A/N: Hey guys! As I promised, much to my dismay and tears, here's the final chapter. It's been an interesting month, and I'm so glad that so many people have enjoyed this story. Could everyone please review as I'd like to know what people think, this means criticisms are welcomes as this is my first ever attempt at a Merlin fanfiction, not to mention Merlin/Arthur. Also, I'd like to know if I should perhaps write another Merlin fic in the future? Ever since reading Merthurtilidie's Mordern AU, I've had the urge to write my own (And if you have no idea what I'm talking about you're missing out). So what do you guys think? Should I? Another note, I hope this chapter ties up any loose ends, and I'm very sorry if the ending seems a bit dragged out as I got stuck. Enjoy ad please review!

Merlin's heart was racing as swords flew through the air in every direction, eventually stopping as they neared Uther. He was encased in a cage of swords from all angles, and if he even dared move the sharp blades would no doubt pierce the King's skin.

It only took a few moments to realise that what he had suspected was correct, Arthur was controlling the swords. It was the only logical explanation, but if he was aware of it or not was beyond Merlin entirely.

The moment Uther had pulled him away from Arthur and pushed the dagger against his throat, Merlin expected his life to end that very second. However this feeling was cut short by his saving angel as Uther was thrown onto the ground.

"Arthur..." Merlin began as he nervously stood next to the prince. "You don't need to do this, I'm okay now..."

"He hurt you Merlin," he whispered coldly through gritted teeth, "and as long as he lives he's just going to keep trying."

"You've changed..." Merlin said remembering Morgana's question earlier today. "I know you Arthur, and I know that you would never kill your own flesh and blood."

"Yes I would," Arthur replied as the swords in the air seemed to vibrate with anticipation.

"Please... Arthur, don't do this," Merlin pleaded.

As much as he would have no problem with Uther dying right this instant, Merlin didn't want to see Arthur kill his father in cold blood. It was stupid, but just by looking at the prince he couldn't help but be frightened by Arthur. Even the peasants and guests seemed to be terrified as they either lined the walls of the room or were rushing out the doorway.

"Arthur, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry about what I have done," Uther said quietly trying not to move too much as the swords seemed to press in closer to the King.

"Well sorry isn't good enough!" Arthur hissed taking a step forward towards his father. "So far all you've wanted to do is take Merlin away from me, not once thinking how it would affect me!"

"I was only doing what I thought was right..." Uther seemed positively frightened, and Merlin didn't blame him either.

Merlin felt almost as if he was splitting in half, this was not the Arthur he had come to love.

"What you thought was right!? You have no idea what is right for me or not! How did you feel when mother died? Upset? Lost? Well that's exactly how I feel when Merlin's not around, and I'm not letting you take him away from me!"

"What are you doing?" Uther cringed as the swords appeared to push him flat onto the ground. Arthur paced around his father as the swords pushed themselves as close to the King's body as possible.

"Something I should have done a long time ago."

Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm as he tried to make the prince realise what he was doing, what he was becoming.

"Arthur, please think about what you are doing," he said placing one of his hands on Arthur's tense shoulder, only for it to be brushed off harshly. Merlin felt as if his shoulder would dislocate under the prince's strength.

"I've thought about this long enough!" Arthur boomed loudly into Merlin's ear, so loudly in fact that his voice seemed to reverberate around the room causing Merlin to stumble backwards.

"Please, Arthur... stop," Merlin begged quietly, looking up at the prince through his eyelashes.

"Why!?" Arthur snapped at him almost as if he wanted to kill him also. "Why should I listen to you?"

Merlin felt tears well up in his eyes as he was taken aback by Arthur's reaction. He no longer knew what to say or do. It seemed that there was no use fighting with him anymore.

"Because you're breaking my heart!" Merlin yelled at the prince as he rushed out of the hall crying, navigating his way through the peasants who were still running around terrified.

Running as far away from the castle, Merlin headed straight back to his own room, making sure he locked the door behind him so nobody could get it. Gaius surprisingly wasn't home, the only conclusion that Merlin was able to come to was that the court physician was also at the ball, which meant he would have seen everything that had happened.

Once he'd made sure the door was locked, Merlin pushed his cupboard in front of the door just to make sure no one would be able to break the door down.

The moment Merlin's body hit the bed, he curled up into a ball as his breathes came out in heavy gasps. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, Merlin began having trouble breathing as the air suddenly felt thick and cloudy.

Standing up, Merlin began grabbing everything and anything that wasn't nailed to the floor and started throwing them around the room. After everything had been either tipped over, smashed, torn or mutilated, Merlin sat in the furthermost corner of the room and placed his head between his legs suddenly feeling nauseous.

Grabbing what was left of his shredded pillow Merlin rested his head on it and allowed himself to succumb to sleep, closing his eyes in hope that he would never wake up.

*

It only took a matter of seconds for Arthur to realise what he had done as Merlin left the room crying. At that instant, each one of the swords dropped to the ground in a clatter leaving Uther untouched. A few people screamed as the clanging of metal against the ground echoed throughout the hall.

"Oh god..." Arthur looked up at everyone around him almost as if he was some kind of monster. Even Morgana who was pressed firmly against a wall was staring at Arthur wide eyed.

His father lay on the ground silent, staring intensely at Arthur but not in hatred or fear, it was something else entirely that Arthur couldn't quite put his finger on.

Immediately he began to feel sick and rushed out of the hall until he could no longer hold back what had been brewing inside his stomach.

Waiting until his nausea subsided, Arthur searched everywhere for Merlin but with no luck, the only place Arthur had left to look was in Gaius's quarters.

Hoping that Merlin hadn't left Camelot, Arthur made his way through the snow until he came to Gaius's front door. After knocking on the door, he waited wondering why no one had answered already.

Opening the door, Arthur found the room empty except for the usual junk and books scattered everywhere.

"Merlin?" Arthur called out in hope that he was here somewhere. There unfortunately wasn't a reply.

Walking across the room and up the stairs which lead to Merlin's room, Arthur knocked on the door gently.

"Merlin, are you in there?" Arthur asked quietly, tapping on the door repeatedly. He was certain that he had heard a faint rustling sound from behind the wooden door, which was an almost sure sign that Merlin was in there.

Arthur went to open the door but it didn't seem to budge, obviously Merlin had locked it from the inside. Luckily, Arthur knew how to fix this problem and stuck his finger through a small hole in the door just next to where the latch was, but again he was faced with yet another problem. There was something solid on the other side that prevented his finger from moving any further than inside the actual hole.

"Merlin... I'm sorry for what I said. Please let me in, I really don't want to break the door down," Arthur waited for a while, but there was no reply. Sighing, he sat down on the top step and leaned back against the wooden door.

"It's really rude not to speak when spoken too," Arthur began talking to himself seeing that Merlin wasn't holding up his end of the conversation. "Fine, be like that. Don't talk to me, but please, just give me some sign, any sign that you forgive me."

"Go away..." a muffled voice said after a short period of time.

"Do you honestly think that I would just leave you alone? After what happened tonight?" Arthur asked softly, gently pressing his ear to the door so that he could hear Merlin better.

"I guess not..." Merlin replied. Arthur was certain that he'd heard the young boy cry for a moment.

"Can you at least let me in?" Arthur begged as he bit his bottom lip anxiously.

Silence followed, but eventually Arthur heard the sound of footsteps slowly pace towards the door. Not long after there was a hideous scratching noise as the object Merlin had placed in front of the door was pushed aside.

The door creaked open slightly to reveal Merlin, who was looking through the small gap in the door.

"What do you want?" Merlin snapped. Arthur only had to look at him to realise that he had been crying the entire time. His eyes were all puffy and red as thin trails of tears soaked Merlin's face all the way down to his chin.

Feeling as if he couldn't explain his actions earlier in a mere few words, Arthur tenderly placed his fingers over Merlin's face, wiping away the tears that had gathered there. Once the boys face was no longer wet, Arthur pulled Merlin in tightly and hugged him, and Merlin hugged back, burying his face into Arthur's chest only to begin crying again.

"Please don't cry..." Arthur asked, resting his own head on top of Merlin's.

"I'm not crying," Merlin denied as he pulled away from Arthur, discreetly wiping away his tears with his sleeve.

Walking inside the room, Arthur was shocked to see the state it was in. No, usually Arthur was use to Merlin's terrible cleanliness, but this was just horrific. The only thing in the room that hadn't been touched was the actual window; everything else was either smashed or damaged beyond repair.

In the centre of the room, Merlin's bed had been flipped over and was now propped up against the side wall. Books covered the floor with their pages torn out, making it almost impossible to see the floorboards underneath. Even the cupboard that Merlin had obviously used to block the door with, had been kicked in, leaving a nice foot shaped hole. Not to mention the little door had been ripped off its hinges and now inhabited a corner of the room.

"I love what you've done to the place," Arthur remarked unintentionally as Merlin sat down in a corner of the room, next to him was a pillow that had been ripped apart, feathers danced around on top of the paper as a slight draft filled the room.

"Why wouldn't you listen to me?" Merlin asked quietly as Arthur struggled to make his way through the mess, sitting down next to Merlin once he'd crossed the valley of chaos.

"Merlin... my father tried to hurt you, what else did you expect me to do? Let it be, forget everything almost like it never happened? After everything we have been through, if you died... I would never know what to do myself."

"That wouldn't be a problem, seeing that it's most likely you would die along with me..." Merlin pointed out as he allowed his head to drop onto Arthur's shoulder.

"That's not the point Merlin," Arthur replied, running his fingers through Merlin's hair which was no longer neat and tidy.

"I know," Merlin said looking deep into his eyes. The moment Arthur looked back, he quickly averted his sight. "How did you do that? With the swords I mean..." Arthur had completely forgotten about the swords, not to mention what he had done to his father.

"To be honest... I have no idea," Arthur admitted as he recalled the events from no more than half an hour ago. "I remember seeing my father holding that knife to your throat and that I felt scared, scared of losing you again. I don't know how I made those swords move, all I do know is that I lost you once, Merlin, and I'm not losing you again."

"Make this move," Merlin asked placing a half torn book in front of him.

"What?" Arthur looked at the object in confusion.

"Just try," Merlin asked as he sat up straight, pointing directly at the book.

Mumbling under his breath, Arthur stared intensely at the tattered book in front of him, occasionally thinking, 'move dammit!' In his head, but gave up once he began going cross eyed.

"It's not going to budge," Arthur stated as he raised an eyebrow at Merlin who was snickering to himself probably not as quietly as he thought.

"I swear your eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets," Merlin laughed. It was good to see Merlin smile again, for a moment Arthur thought he'd never see that beautiful smile again in his lifetime.

"Maybe it only works when you're in danger? It makes sense... I guess, my chambers, the hall," Arthur contemplated his theory, it was plausible at least.

Once Merlin had stopped laughing, he turned and faced him until their faces were separated by the tiniest amount of space.

"So what happens now?" Merlin asked softly.

"I... I don't know. Take everything one step at a time, I suppose," Arthur replied pressing his lips against Merlin's before looking down to the ground. "But I know this, I'm not letting my father touch you ever again."

Merlin smiled once again, a smile that raised Arthur's hopes and a smile that filled him with a warm sensation that he never knew was possible.

"You'll be a great King one day, Arthur. And when you are, I just hope that I'll still by your side to see it. Because as long as I live no matter what happens, I will always be with you, Arthur. No matter what," Merlin grinned and cupped Arthur's face with his hands and kissed the prince passionately as they descended to the ground slowly.

*

As soon as his son left the hall, Uther felt many eyes burn holes straight through his body. It wasn't his fault that he was reduced to such an unforgiving method to dispose of Merlin once and for all. Just seeing Arthur dance with that slave was just completely out of line! Perhaps if the two of them had kept what they had discreet, maybe then he wouldn't have cared so much. But these were his people, his kingdom, what were they going to think now that they knew his son was romantically involved with an ordinary servant, and not just any ordinary manservant, at that.

There was also the question on how in the world Arthur had used magic. Two things that Uther hated most and both were somehow entwined with his son's life. Maybe it was his destiny to be with Merlin? But that still didn't explain how he used magic.

Even though Arthur had been born of magic, no one knew except for himself and his trusted court physician. If Arthur really did conjure up magic to protect Merlin, then what else was his son hiding? Perhaps his son didn't understand it either, maybe it was just some sort of defence mechanism... That's exactly what it had to be, a defence mechanism.

Of course it never occurred to the King that his son might possibly be aware that he had magical abilities. Was is possible that Nimueh had given Arthur more than just life? If it was then there was no way Uther could reverse it, and he wasn't just going to kill his son, he wouldn't have the heart. Arthur was the only thing left in his life that he truly did care about, and if anything were to happen to him... Uther glared at everyone as he collected himself off the ground.

"Guards," he bellowed out across the room to the guards that still stood at their posts to assert back his authority, "go and see that everyone is alright." Once the guards had left, Uther scanned the room only to see that everyone was still staring at him.

"What are you staring at?" he snapped only to wish he hadn't, Morgana strode over with a deathly glow about her. Uther wasn't quite sure if it was the dress or her actual glare she was giving him, he soon decided it was a bit of both, especially when she slapped him across the face.

"You barstard," she hissed in pure hatred. "How could you do that to Arthur? Don't you realise how much Merlin means to him?"

"Quite," Uther said, spitting on the ground as he realised that his lip was bleeding. "You're making a scene, and I will-"

"I'm making a scene!?" Morgana interrupted. "Remind me again who just tried to kill Merlin in front of half the city of Camelot?"

"I will not be spoken to by my ward like this!" Uther growled seizing Morgana's arm violently.

"What would you do, my lord? Kill me as well, in front of your own people? Look around you," Morgana said with no emotion whatsoever. Out of curiosity, Uther did what she said and looked around at his people staring at him with pale faces, their eyes widened with fear. It was only then that Morgana continued her lecture. "If this is how our King treats his people, then what will become of them? Just because someone is different, would you have them killed as well? Merlin is no monster and neither is Arthur, you are the monster, my lord."

Uther stood in shock as he realised that Morgana's words were true. If he were to kill Merlin, then everyone would know he was responsible for the manservant's death. But this boy was different, so different in fact that he would be missed if something ever happened to him, and there was no doubt in the kings mind that if he did kill Merlin, his people would never see him the same way again.

Maybe it was best not to kill the boy after all... There were too many risks involved in achieving that goal now, not to mention almost the entire city.

He wanted so much for Arthur to be happy, but why Merlin? Why? Uther groaned as he felt the need to get drunk again, although he was only just recovering from an aweful hangover to begin with so it probably wasn't the best idea to get drunk again.

"So what do you plan on doing with Merlin?" Morgana pushed for an answer, and Uther knew exactly what to say. Somehow he knew that he was going to regret it in the long run, but right now he saw no other option.

"Nothing," Uther hissed as his eyes flickered away from Morgana. "I'm going to do nothing."

Morgana smiled brightly and without saying another word, walked away. The crowed that lined the walls began exiting the room as the King rubbed his forehead before heading back to his seat where he poured himself another goblet of wine.

It was clear that his son loved Merlin, and even more clear now after what happened tonight. Swallowing the liquid in one gulp, Uther closed his eyes and wondered what would become of his existence now. His son was in love with his manservant, he also seemed to possess magic what next?

Sighing, Uther thought of the rough times ahead. If Arthur was to be with Merlin, then that was the end of it. Although his son would have to produce an heir with a woman, he would allow Arthur to continue his relationship with Merlin. But until the day Arthur would be crowned king, he would allow the prince to have some fun. All he wanted was his son to be happy.

fin.