... What good is a king without his people? Without them, a king is no one. [Nothing special, nothing important, nothing.]
[...] [Closes his eyes, holding him still] Here, I have you. And... I'm grateful for it. But... all I manage to do is hurt you.
And... [hesitates, because it isn't as if it's easy for him to admit these things, even if Merlin's been the one he's told of his insecurities in the past, before.] And all this time you've been... helping me and I can't even protect you. I can't do anything at all.