Chapter 3: And They Began To Know

When Morgana once again was aware of her surroundings, she thought she had tumbled headfirst into another nightmare.

That was, after all, what it seemed like. She heard thunder clapping angrily outside and the constant pounding of the rain hitting everything it could. She saw an intense flash of lightning here and there and she felt so dizzy and…

She realized she was cradled in someone's arms…Arthur's…and her arms were wrapped around his neck and they were apparently hiding behind a pillar that was rather close to her room. She did recognize that pillar; she did see it every day of her life, after all. She watched as Arthur and Merlin stood very still, staring carefully and silently at something that was walking loudly near them.

As the footsteps got as close as they could, Arthur and Merlin ceased to look. Arthur pressed against the stone, as if he wished to disappear into it, and held her tighter. Merlin pressed close against the stone and to them, so that they would all fit behind the pillar and so that the owner of the footsteps would not see.

They stood there, barely breathing, pressed into some kind of ridiculous bear hug. Morgana desperately wanted to know who they were hiding from. She glanced first at Arthur and then at Merlin, and saw that they were looking at each other in furious, concentrative anxiety, obviously trying to figure out what to do in such a (quite literally) tight situation.

The footsteps stopped and Arthur and Merlin pressed even closer together, squashing her between them, and huddling against the stone. Was it possible it was…Uther? Who else would they be hiding from at this time of night?

They heard the footsteps slowly coming towards the pillar, towards them, and Morgana drew in a sharp breath. Did Uther know they were there? Only a few more, agonizing seconds and they could possibly be found out…

Gritting his teeth, Arthur handed her over to Merlin, as easily as if she were a bundled up package, and drew out his sword. Merlin stared at him and mouthed, "What are you doing?"

Arthur didn't answer him, but leapt from behind the pillar with his sword. As Morgana held onto Merlin now instead of Arthur, she mentally groaned. She didn't think even Arthur had an idea what he was doing. Why did he have to be so dramatic?

Morgana heard Uther's startled shout and the ring of his sword being pulled out of its sheath. She couldn't see them but she could envision what was happening perfectly in her head. They were obviously squaring off against each other, pride vs. even bigger pride. Lightning struck, lighting up the corridor, and she knew that's when they saw each other.

"Arthur!" she heard Uther exclaim. "Whatever are you doing out this late at night?"

There was the identical sound of two swords being pushed back into their scabbards. Morgana found herself craning her neck over Merlin's shoulder, straining to see the scene that was occurring. Please Arthur, she thought. Don't screw this up. Make your reason believable!

"I couldn't sleep," Arthur said confidently. "I decided to go for a walk." There was a pause. "I heard someone coming and hid over there," he waved to the corner vaguely, as if it were of absolutely no importance, "to try and catch whoever it was."

Good boy, Morgana thought in relief.

"I was doing the same, son," Uther said, letting out an audible sigh of relief that mirrored the way she suddenly felt.

Morgana realized that Arthur had tried to create a diversion for them and that it had worked. Despite everything that had happened that night, she felt a smile spread across her face. She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter that was shaking her entire form. Uther was such a gullible fool!

Merlin looked down at her. In the darkness, his blue eyes seemed to almost glow. He at first looked concerned, probably thinking she was shaking with sobs, but that looked turned to amusement as he smiled at her laughter.

"Father, allow me to lead you back to your room," Arthur was now saying. "Perhaps Gaius could prepare a sleeping draught for you."

"Yes," Uther said in a tired voice. "Yes, perhaps he could." Morgana listened as she heard footsteps once again, growing fainter and fainter as they grew farther away.

Merlin peered behind the column and Morgana looked as well, in time to see a flash of lightning show Uther and Arthur disappearing around the corner. Arthur turned momentarily, to see if they caught what he had just tried to do and to make sure they were going to take advantage of it.

Still carrying Morgana, Merlin hurried down the corridor. Half of Morgana wanted to walk and insist to Merlin (and later to Arthur) that she was a grown woman perfectly capable of getting herself around the castle. But the other part of her wanted to be carried around like a little child, to have someone else shoulder her burdens and worries and while they were at it, her world.

She let the child part of her win.

When they got to her chambers, Morgana noticed that the door was closed. She frowned. Hadn't she left it open in her haste? Although she had been laughing in relief just moments before, she felt her sadness – along with the thought of her situation – return.

Merlin managed to open the door while still holding her, and pushed it open with his foot. Candles were lit all around, flickering gently, and standing in the middle of the room, obviously worried, was Gwen.

"Milady!" she said with a sigh of relief (quite similar to Uther's), taking in the bizarre sight of Merlin carrying her into the room. Morgana was so relieved to see her friend that she slipped out of Merlin's grasp and quite upset, ran to Gwen's outstretched arms. She fell into them (just like the little child she had been in Merlin's arms) and began to cry again.

"Sshh," Gwen whispered, holding her tightly and patting her back. "It's all right." She glanced at Merlin with a worried look and mouthed, "What happened?"

Merlin opened his mouth, but then shut it. He could only shake his head slowly with a pained expression. He hated seeing Morgana like this. He had never seen her so distraught, not even when she found out she had magic. He felt so…helpless.

Gwen understood that he could not be the one to say it and nodded. She gently led Morgana to her bed and helped her crawl into it.

"Thank you, Merlin, for bringing her back," Gwen said quietly.

Merlin nodded in response, turning to leave.

"Thank you, Merlin," he heard Morgana add tearfully and he turned back to see her wet, green eyes and the tiniest, saddest smile accompanying them. "You're a good friend."

A smile slowly spread across his face as he acknowledged what she had said. Morgana watched as he clumsily reached for the door with a bow of his head. "I hope you feel better." He swallowed hard. "Morgana."

Once he had left, closing the door behind him, Morgana let out a furious sigh. "I just humiliated myself in at least a hundred different ways, Gwen."

"Nonsense, milady,"

"I can only imagine what Merlin thinks of me now!"

"What happened?" Gwen asked, pulling the covers over her and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I had a bad dream, Gwen," Morgana said quietly, gripping the sheets in her fingers. "I had some…suspicions…and so I went to Gaius." She had never felt so ashamed before. "He confirmed those suspicions."

"What suspicions?" Gwen pressed gently.

Morgana pulled the covers back to show Gwen her belly. Gwen gasped softly.

"Milady, surely you're not…"

"I am," Morgana said flatly. "And I haven't the slightest idea how."

Gwen picked at a stray string on her dress uncomfortably. "Surely…"

"It's not what you think Gwen," Morgana said quickly. "I haven't done anything of the sort."

Gwen looked up surprised at this and Morgana nodded in response to that look, leaning back against the pillows.

Nothing could ever just be simple, could it?

/

"Well?" Arthur asked as he passed Merlin in the hallway and Merlin knew he wanted to know what had happened.

"Couldn't you see it?" Merlin asked flatly, not wanting to talk about it.

"Of course I couldn't see it, Merlin. Are you telling me her tears were supposed to tell me a little story?"

Merlin stopped and turned to him. If only he knew just how serious this was. "Then I suggest you go back and look." And with that, he turned and walked away.

Arthur stared after him with a peculiar expression. "Fine," he said. "I think I will."

/

Morgana had told Gwen everything. Nothing less would do. Words and tears and worries poured out of her like a proverbial waterfall. She told Gwen all the ways she had humiliated herself in front of Merlin, of all people. How she had thrown up in the purple vase, how he had been there the entire time she was telling Gaius about her ordeal, how she had fallen apart and cried all over him, how she had silently laughed like a maniac while Arthur confronted Uther, and how he had carried her weak, pitiful form back to her chambers.

"His jacket is probably soaked," Morgana said fretfully.

"It will dry," Gwen told her gently.

"Everyone is going to think I'm a whore," she whispered fearfully.

"No one is going to know," Gwen said, her gentle tone turning firm.

Morgana threw back the covers again and jabbed an angry finger towards her belly. "No one is going to notice this?"

At that moment there was a sharp knock before the door opened and Morgana quickly covered her belly once again.

Arthur strode into the room and stopped directly next to her bed. "Morgana," he said, his eyes sweeping down to Gwen, before coming to look at her face. "Are you all right?"

Morgana pulled a pleasant smile from somewhere deep within her. "I'm fine," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked in a disbelieving tone, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I'm sure," Morgana said, straining to keep the smile on her face.

Arthur stepped back. "Then there is nothing wrong?"

"Not at all," Morgana said, the false cheerfulness slowly chipping away at her patience. Why was she so irritable so suddenly?

Looking confused, Arthur looked at the door, before turning back to her. "Oh."

"Did you think something was wrong?" Morgana inquired politely.

"Well," Arthur back towards the door. "No."

"Then you were correct in your assumptions."

Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes. "Merlin has just been acting rather strange lately." He nodded to the two on the bed. "Pleasant dreams, Morgana." He almost smiled then as he turned to Gwen; if Morgana had blinked, she would have missed it. "Goodnight, Guinevere."

And with that he was gone.

Gwen turned back to Morgana. "You don't think we can trust Arthur?"

Morgana shook her head. "No, I'm sure we could trust him. But I…" She paused. "Only you, Merlin, and Gaius know. I think that's quite enough for now."

Gwen nodded in agreement.

Sighing in exhausting, Morgana leaned back, sinking into the soft pillows. That was already three people too many, as far as she was concerned.