chapter twenty-three!
023. mordred

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    THEY KNEW getting the boy out of Camelot wasn't going to be easy. But Odette hadn't pictured how strenuous the action would be until they truly started to think about it. Hidden within the traffic of the markets, she, Merlin, Morgana, Guinevere and Adelynn all travelled through the town▬searching from the Lower Town entrance to the draw bridge and within the citadel walls for avenues of escape. They saw nothing▬all they saw were guards at every exit and entrance; they searched everyone who came in, and everyone who went out. They stopped servants, farmers, even Upper Classmen▬not leaving one stone unturned in the search for this Druid boy.

     Odette frowned at the guards stopping a wagon of firewood underneath the shadow of the market stall. She pretended she was searching through pretty hair clips with Morgana, Gwen and Adelynn▬she found one that she slipped into the basket Merlin carried (as Morgana decided to buy one for her servants and Adelynn each▬nothing too expensive, of course, Odette already felt uncomfortable as it is holding something so pretty). Merlin made a face as he carried yet another thing for the girls. 

     Guinevere picked up a hair clip and held it up against her brown locks to test it out▬as she did, she said out of the corner of her mouth subtly to her friends, "The guards are searching everyone leaving the town."

     Adelynn quirked a brow, briefly peering upwards from dark hair that hung around her olive cheeks. "There must be another way," she thought aloud in a whisper. She focused on some pearl buttons that were placed beside the hair pins. "This citadel was built to house one of the greatest Kings in our history▬there must be escape routes beneath the castle."

     "You're right," muttered Merlin▬and the group of them went silent for a moment as she payed the merchant for the pearl buttons and placed them in Merlin's basket wrapped up in cloth. Once she was done and he had turned his attention onto other customers, the Prince's manservant added in a low voice, "There's a secret door in the armoury. It leads to the Lower Town. I'll take the boy out that way."

    "No," said Morgana immediately. She had been quiet during the whole conversation up until now. She played with some stained balm, testing the colour on her hands▬something she usually used to keep her lips soft and not chapped. She eyed Merlin briefly, "it is too dangerous. I will do it."

     Odette's brows furrowed, taken aback▬she glanced at Gwen, who held a similar look on her face. Both of them shared a quiet exchange, their concern growing for their mistress's eagerness to risk her life for this cause. 

     Merlin was hesitant. He shuffled on his feet uneasily▬Odette knew why. He cleared his throat and quickly said, "I▬I▬I'm good with secret doors and things..."

     Morgana added her balm and some rouge into the basket, "If you get caught, Uther will execute you." Merlin sighed, but he bit back on his objections. Morgana was determined; she nodded, jaw set. "The boy is my responsibility. I will smuggle him out of the castle."

     "Are you sure?" Odette tried to argue for Merlin's cause, knowing that he had a better chance of getting the Druid boy out of the castle than any of them with his magic. "You're easily recognisable▬someone like Merlin or▬or I could easily go unnoticed▬"

     "No," Morgana told her sternly. Odette pursed her lips. "I will not risk your life for this▬not more than I already have."

     The young maidservant's brows lifted in slight gratitude and appreciation for her caring comment.

     Merlin sighed and leant against the wooden post of the stall. They all watched him▬standing taller than the whole group of them. "Well, you will need the key for the door," he said, nodding to Morgana. 

    "Who has it?" 

    The manservant winced a little, starting to realise what he must do. "Arthur."

    With the plan underway, Odette grew a little nervous. She returned to the castle separate from Gwen and Morgana, preparing to clean one of her dresses and cloak in the kitchens for her mistress to use. She fiddled with her hair clip she received from the markets today from where it sat on top of her folded clothes in the basket. Her mind wandered to what tonight may bring as she walked▬fearful, was all that she felt. Fearful for Morgana and fearful for the little boy. But she knew the longer they waited, the higher the chance they were of getting caught. They needed to take the chance while they had it▬hold enough daring to take the risk in order to achieve the reward they wanted. 

    Merlin would steal the keys tonight. He would meet up with Morgana within her chambers, and the rest of them would wait within Guinevere's home with provisions. There, Morgana and the boy would rendezvous and Merlin would gather horses ... and hopefully, from there, they would escape into the Darkling Woods where they'd find the Druids to return the boy home.

    They hope.

    Hope, Odette had to remind herself. Have faith.

   If she had enough faith and hope there couldn't be room for the possibility of something otherwise. 

    Her brooding frown started to lift as she came into an empty corridor. Her pace slowed, finding the Prince standing alone by the windows. Odette titled her head, not sure whether he even heard her footsteps▬he just stared outside the window and down into the square, his arms crossed and his jaw set. Her worries for tonight drifted down a winding stream, and what followed them in passing was sudden concern for him.

     Odette glanced around them to make sure she was sure they were alone before carefully speaking up, "Arthur?"

     Her voice made him straighten. He glanced back, a little startled. She hugged her basket close to her chest, brows knitting together as he met her gentle gaze. He looked a little distant▬as if he was standing somewhere else. "Odette."

    Odette pursed her lips before making the decision to approach him, "Are you all right?" she asked him. "You seem troubled..."

    Arthur's troubled expression deepened at that, as if he didn't expect her to see his thoughts so clearly. His brows furrowed and he took a deep breath, quickly looking away so she wouldn't see. He chuckled, shaking the look off from his face to roll his eyes, "I am not troubled, Odette▬it has just been a busy day, is all. Your concern is touching, however."

    She made a slight face at the way he completely dismissed it, shaking her head. She thought about leaving him, but something inside her made her stay and instead walk right up to him. Odette squeezed in to stand at the window beside him and she heard him let out an exasperated sigh, deciding to move along to make room as if it was the most exhausting thing to do. 

     "What are you looking at?" she asked him, trying to peer down into the courtyard.

     Arthur just rolled his eyes, "Must you always be so nosy? I suppose it is you that has brought this behaviour onto my manservant, is it?"

     "Merlin is a bad influence," muttered Odette, still trying to narrow her eyes into the courtyard▬searching for the cause of Arthur's foul mood. "It is not I that influences anything."

     The Prince scoffed, watching her with a breath of incredulity. "I think you're as bad as the other."

     She shot him a mischievous glance, "I wouldn't say so. But you scold me as if it is."

     Arthur made a face, "Because I am right. Where one of you are, the other isn't far behind."

     Odette smiled, deciding to give up peering through the window to turn to face him. She leant her back against the stone facade. "I quite like adventure. So does he."

     The Prince bounced his brows, "Yes," he said, filled with a breath of nostalgia, "I'm well aware of that."

     Her smile brightened for a little bit and he managed a small one in return▬a little awkward and a little stiff, but a smile nonetheless. Odette let her's fall and she took a deep breath, holding her basket in front of her and asking: "Is it the Druid boy that is causing you such trouble?"

     Arthur went to say something▬probably tell her to get back to work, or something along those lines, but when she guessed what was going through his mind so easily, he lost the words from the tip of his tongue. He frowned at her and crossed his arms tighter around his chest. The Prince pursed his lips, finding himself rather scared at how easily Odette seemed to be able to read him▬or how easily he seemed to let her without even realising. "I am not troubled," he said again. "And definitely not over this Druid boy."

    "Arthur," tried Odette again, her voice dropping to a gentle whisper. He sighed and faced her as well. Her brows lifted and she watched him close his eyes briefly, shaking his head and reaching a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. 

    In the end, he decided to tell her. His hand fell and he scoffed a chuckle, shaking his head, "My father is getting distressed over this Druid boy. We cannot seem to find him. And when he is distressed, he is angry. He wishes to have him executed and to be done with it."

     Odette shifted uneasily, not sure how he would react if he found out she knew exactly where the Druid boy was. "I am sure you are trying your best and he understands that?"

     Arthur looked down to his feet, still letting out small chuckles▬like he was trying to cover it all up with disbelief; with laughter like it wasn't upsetting him as such. But she knew it was. She knew how desperate Arthur was to prove himself to his father, and how much he was constantly disappointed when he didn't. "Perhaps I am not trying my best," he muttered to her softly. 

     Her brows knitted together, "What do you mean?"

     The Prince scuffed his boot against the tile, and she watched it settle against the stone beside her▬locking them into such an intimate conversation; whispered between the two of them away from everyone else. "He's just a boy," Arthur told her▬meeting her gaze that told her this was meant only just for her to hear. She pursed her lips. "He is just a boy▬perhaps ... perhaps I am wrong, but I don't see how this boy has done anything punishable by death. He has committed no treason, no conspiracy ... he has magic, but ..."

    "But what...?"

    Arthur didn't finish. His jaw set once more and he looked away, starting to glower back out through the window. And it was then that Odette understood. She felt this sickening dread drop low into her stomach, finally beginning to realise what he was talking about▬and why he couldn't manage to talk about it anymore. 

     The air between them grew heavy. Odette remembered the day he returned, and everything about him seemed to change. He had been desperate to prove himself to his father then, still▬so desperate he conducted an attack that haunted his very being. She never heard much about it. She didn't know what had happened, what he saw or what he had done ... she was a little scared to know. But she remembered the look on his face when he returned back at just fifteen, and she knew what he had seen were horrors. 

     That night had been the first night Odette had ever seen Arthur cry. It was something startling for an eleven-year-old.

     She hung her head and went back to fiddling with her basket, "I haven't heard you mention it before."

    "I don't," said Arthur. Stern and curt▬not wanting to delve further into it. 

    "I understand," Odette played with the hair clip. 

    He glanced at her again. He pursed his lips, too. "Children shouldn't be executed," he decided to tell her. "It is as simple as that▬or ... it should be. But, my father cannot be persuaded. Part of me hopes the boy has made his way out of Camelot▬am I wrong to want that?"

     Odette shook her head, "No," she told him truthfully. He frowned at her. She sighed and stood up so she could step closer to him. "You have a good heart, Arthur," she told him. "Wanting that does not make you wrong, it makes you kind and understanding▬it makes you merciful. A good King is merciful."

     Arthur watched her curiously. For moment, Odette thought he truly didn't believe her▬that he was far from those things. "You really think that?" he asked her softly. 

    She shrugged. Soon, a slight smirk toyed at the corner of her lips, "Sometimes," joked Odette. "Other times I find you quite insufferable."

    Arthur scoffed, and an amused smirk grew on his lips, too, as he looked down at her. "Do you?"

    Odette quirked a brow and titled up her chin, "Any person who throws tomatoes at a girl when they were younger earns such title."

    "To be fair, you broke my leg."

    "You locked me in a room."

    "You bruised my legs with a wooden sword."

    "You scared me with stuffed animal heads."

    Arthur made a face, "That is what you get for asking me to play dress ups with you."

    Odette nodded as he proved her point. She fixed her grip on her basket and turned to leave, "Like I said: insufferable."

     "You can't really say that to a Prince, Odette."

     "Well," she smiled, playful as she turned to glance at him over her shoulder as she left; she played faux innocence, "considering I must be the sole reason you broke your leg, I deserve to call you what I wish, your Highness."

    She left and Arthur chuckled as he watched her go, shaking his head in absolute disbelief. But as his chuckles faded, he found his chest grow rather light▬the heaviness he felt before dissipating like rain on the roads. And what was left was a gentle, sweet smile. 

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    AS NIGHT FELL, did their plan start to begin. Odette tried her best to keep the young boy calm as Morgana prepared herself before her cracked mirror. She frowned through the fractures, her beautiful cheeks and jaw uneven and jagged▬hauntingly, she looked like a monster through the shattered lightning cracks; a puzzle piece that hadn't been properly put back together. She had dressed herself in the clothes Odette had cleaned, trying the string of her cloak that looked strange on Morgana's shoulders; the King's Ward looked just like any other maid or peasant. But they hoped that would give her an advantage.

     Odette dusted off the little boy's shirt and fixed his own cloak around his shoulders. He still hadn't spoken a single word to her▬she didn't even know his name. But there needn't be any words spoken, she's come to realise, as these few days have passed, to know that there was gratitude and trust. This little boy let her tie his cloak and make sure his arms were covered and warm. He let her double check the bandage around his wound and brush his hair out of his gaze that was icy, and yet gentle like snow falling in winter. 

     He was scared▬she could tell he was scared. And she pursed her lips, rubbing his shoulder as she tried to put on her best reassuring smile. Odette was scared, too: for him and Morgana. If they were found out▬if this plan went sideways, then the boy would be caught, and he would surely be executed ... and Odette didn't even want to think of the possibilities that might happen to the Lady Morgana; which way the King's anger would tip his fondness for his ward. 

    The young handmaiden squeezed the boy's arm and glanced back at Gwen who watched the group of them, looking very troubled. The tense silence that settled in the room was rising up heavy within their chests. The moon rose further up into the night sky▬Odette could see it gleam through Morgana's window, casting a ghostly glow over the stone pavements and foundations of the castle square, and further out to the roofs and trodden streets of the Lower Town.

    Morgana sighed at herself in the mirror. She shifted the cloak over her shoulders. Odette's dress and cloak were a little short and small on her, and it was slightly uncomfortable▬the fabric itchy and rough; not at all the silk she was used to. "It will have to do," she murmured. 

    The King's Ward frowned to herself. She fiddled with the cloak a little more, tenderly touching the little details Gwen had made for Odette▬pretty stitched flowers▬back when she first sewn it when her youngest handmaiden was only fourteen. Her maids were gentle, and they were sweet▬and they deserved the very best this world could ever let itself give. They didn't deserve to live in constant fear these past few day over her impulse decisions. The last thing Morgana would ever want would be for one of them to get hurt on her account. 

    She turned around, glancing at Odette sitting by the little boy and Guinevere standing near the table▬she pursed her lips and hung her head, suddenly very ashamed. "I'm sorry," she whispered to them, and their gazes glanced over. "I feel as if I have put you both in danger without ever stopping to ask how either of you feel about it."

    Odette sighed and turned back to the boy briefly. She smiled at him and tucked more of his hair away from his eyes. He gave her a little smile in return. "It is the right thing to do," said the young handmaiden. "Besides," she shrugged at Morgana, trying to play it off as nothing, but her mistress knew the weight of her next words, "you know I'm on your side no matter what."

    Gwen nodded, quietly agreeing. Then, she added, "And I know how it feels to face the threat of execution." Morgana's brows softened. "I would not wish that on anyone."

    At the knock on the door and Merlin's voice that followed, Odette stood up. She squeezed the boy's shoulder, giving him a final smile before making her way across the chambers and letting her friend inside. He was alone this time, slipping through with Arthur's key's clasped tight in his palm. They shared an apprehensive glance as Odette closed the door behind him. 

    They walked towards the screen together, watching Morgana crouch before the Druid boy and whisper to him, "We're going to get you out of Camelot. I won't let anything bad happen to you." She smiled sweetly. "I promise."

    The three servants all shared a glance this time▬each of them unsure, and terrified, on how tonight will go. They had to remain positive, but the thought of not only this boy being put into terrible danger, but also Morgana; it irked them. 

    Merlin swallowed harshly, "Are you ready?" he asked the King's Ward.

    She glanced up at them and nodded. Morgana stood up▬and it was strange to see her in a servant's garb; let alone Odette's own. "Did you get the keys?" 

    For a moment, Merlin didn't answer. He stared at the Druid boy▬Odette frowned, unsure at how troubled he suddenly looked. But before she could ask the question, he blinked out of it and nodded. He passed over the keys, holding out the one Morgana must use, "Yeah▬the door is behind the shield at the far end of the armoury."

    She took them with a purse of her lips. Gwen twisted threads of her tunic around her fingers, "I'll pack you some food and water for the journey." 

    "Be careful," added Odette finally.

    Morgana nodded. Grateful for all three of them, she smiled and pushed past her nerves to reach out and grasp Odette's hand. She squeezed it and then Guinevere's▬before sending a final nod to Merlin ... and from that moment onwards, their great escape would begin. 

    They waited, anxious, inside Guinevere's home. With her father working late at the forge, he did not know they were using his house as a safe haven in order to smuggle a boy hunted out of Camelot. Evening started to turn into pitch black night as the hour ticked by waiting for Morgana to arrive with the Druid boy. Each minute that passed that the warning bell did not sound was both a blessing and a curse to the group of servants who huddled amongst each other, trying to distract themselves by preparing the King's Ward for her journey. 

    The one that seemed to fret the most was Gwen herself. Odette was quiet and observant, keeping close to Merlin as she quite often does. Huddling her knees close to her chest as she sat on Guinevere's bed with him flushed against his shoulder▬something she has started to realise she did whenever she needed comfort ... he was warm, and he was calming, and he gave her the ability to breathe just to be so close. 

    Odette watched her pace back and forth, gathering provisions and water skins, wrapping them up in canvas bags and wringing her hands when they were not holding anything. 

     Beside her, she could tell Merlin wanted to stand up and pace as well. His leg jostled up and down so fast it seemed to blur, but he stayed in his spot▬seated at Odette's side because he seemed to understand just how much she needed him with her; perhaps even more than she did. 

    Once Gwen had no more provisions to pack, her fingers flew to her lips where they pressed anxiously against it. The group of them glanced out of the window into the dark night. The warning bell had not sounded yet, which Odette tried to remind herself was a good thing ... but Morgana and the Druid boy had yet to arrive, either▬and it was nearing two hours. 

    Odette hugged her knees tighter, leaning her head against Merlin's arm. She took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart. "They're going to make it," she whispered. "Of course, they will make it."

    Merlin nodded at her encouraging mantras, "Yeah," he murmured in the same tone, "they'll make it."

    The young handmaiden fell silent and glanced at the manservant out of the corner of her eye. He met her gaze. Odette pursed her lips, "Merlin?" she suddenly asked him, quite unsure. He nodded, humming to tell her he was listening, "Do you really think they'll be okay?"

     He glanced down at his boots. He was silent for a moment before he decided to say, "I think Morgana is very smart▬if anyone can get him out of Camelot, she can."

     "Morgana really cares about the boy," Guinevere decided to join their conversation after those words. The two seventeen-year-olds glanced over at her as she sat, fretting, at the table. "I've never seen her this way with anyone."

    Merlin started to fiddle with the leather band around his wrist. He shuffled uneasily on the bed beside Odette, as if choosing his next words very carefully: "I'm sure she just wants to protect him."

     Gwen hummed▬almost disbelieving. Her eyes were distant and off in thought. While it seemed Merlin's answer was completely reasonable. Morgana was kind and she was caring▬she had this instinct to look after many people; anyone who was less fortunate than herself. But for Guinevere and Odette who knew her very well, for her to protect so fiercely over someone she barely knew in a way that threatened her relationship to the royal family as well as her life ... something didn't seem right. But perhaps that was just the way things were; the way Destiny played things out▬sometimes it was a good sleight of hand, others it was terrible, while some showed themselves to be surprising and could lead someone to a shocking win at a table of cards ... or a shocking loss. 

     But at the tense, apprehensive air, he nudged Odette and added: "Which is why they will be okay, yeah?"

     She huffed a soft breath and nodded, happy to have someone else reassure her for once, "Yes," she mumbled. "Yes, perhaps you are right."

     The warlock smiled at the handmaiden and she couldn't help but return it, leaning her head against his shoulder. She found herself with a moment of peace, truly believing that everything will be all right. 

     But when the warning bells sounded, Odette was on her feet. The group of them all held their breaths▬that sound was never good. It pounded with her own heart; painful against her ribs. She couldn't know where Morgana might be once they've sounded▬how close or how far away, and now that they had been set off, even if Morgana made it here, it was only a matter of time before all exits to the city would be guarded. There would be no escape. 

     Merlin had rushed to the window, peering through the thin curtains in Guinevere's home in search of their friend. Odette paced, sharing frantic glances with Gwen who had begun to pick at her nails in apprehension. 

     Then, Merlin breathed out a relieved, "They're coming▬"

    And seconds later, he pulled open the door. Inside rushed Morgana and the Druid boy, both flushed to the cheeks after running so fast. Gwen immediately rushed to gather her provisions from the table. She passed them over to her mistress who breathed heavily underneath Odette's cloak, "There's enough food for three days."

     "Your horse is fed and watered," said Merlin. "I'll take you to it."

    "No," objected Morgana, frantic, "there's no point in us all risking our lives."

    Their stomachs dropped. Odette's breath hitched, horrified. "Wait, what▬?" her voice got lost in the back of her throat. 

    "What about you?" Merlin's brows furrowed, he didn't seem to want to budge from his offer.

     Morgana glanced at the young boy clutching tight on her hand, and she took a deep breath. She set her jaw. "I'm the King's Ward," she said bravely. "I'll take my chances▬"

     "Morgana▬!" let out Guinevere, horrified by this decision. 

     "I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to any of you!" 

     Odette was growing tearful. She didn't know how Morgana and the boy will make it out of Camelot without a horse▬she didn't know how they'll outrun the guards and the knights. It was going to be suicide. As Morgana went to leave, Odette grew desperate and rushed forward, "Morgana, please▬"

     Her mistress met her gaze, and she looked terrified, "We haven't got much time," she told her. "We must go. Stay in here and don't venture out, or the guards might arrest you instead."

     And with those words said, Morgana squeezed the Druid boy's hand and the two of them rushed back out of the open door. The boy shared one final glance, locking Merlin's gaze to whisper in the depths of his mind, Goodbye, Emrys...

     Before the door closed behind them. 

     Odette whimpered a slight cry, covering her face in her hands as she had to look away, not wanting to accept the only outcome of this circumstance that awaited Morgana and the boy now. 

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     THEY ALL stayed in Guinevere's home for the rest of the night. Odette and Merlin were thankful that Tom the Blacksmith asked little to no questions, holding his daughter in good faith the moment she swore they were here for sizing in order for her to sew up some new clothes for the upcoming winter. He didn't ask any questions as to why Odette looked close to crying, or why Gwen had none of her equipment out. He just gave then each a warm broth for the night and let them sleep under his roof. Though Odette could barely sleep, huddled up against Merlin's back under a blanket behind Guinevere's screen, fretting over what would she would be met with when she returned to the castle in the morning. The warning bells had stopped, and she didn't know what that meant▬she was too scared to consider what it might mean. 

    But as the sun rose to a new day, Odette learned pretty quickly as the group of them had no choice but to return to the castle to go about their daily duties. Finding Morgana miserable in her chambers told Odette everything she needed to know: their plan had failed. The boy was locked away in the dungeons, facing execution at the next dawn. Morgana was free and she was okay▬safe from the clutches of the beheading block, but her relationship with the King was all but tarnished, and her conscious weighed with terrible guilt and shame for what she let happen. Saying that she shouldn't blame herself would never work, Odette knew, but she assured her of it anyway▬even when Morgana only shook her head and set herself amongst her pillows, staring glumly at her broken mirror. 

    Odette was glum herself leaving her to be. It troubled her, how easily someone could sentence an innocent child to execution purely because of his own paranoid fear that had become something worse than hatred▬for what this meant? For what this boy could become? Magic or not, she believed no child could ever be born evil. No child should be placed upon a public executing block and feel such fear moments before their death. These sort of things, they only fuel the hate those of magic had against Camelot▬only fuelled their need for rebellion and their need for change in brutal ways. Hate only fuels more hate▬it does not fuel peace. Fear might be disguised as peace, but it only lasted on a thin thread, and that thread was always so close to snapping the moment someone was determined to be a revolutionary and a martyr. Every sorcerer Uther executed▬every woman, every father, every son, daughter and every child ... they became a martyr for a rebellion any smart mind could notice was starting to stir. It would almost seem he might just be bringing about his own destruction, slowly and dreadfully without realising it. 

    As soon as she saw Arthur across the corridor, heading straight towards her, Odette tried to avoid the confrontation way before she knew it will happen. She stopped in her path and glanced sideways, quickly looking for an escape route. Just as he noticed her, too, she found it. With a hitched breath, Odette rushed to the left and shuffled to hide inside a nearby storage chamber full of old, dusty rolled up carpets, tapestries and other things to make her nose itch. 

     She hoped she managed to get away, but it wasn't even a few seconds later before the door opened again and Arthur stepped inside as well. Odette spun back around, eyes wide and caught. His brows shot up, annoyed, "Seriously?" he told her as he closed the door behind him. "A closet?"

     "I'm a servant," she argued back weakly. "I'm always in closets."

     Arthur glanced around her, "And the Lady Morgana's maid needs to be in a room full of carpets and tapestries because...?"

     Odette clenched her hands, trying very hard to think of some excuse, but in the end she relented with a frustrated scoff to herself. 

     The Prince shook his head at her, "I don't understand you."

     "Really?"

     He walked up to her and she went rigid, still and tense as she watched his shadow loom over her. In a hushed tone, as if worried someone might still hear them from the empty corridor outside, he demanded, "You knew about the Druid boy in Morgana's chambers?" She kept her jaw clamped shut. Arthur huffed at her, "You knew this entire time?" 

     Her silence was enough of an answer. He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned around, and she could feel his anger like a suffocating cloud around them. Odette regretted choosing a small storage chamber to hide in. As he turned back around, he gestured to her, "You didn't think to tell me?"

      Odette scoffed lightly at that, unable to believe him. "You▬How could I tell you?"

     "You're supposed to tell me these things▬"

    "If I told you the boy would be executed▬Morgana could have been, too!"

    "He has magic▬"

     "He is just a boy!"

     Arthur gritted his teeth. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, doing his very best to keep his temper down in front of the young handmaiden. Doing his best to hide how more than anything, he was hurt that she hadn't told him about it▬that she didn't trust him, and perhaps she was right not to. 

     The Prince rubbed at his face, huffing down at his boots. Odette watched him, her gaze narrowed and infuriating, "You told me yourself you do not wish for this boy to be executed."

     "That isn't the point," Arthur stressed to her, stepping up close again. "If it weren't for the circumstances of which I found Morgana with the boy, this revelation could have caused for you and Gwen to be executed with him! Did that ever cross your mind?!"

      "Of course, it did!" Odette answered in the same hushed, angry whisper. "But I wasn't going to betray Morgana like that! Even if I had little choice in the decision I wasn't just going to give the boy off to the guards and watch him die▬he's innocent. What harm has he ever done?"

     When he was silent, huffing and puffing, she added: "I know you think the same. You told me so. I know you don't want to see him executed any more than I do."

     "Right now, it doesn't matter what I think," he decided to tell her in a gentler tone. "My father's mind cannot be changed. I tried."

     Odette's brows lifted. She tried not to let the sudden urge to smile overwhelm her. Usually, Arthur had to be pushed and pushed▬like a stubborn ox on a stone road▬to disagree with his father over something like this. But instead, he had done it without any of them begging or pleading▬but because he truly believed this was wrong. She wanted to thank him, but she did not. She knew he wouldn't appreciate it. She just nodded and looked down, starting to realise that their options to help the boy were becoming almost none. 

    Then, Arthur squared his shoulders. "Even so," he said, and she glanced back up when his voice became stern once more. "Odette, you should have told me."

    He left after that. Odette watched him go with a slight roll of her eyes.      

    Across the courtyard and past the citadel walls, the window of the young Miss Adelynn Vecentia's room remained ajar. She had her parchment and charcoal, her drawing of the view now lost of every motivation. She sat it against her knees, her fingers and her dress skirts smudged with black▬glum, she set her gaze onto the courtyard she knew existed past those walls, knowing that tomorrow morning, the little boy she had desperately tried to escape would face his execution right within its centre.

     It was a rude awakening; for it might not be that boy in that courtyard with the executioners axe against his neck▬it might be her. One wrong slip, one wrong move▬one mistake, and she'd be staring up at her King; the hatred in his eyes being the last thing she'll see in this world. 

     Her gaze wandered to the candle that still sat on her desk; the burnt out wick had melted against the wax. She remembered the way its last flame had lifted into the air for her▬hovering around like a fire fairy and tickling her nose with its warmth. She had believed the little boy would make it out safely▬she had prayed for it; she had promised him, even, that moment she saved him the first time. And now it had all been in vain. 

     She was sad, but it was gut-wrenching▬something more than just knowing the boy and having seen his innocence ... he had called out to her, and she had listened▬that was a connection that seemed to make them one and the same. Lost, alone, with magic▬

    Magic. 

    She still couldn't make sense of it▬believe it, even. It seemed like a distant dream▬it wasn't happening to her, but to someone else that looked like her. Just like this boy's imprisonment ... it felt so far away, and yet clawed at her and made her throat sore with a sobbing ache. 

     Adelynn took a deep breath and fiddled with her parchment. She stared at the drawing▬she had turned her brother's garden into a swirl of flowers and tree branches; something haunting without even realising it. 

     She didn't know how to help the boy anymore. She didn't want to sit and do nothing▬she didn't want to watch him die ... but she didn't know what to do. The safest thing would to sit back: they tried, and they had failed. They had lost their chance. It was the rational thing to do, now. It didn't settle well with her, at all. 

     At the knock on her door, Adelynn took a deep breath and sniffled back the tears that had been threatening to fall. "Come in," she called once she was ready. 

     Glancing over as the door creaked open, Adelynn wasn't sure whether she was tense or relieved to see her mother. The Lady Elayne gave her a stiff smile that on her features, was soft. Her mother was a courageous woman, Adelynn knew. After everything she went through▬all the hits she took not just for herself, but for her beloved children, too▬she had survived, and she still had a fierce, caring heart underneath all of her stern manners and strict, blunt words. Adelynn looked a lot like her, she has been told. She saw it, too. She had her mother's eyes, and as she matured, she was starting to gain her stern, handsome features. She had her hair, too. 

     They always say a daughter was either the split image of her mother, or the split image of her father. Adelynn may be such with her mother, but her heart? The blood running through her veins? Deep down, she feared that she was her father's daughter despite it all. 

    "Mother," she greeted as she sat up straighter. "How are you?"

    Lady Elayne gently closed the door behind her. Once she did, she fixed her elegant skirts▬she was young, but she looked far older. Adelynn could count the wrinkles on both her hands since she had been eight years old. That and the bruises. 

     "Adelynn, my dear," began her mother, "we need to have a talk."

     Adelynn's brows furrowed. She swallowed the sudden nerves, desperate to hide how anxious she grew at the thought of what her mother might say. She played innocence, "Yes? What about?"

     Her mother continued to fiddle with her dress. She flattened the creases around her hips and her abdomen, pursing her lips as she approached her young daughter. Adelynn decided to shuffle across so she could take the seat beside her at the window. Though, her frown returned when the Lady Elayne reached over and closed her ajar window▬she locked the clasps. 

     "What is it?" she asked, growing concerned. "Mother, are you all right?"

     Her mother glanced at the door briefly before she decided to sit down. She gently took Adelynn's drawing to set it aside before grasping her hands. "I love you," she told her, stern and with no room for argument. 

     Adelynn was confused. "I ... I know. I love you, too, Mother."

     "I love you," The Lady Elayne said again. She grasped her hands tighter. "Know that▬understand that, Adelynn. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe."

     She shook her head, not sure where this was going, "I▬I know that. What▬what is it▬?"

    "I know," her mother cut her off. She gave her a rigid, knowing look. Adelynn's blood ran cold. She hunched and went painstakingly still▬her breath lost within her chest, hitched and startled. She couldn't say anything. Her heart started to pound. Her mother squeezed her hands, seeing the fright in her eyes and quickly continued. "I know about the boy. How you helped the Lady Morgana. The invites to morning tea ... did you think I wouldn't make the connection now the boy has been found?"

     Adelynn still couldn't speak. She felt as if her voice had been taken away from her▬it hung in front of her, just out of reach. 

     "That was a dangerous gamble you made, Adelynn," went on the Lady Elayne. "A gamble that could have gotten you killed if anyone else found out. I thought I taught you to think smarter than that▬to know that your life is worth more than to risk it over some Druid boy you do not know."

      She managed to find enough within her to whisper, "But ... but he's innocent ... he's ... he's a little boy▬he's younger than me."

      "You have to be smart, Adelynn," her mother told her. "That boy was doomed the moment he came to Camelot▬you cannot mix yourself up into these matters."

     "I had to help him," croaked Adelynn weakly. 

     "No," Lady Elayne shook her head. "You did not have to, you wanted to. You chose to. And that choice could have gotten you killed, do you realise?"

     She hung her head, unable to look her mother in the eyes. If she felt this way about an innocent Druid boy, how would she feel to know her daughter was similar? Adelynn was scared of that truth▬that when she had nothing, she had her family, and now, she might not even have them. "It doesn't matter, now," she mumbled. "He's going to die tomorrow anyway..."

     She heard the Lady Elayne sigh. She felt her brush her hair out of her face and lean in to kiss her on the forehead. "I am just grateful you are safe and you are okay. It is good to be kind, Adelynn, but it is also important to be smart and rational. The world does not do kindly to those who are naive. You have to tread carefully. You have to make decisions that will keep you standing. The World has a strong backhand; you cannot let it break you down. It might bruise you, but never let it break you. You must be smarter than it. It isn't a fairy tale. You can never trust a miracle to keep you safe, okay?"

     Adelynn looked up to meet her gaze. Her mother cupped her cheeks, "I was going to tell you," she mumbled.

    Her mother just smiled and kissed her hairline again. "You don't need to tell me anything, dear. I'm your mother▬I know my daughter better than she knows herself. Better than I know myself. A mother always knows her children's truths." She stood up and Adelynn watched her, a strange feeling settling in her chest at her mother's tone▬one that made her think there was more to her words than she let on. 

     She set her eyes on Adelynn's broken mirror. "How did that happen?"

     Adelynn was stiff. She pursed her lips and watched her mother's expression intently as she answered, "I am not sure."

     The Lady Elayne arched a brow. She stared back at her for a moment, then, she bounced her brows and started towards the door. "You need to learn to lie better than that, Adelynn, if you want to stay alive."

      Her eyes widened. She went to say something▬to see what she meant▬but she thought better of it. She pursed her lips, then she set her jaw. Adelynn took a deep breath and started to understand the fate that now awaited her. It did not matter if her mother somehow knew the truth, or did not know. As soon as she asked the question and spoke the word, her secret was no longer a secret. Her lie would stop being a lie. 

     Maybe her mother knew. Maybe her words were really meant for Adelynn in ways completely separate to the boy. But she knew she understood one thing▬her lies are what will keep her alive. She had to be smarter than the world, because the world wanted her dead for what she can do. She could not let it beat her and break her down. She could not let it force her head onto the execution block. 

     As her mother left, Adelynn set her eyes onto the candle again. 

    She forced the memories of the floating flame away from the forefront of her mind. Standing up, she marched over and took the candle away. She placed it inside an empty dresser and locked the doors. If she ignored it▬If she never indulged it, perhaps her lies will become truth. 

     Perhaps that was the way to make sure she stayed alive.      

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    THE EXECUTIONER was sharpening his axe. Merlin eyed him as he marched past in the citadel courtyard, hands clenched and hidden underneath his leather sleeves. He wore a mask, so he could not see his face. But he could see his eyes▬they glinted through the slits in the dark material; glinted like his blade in the summer afternoon sun. Glinting sharp, waiting for the moment that blade will be sharp enough to strike clean through a young boy's neck. 

    He did not keep his gaze for long▬it was too jarring. Merlin's own neck started to ache as if his shoulders could no longer uphold it. He cleared his throat and fixed his scarf before pushing forward, refusing to look back once again. 

    On the other end in the shadows just before the entrance, Merlin met Odette. She had been watching the executioner, too▬and she was pale because of it. As he went to continue on without her, she picked up her pace to match his without fail. 

    "This is all so horrible," she whispered to him as they made their way into the castle. She stayed quiet as they passed a group of knights. The two servants quickly bowed their heads in respect before hurrying along. Once they were far enough away, she continued: "He's just a boy. But despite that, the King cannot be persuaded to spare him."

    "Are you really all that shocked?" muttered Merlin in reply. 

    The young maid huffed, "No," she admitted. Odette glanced at him briefly as they rounded the corner. She followed him up the flight of stairs, not even caring that they were heading to Arthur's chambers and she had her own chores to do. "So ... what are we going to do about it?"

    Merlin sent her an estranged glance, "What?"

    Odette frowned at him, "You know▬" she glanced around them before shuffling closer, "▬what are we going to do about it? The boy is going to die tomorrow at dawn, we cannot let it happen."

    Her frown deepened at the look on her friend's face. She tilted her head as a chill settled in the air▬she saw something torn within Merlin's gaze; something that hesitated. Something that burdened him. He swallowed harshly and looked away, "There's nothing we can do," he said in a voice that became stuck in the back of his throat. "He's▬he's been caught."

    Odette faltered in her steps and he stopped with her. They found themselves at Arthur's door, but neither made any move to open it. She stared at Merlin, rather startled. "But ..." she didn't know how to take what he said. She didn't think Merlin capable of giving up so quickly. "But there's always something we can do?"

    She eyed the look on his face. It started to scare her. "Unless ... unless you don't want to do anything?"

    He made a face at that, "What? Of course I want to do something!"

    "Then why have you given up?" Odette demanded, standing closer to him. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see what he was keeping from her. "What is it, Merlin? You've been acting strange ever since you brought the boy to Morgana's chambers. Whatever it is, you can tell me. You know you can trust me."

    Merlin took a sharp breath through his nose. He gritted his teeth, shaking his head. Odette couldn't help but feel hurt when he still refused to tell her. "I haven't been acting strange at all," he told her.

    She definitely felt the hurt, now. She pursed her lips and nodded, accepting his decision. "Right," muttered Odette. "So, now I know you're lying to me."

    The warlock sighed, "Odette," he whispered, pleading. "Just trust me. It's too dangerous to try and do something now."

    She continued to narrow her eyes, "What do you know?" she asked him, a little stern. "What is it about the Druid boy that makes you so scared?"

    Merlin didn't answer her question. He just opened the door to his master's chambers and went to step inside. But he froze when he found Arthur and Morgana huddled together around his table. They were muttering in low tones, until they realised the door opened and they fell suspiciously silent. 

    Odette peered over Merlin's shoulder, curious. She frowned, a little intimidated by the intense scowl Arthur sent them from the foot of his table. 

    Merlin kept his grip on the handle, eyeing the Prince and the King's Ward with an unsure stance. "Sorry," he decided to say slowly. "Was I interrupting something?"

    Arthur did not break his gaze, "Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he told them, tone sharp. "Make yourself useful. Muck out my horses. And Odette," he gestured to her, exasperated, "actually do your job, will you, instead of following my manservant around?"

    She matched his exasperation▬rather annoyed and incredulous at how rude he was being. 

    Merlin made a face, but decided to leave at that. But before he could close the door, Morgana stopped him with a quick: "I trust them."

    Arthur glanced at her. His brows started to rise, turning his gaze back onto the two servants standing in his doorway. He pursed his lips, personally wanting no one else to be apart of their schemes▬let alone his clumsy servant and the young handmaiden he regrettably decided to try and keep out of trouble (constantly). But at the quick look Morgana gave him, he relented. Sighing, he gestured for them to enter. The two young friends shuffled inside. Odette awkwardly shut the door behind her. 

    She rested her back against it, eyeing the two of them with suspicion. Arthur took a deep breath. As he ran his finger down the patterns in the wood of his table, he explained: "We're going to break the Druid boy out of the dungeons."

    Two different reactions flooded them. While Odette lit up▬her shoulders rising with her smile and hope▬, Merlin's face dropped with dread. He surged forward. "You can't do that," he let out before he could stop himself. 

    The young handmaiden's smile fell and her confusion returned, staring at the warlock with furrowed bewilderment. 

    "We have to!" exclaimed Morgana, rather angry at his outburst. "Uther's going to execute him at dawn."

    Merlin staggered. For a few seconds, he seemed at a loss for words. "I▬I mean ..." he then managed, "... it's too dangerous." Morgana rolled her eyes at this. "You've already been caught once. If the King catches you a second time, he will never forgive you."

    Morgana shook her head with a slight scoff, "I'm not worried for myself."

    "Perhaps you should be," Odette spoke up. She sent Merlin another strange look, but followed him to the table▬for despite his objection, she started to agree with what he said about Morgana. "You're playing with fire if you defy the King again. If you plan on getting the boy out of the dungeons again, he'll find out▬you know he will. And he'll immediately suspect you. You'll be caught before you even have the chance to get out of the castle."

    Her mistress just gave her a look, "Odette, I will be fine▬"

    "No, she's right," Arthur interrupted. He brushed his fingers against his lips in thought. Odette met his gaze briefly. "You must go to my father and apologise," he spoke his new plan as he thought of it. Slow and analytical. He turned to Morgana. "Dine with him. He cannot hold you responsible if you're with him when the boy escapes."

    She was reluctant, "You need me if the plan is to work. You can't do this on your own."

    Arthur considered her words. He leant back in his chair, eyes distant as he sought for a way around it. Then, his eyes slowly settled onto his manservant who had been quiet since his outburst. He sat up straighter, knowing he was going to take a big risk▬could he trust his manservant to do it? For some reason, Arthur had a feeling he already did. "Merlin will take your place," he decided.

    Merlin glanced up, startled. "Me?" 

    Arthur pushed himself from his chair. He stormed up to Merlin, gravely serious▬he stressed how important it was that his manservant listened, and did exactly what he told him to do. "I'm going to take the boy out through the burial vaults," he said. "There's a tunnel that leads beyond the city walls. Get my horse from the stables and meet me there. There's a grate that covers the entrance to the tunnel. Bring a rope and a grappling hook to pull it off."

    Merlin shook his head▬he grew flustered and anxious, completely torn between his own morals and the words the Great Dragon gave him with a severe warning. "N▬no, I▬I can't▬"

    "Merlin," Arthur cut him off, stern. "Do you understand? If you're not there to meet us, we will surely be caught."

    The warlock set his jaw. He forced the ache back down his throat. He ignored the way Odette watched him, feeling as if she could truly see through his pretence. He clenched his hands and found himself nodding. 

    Arthur nodded as well, satisfied. He clasped his shoulder and moved on▬he did not see the regret that hung heavy upon Merlin's face. 

    Meanwhile, Odette frowned to herself. She watched Arthur go, and didn't stop herself before scuttling after him▬completely ignoring the curious tilt of Morgana's head. "My Lord," she tried. "My Lord▬" when he didn't answer, she rushed forward and managed to skid to a stop in front of him, forcing him to halt in his determined march. "Arthur, wait."

    The Prince sighed, annoyed. He tried to move around her, but she was quick, shuffling along sideways to keep him from pushing past her. "What?" he asked.     

    Odette rushed to fix her shoulders and tilt up her chin, trying to make herself look as battle-worthy as possible. "What do you want me to do?"

    He frowned at her, and then he realised. Arthur's tone changed▬he went from speaking as a leader to something she was sure was meant to be understanding and with care, but instead made her feel the opposite: "You are to continue with your errands."

    He brushed past her down the corridor. Odette jogged to keep up with him, "But I can help," she said, eager to get the boy to safety. "I can▬I can come with you. Or I can go with Merlin."

    Arthur glanced back at her as he walked, "You aren't coming."

    She grew frustrated, "So you chide me for risking my life for the boy, but when you do the same thing, it is perfectly fine?"

    "Yes, it is."

    "How?"

    She knew she had spiked his own frustration. Odette always seemed to manage to tug at Arthur's anger▬know exactly how to get a rise out of him. She always has managed it; purely because he managed to get a rise out of her. He stopped in his path and spun back to her▬so quickly she almost ran right into his chest. Odette blushed, quickly shuffling back to put space between them. 

    "Because," Arthur began, sharp and direct, "if I am caught, I will come out the other end. If you got caught, I cannot protect you from my father's anger. And it would be my fault."

    Her gaze softened. She felt her heart start to grow warm, and she frowned to herself at it▬finding herself wary of the feeling more than she welcomed it. Odette took a deep breath, doing her best to push it away. Arthur took it as her answer. 

    Satisfied, he went to leave, but she called him back once more. He sighed as he glanced back, only to stop when he saw the look on her face. 

    "Arthur," said Odette softly, "Just ... what you're doing▬I know you're going against your father, and you hate that ... but if you believe what you are doing is right, then you shouldn't fight it, either. Trust yourself."

    His brows furrowed, perplexed by what need she must have to say such things (and somehow know exactly when he needed to hear them). But he nodded, giving her a small, stiff smile before continuing on his way, and she did not call him back again. She just hoped that this time, they would not fail. 

    She glanced back when she heard the door open again. Odette was silent. She did not ask her questions. She did not demand her answers. She just sighed, watching Merlin give her barely even a glance before he disappeared off at a jog down the corridor. And she wondered what place he could be going that was so important to him▬and yet so terrifying that made him suddenly so paranoid. 

    The young warlock raced his way down into the dungeons. He was breathing heavily, his mind pacing and his heart pounding▬he felt like he was constantly running out of time; awaiting for the afternoon to turn into evening, and he would have to make a choice. A choice that he knew might completely destroy him. 

    He had to know why. If he was to do this, he had to know why. 

    Merlin distracted the guards in just moments and left them there without a second thought. He marched through the darkness, lit a torch with a breath of a charm and made his way down those stairs quicker than he's ever before. 

    The Great Dragon told him not to protect this boy. He knew better than to not let his words rest on his conscience. Why should he not protect this boy? What was this young, innocent boy going to do to make it reasonable to leave him to die here and now? Merlin didn't know what he was supposed to do▬what the right thing was to do. 

    He felt almost at home within the darkness▬with little light to show his way. The darkness that shadowed him seemed to leer at him and jeer his torn morals, telling him this and telling him that. And it found a way to settle within his heart, making him consider things Merlin never once thought he'd ever consider. 

    (Perhaps there was something true to the thought that magic corrupts the soul▬perhaps the decisions they made to survive, to achieve what they came to achieve, left them no choice but to change into something worse than who they once were...).

    Merlin found the dragon only just waking from his slumber. He stopped right at the edge, heaving as he called out: "I need to know why you told me not to protect the boy!"

    The Great Dragon did not match his urgency. He hummed out a long tune that almost sounded like a yawn. He stretched his large and long, scaly limbs. He shook his wings▬and loose rocks fell from the jagged boulder he was chained to. 

    Once he settled, he set a steely eye upon the sorcerer. "You seek my counsel, and yet you choose to ignore it."

    Merlin pointed his torch towards his head▬the flames flickered against his gold scales; making him almost blinding to look at in that moment. "Just tell me why," he demanded. 

    The dragon huffed smoke from his nostrils. He lifted his head and stared down at him, "If the boy lives," he began, "you cannot fulfil your destiny."

    That wasn't the answer he was looking for. (Whenever was it?). Merlin frowned, confused. "What do you mean? What's he got to do with my destiny? You said it is my destiny to protect Arthur."

    The Great Dragon folded his wings and settled back down against the rock. "Then you have the answer you seek."

    Merlin felt something slowly fall into the pits of his stomach. His breathing became shallow; lost within the depths that was left in his hollow chest. He suddenly felt as if he was made of wood. He could not move, he could not breathe▬he could barely even think. But it dawned on him. It dawned on him and cast a dreadful, winter chill in the air. 

    He took a shaky breath, "Y ... you mean ...?" he couldn't even form the words▬the thought of what the Dragon meant. He just stared back at him, understanding and all-knowing, and Merlin wondered whether such years of wisdom and knowledge was a curse rather than some gift. 

    He swallowed back the bile in his throat. He was sick to his stomach. "You're telling me ... that little boy is going to kill Arthur?"

    "It seems," said the Great Dragon, "that is up to you."

    Merlin wanted to sit down▬he thought he would pass out. He had trouble breathing, trying to think through a muddled mind. It was worse than he thought. Was that his choice? Let an innocent boy die, who was yet to fulfil his fate ... or let him grow up to kill Arthur?

    Did he have that right? That power to play God? To chose who lives and who dies▬to take a boys life before the seeds of his life were even properly sewn. One life for the other▬what was more important? What was better ... what was the right choice? 

    Merlin grew tearful. He couldn't make that choice. He wasn't God▬he wasn't a killer. He couldn't▬he refused to... "N▬no," he choked out. He didn't want to believe it▬he couldn't believe it. "You▬you can't know that for certain!"

    "You have it in your power to prevent a great evil," said the ancient beast. 

    "No!" cried Merlin again. "I won't! There must be another way▬the future isn't set in stone!"

    "You must let the boy die!"

    Merlin's knees were still quivering. He shook his head yet again, but he didn't say anything more. With a dry tongue and an aching chest, the warlock left the Great Dragon▬wishing he had never come down in the first place. 

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

    MERLIN WAS QUIET at dinner. He watched the evening get darker through the slim windows of Gaius's chambers. As the sun set and the moon rose higher, he could feel himself shaking more and more. The world was closing in▬crushing his chest with the decision he must make. He glanced down at his food and held no appetite. He tossed the vegetables with his spoon. He wondered when his destiny changed so abruptly. He thought he was supposed to keep an eye on Arthur until he became King▬he thought he would face mythical creatures and his faults ... but he was stupid to think it wouldn't come to this. But was Albion so important▬his destiny so important that it must include the art of the executioner? That he must hold his hand up upon that balcony and bring it down the moment he decided who he could let die? How was that right? How was that Destiny? How could Fate become so cruel and arrogant▬or perhaps so cowardly to bring the choice upon a man instead of doing so Itself. 

    Gaius watched him. He was growing concerned as their candle light started to dim over Merlin's uneaten food. He pursed his lips, "I presume it is the plight of the Druid boy that is causing your forehead to wrinkle like a lizard's elbow?"

    Merlin didn't answer at first. He glanced towards his bedroom door where he had the rope and grappling hook waiting. Then, he set his eyes back towards the moon starting to gleam down in bars across their stone floor▬as if it knew just how trapped Merlin felt. 

    His words were as shaky as his knees underneath the table. Merlin clamped his hands in his lap, hoping that would stop them. "Would ... would you let something terrible happen ... if it meant you'd stop something even worse happening in the future?"

    Gaius frowned at his question▬at the pale tone to his cheeks; the horror that glinted behind his eyes▬the shame, frustration and guilt. He pondered for a moment, troubled. "I suppose it depends," he decided in the end, "on what the 'terrible' and the 'even worse' things were."

    "One of them is bad," said Merlin quietly. "Really bad ... and the other▬it's unthinkable."

    The physician watched him for a moment longer. Then, he sighed and said, "It sounds as if you've already made your decision." His nephew's gaze hung down, pained. "You can only do what you believe to be right, Merlin. I just hope it doesn't involve you putting yourself in terrible danger."

    Another silence settled between them. Merlin could feel a part of him changing the moment he took a final breath and forced a stiff smile on his face, "For once, you don't have to worry. I'm going to do nothing."

    He went to bed that night▬he locked himself inside his room. As the night grew darker, Merlin huddled on his bed, clutching his thin blanket tight up and over his ears. He was crying▬stifling and hidden as he waited the seconds, and the minutes, and then wait the hour. He'll let this little boy die for the better future▬it was the right thing to do. It was his destiny to keep Arthur safe, even if he will despite him for what he has decided to do ...

    It was the right thing to do.

    The better thing to do for everyone else.

    He had to stop the future. 

    Merlin hugged himself tight, trying to stop the ache in his chest and the guilt that was starting to rip him apart. Arthur would be in the dungeons by now. He would be taking the young boy to the burial vaults, waiting for Merlin▬relying on him. And he'll disappoint him▬

    For his safety, the warlock reminded himself. What was the life of a Druid boy compared to the life of the greatest future King? The life of a boy who is destined to kill him?

    His morals fought▬they whispered in his ear; this and that, right and wrong ... perhaps there was no right and no wrong. It wasn't as simple as that. There are things more important than what was right and what was wrong ... 

    And yet Merlin felt like he was doing the unthinkable to prevent something just as unthinkable. He felt like a part of him was being torn away▬his conscience and his judgement. 

    The warning bells made him jump. Merlin pushed his face into his pillow, hoping to muffle the sound. It was almost over. He just had to wait it out. He just had to lie here. He had to do nothing in order to do something. 

    He wondered whether he was just making excuses. 

    The bells echoed in his head; pounding against his skull. Merlin's cheeks were wet with tears. He clenched his eyes shut▬he forced himself to not listen. To ignore it. To fight the urge to leap up and run for the burial grate▬

    Emrys.

    Merlin's breath hitched. 

    Emrys, begged the little boy's voice. Where are you, Emrys?

    The young warlock hiccuped and clamped his hands over his ears▬as if that would help him shut the Druid boy out of his mind. But he only got louder. Emrys, he called. Help us. Please▬he was growing desperate. Merlin shook his head. He broke out into a soft sob, pleading for the boy to leave him▬to disappear. He wanted all of this to disappear. 

    They're coming, he whimpered in the depths of his soul. I'm scared, Emrys! They will kill me! 

    Merlin tossed and turned, bringing his pillow over his ears and clamping it there. 

    Don't do this. Don't ignore me. I know you can hear me. I thought you were my friend. 

    "Leave me alone," he whimpered himself.

    We're the same, continued to boy. I don't want to die. 

    Merlin's hands were trembling. The warning bell was ringing in his ears. He was suffocating. 

    Emrys, cried the Druid boy. Emrys! EMRYS!

    Merlin gritted his teeth. He tried to ignore him. He tried to shut him out▬but then he realised he was sitting up. He was on his feet. Merlin cursed the world. He cursed Destiny as he grabbed the rope and grappling hook, hoping to God that his decision tonight will never come back to haunt him. 

    Deep down, he knew it will. 

    And he knew it will be his fault. 

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    a/n: I don't know how I feel about this chapter. there's Arthur and odette moments (a must). adelynn moments which I love. and I love writing merlin fighting with his morals and every link to arthurian legend that I just have to write because it's important to the book plot even if it is a fanfic.

    but I still don't like this chapter - it's long and it was hard to write. 

    oh well. 

    also i love how morgana is a mother figure to Mordred and then Arthur becomes a father figure because u know, the legends. and then he goes ahead and stabs Arthur in the back because merlin's paranoia ended up being his own bane to his destiny. 

     when u think about it ... was merlin Arthur's bane? I know the show says it is himself ... but merlin desperately trying to stop the future to save arthur, only caused it to happen. 

     it's an interesting thought.

     for me, at least. 

    (minimal editing with this one I'm sorry lol).