A/N:

Welcome! Glad you've decided to give this a read! :) This fic is to satisfy a plot bunny that's distracting me from plugging away at my Nanowrimo-novel-still-under-construction…anyway, I'd love to hear feedback not just on this story but on my writing style (and especially dialogue), so that I can apply that to my other writings-in-process. I'm excited to share this story with you and eager to learn from you along the way as I strive to continuously improve as a storyteller.

Summary: Uther hears that Arthur is the Once-and-Future-King of prophecy, destined to join Emrys in returning magic to Camelot. Uther declares Arthur a traitor, forcing him to flee Camelot with Merlin. The catch? Arthur has no idea who Emrys is, let alone any desire to fulfill the prophecy. Merlin is pretty sure this destiny business just got a whole lot more complicated. AU starting from 2x07. Eventual reveal!fic; (very) slow-burn Mergana & Arwen. There's a fair amount of angst along the way, but there's a happy ending, I promise.

Rating/Warnings: This fic is rated T for action sequences/injuries/serious angst/some character deaths. There is no slash, no smut, and no language (caveat: a total of ~10 very mild profanities in this 150k+ word fic, all canon-equivalent or milder. Basically just a handful of instances of "bloody" as an adjective in the British slang usage, as well as 1 or 2 instances of "damned" in a common colloquial expression).

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything plot-wise that you might recognize within this entire fic. I write it purely for fun and to get the plot bunny to leave me in peace!

Acknowledgments: Cover art by the incredibly talented AlexandarCho, used with permission. Check out the original, entitled "So you wanna play with magic?", along with the rest of AlexandarCho's work on deviantART!

Chapter 1: The Witchfinder

"Can you smell it?" Aredian growled as he strode the length of the great hall and approached the king. "Can you smell it?" he shouted, letting the words echo off the high ceilings and stone walls of the throne room.

Merlin, standing to the side of Arthur's throne, flinched slightly at the venom dripping in the man's voice. Gaius had warned him about Aredian. The man had been in the room for less than five minutes and already Merlin could see Gaius' warnings had not been exaggerated.

"Smell what?" Uther asked in concern as he rose from his throne to greet the witchfinder he had summoned.

"The stench of sorcery. Even now," Aredian surveyed the gathered courtiers with piercing, cold eyes, "it pervades your kingdom—even corrupting those closest to you."

"What do you mean?" asked Uther, his voice stern.

"I was already on my way here when I received your summons. I have come to root out the traitor and expose the sorcery so close to your throne."

Merlin swallowed thickly, glancing at Morgana out of the corner of his eye. She had visibly paled at that statement.

We both think he's talking about us…and maybe he is.

"Then you must begin your investigations immediately. My men are at your service for whatever assistance you may require."

"My investigations are already complete," Aredian replied with a chilling smile, then raised his voice again for the benefit of the assembled crowd. "All that remains is to call the guilty party to account."

"Then name the sorcerer!" Uther demanded.

"Oh, I do not have just one name." The evil smile widened. "I shall name both the sorcerer and his accomplice."

The room fell completely silent.

Confident he had everyone's undivided attention, Aredian announced smugly, "The sorcerer who threatens everything you've built is called Emrys…and his accomplice is Arthur Pendragon!"

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A/N (updated 6/14/19):

Five years ago, I started this fic...and I naively thought it'd end up may 25k words in total. Apparently I have an addiction to ensemble casts subplots, because it's 120k words and counting. ;)

I'd originally set out to write very concise chapters frequently (they started out between 300-800 words each with daily or near-daily updates). Instead, they settled into an average of 1000-1500 words per chapter. Since I resumed posting after the Great Hiatus between Ch 77 and Ch 78, the subsequent chapters have averaged closer to 4,000 words each (with a possible range of 2,500 to 6,000 words per chapter).

I'm going through and cleaning up some formatting issues and typos in already-posted chapters, but I've chosen not to edit/update the style and content of earlier chapters even when I identify things I could write much better now than I did at the time. I feel this piece chronicles my growth as a writer and I value the reminder of how much I've learned and how much I still have yet to learn about the craft of storytelling. :)

I've posted a separate fic of Appendices for this fic. It includes (as of 4/15/20):
Appendix A - how this fic's geography fits with both the series' maps of Camelot/Albion and with modern maps of the United Kingdom (as some of these correlations are relevant to the plot)
Appendix B - my methodology resources used in spell creation (as well as a bit of color-commentary on the linguistic anachronisms in canon)
Appendix C - Deleted Scene ("Marrock and Ylva" - fits with ch 83-84)
Appendix D - Prophecies and Lore (reflecting in-world artifacts through ch 92)

(And other content forthcoming, such as prophecies and lore that will show up in subsequent chapters, plus additional deleted scenes and any other relevant context that would fit better in an Appendix for easy reference instead of being crammed into excessively long A/Ns along the way.)

Thanks again for taking the time to read this humble creative endeavor and (I hope) to offer a bit of feedback along the way! :) See that review button below? It's calling your name…