Morgana glanced up out of habit when Gwen entered, but her hopes weren't high. They had been Morgause's captives for approximately two weeks now, and Morgana was itching to break out of her opulent prison; she knew the spell to free herself, but she couldn't use it until she was ready to openly defy her half-sister, and she couldn't do that until Merlin was safely back with her. Gwen had yet to find any trace of him, though.
"I've found him, my lady."
Heart thundering, Morgana stood up. She wanted to be happy, but Gwen's tone told her the news wasn't entirely good. "Is he alive? Has she hurt him?"
"He's alive, but…Morgause has done something to him. I saw her take him out of a tower and give him some food, and he looked well enough, if even paler than usual, but he didn't seem to be himself. He looked up once, straight at me, and I saw his eyes… There was nothing there. I fear she's used some enchantment to rob him of his senses."
Morgana was horrified, but she knew she couldn't help Merlin if she fell to pieces, so she shoved her horror aside and allowed her determination to take precedence. "Then we shall have to break her enchantment. Magic requires balance, so surely every spell must have a counter. It's simply a matter of finding it."
Gwen raised her eyebrows, wondering when Morgana had become such an expert on magic.
"At least I read something to that effect," Morgana said quickly.
"I don't think reading will help us now. Morgana, I know you care deeply for Merlin, but I think we have to consider the possibility that we may not be able to save him."
"So we should leave him to Morgause? How can you say that? Gwen, she killed Sirenia when she was finished with her - she won't hesitate to do the same to Merlin!"
"I fear she won't hesitate to dispose of you either; you risk your life every day you stay here. I don't want anything to happen to Merlin, but you are my first priority, Morgana - you always have been. Besides, Morgause may decide to keep him around. I'm sure she can find a use for his magic." Gwen didn't want to share her suspicions that Morgause was interested in more than Merlin's magic with Morgana; hearing how the queen had called him her 'pet' and taken him to her private rooms toward the evening's end, all while seemingly unable to keep her hands off him, would only cause Gwen's mistress pain. Besides, she hadn't dared enter Morgause's chambers, so for all she knew the sorceress was just making him sleep on her bedroom floor so she could keep an eye on him, and the way she touched him was more like the pats one gave a favorite dog than anything else.
"I won't let her enslave him whether she means to kill him or not. I'm not leaving without Merlin, and that's final."
Gwen steeled herself, knowing that what she had to say next would hurt Morgana immeasurably; unfortunately, it might also be the only way to save her from Morgause's clutches. "Morgana, I'm not even sure there's anything left of Merlin anymore. His body still lives, but his will is Morgause's."
Morgana shook her head, stubbornly refusing to believe that her prince was truly gone. "No, I can undo whatever spell she's put on him, I know it!"
"How will you do that?" Gwen demanded. "No doubt it takes magic to counter magic, and we have no magic at our disposal!"
"Yes, we do." Morgana closed her eyes, afraid to see Gwen's reaction to her next words. "I have magic. I am a sorceress."
The answering silence dragged on so long that Morgana opened her eyes to check if Gwen had fainted, until at last the maid forced an uneasy laugh. "Don't be ridiculous - you're no sorceress. You are the Lady Morgana, Uther Pendragon's ward, Arthur's foster sister, my friend; you're perfectly ordinary."
"I'm not, though, am I? We've always known there was something strange about my dreams, even before they started coming true. I can see the future, Gwen, and I have other powers now as well." Seeing her friend open her mouth to protest again, she said, "Don't say anything yet - just watch. Voco ignis." The air above her upturned palm burst into flame, a flame she effortlessly quenched with a thought and another gold flash of her eyes.
Gwen's astonished expression was almost comical, but she didn't scream or faint, as she might have prior to spending over two months in a kingdom where magic was fairly commonplace. "I know this must be hard for you to accept," Morgana hastened to say, "but as we've seen from people like Merlin and Freya, magic isn't all bad, like whatever foul curse conjured the afanc that killed your father. It can be used for good…and it doesn't change the person who wields it. I am still Morgana, your friend - please understand that."
"You've been different ever since I hurt my feet on the broken glass in your bedchamber," Gwen said guardedly. "Distant…like you didn't trust me anymore."
"Only because I feared you would hate me if you knew what I am; I wanted to tell you, I truly did. I understand if you can't find it in your heart to forgive me for not having the courage to be honest with you sooner, but please try - you are the best friend I've ever had, and I don't want to lose you."
Near tears now, Morgana looked exactly as she had on all the nights Gwen had spent with her when her nightmares were too troublesome for her to be left alone and they sat in front of the fire together, pouring their hearts out to one another. If Gwen had any doubts that Morgana was the same person she had always been, they evaporated at that moment. Deep down, she had always known there was something different about her closest friend, and she accepted Morgana in spite of it; now that the difference in her was fully realized and a name had been put to it - magic, that thing they had been taught to fear for so long yet knew so little about, because once the shroud of mystery surrounding it was lifted, it wasn't that fearsome after all - Gwen found that her acceptance remained unchanged.
"Lose me? I don't even know who you are anymore…because in all the years we've known each other, I never thought you could be so stupid! Honestly, Morgana, how could you ever think I would hate you?"
"Then…you don't?" Morgana asked with cautious hope.
"Of course not - you're like a sister to me!"
They fell into each other's arms, and tears flowed on both sides, but they were happy tears. "I feel the same way about you, you know. I always wanted a sister, and now that I've found I have one, I would trade her for you in an instant!"
"That isn't much of a trade; even Count Olaf's spoiled daughter would make a better sister than Morgause," Gwen chuckled.
"Or Sirenia - at least I could have easily thrown her down a well or over a cliff. Morgause, though, is a force to be reckoned with." That put an end to their brief moment of levity as they remembered what they were facing.
At length, Gwen asked, "So, do you know a spell to free Merlin from her influence?"
"I would have to know what she did to him first, but there is someone I can ask."
###
Entering the trance that allowed her thoughts to fly to the Isle of the Blessed was easier the second time, and Nimueh seemed almost to have expected her. "Back again, Lady Morgana? To what do I owe the pleasure this time?"
There isn't time for games - I need your help. I fear Merlin is in terrible trouble. She quickly described Gwen's observations, and Nimueh's face fell further with every word.
"Oh dear."
What? Morgana demanded. Tell me!
None of Nimueh's previous students had ever spoken to her in such a tone - indeed, Morgana seemed to be growing more impudent each time Nimueh saw her, and her powers were increasing as well; no novice should have been able to perform the projection spell she was currently using, yet she had done it twice and didn't appear to be struggling with it at all this time. If this continues, she may well surpass her sister and become one of my best students ever, second only to Merlin. Fortunately, she shows no signs of surpassing Morgause in cruelty… Given what I fear she has done, that may not even be possible.
"If Merlin has suffered what I suspect, there may be nothing you can do. It sounds as if he's been subjected to the Teine Diaga, an ancient ritual the priestesses of our order use to subdue and control our enemies. The victim is terrorized until their grasp on sanity breaks and their spirit is consumed, until the only thread tethering them to reality is their mistress; thereafter, he or she is a slave to the will of the priestess."
Your order is cruel…but I don't care about that now, only Merlin. Please, just tell me what I must do to make him as he was.
"The dark magic of the Teine Diaga is so powerful that only the healing waters of the Cauldron of Arianrhod can restore its victims, but you have no hope of getting Merlin there. Fortunately, you don't need to. Most people would need to be submerged in the Cauldron's waters to absorb their magic; however, Merlin already has magic inside him, so you need only persuade him to drink the water, and it can use his own magic to heal him."
Wonderful. Give me this healing water.
"If you were truly here, I could, but I cannot hand a vial to a specter of thought. You must come and retrieve it in your corporeal form."
My corporeal form cannot leave the room Morgause has imprisoned me in without her realizing I'm against her, but I can send my maid Gwen.
Nimueh cocked her head curiously. "Gwen is alive after all, then?"
Only because Morgause doesn't consider her worth the effort of killing.
"Yes, that sounds like the Morgause I remember. Perhaps I should have killed her instead of merely casting her out… Alas, the deed is done; regretting the mercy I showed her serves no purpose. Send the girl to me. Oh, and I have a word of caution for you, when the time comes to use the water: Merlin must drink it of his own free will. If he is tricked, forced, or coerced in any way, the consequences will be disastrous - that is the way of it when you invoke such magic."
Morgana wanted to ask how she was meant to get Merlin to do anything of his own free will when, according to Nimueh, he had no free will left, but she had maintained the spell as long as she was able. Her energy waned, and before she could say another word she found herself back in her prison, lying on the huge, frilly bed she hated with Gwen clutching her hand.
"Thank goodness you're all right! You lay there still as death for so long, and nothing I did roused you…"
"I'm fine, Gwen," Morgana assured her. "Better yet, I know how to save Merlin."
###
The following evening, Morgause entered her sister's chambers to find the ebony-haired girl restlessly pacing the room. "I have a special treat for you tonight, sister - I realize you've been cooped up here too long, so I thought you might like to join me for dinner in the banquet hall, unless of course you have already eaten."
"No, I have not. My servant discovered my magic today, and the idiotic little wench fled in terror like the ignorant peasant she is. I shall need a new maid, and if I ever see the old one again, I shall wring her neck."
Morgause was pleased to see that Morgana had well and truly let go of her foolish attachment to those who were beneath her; the revelation of their bond had done a lot toward bringing her around to a proper way of thinking, and now her maid's desertion had completed her conversion. With that achieved and Merlin securely under Morgause's thumb, she decided to allow her sister some freedom so they could begin plotting their attack on Camelot. "You see, this is proof of what I have told you all along - none but I will ever understand you, ever accept you."
She went on in this vein for some time, and Morgana became convinced that listening to Morgause's arrogant, self-righteous speeches was what had driven Merlin over the edge; she thought she might lose her mind too if she had to stay here much longer.
The royal banquet hall of Escetia was an enormous room with a lofty ceiling, overlooked by a gallery enclosed by railing from which hung a dozen banners depicting elaborate scenes in needlepoint, waving gently in the warm current of air that wafted upward from the torches. Morgause had ordered a sumptuous feast prepared and brought in minstrels to play for them; it should have been a grand affair, but Morgana felt none of the pleasure she had taken in the feasts she'd attended in Camelot and Dagon.
For one thing, whereas those celebrations were filled with people talking, laughing, and dancing, this grand hall was empty of anyone besides the entertainment, Morgana, Morgause, and King Cenred, who was terrible company - he sat silent as a statue throughout the meal, gazing rapturously at Morgause as if besotted (or bewitched) out of his mind and only taking bites when she remembered to instruct him to, which wasn't often. When she did tell him to eat, he did so clumsily, and as much food ended up in his lap as in his mouth. It was a disgusting sight, and his empty, soulless eyes unnerved Morgana. The thought that Merlin might be in a similar state was pure torture.
"Does he have to be here?" she asked in a low, troubled voice.
"He is my husband," Morgause said serenely, "and he is the best sort of husband a woman could ask for - he never disagrees with me or interferes with my wishes for our kingdom. If the day ever comes when you are forced to take a husband, sister, I strongly recommend letting your magic bring him under your control. Your life will be much easier that way."
"Yes…you are wise indeed, sister." Morgana spent the rest of the meal keeping her eyes off Cenred as much as possible.
Afterward, Morgause took her back to her room, removed the spell concealing the door, and told Morgana she was now free to come and go as she wished. Morgana thanked her for her kindness; then, when Morgause was gone, she slammed the door so hard that it shuddered in its frame and threw herself across her bed, battling the urge to cry. She may not be confined to this wretched, loathsome bedchamber anymore, but she was still trapped with Morgause, and now she didn't even have Gwen for company. There was no one to sit up with her tonight, no one to hold her hand and soothe her fears that she wouldn't be able to get Merlin back, that she would never see Arthur again, or Balinor, or Freya… Right now, she almost missed Gwaine and Will too. Please hurry back, Gwen.
Next time on TSB: Gwen gets a little help on her quest.