Wow. The response to this has been really amazing – I appreciate everyone's support, silent or otherwise! Anyway, given that, I'm sure this chapter will alienate at least three of you... which is a little disappointing, to be honest... Anyway, I hope you enjoy and at least don't hate me; even if you do, I encourage you to keep reading, because it gets better... at least in some ways. :)

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CHAPTER 2: A ROYAL DECREE

Arthur put his hands on the table and looked at his father. "Father, maybe you should think about this," he offered.

"There is nothing to think about. She believes she is in love with him." Uther glared at the empty room and the cold columns. "I fear that banishing him will not be enough."

"Merlin is a good servant. If I could speak to him, perhaps I could dissuade him from this course of action," Arthur said, a little desperately.

"That will not work."

"How do you know?" the prince asked, outraged.

"I know her! She will not give up." He paused, thinking. "The only way to stop it is to kill him. Maybe then she'll see sense."

"You can't do that!" Arthur was shocked by this turn of events. "Father, that is ridiculous!"

"It shall be done. Tomorrow noon, Merlin dies."

Arthur left the room, slamming the large wooden door shut behind him. The guards glanced at him, then swiftly returned their eyes to the wall opposite them. He barely noticed where he was going as he thundered down into the dungeons and stormed past the guards. "Leave us!" he snapped at the guards by Merlin and Morgana's cells. They bowed slightly and clanked away.

Arthur looked at the two prisoners for the first time. The flickering light of the torches didn't extend to the far reaches of the cells, so the back corners were dark and shadowed. He could barely make out the two figures crouched on the floor, separated by the bars.

"How could you be this stupid, Merlin?" he asked in fury. "I warned you not to do that!"

The figure on the right stood up and stepped forward, the light illuminating his face. "I love her, and she loves me. I couldn't stop myself, any more than you can stop your heart from beating or your lungs from breathing."

Arthur ignored him. "And you, Morgana. Going to my father and asking him if you could marry Merlin? Did you really think he would say yes?"

Morgana rose and brushed the straw from her velvet skirts. Defiance shone from her face. "I had to try. But he can't stop me anymore, Arthur. I will run away and join Merlin in the outlying villages, and we will be together. Uther cannot stop us from being together anymore than he can stop us from loving each other."

"You don't understand!" Arthur brought his palm down on the wall, turning his back to the two of them.

"I understand perfectly-" Morgana began, but Arthur cut her off.

"He's going to kill Merlin."

"What?" Dread had replaced the fierce rebellion in her voice. When the prince made no response, she stepped to the bars, wrapping her fingers around them. Merlin stood frozen, his face slipping into a mask of disbelief. "Arthur!" the girl snapped. "What did you say?"

"He's going to kill Merlin. Hang him, tomorrow at noon."

"But why?" Desperation wrapped itself around the dread already choking her throat.

"He has convinced himself that as long as Merlin lives, you will profess yourself to be in love with him. The king has persuaded himself that this is the only way." Arthur rotated so he was facing them. No anger or rage fueled his voice or actions now. Instead dispair hung heavy from his shoulders, weighing him down.

"Leave," Morgana said, leaning away from the bars. Arthur moved forward, but the girl shrank away from him as though he carried the plague. "Leave!"

"I'm sorry," he said, stopping. "I wish there was something I could do, but the king will not listen to reason right now."

Merlin reached through to Morgana, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her as close as the wooden rods allowed. "Please leave," he said into Morgana's hair.

The prince turned and left, casting one last look over his shoulder at the two of them. They stood like that for many minutes. The guards did not return. Finally the girl pulled away and looked into the boy's eyes.

"You could use magic. Escape."

Without even thinking about it, he shook his head. "No. No way am I leaving you here to face that tyrant alone."

"But you would be alive," she cried, her distress becoming more evident by the second. "I can't bear the thought of losing you!"

"What do you think would happen to you if I got away? Uther would know it was magic and blame you for hiding me, then kill you. I can't smuggle both of us out of the city, no matter how much magic we both have." Merlin's blue eyes captured her gray ones. "I will not risk you. I am marked for death anyway, but I could not bear it if I knew that you would die also."

"Oh Merlin," she whispered as his words sank in. "I'm scared."

"It will be okay," he breathed into her dark hair, closing his eyes. "It will all be okay."

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