AN:

Wow, holy cow, big reviews.
Truth be told, I hoped to silently get away with Arthur being ooc.
Possible motives are:
1. He couldn't break Merlin out because Gawant also had troops within the walls and he couldn't send them away like others.
2. Using magic for Merlin's escape is something Arthur wouldn't do without being coaxed to (usually by Merlin but that couldn't/didn't happen).
3. As much as Arthur is Merlin's friend, he's also rash, self-centred (keeping up appearances) and sometimes a bit dim.
4. Politics are, even now, a minefield. Incompetence (letting an assassin escape) can be reason for war.
I can't justify Arthur being ooc any further. More than anything, I need Merlin to have someone to fight.
Some of you said 'stupid Arthur' and it will be addressed when next they meet.

Merlin, Sorcerer

"I'm going to find Merlin."

Morgana did not have a plan when she said she was going to find the sorcerer. There were only the obvious facts that he would not be in Camelot or Ealdor. Having magic herself, Morgana knew that after becoming skilful one does not consider 'retiring' an option. He was too powerful to give it all up. At some point the arts became a way of life. A sorcerer like him would never settle down and give up practicing. Where would he have gone? There were the Catha, the Druids, the Blood Guard and the Saxons in the north. Apart from factions there were many abandoned castles in and surrounding Camelot.

Likeliness was what it all boiled down to. Merlin would never join the Catha or seek refuge with the Blood Guard. The Saxons had declared themselves an enemy of Camelot so he wouldn't go there either. Having been a manservant, it also seemed unlikely that he would seek refuge in a castle. The druids were difficult to find but he had found them before. There were several groups roaming Camelot. It would take a few days but hopefully she would find him before he heard about his mother from someone else.

Whenever she strained to hear something there would nearly always be whispers. That's how she knew where to find the druids. Over the next two days she found several druid encampments and although he wasn't there, there were whispers of him. Some thought him more dangerous than her while others suggested he should kill her and free them all.

Morgana could hear the druids converse telepathically and casually approached the encampment. Someone noticed her and a shout rang through the telepathic airwaves, silencing them all. It didn't mean they stopped talking. They only talked directly to the person they wished to talk with rather than letting others join in unannounced. The witch did not care. Earlier she had passed through two other druid camps and gotten the same treatment. They looked at her from the corner of their eyes. Their peaceful nature did not extend to great hospitality, certainly not to Camelot's greatest enemy. They would not hesitate to fight her if she were to harm anyone.

Slowly she moved to the centre of the encampment and there, by the fire, sat Merlin. He had noticed her before she did him and his face was a blank canvas. She couldn't read anything from his usually so animated face. The boy had changed from simple manservant to serious sorcerer. So far the change could only be seen in his attitude but he was bound to have changed and advanced magically as well. Seen his power and the absence of Arthur's ridiculous chores, she dare not imagine just how much it might have developed over the past few weeks.

Merlin wasn't surprised to see her, not at all. He suspected she might ask him to join her or want a rematch. In the past that would have made him anxious but nowadays he couldn't care less. He knew he was strong than her. He had left the Isle of the Blessed nearly a week ago and travelled with the druids ever since. Nimueh's loneliness could have fuelled her lust for vengeance and Merlin believed that socialising with the druids would prevent such a thing. The only benefit he had of travelling with them was the access to plants and ingredients he might be capable of using in potions and such. Discussing spells and advanced magic was impossible. The magical capability of the druids and their leaders was far beneath his. Merlin did not even try to discuss the foundations of magic after he miserably failed to explain it the first time. They were scared of him and his knowledge of magic. He had theories which, when proven to be correct, would level the playing field between the magical minority and any King or Queen.

Without even a telepathic word he got up and took the shortest path to the outskirts of the camp.
"Your petty vengeance doesn't interest me." Merlin spoke before she could even tell him why she was there in the first place.
The malice in his voice surprised her but she quickly recovered and discarded what he just said.
"Don't flatter yourself." She mocked him and revelled in the confusion on his face.
It wasn't clear whether it was her mocking him that confused her or the fact that she really was there for a different reason. The seriousness of the topic to be discussed wiped away the urge to mock him further, insult him or anything otherwise unpleasant.
"Arthur intends to take your mother from Ealdor so you will return to Camelot." She said.
"Why can't that bloody idiot just..." He trailed off whilst shaking his head.
The prat didn't understand that he just wanted to be left alone. It was selfish of the both of them but Arthur was the one nearly crossing the line.
"I'm sorry." Morgana tried to establish a certain level of kindness or merely civility between them.
It was in the hope of not being seen as an enemy but it didn't turn out as expected.
"Oh spare me your sympathies. What? Did you think I'd be grateful and join you? Don't forget you're the reason he's suspicious of every grain of magic." The warlock blamed her for pretty much everything.
Morgana didn't just take it. He accused her of abusing her magic and although that might've been true, he did nothing to prevent it. Morgause was her guiding light where Merlin stuck to the shadows.
"My magic scared me and you were SO helpful that you sent me elsewhere!" The witch countered.
"They said you would become my enemy and to tell you nothing and you proved them right!" He shouted.
Over the years Morgana had learned to read people such as Uther and Arthur, that's why she usually knew which buttons to press to get what she wanted. With a bit of effort she saw more than the anger he displayed so openly. There was pain in there somewhere. The meaning of his words also made her wonder. He spoke of 'they', plural. Was it as she thought? Did Emrys tell him that she was his enemy? Who was the other person? Gaius came to mind because he knew who Emrys was. If that were true then he too would pay for what he had done to her innocent, beloved Merlin. People had played a very cruel game with them.
"Still..." Merlin continued on a calmer note, "I'm glad you were worried about my mother."
The witch merely nodded and left in the knowledge that this encounter was as 'good' as it would ever get. Merlin packed his bags and left without another thought. If this was one of her schemes then she would receive pain beyond measure. As for Arthur, did he not realise how big the mistake he was making really was?

Morgana thought about him on her way home. She didn't understand him. Finally she got around the fact that he had magic and a few weeks later he had changed radically. The snide remarks and feigned civility were replaced by patronizing insults. What had happened to make him so angry and malicious? If anyone was to blame then it would be Arthur. Time and again, Arthur ruined things. If Merlin had been a regular servant with the same exceptional talents, what would have happened then? Arthur mistreated servants, lied about the past to save his petty honour, took Gwen's loyalty from her, disrespected the Old Religion, instigated war with Caerleon and finally tried to execute Merlin. He even denied the existence of the happy and innocent memory in which she beat him with the sword. Finally, he had destroyed the man she once thought she loved. King Arthur, the King that ruins everything.

AN:

What happened to Merlin? He's very ooc but it has a reason. We'll get to the bottom of it after Morgana's greatest nightmare (you'll know what it is the moment it happens).