A/N: Thanks for the alerts guys! I love seeing you guys review my story so please just tell me what you think! Anyways, I've been hearing of a blog that is out to get Andrew Scott kicked off Sherlock. I honestly think she is getting herself into trouble with all those crazy Sherlockians and it angers me to see someone hating on this amazing actor. ENOUGH OF MY RANT! I hope you all enjoy! (Next update will be out on Wednesday or Tuesday)
Chapter Four
It had been days since Cenred took over Mora. The people were terrified. They didn't know what to think about this intrusion and the fact that people were being summoned to the castle made things seem even darker for the people. Cenred had demanded that everyone who had worked at the castle should report to the castle or face dire consequences. The people didn't know what Cenred was up to and they were scared of what he might do if they didn't obey him.
Cenred stood by the window, looking down at the mass of servants he had summoned. "Tell them I'll be out soon." He said to Malena. She bowed slightly and headed out of the room. He walked away from the window and walked out of the room and down the stairs until he reached the balcony overlooking the mass of people.
"I have gathered you all here today because I am looking for answers. Nineteen years ago, King Robert's daughter died the moment she came into this world. But I have reason to believe that this is not true." He said loudly. The people murmured amongst them, shocked at the news. "I believe that the baby was smuggled out of Mora and taken to another place for reasons that will be kept secret. I want all the people who served at the castle nineteen years ago to come forward." Cenred continued. There was a great stirring in the crowd and several older women and men stepped out of the crowd.
"Do any of you know anything about the birth of the princess?" Cenred barked. Most of them shook their heads but Cenred knew that one of them knew something. "Do not lie to me." He hissed menacingly. "I know that one of you know someone who must have been with the queen during the princess' birth."
There was a silence for a while and one of the women raised their hand shakily. "What's your name?" Cenred demanded. The woman flinched.
"Em-Emma, my lord." She stammered.
"Do you have anything to say? Anything useful?"
The woman swallowed and looked at Cenred fearfully. She could feel her fellow servants eyeing her angrily.
"There was someone who disappeared as well the day after the princess was born. One of the queen's handmaidens disappeared right after the princess was born." She said. Cenred took in this information. Maybe she was the one who smuggled the princess out of the Mora. He thought gleefully.
"You will be rewarded, Emma." He said carelessly. "But first, you must tell me the servant's name."
Emma swallowed. "I do not know the handmaiden's name, my lord. I only know where she lived because I was sent there by the king once to summon her to the castle." Cenred felt his blood boil at these words.
"What use is it to know where she lived if we do not know her name?" Cenred thundered. Malena rushed to Cenred's side and laid a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Perhaps there is still a way. She might have left something in her house that could lead us to where she went with the princess." Malena said quietly. Cenred calmed down and glared at Emma.
"You will take us there now." He ordered. "The rest of will stay here for further questioning." He turned and walked down the stairs and motioned for Emma to show them the way. Malena followed Cenred.
"H-here it is." Emma said Cenred looked at the shabby house and nodded at Malena to follow him. He opened the creaky door and stepped inside the house.
The house was musty and filthy, as if no one had stepped foot inside for years. There were still many things left behind by the old occupant and Cenred spotted some maps and papers lying on the ground. He dusted them off and looked at it hopefully.
To his fury, the map was just a map of Mora and was of no use to him. He threw it down angrily and faced Malena.
"I thought you said we'd find something." He growled. Malena sniffed.
"I said we would. Look at this." She said, holding out an old dress. Cenred couldn't see what was so important about this dress but Malena simply closed her eyes.
"I can use this dress to track down whoever owned it." Malena explained with her eyes still closed. Cenred was silent as he watched Malena concentrating. Her eyes flew open and Cenred was shocked to see it glowing gold. The dress levitated out of her hands and glowed as well. Malena gasped and her eyes turned back to normal, sending the dress to the ground.
"What did you see?" Cenred asked. Malena looked at him with solemn eyes.
"She's dead. Whoever owned this dress died. I couldn't see anything." She said quietly. Cenred slammed his fist on the table.
"Then that means the heir must have died as well." He said furiously. "Our plans are ruined." Malena hesitated.
"Maybe not. This morning, I came back to inspect the throne. I saw a cloak covering Richard and there was a hidden compartment in the wall behind the throne. My guess is that there was someone hiding in the compartment. Whoever it was saw what we did and fled after covering Robert with their cloak."
Cenred looked at her, appalled. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" He growled. Malena looked at him angrily.
"I only found out this morning." She said irritably.
"Do you think you can track the servant down? They could know something about the princess."
"Very well. I'll do my best."
A few minutes later, they arrived back at the castle. Malena lifted the cloak off Robert's body and showed it to Cenred.
"Whoever this servant is must be valued by the king. This cloak is exquisitely woven. Robert must have been fond of this servant." Malena noted. Cenred watched Malena close her eyes once more. The cloak floated in the air once more and Malena's eyes flashed gold. It was unnerving to see Malena smile while her eyes glowed golden and Cenred found himself taking a step away from her.
"I found her." She said once her eyes returned to normal. "But there is one problem. She took refuge in Camelot." Cenred grinned.
"All the better." He said as he walked out of the room.
Hours later, three of Cenred's best men arrived in Camelot with clear orders. They were to blend in and find the girl named Myka and bring her back to Mora. The four men separated and silently entered the city.
/
"So, where are we going?" Myka asked as she followed Gwaine into the city. Gwaine had borrowed her from Merlin claiming that he wanted to spend time with the warrior princess. Merlin looked confused as to why Gwaine called Myka a warrior princess but shrugged and let Gwaine take Myka.
"Don't do anything stupid, ok?" Merlin had asked. Gwaine dismissed him with a wave of his hand and dragged Myka off to the city.
"Here we are!" Gwaine said proudly. Myka looked at the building apprehensively.
"You brought me to the tavern." She said flatly. Gwaine nodded.
"Yup." He said happily. Myka looked at him and bit her lip.
"Its just… I've never been to a tavern before. I heard it could get pretty rowdy there." She said worriedly. Gwaine slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side.
"You worry too much. As long as I'm here, you won't get hurt. I promise." He said. Myka looked hesitant but nodded.
"Ok. I'll give it a go." She said.
"That's the spirit!" Gwaine said. He led her inside the tavern and Myka winced as the noise hit her ears.
"I'll have two ales, please!" Gwaine shouted from across the room. The barmaid nodded and went to get their tankards. Myka followed Gwaine to one of the empty tables and sat down. "Thank you, darling." Gwaine winked as the barmaid set down their drinks. She rolled her eyes and walked off.
"Do you like drinking this stuff?" Myka asked as she eyed the ale wearily. Gwaine had already started drinking and paused as he noticed Myka's hesitation.
"Try it yourself and you'll find out." He said, pushing the tankard into Myka's hands. She lifted it to her lips, took a deep breath and tasted it.
To her surprise, she found herself downing the drink in one go. Gwaine watched in amazement as Myka slammed the tankard on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"That was incredible!" Gwaine exclaimed. Myka blushed.
"I shouldn't have drunk so fast." She said, feeling a little light-headed already. Gwaine laughed.
"You'll get used to it. After a while, you'll be able to drink through maybe five tankards without getting dizzy." Myka smiled.
"I'll have another one then." She said. Gwaine ordered more ale and the two sat there for what seemed like hours, laughing and talking. Myka drank at least ten tankards, which seemed little compared to Gwaine's nineteen.
It was around midnight when the tavern started getting empty. Myka and Gwaine were the only people in the tavern besides three men who were sitting quietly in the corner. Gwaine was leaning against the wall and was smiling as he watched Myka chatter on about something.
"We should get back." Gwaine said. Myka was very tipsy from all the ale but Gwaine was only feeling a little wobbly on his feet. Myka pouted.
"I don' wanna go back." She said, crossing her arms. Gwaine had to admit, he found this quite adorable. But he needed to make sure Myka got back safely. He owed it to Merlin. He could see how Merlin looked at Myka.
"We have to go back. If you come with me, I'll give you more ale." He said, attempting to bribe her. She shook her head crossly and stayed put.
"I don't wanna go!" She said loudly. Gwaine sighed.
"Ok, how about I buy you one last drink and you promise to come with me back to the castle?" He offered. Myka looked thoughtful and smiled.
"Alright!" She said happily. Gwaine rummaged through his pockets for money but was frustrated to find that he had none left. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Here, you look like you could use this." Gwaine turned around and found himself looking at one of the men sitting in the corner of the tavern. He was holding out two tankards to Gwaine who looked at it in surprise.
"Thank you." He said. The man merely smiled a little and walked back to his corner. Gwaine set the tankards down on the table and he and Myka lifted it up and toasted.
"Cheers!" She said. Gwaine and Myka quickly downed the ale down and wiped their mouths sloppily. Myka was smiling at Gwaine brilliantly before she suddenly frowned.
"I-I feel strange." She said faintly. Gwaine started feeling drowsy and tried to move towards Myka but found that he couldn't move his arms or legs. He felt his entire body getting paralyzed.
Myka's eyes started feeling heavy and she felt herself falling off her chair. She felt a pair of hands catch her head before she could get hurt.
"We wouldn't want to damage that pretty head of yours, now do we?" A man's voice sneered. Gwaine was slumped against the wall but he saw that the man who was holding Myka's head in his lap was the man who had given Gwaine the tankards.
"Leave her alone." He managed to spit out. The man laughed and motioned for the other two men to come near him. The two men picked up Myka's limp body and Gwaine was enraged to see them eyeing her appreciatively.
"Jay, are you sure this is the servant Cenred wanted us to bring back? She seems to pretty to be a servant." One of the men drawled. Jay smirked.
"Of course. There is no doubt about it. I've asked around and she is definitely the one." Jay said. He stepped closer to Gwaine and punched him hard in the stomach. "If you hadn't brought her here, I would never have found her. So I have you to thank for making this easy for us." Gwaine tried to stand up but Jay kicked him across the face. Gwaine found himself slipping in and out of consciousness.
"King Cenred will be pleased." Jay said as he took Myka from the other two. He looked down at her unconscious face and smirked. Gwaine watched helplessly as Myka was carried away by Cenred's men. Before they left, Jay turned back to face Gwaine.
"Just so you know, you might as well say goodbye to your pretty friend. Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." He said wickedly. Gwaine struggled to stay awake but the pain in his head too much to bear and he eventually succumbed to the drug.
/
"Gwaine! Gwaine, what happened?" A voice was demanding. Gwaine was being shaken roughly and when he finally came to, he saw Merlin looking at him worriedly.
"Where's Myka?" Merlin asked. Gwaine's head was still pounding but he remembered everything that had happened the night before.
"Merlin! They took her! Cenred's men! They drugged us both and they took her. I couldn't do anything, Merlin. I'm so sorry!" Gwaine said in anguish. Gwaine watched as Merlin's face morphed into a mask of rage. Merlin could feel his magic boiling in his rage but he quickly controlled himself.
"I'm going to find her." Merlin said coldly. Gwaine struggled to stand up.
"You can't be serious! Don't you remember how dangerous Cenred is?" Gwaine shouted. Merlin spun around to face him.
"I don't care! I've lost her once and I'm not going to let her go again. If you're not going to help me, then fine. But I'm going to do everything I can to save her." Merlin shouted back. Gwaine could see the worry in his eyes and rested his hand on Merlin's shoulder.
"I'll help you. But you're going to need all the help you can get." He said. Merlin's expression softened and he gave a short nod.
"Thank you."
