Chapter Thirty-three
They ran down the hallway and turned into another corridor. They could hear shouting and running and before they were halfway along the room, guards appeared at the end, swords drawn.
"Behind us!" Gwen shouted. Arthur whirled around and saw more soldiers approaching from the other direction.
"Merlin?" said Arthur, wishing he had grabbed a sword off one of the guards in the dungeons. "I'm thinking now might be a good time to let a few more people in on your secret."
Merlin raised his hand just as the first guard approached.
"Asthrath gorthrith!"
The man was thrown sideways, banging sharply against the wall and falling to the ground dazed. Arthur lunged forward and picked up the sword just as two more guards approached from either side.
Arthur met one while Merlin took the other. He parried an attack and advanced, trying to force the guard to retreat so as to buy more time for Merlin to clear an exit from the hallway in the other direction.
It was hard to fight a man when you weren't trying to kill him but he wasn't holding back, but Arthur had the advantage of superior training and thankfully the width of the hallway prevented more guards from joining in the attack.
"- magic. Go! Inform the king!"
Arthur's head snapped up as he heard this last being shouted and watched in horror as a guard ran off around a corner.
"Arthur!" He heard Gwen's warning shout just in time and pulled his concentration back to the fight.
"Merlin!" he shouted, as he successfully disarmed the guard. "They're sent someone to Uther! If Morgause finds out…"
"Sethrerak, corlthiees!" Out of the corner of his eye Arthur saw a flash of light and then heard Merlin shout, "This way's clear!"
Arthur grabbed the guard by the arm and with as much force as he could muster threw him backwards into his advancing comrades.
Gwen grabbed his hand and the two ran after Merlin, stepping round the unconscious guards. They ran up a flight of stairs and through another hallway, before ducking into an empty room. They held their breaths, straining their ears as they heard the footsteps running past them. As soon as the hall outside was clear Gwen turned to the other two,
"Now what?"
"They've sent someone to tell Uther," said Arthur. "He'll be in the throne room. A lot of people will be there for Morgana's hearing. Morgause will be there without a doubt. We can't afford to wait. We have to go after her now, while we still know where both she and Uther are."
Merlin nodded. "Alright."
"But Arthur's hurt," protested Gwen, "We were going to get him out of the castle."
"There's not time," Arthur argued. "She could move against Uther at any moment."
"Yes," agreed Merlin. "His death is her main goal. She won't wait if she thinks we're about to stop her. Besides we don't know how Uther, the knights or the other guards are going to respond when I go in there and start throwing magic at a guest. But I should be able to keep Morgause distracted from Uther. Also if I'm throwing magic at her she'll have to use it to defend herself, which will expose her to Uther and hopefully keep everyone else from attacking us. But it might not. And I can't fight the knights and her at the same time. I need Arthur's help, I would like Arthur there."
"Can you beat her?"
Merlin smiled. "I guess we'll see."
Arthur nodded and grabbed the door handle. He hesitated and then turned to look at Gwen.
"Guinevere, there will probably be a lot of confusion when we go in there."
"If you're going to tell me to stay someplace safe-" said Gwen, her eyes flashing dangerously.
But Arthur interrupted hastily. "No. Actually I was going to say if you wait right outside until everything started and then sneak in during the confusion and find Morgana and get her away from the throne room and out of the castle…that would be good. Even if we successfully stop Morgause we don't know what Uther will do to Morgana. If she can escape in the confusion that would be best."
"Oh." Gwen nodded. "I'll try."
Arthur smiled. He kissed her and then pulled open the door.
Standing on either side of the open entrance to the throne room, hidden from view, Merlin and Arthur exchanged a glance. From inside they could hear the guard giving a hasty report to Uther and hushed murmurings from the other people within.
"Sorcery!" Was the one word they heard Uther say, his voice furious and then they nodded to each other.
Merlin and Arthur entered the throne room. Morgana stood near the center. Several knights and nobles stood on both sides and Merlin caught sight of Gaius. Uther seemed to have just risen to his feet from his throne and the guard stood a little ways off from him.
For one desperate moment they looked around, trying to find Morgause while their entrance was noticed and the first shock ran through the room.
Then Merlin saw her. She had retreated behind a pillar on the left side of the chamber out of sight from most of the room. Her hand was raised and pointed at Uther.
Merlin took one moment to register this and assume that she must have figured he had escaped and was in the castle after hearing the guard's report that sorcery was being used to help Arthur's escape, and she must have realized she had little time left and decided to make her move.
Their eyes met from one split second and she flashed him one look of sheer fury and then her eyes whipped back to Uther.
He saw her mouth move.
His mind reached for the first spell it could think of. "Neethmay Halreena!"
A bolt of light shot from Morgause's fingers just as Merlin finished speaking. The light struck the invisible barrier just as it formed, feet away from Uther, causing a small explosion.
Merlin grinned at Arthur. "She probably wishes she hadn't taught me that spell now."
"We have might have some problems here…" muttered Arthur. Merlin glanced around.
The light and the explosion had been seen, but since Morgause had been behind the pillar, only Merlin had been seen casting magic. The knights were drawing their swords while Morgause turned her full attention towards Merlin.
"Get behind me," Arthur ordered, "We'll try and move slowly over towards Morgause. You concentrate on her. I'll take the knights."
Sir Leon and two other knights advanced just as Arthur saw fire erupt from Morgause's hand. He saw Merlin push it aside as it flew through the air and then Arthur was forced to fully concentrate on his own battle.
He parried Leon's first attack and kicked out at the second knight. The man dodged but was thrown off balance by the unexpected attack, which give Arthur a chance to knock the sword out of his hand and whirl around to meet an attack from the third man. Leon attacked again and Arthur dodged and rolled, coming up beside Merlin who was steadily moving forward, meeting Morgause's attacks and throwing back some of his own.
Several knights had made a protective circle around Uther. Morgause seemed to have been noticed now but no one seemed to know which sorcerer to attack and so were holding back. Arthur took the time to look towards where Morgana had been standing. He hoped her absence meant she and Gwen were now making their way out of the castle.
Sir Leon attacked again. Arthur parried and then responded with an attack of his own, trying to force Leon back, away from Merlin. A knight moved in on Arthur's left, forcing him to move right. The knight pressed the attack on the left, forcing Arthur to retreat further. Suddenly he was cut off from Merlin. Two more knights were coming towards him, making returning in the direction he had just come impossible.
His sword clashed with Leon's and Arthur used the leverage to push the man into the knight attacking from the left and then Arthur threw himself forward, going into a roll and making it back onto his feet near one of the left hand pillars.
It was when he heard Morgause's voice that the idea came to him. On impulse he moved to the other side of the pillar and looked about.
His roll had taken him two pillars past where Morgause stood and her back was turned to him, her complete concentration focused on Merlin.
Without pausing to think, Arthur ran towards her. She heard his footsteps in the last moment and she turned around abruptly to face him. She opened her mouth to say something and Arthur plunged his sword into her chest.
She stood for one moment her face contorting in pain or anger, he wasn't sure which, and then she fell to her knees and then onto the ground, her blood seeping onto the floor.
"Arthur look out!"
He heard Merlin's shout and turning round tried to leap out of the way but he was too slow, maybe because his back was beginning to ache and his arms were beginning to feel heavy.
He felt a blinding pain as the sword slashed along his side. Automatically he moved his hand to the wound and then drew it back to see the blood coating his fingers. Several drops of blood dripped off, falling to the ground, mixing with Morgause's on the floor.
Sir Leon raised his sword and attacked again and this time Arthur met it in time, but he already knew he was in trouble. It wasn't just the new wound; whatever spell Merlin had cast on his back was wearing off.
He backed up, moving away, Sir Leon pressing the attack.
Arthur's back hit one of the pillars and he let out of a yell of pain. Leon brought his sword down and Arthur was just barely able to raise his own to meet it. Too weak to try and push off from the pillar, Arthur slowly slid further and further down the pillar under the force of Leon's attacks as the knight brought his sword down again and again on Arthur's.
Merlin was moving to help, but stopped as movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Weakly raising her hand, fighting death with every breath, Morgause slowly raised her hand and pointed it towards Uther. Merlin saw her slowly, painfully, begin to mouth the magic words…
Instinctively Merlin reacted. "Asalthlak!" He waved towards the sword, still lying on the floor, Arthur had disarmed from one of the knights and it flew across the room, lodging itself in Morgause. Her hand fell to the ground, lifeless.
Arthur was practically on the floor now, his back supported by the pillar. Every bone in his body was either screaming in pain or feeling like deadweight. He could feel his sword arm growing weaker and a small, detached part of his mind estimated that one more attack from Leon and it would all be over.
Leon raised his sword. Arthur could see it coming in his mind's eye and he knew there was nothing he would be able to do. His own death flashed for one moment in front of him and Leon started to move. And then-
"Stop!"
Weakly Arthur turned to look at the source of the order and saw Uther, pushing past the knights that had been protecting him. He looked horrified.
Too tired and too exhausted to care, unable to keep it in his grasp, Arthur dropped his sword to the floor. If Uther wanted to spare him now, so he could come up with some elaborate death later, there was nothing he could do about it. He closed his eyes. Let his father do whatever he wanted with him, he was too tired to fight.
"Your Majesty what-" began Leon and then his voice faltered. He took a step back away from Arthur, looking at him with an expression of mingled horror, confusion and guilt. And then he was dropping to one knee and he was begging Arthur's forgiveness.