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Summary
“I never believed that you would betray me,” Arthur says, because Merlin knows him, even if the same might not be true the other way around. Merlin could tell when he was lying, when he was lashing out to protect himself, long before a bond tore down all the defences Arthur so carefully erected around himself. “Do not pretend that you ever believed me capable of truly hating you. I could not, no matter how much I may want to.”
The way Merlin’s face twists reveals that there is another story there, and words echo within Arthur’s head, guttural and ancient—a half cannot truly hate that which makes it whole.
He wants to laugh at the truth of it, at the absurdity of it all. Here they are, a prince and a servant, Uther Pendragon’s son and one of the most powerful sorcerers to ever walk the earth—caught up in a fight over who possesses more devotion, who is going to ruin themself for the other’s sake first.
One hot summer day and an ill-advised kiss leave Arthur with an incomplete soul bond, panic about all his secrets coming to light, and the question of why Merlin is so afraid of Uther. Actually, scratch that—why is Merlin afraid of him?
Series
- Part 42 of Merlin Stories