CHAPTER 2
Forbearnan
The floor in the prison cell was cold and wet and it was impossible for Merlin to lie down comfortably. The cell was damp and the smell of urine was more than unpleasant. "How did I end up here?" he asked himself.
"Follow me" Merlin said distinctly as he held Morgana's hand and almost dragged her into the dark forest. She wore her sapphire green cape and the bottom of her satin dress instantly became dirty because of all the mud. Merlin had never been this nervous before. There have been crucial moments in his life when he had to save Arthur from witchcraft or bandits and Merlin dealt with it fairly easy but right now he couldn't control his nerves. Finally, they arrived at the place Merlin had picked out earlier this day. Next to a tiny lake there was a red blanket, a pile of wood and basket filled with berries.
"Merlin, this is really not what I had in mind. I'd rather see you trying to kill me than going out on some sort of date"
"Oh don't flatter yourself, Morgana. I just thought this might be a bit more casual since… since what you're about to realize might be a bit overwhelming."
They sat down, facing each other. Merlin breathed in heavily.
"Morgana, I… "
"What is it, Merlin?! Spit it out, you've taken me to the woods for God's sake can you just tell me what this is all about?"
"I really don't know how to… "
Merlin needed to put away the doubts and just concentrate. He gazed at Morgana for a second and then focused on the pile of wood in front of them.
"Forbearnan" he exclaimed which immediately lit the fire.
Morgana was speechless and didn't make a single move. She stared at Merlin for a very long time and it looked as she was trying to put all the pieces together. Merlin waited eagerly for some sort of response. What was going through her head right now?
"I should have known. I've sort of always known, I guess. How long have you…? Why didn't you tell me from the start that you had magic? You could have… Sorry, there's just so many questions running through my mind." she said and looked extremely baffled.
"The time wasn't right until now. I decided to reveal myself tonight, Morgana, because I wanted you to know that we're exactly the same. Together we can use our magic for good and when Arthur is ready, he will accept our kind of people and bring peace."
"Oh I couldn't care less about Arthur, why would he ever change? Merlin you have to understand that together we can rule Camelot, our powers combined… we can destroy anything."
"We can create anything, Morgana. We can make Camelot a peaceful, magical place but in order to do that we have to support Arthur. You're not on your own anymore, can't you see that?"
He moved closer, pulled back one of her curls and gently stroke her cheek. She looked deeply into his eyes, ran her fingers through his soft hair and Merlin wondered if she could hear his heart beating. It felt like the world did no longer exist and there was no threat, nothing that could hurt them in this moment. Their lips were so close, only one millimeter closer and they would definitely…
"And what do we have here? A servant with the king's ward… I'm afraid this needs some explaining" said an intimidating guard, dressed in an armor of Camelot as he approached Merlin and threatened him. Merlin could feel the cold blade of the sword against his throat. Merlin thought he saw someone standing behind the guard and whispering something in his ear, on the other hand it was pitch dark and Merlin could have imagined it.
"STOP THIS NOW! I demand you to stop it!" Morgana said.
"I'm sorry my lady, but he obviously must have tricked you into this… On behalf of the king, we shall take you back to the castle and put this… boy, in a cell"
Merlin was completely quite, it was unnecessary to be rude in this situation. He knew this was probably a misunderstanding and they would probably let him out of the cell after a couple of hours.
"What makes you think that I didn't do this? Let him go, NOW!"
"Come with me my lady and we'll head back to Camelot"
"What about Merlin, what are you going to with him? Just leave him there?!" she said and the guard refused to answer her.
The guard forced Morgana to leave Merlin, placed her on his horse and they rode away. Merlin was extremely confused. He thought he was going back to the castle and spend the night in a prison cell. Suddenly, he noticed a silhouette next to the crooked tree on his left side.
"Merlin, are you afraid?" a female voice whispered.
"Where are you?" Merlin looked around, still confused and not so sure about what was going on.
All of a sudden, someone approached from behind and tightened a rope around his wrists. It all happened so very quickly and Merlin was unable to defend himself. He closed his eyes and when he slowly opened them he saw a familiar face.
"You thought you could reveal your true self without hiding it from me… You were wrong. Tonight you'll spend a lot of time in my dungeons, Merlin" Morgause said and smiled.
