When It Rains

When It Rains «1:13»

"I think that's enough for today," Morgause said, unceremoniously dropping the broken Merlin onto the floor in a heap and flicking an imaginary piece of dust from her spotless dress. She turned to leave. "Just dump him in one of the waiting cells, there's an empty one near the front," she ordered the two guards over her shoulder, gesturing at Arthur. "Put the servant back in the box."

One of the guards roughly untied Arthur while the other picked Merlin up and threw him over his shoulder.

Arthur was manhandled out the door after Merlin and pushed down a short flight of stairs into a narrow corridor with cell doors on either side.

Ahead of him, a door was opened and Merlin was taken down another corridor, away from Arthur.

The prince snarled at the guard and tried to shake him off, wanting to get to his poor servant, but the guard just shoved him inside the nearest cell and slammed the door, locking it with a heavy metal key and a loud click.

The guards stomped off and Arthur was left in his cell in silence. It was dark and slightly damp, but no less comfortable than the Camelot dungeons and at least he wasn't chained or tied to anything.

All he could think about was Merlin, barely holding on, bricked up in that suffocating box and experiencing a world of pain.

And it was all his fault.

He had to get them back to Camelot.
Somehow, he had to find a way to escape, or send a message to Gwen, Gaius, Morgana or his father. But he had to keep in mind that Morgause had a spy in the castle.

Who was it?

Arthur truly didn't believe that any of his knights would betray Camelot, but the witch had used the female pronoun "she", so he could rule out any of those.
Then who else could it be, if not a servant? Gwen? Or Morgana?

Arthur sighed and put his head in his hands. He couldn't even think of one of those ever betraying Camelot. He wouldn't.

Gwen- sweet, kind, beautiful, intelligent...
Arthur simply refused to ever believe it was her. It was more likely to be Merlin than Gwen, for goodness sake!

And Morgana spoke a tall game, sure, but she would never...

Would she?

No, said a small, defiant voice in his head. She wouldn't.

But if it was her only choice, would she choose betrayal over death?

Perhaps.

But that doesn't mean she's a spy for Morgause!

Arthur put his head in his hands. Morgause was making him think these things. He was tired and scared and worried about Merlin... Of course he couldn't think straight. He had to focus on getting Merlin to Gaius. The prince didn't know much about first aid, especially when it involved sorcery, but he did not like the sound of the brick box which seemingly kept his servant alive.

Arthur decided that whatever he was going to do, he couldn't do it now. At the very least he had to keep his strength up so he had half a chance of getting him and Merlin out of this alive.
Although he felt guilty and sick with anxiety, Arthur knew there was nothing he could do.

The crown prince of Camelot lay down on the cold, damp straw and tried to get some rest.