Sorry for the longer wait than is expected, GCSE results are a bit nervewracking :L But here's Chapter 12! Hope you guys like! And thank you all ho reviewed and shizz, twas very kind and thoughtful of you :3
I've reposted this chapter because of something I missed out terribly obvious that I missed..
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
Btw, I don't have a beta person so pleas bear with me guys!
Please enjoy!
Getting out the city walls was probably the hardest part of the mission. Telling the guards we were patrolling wouldn't work because the King had already ordered some knights out. Nor would the lie about hunting because we already had enough game for the next 2 weeks so that was most certainly out. Overall, we really had no other excuses. Except for the one where I said that my manservant turned into a kid and now evil Morgana has got him: Which probably wouldn't work out either. So now we crouched down, working out how to distract the guards to then go and rescue Merlin.
Gwaine broke our musings first.
"Look we all know this is hopeless just standing here but luckily for us I know another way out. C'mon" And with that, he grabbed Percival's arm and dragged him away back to the castle, the rest of us following pursuit.
We reached the dungeon and easily slipped by and trekked down a long pathway.
"I've been here before" I frowned, remembering when the druid boy and I had made our stealthy escape, "How is it you know of this?"
He shrugged, avoiding my question.
"All that matters is that we can get in and out of the city and the King won't even notice!" he said happily.
"He's got a point" Percival agreed.
"Don't encourage him" I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
We reached the iron bars, now fitted with a padlock that was inconveniently shut.
I sighed and glared at Gwaine. Great, we were now wasting valuable rescuing Merlin time.
He retorted with a grin, slung out a pocket knife and stretched his arm around the cylinder bars. After a few moments there was an echoing click and the padlock swung apart.
Gwaine grinned at me again smugly before pressing his whole weight against the door. With the help of Percival, it broke apart and we were now out of the castle walls.
We all exchanged smiles as we all climbed out, all looking quite proud. Save Elyan who was frowning.
"What is it? I asked, my smile fading also.
"The horses" he explained and I inwardly cursed.
"Not to worry my friend, if you will follow me" Gwaine said, motioning us to follow him in the woods.
"Did you know this would happen?" I asked, shocked.
He shrugged and replied, "I had a feeling we would have some trouble."
About a 10 metres away were 5 horses, all tethered up against a tree.
"I don't say this often but Gwaine, you are a genius" Leon told him, clapping him on the back. We all agreed.
Hoisting myself up on my horse I called out to everyone, "If we go now, we can get there with in 2 and half hours, rescue Merlin in 1 and be back in time for supper"
And with that I galloped off into the woods, the knights hot on my heels.
Around mid afternoon we stopped to eat something as we realised our fighting skills wouldn't be very good on an empty stomach. We agreed that Percival and Gwaine would scout around, checking for intruders and swap with Elyan and Leon whilst I would look through our resources and work on our strategies.
As Leon sat next me and passed me a cheese sandwich, a memory struck my head.
"Can I ask you something Leon?" I inquired.
"Of course sire"
"Why did you try and kill Aldor; on that day Merlin was captured?"
He played with the firewood before replying.
"I told you I had a daughter and she means the world to me. To see her in that position... I would do anything to see her unharmed. I guess that...devotion took over when I saw Merlin being harmed. They are after all the same age at the moment"
I nodded in understanding.
"Well I'm sure that Merlin will be eternally grateful for you" I told him, clapping him on the back.
He returned with a small smile.
I had realised long ago I was rubbish with dealing with emotions; I wasn't the touchy-feely kind of person so usually it was just a clap on the back for encouragement. But seeing the sad look on his face, probably thinking of his little girl, I knew I had to try a little better.
"Hey, we'll be out of here in no time! Once we distract Morgana long enough, we can get Merlin! And then we'll go straight out and not rest until we back in Camelot's walls" I reassured him.
"And, you can even rescue Merlin with me if you want" I added.
"I don't think that's a good idea princess" A voice trailed its way out of the trees followed by Gwaine and Percival.
I opened my mouth to disagree but he beat me to it explaining, "You'll need to speak with Morgana to make it more realistic, otherwise she'll just think it's fake - which it is.
"Come on, we've rested soon enough, and I don't like Merlin being there for too long" he said as he united his horse.
We followed his example and set off for the border, a scowl still on my face.
We reached our destination in another 3 hours and met ourselves with a partly ruined castle. On the left side was a built stone castle but lacked the glass windows and the somewhat friendly feeling of Camelot castle. On the right were the ruins, all misshaped as if catapults had attacked the place. Brown straw-like grass covered the ruins and you could even see moss growing inside the castle. All in all, it didn't send off a welcoming aura.
"Well, Winsor was right about one thing" Elyan broke the silence.
"Yes but wrong about the other. It isn't a camp. I think we can't just go waltzing in to a castle where guards will be everywhere" Gwaine countered.
I sighed and reluctantly replied, "Unfortunately you are right Gwaine. So new plan..." I trailed off thinking hard.
"We go in and hope for the best?" Gwaine answered cheerfully.
"As much as it pains me to say it. No. We'll go in real quietly, trying to avoid as many guards or people or whoever as we can and find the dungeons-"
"How do you know he'll be in a dungeon?" Percival cut in.
"I just do. Anyway, once we get there, Merlin can use his magic and then we can bust out of here" I finished.
We pondered this before they nodded one by one and I grinned widely, proud at my plan.
"How do we know he'll still be in there" Elyan said quietly and my smile shattered.
Oh. What if he had gone and told Morgana? Then she would have most certainly left. Or probably gotten ready for our arrival. We should've turned back and left it until another day and bring other men. But I knew I couldn't do that to Merlin. And it was now or never.
"It's a risk we need to take. Wouldn't Merlin do this and more for us? Anyway, we'll have the element of... Merlin on our side!" I finally lamely.
They all reluctantly took this in their stride and I began to set off the slope, the knights following me after a few moments.
Reaching the door, I unsheathed my sword and began to look or another entrance. Smiling, I saw some metal bars from the ride and motioned my knights to follow me. I reached down towards them and after peering inside to check if anyone was there, I wrapped my hands round the steel bars and rattled them. Must've been our lucky day as I noticed they were quite loose.
Leon, as if reading my minds, said somewhat unsure, "Maybe Morgana caused this"
For the second time, my grin faltered and I scowled. He had to ruin the moment.
"We don't have time for this; we need to think that we're doing this for Merlin" I encouraged them.
Rattling the bars again, I began to vigorously shake them. As if sensing my failure, Percival shoved me out the way, jogged a few meters back then sprinted and threw his weight on the bars and with a mighty BANG they collapsed in and made a small archway for us to crawl through.
"Well done!" I praised, grinning at him while he winked at me.
One by one we went in, all of our swords out and raised. I led our small party, careful not to tread on anything that could give us away. The passageway winded around a lot and for a few minutes we wandered around in the dark trying to find the exit.
"This is hopeless!" Gwaine hissed after a while.
"Shh!" I scolded as I saw a light up ahead.
Grinning to myself, I picked up the pace, noticing the knights doing the same until we came across a lit hallway... with guards situated everywhere.
"They must know!" Leon hissed and I waved him down.
I signalled Elyan and Gwaine to go left, motioning them to take down the knights silently whilst Percival, Leon and I went the other way due to being more guards. As we went our different ways, we managed to get close until a guard passed us and yelled, "Intruders!"
I cursed and raised my sword and knocked him out with the butt of it. Unfortunately, the others guards noticed and unsheathed their swords.
"Great" I muttered and began to fight.
Dodging and parrying, we successfully made our way through to the last guard standing. Forcing him to stand up I grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and slammed him against the wall, the fear evident in his emerald eyes.
"Tell me where the prisoner is" I hissed.
He panted, looked widely around and, realising no help was coming, he breathed, "Down the hallway, keep following it. Now please let-"
I withdrew my sword from his stomach and watched him fall to the ground. I immediately regretted it.
As if sensing my thoughts, Leon tried to reassure me by saying, "You had to do it; he would've rang the warning bell if we let him go. But now I think we need to scatter before other patrolling guards find out about this mess"
I quickly nodded and followed the man's instructions, leading towards a narrow staircase. We quickly tiptoed down, trying our best to not create any noise.
Our luck was beginning to thin as we hear voices and I abruptly stopped as we neared the cells. My stomach clenched horridly as I heard a woman's voice.
"...beginning to forget about you" Morgana's icy voice crooned mockingly.
She stood inside the darkened cell, in front of a silhouetted figure. Said figure was incredibly hard to see so I had no idea how the boy was faring.
"N-no they won't" a whimper like voice called out.
"Really? So where is your beloved prince?" she asked Merlin and my blood boiled at her mocking tone.
"I- I" Merlin froze and began to cry softly.
Morgana sneered at him then changed her expression to a one of sadness, "Oh but don't worry little one, I will soon put you out of your misery."
Before she could even raise her dagger I walked behind her and rested my sword against her back.
"Please Morgana"
She snarled and turned to face me, a gleam of gold flashed in her eyes and I braced myself for the impact... but nothing came.
Instead she yelped out and cowered in front of me. Behind I could just see a glimmer fade out from inside the cell.
Realising this, Morgana slowly turned around hissing, "Why you little-"
"Let him go Morgana" I ordered her, pressing her against the wall.
"And why should I do that?" she asked me, anger had flared up in her onyx eyes.
"Because he has done nothing to you, it was merely a mistake that the spell was cast upon him" I explained and added in a quiet voice, "And we both know it was me you wanted"
She said nothing, still glaring at me. I could see she was trying to use her magic but alas she was failing, thanks to Merlin. So I had her pinned against the wall.
"Gaur-!" she cried out only to be stopped abruptly as no sound finished her sentence.
She clutched her throat widely as tried to speak again but to no avail.
Grinning triumphantly, I pressed the blade deeper into her chest.
"Thank you Merlin. Now, if you don't mind, we shall be taking Merlin who you will never see again" and the blade went deep enough for it to draw blood. She gasped as fear glazed her eyes. She didn't want to die. She was happy enough to end innocent lives but for her own, she was terrified.
'Please'!" she mouthed, shaking her head.
I scrutinised her carefully.
Behind me, Percival had came out of the shadows and strutted into the cell and had picked little Merlin up, cradling his head against his chest with his hand.
"On one condition" I finally said and she nodded franticly.
Firstly, I told, no ordered, the knights to leave the place and wait for me outside, "First Merlin, let her speak" (who reluctantly allowed my offer), then as they left I turned back to gaze at my half sister, driven to insanity by evil.
"You will not tell anyone we were here; or at least give us a head start on a day. You and I know Merlin is harmless and Father would never listen to a commoner. Also, I need to know your motives... please" I begged.
She seemed to understand as a dark expression flittered onto her face for a second.
She sighed and mumbled, "If the Prince of Camelot was only a mere child, Camelot would sure fall, Uther would've been driven mad and the people would have nowhere to run to. I would bide my time and arrive at Camelot and the people would surely bow down to me, seeing as I would be the one to bring peace back to Camelot" she explained.
I shook my head slowly in her direction.
"Good. Now change him back!" I ordered.
"I can't" she sniffed, the anger leaving her eyes.
"What?!" I croaked out.
Great, she was our only chance!
"I do not have that sort of power" she explained.
"But you changed him in the first place" I stated.
She just shook her head, looking rather upset at the fact that she didn't have that authority.
Only now did I realise how ruthless she had become.
I reluctantly let the blade be removed from her beating heart and stumbled backwards and out of the alcove. I knew Morgana wouldn't keep her promise so I told myself, Now or never. And I sprinted out to he stairs and to the secret entrance, and out to the woods just in time to hear the warning bells ring out, signalling their escaped prisoner and intruders. I paused and looked back, shaking my head disapprovingly.
Oh Morgana. What has happened to you?
I caught up with Merlin and the others soon enough. They were sitting down near the horses surrounding Merlin in a circle. Looking up, they quickly made room and I plonked myself down next to Percival who still had hold of Merlin.
I gasped as I took in his sight. His hair was dishevelled along with his breeches. His shirt was nowhere to be seen. A fading scar trailed along his neck, blood encrusted on top of it. His left eye was purple and his bottom lip was swollen like a plum. His wrists were red raw from where the shackles had been and had bruises and cuts on his shoulders. His eyes were slightly opened as he clutched on tightly to Percival as if he was his lifeline.
"Oh Merlin" I moaned as I ran my hand through his hair. Sensing this, he slowly turned around in Percival's arms to face me, wincing slightly. Opening his arms, I didn't hesitate as I gathered him up clutching him tightly to me, feeling his tears fall freely onto my tunic. Only loosening up as he gasped in pain. I let go of him and set him on my lap. Shrugging off my jacket I wrapped it around his slim torso and he snuggled up into it.
"We think he may have a few cracked ribs but Gaius will be able to tell us that" Leon said quietly.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Once I had supported Merlin in a comfortable position I stood up and gingerly walked to my horse.
"Come on, we need to go now, the sooner we leave this godforsaken place the better" I told them and they stood up straight away. With Gwaine's help I managed to get up onto the horse and then managed to cradle Merlin to my chest as we started a canter back towards Camelot.
"I don't think we will be back in time to for supper" Elyan said dejectedly and the others murmured in agreement.
I knew he was right but I didn't want to think about that. All that mattered is that we needed to get Merlin back to Camelot and back to Gaius and to make sure he was alright. Father and the Peace Treaty could wait. All that mattered is that I now had Merlin back where he belonged. Right by my side.
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