Chapter 3

The first thing I noticed was the smell of something rotten and old, reminding me of a dog gone wet, laying near a heater. When I moved, I became aware of a terrible headache and an unexpected weariness in my body. I tried to remember what had happened.

The warning bell tolling, Agravaine. And Morgana.

My eyes snapped open. Somehow I expected to see the witch's face close to me, but I looked straight at a brick wall. Even before I turned around, painfully, I knew where I was. I was in Camelot's dungeon. I cursed under my breath, because the situation I was in became ever more serious. Almost everything I had planned over the last few months had been to prevent this, me, in a cell, unable to do anything, to help Merlin and Arthur along.

"You're awake", a too familiar voice said.

By the wall opposite of me, sitting on the ground instead of a prison bed like me, was Sir Gwaine, grinning widely despite of the circumstances. I looked around, expecting to see Gaius, who was, if I remembered correctly, supposed to be in the same cell as Gwaine, but there was no one else but me and the knight.

"I don't believe this", I whispered and buried my face in my hands. While doing so, I noticed that my chain mail had been removed and I was only wearing the shirt. I held my breath and looked over to Gwaine, who eyed me seriously and said: "Me neither!"

I carefully stood up. The familiar tight feeling around my chest calmed me: The bandages around me breasts seemed to be still in place.

Gwaine looked like he wanted to say something else, but was prevented to do so by the sound of steps coming nearer. He gestured to the prison-bed with a worried expression on his face. I nodded, guessing what he wanted me to do, and laid back down, face to the wall as before, eyes closed and heart racing. Chains clattered as the knight went over to the prison door.

"Sir Gwaine", Morgana said mockingly, "such a handsome knight. So strong and tall. And still no one to talk to, really. All on your own.", she said.

I actually felt her looking at me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I tried to lay as still as I could, trying not to breathe faster while the sensation lasted. Gwaine must have had a reason for wanting me to appear unconscious, and I had seen enough of Morgana for one day.

"I'm used to be on my own", the knight answered, his hoarse voice betraying him.

"I don't think so", the self-proclaimed queen whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.

I heard the door open and risked a quick glance. Gwaine, looking back at me for a few seconds while a Southroner loosened the chains around his ankles, shook his head, a tiny movement I hoped Morgana had not noticed. But the witch was already on her way back to the stairs.

The Southroner dragged the knight out of the cell and followed close behind.

I wished I could have asked Gwaine to be careful, but I had not had the chance.

While yet another man locked the door of the cell again, I closed my eyes once more, trying to think, but my head continued to throb, my whole body felt like one big bruise, and I couldn't shake a feeling of uneasiness that had nothing to do with me being in a cell or the possibility of something being wrong with the king and his man-servant, but with Gwaine being dragged out of the cell.

All on his own, just as Morgana had said.

.:. .:. .:.

When I woke up again, I really wasn't sure if I had slept or slipped into unconsciousness again. The throbbing in my head had weakened, but my body still hurt all over.

I slowly turned round, hoping to see Gwaine, but the cell was empty except for me. The only real change was that no more light came through the barred window high up in the wall and the only lighting came from the torches outside of the cell.

I sat up, leaning my back against the wall, and stared at the empty space which Gwaine had occupied before, absentmindedly searching for my necklace.

It wasn't there anymore.

.:. .:. .:.

I felt like a long time had passed when I heard noise from outside the cell again, but it might just have been a span of a few minutes. The door opened, and Gwaine was thrown inside. He stumbled and fell to the ground while the Southroner locked us in again. I knelt down beside the knight, worried that he might be hurt, but he sat up on his own accord and shot the wickedly grinning man outside an angry look.

"Are you alright?", I asked as soon as I thought the Southroner to be out of earshot.

"Why wouldn't I be?", Gwaine asked, smirking, but he looked tired and there was blood on his face from a deep cut on his left cheek. It would surely leave a mark, and I distantly wondered if I had seen it on screen or if this, too, was a change that had happened because my presence corrupted the storyline.

I ripped a small piece of my shirt off and gave it to him, gesturing to his face. He dappled at the wound with a blank expression, but I was sure it was hurting, if only because he was not too gentle in doing so.

"What happened?", I asked after a while of uncomfortable silence.

"Morgana wanted to have some entertainment", the knight said and shrugged. "Now she has two soldiers less to command."

"Doesn't make a difference, does it?", I asked without looking at him. In the half-light of the torches, with an almost total stranger beside me and at least a week of hunger ahead of me, given that Arthur would come to take back Camelot, it was hard not to feel depressed.

"You're one of the new knights, right? What was your name again?", Gwaine asked and stopped trying to wipe away the blood on his face.

"William", I said, sounding every bit as small and frightened as I felt. I had been in dungeons before, but I always had my necklace to get out before anything really dangerous happened. But they had taken it away from me. And it wasn't me who should be in a cell with Gwaine. Gaius and Elyan should be here, it was all...

"Listen, Will", Gwaine said suddenly, laying a hand on my shoulder, "Arthur has escaped from Camelot, but he will come back here, I'm sure of it. He would never leave his people like this. He is a good king."

Of course Arthur would come. And if he didn't want to, Merlin would convince him to. I closed my eyes for a few moments, took a deep breath and then nodded.

Gwaine stood up and walked over to the almost-bed and sat down, adding: "But I hope he comes soon. I could do with a drink."

.:. .:. .:.

A/N: Dialogue! Finally! And a short chapter again. But short chapters mean I'm able to upload faster, guess that's a good thing.

The next one will be from another person's point of view, though. I bet you won't be able to guess who it will be!

Is there a word I could use instead of "prison bed"? There has to be one, but my dictionary won't tell me. I couldn't find one I was content with (and I read every single article available on Wikipedia concerning beds...)

By the way, if you noticed any mistakes, please let me know. I'm not a native speaker (guess you noticed that already by me not finding words) and it would be of great help if you would point out what I did wrong!