Who chops the wood?
The first time Merlin sees a man burning on a pyre - not a hanging, not a beheading, a burning, and somehow that seems so much worse - that's all he can think. Who chops the wood for the fire?
Are there servants whose job that is? Are there people in town who go into the forest for wood then sell it to the castle? Is there something special about those particular branches? Do they know from the beginning what purpose the wood will be used for, or is it just put in the general pile?
He asks Gaius over dinner in between complaining about the soup and ranting about Arthur. He blurts it out - "Who chops the wood?" - and Gaius looks at him like he's mad for a moment before muttering about that mental affliction the king is convinced Merlin has.
Merlin wonders if magic counts as a mental affliction or a physical one.
He could have pursued the topic, but he doesn't really want to know, so he talks about falling branches instead and how oblivious Arthur is.
Do they chop the trees down, or does someone go to the forest to look for fallen wood? Has someone picked up a branch he's broken to kill a bandit and decided that it would be perfect to burn a sorcerer on?
He finds he can't stop thinking about it. Every spare moment finds him turning the question over and over in his mind. Who chops the wood?
And the gallows. Who built those? The city carpenter? A specialist? What were they thinking as they did it? How did it feel?
Who made the executioner's axe? Tom? Was it just another job? Was he proud of it? Did he hate watching it do its job? Or was it an older piece? A family heirloom passed down for generations of executions?
Who chops the wood?
Someone has to do it. Do they know? Do they care? Are they ignorant? Are they bitter? Are they malicious?
Are they sorcerers like him, doing what they have to in order to survive?
Who chops the wood?
