Thank you for reading. I hope that you will enjoy the newest chapter. I have been really worried about this part of the story so I feel that I might have taken a little to long to get to this part. As I really want to make sure that every main characters actions make sense. That will I'm sure you won't agree or like all of them, but that you can at least understand their thinking and the actions they take.

Gwen quickly entered the room, looking around at everyone with a look of annoyance on her normally warm face. The feast was meant to start in an hour and she had been left to deal with it all on her own as everyone that knew what was going on seemed to be missing. Leaving the queen to fend off a seemingly endless stream of people coming to her with unimportant questions. Questions like Which wine would she like to be served first as everyone arrived in the great hall. To which she answered, whichever wine they had to most off in stock. She was also asked how long should the servers wait between each course before bringing out the next one. Which she answered with, what she thought was a reasonable answer of thirty minuets. The look that the head chief gave her quickly told her that it was the wrong answer. The time between each course it turned out should be different. Growing longer between each subsequent course.

The queen had just enough patience and self control remaining at the time to take in a calming breath and answer a more acceptable answer. Now as she looked around the room at people that she felt had to a small degree abandoned her, her patience seemed to have run out.

Arthur knew his wife well, could read on her face her annoyance and growing anger. It had turned out to be a difficult day for a lot of them and it was only going to get worse. And Arthur realised that he had left her alone to deal with a lot of it on her own. Taking in a calming breath of his own he braced himself to tell her of their newest lose.

"Percival is dead." The king said in a low voice.

Gwen's face fell as the anger washed away. "What."

"Mordred tried to escape with Kara." Arthur explained

"So he killed Percival." Gwen asked not fully understanding.

"It was an accident." Morgana said stepping forward. "He never meant-"

"Dose that really matter now." Asked Gwen.

Morgana was shocked by Gwen's reaction. She wouldn't never have expected her to be so harsh. Gwen had always been so understanding and fair. Though she guessed losing the last person from her blood family so suddenly and violently would case even the most kind-hearted person to harden.

Arthur carried on explaining the situation before Morgana had the chance to say anything else. "No, the outcome will still be the same." He agreed with his wife. "Morgana then helped him to get away."

Gwen turned to Morgana, expecting to see maybe a look of remorse on her face, even the hint of regret at a life lost, but she looked almost defiant. The other queen was sure that part of this was for show. Never wanting to show a chink in the armour. Any sign of weakness that could, would be used against her. Used to try and persuade her to tell them where Mordred was now. Turn him over, most likely to his death. Gwen knew, they all knew that was a next to impossible task.

"We should tell the the knights before anyone else." Arthur began, but couldn't think how to say what else he wanted to.

Gwen nodded. Feeling a little better having a plan, a course of action. Simply just something that she could do. "Alight, I'll have them meet in the throne room..."

She stopped suddenly. Realising that there would gather around a table with a empty chair. Two empty chairs. They had not gathered around the round table since they returned from facing the attempted Saxon invasion. Not since they, she had lost Eylan. Arthur came to the same conclusion as his wife at almost the exact same time. It pained him to think of those empty chair too. Empty chairs that he would not remove or offer to anyone else. They would stay for now, possibly for ever as a reminder of those that had fought by their side and not come home.

"Your office." Gwen corrected herself after a pause. "We'll meet there."

Arthur nodded, then turned to Gaius. "Could you go to the great hall and try and keep everyone there. Once we have told the knights, we'll tell everyone else. Then we'll have the feast. " He said a little unsure.

"He would have liked that." Merlin said, speaking for the first time. Understanding why Arthur felt it was important to still have the feast. Percival would not want his friends, brothers to mourn his death, but celebrate his life. Looking at Gwen he saw that she felt the same way too. It would also be want Eylan would have wanted. It would not be for the same reason as everyone expected, but they still had something they should celebrate, honour. The lives of those they had loved and lost and the memories they had of them and the impact they had had and the space they left behind.

Arthur looked to Merlin, nodding in agreement with him. He held his gaze for a few brief seconds. Asking him to keep watch over Morgana. Make sure that she didn't leave to see Mordred or Kara and to try and get her to tell him where Mordred was. Merlin gave no sign that he agreed to do as Arthur asked, yet Arthur still trusted him to make sure that Morgana didn't do anything to make matters worse. Though the king wondered how much worse things could get.

As quickly as they had all spilled into the room everyone left the couple alone again.

"My husband my jailor." Morgana snarked with a wide smile when they were alone.

Merlin sighed. "Don't." He asked.

He understood that she was lashing out because she was scared for Mordred and Kara and hated feeling helpless. Feeling she was unable to do anything to help them. So he gentle asked not to go down that harsh road, rather then snark back.

Morgana seemed to collapse a little as she allowed herself to drop her guard a little. Then she quickly crossed the physical distance between them, hoping to cross the moral one as well. Taking his hands she looked him in the eyes and she asked him, pleaded him to help her.

"We can get Kara our of here, and take her and Mordred back to Avalon with us. No one else has to die." Unable to continue to meet her eyes Merlin looked away, but Morgana still held his hands and stepped back in front of him. "We don't have to stay trapped in the cages they put us in."

She was right there was absolutely nothing stopping either of them from walking down to the cells breaking Kara out and leaving to collect Mordred before they returned to Avalon to begin their new life there. The only thing that stopped them from doing something like that in the past had been the need to keep their magic a secret and fear. That was not the case anymore. They didn't have to hide their magic. They had nothing to fear from anyone, they never had. They had allowed themselves to be scared by those that hated them. When those that hated them should be the ones that where scared of them.

"We can't." He said after a pause.

"Yes we can." Morgana said in disbelief. Could the fear of being found out truly have corrupted Merlin's mind so much that he didn't see that they where the ones with the power. That they always had been. "We could be gone before anyone knows. They can't come after us."

"Yes, but what happens then. to those that stay." He asked.

Morgana knew what he was hinting at. It was the one thing that gave her some pause about being as aggressive and doing what she suggested. The retribution that Arthur might unleash on the druids and those with magic in place of Mordred and Kara. As much as they did believe in Arthur, that he had good intensions and was a good person. A Better man and king than his father. There was still the chance that he, that anyone could turn on them. The fear and hate had been so prevalent, it couldn't help but be ingrained.

"It's not just about the two of them or an argument between you and Arthur." He said what she already knew. The choices that she made affected not just her but some many people. People that she had to protect.

Feeling annoyed that he was pointing out what she already knew, Morgana snapped back. "If you truly think that Arthur would do that. That he would target people that had nothing to do with Uther or Percival's deaths, innocent people. They why have you done so much, like kill me to make him king. To save him."

Merlin couldn't answer his wives question. The longer he didn't respond he saw a victorious smile slowly begin to spread across Morgana's face. It never touched her eyes and only lasted for a single second, because there was no victory to celebrate. She had silenced him, but what good came from that. It didn't change the fact that there was a entrenched fear in those like them to be truly themselves. That Merlin probably the most powerful of them all was scared to act. That part of that fear came from the knowledge that by being so set of his path of protecting Arthur, he had harmed a look of people and that if Arthur failed to live up to the faith he had put in him, then it would all have been for nothing.

"They should be scared of us." Morgana said firmly.

The king and queen could hear that chattering of voices growing closer as the knights drew nearer. They sounded happy. Excited for the feast and the celebrations to come. Their hearts ached at having to tell them that they had lost another brother. And they way that they lost him, at the hands of another brother would make the pain sharper. If she was honest Gwen was worried about their reactions. They were good people, good men, but they were not above anger.

Taking in a deep breath the door before her was pushed open and the original knights of the round table began to stream in. Lancelot first. Meeting both of the royal couples eyes one after the other he gave a small nod of greeting. Gwaine followed after his taller friends and smiled at the king and queen. Leon the last to entre shut the door behind him. He thought he knew what was going on. What Arthur and Gwen were going to tell them, but he then began to wonder. What else they were going to tell the knights. Surly they would not call for him to tell him what he already knew. Normally any number of simple explanation would come to him, but he found he couldn't think of any. The reserved looks on their faces told him that something else had happened.

Arthur gestured for them all to sit. Which they did, Lancelot and Gwaine now picking up on tension on in the room. A quick glance between the two of them let them know that they were both picking up on the same thing.

The king began to tell them about the circumstancing surrounding the former kings death. They listened silently, but showed little reaction. In truth they cared little about the subject. It didn't matter to them how Uther died. What Arthur told them next they cared a lot about. He told them about Mordred's attempt to break out Kara from the cells. About his confrontation with Percival, and the older knights injury.

"Where is he now." Gwaine cut in to ask. He tried to keep his voice even, but everyone could hear the slight note of fear in his voice. His fear for both his brother.

"Gaius treated the wound but...but it was deeper than he realised." Arthur answered sadly.

He didn't have to say anymore, they all understood. No one said anything for what felt like a long time as the three nights tried to get their heads around what they had been told. How someone that they had all seen, spoken to just a little over a hour ago was now died.

"Mordred..." Gwaine began, but didn't know how to finish.

"Morgana removed him before we knew the extent of Percival's injury." Gwen said to answer the unspoken question.

She felt that she had too. That Arthur was to raw to be unbiased. He would tell them the same thing, but he would do it with a widely different tone. She wanted to make sure that they knew Mordred hadn't intended to harm Percival. That he was only trying to protect the person he loved. Reassure them that they had not been wrong in allowing him to become apart of their brotherhood. That he was a good person, who was in a difficult and complicated situation. That he had had not acted out of malice, but fear born of love. She hoped that the three men before her would act like the honorable men she knew them to be.

"What happens now." Lancelot asked.

Everyone turned to Arthur. "We will find Mordred and he will face justice." He said in a cold even tone.

"What about Kara." Leon ventured to ask.

A growing feeling of guilt had been coming over him for the last hour or so. He blamed himself for the turn the day had taken. If he hadn't needed to know so badly, if he had left it alone, then none of this would have happened. Percival would still be alive. They could all be gathering in the great hall right now. Celebrating together looking towards a hopeful future. Instead one of them was dead, at the hands of another. Who was now in hiding, on the run. A young women was in the cells awaiting a future no one really knew. The already tentative relations between Camelot and Avalon, those with magic was in danger. In part because one knight hadn't known when to leave things alone.

"She will be dealt with." Was all Arthur said.

The three knight then left. There was nothing else to say. Being told to take sometime to process the news. Then when they felt ready join the feast that was now more a feast of remembrance.

The other knights would be told next. There was not going to be enough room for them all to fit in the kings office, so the king and queen would speak to them all in the mess hall where the knights normally had there meals. Gwen tried to get a real answer from Arthur on what he really planned to do but he would only say what he had said before. A feeling of dread began to grew in the pit of her stomach.

"You think they don't fear us." Merlin asked.

"Not enough if they believe that they can hunt and kill us." She said as she let his hands go. "And we let them. We act like the better people not fighting back, because we know what we are truly capable off. No easily we can burn there fragile world to the ground. But where has that benevolence got us."

He hated to hear her speak like this. He knew that she was right. Right about all of it. but it scared him to think where this justified anger would lead her, lead all of them. He had never thought that Morgana was evil, dark and full of hate. He knew that it was love and hope for the future that motivated her. Love for those like them and the need to spare the next generation to not live in fear like than had. His wife did however hold on to her anger, let it build. She also had the self-confidence to act decisively. A trait she shared with her brother. One that lead to the conflicts between them quickly escalating. It became Merlin and Gwen's jobs to temper these conflicts, but there was only so much they could do.

When she was finished talking, Morgana turned away from Merlin. She didn't need him to answer her question, they already knew the answer. Benevolence had gotten those like them killed, hundreds of them. Killed rather than have those they loved killed instead. Killed rather than lower themselves to the level of those that hated them. Nobel, but in the end pointless. People still kept being murdered.

Merlin was not going to leave things dangling like that, moved to stand in front of Morgana. "Don't go down that road." He pleaded.

"You think I want to. That I want to feel this anger." She said, all of her bravado go now. She sounded broken and sad. "But I can't not. We all live in a harsh world, At least I know that I do. So I know not to show weakness."

Merlin moved quickly wrapping his arms around her and pulling him into a tight embrace. Her arms pined between them, so all she could do to return the embrace was rest her head on his chest.

"You can't afford to think like that." Her said before he kissed the top of her head.

Morgana pulled back to look at his face. "I can't afford not to." She said shocked that he didn't understand. "I can't not. Not when there are people looking to me, expecting me to protect them."

"I understand. I know what it means to have a weight like that-"

"No you don't." she stepped back as she spoke. "You have never had accountable for the choices your made."

"What are you talking about."

"You lied to everyone. Kept things from them. Pushing them down a path that you wanted them to walk." As she said them, she knew her words seemed harsh, but that was not how she meant them. She just needed him to understand. "You have never been direct with anyone, but me about what you think. What you feel. Still now. When Arthur and Gwen know the truth, you still hold your tongue."

Merlin knew her words were not intended to hurt, but they did regardless. "Maybe I was silent to spare your feelings, not theirs." He lashed out.

Morgana's face feel into a look of sadness, but also of recognition. She was sad, but not surprised.

The king and three of the older knight made there wall to the cells while the rest of the castle, minus three were in the great hall beginning the feast.

He had chosen three he could trust and told the others and Gwen to go to the great hall and begin the feast. Gwen stayed where she was, looking at him, willing him to tell her what he was planning. He didn't say anything. Just kissed her check and left. She called after him, tried to reach out and grab his arm, but he moved away to quickly.

The cold night grow colder the lower they descended. When they reached the level the held the cells he told them in a few words what he wanted them to do. Though their eyes widened in shock, they did as he told them.

The king went to the cell that held Kara. When he unlocked it and pushed it open, Kara was sitting with her back against the opposite wall to the door. He told her of Percival's death before she had a chance to say anything. He watched her for a few seconds after he delivered the news. Watching her face go from shock to fear, then to a deep pure sadness. As all of this played across her face she kept her grey eyes locked on Arthur's.

She said one word, one name.

Arthur gave a nod.

Taking in a deep breath, gathering her strength she nodded too. Then used the wall to help her stand up.

"Please, don't worry about sparing my feelings." Morgana said trying to sound impassive, but Merlin knew better.

"I didn't mean-"

"No. You did. You would see Kara and Mordred killed and not care."

"Of course I would care."

"Because I care, and you love me."

"Yes...No."

Morgana groaned as she lifted her hands to her head. All of this going around in circles was bringing on a headache.

Before either could say anything else, that would be twisted or continue the endless cycle they found themselves in. A loud piercing scream cut through their heads like a sharp blade.

Slowly as the pain subsided they looked at each other. Seeing from the look in the others eyes they both knew what had caused the scream.

Miles away, still in a deep magically induced sleep that he would not wake up from for a while yet, Mordred too heard the piercing scream. His face clenched from the pain and his body twitched, but he didn't wake. He remained in the dark emptiness of sleep. It was the best place for him. An emptiness he would long for once he finally woke and had to face this new reality.

Thank you for reading. I really hope that you liked the new chapter. Only four more to go.

I as I said before I was really worried about this part. I have gone over it a lot. Trying to think of the best way to write it. The best order of events. It was so so hard to think of a reason for Kara not to just break out herself. The more I thought about the more the idea that Uther, Camelot would have been able to kill anyone with magic the way that they must have done, like burning or hanging. It really makes no sense at all.

I felt that to get to the point I wanted for the ending, like in the show it had to be Arthur's choice that Kara is killed. He had to be responsible in part. Because of course there are a lot of other factor too. Like I said before I didn't want to have a clear hero or villain, a right and a wrong side. That both sides have a point and no one aims to hurt anyone else without a understandable reason. That the point, in a way is the tragic eventuality that no one wants to end up where they do, but they do anyway. I did say tragic there, and I have also said it will be a bittersweet ending. So there are going to be moments of hope and light as well.

I have tried as well to have some of the characters that die in the show live here (Lancelot and Gwaine.) for now and those that live in the show die here (Percival.) To keep things more interesting.

I would really love to hear from you about how you view this conflict and how it develop. Because I think everyone is going to have their own unique view of it all and It would be interesting to hear.

As always any comments, feedback or ideas that you have are very welcome.