Chapter 5: To Ealdor
After creating the fog, Merlin and Morgana ran out of the throne room. Merlin was holding Morgana's hand as they were running. Morgana didn't mind and instead asked, "Where are we going, Merlin?" He quickly replied, "We need to hide. Remember, I told you about the great dragon. We can hide in his cavern." Merlin frowned as he said that, realizing that the dragon would not take kindly to the "evil witch" being brought to him. Merlin used a sleeping spell on the two guards protecting the cavern, and then the two made their way into it.
After they walked down the steps, Morgana was astonished at the true enormity of the dragon. The great dragon looked slightly surprised and said, "Young warlock, what is the witch doing here?" Merlin knew that he would not be very understanding, so he summarized, "Morgana is not evil. She is kind-hearted even now that she knows of her magic and mine as well." The dragon was not pleased. He replied, "Don't be foolish, Merlin! Let me finish her off for you so the world will be spared her evil."
The great dragon then proceeded to breathe his fire on Morgana, but Merlin used the spell "Scildan" to deflect it. He then proceeded to say, "The witchfinder has exposed us both. We are here to hide until we can escape." The dragon looked very concerned and said, "If you have been exposed, how will you continue to protect Arthur?" Merlin immediately replied, "I won't," but as soon as he did, the true enormity of his words became apparent. He had abandoned his destiny. So he added, with conviction, "I am done, done with Arthur, with Camelot, and with my so-called destiny."
The dragon was shocked and then said, "It was the witch, wasn't it? I knew she would be evil, but not in this way. She has turned you against all that is good." Morgana retorted, "I had nothing to do with any of this. I don't know anything about his destiny with Arthur. All I know is that he is hunting us down to kill us. He is no better than Uther." Merlin added, "If Arthur has turned so completely against magic, he cannot be the once and future king, and so what you think is destiny is at least partly wrong. Why couldn't the part about Morgana be as well?"
The dragon said, "I suppose there is no point arguing with you. You have been blinded completely by the witch's lies. You will one day regret this, of that, I am sure," he said as he flew away. Merlin looked at Morgana, who seemed rather worried, and said, "You know he's wrong, right?" Morgana said, "Of course, but that's not what I'm concerned about." Merlin asked, "Then what?" Morgana replied, "What will we do now, Merlin? Where will we go? Arthur said he would hunt us down."
Merlin didn't feel particularly confident, but he faked it, for Morgana's sake at least, and said, "We'll go to Ealdor. We will be safe there. We stay here till dusk and then sneak out." Morgana nodded. Merlin said, "We'll be fine, I promise. Let's practice magic in the meantime. That should be fun." Morgana said, "Sure, it'll be a good distraction, at least."
By the time the sun had set, the entire palace had been thoroughly searched, and yet nothing was found. So Arthur and Aredian attended a private meeting with the king in the council chambers. Uther was still distraught, but he said softly, "Why haven't they been found yet?" Aredian replied, "The sorcerers have escaped Camelot; it is the only possible conclusion." Arthur added, "We'll scour the countryside. We'll find them no matter how long it takes." He said in a depressed tone, "You have my blessing."
Arthur said, "Father, Aredian has proven to be valuable in the fight against magic. He should stay in Camelot permanently." Uther said, "Aredian, I will make you a free man of Camelot, give you a position in the court, and pay any price you wish." Aredian gave a smile and said, "I accept. Together, Arthur and I will rid the land of sorcery," to which Arthur replied with a smile. Aredian then left the room.
Arthur looked at the rather sorry state of his father and said, "Sorcery can infect anyone. We should not let sentiment get in the way. Morgana is a traitor. We shouldn't grieve for her." Uther was infuriated and said, "You don't understand, Arthur." He replied, "Understand what? That she was like a daughter to you. I know that. She was like a sister to me. But I won't let her betrayal get in the way of the fight against sorcery."
Uther thought that Arthur should know, if only to make him understand. So he said, "Listen carefully, Arthur. This was a while after your mother died. Gorlois was away at war. His wife, Vivienne, and I were very lonely." He paused for a moment, looking at Arthur's confused face, before continuing, "Morgana is my daughter and thus your half-sister." Arthur was astonished. His father's distress made more sense, but Arthur could only be angry at that point. He said slowly, "She betrayed her family. I will make sure she pays for that." That didn't improve Uther's mood, but he let the matter drop.
Merlin and Morgana made their way back out of the cavern. This time, Morgana used the sleeping spell on the two guards assigned to it. They sneaked their way through the castle and into the physician's chambers after making sure only Gaius was there. As soon as they did, Gaius looked relieved but then grew angrier and said, "Did I not tell you two to be careful?" Merlin said, "I'm sorry, Gaius." Gaius retorted, "Sorry is not going to cut it this time. How will you continue to protect Arthur? What about your destiny?"
Merlin retorted, "I'm done with destiny. I'm leaving, Gaius, with Morgana, for home, to my real home, in Ealdor." Gaius said, "They will find you." Merlin said, "Ealdor is in Cenred's kingdom. They won't attack there." Gaius sighed and said, "I wouldn't be so sure. Promise me you will be careful, both of you." They replied in the affirmative, this time meaning it. Merlin grabbed his spellbook from his room. He then hugged Gaius, saying one last farewell before leaving.
They stole two horses from the stables. Merlin used magic to create fake tracks toward the southwest, the opposite direction to where they were headed. He made sure to also cover their tracks with magic as they rode through the night. They didn't talk much and focused on getting as far away as possible, knowing that once they crossed the border out of Camelot, they would be safe.
They had arrived just past dawn at Ealdor. They made their way to Hunith's house and knocked on the door. Hunith opened and was surprised for a moment, saying, "Merlin, you're back!" They hugged, and then she noticed the woman beside him and bowed before saying, "My lady." Morgana says, "I'm not a lady anymore, just a fugitive." Hunith asked, "Merlin, what happened?"
Merlin explained, "Morgana has magic. Recently, the witchfinder came to Camelot and exposed us both. We can't stay in Camelot anymore." He didn't notice his mother's flinch at the mention of the witchfinder. Morgana said, "I don't want to impose on your kindness, but we need a place to stay." Hunith still looked very concerned, but she said, "Morgana, you helped defend this village. The least we could do is let you stay here."
Merlin and Morgana came inside and got settled. Hunith said, "I'll bring some food." Morgana asked, "What do we do now, Merlin?" Merlin looked confused and said, "What do you mean?" Morgana said, "I mean, what do we do now? We can't stay here forever." Merlin looked surprised and said, "Why not? This was the plan, after all. We'll be safe here." Morgana asked, "What about our magical kin? How will we help them by staying here?" Merlin said, "There isn't anything we can do."
Morgana looked angry and said, "So we came here to what, become peasants?" Merlin said, "Yeah, what else can we do? I know life here won't be up to your previous standards. You have to sleep on the floor, eat whatever can be put on your plate, and work the fields from dawn to dusk. But most people live this way and are happy." Morgana retorted, "I want my life to matter. I can't stay here, and not just because life here might be bad, but because I have a responsibility to free magic."
Merlin replied, "Who gave you that responsibility? The dragon gave me mine, and look how that turned out. Someone else can do it. We can live happily here, work the fields during the day, and practice magic come nightfall. Our lives will matter, if only to the people in this village. That is enough for me. Let's not let our ambition get the better of us."
Morgana was left speechless. She didn't know what to say. Could she really live here for the rest of her life? Uther had taught her to look down on the peasantry, and while she still had her compassion for them, she never considered living as one. But the thought wasn't completely terrifying. If she had stayed in Camelot, somehow hiding her magic, she would one day be married off so that Uther could maintain the loyalty of some disgruntled lord. Here, she could live a simple life, and even if she didn't know if she could be happy here, she could at least try.
But she still had to ask, "What about our magic, Merlin?" Merlin asked, "What about it?" Morgana replied, "Remember, we had to focus our magic on something. We can't do that if we abandon our larger goals." Merlin retorted, "Then we can have smaller goals. To help the people of this village. To improve their crop yields, heal their injuries, and aid them in their work, all using magic."
Morgana was not sure that this was what she wanted, but she didn't really have any better options, so she said, "Ok, Merlin." Merlin looked relieved and said, "Great. I'll show you the basics of helping out at the farm tomorrow. We can practice magic freely at night. Without having to hide as much as we did in Camelot, we can get you to advanced magic in but a few months." Morgana was pleased to hear that. She would genuinely try to live here; that, she had at least decided.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review if you have any thoughts, positive or negative.