More Than A Servant

Chapter 10

Merlin had attempted to sleep a good portion of the night. However, the fact that he was upright with his hands tied above his head made sleeping exceedingly difficult. Therefore, in reality he spent most of the night thinking.

It was now around morning, and Merlin can hear Morgana stirring in her bed. Great. Time for a wonderful new day, he thinks to himself. He waits for her to get up, but she doesn't. She just continues to stir in her bed. Just as he is starting to think that something could be wrong, he hears something like whimpering.

"Morgana?"

Morgana couldn't hear him. All she is aware of is the fact that she's being poisoned, by her friend! She knows what is coming next as she takes the bottle from Merlin, but she can't stop herself. Suddenly her whimpering turns to choking.

"Morgana!" Merlin shouts. What is happening? It must be a nightmare.

"MORGANA!"

She wakes up with a start. She tried to focus on controlling her breathing. It takes her a few seconds to gather her bearings and realize that she is not actually dying. She looks up and realizes that Merlin was there the whole time, looking concerned.
She shakes herself off and gets up, composing herself.

"Are you okay?" Merlin questions.

"I'm fine."

"Nightmares?" He looks at her with pity.

Morgana pauses, considering answering, then she continues what she's doing. She is not in the mood for talking. She only has one goal: finding Emrys. She can't let herself get distracted.

Finally, she finds the book she was looking for and opens to the spell she planned to perform. All the while Merlin is looking at her warily. Whatever is coming it can't be good.

"So Merlin, how are we today? Ready to answer some questions?"

Merlin scoffs.
"Depends on the questions."

"But of course. Although, I think you'll find that you'll be a lot more willing to talk in a moment."

"What are you talking-"

"Gwirioned hawd."

The spell started to take effect immediately. Merlin felt a tingling sensation all through he body. When it finally stopped his limbs welt weak and heavy, even to the point that he couldn't stand up normally. He was also very dizzy, and his concentration was off.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"What is this?" His words come out slurred.

Morgana smiles.
"Oh it's just a harmless little spell. It's meant to make you more... let's say suggestible." Merlin groans.
"So, lets start off easy shall we? Where are you from?"

"Ealdor."

"Who do you work for?"

"Arthur."

"What's your mother's name?"

"Hunith."

All the answers came so easily. They just slip off the tongue without a second thought. In the back of his mind, Merlin knows this is very not good. It's incredibly hard to filter out answers when he doesn't have full capacity of his brain.

"Have you met any sorcerers?"

"Yes."

"Do you know Emrys?"

"Ye-"

It's too late. By the time Merlin realizes what he is saying, Morgana already knows the answer to the question. She was right. Merlin does know about Emrys. In this state, it can't be long before he at least gives her a clue as to who Emrys is.

"Who is this Emrys?"

Merlin looks down and doesn't answer. What little bit of concentration he has left is devoted to not answering anything about Emrys.

"Merlin," Morgana says sweetly, "who is Emrys?"

Merlin starts to feel the tingling sensation again, but this time it's in his head. It grows stronger and stronger in his brain compelling him to answer the question. Morgana bends down forcing Merlin to look her in the eyes.

"Who. Is. Emrys?"

Just as Merlin feels like he's on the verge of answering there is a knock on the door.  Merlin breathes a sigh of relief. The distraction was just enough to make him come somewhat back to his senses.

"What?" Morgana exclaims! She was so close. It was right on the tip of his tongue she could feel it. Morgana angrily walks over to the door and opens it. Agravane. She walks out the door and closes it behind her.

"This has better be good Agravane. I was just about to get useful information out of my prisoner."

Agravane is slightly taken aback. Frankly he is surprised that the boy is even still alive.

"My lady, I just wanted to inform you that Arthur knows you have Merlin. He's going to send a search party for you."

"What?"

"He's sending knights near the Valley of the Fallen Kings. They will question the nearby villages. It's only a matter of time before they get to you."

Morgana's mind was reeling. How did this happen? She knows she can't just pack up and move; at least not right now. She'll just have to be on the look at for knights. Extra protection around the hovel couldn't do any harm.

"Thank you Agravane. Keep me updated on any new information."

"Of course My Lady," he turns and leaves.

Just as she was on the brink of getting new information this had to happen. She was so close! At this point, she knew she needed to put more protective spells around the hovel, including some cloaking spells. By the time that's over, she'll have no energy to finishing questioning Merlin!

She sighs to herself. It's seems that Morgana will have to wait until tomorrow to get more answers.