'You seem very cheerful these days Gwen' Morgana said as her handmaiden hummed an old country tune as she arranged the flowers on Morgana's dresser.

Gwen shrugged and continued her task.

'So there's no particular reason?'

'Not really' Gwen said brightly, 'but the weather has been lovely recently, and that always puts me in a good mood'

Morgana raised an eyebrow, 'so that's all?'

'Yes My Lady'

'And if it was something else you would tell me, wouldn't you?'

Gwen's elbow caught the vase of flowers and it fell, with the sound of splintering china, to the floor.

'My Lady I am so sorry' she said stooping to clean up the mess, but as she bent low to gather up the larger pieces of china Morgana noticed a slip of paper fall from the folds of Gwen's apron and flutter

underneath the dresser. Absorbed in cleaning up the mess she had created, Gwen was oblivious.

'I need to get a cloth to mop up all this water' Gwen said, straightening up, 'I am so sorry Morgana'

'Don't worry about it' she replied, her eyes quickly flicking up from where the paper had landed to Gwen's face.

The minute the door had shut Morgana bent down and ran her hand over the dusty floor beneath the dresser, feeling for the scrap of paper. Her fingers found a sharp shard of china first though. She let out a

loud 'ow', promptly withdrawing her wounded hand and placing the bleeding digit in her mouth. Her uninjured hand continued its search, though rather more cautiously than before. She soon found what she

was looking for.

She got to her feet, the piece of parchment in her hand. It was unsealed; she unfolded it and read what was written upon it:

My Lady,

I am sorry that we have not had a chance to speak since the feast, it seems that we have been missing each other.

You may not be aware that often, when I have trouble sleeping, I like to take a stroll around the kitchen gardens. And I have a peculiar feeling that I may have difficulty sleeping at midnight tonight, which also is

coincidently a time- I have it on very good authority- that guards will not be patrolling that particular area of the castle. Now if you should happen to also be suffering from a sudden case of insomnia at say...midnight

tonight, and felt a walk in the gardens might do you good, I would be in no position to stop you from joining me.

For once I will bid you a terrible night's sleep,

All my love,

William

Morgana gaped at the signature. Her plans were crumbling like sand between her fingertips. First Arthur spends the feast 'getting friendly' with the Lady Elizabeth and now Gwen is being secretly courted by bloody

Sir William of bloody Daira. And Gwen was humming, which couldn't be a good sign. Oh no, she couldn't be... Morgana shook her head, surely not. Gwen couldn't possibly be falling for him...could she?

What was she supposed to do? Merlin had clearly lost interest in their matchmaking schemes and now the two people she was attempt to pair up were moving further away from the future she had foreseen, in spite of

her best efforts.

It was just then that Morgana heard the sound of familiar footsteps coming down the corridor. She hastily re-folded the letter and threw it back under the dresser. The door opened, just as she straightened

up.

'My Lady are you alright?' Gwen asked with a slight frown.

'I was just trying to help clean up, and I managed to cut my finger'

'Oh Morgana' Gwen said with great concern, throwing the cloths, in her arms, on the table and crossing the room to stand by her mistress's side. 'Let me see' she said taking Morgana's hand in hers, she

tut-tutted as she examined the wound, 'you ought to have left it to me to clean up. I made the mess after all. I think I have some bandages and a balm for this in a drawer' she said opening the top right hand

drawer.

Morgana watched her rummage through the drawer and her brow creased with confliction. Gwen was happy, truly happy for the first time in a long while. Gwen deserved this. Dear, sweet Gwen. Did she have any

right to intervene? Shouldn't she be happy her friend had found happiness, even if it was not with the man Morgana might have chosen for her? She had sought a match between Arthur and Gwen in the main because of

what it would have meant for her, but she couldn't be selfish enough to destroy her own friend's happiness now, could she?

But at the same time a small part of her felt hurt. Why had Gwen not been able to confide in her? She could understand the need for secrecy in a relationship with a nobleman, the same would of course have been true

had Gwen entered into a relationship with Arthur after all, but why did Gwen not trust her with this?

'You need to keep this dry for the next two days, that way it will heal up nicely' Gwen said after bandaging her injured finger.

'Thank you Gwen' she smiled.

She watched as Gwen wiped her hands on her apron and a sudden panic consumed her features.

'Morgana' she said breathlessly, 'you haven't seen a piece of parchment lying around anywhere have you?'

'No, sorry Gwen' Morgana lied smoothly, 'why, was it something important?'

'What?' Gwen said distractedly as she pulled off her apron and shook it, 'it wasn't anything particularly important, no' she said, her words at complete odds with her frantic looking expression.

'You probably just dropped it' Morgana said feeling rather guilty at the sight of her friend's distress.

Gwen bent low and searched the floor, under the bed, under the table, under the dresser...

'Thank goodness' she breathed to herself as her hand found the parchment.

'You found it?' Morgana said, trying to sound disinterested.

She nodded, a wide, warm smile lighting up her face as she straightened up. Morgana had always viewed Gwen as a very pretty kind of girl, but in that moment she could have outshone any of the nobility. She

doubted that even Arthur, after seeing that smile, could have continued to view Gwen as a mere servant or could have described her as looking nothing more than 'healthy.'


Morgana lay awake, staring up at the canopy of the four-poster bed. The bells had chimed eleven o'clock a good while ago and yet she could not sleep. Her mind kept going over the contents of the note. He

had wanted Gwen to meet him at midnight. Maybe she ought to go down to the gardens herself, just to check this Sir William was to be trusted. That way she would know that Gwen was safe and well and happy,

making letting go of the future she had seen just that little bit easier, or so she hoped.

Having convinced herself this was the best course of action, or was at least morally justifiable, she jumped out of bed, pulled on a cloak over her nightdress and slipped on a pair of shoes. She then lifted the

latch on her door, wincing at the sound of metal grinding on metal. She pushed open the door, flinching at the creaking of the hinges. Slowly she crept down the corridor, trying to place her feet as softly as

possible. She nearly met a group of guards along a corridor but managed to duck into an alcove before they spotted her. Once their voices had faded once more she proceeded on her way, slipping between

the shadows and the pools of light cast by the burning torches in their brackets. Eventually she left the shelter of the castle walls and made her way blindly across a small courtyard. Then suddenly the smooth

stone beneath her feet was gone, replaced by uneven ground. She had found the kitchen gardens.

And she was not alone.

She could just about make out a shape in the darkness, the moon masked only by a thin layer of cloud not rendering the blackness complete. She watched the vague outline of a cloaked figure pace up and

down, head bent, focused on the ground directly beneath their feet, clearly oblivious to her presence. But Morgana slid behind the trunk of the old gnarled crab apple tree just as a precaution.

She watched him, she was sure it was him rather than her because of the length of his stride, the breadth of his shoulders and the nervous intensity which radiated from him in waves.

The bells tolled midnight and both Morgana and the cloaked figure's nerves reached fever pitch, both waiting, both pairs of eyes trained on the entrance to the gardens, the place she would appear, if she was

coming at all.

And then she was there, a dark shape in the gloom. Once she saw the man waiting her walk changed to a run. She threw herself into his arms. Morgana saw, with some surprise, the tenderness with which

they held each other.


'I've missed you' she whispered into the folds of his hood, her arms fastened tightly around his neck.

'I've missed you too' he whispered back, his arms wrapped around her waist.

She drew away from him enough to look up into the shadows cast by the hood of his cloak, a warm smile on her face. He bent low and kissed her.


It was no tentative kiss. There was little restraint in it. No uncertainty. And totally unguarded. She watched as his hands found the small of Gwen's back, as hers slid up to his face, into the shadow of his hood.

That was no first kiss, Morgana thought as she looked away, her cheeks hot in the darkness. She ought not to be there. This was their private moment, she should not be witnessing it.


She ran her fingers through his hair as she sighed against his lips.

'Oops' she said pulling away from him, her hand having accidently knocked his hood, 'sorry' she said quickly as his hood fell.

'It's okay' he said with a wide grin, pulling her flush against his chest once again, 'it's not like anyone can see us' he said, pressing his smile against hers.


Morgana was just debating whether or not she could leave the garden undetected when the cloud covering the moon shifted. She looked up and her jaw dropped.

The silver moonlight fell upon a fair head, not a dark one.

His hood had fallen now and it was certainly not Sir William.

Confusion and anger bubbled to the surface.

What in heaven's name was going on here? That was most definitely the Crown Prince of Camelot who had his arms wrapped around her maid.

She felt hollow, not sure of what she ought to be feeling. Happy that what she had been hoping for had come to pass? Hurt because she had been left in the dark- Of course! Merlin knew, she was certain of it,

that was why he had been so calm about the Lady Elizabeth issue- which of course hadn't been an issue at all. Arthur had been outside the hall with Gwen. But this had been going on longer than a few days, what she

had seen tonight proved that- and Merlin had known that too. She thought back to when she had told him the contents of the dream and he had thought it 'not so ridiculous' and had smiled that smile- he had

known all along. She wanted to pace, to somehow siphon off her pent up agitation, but her hiding place would allowed for little movement- And the note! Signed William- it was just a cover, just in case it was

found- as it had been- by someone who ought not to have done. And that was the reason Gwen would, in several years time, name their son William, why it would bring that smile to her lips- it all fell into place before

Morgana's eyes. The path towards the future she had foreseen had been laid months ago- of course! She thought back to the incident with Hengist's men, when Arthur had found her in the forest, his first question

had been 'where's Guinevere?' He had loved her even then. Her breathing came at irregular intervals as the shock of these revelations washed over her. But then outrage replaced the shock. Her best friend and

brother were in love and no one had to thought to tell her? Even Merlin had known for goodness sake- but she doubted either one of them had told him- oh God, he must have worked it out! How the devil had Merlin of

all people worked something like this out when she, Morgana, a seer, had been blind to what had been right in front of her.


She watched the young couple as they walked around the kitchen gardens, hand in hand, clearly talking animatedly all the while. Cloud drifted across the surface of the moon once more and the future King and

Queen of Camelot disappeared in the sudden darkness. Morgana took this as her signal to leave.

She was happy for them, of course she was, happy for herself and for people like her, that the world of which she had dreamt was well on its way to becoming a reality, but at the same time Morgana Le Fay

did not like being left in the dark. But didn't they say ignorance was bliss? she thought, a wicked smile spreading across her lips.


A/N: sorry this is a bit rushed but you know how it is with revision and all that. Hope it wasn't too disappointing. And you have one more chapter coming your way, but it might be a long one, what with my inability to be

concise and all that :P