I love this! I’m speechless

Favorite reveal EVER! Thanks for letting Arthur figure it out and for giving him credit for caring more about friends than about being lied to. Thanks for letting us see some unimaginable powers on Merlin's part. Great magic! Thanks for making it epic!

Lovely writing! The structure of your story revealed things at just the right moments and the imagery is beautiful. Reading it was a treat :)

this is the worst. waking up to the memory of loss, experiencing it all over again because it's been forgotten in sleep... especially if you dream the person is alive. then, waking up is the nightmare...
arthur's process of beginning to grieve is realistic in a deeply melancholy way. anger at merlin for dying, rehearsing the death in his mind as if, provided he can figure out another way it could have gone, it will change anything... and then enough acceptance to say, what next. what do i do. what about the people who loved him, who don't know yet.
i love that moment when merlin realizes, just how much he means to arthur. and then he prepares to lose that, in making his confession of magic - but arthur pre-empts him, saying i already know and it's fine.

lovely end to a lovely story! i'll drink to that, if i may?! :)

i suppose it's a good thing that they found arthur alone and outside the wall - no one else was hurt in their capture of the king... i feel bad for arthur alone, though, now that he knows he only defeated dark magic with merlin's help, before now. i'd /almost/ prefer him still oblivious, with that sort of cocky, i'll-sort-it courage...
and merlin, the true hero in all his humble, self-sacrificial glory. sigh. *tear*

this was really lovely. i love the way you do foreshadowing - gwaine doesn't know what merlin saw, but the readers can take a guess. the same thing, or near enough, to the vision arthur saw? the bloodstained shirt, the hint that it might cost merlin his life to save arthur...
(gwaine is my favorite. i do think he wouldn't so much as blink to find out merlin has magic...)

not sure what to make of this one... nemain the earth goddess, though? as opposed to the 'macha' goddess of war that is aiding ruadan... sad and horrifying and ominous...

i was wondering whether gwaine had mentioned the headless corpses in an effort (or something less intentional) to divert arthur's attention from the gap in the magical residue where merlin had been - but that leads right back to merlin, doesn't it. and /questions/.
i like that arthur starts to put two and two together - but i wondered whether gwaine and leon would do the same... i like that his reaction is dazed disbelief and shock and /it makes sense/, before anything like anger or betrayal. and in that first moment, he's still trusting merlin's word (and motivation) about the burial of the heads...
and i absolutely /adore/ the fact that once he's with merlin, and really looks at him, that sense of betrayal dissipates. hurt, maybe, and disappointment for both their sakes that the lies were necessary, and continued, but he's not holding anything against merlin. and that one moment is all that's needed to convince him about the nature of magic...

and the next moment, when merlin has hung on to see him once more and might now /die/, is excruciatingly poignant. beautiful. i love that arthur calls him back with the line about /magic/, rather than anything else... but it's also a testimony to their friendship - i know, and i'm here.
i love that line about destiny binding them together, but the friendship being a gift. that's gorgeous, and exactly how i see it, too.

i love these rough, tough guys joking in the situation to reassure merlin and each other, and make him smile - /much/ better (and more manly) than protestations of caring and concern!
and my heart hurts for any situation where arthur can't take merlin's irrational panic /seriously/, b/c he doesn't yet know of the magic...
yes, merlin is alive, but camelot - and arthur, more specifically - are by no means safe...

arthur's reaction is awesome - i'm going to root out those sorcerers - and thank them! :)
but, poor merlin. in the middle of the enemy attack, trying to stop it. that was an incredibly moving scene!

and. if i'm reading this correctly, wounded!merlin goes head to head (oh gosh the pun, i'm sorry) with a goddess to make sure ruadan is /not/ victorious, nor arthur killed!...

this is the sort of king i always imagined arthur would be. man enough to say, yes i can a random dream of my manservant as a warning - better safe than sorry where the kingdom is concerned. :)
it makes me sad - and proud - that merlin can be so tattered and worn, himself, but his magic and purpose are always solid and strong. well-written!

i really like this simple domestic scene, the idea that gaius is perfectly comfortable sending merlin out to deal with an emergency. he's not hovering nervously or offering reminders, just settling himself in for the night and even opening a book. it's perfect! i always love gaius' confidence in merlin's medical training and abilities!

Simply a wonderful ending to a brilliant story. I loved the rebirth of the forest and it's magical properties..and the way that in allowing most of the animals to escape the hunters Merlin's hatred of hunting is carried into the new forest. The mystical nature of the woods being peaceful again balances tge horror of thier destruction in the prologue wonderfully.

Once again l am awed by your style, sentence structure and vocabulary. You convey your ideas and emotions with such clear power and expression that it pulls one completely into the story.