OOK guys hello! Here's the new chapter of my work, thank you so much for the sweet reviews, i'm so glad you like my story, i promise we have a lot of things to explore.

youtube . com / watch?v=oXem1cDOiBY this is the trailer for this fanfiction, i hope you like it :)

Enjoy...

Chapter Three – Under the Moonlight

Morgana's crystal green eyes opened and looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling, the curtains around the bed were still shielding her from light but something had woke her up. She opened the curtain and saw her new maid arranged by the palace, Guinevere smiling at her.

'I'm so sorry my lady, but you're welcome to have breakfast with their Majesties, the king and the prince,' Guinevere said and Morgana nodded her head.

'Thank you, and again, call me Morgana, please,' Morgana said and the girl smiled. Her escort in Camelot had been allowed to have around six people, Alvar and a woman as counselor, a messenger at his service and three guards, Uther wanted the minimum of people from Avalon inside his palace so he could spy on them and make sure no conspiracy was made, little did he know Morgana was the instrument of his downfall. He had offered three maids for Morgana and Guinevere was the one to be close to her for every need of the princess.

Guinevere was a sweet girl, dark skin, dark eyes, a pretty smile, she always bowed and thanked for Morgana's kind ways, Morgana hated to see the girl almost terrified, she guessed serving a witch wouldn't be her best thing in the world… They had met just the previous night and Gwen, as Morgana wanted to call her never looked at her in the eye.

'I will prepare your bath, my l-Morgana,' Gwen was saying and Morgana nodded, her eyes falling on a picture she had set on her nightstand as she still remained on her bed.

King Gorlois, all handsome and stern eyes, with Vivienne by his side and Morgause on their father's knee while a baby was held by Vivienne, Morgana. The princess smiled at the picture, it had been taken years ago and it was one of the last photos of her father, a few months after the photo was taken, he was falling because of Uther's betrayal… leaving behind the Kingdoms to get separated, Vivienne a widow and two princesses who would never meet their father properly…

'Her Royal Highness, Princess Morgana,' the guard announced as Morgana moved inside the dining chamber, greeted by small smiles from Arthur and a nod from Uther, Merlin was opposite the prince, eating as well with an old man next to him so there was no seat left but by Arthur's side on the table. She approached and Arthur stood up and helped her down.

'Thank you,' Morgana said with a smile returned by Arthur.

'I hope you had a good night's sleep, Morgana,' Uther said and Morgana smiled and nodded as Gwen helped her with coffee.

'It was great, thank you for asking, my lord,' Morgana answered and Merlin spoke this time.

'Allow me to introduce my Godfather and mine and Arthur's tutor, Gaius,' Merlin said and the older man smiled and bowed his head in respect for the lady who smiled and greeted him back.

'So… princess Morgana… I'm sure today you're rested from the trip… you'd like to have a tour around?' Arthur asked, wanting to draw her attention. Last afternoon, after the first meal they shared she asked to be excused for the rest of the evening as she was tired, a ball would be taking place on Saturday in her honor but first she had to learn about the place so her next months would be easier.

'I would love to… Camelot is famous even in our lands for the great horses and the RTK…' Morgana said and Arthur nodded with a grin. The Round Table Knights were the famous best team of soldiers of the army, guarding the royal family for years and Sir Leon was their leader, Morgana knew about them when educated by her tutors about the other Kingdoms' strategies and tactics.

'You could choose a mare for you to have while you're here… if you know how to ride that is…' Arthur said and Morgana looked at him for a moment, was he teasing her? If so, she was going to give him a run for his money… she was an excellent rider.

'Don't play with fire, your highness…' Morgana replied and Arthur grinned as Merlin looked at her surprised, not many people dared to challenge Arthur Pendragon…

'Very well then… what about a little royal race? Not people and press… just you, the mare you'll choose me and my stallion… in the forest behind the castle?' Arthur offered and even Uther looked from his plate for Morgana's decision. The princess shook her head.

'I'm afraid I can't this evening, you see tonight we have Full Moon… We could have the race after the ball, the day after tomorrow. I need to perform my rituals with my escort tonight in the forest… as promised that I'm allowed to…' Morgana said and her eyes fell on Uther at the end of her sentence. Uther cleared his lips with a napkin and spoke.

'The Human Rights Treaty speaks of open and free practices but as you can understand, princess, I don't want any other kinds of magic performed in my kingdom… so I will have to arrange for someone to be there and watch over the ritual…' Uther said and Morgana felt her blood starting to boil.

'You cannot observe me while in my religious acts, it's not right and I'm here in a try for the kingdoms to gain some trust in each other… this is not the best way of trying to achieve it… Sire.' Her voice was cutting, daring; provoking and she remembered to call him with his title at the very end. She wanted none to be there and observe her while worshiping her Gods, she never invaded a church during the rituals of the Christians and she didn't want that happening to her.

'I'm sorry my dear, but this is how it will work, if you're to pray to your Gods and only … there is no problem from your part, the observation will be completely subtle, you won't even notice who is observing and you won't be interrupted for any reason.' Uther retorted and Morgana looked at him with intense eyes, this was not right, if she wanted to perform magic she would have done it the moment she was entering the castle's court, these plain fools didn't understand that. She sighed and as her eyes moved from the king, they caught Merlin looking at her with sympathy and something like understanding while Gaius remained busy with his eggs and Arthur to stare somewhere between his plate and his glass, he obviously wouldn't take sides in this, so she had to be diplomatic.

'May I ask who is going to observe me?' Morgana asked angrily and Uther shook his head.

'It's better for you not to know that so you won't be distracted from your duties…' Uther said and Morgana felt like screaming, he was playing this game well, she could do the same.

'Very well then, I have nothing to fear, you can have whoever you want observing the ritual, but if I have any kind of interruptions while I'm praying to my gods, I will consider your actions as violation of the Human Rights Treaty.' Morgana said sternly and Uther nodded his head and spoke.

'Be certain nothing like that will happen… as long as you respect this country's laws and you won't use actual magic.' Uther said, wanting to have the final word in this. The rest of the breakfast was tensed with uncomfortable silence and Morgana keep looking at her plate more than around her.

'I hope you understand my father's intentions…' Arthur said as he and Morgana started for the stables of the castle, about an hour after the breakfast, they had changed into more comfortable clothes, jeans and t-shirts so they could move to the stables easily.

'I do… it's just… hard for me to work on my deities' honor when I have someone watching me… I feel like an animal in a cage…' Morgana said, not sure why it felt so easy to confess an actual truth to her enemy. Arthur nodded his head and glanced at her.

'Believe me, I know how you feel…' he finally replied and the two looked at each other for a moment, a long moment of understanding, if you could say that for two people with so different backgrounds and lives. 'I'm sorry if I'm too curious, but what exactly do you do while in a ritual?' Arthur asked and Morgana this time looked at him with surprise in her eyes, his own eyes showed honest curiosity, no malice, no mean interest, it was a simple question.

'You're not too curious… I think all the royals have asked this,' Morgana started, wanting to ease his worry, 'We're setting a circle, we're invoking the spirits… the four elements and the God and the Goddess and we start the ritual in Her name, we may dance afterwards, or even sing. Usually I'm the one representing the priestess and a man is the one representing the priest, the goddess and the god, and the man is paying respect to the woman through some symbolic actions…' Morgana said as they finally moved outside the building to reach the stable. 'Doesn't sound too dark, does it?' Morgana asked with a teasing smile and Arthur smiled and shook his head.

'So you're dancing in the moonlight without clothes?' he couldn't even say the word "nude" or "naked" before her and he used all his willpower to keep away the mental image of this amazingly beautiful woman all naked and gasping because of the energies of a ritual… he had to be proper before her.

'Nudity is entirely optional, we could be naked but my status is not allowing me to be naked before anyone… if one day I marry a man who's also a believer, I could be performing the rituals without clothes before him and only… until then, I'm dressed in silk.' Morgana replied shamelessly as she enjoyed his blushed face…

'When do you sacrifice a virgin or a baby?' he asked, somehow trying to change the fantasies in his head and Morgana laughed, along with him.

'This is propaganda, my lord… the Goddess would never allow us to sacrifice anyone in her name, she's the one giving and taking life… on the other hand, you Christians sacrifice the poor turkey…' Morgana said and Arthur chuckled and shrugged.

'It's considered a sacrifice?' he asked and Morgana smirked and nodded.

'I think it is… and I think you haven't thought about it like that before…' she replied and Arthur rolled his eyes, not sure what to say as they reached the horses and showed her the way to a black mare.

'This is Josephine, I think you'll like her, she's good and beautiful but sometimes, she needs to be tamed, it reminds me of you already…' he said and Morgana faked shock.

'Are you calling me an animal?' she asked and Arthur shook his head.

'I'm calling you untamed…' he corrected her as he showed her his own horse. 'This is Albion, my horse,' he said and Morgana smiled sweetly, too sweetly.

'He looks cute… too tamed and a little bit afraid of me…' she said and Arthur snorted, knowing exactly where these words were addressed. He liked a woman who finally didn't melt at his presence, Morgana instead provoked him and that was both irritating and interesting.

'I guess he's just a bit wary… because females usually are untamed and wrong…' he shot back and Morgana narrowed her eyes playfully, replied by a shrug from the prince.

'I like the mare, I'm sure the horse riding will be interesting, prince Arthur,' Morgana finally said as she returned to her mare and stroked her head gently. Arthur smiled and patted the horse too.

'Since you're the honor guest at the ball, you'd like me to escort you?' Arthur asked, Morgana grinned as she found the perfect chance to tease and top him.

'Thank you for your kind offer, my lord, but Alvar, my counselor and Avalon's ambassador will be the one to escort me, as the respective ambassador of my country always does when I'm in kingdoms away from home.' Morgana said and Arthur actually frowned but quickly shrugged and nodded. 'But no worries, Alvar is not famous for his dancing skills… I could give you the first dance… to honor and thank you for your graceful hospitality…' Morgana added and saw him grinning too.

'I would love that… as long as I won't be escorting some other lady to the ball… it would be so rude to leave her alone…' Arthur said, trying to show her he might not be available, of course he would be, he never took girls to the balls of the castle because they automatically thought he wanted to marry them but Morgana didn't have to know about that yet. Morgana faked a smile of superiority as she felt him under her skin again… he knew how to play with her nerves and he was actually making it.

'Very well then… I'm sure your friend Merlin will be a good dancer…' she answered, in a desperate try to have the final word in this. Arthur laughed and shook his head.

'Merlin can't sort his legs into walking… don't expect him to dance… and his girlfriend, Freya will have his head on a plate if she sees him dancing with another woman… so you'll either stick with me… or Alvar…' Arthur said and Morgana sighed in anger, he was so annoying!

'Or… I can find the perfect knight of yours… I've heard that they're not just the bravest but the most handsome as well…' There, she hit a nerve as his eyes darkened.

'You know what? You could have brought your boyfriend from Avalon and spare us all the trouble,' he said irritated, he had almost insulted her there.

'You know what? Maybe I should have!' Morgana replied with a lie as there was no boyfriend for the princess in Avalon but it worked to infuriate the prince as Arthur moved his hands in the air.

'You should have! We can still send for him!' he tried to finish the conversation with his own words.

'Then you should do it, he'll be very happy to be here with me…'

'We will all be!'

'Fine!'

'FINE!'

They parted ways both panting and cursing the moment the embargo was broken…

It was after midnight when Morgana started for the clearing in the forest, she had been told where to find her fellows inside the forest. She was wearing a beautiful white dress she used only for the Sabbaths and the Esbats until her handfasting's day, when her virginity would be taken she would change the dress with a scarlet one, representing her state of fertility and the hope for a child to be born from her womb, until then, she would be with white.

She moved inside the forest, feeling someone watching her and she tried not to shiver at the eyes on her back, she wasn't sure who it would be watching her but she had an idea… no matter what she had to focus for the ritual ahead, the soft drumming from inside the forest and the strong moonlight led her way.

Arthur gasped when he saw Morgana in her white dress, moving through the trees to reach the clearing, he had been sent to the forest by his father himself, trusting him to be subtle and watchful while the warlocks and witches would be having their ritual, at first he was worried about what he would witness but Morgana had told him all the bloody sacrifices were all propaganda, he had been taught that magic was a bad thing… he would figure out is that was true that night.

He watched her reaching the clearing with his breath hitched, like it had hitched when he first saw her, like when she entered the chamber for breakfast that morning, like when she almost confirmed that there is a man in Avalon… waiting for her beauty to return, he couldn't remember another woman making him gasp so much, it wasn't a good sign.

Morgana and her fellows cast the circle and remained inside, one of them setting a rhythm with his drum as the rest moved to the four points of the horizon with Morgana and Alvar in the center. Like Morgana, the people from Avalon were dressed in white, the men wearing shirts and trousers while Morgana and the other woman wore dresses, Morgana's being the most beautiful piece of fabric.

They all raised their hands towards the sky, closed their eyes and started chanting, Arthur tried to understand what they were saying but he couldn't, suddenly the leaves of the trees and the bushes started moving with the force of a breeze that blew through the forest. Arthur shivered as he felt the energy surging through the air like electricity. The drumming sped up and Morgana and Alvar held each other's hand, while their free hands moved above the burning fire in a small cauldron on the altar that was set in the middle of the circle.

Morgana put her hand in a bowl of water and took some in her palm while Alvar took some salt in his, both of them threw the water and the salt inside the fire of the cauldron that hissed and flared up instead of being extinguished. Morgana and Alvar smiled at each other and Arthur felt like storming in the clearing and punching the man, Morgana looked mesmerized and Arthur couldn't be sure if it was just the ritual and her part in it or something else, he didn't want to be anything else. He had been told to be stern with this woman, she was a witch and she was in his land, after so long someone from Avalon was there, they couldn't have come for good, but her crystal green eyes, the air she had around her, her voice, everything worked like a magnet for him, both pushing and pulling him and he hadn't felt like that ever before. She was the enemy, but she was finally a worthy opponent…

They were soon all dancing under the moonlight and around the fire, chanting happily names like "Diana", "Isis" and "Hecate", all holding hands, they looked happy, joyous, like Christians do in Easter, after Christ is resurrected. They stopped after a point, each of them stood by the fire, closed their eyes and prayed, at the end of their prayer, the fire flared up a bit more, Morgana was the last one, her eyes turning amber as they closed, her hands above the fire but not getting burnt.

She finished her prayer after a few moments and Alvar approached her, and ritually kissed her lips, chest, belly groin and feet, his lips never touching her skin but Arthur didn't need more to feel all uncomfortable and jealous, his body was reacting in arousal while his mind made awful plans of killing the man who "kissed" Morgana in her white dress that defined every line of her body yet showed no detail of it, her shoulders were bare, so her back was but the dress was held by her neck and moved down her front to her ankles, keeping her front covered in the silk that almost teased Arthur…

Alvar was giving her the ritual kisses, not touching her at all because of who she is and who he is… and she does the same with him, kissing ritually his lips, chest, groin and feet, Alvar and herself represent the God and the Goddess respectively and this is how they end the ritual. Her skin is hot, not only from the energies they built up but also the heated gaze on her, if she had a doubt of who he's watching the ritual at first, now she's certain it's the Arthur.

His eyes are burning her, and she can feel his impulses now that her own body and soul are given to upper powers for the ritual, her senses are more sensitive, she can feel more, she hears and sees more and she can almost see his heated body, his darken eyes, his clenched fists and she's wondering, is it alright that she feels incredibly aroused by his torture, his struggle sharpens her already high sensibility and magic.

They drink the wine to earth the energy they created and nature around them breaths out the final moments of the ritual, the place starving for magic… for the earthy powers to be used and exploited and saluted… Camelot is a dark place without the prime powers, now led by Christianity and its strict rules.

She's the one to leave first, her escort and Alvar will take care of the ritual's instruments and altar, she needs to return to her bed and try to get some sleep, usually her nightmares do not invade her slumber after a ritual, while the Goddess is still inside her, breathing peace and harmony in her veins, she hopes she will sleep well while Her bright light will shine through the windows.

She started for the castle again and she could still feel his eyes, his presence, almost his breath close to her, he's somewhere at her right and she kept on moving, followed by him. She had reached the perimeter of the forest when she stopped and moved her head just a bit to her right, her eyes looking behind her.

'I hope you enjoyed the ritual… I prayed for you too…' she said in a voice loud enough for him to hear and she almost felt his response on her skin…

She can't deny it… he's evoking reactions no other man ever made to find before her cold and aloof presence, Arthur somehow found a way inside the small cracks of her walls and she knows, this could be her downfall…

OOK we have bickering armor fun with the FINE FINE! scene, i couldn't resist... lol we have the RTK... and Morgana practicing her religion, just let me enlighten you on something, i'm a pagan myself so i know all about rituals and stuff but here some of it is actual pagan ways and some of it is fantasy so don't get confused.

reviews is love guys and i wanna know this is worth the try so type the review button and tell me what you think :)

thanks for reading.