Chapter 20: The Castle of Fyrien (Part II)

As soon as Arthur, Aredian, Elyan, and Elena were dragged out of the room, Morgana asked, "Merlin?" Merlin said, "We can't kill him." Morgause asked, "And why not?" Merlin looked down before saying, "Because I traded his life." They all looked confused, so he said, "Remember when I bargained for Excalibur?" and when he saw them all nod, he continued, "Well, the staff wasn't enough."

Morgana said, shocked, "You promised him to the Sidhe?" Merlin replied, "I did. The Sidhe are not to be messed with. I need to keep my end of the bargain. Don't worry. It won't interfere with our plans, as he'll still be out of the picture." Cenred said, "Do you need to proceed immediately?" Merlin replied, "Not necessarily. Why?" Cenred said, "We can extract some valuable information from him."

Merlin scoffed and said, "Arthur won't say anything." Cenred said, "I have certain methods." Morgana was appalled and said, "Absolutely not! How are we any different from the witchfinder if we do this?" Merlin hesitated in saying anything, but when he saw Morgana's glare, he said, "Cenred, you remember our agreement, don't you?" Cenred replied, "Haven't I honored it? I haven't done anything to him yet."

Merlin nodded, but Morgana said, "You hit Elena. If hitting her for merely insulting you isn't tyranny, then I don't know what is." Cenred said in a condescending tone, "Well, my dear, I can't exactly enforce discipline if there are no consequences for insulting the king, now, can I?" She retorted with the slightest hint of anger, "Don't call me 'my dear' again, or I'll turn you into a cockroach."

Merlin said, "Calm down, Morgana. He's an ally." Morgana said, "Not if he continues to break his agreement." Merlin said, "He won't." Morgana said, "That better be the case." She then turned to Cenred and said sternly, "You will not torture anyone; is that clear?" Cenred reluctantly nodded.

Morgause said, "Then there's no point in waiting. Merlin, take Arthur to the Sidhe, and I'll arrange the beheading of the other three." Morgana said, "No, sister. We brought Elyan into this. He's innocent." Morgause said, "You heard what he said. He's just as much an enemy of magic as anyone else." Morgana retorted, "With that logic, we'll have to execute almost everyone in the kingdom when we take Camelot." Morgause didn't say anything, so Merlin said, "So it's decided. I'll take Arthur to the Sidhe and ..."

He was interrupted by the bells starting to ring and a guard barging in and saying, "The prisoners have escaped!" Merlin turned to Cenred and said, "It's been five damn minutes. How incompetent are your guards!" Morgause said, "They cannot be allowed to escape." Merlin said, "They've come here to kill us, and they won't leave until they've at least tried."

They waited for but a moment before Arthur, Aredian, Elyan, and Elena burst through the doors with their swords raised. Merlin didn't have to utter any spell. His eyes simply turned gold, and Elyan and Elena were flung back into the wall. He, alongside Morgause and Morgana, tried every spell they knew of against Arthur and Aredian, but they were ineffective.

Cenred's guards were too far away, and Arthur had the power of Excalibur. They had no way to fight them. Merlin yelled, "We have to retreat." As soon as he did, Merlin teleported himself and Morgana to her room in Cenred's castle. Morgana said, almost offended, "I can teleport myself, Merlin." Merlin quickly retorted, "It's best if at least one of us still has our powers." Morgana looked suspiciously but then nodded.

Merlin said, "I need to say this before Cenred and Morgause show up." Morgana said, "Go ahead." Merlin said, "Look, we shouldn't argue about our allies in front of them." Morgana was appalled hearing this. Merlin was not outraged at what the brute had done, but rather at the argument she put up against him. All she could say was the obvious retort, "But what he did broke the agreement. You know that."

Merlin said, "Morgana, please be reasonable. He's been very generous considering we haven't been able to keep our end of the bargain." Morgana said, "Don't excuse his actions, Merlin." Merlin said, "I'm not. I'm just saying we need all the allies we can get." Morgana asked, now properly angry, "No matter who they are?" Merlin said, "As long as they are willing to tolerate magic ..."

He was interrupted by Morgana, who said, "So, you'd now be a happy ally of Cornelius Sigan then." Merlin said, "You know that's not what I'd do." Morgana said, "Think about that, Merlin. Cenred is not that different from Sigan, hurting anyone and everyone to get what he wants. Sigan offered you a very similar deal."

Merlin retorted, "And I didn't even consider taking it." Morgana was now frustrated more than anything. Did Merlin not see her obvious point? So she clarified, "And now you gladly take and even defend an even worse one." Merlin retorted, "Then what's the alternative?" She remained silent, so he continued, "Hmm, Morgana, who else can we ally with? What else can we do?"

She thought about it. And she remembered Ealdor again. She remembered what Arthur had done; the lengths that he had gone to. Most of all, she remembered how she immediately agreed to go with her sister. And while she did not regret that (she trusted her now after all.), she never trusted Cenred, and she never would. But for now, she didn't have much of a choice. So she said, "Fine, Merlin, have it your way. Let's just hope we don't all regret it."

Morgana was desperate to talk about something else to end this tension. So she chuckled and said, "Did you see who he married?" Merlin said, "I know, right? I mean, did he have to marry that princess?" Morgana said, "Well, I doubt Uther would have it any other way." As she said that, she remembered that was probably the fate that awaited her had she stayed in Camelot. She was almost glad to have left, thinking about that.

Merlin laughed for a second and said, "For a while, I thought he was going to marry Gwen." Morgana said, "Yeah, I thought they liked each other too. But is he really the type to defy his father for a servant?" because she certainly would've been. Merlin said, "Yeah, I suppose that all changed when she ..." Morgana interrupted him by informing him of her epiphany, "It was Gwen's death that spurred his descent into, well, I don't know what to call it, aside from madness." Merlin said, "If only she lived, how better the world would've been!" She nodded sadly as the door to her room burst open.

Morgause entered and said, "Why did you teleport here? I've been searching for you throughout the whole castle." Just as Merlin was about to respond, she said, "Nevermind. How was Aredian immune to our magic?" Merlin said, "I don't know about him, but for Arthur, I'm pretty sure it's due to his sword." Morgause said, "I know. You told me he has Excalibur."

Morgana asked, "Why couldn't you take it from him?" Merlin looked down and said, "Because the sword was forged in a dragon's breath specifically for him." Morgause asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" He replied, "This was back when I was deluded by the great dragon into protecting Arthur at all costs. There was a wraith, and Arthur was going to fight it. So, to save him, I ..."

Morgause interrupted him by loudly saying, "You did what? You know that sword cannot be relieved from him with all the magic in the world. And not only did you forge the sword, you basically handed it to him." Then, after a short silence, Morgana said, "What can we do, Merlin? He's basically invulnerable to us with the sword." Morgause said, "I may have a few ideas."

Merlin nodded, so she said, "I have in my possession an eye of the phoenix." Morgana asked, "What does it do?" Morgause said, "If worn, it will suck the very life force out of Arthur." Merlin laughed lightly and said, "Then your plan is doomed. Aredian will notice it the second Arthur wears it." Morgause said, "Well, then, I suppose we could enchant him."

Morgana said, "Won't we have the same problem? Aredian could break any enchantment." Morgause said, "Any enchantment except the most powerful form of enchantment." Merlin thought for a second and asked, "A love spell?" Morgause smiled and said, "Indeed. Morgana, you can enchant him."

Morgana was disgusted. Not only was Arthur nothing short of an evil monster at this point, he was also basically like her brother back in Camelot. When Morgause saw the disgusted look on her face, she added, "My aged form is already known. Yours is not. You can easily enchant him before Aredian discovers you, as it would take but a moment to do so."

Morgana said, "No, never!" Morgause asked, "And why not, sister?" Morgana thought her reasons would probably not be enough for her sister, so she needed another reason. Only then did she look at Merlin, who was looking at the floor and not saying anything. And she remembered another reason why she couldn't agree to such a plan, so she said, "For one, he's married, and I'm also ..."

Morgause interrupted her and said, "Why would any of that matter? You enchant him to fall in love with you, and then you tell him to kill Aredian and ..." Morgana interrupted her by saying, "I'm not doing that, period." Merlin said, "There is another option. You can enchant him to fall in love with a servant." Morgause said, "And make him run away with her when the affair is exposed. That's genius!"

Morgana was once more appalled, at both her sister and Merlin. What was wrong with them? Why are they accepting any plan that would hurt Arthur, even at the cost of anyone else? So she retorted, "And what about the servant?" Morgause replied casually, "We'll enchant her as well, simple enough. Anyone will do." Morgana said, "That's not the point. We will be enchanting an innocent servant to fall in love with the prince. That alone could risk her life."

Merlin said, "One necessary evil, Morgana, just one. Can't you accept that?" She retorted without thinking, "And you can?" She could not believe what Merlin was saying. He was willing to trade the life of an innocent serving girl just to take down Arthur. What happened to the Merlin she knew in Ealdor—the kind and just man she knew? Well, that was an easy question. This was Arthur's doing.

Merlin said, "I don't want to, Morgana. But I don't see we have many other options." Morgana thought there had to be another way. There had to be a way to conquer Camelot without compromising the very morals for which they were trying to conquer it. So Morgana said, "We can always try to find another way."

Finally, Morgause said, "I have one last idea that could work." Morgana asked, "What is it?" Morgause simply said, "I'll need some time to prepare. Let's just say there is a way to do this without a love spell." Morgana was glad to hear that. Her sister will find another way, and the world, including her and Merlin, will be better off for it.

A/N: If anyone is curious, the way they escape is the same in the show except this time, it's easier because Arthur still has Excalibur. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review if you have any thoughts, positive or negative.