The first time they meet, it is on a battlefield.
He sees her first, dark hair swirling with the flash of blades, and cuts his way towards her.
Arthur Pendragon knows that the easiest way to defeat an army is to strike at the head.
So he fights his way through the gore, slicing and butchering human flesh, until he can see the green vividness of her eyes. And her beauty stops him short for a while, before he remembers who he is facing and what he must do.
Ending her life may very well be the blow he needs to bring Cornwall down to its knees.
Camelot has felt the repercussions of waging a long and difficult war. He is tired of spending day after day fighting yet another battle with her army. She is a worthy foe, and for some reason she seems to delight in silently taunting him, leaving him bound defending this godforsaken plain with a token force time after time.
She never attacks first- it is almost as if she is simply holding him off to prevent him from reaching Cornwall. Tales of her military prowess as well as her inhuman beauty has reached Camelot; her name is cursed at by the nobles, who want nothing more than to have conquered Cornwall. Camelot's army has not even been able to reach Cornwall's borders.
It was once said that King Uther and Duke Gorlois of Cornwall were the staunchest of friends and the greatest of allies. Formerly a king, Gorlois had even degraded his kingdom to a duchy bound to Uther's kingdom. It was said that they would have conquered the entirety of Albion had they remained such. But all that changed when Igraine had died in childbirth and Uther had started his Great Purge. Knowing his wife and his daughter were sorceresses, Gorlois attempted to dissuade Uther from carrying out his plans. Uther had taken it as betrayal, and Gorlois too decided that it was in Cornwall's best interests to break all ties with Camelot and regain its status as a kingdom. Since then, the two kingdoms had always been at odds.
The first years were the worst. After a brief and bloody war in which Camelot had learned that Cornwall was no mean foe, Uther turned his attentions inwards, to the Great Purge. The uneasy peace- if one could call it peace- lasted a little under twenty years. Perhaps Uther truly had been ignorant of the fact, or he had thought it better to turn a blind eye before, but Cornwall's agents had constantly been evacuating magic-users and those opposed to Uther. When it grew rampant and three villages actually capitulated to Cornwall, Uther had decided to declare war. And so this war had started, with Camelot's young prince forced to take his place at the forefront with his knights. Little had he known that the second daughter of King Gorlois, born in the shadow of the Purge, had also assumed command of the troops as a general.
He watches her for a while, and it is as if they are the only two people in the world- then he sees his chance and seizes it, gracefully swinging his sword under and up. He almost lands a blow. Almost. As if she was expecting it, or somehow sensed his presence, she sidesteps aside and whirls around, slicing open the man she had been fighting. She focuses her attention on him and him only- never speaking, but noting his every movement.
A twitch, and they are both charging at each other with a charged ferocity they always reserve for each other, parrying one another's blows and raining down savage attacks. Her agility matches his strength and they are at a draw more than half the time, except this time Arthur is planning to take her down by any means. So as Leon slowly approaches her with sword aloft to strike the death blow, Arthur tries to distract her as much as possible. But again his plans are foiled as- curse her inhuman prescience- she realizes what he is attempting to do and takes Leon out with a well-aimed kick. But that moment has given Arthur the opening he needs; he takes advantage of her shifted balance to strike out at her neck.
Her eyes flash gold. He is thrown back to the muddy ground, and cannot stop staring as her chest heaves with the exertion. She has never used magic before in all their skirmishes. It reminds him just what an uneven playing field they have. She steps forward silently and points her sword at his throat, and he can't say anything. But then Merlin-stupid idiot that he is-springs in front of him and tells her, "You can't kill him! He has a destiny to fulfill- ". She only smiles, and her eyes flash gold again, and there's a short silent pause between them as if they are communicating until Merlin shakes himself out of it. He nods and says a curt "thank you" before pulling Arthur up. Morgana walks away with as much poise as if she was in a ballroom. Arthur can do nothing but stare.
AN: Hey everyone; this is my first story on fanfiction- hope you enjoyed! In case you are one of those people who actually want to read about the premise of a story, I'll just explain briefly: I always found it strange that Gorlois would let Uther kill his daughter and most likely his wife as well just like that. I mean, has the man no spine? Uther talked about how Gorlois used to stand up to him; I find his actions weirdly contradictory. So I imagined what would happen if he decided to oppose him. Morgana is definitely Gorlois's child- in my story, she's conceived after Arthur is born and Gorlois breaks with Uther. Just because I can. Morgause will be a decent person, because she never had to grow up a power-hungry sorceress seeking revenge. Not that it doesn't suit her or anything, but still. Merlin is Merlin- I hope. Another warning- Guinevere will not be portrayed flatteringly here. I personally don't like her- she seems too bland. The storyline may touch on some of the episodes from the 1st season, but what storyline there is will be different.
If you've actually gotten through this massive author's note, internet cookies for you! Thanks for reading!