Prologue

Awake and Alive

As I woke up, I couldn't make out the sounds, everything was hard to hear and see. At that moment I felt weak, and I hated that feeling; it was horrible. Finally my brain managed to make out the sounds; a boy and a girl were talking and by sound of it, things were getting serious. Their voices were irritating to me; I needed them to shut up, but maybe focusing and listening to them would give me a clue on how I got here and why I can't move.

"John, I don't want them." The girl's voice was desperate and she sounded young, not too young, but young nonetheless.

"Relax Isobel, don't be rash, we have time to think about this, they are my children too." They were both young; at least, I got their names out of their confusing conversation; John and Isobel. I must admit, they had peculiar names; 'Isobel and John', maybe they were commoners.

"I want to give up the twins, this life isn't for me." How dare she? A child alone was a blessing and she was gifted with twins and she wanted to give them up.

"Okay wait, I'll talk to my brother and his wife first, don't do anything you'll regret, Isobel." I heard the door bang signalling that the boy had left the room. He was right, the girl shouldn't do anything she would regret in the future.

I heard footsteps notifying me that someone was walking towards me, and by the sound of the footsteps, rather hurriedly.

"I'm sorry my babies, but I have to leave, this life isn't for me." The woma- Isobel seemed to be talking to me; was she? Sadly that question was one I could not answer as I was incapable of seeing.

The next thing I heard was her footsteps, but this time they were walking away from me; the door banged once more before I realized it. I was a child and the woman had just done what she planned to do; she left me and my twin. I knew I was supposed to care or feel sad, but I didn't, in fact, I felt angry for her abandonment.

The door swung open and I heard John shout; "Isobel! Isobel! Where are you?" He immediately went silent and I knew he had realised his partner's abandonment. I heard sobs and knew the boy was obviously heartbroken.

I heard a different person's footsteps walk into the room; it was quite obvious that the person was new to this room as their footsteps were lighter than John's but heavier than Isobel's.

"John, are you okay? Where is Isobel?" The man seemed concerned for John, he sounded older than John and Isobel had been, but he also sounded a bit young, maybe he was around 20 years. Maybe he was elder brother or an uncle to either John or Isobel.

"Isobel is gone! She left the kids, I can't take care of them by myself, I've haven't finished my education or gotten a job." John said this through his sobs which were beginning to sound like they would never end.

The room became quiet and all that I heard were the sobs of John; if the other man hadn't spoken I may not have known that he was still in the room;

"Then Miranda and I will take care of them, so that you can continue your education without any interruptions, won't we, Miranda?"

There was no response, then I heard soft footsteps come towards my direction. "I've always wanted a child, and two girls are even better than I could imagine." So my twin was a girl.

"You see John, everything will be okay; we will adopt them." The man and Miranda were very kind; not many people would agree to raise two children that were not their own.

"Thank you Grayson." John sounded thankful; it was somehow sad to hear the sound of his voice, because it sounded so defeated.

"It's okay, now go get yourself cleaned up." With those words, I heard John's footsteps leave the room along with his sniffles.

"We are going to be parents, Grayson." Miranda sounded so happy about this, maybe she could not bear children.

"What do we name them?" Miranda and Grayson seemed very eager to be parents, maybe having children was their blessing.

"How about we name this little angel, Elena?" By the sound of the little strain in his voice, he was picking up the other baby- my twin from the cot.

"It's a wonderful name, Grayson, now what do we name you?" I felt myself being picked up, how little was I? "How about…Morgana, just like in the Legends of King Arthur."

"Miranda, you want to name our daughter after a villain?"

"Not a villain, but a legend."

By now, her words kept on floating in my head, "Morgana…Arthur…legend"

I let out a little gasp as it all came flooding back in;

"What if magic isn't something you choose? What if it chooses you?"

"I want you to suffer as I suffered; to know what it's like to be alone and afraid, to be disgusted with who you are and what you are."

"I have magic Merlin, Uther hates me and everyone like me, why should I feel any differently about him."

"You don't know what it's like to be an outsider, to be ashamed of how you were born, to have to hide who you are."

"Do you really hate me so much?"

"You cannot begin to know how much I hate you."

"You have no right to the throne."

"But I do, I am your daughter after all."

"It's over Morgana."

"This has just begun."

"We attack tonight."

"The king is nowhere to be found."

"I WANT HIM DEAD."

"What happened to you Morgana? I thought we were friends."

"As did I, but alas, we were both wrong."

"You are right to cower before my hand. I'm more powerful than you can ever imagine."

"I know now who I really am, and it isn't something to be scared of."

"What a joy it is to see you, Arthur. Look at you, not so tall and mighty now. You may have won the battle but you've lost the war. You're going to die by Mordred's hand. Oh, don't worry dear brother, I won't let you die alone. I'll stay and watch over you, until the wolves gorge on your carcass and bathe in your blood."

"No, the time for all this bloodshed is over, I blame myself for what you've become, this has to end."

"I'm a High Priestess, no mortal blade can kill me."

"This is no mortal blade, like yours, it was forged in a dragon's breath. Goodbye Morgana."

I now know who I am; I am a witch, I am a High Priestess, I am a queen, I am a survivor and I am Morgana Pendragon.