Love, Faith and Family

Chapter 103

"You're right. It's certainly not natural," Gaius said to Merlin as he observed the twined branches that cascaded down from a tree, the branches that had been the marker for Miriam when she walked through this area earlier to find Morgana.

"It's Morgana. I'm sure of it," Merlin replied as he continued walking, scouring the woods, per Arthur's request, to see if they could pick up any trace of the person Morgana had met. Merlin was also not in the best mood as he'd been unable to locate his sister after sending Tyr off to Ealdor.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Gaius asked as he walked with a cane next to Merlin.

"Gwaine said he saw them somewhere around here."

"There, on that branch," Gaius pointed as Merlin pulled a torn piece of blue cloth with silver embroidery from a bush.

"It's soft. I think it's silk," Merlin said as he held it before passing it to Gaius who'd pulled a small magnifier from his pocket.

"With embroidery of silver and gold. Only the highest and most wealthy could afford this," he revealed and something clicked as Merlin pulled his water skin from his jacket pocket and cleaned off the dirt from the cloth.

His jaw then dropped, mirroring the sun that was setting in the sky.

"When I cornered Mira earlier today, she was wearing a cloak that was the exact same colour as this. And who could afford such a fine piece of clothing like the queen can?"

Gaius also began to grow worried as he tucked away his magnifier.

"This road leads back to Camelot. Come, we must find her quickly," he said as Merlin nodded and they walked as fast as Gaius could manage until they reached the edge of Camelot.

"That's Mira's knife!" Merlin exclaimed as he saw the blade glinting in the fading sunlight, kneeling on the ground as he scooped it up.

"Merlin, look," Gaius exclaimed as he pointed to the markings in the tree. "What does it mean?"

"It's a code," Merlin explained, remembering when Miriam had taught it to him. "Mira and Arthur made it up in case of emergency. It's how she led us to him when we were taken by the Lamia."

"Can you translate it?"

Merlin pointed to the letter M and the X next to it.

"That means Miriam and no others," he began.

The second X.

"No direction."

Merlin grew nervous at the next symbol. A.

"This should be her destination," he explained as Gaius studied it. 

"Perhaps, it could be her goal? A slightly skewed interpretation of a destination," Gaius explained and Merlin grew even more worried as there was only one thing it could stand for. 

"Arthur." 

His finger then ran over the unmarked bark next to the A.

"She didn't mark whether or not she had an enemy," he said softly, mostly to himself. "Tyr was right. She's fighting herself. She held on long enough to mark part of this message. She's in trouble, Gaius."

"I fear you may be right. I think whatever Morgana did to her at the dark tower gave her control over Miriam."

"But Mira's heart can never be enchanted," Merlin pointed out, squeezing the hilt of his sister's knife in his hand.

"I think Morgana may have learnt her lesson from what happened with Lancelot and enchanted her head instead. Her head controls her heart -"

"But not all the time. Sometimes the heart controls the head and that's when Mira's able to break free of the spell," Merlin finished as Gaius nodded before his eyes widened.