Comment_fic: Merlin, Morgana, Man on Fire

comment_fic for restlessme, Merlin - Merlin, Morgana, Man on Fire

For weeks, every time she looks at Merlin, she sees him burn. The flames swirl around him, growing past the pyre to lick at his clothes, catching at his hair and clothes, making his eyes glow with flickering fear and reflected flame. She wants to reach out to him, but the fire is so hot and close that  it’s suffocating. The heat bears down on her own skin and she can trace the burning brightness as it begins to lick at his legs, can feel his scream forming in her own throat only to die, smothered and stillborn, before either of them manage to make a sound. 

The flames are so bright, she has to look away. Desperate to cast off the visions, she casts her eyes about frantically, randomly, searching for anything other than that searing heat. Somehow her gaze always lands on Arthur, and he’s always staring back at her when it does, but never, ever for long. 

Then, one day, Arthur finally meets her eyes. Her breath catches in her throat, muscles paralyzed by the intensity of that look, by the pain and terror and certainty shining out at her from his eyes. 

A week later, Merlin stands at Arthur’s side, straight and somber and not burning in the least. Merlin stands there, solid and full of future, and Arthur again catches Morgana’s eye. He nods, just slightly, just once, and this time she’s the one to look away, watching instead as they lower Uther slowly into the ground.

{Edited 4:45pm to clarify the clarity;)