I do not own any of the Merlin Characters from the show; they are the property of the BBC and not I.
Chapter Eight – updated 27/12/11
Taverns were not Catherine's favourite place in the world and right now she found herself hating them more than usual. On Gwaine's suggestion they had all stopped at some run down hovel of a building that claimed on the sign outside to be The Knight's Pig. Personally Catherine thought that this was perhaps the most ridiculous name for a tavern that anyone could think of but she had reached the point at clutching at straws in the hope of finding her baby brother.
As the evening wore on though, Catherine found herself wondering if perhaps Gwaine had not just chosen to visit the tavern to catch up on any local gossip but to flirt with anything remotely pretty that crossed his path while downing pint after pint of ale.
"Are you alright Catherine?" Lancelot asked, setting down another tankard of ale in front of the scowling female.
"She's planning the most painful way she can to kill Gwaine by the looks of it." Arthur informed him cheerfully, managing some form of joke in his worried state.
Arthur let out a loud groan as he slammed into the floor and Catherine retracted her foot from where she had hooked it under the leg of Arthur's seat in order to yank it out from beneath him.
"Was that really called for?" Lancelot asked sceptically.
Lancelot's question was answered with perhaps the most terrifying look that he had ever received. Prising her dagger out of her boot Catherine began to twist it experimentally between her fingers, without removing her gaze from where Gwaine stood chatting up one of the barmaids.
Stupid twonk, she thought, she was much prettier than any silly barmaid.
"Catherine you do realised he's just seeing if this Thomas Renwoor passed through the local area or not? Right?"
Elyan's question was answered when Gwaine leaned in to whisper in the barmaid's ear and there was a resounding thunk as the dagger that Catherine had previously been holding lodged itself in the wall a few centimetres above Gwaine's head. The barmaid turned a shade of green and quickly vanished back off behind the bar leaving Gwaine standing on his own.
"Really Catherine!" he yelled cheekily across the room. "Someone might get hurt if you carry on with that sort of behaviour!"
"I think that was the point." Elyan muttered into his drink, earning him the death glare off Catherine as well. "Hey! Gwaine is the one you're mad at, not me!" he spluttered.
Yanking the dagger out of the wall Gwaine sauntered back over to the table where the rest of the group sat, lodging the blade safely in his belt.
"That's mine!" Catherine protested.
"Then I'll give it back when I'm sure that you're not going to throw it at me again." Gwaine reassured her, flashing her his patented grin.
"Did you find anything out?" Arthur jumped in, hoping to diffuse the situation before someone ended up dead. He really did not want to get involved in another bar fight, or even just a fight between Catherine and Gwaine.
"Hannah" Gwaine replied, emphasizing the barmaid's name as Catherine turned at deeper shade of purple and a vein on her forehead began to throb. "Mentioned that our dear old Thomas was found dead a couple of days ago in the ruins of a castle close to here. She also said that a traveller claimed to see the Lady Morgana and a young boy lurking around the same area."
"So instead of my baby brother being held hostage by some physco, he's now being held prisoner by some physco bitch with magic and a kid!"
"You know your face just went from purple to white in less than a second." Gwaine pointed out smiling slightly.
"Ignore him, he's drunk." Arthur interrupted as Gwaine took another swig of ale. "We will get him back Catherine, don't worry."
"This Hannah didn't happen to mention where exactly Morgana went did she?" Lancelot asked, spotting the tell tale signs that indicated Gwaine was about to pass out.
"Northwest." He managed to slur before falling off his seat and into an unconscious heap on the floor.
"Northwest it is then." Arthur sighed waving for the barmaid to come over. "A pitcher of ice cold water." He demanded.
"Morgana?" Merlin rasped in shock. The room around him was dimly lit by candles, but he could tell he was lying across something soft a comfortable, his head supported by a pile of pillows stacked beneath it.
"Don't move." Morgana ordered, ignoring Merlin's confused gaze as she adjusted the gauze she had been wrapping around his midriff. "I don't want to have to call the guards to reset your leg again; it took long enough the first time."
Merlin found himself gaping dumbly as Morgana's hands ran across his skin, muttering the odd spell to try and speed up the healing of some of the worse injuries as she went. It was odd watching her take such care, and somewhere in his still hazy mind, Merlin wondered if whoever had kidnapped him had beaten him into a catatonic state and the whole scene was just a hallucination.
"I'm sorry." He murmured, the warmth from the room making him sleepy and exhaustion still pulling him back towards sleep. Morgana jerked slightly in surprise, knocking against one of Merlin's broken ribs with her hand. Pain flared across his chest and stomach, wrenching a howl from Merlin's lips as he tried to curl in on himself hoping to end the pain. Firm hands on his shoulders forced him to stay still and Morgana's face hovered over Merlin's, waiting for the boy to calm again.
Gasping slightly, Merlin stared into the emerald eyes floating above him, a flash of concern crossed them and Merlin felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips.
"You're smiling?" Morgana stated, confused by the reaction but putting it down to the fever that was heating his skin as she spoke.
"I can still see you." Merlin chuckled weakly before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness again, his cheek glistening as a tear wove its way down his face.
Morgana knew that she should let go of his shoulders once Merlin had settled, but something kept her fingers resting against his flushed skin.
"What?" she choked, suddenly horribly lonely in the dim room. It was one of the smaller rooms in Cenred's castle, unused for a long time but close to her own chambers. She had told herself that it made sense for her to try and heal Merlin, since dead bait is near enough useless, but honestly she had no idea why she was helping the person who had poisoned her.
"Morgana?" Modred called, his voice echoing in her mind from somewhere in the lower floors of the castle.
"Coming." She responded, trying to sound cheerful for the child who was in her care. "Just give me a moment."
Pulling away from Merlin she felt an overwhelming guilt drape itself across her, causing her to gasp and slip sideways from the bed. The sense vanished as she crashed to the floor, disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared. It had not been her own guilt though, for a moment it had felt that way but somehow she knew that she had managed to pull Merlin's own guilt around herself. Merlin's guilt over her, and that thought shook her heart painfully.
Please Review!
