Thank you guys for all the amazing feedback! I loved it :) and I've re-written the entire second chapter that's why it took me so long :/ but on the other hand I can promise you know that this story will hopefully have more than three parts :) I am doing my best to get them done as soon as possible :D
for all of you who enjoyed the first chapter I made a video going along with the story so if you wanna see it here's the link :)
.com/watch?v=xQXQWZf2s4Q (comments are highly appreciated)
yeh ... I am begging for feedback or any ideas for the story line ;)
Love Bea
Chapter 2
"I am sorry, Arthur. You have to believe me. I have changed. I regret what I have done. It wasn't right to use magic for harm. I know that I will be punished for my actions and you can sentence me to death but please – I am begging you – please accept my apologies first. I was selfish. Uther would have killed me if he knew that I had magic and that's what bothered me from the very beginning. I had help but I pushed it away." Morgana looked at Merlin and she felt warmth flowing through her veins as his smile hit his eyes. "I betrayed you. I betrayed Guinevere. I betrayed Camelot. I betrayed myself. Morgause could draw me in because I was weak but I am not anymore. I am not a little girl anymore. I want to become a better person. I had five years to think about this and I finally made up my mind. I want to come home." She looked at her half brother and felt her heart sink at the glance Arthur shot into her direction.
"Throw her into the dungeons." Arthur said and turned around, pulling Merlin with him.
"You knew about this!" He yelled at his servant as soon as they left the room. It didn't bother the new king that Morgana was still in earshot. "You knew that she used magic and you didn't tell me!"
"I knew. But as you know now I tried to help her. I tried to be her friend." Merlin assured Arthur and they stopped yelling as Morgana was pushed down the hallway by Sir Leon. Merlin's eyes met the witch's ones and he kept the connection up as long as possible.
Arthur packed Merlin's shoulders. "What should I do with her, Merlin?" He asked him and Merlin could hear the fear in Arthur's voice. "She's my sister to the very last."
Merlin smiled at Arthur. "You should do what your heart tells you to do. You are the king now. You can change the law for me and for Morgana. You can help making this country a better place for people like me and her. There won't be any more innocent killed people. There won't be more harm to people who use their magic to heal."
Arthur looked at Merlin and then turned around, leaving his servant alone. Merlin watched Arthur disappearing behind the corner before he headed down to the dungeons.
Morgana stared at her feet. Sir Leon had left her without saying another word and the dead silence of the dungeons made the fears grow inside of her. As she heard footsteps her eyes looked up.
A guard opened the door and a thin boy with a brown jacket, blue shirt and a red neck scarf appeared in the frame of her cell. "Merlin…" Morgana whispered and stood up. She tried to smile but there was too much pressure on her chest. "I am so glad to see you again."
Merlin chuckled lightly and closed the cell door behind him, gesturing the guard to leave them alone. "It's not like you weren't watching." He answered and stepped closer.
Morgana was thankful for the darkness so that he couldn't see her blush in a dark shade of crimson. There had been a few quiet strange moments when Morgana had burst into Camelot's peaceful life. Once she had seen Arthur and Gwen kissing in Arthur's chambers. The next time she had crashed into Merlin changing in his room. Morgana blushed even deeper at this memory as she couldn't draw her glance away. The pale skin had shone brightly against the dark hair.
"You're a sorcerer." Morgana then stated to get the picture of Merlin out of her head. "Why didn't you tell me? It would have made so many things easier!"
Merlin sighed and sat down, patting onto the spot next to him. "It wasn't our destiny to be together." He said and as he realized what he had been saying he quickly added a "as friends."
Morgana smiled and sat down next to him, leaning her back against the cold wall. "Who is to say what our destiny will be?" She asked the young warlock next to her while staring into the darkness ahead.
"I don't know." Merlin shrugged. "It has been my destiny to protect Arthur. To help him becoming the king Camelot needs. I fulfilled my destiny today. It has been your destiny to do everything to stop me from fulfilling mine. And let me tell you, you failed miserably."
Morgana couldn't believe that he was joking about what she had done to Camelot. "You don't hate me?" She asked him bewildered.
"I have no right to hate you. It's all about if you hate me. I killed Morgause, I tried to kill you." Merlin gulped and looked towards the door.
Morgana eyed his profile in the light coming from a torch outside the cell. He looked a little bit thinner and his cheekbones were even more present than she had them in her memories. "Of course you have. I tried to hurt you more than once and you just … tried to protect the people who meant something to you."
Merlin hesitated before he spoke again. "You meant something to me as well." He said and it wasn't more than a mere whisper. Morgana realized that he had used the past tense yet she tried to act as if it didn't hurt her at all. Since the first day she had met Merlin she had adored him because he had this clumsiness and his naturalness that somehow never got lost with Merlin but everybody else stepping a foot into Camelot.
"Why did you come back?" Merlin asked and looked at Morgana. She looked exhausted. Her once silky black hair was now a mess, just like the simple dress she wore. She looked terrible yet so beautiful that it tore Merlin's heart apart seeing her like this. He always had a small crush on her that turned into something more serious when he had found out that they were one and the same. Someone Uther would hate, yet she was so different to him. She had turned against good and became evil.
Morgana stared at her intertwined fingers for a while before she answered in an even lower voice. "I thought that a new area would start now that Arthur is king but I think I was wrong."
Merlin shook his head, smiling a little bit. "That's not funny Merlin!" Morgana hissed, imitating Arthur's way to say his name whenever he was upset about his manservant perfectly. Merlin chuckled. "I think that you are wrong at this point. He's going to change the laws."
Morgana shook her head. "He hates me." She simply stated and stood up walking to the opposite wall. "And he has every right to."
Merlin felt the cold aside him as Morgana left and couldn't help but stand up, too, trying to find a way to support her. "I … I will talk to Arthur. He'll change his mind. You're his sister." As Morgana didn't react to his words and her back still faced him, he stepped closer. "Morgana … I'm glad you came back." He whispered. "And I'll do anything so you're able to stay."
Morgana looked up, slowly turning around. She stared into the blue eyes she had been looking at for quite a while during her time at the lake. Whenever she had been staring into the lake, gazing at the visions on the surface she had seen. Those blue eyes reflected her tired, exhausted face. "Thank you Merlin. Thank you for forgiving me." She got onto her tippy toes and quickly pecked his cheek.
Merlin blushed immediately and just brought out a short, murmured "you're welcome" before a guard opened the cell door. "The queen wants to see you."
Morgana stepped into the chambers that used to be her's. Gwen stood at the window looking outside. She wore a simple blue dress and her dark curls fell down her shoulders. Her maid hadn't changed at all over the years. She still was the friendly, open-hearted girl that used to be Morgana's best friend. As Morgana cleared her throat Gwen turned around. She didn't even hesitate but hugged the witch immediately. "I'm so glad you're back!" she whispered into Morgana's hair.
"I missed you, too." Morgana whispered and hid her face in the wild curls, taking in the light smell of spring.
Gwen pulled away from Morgana and forced her to sit down on the bed. "We'll have to get you a new dress and new shoes I guess. And someone has to comb your hair. I can do it. I haven't done it in a while. Tomorrow there's a market. We'll buy you a dress, shoes, some jewellery." Gwen was about to continue speaking as Morgana interrupted her. "Guinevere. I don't want anything of this and you don't have to comb my hair. All I want is that Arthur forgives me."
Gwen smiled. "Oh he will. He already has. It just that he's too proud to say that he missed you. The old you. Not the devilish you." Blushing deeply Gwen stopped talking and looked at her friend. "You look exhausted. What about you sleep in here? It's your room and I promise that I haven't changed anything."
Morgana shook her head and was about to stand up. "I can't. Where will you stay the night?" As Guinevere blushed once again Morgana had to laugh out loud. "I see. Then I'll accept the offer, of course."
"Thank you!" Gwen pecked Morgana's cheek. "There's a new dress in the drawer. You can borrow one of mine and tomorrow we'll go to the market!" The joy was so obvious that Morgana felt it as well and nodded happily. "We will. Sleep well, Guinevere."
"Welcome home." Gwen said and left the dark hair woman alone. Morgana looked around the chambers. Nothing had changed since the last time she had been walking through them. In her right hand she still had the small stone Morgause had given her. She stared at it for a while before she placed it on the night stand and got ready for bed.
As Leon walked into the armoury to pick up his lance for this day's practice all his mates were already waiting for him. They all started talking at once and it was Gwaine who yelled a loud "Shut up!" into the crowd. Immediately everyone stopped talking and the younger knights sat down on the ground. "Let Uncle Leon tell the story and no one's going to interrupt him! Got me?" Gwaine stood next to Leon and grinned. Elyan frowned as Gwaine addressed them like little kids. It was always the same and since five years Gwaine still hadn't accept Elyan fully. He had accepted him as a knight but he kept calling him "little" as if he wasn't a man just like him. Yet he couldn't be angry with his fellow knight for long.
"Morgana is back." Leon announced. "She came yesterday and Arthur has thrown her into the dungeons." There was a murmur in the room that drowned immediately as Gwaine shot a glare into the direction of the knights. "The queen as put her into her chambers and we are all supposed to act as if she's not here. The people don't have to know about her return. That's what I've been told." Leon ended and looked into a few confused faces. The most knights who never had met the old Morgana even had a scared expression plastered onto their faces.
"But she's a witch." Came the statement from somewhere the last row. "And Merlin's a warlock so everything's cleared up now." Leon said in response and now it was Gwaine who looked surprised just like everyone else except for Lancelot. "Well, that explains things." Gwaine said and dropped his hands. "How could he not tell me?"
"How could he not tell all of us?" Elyan interrupted and Percival grunted approvingly.
"That's none of your business." Arthur said and entered the armoury. "All of you are half an hour late that means we're going to do a little stamina practice." There was a groan coming from the knights but without another word they followed their king outside into the sun.
Morgana was wearing one of Gwen's dresses when they walked down into the market. She just prayed that no one recognized her. Though Arthur had told Gwen not to let Morgana get into the town she took her sister in law with her down the hill. Gwen was talking the entire walk while Morgana looked out for any changes but she found nearly nothing. The tavern still had the name "The Rising Sun" though the label looked even more weathered than last time she had walked past it.
There was a new smith in town and Gwen chatted a little bit with him while Morgana held her head down so no one would acknowledge her come-back.
The people seemed to love Gwen. They said hello, they asked her how she was and Gwen would ask them. They had been her neighbours and they still were her friends. Morgana admired Gwen's patience as a little girl walked up to her and gave her some flowers. It was when another girl approached the Queen that someone stopped behind Morgana. "She loves them." Merlin stated and nodded into the direction of the two talking. "Seems like it." Morgana said and ran her fingers over a fabric next to her. It was green and pretty simple yet it looked beautiful. "It would complement your eyes." Merlin said smiling and walked past her, heading down the market. He had to jump out of the way of two boys who fought with wooden swords. One of them yelled "I'm Sir Leon! Be aware!" while the other one squealed. "And I'm King Arthur!"
Morgana had to chuckle as she remembered her and Arthur running around the castle. Fighting against each other with bold swords and yelling at each other. Arthur always had been Uther and she had been an unknown princess from far away who wanted to reign over Camelot.
"That's a beautiful fabric!" Gwen stated as she stopped next to Morgana. "I'll make you a dress out of this!" She beamed and was about to pay but Morgana stopped her. "Gwen you don't have to buy me something! It's not like it's my birthday or anything!"
Gwen laughed. "But I've missed your last five birthdays!" Morgana had so smile. "So did I." While Gwen waited for the fabric to be measured and wrapped into thin linen she turned around to Morgana. "Well, I'll make you a dress and you could simply beat Arthur! It has been a while since someone has beaten him in sword fighting and he really needs it." Gwen shrugged and Morgana had to laugh. "I could do that as long as he's willing to fight against me."
Gwaine was the last one to sit down on the round table. "Sorry …" He mumbled and grinned as he saw that everyone was as exhausted as he was. The stamina practice of Arthur had been worse today. It seemed like he had to put all the rage inside him into his practice.
"As you all heard Morgana came back to Camelot and Merlin's a sorcerer." Arthur started and just stopped his speech to shot a glare into Merlin's direction. The warlock smirked and continued drawing strange patterns onto the surface of the table. "Now it's up to us to change the laws of Camelot or leave them like this. I already talked to my father. Let's just say that he isn't happy at all that Merlin's a sorcerer but it hit him harder that Morgana came back so he allowed me to change the law about witchcraft. Anyone who has something against the law may speak up!"
Gwaine was the first one who raised his hand and Arthur sat down. "Let Merlin keep his head, please. He's a bright boy and without his head he would basically be worthless." The grin on Gwaine's face grew even wider and Merlin had to laugh just like everybody else apart from Arthur and Gaius. "Next." Arthur simply stated and shot a glare into Gwaine's direction.
Lancelot stood up and looked directly into the eyes of Merlin. "During my journey through the lands of Uther Pendragon I realized that without magic a lot of people would have it worse than they already do. There are farmer's who got back their health because of magic. There are old men and women who survived because of magic. It doesn't have to be used for harm so I couldn't agree more to what Gwaine just said. Let Merlin keep his head."
This time the laughter wasn't that audible but Merlin thankfully smiled at Lancelot after he had sat down. "Next."
Sir Leon just looked from Merlin to Arthur and then back again. "I think he saved our lives often enough. We could do him and a lot of other people, like the druids a favour in return." It was clear that he remembered the druids who had given him water from the Cup of Life.
Arthur nodded in response and Elyan was the next. "Our father has been executed because he was accused of sorcery even when he wasn't a sorcerer at all and I wouldn't want anybody else to suffer like I and Guinevere did." There was a sad look in Arthur's eyes now and he quickly asked Percival to speak up. "I couldn't agree with them more." Percival wasn't one to talk much. He kept his energy for fighting instead. "Gaius?" Arthur asked the old man.
"He's like my son, Arthur. What do you expect me to say?" Gaius asked the King in return and Merlin smiled once more.
"Then that's it. From now on sorcery isn't punished by the death sentence or in any other way! Yet whoever uses it for harm is going to be punished immediately. I just hope for your own sake that you never used it against me, Merlin." He added before he patted the shoulder of his servant.
