Rebellion

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

I have been so busy but hopefully I'll have more time to update now.

James stared out at the water, watching as the current of the river ran past where he was sitting on the bank. He had snuck away awhile ago, after he and Lara gave everyone a full report about what had happened in the village. Leon and Gwain had gone back to the village in disguises to gather more information just an hour ago and James knew that they would be back soon.

The reason that he was still so concerned was that his father had not said anything to him. Gwen had been worried about him, angry that he had put himself in danger. But Arthur had just said the same thing and James was expecting more anger from his father. It unnerved him; made him paranoid.

Just then James heard a rustle from behind him and when he turned around he saw Arthur was walking towards him. With a sigh, the blonde King sat down beside James and said, "So this is where you walked off to."

James gave him a tight smile and looked out at the river again. Silence fell between them until Arthur asked, "What is bothering you? You seemed worried."

James shrugged but when he looked at Arthur, it was his turn to sigh. "I...I thought you would be so angry with me for putting myself in danger. It was a stupid thing to do."

"That depends on how you look at it," Arthur said, surprising James. "You are too much like me to have left those people to fend for themselves. I would have done exactly the same thing so I can't really yell at you for doing it."

Arthur looked at James and said, "But always make sure that you have some there to help you; I may approve of helping people but I still want to keep you safe."

James nodded and the father and son listened to the calming water for a few moments. Then James let a smile come to his face as he asked, "So I'm like you?"

Arthur nodded and replied, "Yes, you are actually the best parts of me and Gwen...even if you do happen to worry a little bit too much."

Arthur looked at him and said, "There is no trace of the arrogance in you that I once had, you are much more humble and that is a good thing for a King to be. I had to learn that and I'm just sorry that you learned that at such a young age." He sighed and said, "I should have been there."

James shrugged and replied, "You are here now; that's what's important."

James could not imagine the guilt his parents and the other adults were suffering from because of the sleeping spell and he did not want them to think about it anymore. "Are Gwain and Leon back yet?" he asked and Arthur stood up.

"They should be back soon; let's head back and see."

James joined his father and the two of them walked back to camp.

Gwain and Leon were back, their cloaks still around their shoulders. Everyone was gathered around them and Gwain started to explain. "We asked around and Mordred is searching for all of us. He ordered his guards to search every village and town; they will burn and torture everyone in sight to find us."

"We need to get back to the valley," Gauis said, "I managed to send a message to Tristan a few days ago to tell him that we were fine but right now, the safest place is there."

Arthur nodded at this and turned to Merlin. "How is Morgana?"

Merlin sighed and replied, "She is rested and awake; she can travel just fine and Mordred's spell is broken. But will she be welcome in a hiding place that was designed to keep people safe from her?"

Gauis frowned at this and said, "Everyone in that valley knows about all of you; stories are told about you at night around the fire. If we show up with all of you and with Morgana, then people would panic. Morgana would defiantly not be welcome and someone may even reveal the valley's location if they see all of you."

"Gauis is right," Lara said, standing beside her father, "We can get support from the people but we must reveal ourselves at the right time or else we'll lose the element of surprise."

James nodded at this and replied, "So we will go to the valley but we'll go there in secret? Sneak in and hide from the people there until we are ready to reveal ourselves."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Will replied.

"And Morgana will have to be brought in secretly as well," Merlin said. He shifted from one foot to the other and then he added, "I also think it's time we speak with her. We should let her explain."

Glances were exchanged and questioned were mumbled but finally Arthur said, "We were about to sit down and eat anyway; Morgana can join us."

Merlin nodded and walked towards Morgana. Gwain sighed and said, "Lovely; nothing like sorting out a decade long feud over dinner."

The sun set and the fire was lit, casting a soft orange glow over the trees and forest floor. The deer caught by Elyan and Percival earlier was roasted and cooked and the group sat around the fire to keep warm.

Gwen had just handed James a bowl of food when Morgana and Merlin walked into the fire's light. Everyone was quiet and Morgana's gaze flicked around at all of them. With a sigh, Merlin sat down beside Arthur and Morgana took her place beside him. When no one said anything, Lara grabbed another bowl-bought earlier in the market- and filled it with some food. Getting up from her place beside James, she walked over and handed it to her mother before sitting down beside her. Morgana smiled her thanks and Merlin got his own bowl. Lara only looked up from her own food then to catch James' eye. He smiled at her and she gave him one back.

Then James turned to Morgana and asked suddenly, "How are you feeling?"

Morgana looked at him for a moment in shock but then smiled warmly and replied, "I'm a little tiered but fine. Thank you for asking."

James gave her a half smile back, catching the grateful look Lara sent him. Dinner went on in near silence with awkward side glances until Morgana put down her food with a sigh.

She looked around at everyone and said, "I owe you all an apology."

Gwain snorted and said, "Understatement of the entire world history!"

Jennifer quickly slapped him on the back of the head to keep him quiet and Morgana replied, "I was not in full control of myself for all these years but that doesn't excuse what I did."

She looked around at the children and said, "I am sorry for taking your parents away from you and forcing you to live such a difficult life."

Turning to her friends she added, "And I am incredibility sorry for betraying all of you. I am not expecting anyone to completely trust me again but I can only hope that we can get through this and take down Mordred."

Arthur, taking the lead, nodded at her speech and looked around at everyone before responding. "Morgana I am not saying that this is going to be easy but in the last few days since you have been here we have all have time to think. We will need your help to get rid of Mordred and are willing to work with you. Then...well we will see where to go from there."

Morgana nodded at him letting out a breath she had been holding and smiled slightly at Merlin. Merlin grinned back at her, giving her that unique smile of his that she had not seen in over ten years.

Turning to Lara, Morgana spotted some small leaves stuck in her hair. Reaching over she gently pulled them out saying, "You really need to wash your hair in case you have any more leaves in it. It's almost as bad as the mud incident at the Summer Ball."

While the children had no clue what they were talking about, all the adults laughed and nodded. Gwen replied, "Yes, except that it wasn't Lara's hair that was a mess; it was the daughters of the nobles."

"OK, did we all miss something?" Tom asked looked around at the group.

Morgana managed to get all the leaves out and she sat back, turning to Gwen. "Will you tell it or should I?"

Gwen thought for a second but replied, "We'll both tell it; you start."

Morgana smiled at the children and said, "It was years ago, when you were all about three. There was a big Summer Ball being held in Camelot and Arthur decided to host it down by the river beside the castle. Huge tents were set up and it was going to be a big event."

Gwen took over, saying, "Of course, all the nobles were invited. Now not every noble family could come but surprisingly every family that had a daughter James' age was able to attend."

There were laughs all around as James sighed and asked, "They wanted to marry me off? At that age?"

Morgana smiled and replied, "Oh they all wanted you to pay attention to their daughters. Thankfully, Tom and Will got away from them because they weren't technically of noble blood but Eddie was a close second."

Eddie grimaced at this and Leon patted him on the back. Gwen grinned warmly and said, "Of course, not one of those noble families were happy to see that you only paid attention to Lara."

James and Lara blushed slightly so Gwen continued quickly. "She was your best friend and no noble daughter was going to distract you from her. And those young girls saw that as well as their mothers."

Morgana scowled now and turned to Lara saying, "Those snobs made comments about you wearing trousers and having your hair tied back from your face. I didn't pay any attention to it but you did."

Gwen nodded when Lara looked at her and she said, "Oh yes, you came crying to us saying that they were being mean to you. For once you actually wanted to wear a dress and have your hair done. You came down the stairs with your mother in this beautiful red gown and your hair was all curled and pinned up slightly. You looked like a little princess."

At this stage, the other adults had remembered what part Morgana and Gwen had reached and were smiling to each other. "I remember that the four boys were standing in the hallway when you walked down the stairs and for a moment, they didn't even know that it was you! I think Eddie actually looked past you to see if the Lara they knew was behind you."

Lara smiled at this and Eddie shrugged in amusement. Morgana tucked her legs underneath her and kept talking. "Now, everyone was by the river enjoying the warm evening and it really was a beautiful setting. Except for the fact that those bratty little daughters kept making comments about how expensive their own dresses were and how many pearl pins they had in their hair. Lara came running up to me and Gwen again and in this sadly little voice, she said, "For once I just wanted to be the prettiest girl at the ball." But this time, the boys heard her."

Said boys looked at each other, wondering if any of them remembered this moment. They didn't and Gwen continued, "The four boys disappeared for a few moments until they returned to the party with their hands suspiciously behind their backs. They all walked straight up to the noble daughters and before any of them could get a word out, James flung a huge chunk of mud at one of them!"

Laughter finally spilled around the camp and James' jaw fell open slightly. "The four boys had picked up huge pieces of mud and started flinging them at those girls. Next thing we knew, they were all covered in mud and their hair styles were caked with dirt. Their mothers were livid but what could they say?"

Gwen said, "Then the boys marched over happily to a clean Lara and James looked at her with muddy hands and a big smile. He simply said, "Now you really are the prettiest girl at the ball!"

James groaned and let his head fall into his hands. "I didn't say that?" he asked but Gwen nodded her head in amusement.

Arthur shrugged and replied, "Hey, people learned a valuable lesson that day; don't mean to Lara if you don't want her boys to track you down."

Lara beamed at the boys, not going to let them forget their kindness even if they wanted to. Elyan nodded as the laughter fell away and he said, "That reminds me of the time they all got into the cook's flour supply."

Another story was started and this pattern carried on for hours. The children listen to their stories of their past, of forgotten memories in a castle they once called home. The short amount of time they had spent in Camelot was either a blur or a handful of memories stitched together. But hearing about how Lara once caused it to rain inside the armoury and how Will nearly drove the royal tutor to insanity made it all the more real.

It sort of gave them something else to fight for. James wanted to see Camelot castle restored to its former glory with the flags and the great towers. He wanted Abby to know what it was like to run down those corridors dodging maids and squires. He even wanted his old room back.

It was getting late but the stories kept coming. Abby was asleep between her parents while Eddie and Tom were only half awake. Merlin and Morgana were fully asleep beside each other, trying to rest after the amount of magic they had used over the past few days while Gauis was also fast asleep. Arthur and Gwen were still talking to Leon, Percival, Elyan, Gwain, Penny while Jennifer and Rachel had fallen asleep beside their husbands. Will of course was still wide awake; he had enough energy for a full army.

Over the hours, Lara had moved from Morgana's side to James' and they had sat beside one another while listening to the talk around the fire. James pretended not to notice when Lara sat to lean against the very tree he was leaning on, meaning her side was right against his. He also pretended to pay no attention when he heard her yawn and rest her head on his shoulder. But when his arm was falling asleep with her, he knew he had to move. So, somehow-and he would play dumb for all it was worth-James' arm was wrapped around Lara's shoulders while she was carefully tucked into his side.

Arthur had looked over and James had quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Through half closed eyes, he saw his father smiled and nudge his mother to look at them. She grinned softly at them and she got up only to place a blanket over them before going to sit back down beside Arthur.

James looked down at Lara, trying desperately to ignore the way her breath hit the skin on his neck. In the last few hours, he had never felt so safe in eleven years. He had forgotten what it felt like to be safe. Surrounded by the trees and his family, an entire army could have set fire to forest and he wouldn't have panicked. Not as long as they were all there with him. He smiled down at Lara and pulled the blanket over her shoulder. If he was being truthful with himself, the entire world could have crashed down around him and it wouldn't have mattered. Not as long as Lara was still standing beside him.

James knew that they were leaving for the valley in the morning; he also knew that this night maybe the last peaceful night they would all have in a long time. So with one last smile he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that his parents were grinning at him like maniacs.