Merlin had fallen asleep. Idiot. Who would be stupid enough to sleep while in captivity? Something could have happened which might have been avoided if he was awake- well, maybe. Perhaps not having his magic was Merlin's equivalent of being asleep.
But if he had been gone long enough to need sleep- well Arthur would have had to have noticed his absence by now. In fact, perhaps the king was looking for him now. And perhaps at any moment he would walk into that empty room and sneak Merlin out of there.
Except… the room wasn't empty. And it wasn't dark anymore either. In fact, it was rather bright inside the warlock's prison. And mere feet in front of him was a large loom. Sitting at it, weaving as if she was nothing save for an innocent woman, as if she hadn't imprisoned a warlock- but more importantly, the king's manservant- was Lady Elaine. Upon noticing that her prisoner had awakened, Elaine cooed affectionately.
"Good morning Emrys." She breathed. Merlin blinked.
"What?" He asked. Just one word. Asking something typical such as, where am I? or, what are you doing? seemed so pointless. He didn't think that a woman who entertained herself by weaving tapestries with sleeping prisoners in the room would demean her villainess appearance by indulging such information. Elaine stood up and stretched, enjoying taking her time with things. Each second in silence would surely serve to let the panic inside the warlock to grow.
"You weren't in Camelot the last time I visited." Elaine noted. "It was a bit more than a year ago. Perhaps you can remember the occasion, but you weren't there, I'm sure of it." She cocked her head at Merlin.
"Where were you that time my father and I visited, warlock?" Merlin let his mind take him back to when Lord Enrick and his daughter had first come to Camelot to begin preparations for a peace treaty. It was true; he hadn't been around to see them.
There was something rather large going on at that time- right, a sorcerer was in a village a few hours away from Camelot possessing the villagers to think that they were animals. There were 'wolfs' trying to hunt 'rabbits', the whole mess was a scam to try and draw Arthur away from the throne for a day or two. Luckily, Merlin had been able to intervene in time.
"I was collecting herbs for Gaius." He answered. Better that then the tavern. Elaine smirked. Right, she wasn't likely to believe that one was she?
"You had a friend then." Elaine mused. Merlin let out a strained laugh.
"You know, I have more than one of those, believe it or not." Elaine ignored his words, preferring instead to carry on with her own presentation.
"Do you see that?" She said, gesturing to the corner of the room. Merlin turned his head to find a large mirror standing a few feet from the wall. The Lady of Shallot was quite fond of those, wasn't she? How much time must she spend looking at herself? The mirror was expensive looking with its ornate designs and three rather large pearls at the top. But the bottom right corner sported a rather large crack in the glass. "That mirror wasn't broken before I arrived in Camelot." Elaine mused. Merlin raised his eyebrows.
"So is the moral of the story not to lug unnecessary amounts of furniture with you when you visit places then? You know, Camelot does have looking glasses. They don't just exist in Shallot." Elaine shot Merlin a glare.
"That mirror is my lifeline!" She spat. An expression resembling sadness washed over Elaine's face, and for a split second Merlin almost felt something akin to pity for the woman. Then he remembered that she was an evil witch no doubt planning to do something destructive to Camelot like everyone else who visited the place. Elaine approached the mirror and ran her fingers along the surface. She sighed.
"I was born from reflections. My father, he dabbled with sorcery as means to be allowed a child. He was given one- myself- but like everything I came with a condition. He couldn't simply have a child no strings attached. I was to spend my life looking in a mirror, the world that I came from. And I was made to weave what I saw within. It's all I had done for twenty years. My father, he was told that my heart was fragile- like this glass. If I ever saw the reflection of one that would never love me back, the mirror would break and I would die." Elaine placed her hand inside her dress and withdrew a piece of fabric. She held it up to Merlin who nearly gasped.
Woven into the fabric was… Lancelot. His friend. His friend who had died months before to save them all from the Dorocha.
"He was very handsome." Elaine whispered. "Very handsome indeed. When we arrived in Camelot my father noted my affections for the knight. He strove to keep me away from Lancelot for fear that I would see his reflection. Fate doesn't like to be messed with however, it made sure that I saw his reflection, and as consequence the mirror began to break."
"If the mirror is cracked," Merlin began, "How are you not dead?" Elaine shoved the fabric back into her dress.
"The universe has this lovely little life in exchange for a life policy. My father sacrificed himself so that I would live. He's dead now, and I am left to complete all the work that he began. I can't though. Not by myself, not with my own powers."
"Your father is dead?" Merlin asked. "But we were told that he was simply doing business in another kingdom- we were told that you came in the place of him!" Elaine shrugged.
"So I stretched the truth a bit. It wasn't too far off. My father will not be dead for much longer. Not when I have your powers." Merlin's eyes widened. She didn't want Camelot. This was worse. She wanted him.
"No." He whispered. "No, you won't get my powers. See, you may have locked my magic away for a bit, but I know a certain prattish king who doesn't like to be without his servant for very long. I expect he'll be in here any second, dragging me off to the stocks." Despite his current situation, Merlin had to smile at his little joke. But the grin had hardly reached his lips before faltering terribly. Something in Elaine's expression pushed any possibility of amusement away.
"Oh Arthur won't be coming here for the likes of you." She announced happily. Merlin narrowed his eyes at the woman.
"Oh, but I think he will. And you won't be touching my magic." Elaine sighed and shook her head.
"I'm sorry Merlin, but I'm afraid you don't really have a choice." Merlin flinched when she said his name. She stressed the first syllable the way Arthur always had, but it sounded so much crueler coming from her lips.
"I have a choice." Merlin hissed. "And so does Arthur." The words spilled angrily out of Merlin's mouth. Elaine was at her loom again, gathering a tapestry in her arms. As she spoke her voice was smooth and soothing, but her words cut into Merlin's skin like nothing else.
"Oh Arthur does have a choice warlock, and he's already made it. He's not coming. He never wants to see your face again. He thinks that you and the rest of your kind are filth." She was lying. Merlin repeated the word inside his mind, tried to let it settle in and cover up Elaine's statement. Liar. Liar, liar, liar! Arthur wouldn't leave him. Arthur couldn't judge Merlin's 'kind'. He didn't even know about the magic. He didn't- Merlin's eyes were suddenly glued to Elaine's tapestry. His breath hitched.
"I weave reflections Merlin. I weave what I see. It's who I am. Do you like my work? Do you like the stories my threads tell?"
The figure depicted in the scenes on the cloth was Arthur. Holding a book- Merlin's book of magic. There was a look of pure disgust on the king's face. Elaine shook the cloth and the thread-Arthur seemed to move. He was shouting, shouting his hatred for the warlock. He didn't want to save him. He didn't want to make sure that he was alive. In fact, he would be happy if Elaine did away with the boy.
"He hates you now." Elaine dropped the cloth and it fell to the ground in a rumpled heap. Merlin's eyes were attached to it. He couldn't tear them away. Arthur- had betrayed him? He knew about his magic and didn't accept it? But of course he couldn't! Not if they weren't from Merlin's mouth, not if he wasn't there to plead his own case! Merlin found himself choking back a sob. No. No. That wouldn't do. He had to get out of here. He had to explain himself to Arthur! He had to see if maybe, just maybe this was all fake. Just a game. But whatever he did, he couldn't allow this woman watch his pain and enjoy it. He couldn't allow her to stare at his tears with satisfaction. She couldn't just win.
"Merlin." Elaine simpered. "Come on warlock, look up. Look at me." Merlin lifted his head up from the ground. Elaine stood in front of him holding a round mirror right in front of his face. Merlin saw his own face, streaked with tears staring back at him and he felt embarrassment of all things. Elaine smiled.
"Can you see yourself?" She asked. Merlin nodded. "Good. You have to be able to for the spell to work. Let's see how long it takes to break you." Elaine whispered underneath her breath and the mirror shattered. Pain coursed through the warlock and Merlin screamed.
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuunnn! Yes, you can tell me that my cliff hangers hardly count as such. I mean honestly, you call this a cliffie? Nope. I'm actually rather shocked at the reception this has gotten. I hadn't really expected this. I mean, I don't personally consider this to be my best writing AT ALL. It's just my get-me-through-writers-block kinda deal. But if you guys like it tell me and I'll keep going. If not, maybe I won't. It's up to the readers I guess, whether I go on with this or not. Thanks a ton for the reviews! :-D It means a lot when your work is actually read!