Ok, so another chapter, yay. This girl at the beginning and end of this, I was hoping, is a cross between Dru from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and River Tam from Firefly, not sure I pulled it off though, she was much crazier in my head before I put it down on paper.
Thank you all for your reviews, I promise, Arthur will show up in the next chapter, he will have a large part of the next chapter. I'm glad I'm keeping the suspense to everyone's liking and I'll probably reveal who the woman is, though I'm sure you can guess. Please enjoy.
There was a small vanity across the room, far enough away that the chain barely reached but it gave her enough room to sit and stare into the broken glass surrounded by broken light bulbs. The mirror was splintered and gave broken images of the dark haired woman in front of it. She sat brushing her long hair, never allowed to cut it, while humming to herself.
"One, two, red, blue, orange," she sang while picking up several dolls made of paper, fingering them one by one before setting them down again. Next she picked up a brush and ran it over her hair, still humming to herself. "Soldiers line up to to fight, will they fall?" she asked her reflection before giggling to herself. "Papa's lost his marbles," the woman said, looking to her right were a empty seat was but she reached out and brushed her hand over air as if she were stroking something. "The stars are quiet tonight," she said, looking out of the large French doors that looked out on a courtyard.
"Dinner," a woman's voice said but the woman did not turn but watched her through the mirror, running her brush over her hair once again. The woman backed out of the room, watching her as if she would attack at any moment.
"Papa's poisoned the water," she said and waved her hand, and the food on the plate disappeared. "One, two, red, blue, orange," she said, turning back to the dolls she had made.
Merlin and Lancelot made their way down the long white passageway, it was small, only room for one person to walk comfortably and stretched out before them and closed behind them as they went. They turned right down a bend in the passageway and came to an abrupt halt when the wall closed in front and behind them leaving them in a very small space.
"Merlin, what did you do?" Lance demanded and turned in a circle to survey the white walls that looked the same, providing no way out.
"I didn't do anything," the younger man replied, placing his hands on the four walls, pushing magic into them but nothing happened.
"I don't like small spaces," Lance said starting to feel like his chest was being squeezed.
"Calm down Lance," Merlin said, shooting him a glance.
"I can't calm down," Lance said, his voice becoming high pitched as he tried to get enough air into his lungs.
"Lance," Merlin said placing his hand on the others' arm, "breath." Lance took several deep breaths before nodding though he still felt panic.
"I think," Merlin said as he placed his hand on the wall to their right, "this should do it," as he said that, the wall behind them slid open.
"Isn't that the way we came?" Lance asked, looking down the hall but saw nothing but white walls.
"We don't have any other choice," Merlin replied, looking around again at the three remaining walls before stepping into the hallway.
This hallway was straight and didn't move one way or the other and after a while it came to an end and Merlin sighed in frustration.
"What now?" Lance asked and Merlin closed his eyes, trying to hold in the harsh reply on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth to respond but jumped back a foot when the door suddenly flew upwards, opening into the gym that had been down the hallway from Merlin's room.
"What is going on?" Merlin asked, stepping into the room slowly and looking around cautiously.
"Merlin?" a voice asked and he turned to see Gwen, Elyan and several other slaves standing there, "what are you doing here, they said you'd escaped."
"We were," Lance said, stepping past Merlin who hadn't moved much further than a couple of steps. "The tunnels led us here," he explained and Merlin turned, cursing when the door behind them closed.
"And now it seems, we're doing our best to get caught," he said, leaning his head against the wall where the door had been.
Gaius sat in the chair in the conference room and stared out the windows that looked over the city, the lights that spread out before them twinkling at him. He was torn, he could leave, he knew he could, easily and they would never know how he did it. As soon as Aredian came back, the man would have him arrested, the other man wouldn't be able to prove that he had helped in the escape, but Gaius would be 'held for questioning'.
Gaius stood and walked to the wall to his left, running his hand along the smooth surface and kept going even though he felt his magic flare when he found the door. Following the wall, he made his way to the windows and stared out, wondering where Merlin was and if he was safe yet.
Walking back to the door leading to the tunnels, he stood there for a moment, contemplating, before making a decision and sitting down again, waiting for Aredian to come back.
"You have to leave," Gwen said, looking between the would-be escapees, "if those guards come back you'll be caught."
"I'm aware of that Gwen," Melin said as he walked along the wall, looking for the door they had entered the room through, but found nothing. Suddenly he turned towards the group of slaves who were watching him with a mixture of awe and fear. "I need your help," he said.
"We're not like you Merlin," Gwen pointed out, "we can't do magic with these collars on."
"Lance, use that device that Gaius gave you," Merlin said, turning to him and Lance nodded, before moving towards Gwen.
"You realize that this will probably set off more alarms," he pointed out, moving in front of Gwen.
"Yeah, well it can't make it worse," Merlin said, moving further away from where he had been searching.
"That will remove the collar?" Gwen asked, looking at the small device in Lance's hand.
"It will deactivate the chip I understand," Lance said holding it up, waiting for her approval, "it will give you back your magic." Gwen looked into his eyes for a moment before she nodded and closed her eyes, tensing as if it might hurt. Lance waived the device over the collar where the chip was and they heard a click.
"Was that it?" Gwen asked, opening her eyes, "I don't feel any-" her sentence was cut off with a gasp as she suddenly went taught, her eyes growing wide as her body was engulfed in flames.
"Gwen!" Lance cried, reaching out to her but Merlin held him back.
"It's her magic, her element must be fire," he explained and they watched as the fire slowly receded into her body until only her hands were burning. She took another deep, shaking breath and clenched her hands into fists, extinguishing the flames.
"Thank you," she said quietly, tears running down her cheeks as she opened her hand and a small flame danced between her palm and the tips of her fingers.
"Anyone else?" Merlin asked and most of the slaves looked hopeful but took a step back, all but Elyan who stepped forward. Lance did the same to his collar and a moment later, a large gust of wind swept through the entire room before wrapping itself around Elyan and settled, only a slight breeze playing with his hair showed his magic.
"Any others?" Merlin asked again but no one stepped forward, keeping their eyes down and Merlin sighed. "Help me find a door," he said to Gwen and Elyan and they separated, quickly following the walls.
"Here," Elyan called and the others moved to him as the door opened, leading to another long hallway.
"Joy, more white walls," Lance muttered under his breath but smiled at Gwen when she took his hand in hers.
"What are you doing?" a voice called and they turned to see Gwaine standing there, staring at the four of them.
"We're leaving Gwaine," Gwen said stepping forward but stopped when Gwaine raised a stun gun, pointing it at them.
"I can't let you do that," he said, shaking his head.
"We have to go Gwaine," Elyan said, stepping in front of the others, "we don't deserve this life, no one does."
"But it's the life you have been born into," Gwaine said but the argument sounded weak, even to his own ears.
"How?" Gwen asked, "because we were born with something we had no control over? Would you say this to your own brother?" Gwaine's arm which had been lowering raised again at the mention of his brother.
"Don't bring him into this," he said through clenched teeth.
"He's not here with the Pendragon's, but out there, we can search for him," Gwen said, pleading with him now, conscious of time and that they may be running out of it.
"Gwen is my little sister, Gwaine," Elyan said and Merlin was surprised, he didn't know that, "and if I were in your situation, I'd do what I could to find her like you are him. Being stuck here though, not able to search for him, is not the way to do that. You have been our guardian for four years now Gwaine, ever since we were dragged here, and I thought you were our friend."
"That's low, even for you," Gwaine said and lowered his weapon.
"It's the truth," Elyan said, shrugging.
"I don't think I've ever heard you speak so much," the other man said chuckling and Elyan smiled back.
"We'll search for your brother once we're out, we'll find him and send word back to you, tell you where he is," he said, laying a hand on Gwaine's arm.
"No," Gwaine said after a few moments, several emotions playing across his face, "I'm coming with you." Hearing footsteps quickly approaching the doors that led to the gym, he turned back to the others, "we should probably go, now."
Merlin led the way into the hallway, Lance behind him, grumbling about small spaces followed by Gwen and Elyan with Gwaine bringing up the rear, the door closing behind them. They had gone only a few steps when the lights that seemed to have no source went out, leaving them in complete darkness.
"Merlin!" Lance cried.
"I didn't do anything!" the younger man yelled back.
"You're still here," Aredian's voice had Gaius turning to see him entering the room once more, a dark scowl on his face.
"Where would I go?" he asked and watched as Aredian gathered up the folders that were still sitting on the table.
"Don't play cute with me," Aredian said, shooting a dark glare at him, "you're under house arrest until we find out what exactly is going on." He nodded towards the door and two men entered the room, wearing the uniforms of Pendragon Security. "These men will escort you to your rooms, you will not leave them until I say so, give them any problems and I will have you arrested and thrown in jail. Am I understood?" Aredian asked, having walked around the table and now stood in Gaius' personal space, looking him straight in the eye.
"Perfectly," Gaius said and watched as the other man stormed out of the room, and then dutifully followed his guards, one in front, one in back, to his rooms.
"Sir," Gaius heard a voice and turned to look over his shoulder, to see a woman approaching in a hurry, the last thing he heard as he rounded the corner was Aredian swearing.
Gwen had moved to the front of the group, using her fire magic to light the way though Lance kept close but they ran into no further troubles. Eventually the long hall ended at another dead end and Merlin moved to the front once again. He studied the door, noticing a strange design, what looked like tubes that ended in small holes, covering it, and no matter how much magic he put in, nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Gwaine asked, still at the back of the group.
"The door's not opening," Merlin said, shaking his head, feeling along the tubes again when a thought struck him. "Elyan, use your magic, see if the wind will open the door," he instructed and moved out of the way as the other young man made his way forward. A strong wind whipped around them before rushing into the tubes, making a whistling sound as it went. For a long heart-stopping moment, nothing happened and Merlin started to worry when suddenly the door disappeared and they were looking outside.
They were facing what looked like an alley, the side of another building not twenty feet away, the ground strewn with garbage. Lance pushed Merlin and Elyan back before taking a look around the doorway.
"Stay here," he said to them all and left the safety of the tunnel and disappeared around the corner where they could hear traffic. There was a long wait before he came back, a woman following him, and motioned them to come out of hiding.
"Morgana?" Gwen asked when she recognized the woman following Lance.
"Hello Gwen," Morgana said, moving forward and gripping her hand, looking over the faces of those there.
"What are you doing here?" Gwaine asked, feeling weary of the appearance of Uther Pendragon's ward.
"I'm here to take two of you to safety," she replied and held up her hand, a ball of light appearing for a moment before she closed it again, the ball disappearing.
"Two of us?" Merlin asked in alarm.
"I only have room for two," Morgana said apologetically, looking between the five standing before her.
"That can't be," Merlin said, shaking his head, "three of us are not going to stay behind."
"I was told that only two people were going to be coming out of that tunnel, not five," Morgana replied defensively.
"We'll figure something out then," Merlin said, looking at the others, panic in his eyes.
"You had better do it soon then," Morgana replied, "we are working against time."
"What about three trips?" Lance offered but Morgana shook her head.
"One trip is going to be risky enough, if I leave and come back and leave again, especially when the city is on alert, it will draw attention."
"We could put Gwen and Merlin in hiding," Gwaine spoke up, "and leave Lance and I visible."
"And what about Elyan?" Merlin demanded.
"Plus," Morgana pointed out, "they will be looking for you and Lance, if they see you, they will know something is going on."
"Merlin," Gwen's quiet voice said, silencing the arguing as he turned towards her, "you have to go."
"What? No!" he cried, shaking his head back and forth.
"She's right," Gwen said, she had been standing a bit apart from the others, listening to their bickering before, but she knew she had to be the voice of reason, "this plan is centered around you. You have to go."
"I won't leave you," Merlin said, "if you're captured again, do you know what they will do to you?" he demanded.
"It is a fate worse than death, I am sure," she replied, "but Elyan and I grew up in this city, we know it, we will run and hide, we will be safe."
"No," Lance said, stepping forward this time and she looked at him, "you and Merlin go," he said and looked at Elyan who nodded in agreement, "we will hide."
"Just because I am a woman, does not mean that I can not take care of myself Lance Du Lac," Gwen said in a dark tone, causing him to take a step back. "Besides, I will not leave Elyan, I will not lose my brother."
"Gwen," Elyan started to say but she turned on him.
"Don't you start," she snapped before rounding on Merlin, her features softening when she saw his distressed look. "Merlin," she said gently, "Elyan and I grew up with a loving father, one who refused to turn us over to the authorities because he did not want to see us in this life. When things got bad, and trust me, they got bad, he would tell us a story, a prophecy if you will, about a person that would change things. This person would be strong, would be able to face down those who enslave us and stop all of this, would be able to wield magic, even with the greatest restrictions. The story had been told and retold so many times that no one knows if it is supposed to be a man, woman or child. Some stories have them coming in a chariot drawn by dragons, others say from a lake, but no matter what story we believe, I believe it is you."
"I am no savior," Merlin said, shaking his head, his eyes wide with a wild look about them.
"Merlin, no one that I have heard of has been able to use magic with these blasted collars on," Gwen went on, "except you. You told me once that you spoke to an old man named Kilgarrah in the camps, do you know who he is?"
"I didn't at the time, but I learned that he was the last great dragon," Merlin said.
"He was," Gwen said, "and he's dead." There was a collective gasp around them but Gwen's eyes didn't leave Merlin's. "He would not have appeared to you, especially in the camps, shown you that you had access to your magic unless you were important."
"How do you know that he is dead?" Merlin asked.
"I heard Uther speaking of it," it was Morgana that answered this time and Merlin turned towards her.
"We would have heard about it, there would be celebrating," Lance pointed out but Morgana shook her head.
"Uther does not believe it until he sees the body, but those who claim to have killed him are certain of it."
"Then if there is no body, there is no proof," Elyan said.
"They were to bring the proof tonight," Morgana said quietly.
"You see," Gwen said gripping Merlin's arm, bringing his attention back to her, "we need you out there, you need to bring a stop to this."
"How?" he demanded, "I'm one person."
"One person who is extraordinarily strong, Kilgarrah would not have come to you if he did not think you worthy. You have to go Merlin," she said again. Merlin looked up at the five people around him, receiving nods from the three men.
"I would never live with myself if you are caught," he replied and Gwen pulled him into a hug.
"Then we won't be," Elyan spoke up and clapped Merlin on the shoulder.
"We should go, we may be a ways off from Pendragon Tower's but the search will spread out this far soon," Morgana pointed out and Merlin nodded as Gwen pulled back.
"Take care of them," he said, shaking Gwaine's hand and the man grinned.
"It's what I've been doing for four years, that's not going to stop because we're out here," he said before turning to Lance and pulling him into a one-armed hug. "Take care of him," was all he said to the other man before pulling back. Lance shook Elyan's hand and turned to Gwen who surged forward and pulled him into a lingering kiss.
"Take care of yourselves," she said pulling back, tears in her eyes.
"You too," he said before giving her one last kiss and they pulled away.
"Here," Morgana said, stepping forward and placing something in Gwen's hand and when the girl looked down, she found a strange key as well as some money there. "That key will remove the collars, less conspicuous that way," she said, smiling, "money for, well whatever."
"Thank you," Gwen said and hugged the her tightly.
"Be safe," Morgana whispered into her hair and Gwen pulled back.
"You as well," Gwen replied and as one, they turned in opposite directions. When Merlin, Morgana and Lance reached the end of the alley, Merlin turned back and found it empty.
Morgana led Merlin and Lance quickly to a car that was parked around the corner and down another alley and opened the back door of a large SUV. Inside was a backseat that she pulled up and revealed a small compartment.
"We're supposed to fit in there?" Lance asked and eyeing the small space.
"You may have to lay with one on top of the other, you'll figure it out, but do it in a hurry," the woman replied and moved towards the front seat.
"Could we lie side by side?" Merlin asked trying to determine the best way to do this.
"Not enough room, I think she's right, I think we will have to lie chest to chest, you'll have to be on top because I'll smother you."
"Ok," Merlin said again, looking down at the space again and waited for Lance to climb inside, Merlin following after and lying on top of him. It was awkward, Lance had to bend his legs and his head was pressed up against the other side of the car at an odd angle, one that would become uncomfortable quickly. Merlin rested his back against Lance's chest as chest to chest was impossible with such a small space and had to pull his knees nearly to his chest to make room.
"Well at least this isn't awkward," Lance said and Merlin snorted, laying his head on the other man's chest.
"Are you ready?" Morgana asked, walking back and lowering the seat over them, it must have had some magical qualities because they had been enclosed but there was nothing touching Merlin. "Be quiet," she said before again moving back to the front seat and starting the car. The car started moving and Merlin closed his eyes.
Not ten minutes later they heard Morgana curse and both men tensed as the car started to slow.
"What's going on?" Merlin asked.
"Road block," she called back as she came to a complete stop.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Ms. Le Fey," a male voice was heard from the front of the vehicle, "but we need to check everyone who is leaving the city."
"Of course," Morgana said and they heard a door open and close, "can I ask what is going on?"
"Routine checks ma'am," the man replied and the two men that were hiding heard him circle the car, saw the light of his flashlight sweep through the car from under the seat, each tense and sweating.
"Is a dog really necessary?" they heard Morgana ask and Merlin heard Lance curse under his breath.
"Standard procedure," the man replied and they could hear a man walking around the car, saying something quietly to the dog, and Merlin could swear he heard the dog sniffing. There was a long moment as the dog searched the car before they heard the first man speak again.
"You are free to go Ms. Le Fey, sorry for the inconvenience."
"Well," she replied as she opened the door again, "I hope you find what you are looking for."
"Thank you ma'am," the man said and Morgana started the car and drove through the road block. No one said anything for several minutes but finally Morgana took a deep breath and swore again, gripping the wheel tightly.
"That was close," she said but neither Lance or Merlin responded.
"Let's go," a voice said and Gaius looked up from his books to see one of his guards looking down at him.
"Where are we going?" he asked, standing as he did.
"Aredian wants to speak with you," he was told and was led out of his rooms and up several floors to where Aredian had been set up in an empty office.
"What did you do?" the man demanded as he entered the room.
"I have done nothing but sit in my rooms as you requested," Gaius replied, ignoring what the man was actually asking of him.
"I am tired of you playing dumb," Aredian said, standing and slamming his hands down on the desk in front of him, "you had something to do with these escapes, I know you did."
"I really don't know what you are talking about," Gaius replied, keeping eye contact with the other man. "Who escaped?" he asked innocently and Aredian nearly snarled.
"Guinevere and Elyan Black, Merlin Emrys, Lance Du Lac and Gwaine Ryder," Aredian said, throwing a folder that was open in front of Gaius. The folder had a picture of each of the people he had mentioned and general information next to those photo's. Gaius tried to hid his surprise when he heard that Gwen and Elyan had also escaped, that had not been in the plans, but if they could get away, all the better.
"This is the first time that I have heard of this, I was not aware that anyone had gotten away," he finally said.
"The whole tower has been on lock down and you're going to sit there and say that you had no idea why?" Aredian demanded.
"We have regularly scheduled lock downs as well as unscheduled ones, I assumed it was one of those."
"You spoke to Du Lac before all of this went on, what did you say?" Aredian asked, sitting down once again.
"I asked how Merlin was doing, if he had said anything to him about what had happened with Steffan."
"I don't believe you," Aredian said with narrowed eyes, "because after that he went, took Emrys from the room he was locked in and Merlin, who, according to you, has no access to magic, was able to get to the tunnels."
"If Merlin can use magic, Aredian," Gaius said, his voice measured, "I had no idea of it." They stared at each other for a long time, Aredian looking for something that Gaius refused to give him.
"Take him back to his rooms," Aredian called and Gaius' guards entered the room again and he stood up. "Gaius," the other man called and he turned back, "I will figure out what you are hiding and when I do, I will make sure you pay for it."
"I have nothing to hide," Gaius said before he was led from the room.
She stood at the glass doors that looked out on the city with unfocused eyes, drawing patterns on the glass with her finger, a dreamy smile on her lips. She glanced down at the dolls that were lying on a table next to her, the 'blue', 'orange' and 'two' dolls separated from the 'one' and 'red'.
"Where are you going dear boy," she said, picking up the 'red' doll and petting it. She placed it back down and picked up the 'one' doll and a frightening smile crossed her face. "He will not be able to protect you in the end," she said, down at the 'red' doll. "All the soldiers will fall in the end," she said, placing 'one' down and looking back through the window.