I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE MERLIN CHARACTERS, ONLY THE PLOT.
This episode is set during series 3.
The day had arrived. Arthur sat on the golden chair decorated with sparkling jewels, engulfed with leather padding and he stared miserably out of the ornate windows. The Great Hall looked like a vast emptiness without the guards scattered around its perimeter. Uther was strolling gallantly across the width of the hall, looking troubled.
"Father what's on your mind?"
"Well... there's something I need to tell you about the next couple of days, you'll have to prepare your men and build them up to the best of their ability, am I making myself clear to you?" Uther questioned. Arthur leant forward on his chair looking curious, "Absolutely. What is the occasion?"
"My brother Alfred, Alfred Pendragon, is joining our company here in Camelot for a while. He can only have the best accommodation available and the highest safety surrounding him and I just have doubts about our level of... hospitality."
"Have no fear Father, I will do my best to arrange what I can do for you," Arthur exclaimed.
"Thank you, I will be holding a feast tonight to inform everyone of this and I need everyone to attend, so they are very aware of the situation. Please could you do this before sunset?" Uther enquired.
"Of course Sire," Arthur stood up then bowed and began to make his way towards the door.
"Oh and Arthur, please keep control of your servant... Merlon? Merlin? I heard from Gaius that he was missing last night and was thought to have been wrecking havoc in the tavern. It's things like this that I want to prevent from happening when Alfred arrives," Uther complained. Arthur face dropped, he nodded briskly and made his way back to his quarters.
Within three hours, Arthur had managed to relay the news to his trustworthy Knights and Morgana, who insisted on bringing her own drink to the feast as she had been suffering from frequent nightmares in the past week. Arthur relented and allowed her this exception.
"Just promise that you won't tell Uther of these dreams, as he will worry unnecessarily and he has much on his mind already. He doesn't need to worry about your minor illness," Arthur warned.
"You always had a loving heart didn't you Arthur? You obviously get your caring streak from your father," Morgana crooned sarcastically.
"I just meant..." The entrance of Guinevere had distracted Arthur from his flow of speech and his breathing noticeably deepened.
"Just what Arthur? I do worry about the people of Camelot when you become King, they will have someone leading them who doesn't know how to string full sentences together because he's talking like a blithering idiot." Arthur recoiled like he had taken a knife to the pit of his stomach, "I'm very sorry if I have upset you Morgana, I just wanted to let you know of the feast. Will you be there?" he asked, all the while watching Gwen out of the corner of his eye, making up Morgana's bed sheets.
"I suppose so, if that's what would make Uther happy," Morgana replied reluctantly. Arthur smiled sweetly at Morgana and swiftly left her bedchambers. Morgana watched the empty space in which Arthur had just left and a red glint sparked in her eye. The spark quickly vanished when Guinevere interrupted her track of thought by saying, "My lady I have left your medicine underneath your mirror, remember to take the amount Gaius told you. Enjoy the feast" Morgana smiled gracefully and Guinevere left the room.
When Morgana was totally sure that she was alone she glided over to her chest of drawers and pulled out an antique chalice. In the reflection of the mirror Morgana saw not her own face but the face of the beautiful Morgause and Morgana whispered, "The poison is ready, we just need Arthur, Uther and Alfred to all consume this liquid, the deed should be done midnight. Then we both can be the rightful rulers of Camelot."
Morgause's reflection smiled menacingly, like she had approved of what Morgana had said, and her face slowly disappeared from the surface of the chalice.
The entire banquet hall went silent as Uther graciously stood up, "I, King Uther, have an announcement to make."
From behind the royal banquet table Merlin and Gaius exchanged nervous looks. Whatever Uther was planning to say wasn't going to be good.
Whenever a banquet was called, something important was to be said, only royal or high people were permitted to go to the banquet. This was the only reason in which Merlin was glad to be Arthurs servant, so he could hear about all of the problems or announcements.
"Well my older brother, Alfred, is coming to stay in Camelot," Uther bellowed, "I would like it if we could give him an excellent welcome and a memorable stay here." Merlin let out a sigh of relief - the announcement hadn't been that bad!
"When is he getting here?" asked the shaggy haired knight Gwaine, who was sitting a few seats from the king.
"Noon tomorrow. This will be the first time that Arthur's met my dear Alfred," Uther gazed fondly at his son. "But for now we are to enjoy this wonderful meal and keep ourselves happy." Cheer broke out from within the hall and everyone started devouring the mouth-watering food. Merlin and Gaius, both clapped with the other unroyal members standing around the hall and they both ceased clapping when they saw Morgana brandish a glowing object from beneath the creases in her dress and settle it underneath the table, where no one could see it. It looked dangerously alive.
As quick as anything, they saw Morgana's head quickly bow down to the table and her green eyes glowed a familiar gold colour. Magic. Merlin looked knowingly at Gaius, if Uther saw her possessing magic, goodness knows what he'd do?
When the banquet had finished Merlin and Gauis quickly exited the Great Hall and rushed to a quiet place, where no one could see or hear them. "Gaius, Morgana is up to something and I have no trouble thinking who is helping her, why was she conjuring magic that openly in the middle of the feasting hall?" Merlin asked.
"She was lucky nobody saw her and I can't say that I didn't expect this, we both expected it! I could bet anything that Morgause is behind this too!" Gaius murmured.
"If I know anything about Morgana, this is definitely something bad. We have to try and stop what she's trying to do. We just need to know what she's thinking of doing!"
"Well, Merlin, if I'm not wrong it looked like Morgana has a deadly possession in her hands - poison!"
A/N: Is the first chapter good? Any suggestions for improvement? Comment opinions, it would be very much appreciated. Thank you!