Betrayed and Broken

Taken

Mordred set his shoulders back and nodded, suddenly seeming again like the man who took over a kingdom alongside a maniac witch. Lancelot shuddered as he thought about what would have happened if Mordred hadn't decided to help them that night in the dungeons. He could have easily blamed them for his loss of magic and killed Arthur like he was supposed to. Lance frowned and then called out, "I think we forgot something!"

Gwaine grinned easily at him, "It's a bit too late to go to the bathroom, mate."

"What is it?" Merlin asked quickly, shooting a confused look back at Gwaine.

Lance answered, "How do we explain how we got out of the prison without a key?"

Everyone was silent for a moment before Gwaine answered thoughtfully, "We could say I picked it."

"With what?" Arthur asked skeptically.

"A chicken bone." Gwaine answered in a matter of fact voice.

"A chicken bone," Arthur repeated, "And you expect anyone to believe that you picked the dungeon lock with a chicken bone."

"I've done it before!" Gwaine protested.

Arthur seemed like he was going to start an argument, but Merlin saved them by saying, "It doesn't matter anyway. Mordred can just say that he went to the dungeons to see if he could muster up the will to kill Arthur and saw that the cage was open. He caught sight of someone disappearing around the corner and took chase. That way it would make sense that he had no idea how you escaped and if she asks you how you got out, you can just act defiant and say that you aren't going to tell her."

"Hm." Elyan nodded his head at the end, seeming to accept Merlin's idea.

"That makes sense. Thanks Merlin." Lancelot smiled back at his friend. He didn't miss the warring emotions that passed across Arthur's face, but he wondered at them. Both Arthur and Merlin had casually dismissed Merlin's comment about being stabbed in the back, but it seemed to the noble knight that perhaps there was more to it than what was said out loud. The two powerful men had seemed to be bonding again, something that Lance did not approve of, deeming Arthur not worth the trouble and heart ache, but after last night they seemed to have taken several steps backwards in their relationship.

Finally, the gates of Camelot came into sight.

MMMMMM

Morgana's gaze flicked to Agravaine who stood peeking into the throne room where the Queen lounged taunting her prisoners. She snarled at him, "What do you want?"

He scuttled into the room and she found it hard not to lean back in repulsion of the fawning mass of quibbling fat who called himself her second in command. He pranced up to the throne and bowed almost in half, smirking up at her, "Your majesty! Mordred has returned with Arthur, his queen, his knights in tow!" Morgana put a hand to her temple as his sniveling voice echoed throughout her head. He wasn't yelling because he was excited. He was just yelling.

Then it finally sunk in what Agravaine had said. She sat up straighter and grinned a shark's grin at her captives. She then turned her vicious glance on Agravaine, saying, "Bring them into the throne room immediately!" When he had left the room, she turned to one of her guards and told him, "Bring in the box. It seems as if Mordred did learn his lesson. We shall have to return to him what is rightfully his." She smirked to herself as she thought of the person she had once considered to be a son to her.

Soon, that selfsame person had walked in, bowing to her slightly and letting the smallest bit of hope cross his face. Behind him, one guard was pulling Gweneviere and Gaius along on a rope and another guard was pulling Arthur, Leon, Elyan, Percival, Lancelot, Gwaine, and... someone else on a separate rope.

Before Morgana could say anything, the guard returned with the box and Morgana motioned Mordred forward with a curl of her finger. She didn't even notice the horrified looks of her new prisoners as they saw the former royals of the other kingdoms. The young druid boy who Morgana and Merlin had saved all those years ago walked up to her throne and knelt down to one knee, looking up at her through his eyelashes. She grabbed the box from the guard and opened it to reveal a slug-like creature. Mordred reeled back quickly, terrified of the thing that had taken away his very core.

Morgana gently wrapped her magic around her shoulders and pulled him back towards her. He stared up at her, still scared, his eyes flickering around as if looking for an escape route. With that, she whispered the spell that released the Gean Canach. She spoke lovingly to Mordred as the thing latched to his face, "I'm so glad that you proved to be loyal to me. I was so very upset when you left and I do admit that I let the thought that you betrayed me enter my mind. I'll make sure that never occurs to me again. You have proved to be a most faithful servant. This is just me returning your magic to you. It'll all be alright soon. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

When the Gean Canach was done with its deed, it crawled back into the box and Morgana snapped it close, giving the chest to the same guard who had brought it out in the first place. As Mordred stepped back, still looking slightly shell-shocked and looking at his hands as they sparkled with gold flames, the rightful Queen of Camelot turned her emerald gaze onto her new captives and smiled. Then she saw that strange blind man in between the noble man and the drunkard.

She tilted her head to the side and addressed Mordred, "Mordred, dear? Who is that blind man there? With the black hair?"

Mordred answered slowly, still euphoric from the feeling of magic flowing through his veins, "He was some vagrant sorcerer who was declaring his disloyalty to you, cursing your name. I figured I would bring him with me as a gift apologizing for being disobedient."

"Oh," Morgana ran her fingers through his curly hair, "You didn't have to, but I am ever so pleased that you did. You know how much I love punishing the wily." He gave her a strained smile that she missed, already turning to Arthur. She said, "You know, I was going to kill you, but I think I'll have to wait a little bit for that. I'm sure you've seen my other captives by now. I'm planning on killing all of you at the same time and taking every single one of you as my prisoners." She paused before directing her attention to the guards, "Take all of them to the dungeons. Now!"

AAAAAA

Annis, Olaf, Alined, Mithian, and Lot were all put in the cell next to the one Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, Percival, Leon, Elyan, Gaius, and Lancelot were in. Merlin was placed across the hall in a cell that had scratched up bars. Arthur turned his attention to Merlin and yelled angrily, "Why didn't you do anything? We had a plan and you just sat there! Me-," He quickly cut himself off as Morgana swept into the room, her robes billowing around her.

She flipped her hair and sniffed daintily at them before glancing snootily at Merlin. Then she froze and stared closer. Arthur's half-sister started laughing like crazy, holding a hand to her stomach and leaning against the wall. Gwaine cried out angrily, "Why are you laughing?"

Morgana wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and said, "Because of this." She grabbed a torch from the wall and swung it closer to Merlin's cell, illuminating it. Arthur finally saw his former manservant and his heart stopped cold in his chest. In front of him, Merlin was unconscious, twitching in pain and suspended by his wrists, his feet not even touching the ground. Arthur didn't start breathing again until he realized that Merlin was breathing. The breaths were few and far between, but it was better than the alternative.

Lancelot ran up to the front of the cage and yelled at Morgana, "What did you do?!"

She laughed again and said, "If you noticed, the cage has runes carved into the bars and runes are also carved into his cuffs. They are to suppress magic so he can't use it to escape. The more powerful you are, the more it hurts. There is only one being who is so powerful that they would be knocked unconscious from it. You brought Emrys straight to me."