I paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the dungeon. I had faced Merlin many times before, but this time was different. This time he had something I wanted... no needed. Information not readily available from many sources. The guard was to alert me the moment he became conscious, but I couldn't wait in the throne room any longer. It had already been hours since I cast the healing enchantments that mended a wound which would have otherwise killed him. I wondered how it had come to this, me saving the man who had come between me and my destiny too many times before. Why didn't I ever just kill him? It would have been all too easy, but still I made the same mistake over and over by giving him even the slightest chance of survival. I vowed to end his pitiful existence the second I had the information I needed. Delaying it any longer would give him chance to warn Arthur as he had done numerous times in the last decade. He always seemed to know everything about the castle, who was doing what, who had evil intentions, how to break enchantments... Surely he must be working with Emrys directly. Maybe he and Alator even had a good chat about it while I was indisposed.

The floor echoed as I placed one foot after another, the cold halls did nothing to silence them. They rang ever present in my ears as the bells of Camelot once did.. A warning that something was wrong. I couldn't bear their sound any longer. I straightened up and entered the room in which I had held a mighty Catha not two days prior. Now in his wake was Merlin, the pathetic serving boy to my loathsome brother. He laid on the floor as I hadn't instructed the men to place him on the stone bed. His chest moved up and down with strength afforded to him by my magic.

"Wakey, Wakey..." I cooed.

The floor was cold and hard. Not unlike the roof I last remember collapsing on, but this floor was covered in hay and less bumpy, made of flattened stone instead of uneven bricks. I avoided the urge to sit directly up, a brief memory coming back to me of being carried roughly on horseback. Wherever I was, I likely wasn't an esteemed guest. I waited and listened for movement to see where the dungeon's entrance might be. There was a steady rhythm of little thumps coming from the direction of my feet. they were unlike the boots of soldiers however. My breath quickened, running through any spell I might need to get out of here. Anything I could use discreetly to make my escape look natural. I also ran through a list of healing spells that might ease the burden of escaping with a wounded side. But to my surprise my wound was already healing nicely. I wiggled my stomach a bit to test, no pain came.

Suddenly the steps got louder, they reverberated through the halls more clearly. Their cadence was one of determination. As they got closer I felt it. A cool wave of magic washing over me.

"Wakey, Wakey..." She said.

Morgana.

I tried not to move or indicate I was in anyway conscious. What excuse was there for bleeding on the top of an abandoned sentry tower in the middle of the night. My blood rushed to my brains and my chest moved quicker in anticipation of danger.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep." She said angrily. "You're a terrible actor Merlin."

Slowly I began to stand up and face her, my hands dangled at my sides unchained. Morgana must not know... I thought to myself. Her lack of faith in my ability to be anything more than Arthur's servant would be a useful tool in my escape. The only problem was how to make it look natural, not magical. She laughed, looking me up and down.

"Welcome to your new home." She said. "Emrys won't be able to save you from this one."

Great to know. Standing behind her were two guards facing away from us. They were dressed in all black and keeping watch to make sure no one came to my rescue. Niether of them had any keys. Then there was the door, it did not have a lock. Morgana opened it without saying a word, but I could feel a low hum in the air, one of magic. I backed up holding my fists out as Arthur would in this situation. A useless gesture against a witch.

"You're as dumb as Arthur if you think you can take me." She sat down on the hanging bench and relaxed against the wall. "This cell held someone far more powerful than you not three nights prior. I'm afraid you and he will have a similar fate."

"So you healed me because...?" The less she thinks I know the better.

"Because you and Finna were together, meaning you know about Emrys."

I chuckled and shook my head slightly. Arthur and the knights were easy enough to fool but I'd need to do a lot more finessing for Morgana. Even then she probably wouldn't believe me.

"Of course." I said nodding and walking around the cell. Morgana rolled her eyes. "Of course it's my luck to randomly fall into your mess."

"There's nothing random about it." The cadence of her voice matched one I'd not heard her use in many years, not since she was still fooling the court into thinking she was a loving word. "There's no other reason you would have been with Finna."

"I was picking herbs for Gaius. There's a shortage since you sent half of Helva running to Camelot's gates." I riled myself up, thought about how ridiculous this situation had become over the last few years. Our broken, twisted destiny. "And Arthur let them in, Sorcery or none. Since when did Camelot start taking better care of mages than you?" It wasn't a complete lie as there were bound to be multiple sorcerers from Helva, but as of yet Arthur really only was aware of Finna. "When I met the old lady in the forest I stopped to advise her which way the gates were. but she said she was waiting for someone. Next thing I know there's an arrow in my side, your men are on the ground and she is practically dragging me away."

Morgana began to clap slowly and consistently. As she stood she kept it up, a smile crept at her lips. She kept approaching and I backed until I came to a wall. Her face was so close I could feel her breath as she spoke again.

"That was a beautiful performance."

AN: Aiming to release twice per week or so. I have an idea now where I want it to go and how I want it to end. This is likely gonna be a shorter fice at less than 20k ~~Myrien