Notes:

Right, warning!!

Non-Con. 

 ********

Morgause had been watching the King of Ambrosia for over two hours now. What can she say, she had always been creepy but, also... The flesh of the king was worth staring at.

Pale skin stretched over clean-cut lines of muscles and bone. Most of it marred by scars while some marred by some.... Strange ink that seemed to have been permanently engraved onto the skin. The masculinity of this man astounded her. It seeped from each pore of his being.

At first, she had thought that the King was powerful. Powerful enough to revive the perilous lands, control old-religion creatures and have the druids respect him.... But now, sensing that the king still had magic left in him even after she had released the Gean Canach on him...
That was what baffled her.

Next thing to baffle her was the presence of Merlin. When the King walked into the tower, she had felt it... the magic in the Tower had recoiled from Merlin as if the Sun itself had taken over the night. The tower would have made someone like him mad but it had only succeeded in making his magic anxious and confused.

Every second the possibility that this man could be Emrys was increasing.
But then why would Emrys choose not to attack Camelot, instead choose to protect it. Make a kingdom of his own? Was Emrys also the once and Future King?
No, this man couldn't be Emrys... no matter how much magic this man possessed.

She tried to break into his mind, but again with no success. She had been trying to get access into his mind for the past 2 hours with nothing! Nothing at all. It was like his and Morgause's mind were on completely different levels. Even that stupid whore- Manon- hadn't been able to crack into his mind.

She now knew that everything she had seen when they had first met.... Was either false or he had allowed her to see it. There was no other way- if she couldn't even enter his mind when the man was unconscious- at his weakest- then it should have been impossible for her to see the images she had seen when they had met.

This was the reason why she had tied him to the most powerful iron shackles she had. They should safely keep his magic at bay and she would be allowed to ask him a few questions and later kill him.

She leans forward and strokes his cheek once, letting her thumb dip lower to trace his lips..... she catches herself when she sees his eyes flicker and then slaps him, hard.

Merlin was in and out of consciousness- where you are not really awake but you can sometimes hear stuff around you.
Someone walked towards him and kneeled in front of him, it was then he realized that he was on his knees as well, his arms stretched so tight that it was bordering on extreme pain-he was shackled to the wall like an animal.

Merlin awoke fully to the feeling of being slapped.
His first thought had been- Urghhh! Not again.
Why does security always lets Melissa in! He had broken up with her thinking that he would finally be rid of her bullshit but she comes in every other day at bloody dawn to slap him tell him that the fault was in him and not her. He completely agreed but any day now he was going to blast her to hell with his magic.

Magic!

Someone slapped him again, jarring him fully awake. He then suddenly remembers the events that led up to him being in such pain. The time travel, the kingdom, Ryojin.... Morguase.
Well, at least the screeches had stopped, he was glad for that.

He raised his head a bit and saw Morgause- He really should have killed the bitch when he had the chance.

He had blood in his mouth, he spits it out aiming it at Morgause's boots and in return gets a kick in the stomach- also, why the hell was he naked?! He looks around for his clothes and sees them lying in a heap a bit away from him, Obsidian lying on top of the heap as if forgotten.

"Why am I naked?!" Is Merlin's first question to his nemesis. She laughs, head thrown back.
"You are shackled to the wall, you have no more magic, your dragon is under my command and the first thing you ask is ... why are you naked?"

Merlin shrugs as much as he can and winces when he pulls a muscle- he felt like he had been run over by a truck- all his muscles ached. Also, what the hell was she talking about? He does have magic, still.
"Fine, I will answer the questions you ask but for every question you ask me, I get to ask two." Merlin made a movement with his eyes that suggested that he didn't care but in reality, he needed this time of distraction.

He had to get out of these shackles. He also needed to thank Morgause for whatever she did because suddenly his magic did not feel like it was about to burst out of him. It was still a bit shaken but ready to be used.
He had a plan, but for it to work, he needed Morgause distracted.

"You are naked because you are nice to look at and I feel that everyone's body tells a story. Don't you think, Merlin?" He turns his head towards her, this was the second time she had addressed him by his name. Morgause smiles- "now you are wondering how do I know your name?"
He nods once.
"Well, your dragon did screech it all the way here to the dark tower."

Merlin closes his eyes at the thought of Ryojin screeching his name all the way to the tower. He really really should have killed her when he had the chance. He had never hated someone more in his life.
He needs to kill her and for that he needs time. Time or...
He is thinking when he hears a sugary sweet voice say, "My turn!"

He doesn't open his eyes because his head hurts to even look at anything. Why is this place causing him such discomfort?
"Merlin..." she tuts, he doesn't see her but he does hear her when she comes even closer and drags a fingernail on his shoulders, she then grabs a handful of his hair and pulls his face up to look at him closer. Her face inches from his, their breaths mingling. He feels disgusted.

"Now Merlin, tell me the truth." She pauses here for emphasis, "Why did the Gean Canach burst after five minutes of sucking your magic and why can't I, access your mind?"
Oh, it must have been the Gean-whatever that took the edge off of his magic, Merlin thinks

He swallows because his throat feels like dry parchment and then answers with a cheeky, "Maybe... because you are not as powerful as you think?"

Just for that, she grabs his hair harder.
At this rate, his hair might just choose to fall off. Merlin flicks his eyes to hers, rebellious and angry.
For a second he thinks that he sees her eyes flicker down to his lips but then he snorts at his own imagination and puts it down to the delusion that this place encouraged.

What he didn't notice though was that Morgause was having a very hard time not touching Merlin. Once she had touched that skin... she couldn't stop. Even his skin vibrated power.
All this excuse of 'everyone's body telling a story.' Was just that- an excuse.

In truth, Morgause had never been more attracted to anyone than she was to the King of Ambrosia. There was something about him that was.... not ordinary. His presence was like the Sun like nothing could touch him. Not even time. Even the first time she had seen him...

She had tried telling Nimueh about him but the older High priestess had just ignored her. She was too busy planning Camelot's and Uther's demise and had asked Morgause to take care of Ambrosia's king.

The dragon had been a surprise. She had thought that all Dragons were dead, killed at the hands of Uther Pendragon but apparently not. Another thing that had attracted her to the King- his dragons.
The Blue Dragon had already spent hours under the most powerful mandrake roots but they seemed to have no effect on him. Dragons were very powerful creatures but mandrake roots affected anyone with a brain, so she had left the dragon to get some rest while she entertained the master. The water had been a surprise too, but she could use it to her advantage.
Not many knew but water was even more dangerous than fire sometimes.

Still, she believed that this man couldn't be Emrys, even Nimueh had said so. Emrys was supposed to be old, and wise and.... not.... Well, whatever he is.
But... the Gean Canach, the last of its kind had burst. Morgause was having doubts.

As she had mentioned, the magic of the tower should have made Merlin mad, completely out of his mind. Comatose. But all the spell had achieved to do was make him a bit confused and lose focus. Another fact, that he had been able to hold himself against Morgause and Balinor without even using magic was commendable. She was a High Priestess and Balinor was a warrior in himself.

But all these thoughts of Emrys had flown out of the window when she had the King of Ambrosia naked, at her Mercy. She had always loved power but something about seeing Merlin on his knees gave her more satisfaction than ruling any Kingdom had ever given her. She would give up Essetir just to have the pleasure of seeing Merlin on his knees.
He himself possessed so much power that she could feel it in her bones. It was stupid of her to miss it before- and this was after the Gean Canach. By all rights, this man shouldn't have any more magic left....

And this strange ink he had over his body, the script did not make any sense. Neither did many of the scars. Nothing she knew could cause these scars. Such holes on skin- they looked small but deadly.
This man had been through a lot, she could see. Her attraction coupled with her curiosity had led her to play a game of questions.

"Next question then," her hand now on his biceps, she licked her lips at the feel of them- then realized what she was doing and forced herself to stop touching him.

"Why do you not want to attack Camelot with me?" she asked him, she wanted him to be with her. She could give him more power, more control than he had ever seen, why could he not see that?

He looks at her for a long second, sees that she is really curious and replies, "The people are innocent. Only Uther is at fault. What you want is revenge, not justice. I do not support that."

Shame, thought Morgause, sadness and loss seeping into her at the knowledge that he couldn't be hers.
He was a lot more attractive than that savage Cenred.
She is brought of her thoughts when her prisoner calls out for her,

"Morgause.... Could we maybe continue this conversation after you have loosened the chains around my arms? They are starting to really hurt and I won't be able to answer your questions when I am in such pain." His voice was raspy, she knew that he was thirsty.

She looked at him suspiciously, then glanced at his arms. When she saw that really, she had tied the chains quite tightly, she moved to loosen them a bit.
When she had loosened the chains around both the hands, she turned towards him and looked at him, she slowly glided towards the jug of wine she had brought for herself. She poured a cup in full view of Merlin and brought it close to her prisoner.

She kneeled, could see that Merlin's full focus was on the cup of wine. He was thirsty and she knew that. She was now so close to him that she could feel his breath on her cheeks. Morgause slowly brought the cup of wine to her lips and downed it in one go. Her eyes never leaving Merlin's.

When she lowered the cup, she could feel a drop of wine still wet on her lips, she saw the moment Merlin's eyes dipped to her lips for a second before he turned his head away, hurriedly. Heat flushed throughout her body with that single gaze.... what would happen when she saw him in ecstasy?- she stopped a moan escaping her lips at that.

Merlin was still looking away, No, we can't have that, thought Morgause. She let the cup fall from her hand and brought it back up to clutch Merlin's hair again. She forced his head to turn towards her and he looked at her with hatred, holding his neck stiff.

She felt anger course through her body, she knew for a fact that she was pretty. More beautiful than even the Lady Morgana she had heard so much about. But she had never, never felt so strongly towards someone else and for him to so outrightly reject her was not something that was acceptable to her.
She will show him, thought Morgause and jerked his head harder this time, backing the push with some magic this time, forcing his lips on hers.

The King of Ambrosia remained unresponsive for a minute, rigid as a pyre, she kept at it- trying to gently part his lips, taking the sliver of honey she could taste. Then after what felt like hours, she his lips give, part under her ministrations. She cupped his jaw, pulling more of a reaction from him.
The glorious moment when she felt his lips move had her gasping, he was responding to her- just a little not too much. She could still taste his reluctance.

She had to use another approach, this was too good to give up on. Maybe Morgause would keep the King of Ambrosia as her pet after this. Maybe enchant him to love her or lust after her. She smiles at the thought.
Then she pulls back. Merlin didn't seem to be having much fun.... They couldn't have that. She moves the hand that had come to rest on his shoulder. She brings it to his chest, tracing the burn mark there- keeping her touch deliberate.

She then moves lower, caressing his milky white skin while mapping the numerous wounds on his stomach and sides. She looked at him from beneath her lashes and saw that he was looking at her suspiciously... good, he had a reason to be, she smirks mentally. She was going to shake his world.

Morgause drags her hand even lower, slower, more deliberate, past his abdomen- she never stops looking at him and at one point sees him swallow, she smiles.
She goes past the smattering of hair and boldly takes the King's strong length in her hand, she hears Merlin take in a sharp breath through his mouth and look at the ceiling. A blush spreading from his neck to his chest.

The manhood wasn't hard yet but she could always remedy that.... She gives a hard and deliberate pull, magically lubricating her hands. She sees him swallow again, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with each swallow. The length grows harder with her each pull, longer than even before. A manhood worthy of a King, she thinks in her head. He groans and it's music to her ears.

Now, he looked more like someone who was interested, she again pulls on his hair and this time Merlin comes to her willingly. Their lips meet and this time Morguase gets to know how it really feels to be on the receiving end of his attention. She tries to battle for control but has to give it up to his skilful mouth and tongue. She had never been kissed like this, so fully, a moan escapes her, her finger tangling themselves deeper into his hair. They should have done this much sooner.

She flicks her finger over the slit of his cock and is rewarded with another deep groan. He kisses her with a renewed passion now, they clash, a battle of wills and even when he is tired and in pain- he seems to dominate. In his mouth, she finds victory and surrender, both.
The kiss for her is divine. Merlin was divine. Nothing could be better. Every flick of his tongue, every groan that she had managed to coax out of him were like gifts to her. His cock was perfect, his body was perfect- even with the scars and the strange ink- even his bloody hair, that tangled around her fingers were perfect.

In Merlin's head? The only thought in his head is that he was almost there. Just with another flick of the finger, and it will come apart. The lock, he means.
For the past hour, Merlin had been trying to get the lock to open, it wasn't that these cuffs stopped his magic or anything.
Nope. It's just that if he was to use magic before he really needed to, it would alert Morgause. And we didn't want that now, did we?

So, when Merlin had asked Morgause to loosen his shackles, he had deftly pulled one of the pins in her hair. He had then recalled his MI6 days and managed to open the lock with it, all the while distracting Morgause.
He was officially ready to end their brief altercation and put this all behind him.

He finally lets himself use his magic and summons obsidian from the other side of the room and pulls the cheapest trick out of the hat.
He commands his magic to run the sword through Morgause as he had done in the past with the questing beast. He feels Morgause jerk when she realizes that his arms were free and that the magic she was feeling was not her own but he only kisses her harder, pushing his hands in her hair, holding her in place.

He opens his eyes a second later when he hears Morgause gasp again but unlike the gasps she had made earlier, this one had nothing to do with pleasure.
To avoid him the sword had somehow swerved itself to pierce Morgause diagonally- entering through her neck on the right and exiting at her left underarm. It had not only pierced her heart but also cut her major arteries.

He had personally hoped that the sword would pierce him too, this had been one of his cheapest victories. He would have lived but at least he would have been in pain for a while.
He had never done something like this before and now he knew why. He hated being underhanded.

He hated how her eyes widened for a second and filled with pain and betrayal- even though she had nothing to feel betrayed for- and then she looked down at the exit wound, dripping with blood. She knew it was not an ordinary sword that had pierced her. When she looked back up, Merlin was laying her to the ground. He was yet to meet her eyes. Once she was comfortable, Merlin lifted his eyes. He knew his eyes were golden like the Sun itself.

Her eyes widened even more than they had when the sword had pierced her.
She whispered the name 'Emrys' and closed her eyes for the last time. Hand on the wound falling limp.
"I'm sorry," Merlin whispered to the corpse, He allows himself to feel sorry for a minute before getting up and putting his clothes back on. They were still a bit wet but Merlin spelled a warm wind to blow them dry and then he moves back into the room where he had seen Ryojin last.

When he enters the room, he sees his father unconscious on the ground and his Dragon tied to the dais, Ryojin's foot is bleeding from where the shackles had cut into him whilst trying to get to Merlin. When Ryojin sees him, he jumps into a seating position and warily calls out his name.

Merlin feels a smile bloom on his face. Even after what he had done, nothing could take away the happiness of seeing his Dragon alive and well again.

He magics the shackles off and the dragon half flies and half jumps into his arms. Merlin discreetly heals his foot and clutches the dragon to his chest. Hugging as if they hadn't just been away from each other for like a day but years.
He even feels the dragon sniffing him at some point, but if it was because that Ryojin takes comfort in his scent or .... He smells Morguase on him, he doesn't say.

He then lets Merlin know through choppy mind-speak that the snake that she had used on his father is in the room below.

They go downstairs and burn the Mother fomorrah, he even takes the dead fomorrah out of his father's neck and closes the wound with magic, burns the last head of the snake and goes out of the dark tower with father still unconscious and Ryojin, once again in his arms.

Merlin is not letting go of the dragon any time soon.

It's dark outside the tower and he whistles not once but twice this time, for both Gemini and Blackjack. He sees Mab looking at him proudly and she flies towards him. Sitting on his shoulder.
"So, the riddle wasn't a warning for me then?" asks Merlin.

She cackles, "It was. You are the mage. You are the beautiful temptation, Enrys. The riddle was a warning against you." He frowns but otherwise ignores her and she cackles once more.

He had already buried Morgause as soon as they had come out of the tower, no matter what she had done, she deserved a burial.

He turns to look at the tower and asks Mab in a low voice, "Can I bring this tower down, Mab?" He turns to look at her when she whips her head towards him.

"You want to bring this wonder down, Emrys?!" In the most delirious voice, he had heard from her. Merlin shrugs and brings his hand forward.

She flies and hovers in front of his hand, "Don't you dare." Merlin flicks his eyes to her and raises his eyebrows, she very well knew that he woulddare. This place had given him enough trouble to last a lifetime. She sighs and explains,
"The tower needs to serve another purpose, after that is done... You and me, both can bring it down. Together."
Merlin is already thinking what this hated tower will be used for again but lowers his hand.

Merlin knew that Mab was a Queen in her own right, in fact, some of the fairies in his Kingdom still loved and missed their Queen. He also knew that Mab had visions of the future, directly from the Old Religion, so no matter how much he hated this tower. It had to stay.

When Gemini and Blackjack arrived, he magically fastened his father to Blackjack and himself mounted Gemini with Ryojin on his back.
He shouted when they had just taken off, "And Mab! I am not beautiful!" handsome, maybe. But. not. Beautiful.
He could hear her cackling for a good 5 mins after that.

When they reached Ambrosia, Merlin all but fell on his bed after handing Balinor to Alice. Hunith stays with his father in the physician's chambers.
Ryojin and the rest of his dragons followed Merlin to his chambers and they all fell into a relieved slumber.

*

The next day.

"You ready for your first trial ever, mate? He hears someone say behind him, Merlin already knows who it is. Not many people would dare to enter the King's chambers without knocking first.
He turns to greet his friend- who is already busy with his dragons.
"Hello to you, too, Gwaine." He says to a person who completely ignores him.

Seriously, sometimes he thought that Gwaine only came to his chambers to pet his dragons. Currently, Aithusa is playing with Gwaine's hair and he is loving it. Merlin notches up his voice, "And, it is not my first trial ever, as you very well know."
Gwaine gets up and walks towards him, looking at his official clothing and making a face. Merlin laughs.

"What I meant was, your first trial ever that you preside over, your decision is now law. Your judgement is final." Gwaine looks at him seriously and Merlin takes a deep breath in and releases it before replying.
"It's a bit stressful but I think I can handle it." He says, feeling somewhat confident.
Merlin knew he had to be sure of whatever he decided. Whether it was execution or banishment or anything else. But he had friends around him and that gave him assurance because they will be there to help him.

His dragons, his mother, father... his friends. They all were wise in their own way. They will help just like he used to help Arthur. He smiles at that memory, remembering the good old days.
He feels Gwaine clap on his shoulder,
"Well, if it's too stressful then I am always here, you know." Gwaine winks and Merlin throws his head back and laughs. All tension seeping out of his body- that's probably what Gwaine had intended.

During one of their drunk nights, Merlin had confessed to Gwaine just how right he was in saying that they had 'shagged'. Gwaine had taken it in stride and had tried to make a move on Merlin that very moment. Even Merlin hadn't denied it, he had just replied with a 'maybe later'.

Right now, Merlin replies him with a shove to the shoulder and in a very fake stern voice he says, "I have kids now, Gwaine."
Gwaine sighed theatrically and like a good husband had said, "Fine then darling." He then casts a sidelong look at Kalinda, and leaned closer to Merlin to add a little 'Gwaine' touch to the answer with a whisper,
"After the kids are asleep then."

Merlin had laughed all the way to the throne room.

As soon as he entered the courtroom, Gwaine behind him (to which he scoffed and pulled his friend beside him), people stood on their feet and greeted him. Both mentally and through words and gestures.

He made his way towards the throne and felt.... Very uncomfortable to say the least. Wasn't the King's throne supposed to be comfortable? Beside him on the right, was his mother and on his left, was Balinor.
Kara was standing with Brigand, with a stone face and looking everywhere but at Merlin and Manon.

His dragons were with him as well. Kalinda and Ryojin at the top of the throne seated while Yddraig and Aithusa sat on opposite arms.

In front of him was Manon in shackles.
He magicked the shackles away and commanded the guards to stop holding her before he began.
"Manon of Iseldir clan. You stand here charged with treason." People gasp around Merlin. He had hoped that by now they would already know what Manon had done... but apparently not.
He raised his hand, the room went silent.
"You have been accused of collaborating with Julius Borden for the act of assassination. He tried to steal the egg of Dragoness Aithusa, and shot Lord Balinor and I both quite severely." At this, he only hears one gasp. His mothers.

"You have also been accused of collaborating with the witch Morgause. Who threatened your king and his family. Lord Balinor and Ryojin, my dragon, were abducted yesterday. You aided and abetted her in doing so, except for your lack of participation in harming Ryojin."

He takes a deep breath here and again has to silence the audience. "How do you plead?"

"You already know my reasons, Emrys." Merlin sighs and says, "Yes, I do know your reason. You were punishing me for something I am yet to do." He pauses, "You are punishing me because of a prophecy." He grits his teeth and calls forth Rigga.

"Rigga, the druid seer. Manon here claimed that you had unconsciously warned her of the dangers I posed to her son, Mordred." Here Gwaine gasps. He knows the story, he knows who Mordred is and what part he plays in the prophecy.

"Emrys, I predict many futures every day. Some of them come true, some of them don't. It is usually people trying to stop the prophecy who actually make it happen in the end. It is the reason why I never give out the future, voluntarily. The dreams? Those are the prediction that the Old religion wants me to tell the person involved. I have no hand in them."

Merlin nods. He personally knew the discretion of the old religion. The goddess was a complicated entity.
"And do you remember what the future had said to hold in your vision?"
"Of course. I never forget a vision. It said,

'Young is his heart, but broken it will be.
His heart's rage will bring down the king,
And when he starts hating the king- know that Mordred had fallen and
know that it was Emrys who was the cause of the fall.
But also know that love was the cause of it All.' "

Merlin looks at the ground. This prophecy could eerily fit into his past life.
Mordred's heart was broken because Kara died. His rage had brought down the king. He had hated Arthur for killing Kara, and thus like an angel- had fallen into the arms of Morgana.
Merlin had not directly but indirectly caused both Arthur's and Mordred's death.
And, Love. It was something Merlin still didn't understand- and it had been 1500 years.

But how could love be the cause this time? Kara was Mordred's cousin sister in this birth.
He was just going to ignore the love bit and continue the trial, for now.

"Thank you Rigga." He nods at the old seer and gets a nod in return too. He turns back to Manon and asks again, "How do you plead, Manon?"
She looks at Kara, smiles at her niece and turns back to Merlin. She doesn't see the tear that escapes Kara's eyes as soon as she turned away, but Merlin does.

"Guilty, my lord." Her voice hadn't shaken once. Merlin nods.
He looks at the audience beyond him. Sees the faces filled with sympathy and tears. He looks at Kara and sees the young girl crying in Brigand's arms. He turns towards his mother, whose eyes are also filled, and seem to be saying that, 'I would have done the same for you.' Merlin knows that he can't execute Manon for multiple reasons.

1. If he executed her then there was no guarantee that Mordred or Kara won't turn against him. He hadn't met this Mordred yet but the Mordred he knew- didn't forgive easily.

2. Whatever Manon had done, she had done for her son. After going toe-to-toe with Morgause for Ryojin, he had realized that he would go to any lengths for his children too. He could not bear to lose them. Ever. Family was important.

3. Though Manon was guilty of punishing him for something that hadn't happened yet, so was he. He had punished Mordred was something he hadn't done when they were in Camelot. If Manon was guilty, then so was he.

But he couldn't just let her walk away with it. He couldn't jeopardize his family or his kingdom ever again.
He looked at Ryojin and Aithusa. These two had helped him come to this decision. It was both kind and just. Ryojin had made sure that Merlin wasn't too hard on the judgement (Though Yddraig had pushed for a harsher punishment) and Aithusa had made sure that this was just. A punishment worthy of the crime, without being deadly.
And Kalinda had helped them find a way to achieve it.

He walked down the stone steps that led to the throne and stood right in front of Manon.
"Manon. I will give you a choice." He sees from the corner of his eyes, that Kara whips her head towards them.

"You either are exiled from this Kingdom to return on the pain of death. If you choose this then you will never see Kara again, or if Mordred chooses to come to Ambrosia- then you won't see him either." Merlin waits for Manon to take that in. Then continues,

"Or, you will work in Ambrosia at the fields with full allowance to see Kara and Mordred- with the exception that you will have a guard following you at all times and...." he pauses, he had seen Manon's face at this choice, it was like she couldn't believe her luck. She will after she hears him complete his sentence, "and your magic will be taken from you."

People all around him gasp. He hears the whisperings of 'is that possible?', 'Manon deserves much worse', 'poor kids' etc etc. But his full attention is on Manon who is watching Kara.
Merlin knew that both the sentences were just.
To never be allowed to see your child again was more painful than anything else in the entire world. More painful than anything, except losing your magic.
Merlin knew and remembered what losing it felt it when he was young and scared.

It was like losing a part of you that makes you complete. You can't imagine your life without it. So, yes. Many people would say that she should die, but Merlin didn't agree.
Death caused more pain and suffering to the people who remained alive, who were innocent. There was no punishment in death. Death, in fact, for Merlin was precious.

"I choose the second option, Thank you," she looks like she wants to say something more but is hesitating, Merlin nods and she continues, "Have you decided on my Promise, Emrys?" People around them quietened when they heard her say that.
"What promise?" he heard Gwaine question, always ready to protect Merlin.
"The promise that Emrys won't harm my son." To be honest, Merlin had given this a lot of thought.

He had every angle possible and he had come up with a solution.
"I will give you a promise," he said to Manon, "Although, I have added something of my own." She narrowed her eyes but knew that she was already stretching this too far. Looking the gift horse in the mouth and all.
"I promise you on what I love most that I will not harm your son, Mordred- if he does not deserve it. So, mote it be." He could feel his magic binding him to the oath.

Merlin knew that he will try his best not to hurt Mordred. If he did hurt Mordred then he would make sure that he deserved it first. This oath will act as checks and balance for Merlin too. Keep him from hating the druid boy for something he had not done.

He then proceeded to take the magic from Manon. He was Magic, he had remembered. All that was Magic, was his. Made to be his. His to command, his to yield and his to love and cherish. All he had to do was command the magic in Manon to come to him, and because her magic was already lashing against her, it wasn't too difficult.

When the magic came to him, he guided it to the land. He won't take it, he already had too much of his own. Instead, he sent the magic to help the land protect the people in it, to help them become wiser, to help them love each other. Merlin was Magic. The earth was magic. The earth was his to yield. Forever.

He turned back from the view of Kara hugging her aunt and looked at his own family. They were looking at him with proud beams on their faces. Even his Dragons, whose grins looked more like grimaces (he got the message beneath it, though). He carefully looked at each member's face- Hunith, Will, Balinor, Gwaine, Kalinda, Aithusa, Ryojin and Yddraig. He looked at them and mentally sent a prayer to the triple goddess that when he leaves for Camelot in a few months time, let them remain safe.
Because Goddess only knew what he will do without them in his life.