Love, Faith and Family

Chapter 58

Miriam hadn't stopped moving.

If she stopped moving then the gravity of the situation would come crashing down on her and she couldn't bear it, because this wasn't about just Arthur anymore.

"Mira?" Merlin asked, he and Gaius watching the girl pack, both of them rippling with anxiety.

"I'm not going to have a need for the armour Arthur gave me. Have it gifted to Gwen or melted down or something," she said as she packed the few dresses she owned into a large bag.

"Miriam," Gaius said softly.

"And Gaius the patients I had to see tomorrow, their remedies are on the top shelf. Please make sure they get them."

"Mira stop," Merlin urged as he physically held his sister in place. "Where will you go?"

And already the pain was visible on her face and in her eyes as they began to line with water.

"Um, maybe I could go back home to mum in Ealdor. Or - or, um, travel south to find Gwaine. Maybe see the world with Kilgharrah. I don't know Merlin," she said as she buried her face in her hands, Merlin's still on her biceps. "I thought I'd spend the rest of my life here in Camelot with you. And Gaius. I never had another plan. I don't know," she wailed before her knees gave out and she sank to the floor in her brother's arms.

How quickly her life had taken a turn for the worse all because she loved someone who was supposedly forbidden.

And then as if things couldn't get any worse, that night she had her hands bound before she was thrown at the feet of the king, Gaius unable to do anything but watch.

"Do you recognise it?" Uther asked her as he held out a poultice.

"I've never seen it before," she answered, choosing not to mention the fact that she recognised it as a poultice used by sorcerers.

"Really? I believe you planted it in Arthur's chambers to enchant him."

Miriam straightened her back, still on her knees as she refused to show Uther fear.

"I didn't do it. Not that it matters because you've already made up your mind, haven't you?"

"As Gaius' apprentice, you'd have the knowledge to create it and why else would Arthur fall in love with a girl like you?" he sneered.

"Because unlike you, he actually has a heart."

Despite the glove he wore, Miriam's face still stung as he backhanded her, sending her to the floor as she watched Gaius flinch from the corner of her eye, Gwen horrified from behind Morgana.

"My lord! Miriam has always been a loyal and trusted servant," Morgana defended and Miriam had to be honest, the girl really played her part well.

"I have no doubt she feigned loyalty while using her position to get close to my son," Uther replied as he stood from his throne.

"I saved his life and I've saved yours. More than once. If all I really wanted was the throne, I would've let you die," she spat through gritted teeth and her stomach was met with Uther's foot as the doors burst open.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Arthur bellowed as he walked into the room, Merlin on his heels and both of them horrified to see Miriam on the ground like that but both of them unable to do anything as Uther explained what was happening.

"My lord!" Gaius intervened, heart breaking for the girl he treated like his daughter to be hurt like that. "Whatever the use for that poultice may be, I know that Miriam isn't responsible for magic."

"I don't care, Gaius, the evidence is absolute and Arthur is under its spell!" Uther shouted.

"Father, you have to see reason. Miriam has done nothing wrong," Arthur persisted but they were all fighting a losing battle now as Miriam found her way upright.

"She has been found guilty of using magic and enchantments. She will be burnt at the stake," Uther decreed, and it seemed like all of the air was sucked out of the room.

"No," both Merlin and Arthur breathed.

"Restrain them!" Uther ordered, guards rushing forth as Gaius tried to persuade Merlin to calm down.

"You can't do this!" Arthur yelled at his father while Merlin called for his sister, the girl just sitting there, silent.

"It is already done!" Uther raged.

"I'm begging you. We will leave Camelot and never return. Just-just let us go! I relinquish my entitlement to the throne!"

Miriam took it back.

That was the moment when all the air was sucked from the room.

Because to everyone but Uther, that was the moment that everyone understood the true depth of Arthur's feelings for Miriam. And it shocked everyone to the core, even her.

"My son would never do that," Uther proclaimed, proving just how little he knew about Arthur as he approached him. "It is proof beyond doubt that you are enchanted," he said as he placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"I will never forgive you for this."

"She will die. The enchantment will be broken, and you will see that I was right," Uther said as he cupped Arthur's cheek. "Take her away."

"NO! MIRIAM! MIRIAM!" Arthur called as he fought viciously against the guards that held him as Miriam was hauled off the floor, her brother now on the floor with Gaius, both of them in tears as the guards stood in front of them should they try anything.

"Arthur!" ARTHUR!" Miriam cried out, as they dragged her across the throne room, Arthur running towards her and planting his lips on hers.

And for the space of a single heartbeat, all was ok in the world before Arthur was ripped off her.

"I love you!" he said, but Miriam didn't get a chance to say anything back, nor say anything to her brother as she was hauled out of her room.

But the reality of her impending death didn't hit until she stood in her cell, peering through the tiny window as she watched them erect the pyre she was to be burnt on.

She was really going to die.