire but Arthur stopped me and did it, then he even proceeded to set it up himself.

"You not going to light it then?" I asked him, still in surprise.

"Don't need to do I, oh wise sorcerer?" he replied with a smile and I wordlessly lit the fire. "See?" he grinned and settled down near its warmth. He sighed and rested a hand on his stomach and then I remembered that neither of us had had a decent meal in at least 3 days. For the last day we'd been living off small plants I'd been finding while we let the horses rest, and we'd been relying on large amounts of clean water. From living with a parental physician I knew that this was a very poor idea, but reaching Camelot and getting Arthur to Gaius was my main goal.

I could last without food, but I wouldn't let Arthur go hungry. So I stood up and looked around the bushes for animals I could cook. I looked thoroughly with golden eyes until I found the nearest animal, a small rabbit, enough for a small meal until we could reach Camelot in the morning.

It made a low, squeaking sound as it became caught in my magic and with as much mercy as I could I killed it. I never liked killing; only to protect Arthur, in self defence, or for necessary food, did I ever kill. It was why I never liked his hunting trips, or his jousting tournaments, they were unnecessary cruelties. The world was cruel enough without adding to it for a ridiculous form of entertainment. But Arthur never understood that not matter how many times I explained it.

"What's that?" he asked quickly on hearing the animals last breath.

"Dinner," I replied as emotionlessly as I could, then I prepared it as best as I could in the old style I remembered from camping out in the forests with Will when we're were younger. We'd wrap the carcass around a twig until it cooked, it wasn't the best way of coking but I didn't have any pots or pans to make a stew and now wasn't the time to be bothered with the lack of cutlery.

Arthur didn't complain...at least verbally he didn't. I, of course, gave him the larger of the small animal while his attention was occupied on Camelot's spires, and again I took watch. He did protest that I too needed sleep, but I threatened him with a sleeping spell and after a long argument, he did sleep soundly until morning.


I felt a warm, sweet sense of security and happiness greet me as we finally rode into the gates of Camelot. We...or...Arthur, was greeted with people cheering and smiling as we rode through the streets to the castle and it didn't take long for the knights to meet us in the courtyard.

Gwen ran out of the castle and down the stairs to embrace Arthur in her tender, loving arms and I saw her hand the royal seal back to him before kissing him with tears streaming down her beautiful face.

"Long live the King!" I heard people begin chanting and I smiled. I was still sat on my horse as I surveyed the courtyard.

"Yes...long live the King, long live King Arthur and Queen Guinevere," I agreed quietly and I tried to climb down to the ground. All I wanted to see at the moment was my room and my bed. I needed sleep. I was exhausted.

When I felt Gaius' arms come around me to help me down from the horse that was all it took for my subconscious mind to decide that now was as good a time as any to pass out. Right in the centre of the courtyard with everyone watching...fantastic.


A.N. Wow, that was quite a long chapter, not the longest I've ever written, but I, for one, really, really liked it. I hope you did too!

FYI; I still don't own Merlin!