Gone was the tattered silk under dress and in its place was a silk purple gown with long flowing sleeves. Gold beaded detailing lined the neckline and waist band. The once tangled bird nest like hair was now soft and silky in a half up-half down style. There were no traces of the bloodied and disheveled woman who entered the castle a day ago. The woman who stood before the mirror looked more like the queen she was destined to be. Beautiful shining diamond jewels glistened in her hair as the sun shone through the windows of her newly furnished room in the castle.
The king had insisted on giving her a room in the castle as well as assigning a maid to her. Anything to make her stay in Camelot a comfortable one. Her new maid was busily tidying away the plates from breakfast. Ailidh sighed, fiddling with one of the rings on her fingers. None of this felt like home. The dress she was wearing had kindly been lent to her by the queen. Her current maid was nothing like Tatiana who had been a loyal friend. Her thoughts turned to her former maid. What had happened to her? Was she even still alive? It was not worth thinking about.
Ailidh was brought back to reality when her maid cleared her throat. "The king is ready to see you now milady."
As she walked the winding corridors to the council hall, led by her maid. She prepared herself for retelling everything that happened at Eamont. A pale hand moved to the necklace at her neck, it had been a present from her father. The blonde took in a deep breath, feeling nervous. The two guards pushed open the doors.
"Sire, Ailidh is here." Sir Leon announced. The chatter in the chamber quietened down and every pair of eyes was on her as she stood in the door. As Ailidh walked into the council hall she noticed Merlin and Gaius stood to the side along with the other councillors. It was nice to see some friendly faces among the strangers. It made her feel less nervous.
Merlin was stunned at how pretty the young woman they found in the woods was. She looked like a princess, especially in that dress which was fit for a queen.
"My lord, lady." Ailidh curtsied, eyes lowering to the floor, addressing both the king and queen who sat before her at one end of the chamber.
"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Arthur was the first to speak as Ailidh straightened up, nervously wringing her hand in front of her.
"I have news on the kingdom of Eamont sire." Blue eyes looked up towards Arthur and Gwen. "It was attacked during the night a few days ago." As she spoke she heard several of the council members muttering amongst themselves at the news. "I was the only one to make it out alive." Tears welled up in her eyes.
Arthur sat up in his chair, intrigued by what he was hearing, no wonder she had been frightened the day they found her in the woods.
"Go on." The queen spoke in a reassuring tone, understanding how upset the young woman was. "It is okay."
Ailidh took a deep breath, knowing she must tell them everything from start to finish even if it meant reliving it all again.
"It was raining down fire from the sky. Men dressed in all black attacked our castle. My maid, Tatiana, was trying to help me escape and that was when I saw it." She paused, fighting back the tears, remembering the scene that had been in front of her. "When I saw that witch, that horrible woman, kill my father, King Iwain."
The chatter among the chamber increased at the news the king of Eamont had been killed and the fact that she had just revealed her identity. She heard one of the councilmen speak to another, "She is a princess, the next queen of Eamont."
"My maid helped me escape via a tunnel to the woods but the guards got to her. I do not know what happened. I fear that she might…might be dead." The thought of her friend being dead was not worth thinking about. Even though Tatiana had not been at Eamont for long, Ailidh trusted her. "I could not even look back at my home. I'd been running for two days before you found me sire."
Her eyes fell upon the king and queen. She had definitely caught their attention. Arthur looked as if he was trying to work something out, piecing everything together so it made sense. "Who was the witch that killed your father?" Deep down he had a feeling he knew who it was but wanted the princess to confirm it.
"She had long dark hair. Her magic was powerful. Powerful enough to kill one of her own and my father." Tears began to fall and she wiped them away angrily. "Her name, if I remember correctly, was Morgana. There was also someone else with her, a young man. His name was Mordred."
The voices of all the councilman rose above one another echoing loudly through the chamber. Ailidh turned to look at Merlin and Gaius, seeing the shock on their faces, figuring those names were taboo in this kingdom.
Gwen looked concerned, "Why would Morgana attack another kingdom?" Her question being aimed at Arthur.
"Are you sure you heard those names?" Arthur asked, eyes focused on Ailidh, hoping the princess had not been mistaken.
Ailidh nodded, wondering what all the chatter and sudden alarm was about. She just stood there, eyes locked on to the king and queen, unsure of what to do next. The blonde was used to sitting next to the king rather than standing in front of one.
"Sire, if I may?" Gaius' voice broke through the chatter. Arthur waved his hand inviting the court physician to continue. Ailidh would always be thankful for Gaius' quick thinking to help heal her wounds. She thought it would be interesting to hear what he had to say on the matter. "There is a legend written in an ancient book which states...to take over a kingdom you must kill the last living blood relative. Maybe that is what spurred on the attack of Eamont."
A chill ran up Ailidh's spine at the words. So that must have been the witch's plan, that was why she desired Ailidh dead. Morgana wanted to build her own kingdom, have her own army to command. "That is why she killed my father and is hunting me down. She…" Ailidh felt her voice break. "She wants Eamont as her own kingdom. I'm all that stands in the way of getting what she craves." A shaky hand was raised to her mouth as realisation washed over her like a tidal wave.
Ailidh jumped slightly as she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Morgana will not be able to harm you whilst you are here in the walls of Camelot." Arthur reassured the princess.
"Absolutely not!" Gwen snapped, causing both Arthur and Ailidh to look in her direction. They were shocked by her sudden outburst. "If she ever finds out Ailidh is within Camelot then she will stop at nothing to get to her. I will not have you endangering this kingdom."
Ailidh was slightly confused at the outburst from the queen. Why was she suddenly reacting like this?
"If Morgana does discover anything, so be it, we will be ready." Camelot was always prepared for an attack but whether they could hold off an attack from Morgana was another matter. "For now we need to be offering the princess refuge for as long as she needs. She just lost her father and her kingdom. It is the least we can do for an ally of Camelot." Arthur smiled at Ailidh. There was compassion in his voice and she was thankful for it. She doubted the queen would show her any, afterall she was a walking target for the witch hunting her.
"Council dismissed. Merlin, take Ailidh back to her room."
Merlin stepped forward with a smile, only too happy to help.
The maze of corridors were still unfamiliar to the princess as she followed behind Merlin. One day she would get the hang of them. Her mind was flooded with questions relating to the witch Morgana and why the queen was so dismissive of her staying in Camelot. There had to be something going on, a reason behind it all.
"Merlin, who is this Morgana woman? And why did the queen act like that?" Curiosity got the better of her. If Merlin had been the king's servant for a long time, surely he must know something. She was desperate to find out the truth, anything to give her the answers she needed.
"Morgana used to live here at Camelot. She was Uther Pendragon's ward and Gwen, now the queen of Camelot, used to be Morgana's servant." He explained, trying to only speak of the relevant facts as they walked along. "Morgana mixed with the wrong people after she found out she had magic and betrayed everyone, most notably Uther, Arthur and Gwen."
Ailidh was stunned. Now she understood why the queen had acted in that way. The hatred she felt for someone she used to call a friend and trusted. It was all starting to make sense. Morgana sounded like a nasty piece of work. A determined woman who stopped at nothing to get her way. In a way she was glad she had escaped the witch's clutches but at the same time she wished both her father and Tatiana had gotten away too. She missed both of them dearly.
"And what about Mordred? Who is he?" With everyone so concerned about Morgana and her powerful magic, Ailidh wondered if any of them even knew anything about the young man. He had certainly seemed loyal to Morgana the night she attacked Eamont.
Merlin pondered for a moment, thinking of the right words to use. "As a young man he saved mine and Arthur's life. Arthur was grateful and he made Mordred a knight of Camelot. One night the girl who owned his heart was sentenced to death for treason. For that Mordred felt he had been betrayed and soon returned to be by Morgana's side."
Camelot really did have an interesting history, Ailidh thought. The alliance between Mordred and Morgana now made sense. Things were slowly starting to fit into place.
"I must be getting back to Arthur otherwise he will think I have gotten us both lost." He gave a bow and made his way to the door.
"Yes of course. Oh and please tell Gaius I am thankful for the salve for my cuts. It is helping a lot." She smiled. So far everyone at Camelot had been very welcoming and Ailidh knew that her time spent at the castle would be a pleasant one.