A/N: I made a playlist of songs for Yara's character. It doesn't have much in it at the moment, but it's on youtube. The playlist name is Yara Mair.

This Chapter is dedicated to new reader ellie77.

Yara POV

Mordred was an interesting character. He had moments where he sat quietly against the cold stone wall, meditating as Yara had seen her mother do when she was little. Then, he would move suddenly to do exercises that she had seen the knights do in Camelot.

"You're a druid," she said on, she thought, the second day. But for all she knew, it could still have been the first or the third. Her grumbling stomach certainly said that it had been a while since she had eaten. "Why do you do those exercises?"

"I'd like to be a knight someday," was the earnest answer.

A knight. The peaceful druid wanted to be a knight. Yara would have laughed at that if she had wanted to hurt his feelings. But she didn't, so she kept quiet. "Perhaps in Camelot?"

"I . . . I don't think that I could ever fight against Emrys and the Once and Future King," Mordred said quietly, coming down from his handstand against the wall. "And now that Camelot allows magic . . . maybe I could try there."

"You'd be one of the first magical knights, that's for sure. Also, there's still going to be some prejudice toward magic. Particularly from the guards."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Speaking from experience?"

Yara shrugged. "My adoptive father is one of the best sword fighters in the kingdom. He sometimes bests the King, so the others try not to offend him too much. Rather, I've observed some, ah, roughness from certain guards regarding druids and openly magical people."

"What do most of the people think?"

"Well, the people of the lower town certainly celebrated long enough about it, and most of the knights have been helpful in spreading the word on their patrols and such. And apart from those few, the guards seem happy not to have sorcerers in the dungeons. I don't spend a lot of time with nobles, but I think the former council aren't particularly happy about the King finally making his own decisions." Footsteps from outside, echoing against the stark stone walls, caused Yara to back against the wall with Mordred, suddenly nervous. The man, Fortaj, who seemed to be the muscle of the two men Yara knew to be here, appeared with a plate. Food? Oh, Yara thought, please let it be food!

And indeed, when the plate was slipped through a barely opened door and deposited inside, it held bread and cheese and two apples, and was accompanied by two tin cups full of clear water. "That's a lot of good food for a couple of prisoners," Yara noted.

"They want us to fight for them," Mordred said as the man left, heavy footsteps echoing off the stark walls. "We aren't much use to them half-starved."

"But . . .why? Why do they want us?"

Mordred shrugged. "Magic. Why else?"

"But . . . why us? They came after me and Merlin and Morgana specifically. I heard them say something to that effect."

Mordred shook his head. "I have no idea why it would be us in particular, unless it's because of our proximity to Emrys. Merlin saved me when I was just a boy, he saved you not long ago, Morgana and he were friends, and Merlin is Emrys."

"Oh!" Yara said, noticing something. "Morgana isn't evil."

"Um . . . pretty sure she is . . ."

"No no no, apparently she was under some sort of spell. Morgause apparently didn't think that familial ties would be enough to get Morgana on her side. But when Morgause died, her spell began to fade."

Mordred shook his head, a smile stretching across his face as he took a piece of cheese. "Well, aren't you a bringer of good news?"

The food was quite good, even if the bread was a bit stale. Yara sat on the ground as she ate, glad that she had at least been abducted in trousers rather than one of the annoying bulky skirts that she didn't think she'd ever get used to. They ate quickly and it didn't take them long to clean the plate, hungry as they both were.

Then Mordred went back to quietly meditating. Bored, Yara supposed that meditating was as good a way as any to pass the time. Settling herself into a comfortable position straight-backed in the middle of the room, she closed her eyes and evened her breathing. Just as she was beginning to enter that trance-like feeling that came with druidic meditation, she felt something brush against her mind.

Surprised, Yara jolted away from her fugued state to see Mordred gazing at her. "You can sense me when I seek entrance into your mind," he stated.

"And you can enter people's' minds."

"Touché."

"Why did you want to enter my mind?"

"I can talk to people in their minds. It keeps conversations private."

"I think you can do more that just that."

"I . . ." Mordred looked unsure. "I mean with my power yes, I . . . I could. But I don't," he was quick to add. "I really don't like controlling people. It . . . scares me." He said it as if admitting to a dirty secret, ashamed.

"Being afraid of the power inside you can be a good thing until you have your morality set one on path," Yara said. "All of the 'not being afraid of yourself' stuff is completely wrong. When you have great power, it's normal to be a bit afraid of it. Keeps you from using it too much before you know who you are."

She sank back into her meditative trance. This time when she felt the questioning tendral of consciousness, she let it in. She expected to feel the magic when it entered her mind, but there was nothing other than a kind of awareness of Mordred in the back of her head.

Hello.

This is weird, Yara thought at the warm part of her mind that was Mordred.

A laugh resonated in her mind. That seems to be the general consensus.

How can you do this without magic?

We're both meditating. Yes, this cell blocks magic, but when we fall into the meditating trance I am able to use the ambient magic in the air to send my thoughts and receive yours. It takes more effort than normal, apparently.

Apparently?

Well, Mordred thought, defensive, it's not like I've been in this position before. Magic-blocking metals aren't widely used in most parts of the world.

Which, Yara supposed absently, was true.