Finals week is coming up! I will try to have a chapter out once a week. There may be more chapters in a week than one, but there should be at least one chapter out per week. Thank you for reading and reviews are highly appreciated! :D
XxOxX
Morgana began to struggle towards consciousness, her mind beginning to flicker back to awareness. She never had any problem awakening before. It felt like she had been…her eyes flew open as she remembered the knights surrounding her and the sharp pain at the back of her head before darkness consumed her. She was on a rock slab, the cold leeching warmth from her shivering body. Her wrists and ankles weighted down by chains. As if this cell would hold her. She reached for her magic which beckoned her like a bright fire but hit a solid wall. She could sense her power, but not access it. Her energy pounded at the invisible barrier as slight panic began to take hold of her. Morgana moved her head and felt something around her neck. It felt cool and metal, much like the chains that held her. When she reached up to feel the collar her chains clinked and slid along the ground. She heard footsteps, "She's awake. Send for the King." Another set of footsteps, a door opening, and then closing. "Get up, Witch." A male voice. "Camelot will see you burn for your crimes."
Morgana sat up slowly, unwilling to look weak in front of this man. Her head pounded and her vision blurred but she spoke in a clear and condescending tone, "As if anyone could kill me. I've escaped before and I will do it again and make sure you burn for your impudence." She sneered at him.
The soldier snorted and turned away from her. How dare he mock her! She was a high priestess of the Old Religion, a power to be feared and respected. Morgana was furious and opened her mouth to retort and anger him when the door opened and shut and she was met with the blue eyes of Arthur Pendragon. He walked up to the cell bars and grabbed onto them with his hands as he looked at her.
"Hello Morgana."
"Arthur."
He didn't speak again immediately, just stared at her. "What happened to you?" his voice was soft, sad, his eyes were tired.
"I grew up." She whispered. "Was that why you took me, chained me up? To ask me that?"
"No. But I could not allow you to harm anyone else. The people of Camelot want to have you killed for everything you have done to them. I don't know if I can do that. Not many of them know you are here, but once they do…"
"What's stopping you? Aren't you Uther's prodigal son? He would have me killed when I awoke." She was growing angry at the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice. She should pity him, his hatred of magic, not him to pity her.
"Don't speak ill of the dead, Morgana, especially of your own father." His voice was firm and filled with something that sounded like regret.
"Not my father! Never mine! He was a tyrant and a murderer! He deserved his fate." She stood up and walked towards the bars, stopping a stride length away from them.
"I am not my father. You are more like him than you think." He turned to leave, "Maybe there is nothing left for me to save. Perhaps I should not even try." The door opened and Arthur stepped through, clicking shut behind him before Morgana could give a retort. She was nothing like Uther! He would have her kind dead and wiped from this land. She began to pace the cell. Where was Aithusa? Did they kill her?
"Guard!" Morgana called, a sudden fear sprouting in her chest.
He didn't look at her. "What?"
"Where is the dragon I had with me?"
"Arthur is keeping it in another cell. They are thinking about using it as sport, its lame and it would be easy for the dogs to kill." His voice was filled with contempt as if he didn't even want to be around her.
Morgana launched herself at the bars. "I will skin the flesh off of your bones and of every knight in Camelot if you so much as touch that dragon." Her voice was cold, low and bone-chilling.
The guard took a couple of steps back in fear, and then seemed to remember she was a prisoner. "Not likely. That collar around your neck keeps you from using your sorcery. I'd like to see you get out of here with it on."
She backed away from the bars and touched the collar again. It was smooth with no sign of a locking mechanism. Of all the things her sister taught her and that she herself read in books she had never heard of such an artifact that blocked the use of magic. Her body was sore and the chains chafed on her fair skin. Her clothes were dirty and her hair a matted mess. There was water next to the stone bed but no food. They wouldn't waste it on her until they figured out what to do with her. At least there was light. She shivered as she remembered the darkness in Sarrums pit, the despair she felt as her little dragon began to cry in pain, growing awkwardly. She tried her best to comfort her; even now she reached out to the dragon, or tried to. Despair settled into her. What if Aithusa was dead? She needed Morgana to keep her safe. Her panic level began to climb. Her baby dragon. She had failed to protect her once and she couldn't fail again. Why didn't Arthur kill Aithusa when she was unconscious? Why keep a creature of magic alive at all?
Morgana sat back down onto the bed, examining her chains. Why would Merlin want to keep her dragon alive? The guard went back to the door.
"Now be quiet. I will not answer to you."
"Worried I will control you with my voice? Your ignorance will be your downfall." Her tone was mocking. She continued to examine her chains for any signs of weakening or any way to get out.
"Quiet. Arthur will likely be sending for you soon. Best hope the end is quick."
"Not likely." The Knights of Camelot would want her to suffer before she died. She only hoped that she could get away before that happened.
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I am really good at writing love scenes, but sometimes I have trouble getting other ideas onto the page. Good? Bad? Constructive criticism appreciated. Next chapter will focus more on Merlin.
