Chapter Twenty-One

Hello, everyone!

This chapter was so intense for me to write; not sure why. But I hope you all like it!

On a related note, I listened to Lindsey Stirling's "Shatter Me" over and over while writing the second half...it's an amazing song, I totally recommend listening to it (if you like Lindsey Stirling's kind of music).

I give you fair warning: this is another "abrupt ending" chapter.

Enjoy!

"You have a couple bruised ribs; nothing more serious."

Merlin gave Leon a quick smile as the knight nodded. "Thank you, Merlin."

"I only wish I could do more, but under the present circumstances…" Turning to look into the next cell, Merlin called, "Elyan? Are you still feeling dizzy?"

"Only a bit." Elyan replied from the cramped cell he was presently sharing with Arthur.

"What exactly did they hit you with?" Leon asked after a brief pause. "I didn't see much blood, but you acted like you were half-asleep for hours."

"I think it was a tree branch, actually. A really heavy one." Elyan grimaced. Next to him, seated along the cell's back wall, Arthur stared at the ceiling in a preoccupied fashion.

Merlin sighed and stiffly took a seat on the stone floor as well. At least their hands were untied now.

Haig's men had thrown them into the cells at least an hour previously, while Haig himself had kept Gwaine and Aldwyn in the throne room with him.

And Elen was in there too.

Merlin could only imagine what Gwaine was going through right now, having to see his sister like that.

He was right when he said that something was wrong, that something had happened to her.

And now Haig was going to…what? Torture them, kill them? And what about us?

There was a long period of near-silence as the four men became occupied with their individual thoughts. Merlin found his mind going back to the battle.

Everything had fallen apart so fast. He'd stayed close to Arthur, naturally, which had resulted in him being captured as well. If he'd been alone, his magic would have made short work of his adversaries. But in front of his king…there just hadn't been that option. Once they subdued him and Arthur, it was over. Merlin had seen Leon get kicked by his own horse and tackled by enemies shortly before Elyan was walloped over the head and also captured.

At least Cleva and the twins and Percival escaped…and that fellow Ryle…I hope they regroup and go for help…if there's time for that, which might not be the case…

Merlin's thoughts were unexpectedly interrupted when Arthur blurted out, "What the hell is a Barclayn?"

Merlin exchanged a glance with Leon, who grimaced. But it was Elyan who responded. "It sounded like a family name, Sire."

Arthur let out an exasperated sigh. "I noticed that, Elyan. I just want to know which family it is and why I've never heard of it." The king glanced at each of his companions in turn.

"Well, they must be a Bernician noble family of sorts, and it fits in with the way that they behave." Leon pointed out. "Or, at least, the way the twins and Aldwyn behave, I can't say the same for Gwaine. After all, we never guessed…"

"That he was a noble." Elyan finished for him. "But if Aldwyn and the twins are nobles, then Gwaine must be too since he's their cousin. And you saw what he did; he tried to pass as Aldwyn."

"And failed rather spectacularly." Arthur noted. "But which noble family are they? As I mentioned before I've never even heard of the Barclayns. And what on earth does this Haig want with them? He said revenge; revenge for what?"

For a fraction of an instant, Merlin debated simply blurting out what he did know; that the Barclayns were the royal family of Bernicia. But he disregarded the idea almost instantly.

For one thing, it wasn't Merlin's secret to tell.

And I do seem to keep a lot of those, don't I?

Not to mention that the information, if not broken gently, might give Arthur a heart attack.

One of the first things Gwaine had noticed about Haig was that he was surprisingly…"well spoken" for a rouge. The way he used his words was quite refined compared to most warlords Gwaine had encountered.

He and Aldwyn didn't have to wait long before finding out why.

Shortly after sending their friends from Camelot out of the room (presumably to the dungeons), Haig settled himself on his throne with a flagon of wine and began to talk directly to the two young men, completely ignoring the crumpled form of Elen at his feet.

"Many, many years ago, far more than I care to recall, I was poised to become a knight of the Kingdom of Bernicia. My father was a trusted member of the court, close advisor to King Dalbert, and my mother a most prestigious lady."

So he's actually a noble. But…good lord, King Dalbert? Meaning Grandpapa? Gwaine summoned up some very vague memories of his deceased grandfather, who had died over twenty years previously. Exactly how long has Haig been out for revenge? Apparently a very long time.

"My parents had always been rather disappointed that I was an only child, but pleased that I would become a strong knight and perhaps one day a court advisor like my father."

"Let me guess; it didn't work out properly." Aldwyn sneered.

Well, he beat me to that one, Gwaine thought.

Haig snorted and took a swig of wine. "Not exactly. I did become a knight. But my mother ruined our family's good name shortly before that happened."

"Did she sleep with the wrong person?" Gwaine suggested, earning himself an eye roll from Aldwyn.

"No, as a matter of fact, she did not. She tried to kill the king."

After a brief moment of silence, Haig continued, "She was caught, and executed. Further investigation reassured the king that my father and I had nothing to do with it. But our honor was sullied. My father eventually had to leave his position in the court. And when I became a knight, I was always considered an outsider because of my mother's betrayal."

It sounds to me like he blames his mother for all that, though. So why does he hate the Barclayns so much?

"Finally, after years of loyal service, I earned the trust of my fellow knights and even the trust of the young Prince Harlan."

"My father never made any mention of you." Aldwyn said haughtily when Haig paused again.

"Unsurprising, given your family's boundless pride. A couple years after my father's death, I saved your father's life in battle. He thanked me and offered me a reward in return. There was only one thing I desired, one thing I treasured above all the rest."

"And that was….?" Gwaine inquired, keeping his voice impersonal.

"The lovely Princess Gerarda. I asked for her hand in marriage."

Aldwyn promptly burst out laughing. "So, you want revenge on the entire Barclayn clan because my father told you that you couldn't marry his sister? That's absurd!"

Haig threw aside his wine flagon and stood, his expression darkening. "He did not refuse out of political reasons; King Dalbert had yet to betroth her to Axton of Strathclyde. He refused out of pride, out of the belief that a mere noble of Bernicia was not a fit match for his sister!"

Gwaine thought briefly about his Aunt Gerarda. Well…he's not. That's rather obvious. I'm not even being prideful here.

Haig began to pace agitatedly. "Not did he only refuse my request, but he told his father. And his sister. And the entire court, so that I could be humiliated before the kingdom! Because I was not good enough for a filthy Barclayn!"

He stopped in his tracks to deliver a sharp kick to Elen's ribs. She only let out a soft moan and weakly flinched away.

Had Gwaine been unbound and free of guards Haig would have been dead in a second. As it was he could only scream out a barrage of swear words, to which Haig only responded with a gleeful laugh before kicking Elen again. "I chose to leave Bernicia, and I have planned my revenge ever since. I care not for Gerarda any longer…she has grown old, and besides, what is love? A fleeting fancy. But dishonor…the sting of dishonor never fades. You, your lying cousin, and your precious sister can wait a little longer for death. I intend to enjoy your deaths as much as possible. Have no doubt that I will make sure that your family finds out about it and that they will get what remains of your mangled bodies. And while I'm at it, I'll have my men look around for the twins. Why not? Perhaps we'll be lucky enough to find at least one of them."

This time it was Aldwyn's turn to vociferously curse Haig and all of his ancestors.

Arthur, Merlin, Leon, and Elyan had been sitting in silence for a while when five guards arrived; two each for Aldwyn and Gwaine and another with Elen slung over his shoulder. They shoved Aldwyn into one of the cells across the cramped passageway from the knights of Camelot and pushed Gwaine into another before the fifth guard practically threw Elen in after him.

As the guards stalked off to join a few others at the end of the passageway, Merlin stood up and crossed to the door of his cell. "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

Aldwyn muttered something unrepeatable and dragged his hand distractedly through his tangled hair. Gwaine paid even less attention to Merlin, instead focusing on his sister.

"Elen." he whispered as he pulled her head onto his lap, gently pushing her hair out of her face (apparently the guards had untied the Barclayns as well). From what Merlin could see, the young woman was unconscious or at the very least incredibly lethargic.

How long has she been like that? "Gwaine?" Merlin ventured after a moment

If he hadn't been in rather cramped quarters, Merlin probably would've retreated hurriedly from the look Gwaine turned on him now. He'd never seen the knight's dark eyes filled with that much cold fury. "I'm going to kill him." he growled. "And then I'm following him to hell and killing him again."

Merlin let out a relieved sigh. At least he's not talking about me. "How bad are her injuries?" he asked carefully. As much as I support his desire for revenge, now is really not the time…

Gwaine seemed to calm down slightly and took a few moments to examine Elen's inert body. "She's been tortured, obviously…many of these wounds are infected…"

"Why the hell didn't she use magic to free herself?" demanded Aldwyn irately from his cell.

The exclamations from Arthur and his knights were partially drowned out my Gwaine's furious response. "Take a look at her wrists, Aldwyn. They aren't just raw; they're burnt. That filthy bastard used magic-suppressing shackles on her."

"Well, how exactly did he get hold of her in the first place?"

"How the hell should I know? I only…"

"All right, before this discussion goes any further, I want to know exactly who that woman is!" Arthur bellowed.

Oh, just brilliant, Arthur. Now Gwaine looks like he wants to kill you too.

"This woman, Arthur," Gwaine snarled, "is my sister. And if you refer to her in that tone of voice again, I swear that I'll make you regret it."

"Your…" Arthur halted, clearly at loss for words.

It was Leon who broke the sudden silence. "Your sister is a…a sorceress?"

Gwaine laughed, and Merlin winced. It was that horribly bitter laugh that he'd only heard from his friend a couple times. "Yes, she is. Does that bother you, Sir Leon? My mother is a sorceress too, a healer. Like her parents before her. Unfortunately," His gaze flew back to Arthur, "her younger siblings never got the chance to learn to control their gifts because Uther Pendragon decided to drown all three of them."

"Gwaine…" But Merlin knew, deep down, that no words of his would change what was happening. All of the anger Gwaine had held against the Pendragons, all of the fury he'd tried to control, was breaking loose.

And Merlin knew, in that instant between his weak attempt at pacifying his friend and Arthur's next words, that Gwaine was never going back to Camelot.

Ryle hadn't fled the battle. At least, not entirely.

He'd galloped his horse away, making sure that his would-be opponents saw him, before urging his mount into some bushes a short ways away and turning them both into a rock.

All right, it was an illusion of a rock, plus it was a pain to keep in place even for the very few minutes that it was necessary. But it did work. The rouges scattered and disappeared, and Ryle was left liberated to flee or do as much sneaking as he chose.

He occupied himself with the latter. He'd followed his former pursuers, discovered and assessed their stronghold, and eavesdropped for a while.

What he'd found out made him so angry that he could barely see straight.

Ryle had magic. But he was no fool. He knew that it would be difficult, too difficult to attack on his own or even sneak in without backup. And Cleva, the teenage twins, and Sir Percival were not the help he was thinking of, even if he could find them.

He'd traveled this way before. He knew where he was. And he knew where he was headed now, with his horse at full gallop.

Hayden's wyverns had better be good for something.

Bad news...it's a cliffy. You'll have to wait until the next chapter to hear what Arthur says.

Good news...I'm in a writing mood right now, so the next update may even be today/tonight! (if you want it to be :D)

Side note: Dalbert = shining valley (according to my source)

Thanks to everyone for your continued support! It means so much!