A Lesson in Vengeance
"What did you do this time Arthur?" Marayna huffed as she entered the physician's chambers to see Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot, and Gwen in there, Morgana standing beside Arthur's side and healing it as Gaius supervised.
"I'll have you know, I did nothing," Arthur stuck his nose up at her, only to wince a moment later when Morgana touched a sore spot on his wound.
Marayna gave him a look and turned to Merlin, "What happened?"
All she knew was that Gwen had planned to visit the small grave they'd made for Elyan and that Lancelot, of course, volunteered to go with her, which led to Arthur going as well as Merlin, mostly because Elyan was one of the respected knights and a dear friend to Arthur and Merlin because she knew her brother felt guilty for not being there to help protect Elyan and save him. The three men had set out with Gwen only a few short hours ago and she'd only just gotten word that the king had returned, injured. She'd been in the middle of meeting with the laundress, the seamstress, and the cook for their typical meetings when she'd gotten word and hadn't known whether to be grateful Arthur had gone and gotten himself injured so she had an excuse to leave (they really were dreadfully boring and if the three women weren't bickering amongst themselves, they were gossiping) or irritated that Arthur had gone and gotten himself injured at all. She settled with grateful for a short moment.
Merlin chuckled, "Bandits attacked," he told her, "Seems they planted a bomb of some sort to spoke the horses, Arthur's threw him and the bandits attacked.
"You're very fortunate, sire," Gaius began as Marayna frowned at that, "A fall like that you could have broken your neck."
"But how did they know?" Marayna asked the question in the back of all their minds, "How did they know you'd be taking that path?"
"The men that attacked us," Arthur looked at Lancelot, "Have they been questioned?"
Lancelot shook his head, "I'm afraid not my Lord, the wounds we dealt were fatal. We were unable to learn anything from them."
"I agree with Aya though," Merlin remarked, "It can't have been a coincidence that they were there."
"But you only just decided to go with Gwen," Morgana frowned at that, "How could they have known."
Gwen, though, was silent, her head bowed, giving the appearance she was feeling guilty about the attack, as they'd only been attacked on route with her and had only gone because of her…but inwardly she was fuming. She knew that the second she suggested she go to Elyan's grave that at the very least, Arthur would go. He always did, the first trip any woman who had a relation to a knight made to the grave, the king accompanied them, as a show of solemnity and respect. She knew if she suggested it, Arthur would come. She'd warned Morgause of the path, of the time she planned to leave, it wasn't all that hard to work out…
But she'd forgotten how suspicious it would be that bandits just happened to pick that path, "Maybe they were waiting in trap for others," Gwen suggested, "Just for anyone who might be going that way."
"Then they got more than they bargained for," Morgana smiled at Merlin and the men for that.
"Sire," Leon called as he and Mordred entered, with their report, "We recovered your saddle from the forest trail. The girth has been unpicked and re-stitched."
"It was designed to break sire," Mordred added.
Arthur stiffened, "Perhaps it wasn't all that much of a coincidence then," he mused, "Someone must have been able to warn the bandits that we would be heading out and they ran ahead to the path we'd chosen."
Gwen tried her best not to shift at that, she had been with Lancelot all morning, there would be no fingers pointed at her that she was the one to tip off the bandits, they had no idea she'd made the plan the night before.
~8~
Marayna frowned as she sat in the Main Hall, on her throne, the court called, as a young boy, Tyr Seward she recalled, stood before Arthur. The poor boy was terrified, clearly, he was pale and shaking and looked utterly bewildered as to why he was there in the first place. She had to admit, she was rather confused as well, she knew the boy. She'd been a servant when he was just starting off as a stablehand. He'd slowly moved his way up to being in charge of the prince's, now king's stables. He was a sweet boy, who worked to support himself and his mother, she couldn't fathom why he'd be there.
"The thread we found at the boy's home matches that used to sabotage your saddle, Sire," Leon stepped forward, handing Arthur a spool of thread to examine.
"May I see it?" Marayna held out a hand and Arthur passed it to her too. She frowned, it was thread, it was generic, basic, common thread. This was probably in half the homes in the kingdom and Leon thought, because the boy had access to the horses, that HE had done it? Hardly! Tyr could barely manage a needle and thread, his mother was a seamstress, if anything he would have had her stitch it and the woman wouldn't have done a shoddy a job as had been done on the saddle. They had no cause to do it in such a manner as to cause harm to the king.
"Who put you up to this Tyr?" Arthur frowned at the boy.
Marayna looked up at him with a near exasperated expression, this is what happened when the king didn't get to know his subjects well enough. She could see one point in logic for Uther's allowing the two of them to marry. Despite everything, she always tried to keep in touch with the people, feeling more comfortable around them than the court, she talked to them, joked with them, walked with them. She checked in on them and visited them. She had seen Tyr many times in the stables, tending to the horses with care. She knew the boy hadn't done this…
Arthur seemed to assume he had.
"No one, no one's put me up to anything Sire," Tyr frowned.
"You're saying you acted alone? Had no help? No accomplice?"
"Arthur, the boy has no idea what he's even been charged with," Marayna noted how the boy just grew more confused.
Tyr nodded, "I don't know anything about these things you're talking about. I've done nothing Sire, save look after your horse and tack like I always do."
"The evidence is staring you in the face," Arthur shook his head, "You can't deny it."
"Sire, I swear on my mother's life..."
"Just give me their name," Arthur insisted, "Why protect them? They can't help you now. Just give me their name."
"I have no name," Tyr pleaded, "There's no name to give."
"Then you leave me no choice," Arthur said gravely, "Though it saddens me greatly to do so I must charge you with…"
"If you say treason Arthur Pendragon I will slap you," Marayna cut in, the court still having mixed reactions to her tongue and cheek when it came to the king. Half seemed amused, trying to cover their snorts of laughter, the other half a bit disturbed she'd speak so brashly to her husband and king.
"Mara…" Arthur turned to him.
But Marayna held up a hand and stood, "Tyr?" she looked at the boy, "Do you have any idea the significance of the thread that they keep going on about?"
"No my Lady," he shook his head.
"Tyr what have I told you about that my lady business?"
Tyr smiled a little, feeling slightly more comfortable, feeling like someone might just believe him, "Not to call you that."
"And what must you call me then?"
"Rayna," he mumbled, hearing the court whispering. They were all aware she insisted on not using titles unless she had to, but it made her roll her eyes that they still whispered about it when someone addressed her informally.
"Good, now have you any idea about the events surrounding a small party the king was a part of on a journey to a grave when he was injured?"
Tyr looked started, "The king was injured!?"
"Mara he's clearly…" Arthur began.
"Let me finish Arthur," Marayna shot him a glare, "Because you're clearing taking a leaf out of your father's lovely book and jumping to conclusions before you've got all the evidence."
"We have the evidence right in your hand," he pointed out.
"No, you gave me a spool of thread," she corrected, "A thread, I might add, that I myself used when I was a servant to mend your leather armor straps. A thread that the cobblers use to stitch their shoes. A thread that the seamstresses use, that the stable hands use, that quite a few people in your kingdom use. NOT just Tyr. If you search Gwen's rooms I'm sure you'd find the exact same thread," she glanced at Gwen a moment, pausing in her small speech when she saw the woman, standing there with Lancelot, turn pale and stiffen, her eyes wide for only a moment before she was back to her calm expression. She shook her head and turned back to Arthur, "Have you ever seen Tyr's handiwork with a thread dear?"
"No," Arthur frowned, having not realized the thread in question was so common.
"Because he doesn't have any," Marayna pointed out, "I've seen Tyr's work when he tries, when desperation calls for him to us a thread. It's laughable," she glanced back at Tyr, "No offense meant."
"None taken," the boy shook his head, if his abysmal work with a needle and thread would prove his innocence she could tarnish the name of it all she wanted.
Marayna nodded and turned back, "The whole reason your father allowed us to wed was because I know the people," she reminded him, stepping up to him, "I know Tyr, he doesn't possess the skill to unbind a saddle and restitch it the way yours was. And, until you can prove to me and convince ME, without a doubt, that it was him, I refuse to allow you to charge him with treason."
"Sire?" Tyr called, making Arthur look at him, "You're my king, sire. I'd never do anything to hurt you. Never."
Arthur considered that a moment, before glancing at his wife, "How do you do that?" he asked her, how did she always manage to stop him doing something foolish?
"Part of my charm," she winked at him, "If you're so concerned it MIGHT be Tyr, place him in a room in the castle with a guard out there but do not put him in the dungeon and charge him with a death sentence like treason without complete proof. As it stands…thread?" she held it up, "If this were the only sort of thread like this in the entire kingdom, I might be swayed that it was him. And even if it wasn't, I KNOW your people Arthur, I would have sworn on our children's lives that it was planted there if that were the case."
Arthur seemed moved by that, by her utter faith that it wasn't Try, for her to swear that on their children's lives, knowing how important they were to her, he couldn't find it in him to argue. And she was right, thread? He was going to base everything on the fact that the thread was the same? Thinking on it, he could recall seeing her mending his boots and pants with a similar thread.
"Tyr Seward," Arthur turned to him, seeing the boy tense and swallow hard, saw the fear in his eyes and felt sick with himself. He did not want to be that sort of king where the people feared he'd make a rash decision. Hell, in the past he'd argued for the lives of magic-users! On fewer evidence than this, he'd argued against his father killing them just at the mention of magic and here he was about to condemn a boy he knew in his heart hadn't done a thing wrong over a piece of string, "You are to be moved to a room on the west wing of the castle, with a guard at the door, until this matter can be resolved and the suspicion placed on you cleared."
Tyr nearly sagged with relief, tears of happiness in his eyes, "Thank you Sire," he bowed his head, allowing a guard to lead him out of the room.
"Do you see them?" Marayna whispered to Arthur, though she caught sight of Gwen sneaking out the side door.
"See who?" Arthur looked at her.
"The court," she murmured, "Look at them, and see how proud they are of you."
Arthur blinked and glanced at the court, feeling a pressure lighten in his chest to see the smiles on the peoples faces, they were pleased he'd not condemned Tyr to treason, that he'd wanted more evidence gathered, that he'd listened to the council of others.
"It's because of you," he turned back to her, "You make me a better man."
Marayna smiled and shrugged, "You were the one who introduced me to Tyr," she reminded him, "He was in your service nearly all his life. He wouldn't do this."
Arthur nodded, knowing she was right, Tyr wouldn't...so who would?
~8~
Merlin and Morgana were in their chambers, discussing what Marayna had told them of the 'trial' of Tyr earlier. They hadn't been a part of it, mostly because the Bloodguard were seeing more and more sightings of Morgause scattered throughout the woods and they'd called Benedict back to try and help them catch her or at least be there until the sightings died down, and they hadn't wanted to leave the children alone. They adored playing with William and Rosaline as well and, to be honest, they'd rather be with the children than in court.
But Marayna had told them all that had happened, the near-sentence included and how Tyr was merely being held in a room instead of the dungeons, "I agree with Aya," Merlin mused, "I can't imagine Tyr wanting Arthur dead, he's a good lad."
Morgana smiled at that, "I can't either. He holds no grudge against Arthur, or even Uther, he's been a dear the entire time. He loves working with the horses, he's SO proud whenever one of his fairs well in a tournament or on a hunt."
"Arthur respected him as well," Merlin nodded, "Always treated him fairly and well."
"Someone else had to be involved," Morgana nodded, "We just need to find out who they are. With Tyr being held and not executed…I fear that they may have purposefully pointed the finger at him. What if they knew the evidence would lead to him."
"And Aya stalling the proceedings would mean they're one step closer to being uncovered," Merlin realized. He stood slowly, "I'm going to speak to Tyr, see if I can't reason with him, see if he might have seen something, anything out of the ordinary about the saddle before all this happened."
Morgana nodded, taking his hand to tug him closer, "Good luck," she whispered, kissing him, knowing that she couldn't go to see Tyr. It was night now, it would be very highly improper for her to be visiting another man's rooms who was not her husband or her brother or her physician. Even though she cared not for propriety and other restraints of the court, she didn't want any aspirations being placed on hers and Merlin's marriage. She knew the fact that she wasn't with child yet had led to quite a few whispers about her and Merlin and their private life, but they didn't know it had largely been her, probably even her magic reacting to her, that had kept them from conceiving. The threat or Morgause being out there was a heavy weight on her mind and the thought of bringing in a child for Morgause to target instead? She couldn't bear it.
But they were trying now, they just had to wait and see.
~8~
Marayna, Arthur, Merlin, and Morgana were regretful as they stood before Gwaine in the physician's chambers two days later.
Merlin had gone to speak to Tyr, had brought him food and managed to get the boy to open up if only slightly. He'd gleamed enough to know that, a few days ago, one of the horses had colic and Tyr had slept in the stables to watch over him, such was his dedication to the king's horses. In doing so, however, he'd spotted the person who had tampered with the saddle. He'd tried to flee and warn the guards but he'd been caught and threatened, they'd threatened his mother's life if he said a word of it. Had literally told him that they'd grab her and cut her throat if he breathed a moment of that night to anyone. He refused to give up who it was though, for fear of his mother. He'd run right to Arthur and Marayna after that to tell them the new information, passing Gwen in the halls on her way to her rooms. Arthur had wanted to go and speak to Tyr right that moment, but William had come down with a small fever that morning and he couldn't bring himself to leave his son's side, not even to speak to Tyr. William was fine, his fever hadn't lasted long, the boy had just caught a small chill running around in the courtyard earlier. But the same could not be said for Tyr.
Tyr was dead, had been murdered in his rooms. The guard outside the door had been knocked out by a concoction of clarywort, a soporific, which allowed the person entrance to the chambers. Tyr hadn't stood a chance against whoever it was. They believed it was the one who had threatened his mother, which would have made him less inclined to fight them back. He'd been stabbed. The worst part was, it had only brought to light the growing fear that the person who had done it was familiar with Camelot, with the guards and the rooms and the halls. They had gotten in and out and hadn't been caught or spotted by anyone. They would have also had to either know that he wasn't being held in the dungeon and that he wasn't believed to be the tamperer or that Arthur was going to talk to him, offer his mother protection so he'd say who the tamperer was. Either way, Tyr was dead and they now had a traitor in their midst.
The patrols had been doubled as a result. If this person had inside knowledge, then no one was safe. Benedict had been recalled from the Bloodguard to stand watch over the children as Arthur and Marayna refused to allow the risk to their children. An insider would have access to them and they were not going to take that chance on their children's lives. The patrol didn't just count for inside the castle, but outside, which was why Gwaine was in the physician's chambers, Morgana tending to his head. He'd been on patrol last night, seen something, seen someone meeting in the woods and tried to get closer, tried to go after them, only to be pulled from his horse and knocked out. He'd been found in the morning by Lancelot and Mordred on the second patrol when he failed to return from his own and there they were, finding out what happened.
"No broken bones, I'm glad to say," Gaius reported.
"Anything else you remember?" Arthur inquired.
"Nothing," Gwaine sighed, "One minute I was pursuing them through the trees. The next I was flat on the ground."
"You're sure it was magic used?" Morgana asked with a frown, knowing that likely meant Morgause was involved.
"Without a doubt. Powerful, too."
"It had to me Morgause," Merlin agreed.
"But why was she there?" Lancelot, who had been there with Gwaine since he'd been brought in, Mordred standing with them, frowned.
"You said there was more than one," Mordred looked at Gwaine who nodded, "She had to have been meeting someone."
"Why would she come so close to the Citadel?" Arthur shook his head.
"Isn't it obvious?" Marayna sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Whoever she was meeting…was IN Camelot, maybe they still are."
Gwaine looked away at that, something Marayna and Merlin noticed.
Arthur nodded, "As I feared as well," he took a breath, "Morgana, Merlin," he looked at them, "See what you can find in the woods. Perhaps there's something the patrol overlooked."
They nodded, getting the meaning of it, perhaps there was something that magic could see instead. Merlin and Morgana headed out, along with Arthur, Lancelot, and Mordred, leaving Marayna and Gaius in the room, "What is it Wen?" Marayna asked, moving to sit on the table beside him, finally being able to shake decorum and sit ON the table like she preferred.
"It's nothing," Gwaine shook his head, "Just a remnant of the concussion Morgause gave me."
Marayna eyed him, "Don't lie to me Wen, it's unbecoming of a drunken ass."
"Stop being such a good judge of my thoughts Ray, it's unbecoming of screeching wench," he chuckled, she really did know him too well to know he was hiding something. He sighed, "For a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of the second person, the one Morgause was meeting."
"Who was it?"
"I couldn't say," he reached out and tugged a scrap of paper to him, subtly writing on it even as he continued to speak, "It was too dark to make them out."
Marayna looked down, realizing why he was writing it down, if someone was listening, if the person inside the castle that had done all this was eavesdropping, they'd hear him say their name and come after him and her, he was trying to let her know without saying it, "I understand, thanks for trying."
He nodded and looked down, her following his gaze.
Her heart stopped though when she saw what he'd written, unbeknownst to either of them that indeed, that person WAS listening in on the other side of the door.
'Gwen.'
~8~
Merlin and Morgana were walking through the woods, hand in hand, trying to see if they could find anything that the patrols might have missed. Morgana squinted as she spotted a vine growing on a tree, a vine she had never seen growing in those parts of Camelot in all her life spent there. She walked over to it, gently fingering it, "This isn't right," she murmured as Merlin came to join her, "It was Morgause," she told him, "I can feel her magic in it."
"So this was where they met," Merlin mused, looking around, stepping into the middle of the small area and turning in a slow circle, trying to spot anything, "There!" he pointed at a branch and rushed over to it. Clinging to it was a small scrap of fabric that looked like it had been torn off when someone had run off, "It's not much to go on, is it?" he held it up to Morgana to see.
"It is when your best friend is a seamstress," Morgana remarked, taking it, "And when you know a fair deal about gowns and fabrics yourself," she looked at it closely, "It's fair quality, not quite silk, but it would cost a little more than a servant could make…"
"So we can rule out all of them, thank god," Merlin breathed, if they had to examine every single servant and peasant they'd never find the person, "So it's a noblewoman then?"
"Could be," Morgana nodded, "One of the minor ones more likely, even your sister's gowns are made of a little better quality than this…all the other noblewomen would have better, it would have to be a minor Lady."
"What is that?" he squinted, tracing a finger along some sort of stitching, "Some kind of embroidery?"
"Yes," Morgana agreed, "I…I think I know this stitching," she frowned, looking at the color of the dress, a lavender color, the stitching of white, in the shape of flowers...and gasped, realizing whose gown this had come from, "No…" she breathed.
"What is it Gana?" Merlin looked at her in concern.
Morgana's eyes widened as she stared up at Merlin in horror, "This is from Gwen's dress."
Merlin frowned at that and looked back at the scrape, only to realize…he could see it now too! Gwen's favored lavender dress, this would fit with it perfectly, "Whatever Morgause did to her," Merlin swallowed hard, "It must have gotten to Gwen, she's using her to get to Arthur!"
"We need to warn him!" Morgana grabbed his hand and they turned to run back to the castle, the sun was already setting and they could only hope they'd make it there in time. Both of them knew that they couldn't risk using magic to transport themselves or turn into animals, when they were concerned, when their emotions were heightened, it was when they had less control over their magic. They couldn't risk appearing in the wrong place and sparking a cry of sorcery.
They just had to hope they'd get there before anything happened.
~8~
Marayna smiled as she carried Rosaline with her towards her rooms, William walking beside her, holding her hand. They'd gone to see Gwaine. When the boy had found out that his favorite uncle (apart from Merlin) had been hurt or 'gotten an ouch' as the boy liked to say, he'd wanted to go see him and make sure he was ok and give him a gift to make him feel better. The boy was adorable and the fact that he cared about a 'Knight of the 'Other Houses'' made her feel hopeful that he'd grow up to look past station and status and see the skills a person had.
She did refuse to allow the boy out of her sight when he was old enough to go to the tavern, she would enchant Gwaine and William if she had to and bar them from the tavern, she was not going to see her son frequent there like Gwaine used to. The knight HAD gotten better though. He was a fine man and a fine role model for William. He had been the one to get her to realize that not all nobles deserved the respect they desired and she could do with her son learning that early on, respect had to be earned.
William had given him a small clay cup he'd made out of his crafting clays. It couldn't be used for a drink, but it was thoughtful. Even Rosaline had tried to give her uncle a gift, she kept holding up a flower to him and waving it at him till he took it. Then she kept tugging on his hair until he put the flower in it. Which made her giggle and clap and Gwaine proudly wore the flower in his hair the rest of the day.
But now the children were tired and she was looking forward to setting them to bed and then going to sleep herself, cuddling with her husband was her favorite part of the day…besides getting a good hug out of her children.
She opened the door, stepped in, and gasped, seeing Arthur lying on the ground, unconscious, "William," Marayna knelt down, gently placing Rosaline in his arms, "Take your sister into your rooms please, keep her safe."
William didn't need to be asked twice, just rushed into his room and shut the door, his sister cradled in his arms like a precious treasure.
Marayna let out a breath and moved over to Arthur, "Arthur?" she shook him, "Arthur?" she shook him harder…and may or may not have slapped him across the face in an attempt to wake him, "Wake up!"
But when he didn't, when she could hear his breathing growing fainter, she got up and ran to the doors, "GUARDS!" she shouted to them, "Fetch Gaius!"
~8~
Gaius was sitting beside Arthur as he was lying on the bed, Benedict in the chamber with the children, cursing himself and having apologized profusely for having gone to the woods while she was with Gwaine to give an update to the Bloodguard. It was only meant to take not even half an hour which emphasized in their minds that it most certainly was someone inside Camelot that knew them intimately that had done this.
Morgana was beside Gaius, watching him intently as he worked, ready to heal as soon as they knew what was wrong with him. Merlin was beside Marayna, his arm around her shoulder while the knights scoured the castle, trying to find the one responsible, Gwen trying to find out who might have poisoned Arthur. That was all they could think, that he'd been poisoned and she was trying to find who had done it or who had provided the poison. She'd gotten rather eager to leave the room when Merlin and Morgana had arrived, the two of them oddly silent about it. They'd burst into the room, but gone very silent when they saw Lancelot there with Leon, Gwen hurrying to leave. They'd told her silently, in her mind, that they feared it was Gwen, just as she had suspected. She knew that this was tricky, they had a scrap of cloth, they had Gwaine's squinting in the dark, but no other evidence that said it was Gwen…
And they couldn't do that to Lancelot.
Not only because he was their friend, but because they knew that whatever was going on with Gwen…Morgause was behind it. It was as good as an enchantment to them, how she was acting. She didn't act like she was enchanted, she still acted as though she were Gwen, but whatever Morgause had done, it was deeper than normal, affecting her deeper. But it was still magic at work. And now that they knew it was Gwen, they had to watch her.
"All the evidence suggests that the King has been poisoned," Gaius sighed, "Morgana, do you see the signs?"
Morgana nodded, "The sweating, the corruption of the skin, the traces of tincture around the ear."
"Which points to which poison?"
"Henbane."
"So how do we counter it?" Marayna asked.
"The poison is a deadly one," Gaius looked at them, "But," he smiled, "Not so deadly or powerful as Morgana's healing is," he stood and gestured to Morgana to take his place, "You know the spell."
Morgana took a breath and nodded, reaching out to place her hand on Arthur's chest, "Ic the thurhaele thinu licsar mid thamsundorcraeft thaere ealdan ae!" she whispered.
Arthur took a deep breath, moving in his sleep, mumbling, "Mara…" under his breath.
Marayna smiled and moved over to her uncle, kissing his cheek for his help, hugging Morgana tightly and whispering a thank you to her, before she sat down on the edge of the bed and took Arthur's hand.
She closed her eyes, knowing what had happened. Gwen had to have heard her and Gwaine talking, had to have heard Arthur tell Merlin and Morgana to search the woods with magic, and she'd panicked. She'd attacked her target and poisoned him when she'd had the chance. When Benedict hadn't been there, she could have easily tampered with his wine as he was changing, waited for him to fall unconscious and then poisoned him. Gaius had smelled another drug in the wine that had been spilled on the ground when Arthur collapsed. She'd forgotten that Morgana was a healer, that she could instantly bring Arthur back to full health and panicked again, running off to try and trace the poison. They hadn't been of sound enough mind to request someone go after her, knowing she was likely meeting with Morgause to report her failure.
She let out a breath and held Arthur's hand tighter, at least panic was good for one thing, Gwen clearly hadn't thought this through, and Arthur was alive because of it.
~8~
Arthur was silent as he sat with Mordred, Morgana, Merlin, Marayna, Gaius, and Gwaine in the physician's chambers as they told him what had happened and who had done it. Only moments before, Gwen had come to him with Lancelot, with 'new evidence' about where the poison had come from. The woman claimed that she'd found vials that had a distinct marks and traced the maker to an apothecary named Sindri. Lancelot had gone to the man and confirmed that he'd sold the poisons in the two vials to Morgause, not knowing that they were meant for the king.
Arthur had nearly been ready to bring the man in, question him before the court, award an honor to Gwen for her efforts…till they'd taken him to Gaius's with only Gwaine and Mordred with them, to tell him that it had been GWEN who had poisoned him, that she had likely been the one to murder Tyr as well. They'd told Gwaine and Mordred as they couldn't bring themselves to tell Lancelot, they didn't want too many knights to know, because if they were all watching Gwen then Lancelot would realize it, and they'd told Mordred as he was both a knight and a magic-user and would be able to help. They were going to have to watch Gwen, see if they could work out what Morgause had done to her and fix it, and try to be more vigilant of her and her efforts.
One thing was for certain…Gwen was not going to go with in twenty feet of the children without one of them there.
A/N: I changed a bit of the beginning as, in the show, it was meant to be Gwen/Arthur's anniversary, but Marayna and Arthur were married on a different day ;) I also felt like the entire speculation about Merlin having poisoned Arthur in the episode wouldn't have happened as he wouldn't be the one handling Arthur's food and that, with Morgana there, she'd heal him quickly enough. I think, if Gwen thought she was about to be found out, she'd panic and attack first without realizing all the flaws in her plan :(
Some notes on reviews...
I think Mab was saying that the closer they try to get to the tower, heading for it, the farther away they'd end up being :) Like if they turn left, they'd find themselves going right instead, if they go north they end up travelling south :)
Oh Gwen will have enormous regret over this definitely ;)
I can't say if Gwen will be stopped or not, we'll have to wait and see }:) I agree, I think her perception of everything is very much off from what Morgause did to her :(
