I stopped in the forest with Cenred's dark and cold castle in view. My lip curled in anger and contempt. Normally I wouldn't even think about hurting someone in cold blood but this had gone too far. Cenred and Morgause had caused me too much trouble over the years and now they had taken Morgana from me. They would pay, because I was stronger than they would ever be.
I dismounted and led my horse to small but sturdy tree and proceeded to tie her there. It would be just typical if Morgana and I had come running out of the castle to escape only to find our transport had run off. The horse looked at me reproachfully and I chuckled softly.
"Come on. You have been doing this for years, why are you complaining now?" The horse just snorted and turned its head away from me. I rolled my eyes.
"Well that's mature." Not surprisingly, the horse made no response and I found myself slightly concerned as to why I was talking to a horse. I shrugged the thought away and cast a spell over the animal in case anyone happened to come past this way, before putting the same one on myself and moving forward to get a clearer view of the castle.
I mouthed numbers to myself as I counted the number of guards I would have to pass to get into the castle. From what I could see, I would have to get past eight on the outer entrances and battlements, plus however many there were guarding the corridors within.
"Easy." I said smugly and started moving forward again. Once again, I had no time for plans and would have to improvise on the way. Like usual. I narrowed my eyes and stared at the guards on the battlements, at least 80 feet in the air. They would be the ones least likely to be noticed. I lifted my palm and whispered a spell under my breath.
Slæp." It was a simple enchantment that I had used dozens of times but it worked just as effectively as ever. I watched in amusement as the four guards collapsed in synchronization.
"Oh dear. Don't you know sleeping on your watch is punishable by death?" I said with a grin, not even worrying about the fact that I was talking to myself again. I moved forward again.
Still using my invisibility spell. I walked right up to the four guards at the main gate and watched as they jumped in shock at seeing footprints heading towards them, which the spell failed to hide.
"Swígung." I chuckled darkly as they tried to shout out only to find no words would come out of their mouth. I grew bored of playing games with them and repeated the sleeping spell on them, before using magic to move them into positions that look more natural to assuage suspicion.
I walked quickly through the corridors, ignoring the startled glances of people when they heard the shuffle of footsteps that had no source. I had wasted too much time as it is. The locating spell I had cast was still active and growing stronger until it was almost painful. Suddenly the tugging sensation disappeared and I panicked. Something must have happened to Morgana for her to release the connection. I started running. I could find my way to the dungeons from here. I followed the path of guards, assuming that their numbers would be highest close to the dungeons. I snorted when I turned out to be correct. They might as well have put glowing arrows leading me to them. The noise echoed around the corridor and I froze, but no one came to investigate and I continued on.
I stepped around the corner and my eyebrows came up in surprise. The layout of this area was so much similar to that of Camelot's dungeons, except that the two guards looked even more incompetent, judging by the pitcher of wine on the table between them. I was able to use the sleeping spell on them when they started talking and unusually curious, I waited to listen.
"She's a nice one, don't you reckon?" The first one said, a predatory leer appearing on his face.
"Hmm, her eyes aren't such a clear emerald after what Morgause has put her through though." His face changed to match his comrade's then. "And her skin won't be so perfectly smooth and pale when I'm done with her either." My skin flashed red in anger and I raised my hand.
"I hope no one else has gotten to her first." The first one muttered.
"Metodsceaft beinnan wærc!" I shouted, not caring who heard me, not that it mattered by the time my spell took effect. The guards screamed in agony, falling off their chairs and curling into a fetal position on the ground, while their faces went blue. Gradually, their screams faded away and I ran down the stairs and past them, although not before I spat on their tortured corpses and took their keys.
I peered into seven cells before finding the one I was looking for. The occupant was lying on their side with their back to the door, skin even paler than usual and ebony hair sprawled across the floor.
"Morgana!" I whispered, but received. No answer. I tried again louder but got the same response. I cursed and pulled out the keys, my eyebrows furrowing when I looked at them.
"Why the hell do I have these?" I asked myself and threw them across the room before placing my hand on the lock.
"Ábrecan þes hæfting." There was a cracking sound and I swung the door open quickly. I rushed in a crouched down beside Morgana, just as the warning bell started ringing. I cursed violently. As much as I wanted to kill Cenred and Morgause, Morgana's safety was more important.
"Morgana." I tried again. "Morgana! We need to go now." I growled in frustration and lifted her off the ground, and of course that was when she had to wake up.
"Merlin?" She whispered weakly. She opened her eyes and I saw what the guards meant about her eyes dulling from their usual clear emerald. Morgana looked around in confusion for a moment before she screamed and tried to buck out of my hold. I held on desperately and then realized why she was so panicked. She couldn't see me and to her it would look like she was floating in mid-air. I quickly released the invisibility spell and Morgana yelped again before relaxing.
"Merlin." She tried to embrace me the effort proved too much for her and she collapsed back into my arms once more. I looked at her sadly before concentrating on my task. I started to jog through the corridors, Morgana proving to be even easier to carry than usual after her few days of captivity. I had to stop after a few meters however, when Morgana winced in pain and a small cry escaped her pale lips. A dozen or so soldiers came rounded the corner and blinked rapidly at the sight before them before grinning. One of the soldiers toward the back spoke.
"Well, well. This is one I haven't seen before. A peasant trying to rescue a Lady. Tell me, what pleasures are you giving her so she will keep you around? It's scandalous that a Lady became a peasant's whore." He mocked. I felt my blood boil at his words and tone and I gritted my teeth. Laughter echoed between them but I showed no fear. I slowly lowered Morgana to the ground, trying to avoid causing her pain and stood back up, keeping eye contact with the soldiers the entire time. I looked at them darkly.
"It would be… if not for two thing." I said in a monotone. The soldiers laughed again before deciding to humour me.
"And what's that?" The man in the lead asked condescendingly.
"One. She is not. My. Whore." I said furiously, and continued speaking before they could comment. "And two. I am not just a peasant." As soon as the last word left my tongue, I raised my hand. Betraying my secret meant nothing here, because these fools who dared insult Morgana's honor would not live to tell the tale.
"Metodsceaft beinnan wærc!" I said calmly, as if commenting on the weather, and as if it didn't cause men's anguished screams to echo around off the walls. once again picked up Morgana, trying to ignore the awed and slightly scared look on her face at my show of power. I cast a quick pain relief spell on Morgana so I could run as fast as I could carrying her in my arms, before escaping the castle and leaving the dead guards behind.
Here we go, managed to get another chapter. Still hoping for ideas for that drabble series by the way…
And below is a little spell dictionary I whipped up for my lovely readers:
"Slæp" means, "sleep"
"swígung" means "Silence"
"metodsceaft beinnan wærc!" means "Die in pain!"
"Ábrecan þes hæfting" means, "Break this lock."