Author's Note – Yelp, this was late...almost had the puzzle done but lost some of the pieces. Zentika96's 'sad stories of the death of kings' helped me find them. Has nothing to do with this story but my God is it beautifully made!

(Well, if you look it'll have some things to do with it, but don't. Just get lost in what Zentika96 weaved)

As always, have fun reading.

* ~ "I'm laying down, eating snow...My fur is hot, my tongue is cold...On a bed of spider web...I think of how to change myself..." – Fever Ray: Keep the Streets Empty ~ *

He opened his eyes to see the blurred form of his wife, "Thea?"

She closed her eyes before looking at him, her soft smile spreading across her face.

"Welcome back." He left her run her fingers over his aching temple and back, "now we both are scarred."

He stared, "how? The fire...I saw the spear..."

"John was the one to bring you back, you should ask him."

He watched her bend and wrung a cloth before lightly dabbing his temple. He felt a phantom sting and tried not to flinch, "about...what – "

He heard the door open and watched Morgana approach. She bent down and smiled at him, looking like the woman she once was.

"I though I lost you," she said as she caressed his cheek. Her eyes moved up and her face changed, "I couldn't heal you properly, not with the poison in the spears.

I never seen anything like it, metal forged with a mix of acids that melts any metal it's plunged into. We tried to copy it but...I could feel his magic in the spears, Mordred. It really is him. He's come back...Did you get a glimpse of him? Did he hurt you?"

The father of dragons appeared in his mind's eye. His blue eyes, his dark hair, the sharp cheekbones, the odd voice. 'The collar burned deep...' "You were right..."

"I have the peasants taking shelter in the churches," she said. "Should the city fall, they are to take the tunnels and go to King Lot's land and wait for us."

"...You won't stay if the walls are broken?"

"Past experiences taught me that this castle will always fail its ruler when me and Emrys are fighting." She caressed him again, "get some rest. Come along, Thea."

"My Queen."

Mordred grabbed her arm, "how many men will stay behind?"

Morgana looked down at him, "whoever is still alive."

He said nothing as he let go, his hand landing on the sheets.

She gave him that familiar look and ran her hand through his hair, bending down to kiss his head. He looked away from her face as her lips touched his temple lightly.

He looked at his wife, who smiled at him as she followed Morgana out.

He put his head down and closed his tired eyes.

"Mordred."

He heard himself grunt and forced his eyes open.

He looked up at John's face, "...what?"

"Didn't you want to see me?"

"I..." He noticed how dark the room was. Mordred saw that he didn't light a candle, "what happened? At the battle."

John looked to the side. The moonlight showed that from his ear to his neck his skin was burned.

"The fire was everywhere. Consuming everything, like it hungered but was never satisfied. I tried to run, but the fire grabbed me. I thought I was going to die...

I fell into the sand, and saw how the falling fire dwindled in it. As I was putting myself out, I saw you bleeding on the ground, a gaping wound in your head but still breathing. I knew that I had to bring you back, else Morgana would have my wife killed. I don't know how I managed to slip passed them and make it back..."

"Perhaps the goddess had mercy on us."

John gave a hollow laugh, "blind fool. Gods have no mercy for us, else why are they gods?"

Mordred didn't have it in him to argue, "...what of my twins?"

"They're with the King and Queen and their thousands of men. The other half are coming here to fortify."

"Fortify?"

"Constantine and The – well, Merlin – are coming straight here, not burning the lands or killing any who try to stop them. Those men are coming here and holding the forts.

Also, the Saxons' have allied with the Angles and Jutes in the South and come to fight for us. They should be here tomorrow, being led into the city by Harold."

"He lived?"

"That's what the scouts say...Remind me to shake that bastard's hand when he walks through the gates."

Mordred felt a cough like laugh pass his lips, smiling a bit before it fell. John looked at him confused. "Constantine still lives?"

"Yes, he was healed by The Father. I could hear – Merlin's horrible scream even now. If the fire didn't take most of my hearing, his cry would've."

Mordred looked away as he remembered his voice, 'I couldn't recognize it after Gwaine...'

He reached over to the water next to his table, but his stomach was too twisted.

John started to pour a cup for him, but he waved him off. He didn't want to risk opening his mouth.

He stared at him before putting the cup down. Mordred looked away and closed his eyes as he tried to regain his composure.

His mind stayed muddled, "why are you still here?"

John said nothing.

Mordred heard metal tinkling and opened his eyes. He looked over.

He stared at the binds, feeling the magic seep through the iron. John placed them in his lap, giving him a look.

He swallowed, "you still want me to commit treason..."

"For the lives of millions. For our families' lives...Shouldn't you be doing more to repent for your sins?"

Mordred stared before looking down at the chains.

* ~ "Never, leave me. Walk close, beside me. Your hand, my hand, fit so, easy. No to, morrow. Let us, stop here. We did, some great things, or didn't we?..." – Fever Ray: Dry and Dusty ~ *

"We need to surrender – "

"The throne is mine!"

Mordred rubbed his forehead, his mind felt like it was drowning.

"My Queen," he heard John say, "our armies might be equal, but the fire – "

"That amount of magic would've left him weak. And I'm more than a match for his little light show."

"And what if it isn't magic?" John argued. "What if it's an alchemy potion or something?"

"Not possible."

"Not possible?'" Mordred asked, feeling his lips curl in a sneer. He didn't look at her, "I saw men melt like snow near a bonfire. I've seen men and metal being sliced through as though they were made of butter. I've seen water being lit on fire and dragons rise from it, don't tell me Not Possible!"

Mordred felt her anger, then her gaze. He looked out of the window and down at the streets, which seemed cold and bare. 'My sons and the children should be playing on this beautiful day.'

"Mordred."

He glanced to the side at her voice.

"...Do you think this will be our punishment?" he asked Morgana, looking up to her. "For what we've done? For the blood that stains our hands?"

She stared at him, her face slowly turning into the face he wished stayed. She started to say something but the doors opened.

Mordred looked and saw John's wife and Thea enter, her face unreadable. He stared as Morgana asked, "what are you two doing here? "

Thea's forehead wrinkled. He turned and looked out the window.

"I asked you – "

He continued to stare as he heard Morgana fall to the ground, then the chiming of the chains. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

He listened as Morgana's unconscious body was dragged out the room by Thea and John's wife.

"Is is over?" he asked after a moment of silence.

He heard John's footsteps, "I'm sorry..."

The bells rang loudly in his ears. He opened his eyes and looked out of the window, waiting to see Harold or his men.

"...but I did say don't trust me."

Dull pain shot down from his head to his spine.

* ~ "I've always hated the bells. They ring for horror, a dead king, a city under siege." – Game of Thrones [HBO] ~ *

Saw it coming. I sense some are pissed off at the cliff I made...I would be too, if I didn't know how it ended (keep shoving it up their noses, why don't ya?)

Why so short? I was going to make it longer, but decided to make the ending longer. So that means it'll take longer to arrive...sorry (start predicting what will happen, you'll probably be right).