Elizabeth screamed again as the knife dug deep in between her ribs. Pain was all she felt.

She had cuts all over her. Red stripes worked their way up her arms. Where there weren't cuts there were purple and green bruises blossoming all over her body.

Inside her head the screams of her sisters burning still echoed.

Inside her mouth was the taste of blood from her bitten tongue and cut lip.

Her shackles were the only thing still holding her up. Her hands were just dull throbs now.

Morgana shouted demands in her ear but she got no answer.

Morgana frightened her. She was cold, full of hate and rage.

And determination.

And that's what scared her most, the brutal determination. She would keep going until she got what she needed and Elizabeth didn't have what Morgana wanted.

"What were you looking for?" Morgana demanded again.

Elizabeth stayed silent.

"Who are you working for?"

"No one!" Elizabeth shouted, knowing she wouldn't believe her.

"It was Emrys wasn't it?"

Emrys? The warlock said to return magic to the land? Why would I be working for him? Elizabeth thought.

Her silence was met with another cut.

"Morgana?" came a small voice.

"What?!" Morgana turned on the source of the voice, a small servant. "This had better be important!"

"It's just... Arthur, Merlin and the knights have been caught and are on their way."

Morgana smiled. "I guess you're off the hook for now," she said turning back to Elizabeth, before stalking back out of the door. She slammed the door shut after the servant ran out the cell. She pulled out a dark rusted key with five spikes.

Remembering Elizabeth's blindfold, Morgana's eyes flashed gold and the cloth retied itself around her captive's eyes, blocking out the fading light.

###

Merlin looked up at the aged red walls of the castle with vines and moss struggling up its sides. Chunks of rock were missing; eroded away by the waves and sea wind. Some gaps were so large they exposed the rooms behind them. The only sign the castle was inhabited was the glint of the weapons of the guards standing at their posts.

One of their captors unlocked the cage. He then climbed in, unlocking their shackles from the cage but leaving their hands bound. They were all marched over the drawbridge that stretched over a trench filled with seawater, the waves attacking the stone that prevented them from continuing on their path.

Morgana was standing waiting, framed by the archway into the castle. "How nice it is to meet up with old friends," she smiled.

"It's great, enjoyed the trip over." Arthur's voice dripped with sarcasm

Morgana gave him a sideways smile, "I'm sure you did."

"Dungeon" she then ordered her men, their captors.

"Let them go Morgana. I'm the one you want" Arthur pleaded.

"I'll tell you what; give me the throne and I'll let the Knights go," Morgana bargained.

"What about Merlin?" Arthur asked, suspicious.

Merlin hoped that Arthur wasn't thinking about this offer. Without the Knights it was going to be even harder to get them all out of this mess.

"I've got some questions I want to ask him first," Morgana said mysteriously.

Merlin stomach dropped. She wants to know about my magic. How did she find out? What will I do?

Arthur stayed silent.

"No?" Morgana pretended to be concerned. "Ah, well; throw the lot of them in the cells." She then turned on a heel and stalked into the crumbling castle.

"Morgana!" Arthur called after her. "What do you hope to achieve by this? You'll never get the throne of Camelot. I've made sure of that."

Morgana snapped back around. Her eyes glowed gold and Arthur doubled over as though he had been hit in the stomach, hard.

"Answers." Morgana replied to a still struggling Arthur. "Answers and results."

They were then pushed down a long flight of stairs into a large dingy cell, with only one small window showing the sea surrounding them, fading into blackness.

Merlin was pushed against the wall by rough pair of hands. His wrists were then pulled up and more shackles were clamped over his wrists. Except these shackles were wider than the ones in the cage, ann the bracelet was preventing them from fitting properly.

The man pushed the bracelet out of the way, dragging it over his burn. Merlin couldn't help crying out.

The man smiled nastily at him. "You're going to enjoy your stay here!" He laughed as he turned the bronze key in the overly large padlock of the shackles.

Looking around, Merlin saw that the Knights all had identical sets of shackles on them. There was also a woman in the cell with them. She was blindfolded and barely had a patch of unharmed skin, discoloured bruises and dry blood covered her. She was very thin, only a slight layer of flesh and muscle over bone.

Merlin felt a shiver go through him. How long had she been here? How long were they going to be here?

###

Elizabeth heard people being dragged into the cell. Please don't let it be my sisters. Not them.

But there were too many footsteps and too many locks clicking shut for it to be her sisters. She guessed maybe four or five people. She hadn't heard the distinct click of heels so Morgana wasn't there, which was a relief.

The guard that brought in the new prisoners slammed the cell door shut, leaving them alone for now.

"Merlin, are you all right?" asked a concerned male voice

"Yeah, just hurt my arm. I'm fine," replied someone who Elizabeth guessed must be Merlin.

"Who are you?" Asked a third voice after a pause.

When no one replied Elizabeth wondered if this was aimed at her. "Talking to me?"

"Yes," said the same voice.

"My name's Elizabeth" she said simply, giving nothing away. She had learnt long ago that trusting random people got you killed. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gwaine and this is-"

"I am blindfolded." Elizabeth interrupted. "I can't see who 'this' is."

"I am Arthur" said the male voice who had asked about Merlin, filling the silence Elizabeth's remark had left.

"I'm Merlin."

"Percival" said a deep voice she hadn't heard before.

"And I'm Leon," said another voice to her left.

"And what you did you do to end up here?" Elizabeth asked curiously. Perhaps she would find out who else Morgana was after.

"Annoyed Morgana," responded Arthur after a pause. "What did you do?"

Elizabeth thought, how much to give away? This could be a trap. "I tried to rob her."

"Why?"

"Not saying any more," Elizabeth replied. That was as much she was willing to give away.

"Come on, we could be here a while," Gwaine said.

Elizabeth laughed, "I'm not staying here another day."

"What?" Came several voices.

Elizabeth shook her head.

There was a pause in which the new prisoners tried to suss her out. "How long have you been here?" someone who she thought was Merlin said.

"Umm… I don't really know. Three days I think."

"Three days?! You look terrible," Merlin said, clearly surprised.

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"I just meant…" Merlin started, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

"I had some injuries before I was dragged here if that makes you feel any better?" Elizabeth offered.

"From what? Who would want to hurt a pretty woman like you?" Gwaine asked.

"There are really long lists," Elizabeth said simply. "It's not very often that I'm in perfect health."

This was met with silence. Until it was broken by single word. "Why?"

"Can't tell you."

"You don't want to tell us a lot of things," Leon said, starting to sound suspicious.

"Don't take it personally, I've been told I have trust issues before. But I've got good reason not to trust people. And before you ask I am not telling you those either."

There was silence again as they tried to figure it out what her words could possibly mean.

"Are you like an assassin?" Gwaine asked.

"No."

"Would you tell me if you were?"

"No," Elizabeth said, trying to keep the smile off her face.

Morgana's signature heel clicking interrupted the conversation. Sure enough the cell door then opened with a creak.

"Sorry I had to leave you; don't worry, we have a long time all to ourselves now." Morgana's cold voice rang around the cell.

"What do you want Morgana?" asked Arthur. If he was scared he kept it out of his voice.

"I want the throne of Camelot, and you're going to help me to get that. But right now I want answers."

"You think I'd tell you any of Camelot's secrets?" Arthur demanded "I'd rather die."

"Not from you." Morgana couldn't keep the glee out of her voice. "From my favourite servant, Merlin."

###

Sorry I know it's kind of a cliffhanger, couldn't help it is too perfect. Anyway sorry this is late but now Elizabeth has met them and the story can progress now.

Warning: torture is coming up in the next chapters.