Scene From My Big Bang Fic

[nyxelestia]

Okay, so, because RL is a bitch, I couldn't finish my Big Bang fic for paperlegends. But! itzcoatl made some awesome art for me, which she will still be posting. One of the two paintings is of a specific scene I had written, and I am posting it here for her to link to from the art so she can give said painting some context.

~*~

"What do you feel," he asked. "At the thought of the prince's burning, today?"

Merlin swallowed. "I...um..."

He also had to remember something else - there was a thin line between love and hate, and it wasn't unheard of for victims of adverse situations to fall for their captors. While the boy may have had the option to simply walk away at any time, if it was his survival being brought into question, he may as well have been held captive, for all his heart would tell him.

The boy would be useful, but a close eye would have to be kept on him.

"Er, relieved?" the boy said, finally. "I, er...was sort of expecting something else."

"Like what?"

"Like burning Uther and keeping Arthur captive, or just keeping them both, or something, as leverage, or..." the boy trailed off, unsure.

A sharp mind, but not that sharp. Or even more disconnected from the magical community than he'd thought.

"I'd considered it, briefly," Alvarr said. "But I think the emotional status of the army and the people would matter more than any potential leverage the prince could provide. The people want revenge, for losing their loved ones." He gave Merlin a shrewd look. "Have you lost anyone?"

"...yes..."

"To this war on magic?" he asked.

Merlin swallowed again.

This time, there were more obvious tears in his eyes, and they were clearly of grief.

"Definitely," he said, voice a little hoarse.

"So you can understand the desire, then, to see Uther suffer as you have?"

Merlin shut his eyes for a moment, looking down, before taking a deep breath and opening them, and saying, "I suppose I'm a little biased - for me, I'd rather that were Arthur than Uther." A pause. "I had to help him seduce a noblewoman and a servant girl just weeks after he killed the love of my life."

He sat up even straighter, as Merlin closed his eyes again as he continued. "She was a Druid girl, and she was cursed, and...and...we were going to elope, and find a cure for her. I was finally, finally, going to run away. But Arthur found her and killed her, and..."

He stood up, walked over, and gently grasped Merlin's shoulders. The boy jumped, startled, and looked up at him, a single tear trailing down one cheek.

"I will need to know all this in time," he said, taking in the boy who'd gone through so much and yet kept going so strongly, helping magic users from within the enemy's walls and ranks while hiding his own power. "But if this story in particular is too painful to recall, I think it can keep for a while until you feel stronger."

Merlin nodded, bringing his sleeve up to wipe his face with the back of his hand. "Thank you."

Alvarr smiled at him, squeezing his shoulders comfortably before dropping his hands. "You have clearly done much for us without even meeting us - between that and the years spent under the Pendragon's close reign, I think you deserve some rest. And later-"

The doors opened, and Enmyria strode back in.

"The pyre's construction is well underway," she said, formally. "It should be easily completed by dawn."

Alvarr nodded in thanks, and gestured for her dismissal. She clearly didn't like the idea, but she left to stand guard outside.

"So Arthur's dying today?" Merlin asked, looking out the windows, likely also noting the time.

"Yes."