Of Time and Treason TEASER

Disclaimer: I do not own the television show Merlin. Any publicly recognised characters are entirely not of my creation. I do however, own this story, so hands OFF!

Summary: For seven years to two most powerful people in all of Albion were separated. One was thought dead; the other was thought his killer. Neither knew the truth.

So, given the fact that I'm publishing the first chapter of this in a week or two, I thought I'd spoil you all with a little hint of what is to come.

In case it's unclear, this little snippet fits in just after the first chapter of 'Of Honour and Magic'. I highly recommend reading that again, if you have before, or reading it in general if you haven't. Especially as I have made some minor changes to the story (additions to chapters two and three), the importance of which will become apparent once I upload the full story.

Well, get reading!

… The pain was incredible and immediate as Merlin woke. For a moment he thought he had failed, and he was still standing atop the funeral pyre, with Uther's guards surrounding him, ready to see him burn. Then, the clear picture of trees against a bright blue sky appeared to his eyes, disorientating the boy even more. He lowered his gaze slowly, running it along the length of a tree until it reached the ground. He followed the ground to where it met his body, and almost yelled in shock.

Bright, burning flames blazed around his leg, withering the skin and slowly charring away the flesh. His foot was almost completely removed and the dry grass around it crackled with the still burning inferno.

Instinct over took him, and Merlin raised his head, throwing out an extinguishing spell faster than his mind could process the words. The heat died instantly and the flames shrank to nothing soon after. But the pain remained, even more intense than before.

To Merlin, it felt like every inch of his leg below the knee had been ripped from his body in messy strips. The bare, raw flesh was exposed to the air, and merely its presence in the open atmosphere exacerbated the sheer intensity of the pain. His toes were gone, the flesh burnt away and the bones tinged with the blood and fat that was left. His foot, ankle and calf were all shrunken from the loss of fat and muscle to the fire. It all shone a bright red from the blood in the afternoon sun…

… Arthur awoke to the sound of the doors of his chamber closing quietly behind the servant who had brought up his breakfast. The heavy curtains that covered the windows of his bedchamber remained closed, but several fresh candles burnt in their places around the room.

With a heavy sigh, the prince dragged himself out of his bed and over to the table. He grabbed a soft, lightly buttered roll from one of the plates laid out and took a large bite out of it as he continued on to the window. He pulled back the curtain slightly and then let it fall back into place with a mental huff.

He had not seen Camelot in such a dreary state for many years. The sky was grey with water-filled clouds which occasionally saw fit to drizzle their contents upon the roofs and streets of the city. The heavily worn dirt paths that crisscrossed back and forth amongst the houses had long turned to mud, mud which had then coated everything that touched it. Carts filled with waterlogged straw sat idly, their wheels entrenched so deeply that even the strongest of the knights would have trouble releasing it. It painted a depressing picture for the eye to behold…

… Uther himself was also enraged with Arthur. He would not accept the fact that a sorcerer had lived under the castle roof, and as seemingly convinced that Arthur had to have known about it. He berated his son daily about not dismissing the servant for 'suspicious behaviour'. He conveniently forgot that he had been the one who first employed Merlin as Arthur's manservant. He was so consumed by his anger and humiliation that he had become blind to everything.

The first few weeks after the execution had been filled with the panic of the villagers as Uther relentlessly ordered searches for more sorcerers in Camelot. Guards swept the town hourly, ransacking rooms that had been searched time after time for even the smallest sign of witchcraft. Hundreds were arrested, dozens executed, with little proof.

It sickened Arthur to the core. He had tried to protest, once he had snapped out of his confusion surrounding the revelations of his manservant, but in his blind rage, Uther had promptly thrown him in the dungeons. And Arthur was not the only one…

"If he can turn against his own servant - no, his own friend - who are we to the boy? I'll tell you - nothing! He thinks nothing of us .He would not protect us, would not act in our best interests. Forget the Prince - he is nothing but a title. I pity Camelot when Uther dies!"

"Sire, I regret to inform you that there is nothing more I can do. The king is dying." Gaius said, and Arthur sat with a thud on the chair beside him. "I fear that your only hope is magic."

But I have no magic. Arthur thought. I have no magic because I killed Merlin.

"My Lord, I have heard word from the outlying villages about a strange man – a sorcerer." Leon reported. Arthur turned his head towards the man.

"Who is he?" The prince asked. "And can he save my father? Would he be willing to?"

"I do not know if he is friend or not, sire, but the tales surrounding him are almost unbelievable."

"What tales?"

"Well sire, they say he cured a flock of dying sheep from incurable disease. I've heard it said that he can build a village from nothing...

... It appears the only thing he cannot do is raise the dead."

Arthur hid the dropping of his heart at the last sentence. He is happy now. He will find a way back if he wants to return.

"Who is he?" The prince asked again.

"They say his name is Emrys, sire." Leon stated. "But those tales are nothing – it is said that Emrys travels on the back of a Dragon."

Well, did that get you curious? I hope so, because that's about all I can give you without giving too much away. Once more, I encourage you to read Of Honour and Magic again, the changes are integral to Of Time and Treason.