So I started writing this story for a challenge on Live Journal and of course, I missed it. So I continued the story anyway and I now present to you my finished story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of its characters. But if I did, Arthur and Morgana would be canon by now ^^
1. A Wooden Sword
It was the year that Arthur turned ten that he told his father he wanted a wooden sword for his birthday. He had seen and admired the knights fighting on the practice field and Arthur longed for the day when he could join them. Uther was quite happy that his son was taking an interest in fighting, but Morgana had other ideas.
"Whatever could you want a sword for?" she demanded one day as she sat on his bed and watched him thrust at the open air with his new toy. "It doesn't serve much purpose."
Arthur stopped flitting around the room to gape at her. "No purpose?" he asked incredulously. "Well I suppose your dollies have more of a purpose than my sword. My sword will help prepare me for when I become a knight. What can your dollies do?"
Morgana huffed and pushed a strand of her bistre coloured hair behind her shoulder. "My dollies, for your information, serve me the purpose of keeping me company and the good common knowledge on how to lace up a dress."
Arthur scoffed. "Why would you need to learn to do up a dress? That's what the hand maids are for."
He saw the dangerous anger flash in Morgana's eyes and her voice was chilly when she spoke. "Just because I have a hand maid to do up my dresses for me doesn't mean that I shouldn't know how anyway. You never know when I'll have to do up my dress without the help of Gwen."
"Still, fighting's the exact same. I might as well get the practice done now so that I know how to fight now so that I can be ready for my training in a few year's time," he replied, thinking that there was no way that Morgana could turn this around on him again.
The prince smiled as he watched Morgana sigh and stand from the bed. She made her way slowly over to the door before pausing and turning to face him, a twinkle alight in her eyes. "You know, Arthur," she drawled. "The weight of a wooden sword is a lot different than that of a steel one." And then she was gone in a flourish of silk as she slipped out into the hallway.
When he turned fourteen he hated how right she was.
2. A New Horse
On Morgana's tenth birthday she received a horse from Uther. A year and a half later, before Arthur turned twelve he told his father he wanted a horse too.
"Arthur, you don't need a horse," Uther told him sternly that night at dinner. The prince scowled and sank even lower in his chair when he saw the smirk that was dancing across Morgana's pretty features.
"But neither did Morgana, yet she got a horse. Don't you think that I should at least be able to know how to ride one before I become a night?" he asked Uther, stabbing at the piece of chicken on his plate.
"Don't be silly, Arthur," Morgana drawled. "You know how to ride a horse."
"That's not what I meant," he spat back at her through clenched teeth. He caught his father's disapproving gaze and turned his attention back to his chicken.
"I don't know, Arthur," Uther replied slowly, carefully. Arthur could see Morgana's smug look and he shut his eyes in frustration. "Really, a horse can be quite expensive. I don't see why you can't wait till next year to get a horse. It's the first milestone to your coming of age."
Arthur was about to open his mouth to reply to his father when Morgana piped up instead.
"I, for one, think that it is a great idea to get Arthur a horse," she replied with a smile.
"You do?" Both Pendragon's were now examining Morgana, checking to see if she was alright. She never agreed with Arthur, and it was even rarer to hear her agreeing on Arthur obtaining a new toy.
"Yes, I do. Then I don't have to take one of the royal guards with me when I want to go for a ride. Instead, I can just take Arthur."
The prince knew he should be relieved that Morgana was helping him out, but he couldn't help but scowl. He knew his father would give him a horse now that he realized that Arthur would be able to protect Morgana on her rides. He no longer would be buying the horse for Arthur, he was really just buying another horse for Morgana and Arthur's servants would be expected to take care of it.
"You know, Morgana that is an excellent idea. Very well Arthur, you shall receive a horse for your twelfth birthday."
Arthur merely stuck his tongue out.
3. A New Jacket
Two days after Merlin arrived in Camelot to be Arthur's new servant, the prince requested to Uther for a new jacket. Of course, the king obliged and had summoned Guinevere, Morgana's hand maid, to help Arthur and Merlin.
"Whatever could you want a new jacket for?" Merlin asked as he stood with Gwen as she measured Arthur. He jotted down the dimensions for her on a small scrap of parchment and waited patiently for Arthur to reply.
"Can the prince not look good when he wants to?" Arthur replied, holding his arms out to the side for Gwen.
"I didn't say that Arthur," Merlin grumbled and he scribbled down another set of numbers. "But you have so many jackets. Many of your subjects would probably give up half their clothes for one of your jackets; most likely the female population around your age."
Arthur laughed, the joyful sound reverberating around the room. "Oh, Merlin. You see, this is exactly why I want a new jacket."
"What? So the ladies can flock to you and try to rip your arms off?"
"I understand," Gwen replied, finally standing up straight and adjusting her dress. "He wants all the other ladies to notice him so that he can hopefully catch the eye of one lady in particular. Delight us Arthur; tell us who she is."
Arthur merely smiled and shook his head, his tongue clicking in the back of his throat. "Ah, ah, ah," he insisted. "You'll just have to find out for yourselves. Believe me, if I told you now it would be all over this castle like the flu. At least now I have a bit of time to enjoy my private secrets."
Merlin rolled his eyes and followed Gwen out of the room. "Who do you think it is?" he asked her once they were out of ear shot.
"Oh probably just one of the kitchen ladies. I've heard from Morgana that Arthur fancies one of them."
The boy could only shake his head as he and Gwen parted ways. He certainly was quite stunned when he found out the truth a week later.
"This red jacket is simply stunning Guinevere. Excellent work."
Morgana smiled as her hand maid blushed. Hearing praise like that from the King of Camelot was high praise indeed and the lady knew that Gwen deserved it. There was hardly anyone that worked harder in the castle that she knew of, except maybe Merlin.
"Thank-you, Sire," Gwen replied politely. "I do think that red is a fantastic colour on Arthur," she blushed as she said this, but the King quickly dismissed her. Arthur was just itching to show off his new jacket to the other ladies in the castle.
"You're so full of yourself," Morgana hissed at Arthur as soon as Uther left. "Why on earth did you need a new jacket?"
"To impress the ladies, Morgana. I thought you knew that," the prince replied, a smug look on his face.
"Well I can tell you right now, I'm not impressed," she retorted angrily.
"You don't count."
The certainly got Morgana fuming. "Fine," she spat, storming away from the room and back towards her chambers.
The nerve of Arthur! She didn't count as a lady! She cursed herself for letting this get to her head, but she couldn't help it. Arthur did look stunning in the jacket... he always looked stunning. Gwen really had done a good job on it. Everything about it screamed 'Arthur Pendragon', and Morgana found the very words bubbling in her throat as she saw him flirt with the ladies outside the castle.
Jealousy was such an unattractive trait in Morgana.
4. A Date to the Feast
Arthur was beginning to have second thoughts, but he couldn't back down now. He had specifically asked for an audience with the King, despite being the King's son, because he wanted this to be formal and mature.
"Yes, Arthur?" Uther asked as his son stepped forward. The look in his eyes was slightly intrigued. Why, for the love of Camelot, would Arthur be here? An audience with the King or an audience with his father?
"Erm, I'd like to ask you of a favour, father," he said politely. He held his hands behind his back and his stance was a little wide. He meant business, Uther could see.
"Well then," the king said, sitting forward in his seat and lacing his fingers together, "what would you like Arthur?"
The prince was feeling quite lucky that Morgana was not in court today. She had asked to go down to the river with Gwen and Merlin. She had even invited Arthur, but he had refrained and simply informed him that he had too much to do. Morgana didn't need further prompting. She merely shrugged and left to have a fun-filled day with her friends.
"Er, I need your help with getting a date to the feast tonight," Arthur blurted, the colour rising in his cheeks. He could see Uther cock an eyebrow in surprise and amusement.
"Why, whatever for, Arthur?" his father asked him. "You're certainly capable of taking whomever you want. I'm sure many girls would flock to attend a royal feast on the arm of my eighteen year old son."
"Because there's only one person I want to go with, and she's the only one that wouldn't flock to me," Arthur responded quietly.
The silence hung thickly in the air as Uther contemplated this statement. He knew that Arthur was speaking of Morgana, the one lady he knew that would refuse Arthur to go to the feast with him simply because she always thought it was for his own personal gain of having the king's ward clinging to his arm and making him look magnificent. Morgana was what Arthur wanted, and he couldn't have her without Uther's help.
"I'll see what I can do," the king replied with an exasperated sigh.
"Thank-you, Father. You won't regret it," Arthur trilled joyfully before bouncing out of the room as if were six years old again.
No, I'm sure I won't regret it, the king thought as the guards closed the doors to his court after Morgana returned.
5. Morgana
I want you.
He never told Uther about the longings he felt at night, but he was sure that the king suspected it. He was his father, and he knew him better than anyone.
Well, almost anyone.
It was a brisk night in autumn the first time that he and Morgana had gotten together. It had ended blissfully, both of them coming together before falling, exhausted, onto Morgana's bed.
"You know, Gwen's going to wonder why my sheets smell so foul," Morgana mumbled into Arthur's shoulder as she curled up next to him that night.
"You'll come up with something," Arthur replied confidently. "You always do."
"True, but there's only one explanation I can think to tell her and," she paused glancing at the mischievous glint in Arthur's eyes. "You cheeky devil!" she exclaimed as she slipped out of bed and threw his shirt on over her head. She then proceeded to gather up the rest of his clothes and before he could even move from the bed she had tossed them out the window they had opened part way through their love-making.
"Morgana!" Arthur cried, clearly panic-stricken. "Those were all my clothes save for the shirt you're wearing at the moment. Now how am I supposed to make it back to my chambers? Do you want me running around the castle naked in the middle of the night? I'm guessing you don't want to give me my shirt back."
Morgana smiled and sat herself down at one of her chairs near the window. She buried her face in the shirt she was wearing and breathed in deeply. It smelled like Arthur, which was the perfect reason to keep it.
"You know Arthur, I guess you'll just have to stay here tonight. I'll get you some clothes in the morning. What would the night guards think if they saw me breaking into your chambers in the middle of the night? Then we'd be in torouble."
If the act hadn't been so spontaneous, Arthur could've sworn that Morgana had planned this on purpose, but of course, maybe she had.
"Fine," he grumbled as he joined Morgana behind the chair. "But please come back to bed once you've shut the window. I'm feeling extra chilly tonight."
Morgana rolled her eyes as she felt Arthur's lips on the back of her neck. She stood abruptly and shut the window before flouncing back to bed with Arthur trailing happily behind her.
Comments would be appreciated ^^
