They ran.
Merlin ran to intercept her. He knew where she was as she passed the wards he'd spread throughout the castle. Morgana wasn't hurrying at all, she'd entered through the catacombs beneath the east wing of the castle which meant she'd have to come up at the entrance to the dungeons, he hurried to wait for her there.
Arthur ran, and Gaius hurried, to warn the others. Merlin had told them to go straight to the throne room as soon as they could. Knowing Morgana, he was sure she'd want their confrontation to be there. Somewhere quiet and private wouldn't suit her theatrics and lust for revenge, she'd want to be back at the seat of power.
Merlin waited for her now, hidden in an alcove above the stairs to the dungeon. He could sense her presence every time she passed one of his wards, she was almost here. Then he saw her, as beautiful as she'd ever been, but cold, and alone. She was dressed in dark fitted trousers and a shirt of light armour, and her hair was tied up in a single plait down her back. He whispered a spell so she wouldn't sense his presence and followed after her. His eyes flashed again as he heard voices approaching from other corridors, he sent them away with a spell of repulsion, he didn't want her to harm anyone simply because they crossed her path.
He followed. They reached the throne room without encountering anyone. He was directly behind her, he could almost reach out and touch her, if he wished. He didn't, he edged back around the corner, dropping the spell of concealment.
He sensed her magic as she commanded the doors to the throne room to open. She entered, her anger simmering. He waited a moment then trailed in, in her wake.
Arthur was there, waiting. Despite the seriousness of the situation Merlin's mouth twitched, the prince was sitting on the king's throne, a chair he'd refused to use during his time as Regent. Merlin's eyes flicked around the room, Leon, Gwen and Gaius were not far from Arthur, near the throne, but the other knights were missing. Merlin remembered mind speech and reached out to them, he was annoyed with himself for not thinking of it earlier.
But his friends were not Morgana's only audience. In the room were several servants and four guards, all of whom knew him by sight. Two of the Lords stood off to the side with Geoffrey of Monmouth, the three of them clearly shocked by Morgana's appearance. Half a dozen knights, not ones he knew well at all, were watching Morgana with barely concealed hostility, and several had their hands resting on the hilts of their swords.
Merlin cast a fleeting look around the room and bit his lip, bothered by the audience, wishing Arthur had ordered the room cleared. It was always difficult performing magic in such a crowded room, the risk of someone noticing something they shouldn't was great.
Merlin circled around the edge of the room, moving closer to Arthur, and inched behind a pillar near the front of the room. But no, that wasn't going to work, the angle was wrong, the knights on the other side of the room would see his eyes. He shifted back and forth on his feet uneasily, clenching his hands, and noticed Arthur glance his way.
Morgana reached the throne and stopped. "Greetings, brother." Her tone was icy.
The door to the throne room banged open, they all turned at the sound, and Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan and Percival burst in. Merlin had never been so pleased to see them. Swiftly he moved away from the pillar to the centre of the room and using mind speech as they came closer, he said to them all, "Quick, do as I say, now. I can't expose my magic here, you've got to surround me on each side so no one will see my eyes. Now."
They approached the throne and Morgana, who had a familiar smirk on her face.
Arthur had not responded to her. Merlin saw her smile, the expression malicious, cold and hard. "Are you King now, my brother? I hadn't heard. I would be so disappointed if our father was already dead, I wanted the honour of killing him myself."
Arthur stood up, and while her attention was totally focused on Arthur, and the knights were shielding him from her view, Merlin began a spell, slow and subtle, designed to bind her magic to his will. He didn't know how long it would last, but it would remove the threat she posed and give him enough time to think of something else to do.
He ducked his head, cupping one hand over the side of his face to block his eyes from anyone glancing his way from the side. Arthur would still see, so would Leon, Gwen and Gaius, but that wouldn't matter. He didn't want Morgana to notice so he'd need to do it now, while she was distracted. The knights moved closer to him.
He whispered the ancient words as quietly as he could. "Drýlác innan Morgána, úre holdræ sy tó mec! Morgána unácnycendlice áræce. Ic æbebod ðu to néadhæs heleþ mec." He'd never tried such a spell before, but he knew what made Morgause's chains so binding and he thought he could adapt a spell based on that enchantment, but without visible chains. Of course, if it went wrong ... well, he just hoped there'd be no visible chains to give anything away.
He felt her magic creep across to him, invisible threads linking them together. Yet, he was surprised at how easy it had been. The enchantment worked so much better than he'd thought. There was barely any resistance, and it puzzled him, even though her magic was not strong compared to his, it still should have protested. He hadn't even said the entire spell, he'd known after the first part its allegiance was no longer hers, but his. There was something odd about that ... he'd think about it later when he had more time.
It was done, and he visibly relaxed. Arthur noticed. Merlin moved away from the knights, and closer to Arthur, standing almost between the two but off to the side. Morgana may not be able to use her magic now, but he was not going to leave Arthur unprotected. She flicked Merlin a disparaging glance, her eyes cool.
Arthur's voice was as cold as hers. "You won't be killing anyone today, Morgana."
Morgana was pleased with the provocation. "And how do you think to stop me? Look at me, brother!" She smiled, feral and twisted. "I have magic, you see! You can't do anything to me!"
Arthur's face was unreadable. "I see." His next words were aimed to antagonise. "Tell me, how is Morgause?"
Morgana's expression hardened. She glared at Merlin. "She remains unconscious, and for that, your servant will pay. Won't you, Merlin? I know he did something to her. Not to mention what he did to me! You can watch him die first, Arthur. Then you can choose between your queen and our dear father. Which one will it be, that you'll choose to save for another day? I'm generous today, I'll take only two lives, one life for injuring Morgause, one life for angering me. The rest I'll spare, for now."
Her hate was palatable, it twisted in the air like a weapon and Merlin felt the tug of her magic trying to break free. Merlin had enough, he wanted her contained before the situation escalated, he took an involuntary step towards her but then stopped himself, there were too many people watching them. But she'd noticed his movement, and it drove her fury to new heights.
"Always so brave, yet so stupid, Merlin. Any last words?" She was preparing to use her magic on him but it was laughably easy to contain it, and she had no idea. He smothered it like the flame of a candle. She was too reckless, coming here.
But he couldn't do anything else. Not in front of all these eyes. He took a step backwards dropped his head submissively, and said in mind speech to Arthur, "Arthur. Please order her to be taken to the dungeons. I need to deal with her without an audience."
He felt her tug at her magic again, harder, sharper. It wasn't working, finally she realised it, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw the confusion and anger dawning on her face. "Someone is binding my magic! You're harbouring a sorcerer, brother!"
Arthur's expression didn't change. "You're delusional, Morgana." He turned to his knights. "Take her to the dungeons."
She screamed and drew a dagger from her belt, but Percival and Gwaine were on her in an instant, and it clattered to the floor before she could unsheathe it. She struggled furiously, but gripping an arm each they began to drag her past the shocked faces in the room towards the door. Leon and Elyan followed.
Merlin backed away from it all, blending into the general confusion and taking a circuitous route around the edge of the room to slip out the door. He hurried to catch up, he wasn't sure how easy it would be to keep hold of her magic if she was out of his sight. He could still feel it, off in a small corner inside him, now snapping and snarling to be released as she tried again and again to command it, yet her magic had an overtone of blind obedience to him that he found completely puzzling.
He rounded a corner and caught up with them and heard her rage. "Who is doing this to me!" She struggled in the knights' grasp, her eyes wild. "None of you could have any magic, I would have sensed it, Morgause would have told me!"
The corridor was deserted, but he made doubly sure of it before he made his move, pushing past Percival to stop in front of them. He put both his hands around her upper arms and she jerked back at his touch, her eyes flaring a warning. His voice was deceptively mild. "You're wrong, Morgana." He didn't look at the knights, his concentration was on the woman in front of him. He felt the tension in her arms, her skin was warm beneath his hands through the light chainmail she wore. "I'll take it from here. Let her go."
He saw the disbelief flash on her face. "You! It can't be!"
He smiled, but there was no amusement in it, the truth was in his eyes, and they weren't friendly. "Didn't I just say you were wrong? And you are wrong Morgana, so wrong, about everything." The knights hadn't moved, he knew they thought they needed to protect him, but still he snapped at them, "Let her go, now." Percival and Gwaine dropped their hold on her, but Merlin could tell their stance meant they were still ready to intervene.
He tugged her forward, into a parody of an embrace, one of his arms slipping around her waist and resting against the cold metal of her belt, the other arm over her shoulders. She was smaller than he remembered, but he knew there was an iron core inside her. He relaxed his hold on his magic and let her sense it, but he kept it muted and understated as it swirled around them both. Her breathing hitched, and involuntarily, she took a step closer to him, they touched from chest to hip.
She looked up at him, her eyes liquid dark, then licked her lips.
Merlin's head jerked back, stunned, his nostrils flared, he felt a jolt of utter shock spike through him at her gesture, and he nearly dropped his hold on her. By the look on her face, she was as horrified as him by what she'd betrayed.
He almost smiled then, but he didn't, it wasn't the time for that and he wasn't amused; a smile would have just been a weapon to taunt her with. And he had a better weapon to use right now. He drew back slightly, and held her just apart from him, she didn't try to fight him like she had the knights, her face a picture of appalled disbelief. His voice was distant. "Ready, Morgana?"
She didn't understand, but he didn't give her any more time to think, his eyes flashed and Morgana's world went crazy as he pulled her into his time. He didn't try to cushion it for her, he released it all unrestrained, past, present and future, into now, her punishment.
He knew the ground was like soup to her, and the walls taunted her with their merciless caress. He let them. The very air roared, it was hot and cold, night and day, all at once and not at all. He'd contained her magic, and he moved with speed in his own time, keeping his hold on her but twisting her around so he was pushing her stumbling form in front of him. They moved away from the knights who could no longer see them anyway, down the corridor again. He knew what he had to do.
He felt her horror and her fear, and exploited it, if she feared him enough then she may obey; he might be able to let her live. He didn't say a word to her as he pushed her down the corridor, forcing her back down into the bowels of the castle, past the dungeons, following the way she'd come in.
She stumbled constantly, and eventually he was forced to pick her up, reducing her weight with his magic so she was no heavier than an infant. Beyond terror, she let out a barely audible whimper of fear, huddled against his chest, eyes squeezed shut, shaking. He gritted his teeth and increased his speed as they moved through the catacombs. It was dark, but he didn't conjure a light, he increased his senses so his feet knew where to tread, and his body knew where to duck and weave around rocky outcrops in the dim passages.
Then there was sunlight ahead, they'd reached the outer walls of the castle. Without breaking his stride he moved into the undergrowth in the surrounding forest. The branches parted out of his way, he dodged between the green blurs of trees. Morgana clutched at him in her desperation, one arm around his neck and the other fisted over the material of his shirt, the tips of her fingers fluttering against the skin of his neck.
They were hidden. He stopped, and waited for her to notice. Despite the exertion he was breathing slowly, his heart rate steady. He looked down at her, at the naked distress on her face and the trembling of her fingers as they shuddered and clenched around the fabric of his shirt. After a long time she opened her eyes, they were glazed in fear. He spoke. "I'm putting you down." He did, but she couldn't stand. He held onto her arm and hunkered down beside her, keeping her sitting upright. He didn't wait, his eyes glowed fierce and gold and he released his time faster than he'd done before, and watched her recoil and quiver at the backlash. He reminded himself it was for her own good.
He held her upright, she was gasping, as he watched, her tears began. He hardened his heart.
"Don't bother, Morgana. I'm warning you. You must turn away from this path of destruction." She didn't look at him, he shook her, but he wasn't cruel. She risked a glance his way but couldn't hold his gaze, her eyes skittered to the ground, tears escaping again. "I'm not stupid enough to think you'll give up on your quest for revenge, not yet. So listen. This is your only warning. Arthur and Camelot are under my protection. You will never enter the grounds of Camelot again. If you endanger Arthur's life again, I will kill you, understand?"
He waited, when she didn't answer, he shook her again, she flinched and choked out, "Yes!"
"Good. If you threaten Gwen, Gaius, any of the knights, or the citizens of Camelot, I will kill you. Understand?" He released the restraint he had on her magic and let her have it back, but she was too afraid to notice.
She answered him, she gasped, "Yes!"
"And if Morgause recovers, tell her it wasn't Gaius who harmed her. It was me." When she looked at him in shock, he smiled, his eyes hard. "Yes, Morgana, it was me. Don't ever think to pit your magic against mine. You're a newborn. I'll crush you."
He watched the words sink in. But he wasn't finished yet. He let his anger show and watched her cringe. "Did your time with the druids long ago teach you nothing? You are foolish, Morgana, so very, very stupid. Arthur is the Once and Future King. Surely you have heard of the prophecies. Without him, there will be no magic returning to this land. You harm your own cause by threatening him. Verify this with the druids. Tell it to your sister."
His voice was cold, a match for her earlier ice. "And tell her I grow weary of her attempts on Camelot. I won't warn her off, that task is yours. Should she recover and strike again, I will act against her, and you will not like what my action will be. I do not have to hide from Arthur now, you see. It is so much easier to perform magic without worrying about discovery. A whole new world of possibilities have opened up to me."
The ruthless look in his eyes chilled her, she was staring at him like she'd never seen him before. "So if you value her life, then you will convince her to turn her attentions away. Heed this warning Morgana, I am giving you this chance for the sake of the friend you once were."
She didn't try to answer. It was a beautiful day, clear and clean and quiet, the scent of the trees was fresh, and the sun was warm on his back. He left her sitting on the grass, damaged but not destroyed. He knew it wasn't enough, not yet, he'd have to see her again, she had too much fight in her to give up so quickly.
He was drained, in body and soul. He didn't want to retrace the scene of his crime and walk back through the catacombs and up into the castle, so once he was out of her sight he spoke the incantation for teleporting.
His landing was just as bad as the previous time, he skidded across the floor of Arthur's chambers and only stopped when he banged his knee hard against the wooden foot of the bed.
He sat up on the floor and sighed. By his reckoning, barely fifteen minutes in the earth's time had passed since he'd left the throne room. They wouldn't be looking for him yet. He pulled himself up and sat on the edge of Arthur's bed. He was exhausted, he'd bumped his head on the floor again and his knee hurt. His heart was aching, his spirits low. He hated the look of terror in Morgana's eyes, terror of him. But the window he'd left open for her was closing, and he didn't want his only choice to be her death. He had to be cruel to be kind.
He glanced across the room and concentrated on the latch on the door. It locked, and Arthur was the only one with a key. He lay back across the end of Arthur's neat bed that he'd made that morning, wondering vaguely if his clothes were very dirty from his trip through the catacombs. He hoped not, but if they were, it was too late now, and he didn't really care. He didn't move, and shut his eyes. He wanted some peace and quiet, and no more pressure, just for a little while.
He was relieved, overall, that Arthur, Gwen and the knights knew about his magic. It certainly made today's dealings with Morgana so much easier for him when he could ask for their assistance and he didn't have to hide from absolutely everyone what he was doing. But he was finding he wasn't looking forward to the repercussions of their knowledge, he didn't want to have to explain to them what he'd done, or justify what he was going to do next. He certainly wouldn't have wanted to play out that scene with Morgana in front of them, the idea that they'd see him behaving that way made him feel vaguely ashamed and somehow unclean.
Even Arthur ... he was not sure what Arthur would have thought of him, acting that way. He had felt the bond he shared with Arthur had grown and strengthened since Arthur had discovered his secret – strengthened so much that Merlin was suspicious of destiny's tamperings to ensure her path was the road willingly taken. But he felt uncomfortable with his own behaviour with Morgana, while he did not regret it, he didn't necessarily want to share that side of himself with Arthur or anyone else, not yet, and maybe not ever. And he could be worse than that, he knew it, and he would be, if he had to.
But there was something else bothering him. Something really odd. He rolled over on the bed. He'd sensed something in Morgana's magic when she'd tried to use it. And what he'd sensed had shocked him. He'd felt something completely unexpected. Even before he'd captured her magic, he'd sensed himself, his own magic within her, working in her body but not at her command.
So his magic was inside her, but how? He thought about it and wondered if it was from the time he'd healed her with Kilgharrah's spell. That was a different type of magic he'd used then, they were words considered ancient to the old religion, was that reside what was still lying inside her, and keeping her whole? She'd been very badly injured, surely the magic would have healed her and disappeared. That's what was meant to happen. But it hadn't.
He thought of the possibilities. He wondered if he could control it, his own magic, in her. He thought he could, it had responded to him, reached out to him, he'd felt the brush of familiarity, like it wanted to return. It was alive, his magic inside her, living and breathing. Kilgharrah had said their futures were joined for ever, but he'd told him that before Merlin had used the healing enchantment on her. Was this part of his meaning? Were the dragon's powers far reaching enough to have known this, had he known what he'd do to her and the consequences of his decision? He guessed they were, in the context of the prophecy this was a mere cobblestone on a long, winding path.
But that would mean controlling her. What sort of monster would he be, to do that to another person, to take away her free will? Because he thought he could. He could control her, by controlling his magic in her. But such an action may save her life but damn her to hell in the confines of her own mind. But the very idea was so repugnant, if someone did that to him, he'd rather be dead. But maybe there was another way, something he hadn't thought of yet.
He rolled over, yawning, not noticing that his dusty boots were dirtying the coverlet instead of hanging off the side of the bed. Arthur's bed was very soft and the room was so peaceful and quiet. He didn't mean to, but because he was tired, he slept.
Translations:
"Drýlác innan Morgána, úre holdræ sy tó mec! Morgána unácnycendlice áræce. Ic æbebod ðu to néadhæs heleþ mec." MAGIC IN MORGANA YOUR LOYALTY IS TO ME! MORGANA CANNOT REACH. I COMMAND YOU TO OBEY ONLY ME.