Ta Dah, I'm back.
Did you miss me?
Vex
Camilla watched as Gaius walked away from her father. She stood in the shadows in the large hall so no one could see her. She let the silence hang as Gaius left and her father continued to look out of the window to the vast land below.
"He is right father." Camilla eventually said as she stepped into the light besides him. "Though I wish it were not true, Morgana has been missing for over a year now and the likelihood of finding her gets smaller every day."
"How dare you give up on her!" Her father seethed.
"I will never give up on her!" Camilla shot back. "But Morgana would not want to come back to this. A kingdom roped in grief for the many men who have died looking for her; a kingdom which is weak and susceptible to attack. You have to think as a King not just her guardian."
"No." Her father stated clearly. "If it were you or Arthur you know Morgana would not rest until you were found and neither would I. She deserves the exact same treatment." Camilla couldn't help but bow her head in shame at her father's words for of course he was right. "The search for her shall continue."
Camilla gave a small curtsey before leaving her father alone. She headed to her favourite battlement to look out to the east of Camelot. She could feel tears threaten to spill like they so often did these days but managed to restrain them.
She looked over the woodland and fear engulfed her. Arthur and Merlin were risking their lives right now to find yet another important person in her life lost to magic.
"Please come back safe Morgana." Camilla whispered but her voice was lost to the wind.
Camilla could not believe the news. Edith had woke her up to tell her but Camilla still felt as if she were in a dream.
She burst into the chamber to see the missing ward sat up in her bed. The two looked at each other and both their faces erupted into large smiles.
Camilla rushed forward and enveloped Morgana in a hug so tight the ward could not breathe.
"I thought you lost from us." Camilla whispered into Morgana's shoulder. When she pulled back the ward could see the faint trickle of a tear roll down the Princess's cheek. "Don't you dare do anything like that again."
"I will try Camilla." Morgana gave her a soft smile but Camilla did not see as she was already wrapping Morgana in another hug.
"You know we should be letting her rest." The familiar voice of Arthur said from the doorway. Camilla and Morgana pulled apart to look at the Prince of Camelot.
"He is right." Camilla gave Morgana a small smile. "I just wanted to make sure what I had heard was true. Also how are you feeling?"
At this point Arthur sat opposite Camilla on the bed so Morgana was sat between them.
"Ecstatic." Morgana shrugged. "I never thought I would be back here. I was kept in a cell for almost a year, I thought I'd go mad."
"How did you escape?" Arthur asked. Camilla took one of Morgana's hands in her own to offer comfort.
"They moved me about a week ago. I don't know why. It may have been the patrol from Camelot." She answered.
"The patrol found you?"
"I thought I was gonna be free. But then I saw them killed. Every one of them cut down. But that night, the bandits were distracted by their spoils. I took my chance. When I saw you Arthur, I couldn't believe it." Morgana smiled at the memory, Camilla gave her hand a small squeeze. "I think I need to rest."
"Of course." Camilla smiled. Stepping away from Morgana to allow Arthur to hug her. "You're safe now, nothing will harm."
Camilla looked to the doorway to see Merlin stood in there looking away from the intimate moment. When he felt eyes on him he looked to up to catch Camilla's gaze. The princess felt her cheeks redden before she looked back to Arthur.
"We'll let you get some sleep." Arthur stated before leaving the room. Camilla went to follow but stopped at the sound of Morgana's voice.
"Merlin. I want to speak to you."
Camilla looked to Merlin but he was staring straight at Morgana. Camilla briefly looked back to the ward then to Merlin. She placed her hand on his forearm, a move which did not go unnoticed by Morgana. At the touch Merlin's head snapped to the princess.
"I know she wants to talk but she needs rest and so do you by the look of it. Don't take too long." Camilla whispered quietly so Morgana could not hear.
Merlin's gaze drifted to the hand still on his arm and hoped his swallow wasn't as visible as he thought. Camilla mistaking his nervousness for awkwardness let go of his arm. She gave one small smile before leaving the room.
Upon leaving the two alone she saw Arthur just up the corridor from the stairs to Morgana's room. She quickly dashed after him and caught him in a large hug.
"Thank you." She whispered to his shoulder but her brother still heard. "Not just for Morgana but for coming back alive yourself."
"My pleasure as always Camilla." Arthur said with a hint of sarcasm but he was mainly focused on giving his sister a large hug in return. He had been away for so long and he had missed her more then he thought he would. Of course he would never tell her that though.
"Arthur are you-" Camilla stopped herself when she saw Merlin stood just inside the room with a bucket over his head. She couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Upon hearing it was Camilla, Merlin quickly scrambled to remove the bucket from his head but all he did was end up hitting the bucket against it. This caused Camilla's laugh to increase tenfold, at this point Merlin was glad for the bucket as she couldn't see how red his face was.
"I'm sorry." Camilla said through giggles as she removed the bucket from Merlin's head. "I shouldn't laugh so much. I don't remember laughing like that for a while though."
Camilla placed the bucket on the table and turned to face Merlin straight on. She could sense something had changed in Merlin in the past year, what though she was not sure. She did enjoy the extra company he gave her as she no longer had to seek him out as often, as he would always be nearby. Merlin seemed to be doing a lot more chores which required he go past her chambers. Not to mention he was nearly always in the stables when she went for a ride.
Then there were other times though it was as if the two had not spoken a single word to each other before. If it were not for Morgana's abduction Camilla would have thought more about Merlin's behaviour around her but as it was Camilla simply took comfort in the fact Merlin was there by her side more and more.
"I see my brother wasted no time in getting you back to chores." Camilla commented.
"That's Arthur." Merlin gave a small smile while rubbing the back of his neck, avoiding the Princess's eye contact. "Always making others clean up his dirty work, literally."
Camilla gave a laugh at Merlin's statement giving him enough confidence to look her in the eyes. He really had missed that laugh and smile, it had been rarely seen since Morgana's disappearance. The sun shone off Camilla's necklace and Merlin's eyes were drawn to the small dragon pendant she wore.
"You still wear that?" Merlin asked, unbelieving. He gave a weak point to the necklace, Camilla looked down. Immediately her face turned red having been caught wearing Merlin's birthday present to her. She began to fiddle with the dragon before looking Merlin back in the eye.
"Every day." She told him truthfully. "You pick very good jewellery."
"It's a gift." Merlin shrugged but on the inside he was beaming.
"Ah Camilla what are you doing in my chambers...with my man servant?" Arthur asked as he walked back into the room and eyed the two suspiciously.
Camilla turned from Merlin to look at her brother.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go for a ride. It has been a while since we've just enjoyed riding together and there will be no chance to tomorrow with the preparations for the feast." Camilla answered.
"You're right. Merlin prepare our horses." Arthur commanded of his servant. "And clean yourself up while you're at it. You're dripping everywhere."
Merlin shot Arthur a look before giving a slight nod and leaving the room. As he did so he turned to look back to Camilla who gave him a small wave which Arthur could not see. He simply smiled back at her.
Today really was turning out to be a good day.
"Standing here, seeing so many happy faces, seems almost like a dream. I can tell you, I have not felt like this in a long time." Uther announced as he stood up. The hall quietened to listen to their King.
"What, drunk?" Arthur joked causing laughter to erupt around the room, Camilla's included. Her father simply swatted him on the arm confirming her brother's words.
"Drunk with happiness." The laughter died down and Uther turned his attention to Moragana. "I would have searched the entire world, the seas, the skies, the stars, for that smile. To have it stolen from me was like a blade to my heart. Morgana, there are no words. You mean more to me that you will ever know. To Lady Morgana."
"To Lady Morgana." The court chimed. Normal chatter resumed.
"I need some air." Uther excused himself, leaving the feast to continue without him.
Camilla turned to Morgana who was sat in Camilla's usual chair. The chair was closer to the King's however it was a feast in her honour after all.
"So Camilla with everything going on I have yet to simply talk to you girl to girl." Morgana gave a small smirk, bringing her goblet to her lips.
"I have been deprived of that type on conversation since you left, Arthur was not a worthy substitute." Camilla smiled back, she noticed Merlin had been called by her brother and the two were the other side of Morgana to her.
"No one is a worthy substitute for me." Morgana reminded her, Camilla couldn't help but smile seeing the Morgana she loved finally shining through.
"True." The princess conceded as she took a drink from her wine.
"So tell me, you are of an age where surely Uther wishes to marry you off for some sort of alliance between Kingdoms. You are to tell me he has not tried yet? Or no dashing prince or Knight has seen your beauty and wishes to make you his wife?"
Camilla chocked a little on wine and quickly brought her napkin up to dap at her mouth.
"Sorry, it's a direct question I know but it's something I wondered about this past year." Morgana explained. "Wondering despite me being in that hell hole, that you might have finally found your prince."
Camilla reached over and gave Morgana's hand a small squeeze, the ward smiled in reassurance.
"There were talks of maybe an alliance with Odin, even Cenred at one point. The council heard he was looking for a wife and they thought offering me might ease the tension between our Kingdoms." Camilla admitted. Secretly she was disgusted at the thought of how the council had discussed her life, making her choices for her; acting like she was their property. "Thankfully nothing came of it. The court was distracted with your abduction so my marriage status was of little importance."
"Surely there has been at least one person who has caught your eye?" Morgana asked, when Camilla's eyes subconsciously flicked to Merlin, her suspicions were confirmed.
"None at all." As quick as she looked, Camilla looked away hoping Morgana hadn't noticed. The princess quickly returned to her goblet to hide the red of her cheeks. She did not see the smirk spread across Morgana's face.
It was then they heard a scream.
Camilla rushed forward with Morgana and the two pulled back the covers to the King's bed.
"Careful." Morgana commanded as Arthur and Merlin lay Uther down. She was quick to pull the covers back up. "Is he going to be alright?"
"He should sleep 'til morning." Gaius answered. Camilla shot a worried look to Arthur and the two followed after Gaius.
"What could've made him like this?" Arthur called out they had reached the corridor. Merlin and Gaius turned to face the two royal siblings.
"I've no idea." The physician answered.
"Gaius, he was lying on the ground crying." Arthur stated.
"Exhaustion." Gaius suggested.
"I've never seen exhaustion do that to a man." Camilla pointed out as the two approached the man servant and physician. "There's something you aren't tell us. What's wrong with him?"
"When I found him, he was mumbling. Most of it was incoherent, but...".
"What?" Arthur prompted.
"He kept mentioning your mother's name." Gaius admitted, looking directly at Camilla.
"He never talks about her." Camilla shot a worried glance to Arthur.
"He claimed that he saw her." Gaius told them. "In the well."
"Did the guards see him in this state?" Arthur wanted to know.
"I think you're worrying too much."
"If the people get to know about this...!"
"We say that he was ill, but now he's recovered."
"Thank you Gaius." Camilla said quietly, placing a hand on her brother's arm. "We should retire."
Gaius bowed his head while Arthur looked at Merlin and Gaius before the royal pair left. The two siblings did not go to their chambers though instead both spent the night by their father's bedside.
"We've had reports that mercenaries are streaming into Cenred's kingdom." Arthur told the court. Camilla sat in Arthur's seat as she listened to her brother's report.
"Do we know why?" The King asked.
"There is rumour that Cenred is amassing an army. I think we should send a patrol out to assess the situation." Camilla saw Arthur's face scrunch in concern so turned to look at their father. He was staring blankly past the Prince but Camilla knew there was nothing there. "Father?"
"Leave me alone." Uther pointed to an empty space, standing up. "Get out of here."
"Father maybe it's time-" Camilla approached her father, placing a hand on his arm but he pushed her off. Arthur placed a hand on her back to steady the Princess.
"I said get out! Get out! I'll have you hanged!" Uther began to rage but Arthur and Leon were quick to grab him and drag him out. His screams could be heard even as he was dragged away. "You hanged! You...! You..."
Camilla looked to the room, who either looked to her father's exit or at her.
"Council is finished for today." She announced. "The King is unwell and requires rest."
She waited for no one to respond but simply walked the way her father left.
Camilla stood waiting for the audience to be over so she could return to her father's bedside. The last thing they needed with her father's illness to was find a sentry dead. Camilla stood behind Arthur listening to the conversation, like Morgana however the ward was further back and the other side of the Prince. Camilla didn't even take notice the ward wore emerald while she wore scarlet.
"The sentry must've been attacked at some point during the night." Gaius explained.
"Who could've done this?" Arthur asked.
"That is a sigil of the Bloodguard." Gaius answered as he held out the dagger used to attack the sentry. Arthur examined the weapon in his hands.
"Bloodguard?" Camilla wondered out loud.
"Warrior priests sworn to protect the high priestesses of the Old Religion." Gaius responded.
"Surely they were wiped out during the Great Purge." Arthur stated.
"Not all of them."
"So you believe there is a traitor in Camelot."
"It is possible, Sire. The sentry will be able to tell us soon enough."
"He's still alive?" Camilla asked with disbelief.
"Indeed"
Merlin walked into the King's chambers to see the sleeping monarch, squirming restlessly. His eyes were drawn though to the other sleeping body there, the Princess who had fallen asleep resting her forehead on the bed while she sat in a chair. Merlin couldn't help but give out a small smile looking at the peaceful form, she had been this tranquil too rarely over this past year and he wished there was more he could have done to change that.
He sighed remembering if in the million to one chance Camilla looked at him the way he looked at her, nothing could happen. He just had to look at Arthur and Gwen's relationship to see that. Though maybe that's why he pushed Arthur so much to pursue Gwen as it meant he might have a chance with Camilla. Though a noble man and peasant girl was much different to a noble woman and peasant man.
Merlin took a rug not being used and placed it over Camilla, gently guiding it over her. He then looked to the distressed King and decided to pull his covers up. It was then he heard the dripping of the mandrake root.
Camilla awoke to find a blanket wrapped around her which had not been there when she fell asleep. Strange she thought.
She rubbed eyes before noticing her brother sat on the opposite side to her.
"Rise and shine sleepy head." Arthur joked lightly, Camilla gave a small smirk back as she stood up and returned the blanket to the other side of the room. She walked around to Arthur afterwards and sat on the bed next to him. She could see both her father in his bed and Arthur in his chair.
"The court has been whispering behind my back." Arthur told her.
"Don't they always?" Camilla countered. Arthur gave out a heavy breath which could be mistaken for a laugh. "What is the talk of this time?"
"They wish for me to take command."
"You know you'll have to."
"Not while there is still breathe in father."
"Arthur." Camilla took her brother's hand in her own.
"I need him to get better." Arthur looked to their father and a small tear trickled down his cheek, she had never seen him so vulnerable before.
"We all do." Camilla felt her voice crack but somehow did not cry. "But you owe it to not only the people of Camelot but to him, to protect this realm."
Arthur gave a small nod as if finally agreeing before his head snapped away from Uther and turned towards his little sister.
"How are you anyway? You look tired." Arthur told her.
"Because I am." Camilla admitted. "But I won't leave his side."
"How long have you been here?"
"I have only ever left when been called to court."
"No one has come to check on you?" Arthur felt guilty now in all the hours he had spent over the last few days wrapped up in court business instead of checking on his sister.
"No one notices. What with Morgana's return; father's illness and now talks of you taking command, how can people forget there's another member of the Pendragon household?" Camilla gave a small smile to show Arthur she was teasing. "I do not mind, in fact I have preferred it this way over the last few days."
"Well I for one am glad you're here." Arthur told her, giving her hand a small squeeze.
The two shared a smile before Arthur dismissed himself to attend to his new duties while Camilla returned to her father's side.