A/N: Story two for you, since I survived the weekend!


"Sister?"

Morgana stirred, the soft question dragging her out of dreams. Gentle fingers brushed her face, tucking strands of unruly hair behind her ears. In the restful state between sleep and wakefulness, Morgana pretended that she was a child again, and that those fingers belonged to her mother. The illusion did not last for long, though, and she mourned her mother's loss again, letting her sister's blurred visage comfort her. "Morgana?" Morgause asked.

"I'm all right," she smiled faintly, despite her aching head. She snuggled deeper into the down pillows at her back and soaked in the warmth of the blankets. The candles had burned low in their mother's chambers, shrouding them in shadows. Morgause fairly glowed in the thin light, her hair a tumbled sheet of pale gold framing her too-pale face.

"You will be, anyway," the priestess lowered herself to the bed next to her sister, "With time. What happened, dear sister? You've been asleep nearly two days." Morgause's hand rested on her forehead, checking for fever before she clasped Morgana's hand, her thumb tracing lazy circles on her wrist.

"I failed," her wavering voice betrayed a half dozen emotions at once- anger and betrayal among them. "All of Ruadan's men are dead, and Arthur's entire company survived with hardly a scratch."

Morgause's fingers tightened around Morgana's. "But how? How was Arthur able to stand against you? We had it planned so well . . ."

"Arthur wasn't able to stand against us. Arthur should have died." Morgana sat up, her eyes unfocused as she searched through her memories of the ill-fated attack. "My brother was not the one who thwarted us. It was Merlin. He has magic, Morgause. Powerful magic. It was he who defeated Ruadan's men, and it was he who cast me away. I don't know where I would have ended up if you hadn't been so close to my thoughts."

"Merlin," Morgause whispered, her good eye narrowing, "I had always wondered about him, about what made him so loyal to Arthur."

"He has betrayed us. And all our kind." Morgana clutched at the blankets, as though mentally throttling the ragged serving boy. "He knew about my visions and my magic from the beginning. He knew how terrified I was. He could have helped me, and he left me to stumble about on my own. I was so alone, Morgause, so terribly alone in those days, and I didn't have to be." She dashed the tears from her eyes, ashamed at her weakness. "Merlin could have helped me, but he abandoned me. He poisoned me! All for Arthur's sake. Why? He was so powerful that night. How could he have such powerful magic and still favor Arthur over his own kind?"

"Hush, sister, you'll wear yourself out." Morgause gently pressed her sister to lie back against the pillows and tucked the blankets around her again. "I had always wondered about that boy. I asked him once, why he was so loyal to Arthur. He said he believed the Pendragon would bring about some golden age of Camelot. Foolishness, all of it. But wisdom does not always follow power."

"I want him dead," Morgana glowered up at her sister.

"Patience, Morgana," Morgause delicately scolded, "As a High Priestess, you must learn to cultivate patience. We shall have our vengeance against Merlin- and Arthur- but we must make sure all things move in our favor before we act. If we act rashly, we could lose everything."

"We've already lost nearly everything. Our mother is long dead, and Gorlois before her. Half the five kingdoms would burn us for our magic, and the other half would drive us away. Tintagel was nearly in ruins when we came back to it. The Isle of the Blessed is in ruins, and our people are hunted down and murdered. We have little enough to lose." Morgana pulled a hand free and traced her sister's cheek, cupping the ruined half of Morgause's face in her palm. "Promise you won't leave me, Morgause? You're all I have left." The pale-eyed priestess suddenly looked very young, and very afraid

Morgause leaned into her sister's touch, a smile gracing her once-beautiful face. She wound her cool fingers around Morgana's and kissed them. "I will not leave you, my sweet sister. Not if I can help it. Now," she pulled herself to her feet, her stiffened joints cracking with the movement, "I will have some food brought to you, then you must rest. We meet with Rheged's envoy tomorrow, and you must be at your best."

"Which son did Urien send?" Morgana settled back and drew the blankets up around her shoulders, her eyes already heavy with sleep.

"The younger one. Accolon. He is loath to let the elder boy out of his sight, given what happened to Cenred."

Morgana smirked. "He should be pleased that his nephew died without leaving an heir. It earned him a kingdom, and he has two sons to pass it on to."

"Urien is not Cenred," Morgause cautioned her, "Cenred was an arrogant man with a head full of lust. He was easy to tempt and easy to lead about. Men like that are happy to fall in line with a beautiful woman's requests. Accolon may be the second son, but he is young and he speaks with his father's voice. Any agreement he signs will have the full force of the Kingdom of Rheged behind it, which is why we must be at our best tomorrow. This is the first step toward a bright future for us."

"And what about Merlin?"

"I will consider what to do with Merlin. For now, you need to regain your strength. We've a long few days ahead, and neither of us can afford to show any weakness. We may be Priestesses- powerful in our own right, with a contingent of Ruadan's sorcerer-warriors at our disposal, but we are still weak. The Isle of the Blessed was well armed against an army, and it fell. All that needs to happen to spell our doom is for Rheged to reject us and make an alliance with Camelot."

"I won't allow that," Morgana said confidently. "I remember well enough how to charm a man. Gaining this Accolon's affections will be easy."

"Indeed," Morgause rasped, smiling, "Our mother was one of the great beauties of the Five Kingdoms in her youth. You could pass for her twin, sister. All you will need to do to wrap him around your finger is to keep your temper in check and keep a smile on your face. Once you've molded him to your liking, our alliance will be set in stone. We will be one step closer to returning you to your throne."

Morgana snuggled back against the pillows, a tired but radiant smile spreading across her face. "That will be a glorious day."

"Indeed," Morgause returned the smile as well as her scarred face would allow, "It will be glorious. But for now, rest. Recover. We have plenty of time to plan our vengeance."