Merlyn's Last Dream

Goblin's Gold P3

Merlyn's plan for escaping the dungeons was brilliant. Nothing could go wrong. All she had to do was wait until nightfall when the guard in front of her cell would inevitably fall asleep and then magically fetch his set of keys, hoping that she didn't drop any onto the stone floor. It was foolproof. Nothing could go wrong.

It was also entirely unnecessary.

She'd waited until the sky had darkened, a crescent moon hanging elegantly in the sky, dutifully sitting by her iron bars, watching as other prisoners trundled past her, flanked by brutish guards, most of them bound by heavy chains. She hadn't had any visitors, but then, she didn't expect anyone to risk smuggling themselves in to see her. Perhaps Gaius would've tried, but he was in no state of mind to comfort her worries.

Through the small window in the corner of her cell, she listened to the silent night, pinpricks of stars saluting the horizon. In the candlelight, she could see her guard spinning his sword in his hand, looking quite bored, but not as sleepy as she would have liked. Just as she considered helping him into the realm of dreams, the man stood up, glancing sideways towards where others were laughing in the entrance to the dungeons and shuffled over to her cell.

In the dimness, Merlyn hadn't been able to recognise the man in front of her, but now his features were a little clearer. She realised quite suddenly that she didn't know his name, but as he pulled a key from his ring and unlocked her cell, she didn't think that this was the time for asking questions.

"Thank you." she murmured, offering him a grim smile. He nodded once, before turning away, striding down the alleyway of prisoners, whistling mournfully off key.

~

She made it to the courtyard before the bells began to toll, signaling her escape. Three men, who up until that point had been gathered around a small fire, naturally took this moment to look up, spotting her half concealed by an archway. Dashing past them, she made it into the lower town with few problems, glad that she wasn't weighed down by the armour that her persuers wore. With the bells still ringing, she darted behind a familiar home, entering through a side door, only to find Gwen wielding a candlestick, advancing away from her. Perhaps she'd heard the door creak; Merlyn was rather impressed by her ingenuity. Slowly, she advanced on the blacksmith's daughter, wrapping her arms around her, one hand covering her mouth and the other on the candlestick. She'd seen Gwen train with a sword and didn't really feel like being hit by any kind of implement.

Gwen gasped into the servant's hand, but Merlyn shushed her, twisting her body so that they were facing each other. With a finger to her lips, she waited until the guards had run passed, listening to their shouting fade away. Then, in a hushed whisper, she began to explain.

~

Arthur couldn't really say that he was shocked that Merlyn had escaped. Frankly, he was more surprised that the court had evidently expected her to just wait to be executed. They'd simply shoved her in a cell and prayed that she'd stay there until dawn; her escapade was hardly out of character, although, with the twinkle of amusement he'd seen in a few lords eyes at the news, it didn't appear that he was the only one to dispute the charges against his servant. He'd hated himself for his own cowardice, not speaking for his lover when he could but he'd caught something within her expression, an emotion akin to guilt which had made him pause. It was only for a moment, but by the time he'd unfrozen, she had been dragged off and he directly warned that should he do anything to free her, there would be dire consequences. He'd spent the time until the alarm bells wondering how he could ellude the guards stationed in front of his door, only finding relief at the chimes from the tallest tower. They hadn't found Merlyn and, if he had anything to do with it, they never would. She wasn't guilty. She couldn't be.