Bound

Chapter 21

A few days passed and things were basically 'back to normal.' Merlin went back to his normal duties as Arthur's manservant, and everyone functioned as if nothing happened. The only difference was that Arthur, all the knights of the round table, and Gwen knew about his magic. Not to mention Morgana also knew and was being held in the dungeons. To Merlin's great displeasure, Arthur was also going to train Merlin to fight. His reasoning was that if Merlin was risking his neck every other day, he ought to know how to defend himself. Oh, and also Merlin had given Arthur many detailed explanations about basically everything that he learned during their time captured. Beyond all that, everything was back to normal.

Merlin was quietly cleaning Arthur's chambers one day while Arthur worked through a bunch of papers. They didn't talk quite as much as they did before, so this was fairly normal. Arthur cleared his throat gaining Merlin's attention.

"Merlin."

"Yes, sire?"

"I need your help, or maybe your advice."

Merlin was taken back for a second.

"Okay..."

"It's Morgana. I have absolutely no idea what to do with her. I mean, she's my sister! I can't execute her. If I banish her she can just bring her treachery to another kingdom, or plot against us. I also can't leave her locked up in the cells forever; eventually I'll have to do something."

"Well... what do you want to do?"

"What I want? I want to make peace with her. I want my sister back."

Arthur put his head in his hands. Why should he still care about her? She destroyed her own family, yet he still couldn't bring himself to hate her. It's almost too cruel to have hope.

"Merlin you... you knew her magic before anyone else. You two were close before; anyone could see it. You were locked in a dungeon with her for a week. Is there anything- any way that we can reach her?"

Merlin thought hard. His last encounter with her certainly didn't go well. She was probably beyond ticked at him for being Emrys. In fact, she probably would've killed without remorse given the opportunity. But still, she was willing to make a temporary truce while they were being held. He got through to her once, maybe he could again.

"Sire, if I may, in our time being held captive I was almost starting to get through to her. I know what she went through and what she's going through better than anyone else. Let me talk to her. With time, I may be able to reach her. Until then, you can just keep her locked up so she can't hurt anyone."

"Would you be okay with that?"

Merlin nodded.

***

Ever since the prince returned from his 'hunting trip' there was one cell that could not be entered, or even looked into except for a few of the prince's most trusted knights. The cell had walls of concrete and a wooden door with a small window, so people couldn't really look in anyways. What most knights didn't know was that Morgana Pendragon herself was being held within that cell. She sat in the corner of the cell for days, only really moving to eat. She didn't speak to anyone, nor would she look any of the knights in the eye. She hated them all. If it weren't for her lack of magic she would have destroyed this wretched place. Possibly the worst part was that she was completely alone. She was beginning to think that she would live in solitude for the rest of her days until she reached certain death on the pyre.

She was proven wrong when an unexpected visitor walked through the door.

Merlin was nervous, to say the least. However, he had a job to do and possibly a friend to save. Percival opened the cell door for Merlin to walk in. He observed that Morgana was sitting in the corner against the wall. She looked up, gave a scowl, and looked back down again. Merlin decided to sit in the corner facing her.

For a couple minutes it was nothing but silence. Merlin seemed in no rush to start a conversation and Morgana was still steaming with hatred. However, after a while Morgana got sick of this charade.

"Why are you here? To gloat?"

"Just to talk."

"To talk," she scoffed. "Really, Merlin, are we going to play this game? Or should I say Emrys?"

"I would prefer Merlin, and it's not a game.  I was sent to try and make peace with you."

"Ha! I think you ruined any chance of peace yourself."

"Morgana, I know you don't trust me. I know that you probably even hate me. You have to know that I'm sorry."

"Sorry. Sorry for what? For lying to me? For not telling me your true identity and helping me with my magic rather than sending me away? Or wait, was it the time that you poisoned me?"

"I get it! I have a lot to be sorry for. I blame myself for what's happened to you. My only hope is that I can atone for at least some of my many mistakes."

Morgana looked at the ground in silence. He seemed genuine. He was genuine. Although she doubted that he could ever make up for what he had done, she had to admit that he did save her life.

"In the fight, when Edith told you to finish it, why didn't you? You caused yourself harm to save me. Why?"

"I- Well I couldn't. I couldn't allow your blood to be on my hands, even if it was ultimately under the hand of Edith. We used to be friends. After everything that has happened it's the very least I could do."

"Well, I still loathe your existence, but I must say thank you."

Merlin gave a soft chuckle. He raised his arm to scratch his head, revealing his slightly red wrist. The only thing Morgana took from it was that his cuffs were gone.

"Your cuffs!"

"Oh yeah... they're gone. We found a way to remove them. He also talked about letting magic back into the kingdom; when Uther dies of course."

"Magic? Arthur?" She laughed.

"He found a way to free me, didn't he? Look, I know you don't believe me, but Arthur believes in a peaceful and just land for all people. He is not like Uther."

"Right," she scoffed. "I'll believe when I see it. If I get the chance..."

"You will! Arthur doesn't want to kill you, nor does he want to banish you or anything like that. He wants you back in his life."

"And what do you want? Why are you down here instead of him?"

Merlin hesitated, thinking of an answer. He was there because Arthur asked him to be, but of course it was more than that.

"I'm... I'm here because I can understand you better than anyone else can, and because you can understand me. I'm here because I'm your friend, and if there's even the slightest chance that I can bring you back I will gladly take it."

Morgana went silent. Was this caring? He's not supposed to care! He's not supposed to understand.

"I want to mend things with you, Morgana. We've both been through so much," he said in a low voice.

"There are some things that can't be mended," she whispered back to him.

"You're right. But we can still try."

He stood up and looked towards the door.

"You're leaving," she tried to hide the disappointment from her voice.

"I'll be back tomorrow."

He walked over and put his hand on the handle before back around, remembering something.

"When I do come back, is there anything specific you would like to eat?"

She chuckled at the ground. Why not completely change the subject and make it related to food?

"Chicken soup, please. With a side of bread if you can manage."

"I'll be sure to do so," he smiled. "I look forward to having you back."

With that, he left.