Chapter 5

The Council, after the initial shock had subsided slightly, had insisted that proof be sought of the words in the letter. To Uther, the harsh reality of Ygraine's ring was proof enough that whoever had sent it had indeed killed Arthur. But for the king, there was one other reason to send out the knights of Camelot – he wanted to bring his son's body back. And so a guard of two score was sent out at first light the next day, the large number being on account of the fact that a dozen soldiers and knights had clearly been insufficient against those who had attacked them.

It was late that afternoon when Leon and Percival returned in advance of the others, and they were taken straight to the king. Uther could tell that they had significant news to give him – the looks on the face of Arthur's knights told him as much - but he could barely bring himself to ask what it was they had found that made their expressions so grave. Leon acted as spokeman.

"Your majesty, we found every one of the guard who rode with Arthur lying dead, not four hours ride from here."

Leon paused, and the Uther dreaded the answer to the question that he knew he must ask.

"And Arthur?"

Leon began again, "My lord…." but quickly faltered.

"Please go on."

"My lord, there was one other body, but…". Uther felt as if his heart was held in an icy grip as he waited for Leon to speak, but the knight - who had known Arthur all his life - seemed unable to continue.

Percival swallowed hard, and spoke the words that Leon could not bring himself to say, "There was one other, but they had been burned at the stake. The body was so badly burned, Sire, that we could only identify it by the armour." Even Percival's voice began to waiver at this point, and all he could say was, "It was Arthur's armour, Sire."

Uther stared at the two knights, who were both by now standing with their heads bowed and their gaze fixed on the floor. The exquisitely engraved armour that Arthur usually wore over his right shoulder and upper arm was well known to his men and was unique, having been a present from Uther to his son when he reached his manhood. And as the dreadful truth of what had happened finally sank in, the king suddenly cried out, "Leave me – everyone leave me, now!" But even before the door was closed, those who had been with Uther heard the terribly cry of anguish that came from the king.

And it was as the body was finally being brought back into Camelot later in the day, that Merlin finally rose from his sickbed and found himself feeling rather well again. Gaius had been summoned to the king after the news was given to him, not by Uther himself, but by those who had been aware of what had happened and who feared for his condition, but when Gaius opened the door on returning to his room, he suddenly stopped dead when he saw Merlin sitting at the table with a blanket around his shoulders. Merlin's glance towards Gaius was initially so cursory that he didn't even see the grave expression on his face – he was too busy demolishing at great speed the soup that Gaius had left on the stove for him, and he spoke rapidly between his mouthfuls. "I can't tell you how good it is to be feeling SO much better today! And I'm really beginning to think that this could all turn out rather well, and it could be a sort of holiday for me whilst Arthur's away! You know, Gaius, this soup is really very…", but his next words were never spoken, as he finally looked up and caught the expression on Gaius' face. "What's wrong?"

Although he had had more than a day to think about it, Gaius still did not know how to break the news to Merlin that he knew would destroy his whole world. He kept his gaze on Merlin and walked slowly toward him.

"Merlin…" he began, but he couldn't continue, and Merlin began to sense that something was terribly, terribly wrong. All cheerfulness had gone from the young warlock's voice as he spoke. "Gaius?"

But before either of them could say another word, they both suddenly looked to the window, as the sound of a bell starting to toll reached their ears. Panic began to rise in Merlin's heart as he started to put the pieces together. He turned his gaze back onto the older man, and asked in a flat tone, with a steely insistence, "Gaius – tell me what's happened. Why is the bell tolling?"

Gaius still could not find the right words and so said simply and quietly, "Arthur's dead, Merlin."

Merlin rose to his feet, not even noticing that the blanket that had been around his shoulders had slipped to the ground. He stood absolutely still for a few seconds, completely stunned, and then began to shake his head, as shock and disbelief took hold of him. "No, no, it can't be, no… I won't believe it. There has to be some mistake. It can't be true – Arthur cannot be dead." Gaius walked slowly over to him and put his hand on his shoulder as Merlin continued to shake his head and deny it with the single word "no", and Gaius began to speak again, gently and quietly, trying to help him take in what he was telling him. "Merlin - Lancelot and the others are even now bearing Arthur's body to his tomb."

The stark words Arthur's body, together with the mention of Lancelot – the one who had proved so trustworthy with Merlin's secret, the knight whom Merlin trusted above all the others – seemed to strike at the very heart of Merlin and make the words sink in that he didn't want to accept. And finally Merlin stopped trying to resist it all, and as he yielded to the deep emotions that began to stir within him, he started to shake and his eyes began to fill with tears.

All that Gaius could do was wrap his arms around him, and say gently "Oh, Merlin…".

And Merlin buried his head in the older man's chest, and began to weep inconsolably. And Gaius knew that nothing he could say or do would comfort him, as his entire world and his destiny came crashing to the ground in a tangled mess of bitterness, confusion and heart-rending grief.