Chapter 1: The Foretelling
Nimueh gazed at the crystal in her hands; suddenly an image appeared on its surface. It was of her attacking Camelot, she seemed to be winning, but at the last moment, she was hit with a powerful enchantment and she fell to the ground dead. Nimueh gasped, no matter how many times and ways she saw her death it was always a shock. Then the image changed, it showed her and another young woman, holding Uther and his grown up son, Arthur, at their mercy. At this Nimueh smiled, and began to laugh as the image of her spoke the words:
"Kill them Elea"
The other woman stepped forwards as her lips curled into a triumphant smirk,
"Yes mother" she replied.
Nimueh gasped and almost dropped the crystal, the shock written plainly on her face.
But again the image changed, this time she stood alone with Arthur and Uther at her mercy, but just as she was about to utter the words that would spell their doom, she heard a woman's voice.
"No" she cried, as her eyes flashed gold and the image of Nimueh was blasted into the wall behind her, effectively ending her life.
The girl, the same as in the second vision ran to Uther and hugged him, exclaiming "Father, are you alright?"
At this Nimueh did drop the crystal, it fell to the floor with a resounding crack and lay there, the images erased from its surface.
The initial shock still strong the witch sat down, and stared moodily in front of her. How could this be, she wondered, how could she and Uther share a child?
She sat there for some time before a plan began to hatch in her mind. She would disguise herself, travel to Camelot, bewitch Uther, bear his child and then leave taking the child with her. She would teach the child in the art of magic, and when she was ready she would return to Camelot and together they would destroy Uther.
Nimueh smiled cruelly at the thought of stealing the last of Uther's happiness, to make him suffer as she had suffered.
She stood up, and conjured a mirror then, using several incantations the witch disguised herself so she looked like an older version of the daughter she would one day bear.
Exactly one year from that day, on the evening of May 14th King Uther's beloved new queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, with golden hair and a heart shaped birthmark on her neck. Thankfully, both mother and daughter were in perfect health, and the entire kingdom of Camelot celebrated the princesses' birth.
Nimueh, or Queen Margaret as she was now known, stood, looking out of the window of the room she grudgingly shared with Uther. She looked down at the sleeping child in her arms and thought happily, only a few more weeks now and the child would be strong enough to survive the journey to Avalon, and then they could leave this place
She looked up as her 'husband' entered the room, holding a sleeping, 3-year old Arthur.
"My love I was thinking of naming the child Margaret after her most beloved mother, what do you think?" said Uther lovingly, coming to stand next to his wife.
"No. The child's name is Elea" she said forcefully, and then softening her tone "If you wish it"
"Yes, it is a beautiful name. Here, my love a gift for our daughter, it was my mother's" said Uther, holding out a thin silver chain with a delicate dragon pendant hanging from it.
The first few weeks of Elea's life were happy for all in Camelot. In celebration of her birth Uther held a huge feast, and declared a national holiday for all who lived in Camelot.
However, the celebrations were short-lived, for only 7 weeks after her birth Princess Elea disappeared, and the queen was found dead in the nursery.
Nimueh, now in her natural body, laughed as she picked her sleeping daughter from the cradle. Glancing down at the dead body of the nurse the evil witch uttered a few words in the old language, and smirked in triumph as the old woman transformed into the queen Nimueh had dressed herself as.
With that she left, leaving the Kingdom and Uther to grieve for the loss of two queens and a princess.
It took Nimueh a mere second to arrive at her destination, the Lake of Avalon. There she stepped into a boat and ordered it to move into the mist.
Soon it reached the Isle of Blessed, center of the Olde Religion set in the middle of the enchanted lake. Nimueh stepped out of the boat and walked purposefully towards her castle.
Her feet created a sharp click clack on the stone pavement which wakened the angelic child in her arms.
As the castle doors banged shut behind the evil witch, the baby girl began to scream