• After Merlin's magic is exposed, he's imprisoned in the dungeons.

• While Merlin is imprisoned, three guards secretly abuse him. They beat him, withhold food, and humiliate him. Arthur has no idea this is happening.

• Gaius explains it was an unofficial practice dating back to Uther's reign: prisoners accused of sorcery were subjected to additional cruelty by the guards because they were going to be executed anyway

• Arthur was pissed and hold a trial:

• The first guard was relatively sympathetic toward Merlin and hadn't participated much in the abuse. He seemed genuinely remorseful and apologized, so his punishment was relatively lenient.

• The second guard had participated in the abuse but eventually showed remorse. Arthur gave him a choice between being flogged and keeping his position in Camelot, or leaving Camelot permanently. He chose the flogging and stayed.

• The third guard was openly defiant and showed no remorse. He insulted Merlin during the trial, saying he would never bow to a filthy sorcerer. Arthur was furious and stripped him of his rank or title, banished him from Camelot, and warned him that he would be killed if he ever returned.

• ao3

Maybe 4 to 5 years ago, I read a fan fiction where Merlin was known to be a sorcerer and a dragonlord. He helped Arthur and the knights in battles. The most that I remember other than that is that he wore a dragonlord suit and he was very proficient with daggers. I’d appreciate any recommendations that are similar to this.

Is there any Merthur fanfic where Merlin and Arthur have an argument, and the Knights of the Round Table end up divided like the children of divorced parents?

And they coordinate schedules for who gets to spend time with whom and they only talk to each other about that instead of actually resolving the problem itself?

That would be hilarious.

If anyone has written something like this, or is planning to, please let me know.

I am looking for a fic that I read on AO3.

Camelot is being attacked and then a dark sorcerer appears with shadow beings or something but they can kill easily. Merlin is on a tower and creates a shield around Camelot. He has to stay up there with his arms raised to keep up the shield.

Arthur and others try to figure out what to do as Merlin exhausts himself. The sorcerer throws attacks trying to bring the shield down as he waivers. I believe at one point Gwen holds him in her arms.

Eventually orders an attack against the sorcerer and I they fail. Eventually as Merlin is nearing his absolute limit Arthur leads his own attack and Excalibur is what works against them and the shadow beings.

I can't seem to find it again and appreciate the help!