A/N – Bonjour!
To all my UK friends, happy Pancake Day! I intend to eat hundreds, smothered in golden syrup... ahhhh...
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Oh, and natcel, I can't thank you in a message because you're a guest, so I'll thank you here... er thank you!
"Forgive me, I'm trying to find
My calling, I'm calling at night
I don't mean to be a bother,
But have you seen this girl?
She's been running through my dreams
And it's driving me crazy, it seems
I'm going to ask her to marry me" – Remembering Sunday, All Time Low
Merlin pushed the door of Arthur's chambers open and stepped inside.
Arthur was on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Merlin's heart sank.
"I thought you were feeling better, sire?" Merlin said. Arthur turned to him quickly.
"Merlin. I was just trying to get to sleep." Arthur sighed.
"But... didn't you sleep at night?" Merlin asked, confused. "It's only just noon! Anyway, I came to tell you to come to the round table in two minutes. Bye." He finished the sentence and walked quickly to the door before Arthur could ask questions.
Arthur sighed again and flopped back onto the bed. He wouldn't have time to sleep now. He must see Gwen again, though, and soon. It was strange, every time he saw her she seemed to speak less and less – as if she was trying to wean him off visiting her. Arthur decided simply to sleep more.
"Is everyone here?" Merlin asked, impatiently.
"Not yet, Merlin." Tarrian replied. He was sprawled in a large chair, with his arms folded and one leg crossed over the other. "We're still waiting for Leon."
Merlin sat down and looked at the dragon carved in the table in front of him.
"I see you've been thinking recently." He observed.
"How do you know?" Tarrian asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You always destroy things when you think. Lucky it doesn't happen very often." Merlin smiled cheekily and Tarrian leant forward and slapped Merlin round the head with his brown leather glove.
Hurried footsteps sounded down the corridor and Leon walked through the doors, looking worried.
"Sorry I'm late. Sorry!" He sat in his chair and Merlin looked out at the full table of people.
"If I could, sire..?" He dipped his head to Arthur.
"Of course. Tell us everything!" Arthur smiled.
"Well, as you all probably know by now, we interrogated Morgana earlier and found out some very interesting information. She told us that Ignitrus had this all planned. Apparently, he told her that he had to attack her as part of the plan. He was going to lead a revolution with his guards and take the castle. It seems that he didn't plan to be captured though." Merlin said.
"Ignitrus, what are you doing?" Morgana called down the corridor. She could hear a quiet scraping coming from inside his door. Suddenly, a loud crash and bright light filled the air, blinding her.
"But that doesn't make sense. Why would he attack Morgana instead of simply arresting her when he had the castle?" Gwaine asked.
"I-" Merlin began.
"Yeah! And why did he come into our cell so badly unprepared? He could have just left us there." Percival added.
"They have a point Merlin." Arthur said.
Merlin shut his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them his expression had changed.
"He planned this. All of it. Oh god, everyone's here... Tarrian! Where are the guards?"
Tarrian creased his eyebrows together as he spoke. "Well, the bulk of them would usually be by the cells now, but when there is a meeting involving the knights and the king they change patrols so that most of them are around the Great Hall."
"Oh n-" Before Merlin could finish speaking, Tarrian had reached the door.
The singed door hung off its hinges. Ignitrus stepped through, his movements calculated and cold.
"Ignitrus!" Morgana coughed and peered at him through the haze of dust. "This is it, isn't it? The break-out?"
Ignitrus ignored her. Stupid girl. She'd believed all the lies he fed her.
He strode confidently towards the stables. By his calculations, he had approximately two minutes until the knights figured it out and found his cell destroyed, along with the lone guard he'd killed in the escape. Honestly, what self respecting guard stands right behind a door when it's obvious that exploding dust is being laid? It had been nice of the druids to give him the dust actually – not that they'd had much choice, being tied up at the time. He had been going to kill them, but druids were a clever race and he despised killing those of high intellect.
He reached the stable and walked straight in, pushing a gawping groom out of the way. He could kill him later. Right at the back of the long stable block, a bay mare flared her nostrils at him nervously. Ignitrus grabbed a saddle and buckled the girth in a matter of seconds. He swung onto her back and started to trot out onto the courtyard.
4... 3... 2... and yes, he'd timed it perfectly. People spilled out of the doors onto the courtyard.
At the front of the crowd sprinted Gwaine, closely followed by Percival and an out-of-breath Tarrian. Just as they reached halfway, Ignitrus kicked the mare hard in the side and they galloped off, out of the portcullis. It then closed behind them, preventing the knights from following. Ignitrus laughed as he realised just how perfectly he had executed this particular stage of the plan.
"No!" screamed Gwaine, pressing his face to the iron bars of the portcullis.
Tarrian reached the bars and slammed his fist against them, venting his anger in a half-scream half-roar.
"Who shut the portcullis?" He growled, fists clenched.
"It's my fault," Arthur panted as he caught up. "I told the guards to put the palace in lockdown. You can't see the courtyard from where the portcullis is lowered. They had no way of knowing he was already through. I'm sorry."
That's it for this week, folks! I'm off to do my French homework, revise psychology and revise for my science ISA... D: At least it's half term holiday next week, so I plan to write the next few chapters in advance so that they'll be uploaded every Tuesday, on time!