The knights spent the day silent, training to the point of exhaustion.

Blisters bloody and opened, they did not stop. The sun beat down of their necks, and their sweat and blood mixed with the earth, as steel met steel in a clash of wills.

They were not aware of the crowd that had gathered, drawn in by the sheer fever of the knights. No, instead, they were all two aware of the failure.

So when questioned of their antics, Gwaine had been the one to answer after a period of heart breaking steeled voice tore apart every person who heard him speak.

He said that maybe if they had been better, they could have saved him.

Saved Merlin.

And with that, the knights turned to the cruel sun and began again.

But this day wasn't tearing up anyone more than Arthur.

He had not spoken a word. Nor had he looked anyone in the eye.

But if you looked close enough, you could see the dark circles that spoke of nights with no sleep, nights spent staring in vain hope, hope that died with every moment that passed.

He had met every anguished blade that came to him in a rage of despairing hope.

So with Gwaine's statement, all he had done was nod, stare at the ground and try not to break.

Not to break for Merlin.

But instead of turning, he fell to his knees, armor meeting the ground.

And this time...

He wasn't sure if he'd get up again.

She glanced up at Arthur, but couldn't bear the look that was etched on his face, so she turned her head back down.

The table had never seemed longer to Guinevere. The dark wood bewitched her eyes, becoming the perfect place to simply lose herself in her thoughts. But right now, she wished the pain would just go away and leave her thoughts to herself.

She had dressed in black today, tied a neckerchief around her wrist.

It was blood red.

"Do you ever wonder?"Arthur's quiet voice broke the silence, as the queen looked up from her untouched dinner in surprise, to see her husband staring into his goblet, as if transfixed by the ruby droplets it held.

"Wonder what, Arthur?"

The king traced the perfect circle of his drink, and replied wearily.

"Where he… he went? If he is coming home?"

Gwen's face fell into an unreadable mask, knowing what was coming.

It had been exactly 6 months to this day when Merlin…. Merlin disappeared.

Gwen shut her eyes before whispering, "He's not coming, Arthur. Please… don't start this again."

Arthur looked up his eyes rimmed with redness.

Slamming his hand on the table, the queen flinched as his broken voice cut through the silence.

"Start what? Did it ever end? Does it ever end Guinevere?"

And with that, he stormed away from the table, not truly angry at Gwen, but angry at his own failings.

In the dead of night, all was not silent in the royal chambers.

If you listened closely, you could hear the noises that stained the night sky. The sounds that echoed through the castle, reverberating of every deserted hallway into the stillness. If you listened closely, you could make out the hollowed noise for what it was;

The screams of Arthur Pendragon.

A calling card of the King's nightmares, a never ending remembrance of when his hands were stained red at another's will. The night that everything altered and everything they might have known changed; changed to welcome a new age and mourn the loss of another.

For tonight when the moon dared peek through the clouded sky, the king's cobalt eyes would meet it once more, as if welcoming an old friend. For he would face another sleepless night.

His eyes carried the weight of the world.

The eyes of a man lost without his other half.

Lost without his brother.

And then somewhere in the woods, a man with hair as black as night would cry into the moon, wishing his sins away, wishing to come home.

The man would hold his secrets to his chest, a false sense of the only thing he knew.

And maybe, just maybe, the sun would welcome a day where the two could meet again.

But the night?

The night heralded the darkness, and the darkness held the pain.

And the brothers had enough pain to last a life time.

A/N: I am a terrible person, and I'm so so sorry for not updating in forever! If anyone out there is still reading this, thank you :)

Please review to tell me if i should continue or not :)

-Liv