Arthur could not believe it. The biggest threat the kingdom had ever seen was going to be neutralized today.
Neutralized. It was a good, clean word. So much less bloody than the reality. His sisters head, separated from her body. The girl he'd depended on, loved, and worried about, reduced to a bloody pile of meat and bone on his orders.
It didn't feel real.
"Should I do it?" Arthur asked Gwen, for the third time that morning.
"Of course you should. But you don't have to. You don't have to decide now," Gwen said.
"The sentence was already passed. Not one person spoke for her. No one defended her actions. I opened the floor and not one person could come to her defence," he said.
"And yet you don't want her to die," Gwen said.
"I have to do it quickly. The spell which supresses her magic is forcing Merlin into prison with her. It's wrong to punish him because of my own indecision," Arthur said.
"Are you sure he doesn't share that indecision?"
"I'm sure he wants to find a way not to have to kill her just as much as I do. But as it stands the only way to keep her prisoner puts Merlin in all kinds of danger. She's tried to kill him constantly since we left Danson Keep. He's not safe, tied to that woman," Arthur said.
"And what of Nemeth? Have they decided to leave?" Gwen asked.
"After the execution. They want to be sure that this troublemaker who created the problem between our two nations is dealt with before they leave. All I need, more pressure to kill my only remaining blood relative."
"No matter what Morgana did, Nemeth is at fault for breaching our borders. They are in no position to be handing out ultimatums or demanding anything from you," Gwen said.
"I don't mind Mithian staying a little longer. I think Merlin will be happy to have Mithian's support. I know he is conflicted about capturing Morgana and helping me execute her. And I have a feeling he's not nearly as indifferent to Mithian as you think he is."
"What makes you think that?" Gwen asked.
"His complete refusal to talk about her to me," Arthur said, smiling.
"Interesting," Gwen said.
"Well, it will all be over in a few hours," Arthur said.
Gwen looked at him uncertainly, and he acknowledged the point she had made silently. "I know it will never really be over. But the threat will be," Arthur said.
"Every time we destroy a magical threat it seems a new one rises in its place, twice as angry," Gwen said.
"Every magical threat we kill is a casualty on their side. Of course they'd be twice as angry," Arthur said softly. "As long as Merlin stays our ally…"
"He supports your decision to execute Morgana, doesn't he?" Gwen asked.
"I never really asked him if he supported it. I think he feels that it has to be done, but he was talking at Danson about when we were all friends. He may be a dragonlord and the most dangerous warlock alive, but he's still the sweet kid we first met years ago," Arthur said.
"He was reminiscing about the past with you and Morgana?"
"And he even spoke about how we could all still be friends. It was Morgana's fault. She kept on trying to bring up the past. She was trying to turn him against us. For a while there it seemed to be working," Arthur said.
"I know Merlin is loyal to us—I know how absurd it is to even say this aloud—but how could we ever fight him, if he was the new danger in the kingdom that rose to retaliate for Morgana's death?" Gwen asked.
Arthur's silence said it all.
He decided to get some paperwork done before the execution. What he really wanted to do was talk to Merlin, but he couldn't with Morgana right there. Merlin could make Morgana sleep again, but Arthur thought it was cruel to force her to sleep away the few hours she had left.
This whole business couldn't be messier, he thought.
A few hours later he walked out on the dais, looking down at the square where the platform had been erected. They had almost decided to use the courtyard because so many people wanted to watch this one—but Arthur had decided to grant his sister a small measure of consideration by having the crowd remain relatively small.
The crowd began to stir, and Merlin and Morgana walked out towards the platform under heavy guard. They both looked pale and frightened, and Arthur felt sorry for them both. The crowd was silent—probably still frightened of Morgana, despite her helplessness. Merlin took off the leather strap that bound him and Morgana together and stepped away from her, but he didn't go far.
"I'm surprised you're not swinging the axe yourself, Merlin," Morgana said, "Since you seem to enjoy betraying your own kind so much."
"It was not I who betrayed the people of this land," Merlin said. His voice shook.
It was as though Merlin's words opened a floodgate of emotion in the crowd—suddenly they erupted in jeers and catcalls.
The executioner arrived and strong-armed Morgana into place, and the crowd only became more vocal. He raised the axe—
And the whole square erupted into chaos.
People were running and screaming, and it took Arthur a moment to realize why. He felt the pressure of air being pushed down from above and looked up. There was a white dragon descending through the air of the square to land gracefully on the stone paved ground.
Arthur's heart started to pound. This dragon was not nearly as big as the one who had attacked them previously, but it was still a dragon.
"Men, get to your positions," he shouted.
The knights that had been containing the crowd moved to attack the dragon, and Arthur ran down the steps to join them.
When he arrived at the square he saw the dragon had acquired several wounds—there seemed to be not much fight in this dragon.
"Arthur, stop them! He's not attacking anyone," Merlin shouted.
Arthur looked at Merlin incredulously. The place was in ruins, the people had fled in panic—how was this not an attack? Did he think the dragon just showed up for a picnic?
"Attack!" Arthur cried, ignoring Merlin. "Finish him!"
Arthur was not watching Merlin, but he knew in a moment that Merlin had made a momentous choice. Suddenly, Morgana was free, and she was using magic to defend the dragon.
His knights fell from her like tall grass in a strong breeze. He noticed one of the stirring and breathed a sigh of relief that she had only knocked them out, not killed them. It was all over in a moment. Arthur didn't know what to do.
He knew he should try to stop her—try to kill her. But he didn't. He stood and watched her, now unshackled and at full power, walk up to the dragon and assess him for injuries.
"You shouldn't have come, dearest," she said softly.
"Get him out of here, Morgana. See that he stays far away," Merlin said.
"I will. Thank you, Merlin," Morgana said.
Merlin walked up to the pair and looked Morgana in the eye. "While you're taking orders, see that you stay far away, too."
"I can't promise you that," Morgana said. "This is my piece of rock. My land."
"A true king knows the value of his kingdom lies with his people," Merlin said.
"Thank you for not letting us die," Morgana said, and then she kissed Merlin full on the lips. Although he didn't stop her, Merlin didn't kiss her back, either. The kiss was brief and hardly passionate, but Arthur thought it would be damning nonetheless, especially to the knights and lords and ladies still standing on the dais watching what went on below.
"Get out of here," Merlin said harshly.
Arthur tried to raise his voice in objection, but found he couldn't. He had wanted this to happen—alright, not exactly this, but something like it. Something to stop him from killing his own sister.
As evil as she was, he still loved her.
Was it possible that somewhere inside of her, she harboured similar feelings for him?
He doubted it, but she made no move to attack him or Merlin as she patched up her dragon with magic and then got on his back and flew away.
"You let her go," Arthur said dully.
"You were killing him. That dragon could do you no harm. I had ordered him never to attack Camelot. He was only here because he loved her and wanted her to have a friend here as she died," Merlin said.
"You might have told me that," Arthur said.
"I tried. You wouldn't listen," Merlin said.
Arthur nodded. He hadn't listened. It was true.
"What do we do now?" Arthur asked.
"What do you mean?" Merlin replied.
"I'm not about to try to arrest you. I don't want you to leave. I need you here and appreciate everything you've done for me and my kingdom. I am honoured to be able to say that I have your friendship. I can never thank you enough, and I still need you. But I wish to god you hadn't let her go," Arthur said heavily. "How can I ever justify your actions to my advisors and the people of Camelot? You put them all at risk to save a bloody dragon."
Merlin smiled slightly. "Maybe you should put me in the stocks," he said lightly.
"They'll all think you're on her side," Arthur continued, "Especially since she bloody kissed you. You had come so far. The people were beginning to see you like I did, and see how much we needed you."
"You don't really need me, Arthur. You're a great king, all on your own," Merlin said.
"You think your cave is still uninhabited? It was close by. You could stay there for a few months, just until things settle down here," Arthur said.
"What a mess," Merlin said. "It seems like nothing ever happens as you planned it. Somehow it all goes sideways. I'm sorry. I thought we were so close to figuring it all out."
"Take as much time as you need to pack—or stay, if you want. We'll figure it all out somehow. I could never ask you to leave again," Arthur said.
"I think your first instinct was right. I have to leave, at least for now," Merlin said. "Thank you, though, for understanding about what I had to do with the dragon."
"I don't really understand it," Arthur said. "But now I understand a lot more about you. What it cost you to side with me when you could have given in to the bitterness you must feel. How much you must have denied your own feelings in deference to mine. And more than your feelings, you must have been forced to deny even who you are so many times over the years. I know now how committed you are to building a new future for Camelot. I would not question you now, even though I never did get to hear the rest of your story."
"You can come to my cave and hear the rest," Merlin said. "Gwen can show you the way."
"She usually does," Arthur said, smiling.
"Goodbye, my friend," Merlin said. He opened his arms and Arthur stepped into the hug, grasping his friend tightly. "I shall be gone by morning."