First of all Merry Christmas to you all!
Secondly, sorry for letting you to wait so long, but I was so busy these days.
Thirdly, I want to share some of my tradition with you so here you have some links to some of the carols that are singed in my country. watch?v=xerEH8UAJvU&t=1401s watch?v=0eY2W3tRC6Q
watch?v=xerEH8UAJvU&t=1401s
watch?v=0eY2W3tRC6Q . (Yes, the lines above are copy paste from Eclipse. Sorry, but I want my message to arrive to all of you).
Let's go back to the story. Thanks again, Meri Ley. Your reviews show just how much you hope from this story and this is a great joy for me, but at the same time a great challenge. I hope I will keep you here until the end. Thanks for pointing out the facts that you didn't like. It helps me improve the story. (Yes, eventually, Merlin would have to give up serving Arthur, but first he has to find a solution.)
Merlin was really tired. He had so many things to do, but powerful as he was he knew no spell to help him regain his energy. It was already the fourth day in a row when he hardly had some sleep. Eventually, he let his head fall on the book he had been reading and closed his eyes.
Meanwhile Morgana was still reading the papers. As she finished, she put them down on the table. The witch was ready to comment something against Merlin when she noticed he was deep asleep. She couldn't help a laughter as she took a glance towards the knife. She stood up silently, took the knife and tip-toping, she went close to Merlin and pressed the knife against his neck. She regretted that she would have to postpone killing him for another time as she would need him to help her escape from that land.
Sleepy as he was, Merlin couldn't register what was happening and he just grabbed her by the hand and pulled her next to him. For a moment, she feared that the knife had cut deep in his skin as she had no time to move it away from his neck. Killing him in that moment would have ruined her plans. However, there wasn't the slightest cut on his skin and Merlin was sleeping peacefully again. Yet, he woke up just some moments after as he registered that she was practically trying to kill him. There was the slightest trace of fear on his face, though.
"Have you read the laws?" He asked on a calm tone, as if he had had everything under control.
"Kind of." She answered confused that in such a circumstance he would asked about those stupid papers.
"So, you know what the punishment for murder is, don't you?" Morgana started to lose her confidence, but she still had a plan.
"What benefit would my death bring to you if you were dead as well?" She was decided to fight until the end although the last think she wanted was to be face to face with Emrys. She suspected he had to be the king as the papers had his signature.
"You won't kill me, anyway. You know that you have no escape. Everyone would know that it was you as no one else was with me." She hated him when he was so confident. "Plus…" He added before she had time to say a word. "Plus…" he smirked and caught her right hand while using his body to pushed her down on the floor "you are not strong enough to do that." He pointed out as he landed over her, his hands on her wrests. The knife had scratched a bit his skin, but he didn't look upset by it. "It's just a cut." He added as he noticed her eyes on his bleeding neck. He lowered his body so his chest would press hers. He could feel her beating heart. He said nothing and that silence made her lose her breath. The witch had simply forgotten how to breathe. She wondered if she should be afraid or to enjoy the moment.
"How makes I've never noticed how hot he is when he looks at me like that? Why am I thinking about that? Think, Morgana. You have to escape or…." Those thoughts kept crossing her mind. Well, she didn't know what to expect from him while she couldn't help wondering how it would feel if he were to kiss her and….. She struggled to think about something else. She reminded herself that she actually hated him, that he had tried to kill her before. However, it didn't prevent her from wishing she could press her fingers over his back and kiss him…
The situation was any less awkward for Merlin than it was for her. Despite of anything, Morgana was still beautiful and having his chest so close to hers made him nervous. However, he was better at concealing his feeling. He knew that he could kiss her if he wanted to. She was powerless in his arms. Nevertheless, he knew it wasn't a good idea. He didn't trust himself at that moment. Bedding her would just make things worse. It would only give her more reasons to hate him. So, he snatched the knife from her hand and stood up.
"I think it's time to go to sleep. Tomorrow, you will come to tell me what job suits you." As he said that he took her by the hand and directed her to the door. "The next big wooden door on the right is your room." He added as he left her on the huge corridor. "Good night, Morgana." Upon saying that, he disappeared behind the closed door and she had nothing else to do, but to follow his instructions. There were soldiers on the corridor, all of them were watching her, but none dared to say a word. She hadn't calmed down yet and she was sure it was visible on her face and on her posture. The witch felt her cheeks were in fire, something that hadn't happened to her for years. Her legs were limp and so was her all body. And it was cold there. Merlin had been so warm.
The room was full with women and children. It was huge indeed, but crowded as it was, there was hardly any space for anything else but lying down on an improvised bed. However, the room was clean and apart from its obvious lack of any piece of furniture (if you weren't to take into account the beds), the room lacked nothing else. Actually, it was a pity that the room had been renovated only to be used to accommodate peasants and servants. It could have been used as a ballroom. Perhaps, that had been its usage long ago.
Even if she didn't like to share the room with others, Morgana had to accept it. It was a lot better than sleeping in the woods or having to face the mighty Emrys (even if she started to doubt he was that mighty). She felt every glance directed towards her, but she didn't care. She wouldn't bother caring about what some peasants think about her. She not even bothered to ask if the bed she had chosen was actually taken. Morgana simply lay there and close her eyes, indifferent to the gossip fueled by her indifference and arrogance. The true owner, however, wasn't in the mood to start a fight and looked for another bed.
She was woken early by the gossip of some young serving girls who were laughing and chatting right near to her bed. She was really furious, but as she was about to throw some not-very-lady-like words to them she realized that she was the only one who hadn't woken up yet. Everybody had already made their beds and had put on their daily clothes. The witch had been too tired to hear them. However, those girls' giggles were too loud not to be noticed. Morgana had nothing to do and no other clothes except those she was already wearing. She would have to talk with Merlin about that. Why Merlin? Probably because he was the only person she actually knew there. She couldn't go and tell a soldier that she didn't have clothes, could she? She could have asked those girls, but she was just too proud to admit that she was poorer than they were. As she had nothing better to do and she couldn't sleep either, Morgana just listened to their conversation. To her surprise, the girls, who seemed to be around 16- 17 years old, were talking about the Emrys. Well, talking about him wouldn't have been a strange topic if they would have talked about his kindness or if they would have debated the laws or something like that. However, the girls were debating about how handsome he was and how he had helped one of them to carry a basket of vegetables. The girl told her friends over and over again how he had smiled to her and she had felt her heart beating and that he had actually touched her hand and she had felt she was about to faint and was unable to say a word. And all the girls seemed to envy her and told her she had been so lucky.
Morgana felt she was going sick. Emrys was around eighty years old and those girls were debating how "hot" he was. It was quite disgusting. It was clear for the witch that those girls were stupid. However, she was the only one who thought like that. Even the elder women seemed to agree with the girls, but they just say that he was really handsome and kind and that the one he would choose as queen would be a very luck girl.
One of the girls declared that if she were to meet him she would go to him and tell him that she was his and that he could do anything he wanted with her. Yet her friends said nothing and she noticed that they were insistently looking to something behind her. She didn't have time to turn as she heard Merlin's cheerful voice.
"And who's the lucky one?" Obviously, she hadn't expected that the king would be behind her and obviously she didn't dare to say those words to him. Instead she let her head down as she felt that her cheeks were in fire. They were all lost. They forgot any etiquette and were just looking at him with pleading eyes. He smiled and took a glance on Morgana. She was still lying in the bed. "Have you slept well?" Merlin tried to change the topic and help the girls to regain their courage. He couldn't understand why they were so afraid of him. He had never wanted something like that. The only person that should have actually been afraid of him was Morgana and yet she was the only one that was actually relaxed.
"What do you want, Merlin?" She asked bored while every single glance was directed towards her. She had spoken rudely to the king.
"I just wanted to see how everything goes. Are you alright?" He didn't say if he was speaking about Morgana or he was referring to everybody. Yet, Morgana thought he was referring to her.
"What do you think? Those stupid girls kept talking all the night while those idiot kids were either running all over or were complaining and…" He didn't allow Morgana to finish.
"Fine. I've got it. I am really sorry that I can offer you all the comfort you need, but I will try my best to have the city build as faster as possible so you will be able to have your own room." He really meant it although Morgana kind of deserved that. "Morgana, try to be more cooperative, please. You will have to become friends. It's for your best." The girls nodded, but they obviously didn't want to be friend with Morgana. "Thank you."
"How did she dare to speak like that?" One of the girls said after he had left even if Morgana was still there.
"Be quite." Another added. "I think she knows him. I've heard she had spent the evening with him yesterday."
"What is so special about her? Why will someone like him look at a girl like her? I heard she had been taken her magic because she had done a lot of bad things. Is it true?" They asked her.
"That's not your business." Morgana threw at them, but she was obviously annoyed by their question.
"She bitts." The girls burst into laughter. Morgana could help but to attack the girl who had started it. She may not have magic, but she had nails and the girl would pay for trying to laugh of her.
None dared to intervene while the poor girl tried her best to escape alive from that battle. Morgana was decided to give them a lesson and so she showed no mercy upon the one who had dared to insult her. However, to the girl fortune, Merlin followed by a couple of soldiers entered the huge room. The two women were separated by the guards who took Morgana away from the poor victim. The girl was taken cared by the other girls while Merlin watched everyone present there, waiting for an explanation. None dared to speak. Everybody just let their heads down…..
Eventually, a girl started to speak and then other girls added different kind of arguments against Morgana, some true, but many invented. Considering their story, Morgana had attacked them without a reason. Their friend had just asked her something quite innocent and then Morgana had answered violently, insulting them and hitting their friend. In vain did Morgana try to explain that they had insulted her and as a result she had decided to protect herself; none believed in her story.
Merlin was impenetrable. It was clear that he was furious, but none could tell how he would react. "I will let Lady Miriam to judge it." Upon saying that, a woman came in front of him. She was Lady Miriam, the one responsible with supervising the serving girls and dealing with any type of problem they may face.
From the moment he accepted to rule the country, Merlin had been aware that he would need all the help he could get, so he gave responsibilities to each of his council members over some of his subjects. They would have the liberty to decide upon any small problem that might appear while the king would only deal with the greater problems that concerned the entire country. His representatives would only give him a daily report of the main problems, so he wouldn't have to waste is time on tiny issues.
"I will deal with them, Sire." She responded immediately.
"Pretty well! You have all the liberty you want." However, both knew that "the liberty" he had spoken about was relative as Lady Miriam as well as anybody else had to follow the law which actually gave her very little freedom upon deciding the punishment. He left due to the lot of work he had to do. Plus, deciding upon such a small matter would only alter the rules he had already established. He didn't want to interfere to the job of somebody else. He'd already done enough damage by coming in the morning.