How Merlin Should Have Ended

The Curing

"It's nothing he's done so far," Merlin began, hesitantly. He was about to say something else when Arthur cut him off.

"Right then," Arthur said. "We need to prepare. When everything is ready, we will sneak the Queen out of here and be on our way."

"Why the secrecy?" Merlin asked.

"If this works, I don't want the knights to distrust her when we return," Arthur explained. Merlin seemed to take that as a good enough answer and was kind enough not to ask the obvious follow up question of 'what if this doesn't work?' But Arthur couldn't think about that right now. It just had to work. There was no other option.

Getting Gwen to drink the tincture of belladonna turned out to be quite simple. They created a toast. Once she drank the tincture, she was unconscious in seconds. Getting Gwen out of the castle unnoticed was a little more difficult, but with Merlin's magic to look around corners and distract guards, they managed it without being seen.

"It's still hard to believe how useful you actually are," Arthur sighed as they got past their last obstacle only thanks to Merlin's help. "All these years! It must have felt like having one hand tied behind your back."

"Sure, I could have done more if being discovered hadn't been a worry, but I was still able to do enough from the shadows, and that was what counted," Merlin replied, as easily as one would when talking about being able to finish some common household chore. The humility of the man was truly impressive. It made Arthur feel worse about the way he'd treated Merlin over the years, but he didn't have time to dwell on that now.

As they reached the horses, they mounted, with Gwen riding unconscious with Arthur. The ride was fairly uneventful for most of the day. They were following Merlin's directions that Gaius had given him, though Arthur felt sure Merlin was also using magic to choose the best path ahead.

When a cliff without end appeared before them, Arthur stopped the horses. Merlin informed him that the Cauldron was on the western-most peak.

"That would be the highest one," Arthur sighed. Merlin nodded. It was never easy.

They rode with the horses as long as they could, but eventually they had to continue on foot. Arthur carried Gwen, and Merlin magically floated the supplies behind him. He offered to carry Gwen the same way, but Arthur turned him down. She was his wife, and he would carry her. It was the least he could do.

"Don't fall," Merlin told Arthur as they walked close to the edge.

"Says the man floating all our supplies in the air," Arthur reminded him with a tilt of his head. "If I fall I'm sure you'll catch me."

"And drop this lot," Merlin replied, gesturing behind him.

"Then Mordred will catch me," Arthur countered.

"I'm not as powerful as Merlin," Mordred spoke for the first time in hours.

"Just don't fall," Merlin groaned at him. "This whole mission is going to be hard enough without saving your neck as well."

Arthur laughed, but didn't reply. He wondered how many times he'd accidentally gotten in Merlin's way when it came to saving his own life. He had to imagine it had been more than once. Arthur remembered all the times Merlin had tried so hard to convince him not to do something dangerous and Arthur hadn't listened. Arthur was pretty sure now that in those instances Merlin had very likely known more than he let on.

As night fell, they made camp. Merlin had a roaring fire going magically in seconds and then everyone was going through the now grounded supplies for something to eat. Arthur took a shift administering the sleeping potion to Gwen before laying down to get some sleep. The ground was hard. It made him miss his bed, but that hardly mattered.