Well, just so you know, I am having Merlin explain this part of his memories because it's hard writing third person when recalling something. It was easy the last chapter... But this time not so much.
And along with school, my youth group is now starting back up this weekend, and I also have youth symphony starting up, so update time may even be slower than it had been this last week.
The good, bad and sad news though... This story only has another five to seven chapters left.

oh and the moment when the lion king reminds you of Arthur an Morgana at the beginning when simba's dad and scar were arguing...

it's priceless. Waning this chapter is full of angst

Reactions of the Idiot King
Chapter twenty two- Banishment

"Wait, you mean say that me banishing you really hurt you?" Arthur asked, confused. Merlin looked up at the King, his hand trailing slightly over his other arm, the one with the long gash that went all the way from his wrist to his shoulder.
"Without you to protect, being sent away to never return..." Merlin said softly as the door opened, Gwaine and Percival coming into the room, looking shocked to see Merlin actually awake, and even more stunned that he was talking.
"Merlin." Gwaine said, looking relieved as Arthur noticed the warlock shift uncomfortably, completely laying himself down on his back instead of halfway sitting up.
"Gwaine, did you have to-" Arthur started, only to stop, hearing Merlin mumble something.
"What?" Gwaine asked in a sing-song voice.
"Bug off." Merlin snapped.
"Are you really going to kick me out?" Gwaine asked, a mocking tone hidden in his voice.
"He wouldn't be able to." Arthur said, gaining an odd look from Percival and Leon, the knight who had just randomly walked up in the middle of the conversation.
"Really?" Percival said, "Gauis decided to kick us out after Merlin kicked Gwaine's ass out of here earlier." Arthur noticed Leon smirk at that.
"I will continue with the story." Merlin murmured, figuring they would all need to know at some point when he saw Gwen and Elyan finally make their way into the room. They all sat on the floor around the bed, Percival leaning on the wall.
"It's not a pretty story after this.." Merlin said quietly, "I-It got really bad for me." Everyone was looking at him, making him feel even more shaky than he was.
"We need to hear it Merlin." Arthur murmured. Merlin glanced at him, before nodding.
"It took me a full week to come out of the terrible shock of the events, after I sent the Great Dragon off out of anger and being unsure. Not once did I look up and smile, not once did I feel a single emotion. It was as if I was stuck in a trance.
"It-it took a lot for me to even move from the spot I had just collapsed on that first night. I felt like I could die at any second... It took a lot for me to acknowledge I was still alive." Merlin breathed, looking at the foot of the bed as he felt the tension in the room grow at his silence as he tried thinking about what to say next. "It had been three weeks when I really felt it.
"The despair , the depression, I couldn't be there for Arthur or Camelot. Every single day, I woke up with no intention on eating, getting up, or even trying to live, but my magic wouldn't allow me to die. I wanted to die, but my magic wouldn't allow-" his voice broke, and he. Took a deep breath. He quickly started back up after seeing Gwen and her stunned face, looking to the door where Gaius stood silently. Merlin looked at him, the old man's face just doused in sadness.
"Merlin, continue on, please," Arthur murmured.
"Let him be princess." Gwaine snapped, "This isn't easy for us to hear, imagine living through it and then retelling it to the very people involved."
"It's fine." Merlin muttered. "Anyways, after another week of hoping I could just die, I decided nothing was working, that I wouldn't die, and that's when I stopped caring, and that's when I turned to pain to keep me sane, to let me know that I was alive. I had bought a small blade in a small town I ran across.
"I constantly dragged the blade against my skin, just wishing I would perish-" Merlin muttered, "When one day, slave traders found me. They bound me, put sorcerer restraints on me, and I guess I let them. The head guy saw my cuts on my arms and scowled, claiming I was worthless, but the fact I was a sorcerer would get them some money.
"Though when I broke through the first restraints, the man told me that since I so wanted to die, I shall." Merlin's voice was a mere whisper. "He grabbed my blade, and before I could do anything, had all possible magic restraints on me. My magic was roaring in defiance, burning me where the chains and the shackles and collar-"
"They collared you?" Arthur and Gwaine snapped at the same time, everyone flinching in the room at the sudden reaction. Merlin nodded, lifting his chin up so they could see the collar shaped scar around his neck.
"He yelled at me, then decided to take my blade and he- he grabbed my arm, having kept only one arm unbound, and he jammed the blade deep into my wrist, splitting my flesh open up to my elbow, I-I pleaded him to stop, I screamed, I couldn't do anything, the pain and blood loss was finally getting to me, I feared that I was going to be killed, that I couldn't- he went all the way up to my shoulder." Merlin's face had paled from the memory, his eyes distant as he looked at Gaius, meeting the man's eyes. "Killigarrah was keeping a sharp eye on me apparently, well, on my emotions.. He got to the camp and burned them down, extremely unhappy that my magic was bound and I was dying..
"I lost unconsciousness right when he managed to get to me, only to wake up in a small village where his young man was tending to my wounds. I had burns and scars, and I made a home there. When I nearly died, I snapped out of my depression, realising I couldn't die, that if I did and something were to happen to Arthur without me there-" Merlin took a deep breath. "I came back as Agnien because one night I had a vision of Morgana and Mordred, my magic telling me to get my arse over here."
"You-you caused those scars on your arms?" Arthur asked as he gently took the warlock's hand, flipping it over to see the cuts going all the way up to his elbows.
"Yes." Merlin whispered, "I-I couldn't handle anything anymore, it was so hard to-" Merlin's breath caught in his throat as he saw deep remorse and regret in the King's eyes, along with pain.
"This is my fault." He whispered. "I caused this, I banished you, Merlin, without knowing anything."
"Merlin knew to the fullest extent that the day was coming, Arthur." Gaius spoke up, Merlin looking at him surprised. "He just wasn't mentally prepared to deal with it emotionally, it happened the wrong way, and he was scared and lost."
"Why did you come back, anyways Merlin?" Arthur asked. "I put you through this, and through an emotional pit of fear every day you were here, so why would you come back to help me, vision or no vision?"
Merlin looked over at the blonde, looking suddenly a lot tired and worn down. Arthur saw a slight glint in them, almost like the glint he used to see every day, in a much smaller scale. "Arthur, I have a destiny to uphold."