Merlin was speechless. His mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. Calia had tears endlessly flowing down her cheeks, breast heaving with sobs. After several minutes Merlin regained his composure enough to speak.
"No. It's just not possible. Balinor never told me about any other women."
Calia looked at Merlin incredulously. "Why would he? He never knew about my existence, so why would he tell his son who he just met about a brief relationship he had over 20 years ago?"
Merlin sighed forcefully. "You're right… Well, what do we do now?" he asked, closing his eyes in an attempt to block out the world.
Biting back another emotional outburst, Calia took off her new engagement ring and handed it back to Merlin. "One thing is for certain. If you are my brother I cannot marry you. I…I'm so sorry!"
With that, Calia ran out of Merlin's chambers. For a split second Merlin sat, not able to move. Once his feet caught up with his brain, Merlin sprinted after Calia. But he was too slow and had already lost her trail. He knew she would no longer be in the castle, so he headed for the entrance, crashing headlong into Arthur in the hallway beside the outer door.
"Damn!" Merlin glanced up and exclaimed in recognition, "Oh! It's you, Arthur. Excuse me."
"You're not excused. Where are you going? Not to the tavern again, are you? I thought I told you to lay off the beer."
"Not going to the tavern. I'm in a hurry." Merlin attempted to jog around Arthur, but Arthur caught his arm and would not let go.
"Tut, tut. You know better than that. I have work for you to do, so unless you're in a hurry going to muck out the stables…"
"Please, Arthur…it's Cal. She's just run off, and I need to find her and fast. She might do something…something dangerous. Besides, it's dark and she's alone probably heading into the forest."
"What did you do to Caley? She wouldn't just run off like that."
"I didn't do anything. I swear."
"Why don't I believe you."
"Believe me or not, I must find her. Have you seen her?"
"Actually yes, she crashed into me just a few moments before you did. She at least addressed me as Your Highness."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Okay, Your Highness, did she tell you where she was headed?"
"She didn't take the time to say anything except 'Pardon me, Your Highness' with a curtsey before running off."
"Great, just great. Well, hopefully someone's seen her since then. Maybe Gwaine. Isn't he on guard duty tonight?"
Arthur nodded. "He is. And…good luck. I'm sure you'll find her and fix whatever it is you did to upset her."
"Oh I really hope so." Merlin turned and ran out the door and down the steps, rushing through the marketplace and toward Camelot's main gates. He nearly knocked over several fruit carts on his way and actually bowled over a few children.
When he reached the gates, he found Gwaine flirting with a woman trying to exit. He ran up to Gwaine, completely ignoring the woman, and said, "Gwaine, I need to ask you something. It's urgent!"
"Can't you see I'm busy? This is urgent, too!" he replied with a smirk.
"Seriously, Gwaine… It's Cal. Did you see her run by here?"
"Yes, I did see Cali run past. She hardly stopped to say hello to me!"
"Did she tell you where she was going, by any chance?"
Gwaine shook his head. "No. But I saw where she was running to, and if I hadn't been on gate duty I would have run after her.
"Why? Where was she going?"
"Into the forest."
"Damn! I knew it! She must be going to her mother."
"Why would she be doing that? And why in such a hurry?"
"It's a really long story, and I don't have time to tell it if I'm going to catch her. Thanks, Gwaine!" Merlin called back before jogging off.
"Any time," Gwaine answered with a light sigh, turning back to watch over the gate.
Merlin ran as fast as he could toward the forest, but he honestly had no idea where he was going. He had a vague idea of where Calia's mother lived, but that was it. He was going to have to rely on his tracking skills to find her. He began by trying to find her set of foot prints, which was not easy. So many feet had crossed on their way to and from the forest that picking out one set was nearly impossible. It wasn't until he got much closer to the forest that he was able to find a small woman's footprint in the mud. He bent down and gazed at it. It was definitely the right size, but was it Calia's?
Merlin put a hand over it and said an incantation. Calia's image flashed into his mind, which solved the question. He then pointed his face toward the forest and did his finding spell, giving him the ability to visualize the path he needed to take. With that picture in his mind, he set off.
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Calia knew she was lost. She had run into the forest so quickly that she lost her bearings and wasn't sure which way to turn to get to her mother's village. It was also dark inside the forest as the skies overhead were overcast. No sun peeked through the clouds or the treetops to help her. As she stumbled along, she could hear voices and followed them, trying not to make a sound. She was unprepared for what she saw as she bent her head around a tree.
Morgana and Ragnor were seated facing each other in a heated discussion. Calia turned to run but broke a twig as she moved, turning Morgana's attention right at her. Morgana smirked and put up her hand, stopping Calia in her tracks.
"I'm so glad you decided to join us!" Morgana said with dripping sarcasm as she walked toward Calia's paralyzed figure. "You might actually be of some assistance to us. Ragnor, tie her up."
"No! I won't let you do this!" Calia protested, but she was still unable to move so the words meant little.
Morgana laughed. "And just how do you plan to stop me? You'll be released when I have what I need."
"What is it you need?"
"Emrys. I need you to tell me everything you know about Emrys." Morgana motioned to Ragnor to get moving. Not one to disobey orders, Ragnor sauntered over to Calia, placed her back against the tree and tied her to it securely. Calia's head fell forward as she began to cry, lamenting her actions and wishing Merlin knew where she was so he could rescue her.