Ok , I know I'm sorry its been sooooooo long, like 4 months or something ridiculous I could give you reasons why but really its just due to time constraints, on an awesome note I got to meet Bradley,Rupert,Tom and Eoin at a con a few months ago . It was awesome and Eoin gave me not 1 but 2 hugs that's right *squeals * .Any way I was going to wait until i had finished the story before posting , however that may be some time away. I decided to stop waiting and at least give you a little more. Thank you so much everyone for the reviews and following this story - when the hell did it jump up to over 20 followers that's just crazy *face palm*. So just to remind you as its been ages Merlin is in love with a long time friend and princess Cassandra , they had a child called William together , Magic is now accepted. An old friend of Cassandra's has arrived in town to meet the king of incatsi aka Merlin, a tournament introducing magic was held and Morgana has turned up after two years of being missing. She has kidnapped William and whisked him away for her own purpose and this is were we come back to the story. I hope you enjoy it , i found Morgana particularly hard to write as i am too kind in nature and cant even give good daggers lol. so without further ado on we continue i hope you enjoy it and please feel free to let me know what you think i love getting reviews.

Chapter 5: William's big mouth

It had taken a while to calm Cassandra down. She had been distraught as soon as William had vanished, in a swirl of black smoke. Merlin had gathered her in his arms and rushed into the castle to move away from the chaos that was the tournament ground. She had been silent from the shock, soundless tears running down her face and uncontrollable shakes that took control of her petite frame. He took her in his arms, within the quiet comforting room; holding her tight murmuring comforting words and making circles on her back. "We will get him back, I promise you Cassandra. William will be ok". Cassandra looked up into his sparkling blue eyes "She took our son …..our son Merlin …..William is gone "she answered in a shaking whisper as uncontrollable sobs wracked her body making her knees go weak. If it wasn't for the strong grip Merlin had on her, she would have fallen to the floor. The two parents were unaware of the door opening as Hunith peaked into the room with worried eyes. Hunith cleared her throat to get the attention of the couple, she walked in and placed a comforting hand on her son, "Merlin, Arthur has called an urgent meeting in the throne room", Merlin nodded to his mother, "Can you stay with Cassandra".

"No, its ok I want to come with you. " Cassandra sniffed.

Merlin gave her a concerned smile "Are you sure? it's ok to stay here"

"No, I want to come "she stubbornly replied, standing a little straighter gaining control of her emotions.

"If you're sure, " Merlin quietly asked. Cassandra responded with a weak smile and a small nod.

They entered the council chambers together, pushing the large wooden door inwards to be greeted with Gaius, Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, Leon, Galahad, Gwen, Arthur and much to Merlin's chagrin, Kay. They were gathered around a small table looking at charts of the area. When the doors opened, they momentarily looked up from the charts, giving concerned and sympathetic smiles to the parents. Merlin, Cassandra and Hunith approached the table; Gwen gave Cassandra a smile and a small squeeze on the arm, as she came to stand next to her.

Arthur got back to the topic and pointed to the small kingdom far to the south of Camelot ,"We know that Morgana will eventually end up here, in Brenna, "he indicated.

"Sire, it will take us at least a month to travel that distance." Leon stated.

"But the summer solstice is only three weeks away. We will never make it.", Cassandra cried.

"If we ride swiftly and light; it is possible to arrive in time." Merlin comforted.

"Merlin's, right Cassandra it is possible "Galahad confirmed.

"Can we be certain that Morgana will travel straight to Brenna, or even stay? "Gwen stated concerned.

Arthur glanced at his wife with understanding, "We have to assume Brenna is her ultimate destination, and where she wants us to go. It is obviously a trap of some kind "

"I agree, Morgana would not have told us where she was taking William; unless she intended to draw us out. The quickest way to Brenna is through Odin's kingdom. " Merlin supplied with a grimace, it was well known that Camelot and Odin were not on good terms. Odin blamed Arthur for his son's death and so retaliated by trying to assassinate Arthur, some years ago .Odin was also responsible for king Uther's death.

Everyone around the small table paused in contemplation; the journey to Brenna would prove a challenging and a great risk. Not one among them would leave the child in the hands of Morgana, even if it meant their own lives.

"We leave at dawn!" Arthur announced. The occupants in the room shuffled out to attend various jobs in order to prepare for the long journey ahead. Most of the day was gone and the sun sank further below the horizon, casting a fiery red glow on the surrounding fields; not a single reed rustled in the still air –even the insects normally present seemed to be late in appearing. It was as if mother earth knew that this was the calm before the storm.

oOo

William groaned as he opened his eyes to the dark forest. He blinked in confusion trying to understand what had happened and where he was. The throbbing headache and rolling nausea caused him to wince in pain. As he moved his arm, a loud clink echoed in the silence. He slowly sat up glancing around at the small fire, giving off a soft warm glow in the otherwise oppressive darkness. The loud noise he had heard came from the rough metal clasps that encircled his wrists; they were giving off a small blue light. He had no idea where he was, all he remembered was arguing with his mother before he was about to show everyone some magic. He couldn't find anything to explain his current predicament, there was no one around apart from a very odd looking white rock lying just outside of the fire light. He swore he could see movement as if a rib cage was rising and falling. William shook his head putting it down to his current state, rocks couldn't breathe? He looked down at his hands now and frowned at the offensive metal. Well he wasn't useless the first thing to do was to remove them. William took a deep breath and concentrated on the manacles "Unspanne þás mægþ" , as soon as the words left his lips a cold shiver ran up his spine. He groaned as the pounding in his head increased, causing tears to slip down his face. It subsided to a dull ache within a minute, he looked down to his hands, expecting the cuffs to be open and finding that they were still firmly closed. Why hadn't they opened?

"It won't work, there's no point in trying "a woman's voice startled the young prince, he hadn't heard her approach – too focused on his task.

"What do you mean? Why not? "He asked looking up at the tall slender figure shrouded in darkness. She was wearing a midnight black cloak with a hood covering her head, casting her face in shadows. It was hard to see anything other than the bright emerald eyes sparkling with danger.

"It's enchanted and stops the wearer using magic. Only the one that put them on can remove the chains. "She said almost sympathetically, but with a hint of bitterness in her voice that sent shivers down the young prince's spine. "I can remove them".

"Please take them off "he said desperately, stretching out his shackled hands towards the witch.

The stranger moved slowly into the firelight, dropping the logs that she had been carrying and pulled down her. She held her hand over the cuffs and recited "Unspanne þás mægþ" with a flash of golden eyes and a click the cuffs opened. As soon as the manacles fell away from William's hands he sighed with relief and joy. His headache receded and he felt better than he had moments ago. He rubbed his wrists with his hands to get the circulation back and dissipate the ache from the chafing. Just to test that everything was now working how it should he cupped his hands together and whispered "swearthæwen hræfnesléac" a purple orchid appeared in his hands. He smiled at his creation he always did enjoy making flowers his mother loved nature; it must have been where he got the talent for them. He smiled and then looked up at the woman who he now recognized. As soon as the witch had come into the light pulling down her thick hood, her pale face and raven tangled hair was visible. There was only one person that he had been told about over the past year that matched her description; his aunty Morgana.

"Don't think you will be able to run away and use your magic against me. You won't get far and I will put these back on if you try anything", She shook the manacles menacingly and they clinked together echoing with a promise of suffering in the still night, "Trust me the symptoms get worse the longer you have them on" she finished with a sneer.

William rolled his eyes "Where will I go. I don't even know where we are let alone the way to get back home, plus its pitch black I would trip over the first tree branch sticking up " William shrugged.

Morgana frowned at the boy in front of her "Brave words for a child!" she probed.

He should be scared but he just didn't find the witch in front of him threatening, "I don't think you will hurt me, besides my father is going to come kick your ass, not to mention Uncle Arthur and Uncle Gwaine. Oh, you have no idea what my mother is like, if you think my father and uncles are bad wait until you meet her. "The little boy grinned up at the annoyed glare [2] he was receiving from his aunty.

"Why, aren't you confident now?", she replied condescendingly," Wait and see how long that lasts. Your Father is nothing compared to me and Arthur will not escape me this time. They have no idea where we are or any way to follow us and if they do I have a few surprises for them "she snarled with glee.

William just snorted, he had full confidence in his family and just to annoy the witch further he smiled charmingly and held out the purple orchid to Morgana " Ok whatever you say my lady" he mocked rolling his eyes " here have a beautiful flower, be careful it won't shrivel up and die like your cold heart" .

Morgana growled and smacked the flower out of his hand and onto the ground before raising her hand again and striking the boy hard across the face. It had such force that it made the child's head ricochet, bringing tears to his eyes as the stinging sensation burned the entire left side of his cheek. He really should learn to keep his mouth shut he thought as the manacles came tightening around his wrists again. "I think you should have some time in those to learn how to behave" the witch spat. She roughly grabbed him in her anger and dragged him over to a mat where she pushed him onto the floor and then cast the sleeping spell. William's last thought was maybe it wasn't such a good idea to provoke her.