I don't know, maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't. Leave a review. A bit of plot progression, and a bit of slice of life.

Chapter 4

Morgana woke up drenched, maybe she should have taken that potion. A faint light came in from her left instead of her right where the window should have been. The furniture was wrong, there was no entrance on her right, and she was also on the left side of the bed. After a second of inspecting the foreign room she remembered the situation and she finally calmed. The other side of her bed was too dark to discern, so she decided to make sure by advancing her hand, until it bumped into someone's back.

They sleepily moaned while waking up, followed by the rustle of the bedsheets moving "My lady! Is anything wrong? Do you need anything?"
"I just wanted to check that you were still there." Morgana answered with an apologetic tone "I didn't intend to wake you up."
"Oh." Gwen answered while half asleep. "Of course I am here, where would I be?" Morgana didn't know what to answer. She didn't expect her to be such a light sleeper "well, if there is nothing you need, I'll return to sleep."
"Sleep well then." she lied.

The room they were confined in wasn't that big, and the cold walls made the temperature drop soon after the fire died down. When Gwen was finally asleep, Morgana got out of the bed, lit a candle in the way she was now familiar with, and then walked to where they put the water. After yesterday's bath not much was left, and considering neither of them could get out of the place during the night, she had to make do with it, at least for the time being. Her hand jolted back as soon as her hand touched the water: it was frigid.

That made her feel the cold of the room even more, and she couldn't get herself sick, particularly with what was going on lately. She moved toward the fireplace and put some more wood in. The fire was nowhere to be seen, but after a somewhat good sleep she felt like she could easily start it.

"My lady," said Gwen's unexpected voice "I could have done it for you."
Morgana turned. The sudden light and crackling of the fire must have woken her up. "It's practice." She tried to reassure her.
It didn't work "Did you have another vision?" her friend asked while walking toward her.
"More like I need a bath. There is not much water left, but can you help me?" She offered, trying to ease her friend's worry.
At hearing that Gwen noticed the sweat that was still lingering on her skin and agreed, to then walk toward the water.

At first Gwen seemed worried about Morgana's bad dreams, but once she reached the barrel she remembered the situation, and became disappointed at how little water there was left. Gwen eyed her and then back at the water, trying to figure out how to do it best. While seeing this Morgana decided to stand up, and walked up to her, but moving just a couple of steps away was enough to reach the cold air. They moved the nearly empty barrel together toward the fire, and there Morgana tried to warm it up with magic, but it wasn't exactly working.

"You really got into magic, didn't you?" Gwen was smiling affectionately. "Thank you for letting me sleep in the bed."
"It is rather big for a bed, and I couldn't let you sleep on the floor, could I? I can't believe Uther prepared this room, confined us in it, and forgot your bed!"
"I'm sure he had too many things to keep track of" she said while Morgana finally managed to warm up the water.

Morgana smiled at her own success and looked at Gwen who just started to help her remove her nightgown. At first she tried to find a conversation topic, but before long she was thinking about a way to prevent that man from coming. She had a vision about him, and maybe they could damage his carriage, but that would only delay him. She could take the blame and tell Uther it was her fault, tell him that she was too ashamed to admit she feared the dark and kept a lit candle beside her bed, but after what happened in their last conversation he'll just say that her kindness is wasted on the likes of sorcerers.

After they were done, Gwen looked out of the window and concluded that a couple of hours were still missing before dawn. Then Gwen started changing their bedsheets, while Morgana wasted time lighting and putting out the candle with magic. Surely there was something useful she could do. What was the worst case scenario? Well, all the suspect dying. No, maybe there were other people that he would harm, like the townsfolk... or Merlin. A shiver run through her body, as for the first time she actually imagined herself in that blond woman's position, being burned at the stake. She tried to disregard it, but even if Arthur would side with her, it was Uther that the knights and the guards were loyal to.

The bed was finally ready, when she had a bad idea, one that brought back memories. Uther would obviously get angry as she was supposed to behave like a lady, but not only it would let her check if she would be able to escape, it would also prove that no sorcerer was after her life. Not that Uther would see it that way, but maybe it'd work on Arthur...

"Morgana?" Gwen asked after watching her open the wardrobe and take out a dark grey dress and shoes.
"I'm taking a stroll." She answered as if the sun was shining outside.
"What about the guards?" Gwen asked even more worried than before.
"That's the point." She cryptically answered "I'd like to be at my best, would you help me?"
Gwen was too bewildered to answer, so Morgana went and sit in front of the mirror "We don't have all night." at which Gwen managed to comply.

After roughly an hour she was ready to face the king, and with a target in mind. After what happened with Mordred she searched for a better way out, but while she was confident she could manage it, Uther would end up finding out and fixing it, so she decided to aim at her own room. Surely they couldn't keep on claiming that the culprit had to be a sorcerer if even her could reach it undiscovered after crossing the whole castle.

She made Gwen stand by near the door. She unlocked it, and as expected there were two guards standing outside. While they were turning she took the sword closer to her and retreated back. The guard instinctively tried to stop her, but she was already back enough to shut the door on his face. After re-opening it she pointed the sword at the other's neck while he was still bewildered about what was going on. Then Morgana threatened him to stay quiet and locked them both in the room.

"See? The guards weren't a problem." She distractedly answered while checking the empty room between the hallway and where they slept.
"This is madness." Was all Gwen could master.
"Right. I think it's for the best if you wait here." she suggested while pointing at a chair. "No one knows that there were supposed to be guards here, and no one will come to check. Just remind them to keep quite if they start complaining, ok?" She didn't seem to know what to answer.
Morgana reached the door that lead outside, when Gwen finally asked "Are you really going to do this?"
Morgana turned toward her while smiling "Can't wait to see Uther's face when I reach my room undetected. He may punish me, but maybe he'll see that anyone could do it, and stop this madness."
Gwen wasn't convinced, but she only added "Good luck."

Morgana unlocked the door, and peeked outside. Thankfully they placed her in a side of the castle that wasn't that surveilled to avoid drawing attention to her real location. After locking the door to make sure no one would blame Gwen, she walked down the hallway and reached a fork: straight or left. After making sure no one was watching she crossed the lateral path and advanced in the darkness. The few torches weren't enough to light the whole hallway, but considering the lack of windows they were better than nothing. She came across various unused rooms, but the ones she checked were all closed. She was about to take a turn right when she noticed the steps.

She managed to stop before her body poked out of the corner, and retreated back. There was a room on her right, and the nooks along the corridor, but they'd surely see her. Judging from the sound she guessed that the guards were still a bit distant, but it surely wasn't enough for her to reach the intersection. The door was likely closed, so she hid in the recess next to the corner, and put out the third torch in the corridor with magic, where the first two were the ones on the walls on the sides of her nook. The patrol was just behind the corner. She put out another torch, and then another one. The sixth torch was probably too far as nothing happened. She could hear them behind the wall she was leaning on. After another failure she managed to succeed exactly while the guards turned the corner. She stood still while they run past her to check what was going on, which then allowed her to slip past the corner unseen.

She fastened her pace as much as she could without making noise, and paid attention to any sound she could hear. Only after turning another corner she leaned on the wall to calm down. That wasn't good. She couldn't do that every time, and she had to find a way to get past them if she wanted to reach her room. After a brief moment where no idea came to mind, she continued walking. Staying still was probably even worse than moving, and light was starting to come in from the windows: it wasn't long before the servants would come out, and there were already a few people walking in the roads below.

After taking a small spiral staircase and going down two floors, she heard other steps from the next hall on the right. She hid behind a wall and put a hand on the sword she borrowed from the guard of her room, but they took the other direction. She carefully followed them until another guard appeared from a corridor in front of them. If it wasn't for the two guards she was following, he would have gone on his way without a care in the world. Instead they had to chat. After like ten minutes of the three of them complaining about their new turns, the bell rang, so they all run toward her room, followed by her. When they reached there she remained in the corridor and watched the three men reach her staircase and talk to the guards there. After a little discussion -and after another group of guards arrived from another direction- they went up the staircase. She heard them knock when someone opened the door, and a new manly voice told them that she wasn't actually in there.

While they all came down, two guards joined them. She retreated and hid behind a wall, but they went out the main staircase instead. As soon as they passed she carefully checked the hall and crossed it to reach the stairs to her room. Then she entered the room that the knight left unlocked, locked it and turned, only to see four man in armor looking at her.

"What are you doing in my room?" She complained scandalized.
Two of them stood up as soon as they saw her "My lady, what happened? Was someone following you? Are you unharmed?"
Morgana looked at them. "Yes, I'm fine. Actually, it's my fault the bell rang. You should go to tell the king to come here, as I need to talk to him about what happened. Then you should find Arthur and tell him to call off the alarm." After getting the confirmation from one of the sitting knights, the man turned and left the room.

"Morgana? What's the meaning of this?" Was Uther's order to reply.
She looked at the knights "Leave." instead of following the order they looked at the king, who nodded.
"So? What is it?" He demanded again once they left, after he was a couple of steps from her.

He was in the mood for an apology, and if he was like this then it could work, so she changed her plan midway. She relaxed her posture, slothfully put her sword on a table, leaned against the wall, and let herself fall on the floor. Uther just looked at her while she sighed. "I'm tired of this... of us fighting."
"I don't want to fight either, but you started this. It's always you who start it." The king said exasperatedly, but did he seat on one of the chairs in front of her like she planned. "What is it this time?"

She smiled sadly at him "I could tell you that I crossed half a castle and none of the eleven guards I met saw me, but that's not why I came here. The reason why I was so sure Arthur wouldn't find a culprit is because there is none." Uther narrowed his eyes. "I had a bad dream, and I was scared. I lighted the candle, then Gwen blew it out, so I lighted it again. I came to tell you yesterday, but there was Arthur, and I was too ashamed to reveal I feared the dark in front of him. That's also why I didn't tell you at first, but then I spoke with Gaius, and he made me realize that I must tell you. With the light to reassure me I fell asleep, and woke up in the terror of my own mistake." She trembled, and looked at him full of regret and apprehension, the last of which was real as she couldn't tell if he was buying it.

"So, you are saying that there is no sorcerer?" Of course that was is only worry.
"No... I don't know about that. Maybe there are some in Camelot but... what I want to say is that I'm not good at expressing myself when I talk with you. I get so heated up and... I'm so sorry. My silence and following actions were inexcusable."
"I'm happy you understand," He said proudly -obviously it was all her fault- while finally relaxing a bit. He then frowned "but there is one thing that I still don't understand: why now? Why like this? Couldn't you just ask me a private meeting during the day?"

Morgana looked down at her legs, and she opened her mouth. Surely she couldn't just say that he wouldn't have believed her, so she opted for another near-truth. After a second her lips pressed together into a sad smile, while her eyes closed a bit. This time while keeping her head down and looking past his feet "As I said, I can't exactly think straight when you are involved. We run out of water, you caused my maid to sleep on the floor, and I couldn't sleep due to my bad dreams, I- I didn't know what to do, when I thought of vexing you back by escaping. I'm so sorry." Then Morgana remembered that after killing Gwen's father he showed regret at not being able to change, so she looked at him. "I try, but it's so hard to change, isn't it?" She was about to cry, when a faint smile of empathy appeared on his lips.
He had a solemn and sad tone "I'm afraid it is." while walking toward her. "But we can try again." he caressed her left cheek, and made her rise her head "No more fighting?"
"No more fighting" she confirmed.

Arthur and Gwen were waiting outside her room, so she couldn't help but talk to them and keep up appearances. Uther explained to Arthur that the whole things was solved, and that he'll tell the witchfinder that he wasn't needed anymore. On the other hand, she just took the first opportunity to go back to her room. There she finally took a real bath and changed clothes. After that she rested on her bed for a while, while Gwen was out to wash her clothes.

After some time someone knocked the door. She stood up, and walked toward the main door while fixing her bedhead. Once she opened it, it was lady Áine. She was radiating brilliance with those blond hair of hers and that enthusiastic expression, which faded a bit due to Morgana's flat face.

"Ye-" Morgana smiled "So good to see you! What do I own the pleasure?"
"I just wanted to see how you were doing." she seemed apologetic "I heard strange things. You spoke with the king and somehow managed to change his mind about this whole situation. Everyone is making wild guesses in trying to understand what happened."
She was even managing to sleep without any vision for once, and Áine wanted to gossip "I see. If the king decided not to tell anyone, I'll respect his wish." Áine seemed to have lost her only reason to live, but Morgana didn't care in the slightest. Not with her acting abilities.

Then Áine perked up "What about before? Is it true you sneaked past thirty guards?"
Why are they always increasing the numbers? "No, it was forty-seven" for a split-second Morgana saw Áine's business smile.
Still, she continued as if nothing happened "Really?! It must have been dangerous! How did you do it?"
Morgana really didn't want to handle her "Please, come in." she moved aside so that she could enter. Once she closed the door Morgana was a bit more awake, regained her composure and turned, ready for a fight. Áine was as innocent-looking as ever. "What do you want? I know you showed that fake smile on purpose. I hope it's important."

Her face suddenly went from radiating joy to neutral. "There are rumors." she was measuring her words "Everyone knows that you know Uther since a long while. You two fight all the time, and he has always been there for you. He is a powerful man, and you are a gorgeous woman. You can imagine how people would react when you seclude yourself with him in a bedroom, to somehow manage to completely change his mind when he reemerges. Not to mention that he refused to tell anyone what happened in there..." Áine's serious face didn't betray any of her thoughts, which greatly contrasted with Morgana's obvious disgust at the idea. "People talk, and the word circulates fast. I doubt you feel anything for him at all, so I'd like to know what happened in there, before people start to actually believe it."

Morgana didn't know if something that outrageous was real gossip, but lying like this was outside Áine's modus operandi, so she told her the basic story she told Uther.
"I'll see what I can do." Áine replied pensively, to then add with a smirk "I mean, I'll see what I can do with this cover story."
Morgana ignored her expectant smile and smiled back, it's not like she could convince her otherwise. "Fine, have it your way." Áine conceded, "You seem tired, I'll take my leave." Morgana then saw her off.

Over the rest of the day a few other ladies showed up, but none seemed to look at her any differently, or mentioned any of the two rumors. Not even Gwen heard anything of the sort, so in the afternoon Morgana requested her to see if she could learn anything about those rumors from other servants. When she was again alone someone knocked at the door: it was Merlin. It didn't seem right to speak about magic on the entrance, -and inside was out of the question- so she offered him to take a stroll toward Gaius' quarters.

It was Merlin who started the conversation with "So you managed to convince him." She suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, but it wasn't that kind of face. He was just surprised at her reaction.
"He wanted an apology, so I apologized." She dryly explained after continuing to walk. "More importantly, I need a couple of things."
"Sure" he replied as if she could just ask.

Morgana looked at the surroundings so that he'd notice the people walking within earshot "What about that nice trick to speak you showed me?"
He frowned, to then probe «This one? Have you exercised with the candles?»
"I did" she answered aloud at apparently no question. They were still walking, and she was quiet enough that no one seemed to notice.
«Then it's not hard. It's like that, just toward me instead of the candle,» he frowned «and talking instead of burning.» he paused and looked at her «If you are not confident I can teach some other magic before this one.»

There was no way she could agree to his proposal if this was how he put it. It took a second, but she managed a «Like this?»
«Yes.» he breathed again, totally unnecessary «What other things did you need? Some spell?»
«Something to open locked doors.» She replied still mad at his reaction, but she quickly explained «It would have been really useful tonight.»
«During your escape?» She could feel his cheeky smile.
«My rehearsal.» She corrected him «But yes, I noticed that it'd be really useful. Particularly if I can lock the door afterward so that they can't tell that it was opened.»
«Sure, I know a couple of spells.» he answered just before Morgana met a man of the council and exchanged some formalities, to then reassure him that she wasn't in danger and that the problem was indeed solved.
«Please, don't tell that to Gaius» She resumed as she said goodbye to the nuisance «He won't understand, but with Uther around I won't feel safe otherwise»
«Sure.» He reassured her, to then add to her delight «If you want I can also teach you some other spells like putting them to sleep, or use fire to block a path.» She then readily accepted, as more spells could always be handy.

When they finally reached their destination Merlin taught her the exact pronunciation of those spells, which made her realize why he didn't start his lessons with them. Two hours quickly passed, but while they both wanted to try more spells, she had to avoid any weird rumors about why she keeps on visiting the court physician. Not that it seemed to be needed, considering that afterward Gwen reported that she didn't find anyone who even alluded at her and Uther.

The rest of the day ended calmly with Morgana exercising her sleep spells on Gwen, and them watching together from the window as a black carriage with a cage on top arrived in the dark of the night.