The Tears of Uther Pendragon (Part 2)
"Snæde!" cried Merlin as he sliced through the Rowan staff with his sword. He felt a jolt through him as the enchantment was broken. He turned slowly, breathing heavily, to look at Morgana. He froze; so many things were trying to run through his mind, a thousand possibilities of what to do next, but he could not focus on a single one. He just stared at the ground where Morgana lay. Without knowing, he lessened his grip on the sword; it fell to the ground and clattered noisily. The sound made him jump and brought him out of his revere. He shook his head, grabbed the sword off the ground, and with one last glance at Morgana he ran back toward the courtyard to find Arthur.
He burst out of the castle and into the courtyard, almost colliding with Arthur as he did so. "Merlin?" Arthur looked surprised to see him, "what are you doing?" Merlin hesitated, "Gauis told me he couldn't find Morgana… I was worried about her so I went to look for her." He paused, unsure whether to say more, but never got the chance. Arthur had a fleeting look of worry, but shook his head and composed himself. "The dead soldiers are gone, if she is in the castle she will be alright" Arthur said seriously. "I need to help my men, take as many injured as you can back to Gauis" he shouted and ran off toward the battle.
Merlin stood for a moment, looking troubled, unsure whether to follow Arthur or go to Gauis. "Help…" he heard a voice call softly to him. He turned and saw an injured knight on the ground. The decision was made for him; he helped the knight up and led him to the hospital.
They walked inside and he helped the knight to sit before running to Gauis. "The dead soldiers are gone" he whispered. Gauis nodded, "well done, and Morgana?" Merlin shook his head, "she might be hurt, I don't know, I left her there." He looked up at Gauis sadly, "you had to Merlin" he said seriously. Merlin nodded "I'm going to find Arthur" he said. He squeezed Gauis on the shoulder and ran out of the hospital.
Merlin ran down the steps into the courtyard. He ran to the gates of the training ground and was pleased to see Camelot's army were taking control. He stood back nervously watching. He could just make out Arthur in the flickering light from the torches, and didn't want to lose sight of him.
He watched as the Knights of Camelot pushed Cenred's army back. He ran forward to as a Knight fell, injured and helped him to a seat in the training ground. He ran back to the gate his eyes looking frantically to find Arthur. He saw him, he was fighting, and winning, but another of Cenred's soldiers was approaching him from behind. Merlin's eyes flashed gold in the darkness, and the approaching soldier fell. Merlin didn't realise he had been holding his breath, and let it out as Arthur landed a killing blow on the man he was fighting.
A horn rang out in the distance, Merlin looked toward the hill where it had come from, he saw torches waving. He heard men shouting, the shouting got louder until it was coming from the men in front of him. "Retreat! Fall back!" he now could hear clearly. Cenred had called off his army.
A great cheer rang out from the Camelot soldiers, they surged forward driving off Cenred's men who had turned to run.
Merlin saw Arthur grin and slap the men near him on the shoulder. Merlin himself grinned, and then focused, he ran forward to help the injured Knights back inside. He walked back into the hospital and helped an injured man to sit. When he had done so he saw Morgana walk back into the room. She glared at him, her eyes full of hatred. "Morgana!" Arthur cried, striding into the room behind her, also aiding an injured Knight. Her glare quickly turned into a smile as she turned to face him. Arthur helped the injured man to sit and embraced her in a hug. "I was worried, Merlin said he couldn't find you, I thought you were hurt" said Arthur. She glanced over at Merlin, and hesitated for a second, "I… I have something I need to tell you" she said. Arthur looked down at her with a worried frown, "what is it Morgana?" he asked. She shook her head, "Not here" she said looking around, she took his arm and led him out the door. She let Arthur exit first and turned, she caught Merlin's eye and gave him a wicked smirk.
Merlin froze. His face was troubled. Gauis walked by and noticed the look on his face, "Merlin, what's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"It's Morgana, she has taking Arthur to tell him… something…" Merlin replied. Gauis patted his arm, "Merlin, don't worry, she cannot tell him what really happened, I am sure it will be fine" he said wisely."Now come on, I need your help getting the injured back inside."
Merlin nodded and ran outside. He spent the rest of the night bringing the injured inside and helping Gauis to treat them. Neither Morgana, nor Arthur came back to the hospital.
By the time the sun rose, all the injured had been brought in and the hospital had started to quiet down. Gauis sank into a chair to rest for a moment, and Merlin brought him some water. "Thank you" he said gratefully as he took it. At that moment the door opened again and Arthur walked in, "Ah, Gauis, is all well here?" he asked. Gauis nodded, "all the injured have received treatment, they just need to rest." Arthur nodded, "thank you" he said seriously. "I was wondering if you could spare half an hour, my father wishes to address the court?" Gauis nodded again, "of course Sire, I will be right there." Arthur nodded at him and walked from the room. Gauis and Merlin exchanged a look. "I have to tell him what happened Gauis" Merlin said desperately. "Merlin no! Think about what you are saying, you can't" Gauis replied urgently, gripping Merlin's arm. Merlin didn't say anything but looked worried. "Come on, we need to go" Gauis said and walked from the room.
They arrived at the door to the council chambers and Gauis entered. He took his place and looked back, expecting Merlin to be behind him, but he was not.
Arthur had been talking to the guards by the door and Merlin had stopped to wait for him. "Come on Merlin, we will be late" he said as he stepped through the door. Merlin hurried in behind him "Sire.." Merlin started. "What is it Merlin?" Arthur asked. "I need to tell you something about Morgana" Merlin whispered urgently. "It's alright, we know what happened." Arthur said dismissively.