Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Thank you to peaceloveandgleexoxo for reviewing the last chapter.

When Morgana awoke, two mornings after her reunion with her father and brother, she felt immediately in the air that something was different. Something was about to change.

Seeing through the gap between the dense shutters of her window that the sun had long since risen, she decided that it was time for her to do the same. She had had no duties to fulfill since she had returned to Camelot, and had only been permitted to leave her chambers to take her meals with the king and with Arthur. Her father had professed that this was for the good of her health, so that she could fully regain her strength before returning to the constant strain of court life, but the young woman was not a fool. She knew exactly why he was keeping her out of sight.

He was ashamed of her, it was as plain as day in her eyes. 'And why should he not be?' she had often asked herself. 'If it weren't enough that I was the product of an illicit affair that occurred before the queen had rested a year in her grave, and while Gorlois was out on the field protecting his king, I betrayed the kingdom that I had called my home for so many years, and took the crown for myself. But I know that is not why he truly hates me. No. He hates me... because I have magic.'

The sound of the door softly opening brought Morgana from her reverie. Immediately, she started racking her brain for some excuse as to why she had not attended breakfast. However, she needn't have worried, as a quick glance over her shoulder told her that it was not her father or brother that had entered the room, only Gwen.

"Good morning, my Lady." the kind girl greeted, and the tone in her voice was no different to how the woman remembered it to be, before her maidservant had discovered her plots. 'Even after all I've done to her, to the whole city, she treats me exactly as she did before I met Morgause.'

"Good morning, Gwen." she replied, a smile creeping onto her face as she did so. 'Even if all else has failed, at least I still have my best friend. At least I'm not alone.'

"Did you sleep well?" asked the maid, and once again, Morgana noted how little difference she could hear in the tone of her friend's voice. It was almost as if none of the past year had happened. 'If only everyone else was as forgiving as Gwen,' she thought to herself, thinking of all the glares and whispers that had been directed to her in the corridors of the castle. 'Maybe I would have a better chance of being allowed to be who I am now.'

"I did." she replied, crossing from her bed to her window, and opening wide the shutters, allowing the sunlight to pour in. It was something that she did now out of routine, after a year in the service of that awful knight, as she had learnt before long the penalty of not being prompt about it.

"Oh, my Lady, you don't have to do that. I'll do it for you." Gwen said quickly, moving to open the shutters on the other windows before Morgana had a chance to complete the task.

"I'm sorry." apologised the king's daughter, worried that her friend had taken offence at her doing her job for her. "I've become so used to doing this over the last year, I suppose it will take me a while to stop."

"It doesn't matter, it's alright." the woman replied, understanding Morgana's situation as well as was possible to do. After all, she had been a maid in the service of the woman for seven years, and knew very well the endless physical tasks the job entailed, which were exhausting to do when you were used to it, let alone when you were used to living in the lap of luxury. That, coupled with the fact that Sir Fendrel was abusive if she was not quick enough at her work, had made her mistress' life hell the past year. It was unlikely that she was going to become accustomed to being a high lady in the court once again very swiftly after all of that.

Suddenly, Gwen gasped slightly, as she remembered a message that Arthur had sent to her that morning, regarding the event that they had planned for that evening.

"What is it, Gwen?" Morgana asked, having noticed the change in her friend's expression.

"Nothing." the tanned girl responded, a little too quickly for her mistress' liking. She had been a little suspicious from the moment her friend had gasped, but after her hasty reply, she was now almost certain that the elder woman was hiding something.

Still, she chose not to broach the topic any further, and began to prepare for the day, wondering what it was that Gwen could be hiding from her. It couldn't be any castle gossip, or she would have informed her of it straight away, but it couldn't be anything hugely important, or else she would have told her. Then a thought struck Morgana. 'Unless it's a secret.'

The young woman smiled a little to herself, having caught out her friend. It was something secret that had been planned that she wasn't allowed to know about, otherwise the surprise would be ruined. That made complete and utter sense. 'It's probably one of Arthur's stupid little schemes to try and make me feel better.' she reasoned with herself, as she pulled a simple day dress over her head. 'It can't be that important, but he'd still want to try and keep it a secret.'

However, Morgana began to smell a rat once more when Gwen gasped in disapproval at the simple dress she had chosen, crossing to the wardrobe and retrieving one a little more elaborate, insisting that her mistress wear this one instead. The raven haired woman frowned.

"But Gwen, this dress is one that I would wear to court, not for strolling around all day. And it's a Friday. There can't be court today, because of the council meetings." she tried to inform her maid, but the girl did not pay any attention to her complaints, except for her rebuttal of them.

"But that's where you're going, my lady." she replied, the tone in her voice implying that Morgana should already know this, although she rectified this quickly, as if afraid she was going to give something important away. "King Uther has asked that you sit in on the council meetings today. He wants for you to become... reaccustomed to life in Camelot."

"Why would I need to become reaccustomed to sitting on the council? I never have done." the younger woman pointed out, but Gwen simply brushed off her question, quite literally, by sitting her down at the mirror and doing her hair.

Once this had been done, she simply sent her out of the door, before she had a chance to ask any more questions. A frown of confusion appeared on Morgana's forehead, and a thought crossed her mind for the dozenth time since she had awoken.

'What is going on?'

A/N: Only a couple more chapters now, and then I'm onto the sequel, if anyone wants it that is. Please let me know if you do, and review!