Canon AU -- Merlin's death is only the beginning; with no-one to protect the kingdom, Camelot falls to an enemy sorcerer and Arthur is forced to serve in the court that he once ruled. When an escape attempt goes horribly wrong, Arthur is rescued by someone he never expected to see again -- and it's their destiny to put things right.

Arthur stares at him. It's not the incredulous stare or the how-are-you-so-stupid stare or the Merlin,-sometimes-you-are-wise-and-it-unnerves-me stare.

It might, possibly, be the speak-quickly-or-I-will-kill-you stare.

The king has been ever more obsessed since Merlin. Searching through the surrounding villages, posting guards at the castle gates to check anyone who enters. The executioner has been kept busy these last few months.

There was once boy Merlin came to the court to ensnare the prince in his grasp, for he was an evil wizard, determined to destroy all of Albion. He bated his time, and made the prince believe he was his friend, someone to be trusted until two Augusts after his arrival, the good King Uther Pendragon recognized that his son’s illness was related to the boy who never left his son’s side for a moment. When the evil wizard Merlin was burned, Prince Arthur emerged from confinement healthy and strong again.

Or, How in his tenth year of rule King Arthur chose a man to take the role of Court's Magician, and how Arthur made his decision.

After one night spent together, Merlin leaves Camelot and Arthur behind. When he returns years later, Arthur struggles to set things right.

There is one story they do not tell in Uther's court. Elsewhere they share it eagerly, but within the walls of Camelot they never speak a word. It has been three years, but the king's memory is long and a neck saved from the executioner's block is worth more than the price of a song. There are many variations of the tale, but there are only three people alive who know the truth: one who dreamed it, one who caused it, and himself, the Prince of Camelot, the one who carries it.

"Like I was really eager to go in the first place." He half-laughs. "But I can't anyway. Destiny, and all that."

"The Holy Grail?" Merlin said at last, looking amused. "You couldn't think of something a little more plausible? Something you might actually find?"

"It is time for Mordred to whet his appetite in battle," Morgana said.

When King Uther dies, Merlin knows exactly where he has to be. He returns to Camelot after years in exile to help Arthur in his new role as king.

"How long do you think it will be, before Uther learns the truth and both your lives are forfeit? Come with me and he will keep his life. By all the ancient gods I swear it."

From the lowest dungeon Merlin imagines he can hear them building the platform, driving iron nails. The ring of the axe being sharpened haunts him like a faint echo, like keen-edged memories. The day rushes past with a sickening lurch. The dark lonely hours before dawn have closed in when he hears the sound of hurrying footsteps. Arthur's hands are slippery with blood, the key stained red. He tosses a small pouch, heavy with coins, that Merlin almost doesn't catch.

"I had a dream," Morgana says and the world fades to white.

Yes, Merlin understood Morgana. Because he knew all too well that before long he’d be following a similar path, and telling Arthur – no matter how tempting – was something he couldn’t afford to contemplate. It was for Arthur’s sake, and Merlin could not stand to be ordered to stay.

Arthur squinted. On further inspection, it might have said 'Love, Merlin,' but love and Merlin resolutely did not go together, especially not with the letter 'I' in front of them, so Arthur made himself settle on the meringue. Perhaps Merlin had been feeling peckish at the time.

His work is done. There will come a day, a millennium hence, when the greatest evil will walk the earth. Then shall Pendragon rise, and only then.

Uther fears his son's power, and Merlin has helped Arthur flee to escape imprisonment. Now the two of them must fight to regain Arthur's rightful place in Camelot.

A Merlin-Supernatural Fusion. After a bitter parting and four years of silence, Merlin is contacted by Arthur to help find Uther, who has disappeared on the trail of Nimueh. Merlin is drawn back into the hunt, criss-crossing Britain in a vintage Jag with Arthur at his side, tracking ghosts, spirits, fantastic beasts, and Nimueh, the being responsible for the deaths of Ygraine and Hunith, years before. As well as the hunt, they must deal with their own relationship, and Merlin's special gifts that have begun to re-emerge.

Arthur never thought he'd grow to hate the feeling of safety in Merlin's presence.

History books would not remember Gaius’ death precipitating the greatest war Albion had ever seen. That blame lay entirely with an inexperienced sorcerer and the Prince whom he’d betrayed a hundred times over. Future!fic with a time travel twist. Inspired and loosely based on The Sword in the Stone.

Arthur in Ealdor was like a tame lion at the dinner table: you weren't necessarily worried you were going to get torn to pieces, but it was still dangerous, decidedly out of place, and made the neighbors nervous.

Merlin thought he knew what to expect from his life until he met a fortune-teller and then a dragon.

He leans his forehead against the trunk of the tree and breathes slowly until Hallow flies down and calls for him to 'hurry, have courage.' It has taken three months and a lifetime to get here after being summoned from so far away, and his courage is hanging by a thread.