Season 2, Episode 7

Story 20: Behind the Scenes

Chapter 5: Possessed

Arthur began to patrol just beyond Camelot's borders. They had finished looking through their assigned sector and Michael, one of the knights assigned with him, suggested they look further. "We don't know when they escaped. They could be just beyond the borders," he pointed out.

Arthur couldn't refuse without drawing suspicion to himself, so he agreed. He hoped that Merlin and Morgana were either long gone or were still safely in the tunnel.

Once they were outside of the gates, Michael turned to him and placed his hand on Arthur's forehead. Arthur took a step back. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Astige du vaki mod ond gedeowie daet mod disse deowes. Hine bind ond da heold ond awend hi ealle. Us sue wilgesibas. Ic renian berbay," he whispered, never breaking eye contact with Arthur.

Arthur had the strangest feeling of being lifted out of his body. He could still see his body and feel his heartbeat. When his hand moved, Arthur felt it, but he had no control over it.

He had the strangest feeling of déjà vu, as if this had happened before. He felt like a foggy memory lay just outside of his reach.

Arthur was pulled from his thoughts. By a strange tugging. He realized that his body was moving. He watched with horror as his sword killed the other two knights that were with him. "There's a good boy," Michael said in his most condescending tone.

Arthur felt a hatred he had never felt before. "Thank you," his voice said. Arthur was shocked. They were controlling his voice. How was this possible? How could a couple of sentences have stripped Arthur of everything?

"Tell us what you know about your father," a voice said from behind him. His body spun around to see what was happening.

Arthur's body didn't say anything. "The spell doesn't work like that," Michael explained. "His mind is somewhere else. We can control his actions and we can put the words in his mouth, but he cannot help us more than that."

Arthur was relieved. The secrets of Camelot would be safe from them, well the ones that hadn't already been divulged to the knights of Camelot. His body followed Michael as he began to walk. Arthur groaned as they stopped right outside a small grate. That grate led to the tunnel where Merlin and Morgana were making their escape.

"So how are we going to do it?" One of the new men asked.

"We have to be careful. It won't be easy now that he is ready for a magical attack," Michael said. "Not that it was ever going to be easy to kill Uther."

"At least now we have his precious son," the other man pointed out.

Arthur stopped listening. He felt like he was choking. They were plotting to kill his father. Arthur desperately wished to return to his body.

The harder he fought to return, the further he drifted. They were going to use him to kill his father and he would be powerless to stop it.

His body started moving and he knew that there was nothing he could do. He was a pawn for them to move as they pleased.

The moment the voices were gone, Merlin turned around and started going back towards Camelot. "Wait here," he told her.

"What are you doing?" Morgana asked him.

"We've got to stop him," Merlin told her quickly. "We can't let him kill Uther."

"Why not?" Morgana demanded. "Why does Uther deserve to live? He has killed thousands of good people."

"I agree that Uther is an awful human being, but that doesn't mean that he deserves to die. Besides, if Arthur kills him, he will never trust magic again. If you thought Uther was bad, imagine Arthur after he loses a father. He will have no one to fall back on. You and I will be long gone. He'll have nothing but his father's legacy," Merlin explained. Morgana still looked doubtful. "You are better than this Morgana," he chastised lightly. "If you condemn Uther to death, how are you any different from him?"

"You're right," she admitted softly. "I just hate the idea of us saving him. He doesn't deserve it."

"No, he doesn't. But Arthur does," Merlin told her.

Morgana nodded. "What are we going to do?" She asked.

"You are going to wait right here," Merlin told her. "I can't have you getting in the middle of this."

"I can't just wait here!" Morgana told him. "Besides, I am strong enough to help. You know as well as I do that the spell you need to use to free Arthur will work better with more than one person."

Merlin groaned. He would keep arguing, but he knew it would only prolong them. They may be too late as it is. "We must hurry."

They ran back through the tunnel, neither of them bothering to keep silent. They made it back in half the time it took them to go through it in the first place.

They burst out and ran towards the council chambers. They knew that when Arthur sought an audience with his father this is where it would happen. Two guards stood outside the door. As Merlin and Morgana approached it, they crossed their swords.

"No one is to enter. The king is in audience," they told him.

"They're trying to kill the king," Merlin frantically explained. The guards showed no sign of believing him. "I'm really sorry about this." Merlin magically made the knights slam into each other. They crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Merlin and Morgana pushed open the door and saw the chambers were in utter chaos. One guard was on the floor, a large pool of blood around him the only indication that he was dead. Arthur and Uther were fighting each other. There was the sound of clashing swords as the other knights in the room fought the men that were working with Michael.

"Arthur!" Merlin shouted.

Arthur faintly heard his voice. He wished his body would turn so he could see who was calling him. Instead his body kept up its attack. His father was hurt and badly. With one more push, Uther fell to the ground and did not rise. Arthur's body prepared to deliver the fatal blow.

"Arthur stop!" the same voice shouted. Arthur recognized it this time. It was Merlin's voice. What the hell was he doing here? He was supposed to be long gone. "Morgana, help me."

"Bafaeste aepelingas," Merlin chanted.

"Hailige," Morgana continued.

"Ic bebiede. No cwellan!" They chanted in unison.

"Gerihtlaec me!" Merlin yelled.

"Gerihtlaec me, geihtlaec me," Merlin and Morgana repeated.

Almost like he was falling, Arthur slammed back into his body.

"Michael! You have to kill him Arthur! Gerihtlaec me! This won't last forever. His hold on you won't be broken until he is dead," Merlin warned.

He rejoined Morgana and kept chanting the same thing over and over again.

Arthur made his way towards Michael. It wasn't easy. He could feel what Merlin meant about Michael's hold. He felt like an invisible hand was trying to grab him, but he couldn't see where it was coming from, so he couldn't defend himself. Every time it reached for him, it got a little closer.

Michael was fighting two knights right now, but was holding his own fairly well. Arthur doubted he would be able to keep it up once it was one on three.

Sure enough, once Arthur joined the fight it was a matter of minutes before Michael was weaponless.

"Please, have mercy on me," Michael begged.

Arthur shook his head. He felt like he was at war inside and he couldn't even pretend to humor Michael. "I cannot," he told him. "You are guilty of using enchantments to possess the prince of Camelot and to try to kill the king. You are sentenced to be executed; a sentence that will be enforced… immediately." With that, Arthur plunged his sword down into Michael. As Michael gasped and took his last breath, Arthur felt like he had been doused with icy cold water.

Arthur took no pride in it. He had regarded Michael as a brother for years. His betrayal stung. The only thing that softened the blow of the betrayal was the relief that his father was alive.

He turned back to look at Merlin and Morgana. He could hear fighting still happening behind him. Michael had been but one piece of whatever was happening now; there was still a threat even with him gone.

He walked towards where Merlin and Morgana were standing. Merlin was crouched over Uther whispering something under his breath. Arthur felt a brief shiver of fear, a subconscious response that was the result of years of conditioning and teachings of the evil of magic. Deep in that subconscious, he feared that Merlin might be trying to kill his father.

He was able to push aside that fear relatively quickly. Merlin would not have risked his life to come back to Camelot to stop Arthur from killing his father just to kill Uther himself.

Once he was finished, he stood up. Uther's breathing returned to normal and there was more color in his face. "Will he be okay?" Arthur asked anxiously.

Merlin nodded. "Gaius will still need to patch him up and it may be a couple of weeks before his strength returns to him, but he will live," Merlin promised.

Arthur let out a sigh of relief. He studied Merlin and Morgana. They had every reason to hate his father, yet they had returned to save him. It went against everything he had been taught. He had been taught that the fear he felt right now was the only rational response to magic, yet Arthur knew it was unfounded. "Why did you do it?" Arthur asked, unable to contain himself.

"Do what?" Merlin asked.

"Return. You could have been safe. Instead you returned to danger." Arthur waited to hear what Merlin had to say.

"We heard you when we were still in the tunnel. I knew that if you killed your father, you would never forgive yourself. And… I may hate Uther, but not enough to kill him," Merlin explained.

"We had to stop you," Morgana said softly.

Arthur nodded. It was strange to him that they would return to risk their lives. They shouldn't have. It was the type of love and compassion that his father always insisted sorcerers lacked.

As his father stirred, Arthur turned to them. "You must go. Now. If he wakes to find you here, he will have you thrown right back into jail," he warned.

"But…" Merlin started to object.

"Go!" Arthur pushed Merlin slightly to get him to move. "You saved my life. I can never repay that debt, but I can do this. Leave now. Please." Merlin still hesitated. "I know now that I was wrong about you. Magic can be evil, but it can also be good. I saw both sides today and I was able to make the judgment about which was evil and which was protective. One day, when I am king, I will use that same judgment to free those that practice magic and ensure that this is a safe land for you to return to, but for now you must leave."

Merlin turned to leave, but Arthur stopped him. Merlin wondered if he'd already changed his mind. "Thank you, old friend," Arthur said, extending his arm to Merlin.

Merlin grabbed his arm in a sigh of friendship. "Goodbye," he said quickly before he turned and followed Morgana out of the council chambers.

They were able to leave Camelot without a problem. Merlin wasn't sure how, but they were not stopped.

They kept walking until they were deep into the woods. Merlin felt his heart breaking with every step they took. Camelot had been his home. He was leaving behind Gaius and Gwen and Arthur. He had worked so hard to build up a life there, but it was all for naught.

A comforting hand squeezed his shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll be able to go back one day," Morgana promised him. "You heard Arthur. You managed to get through to him. I never believed it possible, but you changed him. One day, we will get to go home. And in the meantime, you will do what you need to do to protect him. That I'm sure of."

Morgana had no idea how correct she was. Over the next several years, they spent more time travelling back and forth from Camelot than they did in their own home. But Merlin had sworn he would protect Arthur and that is the only way they knew how.

Arthur often sought council with Merlin. Merlin had enchanted a water basin, so Arthur need only say his true name – Emrys, and Merlin would hear him.

It worked both ways. Merlin could communicate with Arthur that way. That was how, two months after they left, Merlin managed to ask Arthur if he would be the one to marry them.

Arthur didn't hesitate. After everything Merlin had done for him, he couldn't say no. Arthur went even further than just approving Merlin's request. When he snuck out of the castle that night, he brought Gaius and Gwen with him. Merlin and Morgana hadn't seen them since they had left.

It was a beautiful night, one that convinced Arthur even more that he was doing the right thing.

Three years after they married, Morgana got pregnant with their first child. Merlin spent much of his time by her side. He turned into more of an advisor for Arthur than anything else. He was still willing to come if Arthur needed him, but Arthur rarely asked that of him.

When Merlin gave Arthur news that Morgana was in labor, Arthur dropped what he was doing, grabbed Gaius, and rushed to their little home.

After hours of labor, Morgana gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The moment he held her, Arthur knew. He wasn't sure anything more precious existed in this world. Looking over at Merlin and Morgana's euphoric faces, Arthur was sure they would agree with him. Holding their daughter, Arthur made a promise to himself, a promise stronger than the one he had made to Merlin. He made a promise to this little girl, the tiniest baby that he already felt the most intense urge to protect, that one day she would be able to live peacefully in Camelot with her parents and she would have the world at the fingertips. He vowed that one day, things would be different for her.

Arthur knew the day would come when he would be king. And when that day came, he knew he would keep his promise. He would create a land where Merlin and Morgana and their children and all the people like them would be free, not persecuted. Until that day came, Arthur would hold that promise close to him.