Arthur looked up when Sir Victor entered the room. The knight had a solemn look on his face, clutching tightly to the hilt of his sword.
"May I help you, Victor?" Arthur asked curiously, putting his quill down.
"Sire, I am here with information," the knight started slowly, ducking his head. "About who attacked Merlin and murdered Sir Ethan."
"And who might that be?"
"Sir Gwaine."
"Sir Gwaine?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. "That's quite an accusation. Do you have any proof?"
"No, but who better to attack Merlin then someone he trusts, and perhaps Ethan had helped Gwaine but wanted to tell you, so Gwaine killed him. And he's been blaming Lucian, and everyone knows how he feels about Lucian. So, what better way to get Lucian out-of-the-way than to frame him for the attack and murder of two fellow citizens of Camelot?"
"That's quite a plan," Arthur pointed out slowly, a look of inquiry on his face. "Are you sure Gwaine could have put something so daft together?"
"What?" Victor cocked his head, giving Arthur a confused look, something akin to anger flickering in his eyes. "I don't understand, sire."
"It is a bit of clichéd plan, don't you think; framing the attack of the king's private servant and the murder of a well-respected knight on someone else? Especially someone who made it abundantly clear they did not support what the servant was? Gwaine seems a tad cleverer than that, and let's keep that between you and me since we don't need his ego stroked anymore."
"So, who do you think did it?" Victor asked slowly, his jaw clenched.
Arthur looked down for a second, took a deep breath, and looked up. "You."
Victor huffed humorlessly, shaking his head. "Why would I attack Merlin?"
"Because of Lucian."
"Lucian?"
"You hate Lucian more than anyone, and according to Elyan you told him he should have let Gwaine kill Lucian."
"That still doesn't explain…"
"A few of the other knights saw you and Ethan return from the area Merlin had been attacked moments after it had happened," Arthur interrupted swiftly getting to his feet. "Merlin flinched when he heard your voice, Gwaine saw your reaction when you noticed, and Lucian had been getting firewood, in the exact opposite direction, when Merlin was attacked. There are three witnesses to prove it.
"Not to mention you went after Ethan. I don't know how you convinced him to help you, and I really don't care. What I care about is seeing that you never see the light of day again."
Victor scoffed, almost as if the idea was absurd, but Arthur caught the panic in his eyes. He half turned, obviously planning on fleeing, but his plans were brought to a screeching halt when Gwaine and Elyan entered the room. At the same time, Leon and Percival stepped out of the shadows, all four knights surrounding Victor.
Arthur stepped forward, stopping short of Victor, and asked, "Why Merlin? Out of everyone, why him? Is it because of his magic? Is that it? Were you against it?"
"It had nothing to do with his magic, Arthur. It had everything to do with you. What better way to make sure Lucian ended up locked up then going after the one person you'd protect no matter what," Victor replied softly. "It had to be Merlin."
"Take him away," Arthur ordered and Gwaine and Percival stepped forward, the former slamming his fist into Victor's stomach.
"Oops, sorry," Gwaine commented sarcastically, just as Percival elbowed Victor in the face.
"Didn't see you there," the bigger knight retorted as the two escorted Victor out of the room, Leon and Elyan following on their heels.
With a sigh, Arthur crossed the room, closing the door. He then returned to his desk, falling heavily into his chair, guilt pouring over him. Victor wasn't exactly wrong, Merlin definitely was one of the few people Arthur would protect no matter what, but he hadn't exactly been much of a protector today. In fact, they had a row not even fifteen minutes before Merlin had been attacked.
'Then why did you even keep me alive.' The words came back to Arthur, circling around his head, and he sprang to his feet. He rushed out of his chambers, racing towards Gaius's. He needed to apologize, and it didn't matter how long he had to wait for Merlin to wake up. He was going to apologize.
Okay, this is a little rushed. I wanted to get the murder mystery out-of-the-way. The next few chapters are going to concentrate on Merlin because he was practically MIA throughout these last few chapters. So, yeah.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and/or favorited last chapter. You guys are awesome.
So, thanks for reading, drop me a comment if you want, and I don't own the recognizable characters.
Bye!
P.S. This story isn't over. Just letting you know ataylor8. Don't worry, this story will probably go on forever, and I'll be 30 still writing chapters (Okay, probably not that long, but it's not over yet).