Chapter Thirty-two

Arthur grimaced in pain, his back aching. The cell door was slammed shut and the door locked. His knees had given way and he had sunk to the floor as soon as the guards had let go of him, and he now dragged himself over to the wall and leaned against it on his side.

"How are you?"

He glanced up and looked into the cell across from his. Morgana was standing at the bars looking at him in concern.

"I'll live," he said and then after a moment's thought amended, "Well…actually I won't. But I'll live till the execution tomorrow."

"I heard what your sentence was…I'm so sorry," she said with feeling. "I wish you hadn't gotten involved in this…"

"I'm glad I did. Morgana I-…" They had never really been ones to express their feelings for each other too much. They had teased and joked and fought each other and gotten into so much trouble together when they were little Uther had often joked the he wasn't sure which of the two of them was worse. Arthur wondered now if he had ever told Morgana how much he had loved having her in his family, how glad he was she had been made Uther's ward, how lucky he was to have her as a sister and how much he had loved her. He hoped he had. But it was too late now. She wouldn't understand. If there was one thing he had missed these eight months since he had been forgotten, one thing he really regretted, that one thing was her. "Morgana you mean a lot to the people of Camelot…I wish I could tell you how much."

She was silent for a time as she looked at him, and Arthur closed his eyes, letting the pain and exhaustion radiate through him.

"Those things Morgause said last night," Morgana's voice was quieter now, as if she wanted to make sure the guards would not overhear, "Those things about you and Uther. About you being his son. That's what you said the first time you came into the throne room all those months ago."

He opened his eyes and looked at her, not sure what say but she pressed on,

"You came in and you expected us all to know you. You expected Uther to know you. They said you were crazy but you don't seem crazy." She moved down to sit on the floor so she was on the same level as Arthur and could look at him more directly. "You seem like a very sane man. And I have heard what the knights said about your skill with a sword. And Morgause is clearly not your friend so there's no reason she would say that…you…" Dawning belief swept across her face. "You are Uther's son aren't you?"

They stared at each other one long moment and then Arthur answered simply.

"Yes."

"Oh no…how-…" She shook her head horrified. "How could this happen? This must be magic? But what kind I don't…"

He shook his head warily. "It doesn't matter now. It was magic. Morgause cast a spell; it's why she's the only one who knows who I am. But that's not important now. Morgana," his voice turned urgent, "Listen to me." He pulled himself to his feet. His back screamed in pain but he ignored it as best he could. Leaning his weight against the wall he moved over to the bars and held on to them tightly to keep himself standing. "Morgana, everything Morgause is doing, is to get you on the throne of Camelot."

"What?"

"Listen to me! She means to kill Uther. After Uther is dead either Camelot will fall without a ruler or you will be crowned Queen. Once you are Queen Morgause will try and use you. She'll try and control you. But you can't let her. I have been there with you as you grew into a wise and good woman, and I know that you will make an exceptional Queen. But don't let her turn you into Uther. Don't let her fill you with hatred and anger. Please Morgana. Camelot needs mercy now and you can show that mercy. There can be no more retribution or there will never be an end to it. You must be better than Uther. You must be different from Uther."

Merlin and Gwen entered Gaius' rooms, only to find he wasn't in them.

"He must be in the castle," said Merlin, "Alright, we can't wait for him, let's go rescue Arthur and Morgana."

"Shouldn't we wait until night?" asked Gwen.

"You were probably right about Morgause coming by to see me soon, only we don't know when. For all we know she could be on her way now. As soon as she knows I've escaped she'll go right for Uther. We can't afford to wait. We rescue everyone and then we go and stop her. Because the moment she sees things aren't going according to plan she'll attack him."

"Alright," Gwen nodded.

They left the physician chambers and hurried across the courtyard and entered the castle. They noticed that the rooms and halls seemed strangle empty except for the occasional patrol which they were able to avoid.

They reached the stairs leading to the dungeons and hurried down them.

The two guards at the bottom jumped to their feet instantly and drew their swords. Merlin raised his hand.

"Sethreth salvak, gorlmak!" The guards fell to the ground and began to snore gently.

Merlin grinned at Gwen who raised an eyebrow.

"Somehow this explains an awful lot about you," she said.

"Gwen! Is that you?" They heard a voice calling from one of the cells.

Merlin bent down and grabbed the cell keys off one of the guards and the two ran towards the voice.

Arthur was lying on his stomach on a long bench, but he now pushed himself into a sitting position, grimacing at the pain.

"Arthur!" exclaimed Gwen, relieved at just the sight of him. "How are you?"

"I've been better. Merlin! Are you alright?"

"Yes," Merlin, unlocked the door to the cell and the two hurried in. "Morgause had taken me prisoner. But Gwen got me out."

"You would get taken prisoner," sighed Arthur, shaking his head.

"Hey! Look who's talking! Where might I ask are you right now?" argued Merlin, crossing his arms and frowning. "It seems to me of the two of us I'm in far better shape."

"Yes, we'll need Gaius to look at your back," said Gwen, raising her voice to interrupt Arthur who had opened his mouth to continue the argument. "Merlin and I can carry you out and-" she looked around at the other cells. "Where's Morgana?"

Arthur's face grew grave. "They took her away. They're having a hearing in the throne room."

Merlin shook his head. "That's not good."

"No," agreed Arthur. "I suspect the only thing holding Morgause back now is she wanted to wait until after my execution. As soon as she hears that I've escaped I suspect she'll make her move against Uther. We have to stop her now."

"Agreed. We'll get you out of the castle and then wait until after the hearing and I'll go after her," said Merlin. "Come on."

"I don't know that I'll be able to get out of the castle that easily," said Arthur ruefully. "My back…I'm not…"

"Uther had him flogged," Gwen explained to Merlin, her eyes flashing angrily.

"Alright…I think I can help," said Merlin. "I can't cure it, but I can make it hurt less." He raised a hand and moved to place it over Arthur's back but Arthur automatically drew back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to cast a spell."

"Now how proficient are you with magic, really? I mean, do you know what you're doing?"

Merlin sighed I exasperation. "I've saved your life with it if you'll remember."

"Yes, but then it was directed at those hounds. So you know, if something went wrong with the spell…no harm done."

"Arthur," said Gwen, crossing her arms. "Stop being difficult and let Merlin help you."

Seeing there would be no further complaint, Merlin placed his hand over Arthur's back and muttered a few words.

Arthur could feel the pain fade and his strength return. He rose tentatively to his feet and then took a few steps forward.

"It will only last a short time," warned Merlin. "But it'll get you out of the castle."

Arthur nodded. "Alright let's go."

As the three hurried past the two sleeping guards, Arthur glanced at them and shook his head. "Poor men," he said, "They're the same ones I locked up yesterday. It hasn't been their week."

They moved up the stairway and then ducked into an alcove as they heard footsteps approaching. They heard the steps coming nearer and nearer, and then pass them by. They were just breathing a collective sigh of relief when to their horror they heard the footsteps move down the dungeon stairs. The three burst into a run, just as the alarm was shouted.