Chapter Twenty-Three

Hi, everyone!

Well, I wanted to upload yesterday, but had a minor case of writer's block, so...

This chapter isn't my favorite; it kind of jumps all over the place and parts of it were painfully hard to write. To be perfectly honest, the first section was the easiest to write, despite Aldwyn's rather insane speech (you'll see when you read it). I didn't actually plan for it to happen; it just did.

Am I rambling? I think so. Sorry!

Disclaimer: I think I've been forgetting these. I have, right? Anyway, I don't own Merlin.

"Gwaine, are you awake?"

"Yeah." Gwaine shifted uncomfortably on the stone floor, readjusting his sister's weight in his lap. He didn't feel tired at all. "Why?"

"Is everyone else asleep?"

"How would I know that? It's pitch black in here."

"Fine." Pause. "Gwaine?"

"Yes, Aldwyn?" For it was his cousin speaking.

"Did you mean what you said to Arthur?"

"Which bit?"

"Well…all of it, I suppose."

Gwaine hesitated. I'm such a hypocrite. Only a few days ago, it seemed, he'd been defending Arthur Pendragon vehemently. Nothing like his father…doesn't pursue those with magic…But were those lies, in reality? Had Gwaine himself been blinded by his friendship with Arthur and Merlin? Yes, he had to admit that Arthur had been his friend, though it took longer for Gwaine to consider him thus than he had with Merlin. He had wanted to find, and had found, true honor in the young Pendragon. But now…

I'm not saying your family is evil, Gwaine, but magic…

Magic. That bloody excuse again. But there is no excuse for what he said. He's made his mind up, and so have I. "Yes," he said firmly, "I meant all of it."

He clearly heard Aldwyn let out a relieved sigh. "So…you're banished. From Camelot."

"Yes, I am. But I've been banished before." Realizing what that sounded like, he quickly explained, "From multiple taverns, cousin."

Aldwyn let out a brief chuckle. "Let me guess; you in a tavern brawl. Make that several tavern brawls. Oddly enough, I can imagine that only too well."

"Imagine it? Ah, so that fistfight that broke out in the tavern the first time we got drunk on Midsummer's Eve was not a 'tavern brawl'?"

"You were not part of that, Gwaine, I was."

"I was there!"

"Yes, throwing your guts up in a corner. And you were hardly drunk; you'd only had three pints! Four at most!"

"I was barely thirteen, Aldwyn! I hadn't built up a tolerance for alcohol yet. And I still think that someone laced it with something."

"Oh, 'someone with something'; very specific, cousin. Anyhow, I was the one who ended up with a bloody nose, two black eyes, and a broken finger. You went scurrying home as soon as you saw the fight start."

"Didn't get very far before passing out, as I recall. But didn't your father keep you confined to your chambers for two weeks?"

He could almost see Aldwyn's grimace. "Three weeks. For someone who gets drunk at feasts all the time, Father's terribly strict about that sort of thing. Maybe it was the fact that I was only fifteen…or the fact that I got drunk 'in public'…But it was your father I was terrified of. You should've heard his scolding."

Gwaine frowned. "When did he scold you for that incident?"

"The next morning. I felt terrible."

"Why? Don't tell me that he threw something at you." Of course not, Father never does that. It's Uncle Harlan who throws things. And Aunt Gerarda.

It took a moment for Aldwyn to answer. "No, he never even raised his voice. He wasn't even all that angry because I went to the tavern; it was the fact that I'd taken you with me that bothered him. I don't know if you can remember it all that well, but you were really sick afterwards. Uncle Goddard…he's has always had a knack for making a person feel guilty. If they deserve it."

How much do you want to bet that he won't try making me feel guilty for what I did?

Aldwyn seemed to realize what he was thinking. "Don't tell me you're berating yourself about the accident again, Gwaine."

Gwaine's guilt switched to anger in an instant. "Is that what you called it at home after I left? The 'accident'?"

He really wished he could see his cousin's face right now; Aldwyn's expression might have prepared him for the almost violent tone that he heard in the next words.

"Damn it, Gwaine, do you have any idea what it was like after you left? Your parents were distraught; I didn't see Uncle Goddard smile for years and your mother…she was simply all-around terrifying. Father kept smashing things and yelling at random people, Mother kept dissolving into tears at random intervals, Haralda spent hours every day tearing practice dummies to bits with an ax, your sister wouldn't talk to anyone except your parents for about a year, and the twins…they didn't understand what happened, you know, and they kept asking where you were. And every time they did Great-Aunt Gytha would start crying and Mother would join her and Haralda would run off and Father would break something and they'd leave me to do the telling. I'd tell them some lie or other, but I think Everard always saw through it and eventually he told Elwin. Then they stopped asking, and as the years went by I thought they'd started to forget you. And I started to forget you…or thought I did…and it scared me. And I couldn't talk to Father about you or he'd get angry. Mother would get sad. Gytha…sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't. Haralda and Elen…they wouldn't even say your name. So in between smacking the twins into shape, I would tell them stories about you. They were the only people in our family who really didn't know what you'd done…until a couple years ago Everard demanded that I tell him what happened so I did. Elwin was there too, and it was the first time I saw him cry since he was a baby…and the last time, until a few days ago when those bandits attacked…But no, Gwaine, we didn't talk about what happened, just about the aftermath. We worked through it in our own ways…then we started to adjust to not having you around…it's funny, how we didn't even think of how we'd miss you until you were gone…and then life just went on without you there. And I'm grateful for that, in a way…time did make it easier in some ways. But at the same time, I hated it. Still do. You're my cousin. You…you were my best friend. I knew that your motives for being my friend were completely selfless, given the fact that you had nothing to gain. You were always there; my idiot, irresponsible, far-to-skillful-with-a-sword-for-his-own-good cousin. Then…you weren't."

The silence that followed Aldwyn's outburst lasted for a very long time. Gwaine wanted to respond, but felt the need to think about it first. Not entirely normal for him. Eventually, he said hesitantly, "Aldwyn…I'm sorry."

His cousin did not reply, so he continued, "I know it doesn't change what happened…nothing can. But I…I've been thinking…no, not exactly…what I mean to say is…I want to come home. Now that I know I'm not…not guilty of murder, like I thought I was…It's all I can think about. Home. For a long time…ever since I left…I'd thought I'd lost it forever." He took a deep breath. "Was I wrong, Aldwyn?"

His cousin's voice was incredibly soft. "Yes, you were. I…we want you back, Gwaine. No matter what happened…you still belong with us. With your family."

Home. Family. I've still got those things. Strange. "Good." Gwaine replied steadily. "Because as soon as we get out of here, we're going home. After we find the twins, of course."

"If they don't run back home by themselves, that is."

While traveling with wyverns and horses, there are two ways to keep your horses from going insane: train them to stay calm while around the wyverns, or, if you don't have time for that, keep the wyverns far, far away.

Strangely contradictory, but it worked.

As Hayden and Ryle rode their borrowed mounts through the rolling hills and patches of woodlands, the wyverns, per Hayden's commands, flew a short distance behind and about a couple hundred feet up.

Hayden was well aware that it had taken longer that Ryle wanted to get going, but he'd had to recover his hidden store of fish, find some weapons for himself (as a precaution), and decide on which wyverns to bring with him. So, yes, it did take almost an hour (the fact that all of the wyverns wanted to come at first hadn't helped one bit. Bringing them all was out of the question, especially with Peridot and Topaz.).

In the end, he'd chosen Obsidian, Diamond, and Emerald. He hadn't wanted to bring Sapphire (fearing that he was too old), but the stubborn creature had followed him. So far it seemed like he was keeping up, so Hayden tried not to worry about it.

"How can they see us?" Ryle asked suddenly as they urged their mounts across a narrow stream. Dawn was approaching, but it was still very dark out despite the bright quarter moon in the sky. Hayden strongly suspected that Ryle, in the lead, was using magic to find his way back to 'Lord Haig's' castle. But, if so, that was his problem, not Hayden's.

"I think that wyverns can see better in the dark than we can, and even if they couldn't, they have excellent senses of smell and hearing. They could find us anywhere." Hayden glanced upward and behind him; he could just barely make out the shapes of his wyverns suspended against the starry sky.

"And you're sure that if we order those things to attack Haig's men they won't start attacking people indiscriminately later?"

"Ryle, I've told you a thousand times, my wyverns do not have a taste for human flesh. They'll attack people they see as enemies, but they won't start hunting people because of it."

"I'm just making sure. But they'll be hungry, I suppose…" Ryle seemed to be having more and more doubts about using wyverns as allies.

"Didn't I ever explain wyvern digestion to you? No? Well, wyverns are very efficient animals in the respect that they eat only what they need to. My wyverns, who don't overexert themselves often, don't actually eat all that much. After this, they'll probably be starved and I'll have to find them some wild pigs or deer. But their activity controls their diet rather extremely. It's how they can survive in places like the Perilous Lands where food is scarce."

"If you say so."

They lapsed into silence then, and Hayden recalled the rather confused tale that Ryle had told him a few hours earlier as they traveled.

So the twins were rescued by Arthur Pendragon…who wanted to escort them back to Bernicia even though they didn't tell him who they were…then they found out that Gwaine Barclayn was a Knight of Camelot…which sounds like a bizarre contradiction to me, but that aside…then Elen got herself captured by a crazy warlord, and Aldwyn, Cleva, and Ryle found the twins with the knights from Camelot, but they all stayed together…

It was an mad situation, that much was certain. For some reason the part Hayden kept getting stuck on was Sir Gwaine of Camelot.

A Barclayn becoming a knight of Camelot? It just doesn't make any sense…Especially since it was Gwaine. It was common knowledge that his mother, the Lady Ela, was a sorceress whose family had died in Camelot's Great Purge. But apparently Gwaine had changed his views on Pendragons…maybe. Or maybe it was all an accident?

Either way, he and the rest are in trouble. I just hope that Haig's men aren't used to fighting wyverns…

Hayden doubted that they were. Not many people were used to fighting wyverns these days. Or even seeing them. Hayden never got tired of the expressions on strangers' faces when they saw him with one or more of his pets in close proximity.

A while later, just as dawn had begun to lighten the sky, they stopped to let the horses rest briefly. Hayden tethered his mount and moved away from fidgety Ryle, far enough so that he could call his circling wyverns down.

They landed and promptly began to vie for his attention, which just made him laugh. "Diamond, stop trying to eat my hair…Sapphire, there's no need to try to step on Emerald just because he's a little smaller than you…" He made sure that he petted and examined each one in turn; they all seemed to be holding up just fine.

"How do you tell them apart?" Hayden glanced over at Ryle, who watching him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, come on, Ryle, you've watched them for me before. Can't you tell them apart? Ouch! Obsidian!" The large wyvern had given him a nudge on the shoulder that was a bit too forceful.

"The females have horns roughly half the size of the males' horns. And sometimes their overall size varies. That's all I know; I just feed the brutes when you're not around."

"It's easy once you get to know them really well." Hayden informed him as he scratched Sapphire on the crown of his head. "Take this lot, for example. Obsidian has unusually dark scales. Sapphire has crooked horns, as you can see, plus some of his scales are turning light grey since he's getting old. Diamond has an oddly narrow head, and his eyes are longer and narrower that most. Then Emerald has a greenish sheen to the scales on his sides and his wings…honestly, Ryle, I could go on an on." He refrained from adding that to him, the wyverns' faces were individually as distinct as any human's; that would just make Ryle declare him insane.

True to form, Ryle simply snorted derisively. "Whatever you say, Hayden. Let's start moving again."

Merlin was no stranger to sleeping on hard stone floors, but waking up on them was never a comfortable experience. "Ow…" he moaned as he slowly sat up and looked around.

Another set of cracks in the dungeon wall let in enough bright morning light so that the warlock could clearly see his companions in the cells around him. Elyan was still asleep, Leon was stretching and wincing due to his bruised ribs, while Arthur was sitting silently, watching the guards at the distant end of the passage. Looking over at the other two occupied cells, Merlin saw that Aldwyn was apparently still asleep while Gwaine was talking to his clearly still-unconscious sister. His words were so soft that Merlin couldn't understand them, but he decided not to try anyway. Whatever Gwaine was trying to tell his sister, it was none of Merlin's business.

"Good morning, everyone." he said dryly as he rubbed his aching neck. "Any great ideas about getting us out of here?"

"Good morning, Merlin, and no, not so far." Elyan grimaced as his back cracked loudly. "Sorry, but this is probably the most uncomfortable cell I've ever been in, and that's saying something."

"For all of us." Leon added.

Merlin turned to his cellmate. "How're the ribs?"

"No worse, thank God. Still not terribly comfortable, though."

Merlin winced in sympathy before glancing at Arthur. Maybe he has a plan…he usually does, though he always needs me to pull it off, strangely enough…

The warlock was just about to make a smart-mouth comment to snap Arthur out of his current brooding state when six guards detached themselves from the group at the end of the passage and approached the cells.

Merlin's gaze flew to Gwaine, who had also noticed the guards. "Aldwyn, wake up!" he hissed.

The prince was awake in an instant. "What? Where…" He stopped suddenly as the guards reached the cells. One began to unlock the doors of the two cells containing Barclayns.

"Where are you taking them?" Arthur demanded loudly as he lunged to his feet. The others did the same, though they were all feeling rather helpless as the guards seized Gwaine and Aldwyn.

Predictably, the guards didn't answer as they dragged the protesting and struggling men out of the cells. Another picked up Elen and slung her over his shoulder.

Moments later, they were out of sight, and Merlin found himself wondering if they'd ever see Gwaine, Aldwyn, and Elen alive again. Elyan and Leon seemed to be having similar thoughts.

Even Arthur looks worried.

"We need to get out of here." Merlin said without thinking.

None of the others had an answer for that. Though they most certainly agreed with him.

Cleva could hear the voices in the clearing ahead as she let Percival, Everard, and Elwin take the lead. Even Elwin had far greater skill with a blade than she did.

After the skirmish with the mercenaries the previous morning, Cleva had soon managed to find Everard, who had been working himself into a near-frenzy because he couldn't find his brother). They had located Elwin later that day, who, as it turned out, had been hiding in a small cave with Sir Percival since shortly the battle. According to the knight, he'd seen the others captured, though he was unsure as to the fate of Ryle. Cleva had no doubt in her mind that Ryle had escaped easily enough, but there was still the question of what would happen to the others. Rescuing them seemed impossible.

Not wanting to rush into anything and being rather lost as it was (Cleva felt like she'd been going in circles all day), they'd stayed the night at the cave. When dawn came, they set out towards where their friends were being held captive (Percival had seen the castle where the mercenaries had taken the others, but hadn't gotten too close).

And then, around midmorning, they had heard the unidentified voices.

Everard and Percival had immediately drawn their weapons, with Cleva and Elwin soon following their lead. Slowly, they began to approach the break in the trees where the voices were emanating from.

It sounds like two people, maybe three…we could probably handle that, but…wait, what is that hissing noise?

Ahead of her, Percival motioned for them to stop before moving forward a couple paces and peering around a tree trunk. What he saw clearly startled him, for he paled slightly and quickly drew back towards the other three. Before he could say anything, however, one of the voices in the clearing rose to a near shout.

"Damn it, Hayden, what is the matter with your…creature? That's the third time it's started hissing in the last five minutes! I haven't done anything!"

It's Ryle! And Hayden Wyverndomitor! And his wyverns…oh dear, no wonder Sir Percival's nervous. Raising her own voice, Cleva called out, "Ryle! Hayden!"

"I wouldn't do that m'lady!" Percival hissed with uncharacteristic agitation.

"It's all right." Cleva tried to reassure him, but Elwin had already taken matters into his own hands. Sheathing his sword, he took off running into the clearing with Everard in pursuit. "Drat it, they'll scare the beasts." she muttered before hurrying after them. She heard Percival following her, presumably still with his sword drawn. That won't make a great impression, either.

In the clearing, Ryle and Hayden were standing a few feet apart, formerly in the middle of arguing, though now they were just staring at the newcomers. Behind Hayden, no less than four fully-grown wyverns were standing, eyeing the new arrivals suspiciously and making threatening noises. Elwin and Everard stopped quickly at the sight of them, obviously recalling how volatile the scaly creatures tended to be.

"Oh, so there you lot are." Ryle spoke first.

Something about his tone irritated Cleva extremely, but before she could make a retort Hayden ordered Percival to put down his weapon. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you need to put your sword away. You're aggravating my wyverns."

Percival obeyed almost automatically, but asked blankly, "Your wyverns?" Turning to Cleva, the hulking knight demanded, "Who exactly is this and why is he with Ryle?"

Not wanting to waste precious time on detailed explanation, Cleva said quickly, "He's a...a friend of Ryle's." Wait, aren't they related? I don't remember. "He tames wyverns." Noting the completely befuddled expression on Percival's face, she added lamely, "It's a family thing. I think. Ryle, why is Hayden here?"

"I asked him for his help." Ryle growled. "I'd thought that would be obvious."

"Help?" Everard interjected.

"Yes. I followed our adversaries closely and discovered that they work for the warlord Haig. Knowing that even if I found you we couldn't rescue the others. I…we needed help so I thought of Hayden. He was closest."

"Who is Haig?" Elwin questioned.

"And what does he want with us and our friends?" Everard added.

Friends? Does he mean Merlin and the others from Camelot? Well, maybe…

Ryle looked annoyed at the questions. "He's some exiled noble or other, I believe; I'm not really sure what the entirety of his motivations are. But I do know that he will kill all of his prisoners if we don't rescue them. Soon."

The urgency in his voice was so apparent that Cleva felt rather startled. She'd never thought that Ryle had it in him to be so concerned for anyone or anything.

As she eyed the wyverns (all of whom looked only slightly calmer without the presence of drawn weapons), she asked the group at large. "Well, so what's the plan?"

Shortly after they decided on a decent strategy of attack (admittedly with some trouble) and had begun the short journey to Haig's castle, Cleva distincly heard Sir Percival mutter, "Wyverns.The others will never let me hear the end of this…but it's not like I have much of a choice…"

So...what did you think?

If all goes as planned, the next chapter should be filled with battle action! With the wyverns, of course. :)

Actually, speaking of wyverns: the thing about Hayden being able to tell them apart because their faces and features are as distinctive to him as any human's? That's actually happened to me...with my chickens. I used to have a flock of hens; a lot of them were the same color, but I could tell them all apart by their individual facial features. I'm not kidding; I was the only person who could tell them apart just by looking. That gave me and idea to elaborate on with Hayden and his wyverns. Though, admittedly, my hens weren't quite as exciting as a herd of wyverns... ;)

I'll try to update soon, but I might be busy tomorrow. I just got my driver's license and tomorrow I get to drive to town by myself for the first time! I'm actually really excited (and nervous).

Have a great day/night!