DISCLAIMER: like I own any of this!!!!

NOTES: Ok...this took very long ...this chapter was actually 7000 words long, so I had to cut it into three separate pieces.......SORRY! Hope anyone is still interested. Am studying for my last exam so if this is not so very good, bear with me. It will get better next chapter!

UNRAVEL

She stood by in silence, watching.....listening to the exchange of wedding vows and Merlin's words of blessing and union.

It was all she could do, it was all she wanted to do and yet, in her heart Morgianna knew that no matter how hard she wished it.......she could not forget.

There were things she knew, things she had foreseen......and she knew that the sight would not leave her just because she would be absconding her office.

The land had demanded a king, a leader who would unite them all and bring peace and justice. And she had helped bring him here, to this moment; to this task he took upon himself. She had answered the land's call, as was her duty.She had given this land everything; her adolescence and youth; a life of dedication towards a sole purpose and now her own flesh and blood ...her only brother. And for a moment, watching Guinevere and Arthur raising his sword over their heads, their hands entwined, Morgianna send a silent prayer to the earth and sky to repay that debt in kind ....to make sure that she had not sacrificed all that was left of her kin on the altar of her obligation.

But it was not all ruin and gloom she had seen in all these years, Morgianna reminded herself as her eyes followed the flaming arrows making their way across the sky. She had seen hope and peace too, she had seen how great a king her brother would become.....there was so much good going to come of this. And maybe, maybe ...if she could rescind her office, than other things she had foreseen could be changed in time .....There was hope still.

Still she laughed at the half- hushed, half- teasing conversation between Bors and his lover......just like the knights surrounding her. And just like them she hailed her brother....hailed the king, trying to feel only the joy and pride she should have felt and tried to ignore the persistent dread that made her heart ache.

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Venora, who had taken over command of the kitchen after the Romans had left, had planned the feast with more ease and perfection than anyone had thought possible. Her charges who had worked together with the woads, preparing the meat their hunters had brought, had outdone themselves. There were fires burning in the fort and in the village of tents and shacks that was forming around it.......everywhere was laughter and music and dancing.

Morgianna saw it all before she returned to her small, windowless room and closed the door firmly behind her. Her part in this was done ....she had witnessed the wedding, blessed the union in her capacity as the lady, but now ...listening to the music and the sounds of laughter, of the celebration under the open sky, something inside of her was eager to leave that part of her life behind.

She had been the lady of the lake for the longest part of her adult life; she had been annointed to the office being still a child.....a teenager whose life had ended that day.

From the moment she had stepped through the mist and become Viviane's student she had been another......the office had changed her. She had left the girl behind and had become someone else, not just a woman but a symbol, a sacrosanct priestess whose word was law to some....forever removed and detached.

Now, wearing the robe and the cloak that signified her status, Morgianna realised that the calling had become a burden.....remembering Viviane's sad, but determined face whose expression she finally understood. They had both taken pride in the gift and the status it demanded, but the moment Morgianna had set eyes on her brother after all those years, she had known the price she had paid was too high.

It is enough .....Enough pain, child.

Slowly, with calm steady fingers she opened the claps that held the cloak in place, feeling the heavy cloth slide down her shoulders without a sound. Then her hands moved on to the fastenings of the grey dress.

Tonight she would move out of that shell and be somebody else.....Morgianna promised herself as she stepped out of her grey robe. Come what may tomorrow ....this night she would cease to be just a symbol for her people, tonight she would be just the woman, the sister ...celebrating her brother's marriage and kingship.

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"Morgianna...." Arthur turned towards her as soon as he saw her approaching across the firelight inner yard and his face held the expression of satisfied bewilderment. His sister wore a soft, rust- coloured dress with moss green stitching around the hem and arms. Fastened on her arms and close to her neck, it left her collarbone and shoulders bare. The two silver combs that held her hair back from her face were the only ornaments she used. And in his opinion the only ones she needed.

"You have Britons and Woads dancing together at your wedding feast, Arthur. Is that not a good beginning?" she greeted him softly.

"You look changed..." he whispered into her ear as he kissed her cheek tenderly. He watched Morgianna lift her eyes to his and give him that smile which lit up her whole face and transformed her so very much.

"You wanted the sister, not the lady to celebrate your union tonight. Soon that is all that I will be." She answered, her voice warm, but still a little sad.

Arthur touched her face almost reverently, feeling that familiar pull again that tugged at him every time she as near.

"That is all I'll ever wish you to be."

"I'll be damned...." Bors mumbled under his breath as they all watched Arthur hold out his hands to his sister. She looked nothing like the held back, serious woman that had stood among them at the wedding. She looked like a young girl, her eyes reflecting the firelight in a smile that was both open and dignified at the same time. A captivating, mesmerizing smile that promised everything .....without committing to anything.

Gawain coughed in surprise, only Tristan stood there in silence until Galahad nudged him with his elbow.

"She is ....."

".....don't know what she is, but it sure is something." Bors interrupted, shaking his head with a laugh. "Damn magicks....."

"You don't look surprised....Why do you never look surprised? " Gawain said in an irritated manner to Tristan who just shrugged his shoulders.

"About what?"

"That ...." Galahad said gesturing towards Morgianna who stood immersed in conversation with her brother. "I always took her to be very plain...and now ....it has to be magic....some sort of spell..."

Tristan shrugged again, his eyes lingering on her for a moment longer before he turned away.

"She looks no different to me....."

"It's not magic ..." Lancelot said from the shadows quietly. "It is what she really looks like"

"How do you know?"

Lancelot hesitated, gnawing on his lip with a thoughtful expression in his face.

"I've seen her while she was sleeping once; she looked like this ....she was ...." he explained with a grim unerdtone in his voice.

"Beautiful?"

"Yes..."

Guinevere, who had still been immersed in conversation with two chieftains observed the exchange between her husbands at his sister with astonishment. For a moment her eyes narrowed and the expression in her face froze in confusion, but then Morgianna´s dark eyes settled on her and she nodded towards the younger woman.

"My queen ....", She whispered.

Guinevere smiled at her, blushing slightly at the new title she had yet have to get used to.

Morgianna left them with another nod to her brother, a feeling of relief washing over her, fuelled by the joy and happiness she saw around her, and in her brother's face.

"Will you not sit and drink to your brother's wedding with us, lady?" Morgianna looked around, finding Arthur's knights seated around a table that was at the edge of the yard, a little secluded space slightly removed from the rest of the company. Her eyes wandered from one to the other......still sitting off to the side, still not realizing how important and central their role and place would be in the future of this country.

All eyes were fixed on her, like she was some exotic, mysterious animal they had yet to inspect before deciding if it could be eaten or left alone. She knew that they still mistrusted her...at least some part of them did. They longed to know more about her to determine who or what she really was and where she would fit in .....

In the shadows, leaning against a beam she could more sense than see Lancelot and the dark intensity of his gaze. For a moment all her hopes and joy faltered, but she took another breath, steadying herself.

Gawain had stood up, holding his hand out to her across the fire while the other's watched badly veiled interest.

Morgianna smiled mildly, bowing her head gracefully before stepping around the fire.

"It would be my pleasure."