Wow. I'm on fire! Lucky you! Three chapters in two days! Well, this one is shorter than the rest, but I wasn't planning on making this one too long, just enough for you all to get the gist of it. In the future I'll start to do something similar to this chapter, which is transitioning the narration to follow Morgana for short bits at a time, just so you get the whole meaning of my story. Also, I've fixed some minor errors in the past chapters, so I mean you can go back and re-read the other chapters if you want, but it wasn't enough to change the overall story. Enjoy!
Chapter 7
Ever since she was a child, Morgana suffered from nightmares. Nightmares that made her lose sleep, nightmares that made her wake up in tears, and nightmares that made her never want to sleep again. She had even thought a time or two about ending her own life just so that the dreams would stop. They worsened as she got older. There was not one night where she didn't go without dreaming something awful. When she was a child the dreams were always about monsters, creatures of the dark that would take her away. Recently they had been about the people she loves meeting tragic ends, sometimes by her own hand. And even more recently, some of her nightmares have come true. Morgana was petrified that these visions would be discovered and Uther would have her killed for sorcery.
It was only until Merlin confessed to having magic that she felt as though she had someone to trust. Oh, she trusted Guinevere with her life, but she would never have burdened her with her secret. Merlin introduced to her a world she couldn't begin to imagine. Magic made everything beautiful. Morgana began to view her surroundings quite differently. She could see the fabric of magic woven into life all around her, and it gave her new understanding. She cherished every session where she would learn magic from Merlin. It was the only thing that kept her from worrying about the transgressions of the real world. As long as she was in Gaius's room with Merlin and the book of spells propped up between them, she could forget about everything. Merlin made her feel safe and wanted, truly wanted. She always watched Merlin when he wasn't looking. She saw a brave, selfless, compassionate young man who she adored deeply. He was always taking care of her, even if it was in the smallest of ways.
And she loved using magic. It was the thrill of having power over the order of things. Secretly, Morgana greatly enjoyed that her magic had to grow from Merlin's. She loved the feeling of his magic spreading through her body like a wildfire whenever they touched. It was almost a disappointment when Merlin had said one evening, "Well, I think your magic is strong enough so we don't have to help it along anymore!" He was so excited, in complete contrast to what Morgana was feeling. Ever since she had started to notice the fire between them, her nightmares were not as vivid, dulled as she would have described. Her dreams were still horrible, but not as intense as she remembered them being.
When Morgana had used her magic on Merlin in the forest she was terrified that he would be wounded by her own means. How relieved she was when he was as unharmed as he was. Then the incident with the doe occurred and she had never been so afraid of herself. What kind of person am I, to lose control like that? Morgana couldn't handle her failure, especially in the way that it happened. It was such a comfort to her when Merlin held her against him. His familiar musky scent brought her out of her hysterics just long enough to ask him to take her back to the castle.
Morgana was a little nervous, despite the state that she was in, when Merlin agreed to stay with her. She didn't know quite what she was asking, because it was all on an impulse. She needed him near. He was her anchor. Her heart jumped when he got into bed next to her. She couldn't help but lay against him as she did. He was safety. He was familiarity. Morgana closed her eyes tightly as she played with the fabric of his shirt and tried to block out the images of the suffering doe. I know this is going to haunt me tonight, she thought. At least I'll have Merlin here when I wake up. She soon fell asleep to the caress of Merlin's breath on her cheek.
Morgana awoke drowsily. She was still tangled in her embrace with Merlin, who was fast asleep. She lifted her head to peer out of a window. It was still dark outside. She couldn't see the clock, but she assumed it was near midnight or later. She tilted her head back to look up at the snoozing young man who was still holding her in his sleep. He looked so peaceful, so innocent. Morgana's heart reached out to his in that moment. He was beautiful, especially in sleep, where no sign of his troubles were on his face. She slowly raised up a hand and lightly stroked his jaw.
She snuggled up closer to him, careful not to disturb his resting body. She had never felt more at peace than she had in a very, very long time. Her mind began to wander over to thoughts of tomorrow and what Merlin is like in the mornings, is he a morning person or not? Is he groggy or cheerful? She was almost tired enough to fall back into sleep when she tensed up with realization.
She hadn't drempt.
So, have any of you noticed what I'm doing to their relationship? Ten points if you recognize it.
