A/N:Warning for anyone with Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) Proceed with caution after the first ~o~0~o~ break.
Chapter 18: Family Camping
Merlin still wasn't confident about the three of them pulling off the family act but Morgana dismissed his concern, knowing it was unfounded.
"I know we're a bit young to have a nine year old child," she said. "But Mordred's quite small for his age and we can easily pass as a few years older. Honestly you heard what Percival and Gwaine said. People will just assume it when they look at us, anyway."
"But if our descriptions are now public?"
She shrugged. "I'm not sure we're exactly what most people will imagine when they think of criminal child abductors, and it's not as if our looks are especially unique, anyway. Come on, we'll be fine." She turned to Mordred with a gentle smile. "But we can't use magic. That will definitely blow our cover."
The boy nodded. "I understand and I'm tired again, anyway. I promise I'll be good."
As she suspected, the papers and rings Gwaine had provided them and Mordred looking so like his 'parents', meant they weren't given a second glance when they checked into the camp.
They were to set up on the far edge of the site, not far from a woodland walk and river, and Merlin and Mordred laughed at Morgana's total lack of camping skills whilst they expertly started setting up the tent.
"Have you been camping before?" Merlin asked the boy.
He nodded. "A few times. Both in Care and with foster parents."
Morgana exchanged a look with Merlin who nodded encouragingly. "And what of your parents?" she asked the boy gently.
He shrugged. "I don't really remember them. It's always been Care and foster homes."
"And recently?" Merlin asked. "When you were at the school?"
"The latest foster family. They were all right. I like you two better."
Merlin and Morgana exchanged another look.
"It might not be that simple, Mordred," Merlin said. "I hope you can have a secure home at Eden but, right now, nothing much is certain and I'm likely to be given other work to do once I get back there, anyway."
Mordred just shrugged before turning back to continue setting up the tent, and his casual reaction broke Morgana's heart. The boy had never once had a secure home and just as he was thinking he was free and had found two parents he could connect with, he had to come to terms with the fact that he'd be passed over to someone else – yet again.
Saturday Evening
Mordred fell asleep quickly that night and so Merlin and Morgana spent some sitting outside their tent by a small fire, holding hands and talking in hushed voices. It wasn't long before she brought up her own thoughts on Mordred and his lack of family.
"I just didn't want to give the boy false hope," Merlin explained. "As much as he needs security right now, it seemed wrong to lie to him. There's currently no guarantee we'll even reach Eden."
"I'm sure we will."
Merlin smiled at that. "All the same, it's important he knows that he can't just chose us as his parents. I mean, we're not really married and... well I didn't free you from one piece of jewellery just to enslave you with another. You should be able to chose your own life – as much as you're able. Eden can give you a new identity and you'll then have plenty of choices."
"That's good to know," she replied. "Although I'm happy to stay with you for now, and sometimes..." She sighed. "Mordred isn't the only one who's been toying with the idea of Happy Families. If there was a way for us three to be together then, well, I certainly wouldn't complain."
Merlin turned to her, abruptly. "You wouldn't?"
"Why so surprised? I thought perhaps you felt it too. This bond we have with Mordred? As if all three of us belonged together somehow?"
He frowned. "I'm not sure about that. Destiny has an annoying habit of pushing us onto the path of her choosing. Sometimes that can feel like yet another type of prison."
"What do you mean?"
Merlin paused for a few seconds. "If Mordred is this child of Prophecy, then his fate is tied to mine and to Arthur's. I've not heard that you have a part to play in all of this, but I'd say that's probably likely."
"I still don't understand."
"These feelings you have. That we have. They might be for another purpose, they might not be... real."
"What rubbish!"
He looked up at her, surprised by her outburst. "There's just so much I need to tell you about all of this. Of Eden's role and of mine. It's just not as straight forward as you think."
"Then tell me."
He nodded. "It is said that Arthur has a purpose in all of this. That he'll ultimately be the one to set us free. I had hoped that that meant he would have slowly come around to our ideas whilst we were at Camelot and, leaving him now... well that's been worrying me. As if I've made some critical mistake by being caught."
"You are not his keeper, Merlin. Arthur is big enough to control his own fate."
"Actually, in many ways I am his keeper. It has been my destiny to stay by his side and help him to see the errors of Uther's ways but, unfortunately, we're now to be on opposite sides of the country with him believing that I've betrayed him."
"And I'm not a part of this?" she asked. "You're saying it's my fault somehow, for stealing you away from Arthur and encouraging you to cheat on him?"
He turned, shocked at her comment before noticing her smirk and realising he was being teased.
"I really don't know your part in all of this, to be honest. Hopefully we can find out more when we reach Eden, although you're right that some within the group do think that our relationship has messed things up. Of course, it could just as easily be part of the grand plan and that you and I meeting and getting involved is actually a part of the prophecy."
"Rubbish, as I said. I don't need some ancient prophecy dictating my emotions. I know how I feel. About you and Mordred."
"Really?" Merlin tipped his head to one side contemplating her with a small smile. "How do you feel?"
She smiled slyly. "Cold. I think it's time to go inside."
~o~0~o~
She was running for her life.
The corridor was dark and slippery underfoot, with quiet cries and moans echoing all around. She turned a corner and came across her father. He called her name, pleading with her to come back, but she had never felt much love for Uther before, and now...? Now he represented everything that she'd hated about her life before her magic had been released. She had to get away from him immediately.
She spun around and headed off again.
As she made it through the door into the laboratory, her path was blocked by Gaius begging her to stop and rest. In many ways the old man had been more of a father to her over the years than Uther, but she knew she could not trust him now. Not when he worked against their kind. Not when he helped to imprison children in dark cells and manipulate their Gauntlets to keep them docile.
She shook her head and pushed passed him, running down yet more corridors to escape from Camelot.
The streets of London were wet with rain and full of people staring at her with unfriendly eyes. Gwen called to her then, begging her to slow down, to come to the pub and sit down for a talk, but she was having none of it. Her friend was in love with her brother and did not approve of her magic. She would have Morgana turn herself in and that was something she could never do. She had to be free.
She continued to run, faster and faster, until the wet, grey streets were nothing more than a blur.
The dark roads had changed to bright country lanes with Arthur now in pursuit. He was her annoying little brother but, unlike her father, she had always found it easy to love him. But he had betrayed her. He was the reason she had been forced to run. She would not go back to him now.
She made a few sharp turns and dashed through a gap in a hedge.
She was running across a field next to a river, heading towards a dark wood on the horizon. Merlin and Mordred were standing outside their tent, calling her name, pleading with her to come with them, but she knew she could not. They had abandoned her, just as everyone else had, and now she was on her own.
Alone and afraid.
She ran into the wood, having no idea of her destination, simply knowing she had to get away from everyone who'd betrayed her. She didn't know how long she ran for, but it wasn't long before the ground felt slippery and unstable beneath her feet. Unseen things were moving all around her, hissing and slithering, but she did her best to ignore them and push forwards.
Something brushed against her face and she screamed, batting it away, even as more followed in quick succession. Their touches were feather-light and she soon discovered that they were small white moths flitting around her face, whilst the more ominous movement around her feet continued.
Then she stopped, horrified, as the whole forest floor came alive with slithering snakes; hundreds of them, red, yellow, green and blue weaving around each other and hissing loudly.
The moths had now grown larger and more substantial until they became tiny white dragons breathing fire at her. The snakes were bigger too, with the blue ones now starting to wind themselves up her legs. Higher and higher they climbed and, no matter what she did, Morgana couldn't shake them off. As they reached her waist their skin darkened and sparkled, with one especially large one reaching up to her shoulder before slowly winding itself down her arm.
It rolled around her bicep, her elbow and then finally reached her wrist; a dark, purple snake gripping tighter and tighter until...
~o~0~o~
"It's all right Morgana, I'm here. Hush now, it was just a dream."
"Snakes... everywhere!" she sobbed. "Huge ones and moths and... dragons breathing fire! I had to get away." She took a huge breath, clutching at Merlin furiously, before burying her head against his shoulder.
"Hush, there are no snakes here and definitely no dragons. You're safe."
"You left me," she cried. "Everyone abandoned me."
"I'm here, Gana. We're here. You're not alone."
She pulled away then, to see Mordred sitting up in bed and staring at her, wide-eyed. His face was a ghostly blue and it took Morgana a moment to realise that the tent was being lit by one of Merlin's magical lights, bobbing in mid air just above their heads.
"It felt real," she said. "It felt like one of my 'true' dreams."
"Which I've been meaning to talk to you about," Merlin said. "But... snakes and dragons?" he smiled at her, an eyebrow raised.
She shook her head, suddenly feeling foolish. "You're right. It did feel like the others at the time but it couldn't have been. The others all came true but they were realistic dreams – visions. This one was..."
"Just like an ordinary nightmare. Abstract?"
She frowned. "I suppose."
"The others have come true, you say?"
She nodded. "Do you remember how I said I sensed danger when we were escaping with Mordred?"
"Yes."
"I dreamt about that over two years ago, Merlin. Running down the corridor with you and Mordred and coming across Arthur in the laboratory."
"Really?"
She saw the look on his face and shrugged. "It was only a vague feeling of deja-vu though and I only remembered each moment at it happened. When I originally had the dream I hadn't even met you and didn't know who you two were. I doubt I would have remembered any of it if you'd asked me before the event."
"That is a very rare and very special gift," Merlin said. "And I think that, in time, you could learn to control that much as you have your other magic and start to remember it beforehand." He turned towards Mordred. "Do you think you can get back to sleep now? I'll just stay up and talk with Morgana for a bit."
The boy nodded and lie back down. "Just as long as her dream doesn't come true," he mumbled. "I don't like snakes."
Morgana shuddered, suddenly recalling the sensation of them crawling all over her. Generally she wasn't scared of the creatures but having so many of them act like that hadn't been at all pleasant.
"It couldn't be true," Merlin reassured her again. "The only dragon here is your brooch, and there's nothing bigger than little adders and grass snakes in this area."
"I know, but it just felt so real."
He nodded. "Tell me about your other dreams if you can."
She nodded and lay back down in her sleeping bag next to Merlin and started to talk about all those dreams she had had before - all those she'd already spoken to Gaius about and could now recall easily. Merlin gently held and stroked her hand throughout, asking a few questions but, at some point, exhaustion overtook her and she gratefully fell into a dreamless sleep.
Sunday Morning
Inevitably they got off to a late start the following day and Merlin didn't push the issue, giving them all time to wash, eat and slowly pack the tent away. There was still plenty of time to reach Gloucester, especially with quieter roads on a Sunday and, anyway, he was keen to continue the conversation with Morgana about her dreams, as well as answering a few of her questions about Eden and what was to happen next.
Another beautiful, sunny day, made the preparations easier than they might otherwise have been and, to Morgana, the strange nightmare seemed to fade even quicker than the ones she'd had before. Apart from a little sleepiness she had no problem putting the memory of it all to one side and enjoying the drive; the three of them - the little magical family - back on the road again and heading for safety.
Morgana spent most of this next part of the journey sitting on the back seat with Mordred, trying to get the child to open up a bit more. The boy seemed reluctant to discuss his birth family or specifics of his life growing up, so she came at it from another angle, talking with him about magic and what he'd been able to do.
Merlin listened in but didn't talk to the boy directly, simply sending a few silent suggestions her way. Despite the fact that Mordred was able to use telepathy, Merlin seemed to have the knack of directing his communication to either of them without the other one being able to hear.
"How do you do that?" she asked. It seemed that, once he'd made the connection with her, her replies were automatically private too.
"I'm not sure if I can explain it," he said. "I just think of you and channel it your way. Perhaps you could see if you can do it. Try to talk to just me, but make it an unimportant comment just in case it doesn't work."
She had a few tries but Mordred always 'heard' what she was saying and she had no idea whether it was a skill she could improve with practice or something unique about Merlin's ability. Regardless of that, she continued to talk to Mordred and make up some games for him to play, with Merlin happily joining as they looked out for certain colour cars, or played travelling variations of I-spy.
Gwen's warning had made Merlin especially nervous about stopping in public places and he had hoped they would be able to travel straight there. Unfortunately, they inevitably had to top the car up with petrol and take a couple of toilet breaks as they made their way north and west.
On these occasions, they would split up with only one of them taking Mordred in whilst the other stayed in the car and going in afterwards. Anything to avoid being seen as two dark haired, pale-skinned parents and child, as they were sure that their descriptions would have been put out on the news channels and newspapers by now.
As the day went on the little group became more and more nervous, their happy car games now a thing of the past, and the weather seemed to reflect their mood, becoming slowly more cloudy as they travelled north and west.
"Nearly there," Merlin kept saying, even when the question wasn't asked. "Edwin is a bit of a recluse so we'll be able to keep a low profile when we reach his place."
"Oh?"
"Yes." Merlin frowned slightly before continuing. "He had an accident as a child and got burnt, and he's very self conscious as a result. You won't stare, will you, Mordred? His appearance might come as a shock, but I promise he's perfectly harmless and is likely to be a great help to us."
"I won't," the boy replied. "It's hardly his fault."
"Well said."
"How will Edwin help us?" Morgana asked.
"He's Eden's version of Gaius," Merlin replied. "Our expert on the Gauntlets and he has some amazing ideas on how to get them to work better for us. I'm hoping he can give me a little advice and some advanced lessons and may even be able give us some even better versions to wear. Ones which will help us gain even more control of our magic."
"And then we head off to Eden?" she asked.
"Then we head off to Eden," Merlin confirmed.
~o~0~o~
A/N: I actually like snakes but found that even in cringed as I wrote and edited that dream section, so I thought a warning would be appropriate.
Writing is still a bit slow but I remain over five chapters ahead and am now not far from the end, so it's all going well. thank you for reading this and leaving such nice comments.