500 Days of Freya (Merlin)

Captured sequel

Chapter 35

Warning/s:

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: These are all pre-written chapters and I need to start writing some more but there's too much schoolwork *cries*

Prompt: MamzelleHermy requested a sort of sequel to 'Captured': when Morgana takes Freya, she takes away her ability to bear children.

Merlin had to work late some nights, casting protective wards over the castle or something similar. Tonight was one of those nights, Freya had usually gone to bed by the time he had returned, so Merlin was surprised to see that their bed was still neatly made.

"Freya?" he called out uncertainly, wondering if she had curled up on an armchair with a book and lost track of time. Still, he didn't get any response from his wife, and he frowned as he bounded up the stairs to their library area.

It was possible that she had fallen asleep waiting up for him, so Merlin told himself to stop panicking and tried to force his heart to calm down.

She wasn't curled up in her favourite armchair, awake or asleep. Maybe she was in another chair, or sorting through a shelf. Merlin set off to explore the library for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

Frowning, Merlin searched the rest of his chambers; Freya was known to curl up in some quite unusual places to take a quick sleep. Explaining to Arthur that they couldn't hold a round table meeting because Freya was having a cat nap on top of the aforementioned table had been a memorable experience.

Half an hour had passed by the time that Merlin was satisfied he had combed his rooms. Now concerned about his wife, he marched from his room with a determined pace, his feet automatically taking him to Arthur's room.

He burst in without knocking, hoping that he and Gwen weren't 'busy', and asked loudly, "Have you seen Freya?"

Gwen, reading through some papers at the table, set them down and shook her head. "She was waiting in your rooms as far as I know," she replied with a hint of anxiety.

"Is she not there?" Arthur appeared, holding a dagger in one hand and a whetting stone in the other.

Merlin shook his head, his suspicions growing stronger. "I hoped she'd be here," he murmured.

Gwen and Arthur looked at each other in worry. It really wasn't like Freya to wander off, especially without leaving a note. She and Merlin were much too nervous about their relationship as it was, given everything they'd suffered through.

"Maybe she went to find you outside and you missed each other?" Arthur suggested.

Merlin let out a breath. Of course. That answer was so blindingly obvious. The relief must have shown on his face because Arthur asked (in annoyance and not affection, of course), "Did you really think that your adoring wife would go somewhere when she could be spending time with you?"

Merlin narrowed his eyes, about to make a come-back that would have been just as good as always, when Gwen interrupted. "Isn't there any kind of spell that you could use to locate her?"

Merlin hesitated. "Technically yes."

"I'm sending a 'but'."

"But it doesn't always work if your souls are too intertwined."

"Why not?" Arthur asked curiously.

Merlin rubbed his face as he tried to put the answer into terms that would make sense to those without magic. "The magic...it can't always identify the two separate souls, so I could end up locating both myself and Freya."