Cenred had always loathed women. They were weak, fragile and too wimpy. There was nothing they could handle and he had no patience for the breakable creatures who were only good at batting their eyelashes and then demanding your full attention even though they were boring and annoying. So when he became King he didn't waste his time flirting and courting a suitable bride to be his Queen. He would pick one when he thought it was time to get an heir. Before that, he would do whatever he pleased without a whiny woman hanging on his arm to hold him back.
And then, in the blink of an eye, his opinion of them changed forever. Because he met her. It was the middle of the winter, and he was riding out on a patrol when they came across her.
The wind was cold and sharp and the snowflakes were falling without a sound around them, covering the world in an icy, silent white. At first it was just the sound of a human voice that drove them to go find out what was going on. Before they knew it, they had followed a forgotten trail to an abandoned castle. It was little more than a ruin, yet there was something dark and fierce and threatening to the still standing walls. They were made of almost black stone, overgrown with plants and stood in sharp contrast with the freshly fallen snow.
And in the middle of all that was she. She stood there like she owned the place, like the old ruins were her personal kingdom. The air was shimmering with a strange power, a static that made all the hair on his neck stand up. She was dressed in a dress as red as blood, trailing behind her with a short train. It looked expensive and royal and it made her perfect figure visible for everyone. Her hair was long and blond and it caught the last shimmers of the sunrays, making it light up like fire. It fell in curls around her head, trailing freely past her shoulders instead of made up in the difficult and strange knots the lady's at court wore. She looked like a wild, ancient Queen at the top of her reign. In front of her stood a large bowl with a strange swirling blue liquid in it. The woman held her tender arms above her head and started chanting. As she did they all recognized the voice they had been following, unaware that it belonged to a woman. It was powerful and melodious as she almost hissed the words of the strange language into the air. They didn't dare to move.
And then as suddenly as she started she also stopped. Smiling she grabbed a vail that was standing next to the bowl and swiped it through the liquid. It seemed to light up as she held it in her hands and her satisfied smile turned into a smirk that spoke of a sinister plan.
Cenred didn't think he had ever seen such a beautiful creature and he wanted nothing more than to take her with him and get to know everything there was to know about her. Standing there so fierce, she was a mystery wrapped in power. Beautiful and wild.
'Maybe,' he thought, 'maybe I do like woman after all.'
After that night things were never the same. Life went on like it always did and he went about his business, but sometimes she would march through the castle doors, head held high and a gaze that pierced your soul in her beautiful brown eyes.
Morgause was her name he learned, Morgause le Fay, and there was pride mixed with anger in her voice as she told him how she was of royal blood, from Camelot's nobility. The house of Sir Gorlois to be exact. She was the oldest daughter of three. She had three younger sisters she'd never met. The youngest one –Anna- died at birth, while the middle one grew up at Camelot's court. Her father was a knight, a high ranking one, the best friend of Uther Pendragon until the latter betrayed him and left him to die on the battlefield. Her mother on the other hand was from a long line of sorceresses, and as the oldest daughter, Morgause was smuggled away from the watching eye of the King to the Isle of the Blessed to be raised and taught by the Priestesses of the Old Religion. She was a High Priestess herself now, had been for years. And she carried a hatred towards Uther that ran so deep it even surprised Cenred. He didn't know women were even capable of such hatred. To be honest, he quite liked that. She was a lioness, hell-bent on reaching her goal and wiping out everything that dared to come between her and her goal.
Because her ultimate goal was to kill Uther and bring magic back. He had to pay for the suffering he had caused the magic community she told him. Although she had been born before the Great Purge, she was still a child when it started and she had seen so many of her people die, so many of their knowledge get lost and so much of her home fallen in ruins. Her sister still remained under his claws and she was determined to get her out of the dangerous environment.
And Cenred, always having hated Camelot anyway, told her he would help and support in any way possible.
It earned him a surprised smile, a smile he wanted to steal right of her lips with a kiss. And right then and there, he realized he had fallen for her.
And that was a dangerous dance, knowing he wanted her, but fully recognizing she was a predator, not caring as much about him as he did about her. It was always going to end in blood. He knew that. And seeing as she was his weak spot he never imaged to have, it would probably be his blood. But that was a gamble he was prepared to take. He would have her or no one would. He would rule with her as his Queen or he wouldn't rule at all.
She didn't let him down either, figured out the rules of their games before he even did. They were dancing around each other, living on promises and dreams of a future that was as vague as fog. She was strong, oh so strong, and she didn't let anyone command her. The fact that he could argue with her said a lot of the relationship they were developing.
But it was never meant to last.
And surely, she turned out to be stronger, smarter, crueler than he ever imagined. But still she held his undying affection and devotion, as she looked into his eyes while his blood tainted the floor as red as her dress and smiled at him. The game was over, and he had lost. But he also knew that the goal he set himself, of making sure she would be his and his alone was reached. She did not care about other men, barely sparred them a glance. While he, he had been allowed to play with her for some time, in the game that was bigger than he could handle, with a woman that could never be tamed.
This is a one-shot I wrote a few years ago but never put up. I still quite like it, so enjoy my first Merlin fanfic. Please leave a Review!