The Emerald Thief - Merlin BBC [1]

Chapter 30: If Tomorrow Comes

Her green eyes remain fixed on me, a smirk growing in a mixture of amusement and shock. She nods to the guards behind me, the two men grabbing onto me and making for the door. I'm limp in their grip as they escort me back down to the cells.

After seeing the three men suffer in my cell, I have lost all care for myself. I wish she would try something, anything, so that she would no longer torment my friends. I don't think my wishes will be fulfilled. Morgana seems to have other plans for me.

I'm returned to the cell. Gwaine still slumped in the corner he was when I left, shackles on his wrists. He had long lost his shirt, various cuts over his bare skin, bruising beginning to form all over. Elyan is seated by Gaius, who is now laid on the bed, looking worse every time I lay eyes upon him. His skin is pale, and his eyes cannot stay open in his weak state.

"Same as before?" Gwaine asks, voice tired.

I nod, walking across the cell to sit by Gaius, grabbing onto his hand.

"Come on, Gaius, hold fast", Elyan whispers, trying to tend to the physician as best he can.

The cell door opens, guards flooding in. They pull Gwaine harshly to his feet, the knight giving into the pull as he has no strength left to fight. Elyan is the first to react, reaching to pull Gwaine but then being forced to the ground by another guard.

I leap to my feet. "Let him go!" I scream, bringing back my arm to throw a weak punch which is caught easily by a guard. "You can't take him!" I shriek, fighting weakly against the guard's firm grip.

He throws me back, sending me into the stone wall. My knees give out, dropping me to the floor, my body barely feeling the impact.

"Don't worry, at least we get to eat", Gwaine huffs, being pulled from our sight.

The cell door locks once more, Elyan scrambling to his feet, running over to me. So tired and weak, overwhelmed with emotion and dehydration, all I can do is cry. I know crying won't help. If anything, it will make my weakness worse for me, but I can't help it. My mind is absent, giving me no comfort in the helplessness of not seeing a way out and having to watch my friends suffer to survive.

Elyan tries to comfort me, pulling me into his chest telling me lies, but I know he means well by them. Unable to take it anymore, I draw from his hold, tears still streaming as I tumble around the room in search of something, anything that I can use to help in some. Something that will allow me to do anything.

"There has to be something", I sob, scavenging through the straw across the ground. "I've gotten out of worse places than here. See I-I know how to get o-out. I've done it before," I murmur incoherent nonsense.

My fingers scurry over the stone floor in search of something, nothing, in particular, visualising in my mind as my thoughts are blurred over, mind with Gwaine as he fights to stay alive for us.

"Edythe, you've tried already," Elyan reasons. "Don't waste your strength."

"N-No, we're going to be fine", I croak, probably more for my sanity than Elyan's.

Elyan watches me sympathetically, slowly following me around as I try to find something. Elyan grabs my shoulders, forcing me to stop in my crazed outburst.

"Edythe, you're tired," he whispers, "you need sleep."

"Edythe...?" Gaius weakly calls, hand so slightly lifting off the bed.

This brings me out of my daze, bringing tears to a stop as I pull myself from Elyan's grasp. I rush to Gaius' side, falling onto the edge of the bed and grabbing his hand in my own.