Hidden Motives

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Here's the next chapter. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 12

Gwen was nodding her head even before Merlin had finished his sentence. What ensued was a detailed explanation of all that had happened. Her horror as Merlin told her about the imposter made him wish that he could have left her out of it and just told her when it was all over and they'd got Arthur back, but that wasn't an option. If Merlin's guesses were correct, then Gwen was the only one who would currently be above the imposter's suspicions. As soon as he had finished his explanation, he sought to discover whether that really was the case.

'I need you to think,' he began slowly. She looked at him; her eyes had had a sort of faraway look in them as she no doubt worried about Arthur's safety, but as soon as she realised that she could be of some use, her features fixed themselves into a mask of determination. She nodded. 'Over the past few weeks have you noticed anything in the way Arthur's behaved towards you that seemed different?'

She frowned and considered the question.

'No, not really. I've barely seen him and when I have, other people have been around.'

'But that's odd isn't it?' Merlin prompted. 'He always finds a way to come and see you on your own doesn't he?' Her frown only deepened, but she soon began to nod slowly.

'That's true, he does. I see him most days. I just thought he was busy. Now that Uther's ill, there's a lot that he has to take care of.'

'But when he did see you,' Merlin continued, 'how did he act? Like when you went to see him a couple of days ago and Lancelot was there? Or when you both went down to Gaius?'

'He did treat you differently,' Lancelot answered quietly. All eyes turned to look at him. Merlin saw the hesitancy in the man's words. Lancelot had never said anything, but Merlin knew that he still loved Gwen deeply; in fact, when the knight had voiced his plan and mentioned including Gwen, he had said it with the same reluctance and hesitation that Arthur would have shown.

'What do you mean?' Merlin asked.

'Always before, if Arthur was troubled, he sought support from Gwen.'

'I don't think that's true,' Gwen said, shaking her head forcefully.

'It is,' the knight continued, 'not in an obvious way; it might simply be looking at you for some sort of confirmation. Sometimes it's just by moving closer to you.' Merlin could see the effort it took for him to remain neutral, but he doubted the other two would spot it. 'He didn't do that when you arrived after I'd told him about Merlin's plan to be executed.'

She considered the words and then began to nod slowly.

'You're right, he didn't. And when we went down to see Gaius, he barely spoke to me. In fact he's almost been-'

'Indifferent?' Merlin asked hopefully.

'Yes,' she nodded.

'And what about since my execution?' Merlin pressed. 'Have you seen him since then? Arthur –the real Arthur- would have spoken to you about it.'

'He would have been pleased that you'd got away,' Gwen added.

'Exactly. And you'd have been the person he spoke to. You're the only one he'd let his guard down to.'

'He didn't come and see me,' she replied. 'I tried to go and see him, but when I went in…' she stopped, staring at the floor and then she looked up at Merlin with understanding. '…he barely noticed that I was there. I asked him how he was, but he said he didn't wish to be disturbed.'

'Didn't you realise that he couldn't be Arthur?' Merlin asked gently. 'If he was speaking to you like that?'

'I was a little upset, but why would I question it? Uther was sending out patrols to find you. Arthur's barely been out of his chambers; he wouldn't know what to do or how to clear your name. I thought he'd be struggling and I didn't want to make it worse. But,' she continued, closing her eyes and shaking her head, 'that doesn't matter. I don't understand why this is important? He's not really Arthur, so of course he would treat me differently.' Merlin saw her eyes go stony as she mentioned the imposter. She was angry, that much was obvious.

'It's of the utmost importance,' Merlin continued hurriedly. 'It means that the imposter doesn't know of your connection to Arthur.'

'I wouldn't be so sure. Everybody must know about her connection to Arthur,' Gwaine interrupted. 'She all but jumped into his arms when we returned from removing Morgana.' Gwen blushed deeply and dropped her eyes.

'I don't think the imposter was here then; he'd gone to prepare,' Merlin argued. 'And besides, the only people present were preoccupied with what had happened in the fight.'

'And their relationship only became known of recently,' Lancelot continued. 'Even so, I've heard very little in the castle.'

'I think some of the servants know, but it's only in the last few weeks and they haven't treated me any differently. And they're hardly going to mention anything to Arthur –the imposter.' Gwen confirmed. 'But I still don't understand why it's important.'

'Because if the imposter doesn't know about you –which is likely if he's only arrived in disguise recently- then you're not a suspect for helping us. You'll be able to move around the castle freely.'

'How will that help?'

All three men looked at each other and Merlin knew that it only served to infuriate Gwen.

'I want to help,' she insisted.

'We need you to follow him,' Gwaine explained.

'I can do that,' she nodded.

'We believe,' Lancelot continued, 'that he's keeping Arthur somewhere close by and that he will be feeding him everyday. But you must be careful,' he added.

'I will be; I'll be fine.' She stood up and grabbed her shawl from where it hung next to the door.

'Where are you going?' Merlin asked.

'You said I need to follow him.'

'I didn't mean right away!'

'If it helps to find Arthur more quickly then I'm going to start right away. Is there any reason to delay?' Merlin cast about his mind for an argument, but couldn't come up with one; it was his own anxiety that was causing him to wait. He shook his head, but got up to stand in front of her. He put a hand on both of her shoulders.

'Do not take any chances,' he said quietly. 'This man is dangerous. If he speaks to you, you must not let on that you know anything; he will be on complete alert as it is.'

'I know.'

'Just be careful. Arthur won't thank us for saving him if anything's happened to you.'

She nodded and then made to go out of the door.

'And Gwen,' he added. 'Thank you.' She smiled and then disappeared out of the front door and into the street.

Merlin soon discovered that being stuck with two knights who had nothing to do was just as bad as being with a bored Arthur. They were different in their responses of course. Lancelot paced nervously every few minutes and frequently turned to the door as if hoping Gwen would walk back in having changed her mind. His anxiety increased the tension in the room, filling Merlin with a dreadful expectation that at any moment something would go wrong. The urge to follow after Gwen and protect her became overwhelming to Merlin every time he looked at Lancelot and so in the end he diverted his attention by reviewing everything he knew about the imposter in the hope that something new would present itself.

Gwaine on the other hand had decided to feign relative calm in the face of their current situation, but Merlin could tell it was a front. The knight frequently got up and fiddled with things around the room, and then decided to join in Merlin's silent musings about the imposter much more loudly and with several more expletives concerning the nerve of a man who would try and impersonate Arthur. In a way, Merlin was touched by the man's evident fondness for the Prince, which he very rarely demonstrated. It didn't, however, help Merlin to take his mind off the severity of the situation that they had just sent Gwen into.

By mid-day, Gwen had still not returned. Merlin reasoned that it was probably because she was fulfilling her castle duties; leaving early would only have seemed more suspicious. And so he took it upon himself to make some lunch for the three of them; Gwen wouldn't mind if they ate some of her food. In a way, it felt good to be doing something as familiar as getting food ready for people; he accepted the distraction willingly.

Despite their nerves, all three of them managed to eat plenty of food. Years of moving from place to place and living out in the wild when they were out on quests with Arthur had taught them all to take food when it was given to ensure that they were at their fighting best. The meal, however, did little to pass the time and they were soon forced back into their brooding nervousness.

A few hours later, however, all of them jumped to alertness at the sound of shouting and commotion from down the street. They paused, listening carefully and then Merlin felt his heart fall.

'They're searching.' Lancelot whispered.

'Then we'd best hide,' Gwaine replied, quickly getting up from where he sat. Without a word, the men straightened the room, putting the plates away in the cupboard and setting all the chairs back in place to ensure that the room looked like it had been empty for hours and then made their way into the back. There was little they could do in the way of hiding. A screen was all that separated them from the main room, but it was the best they could do. Merlin ensured that he was at the front and could see the room with just a small movement of the material that made up the screen. If the worst came to the worst, he could try a spell to distract their attention. Lancelot, seemingly picking up on the plan, ensured that Gwaine was at the back.

Seconds later, banging on the door made Merlin jump. He chided himself at being so on edge, but he couldn't help it. They had known coming to Gwen's house meant being dangerously close to the castle, but had reasoned that the searches here would have been carried out very early on. Of course, Uther was nothing if not persistent and the chances were that the imposter had found some way of aiding the search without compromising his deception.

When no reply was received from inside Gwen's house, Merlin hoped the soldiers would move on, but seconds later, the door slammed open and the sound of four or five pairs of heavy boots thudded on the floor. Merlin held his breath as he heard them moving. He reviewed several spells in his head and felt Lancelot and Gwaine tensing for a fight behind him. He knew, though, that a clash of swords would do nothing but draw more attention to them. No; magic would have to be their course of action if the soldiers decided to check more thoroughly.

It seemed, for a moment, that the soldiers had decided that the empty room was enough evidence to justify cutting short their search, but then a pair of footsteps broke away from the group and headed towards them. Merlin closed his eyes in defeat for a moment, but then readied himself. He could perhaps try to convince the man that there was nothing their, but then Gwaine would know something had happened. He could maybe move an item onto the floor in the main room, but that would draw the attention of the others. By the time the screen was drawn back, Merlin had decided that maybe Gwaine would have to find out about him, but as he looked up, he felt relief flood through him.

Leon stood in front of them, his eyes going wide in shock before he quickly looked back to check no-one was following. Merlin motioned at him to be quiet; he nodded slowly.

'What's going on?' he asked in a whisper that Merlin could only just make out.

'There's no time,' he replied. 'But we're helping Arthur.'

'I'll tell him you're here.'

'No!' Merlin hissed, louder than he had intended to. Gwaine and Lancelot most have worn similar expressions of horror at the idea of Arthur finding out because Leon glanced at them in surprise.

'Anything there, Sir?' a voice came from behind them.

'No, all clear,' Leon replied hurriedly. 'Move onto the next house.'

'Whatever you do, don't tell Arthur. He can't know; it's a matter of life or death.'

'What about the enchantment you're under?' he asked, but they could all hear a soldier moving back to see where their leader had got to.

'I'm not. Trust us Leon; we're helping Arthur.'

The knight glanced at all three of them quickly and the sincerity and urgency on their faces must have convinced him. He nodded and then turned around and was gone. For several minutes after the door shut, they remained completely still and then all three of them let out a breath of relief as they heard the soldiers moving further down the street.

'Leon will keep them away,' Lancelot assured them as they moved back into the main area. 'We won't be bothered again.'

'He might say something,' Gwaine said. 'You know what Leon's like, patriotic to the end.'

'No, he understood. He believes it's for Arthur's own good.'

Merlin nodded his agreement; he had known Leon for long enough now to have complete faith that everything the man did was to protect his King; equally, Leon knew that the same philosophy was shared by Merlin.'

The sound of the door being slammed open made them all jump. Merlin felt his heart race as he turned to see who the intruder was; there would be no escaping this time, but when he looked it was to see Gwen's anxious face. She shut the door behind her, closing her eyes in relief.

'What's wrong?' Lancelot asked urgently, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.

'Nothing, I just heard that they were searching this area and wanted to warn you.'

'It's alright, Leon helped us,' Merlin assured her, moving to take her shawl off her and hang it up. She nodded her thanks and then sat down at the table. The three of them followed her expectantly. She took a while to catch her breath and then her face turned serious.

'I followed him all day,' she started. 'And you're right; there's something about him…' she shook her head. 'He seems angry; the way he interacted with people; his expressions.'

'Exactly how closely did you follow him?' Merlin asked accusingly. She waved her hand dismissively.

'He didn't see me. But that's not the point. When I followed him this afternoon, he disappeared for about half an hour.'

Merlin seized on the information instantly. A thousand questions passed through his mind, but he waited for Gwen to continue. 'He went down to the training grounds and then through towards the armoury. I couldn't follow him that closely because it was out in the open, but once I got to the armoury, he was nowhere to be seen. I searched up and down the corridors and asked the servants and some of them had seen him, but couldn't tell me where he'd gone.' She became more and more breathless as she spoke. 'I waited there and eventually he came back down one of the corridors, a side one that leads to the servant quarters,' she shrugged.

'You said it was near the armoury?' Merlin asked, the fact had leapt out at him straight away and he was trying to place it in the information that he had already pieced together.

'What does the armoury matter?' Gwaine asked. 'We already know he likes weapons.'

'No, there's something about the armoury.'

'He was there the other day!' Gwen suddenly interjected. 'Remember,' she carried on, turning to Merlin. 'I said I went to find him after we visited Gaius and I couldn't find him. People told me he'd been heading towards the armoury.'

'So Arthur's being held somewhere near the armoury?' Lancelot asked.

'He must be, but I don't know of any secret passages in that area.'

'Well you don't know every secret passage,' Gwaine pointed out.

'It's too risky for any of us to go and search; there are too many servants around. We need to see if we can get hold of any documents that might give information on past constructions in the castle,' Lancelot said, a determination coming into his eyes now that they had a lead, but Merlin said nothing. The armoury was still ringing around his head. Something was pulling at the corners of his mind, like he was missing something.

'Merlin?' Gwaine asked.

'I can't…' he shook his head. 'There's something about it…It's like a dream I can't remem…' he tailed off; things sliding into place slowly but surely. 'The armoury; that was in the dream I had while I was in the dungeons; the one the sorcerer put in my mind.'

'So?' Gwaine asked.

'The armoury is turning up everywhere: in my dream; wherever the sorcerer's hidden Arthur and you said yourself that the imposter made you train even more.'

'So there's a connection between the sorcerer and the armoury?' Lancelot asked. 'Someone who used to be involved with it?'

'Not just involved,' Merlin said, his voice getting louder; he looked at them in shock. 'Theo. Theo was in charge of the armoury and training grounds; he was even in my dream.'

'But he was just a servant,' Gwen said in confusion. 'He was…nice, polite. He was in charge of the armoury for years.'

'I know, long enough to know the castle well, to know Arthur and me well.'

'And he just left a few months ago,' Lancelot added. 'He never came back after Morgana tried to take over.'

'He's the sorcerer?' asked Gwen. 'But everybody knew him; he was a hard worker; friendly to everyone.'

'He can play a part, that's all. It must be him. That makes sense.'

'A sorcerer working in the castle for so long?' she asked in shock. 'How could that happen?'

'I've seen stranger things,' Merlin told her. Once again he found himself sinking into recriminations. A sorcerer who had been here even longer than him? It was unforgivable that he had missed it. Why hadn't he noticed all of these things that would have saved Arthur? He was stopped in his self accusations by a gentle hand on his arm. He looked up and met Gwen's sympathetic eyes.

'He fooled everybody. All we can do now is find a way of stopping him.'

'We know plenty now that we didn't know before,' Gwaine pointed out. 'It seems our plan might actually be working.'

Merlin nodded his agreement.

'So then,' the knight continued, 'what's next?'

For once, Arthur didn't feel relief when the lights of his prison flared into being. All he wanted was darkness and nothingness. He was beginning to loose hope and that was something that didn't happen to him very often; when it did, he was hard pressed to pull himself out of it. In fact, usually the only person who could pull him out of it was…

No; he was trying to block those memories. He couldn't survive with them, not at the moment. All he could do for now was count the seconds passing by and let the utter blackness of his environment erase everything else from his mind.

With the lights flaring on, however, that became impossible, and he was forced back into a world of colour and shapes and life - his life, which had changed so drastically. But no, he couldn't start thinking about that either. Life was a difficult issue, another thing that he didn't want to remember. So instead, he focussed on what was around him, a strange place that, until a few weeks ago, had been unknown to him. He looked at the walls, which had once again been illuminated. He had not studied them properly throughout his captivity and now he wanted them to consume his entire focus.

Casting his eyes up, he took in the enormous structures. Huge pillars that were embedded into the walls of the cavern –as if the other halves had melted the rock- towered up to the ceiling, seemingly carved out of the rock. They were decorated with twisting patterns that interlocked and merged, creating a myriad of seemingly ever shifting links. The black stone seemed to shine in the light like it had been polished, and the gleam of the rock only increased as the light flickered onto the ceiling, which was covered in fantastical images of mythical creatures and shimmering ribbons that Arthur guessed were meant to represent magical enchantments. Strange and unfamiliar glyphs were arranged in various shapes, sometimes only one or two, sometimes thousands that wove intricately in and out of one another. Arthur felt that he could look at the ceiling for hours and still find new things that he hadn't seen before.

But all too soon, his distraction was taken away from him as Sythe stepped forward and dimmed the flames until the incredible structures in the rock had been sucked back into the darkness.

'How are you Arthur?' he asked. He was dressed in Arthur's battle wear, which suggested he had been organising something with the soldiers and the knights, or else had been training; that perhaps would be the most likely option. Arthur knew that all he wanted to do at the moment –besides forget- was attack something or someone; to fight his way into exhaustion.

'What do you want?' he asked, his voice croaking with the raw emotion that was still flowing through him, despite his attempts to forget.

'Some more information. It's of a more personal matter this time though. But I thought I'd give you the opportunity to tell me without a vision,' he explained, his tone pleasant. Arthur shuddered. Whatever he was looking for, Arthur knew he was not going to volunteer the information. 'Guinevere,' the man continued.

Arthur felt a deep chill engulf him and he snapped his head up at the man, his eyes burning with rage. Suddenly his body was filled with emotion again, and after the void that he'd created throughout the day, the effect was overpowering. Arthur felt his body moving independent of thought and then he stood completely still, teetering on the edge of loosing himself.

'Well you've already told me more than I'd hoped for,' he smiled. Arthur said nothing. If he spoke, he knew that his words would betray the depth of his feelings - if his actions hadn't already done so. 'I knew of her when I was here. Sweet, good, but I'd never thought of her as having any aspirations above her station. I suppose you did go and rescue her that time, but I assumed it was at Morgana's request. I didn't believe her to be connected to you. And yet, she's followed me nearly everywhere today. Very stealthy, but not quite stealthy enough. Tell me: does she love you?'

Arthur said nothing, his control all but gone. He was clinging to it on the smallest of beliefs that loosing it would be worse for Gwen.

'Or even better,' Sythe continued, 'do you love her?' He waited for several seconds, eyeing Arthur expectantly. 'Nothing to volunteer? Very well…' he held out his hand and began to speak. Instantly, Arthur allowed all the emotions that he'd been holding back to enter into his mind. There was no way that he could believe a false reality if he allowed the full extent of his pain and guilt and anger and grief to flow into him. He staggered under the force of them as Sythe finished his spell.

Arthur looked around his chambers; it was nice to see that, for once, Merlin had done his job properly; the room was clean. He moved over to his table, checking the list that his manservant had left there with his jobs for the day, but was interrupted at the gentle knock on the door. He smiled; he knew who that was.

'Come in,' he called and was met by Gwen's face; a shy smile on it, making her look even more beautiful. 'This is a most welcome surprise.' He walked over to her and was surprised when she put her arms around him and kissed him passionately and urgently. He lost himself in the moment instantly; returning the kiss with as much fervour. When she eventually moved back, breathless and flushed, Arthur grinned, feeling like a teenage boy. 'Not that I'm complaining,' he laughed, 'but what was that for?'

'To show you how much I love you,' she smiled.

'I love you too,' he replied, kissing her again.

The scene was encompassed with gold light and Arthur found himself screaming his denial at Sythe as he realised that, once again, his mind had betrayed him. All the emotions that he had allowed back in were gnawing away at him, but now they were coupled with the terrible guilt and fear of what he had just given away about Guinevere.

'If you dare touch her!' he said through gritted teeth, standing up and staggering towards the man. Sythe just laughed at his attempts and then sent him flying back with a few words. 'I will kill you!' he shouted as he caught his breath.

'No you won't. You're trapped here and I'm up there. I wonder how much Guinevere would be willing to do to prove her love to you,' he mused, turning on his heal. Arthur felt rage burn through him and he jumped to his feet, ripping through the skin on his waist as he pulled against the chain.

'If you hurt her, I will kill you!' he screamed. 'I'll kill you!'

But Sythe had already disappeared into the shadows.

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