The young woman in the bed rolled over, moaning softly in her sleep as her eyes flickered open.
It was fortunate, at least for Lady Morgana, (for that is who the young woman was), that no one was around to see the colour of her usually pale eyes. The magic that flowed through her veins turned them gold; bright, powerful gold displaying her unlimited power. Had anyone seen she would, as so many of her kind before her, have been faced with the execution block all because of the king's abhorrence for her gift. That was what her powers were after all. Morgause had taught her that they were not something to fear, they were something to be proud of and to use. And use them she would, right under the king's very nose.
There was a clap of lightening outside the window, bathing the room in an eerie glow. Camelot's ward bolted upright, her hand immediately wandering to her wrist and the bracelet that rested upon it. Her brow knotted with confusion; she did not wear her sister's gift as a fashion statement after all- that was what her many gowns were for. The bracelet was intended to serve a greater purpose. Before she had received the healing jewellery she had become accustomed to her nightmarish visions. She had learned how to deal with them. Now she was always caught off guard, waking her in the middle of the night while everyone else in the castle slept soundly, blissfully unaware of the true reasons behind the Lady Morgana's infamous nightmares, though she was sure some of them suspected the truth.
The young woman walked over to the window, peering out thoughtfully for a moment before carefully slipping into her shoes, deciding to take a walk around the castle in order to calm her nerves. Oh but that blasted dream! Why did these taunting visions have to plague her? She dreamt all too often of that wretched, bothersome maidservant of hers, Gwen, taking her rightful place as queen. The throne of Camelot was destined for her; she was the one who would make everything right again. Those like her would not have to live in fear of their lives.
The castle corridors were cold for the time of year; none of the fires were ever lit during the summer months to preserve the wood reserves for the bitter cold of the winter months. Morgana could remember a particularly cold winter back when she was a child. It had been worsened by the fact that the winter stocks had been exhausted during the summer to aid both Morgana's and Arthur's recovery from a nasty sickness Gaius recommended could be purged through sweating and balancing the humours. Uther had become greatly more perturbed by such matters, dreading his beloved kingdom falling into ruin, becoming a pitiful poverty stricken embarrassment. As a result of his new, tighter measures the entire population of the castle, from the servants right up to Arthur, crown prince though he was, freezing when the summer months held a surprisingly sudden fall in temperature. She suspected that Uther had a secret stash of wood for his servants to add to the fire in his chambers.
She rounded the corner, careful to avoid running into anyone, Merlin in particular. The plebeian manservant had proved to be rather a trying annoyance all too many times. It embarrassed Morgana that she had once harboured a small fondness, or yearning for the pest. He had seemed to be a kindred spirit during the hardest period of her life in Camelot. Of course, that had not lasted, he had shown his true colours soon enough. His feelings for her came out rapidly, poisoning her for, well she never could really figure that one out h6erself. She supposed he had been trying to save his own skin; being associated with her magic much less keeping it a secret from the king would have secured him a one-way ticket to the executioner's block. If that was the case it had clearly backfired on the boy; she now held the threat of revealing that he had poisoned her to Uther who would, of course, sentence him to a death for endangering the life of his beloved ward.
If Merlin was to catch her wandering the corridors at night there would be no end to it. He would, essentially, stalk her, skulking around, hiding behind pillars, following her, snooping... anything in the hope of finding some shred of evidence, even the tiniest hint of her plans. Something for him to share with Gaius or run to the ever disbelieving Arthur. Morgana was always grateful of how little faith the prince put in his servant's questioning of her behaviour. She was immune to any and all threats to her position; neither Arthur nor Uther would hear a negative word about her. She supposed Merlin could be thanked for that; forcing her into exile for a year while she recuperated in Morgause's care had made her even more precious to the pair upon her return. His own plan had, once again, backfired leaving his sworn enemy to use his misfortune to her own advantage.
Morgana breathed gently on her hands, patting them together before nodded contentedly. She had begun to warm up, slowly but surely. Her shoes clicked lightly on the stone floor, alerting everyone in the castle to the fact that she was on the move, not that they would question the king's ward's right to walk around. Only, there had been a few minor break-ins, largely unnoticed as they were carried out by Morgana's own sister. Morgause managed to slip in and out without being noticed most nights, knowing instinctively when her sister needed her. That night, however, Morgana was not going to find her, Morgause was busy in Cenred's kingdom, ensuring the man's support for their campaign against Camelot and Uther. Cenred may have been a great ruler and in charge of a great force but he was, essentially, a man. His desire for Morgause had ensured his unwavering support for their every endeavour but as much as Morgana was grateful for this, she couldn't help but wish her sister was around. She needed someone to talk to.
There was a loud bang, as if something, or someone had fallen somewhere behind her in the corridor. Morgana was not an easily scared person by nature, not anymore anyway but the noise had put her on edge, causing her to turn back in order to identify who, or what the noise could have been caused by. "Who's there?"
There was no immediate reply, giving Morgana added courage to move closer. "Declare yourself. I warn you, I am the king's ward and any harm to me will earn you a death sentence. I am armed." This was not strictly true, but her assurance in her powers comforted her. No one would stand much chance of hurting someone so powerful.
There was a low groan as she got closer to what she assumed was a heap of ragged old clothes. She nudge it experimentally with her foot, surprising herself when the material was, not hard, but not soft like clothes. The thing groaned again as Morgana leant down.
She pulled back in disgust as the putrid stench of alcohol assaulted her nose. She cringed. "Who are you?"
"G-Gwaine."
Morgana rolled her eyes as she aided the man onto his back,( for he had been lying face down), so that she might hear him better. "Pardon?"
"What's yours, Princess?"
"Tell me your name; I will not give my name to a stranger."
"I'm Gwaine. I suppose your name is something posh like Mary?"
Morgana shook her head, bending down to help the man to his feet, ignoring the smell of drink and hoping it did not saturate the material of her dress. If Gwen smelt it there would be questions, questions the ward did not want to answer. Ones that might question her honour and virtue, being caught with a man, a drunken man at night would not do her reputation any favours. Not that she was overly preoccupied by that, but she wanted neighbouring rulers to think well of her when she became queen. "I'm Lady Morgana."
As she tried to continue the drunkard, Gwaine, smashed his lips against hers, giggling drunkenly as she tried not to gag as the smell of him assaulted her nose and mouth as he breathed into it.
Morgana did the most lady-like and dignified thing she could think of; slapping the man away, hard. This was not turning into one of her more successful nightly exertions.
XXX
A/N Sadly this does mean that our fanfiction based on Jasper's view point during Twilight has been put on Hiatus…We're sorry to anyone following that fanfic, hopefully we'll revisit it at some point in the future…fingers crossed. We hope you enjoyed this and want to read some more, review and let us know…Emily's chapter is coming soon…R&R?