AN: Sorry for the wait but a lot happens in this chapter and I had to get all the perspectives in as well as ensure it wasn't going on for too long.
"What is the meaning of this?" Agravaine demanded as Gwaine and Leon led him through the castle and towards the throne room, earning confused and curious looks as they went. Neither Gwaine or Leon dignified him with a response and instead continued walking towards the throne room where the guards opened the doors for them. As they entered the throne room, Merlin, Elyan, Lancelot and Percival were already there as were some of the council members waiting on their arrival. At the top of the room, standing in front of the thrones looking uncharacteristically severe was Gwen who looked at Agravaine coldly as Gwaine and Leon stood behind him; each with a hand grasping his shoulder, forcing him to kneel and to prevent any chance of him escaping.
"I demand to know what is going on." Agravaine demanded furiously. "Release me at once."
"Silence." Gwen said in a sharp tone of voice that she didn't even know she had. "Lord Agravaine, you have been accused of aiding the sorceress Morgana; passing on private information which has resulted in the deaths of many people including Prince Arthur as well as almost killing myself and my child. You are also accused of assisting the sorceress with the kidnap of the Court Physician and we have reason to believe that this list of crimes goes far beyond what we already know. What do you have to say in your defence?"
Agravaine attempted to mask the shock on his face at being discovered but it was too late. Everyone had seen how his eyes had widened and his posture stiffened at being caught out as a traitor. No matter what excuses or lies he offered; he had already confirmed his guilt. Agravaine cleared his throat and looked at Gwen, doing some quick thinking.
"What possible proof do you have of this?" Agravaine asked. If there were flaws in their supposed evidence he knew he stood a chance of removing suspicion from himself.
"I have had my suspicions for a while. They began after I was poisoned. After Arthur named me as his heir, Morgana made no attempts on my life. Why? Because then I ranked the same as her; a woman with a slight claim on the throne. However when I revealed my pregnancy that changed. There was now an heir and although she was unaware of my child's legitimacy at the time; Morgana knew that any child of Arthur's; legitimate or not would outrank her. When I was poisoned, the only people aware of my pregnancy were myself, Gaius, Merlin, my brother, Sirs Percival, Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon and you."
"You're blinded by sentiment!" Agravaine spat.
"No, you're blinded by your treachery. Every single one of those men risked his life to aid Arthur in taking Camelot back from Morgana's control. If they so much as sympathised with Morgana's aims they would never have even allied themselves with Arthur. You needed more evidence? Ever since I had my suspicions, I have had people watching you and reporting any suspicious activity and it seems you are fond of sneaking around the vaults and off into the woods at night. Is there any reason for that?" Gwen challenged and Gwaine bit hard on his lip to stop himself sniggering at the look on Agravaine's face as he realised he had well and truly been caught out. Agravaine's eyes darted around the room and as he opened his mouth to explain, Gwen raised a hand once more and he fell silent.
"Do not say anything unless it is the truth. Now I order you to tell me where Morgana has Gaius." Gwen ordered and there was nothing but silence as Agravaine and Gwen stared each other out. The knights were giving the traitor looks that could kill whilst the council men were more composed and regarding him with a silent fury.
"Why should I tell you where the old fool is? I only take orders from the rightful heir to the throne, not from a common harlot." Agravaine retorted. Behind him, Lancelot quickly grabbed Elyan's arm to stop him from running over and punching Agravaine whilst Merlin couldn't suppress his growing rage and fear. They were wasting time, the longer that Agravaine refused to talk, the less time they had to find and save Gaius.
"I will not ask you again. Tell us where Morgana has Gaius and you may stand a chance of saving your treacherous skin." Gwen ordered. A heavy almost deafening silence hung over the room as they waited for Agravaine to say something.
"A cave in the Darkling Woods. that is all I know." Agravaine finally said. Gwen studied him before looking at Gwaine and Leon and nodded once.
"Very well. Gwaine and Leon, escort him to the dungeons to await sentencing then report back here immediately. We don't have much time." Gwen stated. Gwaine and Leon tugged Agravaine to his feet and led him from the throne room and towards the dungeons. As soon as the door shut behind them, Gwen sighed deeply before turning to the men gathered in the room.
"We need some sort of plan. There are goodness knows how many caves in the woods and we don't have a lot of time." Gwen said and the men began to try and formulate some sort of plan to rescue Gaius before it was too late.
Merlin looked around the room and muttered under his breath. "Hold on Gaius."
"Who is Emrys?" Alator asked as he pressed the white hot pokers to Gaius's skin. The aging man let out a cry of pain but still refused to surrender any knowledge of who Emrys was or where he might be. Alator was impressed by Gaius' resilience and his loyalty. Whoever this Emrys was, it was clearly someone important to Gaius and someone whom he didn't want to see endangered by Morgana.
"Is he still refusing to say anything?" Morgana asked and Alator turned to see her standing, watching his every move.
"I'm afraid so." Alator replied and Morgana scowled and walked over.
"Who is he? Why are you so loyal to him?" Morgana snapped at Gaius who stared at her resolutely, defiantly not saying a word to implicate Merlin in any way. If it meant dying to save Merlin from Morgana's wrath then he would willingly die. Morgana's face became almost maniacal at his refusal to speak and she struck him across the face.
"TELL ME WHO EMRYS IS!" Morgana screamed, she looked almost completely deranged but rather than say anything or feel anger for his situation, instead Gaius felt pity for Morgana. Her obsession with finding Emrys and stealing the throne of Camelot had clearly sent the poor girl insane. Despite his pity for Morgana and her situation, Gaius could not let Merlin fall into the madwoman's hands. Gaius also knew that if he told Morgana the truth and she killed Merlin then it was certain that her next targets would be Uther, Gwen and the baby. He would sooner let himself be tortured to death than let four people die in his stead.
Morgana glared at Gaius and turned her attention to Alator. "Use the worst method you have to and if he dies before revealing who Emrys is then I'll kill you as well." Morgana stormed out and Alator looked at Gaius who braced himself for the next round of torture. As Alator tortured him, the man had a different question for Gaius.
"Why do you defend him?" Alator asked. Surely a man's sense of self-preservation would surpass any of his other impulses or instincts. A true master of torture knows the power of his actions and for a man Gaius' age, there would only be so much more that he could take.
"Because… he is worth protecting." Gaius replied as the next wave of torture left him gasping for breath.
"What do you mean?" Alator asked, he had heard things about Emrys but had no idea just who the man was or what he was capable of.
"He is… the one who will bring… about the land of Alboin and restore magic…" Gaius rasped and Alator nodded and increased his next bout of torture.
"Who is he?" Alator repeated as Gaius's body convulsed in agony and the remainder of his self-control left him as his body succumbed to the relentless waves of pure agony.
"Merlin," Gaius murmured as he passed out.
The men sped through the woods on horseback. Different groups of knights were headed for the known caves in the woods in order to find Gaius. Merlin rode alongside Lancelot and Percival as they made their way into the woods heading for where they knew a cave was hidden. Merlin's mind was racing as he sped through the woods. They had no real clue for where Gaius was aside from Agravaine's claim that he was in a cave somewhere and as much as he hated to admit it; Merlin had had to trust him on that.
"How much further?" Lancelot asked.
"Not too far." Percival replied and Merlin lashed his reins to make his horse go faster. The sooner they got there, the sooner they would be able to save Gaius. Merlin didn't allow himself to consider the possibility of not being able to find Gaius in time. Gaius couldn't die. They had already lost Arthur and they were not losing Gaius.
"Come on!" Merlin shouted as he passed Percival and kept his horse running as quickly as the horse could.
"Merlin? Who is Merlin?" Alator asked in a low voice, glancing over his shoulder to ensure Morgana was nowhere to be seen.
"A servant. A servant in Camelot with… great power." Gaius replied as they heard the distant shouting echoing off the walls of the cave. Alator looked to the sounds and back at Gaius.
"I could kill you now." Alator warned but shook his head. "But I won't. If Emrys is what you say he in then I believe he will need you."
Alator turned and ran deeper into the caves, away from the sound of the men who's shouts were echoing off the stone. As he made his way out of the caves through a different exit, Alator thought about what Gaius had told him. Emrys was a mere servant named Merlin who lived in Camelot? Either Emrys was very clever or he was very stupid to live in the kingdom which despised magic more than anything with his abilities. Alator debated whether or not to inform Morgana but decided that as she did not bother to actually listen and wait for Gaius' confession herself then he would only inform her if she asked.
Privately he hoped to never cross paths with the woman ever again.
Morgana froze at the sight of the men entering the cave. Morgana slunk back into the shadows and waited to see who had come to the cave. As she crouched, hidden in the darkness Morgana spotted Leon, Gwaine and Elyan and frowned. The three of them were part of the several thorns which had been lodged in her side for far too long but this was wrong. How could they know where they were hidden unless… Agravaine. Morgana cursed under her breath and sneaked out of the cave. Agravaine had had his uses but he had either betrayed her or else been discovered. Morgana knew that Agravaine's hatred for Uther and Gwen rivalled her own which meant he would sooner slit his throat than betray her. That meant he had been found out and he knew too much.
Morgana pulled her cloak over her head and hurried off into the woods. She didn't care whether they managed to save Gaius or not. She had a more pressing matter to deal with.
"Gaius? Gaius?" Merlin called as he, Lancelot and Percival scoured the caves looking for any trace of Gaius or Morgana. The cave was silent and empty but Merlin still called out for Gaius. Percival looked around and shook his head at Lancelot, the place was completely deserted.
"Merlin, he isn't here." Lancelot said and Merlin looked at him and reluctantly nodded.
"I know." Merlin said but just to confirm there was nobody else in the cave, he cast a quick detection spell to prove it was just the three of them.
"Come on. The nearest cave's a few miles away. We could probably make it if we go now." Lancelot said and the three men left the cave, mounted their horses and took off into the woods once more. Their plan was to cover as much land and search as many of the caves as possible before it got dark when they would return and begin their search at first light. It wasn't much of a plan but it was all they had.
Just as they reached the caves, they spotted a group of knights riding away and hurried to catch up to them. Merlin's heart pounded madly in his chest as Lancelot called out to them and the men stopped and turned. The men shook their heads and together the six of them sped off to find the nearest caves. By the time darkness had fallen, they had searched the third caves before reluctantly returning to Camelot. They still had found no signs of where Gaius was and were beginning to lose hope. Merlin led the way back, refusing to give up any sort of hope of finding Gaius. Either some of the other knights had found Gaius or they would find him soon. He could not afford to lose hope, not when it was the only thing he had left.
Gwen stood at the window staring onto the courtyard and waiting for the men to return. As she stared through the glass, she felt an overwhelming feeling of grief. The last time she had done this; waited by the window for the knights to return had been when Arthur had died. It was the middle of February but in her mind, she was back to that fateful early November day waiting for her husband to come home. Gwen sniffed and wiped her eyes before resting her hands on her stomach. At four months there was already a sizable bump growing on her stomach and given that the baby had already started to kick, Gwen knew that it meant he or she was developing very well and if she was truly honest, if it weren't for the fact she was pregnant, Gwen had no idea how she would have been able to get up some mornings. Yes she had a kingdom to rule but it didn't feel the same without Arthur by her side. It was supposed to be the two of them ruling Camelot together not Gwen going it alone. A few times Gwen had allowed herself to fantasise about marrying Arthur and becoming a princess but the fantasies in her mind were extremely different to her reality.
Gwen sighed and took a few steps to stop her legs falling asleep and as she looked out into the courtyard, a new dilemma faced itself. Agravaine. What was she supposed to do? As princess regent she basically had almost full power over the kingdom and would do until Uther died and she was formally crowned the queen. Whether that power included executing someone, she wasn't sure. if that was the case, could she do it? She had duelled people before and knew that it was likely that some of the people she'd fought had died from their wounds but this was different. This was knowingly and ordering someone to be killed. Was there any justification in killing anyone?
He betrayed everyone in Camelot, risked people's lives and was an accomplice to conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. He had betrayed his nephew and brother-in-law to help Morgana steal something that she had no right to but why? Why would he harm the last connections he had to his sister? It didn't make sense. Gwen puzzled over what to do.
She could kill him and have an example made of him. This is your fate if you choose to betray your kingdom and help Morgana.
Or she could exile him, allowing him to join forces with Morgana properly which would have untold implications for the kingdom.
Just as Gwen thought that, a flash of red caught her attention. Leon, Gwaine and Elyan rose through the courtyard, a barely-conscious Gaius being held over the back of Gwaine's horse as they yelled for some sort of stretcher or means of carrying Gaius into the castle. Gwen hurried away from the window and made her way down to Gaius' quarters. She would worry about Agravaine's fate later but right now, she needed to ensure that Gaius survived.
Gwaine led the way into the caves and was the one who came across Gaius. Elyan helped him support Gaius out of the cave whilst Leon cursed at the sight of the torture equipment. As quickly and as carefully as they could, the men helped the barely-conscious Gaius out of the cave, offering reassurances as they went. Once they were out of the cave, there was still no sign of Morgana and rather than wait around to confront their nemesis, the men hurried back to Camelot as quickly as they could. Even though they moved as quickly through the woods as they could, the journey seemed to take forever until finally they had reached the castle.
"We need help!" Gwaine shouted as he jumped off his horse and Elyan helped him to gently ease Gaius off.
"You two fetch a stretcher or something to carry Gaius on and someone fetch the princess!" Leon ordered. The two men hurried off and a third ran into the castle to find Gwen who was making her way down the stairs.
"How is he?" Gwen asked Leon who was holding Gaius' legs whilst Gwaine and Elyan both had an arm slung over his shoulders.
"We're not sure." Elyan replied as the two men returned with a basic stretcher and they eased Gaius onto it.
"Take him to his chambers," Gwen said and she walked behind them, hoping against hope that they weren't too late.
A few hours later and Gwen along with the knights' help had managed to concoct and supply Gaius with potions and remedies which would help to ease the pain and repair the damage done by Morgana. Gaius was now sleeping on his bed. Gwen was sat next to him, dabbing a compress on his head whilst Elyan, Leon and Gwaine were discussing possible reasons why Morgana had left Gaius in the cave. As they came to the conclusion that Morgana must have fled, Elyan looked at Gwen.
"What's going to happen with Agravaine?" Elyan asked and Gwen shrugged her shoulders.
"The penalty for treason is death." Gwen stated. What else could they do? Exile him and allow him to help Morgana come up with more attempts to take the kingdom or attempt to kill them one by one. The last time Morgana took control of the kingdom, people had died. They couldn't risk that happening again. It was Gwen's duty as princess and future queen to protect her people and executing Agravaine in the long run was the lesser of two evils.
"Where is he?"
The door burst open and Merlin hurried into the room. Merlin crouched on the floor beside Gaius' bed and rested his hands over Gaius' as tears began to roll down his face. Gwaine rested a reassuring hand on Merlin's shoulder.
"He's going to be all right." Gwaine said and Merlin looked at Gwen who nodded.
"He'll be weak but he should be all right. I still don't understand why Morgana kidnapped him, what did she have to gain from him?" Gwen said.
"Knowledge about us? The kingdom?" Percival offered.
"But she had Agravaine for that." Leon reminded.
"We're all her enemies, for all we know she's targeting us one by one. She failed to kill Gwen so tried to kill Gaius." Lancelot said but Merlin shook his head. They were wrong. There was only one reason why Morgana had done this to Gaius. She had needed information. Information that only Gaius could give her. Information about Emrys.
"Who knows why she did it? All that matters is that her plan failed. Gaius survived and we've got Agravaine in the dungeons. For now we've got the upper hand." Merlin stated, trying to sound more confident than he actually felt. The reality was that this would no doubt make Morgana all the more angry, all the more desperate and therefore all the more dangerous.
"You're right. We may have the upper hand but we can't afford to be careless. Whatever happens next we can be sure that Morgana will just be more determined to kill us." Gwen said as she stifled a yawn.
"You should go and rest. It's been a busy day." Leon advised.
"I can stay a little longer." Gwen reasoned but Elyan shook his head.
"No, you need to go and get some sleep." Elyan countered but Gwen looked at him steadily.
"I'm not tired." Gwen said and Elyan gave a half smile. "What?"
"Nothing, I was just remembering how stubborn you used to be when you were tired." Elyan commented. It was true, when they were children Elyan had been the one more likely to go to bed with no complaints whereas Gwen would insist she wasn't tired before falling asleep five minutes later. In contrast Gwen had been the morning person whereas Elyan needed to be literally dragged from his bed in the mornings. Gwen offered a small smile and handed the compress to Merlin before standing up. Elyan offered to walk her back to her chambers and the siblings left Gaius' quarters to make their way through the castle.
"Thank you Elyan," Gwen said and Elyan shrugged his shoulders.
"It was nothing, just luck that we found him really." Elyan said modestly.
"You, Leon and Gwaine saved his life." Gwen said as they reached her chambers. Elyan gave Gwen a hug goodnight and Gwen quickly changed and climbed into bed. As she lay against the pillows, Gwen had to admit the drama of the day had tired her out and she was asleep almost immediately.
Down in the dungeons Agravaine sat in his cell. There was no denying that he had made a massive mess of things. He didn't know whether they had found Gaius or not, he hoped they hadn't. Either way it didn't matter to him. He was a dead man unless Morgana was somehow able to break him out of the dungeons before he was executed.
"Well, well what do we have here?"
Agravaine looked up to see Morgana stepping out of the shadows of the dungeon. Her face was carefully expressionless but he could see the cold rage in her eyes. Before Agravaine could say or do anything, Morgana's eyes flashed gold. Agravaine was flung against the ceiling before hitting the ground, his neck twisted at an awkward angle.
Morgana glanced at his body before her eyes flashed gold and she vanished into the night.