AN: for the last chapter- I actually spent a few days trying to get a scene written of Arthur on the dais listening to defenses and pronouncing judgment. I tried it with Merlin there, without Merlin, I tried having Gwen do it… Tried him sitting, in the council chambers, outside, yada, yada, yada… In the end my muses were each going in a different direction that I had to shoot them all with tranq darts filled with southern comfort and while they were passed out drunk just wrote a general skip over of that scene. LOL
Anyhoo Just watched Hallow Queen again – I didn't realize cast iron stoves existed in the dark ages… or even really the middle ages LOL OK it's already been established that Merlin writers didn't give a squat about historical accuracy. So enough of that- YIPPEEE 200 Reviews! Thanks Aerist! Um… well as for your request… I can't get any actual Mergana yet… my thinning plot wouldn't support another side trip in that direction, Sorry.
However here is an ity bitty chapter of some Morgana, and immediately following will be a chapter with something you did request that Nance also has been wanting to read. I could have put them together, but I think the flow is better separating the chapters.
"You are just a right little mess aren't you?" Morgana commented as she approached the wooden gate of the fort. Aithusa was silent and withdrawn; a state Morgana had not seen the young dragon in since their imprisonment. Even during that time, Aithusa still made noises of pain as she grew twisted inside the confines of the hole. The silence now seemed to envelope the child completely. The elder boy of the family came out and was shocked to see Morgana with a red bundled cloak the size of a child with her on the horse. She dismounted somewhat clumsily, not letting go of it, though the boy offered, and made her way into the keep without explanation. Stopping at the door she turned and asked if when he finished if he could bring some water to her room. Much to her relief, he informed her that the task had already been done awaiting her return.
She immediately felt a sense of gratification at the warmth from inside the main hall. It was empty and quiet, but it wasn't until she reached her own room that she sat Aithusa down and began unbundling her from the red Camelot cloak. "You know I think this might be too big for you, although I'm not sure how big you really are now," she rambled on, just to fill the quiet void. She carefully brushed the mess of hair from the girl's delicate face. "Well first thing we need to do is get you cleaned up. Then maybe something to eat, and when you feel up to it you can tell me what happened."
The girl stood almost statue still while Morgana stripped her down and bathed her with the warmed water and a tiny bit of soap. The dragon girl just stared into the fire, her eyes would occasionally shift either down, or away when the former priestess tried to get her attention. After a bit Morgana had to step outside of the room. She was becoming frustrated by the lack of response. This little sulking girl was supposed to be Aithusa, her dragon, the spark of life that had kept her on the edge of completely loosing herself during the years of torment. And it seemed she could do nothing to break through to the child. Feeling her temper rise she went back in the room.
"Ok fine, if this is the way you want to play it, then so be it. Letting you go off to Merlin was obviously a bad idea, he screwed up my life years ago, and now he's screwed you up too." The girl had been holding onto the cloak like a life-line and Morgana began trying to wrestle it from her. Aithusa began crying and it soon turned into a full out wail as Morgana took the cloak and threw it aside. Aithusa screamed out her anger, her eyes glowing with a blue fire as items began sailing around the room. In a state of panic Morgana tried to get close to her to hush the girl.
Vivienne came running in to the pandemonium and saw the child. She pulled her daughter out of the way as a metal flagon soared into the wall. "Who is that girl?"
"It's Aithusa, I don't know what to do?" Fear in her voice and her eyes as she looked at her mother.
The older woman actually smirked amidst it all, "She reminds me of your sister. Let her get it out of her system and just try to control the damage." The two women hunkered down behind the bed, using their magic to keep as many things from shattering candles from catching cloth and curtains on fire as they could. After a few moments it died down, and little Aithusa sunk to the floor whimpering.
Slowly the women extracted themselves from their shelter. Morgana tentatively walked towards the girl. Vivienne moved forward with much more surety and bent down in front of the pale child, "Are you feeling better now?"
Aithusa looked up at the older woman with her swollen red eyes and nodded. The first true interaction Morgana had seen since Kilgharrah dropped the child in her lap. The alabaster skin was splotched with red and her hair was even more of a mess than it had been.
"Good, now that you're done with this tantrum little one, you can help clean up the mess you made."
The little girl began moving about the room of her own accord trying to set up candle holders and various other items. Curtains that had been torn down in the fit, the little girl tried, somewhat in vain, to pile them onto the bed. She gave up on that with a wimper and turned instead to some parchments that had been swept off Morgana's small table.
Morgan looked at her mother curiously, "How… what just happened?"
The older woman chuckled, "Sometimes children get too caught up in things that are beyond their comprehension. Typically they don't have the ability to create a full storm inside a room," She gestured to the chaos that lay around them, "but a good tantrum from time to time helps them break through the wall of doubt and refresh their minds."
"Oh…"
