"Leon, it's been three days. There's been no sign of her, and we don't even know where Arthur and Merlin are exactly. I don't know what more to do," Gwen said, her head in her hands. "I know she sent the letter saying she was with her sister, but I don't trust it. She wouldn't just leave! Not for this long!"
"We have every available man searching for her. We will find her, I promise, My Lady. We are seeking her at the last known whereabouts of Morgause," Leon said. "In the meantime, you must continue to speak with the authority of the Crown."
Gwen sighed. She'd better get used to that, she supposed. Soon enough, she would be Queen. She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Morgana, when Morgana had executed the man who had nearly killed Kara for her magic. Queens had to make the hard choices.
"Leon, please, be careful. She's incredibly dangerous."
"At your command, My Lady," Leon said with a bow, and then left the council room.
"Morgana, what's happened to you?" Gwen said to herself. She stood up and decided to go take another look at Morgana's room.
She found it exactly as she'd left it. Gwen began searching through Morgana's personal items again, which felt like an invasion of privacy, but surely there must be something she had missed when she'd first looked three days prior.
Morgana had told her she'd had no visions, no expectation of danger, and had put her power dampening bracelet into the vault. Was Morgana lying? Did Morgana not always have visions before she was in trouble? She didn't know what to think.
Gwen emptied her drawers, examining each item before placing it into a basket. She looked through every scroll and every book, page by page, despite being unable to read much of the language. She'd gone through all of her gowns and other clothing. Finally, she tore the sheets off of the carefully made bed and searched the mattress. She groaned in frustration and laid on the bed to think. Frowning, she sat back up and pulled the mattress off of the bed and flipped it over. She examined it carefully, until she found a seam that didn't quite match the rest.
She picked at the threads until they came loose and dug around in the mattress. As Morgana's former handmaid, she was an expert on Morgana's jewelry, but inside the mattress was a piece she had never seen before, a tiny brooch twisted in a strange symbol she did not recognize. She slipped it into the pocket of her gown, and got to work remaking the bed and replacing the items she'd removed from Morgana's drawers.
Exhausted, she laid down on the bed and examined the brooch. She could think of no good reason this item would be sewn into Morgana's mattress. She could think of many nefarious reasons, however.
"Oh, Morgana, what's become of you?" she lamented, staring at the strange object.
She left Morgana's chambers to find Gaius, who confirmed her suspicions; it was enchanted. This only raised more questions than it answered. Was it for protection, or for a curse? Could it be the same dampening spell used on the bracelet? Where had the brooch come from? And how long had it been there? Had Morgana put it there herself, or had someone else? Gaius told her it was a likely a Druid symbol, but he did not know its meaning, nor did Kara.
She decided to question Sefa, knowing her father had magic, but the girl was nowhere to be found. Finally, standing in the tower overlooking the courtyard, she spotted Sefa returning to the castle. Strange. Where had the girl been?
. . .
The next afternoon, there was a sudden commotion at the gate.
"Morgana!" Gwen exhaled in relief as she caught sight of her. She ran down the stairs out to the courtyard.
"Morgana! You're okay!" she rushed to embrace her.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Morgana looked at her strangely, seemingly uncomfortable by her touch.
"You've been gone for days!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Yes, and I've returned now, no need to fuss. I told you where I would be. Have my supper sent to my chambers immediately, and send Sir Leon to me, I have business to attend to," she said coldly, and turned to walk inside.
Gwen stared after her in disbelief. Even when she was her servant, she'd never spoken so dismissively to her. She took a deep breath and hardened her resolve.
"Where did you find her?" Gwen asked Lancelot, who had just dismounted his horse.
"She was riding back towards the castle, as though she hadn't gone missing for several days. We just happened to come across her. She's acting a bit strange," Lancelot said, his eyes following Morgana as she disappeared inside the keep.
"I agree. I wonder what's happened," Gwen said.
"Nothing good if she's been with her sister. Gwen, Morgause is not to be trusted. The things she's been said to do…"
"I agree, I don't trust her at all. I'm afraid for Morgana, Lancelot," she frowned.
"I feel confident that Princess Morgana can handle herself. Just be careful, Gwen. Promise me that," he said, looking at her with deep worry that had replaced the expression of sad longing he always had whenever he looked at her.
"Of course. You as well," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.
Gwen walked into the keep, her heart no less heavy than when Morgana was still missing.
. . .
Morgana's behavior continued to be extremely difficult over the next day. She had made orders for aggressive troop movements that made Sir Leon concerned that they would exacerbate tensions with their enemies and be left vulnerable to attack. She laughed incredulously when Gwen reminded her that Gaius needed their help with the cattle infection cases, instead pouring over her spell books. She was unusually cruel in sentencing at Court, and she was giving orders and making decisions she knew Arthur would be furious about.
Gwen had sent Gaius to see what spells Morgana was working on, looking through her notes while she was holding Court.
"She's looking at curses, and dark magic. Gwen, I share your concerns that Morgana is in trouble," Gaius said.
"Morgause has done something to her, I just don't know what."
"We need to find Merlin," Gaius said. "Whatever Morgause is up to, it likely means trouble for Arthur."
"Then I need to find them before they get back."
"Gwen, you need to stay here and keep an eye on Morgana. Send someone else who won't be missed."
She nodded. "Okay, I have an idea."
She left Gaius's laboratory, and immediately went to find Leon and Iain. "Iain, I need you to intercept Arthur and Merlin, they should be on their way back to Camelot by now. They need to be warned that something is wrong with Morgana. I think Morgause has done something to her, and if so, then I think she may be a threat to Arthur."
"Of course, My Lady, I'll ride out tonight," he said, glancing at Leon, who nodded.
"Please, be careful, Iain," Gwen said.
"I second that. Ride with haste," Leon said.
Iain bowed and left.
"Gwen, please be careful as well. If Morgana has been compromised…" Leon frowned. "We know what she's capable of. If she's a threat to the King and we can't undo what Morgause has done…"
"No, don't say that, Leon. She's still our Morgana," she said, shuddering.
He frowned with worry. "You should go back inside before you're missed. We'll talk further at a later time, My Lady," Leon said.
Gwen was about to return to the keep, when she spotted Sefa again. What was the girl up to? She sunk back into the shadows and watched where she headed, following her trail. She listened as Sefa met with someone.
She heard the girl gasp. "It's me! It's Sefa! I didn't mean to frighten you!"
A man's voice responded. "Fear is in here. No one can make you feel fear. Do you understand? You have something to tell me?"
"The Lady Morgana has returned, but others have noticed she's acting strangely."
"By the time they realize why, it will be too late. Where is Arthur?"
"Still away, with Emrys and the dragonlord. He should return within the week."
"Good, I'm leaving to join the others."
"Shall I come with you?"
"Your disappearance would create suspicion."
"What would you like me to do?"
"You have served your purpose for now. I hope they haven't ill-treated you."
"They've been good to me, Father."
"They are Pendragons. They're good for one thing only - death."
Gwen stayed in her hiding spot until both Sefa and her father left, and then returned to Leon.
"She's a spy for her father, who is clearly in league with Morgause. It must have been Sefa who planted the brooch. I bet it has the same dampening powers as the bracelet. Morgana instructed her to take the bracelet to the vault. It must have been a backup plan to continue to suppress her visions."
"We need to find out what's been done to Morgana, to find out if there's a way to reverse it," Leon said.
"I have an idea, but we need to keep it quiet from Morgana," Gwen said. "I want Sefa arrested, and scheduled for execution by my orders."
"My Lady, I'm not sure you have that authority," he frowned.
"I don't, not yet at least. But she won't know that. I just need to scare her enough to talk," she said. "And bring her father back here if I'm correct."
"Not yet?" Leon asked, eyebrows raised.
Gwen smiled and turned to leave.
"By your command… My Queen," he said, after she left.
. . .
"What have I done?" Sefa asked, wide-eyed, as she stood in the cell, Gwen facing her.
Gwen stared at her icily, trying to act as she'd seen Morgana do. "Last night, where did you go?"
"Nowhere."
"Don't make this hard on yourself. All I want is the truth. We both know you left the city through the southern gate."
Sefa looked down, shamefaced.
"Look at me. Do you deny it?"
"No, My Lady," she said softly.
"Who did you see? You can tell me," Gwen said, firmly.
"You wouldn't understand."
"Who did you see?" she shouted.
"My father. I saw my father," the girl said, beginning to cry.
"And you've been spying for him? Did he give you the brooch to place in Princess Morgana's chambers?
The girl nodded.
"Your treachery has endangered the Princess's life."
"I didn't mean to..."
"What did Morgause do to her?"
"I don't know."
Gwen looked at her, appraising. "You don't know that she did anything, or you don't know what she did?"
"I don't know what she did. I know she must have done something, they needed Princess Morgana on their side, to rule Camelot. She had her at my father's camp."
"What did you see?"
"Nothing. I don't know."
"You have admitted your guilt. You leave me no choice, Sefa. By the laws of Camelot, I find you guilty of treason. I sentence you to death."
"No! Please, My Lady!" she sobbed.
"If you want to save yourself, you will start being more helpful," Gwen said coldly.
"I… I just know there were a lot of mandrake roots, Father said they needed a lot of mandrake roots for the spell they were casting."
"Mandrake roots. Anything else?"
"That's all. I promise, My Lady, that's all I know."
"Then your sentence stands," she said, leaving the girl to collapse on the dungeon floor, sobbing.
Gwen sighed once she left the dungeon. It felt cruel what she was doing, but if they were going to catch the treasonous sorcerer in league with Morgause, the threat to her life had to be believable.
She only hoped Iain would find Merlin and Arthur soon. She was afraid the longer Morgana stayed enchanted, the more risk of the dark magic corrupting her permanently.
. . .
"Mandrake roots, are you sure?" Gaius asked. Gwen nodded.
"When I was young, I heard about an ancient ritual of the Old Religion called the Teine Diaga," he said, sitting down at the table.
"Teine Diaga? What's that mean?" Gwen asked.
"It means 'sacred fire,'" Kara answered. "But I've never heard of such a thing."
"It is certainly not a power wielded by innocents. The ritual used the mandrake root to bring unimaginable terror to the victim. Their screams could be heard twenty leagues away. When it was finally over, their will was no longer their own. They were slaves of the high priestesses for eternity."
"Surely it can be reversed?"
"I've told you all I know. Such mysteries were revealed only to a handful of female initiates. As a boy, I was privy only to rumors."
"Would Merlin know how to break the spell?"
"I can only think of two people who truly know the Old Ways. One is Morgause, and the other is the Dochraid. But the Dochraid cannot be trusted."
"We don't need the Dochraid," Merlin said, entering the chambers with Iain following after and closing the door behind them.