Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or its character. If I did, Merlin and Morgana would live happily ever after and Morgana would have a better ending.
English isn't my first language so I apologise for any mistakes, I did my best.
A knock on the door was heard. Aredian laid the glass and the papers beside him, he lifted his hand and called
« enter »
The door opened slowly and the shy young ward was seen, lingering in the threshold. At this time of the night, she wore her usual nightgown. Her hair were loose, they were combed, but somehow they seemed messy. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her skin seemed unusually pale. The last days had been unspeakably hard on her.
«Lady Morgana, don't be shy, you are most welcome to my office. Please come in.»
The lady still hesitated a few seconds before entering the witchfinder's office, but finally, having no other choice, she came in.
She slowly took a few steps, until she reached his table.
making an arrogant broad smile, Aredian waved his hand
« Please, come in, take a seat »
hesitant, Morgana complied.
«So, lady Morgana, I have a few questions to aks if you don't mind.»
The women said nothing, she just slightly approved and beckoned with her head. She could barely bring herself to look at him. He terrified her more than she could tell. She couldn't stop thinking of what kind of awful torture he used on poor Gaius and what kind he might use on her now.
«So, as we discussed earlier, you told me you take sleeping draft to help with your nightmares. Is that so ? »
With a trembling voice, she confirmed.
«I spoke with your maidservant earlier when the most unexpected thing happened.»
A broad smile drew his features once more
«Would you like to know what is it ?»
Morgana was beyond terrified, no answers came out . She just shyly stared at him with unspeakable fear, trying as much as she could to hide it.
«She told me your nightmares weren't worse after you started to take the sleeping draft given by Gaius.»
Fear gripped her and her body froze. She swallowed thickly as her terrified eyes gazed into these horrifying eyes of him.
«Which brings me to the second question. Why would you lie ? What are you trying to hide ?»
almost in a mumbling she answered « Nothing »
« If you didn't have anything to hide from me, you wouldn't lie. And the only thing people try to hide from me is magic. »
He made a small laugh then continued
« And yet, no one has ever succeed. »
Her skin had gone paler at the sound of the word « magic ». Her eyes were glowing with tears fighting to come out. She tightly joined her hands together on her thighs, trying to hide the trembling of her hands given by fear.
« Your nightmares, they aren't just nightmares aren't they ? »
Morgana squeezed her hands a little harder, and stared at the table for most of the time.
« They are magic aren't they ? »
in a mumbling, she answered « no »
« Sorry ? » He said while he laughed « I didn't hear.»
She repeated « no »
« So you don't have magic. Well, alright, I might make a deal with you. »
Astounded, she stared at him
« If you confess about your magic, I will spare Merlin. Because he has magic too, just like you. » He wickedly smiled as he continued «And if you don't want him to share the same fate than Gaius, you will confess the truth.»
Tears flooded her eyes, she was astounded by what he just said. She couldn't believe he said Merlin had magic, again. She whispered Merlin's name, almost to herself. In fear, in suprise, many different kind of emotions came in at the same time.
« Merlin, indeed. Gaius tried to hide it, but he couldn't hide it from me. » He made a satisfying expression before he continued.
« I'm quite certain you're already desperately sad about what happened to Gaius since you betrayed him. Look at you, these dark circles under your eyes betray you. I can barely imagine what the last day was like, imagine if you would have to go through it again, because of you, Merlin would burn at the stake. You wouldn't want that would you ? The boy you love would die because of you. Burned at the stake. »
A tear she has been trying to fight fell from morgana's eyes, her cheeks went pink as she shyly directed her gaze at the table. She was fighting her trembling hands while she tried to think how on earth did he discover she loved Merlin. She always tried her best not to show it, not to show her worry, not to make public an expression of love that couldn't be. She knew Merlin couldn't be with her and she understood him, so she always did her best to hide it from unwanted eyes.
As her torn heart fought to hide how she felt, Morgana endeavoured to think what were her options. She could deny the truth, he didn't have any evident proof of her magic anyway. But Merlin would share the same fate than Gaius. Losing him was something she couldn't bare. She may never have him to share her life but she couldn't bare if anything happened to him. She also thought about what happened to her old friend, Gaius. It had truly killed a part of her. It broke her heart in an indescribable way. Being tortured by fear in such a way and what it brought traumatized her. She was so afflicted that she barely slept since it happened. It was something she never wanted to face again. She felt terrible about what she did when fear has gotten the best of her and she didn't know how she would survive to face it again with Merlin's life at stake.
«You will betray him too would you ? » He nonchalantly shrugged, then he kept going. « It's not so suprising after all. This is what magic people are. Evil. You will betray the boy you love. Because of you he will burn at the stake with his guardian. Well, at leat he won't be alone… »
Morgana couldn't bare this any longer. With tear filled eyes, she cut him off « I have magic! »
A broad wicked smile appeared in Aredian's face. He would have the precious ward at last.
« You will have to confess it in front of the royal court and the King if you want me to spare Merlin. »
The young lady could no longer hide her emotions, she openly cried as she continued.
« I will »
Satisfied, the witchfinder told her she could return to her chambers.
With trembling hands, she weakly stood, her tears continued to stream her rosie cheeks. She turned and slowly headed toward the door.
In silence, satisfied, the wicked men watched her leaving his office. It wasn't so difficult after all. He only had to lie about her maidservant, plunge the knife even deeper into the wound she already had and enter her love into the game to break her completely. Tomorrow, it will be Merlin's turn. He never made any deals with sorcerers, today wasn't any different.
I hope it was visible how bad I actually feel for poor Morgana. I mean, I don't believe she was bad for what happened with Gaius. It wasn't her fault and I don't blame her at all because she was under terrible duress. I think this episode was such a tragedy for her, and loving Mergana (and Morgana), I thought such an interrogation would be dramatic.