Title: It's Like Magic
Author: Kiki1770
Rating: T for Language
Setting: 5x06 obviously
Summary: Guinevere is saved by druid girl before Morgana could enchant her. Who is she?
A/N: Okay, I got to hand it to myself. This drabble was AWESOME! To egotistical? I can't help it! I just loved how this turned out! THERE WILL BE AN EXTENDED ONE-SHOT OF THIS DRABBLE! If the drabble is this flipping awesome, I can't wait until I finish writing the one-shot! Okay, I'll stop praising myself now. I hope you Freylin fan's enjoy this! The Sequel to "There's Only You"
Freylin 7: The Dark Tower
Merlin, Arthur, Leon, Gwaine, Elyan, and Percival stumbled onto the ridge showing the first real glimpse of the tower that Queen Guinevere had been abducted too. They had been restlessly tumbling through the thorny wild woods for hours and had finally found a clearing to indicate they were going the right direction and not in circles anymore.
"Well done Merlin," Arthur patted his manservant who had found this ridge the second time around. A half smile touched Merlin's face. His smiles were never real anymore, not since the day Mordred joined their ranks. Or perhaps it started even before that when his existence became nothing more than that of a servant to his master. That was three years ago, some few months after he got married. Three lonely years in which Merlin was slowly forgotten by his King and the Knights.
"Sire look! A fire!" Elyan rushed to Arthur side to point at the small pillar of smoke rising out of the woods. Arthur nodded in acknowledgement; it was probably a camp fire. Maybe it was Gwen and Morgana; perhaps they didn't reach the tower yet. Or worse, it was a trap. No one argued though, trap or not, they had to find Gwen.
"Merlin, we need to get to that fire. Can you lead us there?" Arthur asked for once seeming to place his absolute trust in Merlin. It had been a while since Arthur looked at him that way. He happily obliged. Using his mind's eye, he led the way to clearing. A rustle amongst the trees had all the knights and Merlin halting.
"Arthur…" A quiet feminine whisper reached them. The trees parted revealing a disheveled, dirty, and exhausted looking queen.
"Gwen!" Arthur shouted and quickly pulled her into his arms. The knights stood in shock at finding their queen before even reaching the tower, Gwen pulled away from her husband to hug her brother and shush his apologies. Tears sprung in their eyes as they reunited with their queen.
"How…what are….you got away from Morgana?" Leon was the first to break the happy reunion. Gwen shuddered at the name and didn't begrudge Arthur pulling her close.
"She…had me in the tower for two days. There were these…things hanging from the ceiling…screaming and crying. It was awful Arthur! For two days I heard nothing but screams and I saw images. I saw you, Elyan, and Merlin; I thought you were there to free me, but then the images just laughed and taunted me. I-it was awful," She mumbled through tears.
"How did you get away? Is she following you now?" Merlin quickly asked. Arthur shot him a dirty look for making his wife talk about the traumatic experience. But to their surprise Gwen smiled, in fact her eyes shone with glee.
"I was rescued by a druid girl. Oh God's was she powerful; she stunned Morgana without even speaking. I thought she was going to hurt me too, but then she told me…umm…that it was her destiny to protect…err…the Once and Future Queen, I believe it was. But I was wrong about her Arthur. She's sweet and kind, but brave and fearless. I know that look Arthur, please don't look at me like that. I promise she really is nice, she saved my life! She saved me from the hell that Morgana put me through. Promise me you won't hurt her Arthur or the lot of you." Gwen insisted a smile still gracing her exhausted face. Merlin twitched. He was wary of a sorceress powerful enough to stun Morgana without words. What if she was an enemy? Arthur looked tormented too, but sighed and seems to give in.
"Alright, you have my word that I won't harm the druid girl. She may travel back with us, but should she take one step across the border of Camelot I will not guarantee that her safety." Arthur reluctantly agreed. Gwen squeaked in happiness and pressed a swift kiss to her husband's lips, and shot off to retrieve the druid girl.
"Arthur are you sure you can trust her? I've never heard of druid powerful enough to stun a witch," Merlin hastily whispered to Arthur.
"I know, for all I know Guinevere could be under an enchantment. We'll meet this druid girl, and if she's seems even the slightest bit suspicious strike her where she stands," Arthur ordered loud enough for the knights to hear him. They nodded in agreement.
"It's alright Freya, dear, Arthur won't hurt you," Gwen happily told the druid girl she dragged into the clearing. Before Arthur could form a judgment or anyone say a word, Arthur felt someone slide Excalibur out of its sheath and hold it to the druid girl's neck.
"Who are you?" Merlin hissed through gritted teeth. The knights looked taken aback at the manservant's fury. The girl's eyes widened in shock and froze in front of the sword. Arthur took in her appearance; she was young, and very beautiful with lock soft dark brown locks of hair. Not a trace of malice on her face.
"Merlin…" she whispered. The knights stiffened and pulled their swords out as well. Merlin flinched.
"Who are you and why do you wear Freya's face?"
"Merlin, it's me. It really is me. I'm Freya," She said softly. The knights and Arthur watched the interaction, completely baffled. They knew each other? To make things stranger, tears spilled down Merlin's face.
"You're lying!" He shouted. "Morgana sent you didn't she?"
"No Merlin, I promise. It's me, look into my eyes and tell me you don't believe me!" Arthur wondered if he should cut in, but he was having a hard time holding his wife away from her new friend.
"No… I saw her die. I saw my wife die in my arms. You're not her. My Freya is dead," Merlin's voice barely a whisper. The pain, the agony, and loss laced into Merlin's words struck the knights in their hearts.
"I am your Freya, Merlin. Please you must believe me," She pleaded. When Merlin hesitated, Freya walked forward towards the sword. The sharp end pressed against her neck but not hard enough to break skin. She looked determined to get through to Merlin.
"When…when that Knight ran me through with a sword, you found me…dying under the alcoves of Camelot. You dressed me in this beautiful red gown and carried me like a princess. For two days, without rest or sleep, you carried me to the Lake of Avalon, only because you knew how much I loved the lake.
"You asked me to marry you Merlin. Do you remember the vows we exchanged?"She asked softly. " Do you remember, 'I, Freya, take you Merlin, to be my husband. For saving me, for freeing me, for making me feel love, I bind myself to thee in the name of the Old Religion and shall eternally be yours' I'm not making this up Merlin. I-it really is me," Freya's voice cracked, large crystal tears rolled down her cheeks. The sword held against her neck began shaking as Merlin's hands trembled; he released the sword and it fell to the forest floor.
Freya ran into Merlin arms, and they held, taking in each other's presence, like the parched desert drinking in spring's first rainfall. "I'm sorry." Merlin said through his tears. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."
"I love you Merlin," She whispered back.
Phew! You know, I don't think this counts as a drabble... what do you think?
The one-shot version will be a bit different then this, mainly because I was aiming for cheesy beautiful with this one. The one-shot will have a bit more BAMF and some Guilty! Arthur, Knights, and Guinevere, and an underappreciated Merlin!
Look forward to it :)
Kiki1770