Betrayed and Broken

Hurt

AAAAAA

Arthur heard Merlin groan in pain after a painful attempt at a laugh. The day before Merlin had finally managed to break his chains. He had just lain on the floor for a while, practically sobbing with the sweet breath of painlessness. Eventually, he had gotten up and scratched out the runes on his cuffs and a few more on his cell. It had hurt for Arthur to watch, really. This was a person who had, despite all the lies, once been his best friend and an integral part of his day to day life. Now he was hanging from the ceiling of Arthur's own dungeon, trying to maintain his strength and focus his magic.

It was funny how easy it had become for Arthur to start saying magic and sorcerer. He had even made a few slip ups and said warlock in reference to Merlin. He knew that Lancelot and Gwaine had noticed, but with a look from Merlin, they didn't comment. That's what had made it worse, really. Merlin didn't ignore Arthur or argue (not banter, not anymore) with the king. It was as if the sorcerer had come to peace with their former relationship and the shambles that it was now. It was as if he didn't blame Arthur anymore.

He was supposed to blame Arthur! That way the king would be justified in killing him when they defeated Morgana! But with each day, it got harder and harder to convince himself that he was in the right and Merlin was wrong. It was especially hard seeing his former best friend in pain because the man had decided to help Arthur reclaim Camelot. How was he supposed to blame the young man when it was his own fault that Merlin was there in the first place?

Maybe, Arthur reasoned with himself, maybe he wouldn't kill Merlin. Maybe he would just reinstate the 'leave and do not return on pain of death' rule that he had before. It had worked out pretty well. On second thought, it hadn't worked very well. Camelot had been taken over in less than a year, whereas when Merlin was around, Camelot was never truly taken over. Arthur's half-sister might have taken over briefly, but not as long as she did this time.

The King of Camelot didn't like that particular line of thinking as it was erring too close to what Merlin had been saying all this time, so he stopped those thoughts and started thinking about his wife instead. Before he could get too far in that line of thought, the door to the dungeons crashed open and Leon frowned, "It's too early for food. Who is it?"

That question was answered quickly when Morgana marched down the stairs, manic smirk in place. She ordered guards to go into Merlin's cell and put another magic-muffling pair of cuffs around his ankles and take him down from the ceiling. Arthur saw the others all flinch when Merlin crashed to the ground with a muffled groan. Arthur decided to try and take control of the situation, "What's going on Morgana?" He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Mordred had stalked into the room behind the 'Queen of Camelot'. Agravaine followed close behind.

Morgana just laughed before announcing smugly, "I'm going to kill all of you in front of your most loyal members of the royal court."

They were all tied together by Mordred and dragged upstairs.

When they made it to the court room, Merlin was still unconscious, having to be dragged behind them by two guards. Arthur looked around and saw about twenty other guards and around ten people in the various liveries of the five kingdoms. He subtly signaled to the knights, indicating that they should get the noble advisors out of the room with the other royals. His ropes constricted his hand movement and he hoped that all of them got the message correctly. Arthur thought wryly that Merlin wouldn't have been able to get it with or without the ropes.

Morgana sat on his throne, back straight and yet somehow still seeming to lounge. She smirked again and started her speech, "You courtiers of the five kingdoms will spread my message and the news of their rulers' deaths. I want all to know that those who defy me, those that choose to fight, they will surely die. But those who do not resist, those that choose to welcome change, they will have a future in Albion. Everyone has a choice. Tonight we will have a gallows built and all those who defy me will receive their punishment. This has just begun!"