Arthur and the other men sat in silence for a moment, the silence echoing s little less so than Merlin's words, which said a lot as the words still echoed in their ears.

They could hear the twinge and leaves brush and break with every injured step Merlin took, his injuries still blatantly obvious. Leon swallowed audibly, Elyan the same. Arthur let out a shaky, unsteady breath and spoke, his voice rough and harsh, shaken with disbelief and shock.

"Merlin.. Merlin's right." Gwaine, having immediately snapped out of his stupor at the words, immediately snapping up and speaking harshly,
"Of course he's right! Is that true, children and teenagers were killed?" Leon froze, Arthur the same, but they both carefully nodded, their movements stuttered and paused.

Gwaine continued speaking, "Everyone knows that it's possible for people to be born with magic! And the thing about the laws, what Merlin said is true and he honestly believes you won't change them! He's been afraid for his life, since he could walk and talk. Because of the way this world is, your fucking LAWS," he yelled the last word, "Because of of your laws, Merlin has walked around Camelot the last 9, 10 years knowing that if he were caught, if a rumor was spread around, any of that! He'd be killed. Hung, beheaded, burnt at the fucking stake! And in Merlin's heart, and in his head, he believes that we wouldn't help him, that we wouldn't fight skin and tooth to protect him, keep him safe. He truly believes that."

All the men, even Gwaine, looked ashamed and upset, their eyes downcast to the compact, hard ground.

"He believes that we wouldn't save him, like he's saved us, so many times. We know about two instances now, how many others are there? How many times has Merlin saved us, saved our lives and saved Camelot, all with the fear in his heart that if he isn't careful, if he's a second too late, we either all die, or we all learn his secret. Who knows, there are likely more secrets too! And the only reason he told us about this, is because of what's happened! Imagine what would happen if this hasn't happened, if he hadn't told us, how many years would we go without knowing, if we ever learned at all?! Imagine what would happen if we'd seen it another way, if this had been shoved on us another way, how we'd react! Just think about it! Put yourself in his spot, put yourself in his mind! Actually think about it, think about walking around knowing that if you mess up once, your friends will kill you; burn you alive, behead you, hang you from a piece of wood in front of everyone you've ever known and called a friend, your family, people you trusted and loved, cared for. Think!"

And so, they did.

With those words, Gwaine grabbed his cape and took off after Merlin, sprinting faster than any of the other men had ever seen, yelling Merlin's name as he ran.

"Merlin!"

"Merlin!"

"Merlin!"

And then silence.