She threw the door of Arthur's chambers open, marching inside half blinded by her tears.
"Morgana!"
She spun around, glaring at Merlin. "Where is he? Where's Arthur?"
He stepped back, clearly startled by her tone. She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself; if Merlin was shocked by her outburst, she had little hope of keeping up a façade around anyone else. "Tell me," she demanded as calmly as she could manage.
"Out training with the knights...as he always is at this time. I'm sure we've had this discussion before, my lady."
She nodded curtly, heading towards the door without looking back to check if he was following her.
X-X-X
Gwaine breathed heavily as he stood over Arthur, slowly removing the flat of his sword from the Prince's chest. The knights clapped nervously as Arthur allowed himself to be helped upright. "Not bad," he muttered, clearly nursing wounded pride.
Gwaine frowned as he noticed a familiar face pushing through the crowd towards them.
"Morgana," Arthur announced needlessly, smiling in her direction. "Continue while we talk," he ordered, catching Morgana's outstretched hands by the wrists to prevent her making a scene.
"Get off of me! How dare you, touch me?" She screeched, thrashing against his grip. Gwaine stepped forward, resting his hand on her arm gently, releasing her from her brother's hold.
"Stop," he whispered softly, his breath tickling her cheeks.
"No! Not until he agrees to let you stay, here, with me."
Arthur looked sharply in the direction of Percival who was staring curiously at the trio. "Morgana, my decision has been made. If Gwaine has not left Camelot by the end of the week... I will have no choice but to tell my father about your relationship."
Morgana narrowed her eyes, resisting the urge to punching him in the gut only because of Gwaine's tight hold of her. "What makes you think I won't return the favour? If you send Gwaine away what's to stop me telling Uther about Gwen?" She smirked as Arthur's calm expression slowly turned to anger. "Now can you understand the pain you're causing me?" she hissed. "I can't be without Gwaine. Please, Arthur."
The crown prince glanced at each of them in turn. "My decision is final. I am truly sorry." With that, he turned in the direction of the castle, throwing his sword into the ground for Merlin to retrieve later.
Gwaine looked at the knights before dragging Morgana, who was now slumped against him, towards the tavern.
X-X-X
"I love you," Morgana whispered hoarsely, wiping her tears from his bare chest as they fell. She nestled into him, sighing as the tension in her muscles slowly abated.
"I know," he smiled, kissing the top of her forehead. "I know you do."
"It feels as if you're saying goodbye already, Gwaine."
He stayed silent, confirming her suspicions. "No."
Her lover groaned, pulling them both into a sitting position, resting his back against the headrest. "There's no point in me staying if I have to leave anyway."
"There is every point! I don't know when I will see you again after this week is up. I want to spend as much time as I possibly can with you... While we still have time."
Gwaine sighed heavily, kissing her cheek. "Morgana, the knights are already suspicious... The sooner I leave the fewer questions you'll have to face."
Morgana cursed quietly earning a low chuckle for her pains. "That is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard you say."
Gwaine shook his head. "Actually the most ludicrous thing I have ever said was my claim to hate all nobles."
Morgana smiled gratefully, stroking his jaw before resting her head against his shoulder. "I don't want you to go, Gwaine."
"Don't think about it until we have to," he murmured thickly. Morgana did not have to look up to know there were tears in his eyes. Out of courtesy, and to save his huge pride and ego she did not mention that she had noticed.
"Agreed." She turned to look at the darkening sky outside the window. "I should get back. Uther will probably start shoving food down my throat himself if I keep skipping meals."
"It's not mealtime yet," Gwaine complained half-heartedly.
"Gwaine, it's getting dark outside."
"It's just a storm. You can't go walking around in a storm."
Morgana laughed. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Can you behave yourself until then?" She asked, standing up and picking her discarded garments up from the floor.
X-X-X
Gaius stared at her for a few moments. "I do not understand, Morgana."
She fought against her desire to roll her eyes. Clearly, Camelot's beloved physician was becoming rather senile in his great age. "I simply ask that you tell the King I am unwell. Too ill to leave my chambers."
"He will want to visit you, my child."
Morgana nodded. She knew Gaius was right. "Tell him it is highly contagious. He must not be allowed to try to visit me Gaius, do you understand?"
"Yes, my lady. If I may ask; why all the secrecy?"
"I just need some time to myself. All the excitement recently has been a little too much for me."
"Of course. I will let the king know right away."
Morgana smiled, walking towards the door. "And Gaius..." she added over her shoulder, "no one can hear of this. Not even Merlin."
Without a second glance she left, heading towards her own chambers. She tried to avoid the various knights and servants that lined the corridors, anxious to return to Gwaine before he decided to leave behind her back.
"Gwen!"
Her maid jumped as the doors were flung open, her hand pressed against her chest as she tried to steady her breathing. "Morgana! You startled me!"
"I'm sorry. However, you must help me pack."
"My lady? You're going somewhere? Does the King know? Does Arthur know? Does Gwaine know?"
"Do you ever stop asking questions, Gwen? I've decide I am going to make the most of what little time Gwaine and I have left together."
Gwen nodded, hurrying towards the large wooden wardrobe to pull out an array of dresses and cloaks.
"While I'm gone you must continue your duties. Let no one else into the room, except for Gaius. You will understand in time."
"Of course, my lady. Is there anything else?"
Morgana narrowed her eyes before grabbing Gwen's wrists. "You must not tell Arthur any of this. Promise me," she pressed when Gwen did not automatically reply.
"I promise, Morgana."
X-X-X
"Where are we going, my love?" Gwaine asked, staring around the forest.
"It's not far, Gwaine," Morgana smiled, catching his hand in her own. "Don't you trust me?"
She turned to look at the path in front of her, trying to confirm she was heading in the right direction.
"We're not lost, are we?"
"No!" Morgana snapped, dropping his hand. "In fact, it's just a little way over there." She marched off in the direction she had indicated, leaving Gwaine to trail behind her, grumbling incoherently about women and directions.
"Here."
He stood next to her, folding his arms at the scene before him, clearly not overly impressed by what he saw. "Morgana, this is a hovel."
The young ward scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "No, Gwaine. This is a hide-out." She pushed the crumbling door back to reveal the homely space inside.
"Why have you brought me to a hovel?"
"So that we can have some time together, uninterrupted before the week is up."
Gwaine kissed her cheek before dropping his bag on the floor. "Are you sure you can cope with no one to cook your food?" He teased, stroking her hair.
Morgana stepped back, kicking him lightly in the shin. His stomach growled noisily making them both laugh. "I think the question, Gwaine, is can you?"
XXXX
A/N Hello, it's me. Well since the last chapter there's been some bad news for the Merlin fandom…I can't believe BBC have axed the show! It gave me the mind set of I'm just going to write my chapter of Poisonous Lines and kill every character! Sorry, I'm ranting a little bit…If you want to rant too feel free in your review (along with a comment about the chapter…) Sorry it's taken me so long to get something so short written, Emily's been moaning at me on a daily basis but I've been doing nightly essays, losing inspiration and becoming what might be considered dangerously obsessed with Phantom of the Opera… Hopefully my dear writing partner won't take so long to get you something written…As always, please R&R and hopefully we'll update soon..