How Merlin Should Have Ended

The Restless

Merlin decided not to aggravate Gaius any more than he already had, even if the idea seemed entertaining. Instead, he was a good apprentice and stood at his teacher's side, watching carefully. Merlin had learned a great deal about non-magical healing from Gaius over the last nine years. Even with his powers, it was still a useful skill to know. After all, not all ailments could be cured by magic.

"There," Gaius said as he held up the finished medicine. "Now we just need to deliver it. Follow me."

Merlin followed behind as Gaius led him to their patient. It wasn't until he realized they were heading to the dungeons that he had questions.

"They captured someone who was part of a Saxon raid on a Camelot supply wagon," Gaius said in answer to Merlin's inquiry. Merlin was going to ask another question, but they were too close now. He didn't want to be overheard by the prisoner.

The guards let them in and Gaius approached, but the girl was wary, almost hostile. Next, Gaius instructed Merlin to try applying the medicine. She seemed a bit better with him, but still so angry. She grimaced as the medicine did its work on her leg. It was then that Merlin noticed the mark on her skin. This girl was a druid.

"There, that should help," Merlin said, trying to put some kindness into his voice. He wanted to soften that hateful cloud she had hanging over her. The girl spoke not a word in return. Instead she just looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Merlin had never before met a druid with such dislike for him. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Once they left the cell and had moved out of earshot of the guards, Merlin spoke first.

"What's going to happen to her?" he asked.

"Once her leg is healed, she is to appear in court before the king for sentencing," Gaius replied.

"If he's just going to have her hung, why cure her first?" Merlin asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"You can be sure Uther never would have done it," Gaius replied with a nod. "He'd have had the girl dragged from her cell to her hanging with a bleeding leg, likely without a trail and all because of who she is." Gaius sighed in that way he did when he thought about the past with regret. Then he added, "Seems to me that curing her is one of those small mercies that shows how very different Arthur is from his father."

"True, but I think it's more than that," Merlin replied. "I think Arthur wants her to repent."

"Well, she is a druid," Gaius said. "Not an easy execution to order right after you change your entire kingdom to accept people with magic."

"Even so, she didn't seem all that sorry," Merlin observed. "Most druids know who I am at once, but she was glaring at me like I'd done her a great personal wrong."

"She was still more cooperative with you than with me for her treatment," Gaius replied.

"I just don't understand why a magic user would be so angry with Camelot the way it is now," Merlin said perplexed. "It doesn't make sense to me."

"You weren't there during the Great Purge," Gaius said sadly. "That kind of betrayal and pain doesn't just wash away because a law changes and by the look in her eyes, that pain has affected her deeply."

"I suppose," Merlin sighed.

"Not everyone can focus on the good the way you can, Merlin," Gaius reminded him. "Not all of us are that enlightened."

"I don't know about 'enlightened'," Merlin replied, feeling like he was being complimented for something he'd never done.

"The other thing to consider here is that we haven't actually seen her do any magic," Gaius reminded him. "Not all druids have powerful magic. That's why they take in apprentices like Mordred."