Change of Plans

Darkened Cell

Uther did not care to hear anything else about the Reveling Dust or Gwaine. With another wave of his hand he ordered the two guards who dragged Gwaine into the Great Hall to take him down to the dungeon to await his execution. As Gwaine was pulled and tugged by the guards the people in the crowd began to whisper and gossip.

"A Knight with magic?" One person whispered to another.

"If Uther can't even keep his own Knights from using magic how is he going to protect the people?" The other person whispered back.

On the other side of the room more people began whispering. Some people were agreeing with Uther's firm stance on magic, but most of them were shocked and appalled by the way he was treating Gwaine, and even the Masked Man. The people did not agree that his ruling was fair. It was clear to everyone that the Masked Man had no control over his actions, and Gwaine did not even get the chance to explain why he had the magic. Uther just abruptly dismissed both cases and sentenced both men to death.

The dungeon was damp, cold, and dark. It took a few moments for Gwaine's eyes to adjust to the lack of light. He tried not trip as he was pulled down several flights of stairs. The guards tossed him into a cell where he slid across the wet stone floor.

"Well...thank you for your assistance, gentlemen."Gwaine sarcastically called after the guards as they locked his cell and walked back up the stairs.

Gwaine crawled over to the corner where he used the wall to help his get back on his feet. He looked around the empty cell, and there was nothing but dirt, some bits of straw, and puddles of water that had leaked in through the small cracks in the stone wall. The iron bars that held him in were worn, rough, and rusted. The only light came from a torch at the top of the stairs.

"I don't suppose you have any mead?" Gwaine called up to the guards at the top of the stairs. When they did not reply he yelled back, "Is that a no?"

As Gwaine waited for the sun to rise he did not think much about the execution that followed. He mostly thought about his parents. He wondered if they would be proud. Gwaine's whole reason for becoming a Knight was so that he could do something respectable with his life. So that he could bring honor back to his father's name. Despite being accused of using magic Gwaine felt that in some ways he did what he set out to do.

An uncontrollable laughter overcame Gwaine as he imagined what his life would be like if all of the bad things in his life never happened. His parents would have been rich, they would not have died and left him alone at such a young age, and Gwaine would never have grown such a disliking of nobles. He probably would have become the kind of person he hated. A snobby aristocratic prat. "All nobles are the same. They are all stuck up and too proud to see what is staring them in the face." Gwaine said to himself.

Then again if he had not grown a disliking for nobles, and spent all of his time wandering from village to village he probably never would have ended up in Camelot. Therefore he never would have met Arthur or Gaius, and he never would have met Morgana. Morgana was the noble who made him doubt everything he ever believed to be true about nobles. Sure she was stuck up and proud, but she also held a kindness in her. One that Gwaine saw every time he looked in her eyes. Also unlike the other nobles Gwaine had met she had a longing for freedom. To her being a Lady and one of the closest people to the King was more of a curse than an honor. She had a wild spirit that matched Gwaine's instinct to move and go where ever the wind led him.

Gwaine began to wonder what his parents would have thought of Morgana. Would they have approved of his feelings for her? Would they have supported his quest to find the Revealing Dust if it meant securing a future with the woman he loved? It certainly was clear to him while he waiting in the dark cell, he did love Morgana. He would not change one moment of his life knowing that it would mean he would risk never getting to meet her.