A Warlocks' Disguise {ArthurxFem!Merlin}

Chapter 14 - Merilyn

Merilyn stood outside Arthur's chambers, her stomach twisted into tight knots, every breath feeling like it caught in her throat. The stone walls around her seemed to press in, amplifying the tension radiating from behind the door. Arthur is furious. She didn't need to hear his voice to know it; she could feel it, thick in the air like an approaching storm. Her pulse quickened, each heartbeat like a drum in her ears. He trusted me. I failed.

She inhaled deeply, forcing her hand to lift and knock on the heavy wooden door. The knock felt soft, hesitant, but the weight behind it, the confrontation to come, was anything but. Arthur's terse response—"Come in"—sliced through the air, his voice cold, taut with restrained anger. It sent a chill down her spine.

With a shaky breath, she pushed open the door, stepping inside and closing it quietly behind her. The room felt smaller than usual, the air thick and suffocating. Arthur stood in the center, his back to her, his broad shoulders rigid with barely-contained fury. His hands were balled into tight fists at his sides, and the tension in his frame was palpable. The usual light in his blue eyes—sharp and confident—was gone, replaced by something darker, something that cut straight through her.

Merilyn's throat tightened as she stood there, waiting for him to speak. Every second of silence stretched painfully, the weight of his anger pressing down on her chest. The room itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

When Arthur finally spoke, he didn't turn to face her. His voice was low, but the words were like a blade, sharp and cutting. "I believed you. I trusted you... and you made me look like a complete fool."

The accusation hit her hard, a blow that knocked the air from her lungs. She flinched, unable to stop the instinctive reaction, but quickly tried to mask it, keeping her face neutral. "I know it didn't go exactly to plan," she whispered, her voice trembling despite her best efforts. She hated the way it wavered—weak, uncertain.

Arthur's head snapped around, his eyes blazing with barely-contained rage. "'Didn't go to plan?!'" His voice rose, each word slicing through the air like a whip. "My father and the entire royal court think I'm a coward! YOU HUMILIATED ME!"

The force of his anger was like a physical blow, and Merilyn felt her chest tighten painfully, her breath catching in her throat. Her mind scrambled for words, something, anything, to make it right, but everything felt inadequate, hollow. The hurt in his eyes was almost worse than the anger. "Arthur—"

"No!" he shouted, cutting her off, his frustration boiling over. He turned away, pacing like a lion trapped in a cage, his hands running through his hair as though trying to grasp onto something solid in the chaos of his emotions. "Do you have any idea what you've done? You didn't just fail—you've made me the laughingstock of Camelot!"

Each word struck like a hammer blow, the guilt weighing heavier and heavier on her shoulders. Merilyn's heart pounded in her chest, her pulse thudding in her ears. "We can still expose Valiant," she tried, her voice laced with desperation. She took a step toward him, her hands trembling at her sides. "We can still make this right."

But Arthur wasn't listening. His face twisted with frustration, and he turned away again, gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white, as if the solid wood was the only thing keeping him grounded. "I no longer require your services," he said coldly, the finality in his voice striking her like a slap across the face.

The words knocked the wind out of her. For a moment, she could only stare at him, disbelief flooding her system. He's sacking me? "You're sacking me?" she whispered, the shock evident in her voice.

Arthur turned to face her then, his expression hardened, his eyes cold and unreadable. "I need a servant I can trust."

Merilyn's chest tightened even more, her throat closing up with the weight of his words. "You can trust me!" she protested, her voice breaking slightly as she stepped closer, the distance between them feeling impossibly wide. She could feel the sting of tears threatening to well up in her eyes, but she fought them back. Please don't do this. Not after everything.