They had not really talked much, after their fight, if it were a fight...Arthur wasn't sure anymore, but even so, they hadn't talked much. It wasn't as though they weren't speaking, it was more of a comfortable silence and Arthur welcomed it. But what he welcomed more was finally being home, where he could sleep in a bed, even if that made him a Princely Prat, he would take it. But these pleased thoughts did not last long at all. As, for as soon as Arthur had gotten off of his horse and handed the reins off, to a stable boy passing by, a guard was running upon him. Arthur couldn't really see his face, through the helmet he wore, but his eyes were wide and he looked quite serious.
"The King instructed me, that as soon as you got back you were to meet with him at once, Sire," said the man, his voice was almost frantic, and Arthur felt nervousness build, suddenly, in the very pit of his stomach. "Something has happened..."
Something has happened...these words echoed in his mind, as he and Merlin ran inside, and toward the council chambers. Where, at this time of day, the King should be. Arthur couldn't understand what it was, what might be wrong, everything looked fine, everyone looked well in the town, as they passed through, what could it be? Merlin followed him still, and Arthur sort of wondered why this was, as it wasn't necessarily Merlin's business, but as Arthur pushed open the door to the council chambers, and held it open for Merlin to follow inside, he didn't question it really. Uther was sitting at the head of the table, alone, upon seeing Arthur, he stood up, looking more stern than Arthur had seen him in weeks.
"I am glad you have returned, at last," said the King, and he was acting like it had not been him who told Arthur to go. "As you were made aware...something has happened. Once again magic has found it's way into Camelot, and this time...it has cost us a Blacksmith."
"What? which Blacksmith?" asked Arthur, confused. Uther bent over and leaned onto the table, looking stressed and worried, though, seemed to be annoyed that Arthur had asked this, and not about the magic itself. He shook his head.
"Morgana's serving girl, her Father..."
Arthur's mouth fell open, he was stunned for a moment, before he heard Merlin gasp behind him. "Tom?" said Arthur now. "There is no way Tom is a sorcerer..."
"He was not the sorcerer, he was working for them," said Uther, and Arthur didn't like the way Uther said was. He was very worried now, indeed. "I have reason to believe he was building the War Sorcerer, Tauren, weapons."
"Why would Tom do that?" asked Arthur. "I have met him, he was probably the gentlest man I have ever met, he wouldn't-"
"Every man has his price, Arthur!" his Father snapped and Arthur took a step back. This, compared to the last conversation he had with his Father, it was like talking to an entirely different person. The King who hated magic so much he did unthinkable things, was much different than the King who loved his son so much he sent him away to woo his Manservant. But they were both his Father, and Arthur had no idea, ever, which he would be faced with.
"You don't know that for certain," Arthur carried on anyway, because he had to stand his ground, an innocent man's life could very well depend on it. "You can't kill a man because he merely talked to a Sorcerer..."
"I can do so, if I so choose to," retorted Uther, darkly, standing up straight now, and glaring at Arthur. "An example must be made...and it was."
"You...you executed him?" asked Merlin, from behind Arthur, and Arthur closed his eyes, not daring to look back. One; Because he didn't want to see the hurt look on Merlin's face, and two;..this was not the time for Merlin to speak out.
"I did not..." said Uther, coldly, and not looking at Merlin, he kept his eyes on Arthur, alone. "He attempted to escape, admitting his guilt...an innocent man does not try to run, he proves himself innocent...his trial was set for yesterday morning, he fled the night before and I gave the order...if he were to be found, kill him. And they did not fail me."
Arthur heard Merlin shifting behind him, and Arthur took a deep breath. Arthur could only think of Gwen at this, she was a kind girl and her King betrayed her. "And what of his daughter?" retorted Arthur now, he didn't mean to speak so harshly to Uther, not right now, but he couldn't help it, he was angry. Arthur had lost a parent, hell...he never had a parent, but he understood how the loss felt, and now Gwen had lost both. She was all but orphaned. 'Have you arrested her, too?"
"No, I...understand she may be hurt by this," said Uther, just the tiniest bit, softer now. But that didn't matter to him, not to Arthur not even a little. She may be hurt by this? He couldn't believe his ears. He felt the anger rile up inside of him, and he really needed a more peaceful life or something, because he was quite tired of being angry.
"MAY BE HURT...? YOU KILLED HER FATHER!" shouted Arthur, before he really realized how truly angry he was. "What is she supposed to do now? How is she meant to support herself?!"
"I do not know, Arthur..." said Uther slowly, face turning from an almost soft, back to hard once more. "That is not my concern...perhaps this will be a lesson to her. Not to meddle in Sorcery!"
"A lesson..." said Arthur, darkly, he took a breath, he had to, before he lunge across the room and slap his Father in the face. Uther sat back down now, at the head of the table, and studied Arthur for a moment or two, while Arthur tried to collect himself. "And what of this Sorcerer, did you have him killed as well?"
"No, he has escaped, I have Knights scouring the town and the outskirts of the city, but there is no sign of him," said Uther. "I want you to go out and search for him, Arthur. Perhaps you will have more luck...you know the dangers of sorcery, you know what is at stake."
"I cannot go tonight, Father," said Arthur, because he couldn't quite shake the feeling of dislike toward his Father at the moment, and he was more than sure that this Tauren was long gone from Camelot at this point. He thought his Father must know it too, yet he was only desperate to get revenge. "I need to have proper food and a night sleep." None of these things were exactly true, he could go now, if he really wanted to, he had done so before, sleeping in the woods meant very little to Arthur. It was more he wanted to make sure Gwen was alright, she must be suffering and would most likely like to have Merlin there for support.
"I understand, Arthur," said Uther now, though, he looked a tad bit annoyed about it. "At first light..."
"Yes, Father," said Arthur, but as he said this, he felt something come up behind him, and felt Merlin tug on his sleeve.
"I am going to go find Gwen," he told him, in a quiet sort of voice and Arthur nodded.
"Yes, of course, you can go," said Arthur. "She is probably with Morgana in her chambers."
Merlin nodded and turned to leave, Arthur watched him go, but he paused, once Uther started talking again. "Perhaps the serving girl is there, but Morgana is not in her chambers."
Merlin stopped, looked back, worried, and Arthur did the same. "Where is she?" asked Arthur.
"In the dungeons..."
"What the hell is she doing in the dungeons?"
"She has spent the last two nights in the dungeons...for speaking to me the way she did," said Uther, and the dislike went ever higher. "The way she spoke to me, as if I were not her King...she spoke treason!"
"That's not surprising with Morgana!" argued Arthur, feeling the anger rising in him again, like fire. "Have you lost your mind?!"
"No...I will be respected," said Uther, loudly. "She will obey me!"
"Because she speaks out? That is not treason, that is an opinion!" said Arthur, he didn't want to argue with his Father, he wanted him to let her go, so he had to clam himself. even if he wanted to shout more. "Father..." he said more softly, this time. "You know she has trouble sleeping...she has nightmares and headaches, sleeping in the dungeon is not good for her health..."
"Then, perhaps...the lesson will be learned," said Uther, but he was cracking, Arthur could tell.
"If I had spoken to you that way, would you have done the same?"
"Yes, and you will have learned your lesson, just as she will," said Uther. "I have done the same to you before, when you disobeyed me to save your...Merlin." Arthur rolled his eyes at that, and said nothing. However, Uther, suddenly, threw the keys from his belt onto the table and waved his hand, as if to dismiss them. "Allow her free, but warn her...warn her not to cross me again."
The both of them left after this, leaving the King to deal with the mess he made on his own, Arthur would not help him, he had been a fool. Once they were out of the room and the door was shut behind them, Arthur put his face in his hands and rubbed his tired eyes. He felt his head start to throb, but he would not sleep any time soon, he knew this.
"We leave for a few days and everything goes to hell..." he said, offhanded and he heard Merlin make a noise next to him, he wasn't sure if it was a laugh, or an exasperation. Arthur surely felt exasperated, too. He removed his hands from his face and looked over at Merlin, Merlin's eyes were kind of wet, like he was trying not to cry and his cheeks were almost pink.
"We have to go get Morgana," said Merlin then, and Arthur shook his head. Reaching up, he placed a gentle hand on Merlin's shoulder.
"You go find Gwen, I will deal with Morgana," he told him, and at once, Merlin nodded. "And tell her... tell her I'm sorry, I wish I could change it, I wish there was something I could do..."
Merlin nodded again, this time much slower, and then he were gone, running the other way, from where Arthur was going. Arthur instead, headed toward the dungeons. He couldn't believe his Father had done this, had killed a man for nothing more than conversing with a Sorcerer, there was no proof he had made weapons, and if there were...Arthur would like to see it, with his own eyes. Arthur had questioned his Father's judgment before, but never like this...this whole thing was a complete disaster, and then to top it off, he imprisoned Morgana? It was like he had gone mad...
Morgana was none too happy, and she had every right not to be, even upon seeing Arthur, she spoke cruelly to him, and Arthur tried to ignore it, he didn't speak to her, because he was mad at her, too. Did she not know not to test Uther? Was she not smart enough...? Arthur had always thought she was smarter than him, and yet she was constantly testing Uther's wrath. It was the same as with the Droid Boy...
Arthur took Morgana back to his chambers with him, which were dark and cold, since no one had been there for many days to warm or light them. He did it himself, as he forced her to sit at his table. Once there was light in the room, he forced her to show him her bruises, from the chains that held her. She fought him at first, but then, finally, let him look. There were deep bruises, around her wrists and he traced a gentle finger over a part of it, softly...
But he did not feel worse for her, only more angry. "Why do you do this?" he asked her. "Why do you go against him knowing how he is? Do you have a death wish...?"
"I would like Uther to try to kill me," she spat, in return, and pulled her arm back to her, and cradled her wrist, in her hand. Arthur sighed, and sat down next to her, at the table. He glared at her.
"And if he does kill you, if you anger him so much...what am I meant to do?"
"Nothing," she retorted. "Like you always do."
This was the second time in less than a day, that someone had told Arthur just exactly how poorly they thought of him, and he was no more prepared for it, than before. "You think I will do nothing?"
"You are his pet, Arthur...you are his precious son, who wouldn't dare go against him," she said, coldly, as she stood up, suddenly. Arthur did not stand, or react to her words. "You might not agree with what he does, but you would never speak out against him!"
"Might I remind you, who got you to be freed?" he retorted.
"Uther was probably just bored of watching me suffer," she spat, and Arthur shook his head. "Your Father is a menace, a curse to this Kingdom and to this land..."
"Morgana..."
But just as Arthur said this, the door to his chambers opened and in walked Merlin, looking worried, he noticed Morgana there, and stopped in his tracks and frowned, terribly. "Morgana..." he whispered. Her face softened upon seeing Merlin, as she turned toward him.
"Have you seen Gwen?" she asked him, and he nodded.
"Gaius is comforting her, she won't talk to me, I don't think she's doing too well..." admitted Merlin. "But he will take care of her...he knows how."
"Of course," said Morgana, and took in a deep breath, before returning her gaze to Arthur, and her eyes darkened once more. "What your Father has done is unforgivable, Tom was an innocent man, he had done nothing!"
"Don't you think I know that, Morgana?" retorted Arthur now. And tears were welling in her eyes, and other than when she was frantic over a bad dream, Arthur didn't think he had ever seen her cry before. Not over Uther, at the very least. "Morgana...please."
"He doesn't deserve a crown...he doesn't deserve to walk this Earth when Tom does not...he didn't even give him a trail, he had him killed in cold blood..."
"No he didn't," said Merlin, all of a sudden, and both Arthur and Morgana looked over at him, confused. He went on. "It was a mistake...Uther never gave the order to kill Tom."
"But he told me he did!" Morgana said, in return, even more confused now, than she had been before. Arthur was too, if he were being honest. What was Merlin even talking about? He had been just in the room, when the King had said that he certainly did give the order.
"He lied," said Merlin now, and Morgana's mouth fell open. "He was embarrassed, he doesn't want anyone to know the Knights acted without order, he says it makes him weak, if a King is not able to control his Army...he becomes a target. He doesn't want anyone to know, he made Arthur swear not to tell anyone..."
"Merlin...?" said Arthur now, and Merlin eyed him, with a face that said, very clearly, to shut up.
"It's alright, Arthur," he retorted. "He didn't make me swear..."
"But why would he lie to me?" asked Morgana now. And there it was, the crack in Merlin's story.
"Because..." said Merlin slowly. "He doesn't want you to distrust the Knights, they are there to protect you, and if you think they are acting out against him, they might against you, too...you might be worried."
"Merlin, are you telling me the truth?" she asked now and Merlin grinned.
"Yes, I...I sweat to it," he said, and Arthur had to fight back the urge to yell at him that he was a lying fool. But, he supposed, he understood why. "Uther was still very angry you talked to him the way you did, though."
"Yes, but...I had thought-"
"Just don't tell him I told you, alright?" asked Merlin and Morgana nodded, a smile forming on her face, as she walked closer to Merlin. "I don't want to lose my head."
"I won't say a word," she told him, and reached out and touched his hand. He looked down at it and then gasped at the state of her wrists. "Arthur...you should have told me this, why didn't you?"
"I...swore I wouldn't," said Arthur, and she glared at him, rolled her eyes and headed for the door.
"At least Merlin cares about me," she said, before she pulled the door open, and looked back. She still looked upset, tears still welled in her eyes, but they did not seem so grey anymore, perhaps a bit of the normal green was returning. "I must go see Gwen."
"You can't tell Gwen either!" called out Merlin and she shook her head and put her finger to her lips, as she shut the door. Merlin sighed, deeply, and then turned back toward Arthur, but didn't meet his eyes, he looked down at the floor.
"You lied to her..." said Arthur, calmly. Merlin looked up now, his lips in a thin line and he nodded.
"It's for the best...that she thinks better of your Father," said Merlin, still not meeting Arthur's eye. " I worry...If she keeps on resenting him, if he continues to hurt her like he has...I'm afraid of what might happen."
And the honesty of that shook Arthur. He was right, keep this up, and there might be real treason upon them. Arthur stood up now, and walked over to Merlin. He touched his shoulder again, as he had when they had parted before. "You're right," he admitted to him, and Merlin looked up and their eyes met. Merlin smiled at him. "There is no harm and letting her think better of the King. You are very loyal to him, Merlin..."
"Arthur," said Merlin, softly now. "You more than anyone knows I think you're Father is crazy...worse than crazy, insane."
"Merlin," Arthur warned. "He is still the King..."
"Yes, I know, but...I don't do it for him. I do it for her..."
"She is lucky to have a friend like you, Merlin," said Arthur, and Merlin grinned at him, their eyes still searching each others. Arthur realized this, suddenly, and pulled away quickly, dropping his hand to his side. Merlin continued to look at him.
"You are lucky too, you just don't like to admit it..."
(A/N: Is this the second or third update in a row? I don't know...it's okay, I don't care! Um...so, I saved Will but let Tom die, yeah? I mean, things still gotta happen. And you all were praising Uther before...LOL. But no, someone said to me in a comment something like, 'Uther hates magic not the gays,' and that's thisss...that is just this story so much. He is completely fine with his son banging his servant, but if he finds out that servant has magic...I mean, romance over, am I right? I hope you enjoyed, this was a bit of a sad chapter, and I am on the fence, truly, if Merlin should have lied to Morgana like that, I mean...I know why he did, but it just feels a little wrong.)