A Good Man is Hard to Find

(13)

A commotion in the hallway roused Gwen, who had been dozing by Arthur's bedside, and she slipped out, carefully easing the door closed behind her.

'Where's Arthur?' Gwaine asked, as soon as he saw her.

'He's asleep. Why, what's the matter?'

'Morgana woke up.'

She gasped, but he quickly cut in. 'She hasn't done anything. She won't even really say anything. But it's only a matter of time,' he added darkly.

'No... magic?' she asked, hesitantly.

'None.' Gwaine looked grim, nonetheless. None of them were sure what Morgana was capable of, but her display at the riot had terrified Gwen. Anyone who could do such a thing would surely make quick work of Camelot's dungeons. 'We need to inform the king.'

Gwen's protective instinct kicked in immediately. 'No, absolutely not. Nobody is to disturb him. If she's not causing any trouble then, well, it can just wait until he's, you know, better...' she trailed off, becoming self-conscious as she realised that Gwaine and several other knights were staring open-mouthed at her vehemence and ferocity.

'He'd want to be informed, my lady,' Leon cut in, gently. She scowled at him, again, for the honorific.

She considered. The man in question was, technically, the king. However, she found her feelings were fairly resolute on the subject. 'I... don't really care what he wants at the moment. He's proven himself to be thoroughly irresponsible when it comes to his own safety. So he can be in charge of the kingdom, and, you know, the law and everything. But he's not in charge of his own well-being, because he's basically... no good at that.'

Leon looked a bit taken aback at this novel idea, but Gwaine was grinning broadly. 'As you say, my lady.'

'Oh, that's quite enough of that,' she said crossly, and turned away, blushing furiously.

~/~/~/~

Arthur slept for another eight hours. The knights took shifts nervously watching Morgana and reporting to Gwen, who maintained her startlingly ferocious guard over the sleeping king, while also managing to check on the condition of Merlin (also sleeping, though he stirred briefly at one point, complained of a headache, ate some soup, threw it up and went back to sleep) and oversee the setup of a cleanup operation to salvage the castle from the state Morgana's men had left it in.

When the king woke, however, there was no preventing him from getting out of bed, though she did manage to make him sit still long enough to change the dressings on his wounds and make him eat something, mostly by refusing to provide him with a shirt until he had done so. When he finally emerged from the narrow room, looking considerably better than he had done at the end of the battle (though that, Gwen grumbled, was not saying much), he found a yawning Gwaine on his way down to take up a second shift on Morgana-watch.

'Sleeping Beauty! I see Lady Guinevere finally released you from your tower!'

Gwen scowled at him and stomped off to check on Gaius. Arthur cast a curious look at her before returning the smile. 'How are you, Gwaine?'

The knight had visible bruises from his time in the dungeons, but he grinned widely. 'Rested, fed, and on my way to look at a beautiful lady for four hours.'

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and he clarified, 'Guard duty. The lady in question is evil, by all accounts, but nonetheless, beautiful.'

'I'll come with you,' Arthur said immediately. 'We can't just leave her in the cells and wait for her to turn one of her fine guards into a toad.'

Gwaine was on the point of asking what exactly the king would do to remedy that, but a quick look at Arthur's eyes silenced him. Despite his light tone, there was no making light of what he would have to do next.

They walked companionably down to the dungeons. The castle was so familiar that it almost seemed that the invasion had never happened, but there were tell-tale splashes of blood, singed tapestries and rubble in corners testifying to the recent battle. Both of them had grown more intimately familiar with the dungeons in the last week than they had ever had cause to before.

The knight on duty deflated with relief when he saw Gwaine, then sprang upright in a clumsy salute when he noticed Arthur following. Arthur nodded distractedly at him and he scuttled off.

Morgana was lying on her back on the small cot with her eyes closed and her hands folded on her breast, like a princess in a fairy tale. She didn't stir when they entered.

Arthur glanced at Gwaine. 'I won't be leaving you alone with her, if that's what you're going to suggest,' said the knight immediately. Arthur hesitated, and then nodded, moving closer to Morgana's cell. Gwaine leaned against the doorway with feigned nonchalance, watching his friend hawkishly.

'Morgana?'

She stiffened just slightly, but didn't open her eyes.

'I need to speak with you,' Arthur added, mildly. He stood facing the barred wall of the cell with his shoulders squared and his weight balanced between his feet: a warrior stance, only slightly dampened by his pale, wan face. There was a long silence.

'I have nothing to say to you,' she hissed, when it became apparent that he wasn't going to go away.

'I find myself in the difficult position you were in some days ago. I should have you executed. I must have you executed, since that would be the fate of any other person who had caused a fraction of the damage you have caused to Camelot. And yet...' He chewed his lip, briefly, conscious of Gwaine's interested eyes on him. 'Like you, I find myself... reluctant.'

She snorted derisively. 'Believe me, I have never been reluctant to kill you, brother.' She spat the final word as if it was the filthiest in the language. 'I would kill you with great pleasure.'

Arthur didn't blink. He'd expected that. 'And yet I am alive.'

'Have you come here to gloat?' she shot back, quick as a striking snake.

Arthur took a shaky breath, pressing his knuckles against his lips agitatedly. 'I have come here... because I don't know what to do. And you are the only person I can think of who will not advise me to execute you.'

She opened her eyes at that, finally, and turned to him, incredulous. 'You're here... for my advice?'

'Something like that,' he replied, softly. He could feel Gwaine's stare against the side of his head, but the knight tactfully remained silent, for once in his life. Arthur had been turning over the options in his head ever since he awoke. There was no hope of reconciliation with Morgana. Even if he was right about her inability to actually kill him, he would never be able to trust her, and he suspected she had no such compunction about Gwen, or Merlin, or anyone else that he loved. He could not keep her in the cell indefinitely, because as soon as she regained her magic she would be able to escape, causing untold destruction to the castle when she did so. And only a fool would let her go.

And yet, every time he imagined sending her to the executioner's block, his whole being rejected the notion. She was his sister: by blood as well as by childhood. The short time that she had been his enemy still felt insignificant compared to a lifetime of shared jokes, squabbles, pranks, and mischievous alliances against his father's long-suffering manservant. He could no more order her execution than he could have ordered Gwen's, or his own father's.

She was staring at him; her wide-eyed surprise made her look younger, more like the Morgana of his memory and less like the embittered sorceress of recent months.

'I could give you my word that I will leave Camelot,' she began, but he shook his head.

'There is no oath you can give that I could believe,' he said sadly. 'I am not – quite – so much of a fool as you take me for.'

She glowered, and for a moment she seemed on the point of making a comment about his foolishness, but changed her mind. There was another long pause, during which Morgana seemed to be considering him intently.

'Suppose I knew of a spell, which could guarantee my exile. It would make me unable to come back within the boundaries of Camelot.'

Arthur looked up sharply. She seemed sincere.

'Is that possible? You would... you could do that?' he asked.

'It seems preferable to execution. And I could still try to kill you if you ventured beyond your borders, of course, if I felt like it.'

He smiled crookedly. It was hard to tell, through the layer of cold malice which she wore like a mask over her face, but he thought that had almost been a joke. Gwaine shifted angrily behind him, though, clearly less amused.

'And it's possible?' He was morbidly interested. Magic had always been such a taboo that its workings were a complete mystery to him.

'I know of such a spell. I have never performed it, however.'

Arthur considered. 'Leave it with me,' he said, and turned to go. It was almost a perfect solution, if Morgana was speaking the truth. It felt odd, collaborating with her like this, almost like old times. Though it would be a huge relief, the idea that he would never see her again also came with a melancholy tinge.

He headed for the exit. Gwaine caught his arm as he passed. 'Are you serious, Arthur? This is the maddest scheme you've ever had.'

'I'm not sure yet,' he replied, in a low voice. 'I... will investigate the possibility.'

Gwaine tried to look deferential, without much success. 'Look, I know it's not my place to say so...'

'But I should have her executed? I know. But I can't... I really... I'm sorry.'

Gwaine caught something in his eyes, a kind of naked honesty which made him swallow further objections. He let Arthur leave, and turned back to Morgana, half expecting to see her grinning maliciously at him, having outwitted her brother again. But she had returned to the bed, as still as an alabaster monument.

~/~/~/~

Arthur pushed the door to Gaius' chambers gently, not wanting to wake the old man if he was still resting. But he found him sitting up in bed, slowly drinking a cup of soup, with Guinevere looking on. She stood as soon as she saw him and hurried over to take his hand and lead him to a chair. He wanted to admonish her for fussing, but he was also quietly grateful. He felt lightheaded and breathless after the short climb from the dungeons.

After they had each asked after one another's health, Arthur turned serious eyes on Gaius. 'Gaius, I need to ask you about something... delicate.' The old man's eyebrows shot up in alarm, as though he was expecting some scandalous confession. 'Or rather, illegal.' Arthur clarified, realising immediately that this was hardly an improvement. He rushed on.

'I spoke with Morgana just now. I need to ask if you still have books of – of magic.' Gaius looked at him shrewdly. 'I need to find out if there is a spell to exile somebody from the kingdom so that they will be unable to return.'

'You want to exile Morgana?' Gaius asked immediately. Gwen made a quiet noise of disagreement, squeezing Arthur's hand. 'But you don't trust her to stay away, without some... guarantee.'

'Exactly.' Arthur was grateful for the healer's understanding, and for Gwen's restraint. He knew his friends would doubt this decision, but of all of them, Gaius and Gwen had known Morgana from childhood as he had, they would share his difficulty forgetting how she had been before.

'I have heard of such a spell,' Gaius said cautiously. 'But who could you ask to perform it? Morgana herself could not be trusted, and in any case, we have reason to believe that her magic has been somehow disabled during the battle.'

'I know,' Arthur said quickly. 'I know that. But there was a sorcerer... an old man, living nearby... if he is still living? The man who couldn't save my father...'

Gwen shifted unhappily again. 'Arthur,' she whispered, 'are you sure you can trust...?'

'He is still living,' Gaius cut in. 'And he would be capable of performing the spell. But I suggest you discuss this with Merlin, before you make up your mind.'

'With Merlin?' Arthur echoed, startled. 'What does he know of the sorcerer?'

'Nonetheless, I suggest you ask him,' Gaius said firmly. He put the soup down on the table at his side and lay back in the bed. Arthur took the hint.

'I'll let you get some sleep,' he murmured, taking Gwen's hand as he stood up. Together, they went to seek out Merlin.

~/~/~/~/~

Every time I think this is over, it grows by a chapter. We're nearly there, folks, but it turns out the issues between Arthur and Morgana are too complicated to wrap up in one instalment. Thank you, as ever, to everybody reading this!