"I demand an explanation!" screamed Uther, although his angry eyes were still wary of the sword pointed at his chest.
"I cannot let you execute Merlin, Father. Even though he has used his magic frequently, it has never been done with evil intent. He did it to protect you, to protect me, and to protect Camelot." Arthur's words triggered a murmur of agreement from the courtiers. I marveled at their ability to flit dispassionately between two sides of an argument depending on which Pendragon male had the most power at that particular moment. "You can't honestly expect me to allow the execution of Merlin, a worthy -if not a little clumsy - man who uses the magic he possesses for good, when you would not allow the execution of the Lady Morgana, a person -albeit your illegitimate daughter and therefore my half sister - who has proven herself to be an evil enchantress and desires nothing more than the fall of Camelot."
"Morgana was different! She was corrupted by Morgause when the witch abducted her!" protested Uther, a tear rolling down his cheek. Before Arthur could change his mind and move his sword from its current position, I slowly rose to a standing position and turned to face him. The members of the court held their breath as I spoke my first words as an acknowledged sorcerer. I had waited for this moment for so long, and unfortunately these words were not the grand secret-revealing speech that I had prepared.
"Actually, Your Highnesses, Morgana was plotting the downfall of Uther even before she was abducted. On one occasion, she met with outlaws and plotted his assassination to take place at her father's memorial. When all of Camelot came under a strange enchantment and fell into a deep sleep, she was the only person to not be affected." I said, carefully watching both Arthur and Uther for their reactions. They were both unreadable. Before I could say anything else, a great cry came from one of the female courtiers stood behind me.
"Liar!" she screamed as she began racing towards me with her arm raised above her head, as if she was going to strike me. I instinctively raised my hand and cast a spell to defend myself.
"Swefe nu!" As my eyes flashed gold and the ancient words left my lips, I realised how strange it felt to speak them visibly in front of a crowd. I wished Gaius was here to see this. The fair-headed woman was knocked backwards and fell onto the floor. She did not move, but not because of the reason that everybody presumed. As I turned back to face the Pendragon men, I heard whispers of 'Murderer' and 'Uther was right' coming from the courtiers. True to form, and to protect their own skins, they had reverted back to belonging on Uther's side of the magic argument.
"This sorcerer has just murdered a member of the court!" Uther's face looked as equally triumphant as it did repulsed.
"She isn't dead," I said quickly. "She's just asleep." Arthur signaled for a guard to confirm my story. Arthur believed me, but the others needed reassurance, which the guard gave. During this brief moment, I moved myself closer to Arthur's side.
"Who is she?" I whispered. Arthur's head turned to face me, but he kept the sword pointed at his father's chest.
"One of Lady Morgana's childhood friends. They used to go riding together." He paused for a moment as he waited for my reply. For once, I could not think of one. "What are we going to do, Merlin? I can't kill my own father, but I can't let him kill you either."
"Never knew you cared for a servant so much, Arthur," I joked. A glare from Arthur told me that he wasn't in the mood for jokes. He was right. This was serious. "Sorry. Perhaps you could let me go, and then after I've gone, you can pretend that I had put you under an enchantment after all?"
"And let my father put a warrant out for your arrest and have you sentenced to death? Absolutely not. You may have magic, Merlin, but it won't be enough to outsmart the Knights of Camelot."
"I've managed to outsmart you enough times and you're a knight," I pointed out. Arthur chose to ignore this comment.
"Where would you go?" he asked, obviously realising that my suggestion was the only way that we would both get out of this situation alive. I was surprised by how little I had to think about it.
"The caves where we found the Last Dragonlord."
Arthur nodded. "I remember those. Go then, I will come and find you when it is safe."
This time I nodded in acceptance, and took a deep breath.
"Bedyrne ús! A-"
"And Merlin, I'm sorry that this happened too late for Gaius."
My eyes met his briefly before I closed them to finish chanting the spell that would take me far away from here.
"Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús"
When I next opened them, I was standing in my father's cave.