A/N: This is one of my favorite episodes which meant that it was super fun to write so I took my sweet time on it. I hope you enjoy!
The Tears of Uther Pendragon
Part One
It had been almost three months since the dragon attacked, which was difficult to believe. Camelot was doing all it could to rebuild, but Uther was being the opposite of helpful. Since Morgana had been taken by Morgause he had done nothing but search for her with a desperation that almost resembled madness. He sent out search parties relentlessly to recover his missing ward. This meant that Arthur and Merlin were scarce around the castle. Each time they would return from their search empty-handed Uther would simply send them out again. As the days passed it became more and more hopeless. The people of Camelot were becoming more and more saddened, driven by a king with an obsession. The frightening thing about it was that Aleya and I knew very well that Morgana was still alive, and that she was out for blood.
"So, I was reading this book that proposed a theory that the causes of illnesses are magical spirits." Aleya said as she barged into the room with an excited look on her face.
"But we know that germs are a thing that exist." I contradicted, wondering where she was going with this.
"Well, yeah, but it got me to thinking." She continued.
"That's a dangerous business, my friend." I responded.
"What if there were a spell that could be altered in order to kill harmful bacteria?" She said.
"The people of this time don't even know bacteria are a thing, how do you propose to find this spell?"
"Well, I wouldn't find it anywhere, but maybe I could create one."
"Do you know how to create a spell?"
"No, but there has to be a way, I just need to figure it out."
"Why the sudden passion for this?" I asked.
"Something to pass the time, besides Arthur gets nicked and cut every other day it's a miracle that infection hasn't gotten him yet. I mean, he almost died when we went after Ballinor because of infection." She said as she walked over to the window. She did have a good point.
"I do always appreciate your optimism." I responded. There was silence for a long moment before I finally looked over at her and saw a terrified expression on her face. "What's the matter?" I asked as I moved over to the window.
"They found her." Aleya mumbled, fear evident in her voice. Sure enough, Arthur was leading the search party back into Camelot with Morgana seated on his horse.
"Let's not panic, this could be a good thing." I said, trying to be the voice of reason.
"She knows we poisoned her, Sam." Aleya said.
I wanted to respond. To give her some word of encouragement or comfort, but there was nothing I could say. I did not trust Morgana for one minute, nor did I have faith in her discretion as to the actions of Merlin and Aleya. I did know one thing, and that was the fact that I would never let Uther harm Aleya, whatever that took. I just hoped that it did not come to that.
Samantha and I eagerly awaited any word regarding Morgana. After a while we had decided to go to Gaius' chambers to wait. It was not long, although it felt like an eternity, before both Gaius and Merlin walked in. I had not seen Merlin since they had returned, but he did look rather frazzled.
"I was not aware that there would be an audience." Gaius said as he set his bag down on the table.
"How's Morgana?" I asked, worry evident in my voice. Merlin sat down on the bench beside of me as Gaius absently sorted through the contents of his bag.
"Physically, she's fine." He said. I felt a bit of relief well within me.
"Is there something else wrong with her?" Samantha asked.
"Well, she has been through quite the ordeal, my child." Gaius said.
"Where did you guys find her?" I asked looking to Merlin. He shook his head.
"We came across a camp in the forest that had been attacked and next thing we knew Morgana stumbled out of the woods." Merlin said. "Did she seem like she remembered what happened?"
"I did not exactly question her on it, Merlin." Gaius said, "But I am sure that this is nothing which cannot be dealt with in the morning."
"You're right." Merlin conceded.
"I'm going to go check in on Arthur." Samantha said as she stood up and walked out. Gaius' words did little to comfort me, though. I knew that Uther would put Merlin and I under the castle if he found out what we had done. I could only hope that Morgana would not say anything.
"So, are you happy?" I asked as I watched Arthur who was sitting at the table in his chambers fumbling with a dagger.
"About what?" He asked, a false smile falling over his face. I sat down and removed the dagger from his hand and placed it out of reach.
"About having Morgana back." I said as I grabbed his hand.
"I am." He said nodding. He must have noticed the disbelieving look that I was giving him and he continued. "I really am, it's just…"
"Just what?" I asked. He looked very reluctant to tell me, but this was no surprise. Arthur always suffered with a great struggle to say what he was really feeling.
"I'm worried for her." He said whilst shaking his head. "I have no idea what she's been through, we should have found her sooner."
"Arthur, this is no where near your fault." I said. "There is no way that you could have found her sooner."
"How will this have affected her, though?" Arthur persisted, squeezing my hand a bit. He truly did love Morgana as a sister, and knowing what I knew about her broke my heart for his sake.
"Whatever has happened, be it bad or good, I am sure that with help she will come around and be just fine." I said.
We sat there in silence for a long while, both of us in thought. I tried to provide some comfort to him, whatever comfort that my presence could lend. I still had a dark feeling in the pit of my stomach. What horrors Morgause had been pouring into her head over the past few months was anyone's guess, but I did not think that things could ever entirely go back to normal.
"You should have seen Uther." I said as I sat down across from Merlin who was working crushing some herbs for Gaius. I had just returned from the council chambers where Uther was practically glowing with excitement. "I've never seen the man smile so much."
"Have you spoken to Morgana?" Merlin asked as he stopped his work to look at me. I shook my head.
"Not as of yet, but it's only a matter of time." I said. He was silent, "Listen, we don't even know if she remembers what happened."
"If she does Uther will not show any mercy." Merlin said.
"You have to remember, Merlin, that there was a time when Morgana was our friend. Do you really think that she would go out of her way to have us harmed?" I said, trying to be optimistic about the current situation. I also remembered her attempt on Gwen's life and was not so sure.
"Who knows what Morgause has done to her, I fear that the Morgana we knew may be gone." He said.
"There's something I should tell you." I said with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" He asked, concern filling his voice.
"While you and Arthur were gone on your last search Samantha and I fought a banshee that had been summoned to kill Gwen. She spoke to me just as the Druids do when I asked her who sent her." I said.
"Who sent her, Ally?" Merlin asked.
"She said a witch named Morgan La Fey." I said. I did not know if Merlin would understand my meaning, but he seemed to.
"Gwen is Morgana's best friend, why would she want to kill her?" Merlin asked, shock filling his face.
"I think you're right. We cannot know what Morgause has done to her." I said. Before I could say anything else Gaius walked in, looking a bit tired.
"Did you talk to her?" Merlin asked.
"Merlin." I scorned, "How is she?"
"I fear that only time will tell." Gaius said.
"Did she say anything about us?" Merlin asked. Gaius sat his things down on the table and turned back to look at Merlin.
"Not as of yet." Gaius said. "Does she know that you two have magic?"
"No." I said.
"Yes, but she does have some other damning information." Merlin said. I had never known him to be such a pessimist before, but then again, he had perfect reason to.
"At least she doesn't have that piece." Gaius said. "I need not tell you what would happen if Uther found out." A cold chill ran down my spine. I had gone down that mental rabbit hole many times.
"Besides, Camelot was dying. It was either her or the kingdom." I said, "Perhaps she will understand that."
"She will just tell Uther that we tried to kill her, not that she was the source of an enchantment." Merlin said.
"We cannot be sure of that." Gaius said. "Let's see what the morning brings."
I was honestly quite surprised by how worried Aleya seemed. At the slightest noise she would jump out of her skin. She tried very hard to hide it, but she did nearly fall out of her chair when I walked into the room. I laughed, of course, in an attempt to hide my own worry.
"A bit jumpy, are we?" I asked as I sat down at the foot of her bed. She buried her nose in the book she had been reading once more.
"I don't know what you mean." She said.
"Really?" I asked incredulously. "What are you working on?"
"I'm trying to focus on spell writing, but I am having a hard time." Aleya said. There was a knock at the door and I stood to go and answer it. Aleya slid a piece of paper under the book, concealing it slightly. Gwen was standing at the door with a smile.
"Good morning, Gwen." I said with a smile. "Do you want to come in?"
"I just came to tell you that Arthur has requested that Aleya come immediately to Morgana's Chambers." Gwen said. Aleya gave her a small smile and nodded.
"Tell him I'll be there in a moment." She said. Gwen nodded and walked down the hallway. I closed the door and turned around slowly.
"Stay calm." I muttered.
"She's going to tell Arthur." Aleya said calmly staring off into space.
"You don't know that." I said.
"What then? When has Arthur ever summoned me and not you?" She said. She did have a good point, but I was not prepared to believe it. She stood up and straightened out her skirt. "I must go."
"Listen." I said as she started for the door. I grabbed her shoulders and made her look at me. "I won't let Arthur do anything to you. We'll flee the kingdom if we have to, but he will not harm you."
"It'll be fine, Sam." She said, but I sensed that she was trying to make herself believe those words as she walked out the door.
The walk to Morgana's chambers seemed to last an eternity, but it was over far too soon. It was like that feeling when you get in trouble in school and the teacher makes you walk to the front of the class, only this scorning would definitely be far worse than detention.
When I rounded the corner I saw Merlin pacing outside of Morgana's chambers. I took a deep breath before I looked into his eyes. I was at least relieved that he was here with me, that was some comfort.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Do I have to answer that?" I said. He gave a small smile as I led the way into the room. Arthur and Morgana were talking when we walked in and they did not notice our presence so we stood on the edge of the room. I actually hoped to be forgotten.
"The patrol found me." She said, her voice was far too weak for my liking. It was pained, like it took every ounce of effort she had not to break down. "Then I saw them killed. Every one of them, cut down, but that night the bandits were distracted by their spoils. I took my chance and when I saw you I could not believe it." She finished her story and not a moment later Arthur pulled her into a hug. She looked over and saw Merlin and I standing in the corner. "I think I need to rest." She said calmly as she pulled away.
"Everything is going to be alright. You're safe now." Arthur said before standing up. As he moved towards the door Merlin and I began to follow him out.
"Merlin, Aleya." Morgana called. My stomach dropped as both Merlin and I turned to face her. "I want to speak to you." She said. Merlin led the way closer to her. Her voice sounded different now, which alarmed me a great deal. "I know what you did, you tried to poison me." She said.
"You have to understand, it was either you or Camelot." I said when Merlin failed to respond to the accusation.
"I-I didn't want to." Merlin stuttered out.
"It's alright." She said. I could honestly say that I had never been so surprised in my entire life. "You were just trying to protect your friends, I would have done the same."
"Really?" Merlin said, the hope in his voice was contagious.
"I was so naïve. I don't think I really understood what I was doing." She said, sounding very sincere. "But you have to believe me, I have seen the evils of this world. I have witnessed firsthand what it is that Uther fights against. You have no idea how much I regret everything that I have done. I just hope that you can forgive me."
"It's alright, Morgana." Merlin said.
"I'm so sorry for everything you've been through and for our hand in that suffering." I said as I leaned down and hugged her. Maybe she truly had seen the error in her ways.
I could not shake the bad feeling in my heart about Morgana. Aleya had told me how apologetic she had been and that she seemed to really feel horrible for what she had done, but Aleya was historically a horrible judge of character. My sister was, for the most part, all too trusting. There was a knock at the door followed by Arthur immediately sticking his head in.
"You're not busy are you?" He asked as he walked in and sat down across from me.
"Would it matter if I said yes?" I said jokingly. This won a smile.
"It feels like it has been ages since we spent time together." Arthur said.
"I take it you missed me while you were out on the road?" I said, heaven knew I had missed him.
"Every moment." He said with a smile. "And I had to spend nearly every waking moment with my idiot servant."
"That does sound rather taxing." I said with a smile. "How's Morgana?"
"She seems fine, a little shaken, but fine." Arthur said.
"That's wonderful." I said, I knew that there was no way I could tell Arthur about my bad feeling regarding her, or what she had actually done. It would only serve to worry him further, and I could not do that without proof. It was so good to see him happy again.
"Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" He asked. I smiled as I remembered the incident with the Banshee.
"Nothing too exciting." I said, "Aleya, Gaius, and I did fight a banshee."
"A what?" Arthur asked sounding rather shocked.
"I've got one hell of a story for you." I said with laughter.
"Well, I am all too eager to hear it." He said, a smile on his face as well. This is how Camelot should be, he and I together laughing and sharing stories. Why did everything always manage to get so out of sorts?
In an attempt to stall my nervousness I decided to walk around the castle for a bit. Seeing people always distracted me from what was really going on. When I walked past Arthur's chambers I saw the door open so I peeked inside. I had not seen my favorite pratty prince since he had returned. When I looked inside I saw Merlin standing there.
"You've got a bucket on your head." I said as I examined him.
"Arthur." He said, head still in bucket. He pulled the bucket off of his head and looked at me. His head was soaked with soapy water.
"I believe that's all the explanation I need." I said with a smile as I continued down the hallway. Those two would never admit it, but the had a sort of brotherly love for each other that stretched beyond what destiny imagined for them.
I stood in my room staring down at my best dress, which I had laid out on the bed. Uther had planned a feast in honor of Morgana's return. I really could not say that I was pleased about having to wear the dress, it was green and had a waist line that Barbie would struggle with. Oh, there was also the fact that Morgana was an evil witch and she was going to be celebrated tonight. That did put a snag in the whole enjoyable evening thing. Once I was dressed I heard a knock at the door.
"Come in." I said. I looked over and saw Arthur peeking his head in.
"Hello." He said as he stepped the rest of the way in. He was dawning his dress shirt and a riding jacket that he always wore to formal events.
"Hello." I said with a smile. "How was training?"
"Well, I took down two knights blind folded." He said with a proud smile.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" I asked, sarcasm very present in my voice.
"A bit." He said. He walked over to me and placed his hands on his waist. I had to look up at him to meet his eyes. "Are you ready to go to the feast?"
"I suppose I am. I guess you're my escort?" I asked.
"If you'll allow it." Arthur responded, ever the nobleman.
"Then how can I refuse?" I said with a smile as I looped my arm through his.
I got dressed for the banquet early and walked to Merlin's chambers where I saw him engulfed in a book. I quietly walked over to him and looked over his shoulder.
"Anything interesting?" I asked. He jumped at the sound of my voice and I fought the urge to laugh.
"Just some history of Camelot." He said.
"Sir Bedivere." I said reading the line. "One of King Urien's most renowned knights."
"It really is quite interesting." He said.
"I am sure." I said as I sat down beside of him.
"Will you be attending the feast?" He asked.
"Much to my displeasure, yes." I said, "I would much rather spend the evening with you and Sir Bedivere."
"You know, I could escort you as far as the banquet hall." He said with a cheeky smile.
"Isn't that a bit risky?" I asked. He stood up and grabbed my hand pulling me up into his arms.
"I think I'm in a risky mood." He said.
"Have you been to the tavern?" I asked.
"What would make you think that?" He asked.
"The way you're acting." I said through laughter.
"I am just happy. Morgana is back, she's not going to have us killed, and I have a beautiful lady by my side." He said.
"I'm glad that you're happy. I've missed this." I said with a smile, I really had. We had both been so burdened as of late. "Now, we will be late if we don't leave now."
"Alright, my lady." He said. We walked out. Merlin was being a flirt, which made me realize just how worried we had both been in recent events. It filled me with joy that things were back to normal.
