After the fall of Camelot, Merlin finds that keeping Merlin safe is his first priority. However, with Arthur's depression in the direct aftermath of Morgana's betrayal, Merlin finds it difficult to focus on the future he and Arthur were to build together. This all changes a few months later, and Merlin finds that he is willing to do anything he can in this great fight for Camelot.

Gwaine and Lancelot go to Merlin when he finds himself in prison for revealing he has magic. When they get there, though, they find that Merlin is not alone, and not exactly free from harm.

"Since when do you believe in bedtime stories?" Merlin asked, as if his whole life wasn't but the living version of one. "About since the moment you tripped in a lamp and a woman wearing nothing but see through straps of cloth came out of it" he barked. "And then some idiot, like, I don't know, my servant decided to make wishes at it."

He didn't want to sit there and smile as he watched the man he loved marry someone else.

The others would accept him, the King would praise him, but there was no warmth in a world in which your kin deserted you.

The others would accept him, the King would praise him, but there was no warmth in a world in which your kin deserted you.

There was no way she could not hate him; not when he had left her alone.

It would taste too much like farewell, and Merlin wasn't ready to say it.

Your very own prince charming, with a dash of fairy godmother — those had been Gwaine's words on his toast.

This is a story about Merlin and the coming of Arthur. Set around 2017 in England.

But Lady Morgana holds him close when he feels the thread of his father's life snap, and he thinks he may not be alone after all.

Waking up — still drunk and naked — was also something Gwaine had long since grown used to.

You can't stand to be powerless, and waiting is mostly made of not being able to do anything.

Could them – or anyone, really – ever understand what it was like to be Arthur and Merlin?

Even when you had little idea about his troubles, you never left.

Step 2030: Hopes to All-Gods-that-Ever-Were he says yes.

He was a man that would bow to no one, a man to rule and not to follow.

Arthur wants to rake the leaves, Merlin wants to play with them - and then everybody wins.

The thing is, being a knight? Totally overrated.

It is only fitting that she, who devoted her life to destruction and hatred would become witness to the ultimate ruin of the world they had once lived.

It couldn't go on – she couldn't handle it; she couldn't handle Camelot thinking about it. And Camelot deserved better than an unsteady Queen.

There was nowhere they could claim to belong, but among the trees and the dirt, the leaves and wells, the birds and flowers, in the midst of nature, wherever it was.

He was a man that would bow to no one, a man to rule and not to follow.

Gwen would never know if what pulled her heart down was the weight of the crown or the absence of Arthur by her side.

For Arthur, his name had always been at the same time a deep irony and a strong burden.