Merlin wanted a hole to appear and swallow him at Mim's bold statement. He chanced a glance at Arthur, who was staring at Mim with a blank look on his face as if he hadn't heard her. When Merlin looked over at Mim, her eyes betrayed her fear slightly but she kept herself steady and sure. Merlin felt a twinge of jealousy. Why couldn't he be that brave about his magic?

"I'm sorry?" Arthur finally asked, blinking furiously as if to erase the memory from his mind. Mim rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I have better things to do with my magic!" Mim repeated slowly, emphasising each word carefully. Arthur's jaw dropped slightly and his eyes flickered with immediate distrust and fear. As if she had managed to read the thoughts that had flooded into Arthur's mind (which she probably had done!), she gave a frustrated sigh. "Oh don't worry. If had wanted to hurt you, I would have done already!" So with another frustrated sigh, Mim began to walk away from her saviours.

"Where are you going?" Merlin asked quickly, and regretted immediately. Mim turned to face Merlin. Again an uneasy feeling spread though Merlin as Mim surveyed him with those yellow eyes. The feeling lessened when a small smile spread across her lips.

"As I have now said twice, I have better things to do with my magic." She turned away again to try a manoeuvre her way over a log. "And I was in the middle of making a fever remedy before that mob arrived, it should be well stewed by now." Halfway over the log, the hem of her dress caught on a branch stump, causing her to fall backwards. After a muttered profanity, Mim stood up again and brushed herself down.

"I think I must have something wrong with my ears, or you have something wrong with yours," Arthur was still trying to process what Mim had just confessed. "If you said that you're a witch, then you obviously didn't hear me mention that I was Prince Arthur and my father would kill you." Arthur said all this very fast, then paused as if trying to let his brain catch up. Mim fixed her gaze on Arthur with an amused expression and laughed lightly, making Arthur look very uncomfortable.

"I heard you fine," she glanced quickly at Merlin then back at Arthur. "You may be the son of Uther, but you are not him. I can tell that you are better than him." Arthur looked bemused.

"How?" he queried.

"Because you risked yourself against that mob to help someone you didn't know." Mim gave Arthur a kindly look and smile. Arthur continued to look bemused.

"Actually, now we get into it, why didn't you free yourself from the dip?" Merlin questioned. A sadness filled Mim's eyes and she looked down at her feet.

"Well, I was always told never to use magic for selfish means," she muttered to her shoes, "and using it to free myself would have been selfish. If Fate wants me dead then Fate will take me, but Fate made you step in."

Merlin digested this statement and a swathe of pity flowed through him. Why was she so eager to accept death? A glance toward Arthur told him that that question was also going through his mind. Thankfully it was Arthur who asked it.

"But why would you accept death so … easily?" Arthur asked, clearly confused. Mim did not once glance up from her feet and gave a slight shrug.

"I have no family to care if I die; they're already dead."

"I'm sorry." Arthur said kindly and sincerely. Mim did look up from her feet and looked at Arthur. She smiled sadly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she began, "The Great Purge tore many families apart, but you weren't to blame."

Arthur looked aghast. The Great Purge had been Uther's revenge on magic. Arthur had never thought about families left broken after it, magic or not. Guilt tore through Arthur and he looked to the ground to hide it.

"But you don't believe that, do you?" Mim spoke softly as she walked over to where Arthur sat on a log. She knelt down and stared keenly at Arthur until he looked at her. When he did, a flash appeared in her eyes and a smile to her lips. "You will be great." Mim whispered, "I can see it. I can see everything." She stood up. "Beside I was too young to remember, my sister told me all about it. No child should have had to watch that. Illness took her last year, wouldn't even let me help."

"Why do you think I'll be great?" Arthur asked raising his voice, his typical annoyance beginning to rise in him. "And what do you mean you can see it?"

Even Merlin was curious about that last statement but didn't think Arthur had picked up on it. Was it possible that Mim was a seer like Morgana?

"I can see everything; past, present and future." She stated simply turning to attempt the log again. "I see people's memories flitting about in front of my eyes as if they were my own. Sometimes I can barely distinguish which is which."

"Doesn't that drive you mad?" Merlin asked. Mim turned and faced him, smiling.

"Sometimes, which is why I'm known a 'Mad Mim' round here."

Both Arthur and Merlin shifted uncomfortably. Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by Mim raising her hand.

"Shh!" Mim was staring straight ahead of her. A shout came from a short distance away. Arthur automatically rose from his perch on the log and drew his sword. Merlin didn't move; it didn't sound like the mob again.

"Mim!!?" came the small cry, "Mim? Help!!?" A small boy came stumbling into view. He was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Thomas!?" Mim called rushing over to him and sweeping the small boy into her arms. "What's happened, dear one?" The boy, Thomas, hiccupped and pointed in the direction from which he had arrived.

"They - *sniff*- they came to the… the… village. They thought we – *sniff* we were hiding you. The fire…" Thomas stammered until he could no longer contain himself and cuddled into Mim sobbing harder than before. The adults had heard enough to gather what had happened and hurried toward the village.

After a short jog they arrived. If it had been a village, it wasn't one now. The acrid smell of burning wood and flesh filled their noses.

Merlin turned with horror written all over his face to see it mirrored in Arthur and Mim's. In addition to the look of complete horror, tears were falling down Mim's cheeks.

"No." She whispered clutching the sobbing boy closed to her and dropping to her knees. Merlin met Arthur's eyes. They said everything that he was thinking himself; pity. Pity for the Thomas and for Mim; who now had to relive something that she couldn't even remember herself.

All of them looked out onto the still smouldering village, so deep in concentration; none of them heard a marksman approaching. Indeed, it wasn't until a shot brought down Merlin that they were aware of anything beyond the burning village.

Merlin's cry of pain wakened Arthur to his senses. A hurried bound soon ended the marksman's life.

"Merlin?" Mim was asking softly leaning over him. "Merlin!?"

But Merlin didn't move.

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Dun - dun -duuuun!!!!

Whats gonna happen next? Well i'm still working on it, the chapters will get longer i promise!! :)