Merlin stretched his tired muscles as he finished ringing out the last shirt he had to clean. With a sigh of relief, he hung the shirt up on the line that all the others hung on, a small smile gracing his lips. He was finished, now all he had to do was serve Arthur dinner, maybe draw him a bath and then he would be done. He made his way to Arthur's chambers, frowning when he caught a glance of the courtyard out of the windows. The stage was built up, a crowd of people surrounding it.

A young boy was being led to the platform, his hands shackled behind his back and shaking like a leaf. On the stage was a man shrouded in all black, a sickening grin on his face as he polished his ax.

Merlin took off at a sprint. He caught Gwen stopped on the stairs, gazing out the window. Merlin skidded to a stop next to her, "What's happened?"

Gwen turned sorrowful eyes towards him, "Poor boy. The guards caught him using magic and Arthur won't hear any more of it." She sighed softly, looking back out at the people, "He hasn't been the same since Uther died."

The two of them looked down the flight when a clicking of boots on the stone floor alerted them to Arthur's presence as he made his way up to the balcony, "Arthur, what is this? Have you gone mad?"

Arthur paused to consider him, a frown pulling at his lips, "Sorcery is illegal Merlin, you know that." He said dismissively, quickly continuing his path.

Merlin trailed after him, all but glaring at the back of his head, "And what exactly did the child do to deserve death?"

"It doesn't matter," Arthur snapped at him, "He refused to stop practicing so it's already corrupted him. We're lucky to have caught him before he hurt anyone."

"But Arthur-"

"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur barked at him, stopping to glare down at Merlin.

All Merlin could do was stare at Arthur before watching him walk onto the balcony to deliver his sentence. Merlin had to look away when it was followed through. He felt a lump in his throat and started walking away. Arthur would be a great king someday, he would bring magic back to the lands and unite Albion. Merlin kept repeating those words in his head as he went to the kitchen to get Arthur's dinner.

Merlin stood off to the side, as far back as he could get while still being able to see. He didn't like watching Arthur when he was like this but it was his job to be here.

"Do you admit to teaching your son sorcery?" Arthur asked, his eyes boring down on the poor man and his wife who knelt before him.

"No, my lord, we never taught him sorcery," The man said, clutching his wife's hand tightly.

"Then where did he learn? Did he leave home at all, disappear? Or did someone else come to teach him?" Arthur interrogated them with cold eyes, it chilled Merlin to the bone.

"He did not learn it, my lord, he just knew it," The woman said, her eyes pleading for the king to understand.

Arthur only frowned, "If you will not tell me who taught him magic, I will be forced to charge both of you with sorcery,"

"No!" The woman cried out in terror, her husband hugging her tightly.

"You both are sentenced to death. Take them to the cells," Arthur said coldly, waving his hand to take them away.

Merlin's heart broke for the two as he watched them be dragged away. As soon as they were gone, people began filing out, a couple of them reassuring Arthur by telling him he had made the right decision. Soon it was just him and Arthur in the throne room.

Merlin walked up to stand in front of the throne, his eyes regarding Arthur with utter disbelief, "Arthur, this isn't right."

"I need to eradicate all sorcery before it has the chance to attack," Arthur said with a deep frown.

"Do you really think steel stands a chance against magic?" Merlin asked abruptly, surprising even himself, "Magic would have no problem escaping from the throne room, escaping from the cells, even escaping from the pyre. We've seen it all before a countless number of times. These people are willingly giving their lives to you, do you ever ask yourself why?"

Arthur was silent for a long moment, looking through Merlin in a way that made his blood run cold, "You don't know anything about ruling a kingdom, Merlin. If you focused on your own job then maybe you wouldn't be so rubbish at it." The silence that followed was pungent, broken by Arthur standing up and walking past him.

Normally that would have been a comfortable banter between the two of them but it left Merlin feeling hollow. How could Arthur have fallen so far?

Merlin stood behind Arthur at the round table. It was Arthur's proudest accomplishment since he became king. He wanted everyone to be equal in Camelot, everyone.

"It's been made clear to me the sorcerers hide among us." Arthur said to his knights, "We must remain vigilant and create a battle plan so there is no chance they may succeed in their goals."

"Sire?" All eyes turned to Merlin. He never spoke during the round table meetings, he wasn't technically a knight, after all. It was almost interesting to see which knights regarded him respectfully and which silently questioned how he dared speak at a meeting. "I'd like to offer a different point of view. Might I show a demonstration to everyone?"

Arthur raised a brow, "What type of demonstration?"

"Trust me, it will be very informative," Merlin said with a reassuring smile, conveying without words that he might well speak without Arthur's permission anyway. Arthur shot him an exasperated look before nodding his head. Merlin sent him a smile before taking a deep breath. "Friends, acquaintances, those I've known for years and those I've known for less. I care very much for all of you, but I'm afraid you're all approaching this situation incorrectly."

What are you doing Emrys?

Merlin met Mordred's eyes for a moment, watching the druid's eyes widen as his own burned with a golden fire. Within a moment the doors slammed shut and invisible force bound each knight to their chairs.

"Merlin!" Arthur's shout was a fine blend of fury and shock that was reflected in the reactions of the other knights. Some were frozen still while others yanked and pulled and shouted at Merlin.

"I told you this before, Sire, you can't fight magic with steel," Merlin said, a blank expression on his face as he lifted one of the knights' swords into the air and melted the metal down with a flick of his wrist. "You can only fight magic," Merlin's hand shot a bolt of magic at Mordred who could only react on instinct, lifting his own hand to stop it before it hit him, "With magic,"

"Emrys, stop this," Mordred said, standing up as he realized his bonds were released.

"Tell me that it's the job of the once and future king to publicly execute innocent children and I will," Merlin challenged, sending a glare towards Mordred

"It is not your job to force everyone to believe you," Mordred shot back.

"Sit down, Mordred," Merlin's magic shoved Mordred back down. He ignored the druid's glare as he continued to address the round table. "There have been so many enemies who have attacked Camelot. If a sorcerer could lock the room and keep you all down as easily as I have, what makes you think you've defeated them all on your own? Nimueh, Morgause, Morgana, and all the people who wanted to assassinate the king all had to be stopped by someone right?"

"You're beginning to sound vain, Emrys," Mordred warned.

Merlin shot him a glare before continuing, "For every time magic has attacked you, magic has also protected you. Saying that every man who practices magic is capable only of evil is as say that every man who practices the art of swordcraft has only the intent to kill. The acts of the few should not cost the lives of men, women, and children. And yet lives have been taken, far too many lives, and I've grown impatient waiting for a king who claims to strive for equality for all!"

"Emrys!" Merlin's eyes snapped to Mordred, the two of them exchanging piercing glares.

"You cannot tell me you haven't grown impatient as well. You cannot tell me that you don't fear for your life every single day. You cannot tell me that it doesn't kill you to continue to believe in the future that the king will create when the reality you see every day puts you on a pyre for making a flower bloom." Merlin said, clenching his jaw tightly.

"It is not my place to decide when the law changes just as much as it isn't yours," Mordred argued.

"That's where you are wrong. It is my destiny to protect Arthur so he may become the greatest king Albion has ever seen and I intend to do so," Merlin said, holding Mordred's gaze for a long moment before turning away, "I hope you will all take into consideration what has been said, that is the end of my demonstration." Merlin walked out, releasing his magic soon after.

The room was all but frozen, silent except for the heavy breathing of a couple of the knights. Everyone looked to Arthur who stared at the grain of the table before standing abruptly, eyes still downcast.

"You are all dismissed," He said flatly before he walked out.

What's up guys, I'm not dead! I've been working a lot on original stuff but I just got back on a Merlin kick and I had to go through all of my old work. I found this and just had to share it. Let me know what you guys think and if you want more from my archive of Merlin fics. ^w^ Lots of love to everyone reading!