Chapter VIII : Repetition

…

"Again!"

She watched as Arthur yelled out commands, the training on the trainees far too harsh than she remembered it to have ever been. It was as if she wasn't looking at the same person she had come to know throughout the years. Although, to be fair, he had changed – for the better, no longer following orders like a good little soldier but rather going out of his way to help those in need. Still, he seemed on edge.

But that was to be expected. In a few days, the five rulers would be here, a meeting held for peace – an event she was glad to not be a part of. Well, except for the dinner celebration. That she was expected to participate in.

Smiling, she remembered yesterday evening.

Looking at the window, she had been nervous, anxious of who it would be that returned.

It had already been a whole day since Arthur was nowhere to be seen, the second day starting. The knights that didn't have any duties were scrambling around at the order given by the king to find him, every room and every area searched in and out of the castle in search of the missing prince.

Her hopes and wishes were received, she knew once she heard a voice she had been waiting for.

"-…was their decision to stay in the same place. And – no, Merlin. There is nothing I can say about that, and neither should you."

"But maybe you can ask –"

"No. And he said so that he didn't want to cause arguments like last time – Morgana." Arthur came to a stop, his expression serious, clothes different than when she had last seen him. Merlin stood next to Arthur, holding a bag in one hand.

Without saying anything else, he remained where he was for a minute as Gwen came into view, and Morgana couldn't express how relieved she was that the important people in her life had gotten back safe and sound, embracing her friend in a hug with a wide smile, happiness taking over, eyes catching right as Arthur was out of sight, rushing somewhere, Merlin following quickly as he realized it soon after.

"Come on – If any of you want to be a knight of Camelot, you must prove yourselves. Again!"

Her smile faltered as she was reminded of the consequences. Arthur being lectured and yelled at by Uther once it was obvious that orders had been disobeyed – orders that hadn't been needed to be told out loud. Whether or not it was orders didn't matter though.

Uther hadn't been the least bit happy to hear of the danger Arthur had put himself in. And from someone like Hengist, all by himself no less.

Though Merlin had been there too, it didn't seem to matter in the least.

But, the five kings' meetings would be held in just a few days, and the training of the knights applying couldn't be pushed back any further, so that had to be taken care of. And, until then, Arthur appeared to be out of the wrath of the king – hopefully it would be long enough to make Uther forget, and, well, it was a possibility with his age getting older. It would spare Arthur a week of whatever it was he was going to get.

She remembered what Uther had said before, when she had encouraged Arthur to save an innocent and he had been absent without leave.

"I should've put him under lock and key."

"You can't chain him up every time he disagrees with you."

And the quick response she had gotten in return. "Just you watch me. I willnot be disobeyed – especially by my own son."

Bitterly, her memory brought back something else – something she kept all to herself. When she had went against Uther about Gwen's father, saying things out of anger, saying the truth to the person who needed to hear it, only to get thrown into a dirty, dirty cell-like room, almost chained there for a night.

Almost because she didn't spend the night there, all thanks to Sir Leon, a knight who had come to report something or another to the king, and told him that she was worried about them returning unharmed and without delay, which, fortunately, had somehow made Uther reconsider and change his decision into giving her a final warning.

Things weren't tense between them anymore when she went to apologize, saying she had acted out of fear and worry for those she was waiting on.

Though saying and meaning were two different things. Yes, she had felt those emotions. She just hadn't felt so apologetic towards Uther for having said what she felt towards his actions.

"Did you need something?"

Focusing on the confused expression Arthur had, she smiled, and explained herself. "I wanted to thank you for rescuing Gwen. And for returning safely. Really, Arthur, thank you –"

"-Morgana, you've already thanked me. Plenty of times, at that. So, please, you can go and continue on…brushing your hair, choosing a dress to wear, or whatever it is you do in your free time."

That was rather rude of him. She was thanking him, yet he was being his arrogant, impolite self.

Well, she thought, eyeing the knights busy repeating the movements Arthur had told them to do for training. It wouldn't be fair if they were working hard while he was just talking until it was time for the 'basic trainings' as Arthur called them – and finals.

She grabbed the sword out of his hand easily as his hold on it was loose – she was grateful for having decided on, instead of a dress, she was wearing clothing she had worn back in the small village – Ealdor, was it?

"Morgana – What are you doing?" Instead of answering him, she told him to grab a sword, feeling in the mood to remind Arthur that she was also good with swords.

At first, he seemed reluctant, but then, after she taunted him, asking if he was afraid to lose, she saw his eyes glint from the sunlight, a grin on both their faces.

This would be fun.

…

Walking back and forth, Merlin paced distress. "What if something happens?"

"Merlin." Gaius said as he put the two vials in his hands inside a cupboard. "You shouldn't worry about what might happen."

Quickly, Merlin retorted, concern about the future increasing little by little at every possible scenario he could think of. "Shouldn't worry? You said yourself that this has never happened before! Either of those kings could –Um, I don't know what they might do, but they could do anything, and Arthur is so busy –"

"-Have you thought about what Arthur could do once he finds you here and not where you should be?" The physician interrupted, exasperated at having to deal with young people and their problems they create in their own minds and forgetting things they say they're supposed to have done.

Thinking for a few moments, Merlin brought his hands up to his head, a dreaded look taking over. "Oh no. I forgot about cleaning the weapons, and... I got to go!"

Running out, he hoped he had hours and not little to no time left to do what he was supposed to have done the day before. Cleaning wasn't easy! It took time, precious and valuable time.

The weapons, he was certain were all outside in the training area. Oh, even the thought made him tired, not at all wanting to have to do any work, though who ever succeeded at anything without working for it? Hm, maybe the dragon.

As he thought of the dragon, he wondered whether or not he'd have to face the dragon soon. Although, that would probably mean something went wrong.

While turning the corner, he bumped into someone, stopping for a moment to look at who it was. "Sire!" He said it louder than he meant to, bowing his head lightly, stepping to the side, surprised at the fact that the king of all people was the person he bumped into.

Only glancing at him for a second, the king continued walking with purpose, two guards following him.

Huh. He hadn't heard them – he hadn't payed attention to his surroundings except for where he was stepping. That was probably something he should work on. Later.

Entering the armoury, he exhaled tiredly while scanning the dozens of equipment he'd have to clean.

"Okay." He said with newfound energy, taking the bucket with water by the corner of the room and the sponge next to it, ready to battle the dirt with everything he had.

…

Clang! Clang!

Their swords clanged as they connected, the air whistling each time they brought their swords down with speed the to-be knights could only mimic, both extremely skilled in the art of using a sword.

No words needed to be spoken during their match, silence sharply cut through with the use of the swords they tightly held in their hands, the training continuing in the background, none of the recruits distracted by the very tempting to watch scene a little further away from them in hopes of being granted the honour of becoming a knight of Camelot, each recruit encouraged by the other to continue training.

Morgana brought the sword she held down at Arthur, the strike dodged, a strike of his own thrown her way to which she also stepped aside to. They were both equally matched, although one could overpower the other depending on certain factors.

Before she could dodge, Arthur was striking at her, leaving her no choice but to remain where she was, holding the sword vertically in her hands with all she had against his strength.

Gritting her teeth, she fell on one knee, keeping herself upright. Arthur had been training so much more than her, which was a disadvantage in her part, as well as the fact that he had a whole lot more experience.

As she looked down on the ground, she willed power to surge through, a sudden burst of energy flowing out of nowhere, her eyes turning amber for a moment without her knowing, standing her ground and pushing her power against Arthur – who was suddenly thrown backwards, the sword in his hands dropping and falling to the side, his head hitting the ground hard.

Dropping to her knees, breathing deeply, she nearly fell backwards from a sudden exhaustion, holding herself up with her elbows.

Not a second later, a sharp piece of wood fell right in front of her, stabbing the ground she had been on.

Then, she heard metal clinking, and saw guards run to where she had been going at it with Arthur. Looking around to find Arthur, and to find an odd smell nearby, her eyes landed on something which caused her eyes to widen in shock.

A little further from where she was lay Arthur, a pile of hay near them turning into ash as it was lit into flames, the fire burning brightly.

Wanting to scream at Arthur to move when she noticed how close he was to the flames, she couldn't find her voice, her throat closed up, eyes watering. Instead, she tried standing, almost falling over as she couldn't balance herself, eyes rushing to see Arthur, and the flames, and then looking again.

Two of the closest knights ran, grabbing Arthur and getting him out of the range of the fire, two guards hurrying over to where Morgana was, asking if she was alright.

She heard them, but was more concerned with two things. One was the state Arthur was in – it appeared as though he passed out. The other, the second matter that she couldn't wrap her head around, the thing that had been bugging her for a while due to the strangeness of the candles in her chambers.

What was going on? She begged for an explanation…Although she did have a guess on how it was that this incident occurred.

…

"It must be the work of sorcery." Uther concluded after pondering on the report he had heard of what happened from the guards, walking over to stand in front of the window.

"Perhaps." Arthur said from where he was sitting on a chair, leaning heavily against it, holding ice on the side of his head where it hurt – Gaius had told him to do so after hearing how he had hit his head in his fall – a fall, if that's what it would be called.

Morgana had been too overwhelmed with emotion – appearing to be in shock, so she was told to relax and rest in her chamber.

While she was in her chamber, Arthur was in his chamber, Merlin standing beside – or rather, behind his chair, the king the only other person in the room. One thing he was glad about was that his father didn't raise his voice a lot, and Merlin didn't speak loudly, because the headache he had really couldn't be bothered to deal with loud noises right now.

Sighing with relief at the coldness of the ice for a moment, he gave it to Merlin, and spoke. "But it…could be because of the heat. The –" Pausing for a moment, he waited for the pounding in his head to lessen, continuing afterwards in a quiet voice. "…The weather was extremely sunny…"

"Then how do you explain the fall of the wood hanging from that old house?"

Eyes shut, exhaling slowly, wanting the headache to go away, he searched his mind for an answer. "…As you said, the house was old. It might be because of what held it to have loosened, broken, or rusted."

Turning around to face him, the king retaliated. "That's not enough evidence. It must be the use of magic."

"My ward was attacked, and so were you." Walking to the door, the king glanced back at him. "Arrest all those we have under suspicion."

Before Arthur could say anything in return, he was left alone with Merlin, the door shut.

"This is great. Just…great." He couldn't help muttering. The recruits had to be done with their testing, and then he also had to be ready for the meeting of the five kings. But now he had another task to deal with…

Amazing.

And a fact he was not sure he wanted to even dwell on – something impossible. After all, there was no way another person he knew about really practiced…

"At least neither of you were hurt badly."

Looking up from where he sat, he added on to the list.

He also had to deal with Merlin. Someone who happened to be a sorcerer.

Resting his head on the chair, he rolled his eyes at the comment made.

It kept getting better and better.

…

Sitting on his bed, Merlin read the book about magic, learning of new spells to be better skilled in his use of magic.

It was night-time, the moon up – he was using the moonlight to read the pages in the dark – with the stars, yet he couldn't sleep, not yet, not until he learned one more spell. Learning spells were always useful, and helpful in certain situations.

A quiet knock, and a creak of a door opening, and then shutting, he heard someone speaking with Gaius, who had been busy with preparing potions.

Slowly, he creeped up to the little gap of his open door to see what was happening.

Morgana was there, in a purple dress, her eyes filled with worry, confusion, and fear of some sort. Merlin concentrated on what was being said, and listened.

"Gaius, are you busy? Can I talk to you?"

"Of course. You must be shaken up from what happened today."

Lightly laughing, Morgana spoke, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "Yes, it was unexpected – the fire."

Nodding, Gaius replied. "But what I don't understand is how the fire started in the first place."

"Yeah…It – it was terrifying. It all happened so fast." She took in a deep breath, and tried asking something she had been wondering for a while, but hesitated, too worried about the consequences.

"It's alright, you're safe now." Was she? She didn't know. "You're the only person I've ever told about my dreams…I know that I can trust you, Gaius." It was a statement she hoped was true.

"Of course, you can."

That was the only confirmation she needed. "It was…me." She kept eye contact, wanting to see any reaction from the person she knew had to have an explanation. "I was the one to – I started the fire."

She found no reaction which got her to be more confused because she knew – she knew that she had been the one to cause it.

"I don't understand. There was no fire near you…"

She wasn't being clear, it seemed. "No, no, it isn't like that. It was me…It was magic." She nearly whispered the last part, words seeming so loud in the quiet room, fearing for whatever this new shocking news may cause.

Merlin was taken aback by the declaration, the words loud and clear in the silence, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"My child, –"

She was being treated as if she were a little kid. She wasn't being taken seriously! "I am not a child!" She said, rather loudly, louder than she meant to.

"The accident had nothing to do with you – how could it have?"

Right as she was about to retort, Gaius continued speaking. "I am going to draw you up a fresh remedy that will make you feel better."

"No –" She began, shaking her head, wanting to be understood, wanting someone to listen to her and give her the truth, but was not heard. "-I promise. You must trust me."

She lowered her head, scanning the tiny cracks on the floor with sadness as she waited for the remedy Gaius was preparing. Was she right? Did she have magic? What was happening?

As fear sank its claws deep into her heart, she felt as though she didn't understand anything anymore. On the inside, she was already begging for someone to help her, to tell her whatever this was – if it was magic. She no longer wanted to feel like she was imagining things.

She wanted someone to say it out loud. She needed someone to tell her what was happening. She didn't want to be this scared any longer than she had to.

Behind the creaked door, Merlin slowly went back to his bed after the conversation was over, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what he had just overheard, adding up the puzzle pieces – of the times he heard how Morgana wasn't having a good night's rest, and kept having nightmares every now and then.

And it couldn't have been coincidence that she was there when the accident from today happened – if it had been because of the weather like Arthur said, then the whole wheat and such should've burned down to the ground – so it had to have been magic. It had to be Morgana.

So, Merlin thought, if it came to it, he would help his friend understand and learn magic, one way or another. After all, they both had to hide their powers or be treated like an outcast. He could relate.

While Morgana waited in the room, staring at her hands in fear and confusion, silent footsteps led away on the other side of the door to standing outside under the night sky, watching the visible parts of the kingdom they would one day rule.

"I wish you were here, mother." He whispered into the stars, watching as they twinkled. His chest felt heavy, and he was losing confidence on being able to handle all that was thrown his way. Was it wrong to keep his friends safe? No.

Yet it felt wrong. He was defying everything he had been taught by his father, was he not?

What should he do?

Arms crossed, coat warming him from the wind of the night, Arthur watched the stars for a while, wanting to clear his mind of the conversation he overheard, cursing his past self for having walked to that room to give back the blue-like cloak he had gotten from Merlin.

Why did life have to be so complicated and so hard to deal with?

...

A/N:

Hello :D

I've never done an author's note, so this might be awkward...I wanted to thank everyone reading this story! (I know, the updates aren't regular and awfully slow...but got to deal with life)

ALSO Thank you so much for all the reviews! - They mean a lot to me c:

Would love to read reviews - any likes, dislikes, guesses, thoughts, comments - they are very appreciated

Hope everyone had a happy HaLloWeEn (considering all the worldly events)

Until next time...Bye~