Morgana could not believe that her situation was so desperate that she had stooped to trying to seduce a servant.
And worse than that, she hadn't even succeeded.
She'd offered to marry him and he still wouldn't consider it. It made her kind of wonder just how close he and Arthur were…a little inappropriate contact would explain why Merlin was so inexplicably loyal and committed to her brother.
But it was probably just that he didn't trust her. How could he? She would never be able to trust him.
Marriage was probably a bad idea, but at this point she was open to anything other than execution.
The next day passed in a daze for her, and suddenly she saw the spires of Camelot—of home. She was warmed by the sight, and pleased for a moment that she would get to see her beloved town one more time. That warmth faded as she realized that her home was no longer a place she might long for.
The only thing that waited for her there was a tomb.
"Do you remember your promise?" Morgana asked Merlin as they neared the city gates.
"They will not burn you. I swear it," Merlin said.
"But Arthur may insist. I know what he's like. How can you promise me this?" Morgana asked.
"I will exert all my power and persuasion to ensure it. I know I can convince Arthur. He may not be planning on the fire, anyway. He doesn't want to kill you, Morgana, and he doesn't want to torture you either," Merlin said.
"If he doesn't want to kill me, then why should he?" Morgana asked, feeling tears threaten.
"You're a danger. A relentless danger to everything and everyone he holds dear. A good king makes difficult decisions to protect the people he rules," Merlin said.
"The only thing I threaten is his rule," Morgana said.
"Are you forgetting all the innocent people you've killed over the years? That army I destroyed were dead the moment they made the compact with your sister. Thousands of lives—not to mention all the people they attacked and killed in Camelot. And I bet you'd do it again, if you felt you needed an immortal army," Merlin said.
"Those men might argue that they felt alive enough until you killed them," Morgana said.
"When you ruled Camelot you did nothing but threaten, coerce and torture people who were loyal to Arthur," Merlin said.
"What should I have done? Thanked them for their loyal service to the usurper?" Morgana said.
"He's hardly a usurper. He's the legitimate ruler of Camelot. You're the one born out of wedlock. As such you have to have something better than legitimacy or a sense of entitlement to get the people of Camelot to choose you. You can't turn people from someone they love using fear, especially when justice is on his side," Merlin said.
"Then how should I have done it?" Morgana asked.
Merlin seemed to realize what he was saying and stopped talking. Morgana had seen for a moment the man who Arthur must see—the one who is wise enough to advise a king on matters of state despite being born a peasant and working as a servant for most of his adult life. How had she not see it until now? Of course Merlin had played the fool, the buffoon for a long time, but his intelligence was so obvious when he spoke the way he'd just spoken to her she could see it in his face. He seemed to just know the right thing to do and the best course of action.
"You can say whatever you want to a dead woman. It's said that the dead tell no tales," Morgana said.
"I'm not going to say anything that could help you take this kingdom. Honestly I don't believe that you'll die at Arthur's hand," Merlin said.
"You believe in the prophecy? My visions?" Morgana asked.
"I do find it hard to discount them," Merlin said.
"I don't know what to do. I can't think of anyone in Camelot who would help me. You and Gwen are the closest things to friends I still have there, and I think I burned my bridges when I tried to kill you both," Morgana said.
"I suppose, if it is your fate to die, you will die," Merlin said.
"Would that be a relief to you?" Morgana asked.
"Only because I dread the day I have to kill you," Merlin said.
"Did you kill Agravaine?" Morgana asked.
"Yes," Merlin said. "Although I was considerably less conflicted about it than I would be about killing you."
"Did he know, in the end, that you had magic?" she asked.
"He did."
"Is that why you killed him? To protect your secret?"
"I killed him because he threatened my king," Merlin said.
Finally they entered the city and Morgana stopped talking, amazed by the hatred in the faces of all the people she saw. Some of them had been friends of hers. Some of them had sworn to be loyal to her. Now they were nearly throwing rotten vegetables at her, although fear of her or perhaps fear of hitting Merlin by accident kept them from doing much more than calling out words of derision at her.
"You're right. They truly fear me. Is it my power they fear?"
"They know you would kill any one of them if they came between you and the crown," Merlin said. "They know it because you have told them that with your actions."
"And what has Arthur told them with his actions?" Morgana asked.
"He's told them that he would die for them. You used to know this stuff, Morgana. You used to be like Arthur. I remember when Arthur killed the unicorn, you stole food from the castle kitchens to give to the poor at your own expense. You've forgotten how to be the kind of ruler people can love."
Morgana thought for a moment about what Merlin was saying. She now thought her younger self to be naïve for thinking that giving the peasants her bread would make any difference in the middle of a famine.
They approached the courtyard. "There are many different kinds of rulers, Merlin. Not all have the love of their people."
"Kings tend to die young anyway. Why inspire the hatred of your own people, as well as all the others who want to kill you for what you have?" Merlin asked.
"A king with magic as strong as mine needn't fear anyone," Morgana said.
Merlin leaned closer to her and cast his eyes down on the binding that held the two of them together. "Then why are you a prisoner, very likely to be sentenced to die?"
For that, Morgana had no reply, and she followed her jailor to the throne room to hear Arthur pronounce his sentence.
She heard the litany of things she had done, knowing she was not being falsely accused of any of them. Interestingly, she was not taken to task for being a magic user. She hadn't thought Arthur would have the nerve to leave it off the list of her crimes.
Her sentence was pronounced.
Death by fire.
She looked at Merlin.
"Arthur, please, change your method of execution to beheading," Merlin said.
And Arthur did as he asked.
Morgana was shocked at Arthur's willingness to simply change his orders because his friend had asked him to.
"My, my, you really are his lapdog, aren't you?" Morgana said to Arthur. If she was going to die, perhaps she could cause some trouble for Arthur and Merlin before she did.
"Who is the ruler here? Why should you do what the wizard asks?" a lord asked.
"I have no wish to torture my own sister, no matter how provoking she is. If Merlin thinks that death by fire is unnecessary, I am happy to agree," Arthur said mildly. "He is, after all, the expert on magic."
And that was that.
Morgana found herself once again in a cell below Camelot, still tied to the only man who could actually stand up to her.