A/N - Hi, anyone still reading. Here is the chapter posted up. This is the second last part of Confusion in Court. Me and Morgana1992 will then do another situation. Please read and review. :)
P.S - Sorry if I posted this chapter wrong last night, I clicked the wrong button. Apologies, but I was rushing.
Read on and press that little blue button afterwards. It only takes a minute and you will get a faster upload.
Confusion in Court
(Part 3)
"Hello, Beth," said Morgana, sweetly.
"Hello, Morgana," replied Beth, smiling broadly.
"I was wondering, who you are taking to the feast," asked Morgana.
"I'm not sure, yet," replied Beth.
"Well, would you do me the honour of coming with me?" questioned Morgana.
"Morgana, I know what's going on," said Beth.
"What do you mean?" asked Morgana, attempting to act innocent.
"I know that you and Prince Arthur have switched places. I watched you in training," explained Beth.
"So will you accompany me?" questioned Morgana.
"I'm sorry, my lady, but I can't get involved," answered Beth "If King Uther ever found out, he'd throw me in the dungeons."
"No, he wouldn't," argued Morgana, knowing he would probably have her exiled.
"I'm not doing it," finished Beth "But I wish you the best of luck. It certainly brightens up Camelot."
Morgana sighed and nodded. All the ladies would be too terrified of the consequences to esc0rt her. But, Arthur wouldn't even get one either. It had been his stupid idea in the first place.
"Good afternoon, Sir Harold," said Arthur, going up to the knight and punching him in the arm.
"It is, sire," replied Sir Harold.
"So which lady are you taking to the feast?" asked Arthur, curiously.
"I was hoping to ask Lady Maria," answered Sir Harold.
"Well, why don't we go together," suggested Arthur.
"I assume you're joking," retorted Harold, chuckling.
"I'm serious," protested Arthur.
"If you were anyone else, you would pay dearly for this insult," threatened Harold.
Arthur stomped off in the other direction, cursing under his breath. He just hoped that Morgana hadn't been able to get herself an escort or he'd never, ever hear the end of it.
The two of them met up in the courtyard over an hour later.
"So, did you find anyone?" asked Arthur, praying for the answer to be no.
"No, and I bet you never, either," retorted Morgana "But, Lady Beth figured it all out, about our challenge. This just proves us girls are way better than boys; we have brains.
"I didn't," answered Arthur, not mentioning about Harold.
"Well, I propose that we go together. In role, obviously," suggested Morgana.
"I suppose that's all we can do," replied Arthur.
"But, I shall be wearing armour and your cape, and of course your crown," said Morgana "And you shall just wear breeches and a tunic, with some jewellery though."
"My father will be livid," Arthur pointed out.
"You aren't scared are you? Since you're acting like me you should be the one defying the king," taunted Morgana.
"Of course I'm not scared," objected Arthur "Bring it on."
Morgana cocked her head to the side and smiled at him.
"I've got to go and train with the knights, perhaps you should go shopping," she said, before sauntering off towards the grounds.
Arthur scowled after her and then remembered he was supposed to be acting like a lady. He softened his features until he was smiling and then set off for the market.
Arthur stopped by a jewellery stand owned by a pretty young woman. He rummaged through the vast array of necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings with huge sparkling stones and tiny white pearls.
A blood red ruby suspended from a thin silver chain. It was the sort of thing Morgana would wear to a feast to make some sort of statement; or whatever. He decided it was his best option.
"I'll take this," concluded Arthur, handing the necklace to the woman.
"Will you be interested in the bracelet to match?" enquired the woman, hopefully, pointing at a thin silver and ruby bracelet.
"Yes," agreed Arthur, deciding that more was better if he was acting as the First Lady of Camelot.
The woman's face lit up as she took his gold coins and pocketed them happily.
"May I ask who the lucky lady is?" asked the woman as she began to put the jewellery in cotton pouches.
"It's for me," replied Arthur, loudly.
"Oh … um … sire," stuttered the stunned seller.
"Is there any problems?" asked Arthur, blushing.
"Of course not," said the woman, more or less recovered now "I hope you like your purchase."
Arthur smiled sweetly as he took the two pouches and headed back to his chambers to organize for tomorrow night's feast or read a book or something equally as boring or ladylike.
The next evening, Morgana rapped on Arthur's door.
"I'm coming," he said in a forced polite tone.
"Hurry up; the feast starts in half an hour. What are you doing, brushing your hair?" asked Morgana in a teasing tone, continuing to thump the door.
Arthur opened the door and stepped back to see Morgana dressed in her very unpractical armour with a red cape with the gold dragon emblem draped over her shoulders. His father was going to throw a fit.
"I need your crown," said Morgana.
"Oh, come on. You weren't really serious," complained Arthur.
"I'm perfectly serious, now hand it over and I'll help you put your jewellery on. From what I heard you bought a ruby necklace and bracelet. Not bad taste, I must say; you could have done a lot worse," said Morgana, gloatingly "Now, be a lady and let me into your chambers."
Arthur smiled at her and let her in. She really was enjoying this. She hated all the fuss of feasts, even though she was the main attraction. She was probably having a great time wearing the armour and now his crown.
Begrudgingly, Arthur handed over his gold circlet and Morgana placed it on top of her head, proudly. She has secured her hair in a tight bun at the back of her head, something she rarely did.
"Give me your necklace so I can put it on for you," offered Morgana.
She picked it up off the table and Arthur moved over to her. Once it was fastened tightly, his bracelet was put on and Morgana surveyed him.
"You look perfectly feminine now," she said with a smile.
"Hadn't we better get off to the feast," Arthur interrupted her taunts.
"Of course," agreed Morgana "You better go along first then, I always do."
Angry that he had to be the first person to be seen by the courtiers and the foreign princess, but most importantly his father, Arthur set off for the great hall.
When he got there, the guards almost did a double take but wisely didn't mention anything about his appearance.
Morgana arrived a few minutes later and offered him her arm, as he always did when he had to accompany her.
The pair went arm-in-arm into the bustling hall. All eyes were on Arthur's jewellery and Morgana's attire and crown. The foreign princess looked completely perplexed. Uther's eyes bore into them with such intensity that both of them tried hard not to flinch.
"My lady," said Morgana, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"My champion," responded Arthur through gritted teeth.
Then, they continued to walk towards their seats and Uther; and their impending trouble for their humiliating antics.
"What the hell are you two doing?" asked an irate Uther.
"Nothing, sire," answered Morgana, putting on a meek voice that was meant to imitate Arthur.
Arthur himself stayed silent in the face of his father's fury until Morgana gave him a pointed look from where she had her head bowed, a smirk plastered on her face but hidden from Uther's line of sight for now.
"We are escorting each other to the feast," he replied, smart-mouthed, thinking that was what Morgana would most definitely say.
"How dare you continue to humiliate me? I warned you both that these ridiculous antics must end several days ago. You have both directly disobeyed me and humiliated us and Princess Mia," said Uther, his voice low and his eyes cold like a snakes "I order you both to go back to your chambers with your servants; if either of you moves then you will regret it. Do you understand?"
Morgana nodded submissively, definitely overstepping the mark of acting like Arthur. And Arthur kept his head held high and squared his shoulders before walking confidently out of the hall, ignoring the confused people.
The guests were shocked by the way that the prince and lady were dressed. It was just unnatural. And, Morgana had always been the one to act smart and defy the king, not Arthur. He'd always been apologetic and a mini-replica of the king. The guests were very confused indeed; especially Princess Mia. She had at first concluded that this was how they acted in Camelot, but when the king went off like that, she was even more bewildered than before.
Back in her chambers, Morgana was relaying her antics to a shocked Gwen who appeared to be stifling her laughter.
"Oh, come on, it was funny," said Morgana, giggling.
"Morgana, you need to stop laughing. The king will be here soon and he won't be too pleased if he thinks you find it funny," responded Gwen, seriously.
"Ok, I'll try," agreed Morgana, managing to stop her giggles altogether.
A few seconds later though, she had a flashback of Uther's face and Arthur being disrespectful, and burst into a stream of fresh laughter.
Gwen went over to the table and poured Morgana some water, ordering her to drink it, since she seemed nowhere near ready to cease her giggles.
Morgana obeyed Gwen, and after sipping half of the cup and concentrating on her breathing, had stopped the laughter once and for all.
"I've just had a great idea, Gwen," she said, after sucking on a grape for a few minutes, thoughtfully.
"What is it?" asked Gwen, warily.
And Morgana launched into her very detailed plan, and although she found it funny, she managed to contain herself.
An anxious Gwen waited patiently as her friend started to write a letter to Arthur; giving him details of the dare. She had tried to persuade her otherwise, but Morgana, being Morgana, had been adamant that she was doing it. And eventually Gwen accepted that she was fighting a losing battle and stood beside her as she scribbled away furiously and in her best handwriting.
"Give this to Merlin, and tell him to give it to Arthur," said Morgana, rolling up the parchment and handing it to her faithful friend.
"But…" Gwen said, not finishing her sentence.
"If anyone asks what it is or looks at it, just tell them I ordered you to give it to the prince's manservant and you have no idea what it's about," explained Morgana "I'll happily take the blame. Anyway, if my plan works it won't be me on the receiving end of Uther's temper."
Gwen shook her head but left the chambers to find Merlin.
"Hello, Gwen," said Merlin, giving her a goofy smile as she rushed over to him.
"Hi, Merlin, I'm glad I found you," replied Gwen, handing over the scroll "Morgana wants you to give this to Arthur, and give her a reply."
"This can't be good for Arthur," said Merlin, smiling broadly.
"Trust me, it isn't," continued Gwen.
"Well, you better come with me, so that you can take the reply back to the Lady Morgana," concluded Merlin, leading the way to his master's chambers.
Once there, Gwen stayed out in the corridor, relaying the guards the story Morgana had told her to. Although both Morgana and Arthur were confined to their chambers, they were still allowed to pass letters.
"Arthur, this is from Morgana," said Merlin, handing him the rolled up parchment.
"God help us," retorted Arthur, but he unrolled the paper all the same and began to read.
Dear Lady Arthur,
Now, since none of us have given up our challenge to see whose life is tougher, I dare you to climb of your chambers' window, as I have done twice, if you remember. Then, you shall refuse to apologize to your father, saying you deny everything. Now, don't be such a goody-two-shoes and don't back down. After all, if I, a woman with an easy life can defy the king, Camelot's top warrior can, as well; especially as you are acting in the role of me.
Of course, if you accept my challenge, I will drop my act of defiance and swallow my pride to apologize to your father. I will say I am truly sorry and I will even go so far to say so in front of the court, just so that you have proof that I do actually do it. Although, I don't ever back down from a dare.
Kind Regards,
Prince Morgana
"What does she think she's playing at?" asked Arthur, tossing the letter to a curious Merlin.
"Well, she is asking you to climb out of your window in return for her swallowing her pride," summarized Merlin, after scanning the letter quickly.
"I know that, idiot," retorted Arthur "I mean, doesn't she know the trouble I'll get in to."
"I think that's the point, sire," explained Merlin "I mean she doesn't believe you'll do it."
"Well, of course I'm going to do it. I'm not going to let her win," concluded Arthur, determinedly "On one condition."
"And what's that?" asked Merlin, eagerly.
"That Morgana begs for my father's forgiveness," stated Arthur.
"I shall tell Gwen," said Merlin, grinning as he turned to leave and give the message to his friend.
Exactly twenty minutes later, it was agreed that Arthur would climb out of his window and Morgana would beg Uther's forgiveness. Arthur would climb out of his window with immediate effect but Morgana would wait patiently for Uther to come. This would be an even stranger night.