Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Chapter 26 – A Lesson in Vengeance

Odin was the picture of a considerate guest that evening, though the sorceress he'd brought with him had Merlin on edge. As Arthur had indirectly commanded, he made an appearance as Dragoon the Great and for the entire evening he could feel her eyes on him. It was not only that which had him concerned, but rather that he could sense her power was great. So great, in fact, that Arthur wasn't sure the last time he'd felt such power from a sorcerer. It reminded him of Morgana, but she would be a fool to come here, especially given his presence as Dragoon, whom she suspected to be Emrys. Even so, he was on guard the entire evening. While he didn't sense malicious intent, per se, something was not right and her powers were such that she might just be able to trick him. Things had gone too well for their liking and they all went to bed tense that night.

The next morning Odin greeted them joyfully and asked for a proper tour of the citadel and city. Over the next two days he maintained his joyous mood and continued to be the best-behaved and most courteous guest that Camelot had ever seen. The only action they could find to be suspect was that he brushed Arthur off anytime he asked if they could discuss terms of peace, but even that was circumstantial, Odin claiming that as he was here a fortnight, there would be plenty of time for such talk. Odin's sorceress, on the other hand, seemed quite suspicious to Merlin who constantly kept an eye on her. She tried too hard to fade into the background, as if she didn't want to be seen, but never quite succeeded. With Merlin always following her, knowing that she was up to something, it was no surprise that he suspected her when Guinevere fell ill suddenly on the third day of Odin's visit.

"It's her, I know it is." He insisted, pacing alongside Arthur as Gaius examined The Queen.

"Merlin, I am fine." Guinevere tried to insist. "I'm not even really ill, I just felt weak suddenly is all."

"No, I agree with Merlin." Said Arthur. "Odin has been far too nice and accommodating, always asking for some tour or to watch the knights training or to hunt, as if he wants to ensure he has witnesses to his innocence when something happens. But just because he himself hasn't done anything, doesn't mean he didn't order it." Guinevere said nothing to that logic for she couldn't. They knew it was highly unlikely that Odin had actually come here for peace and had been waiting for something to happen. She just couldn't believe that causing her to have one dizzy spell was his ultimate goal, and told Arthur as much.

"That does seem a little farfetched." He admitted unhappily. "Unless Gaius says otherwise." The old physician shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, Sire. I can find nothing wrong with The Queen. It appears to be as she claims." With no evidence to the contrary, Arthur and Merlin were forced into inaction, which neither of them liked. It lasted another two days before Arthur was ready to gut Odin. Guinevere's one dizzy spell had turned into two and then three. The second morning after her first dizzy spell she could not find the energy to get out of bed, and yet Gaius could still find no reason for her weakness. Then, that afternoon she tried to get out of bed, insistent that she not laze about, and collapsed once again, this time crying out and grabbing her belly. Arthur had not left her side and rushed to catch her. That was when he noticed the blood.

"Guards!" He roared as he carried his wife over to the bed. The door burst open not a minute later and Leon and Gwaine, who had been on guard duty, came in, their eyes going wide at the sight of their Queen. "Get Gaius! Now!" Gwaine rushed to do just that while Leon said that he would fetch Merlin and left as well.

"Arthur…the baby…" Guinevere gasped, tears welling in her eyes.

"Hush, sweetheart, everything is going to be all right." He murmured, trying to comfort her.

"No…it hurts. Something is wrong with the baby." Arthur continued to be strong for her, though he himself was barely holding on. Gwaine returned a few minutes later with Percival who carried Gaius, the knight explaining that given the situation he thought it better to look unseemly running through the citadel with a grown man in his arms than to walk at Gaius' slow pace, the old man no longer able to move as fast as usual. The Court Physician immediately set about checking Guinevere over and the moment he spotted the blood he sent Gwaine and Percival for the midwife. The two ran out and they could be heard yelling at people to get out of their way. Moments after they had left the door burst open again, this time to admit Leon and Merlin, the latter of whom looked about ready to kill someone. His steps did not falter as he strode to Guinevere's side, commanded Gaius to move, and without asking permission placed his hand over her growing belly. Arthur was about to explode at him, demanding that he move and let Gaius continue his work, but something in Merlin's eyes stopped him. They were hard and cold, but held a glint of power and wisdom in them that was rarely seen; this was not the Merlin they knew, but the powerful warlock Emrys. Merlin began speaking in the language they had come to associate with magic and seconds later his eyes glowed gold, and Guinevere's cries stopped. Merlin removed his hand and watched as his friend took several deep breaths before sitting up, Arthur rushing to her side to help her.

"It's gone." She murmured. "The pain's gone…I don't even feel weak anymore." Her thoughts then turned to the reason she had been so distraught, her hands wrapping protectively around her growing child. "The babe?" She asked, her face falling as she saw the blood. Gaius came forward once more and moved her hands aside before pressing down on her belly in several places. You could practically hear his sigh of relief when he was done.

"The child is fine." He said.

"You're certain?" Arthur asked with bated breath.

"As certain as I can be. We shall have the midwife confirm when she arrives, but you did not lose too much blood and the babe feels to still be in place." The entire room breathed a sigh of relief at his words and Guinevere and Arthur held each other tight, feeling relief like no others.

"What did you do?" Arthur asked of Merlin several minutes later when they'd calmed down.

"I cast a protection spell. It protects the babe from all dark magic. Even I can not harm it without first casting the counter-spell." He replied.

"Why the hell didn't you do that two days ago?!" Arthur demanded angrily, but Merlin was ready for him.

"Because I didn't know the spell before now. I spent all night searching for something that would protect the child when Gwen's dizziness didn't abate after the first time. Do you really think that if I'd known the spell at that time that I wouldn't have cast it then given we suspected magic?" He returned just as angrily. Arthur may be his King, but both he and Guinevere were also his friends and he would not have Arthur claim that he'd done nothing to save their child when he could.

"He's sorry, Merlin." Said Guinevere. "We know you would have if you could." Merlin smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, his mind going to his next task.

"Now to find what was causing this in the first place." He closed his eyes and let his magic loose, feeling the room for any trace of another's magic, and fully expecting to have to search the citadel, as he'd sensed nothing in the royal chambers before. However, he found it quickly enough, going to the dresser where Guinevere's jewellery was kept and picking up a pendant that had been hidden within her other necklaces.

"That is not mine." She said, never having seen it before in her life.

"It was planted here to harm you. I can sense the dark magic within."

"But you couldn't yesterday? Or the day before?" Arthur asked, keeping his tone of voice level, having learned from before.

"No. It couldn't have been here."

"Actually, it could have." Gaius spoke up. "There are some spells that take time to grow in strength. Unless you had been searching for such weak magic you would not have felt it until now when its power had grown." Merlin took that information and thought on it, coming up with a plausible explanation for why such a spell had been used.

"She must have known that when Gwen first started getting ill that you would have me, or rather Dragoon, search for some enchantment that could be harming her." He theorized. "Having ruled out anything being in your chambers it would then be unlikely that we would search it again so soon."

"Had Merlin not arrived when he did…" Gaius paused and they knew what he was going to say. "This magic was meant to be fast acting once fully activated. You would have no doubt lost the babe, and maybe even your life, had he not come fast enough."

"Keep the enchantment weak until we've searched our chambers and then have it grow so quickly it would achieve its purpose before we thought to search them again." Arthur muttered, finding Merlin's theory quite likely.

"So what do we do now, Sire?" Leon asked.

"Now I nail Odin and his sorceress to the wall." He growled.

"I think it's the other way around." Murmured Merlin. All eyes turned to look at him and they could see the fury in his eyes. "Only Morgana is powerful enough to have cast such an enchantment."

"You think the sorceress is Morgana?" Asked Gaius.

"I do. Her power is great. I may be Emrys but I am not invincible and she certainly poses a threat. With careful planning she could very well have found a way to disguise herself that I would not easily see through. Knowing this, and of Odin's hatred of Arthur, it would not be too hard to manipulate Meredor's King into this farce of a peace meeting."

"Odin is his own keeper." Arthur snarled. "He does this of his own will."

"Oh I have no doubt of that." Merlin assured him. "But I also have no doubt that she is the grand architect behind this scheme and no doubt persuaded Odin to go along with it even though it would no doubt cost him his life. He's expendable as far as she is concerned."

"I had wondered why he would plan something so ill-conceived." Leon admitted. "Even if he succeeding in harming The Queen he must have known that he would never leave here alive."

"He's counting on Morgana getting him out." Arthur concluded.

"Well we won't let him. Or her." Merlin promised. "I think it's time that Dragoon confronted Morgana." Arthur nodded and asked Leon to fetch Tristan and Isolde, who for the past several days had remained sequestered in their chambers unless they knew they could venture out without being seen. They would stay with Guinevere while she rested and protect her should this confrontation not go as planned. Guinevere initially protested, saying that she was now feeling fine and wanted to be there, but the pleading look in her husband's eyes stopped her. He had almost lost her, lost both of them, and he needed her to rest and stay safe. They waited long enough for Leon to return with Tristan and Isolde, though he also returned with Mithian, who had been in the nursery with Tristan and Isolde, and with Elyan and Mordred, who had seen the look on the First Knight's face and known something was wrong. Elyan rushed to his sister's side when he heard what had happened and immediately began asking a thousand questions at once. Guinevere tried to calm him down but it didn't work so she was quite thankful when Percival and Gwaine chose that moment to return with the midwife, who quickly ordered them all out so she might examine The Queen, letting only Isolde and Mithian stay. With their numbers at full strength, the group followed Arthur down to the great hall where they knew Odin would be having a very public lunch. Merlin cast his spell along the way to age him and it was Dragoon that entered the great hall behind The King.

"Arthur!" Odin called happily, though his face fell when he saw the murderous look in his eyes, a look that the entire hall noticed and had many backing away slowly.

"I'm curious Odin, after Guinevere and our child died, how did you intend to escape?" Arthur asked to many gasps of shock at what he was accusing Odin of.

"I don't know-"

"Do not. Lie. To. Me." He hissed, his hand going to his sword. Merlin took that as his cue to step forward.

"I believe you dropped this when you snuck into the royal chambers, Morgana." He threw the pendant at the sorceress who's face had gone from indiscernible to smug.

"Took you long enough to figure it out." She said with a smirk, her features morphing back into her own to shocked gasps ringing throughout the hall again. "I'm so sorry for your loss, dear brother."

"The Queen and her child still live." Said Merlin, and Morgana's eyes burned with anger. "Did you really think I would let them die?"

"How?" She snarled.

"I am not exactly a weak sorcerer, Morgana. It was not hard once I found the right spell."

"Oh I know all about your supposed power, Emrys." Merlin remained impassive for a moment then allowed a small smile to form.

"I'm glad you know who I am. We can dispense with the pleasantries then." He raised his hand and sent Morgana flying against the wall. It was not a surprise when she stood back up, but rather that she did not launch her own attack.

"Contrary to his recent change of heart, Arthur is no better than Uther. He will change his mind once more and you will find yourself on a pyre." She predicted. "We do not need to be enemies, Emrys. Join me and when I am on the throne you will be the second most powerful person in all the realms." Merlin cackled.

"After all these years what makes you think I would join you? You know of the ancient prophecies, Morgana. My place is with the Once and Future King, and by Arthur's side I will stay. He is a good man and will unite Albion as he is destined to." He was somewhat insulted that she would even attempt to get him to change sides, but wasn't really surprised. When he'd confirmed his identity he had seen the fear in her eyes. He was prophesized to be her downfall and she knew him to be extremely powerful. While it would be a close fight if it came down to it, Morgana did not think so at the moment, her fear telling her she would not win, and so it was no surprise that she didn't attack. With not another word, Morgana began casting a spell, and recognizing it Merlin did nothing to stop her. Just like when Morgause had escaped with Morgana all those years ago after Merlin had poisoned her, a great wind blew throughout the room becoming a swirling vortex that engulfed her, taking her with it when it disappeared. With the biggest threat now gone, all eyes turned to Odin, who's angry look, tinged with a hint of fear, confirmed that he had been counting on Morgana to escape.

"You tried to kill my wife and unborn child." Arthur snarled, having drawn his sword when Morgana revealed herself and now pointing it at Odin. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand."

"You killed my son." He snarled back.

"And you killed my father! His life was not enough?"

"No."

"Your son challenged me to a fight. I had no quarrel with him. I asked him to withdraw." Arthur said. "Perhaps he felt he had to prove himself. Perhaps he was arrogant enough to assume it would be I that died, I know not. But his death, while at my hands, was orchestrated by himself. He had every chance to withdraw, every chance to save himself, but he insisted on a fight to the death. He gave me no choice but to pick up the gauntlet, and as per the knight's code I then had no choice but to see it through." Odin didn't seem to be listening.

"You killed my son. You took what is most precious to me." He growled in anger. "It is only fitting that you lose your son as well."

"Why am I not surprised that you blame everyone but Everard?" A voice spoke and everyone turned to face the newcomer, who stood tall beside her husband, glaring fiercely at Meredor's King. "I'm not surprised either that you would sink so low as to kill a helpless child while still in it's mother's womb." Odin's face was almost comical in its shock, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

"I…Isolde?" He gasped, finding his voice after several moments.

"Hello, father."

A/N - Of course Guinevere wasn't going to lose the child. I've said more than once I'm a sucker for happy endings and that would pretty much destroy any chance of one. More with Odin and Isolde to come!

Also I am now far enough along in my editing to say that there are a total of 40 chapters! There were 37, but I wanted a rounded 40 so split one long chapter and wrote two more. This is turning out to be my longest Merlin fic, even if the chapters are a bit shorter. :)

Review please!