Betrayed and Broken

Betrayal

"Arthur!" The king heard Merlin shout his name, reaching towards him with his hand out as if that would help now. His manservant was leaning precariously over the edge of the cliff watching with horror written across his face as Arthur fell. Quite frankly, the king was a little miffed. This is not the way he was supposed to die. He was either going to be killed in battle or live a long, wonderful life with his beautiful wife, Gweneviere, dying only when old age caught up to him. He wasn't supposed to fall off a cliff when the earth had given way beneath him, turning to sand. He wasn't supposed to just splatter on the ground, dead and desecrated.

Then the unthinkable happened. Arthur watched as Merlin's eyes turned liquid gold and felt as the air cushioned around him. Shocked, Arthur felt around him, patting the layer of air and finding that it was completely solid. The king looked back up at Merlin, at the sorcerer, and stood on his little patch of nothingness. He saw the sorcerer gulp slightly, a wild look in his eyes. He saw as the man he once knew lifted his hand towards himself, pulling Arthur's little air cloud with it.

He climbed onto the cliff, slapping the sorcerer's hand away when offered. The former manservant looked affronted, as if he had a right to be offended! Arthur stalked away and ran his hands through his golden hair. Everything was so backwards, so broken. Merlin couldn't be a sorcerer! He wasn't an evil person! Arthur would know. But then, the evidence was all there. He had seen it with his own eyes.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked tentatively, not shouting this time, but somehow sounding more urgent.

Arthur rounded on him, snarling into what had seemed to be an innocent face, "Did you really think it would work?" Merlin stared at him, confused. Arthur growled and continued, "Don't play dumb with me! Did you really think that by getting close to me I would think you weren't evil? Did you really think that you could pull the earth from beneath my feet and then save me, having me miraculously change my views on magic? Who do you think I am? It doesn't count as saving me when you're the one who causes me to be in the life threatening situation in the first place!"

The king finally let the sorcerer have a word in, during which he just spewed more lies about not causing him to fall and saving him because he was his friend. He even had the audacity to claim that he only used his magic for Arthur! What kind of fool did he take him for?

Arthur cut his former friend's spiel off by raising his hand. He thought wryly to himself that it was only now that the traitor decided to listen to orders. Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm, feeling bile rise up in his throat at the thought that he was touching something so evil. Then, quick as a flash, he pulled out his dagger and swung at the evil sorcerer.

The man ducked out of the way, trying to pull from himself from Arthur's grip. His eyes were wide with fear and Arthur just spat out, "Monster!" He swung his dagger again, managing to cut a gash across one side of the sorcerer's face. Then he felt himself flying backwards, propelled by magic.

For a moment, Arthur just sat there in shock. He knew that Merlin was evil. He had to be since he was a sorcerer, but for some reason, he never thought that Merlin would fight back. He never thought that he would attack him.

When he stood up and looked at the sorcerer, he noticed that he seemed shocked too. He looked at his hand as if it weren't a part of him. Then the traitor looked up at Arthur, his wide blue eyes terrified, blinking out blood from his cut. Arthur distantly realized that Merlin hadn't even screamed. Then, the sorcerer held his hand in front of him, as if he were warding Arthur off. That's when it really hit Arthur that his manservant was evil. Completely, irrevocably evil.

Arthur raised his head and panted slightly. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take Merlin down with just a dagger, so he glared at the man and ground out, "You are hereby banished from Camelot. If anyone sees you, they are under orders to kill you on sight and bring your body back to the castle for a reward. If anyone is found to be harboring you, they will suffer the same consequences. You are officially the top of the list of fugitives to be found. I would recommend that you run and run far away, but I want to see you dead, so I won't. This is not over, sorcerer."