Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Chapter Six: Emrys

Mordred sat hidden behind a statue in the castle's throne room. The statue was mounted on a huge stone pedestal, which hid Mordred well. It was also positioned in a place where Mordred wouldn't be visible from the vantage point up above, where he knew his mother was currently watching. He'd gotten no answers from his mother about what she and Cenred were up to, so he had decided he would just have to find out for himself.

He had left Eirlys in his room, of course. The puppy would have almost certainly given him away. Mordred peeked out from behind the statue. Cenred lounged on his throne as if waiting for something.

He didn't have to wait long. Mordred had been in his hiding place for only a few minutes when the doors to the throne room opened and four prisoners were led in and forced to kneel before the throne. Mordred gasped. All four were familiar to him.

One was Gwen. At least now Mordred knew she was still alive.

But it was the sight of the other three prisoners that made shock course through Mordred's body: Prince Arthur, Emrys, and Morgana.

He quickly realized that Morgana couldn't really be a prisoner. His mother would never allow that. It must be an act on her part.

Mordred's mind worked furiously. This must be the reason Cenred had captured Elyan then. It was all a trap to capture Prince Arthur. That explained why Gwen had disappeared too. They must have released her, allowed her to go back to Camelot for help, knowing Prince Arthur would come to her aid.

Mordred didn't think to wonder why Prince Arthur would risk so much to help a servant girl and her brother. After all, he had defied his father to help a Druid boy who he'd never met before.

Mordred had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he had paid no attention to the words being exchanged between Cenred and the four prisoners.

He was jolted from his thoughts by a sudden shout from Prince Arthur as he lunged toward Cenred, "I won't let you harm them; they're innocent!"

Cenred faced the prince unphased, "Innocent? No friend of Camelot is innocent." He watched as Prince Arthur and his companions were dragged away, then turned and made a playful bow toward where Morgause watched.

Briefly, Mordred considered calling out to Emrys in his mind, but what good would that do? Besides he hadn't forgotten wat had happened the last time he had met Emrys.

Mordred had been so intent on what he was watching, he'd forgotten to be careful of how far he leaned around the statue.

As Cenred strode toward his throne, he glanced toward the statue and his eyes met Mordred's.

Mordred quickly withdrew his head, his heart racing, but it was too late. He heard bootsteps tromping toward his hiding place, and the next moment, one of Cenred's guards had seized him by his arm, pulled him to his feet, and dragged him out from behind the statue.

Mordred scowled, "Let go of me." He pulled his arm out of the guard's grip,

"Well, well," Cenred said, looking down at Mordred, "It seems we have a little spy."

Mordred glared at him silently. He wanted to look up to where his mother stood, to see her reaction to his presence, but he resisted the urge.

A few minutes later, Morgause strode into the throne room.

She came to stand in front of Mordred and looked down at him, arms crossed, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"You wouldn't tell me what was going on," Mordred said defiantly, "So I decided to find out for myself."

"I didn't tell you our plans because there was no need for you to know them," Morgause said coolly, "But I suppose it does not really matter. Now, why don't you go and play with your puppy, Cenred and I have business to discuss."

As he left the throne room, Mordred was torn between relief that he wasn't in trouble and annoyance at her abrupt dismissal of him.

But his thoughts quickly returned to what he had just seen. His mother had Prince Arthur captive, what if she expected Mordred to fulfill the prophecy about him here and now?

His stomach twisted. Surely even she wouldn't expect that.

She wasn't even going to tell me that she had captured them, he reminded himself, If I was part of her plan, then she would have told me, wouldn't she?

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Mordred was searching for Eirlys, who had run off somewhere, when the warning bells began to ring. He felt a surge of relief. The bells could only mean one thing: the prisoners had escaped. He whispered a quick prayer to the Triple Goddess, hoping they wouldn't get caught.

He continued to search for Eirlys. How had the puppy managed to disappear so thoroughly? Turning a corner, Mordred nearly ran right into someone. He froze when he realized who it was… Emrys.

Emrys stared down at him, just as shocked to see Mordred as Mordred was to see him. All things considered, he was probably even more surprised.

As the two stared at each other in silence, Mordred waited for the anger he had felt towards Emrys since they had last met to rise up, but none came.

What did come was fear, as the image Mordred had seen in his nightmare flashed in his head, Emrys' cold gaze and the dragons flying toward him.

"Mordred." Emrys broke the silence at last and Mordred suddenly realized that he wasn't the only one who was afraid. Emrys was afraid too, afraid of him. It was absurd, the thought that the most powerful sorcerer to ever live could be afraid of Mordred, but he knew it was true.

{Hello, Emrys.] Mordred said, choosing to speak with his mind, rather than aloud. It was easier that way, safer. And he wouldn't risk his voice shaing and letting Emrys know that he was afraid.

"What – what are you doing here?" Emrys got out.

Mordred was still trying to figure out how to respond when he heard the heavy thud of boots approaching the corridor.

{Quick, in here!} he hissed,and pushed Emrys into an empty room.

A moment later, a trio of guards entered the corridor. They halted when they saw Mordred.

"The prisoners have escaped." The leader said roughly, "Did any of them come this way?"

Mordred shook his head, giving them a wide-eyed look, "I haven't seen anyone. I was just looking for Eirlys…" he trailed off as the guards started moving again.

{You can come out now,} he told Emrys when the guards had vanished from sight, {They're gone.}

Emrys emerged from the room. He stared at Mordred for a long moment, as if trying to figure him out, before he muttered, "Thanks."

Mordred nodded in response.

"Why are you here?" Emrys repeated his earlier question.

Mordred looked up at him, {Because Morgause is my mother.}

Emrys stared at him. A part of Mordred wanted to blurt out the whole story and to find out what Emrys knew about the prophecy, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. And besides, there was no time.

{You should go,} he told Emrys, {Before the guards come back.}

"Right," Emrys shook himself, as if he'd forgotten where he was, "I have to find Arthur."

{Good luck, Emrys} Mordred called as the older sorcerer ran quickly down the hall. As Emrys turned the corner, he glanced back at Mordred, his eyes full of questions.

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The party made camp for the night in the woods. The others all fell asleep quickly, but Merlin sat by the dying fire, unable to sleep. Seeing Mordred had rattled him to the core and he kept replaying his encounter with the boy over and over in his head.

The last time Merlin had seen Mordred, the boy had killed two knights. He remembered the way Mordred had smiled after he had sent the spears flying at them.

I shall never forgive this, Emrys, and I shall never forget… The words Mordred had spoken that night echoed in Merlin's mind. And yet Mordred had helped him today. If he hadn't pushed him into that room, Merlin would most likely have been caught.

Why would he help me? Merlin wondered for what felt like the millionth time.

And then there was what Mordred had revealed.

Morgause is my mother.

All of Kilgharrah's warnings about Mordred raced through Merlin's mind. It couldn't be good that the boy who was destined to kill Arthur was the son of one of Camelot's greatest enemies.

And that would make him Morgana's nephew too, Merlin realized with a jolt, remembering what Kilgharrah had said about an alliance of evil between Mordred and Morgana.

Merlin felt as if a dark cloud loomed over him. Mordred had helped him today, but the next time they met, would he be the enemy? The next time they met, would he be trying to kill Arthur?

When Merlin closed his eyes, the image of Mordred's face seemed to haunt him. How could one little boy strike such fear into his heart?

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Miles away, Mordred too was having trouble sleeping. He had eventually found Eirlys asleep under a bed in one of the castle's many vacant rooms.

When he had entered the throne room, he had found it partially destroyed; neither Emrys nor Arthur was anywhere in sight and his mother and Cenred looking as if the ceiling had fallen on them, which, Mordred found out quickly, was exactly what had happened.

Both were relatively unharmed, but furious, and Mordred was very glad that they didn't know that he had helped Emrys evade the guards.

Now, as he lay in bed, he couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with Emrys.

The way Emrys had looked at him… He must know about the prophecy. There was no other reason for someone as powerful as Emrys to fear a twelve-year-old boy like Mordred.

I don't want this, Mordred wanted to cry the words aloud, as if Emrys was there to hear them, I don't want there to be a prophecy about me. I don't want people to be afraid of me. I don't want to be a killer.

It isn't fair… I never asked for this destiny. I never asked for any of this. It isn't fair.

Mordred felt a sudden, powerful desire to be back in his Druid's camp, in the tent he had shared with his father. He wanted his thin pallet, not this soft, luxurious bed.

He wanted to hear his father's voice again, and feel his comforting touch. And he wanted to have never heard of the prophecy.

Mordred reached out and drew Eirlys closer to him. Her warmth was comforting, and drove some of the fear and sorrow away, but his heart still ached, and he longed for his father.

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