So...first Merlin fic eh? I've had this in my head for a few months now and just wanted to get it out before the new series. Therefore, it might be a bit rushed and clumsy (seems that way to me but if several people agree, I may try to fix it)

Enjoy (I hope) and remember that the BBC is epic for creating Merlin.

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew the knights and Arthur back several paces, whilst Merlin was thrown off the fence he had been so precariously perched upon. Winded, he lay on the floor briefly, attempting to get his breath back and summon up the energy to laugh it off as another example of clumsy Merlin. However, the ring of 6 swords being unsheathed grabbed his attention immediately and he leapt to his feet to see who could warrant this sort of reception.

Standing there, not 20 feet away, were Morgana and Morgause. The latter looked a little more battle-worn and she no longer stood quite so tall, no doubt due to being thrown against a wall last time she was in Camelot. But the anger and pride on both of their faces was exactly as it had been when they had attempted their take-over.

"Brother," Morgana sneered in greeting, "it's been a while. Why so hostile?"

"How dare you return!" roared Arthur, "You have chosen your side now. You have no place here anymore. Leave or I will not hesitate to run you through." He waved his sword threateningly as if to demonstrate the seriousness of his words. Behind him, his knights repeated his actions and prepared to fight for him once more, if needed.

"Now, now. No need for violence. I'm merely here to ask you a question but I'm glad to see I'm still as welcome as I've always been in your precious kingdom." The bitterness seeped into Morgana's speech and Arthur couldn't help feeling a little pity for her. Orphan, abandoned, outcast. She'd never stood a chance.

"Anyway, we're not yet ready to try and take back the throne. Morgause hasn't recovered her strength yet," Here, she threw a quick glare at Merlin, acknowledging him as the one responsible for her sister's weakness, even if neither of them were quite sure how he'd done it. Merlin just stared right back at her and she continued her monologue - apparently Arthur was still more willing to listen to her than kill her.

"I've been nursing her for the past few weeks and we've been exchanging stories. She's very interested in one particular story. Neither of us know the ending to it so we've finally decided to come ask you." She paused, looking straight at her half brother, who merely looked back confused. "Why isn't Uther dead, Arthur?"

Absolute silence followed her question. That is unless you count the sound of several jaws dropping simultaneously as they tried to follow the new direction that this conversation had taken. Leon was the first to regain his senses. He lunged towards the sorceresses in anger before being stopped by a stretched out arm and a voice.

"No. Let her speak," Arthur said softly. At first, he had been listening to Morgana because he knew that he still couldn't raise his sword against her, despite her betrayal. She had been the closest thing he had to a friend for as long as he could remember and it would take a while to move past that mentality. Right now though, he was curious as to what she wanted. "What do you mean, Morgana? You're the only one who's made any attempts on his life recently."

"Ah, but I'm not the only one here who's ever tried to kill him, am I?" Morgana queried, rhetorically of course, with a wry smile. "Morgause told me all about how she planned for you to kill him originally. She showed you the truth behind Ygraine's death and you ran home in anger, ready to avenge your mother. So why didn't you?"

Merlin had frozen in place as soon as he realised where this conversation was going. He'd always known that this topic would come up one day but he'd hoped it wouldn't be so soon. He'd hoped Uther wouldn't still be around when the truth finally did come out because Arthur's fury would be even more terrible second time round. And he knew that he couldn't lie to Arthur again.

"But y-you..she wasn't.." Arthur fumbled over his words, not fully understanding the turn that this conversation had taken. "That wasn't my m-mother. You made it all up. Right?" he asked, turning to Merlin, as if to confirm the truth behind what he had just said.

"That's what they told you?" Morgause said, incredulously. This was the first time she had spoken and it was obvious from the hoarse tone of her voice that she had not fully recovered from their last encounter. "And you believed them? You're more of a fool than even I took you for, Arthur Pendragon. I showed you nothing but the truth!" she spat out cruelly, before pausing and looking at something over Arthur's shoulder with curiosity. "But why not ask your servant? He knows the truth."

Slowly, Arthur turned around and he, along with everyone else in the training ground, was shocked to see the hatred in Merlin's eyes as he glared daggers at the two witches in front of him. Merlin hardly ever got angry. This, more than anything, told Arthur that Morgause spoke the truth. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because Merlin only ever got angry when someone tried to hurt his master, as they now did by telling him of his mother's death. Or maybe it was because, underneath the anger and hate, Merlin had the look of someone caught out in a lie.

"It's true?" breathed Arthur. "Merlin! What I saw was real? You lied to me?" His tone quickly turned to one of anger and betrayal. It was that more than anything that grabbed Merlin's attention, making him look away, albeit reluctantly, from the witches.

"Yes. Everything you saw was true. I'm so sorry Arthur. For lying and for what happened" apologised Merlin before lifting his head to look his friend straight in the eye. "But I'm not sorry for stopping you."

Arthur seemed to freeze from shock upon hearing Merlin say that. He sounded so confident and wise and so bloody assured that he knew what was right. But it was Arthur's father who had committed this atrocity, Arthur's mother who had died and Arthur's life that had been traded for like a sack of wheat. So it was his decision as to what was right.

His anger thawed him out and trembling, he turned from Merlin. He'd deal with the liar later. Right now he needed to avenge his mother and rid the world of a monster. Vaguely, he registered that Morgana and Morgause were no longer stood in the training ground (they probably made their escape whilst everyone's focus was on him and Merlin). He couldn't bring himself to care. All he could feel was a cold rage and the weight of steel in his hand.

Stunned, his knights could only watch him walk towards the castle. They didn't understand the situation and Arthur appeared to be set on his cause of action. After all, their loyalty was to Arthur so they would follow their prince and watch this drama play out before their eyes, hoping he wouldn't do anything he would regret later.

The scrape of wood on the floor drew their attention to the gate. Standing at the gate, clumsily lifting the shield into a defensive position, was Merlin. There he stood, in between Arthur and the castle, looking for all the world like a child playing at knights but the determination on his face was clear and his voice was strong.

"I can't let you do this Arthur."

"Move Merlin!" spat Arthur, "Justice needs to be done. Move or I'll be forced to cut you down."

"Do it then! But listen to me first. Listen to reason!" Merlin cried out, desperate to make his friend see sense. "You know this is wrong. I know you do!"

"No Merlin. What's wrongis that my father traded my mother's life for mine! What's wrong is that he blamed magic for his crime! What's wrong is that he has killed thousands of innocents to cover up his guilt! What's wrong is that HE'S STILL ALIVE! Now MOVE!"

"I'm not denying his crimes Arthur but you can't kill him! Murder is not the same as justice! And I'm not moving until you see that!"

"Then I'll make you!" Arthur roared before running forward, swinging his sword wildly at Merlin. His anger made him sloppy though and Merlin had trained with Arthur long enough to be able to block his attacks. "You wouldn't understand Merlin," Arthur yelled, puncturing each word with another blow. The shield was starting to look the worse for wear by now and Merlin's arm jarred with each hit, causing him quite a bit of pain but Arthur's words hurt more.

"You're nothing but a servant!"

Something in Merlin snapped then. He knew it was true but to hear it from Arthur hurt, no matter his reasons for saying it. Instead of simply blocking the next hit, Merlin pushed forward to meet it instead and, with a little magical help, caused the sword to become stuck in it. Arthur's shock at this move was apparent and Merlin took this as his chance to be heard.

"Exactly! I'm just a servant. Always have been, always will be despite everything I've done for you. Everything I've given up for you! You rewarded everyone else for their help and their loyalty in all your battles - I'm meant to call them sir or lady now - but I got nothing! And I didn't care because you were more important than titles. It didn't matter that you took me for granted so long as I could help you but right now, I want you to respect me as you respect them. I want you to acknowledge that I have your best interests at heart and I want you to bloody listen to me when I tell you this is wrong! I'm your friend Arthur!"

Throughout Merlin's tirade, Arthur had stood, shocked, listening as his servant poured out all of his frustrations and his bitterness and somewhere within him, he recognised that Merlin was right and that he deserved so much more than Arthur had ever given. But now wasn't the time. Retribution was still needed so instead, he stored away all that Merlin had said to analyse later, yanked his sword free and dealt a final crushing blow.

"We were never friends," he said as he walked past Merlin's battered body and towards the castle.

His arm was definitely broken, he had several cuts and bruises scattered across his body but those words hurt Merlin more than any blow. The knights watched him slump forwards, broken, even as his prince walked away and the dream of a peaceful, thriving Camelot seemed to be disappearing before their very eyes and all they could do was pick up the pieces.

Then they heard him. With much difficulty, Merlin was pushing himself upwards, to stand tall and strong for one final attempt at persuading Arthur. Surprisingly, he didn't turn around but instead looked resolutely away from Camelot before speaking, stronger and colder than his voice had any right to sound.

"I quit Arthur. I can't be your servant. And you're right. I could never be friends with a murderer."

His voice had clearly carried across the field because Arthur had stopped dead in his tracks once he had started speaking. The knights were now watching the scene, both curious and worried as to what would happen. The two men stood, backs to each other, as still as statues and time itself seemed to have frozen at this point where the future of the entire kingdom would be destroyed.

And for one agonising, heart-breaking moment, it looked as if all Merlin's efforts were for naught as Prince Arthur took a step forwards. But he couldn't seem to move any further before he crumpled to the ground, letting out the most pain-filled scream any of them had ever heard. He cried for the mother he'd never met, the father he'd never known and the revenge he could never have because Merlin was right.

He didn't see it yet. He might not see why Merlin was right for many years but he must be because Merlin had never threatened to leave him before. His loyalty and trust were beyond question and somewhere in the back of his grieving mind, he recognised that, for Merlin to say he would leave, Arthur must be about to do something terrible. So for now he would scream and cry and keep as far away from his father and his servant as possible but one day, he would realise that Merlin, his best friend, was right and he could start to heal.

Observing from a distance, the knights watched, shocked and confused. Their prince was breaking apart in front of them because of a few choice words from the young servant. He had stopped Arthur from making a horrible mistake where they couldn't, where they hadn't even tried since it seemed impossible. And they remembered the story of their first meeting.

"I could take you apart with one blow."

"I could take you apart with less than that."

The now saw the truth in these words and they feared for Arthur, and for Camelot, if Merlin were ever to leave.

Merlin just stood with his back to them all and watched the world beyond him, knowing that destiny was still on track and that everything would be alright.