AM I THE ONE? | Arthur Pendragon [1]

The Beginning of the End

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

    After Arthur agreed to help us save the Druid boy, I immediately went to Morgana's chambers. Thankfully, Gwen was there as well, so I asked her to distract the guards at Morgana's door, while Morgana and I went to Arthur's chambers. Now Morgana and I were standing side by side next to Arthur, who was sitting in his chair. The three of us were trying to come up with the best plan to save the boy, when suddenly the doors to Arthur's chambers opened and Merlin proceeded to walk in, but froze at the sight of the three of us, seeing that we were in the middle of discussing something important.
"Sorry." He apologized. "Was I interrupting something?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Arthur replied. "Now make yourself useful; muck out my horses." Merlin nodded his head ever so lightly and took a step back, ready to leave.
"I trust Merlin." Morgana said, which made my brother stop. Arthur looked up at Morgana, and then looked at me questioningly. No matter what Merlin thinks of the Druid boy after what the Great Dragon said, he is still my brother and I know I can trust him, so I nodded, letting Arthur know that it's fine to let Merlin know everything. Arthur gave a small nod, before looking at Merlin and gesturing for him to come in. Merlin did so, closing the doors behind him.
"We're going to break the Druid boy out of the dungeons." I said, but Merlin immediately shook his head and took a few steps towards us.
"You can't do that!"
"We have to." Morgana said. "Uther's going to execute him at dawn!"
"I mean..." Merlin started, trying to make up for his outburst. "It's too dangerous." Morgana and I gave him incredulous looks, so he pointed his finger at my best friend. "You've already been caught once! And if the King catches you a second time, he'll never forgive you." Merlin said, walking towards us and stopping next to Morgana.
"I'm not worried for myself." Morgana said.
"Merlin's right." Arthur spoke up. "When my father finds out the boy escaped, he will suspect you of being involved."
"It's suicide." Merlin shook his head, agreeing with Arthur.
"You must go to my father, and apologize." Arthur said to Morgana. "Dine with him."
"The King can't hold you responsible if you're with him when the boy escapes." I said in agreement, and Morgana looked at me.
"You need me if the plan's to work." She protested, and I shared a look with Arthur. "The two of you can't do this on your own."
"Merlin will take your place." Arthur said, and my brother's eyes widened.
"Me?" He exclaimed in disbelief as Arthur stood up and started making his way over to him.
"I'm going to take the boy out through the burial vaults. There's a tunnel, that leads beyond the city walls." Arthur explained. "Get my horse from the stables, and meet me and Annabelle there. She will take Morgana's horse, seeing as she can't take mine because she is not my servant. There's a grate that covers the entrance to the tunnel. Bring a rope, and a grappling hook to pull it off."
"I-I can't. I-"
"Merlin!" Arthur cut my brother off. "Do you understand? If you're not there to meet us, we'll surely be caught. And that includes your sister, who will be executed alongside the boy if we fail." Normally, I would suck in a sharp breath in worry at that kind of a statement; that I can die the next day if something goes wrong. But this time is different. Not only have I nearly grown used to risking my life everyday by even living in Camelot, but because I worry about the boy too much to worry about myself. I saw Merlin glance at me with fear in his eyes, before looking back at Arthur and nodding, letting us know that he will do it. Arthur nodded and peeked through a hole in between the doors, before looking back at Morgana. "There's no guard. You can go." She nodded, and immediately left, being careful not bump into one of the hall patrols. Arthur then left through the other door so that he could send word to the Druids, asking them to meet us in the woods. Merlin looked at me for a second, before grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of Arthur's chambers. I didn't have to ask where we were going. I already knew the answer.

*5 minutes later*

    Merlin and I both made our way into the cave where the Great Dragon is imprisoned, with my brother carrying a torch. Strangely enough, we didn't have to look for the Dragon this time, since he was already lying on the huge rocks in front of us.
"We need to know why you told Annabelle not to protect the boy." Merlin said.
"You seek my council, and yet you both choose to ignore it." The Dragon said, and I grew slightly irritated, knowing that we were running out of time.
"Just tell us why!" I exclaimed in annoyance, but also worry.
"If the boy lives, the two of you cannot fulfill your destinies." The Great Dragon said, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What's he got to do with our destinies? You told us that my destiny is to marry Arthur." I said, not even paying attention to the meaning of these words.
"And you said that our destiny is to protect him." Merlin backed me up, to understanding how the Druid boy can stop us from doing so.
"Then you have the answer you seek." The Dragon simply said, and my eyes widened.
"Are you telling us... That little boy is going to kill Arthur?" I asked in disbelief.
"It seems that is up to the two of you." The Great Dragon said, and I immediately shook my head.
"No."
"You can't know that for certain." Merlin backed me up, not willing to believe what the Dragon was saying either.
"The two of you have it in your power to prevent a great evil." The Great Dragon said.
"There must be another way!" I exclaimed. "The future isn't set in stone!"
"You must let the boy die." The Dragon said to me slowly, not bothering to mention Merlin's name. He didn't have to. I am the one who is mostly against hurting the boy, and Merlin knows that the Great Dragon wants us to do everything together, seeing as we are stronger when we do so. I couldn't bear to listen to it anymore, so I grabbed the torch from Merlin, who was frozen where he stood, and left.
    I could hear my brother chasing after me, but didn't stop walking.
"You can't honestly believe that what he said is true." I said, not even looking at Merlin.
"I don't know what to believe anymore, Anna." My brother said, and I stopped, turning around to look at him.
"So you're going to let a little boy die just because a riddle-talking Dragon told you to?" I asked incredulously, and Merlin gave me a look.
"Well, this wasn't exactly a riddle now, was it?" He said, and I shook my head.
"You know what? Let's just go."