I keep forgetting to mention it, but Poisoning-Pigeons-in-the-Park did come up with the "Moron" ship name. Pure genius that I can't take credit for. I also, in case you didn't know, can't take credit for Merlin himself. Those cheekbones and ears defy my oh-so-human imagination. I don't own him, either. Because that would be slavery and slavery is bad, as most people agree. I've yet to meet a person who thinks slavery is good, but I doubt we'd get on well.

Thanks to: P-P-i-t-P, Julie Winchester, V-w-h-t-r, Anonymous, Mrs. Bonner, L+J=TL. Just go with the shortened versions, okay?

To put your confused minds at rest, the title of the next chapter will just be "EXCLAMATION POINT". Hee-hee… I know that's dumb; can't be helped. Hee-hee…

Also, to drag this annoying A/N out farther, today is Ash Wednesday! Why do you care? I don't know… I've never heard anyone say "Happy Ash Wednesday", so I don't imagine you do care to hear me say it. But remember, if you see a person with a black smear on his or her forehead, there is no need to stare. Just ask and he or she will be glad to explain, I'm sure.

…And… I just stopped liking Morgause…

Knight in Charred Armor

Part 10

Leon told Morgause, after some deliberation, that he thought he knew where Arthur was hiding, and could point her in the right direction. But the sorceress, caught up in her complex plan of revealing Gwen and keeping up Leon's façade in case it became useful, insisted they go along with the plan she'd originally come up with.

Knowing that Morgause had a dramatic streak, he went along with it. What were a few more days in the dungeons, besides a sore backside and cold fingers and toes?

So they stuck to the plan.

Leon didn't know what he was expecting as he stood silently in line with the others. He kept his gaze on the arrows pointed at him, and he didn't know how Morgause would get him out of this. He just knew that she had told him to play the loyal knight until Gwen cracked or she said otherwise.

He trusted her. She'd saved his life; she'd showed him the truth about Uther; she'd stolen his heart. He trusted her.

So he just stood there, hair blowing in the wind and tickling his face, defiant until the end, beside his fellow knights.

Morgana, tall and proud next to her sister, offered "one more chance", and Leon wondered irreverently how many last chances she would have to offer.

The knight looked up to the balcony where she stood, and knew he couldn't contain the amused grin, so he tried his best to make it look like a brave smile instead. He wasn't sure how well he succeeded, because he could've sworn that Morgana tilted her chin up and returned the smile.

In response, he shouted, "Long live the king!"

Like a living echo, the knights concurred: "LONG LIVE THE KING!"

Leon glanced at Morgause, waiting for her to do something that would save them, but she just looked straight ahead, perhaps even a little like she enjoyed this. A small tremor of nerves went through him when, just for a split second, he thought her expression changed. He could've almost sworn that a small crease appeared on Morgause's brow as Morgana raised her hand and shouted "Perhaps this will help you change your mind!"

Then Morgana's hand went down and Leon tore his gaze from the blonde sorceress to see the immortal guards turn and…

…Fire?

They shot, but not at the knights… They shot at the people.

A small bubble of panic worked its way into his throat as Leon spun to the side, screams assaulting his ears, the other knights tensing around him in horror.

The people of Camelot were running, arrows piercing the crowd. People were falling as they screamed… Leon's eyes widened in disbelief.

This was not part of the plan! These people, innocent people!

His breath caught; his stomach clenched. Morgause, what have you done? You never said! You never…!

And then the bubble popped in his throat and flew out of his mouth in the form of shouted disbelief.

"NOOOOO!" he screamed, starting forward as people fell before his eyes onto the hard stones, arrows embedded in them. He wanted to go to the people hit by the arrows, to help them, but after just a step he felt as though he had been turned to lead.

No! This was not part of the plan! Tears welled in his eyes.

Morgause, what have you done? What have I done?

\-_-BREAK-_-/

Leon was brought to her rooms, and it wasn't just the formality because he was still pretending to be loyal to Uther. She'd heard that he could not make it under his own power.

She was scared.

For the first time in years, Morgause was scared. Before it happened, she'd told herself that he'd understand. That he'd get it, because he was a soldier and he understood these things.

Then she'd heard him scream that heart-breaking denial, and suddenly she knew that, in his eyes at least, she'd gone too far. The look in his eyes, the tears on his face… Those had not been faked.

And the first thought she'd had was that hearing his voice break like that made her want to cry.

The second thought: gods, what will he say to me?

The third was to make sure the plan stayed safe, so when the knights were taken away, she ordered Leon to be put in a separate cell. The minute she got the chance, she went to her chambers and ordered Leon be brought to her.

And then she began to fret about how angry and hurt he would be.

She was quite right to, as it turned out.

When the door opened, Leon didn't walk in, but rather had to be dragged in by two guards. When they relaxed their grips inside the room, Leon slid to his knees, his eyes on the floor, red cape in a puddle around him. The guards tried to pull him up again, but Leon didn't budge, and Morgause waved her hand at the men dismissively.

"Go," she said, and they went.

Leon didn't move, and she stayed frozen at the other end of her chambers, watching him. He looked defeated.

"Leon?"

He didn't answer, so she started forward, her brow creasing again. "Leon, look at me."

His head came up, and she recoiled visibly. Tear tracks were etched down his blank face, but his eyes blazed, and her heart plummeted in response to the look he gave her. Pulling herself together, trying to wipe the signs of concern from her face, she came forward again, leaning over him.

"Leon…"

"How could you?" His voice was little more than a whisper, but it was so sharp that she was surprised her ears didn't bleed. "How could you do… that?"

"It…" She cleared her throat. "It was…"

"Don't say 'necessary'," he suddenly snarled, lip curling as he looked up at her face, inches away from his own. "Don't you dare say 'necessary'."

A spark of anger flashed in her, and before she could stop herself the words were out. "Or what? What will you do, hurt me? Hit me?"

He met her brown eyes for a moment, and neither looked away. His chin seemed to firm up; his head began to rise… And then it fell again, dropped onto his chest, and his mouth trembled.

He wouldn't do anything. Not to her.

She didn't revel in her small victory; rather, her heart went out to the man in front of her. She loved him. She hadn't meant to hurt him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her hand brushing against his cheekbone. "I thought you'd understand."

To her horror, he began to cry again. His chest rose and fell rapidly under his chain mail, and his cape seemed to shake with his shoulders. The sound of sobs rose from him.

Apparently a heart can plummet past a person's shoes. Morgause thought hers had to be at the center of the earth by now.

"Oh, Leon," she muttered, and he turned his face away from her, shrinking back. She got down on her knees so she would be level with him.

"Those people," he moaned, face screwed up as though in pain. "This… this is my fault; I… They were innocent!"

She put her hands on his shoulders, and he didn't push them away. She placed them on his back and drew him into herself, holding him close, and he didn't fight it. He just kept talking under his breath, crying about the deaths he'd just seen, all the women and children. Occasionally he cursed. He swore he'd never trust her again.

He sounded so broken.

She wanted to do something, make some excuse, or talk him into seeing things her way. But he was beyond listening now; no excuses would cut it. She'd lost his trust when the archers fired into the crowd of citizens. He would never understand that they had to make a point.

Morgause couldn't stand to lose the man she loved.

And she'd promised herself that she would never use magic to control him again, not after she realized she loved him. The trust spells were to be the last she used to bend his thoughts.

Making up her mind, she stood, using her strength to bring him to his feet. Slowly she pulled him towards her bed, ignoring the protests he made. He didn't want to go, didn't want to listen to her, but she ignored him. When they made it, she lowered him gently onto the bed and sat beside him, still holding him as her legs curled up underneath her.

He still cried.

"This is going to make you drowsy," she warned him as she stroked her hand through his hair. He trembled when she touched him, but seemed to lack the strength to pull away.

She wondered for a split second if she should do this, but shook away her doubts. She had made her decision; there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep Leon.

Gathering all of her power, she leaned her face forward. "Anghofiwch, byth yn cofio bod sy'n i'r amlwg," she whispered into his ear, and her eyes flashed a bright gold.

Leon's shaking stopped. His eyes glazed over and he froze into a human statue for a moment. Then, his eyes began to drift closed, and slowly he began to slip from her arms.

She let him go, and Sir Leon fell backwards onto the bed, fast asleep.

I shouldn't have done that to him, she thought as she stood up and walked away from the bed. Oh, well.

When Leon awoke, the most pressing matter on his mind would be how the hell he'd gotten to Morgause's chambers if he was supposed to be locked up. He wouldn't remember a thing. The incident would be gone from his memory; furthermore, he wouldn't even care to try and remember it again. The subject could be brought up and discussed in front of him, and all he would feel was confusion.

Leon would never remember what she did.

With one last sad look at the man, she walked out of the room and left him to the spell.

\-_-BREAK-_-/

When Leon awoke, he was escorted back to his cell by some more guards, staggering slightly from a strange exhaustion. As he passed by the cells holding the other knights, he received only sympathetic gazes. They knew that he'd been brought to Morgause, but they probably had the 'why' all wrong.

Leon wouldn't have corrected them, even if he remembered himself.

But whatever it was he couldn't remember had worked, because Gwen came to him. She wanted to help him escape, to help him get to Arthur.

We win. Morgause's plan actually worked.

He went along with the plan, just as Morgause told him to; after all, he trusted her.

But, he thought to himself as he fled Camelot with the maid, I'll think twice before I agree to follow her plans again. Really? A dress?

Yes, really, a dress.

If Morgause didn't make his heart beat so wildly, he would've given up long ago.

A/N: One more chapter. Please review. I hope that was realistic enough… What did you think?

Anghofiwch, byth yn cofio bod sy'n i'r amlwg = Forget, never remember that which transpired.