Over The Years | Merlin

viii |The Beginning of the End

"Merlin?" Elara gasped in surprise as her best friend stumbled into Morgana's chambers, where her, Gwen and Morgana all stood around the Ward's wooden table in the centre of the room. They had been debating whether or not they should venture off to the morning markets when Merlin had burst through the door.

"Have you forgotten how to knock, Merlin?" Morgana questioned.

"The guards are after him, I didn't know what to do," Merlin muttered breathlessly. Hiding behind him, in a juniper-green cloak, stood a young boy, no older than twelve, with straight jet black hair and cerulean blue eyes which were wide in fear.

Less than a second later, a large fist pounded at the door. "My Lady?" a guard called for Morgana, who stood transfixed as she stared at the young boy with intrigue and curiosity.

Merlin looked between the three girls desperately as the little boy swayed dizzyingly on his feet.

"My Lady?" The guard persisted, as Morgana rushed to the door. "In there," she whispered to Merlin and pointed to a hiding place at the back of her room behind her red curtains. A room divider was all that stood between the two boys and being caught by the guards.

"Sorry to disturb you, My Lady," the guards announced as Morgana opened the door, "we're searching for a young druid boy, we believe he came this way."

"I haven't seen anyone," Morgana defended, "it's just me and my maids." She gestured to Elara and Gwen who smiled at the guards.

Much to their relief, the guards bought their lie, "best keep the door locked till we find him," they suggested.

"Of course," Morgana smiled sweetly, "thank you." As soon as the door closed, the three girls ran over to where Merlin sat hunched on the floor with the druid boy who had fainted, in his lap.

"Let me take a look," Elara sat on her knees in front of them, as she tore open the boy's shirt. Both it and Merlin's hand were covered in his red blood.

"He's been struck, bad." Elara murmured as the four of them shared a concerned look.

                                                                                           ***

"People of Camelot," the King addressed an assembly of citizens below, much like the audience that Merlin and Elara had gathered in on their first day in the city. "The man before you is guilty of using enchantments and magic and under our law, the sentence for this crime is death."

Prince Arthur stood next to the King with his arms crossed across his chest as Uther continued to address his people, "we are still searching for his accomplice, anyone found harbouring the boy is guilty of conspiracy and will be executed as a traitor."

Both Merlin and Morgana stood by the window, as Gwen assisted Elara clean the boy's wounds. Their being in Morgana's chambers meant limited medical supplies, and so with a damp cloth, Elara gently wiped the cut and tied a white cloth around it, to both stop the bleeding and try to prevent infection. On the boy's upper chest sat a spiral Triskele tattoo, which Elara had identified from her brief reading about the Druid people.

"Let this serve as a warning to your people," Uther now addressed the prisoner, who was understood to be the boy's father. But he cut the King off mid-sentence, "you have let your fear of magic turn to hate... I pity you."

"I can't watch this," Morgana whimpered as she sat down by Elara's side and brought the boy into a side hug. The three girls now sat on the floor next to the boy, with Merlin by the window.

With one wave of the hand, the execution of the druid man echoed from below and at that same moment, the mirror in Morgana's room shattered into dozens of little pieces. Elara flinched in shock as her and Gwen shared a confused look. Elara had also noticed that the boy's breathing had increased tenfold as his eyes screamed despair. But what struck Elara as really strange was that the boy looked at Merlin with resentment it was almost as if Merlin had been the one to have done the killing.