-7-
A smiling Merlin and Morgana walked into Arthur's office and took their usual seats across his desk. Arthur raised an eyebrow at his sister and best friend.
"This is not normal," he said. "What poor creature have you sunk your claws into, Morgana and how has Merlin dug them out this time?"
"Arthur," Morgana grinned at her brother and settled into her seat. "Merlin and I had a very enjoyable afternoon with Gwen. You know, the person who's helping him write my story." She smiled and Arthur could see it was genuine.
"Oh," he said. "Well, that's good." Arthur looked at his watch. "That's where you've been for the past four hours? Having a chat with Merlin's girlfriend?"
"First of all," Merlin spoke. "Gwen is not my girlfriend. She's nice and lovely, but not my girlfriend."
Morgana's soft sigh of relief was not lost on Arthur.
"And second," Merlin added. "It's a Friday afternoon, and my weekend starts at 2 P.M. on Friday and ends at 9 A.M. on Monday. Technically, I am making good use of my weekend."
"And you don't sign my paycheck so I can do whatever I want," Morgana said cheekily.
"Fine, fine," Arthur conceded. "I'm just glad to see that you two have finally recovered from your story wars-."
"Oh, that's still on," Morgana interrupted him.
"For the love of...," Arthur bowed his head and expelled a breath.
"We're just more civil about it now," Merlin chimed in. He got up suddenly when his phone rang.
"It's my mom," he said. "Excuse me, I'll take this outside." He walked out of the room before answering the call.
"So," Arthur began, his eyes now steady on Morgana. "How did Operation: Size up the Enemy go?"
"She un-hateable, Arthur," Morgana replied and even she sounded exasperated with herself.
"She's funny and kind and just...," his sister's shoulders slumped. "She's perfect, okay. She came into the cafe and I was expecting one of those simpering, vapid women you're always with-"
"Hey!" Arthur protested. "I do not go out with-"
"Floozies, Arthur," Morgana said as she dismissively waved a hand in the air. "You keep company with floozies. And don't interrupt me, it's not nice. Where was I? Oh," she continued. "She's like spring in human form. She was wearing this lovely, soft top that just sort of floated around her and I sat there in black. It's spring and I was wearing black! I looked like a crow."
Morgana now cradled her cheek in her hand, looking depressed and unhappy.
"Uh-huh," Arthur leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together behind his head. "Go on."
"She's smart," Morgana straightened and continued with her Gwen report. "She already has an accounting degree but she's back in school to get her second degree in Applied Anthropology."
"And she's not interested in Merlin," Arthur said slowly.
"No," Morgana slid a sideways glance at her brother. "She's is definitely not interested in Merlin."
"So it's good?" Arthur asked.
"It's very, very good," Morgana grinned. "Anyway, I'm seeing her again next week. You should come along, Arthur."
"Not possible," Arthur shook his head. Although from the way Morgana described Gwen, his curiosity was piqued. "Hostile takeover bid for Hengist Enterprises, remember?"
"Ugh," Morgana grimaced. "Don't remind me. That man is seriously unhinged."
"That man is also in the next room," Uther Pendragon said as he walked into Arthur's office. "Arthur, it's time. Come on, son."
"Dad," Morgana rose and kissed her father on the cheek. "Do you want me there as well?"
"No, Morgana," Uther gave his daughter a slight hug. "I don't want any female within 50 feet of that man. You'd better stay here, or," Uther checked his watch. "As it's already four in the afternoon, you can go home if you want. This conference might stretch on for hours."
"Hengist won't let his company go easy," Arthur's tone was serious. He stood up, put his hands into his trouser pockets, and pressed his mouth into a straight line.
"Or cheap," Uther sighed. "But whatever it takes, Arthur. I won't let him run that company to the ground. And I don't trust anyone on his board to run it well."
"Feeling magnanimous, Father?" Morgana teased Uther.
"Hardly, darling," Uther straightened his tie and checked his cuffs, making sure that they were perfect. "He has the connections we want and we have the funds he needs."
"Mr. Pendragon," Merlin stepped back into the room. "Arthur, we should go in now. They're ready for us."
"I'll wait for you here," Morgana said. She took off her jacket and draped it over the back of the chair she vacated. "I need to send a few e-mails anyway. Arthur, can I use your laptop?"
Arthur nodded and began to follow Uther out the door. "We'll be back soon, Morgs," Arthur said, his hand on the door. "Try not to do too much damage to your credit card." He gave Morgana a smirk before shutting the door behind him.
Morgana stuck her tongue out at the closed door before moving to sit behind Arthur's desk so she could access the Internet. She minimized all the open programs and pulled up a web browser. She accessed the web version of her account and groaned when she saw that the had more than 30 new messages from her publisher.
It took a while before she got through them all. "Honestly," Morgana said. "She could have said all of that in one e-mail. It wasn't necessary to send 30." She had just logged out of her account when a small pop-up alert appeared in a corner of the screen. A new message from G (LadyInLavender), it said.
"It couldn't hurt," Morgana said. "I can always say I clicked on it by mistake."
Morgana clicked on the alert and the e-mail automatically appeared on the screen.
"You won't believe who I had coffee with today, AP," the e-mail said. "Morgana Pendragon! Well, she said her name was Anna Faith and it took me a while to figure it out, but it was Morgana Pendragon! Oh my gosh, she was so pretty and so nice! She said she wanted to meet up again next week. I should be happy, but all I can think about is what I'm going to wear! haha! Such a female concern. Anyway, I have a new chapter up. Let me know what you think. Cheers! G."
Morgana goggled at what she just read. How did Gwen know her brother and why is she sending messages to his personal e-mail address? Morgana quickly scanned Arthur's inbox and saw a folder labeled G (LadyInLavender). She clicked on it and immediately read through the e-mails sent from and to Arthur's e-mail address.
"Well," Morgana said. "It seems that you've been keeping secrets from me, dear brother."
She then opened a new browser window and typed in the address to the fanfiction site that had been the root of all of this. A quick search for LadyInLavender quickly showed her the link to "Legends."
Morgana read the story and was surprised at how, for an amateur, Gwen captured Arthur's nuances completely. The mood of the story was quite charming as well. She realized that Jane, "Prince" Arthur's love interest, sort of resembled her, but even that was sort of endearing.
"Arthur is reading this and sending e-mails to Gwen," Morgana mused. It wasn't long before the wheels started turning in her head. "Arthur sought her out. He initiated the e-mail exchange, he's sending her story queries. And Gwen has absolutely no idea who she's talking to."
Morgana pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to Merlin. "Don't reply to this until you're out of the meeting," she wrote. "We have a new project. I'll tell you all about it at dinner. Hurry that meeting along." She went back to Gwen's e-mail. Morgana hesitated for a beat, then deleted the message.
Morgana couldn't contain her glee. Arthur had always accused her at being too nosy for her own good and it was time to put that talent to good use. It was clear to her that Arthur was smitten, and if he was intrigued enough to send a woman his personal contact details sight unseen, well, this was something that had to be investigated.
The more Morgana thought about it, the more she was convinced that Gwen and her brother would make a good pair. He was pig-headed, she was calm, Arthur was too sheltered, Gwen had both feet on the ground. They were both hard workers and devoted to their families.
"Just a nudge in the right direction," Morgana rationalized. "If they want to take it further than that, well, that's going to be up to them."
Morgana's grin widened as she started to flesh out the plan. After all, she wasn't a best-selling mystery novelist for nothing.