Arthur stood in shock at this revelation. He had never heard of such news. I mean he only released him yesterday and he was already fucking shit up. This also wasn’t good for the fact that Balin was supposed to kill Freya at some point. If he had a magic sword then it would be significantly easier for him. There was also the fact that said sword could lead him to a relic of such power. Nothing about what was just told to him was good.

“So what would you like me to do about it? We can’t exactly let him be with a sword that could do such a thing.” Arthur asked.

“I want his head. Consider it payment for all the swords that I have to fix since your knights keep breaking them.” Freya said without a single hint that she would budge from this.

“I feel like this does have to do with the fact that he killed a friend of yours.” Arthur said.

“It does. However, I now have leverage. Bring his head to me or I shall not reforge any of the swords that your knights have broken in battle. Plus, it helps you because it relieves you of an enemy.” Freya replied with a sly smirk. Arthur contemplated this for a moment.

“... Fine. he shall be executed in secret and we shall tell the people he went off to find the grail if anyone asks.” Arthur said reluctantly.

“Thank you.” Freya said with a smile before walking away with a smile. Merlin gave a nod to Arthur and walked off in a different direction than Freya, leaving Arthur alone in the hall to think. What none of them realized was that Balin was standing with his back to the wall in the hallway connected to the main hall. He had woken up on the dining hall floor and had started wandering around only to overhear Arthur, Freya, and Merlin speaking about him.

“She… wants my… head?” he said to himself under his breath before sneaking away. Under his breath again he spoke angrily. “Well, I’ll give her a head. Though it won’t be mine.”

Freya walked out of the castle to one of the wells so that she could return to her cottage in the forest through it. She felt pleased with herself as she had gotten her way. From the outside she probably looked like a spoiled child who just strong armed someone into getting her way. Actually, that is exactly what just happened. Though, to one person she looked like someone out for their life.

Balin went through the castle to where he could get out of the castle before her and had set himself up where he thought she would be leaving from. He had been a knight here for so long that he knew almost every crevice in the castle by heart. He had also seen how Merlin had used the wells to travel between here and Freya’s home. Thus, he knew exactly how she might leave. Hiding around the corner of the castle he drew the sword he had just received.

As she walked around the corner to the well Balin appeared and swung his sword at her head. She didn’t have enough time to bring swords up from the ground to protect herself. Cleaving the blade into her neck, Balin screamed: “you wanted a head! How about your own!” the shock on her face as the cowardly sneak attack put her to rest still etched on her face even while her head fell to the ground beside her body.

Balin stood there for a second with rage in his eyes. He knew what he had just done but didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let himself be killed without taking her with him. He didn’t want to die in general so running as fast as he could he went to the stables, stole a horse, and rode off as far as he could. Since no one was really up yet other than Merlin and Arthur who were both inside the castle unaware of what just happened, Freya’s body was not discovered for nearly an hour.

* * *

Meanwhile, Merlin had snuck into Arthur’s room and was searching for the small runed stone he had placed in his pocket the night before. He trusted Arthur but he couldn’t exactly leave him to his own devices. If he didn’t know what was going on then how would he be able to plan for every situation. He already learned his lesson with Mordred as it took him nearly eight years to learn that she was a woman. It didn’t change much but it did show that there were many gaps in his awareness and foresight.

The stone in question that he had placed on Arthur was a recording device of sorts. It could recreate conversations that it was around for a specified amount of time. It was excellent for spying but it lacked an ability to make it easy to hear things from a distance. He also had to retrieve the stone before he could listen to it. It had just as many downsides as it did upsides. However, for this kind of spying he had no problems. Arthur was a friend after all.

Upon finding the stone in a pair of pants strewn along the floor haphazardly he quickly left the room and took it to his study to listen to it. Though, as soon as he had one of the servants burst into his study without warning.

“What the hell did I say about knocking first?” Merlin yelled.

“Sir Merlin, it’s your wife. She’s been killed.” the servant said as she gasped for breath. Merlin stood there in shock for only a millisecond before turning to the servant with eyes of pure rage.

“Take me to her, and pray that this is just some sick joke.” Merlin said with a stern voice. The servant, now trying to stop her legs from shaking led Merlin down the hall and out of the castle to where a small crown was standing around. In the center of the crowd was the decapitated body of Freya, the Lady of the Lake, Merlin’s wife. Bursting through the crowd Merlin dropped to his knees and wept like a child as he desperately cradled her body and head in his arms.