Chapter 14
Alvar was not a man to be crossed. Just as Merlin was finally lying down on the floor, and falling asleep after what had been a very long night, the final change of the watch was taking place at Alvar's stronghold and that, of course, was when the guards who had been on lookout were found lying dead by the outside door. It didn't take long to discover that the cell in the depths of the stronghold was now standing empty.
Alvar stood in the middle of the cell, together with a number of his men who were all holding both torches and swords, and it was clear to everyone that Alvar was filled with rage. The two manacles and the chains that had held Arthur were still hanging, empty, down from the ceiling.
"How can this have happened?" Alvar shouted. "When I find out who betrayed us, they will bitterly regret their disloyalty." His blazing eyes studied intently the face of each of man standing there, but he saw neither guilt nor unease on any of them. "We were so close!" His words were spat out with bitterness, and in his anger he violently swung away one of the manacles. He stood for a moment watching it swing, but suddenly looked down at his hand. And there in the torchlight he could see the deep red of Arthur's blood which had been on the iron, and as an idea came to him a cruel smile began to play on his face.
"Arthur may have escaped our chains, but he will not escape our magic so easily. He has left us the means to chain not his body but his mind, and he will still die when he can take no more!" And with that, Alvar stretched out his hand in front of him and with his eyes fixed on the dark stain on his hand, began to utter the words whose effects would only be felt many leagues away.
As Merlin lay sleeping peacefully, Arthur stirred on his bed. He began to be agitated in his sleep and started groaning with pain. He suddenly cried out, and in an instant Merlin was wide awake, and in seconds was crouching by the prince's bed as Arthur continued to cry out in agony. Merlin laid his hand on his shoulder, and shook him gently. "Arthur! Wake up." But when he didn't, Merlin shook him more insistently, "You're safe, Arthur. It's over. Wake up!" But neither Merlin's words nor shaking him seemed to have any effect, and Arthur continued, in his sleep, to be in great distress.
"Gaius! Come quickly!" Merlin's shout was answered quickly and Gaius was at his side as quickly as his old legs would allow him.
"What's happening?"
"He seems to be having a nightmare, but I can't wake him."
Gaius leaned over the prince and put his mouth close to his ear. "Sire, can you hear me?", but once again there was no sign that anything was getting through to Arthur.
Gaius laid his hand on Arthur's forehead, and as he did Arthur jolted violently in his sleep and let out another sickening cry of pain.
"It's not a fever." Gaius turned to look at Merlin who could see the look of deep concern on his face. "Merlin, I think he's been cursed."
"What do you mean?"
"There is a dark magic – I barely know of it – that has the power to trap the sleeping mind forever in its darkest memories. It is cruelty and sorcery of the worst kind."
"You mean he's being forced in his nightmare to re-live what they put him though?"
Gaius nodded gravely and added: "and he can't wake up".
Merlin didn't want to ask the question, but he knew he had to: "And what will happen to him if the curse isn't lifted?"
"It isn't just the body that has its limits – the mind can only take so much."
"Gaius, we have to do something!"
"First of all, we need to keep him still, or his wounds will get worse. Go quickly and get Lancelot to help us. And then you will have to find a way, Merlin, to break this enchantment."