Chapter V

Author's Note: And so we've reached the end. Thank you to all who have followed, alerted, and especially reviewed. It has meant so very much to me. I would love to know what you think of this final chapter.

A huge shout out to my beta, mam711, without whom this story would have been a lot less satisfying.

Disclaimer: BBC, not me.

Merlin couldn't swallow past the lump in his throat. He was sure Arthur was about to banish him too, and then what would he do? How would Arthur become the great king he was destined to be without Merlin's help? And how could he have been so stupid as to get caught?

Everyone waited to hear what Merlin's fate would be. The knights were fond of the young servant, and were sorry to see him in trouble, even if he had brought it on himself. Merlin readied himself for Arthur to pronounce judgment.

"If I lock you up, Merlin," Arthur finally said, "my father will want to know the reason. If I suddenly need a new manservant, there will also be questions. So I cannot arrest you, sack you, or banish you. Therefore I have decided that my only course of action is to take care of your punishment personally, and simply make your life a living hell for the foreseeable future."

Merlin let out a held breath. He could live with that, he thought. He would get to stay in Camelot, and his destiny was on its path once more. He inclined his head towards Arthur.

"Thank you, sire," he said.

Arthur gave Merlin a half-crooked smile and replied, "Don't thank me yet. You have no idea what horrid things I am planning to make you do for me when we get back to the castle."

Sir Owain let out a nervous chuckle. Sir Eustace scowled, but Sir Leon grinned. He enjoyed watching the two young men together. They were good for each other, he thought. He was relieved that Merlin would be staying.

"It is time for us to take our leave," Arthur said suddenly, turning to face the knights. "Sir Robert, you will stay here and make certain that Mari and her children depart on the haycart as planned. If it does not come for them by morning, go and quickly arrange some other discreet transportation. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sire," Sir Robert replied solemnly.

"As soon as they have gone, escort Thomas and Jane to the border. See that they get out of Camelot safely with no questions asked. Report to me when you return."

Sir Robert promised to follow his orders, and the other knights and Merlin said their good-byes. Merlin would have liked to have stayed with Sir Robert to see everyone off, but he knew that asking Arthur for such a favour would be severely pushing his luck. So he settled for meaningful looks across the room, and hoped that Thomas, Jane, and Mari understood his silent messages.

Before long they were walking back to the castle, and Arthur sent his knights on ahead so he could speak to Merlin privately. But as soon as they were alone, he seemed to forget what he had intended to say, and the two walked in silence through the darkness of the lower town.

Merlin finally broke the ice. "Are you really going to make my life a living hell from now on?" he asked.

Arthur scowled. "Yes," he answered shortly.

"Well, no change there then," Merlin quipped.

Suddenly Arthur dropped his torch, grabbed Merlin by the arm, and spun him around until they were standing face to face. "Don't you dare joke about this!" he said, eyes glittering with anger. "Do you know how close you came to a death sentence tonight? Of all the stupid things you've ever done, this was the most idiotic, thickheaded, simpleminded, doltish.…"

Merlin was rather impressed with Arthur's vocabulary. He yanked his arm from the prince's grasp. "As stupid as you breaking the Druid boy out of the cells a fortnight ago?" he demanded. "As idiotic as taking him back to his own people?"

"That was different!" Arthur said hotly.

"It was the same, and you know it!" Merlin retorted.

Arthur clenched his fists and took a deep breath. For a moment, Merlin feared he had gone too far. But Arthur just let the breath out slowly, and when he spoke again, it was in a quieter tone.

"The difference, Merlin," he said, "is that I am a prince and my father's only heir. If I had been caught with the Druid boy, it would have been bad, but I would at least have kept my head! You do not have that protection. If even one knight had not vowed his silence tonight, by now you would be sitting in a cell awaiting execution, and quite possibly facing torture to get information about the underground. I would not have been able to protect you from that. Do you understand?"

Merlin cast his eyes downward. "I do," he admitted quietly.

"If you ever do something like this again," the prince continued, "I will execute you myself!"

"It will never happen again, Arthur," said Merlin sincerely.

"How can I be sure of that?" Arthur demanded. "How can I trust that you won't just continue these illegal activities behind my back?"

"I give you my word, sire," Merlin vowed. "You can trust me." He swallowed hard. "But even if you don't, my role was just to send the travellers to the house," he said. "I can't do that anymore, so there are no activities to continue. You have shut it all down."

"Have I?" Arthur sighed and picked up his torch. They began walking again, Merlin a pace behind. "What of the others in your organisation? Will they know it is 'shut down', as you say?"

"Yes, because I will send a message saying so," Merlin answered. "You can watch me do so once we get back to the castle." He saw Arthur's sceptical look back at him, but did not elaborate further. The two continued in silence once more.

When they reached the Citadel, Merlin led Arthur over to the broken flagstone. The prince held his torch low so he could see the three marks in the dirt.

"See, Arthur," said Merlin, "that's how I knew there were three travellers."

"Who put it there?" Arthur was curious.

"I don't know," Merlin admitted. "I've never seen him. But look; all I have to do is this." Merlin leaned down and smoothed out the dirt. Then he drew a big X with his finger. "That's the signal that I've been caught. Someone will get the message and pass it on. You don't have to worry, Arthur. It really is over."

Arthur sighed. "Good." His voice grew firm. "And if you are ever asked to do such a thing again, you are to refuse, and then you are to tell me about it. Is that understood?" he demanded.

"Yes, sire," Merlin replied meekly. Although he didn't expect to hear from the mind voice again, he knew that if he did, he would not be telling Arthur. What the prince did not know wouldn't hurt him.

"You know," complained Arthur as they started up the steps into the castle, "I never got my dinner tonight. And somehow I think that's your fault, Merlin. Get me something to eat!"

Merlin was only too happy to obey. And if he used a little magic to get the food to the right temperature, well, no one was any the wiser.

While he ate, Arthur thought about the night's events. He hoped he'd done the right thing. If one of the knights slipped up or changed his mind, the truth would come out. Uther would be beside himself with rage, and heads would roll—literally. But Arthur thought of Camelot's children and stopped second-guessing himself. He knew he couldn't have done anything else.

He thought of Mari and Alis and Rupert, and of Thomas and Jane and their daughter Margaret. "I wonder," mused Arthur out loud, "if they will be all right?"

Merlin was still marvelling about the tiny boy and his power. "I think Rupert is destined to be one of the greatest healers Albion has ever known," he answered grandly.

"What would you know about destiny?" scoffed Arthur. "And no one's paying you to think, Merlin, so shut up."

"Prat," muttered Merlin, but very quietly. It would not do to get Arthur riled up again.

Epilogue

The young woman eyed the dirt in the broken flagstone. Where she had put three lines the day before, there was now an X. Her heart sank. That meant something had gone wrong, and her part in the underground was finished. She would have to stop at the baker's this evening and tell him she would no longer be coming in for sticky buns. And then he would have to tell ... someone. And so on, and so forth.

What could have gone wrong? Had the travellers been caught, she wondered? But she hadn't heard the warning bell last night, and the Citadel was quiet. No one seemed to be preparing for an execution (or three). So maybe the travellers had gotten away after all. Although she would never know for sure, that seemed the most likely outcome.

Breathing a little easier, Gwen walked up the steps to begin her workday.

The End