Hi. Many thanks, Meri Ley, for your kind words. It's hard to explain what I actually intended by making Merlin so confusing/ unintelligible. Well, to me it felt more natural to make him look for words rather than have them coming easily. Yes, as you said, he was lost. In the series, he was decided to go on the path he had decided to go long time ago. Merlin had sacrificed too much already to allow himself to have any doubt.
Here, though, Merlin had second thoughts. I know it is quite unfair to make him doubt Arthur, but I don't think being the best friend of someone really makes you blind to their errors. In fact, I don't think Merlin perceived it as an error. As he said, he did not blame Arthur, but at the same time he had to think about his own kin. It is also clear that Merlin had doubts concerning Mordred otherwise he would have killed him long ago. What strikes me is that Merlin had actually focused on Mordred being the problem although he had been warned that Arthur would be his own bane. What could that mean, but the fact that Arthur would do something so stupid that Mordred would turn against him?
What made me force Merlin to admit to Mordred? I guess I felt that Mordred needed to know the truth much as it hurt and I felt that he also needed to see the other side of Merlin, the devil one (inspired by a nice song)
Well, I've said a lot of things, but at the same time I think I said nothing. The conclusion is that it is not Merlin that is confusing, it is me. Though, you've been very politely.
The Land of Fire
Morgana woke up. At first, she studied the surroundings. The witch couldn′t remember the events of the last days. She only remembered that she was about to find Emry, but what had happened next was a mixture of feeling and images Morgana couldn't make up their meaning. Though, she knew that whatever she remembered, it was quite terrifying. The High Priestess had never felt so vulnerable, so powerless, so confused. Morgana breathed in, trying to calm herself. Whatever it was, it must have been one of her usual nightmares.
It wasn't the pit from Sarrum's lands and that gave her a sense of comfort. In fact, it looked like she was in some old, stone room. Probably, it was somewhere in a castle or a tower. The room seemed clean, but there was hardly any furniture. Despite being alone, she could hear voices coming from outside. She looked through the window. There were people working outside. She saw children playing on the green fields that surround the castle and women carrying water inside. What really shocked her was to see some type of small dragons carrying stones. At first she thought those dragons would attack the citizens. Yet they do not only attack the city, but none of the citizens was actually afraid of them. She opened the door and started to scan the corridors.
Suddenly she remembered her meeting Emrys. The witch had the slightest idea where she was or how she'd ended up there, but she felt fear growing inside her. She wondered if he was there. Every face she saw seemed like a threat to her, but she was too proud to let them see. Eventually she stopped a group of noisy women and asked them where she was. The women answered in few words that Lord Emyrs had called them here so they could live happily far away from all those who want to destroy magic. They had been there only for a few days. They had left their houses and lands in the hope of a land where they would finally be free. They had taken with them everything they had. Many of them had nothing or little. Yet they were welcomed there no matter their status or wealth. None cared if they had magic or not. Many no-magic parents had come there because one of their children had magic and they were afraid for their lives.
There was a lot of work to do: houses to build, lands to plant with crops and vegetables, food and animals to buy from other kingdoms. Yet they had magic and they were all working. It was a blessing to see the kids, who had spent all their lives hiding in fear, playing freely with magic on the field. It was a true blessing to see how much the deserted fields from Perilous Lands had changed in just a few days. They were now covered by fresh grass and lovely flowers. The water was crystal clear and the forest was no longer a frightening place, but a kingdom for wild animals and mushrooms as well as berries and different types of forest fruits.
However, Morgana did not share their joy. The name of Emrys sent shivers on her spine and so she ran for her life. She ran as fast as she could, not caring if she got scratched by the thorns of the wild flowers or by the branches of the trees. She fell numerous times. She was bleeding all over her body yet she didn't have time to think about it. It was almost dark when she arrived at the gates of the city. The wall was too strong and too high for her to destroy or climb while the gates were well guarded. ( Merlin had paid attention to this aspect. In fact, the city's walls had been his first concern.) Morgana took a deep breath. No matter how much she tried, her magic wouldn't return. Nevertheless, she gathered all the strength she felt capable to and went directly to the gates. She told the two guardians that she wanted to go out, but they seemed not to have heard her. They just crossed their spears in front of her signaling her to return. Truth been said, they hardly look like ordinary solders. She watched them insistently. She knew them. soon the witch realized where she had seen them. They were the Knights of Medhir.
It had been a full week for Merlin. From the moment he had decided to give his people a peaceful place to live, the warlock had hardly had a moment to relax. At day, he was in Camelot, protecting Arthur and pretending to be his stupid servant. At night, he studied spells and met with leaders of the Druids, fairies and different magic communities as well as high priestesses. He had even succeeded in bringing Aithusa there. At first, she was upset on him, but eventually she started to follow him everywhere. However, she missed Morgana and it was only after he took the dragoness to see her friend that Aithusa really calmed down.
Merlin had never expected that so many people would answer his call. He had never expected that he would ever be able to manage something like: all those people were actually listening to him. They were looking for his opinion, for his orders. He was feared and loved at the same time.
However, he hadn't come to a solution regarding Morgana. As she refused to eat while being his prisoner, he decided to move her to another room and let her alone. She couldn't run far, after all. Everybody knew who she was, but they were ordered to let her be. As long as the witch wouldn't do anything stupid she would be free to do anything she wanted. Merlin really hoped that Morgana would enjoy this new chance; he hoped that seeing magic been used freely and people being judged fairly for their errors would make her go back to being the kind and lovely girl he had once met in Camelot so many years ago. Yet, he had to remove her magic just to be sure Morgana wouldn't hurt anybody. Maybe, in time, when she would learn how to use it, he would allow her to access it again. Maybe…but he feared it was only a fairy-tale. Deep down, he knew that the girl he had used to call his friend would never come back again. No one can go back to the past, not even the great Emrys.