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Chapter 28

Arthur didn't exactly have a plan, but he knew the first thing he needed to do was make sure Morgana was okay. Too many questions were already being asked now that word had spread of Merlin's "burial", but Arthur didn't care. He would make sure Morgana was unhurt…and then he would deal with his father.

For a brief moment, Arthur felt as if the dungeons were too quiet, and drew his sword in defense. Just as he did a cry rang out echoing through the corridors. "What the bloody hell! The prisoner is gone!"

As far as Arthur knew there was only one prisoner being held, but surely he couldn't mean… "Where's Princess Morgana?" Arthur demanded of the flustered guards when he looked upon the empty cell. They exchanged looks of terror before falling to their knees before Arthur.

"We swear sire we didn't see nothing," one of them sobbed at his feet. "One minute the prisoner was there and the next there was nothing but blood on the walls… You can see for yourself my Lord."

Oh yes, Arthur could certainly see, but he didn't understand. In sprawling red (paint, not blood) the word "Prat" had been plastered on the cell wall where Morgana had been moments before. It took all of Arthur's willpower not to reveal himself with a smile; Merlin had done it again. "Send word to my father that Morgana's sorcery has allowed her to escape. She'll travel by boat for sure back to Cymru; we can hopefully intercept her at the port."

The guards nodded running off frantically leaving Arthur to sigh to himself in relief. If there was one path the warlocks wouldn't take it was that of the rivers; everyone knew a warlock can't cross water. (He'd always wondered as a child why Morgana got so sea-sick; now he understood.)

"Why were you heading down to the dungeons when Morgana escaped?" Arthur should have known his father would let the knights scramble after Morgana while he waited in his throne room berating Arthur. "Were you planning on freeing her yourself if her magic failed her?"

Arthur wanted so desperately to spit the truth back in his father's face, but he couldn't. Something told him that Merlin had made his move in hopes of helping Arthur keep his cover. He was needed here in Camelot to quell his father's anger, and he couldn't do that from a cell. "Free Morgana? The witch? Are you insane?"

"How dare you speak to your king like that."

Arthur knew the best buttons to push to protect himself were those that would get another in trouble. "I do not speak to my king as such; I speak to my father. You tasked me with lighting Morgana's pyre myself, and I held no objections. I spent eight months in Cymru watching the way even the little acts of magic performed by the common folk destroyed their souls. I went to the dungeon to tell Morgana what her fate was to be, to see if she'd dare use magic against me to free herself, because I wanted to know how far gone she was. That was all, and perhaps it wasn't wise, but it was necessary."

Uther had already lost one child that day, so he was willing to believe the word of his other. "Very well Arthur, I know what I asked of you was a lot, and perhaps it is for the best that Morgana meets her fate at the hand of a knight and not her brother."

"Do you not fear for the knights' safety?" Whatever Arthur felt for his father, these were still men loyal to Camelot and only doing their duty. If they ended up dead because of his father's orders… well there was a reason the Pendragon color is red-something had to hide Uther's sins. "Surely Morgana is well versed in sorcery if she could free herself when even Prince Merlin couldn't."

Uther seemed to have been waiting for Arthur to ask such a question, "I'll admit I didn't see Morgana as as much a threat as the late Prince, but I do not understand it myself. Morgana's chains were ruined just as Merlin's were; if the prince couldn't do magic then certainly neither could she."

"So what you're saying is someone freed Morgana?" Arthur was often slow to conclusions, which meant his father didn't think much of it. "But who? Surely there are no other magic users in Camelot, and only magic could have done such a thing."

Uther's face paled as one of the servants was called over, "Find the Lady Morgause and bring her to me NOW!" the terrified man ran off to deliver the summon, but Arthur knew he wouldn't find Morgause. Uther knew such too, and he sat down wearily. "I fear I have made a grave mistake."

"The Lady Morgause has magic, doesn't she," Arthur asked trying to sound sympathetic. (Which was difficult in light of his father's incessant hypocrisy.) "You needed someone with knowledge of magic to help us defeat Cymru, so you enlisted her help."

Uther nodded, "She came to me soon after you and Morgana had gone-branded as a knight who defeated the best of our men. I did not trust her then-a woman who can fight- but she claimed to have lost everything to King Balinor and one does not destroy a sharpened sword placed on your doorstep. I planned to use her and then dispose of her, but apparently she has already done so with me."

"Then when we find them both she and Morgana will be sent to their gods," Arthur told his father with a nod. Uther looked up gratefully, but all the while Arthur was praying to whatever gods there were that they would be safe. While he had no love for Morgause, Merlin and Morgana were the only family he'd have when this was over. He owed them so much, and he would not let them die before he could repay that debt. "For now though you need rest Father; I'll wake you if the knights bring any news."

Uther shook his head though, "I dare not. The way things have been as of late I fear I would awake to a knife in my back. There is no one I can trust anymore Arthur, no one but you."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, that hurt Arthur. After all, he had been planning on doing just what his father feared. "I daresay it isn't wise to even trust me, my Lord," Arthur admitted. "For I am not sure I trust myself."

"All the more reason why I must place my faith in you. You are my only son and heir, Arthur, and I believe you will always do what is best for the people. That is why I know you will bring those with magic to justice."

There Uther was wrong of course. Arthur had no plans on bringing the sorcerers of Camelot or Cymru to justice, but even now he could picture bringing justice to them.