No. 75

Prompt: Merlin, Arthur Pendragon/Merlin, The Impossible Knife of Memory
http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/690071.html?thread=90743191#t90743191

In the fading firelight, Arthur looks at Merlin and is cut by the impossible knife of memory. His first encounter with the bumbling lad in the marketplace is overlaid by the old man who summoned lightning from the skies.

"I could take you apart with one blow," Arthur had said.

Merlin, eyes gleaming, had said, "I could take you apart with less."

Arthur had laughed. What a fool he is, has always been.

He remembers Merlin sobbing over Balinor, the dead dragon lord, and his own fumbling attempts at comfort later: "No man is worth your tears." He remembers Merlin's respectful quiet in the weeks after Arthur's father died, the silent efficiency with which he conducted his duties so Arthur could mourn in the privacy of his own thoughts.

He wants to scream at Merlin, rage, demand to know the truth. Who are you?

Even as he dies, he knows the impossible answer.

The only one I ever loved.