Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters, they belong to their respective owners. I'm just having fun with them. Also, my first language isn't English so all the mistakes are my own as I don't have a beta, if you spot any please let me know so I can correct them as fast as possible. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
PS: The text in italics are thoughts.
CHAPTER 2: THE LAKE
She's nothing as he remembers. Her eyes are pure and her cheeks are rosy with laughter. She's dressed with modest and comfortable clothes, but her skin glows with happiness under the sun. This joyful Morgana is the exact opposite to that evil Morgana, the one that still creeps into his nightmares so many years later, the one who nearly destroyed Camelot with her wrath.
He knows he should leave and inform his king of the discovery, but he just stands still at the very end of the forest watching them, "just to find what her plan is" he tries to convince himself.
Their clothes are drenched, it's the only way to finally persuade Emrys it's time for bathing. Morgana undresses her sulking son slowly, peppering with kisses every inch of uncovered skin. She loves times like this when she can enjoy his presence without care, without worry, and where she admires how much he has grown in these years. Once he's undressed she lets him for a minute to play with the water. As much as he denies it she knows he likes to swim, and lays the now clean clothes onto a flat rock in the shore. Keeping a vigilant eye on her son, Morgana undresses as fast as she can keeping only her white slip as a show of modesty and returns to her son.
Splashes and laughter, smiles and soft conversations. Lancelot doesn't understand what is going on. It's finally dawned to him that this child, this Emrys, is Morgana's son. Morgana's. The same Morgana who five years ago tried to destroy Camelot. The same Morgana who five years ago almost killed King Uther, Prince Arthur and Merlin. That Morgana is a mother. A mother to magical child. A mother to a powerful magical child. He ought to tell Arthur what is going on. No, he should tell Merlin what is going on, he should know what to do.
He tries to remember seeing Morgana with any man before Camelot's near downfall, he's sure Emrys has to have been conceived not long before or after that, his size tells as much. But he doesn't know. Everything is so confusing. Thoughts of that fateful year are hazy in his memory. He just remembers her disappearance after she was defeated, after Morgause's death. One second her wrath is destroying the castle to the rhythm of her cries and the next she has disappeared into a puff of black smoke. Nothing, not a clue, not a single sighting, she just disappeared leaving them to rebuild the castle, the city, the kingdom. And now, by accident, he has found her. And her son too. Unbelievable.
Their fingers are as wrinkly as prunes, Morgana notices. And their clothes should be somewhat dry, at least dry enough to be wearable. So she picks her son gently tucking him to her chest, her chin over his soaked locks.
"See. Bathing is not so bad" – she says to the boy setting him on the rock where their clothes are still drying.
"I still don't like it" – he replies with a frown as his mother dries him with her white apron.
"It does not matter if you do or you do not, my sweet. You have to bathe so as not to smell poorly. You are dry now, get dressed so we can go home and eat." – She commands the boy softly with a ruffle of his hair.
While the boy is dressing, Morgana finally steps out of the water and, no matter how evil and dangerous she is, Lancelot turns around uncomfortably to avoid looking at the nearly naked woman by the shore.
Now dry and dressed, mother and son retake their steps towards the path holding hands and laughing and smiling. A sudden thunder echoes in the forest making the child jump in fright and hide behind his mother's skirts. Morgana and Lancelot look at the sky to discover that the previous clear and sunny day has turned into a grey and cloudy one.
"There is no need to be frightened, my love. It is nothing but a storm. We will be safe at home soon" – Morgana soothes her child.
But as sudden as the change of the weather is so is the mist appearing above the ground, growing and growing until it surrounds their ankles. The forest is in silence, its creatures quiet, the only sounds that can be heard are the thunders and Emrys little sobs.
The mist keeps growing as if it has life on its own, it now reaches their knees but, before them, it is much higher, thicker, and it's creating a form. "It is magical, no doubt" thinks Lancelot "but she is not the one making it" looking at Morgana hiding a terrified Emrys behind her and looking piercingly to the figure of mist in front of her.