AN: A lot of cursing and exceptional rudeness (from Merlin) in this chapter. It may seem out of character but it'll be explained further into the story.

I've considered altering the plot time and again but it seriously messed with what I have planned (and partially written) so far.
At The PhantomHokage: I'll be honest. I was so occupied with this chapter that I may have neglected the previous one a bit (it's not 2K words which I usually aim for).

King Arthur, the King that ruins everything

Merlin snuck into Camelot in the dead of night. The streets were empty because of the curfew set by the King. There were plenty of shadows for him to hide but proved to be unnecessary as there were no guards patrolling the streets. As he passed by Gwen's house he hesitated. She was probably worried sick and part of him wanted to see her again as well. He decided against it. He didn't think she'd mind that his mother had priority right now. As for Gwaine and the other Knights, he was sure they would understand.

Reaching the citadel was no longer as easy as it once was. All the secret passages had been uncovered by Morgana's repeated attempts to take the throne. The idea of teleporting in had come to mind but he lacked experience and that made it rather inaccurate. Merlin boldly decided to take the front entrance. He wasn't an enemy with evil intentions but if Arthur left him no choice, he would become just that. The warning bells would ring on the very moment they saw him but he didn't think anyone really wanted to face him. If they did, he'd make things perfectly clear for them.

Coming up the path he could see the guards notice him. Merlin couldn't see past the torches that obscured their faces but he could tell they were in a hurry. Again he felt the urge to visit an old friend, Gaius, and once more he decided not to. Gaius had been as blind as he was. During the Purge he failed to act against Uther and then his inaction almost caused his ward's death. Reaching the square he was in full view of most of the guards there. A brave few of them drew their weapons and carefully approached him.

They were trying to intimidate him but Merlin wasn't discouraged in the slightest. His magic was stronger than ever before and their swords paled in comparison.
"I demand audience with King Arthur." His voice was flat and without emotion.
There came no answer. None of the guards spoke but merely looked at each other from time to time. Merlin kept an eye on the castle. Lights travelled from corridor to corridor and more of them appeared over time. It was obvious that something was set in motion inside the castle. Not knowing what was going on unnerved Merlin but he did not let it show. The prat might just have trouble getting out of bed. The thought almost made him smile. Almost.

The double door leading to the great hall opened and revealed Sir Leon. The Knight approached the surrounded sorcerer anxiously. He told the guards to escort Merlin to the throne room. Merlin didn't do anything to pull them from the dream that they were in control. The throne room wasn't as empty as Merlin would have liked. At least a dozen guards stood on either size of the room.

There he was, sitting on the throne, wearing his crown. The chair stood on a small podium so Kings and Queens would look down on those seeking audience. It made Arthur look down on him and, subconsciously, annoyed Merlin because it had always been like this. Before he arrived in Camelot, Arthur considered everyone to be beneath him. He was a spoiled child then and he still was. Arthur was nervous but tried not to let on. The man before him was a sorcerer and although he might still be a friend, he wasn't going to grovel. He had no choice, the decision wasn't his then and he regretted it but that didn't make it his fault. Arthur was glad that Gwen and Gaius weren't there. They would only have made things more difficult than they already were. Merlin's escorts came to a halt in the middle of the room and took a few steps away.

"Where is she?" Merlin skipped formalities.
"Calm down, she's fine. Don't worry." Arthur reassured him as if he would never harm her.
The sorcerer could relate to Gwaine's hatred for nobility. They always lied about to truth to either comfort or scare their subjects. It was always the same and he was no different. The idiot claimed he wouldn't harm her but wasn't kidnapping exactly that?
"Calm down? YOU KIDNAPPED HER!" He shouted.
Merlin's sudden outburst took the King by surprise and one of the guards behind the sorcerer saw fit to take a step towards him. Did they really think it would discourage him?
The warlock looked at him over his shoulder and threatened in an ice cold voice, "One step closer and I'll fling you like a ragdoll."
Arthur found it increasingly difficult to look at the man before him as Merlin. Merlin never threatened anyone so easily or violently. He was so different from the happy and adventurous manservant he had come to know as a dear friend. The warmth he carried around in a smile or the bounce in his step was gone.
"I needed to talk to you." The King explained.
He knew Arthur's reasoning behind it but found it to be completely wrong. It always happened like this. Arthur made a mistake and his manservant cleaned up after him, with magic or otherwise.
"You should've told the druids. It would've found its way to me eventually." Merlin spoke as if it was obvious.
"You left me with questions that need answering." The King replied in the infuriating tone of voice he always used when telling him to shut up.
"I said farewell. That was to be the end of it. This was uncalled for." Merlin's voice grew angrier.
"Things change." Arthur replied and Merlin stifled a laugh.
The man spoke as if the kingdom bent its knee to serve him on his every whim. Did he not understand that a sorcerer should never be treated as such?
"You truly are your father's son." The sorcerer mocked him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur asked annoyed.
"All you see is your own righteousness. Things change? No, it's just you finally pulling your head out your arse!" Merlin vented.
Arthur was in shock. He had never spoken to him like that. A bit of banter he was used to but this was nothing but a cruel insult. How little of Merlin was left in this sorcerer that had replaced him? Less and less did the King believe that Merlin still existed. Freedom for magic didn't seem like an option anymore, not if it turned a just man into a cruel one.
"This isn't how I left you, Arthur. I tried so hard to make you a better man than your father. A man with a fair rule and listened to the heart of his Kingdom. A man who would conquer their hearts rather than strike fear in them. I trusted you to be that person and for that I did terrible thing so you wouldn't have to. Before you even ask, Godwyn was not one of them."
This was Merlin who was speaking, not the sorcerer. Arthur couldn't see where one ended and the other began. He could see how much faith Merlin had in him but one question had to be asked.
"Then why do the treacherous thing of keeping your magic secret from me?"
Merlin had to do his utmost to keep his anger inside. "TREACHEROUS?!" His mind screamed but thankfully it didn't lash out to anyone. It seemed unfair for the King to use such a word when it was him that ordered his execution and betrayed his trust.
"Are you really SO BLIND?!" Merlin ranted, "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU KIDNAPPED MY MOTHER!"
The King did not know how to counter something that was inescapably true. Merlin, however, then made a small mistake.
"I had to hear it from Morgana. I'd almost say that makes her better than you." Merlin spat.
"Take that back." Arthur demanded like a tantrum child. He refused to be compared to Morgana.
"Your fat arse may sit on that throne but that doesn't mean you have control over me." Merlin further insulted his former master.
"Show some respect, I still have your mother." The King replied before realising that he just crossed the line.
"I'm warning you, Arthur. Don't make an enemy out of me or I will bring your nightmares into this world and twist them so far that you'll beg for oblivion. And giving you that would be kindness."
A threat such as that, with pure venom oozing from it, proved to Arthur that his father was correct when he said magic corrupted. It was a power with such a simple name but it blackened the hearts of even the most righteous of men. He had seen how it had corrupted,- correction- how it had destroyed Merlin. Hunith was innocent and would go free but Merlin would only receive safe passage out of Camelot. After that nothing would ever be the same again. They were enemies, period.

hr/

Hunith's prison call wasn't extremely horrible. She had a bed and a few pretty decent meals. Some of the guards looked at her suspiciously. They gave her cold stares as if she were the devil. Word of her son's execution and magical escape had reached Ealdor not long ago. She felt horrible. She wanted to help him find his way back but knew that she couldn't. The only person to give her some comfort was Gwen. She had become quite a woman since they last met. The girl assured her that she'd do everything she could to help Merlin. Arthur had spoken some words meant to comfort her but they lost their charm through prison bars. He was up to something. She was helpless to save her son from whatever Camelot's King had planned for him.

One of the guards entered the prison and told the jailor to be ready in case they needed to 'use' her. Merlin had arrived and she knew not what they planned to do with him. The laws of Camelot stated that anyone with magic should be executed and those laws had remained unchanged. They were using her as a bargaining chip, his life for hers. Whatever hope she had in Arthur was lost with this despicable act of cowardice. She had once said that they were two sides of the same coin but the meaning had changed. They had become the opposing sides of the same coin. The guard had left and the jailor approached herself. He wanted to ready her, to tie her hands together, for when her appearance was needed. The cell door opened and she followed him to his desk at the end of the corridor. On the desk laid the prisoner log, rope and a bottle of red wine which would have been payment for Merlin's executioner had it ended in death. The jailor picked up the rope but Hunith, desperately wanting to keep her son alive, went with her instincts. She snatched the bottle from the desk and hit him against his head with it. The poor man, who was only doing his job, fell to the floor. Hunith did not immediately notice the blood trickling down from his hair. "Is he dead?" She felt her knees go weak but willed herself to remain standing. Her son was still out there and she feared he was willing to die for her should the need arise. She had lost her husband to Uther and she would not lose her son to his.

She placed the bloodied bottle on the desk and took from the jailor the only weapon she could find; a club. Then she climbed the steps leading out of the prison. Her heart was pounding loudly and yet she could hear the tiniest sound. She carefully opened the door and saw two guards playing a board game of some kind - she couldn't see because she was facing the back of one of them. She snuck up behind the first and as she clubbed his head in she pushed the board game onto the other. The distraction gave her just enough time to slam the club against his head as well.

The corridors of the castle followed and Hunith slightly panicked as they were different from how she remembered them. She went through several other corridors, carefully avoiding any guard, until one of them noticed the club in her hands. There was shouting but she couldn't afford to be caught. She had to find him, her son, or all would have been in vain. As he drew his sword, the guard warned her but she had no intention of listening, she had to keep running. After going around the corner she heard shouting and she could tell that it was Merlin. She opened the door and saw Merlin standing to her left and Arthur sitting to her right.

The King was surprised to see Hunith without a guard and carrying a weapon but not even he was as thick as not to realise what had happened.
"Seize her!" He shouted with panicked voice as he now risked to lose his bargaining chip. Little did he know that he lost her already.
The guard that pursued her hadn't heard the order through the thick metal of his helmet. He didn't know who the prisoner was and had only seen the bloodied club. All he saw was a dangerous, armed felon. None in the throne room would ever forget her surprised stare when the tip of a blade revealed itself before her and the handle was obscured from sight.

AN:
You probably saw it coming. Hunith's (accidental) death is a cheap way of turning Merlin against Arthur, I know. It's difficult to find something that would turn him against Arthur without making Arthur a tyrant beforehand. Therefor I tried to portray her as a little bit more than yet another victim. I wanted to give her something of a mother's fierceness, I feel like I owe her that.