Chapter Twenty-nine

The castle was quiet, night had fallen a couple of hours ago. Gwen kissed Arthur once and then parted from him in the entrance hall, making her way up towards Uther's chambers while Arthur headed for the dungeons. She made it to the hallway outside his room easily and slipped behind the pillar that was partway in an alcove. She crouched down on the ground and got ready for a long night.

Elsewhere Arthur hid in the shadows, holding his breath as the guards passed. As soon as the coast was clear he moved on, hurrying towards the stairway that led down to the dungeons. It helped that he had some knowledge of the guard's patrol route but he still had several close calls. Finally he reached the stairway.

He crept down it softly. At the bottom was the wooded table and chairs and the two guards sitting at them, past them lay the cells. Arthur had been prepared for this. Before he had started the descent he had quietly drawn his sword, now he held grasped it firmly in one hand.

The guards were talking in hushed voices. Arthur could only hear a few words but it sounded like they were discussing what had happened at the knighting. Fleetingly he spared a thought to feel grateful that events were exciting enough to distract them from their duties.

When there were just a few more steps to go and going any further would definitely bring him within line of sight of the guards, Arthur took a deep breath and leapt.

He landed directly behind the closest guard and brought the hilt of his sword down on the man's head with a loud thud. The man toppled over unconscious. The second guard was still rising to his feet, trying to draw his sword when Arthur turned on him, placing the tip of his sword at the guard's throat. Arthur hoped the man wouldn't call his bluff, he knew he couldn't kill him; but hopefully the guard didn't know that. Thankfully the man froze.

"Very quietly," Arthur instructed him, "Hand me the keys to the Lady Morgana's cell."

The man hesitated. Then slowly he slid them across the table.

"Now," continued Arthur, "Take off your sword belt and place it on the floor…quietly." He watched as his instructions were followed. "Alright, now grab your friend's feet and drag him into that cell there."

He waited as the two guards went into the cell and then he locked it behind them. Then reaching through the bars he tied a gag around the mouth of the guard who was still conscious.

Satisfied that he had bought a least a few minutes once they were out of the dungeon he headed for Morgana's cell.

Morgana was sitting in the far corner, she had fallen asleep, her head leaning against the wall but her sleep looked troubled and her face was pale and strained. Arthur unlocked the door and hurrying over to her, shook her awake.

Blinking through a fog of drowsiness she looked up at him.

"Arthur?" she asked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm breaking you out. Come on." He pulled her up to her feet abruptly. "There's no time to go into details. We have to hurry."

"But-"

"It's alright. We have a plan, but first we need to get you out of here."

She opened her mouth and then shut it again and nodded curtly. They turned and hurried out of the cell and up the stairs, Arthur taking just a moment to check that the two guards were still secured.

They hurried along a hallway, ducked into an empty room to avoid a patrol and then started moving again. They were making good time and the alarm clearly hadn't been raised yet. Arthur was beginning to think they might make it. If they could get to the sewer entrance, they'd be able to cross most of the city out of sight. He was just beginning to decide which gate would be safest for leaving the city when they turned a corner, entered a large square room and standing, right in the center of it, was Morgause.

Arthur stopped dead. Morgana froze beside him, clearly uncertain how to react.

For one long minute Arthur and Morgause stood in silence looking at each other. And then Morgause smiled.

"I thought you might show up here tonight Arthur." She shook her head. "I'm disappointed. I hoped you'd leave well enough alone. I gave you a choice and I had hoped you would make the right decision. But why would you? You could have prevented all of this to begin with if you had done what you should have, if you had killed Uther when you meant to." She shook her head. "You were never my enemy. But now," she shrugged. Then raising her voice she shouted, "Guards! Guards!"

Raising his sword Arthur lunged at her and instantly her hand snapped up.

"Salray Karlrick Oberthreth!"

He felt himself freeze for one instant incapable of moving a single limb and then Morgause jerked her hand and he was thrown backward, crashing against the wall.

"Arthur!" Morgana ran over and knelt beside him. She grabbed his fallen sword and stood to her feet, turning on Morgause who merely shook her head.

"You can't do it," she said to Morgana, "The guards are coming for one thing, and another you can't kill me."

Arthur's limbs still felt heavy and numb. "Run," he snapped at Morgana.

"I won't leave you!" she said furiously.

Footsteps were running towards them. Arthur could hear people yelling.

Morgause glanced at him disdainfully. "I gave you the chance to live, I could have killed you. You chose this. Not me. But now you will die. Uther will order your death. I only wish there was some way, right before I kill him, I could somehow let him remember, that he's executed his own son." She laughed. "That would be real justice for Uther."

And then her words finally sunk in and Arthur's eyes snapped to meet hers.

"You remember me."

The guards bust into the room. Morgause pointed towards Arthur and Morgana.

"He was trying to help her escape!" she explained urgently. The guards swarmed towards them. Two of them pulled Arthur up onto his still shaking feet and another two grabbed Morgana.

"Take them to the dungeons! I'll have Sir Leon inform the King," ordered the most senior of the guardsmen.

As the guards pulled Arthur out of the room he fought against them, a deep rage surging through him as he yelled back at Morgause,

"You remember me!"

She smiled back at him.