xxx I got a little bit excited with this chapter and made it a bit longer than my other chapters, but i knew exactly where i wanted to leave it and hopefully you wont be disapointed with it, even though iv'e left it on the biggest cliffhanger yet! So sorry... xxx
It had now been a week since she had returned to Camelot. Morgana slumped in her chair, tapping her fingers nervously into the wood of the table. She watched as Merlin knelt down next to her bed to tuck in the remainder of the sheets. She hadn't spoken to him all morning, ever since Merlin had turned her favourite dagger into a hair brush. He had caught her looking at it and assumed she was planning something evil; she wasn't planning anything at all, more, considering her options. And now she was ignoring him to make it obvious she was in a mood with him, (after demonstrating her anger with a few hurtful insults and slightly violent acts of course,) but he seemed to be quite content in ignoring her as well, which only infuriated Morgana further.
She wasn't nervous because of the fight with Merlin however, that wasn't bothering her in the slightest. It was more to do with the event that was happening soon. Tonight, a big banquet was to be held to celebrate the anniversary of the treaty between Camelot and Mercia. She remembered that day all too well; it was so long and boring that she thought she could fall asleep then and there, even if she was constantly tired anyway from her dreams. And then Merlin burst into the hall and drank poison, the idiot. If only Arthur would have drunk it, then she would have been inline for the throne and everything would have been fine, (once Uther was out the way,) but no, Merlin had to be all big and brave and drink the poison because Uther told him to, the tyrant! Merlin saved Arthur's life, and his reward was a very painful near-death experience. He would have been dead right now if she hadn't convinced Arthur to go and get the antidote; that's how she saw it anyway.
And now she had to go through another evening with that boring man, and many other people she didn't want to acknowledge. The only person she had really talked to since being back in Camelot was Merlin. Yes she had spoken to Gaius a little, but hardly anything worth celebrating about. And the only thing Arthur had said to her since releasing her from the dungeons was 'where's Merlin?' and now she was expected to sit beside Arthur in front of hundreds of people, pretending to be a respectable lady, half-sister of the king. She didn't even have the title of 'The Kings Ward' anymore.
"I don't want to go." Morgana said sulkily, beating herself up inside for being the first person to break the silence.
"That's too bad." Was Merlin half-hearted reply, making Morgana cringe at the lack of interest in his voice.
"Thanks Merlin, that makes me feel tones better." Morgana responded sarcastically, turning her attentions to gaze out of the window.
"Happy to help." Merlin replied, equally as sarcastic as Morgana.
He walked over to Morgana's wardrobe and began searching through her dresses till he pulled out her silvery-white one, and some silver high-heels. He draped the dress over the top of her screen and dropped her shoes beside it.
"Come on, you don't want to be late." Merlin said as he returned to tidying the room.
Morgana gave him evils before stomping over to the screen. Why was he being so frustratingly stroppy? It was her job to be stroppy and she had every right to be, since he was the one who started it when he transformed her dagger into a useless brush!
Ok, so maybe she had overreacted a little and maybe she might have been a little bit harsh, but he still had to apologise first.
"Ok, I'm sorry, but it was all your fault." Morgana blurted out while kicking her shoes off.
Merlin turned round sharply, his angry expression made Morgana feel quite uncomfortable.
"How is it all my fault? You were the one twiddling a dagger between your fingers, what did you expect me to think?"
"I expect you to trust me and…"
"Trust you? You mean like the way you trust me?" Merlin interrupted.
Morgana's heart sank. Why did he have to make everything so difficult for her? It's not like it was easy for her to apologise and he knew that.
"It's only been a week Morgana, there's no way there will be any trust built up between us anytime soon." Merlin sighed, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm down.
Morgana saw Merlin's distress as an opportunity and took it.
"Ok, I'm sorry for playing with dangerous toys and I promise I won't ever do it again." Morgana joked, and felt quite pleased with herself when the side of Merlin's mouth curled up slightly.
"Daggers are not toys Morgana."
Morgana spun on her left foot and grabbed the dress Merlin had put out for her, dragging it across the floor behind her as she went behind the screen.
"Whatever you say." Morgana shot back.
Well that was another fight over and done with, no thanks to Merlin who stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"I still don't see why I have to go." Morgana said conversationally.
She heard Merlin tut from where she was.
"How are you supposed to convince people you can change if you won't even communicate with anyone?" Merlin quizzed.
"I communicate with you." Morgana replied flatly.
"Oh, lucky me." Merlin teased while joining her behind the screen to do the back of her dress up.
Morgana giggled. She had missed this Merlin since they stopped talking to each other, (not that she would ever admit it.)
Morgana felt Merlin's hands leave her sides and she turned hesitantly till they were face to face. She raised her hand to caress his left cheek, and ran her index finger along the blooded scratch mark under his chin. Merlin's breathing became increasingly fast under her touch; out of pleasure or fear she couldn't tell, but guilt washed over her at the sight of it. She wasn't going to fool herself or him by saying she hadn't meant to do it, because she did, but now she felt nothing but regret; regret for that horrible part of her that still actually cared, the part no matter how hard she tried she could never get rid of, only supress, (Clearly not regretting her actions.)
"I'm sorry." She said again whilst rubbing her thumb against his cheek.
Merlin stared at her hand and fidgeted awkwardly from one foot to the other. He then drew back as quick as he could and placed another wide smile on his face. If you could call this a moment, he had just ruined it completely.
"Honestly Morgana, you've done far worse in the past, a little scratch isn't going to bother me." Merlin said in a non-serious tone.
He then spun out from behind the screen and nearly skipped to the dressing table and picked up a brush, (not the one that used to be a dagger; that brush had disappeared somewhere when she had lobbed it at Merlin's head.)
Morgana saw no reason to reply, so she sat in silence as merlin ran the brush and his fingers through her black locks, and brought them over her left shoulder. She watched in fascination as he began to braid her hair, almost as good as anything Gwen used to do.
"How did you learn how to do that?" Morgana asked, while staring in owe as he carefully rapped one curl around the other, a look of concentration on his face.
"My mother taught me." He replied quietly.
"That's not surprising; I always pictured you being the mommy's boy." Morgana snorted in an amused way, fighting back the urge to laugh at him for being such a girl.
"Thanks." Merlin said sarcastically, clearly not as amused as she was.
"I'm sorry, continue." Morgana instructed, letting a quiet giggle escape her mouth.
"What makes you think there's more to tell?"
Morgana looked up at him expectantly. He held her stare for a while before sighing and continuing.
"It was when my grandma got ill. She couldn't do anything for herself so my mother and I had to look after her." Merlin paused and Morgana could see the pain on his face from bringing up the memory.
She had never heard him mention his family before, but remembered his mother quite well. She was a bit like her own mother in a way, she was very generous and sweet, and undoubtedly proud of her son. Morgana had liked her instantly and felt comfortable talking to her, talking to her about things only a mother could understand and give advice on.
Merlin's mother: another person Uther turned his back on.
"You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to." Morgana said in a gloomy tone.
Thinking about Merlin's mother had brought back the memories of her own mother. She would kill to hear her voice again; her soothing words that comforted her when she had a bad dream, and her wonderful laugh when she returned home covered head to toe in mud. Her voice was mainly the only thing she remembered about her, that and the last day she saw her, she remembered that day all too well; she remembered her mother and father fighting, and she remembered hiding in the shadows and watching them shout ugly words at each other which sent her back to her room in floods of tears. Then her mother came in and held her tight, pressing kisses to her forehead as she said: "I will always love you my dear, and know that I will always be with you. You have a great destiny ahead of you Morgana and I have no doubt that you will succeed in everything you do, and never let anyone stand in your way…" and then, she was gone…
"It's fine, there's not much to tell really."
Merlin's annoying interruption of her thoughts brought her back to the present, her mother's words slowly vanishing from her mind.
"She had such long, brown hair, not a hint of grey, and used to put it in a plat every night to create beautiful curls for the next day. She never asked us to do much for her because she didn't want to be a burden, but she always asked for her hair to be platted before bed."
Merlin paused to inspect his work, circling her to admire the back.
"I know, sad isn't it?" Merlin quizzed while placing his hands on his hips in a sign of accomplishment.
"Yes it is." Morgana replied bluntly.
It wasn't sad at all. It was actually quite sweet really that he cared about her enough to do that, and he actually had a family to care about. She envied him for that. Merlin gave her a funny smirk like he knew she was lying.
"Are you ready?" Merlin asked in a more serious tone than he had used all day.
Morgana gave a slight nod.
"Ready."
The evening was a drag. If the first feast held for this stupid treaty was bad, this one was ten times worse. People she didn't even know, had the nerve to come up to her and ask "How are you coping?" like she had just recovered from some sort of disease. Arthur had been watching her for the majority of the evening, and gave her a warning look when she scowled at an old woman who had just pinched and shook her cheek like she was nine years old.
At least Merlin had been enjoying himself. For the majority of the evening he flittered between the knights, sharing a laugh and attempting to avoid Gwaine who had been forcing large sums of wine down his throat for the last two hours. And when he wasn't with the knights he was talking to Gwen's maid Morgana had learnt to be called Kayla. She wasn't very impressive looking. She was short and small in all the wrong areas, and had a laugh that could have sent Morgana's immortal army running in the other direction. And she was blonde.
About three hours into the evening and the feast had finally begun. Morgana sat in her old seat at the high table, Arthur on her right and Gwen next to him. Merlin was hovering somewhere to her left, (not that she had been watching or anything,) and nowhere near Kayla thank god.
Morgana had just finished her fifth goblet of wine when he wondered over to refill it. She noted that Arthur and Gwen were deep in conversation before pulling him down by his neckerchief and whispering in his ear.
"Merlin, get me out of here now."
Merlin turned to give her a questioning look, shifting awkwardly in her grasp before whispering back.
"How do I do that?"
"I don't know, think of something!"
Morgana slowly released him and returned back to her food. She could just see Merlin roll his eyes from the corner of her vision, but didn't acknowledge it. He stood dumbly for a few seconds, before turning to fill Arthur's goblet. Then as soon as he was finished, his free arm swung out and knocked over her drink, sending it flying into her lap. Morgana shrieked as the cold liquid soaked through her dress.
"Merlin you idiot!" Arthur barked instinctively.
"I am so sorry my lady, I… I will… umm…" Merlin began to babble.
"It's fine Merlin accidents happen." Morgana spoke sweetly before raising from the table. "I guess that's my queue to bid you goodnight. Your majesty…" Morgana gave a slight nod to Arthur, and then turned to Gwen, "Your highness."
And with that, she left the feast with Merlin close behind her.
They stumbled into Morgana's chambers giggling like small children; their alcohol consumptions playing a large part in their immature state.
"Honestly Merlin, that was the best you could come up with?" Morgana chuckled breathlessly while stumbling out of her dress in the middle of the room, and falling to the ground.
Merlin lent down to help her up, only for Morgana to pull him down next to her and they both collapsed into fits of laughter, and continued to laugh for some while. Then, for a few minutes that seemed like hours, they just laid there in complete silence, staring deeply into each other's eyes like they had only just met and it was love at first sight. Morgana's arm brushed over his and settled on top. She was so tired and content that she could have fallen asleep right then and there; in the middle of the floor wearing just her undergarments. But moments like these never last for her, and soon she was plucked from her heavenly bliss back to her cruel reality, and the sight of an embarrassed and mumbling Merlin retreating to his room on hands and knees. His words were slurred slightly and he wasn't speaking in full sentences, but she just made out what he said:
"Can't…need sleep…to much wine…goodnight Morgana…"
And then he crawled into his room and kicked the door shut behind him, leaving Morgana still on the floor, alone, abandoned.
Morgana found it difficult to sleep that night. She hadn't bothered to get into her night gown or anything because she was so tired and dizzy. She just got into bed and tried to sleep, only to fail miserably.
When boredom had completely taken over she huffed loudly and stalked over to her table for a drink of water, bashing her side into a chair in the process. Before she had the chance to take a sip, a hard blow to her head sent it flying out of her grasp and rolling onto the floor. She cried out in pain and shock, and frantically clawed at the rope now around her neck, ripping her flesh. Her attacker then forced her brutally to her knees, whacking her head on the table in the process. She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she struggled to breathe, and her eye lids fought to stay open. Her hands searched the table desperately till one landed on the jug, and with all her strength she lifted it up and waved it around till it collided with his head. The rope fell from her neck and she collapsed to the floor in a heap, turning her body to face the enemy.
She felt her chest begin to heat and suddenly and immense light shot out of her necklace sending the man flying into a wall. Without thinking she ran to Merlin's door, only for her ankle to be grabbed, pulling her down to the hard floor with a thump. Immediately a hand was over her throat and necklace, and she was forced to stare into the eyes of her attacker. He wore a blue servant's tunic and a cold, twisted smile.
"I was informed that you didn't have the aid of magic at the moment, but no matter, no amount of magic can save you now." He spoke while plucking a knife from his boot and raising it above her chest.
Morgana squeezed her eyes shut as tight as they could go, and tried as hard as she could to wriggle out of his hold, but it was no good. He was far too strong and she was in no fit state to be walking, let alone fighting for her life. With every second she felt herself take a deeper step into the darkness, and if the lack of air from the hand locked around her throat didn't kill her, the knife about to plunge itself into her heart would. And with no magic to defend herself with anymore, this was most definitely the end.
xxx Dun dun duh! Sorry, couldn't resist :D So, who do you think the mistery attacker is? And how do you think Morgana will be saved? Please leave your thoughts and ideas! xxx
