"How is your leg?" Merlin asked Arthur as he watched Arthur walk slowly around the cave. The injury had almost healed but Arthur was still walking with a slight limp.
"Better. Where are the others?" Arthur asked. It had been just over a week since they had left Camelot and they still had no news of anyone inside the city. They didn't know whether Uther, Leon or Gwen were still alive or not and Arthur dreaded to consider the possibility that Morgana had killed them.
"Gwaine's on guard duty and Elyan and Gaius went to get something to eat." Merlin replied.
"When they get back, we need to get moving. We can't stay in one place for too long and we need to come up with some sort of plan." Arthur replied, he was beginning to tire of sitting around and doing nothing. The longer he waited, the less likely it was that the people he cared about would be safe. The only problem was it was five of them going up against an immortal army and two powerful sorceresses. Simple.
Just over an hour later after they had eaten and removed any trace of their hiding in the cave, the men left the cave and headed into the woods. As they made their way through the trees, Merlin held up a hand suddenly to stop them.
"Did you hear that?" Merlin asked, the men looked at him silently before they themselves heard it. Reaching for their swords, Arthur took a cautious step towards the noise that was coming from a nearby oak tree. The noise sounded again and this time they were able to determine it as leaves moving across the ground. Arthur jumped around the tree and spotted Sir Leon on the ground, hidden in the undergrowth of a half-ripped up tree.
"Sir Leon," Arthur said as he sheathed his sword and reached down an arm to help Leon up off the ground. Merlin, Gaius, Gwaine and Elyan walked over, surprised at Leon's sudden arrival. "What happened?"
"We escaped from Camelot last night but we were ambushed in the woods." Leon replied and Elyan looked at Leon, recognising the clothes the knight was wearing as his own.
"We? You mean you and Gwen? Where is she?" Elyan asked, looking around as though expecting Gwen to appear. Leon sighed heavily and Gwaine frowned at him.
"You said you were ambushed, what happened?" Gwaine asked, having already made the connection between Leon's use of plurals and the fact he was now alone.
"Morgause took Gwen back to the castle. She told me to run but had her men chase after me. I managed to escape them but by the time I doubled back, Gwen and Morgause had gone." Leon explained. "I tried to stay with her and keep her safe but if I had have stayed, Morgause would have killed us both."
Silence followed Leon's words as the implications of what had happened the night before sank in. Morgana and Morgause had Gwen and were undoubtedly holding her prisoner. What were they going to do? Torture her? Make an example of her by having her killed? What would Morgana and Morgause do to her? By escaping and helping Leon escape, she had all but committed treason and treason was not a crime that was dealt with lightly, especially not in a Camelot run by Morgana and Morgause.
"We need to get back to Camelot." Elyan said. "Now."
"We need to come up with a plan first. Running in without thinking will just get us all killed." Merlin reminded. "Besides if Morgana is still yet to kill Uther then I would say Gwen is still alive. She wants to kill us so what better way to lure us back than have our friend and family members locked up?"
"Merlin's right and the king is still alive. Morgause said to me that if the soldiers didn't kill me in the woods, they would when we got back to Camelot." Leon recalled as he took the sword Elyan handed him and they continued through the forest.
"How did you manage to escape?" Gaius asked.
"It was Gwen who helped me. She made a duplicate key and passed it to me. When the guards weren't looking I sneaked out, went to her house and we ran for it. It was only when we reached the woods that we realised it was a trap." Leon explained.
"A trap?" Gwaine asked.
"The escape went too smoothly. None of the guards seemed to see us and if they did, they didn't try hard enough to stop us. Morgana and Morgause knew we were going to escape." Leon clarified. The more he had thought about it, the more logical it had seemed. They waited until he and Gwen believed they were safely out of the kingdom and let their guard down slightly; just enough to be ambushed.
"And they tracked you down." Elyan finished and shook his head. "I won't believe she's safe until I see her myself."
"I understand. It was Gwen who told me to go." Leon said and Arthur and Elyan looked at him. "I refused to leave her but Morgause threatened to kill us both. Gwen told me to go in order to find you both. She told me to tell you that she loves you both, and she's sorry."
"She can tell us that herself." Elyan said confidently. "If we reach Camelot in time, we can free her before anything happens."
"Elyan's right, Gwen is strong and she will be all right." Gaius reassured them.
"I know she will." Arthur replied. Whilst he sounded confident, internally he was going almost frantic with worry. He knew Uther was still alive but Guinevere had committed treason by freeing Leon and escaping. She would be the new target of Morgana's fury and that meant she was danger. He could understand why Morgana hated their father, he could see why Morgana hated him and he now knew that Morgana also hated Gwen. Whatever happened now, she would be in great danger until they were able to defeat Morgana and Morgause. Elyan was right, they needed to move quickly.
"Arthur," Merlin said and Arthur looked at him. "She'll be OK."
"I know she will." Arthur replied but couldn't shake off the heavy feeling on his shoulders. They were on the run, his half-sister wanted to kill them, she had taken the throne and had an immortal army at her command, his father and now the woman he loved were being held prisoner and could be executed at any moment. All of the odds were against them and things could not get any worse.
"We've got company!" Gwaine said as he heard the sound of running footsteps. The soldiers who had chased Leon through the night had found them.
Arthur swore under his breath as they began running. Actually things could be worse.
Gwen woke up slowly and rubbed her eyes, hoping that what had happened the night before had only been a bad dream. As she opened her eyes, she knew that it wasn't a dream. The world around her was still in complete darkness. Slowly and carefully, Gwen ran her hands over her arms and legs. Her wrists still hurt and were most likely bruised from the chains that Morgause had used to drag her back to Camelot but she had no other notable injuries. Gwen wondered how long she had been asleep for and slowly pulled herself to her feet. Judging by the scratchy feeling of straw against one leg and the coldness against her back, she was in the dungeons. Gwen reached out a hand and felt the rough stone wall against her fingertips. Slowly she stepped forward, one hand on the wall and attempted to walk around the cell, stumbling occasionally as she did so. Gwen ran her hand up and down the stone, feeling the bars of the small window. The warmth of sunlight against her fingers confirming that it was at least daytime. Gwen continued pacing slowly around the cell, the third wall being replaced by the smooth iron bars of the door before coming full circle around the cell.
It was strange how only after losing her sight did Gwen realise how much she depended on it. Without her sight she hadn't known where exactly she was, what time of day it was and the more she thought about it, the more she would be unable to do. How was she supposed to look after herself if she couldn't see? How could she cook for herself or clean her house? How was she supposed to buy food or make her way about town without hurting herself or making mistakes? She was a maid and seamstress, how was she supposed to help tidy a castle or repair clothes to earn money if she was unable to see what she was doing? She wouldn't be able to read or help Gaius heal the sick or wounded. She wouldn't be able to fight or ride a horse. She was useless. Completely and utterly useless to anyone.
Just as this realisation washed over her, Gwen thought about the others. Did Leon manage to escape? Had he been able to find Arthur and Elyan and the others? What would they do to defeat Morgana and Morgause? What would they do when they found out about her? Gwen highly doubted that there was a cure for blindness and what would they say? What would Elyan say when he found out that he would basically have to be her career, juggling both working and looking after her? What would Merlin and Gaius say when they realised that her lack of sight would mean that she would be no longer able to help them with the sick and infirm as well as help them whenever something strange was happening in the castle? The three of them usually did end up being the ones having to catch a magical creature or unmask an assassin. Surely that would now be impossible.
Finally Gwen thought about Arthur. What would he say when he found out she was blind. They were risking everything as it was trying to be together. Why on earth would he want her now that she was blind? Gwen had foolishly allowed herself to dream about marrying Arthur. It was all she ever wanted, all she ever would want but that was now most definitely impossible. A commoner would have been scandalous in itself but a blind commoner becoming queen? Even as she thought it, she knew it was preposterous. What use would a blind queen be to anyone? A queen who would be unable to read laws or declarations or sign treaties. A queen who was unable to help her people in times of hardship or even side by side in a time of battle. There was no way that Arthur would or even could want to marry her now. It's not like she would be able to see him on their wedding day. As that thought came into her mind, so did other horrible, heart breaking thoughts.
She would never see Arthur crowned king.
She would never be able to see any children she may have in the future. Never see them grow up or take their first steps or get married themselves.
She would never see Elyan again.
She'd never see Merlin or Leon or Gaius again.
She'd never see her home or her father's forge.
She would never see anything ever again.
It was when all these thoughts overtook her mind that Gwen began to cry. Resting her head in her hands and drawing her knees to her chest, Gwen began to cry as she understood that this was her punishment. Morgana and Morgause weren't going to kill her. Instead their punishment for her was to watch as she lived in this world of perpetual and never ending darkness. It was the epiphany that she would never see again and that all her hopes and dreams and her life itself had crashed down around her feet that caused the tears to fall thick and fast from her blank, useless eyes.
"This way!" Merlin said as they slid down an embankment which was muddy on one side and rocky on the other. As the others hurried past him, Merlin looked up and thought he saw something flash past but turned and continued running, wondering whether he would be able to use a spell to trigger a rock slide. Yet he needn't have bothered. At almost the same moment that he had considered using magic, the rocks above his head cracked ominously and gave way. Merlin sprinted forwards, his hands over his head but the men chasing him weren't as lucky. Some were hit on the head by falling rocks and Merlin winced as another was crushed by a large boulder. The others turned at the sound of the rock slide and as the dust cleared, looked at one another in confusion. That had been more than pure coincidence.
It was Gwaine who pointed upwards. "Who's that up there?"
Merlin and Arthur turned and looked up. As the dust cleared they could see two men standing at the ledge, looking down on them. Unlike the soldiers chasing them, they weren't wearing helmets nor were they dressed in what had been Cenred's colours. Instead both men were wearing chainmail but no cloaks to distinguish which, if any, kingdom they belonged to. One of the men, a tall, muscle-bound light haired man they didn't recognise. His dark haired friend however was a familiar face. He grinned down at them and it was Merlin who grinned back at him and addressed the man by name.
"Lancelot."