REGICIDE ➳ MERTHUR

chapter seven

WOO HERE WE ARE. this chapter and then the epilogue, guys. btws this is literally going to be pure smut, i put way too much effort into it.

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"Uther Pendragon," Cornelius Sigan addressed. He stood in the throne room, alone with Uther after having secured the citadel by himself. "King of Camelot," he smirked, "how does it feel to know you've been defeated? That magic is going to return to Camelot, and it is going to prosper. And you will not be able to see your kingdom at the highest point it has ever been because you are too much of a fool to be able to see what magic could have done for you." Sigan took steps toward where Uther stood in front of the throne, but Uther stood tall. However, his eyes betrayed his strong stance, as they showed the fear he was trying to avoid revealing. He knew he had lost.

"You cannot win, Sigan. My son will defeat you." Uther tried, attempting to gain some confidence with the belief that Arthur could, would win. Sigan gave a heinous sounding laugh.

"Leave your son to me, Uther. I will handle him like I have handled you." And then Sigan took out his hand from behind his back, faced his outspread palm toward Uther an clenched his fingers, slowly drawing them inward. Uther's body crunched, releasing a sickly sound as his bones were broken and his neck was snapped. His lifeless body crumpled onto the ground, and his blank eyes stared up toward the ceiling as Sigan came over and patted his cheek condescendingly. "I'm going to enjoy taking your kingdom Uther. I'm sorry you'll never get to see it."

Sigan's steps echoed in the throne room as he walked out, leaving Uther's body behind him to rot.

~•~

"Join me, Merlin. Imagine the possibilities." Sigan smirked at him. "Uther is already dead. He can no longer torment our kind. With you by my side, we will conquer Camelot, and the prince will fall." His smirk dropped, and his face now showed a serious look, with a hint of anger. "How can you let him use you as if you were insignificant? You could defeat him easily, but you let him treat you as a lowly peasant, when you should be ruling over him, why?"

Merlin stood, the crystal clenched tightly in his right hand. He had to do it, he knew he did. But... what if there was another option? If he took back Sigan's soul, Arthur would be king after the death of his father... and his hatred of magic would only grow. There had to be some way for Merlin to show Arthur that magic wasn't inherently evil, and that it didn't corrupt. But in order to do that, he would have to initially sacrifice his relationship with Arthur, and it might not even be what it was ever again.

If it didn't work, it was likely that Arthur would never forgive him. That in itself made Merlin not want to do it, when the last thing he wanted was for Arthur to see him as an enemy, not after it had taken them so long to become friends. But what else could he do? It was either this, or to let Arthur's hatred for magic grow to levels where it might be impossible to bring back. When Merlin thought of it like that, it seemed there was only one thing he could do.

Merlin dramatically dropped the crystal. Sigan's smirk reappeared at the sight of it.

"You made the right choice, Emrys." He made to turn around, signaling a hand for Merlin to follow, but Merlin didn't move.

"Wait." Merlin commanded. Sigan turned to face him. "If we're going to do this, I will be the one on the throne. You will be my advisor." At first, Sigan looked taken aback at the request, as if he would never agree to it. He opened his mouth to speak, but Merlin continued before he could say anything. "Remind yourself of who I am, Cornelius. You may be powerful but we are both aware of how my abilities compare to yours." And then, Sigan's mouth shut, realizing that Merlin was right. He was speaking to the most powerful sorcerer that had ever been, and here, he was being forced to make the decision of whether to submit or to create an enemy that had the ability to ruin him.