A/N; this story is totally AU, and remember to review. Merlin and any of its characters do not belong to me.
Destiny had proclaimed their love a tragedy before they even took their first breathes into the world. From the mouth a prophet it was whispered into the wind. Their roles in the ancient world; him the just king, and she; the malevolent witch. It was set in stone. In the end she would kneel before him; his blood on her hands and regret in her heart. He would be the fallen and she would be his salvation; leading him from a world that had broken and betrayed him; to a paradise. A young girl saw these events in her dreams when she was no more than six summers old, and in her innocence and naivety she vowed to never let these visions become reality.
She never knew that she was already playing the role that had been etched in stone so many years ago.
Two years later that same girl went to kingdom of Camelot to become the ward of a king she had never met. She got down from her horse her eyes ringed red and her nose snotty, but she held her head as her father had taught her. She was welcomed by a king too young for the gray hair that peppered his hair and wrinkles that surrounded his eyes. She then saw the little boy hiding behind his leg and smiled timidly at him. He didn't smile but instead looked at her curiously with blue eyes. The king bid the little boy to welcome his new ward and he did so reluctantly.
'' Welcome to Camelot Lady Morgana; I am sorry for your father but I am sure you will be happy here.'' He said timidly but with sincerity beyond his years. Morgana curtsied at the young prince and he gave her a smile in turn.
It was the beginning of the end for both of them.
Over the years the young girl grew to be a young lady. In her years that she spent in her new home she became content and forgot her childhood home, but never the gentle and loving man she called father. Nevertheless, she loved the king of Camelot as a surrogate father and the prince a faithful friend for which she could always count on to play knights with her and to go on long rides with. They were both warm and loving to her. In those years the young seer ignored the cold look the king gave to her kin as he passed sentence on them and sent them burn in the flames.
As the smoke still rose from the now charred ashes of the fire the young seer would go into prince's chambers and lay down next to him and cried for her kin and trembled for fear of her own life. The prince comforted his friend as best as he could but could do nothing for the nightmares that plagued.
The young man held the goblet in front of his father's ward, '' Drink this Morgana, Gaius said it was to help you sleep.'' She chocked it down and sighed as she lay back down and cuddled next her prince and fell fitfully into another nightmare.
The Prince never told his father that the potions never quelled her nightmares, fearing for her life.
When the seer came to the age of sixteen the king proclaimed that there was to be no more sword fighting between her and the prince and she was no longer be able to wander by herself. She was given a maid by the name of Guinevere, a dark skinned girl with a kind heart, who she became fast friends with. The king told her she was a lady of the court now and he handed her to the other ladies of the court. In those long hours she was taught how to dress, act, and bare the title of ward to the king. It was in these long hours that the seer longed for a tunic and breeches and wished for the days when he and the prince would play knights with each other. She wished things didn't have to change.
Destiny knew that she would wish that for years to come.
In the years to follow the young lady had now become a woman, and the Prince was now truly a knight and now bore his title as future king with pride. The king now gray haired and wrinkles now prominent around his eyes decreed that there was a feast to be had to celebrate the expulsion of magic from his kingdom. The seer wept for kin but knew that the old religion would right the world. She laughed in glee as she sensed Emyrs among the court. All the stories her father had told her were coming true. The most powerful being this world would know and he was standing to the side of the hall next to the aging physician. She smiled at him so sure that she could change the future.
When the seers meet the boy that was to be Arthur's doom she was at once felt anguish. She was to be a mother to this future murderer. Destiny bid her to see the false innocence that was in this boy's eyes, but she was a seer and she saw the truth. She saw the darkness that was slowly consuming. Her heart ached for this boy whose hands would become soaked with the blood of the innocent. So with the help of Emyrs she called upon the powers of Avalon and bid them to take the boy, so he could grow up in paradise and reveal in the light for eternity. The powers of Avalon in all their glory conceded and with a burst of light the boy was gone. The seer smiled; destiny had begun to crack.
The seer screamed as she awoke from a vision. Her prince had died and Emyrs had not saved him. She sought the warlock and spoke to him as kin and he understood what they needed to do. Together they went to the ancient island and vanquished the witch that had plagued them for so long, and it was there that they discovered so of the most ancient spell books of the old religion. Over the course of the months and into the new year they poured over the books, and with the reluctant help of the physician, they both learned and prospered from his guidance. Emery's and the seer both saved the prince from many a monster and assassin. All the while the seer ignored the growing affections between her prince and her handmaiden.
The seer feigned indifference when she found that the kiss of her handmaiden broke the curse that had bewitched the prince, but inside her heart broke. She had grown to love, not as a friend or brother, but as a lover. She tried to blame destiny for making her want these things, but she could not. She could only blame her own foolish heart and she grew angry at her naivety. She then felt the darkness grow inside of her and she wept for destiny, for all her efforts, was still piecing itself together. So when she discovered that a long lost sister she reveled in the fact that she truly had a family. For a brief time she turned back on Camelot and her prince and sought comfort in her sister, but that one night when her sister asked her for her help to bring down Camelot; she refused. For bringing down Camelot meant hurting her prince and for everything he had done, she knew that he was a better man than his father and that he would ultimately be a better king than any before him.
It was in that moment that the seer had won and destiny unraveled itself and became something new. The seer knew that destiny would always be there; there would always be a plan, but it didn't mean that plan could not change. In that moment destiny was born anew.
Her sister had disappeared to the far reaches of the earth that, the seer knew. She also knew that she had made her choice and that she would always be on Arthur's side. She no longer would have his blood on her hands; she no longer dreamed of it. Yet she dreamed of the betrayal in the form of the knight and the future queen. She saw that it would one day try to break Arthur and Camelot with one swift blow. So it was then that the seer decided to run away. Before she did though she went to her prince's chambers and bade him goodbye with one kiss on his lips. He stumbled and stuttered.
She just laughed and placed her hand on his cheek before whispering into his ear, '' you and I, this is destiny.''
With that she set off to the woods to find her kin.
She spent many years with the druids. She traveled from encampment to encampment aware of the ever searching knights. She learned much from them and passed this knowledge onto Emyrs in letters that were smuggled into Camelot. In turn he told her of the news of Camelot. In one letter he told her of the kings dead and in the same letter he told her of the marriage of her prince and her handmaiden. She was far from surprised she wrote back, 'I had already seen it. For a long time I knew this would come to pass.' He then wrote her begging her to come back to Camelot. She replied, 'It is not my time.'
The only time she returned to her prince, now king, was when he was on of his many battle campaigns. This was one of fiercer armies and she knew that Emyrs no matter how powerful he had become, could not protect her prince by himself. She came dressed in an earth colored green gown and sword in her hand. She did not fear the point of a sword or a bows man and his arrows. She knew she would die this day. She took down her enemies with a slash of her sword or a whispered word from her mouth. When all was done her prince noticed her and called out her name. The seer reluctantly turned her back to him and went into the forest again.
The king did not run after, she would come back when she wanted, as was her way. At least that was what he hoped.
Emyrs wrote to the seer that her handmaiden, now queen, had given birth to healthy baby boy. The seer smiled for she knew the boy was of Arthur's blood. Four months later Emyrs wrote her to her of the queen's betrayal, and of the queen and the knights' flight. Emyrs again begged her to come back to the now distraught kingdom and again she replied, 'it is not my time.'
Five years the seer waited for the boy to stumble into the druid encampment. The boy had gotten away from his nurse and had for a long stumbled through the woods. The druids welcomed him as the son of the once and future king and the seer picked the exhausted boy and knew that it was time to bid the druids goodbye.
The seer entered the great hall with her hand in the boys and a smile on her face. Her prince stood up and the boy ran into his arms. The court waited with bated breath as the king stood and looked at the seer with tears in eyes. The seer merely kneeled down onto the floor in a show of loyalty and said the two words that destiny, changed or unchanged, had never meant for her to say, '' my king.''
When they were in bed later that night, his head on her stomach, he whispered apologies and asked her why she had not returned to her sooner she merely replied, '' It was not my time. I knew from the moment I left Camelot that your son would one day come to lead me home. If I had stayed in Camelot any longer it would have been for the worse.'' He kissed her then and whispered things that would make her blush in the morning but for now filled her with a sort of elation.
The seer became a queen and with her king they ruled justly for many years.
When their children had grown and they felt their life leaving them; they left their now golden kingdom. There was tears and smiles but most of all there was a calm that the queen nor her king had felt for many years.
In the end she took him to Avalon.