Chapter Text
Arthur sat at the head of the round table with his hands steepled and resting under his chin. True, with a round table there was no way to be at the head of it, but Merlin wasn’t present, so he didn’t have to put up with the sass of that statement from him.
The rest of the knights and he were trying to figure out a way to stop any more bloodshed and damage from Morgana’s attacks, but they were quickly coming up emptyhanded. He didn’t want to go there but the only thing that he could think of that would have any impact on her was the very weapon she wielded.
“What if…” he rubbed his forehead and sighed, “what if we used magic?”
The table went quiet with shared looks amongst them. “In what way?” Leon asked warily.
“I… “ he straightened up, “whatever we try is a failure against her so we need to start thinking about what will actually bring her down and that seems to be magic. Nothing has defeated it so far other than itself. So, why not use that to our advantage and beat her at her own game?”
“Is that wise? To turn to magic like this when we don’t know what it would do?” Leon frowned, the same wariness in his eyes. “Is it wise to trust it?”
“I understand your point, Leon.” Arthur tilted his head, “What if there was a way to test it first? A way to make sure it didn’t corrupt anyone using it?”
“Who would even volunteer for something like that? With all magic has put Camelot through, with all it has put you through, surely there is a better way to go about this than using it?”
Arthur squeezed Leon’s shoulder, “I understand your apprehension, Leon. I really do, but magic doesn’t have to be the enemy here. Surely it depends on the wielder.”
“Merlin will do it.” Lancelot said.
Arthur raised his brows, “my bumbling manservant who likes to spend an obscene amount of time in the tavern?”
Lancelot nodded, “the very one. He has the purest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. If anyone can learn magic and continue to be unchanged, it’s Merlin.”
“I second that, Merls is the best of us.” Gwaine leaned back in his chair and took a bite of an apple he seemed to have procured out of nowhere.
“You’re no help. If Merlin went to the dark side, then you’d probably join him,” Arthur grumbled as he leaned back in his chair, “does anyone have any objections to me asking Merlin?”
Leon held his hand up, “we always thought Morgana had a pure heart. How do we know the same wouldn’t happen to Merlin?”
“I wouldn’t let it get that far. With Morgana, she had been using magic for a while before it was known. With Merlin, I’ll make sure to keep track of his thoughts and feeling and abilities from week to week. The first sign of something being wrong and I’ll stop the experiment. Before I ask him, I’ll talk to Gaius about ways to reverse it or keep him from going dark. Just so we have a backup if needed.”
Leon reluctantly nodded and sank deeper into his seat.
“Then it’s settled, I’ll talk to Merlin about learning magic to help defeat Morgana.” Arthur said, hoping with everything in him that this was the right decision.