Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's commented, keep it up. Just too clear up confusion; this story is set after Season 3. Sorry about how many times this chapter swaps POV's. Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Morgana's POV
"The prisoner is awake," one of my guards informed me.
Without answering him, I made my way to my prisoner. He was pacing his cell, every so often looking around.
"You look hunted, Merlin," I said softly, stepping out of the shadows.
Merlin: the boy responsible for everything wrong in my life. His face betrayed his shock, but he soon got over it.
"What do you want from me?" He demanded.
"Now, Merlin, not everything is about you. No, you're bait, Arthur and his men will come for you, and then you'll all die. Arthur so I can take the throne, his en for following Uther, and you for killing my sister," I hissed the last word.
The death of my beloved sister still hurt, it had only been two months, she was the only person who had understood. I blinked back tears, letting my anger replace the all consuming grief.
"Who's Freya?" I asked, needing to change the subject from Morgause.
Shock showed on Merlin's face for the second time that night, but he remained silent this time.
It had, of course, been me who had sent the dream to Merlin, but I still didn't know what he saw. The spell had been to send him a dream that would make him leave camp, I only knew it was about someone called Freya because he had named her by the lake and my men had informed me.
Before I could press the matter, a guard came into the room to inform me Arthur and two of Camelot's knights had been sighted; heading towards the castle.
"So the fun begins," I smiled. "Drywanu ef."
I waved my hand at the sword the guard had given me, and watched with satisfaction as it soared through the air before landing in Merlin's gut, he didn't even have a chance to see it coming before it was buried in him.
"Seems you've lost your usefulness, after all, now that Arthur is on his way, why should I keep you alive?" I laughed.
Savouring the look of intense pain on Merlin's face, I turned and walked out of the room. I had a prince and his knights to deal with.
Merlin's POV
Pain. Hard to ignore, can't mean anything good, pain.
Barely stifling a scream that was building inside me, I looked down at the sword sticking out of my gut. It looked safe to pull out, I remembered Gaius telling me that leaving the object in the wound could stop blood loss, but to know if my magic could heal this wound, I needed to be able to remove the sword.
I grasped the handle with both hands and prepared to pull the sword out, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want to face the pain which would come with it being removed.
Merlin? Are you there? Can you hear me? Where are you?
The shock of hearing Lancelot's voice in my head had me instinctively pulling out the sword. A wave of pain hit me immediately, leaving me not able to reply. I swayed with the pain for awhile.
We're coming Merlin, hold on. The voice said; it was just like with the druids, except it was less powerful. I had no doubt I could block it if need be.
No! I wanted to shout. It's a trap! But instead the pain wrapped itself around my mind and forced me into the painless black oblivion.
Gwaine's POV
Something was bothering Lancelot, something more than Merlin being missing. I was concerned about finding Merlin, but I knew Lancelot was too. So I waited until we set off towards the castle after waking up, with Arthur in lead of course, and then decided to talk to him. This was a big thing for me, as everyone already knew, I didn't really do serious.
"What's wrong then? Might as well tell me now, we both know I won't ask again," I asked, cursing inwardly that I'd made something serious into a joke.
"Nothing," Lancelot looked surprised, but I saw his eyes flicker to Arthur quickly.
"Really?" I asked doubtfully.
"Really," he repeated firmly, before speeding his horse up to catch Arthur.
There was no need to catch Arthur up though, we'd arrived at the castle, and had several men pointing arrows at us, and in the middle of them all was Morgana.
"Now this is a welcome party," I whistled.
Merlin's POV
"Merlin?" A voice was asking.
"Have you seen that wound? He's probably out cold," I recognized Arthur's voice.
"The joy of proving you wrong," I muttered, opening my eyes.
Gwaine, Lancelot, and Arthur were in my cell, Gwaine was in front of me, while Arthur and Lancelot were sat on the floor across from me.
"Merlin! Are you okay?" The same voice as before asked, I realized it was Lancelot; he was beginning to get up.
"I'm sure he couldn't be better, after all, he's only been stabbed, no problem," Gwaine said sarcastically.
"I don't remember asking you," Arthur said.
"As nice as it is to have you two arguing over me, I'd really prefer if you helped me sit up," I grumbled.
Gwaine grasped my hands and propped me into sitting position. I hissed when my stomach reacted to the movement, and I felt more blood pool out of the wound.
"Sorry," Gwaine muttered.
We stayed there for a while longer, each lost in our own thoughts. In my head, my dream of Freya was playing over and over, I knew now it was of Morgana's doing, but I couldn't make myself regret going to the lake. I'd do it again, if it meant Freya stayed safe even after death.
"Merlin, I'm surprised to see you alive," Morgana appeared out of no where.
She paused for a moment, watching us, and then walked away. Disappearing as if she was never there.
"Come on then, let's have a look at the wound," Arthur stood up and walked over to me. He winced slightly when I lifted my top up, but otherwise continued to inspect the area.
"This might hurt a bit," Arthur muttered, pressing on around the edges of the hole.
A bit, was an understatement, the pain was so bad it felt like a fire inside my gut, like the sword was piercing me again. I couldn't stay awake any longer, so for the second time, I passed out.
Arthur's POV
"He's passed out," Gwaine pointed out.
"I warned him it would hurt," I said, gritting my teeth.
There was nothing I could do, it made me feel helpless, and I didn't like it. Normally, I could wrap something around the wound, but since it was on the stomach, we didn't have enough material to wrap around Merlin at the moment. The wound looked big, and I couldn't help but think the worst. If we didn't escape soon, there would be one less of us leaving.
I hope you liked it. See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :)
Once again I'm sorry for how many times it swaps characters; I know it's a little confusing. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon. Thanks for reading.
