u/13266539/

2.12

Takes place after Arthur leaves the council chamber to try and get to the cart.

Merlin glanced at Morgana as she sat on the floor and began to pull the cloth apart. The dragon's words echoed in his mind; hateful but booming for all its apparent truth. That the resurrected knights attacking them were bound to Morgana was no longer questionable. The undead thing had pulled back its sword from her; there was no other explanation for that. Nor was there another reason for her being unaffected by the sleeping sickness while even Merlin himself was beginning to feel effects. Pouring the hemlock and surgery tincture into the waterskin made his stomach turn. But watching Arthur go to his almost certain death with a smile on his face had been worse.

"I don't understand...I don't understand!" Morgana muttered frantically under her breath.

Turning to look at her, Merlin knew what he had to do and hated himself for it. So adamant had Gaius been that Morgana not know of her abilities, of her magic, that Merlin had gone along with it. Now that she was already convinced she possessed magic, there was no point in pretending. Morgana and her bullheadedness was going to jeopardize the future of the entirety Albion. Arthur would succumb to the sleep and the knights would break down the door and Merlin would not be able to protect Uther even if he wanted to. After the current king was dead, there was no reason to think they wouldn't immediately go after the next in line for the throne. Arthur Pendragon, who was fighting to protect his friend, his father, and the woman he saw as a sister.

"Don't you?" Merlin accused roughly. "You went to her, didn't you?"

"What?" Morgana huffed. She didn't look up. "What are you talking abo—"

"Morgause," he snapped. "I'm not an idiot, Morgana, I saw her in the hall. Do you have any idea what you've done by getting involved with her?"

"Merlin..." She looked up at him with confusion and surprise.

"You aren't affected by the sickness. That knight wouldn't kill you. You know why."

"You-you said it was my magic...that it protected me. You —"

"I was wrong!" Merlin cried, cutting her off. "The knights are connected to you, Morgana. That's why they won't harm you, I saw that knight pull its sword back. What did you do?!"

"Nothing!" she shouted, eyes pleading. "I did nothing! I went to see her last night. That is all, I swear! I went, we spoke, and then...I woke up...I-I..."

"You what? You woke and then?" He growled with frustration and flung a hand out toward the door. "Morgana, Arthur is going to die out there! Tell me now!"

"I woke up in my bed! That is all."

"In bed? You don't remember going back to your rooms?" Merlin demanded, head tilting in thought. "Getting ready for bed, going to sleep?"

"No...no, I-I don't, I..." She trailed off and looked up at him, realization creeping slowly over her features followed by fear.

"She used you," Merlin spat.

Anger grew and bubbled inside his chest, getting stronger and hotter with each distant clang of metal that came from outside. There was no way Arthur would make it to the cart on his own, Merlin had seen with his own eyes; the blond was already beginning to succumb to the sleep. Everything was spinning out of Merlin's control and while that was normal for him around this moon phase, the current situation had nothing to do with flowers. The only one who could do anything now was himself but to follow the dragon's words…. Merlin swallowed and chose. This had to be like every other time he worked behind the scenes toward his destiny. It had to be the exact same. Save Arthur. All cost.

"She tied you to the knights, to the spell keeping everyone asleep. She made you the fuel that keeps all this going."

"No...no!" Morgana shook her head, messy curls flying as she denied the obvious. "She wouldn't!"

Letting out a huge breath, Merlin fell to his knees in front of her and grabbed her shoulders.

"She did!" he shouted, uncaring that she was a noble and he was a servant. "Morgause is not your friend, Morgana! She twisted your anger at Uther so she could do this. She lured you with your own hatred and you were fool enough to take the bait! She manipulated you and she did it very well."

Morgana stopped struggling and her eyes snapped onto his, the green irises shining with tears. Despite everything, Merlin's heart went out to her. He sighed and tried to tune out the noises coming from outside the room but each one made bile rise and he choked down both it and his own stark fear for the prince.

"I know you didn't mean for this, Morgana, I know. I know it is only Uther you are angry with but it is not only Uther who has suffered. Guin and Gaius and the rest of Camelot have also been taken by this plot. And now Arth—" Merlin's breath hitched and he released her. "The only way to stop this is to cut off the source of this spell."

He tossed the waterskin into her lap and rubbed at his eyes to try and push away his emotions. Morgana stared down at the waterskin in confusion. He was a monster.

"Drink it," Merlin said flatly, unclenching his teeth with effort. "It's laced with hemlock and surgery tincture."

Her head shot up and the frightened eyes that pierced him were wide and shocked. A sensation of being covered in filth seeped into Merlin and he wanted to look away but didn't let himself. He did not deserve to shy away now.

"You'll fall asleep before..." Merlin swallowed. "Before the hemlock starts working."

"You want me to...?"

"Of course I don't!" he snapped, emotions raw in his voice. "You're my friend, Morgana! I care about you, I don't want any of this. But Morgause will never listen if we politely ask her to stop, will she? And if Arthur —" A sound tried to burst out of his chest and he choked it back then took a deep breath to go on. "If he...falls asleep out there, those creatures will come in here and kill the king and we will not be able to stop them. The King of Camelot is what they're after. Do you understand? What do you think they'll do after Uther is dead?"

The slight tremble of her chin and her worried glance toward the door told Merlin she knew exactly what would happen.

"Arthur," she breathed.

"Yes. Camelot will be left with no ruler — at least not in time. Albion will be invaded as soon as word gets out. Thousands will die, Morgana, not just Uther. Innocent people. People like Guin and the druids, the citizens who love you."

Tears slipped down Morgana's pale face and she pressed her lips together as she closed her eyes, expression pulled into a mask of pain. Merlin did not stop. He could not. Not with the clangs of metal coming further apart. Arthur, his prince and true king, was tiring and hadn't even made it all the way down the corridor. Panic rattled in Merlin's bones.

"You are the centre of this, Morgana, however unintentionally. This must stop. You must stop it." He paused and made his voice hard although he did not want to. "Or will you let them all die to save yourself? Is that who you are?"

Morgana opened her eyes and looked at him again.

"You are cruel, Merlin."

He was. Being so made him sick to his stomach, but he was. Morgause had left him to choose between thousands of innocents and one tricked ward. Between his king and his friend.

"I did not use you to kill your friends, Morgana. I want this no more than you do. You know that."

Resolve took her then. Merlin could see it in the upturn of her chin and the squaring of her shoulders. The defiance in her eyes and the hardness in her face, her jaw. She did not look away from Merlin. This was the Morgana who held his respect. The Morgana who was like a queen.

She ripped the stopper off the waterskin and put it to her lips, then paused.

"What will you tell them?"

"That Gaius' potion stopped working and you suddenly stopped breathing."

Nodding with a firmness that was altogether Morgana, she turned the waterskin up and drank until it was empty.

When it began to work, Morgana reached out and Merlin immediately met the gesture; taking her into his arms and holding her close. Despite her foolishness, her brashness, and her bitterness — she was still his friend. He would not let her do this all alone. She did not deserve the things that had happened to her nor the fear that those things caused her. It was not her fault Uther was a genocidal madman and it was not her fault that Morgause used their family bond to trick her.

"I'm sorry, Merlin," she said weakly.

Her eyes were scared again and it tore Merlin apart. His face was wet and he took the liberty of pressing his lips to the top of her head. Something not even appropriate here but he didn't see the point in denying her tenderness.

"I know," he said thickly, uncaring that his crying was obvious. She needed to hear this and Merlin needed to say it. "This isn't your fault, it's Morgause's. You chose to save Camelot. You're so brave, Morgana. Braver than any of us. I'm the one who's sorry."

For a moment, her mouth bent into a gentle smile and then her eyes became heavy, then closed. Gaius' surgery tincture worked fast to render the patient unconscious. Another sob pushed its way out through Merlin's lips and he pulled her as close as possible, murmuring apologies into her hair and promises. Promises to tell everyone how brave she was, to miss her, and to remember her forever. Because he would. It was the price he would pay for this.

Morgana was the first person he'd ever murdered whom he loved and Merlin would carry that to his grave.

He didn't notice the new noises at the door until it was blown away and an angry blond woman stormed in with hell on her face and magic crackling around her.

This installment serves as the base for the rest of the series.