Three months passed in the citadel. Arthur and Merlin spoke when they needed to, but otherwise kept their distance from one another. While Merlin yearned for a closer relationship, he knew it was impossible that Arthur felt the same. Since that night at the Druid camp, many of his nightmares of the strife between him and Arthur had ended. While the dream of Arthur choking him had never reappeared, it still lingered in his mind and impacted the dreams that he had had. Images of Arthur chasing him through the forest, or ripping the crown from his head and ordering him dead, or shoving him into the wall roughly and claiming his lips, met with an enthusiastic response—they showed Arthur in a light that didn't match who he really was.
Even if much progress had been made on Arthur's stance on magic, their relationship was still a bit rough around the edges. While their professional interactions were comfortably formal, any attempt from either side to reintroduce some sort of friendship was always met with awkwardness.
Eventually, both of them gave up trying, and Merlin pined from afar. He would have done anything to get Arthur to feel something toward him, but there was nothing he could do. So, Merlin made sure Arthur only ever saw the regal king who ran Camelot, the one who was kind but demanded respect the same. It's better this way, he constantly told himself, looking away whenever Arthur met his eyes, trying to erase the burst of pain he felt in his gut. They had to stick to formalities.
Now, Merlin paced in the throne room. It was empty, but he awaited Arthur's arrival as well as some of his other knights, to deliver his announcement. Camelot, though peaceful to many of the nearby kingdoms, suffered the fate of being the only one to classify magic as legal in all cases except those that impacted the already written laws. In comparison, Cenred's kingdom only allowed magic for household use and healing purposes, while King Lot only allowed it for use by his knights in combat. While these, along with the kingdom of Nemeth, who did not legalize magic at all, were in a good relationship with Camelot, others were fearful of the power King Emrys now held over them.
They had declared war. Merlin had tried to keep the peace initially, but they did not listen. Now there was a league of Saxons, led by King Alined, marching toward Camelot, and he had to do something to stop his kingdom from being harmed. He had to do this, had to protect his people—it was why he became king in the first place.
The doors opened and Arthur walked in with purpose, and a furious glint in his eye; it was obvious he already knew what was happening. He stopped in front of Merlin, who had stopped pacing and stood ramrod straight with his hands folded neatly behind his back. They faced each other.
"Arthur, I need you to have the men ready themselves to ride out as soon as possible. We have to meet the Saxons before they reach the border." Merlin said.
"Of course. What are your own plans?"
"I will be riding out as well, but not with you. There's something I must do first, but rest assured I will be with you before the battle begins."
"What is it that you need to do?" Arthur asked, a bit forcefully, as if questioning why Merlin wouldn't be on the front line along with everyone else right away, ready to sacrifice his life.
"Don't- don't overthink this, Arthur. The last thing I would ever do is abandon my people, you must know that."
"I do. I know of your unwavering loyalty and idiotic bravery that could very well lead you to your own death," Arthur smirked, before he dropped it and turned serious, "I was wondering if I could come along."
"While I appreciate the sentiment, this is something I must do alone. I need you here, leading the knights on the right path while I'm not around." Merlin stated, holding up a hand to stop Arthur as he had unintentionally stepped closer while they were speaking. Arthur's shoulders visibly dropped in defeat, and Merlin hated it when he saw the frown fall on his face. "I'm sorry, Arthur." And somehow, the apology encompassed all of the things Merlin had done to wrong Arthur since he'd taken the throne. He knew it wasn't enough—it would never be enough, but it was all he could give at the moment.
"It's alright, thank you, Merlin. I understand that you need to do what you have to." Arthur responded, earnestly. He turned to leave, walking to the door with Merlin watching after him, before turning back at the last second. "Merlin?" He called, catching Merlin's eye. "Be careful." And Merlin smiled at him, the soft sort that had always only ever been reserved for Arthur in times like these.
"You know I always am."
~•~
The battle was about to begin, but Merlin was nowhere to be seen. Arthur had already taken up his spot at the front of the line, watching from the top of the cliffs as the Saxons approached the borders of Camelot from afar. His knights would make their way into the valley as the sun began to set, and the battle would begin at nightfall. If all went well, this would be the only battle, Camelot would rise against the enemy and walk away almost entirely unscathed.
Oh, how unrealistic that vision was, but it was all that helped Arthur plow forward, along with the assurance that Merlin would come. They would not be left to their own devices and their king, known to be the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, strived to return to them and aid in the fight. When he arrived, the Saxons would stand no chance.
"Sire, are you ready?" Leon asked, from somewhere behind him. The battalion had already begun their descent down the cliff, taking the grown-in narrow walkways that led to the bottom. Arthur let out a sigh and looked up toward the quickly darkening sky, as if searching for Merlin among the stars. After scouring it, he found no trace of the king—not that he had intended to. Without him there, Arthur felt... lost, almost. As if he had no idea what to do, how to think clearly, when Merlin wasn't around. He felt like his world had shifted entirely, but now, he was back in the same place he had been before Merlin took the crown. He held the entire Camelot army in his palm—and the lives of her citizens, as well.
"Yes. Prepare to attack as soon as the Saxons charge toward us. Do not let our men move first." Arthur ordered, and Leon nodded before going off to deliver the message. Once again, Arthur glanced down at the men, his knights, Merlin's knights, readying themselves to fight for the lives of themselves and their loved ones. He thought of Morgana, hoping she and the rest of the Druids were safe, far away from any harm that could come upon them. Lastly, Merlin came into his mind, and he hoped, sorely, that this wouldn't be the end for either of them. Even if he hadn't seen it, Arthur knew Merlin would fight just like he did anything else: throwing himself in head first. He would endanger his own life as if it was nothing, as if he hadn't grown a beautiful kingdom in such a short amount of time.
As if Arthur wasn't waiting for him to come out of it alive. As if Arthur wasn't waiting to be able to see Merlin's face again, smiling brightly and picking up children in the lower town like the wonderful king he was; smiling brightly at Arthur, even after it all, like the wonderful man he was.
When he let out a breath, his shoulders shook. Another glance downward into the ravine showed the Saxons and Camelot were about to meet. Arthur realized with haste that he had to get down there to lead his men in the fight at the head of the battle. He ran, descending the walkways the fastest he could manage, and when he reached the bottom he started pushing himself through the bodies of his knights, eager to reach the front before anything truly began. Before he could, however, there was a vicious roar up in the sky.
Everyone looked upward simultaneously, seeing a giant red dragon with their very own eyes, as well as a smaller white one following behind. They flew overhead and landed at the top of the cliff Arthur had only just descended, and a man climbed off; Arthur knew it was Merlin. There was no one else it could possibly be.
He's here, Arthur thought, a wave of content flowing through him at the sight. They would be fine, Camelot would be fine, now that Merlin had arrived.
Didn't really think I was going to leave you alone, did you? Merlin's voice found its way into Arthur's head, and Arthur rolled his eyes.
Didn't I tell you to stay out of my head? Get down here, we'll need you.
As much as I would like to, I will be staying back. There's much more I can do from afar than in close combat.
You'll be in their direct line of sight, Merlin, you'll be vulnerable.
I can handle myself.
At least– Arthur felt as the connection between them was cut. He groaned. Merlin had always been stubborn and he would never change. The bodies of the knights around him yelled, synchronized as one entity, and pushed forward around him and the battle began. He was a little disappointed that he had never reached the front and couldn't lead his men in the fight, but Merlin was far more important than his own pride, and he was sure Leon had handled everything at the head perfectly. Right now, protecting Merlin was his first priority.
Arthur let the waves of men shoving each other around him move as he struggled in the opposite direction. When he finally made it to the very back, he saw Merlin making his way down into the ravine, and his dragons had flown up and over to the other side, breathing fire over the Saxons. If things continued like this, Arthur knew the battle would be won in a matter of minutes. As Merlin reached him, he grabbed Arthur's wrist and pulled him along along the sides of the battle.
"Where are we going?" Arthur asked.
"We have to take care of Alined—he'll be in the very back, not wanting to endanger himself. He won't expect it if we go straight to him."
"I thought you wanted to stay back? Let me handle this." Arthur tried, pulling his wrist and stopping while Merlin continued to attempt to drag him along. Then, Merlin stopped, turning around to look at Arthur, but he kept his grip strong around Arthur's wrist.
"Arthur, this man is ruthless. He'll have his best warriors beside him, rather than sending them to risk their lives in the bloody battle. You can't do this alone." Merlin explained, and while Arthur wanted to argue, he knew there was no way around it. He and Merlin would have to face Alined together if they wanted to rise as victorious. So, he didn't argue and simple let Merlin tug him around the fight, up and around onto a ledge Arthur hadn't even seen before.
They weren't at the top of the ridge, but they were alongside it, where their feet were only a little above level with the knights' heads. While the two of them were treading along the narrow walkway, Arthur noticed the knights in battle hadn't even taken a single glance at them, even when they'd been close. When he looked to Merlin for a explanation, he realized there was a bubble around them, which Merlin was holding up with his outstretched fingers. They were concealed, then, unbeknownst to the fighting men as they risked their own lives battling the Saxons.
Arthur and Merlin pushed on, passing the center of the battle and onto the opposing side—Arthur was sure that if they hadn't been concealed they would have been pulled under. Alined's men all had a rough look to them, not clean-cut like Arthur's, who all held up the knight's code. Alined's were on the edge of savagery, it seemed, where none of them were wearing armor and their bodies were marked with painted symbols of war. It wasn't magic, couldn't be, not when magic was the reason they were at war in the first place. There was something else about them, though; they didn't need armor, as Arthur watched. They were so skillfully trained that they met each of Arthur's knights as an equal match. When one of them fell, it was with a blade pushed through their center, but that had always been a noble way to die.
Arthur drew his eyes away from the battle as he and Merlin continued onward. They had reached the end of the path, which stopped at the top of the cliff on the opposite side of the ravine. From their position they could see Alined clearly, standing away from them with six men guarding and surrounding him. He wouldn't be able to see them, not when Merlin still had the bubble surrounding them.
"Alright, I can handle his men, but I want you to go straight for Alined. I'll cover you, just focus on him." Merlin said.
"Are you sure you'll be able to deal with all of them? Shouldn't we take them out and then try to attack Alined together?"Arthur asked, knowing they would probably have a better chance if they worked together.
"If we look away even for a second, Alined will run—he's more interested in saving his own life than fighting for it, the coward." Merlin responded, a long-grown disgust layered into his voice, "you're going to have to hold him from running until I've dealt with all of them. If you have the chance to kill him, you know what to do."
Arthur nodded, understanding completely. Alined was their biggest threat—with him dead, Camelot would prosper in trade and complete peace. War would simply be a distant memory in their minds as everything lived on past it and thrived. That such a reality was even possible made Arthur realize how different Merlin's rule was from his father's. His father had almost always had enemies, or someone who tried to kill him for revenge or even their own selfish desires. In all his time in Camelot during Merlin's rule, not once in all the feasts or meetings had there ever been a single assassination attempt.
That alone said what was necessary about Merlin's rule.
The two of them crept toward Alined and his men slowly, still concealed as they they closed in on them. At the last second, Merlin dropped his magic and Arthur immediately drew his sword on Alined, who met it with a rough parry, but Arthur held his stance. It wasn't hard for him to pull away and then swing another, but that attempt was also blocked. While Arthur had known Alined was a strong swordsman, he hadn't expected the brute force behind his movements. He fought with skill, but similarly to his men who had no mind for technicalities. If there was a chance for a cheap but effective thrust, Alined would take it—but Arthur wasn't planning on letting that happen.
He pulled back, breathing heavily and risking a glance over to where Merlin was dealing with the six other men. Merlin had already made three of them fall, to which Arthur was glad. However, the other three had circled him and left no way for him to escape. As much as Arthur ached to run over and aid him somehow, he knew his first priority was killing Alined. He looked back toward his opponent and found him smirking. Arthur held his stance as they circled each other, his eyes never leaving Alined's face, ready to strike at even the slightest movement.
"Arthur Pendragon, eh? Son of Uther Pendragon, slayer of the dragons and sorcery. What would your father say, Arthur? He might even approve of me killing you, after you've betrayed him like this." Alined taunted, and Arthur clenched his teeth. He would not let his enemy get under his skin so easily. "He and I, we were friends, you know. We both had the same opinions on sorcery—that it and all those infected with it should die, as they would bring nothing but evil to the world. And I now have the truth directly in front of me, you've become one of them, and you deserve to die for it." Alined ran straight for Arthur, his sword ready for a thrust directly into Arthur's body. However, Arthur dodged before it could reach its destination, barely evading the edge of the blade from scraping across his skin.
Immediately, he followed up with a swing of his blade across Alined's open side; it was a cheap shot, but if Arthur expected to win, he needed to think and act like his opponent. His blade slid deep past the chainmail and Arthur could feel as it pierced and cut through skin. When he drew back again, the edge of his sword was tinted red with the blood that dripped down to the sharp tip. Because of it, Arthur barely heard Alined groan with an arm over his wound before his gripped his sword tighter and tried to swing at Arthur again. At the last second, Arthur met him with a fierce parry that almost made Alined fall to his knees. The thought that victory was close propelled Arthur forward, giving him a new strength that he hadn't had when the fight had begun.
While holding his stance as Alined pushed against him—weakly, now that he was injured and didn't have as much resilience left—Arthur pulled away brusquely. Even in his current state, Alined managed to catch himself on his feet, but Arthur didn't miss the way his arm shifted to protect the cut in his side as he panted and fought to catch his breath. It gave Arthur another split second to glance in Merlin's direction, but he quickly found that Merlin and the guards had disappeared. He didn't want to think the worst, but the previous image of the guards surrounding Merlin was stuck in his mind. Should he have intervened earlier? Would it have made a difference?
Suddenly, Arthur was struck in the arm due to his lack of attention to Alined. He grimaced at the feeling of his skin being cut, but had been through similar pain so many times before he was almost used to it. Pulling back quickly, Arthur refocused on Alined, who seemed to be on his last limb. The wound in his side was visibly bleeding out more than any trained knight would be able to handle, so Arthur knew that at the least he would only have to hold out until Alined fell from blood loss and exhaustion. They stared at each other, neither moving.
"You are a skilled fighter, I must say," Alined said, "It seems your father was at least able to teach you one thing that didn't go to complete waste." As he spoke, Arthur noticed Merlin appear behind him, and at first, he had to hold in a gasp because he didn't want Merlin to be revealed. However, they did meet eyes and Merlin nodded at him as he began to slowly sneak up behind Alined, who kept speaking, probably wanting to delay his imminent death. "You have betrayed your father, Pendragon, if you still wish to save his legacy and everything he represents, you could join me. We could rule over the whole of Albion together, with the people at our feet. No sorcerers would ever dare try to–,"
His phrase was cut off as Merlin shoved the sword directly through his middle. He coughed, falling to the ground as the bloody weapon was pulled out. But as he fell, he began laughing manically.
"It's over, Alined." Merlin said, "You've lost." But Alined continued to laugh.
"I may have lost, Emrys, but you have not won."
And Arthur felt a blade thrust through his gut, and he looked down as it was pulled free. He dropped his own sword to the ground and lifted a finger to touch as the blood seeped rapidly out of the wound. He fell to his knees, and looked up as he vaguely heard Merlin yell. But then his vision blurred, and he planted face first into the hard rock beneath him. He breathed out, and all of his senses gradually diminished until they were no more.
-
hello everyone! here's the long awaited chapter six, sorry I couldn't get it up sooner!! as of right now I think there will be two chapters left, because this is just about to be wrapped up! I'm just not sure how long they will take, because I have to finish writing chapter seven and I haven't even started eight yet, and I'm leaving on the 25th for a three week trip akxnksnd
ideally I would finish everything by the 25th, but you know me, lazy and all. I'll try my hardest though!! :) <3