Three Women, a merlin fanfic

Three women each so different from each other.
The queen, the priestess, and the daughter of Avalon.
Fate entwined their lives together along with one man who would destroy them all.
Three women who changed everything.

Igraine

The romantic daydreamer. She'd spent so many years waiting for her knight in shining armor to come to her that when he finally came she nearly didn't believe it. Her knight who was also King Uther of Camelot.

The perfect couple. The strong king and his beautiful queen. Oh how she loved those days sitting beside him watching him rule his people with a fair just hand. When he would be told a difficult decision he would sigh and bring his hand to his face and furrow his brow. She'd reach out and gently squeeze his hand so that he knew she was there. He would raise his head and make the decision that was required, and she'd feel so proud that this was the man she was married to. But more then that she treasured the moment when everyone left them alone and he would give her that special smile he reserved only for her. That smile of pure devotion and love before he would say, 'as long as we have each other everything will be alright'

Yes those were the moments she loved the most. Those were the moments that made it worth living.

Of course she had always wanted a child, a strong little boy to take over his father's kingdom and a sweet little girl whose hair she could brush. She'd imagine how she'd sing the baby to sleep at night before giving it a kiss and placing it down in its crib.

But after many years of marriage and no sign of being pregnant she had to give up on this fantasy. She would never have her own child to love and hold.

Uther told her he didn't blame her. When she laid in bed silently crying he would wrap his arms around her and say 'as long as we have each other everything will be alright.' But she knew he was disappointed also. He was the king of Camelot - he had to have an heir, preferably a male. Otherwise the kingdom would go into chaos and the neighboring kings would swoop in and destroy Camelot.

She didn't blame him for what he did. No, she knew the requirements of ruling a kingdom. Uther had come in so happy after making his bargain and placed a kiss on her cheek telling her that he had found a solution to their problem. She would be pregnant in no time and he would have a strong child to take over the kingdom when he was gone. She had looked at him so puzzled and he had explained to her that he had made a deal with the court sorceress: Nimueh. She had promised him an heir.

"At what price?" she had asked, immediately caught off guard.

"Everything will be alright, I promise," he repeated smiling big and avoiding answering her question.

She could have gone and tried to talk Nimueh out of it the moment she had heard, but she didn't because truthfully she wanted an heir as much as Uther did. If she was honest she knew Uther wanted a child for her just as badly as he wanted a child for Camelot.

So instead she let Nimueh work with the Old Religion and laughed and smiled in joy during those nine months of pregnancy. They were the happiest months the court had known. Uther and Igraine lavished Nimueh with gifts, but the young girl would only give a small smile before she would leave in silence. Though she was young, Igraine knew the girl could sense that the Old Religion was going to do something wrong.

When Uther sat by her bedside sobbing and holding her hand telling her how sorry he was and that he didn't realize the price would be her life, she didn't blame him because she had her little boy, her Arthur.

She hadn't realized how happy she could be, until she saw that little face with her blue eyes staring up at her. It didn't matter that she was going to die, as long as he was alive. She held him close and let the tears of happiness fall as he wrapped his little hand around her pinky and Uther sobbed beside her before everything went black and fate took her life away.

Nimueh

The child who was given a heavy burden she should never have been forced to carry. She was only fourteen when she found Uther so miserable that day because his wife couldn't have the child she wanted and the heir he needed. She'd told him what she had been taught. She couldn't create a life without taking another, but he hadn't heard her. After the secret that she could give his wife a child came out he heard no more. Her warning came on empty ears.

He should have chosen an older sorceress, not a child just now learning her powers. Yes she was the most powerful that the land had seen in years, but she didn't know everything. She was still learning and was only the court sorceress because she was so powerful.

She wanted to be happy for the young couple during those nine months while the queen was pregnant. The rest of the kingdom most certainly was, but she couldn't get rid of that foreshadowing feeling that this would only end in disaster.

But of course this was when Uther chose to remember that she was only a child, and not a powerful sorceress. When she tried to tell him the truth he wouldn't see it.

The whole kingdom knew of the queen's death at the birth of the young son. Everyone was split into two emotions, complete happiness that Camelot finally had an heir and devastation that their beautiful golden queen had died.

Except Uther. She went to him right afterwards, when the queen was breathing no more, and that was when she found that the once just king had been filled with anger and a desire for revenge that would never be filled.

"You took her from me," he said his voice as cold as stone.

"I warned you when you asked, for a life to be created another life must be taken," she said trying to keep her tone even though she was slightly scared of the man looming in front of her.

"You knew she would die! You knew that the one thing I valued in the world would be taken from me!" he yelled knocking over a chair.

"I never knew! I never wanted her to die!" She begged.

"Witch! Sorceress! I will hunt down your kind and kill everyone last one of you who practices magic until the kingdom is free of you demons!" He bellowed striding towards her and knocking over another chair.

She felt any warmth that was left in the room vanish as it was replaced with a cold sense of doom.

"Don't do this Uther Pendragon. All you will cause is death and sorrow, which will not bring your wife back to you. Don't do this."

"I will kill every last one of you," he hissed at her standing dangerously close. "This I promise."

"Then this I promise you. If you if you do this I will become the beast that you think I am. I will bring you down and watch Camelot crumble. Think carefully before you decide," her eyes blaze with her warning but he doesn't pay attention.

"Guards! Arrest her!" He bellows at the top of his lungs. The guards rush in but it is too late. She might be only fourteen but the Old Religion flows threw her and she uses it to escape before they can take her.

She watches over the years as the man she once served so faithfully turns into a man filled only with hatred and anger. She watches as Gaius, the only man she ever used to talk about magic with at court becomes a traitor and sides with Uther as he murders anyone like her.

She will fulfill her warning until he stops his mad desire for revenge on something that was all his fault.

A child shouldn't know so much hatred, but then again fate must not have cared very much or it would have stopped this disaster before it destroyed everyone.

Vivian

She knew Uther before his craze. She and Gorlois were at Uther and Igraine's wedding, both smiling widely for their friends. Uther and Gorlois had shaken hands and laughed enjoying being two of the most powerful men.

When they had heard of the queen's death their court had mourned also, knowing how much this would hurt Uther.

When she had heard of Uther's hunt against magic she had told Gorlois that she insisted that he stop it. Her mother had possessed magic when she was alive, and she herself still felt the call at times. Uther's mad craze couldn't go on!

And so her husband went to visit and try to talk some sense into his old friend, but it did no good. Instead Gorlois came home with the message that Uther was sending him out to battle. He had tried to stop Uther but he wouldn't listen to anyone. One of the neighboring kingdoms was attacking Camelot's borders, sensing the kingdom's weakness and he was sending Gorlois and his army to go fight.

Gorlois held her close and she tried to convince him not to go, but there was nothing she could do. Uther was his king, Gorlois had to go.

"I'm a daughter of Avalon. Before anything else I will always be a daughter of Avalon. I must do what I can to save my people," she told him.

"I know my love. Do what you must; just make sure that you are here when I come back."

She smiles and they kiss and in a few days he rides off leaving her standing by the window watching him go.

She waits a few months before she has one of her servants let it slip around Uther how distraught she is with her husband off at war. As she knew he would Uther sent a message that he was coming to visit her. She was after all his best friend's wife, and a friend of his as well."

She gave a slight smirk seeing the message and prepared herself for his arrival. She moped around the castle, insisting how worried she was that something would happen to Gorlois.

When Uther arrived she told him how glad she was to have him there. They spent many nights together having dinner alone, him talking about how much he missed Igraine and her saying how worried she was for Gorlois.

"Maybe if you stopped your hunt on magic the neighboring kingdoms would stop attacking," she tried a few times but Uther always blew her off. It was only now that he was here with her that she realized how deep his hatred for magic was. It was a good thing he didn't know of her own magic and she made sure she kept it that way: at this rate she wouldn't put it past Uther to have her killed also if he knew.

She needed another plan. She needed to get him to call off his revenge. So she settled on the goal of weakening his pain. If she could make him love another maybe the loss of Igraine wouldn't hurt so much.

She convinced him to stay longer and searched for a woman he could love. She made sure he met with all of her ladies in waitings, but his eyes never left hers. And that was when she realized what she would have to do. She would have to betray her husband to a man who she feared so that she could protect Avalon.

And so one night she let him kiss her. She let him caress her and lead her to her bed and one by one remove her clothes. She let him take her and afterwards lay on the bed next to him until she was sure he was asleep before she grabbed her robe and moved to stand by the window.

She was a daughter of Avalon. She had told Gorlois she would do anything for Avalon, and so she had. She wouldn't tell Gorlois, but she knew if he did he would understand. He had known from the day he married her that Avalon would always come first for her.

The next day Uther left, giving her one long kiss and saying he had never expected to care for another person again. She had smiled sweetly and said she felt the same way before she watched him ride off.

He had been planning on returning when she got a letter saying that Gorlois was coming home. Seeing her husband she ran out and kissed him patiently on the steps, not able to hide her relief and happiness at seeing him again.

"Are you mine again? Have you done what you must and will now be only mine?" he asked hopefully gazing in her eyes.

"I was always yours," she whispered back before he took her to the bedroom. Lying in her bed naked with her husband's arms wrapped around her she knew that she never wanted anyone else. She had paid a hard price, but right now she just wanted to spend the rest of the days with Gorlois.

When she became pregnant she knew whose child it was. The child had been created from love and devotion, not from fear and lies.

Her daughter Morgana was born nine months after Gorlois' return. She had vivid green eyes and already a small tuff of dark hair on the top of her head. She kissed the girl and Gorlois laughed, swinging their child in the air saying "she was their princess Morgana."

When Uther visited them to congratulate them on their child he looked uneasy. He avoided her gaze and she saw that though he loved her, his friendship to her husband and the love he still held for Igraine was stronger. He would continue to hunt those with magic. He would never stop.

But the next daughter of Avalon needed to be safe. If Uther's desire for revenge never ended he would one day kill her daughter for having magic if he found out, even if she was his best friend's daughter.

Her dreams told her what she had to do. It told her of the pain and destruction that would come, but it also told her that the only way to keep her daughter safe after Gorlois and she were gone was to say this one lie. This lie that would bring hatred and anger one day to her daughter, but threw which would make her the greatest daughter of Avalon who had ever lived due to the love that would grow between her and the Prince. It was the only way to one day bring peace back to Camelot and end the hunt on magic.

So the first moment she was alone with Uther and Gorlois was out for a morning ride she told him Morgana was his daughter. He asked how she could be sure and she told him that she was a woman, she knew. She explained how she knew Gorlois would have never been able to father a child and she played on his ego saying that it could only be Uther. But she begged him to never tell Gorlois, she didn't want to hurt him.

Uther agreed and took her hand promising her that he would make sure no harm came to their daughter. He would always be there for Morgana because he loved her, and she was his.

She smiled sweetly and thanked him before Gorlois returned, and the three friends laughed and smiled with only her knowing that she had done something.

That night she stood at her balcony and stared up at the sky. She was a daughter of Avalon and had done her part, now she just had to hope that what the fates promised would one day come true.