Two full days Merlin had been left in that room, alone, the broken pieces of glass decorating the floor around him. Elaine obviously had other matters of state to attend to, leaving the warlock with nothing save for his mind. That was the worst bit of it all.

Elaine's methods were unique to say the least. Whatever enchantment she used was more effective than any other kind of torture Merlin had seen- because this one was of the soul. She had held hand mirrors in front of his face and shouted enchantments which shattered the glass- and as the glass broke Merlin did. It felt as if everything inside him, everything that mattered was being broken shard by shard.

And just as soon as she was there, Elaine was gone- leaving the warlock to reflect she had said. And despite his own wishes, reflecting was all Merlin had left to do. Two days he had been given to think about all he had lost. The most prominent of these was most likely any kind of relationship he had with Arthur. Merlin couldn't help but wonder, if he was saved would it only be so that he could be given a proper execution? One where he could be shown the penalties of deceiving Camelot for as long as he had. He wished with everything he had- which wasn't really much- that everything Elaine had said was wrong. That maybe Arthur was still oblivious. But Merlin knew curses and Elaine's weaving- that was a curse. That first visit, the one she had made with her father all that time ago- Merlin had noticed something different about the girl. At first the pure joy at meeting Lancelot, and then the happy glances she sent his way turning to sad ones. And also, near the end she almost looked as if she had resigned to something. Her death. Only it was her father who died in the end.

Merlin almost felt pity for her- similar to the pity he felt for Morgana. Almost like this wasn't their choice. But it was, wasn't it? Maybe their birth wasn't their choice, but how they dealt with it was. Merlin was born with magic, but he chose to use it for good. He chose to use it for Arthur.

Little good that did now. The man he had dedicated his life to protecting probably wanted him dead now. Merlin sighed. The first day he had cried. But not since then- he didn't have the will to. Maybe it would be easier if he did. Maybe if he allowed himself to cry, the tears that fell would take with them some of the angst, some of the hopelessness. Because that was all he had felt the last two days.

But worse than that was he felt alone. He felt alone because even if he returned to Camelot he would never be home.

He would never again be home because his home was Arthur.

The knights set out in silence. It felt as if even the air around them was holding its breath- waiting, watching, to see what would happen. Would the king stop them? Join them? The answer was neither. As Camelot's finest knights set out to save a friend, the king of Camelot watched from his window. His room was- for once- in perfect order thanks to George, save for a single goblet which lay on the floor. One that when thrown had no target.

It was two hours into the journey before any of the knights dared to speak, and it was the quietest of all of them who did so.

"I think he cares." Perceval announced, almost in a whisper. Leon nodded.

"I know he does. I also know that he feel like he has a kingdom to run, and certain laws to follow."

"He's the king!" Gwaine cried out. "He can change the laws!"

"But we have to consider at what cost." Leon reminded him. "There are many, yes, who would benefit from magic being made legal, and in time such a law could truly help to strengthen Camelot. But we must remember that many men believed in Uther's beliefs. There would be a fair amount of backlash that would come with legalizing magic; the process would take a lot of time. If the people saw Arthur legalizing it all for the profit of his manservant, some would call him biased."

"But it's Merlin." Gwaine complained. Leon sighed.

"I know." He said. "That's the hardest part. But in time- in time he may change."

"Like he did for my sister?" Elyan asked, knowing of the relationship between Gwen and the king.

"There is a considerable difference between marrying a servant and changing a kingdom's most prominent law for one." The oldest knight reminded him. Gwaine frowned.

"You're talking almost as if you don't want magic to be legalized for Merlin." He growled. Leon tried to laugh, but it came out forced.

"I'm coming, aren't I?" He reminded his friend. Gwaine relaxed and flashed him a genuine smile.

"That's only because you'd rather that than lose another best hair contest to me." The knight joked, with a toss of his locks. Leon rolled his eyes.

"Funny joke Gwaine, but everyone tells me I look like Apollo with these curls." His words were met with hearty laughter from the small company.

"Sometimes Leon, I think that you want to rule Camelot yourself as it would suit your vanity." Percival laughed. Leon shrugged.

"Not saying I wouldn't rule well. I've come back from how many battles now as the only survivor?"

"You can thank the cup of life for one of those." Gwaine reminded him. The knights rode on, offering up more banter as they always did when on some mission or another. They tried their best to ignore the absence of two members of their party, one perhaps on the brink of death, the other not quite in his right mind.

It was lucky that Shallot wasn't much more than a two days ride ahead however, for as much as the knights could crack jokes each hour found them more restless. Finally, Lady Elaine's villa was in sight. The men's faces once again turned grim and they set forth with determination. Gwaine spurred his horse ahead.

"Let's go get Merlin."

A/N: Oh looky, I squeezed in a super cheesy line about Arthur being Merlin's home. I think I earned a cookie there. *Winces as angry readers throw potatoes for cheesy lines and puns concerning mirrors. Elaine left him to reflect. Har har har.* Anywhozizzles, thanks to all my readers. I have almost 70 at the time of writing this, maybe I will when I actually post this. If I'm really lucky, ya'know. This is getting pretty fun. Eh heh heh. I'll have to think of what to write after this one. Oh, and notice how I made Leon jokes…. LeonLeonLeonLeon