(Merlin)
"Now it begins…"
Everyone in the room was frozen, for the exception of Morgana, her men, Arthur, Gwen and Mordred. Of course Merlin too, but no one needed to know that.
Arthur growled slightly at the sight of a dagger by Gwen's neck, which only made Morgana laugh. Gwen tried to struggle against the man, but stopped once the dagger was dug into her skin enough to draw blood.
Merlin was tempted to drop the facade and save Gwen, but for the sake of keeping his magic a secret he kept standing still.
Arthur stood still with his chin up as two men were holding him down, while two more had their swords by his neck, ready to kill him, if commanded by Morgana.
Morgana then turned away from Arthur and looked at Mordred.
"Mordred… Mordred… I thought we were friends."
Mordred still had his sword drawn, ready to fight. But with a flick of Morgana's hand, three guards disarmed him and forced him to the ground not far from Arthur.
Mordred spat at Morgana's feet and put his chin up.
"I could no longer serve someone as bloodthirsty as you."
Arthur managed a small glance towards Mordred, and then looked back at Morgana defiantly.
"So what do you want Morgana? We all know how this ends. This is not the first time you try to take Camelot. And just like all previous times, you will fail."
Morgana stood up and placed her hand on Arthur's cheek, almost lovingly.
"This time will be much different, brother dear."
She straightened her back and walked over to one of the windows and opened it.
"Do you see all this smoke? You must all wonder where it came from… I think Merlin should join us for this part."
She then turned to Merlin, and murmured a spell under her breath, supposedly making him unfreeze.
Merlin pretended to stumble slightly, before he too, was taken by two guards and forced to kneel in front of Morgana.
He clenched his jaw, holding back the temptation to simply kill her then and there.
But he couldn't reveal his magic in such a way.
Not now.
Morgana continued her little speech as she sat down on the Throne.
"All those ashes…"
She looked around as part of the smoke began filling the Throne Room through the window she opened.
"Is from Ealdor. The whole village is nothing but dust. And it's people are now but smoke."
Everyone froze at the mention of Merlin's home village.
Burning an entire village was too much. Even for Morgana.
Immediately Merlin tried to stand up.
"What did you do?!"
Morgana simply smiled at his struggles.
"What did you do to my mother?! Where is she? If you touch even one hair on her head, I will show you no mercy!"
Arthur and Gwen looked surprised, and shocked.
They have never seen him so full of anger. They have never seen the joyful, always happy, Merlin, with such fury on his face.
Mordred on the other hand looked slightly in awe.
Merlin even thought for a second that he heard Mordred whisper 'The Wrath of Emrys…' under his breath, but he was focused on Morgana at the moment.
Morgana only laughed.
"I haven't harmed her. Yet."
She glanced at one of her men and gave him a quick nod.
Moments later, Hunith was dragged into the throne room.
The sight of his mother alive, made him relax, but also served to fuel his anger.
He turned to his mother, and then back to Morgana.
"Release her! She has nothing to do with this!"
The smile was wiped off Morgana's face as she walked closer to him.
"You killed my sister. This is my revenge!"
Merlin was too busy glaring at Morgana to notice Arthur's confused look.
He glanced at his mother who was standing silently, shackled, and covered in dust and ash. It was visible that she had cried, but she was now standing proudly with her chin up.
Merlin didn't doubt his mother put up quite a fight.
She had defied Uther Pendragon and helped Balinor, a Dragonlord, escape Camelot. Morgana was just a little girl playing at war compared to Uther.
Then Merlin thought back to Morgana's words.
She had said that she killed everyone in Ealdor… This could only mean two things…
Suddenly his eyes snapped up at Morgana.
"Where is Freya..?"
Morgana raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
Merlin looked at his mother.
"Where is Freya?!"
His mother dropped her head.
Once again he began to struggle against the two men restraining him.
"Where is Freya?!"
Everyone looked confused and worried.
Even Morgana dropped her smirk.
Merlin kept looking around between his mother and Morgana.
This couldn't be. Not Freya.
He had built a house right across from his mother's for Freya and the family they would make. For their unborn son.
Suddenly that line of thought was interrupted by a nearby squeak.
Everyone looked up at the window except Merlin and Morgana who recognized it as Aithusa.
Mere seconds later, Aithusa landed by Morgana's side.
Morgana smiled again and reached out to pet the dragon. But unlike previous times, Aithusa stepped away. The witch was confused by the action but ignored it, instead focusing back on Merlin and his pleading face.
"So who was this Freya? Another childhood friend? Or perhaps a past lover?"
She smirked at her last words.
But Merlin looked away from her, instead looking once again at his mother.
"Where is she… What did they do to her..?"
His mother shook her head and whispered lightly.
He could barely hear her words.
But it was loud enough to understand what happened in Ealdor.
To understand what happened to his wife and unborn son.
"She was burned … with the rest… They didn't know who she was…"