More Than A Servant

Chapter 12

Merlin has magic. How could she have been so stupid? This whole time! All those strange coincidences like rock falls and wind appearing out of nowhere. All those times that he foiled her plans, he was using magic. Needless to say, she is furious.

How could she not have seen the signs? Even back when they were friends, she should have known! He helped her when no one else would! He was honest with her. Then why would he poison her? If he had magic too then why would he try to kill her? There's so much that doesn't make sense! Although this would explain why he knows who Emrys is. All the druids seem to know who he is, so why shouldn't Merlin?

Morgana has to think fast. She knows her spell won't last long. Morgouse gave her handcuffs enchanted to block someone's magic. She looks all around the hovel and finally finds them. Now what to do with Merlin... she would rather not attempt to put the handcuffs on him while he's hanging from the ceiling.

Using magic, she brakes the ropes that were tying his wrists and places him in a nearby chair. She also makes sure to put a shirt on him before putting the manacles on his wrists. As she put them on they gave off a sort of glow when she locked them. Just to be safe, she also uses rope to tie his ankles and torso to the chair so he won't be able to move.

A bit later, Merlin starts to wake up. He always wakes up a bit dazed after being knocked out with magic. It's not quite the same as falling asleep. This time something feels different. He looks down and realizes he's now tied up to a chair with strange looking manacles on.

"Good morning," Morgana says with her usual cheeriness.

"Good morning! May I ask why I've suddenly been upgraded to a chair?"

"Well I simply felt bad having you hanging from the ceiling for so long. I also made breakfast. I assume you're hungry?"

Merlin looks at her suspiciously. Why is she suddenly being so nice? I mean he's still tied up, but now he's in a much more comfortable position. And food?

"What are you playing at Morgana?"

"Nothing. I just can't have you dying of exhaustion or starvation can I?"

She sets a plate of food in front of him. He is still very suspicious. Something in him just feels off. On the other hand, he can't deny that he's very hungry. What's the worst that could happen? He starts eating. At first he notices nothing strange, except the fact that his arms felt heavy. That is probably because they were above his head for so long. Then Morgana starts talking.

"So Merlin, how are you feeling?"

Again Merlin eyes her suspiciously.
"I'm fine..."

At that moment he starts to get a weird feeling in his stomach. It's not necessarily painful, just uncomfortable. Morgana smiles, seeing his confusion.

"So, tell me, how long were you planning to keep your magic from me?"

He looks up surprised, but he quickly tries to hide his emotions. It could be a bluff.

"What are you talking about? I don't have mag-"
Just then he starts to feel immense pain in his stomach. It feels as if his inside are burning. He gasps in pain and looks up at Morgana to see a satisfied look on her face.

"What is this?" He asks through gritted teeth.

"It's a simple poison really," Merlin's eyes grow wide. "Oh, it's not lethal. It just makes you feel pain when you lie, or when you're hiding something. In this case, attempting to lie about your magic set it off."

Slowly the pain starts to subside. It is about at this time that Merlin starts to panic. She knows. How long before she figures out who he really is? He has to get out of here. He looks down at the ropes around his waist and ankles. He attempts to break the ropes using magic, but nothing happens. He tries again and ends up just feeling drained. All the while, Morgana is watching him with an evil smirk plastered in her face.

He finally looks down at the manacles. There are strange runes that look like markings of the Old Religion. He could feel dark power radiating off of them, draining him. How did he not notice before?

Merlin looks at Morgana with wide eyes. She raises her eyebrows at him.

"Oh did I forget to mention... those handcuffs block your magic. Trying to escape is useless."

"You took my magic?" Barely above a whisper. He looks somewhere between shocked and devastated. Morgana has magic. She knows how much is it a part you. How could she be so cruel as to take that away?

"Aww... do you miss having your magic Merlin?" He looks at her with clear betrayal in his eyes.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. You betrayed me first, remember."

Merlin looks at the ground, unable to respond.

"So, now that we got that out of the way let's see if we can talk openly with each other, shall we?"