I was watching Merlin episodes from the first and second season, back when Morgana and Gwen really were friends, and it got me wondering how Guinevere ended up as her maid in the first place. This is my take on how they met and became friends.
I do not own Merlin or it's characters and make no claim to them.
The night ten year old Morgana, ward of Uther Pendragon, chose to run away was not a warm one. A deep chill penetrated her flimsy nightgown as she raced through the forest as fast as her little feet would carry her. She was cold, it seemed as if it were beginning to rain and her backpack only added extra weight. She was tired, scared, angry, and had acted on an impulse after her fight with the king.
He didn't understand her. No one did anymore. Her mother Lady Vivienne had abandoned her within days of arriving in Camelot, leaving not so much as a note to say goodbye to her daughter. It tore Morgana apart, realizing that she had no one left she could possibly trust. Arthur was fun to play with, sure, but he was also a pompous idiot in her eyes. His only redeemable quality seemed to be that he treated her as he would any other playmate, regardless of who she was or that she was a girl. Still, it didn't matter. She didn't belong in Camelot.
Uther had no idea what she was like. He assumed she would welcome him as her guardian with open arms, glad to have a father figure in her life with the death of Gorlois. Of course she tried to treat him with the respect any person would afford their king, but it was no easy task for the young girl when he wouldn't allow her any space, and so she took the only reasonable course of action a distraught ten year old could: she decided to run away.
Unfortunately, she hadn't a faintest idea what she was doing or where she would go. Perhaps it was not in her luck that she was skillful when it came to going undetected as it allowed her to slip past every guard and make it out of the city unseen.
Or so she thought.
Morgana continued running, her uneven breathing signalling how exhausted she was growing, but she had no wish to stop. Stopping would only mean she was that much closer to Camelot when Uther realized she was gone and sent guards after her, and she had no intention of being found or ever returning. It was these thoughts that lingered in her mind when her foot caught on a loose root and she went tumbling into the dense undergrowth, catching her arm on a nearby rock and tearing open her dress as well as her skin in the process. She bit her tongue to refrain from crying out, tasting the metallic tang of blood when she bit too hard.
The tears began to trickle down her dirt-smeared cheeks a moment later and she angrily wiped them away with the back of her hand, chiding herself for being so weak. She attempted to stumble back onto her feet to continue her escape, using her left arm to boost her up, and was met by a stabbing pain. She collapsed back onto the ground, peering down at her bloody arm and allowing a hushed sob to break free from her lips. It was then that she realized she was not alone.
"Are you alright?"
Morgana's head whipped around instantly in the direction of the unknown voice, fearing she had been found minutes after getting away. It was difficult to contain her surprise when she was met with the sight of a young girl about her age with dark brown curly hair and a pretty yet worn out yellow dress. Her face was unfamiliar, but that was natural considering how little time the ward had been allowed from the castle grounds, which Uther considered "too dangerous."
The girl made her way delicately over to Morgana, stepping carefully over the root she had tripped on to kneel about a foot away from the other girl. Morgana instinctively cringed back, not out of fear of the girl herself but the simple fact that this girl could go and tell the guards of her whereabouts.
"My name is Guinevere," the girl told Morgana, offering a friendly smile while making no attempt to move closer, sensing her obvious discomfort. "Would you like me to help you with your arm?"
"I don't need any help," Morgana snapped stubbornly, though she couldn't have given a more obvious lie. She made another quick attempt to stand up, cradling her injured arm close to her chest and retrieving her backpack from where it had slipped off before beginning to walk in the opposite direction of Camelot as she had been doing previously. Guinevere rose to her feet as well and didn't hesitate to follow her further into the woods.
"You're the Lady Morgana," she observed with a polite bow of her head, though the action went unseen by Morgana. "I saw you leaving the city and I thought you might be in trouble."
"Please stop following me," Morgana ordered, sniffing back more tears from the pain and manoeuvring around a tree in her path.
"These woods are dangerous my lady!" Guinevere insisted, ignoring the request and continuing to pursue her. "If you don't know your way you could get lost and you might never find your way back."
"I don't want to go back there! I'm leaving Camelot and I'm never going to return."
"It's just-"
"What?!" Morgana finally shouted, stopping in her tracks and turning to face the other girl who stopped rather suddenly at the ward's tone and the helpless look on her face.
"I just..." Guinevere trailed off, staring down at her feet and idly kicking a twig that had landed on her foot. "You just looked like you could use a friend."
Morgana frowned in confusion for a moment, eyeing the other girl curiously, before she sighed and deflated back onto the muddy forest floor. Guinevere approached her cautiously, taking her good time to insure Morgana didn't feel threatened. To her astonishment she heard barely concealed weeping coming from the dishevelled young girl that sat in front of her. Guinevere gently lowered herself onto her knees and allowed the young ward to lean on her for support, neither of them speaking a word for a good five minutes before Morgana was calm enough to articulate real words.
"I don't belong in Camelot," she griped with an unmistakable note of regret in her voice. "No one understands me here so I need to get away."
"If you run away, where will you go?" Guinevere inquired, feeling deep sympathy for the other girl. Morgana only shook her head, having had no plans further than getting as far away as possible. Guinevere moved to place a comforting hand on the other girls arm and was swiftly reminded of Morgana's wound when she felt the clotting blood beneath her fingers.
"Will you please let me help you with your arm?" she practically begged, hating to see any person regardless of their standing in pain. Morgana simply nodded, her adrenaline from running away beginning to fade and being replaced by the truth in Guinevere's words and the lingering pain in her arm. The bleeding had stopped as the injury wasn't severe, but it would still need tending to before she could go anywhere. The young girl sat up straighter and leaned back against the nearest tree, staring off into the dusky forest as her arm was tended to.
Guinevere was no physician, but her father understood the importance of teaching his children basic first aid and thus she was certain she had enough skill to at least properly bandage the wound until Gaius, the court physician, could help her further. The girl reached down to the hem of her dress and ripped off a long strip of cloth, ignoring the fact that the dress was one of her favourites, and carefully wrapped it around Morgana's arm, tying it off to ensure it would not come loose on it's own. When she was finished she helped the other girl to her feet and bowed her head politely, remembering who she was speaking to.
"Thank you Guinevere," Morgana acknowledged, smiling genuinely for the first time since before her fight with Uther. "May I call you Gwen?"
"Of course my lady," Gwen nodded at once, and Morgana chuckled quietly under her breath.
"You can call me Morgana if you want. I won't tell anyone if you don't."
Gwen smiled and lifted her head, pleased with herself for her work but knowing she was not entirely done yet.
"What are you going to do now Morgana?" she inquired. "Are you still going to run away?"
Morgana shrugged, allowing Gwen to help her to her feet and considering her options.
"The king and I had a fight," she told Gwen, shaking her head at the recent memory. "I didn't mean to be rude, but he was trying to act like he's my father."
"I'm sure he feels bad about fighting too," Gwen consoled her, thinking back to past arguments she had had with her own father and how silly they had been. "Why don't we both go back to Camelot and you can apologize? Even if it wasn't your fault, apologizing always works. It'll make him realize he's sorry too and then you can make up."
Morgana sighed, knowing well enough that Gwen was right, regardless of how much she detested apologizing. Even as she made her brief plans to run away she knew it wouldn't last, although she refused to admit it to herself at the time. Gwen sensed this and seized the situation before anyone changed their mind.
"Come on, I'll walk back with you," she offered, relieved when Morgana agreed. She picked up the ward's backpack and allowed her to hold onto her arm for support as they made their way back towards the city's front gate.
"I'm glad I got to meet you Gwen," Morgana said as they exited the woods and found themselves on the main path, minutes from the city's entrance. "Having only Arthur and his friends to play with gets annoying after a few days."
"I suppose Arthur can be a little full of himself," Gwen agreed, giggling at the comments she made that she wouldn't dare to in front of anyone else.
Their friendly conversation continued for several minutes until the main gate came into view and the two girls saw Uther Pendragon himself speaking to a handful of guards at the gate, the torchlight flickering and casting shadows upon their faces. As the girls approached the king raised his head and the relief on his face couldn't be described when he saw Morgana walking back to him. He abandoned the men altogether and closed the distance between them, enveloping his ward in a welcoming embrace. Gwen instantly fell to her knees and lowered her head in respect, having never been in such close proximity to the King of Camelot before.
"I'm sorry I ran away," Morgana apologized as Uther pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders, seeing the tears in her eyes that mirrored his own. "I was angry before when we were arguing but I'm sorry."
"You had me so worried Morgana," Uther admitted, any anger at her actions thrown aside and replaced with the joy of seeing her again. "I am sorry as well that we argued."
It was then that the king seemed to notice the other girl he had seen walking with his ward. He gazed down at her curiously, having no idea what to make of the situation.
"What is your name girl?" he demanded, not unkindly.
"My name in Guinevere, your majesty," she replied, her eyes never leaving the ground in front of her.
"She saw me leaving and followed me," Morgana explained, feeling the need to defend Gwen before the king made any assumptions. "If she hadn't found me and convinced me to come back I probably wouldn't have."
Uther eyed her with a smile, feeling immense gratitude towards this young girl who was responsible for Morgana's safe return.
"Arise, Guinevere," he instructed, watching the young girl rise to her feet and noted her excellent manners. "Your father is Tom, the blacksmith, is he not?"
"He is sire," she nodded, unsure of her current predicament and how things were going to end for her.
"Well Guinevere, I owe you my thanks for convincing my ward to return home," he thanked her, to her incredible shock. The king was thanking her? "Any reward you or your father wishes, you shall receive."
"If I may sire, helping the Lady Morgana is reward enough." To this the king and Morgana both smiled, the former having a sudden idea pop into his head.
"Tell me child, how would you like to become Morgana's maidservant?" he offered, and Gwen could not contain the smile that mirrored Morgana's at the very suggestion.
"I would like that very much," she answered, stumbling backwards as Morgana nearly tackled her in an enthusiastic hug that she happily returned. Uther gestured for both girls to follow him back into the city, taking note of the make-shift bandage around Morgana's arm and leading them to Gaius. Morgana and Gwen followed a few paces behind, chatting excitedly and getting to know one another just a little better, not that they wouldn't have time for that in the future. With Gwen as her new maidservant and, clearly, her new friend, Morgana realized that maybe Camelot could truly be her home, and she could truly be happy there.