When he saw the amount of recruits, mostly young teens, with a few adults mixed into the masses, he concluded that this would be a long day, but he secretly hoped that this would drag on for a long time.

His mind was occupied with the thoughts of the court session he would have to attend, therefore he ended up not paying much attention to the things that happened during the recruitment trials. It was merely a bunch of hopeful, young sorcerers showcasing their magic and demonstrating what they could do, and the extent of their talents. Some sparring took place as well. First they utilised their magic, and then they proceeded to demonstrate their skills with physical weapons, such as swords, maces and spears. From what he had gathered, recruitment took place once every six months, and usually only two dozen recruits were selected each time at most. Usually there were less recruits selected. The most gifted and talented of these recruits were put through further trials, to see if they could train in the special division. Apparently selection for this division was even more rare, only one or two recruits meeting the criteria at the most. It seemed like it was more common for no one to be selected, than it was for anyone to be selected though. From the sounds of it, it appeared that Morgause was personally training this division, which made it likely that she was training them to become high priests and high priestesses of the old religion. The woman was after all one of the last remaining high priestesses, if not the last. He wouldn't count Morgana as one, considering how she had never learned from Morgause in this world. A division of high priests and priestesses were a frightening thought, as no mortal blade could kill a high priestess or priest. And considering how Excalibur was never made, or was lost at the depths of the Lake of Avalon, Camelot would not stand much of a chance in a war.

He had probably missed out on a lot of important aspects of the recruitment trials, but he had gotten the gist of it. His gaze followed the few instructors that wandered the field. They declared who had made it through the initial trials. These trials seemed to test their spell craft, and the strength of their spells, as well as their physical and magical endurance. Those who failed were given the option to try again in six months from what he heard the instructors say. The secondary trials were the sparring matches, the number of recruits easily having been halved by the time this portion of the trials begun. Whoever lost their sparring match automatically failed, and was given the same message as the others. The secondary round narrowed down the recruits even further. This time he and Morgause were supposed to select those who had enough skill and potential, and the ones that were selected were accepted into the training programme for the military force. From these recruits, they could select candidates for the special division, had anyone stood out in terms of raw talent, strength and knowledge.

The trials had lasted for about five hours when they were left with eleven recruits for the military, narrowed down from a hundred hopefuls. From these, Morgause judged that none of them were eligible for the special division, which concluded the recruitment trials. He could clearly see the joy on the faces of the accepted recruits. Most of them had likely attempted several times and been rejected prior to this day. Four females and the rest male, their ages ranging between twenty and thirty. The standards for acceptance was really high, and he couldn't know for sure if he or Morgause had decided on having such a high standard. He suspected that it was the latter.

He felt a lump forming in his gut as he silently followed Morgause towards the court room. He didn't want to do this, but he had no way out of this situation. He knew what was expected of him, to judge the non-magic to die for something that wasn't in his control. Even the thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach. He found himself wishing that the individual had just stayed away from the Sanctuary, and listened to the rumours that had been circulating through all of Camelot. Why had he even come to this place to begin with? He fought the urge to flee from the situation. He had to keep Gaius' advice in mind, and try to keep himself from hating himself for what he would have to do.

They reached the court room, stepping inside and finding their seats. He shifted around rather uncomfortably in his seat as he trailed his gaze over he ones present in the room.

"Bring her in." Morgause finally spoke, shooting a glance towards him from the corner of his eye. That had probably been his job, hadn't it?

It did not take long before a girl, no older than eleven was brought inside the court room, escorted by a pair of guards. He felt like the colour had washed away from his face at the sight of the girl. They could not be serious about this, could they? She was a child!

"Elaine Grieves, daughter of Ulrich Grieves and Jordine Grieves was suspected to be non-magic by her peers, and were appropriately reported to the correct authorities. Her parents knowingly harboured this child within their home, despite their knowledge of their child's lack of magical gifts. The procedure has been done, and her non-magic nature has already been confirmed." An official spoke as the young girl was brought down onto her knees before him and Morgause. His ears picked up the sounds of muffled sobbing in the background, reaching the conclusion that her parents were present.

"The law is clear on what is to happen to non-magics whom are found within the walls of the sanctuary." Morgause begun to speak, but the woman swiftly found herself interrupted.

He knew what was expected of him, but this was wrong. Hell, all of this was wrong. Doing this made them no better than Uther had been. This girl could have lived a large portion of her life in the sanctuary. It was not her fault that she had been born without magic, just as it was no one else's fault that they had been born with it.

"Where are her parents?" he questioned, glancing around the room. "Please step forwards!" he let out, ignoring the glance of surprise that had been cast towards him from Morgause. He heard chairs moving, and then soft yet swift foot steps on the stone floor. Eventually the parents stood besides their child. All three of them had brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. They could not have claimed that their daughter was not their own, even if they wanted to. The resemblance was far too great.

"How long have you been living here, and how old was she when you moved to the sanctuary?" he was quick to question before anyone had a chance to protest. He felt anger and frustration boiling in his chest at the injustice that was being done here.

"We have been living here for six years, and Elaine was five when we made the move." Ulrich spoke, his head being kept bowed, avoiding eye contact.

"She grew up here. Were you aware that she did not have magic when you moved?" he carried on, ignoring the displeased mumbles in the court room, as well as Morgauses subtle attempts at getting his attention.

"We did not know, she was so young." the girls mother responded, tightly clutching onto her husbands hand.

He nodded his head lightly.

"I will not have a child be executed for something that was never in her control! Living here was never her choice! She has been raised with the same ideals and mindset as every other child in this place, the only difference being that she can not use magic. She's just as much a citizen of the sanctuary as anyone else, non-magic or not!" he spoke, finding himself interrupted by a loud official. "The law is the law, my lord. And the law clearly states that any non-magics discovered within the walls of the sanctuary are to be sentenced to die. No one is exempt from this law, not even this girl."

"Do you support the execution of an innocent child, that has done nothing wrong? Her only crime is being raised here and being born without magic!" He barked out in response to the official, silencing the individual pretty swiftly.

"I will not have your child executed, but she can not remain here." He spoke, his gaze now turning towards the girl.

"You have until sunrise tomorrow to pack and leave this place. Your parents are free to leave the sanctuary as well, if they wish to do so." he concluded.

Her parents broke out into tears at the news, embracing their child tightly. "Thank you, my lord. Thank you!" they cried. Elaine appeared shocked as well, but soon she too joined her parents in tears once she realised what had just happened.

He kept his gaze fixed on the small family that stood before him, doing his best to ignore the displeased expressions of the others in the room.

"Escort them back to their home, and ensure that they are gone by sunrise tomorrow" he commanded.

He watched them leave, and once the family was gone, the court room broke out into a uproar. He hadn't followed Gaius' advice, but how could he have? He wouldn't have been able to live with himself had he sent that girl to her death.

" That is enough!" Morgause barked out, causing everyone to fall silent. "You are all dismissed!" she added, mumbles spreading in the room as the officials reluctantly left the area.

When the room was empty, except for Merlin and herself, she spoke more calmly.

"Do you care to explain why exactly you made that decision just now?"

"How about you tell me why killing that girl would have been the right thing to do? She was guilty of nothing but being brought here by her parents. Six years, Morgause. She had been here for six years. She was just as much a citizen as anyone else."

"It is the law, Merlin. The law you made. Why have you suddenly changed your mind about this? I wish to understand."

"Because I realised how unjust this law is, and how doing this makes me no better than Uther Pendragon. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, Morgause. That girl did not deserve to die for the sins others have committed. She was not guilty of anything. Her only crime was being non-magic, living in a place with magic. The law needs to be changed. Execution is not always the right punishment. She lost her home, I think that is enough."

"You have changed, Merlin. I do not know what to think of this"

"I just want this place to thrive." He stated, heading for the exit.

"Just trust me. It is for the better." he added, before he disappeared out of the room.

**I hope I didn't make Morgause nor Merlin seem OOC. I'm not really too familiar with Morgause's character so she's a bit difficult for me to do. I hope I have been doing her justice so far. We have also surpassed 5300 views, which is amazing! Your continued support blows my mind and I hope that you will continue to enjoy this story as it progresses! Thank you all so much**