Chapter 2

She watched Merlin leave her room and turned toward her handmaid. "Thank you, Gwen." She said before hugging her "I knew it was the right thing to trust you."
"Of course." She answered while starting to help Morgana change into her nightgown. "Merlin is a friend. I mean, I wasn't expecting him to be a sorcerer, but I knew we could trust him. Next time you see Arthur, you should tell him too." Morgana's body froze.

After a bit of thinking she replied "I will tell him, but you need to give me some time."
"Why? He loves you like a brother, I'm sure he won't tell anything to Uther."
"I know, but he may ask for some proof. He'll just laugh at me like the time I tried to tell him about my visions. I doubt he'll believe me otherwise. As soon as I learn any magic, I'll tell him." After all, the sooner she tells him, the less he'll feel betrayed by her. "In the meanwhile don't tell him anything, and definitely nothing about Merlin."
"It's his secret -I know- but I'll try to talk with him about it. I doubt Arthur would betray him."
"You sure have a lot of faith in Arthur."
"Even with all his defects he is a good friend, loyal, and kindhearted. He may be angry at first, but I'm sure he'll understand why Merlin did it, and they'll reconcile again in no time."

At this Morgana turned and said while smiling "I'm sure he is just a good friend, nothing more."
Gwen's eye widened a bit, and she quickly replied with indignation "Of course! Ah, I don't mean he is not attractive, he is handsome, and kind, But he is-" she stopped when Morgana gave her a 'I knew it' look. "No, totally not." She said to conclude the topic, while she turned and went to fetch her nightgown.
"Come on! You can tell me. I think you are wonderful together!"
Gwen returned with her lady's night dress "I think we need to buy and additional one. This one is a bit old."
"No, you won't change the topic. Who cares about the dress? You two seems to be made for each other."

Gwen was obviously uncomfortable with the topic, not looking at her, moving around more the usual,... "He is a prince, and I'm a servant. There will never be anything between us."
"That's only now. When he'll be king I'm sure he'll make you his queen. And you'll be wonderful at it."
Then -while Gwen body screamed 'I already gave up on it'- she said "I hope so."
"Have you seen how he looks at you? Keep on like this and no one will ever snatch him away from you."
"Morgana... I can't have him wait for me."
"Gwen, it's not like you won't see each other for ten years. You can talk, go around and have fun together. If you want I can go on a horse trip with him, and bring you and Merlin along. Once no one is around, you can have all couple time you wish. Just don't give up. Ok?"
"I'll try" she sheepishly replied, probably not that convinced.

Morgana was about to be ready for the midday sleep when Gwen tried to get back at her "What about you and Merlin? He is quite charming."
Morgana turned toward her to just say "No."
"Why not? You are both -you know- and you'll spend a lot of time with him to learn magic."
"I think he is cute, but not exactly my type. He is more like a friend anyway. It'd be like going out with Arthur!"
"I see... what a pity." Gwen said while giving the finishing touch to Morgana.
"I'm sure he'll find someone." She said while standing up, trying to end the conversation. "I'll be going to bed now."
"Good sleep. I'll be in the next room if you need anything."
"Thank you."

Then Gwen closed the curtains to keep the sunlight out, put out the candle and silently left the now dark room. It took a while before sleeping, but soon enough her tiredness caught up to her.

In the public square they were accumulating wood. A platform of wood below, and from there a vertical pole to chain a person to. A man was immobilized there, and a female voice kept on calling a name: Gregory; but soon the flames started, and all the sounds were replace with screams. Not after long, only the cracking of the fire could be heard and the sobs of a woman. She suddenly woke up.

At first, she was scarred, then confused as she didn't know that man. Lastly she was enraged as Uther was about to kill an innocent for something she accidentally did. Gwen just entered the room, as she probably heard her wake up. Morgana was now sitting in the bed.
"Do you want Gaius' potion?" She suggested.
Morgana looked at her with desire in her eyes, but she answered "No, thanks." and looked back to her bed. "I think I can save a man's life. A bad dream is not a steep price for that."

Gwen smiled as she reached Morgana's side. "Was it bad?"
"Uther will condemn a certain Gregory for the fire in my chambers. Or at least that's why I think I saw a man burning at the stake. It was horrible to look at his face, but even worse to look at his son. I'll do something about it, like Merlin managed to save Arthur that time." then she whispered to herself "I'm sure of it."
Gwen smiled reassuringly, and Morgana smiled back, albeit a barely visible one. Then with more confidence she asked "Am I in time to eat with the king?"
"It's already past noon, but it's still early for dinner. You want me to go and tell him you'll to join him?"
"Yes, and after that inform Merlin of my dream. When you get back tell me what he thinks about this." Gwen nodded. "And tell him that I plan on convincing the king that using a scapegoat won't work. Tell me if he as any ideas on that."
"It may take time," She replied, visibly worried "I'd rather stay by yor side, in case you wake up after other bad dreams."
Morgana smiled at her "I'm fine. It's just a dream, and this task is more important if we want to save that man's life."

After Gwen agreed to do it and left the room, Morgana returned to lie in the bed, and slowly faded asleep. It was harder as she had the image of the fire still impressed in her mind, but knew how to prevent it from happening, and that reassured her enough to allow her to sleep.

When she woke up and wished she had remained awake. It was worse than she thought. It was still the same dream, but this time no one called Gregory's name. This time it was a blond woman. Either her action changed the resulting suspect, or Uther just decided to sentence them all when he didn't find the culprit. Probably the second one.

"Gwen?" She called trying to keep any worry out of her voice.
It didn't take long for her to come. "Yes?"
"How much has passed?"
"Half an hour and I would have called you to choose your dress." she paused. "Was it worse?" she was already by her side, sitting on the bed.
"I was wrong." She replied "he'll sentence them all." Pure shock and horror passed through her face. They were both shaken by the news. "It was a woman this time. It will work out, Gwen. I won't let him kill any innocent."
Gwen hugged her while stroking her back "It could have been me on that stake, Gwen."
Gwen shushed her and whispered "No, it couldn't. You have us. And I'm sure neither Merlin nor Arthur would allow that to happen. Arthur may not accept you, but he won't see you burn. You are safe."

Morgana kept on basking in her hug for a period that appeared to be way too short, but then she let go and stood up to prepare herself. "What did Merlin say?"
"He was worried. He was thankful for the news, and said that they'll wait for how the talking goes. They'll think of a secondary plan in the meanwhile."
"I see." She dryly replied. Nothing unexpected, and nothing useful. She still had to try, just in case.
"And another thing. Gaius said that in his experience Uther was-", but she was promptly interrupted by Morgana.
"Stop. I don't care about what Gaius said. If he wanted his words to hold any weight, he shouldn't have lied to me for years." As Gwen had just opened the wardrobe, she added with a calmer voice "A sober one. No need to provoke him this time."
Gwen tried again "He also said that he was really sorry for lying-", but she stopped when Morgana gave her an angry look.
Then Morgana changed topic "I think the blue one is perfect. Or do you think the light-grey one is better?"
"I think the grey one looks more sober, if that's what you are going for. It covers more."
"Grey one, then." She said while putting the chosen cloth aside, and going to prepare the other things first.

When she reached the dinning room Uther was already there, waiting for her. What she wasn't expecting was Arthur. What she planned for required a private space just the two of them so that Uther could open up without caring as much for pride, but that won't ever happen with his son present.

"Did you sleep well?" The king asked as soon as she entered the door.
"Yes, sire. I had two nice dreams. How about you, how was your day?" She replied while walking in to her chair, on this left.
The king turned toward Arthur, who answered in his stead "We are still investigating all she suspects. Tomorrow we'll be imprisoning them." He said while Uther told a servant to bring the food, with a nod.
"I expected them to be imprisoned by now."
"We are also investigating outside of Camelot, we planned on arresting them all together to avoid any escape, and that takes time."

Uther was about to complain again, so she spoke before he could "And how about your day? Did I miss anything important happening in court?"
"Usual things: reports to read, some laws to decide, people that request a meeting..."
"What about the bridge? Did you decide on its location?" Uther made a surprised face, obviously not expecting her to care about a bridge.
"No... as the one we sent to check on the banks of the river has yet to return. What about your dreams? Considering all the problems you had with them -and what happened today- I wasn't expecting such good news. It's been a long time since last, isn't it? What were they about?"

"One was about me taking a horse ride with Arthur, but -as busy as he is- it'll have to wait to come true. The other one instead would actually make me extremely happy if it happened in reality, and it'd be easy for you to realize."
"Just tell me whatever it is, then; and I'll gladly make it true." he happily replied.
"Don't kill any innocent in my name, that's all I ask." He was taken aback, slightly irritated by the change in the conversation "I'd like the culprit to be found, but I won't accept you convicting any scapegoats or any innocent."
"If I sentence them, they are not innocent." He dryly replied just before returning to eat.

She spoke with Arthur this time "Who are the suspects?"
He looked at his father and answered "People we suspected of using magic, consorting with sorcerers or druids."
"Oh, suspected. As you wisely say, " she turned toward the old tyrant "all magic is evil, and sorcerers must be punished. I take it that the fact that they roamed free means that we have no proof to convict them normally. Don't make what happened to me an excuse to bypass the laws of the kingdom."
He had stopped eating and was more tense than usual "Why do you think I would?"
"I don't want what happened to Gwen's father to happen again." He seemed to return breathing, looked at his place and ate a piece of meat.

"Someone attacked my ward. If I have a chance to take out the culprit, I'll take it. Better some peasant then you. If it also takes out other criminals, That's just good news."
"What if it was an assassin?" She continued "The one who sent it would be laughing at how incompetent you are for sentencing the wrong person."
He stopped eating, looked at Arthur for a second, and then back at her "I thought you understood last time: I won't accept this kind of talk."
"What would you do if you sent an assassin to Odin, and he blamed a maid instead because of his grudge against maids? You'd be laughing at him, in the same way our attackers would be laughing at us. I have no intention to be laughed at, nor I want them to try again because they think they are safe after you stopped investigating, and blamed a random suspect. Not to mention that the guards of the palace would lower their guards when the threat ends, making me even more at risk." She finally breathed "So either catch the culprit or keep on investigating."
After she finished he looked at her, to then warn her "An other word, and you'll be back to the dungeon."

She was shocked by that particular threat, but said nothing. A bit because he deluded her when he forgot his promise of listening to her, a bit because it showed that he didn't repent at all, and a bit because it'd be useless anyway. Surely only a tyrant would put a woman he considers like his daughter in the dungeons.

They kept on eating silently until Uther spoke up again. "I decided. If your wish for me to catch the culprit, so be it. I'll call the witchfinder. He'll surely find the one who started the fire on your chamber." Morgana went pale.
She tried to say something, but it was like words had left her, so it was Arthur the one who spoke "There is no need, father. We have the situation completely under control."
"Nonsense, I can't let the culprit escape due to your slowness."
She somehow recovered from the initial shock and tried to save what she caused "While what I said is true, just asking for outsiders' help at the first problem is not becoming of the king of Camelot. I was able to sleep because I'm sure Arthur will catch the culprit and keep me safe. He's doing wonderfully, I was just talking about the unlikely case you lost your patience and started burning random suspects."
"Not. Another. Word." He commanded. After he finished eating he finally proclaimed "You have three days, Arthur. After which I'll call the witchfinder." Then he looked at a pale Morgana and added "My decision is final."

As a side note, one of the changes with canon is that Morgana didn't go to the druids. This means that Mordred continued his (supposedly) happy life with them, instead of fleeing due to Camelot's guards (which means he won't end up hating them and Merlin). Additionally 2x11 can't happen (Mordred with Alvarr making Morgana steal the crystal) with the relative consequences (that will be explored without naming them as Morgana doesn't know).