This chapter is significantly darker than anything I have written before. There is also one count of swearing. I am warning you now so no one will be offended. I hope you enjoy!
Panic stricken, Arthur and the knights who were able, searched high and low for Gwen. They examined every room, interviewed every man, woman and child about her whereabouts. One brave knight even checked the ever growing pile of fallen civilians and knights.
She was nowhere to be found and Lancelot finally voiced what Arthur had been dreading, "Sire, I think she's been kidnapped."
Arthur could not shake the image of Gwen's face out of his mind. He had witnessed Gwen and Lancelot's growing romance and knew they had something but he was selfish and it did not stop him wanting her. After their conversation earlier that night Arthur was convinced that Gwen was the woman for him. He never imagined settling down with someone he actually cared about. But where was she now? He had to find her. Arthur was adamant that the knights should be sent into Cenred's kingdom to rescue Gwen. Uther, on the other hand, was not even vaguely concerned.
"She's a knight father, and whether you like it or not it is our duty to rescue her!" Arthur pleaded.
"She knew what she was signing up for, it was her decision." Uther muttered coldly.
"But sire, she was clearly what he wanted. His knights retreated shortly after she was last seen. We must go and get her, who knows what he is doing to her! SHE MIGHT DIE!" Arthur cursed himself for letting his emotions get the better of him.
Uther raised an eyebrow and glared at Arthur, "Well, why I admire your passion for your knights' safety Arthur," Uther's voice thick with sarcasm, "that's the risk all knights take on a daily basis."
"You are not going to rescue her, it's too dangerous and I forbid it". Uther dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
"I don't care about what you forbid, I am going to save her," Arthur declared and begun to turn around when Uther sneered at him, "Really? You and what army?"
"I'll go with you sire", both Uther and Arthur looked behind them to find who had spoken.
"Who was that?" responded Uther ready to turn his anger on someone easier to punish.
"I said, I'll go with you sire", Lancelot repeated. "As will I sire", "And I", and this continued till about half the knights committed themselves to the mission. Arthur glanced over to Merlin who had a smile on his face and knew he would join them as well. Arthur appreciated Merlin's unfailing loyalty more than he would ever admit.
Uther was furious. He continued to yell and curse but eventually he accepted that he had lost this battle. Arthur and his men set off for Cenred's kingdom soon after the confrontation.
Gwen was having her own battle with a king. Cenred tormented her by refusing to let her see Gwaine. She didn't even know if he actually had him in the first place. Her room was spacious enough but as the days passed and she was still denied access to Gwaine, it became claustrophobic. Cenred humiliated her each night by making her dress up in ridiculous outfits and attend dinner with him. He would sit and leer at her while he told her all about his great plans for destroying Camelot and how she played a very special part in the grand scheme. He had always been very fond of Gwen, even when they were children.
Her mind wondered back to a simpler time, back to the days when her dad was around. Tom worked in the castle as the court magic caster. She used to love watching him perform his tricks and was so proud that her daddy was so important! Because of her father's prominence in court, he was allowed to reside in the castle. Therefore Gwen spent a lot of time in the castle and with the prince to be. She remembered playing in the mud with Cenred, chasing after rabbits in the forest and Cenred attempting to teach her to read.
At fourteen, she was completely overwhelmed when eighteen year old Cenred took a romantic interest in her. Gwen had assumed he looked upon her as a little sister but then he started hanging out with her all the time. She was so flattered that even his reputation as a playboy prince did not bother her. Gwen was completely oblivious and thought they would get married. She was a young girl in love and he used her. He was only after her magic.
At first it was all fun and games, childish behaviour such as scaring chickens and changing people's hair colour. But soon he became very demanding and their acts became more and more sinister. He would sit and laugh as she tripped people up using logs or branches, terrify children with images of monsters and set items on fire.
One day he convinced her to bring a statue of a lion to life. She knew what she was doing was wrong but she didn't want him to get angry with her. He was scary when he was angry. As the lion started roaring, she knew she had lost control. It attacked the closest livestock killing all the pigs and chickens. Eventually it turned on her. Cenred ran off the minute it came alive, not waiting to see what damage it would cause.
The lion ran towards Gwen and pounced. Gwen raised her arms to her face in a desperate attempt to protect herself. As her eyes started to shut and she whispered her prayers, a man jumped in front of her. She watched him being mauled, his body covered in scratches and the sound of the snapping of bones. The pain in the man's face was enough for her to find the power deep within to turn the lion back into a statue. But it was too late. The injuries the man sustained were too great and he died later that day. He was the first man she ever killed.
She snapped out of her daydream and felt sick to her stomach. She was banished from her home after that. The look on her dad's face when the king announced his verdict was an image she would never forget. He was so disappointed. It was then she pledged her life to the art of sword craft, vowing never to let another man die trying to protect her. She could not believe the change in Cenred. She remembered him as such a sweet boy, with long brown hair and big puppy dog eyes. What happened to him? He grew up. He became a prince.
Cenred was many things but sweet was no longer one of them. He was cold, calculating and violent. He did not make empty threats and she was eventually allowed to see Gwaine. Gwaine was a stereotypical Irishman, always had a good one liner and a cheeky grin to match but what she saw was a broken shell of a man.
He was skinny and badly bruised, and did not acknowledge her presence when she entered his cell. Even in his tiny, dark and damp hole, he barely took up any room.
Gwen did not respond well to what she saw. She was filled with a rage that consumed her and words flooded of her mouth. Fireballs rained down in the corridor outside and she could hear men screaming in agony. She desperately tried to get Gwaine to stand up and move but he just stared at her blankly. He did not even seem to recognise her. The shock and disgust bolted her to the floor and the soldiers managed to overpower her. She was dragged by her arms and hair, kicking and screaming to Cenred. Gwen ended up being chained to a pillar in his throne room.
"You bastard, what has he ever done to you? Why would you treat him like that?" Gwen screamed.
She was furious, her anger radiated out of her and it suddenly dawned on Cenred that Gwen's powers had grown significantly more than he had imagined.
The days had been long and tiring as the knights ventured further into Cenred's territory and closer to Gwen. Lancelot was very vocal about his need to rescue Gwen and how much she meant to him. Some of the other knights teased him about it but mostly they were quiet, thinking of their own special women back home. Merlin tried to keep everyone's spirits up by cracking jokes and making sure there enough to eat but soon even he fell silent. Arthur barely spoke at all except to give orders and the rest of the knights were worried about him. He hardly ate or slept and constantly pushed them onward.
Arthur couldn't stop. He imagined the awful things Cenred could be doing to Gwen. He could not get over the fact that Cenred would risk war with Camelot just to get one girl. Arthur simply didn't understand why Gwen was so important to him and could only guess that he must be madly in love with her. That realisation took his already paranoid thoughts to a horrible place indeed.
When they made it to the castle, it was easy to take out the guards and enter into the courtyard. Cenred had clearly not expected Uther to send anyone after him. Arthur and his knights arrived soon after Gwen had been dragged into the throne room and chained. As they crept into the castle, they could hear her screaming at Cenred and Arthur ran to her voice without a second thought for his or his knight's safety.
As Arthur burst into the throne room with the other knights close behind, Gwen broke free from her chains and blasted Cenred across the room. She glanced up at the intruder, ready to knock the soldier flying backwards. The look in Arthur's eyes was enough to break her rage and she felt as if she had been the one thrown across the room.
As the other knights filled the throne hall it was obvious only Arthur had seen her cast her magic. But he was the one who mattered and Gwen knew she would never be able to return to Camelot. However, what mattered at the moment was getting Gwaine out of there. She readied herself and finally looked Arthur in the eye. From the look on his face, Gwen knew things had changed.
Arthur regarded at Gwen with a mixture of love and hate, wonder and fear, not knowing which emotion was stronger. The lessons instilled in him from birth about the darkness of magic and the people who used it or the love in his heart for this completely unique woman.
Gwen did not give him any time to work it out as she shoved her way out of the throne room and down into the dungeons. Arthur chased after her, calling her name and managed to catch up with her. He grabbed her wrist roughly and slammed her up against a wall.
"What are you?" he shouted,
"What do you think I am?" she shouted right back.
"A witch", a word he said with such loathing in his voice that Gwen tried to recoil from him. Feeling incredibly hurt and frightened, Gwen stared him straight in the eye and with a lot more confidence than she felt said,
"Yeah I am, what are you going to do about it? Kill me?"
The passion in his eyes grew and Gwen didn't know if Arthur was about to hit her or kiss her. She shut her eyes and braced for impact. The fear that filled Gwen's face was enough to calm his anger and Arthur leaned in, rested his forehead against hers and sighed deeply.
"We will need to talk about this", he whispered.
"Yes sire", Gwen nodded.
"Now let's get out of here", and he tried to pull her back towards the entrance.
"Not without Gwaine!" and she shoved Arthur off her and ran down the cells till she reached Gwaine's. With a quick spell and a good kick the door opened. Gwaine cowered in a corner, still seemingly unaware of who she was but between the two of them they managed to get Gwaine out of the castle and back to Camelot.
The ride back to Camelot was long and difficult. On the positive side, the fresh air seemed to be doing Gwaine some good and he was beginning to talk in coherent sentences again. He remembered who Gwen was one eventful night after a long day of riding. Gwen settled down to get some sleep, when out of nowhere, this great hairy beast flew at her and started to…hug her? Turned out it was Gwaine who had finally regained some of his memories but not before half of the knights had their swords drawn and pointing at him.
Gwen was confused. She was delighted to be with Gwaine again but she wondered if Gaius would be able to heal him completely. Arthur had not spoken to her since their incident in the castle whereas Lancelot would not stop talking to her. She still had not been able to tell him that she no longer wanted to be with him but couldn't announce it in front of the men. And more importantly, she had no idea if Arthur even wanted to be with her anymore. Merlin was the only thing that kept her sane on that long ride home. As they saw Camelot in the distance, Gwen no longer felt like she was returning home. She felt like she was riding to her death.
Thank you for reading this slightly different chapter. If you enjoyed it please read and review. It makes all the effort worthwhile :)