- Merlin finds himself face to face with Vortigern, High King of Britain and dude with a seriously scary name. But Vortigern looks desperate to Merlin, like a cornered man.
- Vortigern's definitely a king without much swag—his court is in a tent-like structure, and his "nobles" are rough fighting men.
- But Merlin admires the place where Vortigern's chosen to dig in: it's an easily defensible spot way up in the hills.
- Here's a kink in the plan that Merlin didn't count on: Blackbeard dragged Niniane with them on the journey to Vortigern.
- Merlin can tell that his mom has also lost her power and some of her health. He doesn't have the opportunity to tell her the truth of what happened to him after the fire.
- Vortigern acts all courteous to Niniane, calling her princess and welcoming her. But he doesn't hide his hostility to Merlin. He calls in a circle of evil-looking priests to stand behind his throne.
- Clearly, these guys do NOT have a soft spot for Merlin.
- Niniane spends her time trying to convince Vortigern that Merlin had nothing to do with Camlach's rebellion. But she doesn't beg: she's calm and royal about the whole thing.
- Vortigern comes clean: he wants to know who Merlin's father is. But Niniane is used to this, and she puts him off.
- Merlin has the paranoid thought that Vortigern knows who his real dad is—and even worse, that maybe he or the priests can read his mind. He's totally certain that he'll be tortured for that info.
- When Niniane resists giving Vortigern the name, he loses his chill and starts to rage. But Niniane doesn't back down, and she says he'd have to kill her first.
- Meanwhile, Merlin feels those priests staring into his soul. He knows he has to keep even the thought of Ambrosius out of his head in case they can read minds.
- Merlin can't even summon his power to reach out to Niniane to calm her. What good is that power, anyway?
- Niniane changes her tactics—there's no way she'll tell Vortigern her shameful secret with all those people hanging around. Vortigern dismisses everyone but the priests.
- Merlin assesses the priests: there's lots of death in their eyes, but there's no real power. He doesn't know what to make of that.
- Merlin also feels helpless in this situation: he has no supernatural powers (maybe because Galapas is dead?) and not enough strength to help his mother out.
- Niniane tells Vortigern that she's perfectly down with revealing Merlin's father's name now that the rest of the court is gone.