"You've done well, Eira," Morgause said, standing next to a bored Cenred, lounging on his make-shift throne.
"Do you really expect me to believe a Knight of Camelot has defected?" Cenred asked.
"Of course he's defected, Sire," Eira said. "Arthur is sending his men out to meet you on the battlefield instead of remaining safely behind Camelot's walls. He knows they're outmatched, but he's sacrificing his men anyway, just to avoid a siege. Gwaine does not wish to die for his king's foolishness."
"That's what Knights of Camelot do, girl. They die for their king's folly. No knight with honor would defect."
"Would any knight with honor act the spy?" Morgause asked. "I think she tells it true. I sent her to seduce this one for this very reason. He's a nobleman who refused the call to serve under Uther. He's since seen that serving under Arthur will have no different outcome."
"But have you seen?" he asked her.
"I have not," she replied tersely. She lowered her voice so only Cenred could hear her. "You know I cannot focus the crystal that precisely."
Cenred sighed, turning his attention back to Eira. "I do not trust this man. I want him watched closely."
"He will be with me, Sire," Eira assured him. "I will make sure he remains loyal to our cause."
"Very well," Cenred said, dismissing her. Once Eira was gone, he turned to Morgause. "We went to a lot of trouble to retrieve that crystal, was it for nothing?"
"I can wield it, but I can not see the future that precisely. I merely get glimpses, not the entire picture. What I've seen is promising. I have seen the blood of our enemies. I have seen Arthur slain."
He rose from his seat to whisper in her ear, his arms pulling her back into his chest. "And us? What do you see of us?"
She pursed her lips together. "I have seen me crowned Queen of Essetir."
He nipped at her neck as he groped her breast. She inwardly sighed. She would see to it he died on the battlefield.
…
Gwaine had gone through an intense amount of interrogation when he arrived, including by Morgause, who had predictably given him a potion that would force him to tell the truth. Morgana's talisman hung around his neck, however, disguised within an heirloom pendent bearing his family crest, and he was able to tell the story they'd concocted without difficulty.
Afterwards, Eira had left him in her tent, summoned by King Cenred. Gwaine took the opportunity to observe the camp, able to see through the gaps in the tent all around. Once Morgana arrived, they had three targets around the perimeter that would trap Cenred's men while destroying the bulk of their supplies. If they could pull it off, they could shift the advantage to Camelot and their allies.
He put his hand on his chest, covering the amulet, and closed his eyes. He did as Morgana instructed and thought, I'm in place. Be prepared on my signal tonight.
He opened his eyes, startled as Morgana's voice filled his mind. Well done, Gwaine.
Magic was strange indeed.
…
The Knights of Camelot and their allies quickly set up camp, with the larger tents given to the members of the royal families.
Arthur sat in his tent at a table, deep into his troubled thoughts. Gwen watched him for a few moments and then stepped in front of him to get his attention. He looked up at her and his expression softened, but he looked no less troubled. She put her hands around the tent pole and leaned her head against it.
"What is it?" she asked finally.
"What if Sir Leon was right? Perhaps we should've made our stand at Camelot," he said, airing the self-doubt he was being consumed by.
Gwen moved toward the table and put her hands on it, looking at him intently. "Your plan is brave and bold, and our only chance of defeating Morgause once and for all. Yes, we could have held out at the Citadel, but for how long? And at what cost to the kingdom? I have never for a moment doubted the valor and wisdom of this choice."
Arthur stood up and walked around the table to reach her, taking her hands in his. "If you do not doubt me, Guinevere, then I do not doubt myself. That gives me a strength greater than any weapon."
She embraced him and said, "Come, we must rest while we can."
Arthur was about to sweep her into his arms and into their bed when he heard a commotion outside and Merlin yelling. They pulled apart and rushed outside to find Merlin red-faced and yelling at Leon.
"Merlin! What is happening?" Gwen demanded, stepping between them. Several other knights nearby had come to see what the fuss was, as well as Accolon and Vivian.
"It's Princess Morgana," Leon said, shamefaced. "She's left."
"Left?" Gwen repeated, confused. "To do what?"
"To do something exceptionally dangerous," Merlin seethed. "Leon knew her plan, and he let her leave."
"Let her leave?" Gwen said with eyebrows raised in amusement. "He could not have stopped her, magic or not."
Merlin pursed his lips together in irritation.
Arthur's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait. What is she doing? Is she confronting Morgause?"
Merlin ran his hands through his hair in agitation. "Worse. She's attempting an incredibly dangerous bit of magic that neither of us has ever attempted."
"What does that mean? What is happening? Dammit, Merlin, where is my sister?" Arthur demanded.
"She's headed to the Saxon camp, Sire," Leon said. "If she's successful in her mission, she'll be able to cut their numbers in half."
Gwen gasped. "That's incredible. But how?"
Merlin closed his eyes, shaking his head in fury. "She's attempting to travel from one point across a great distance to another precise point in a mere moment. It's incredibly complicated magic. We don't know for certain how it's done, we've only theorized, and she's never done it before."
"But Morgause can do it," Vivian interjected. "We've seen her do it. If Morgause can do it, surely Morgana…"
Merlin sighed, trying to calm himself down enough to explain. "I'm sure she could if she knew for certain how, but she's never been taught. Neither of us has ever been taught. Our magic is innate, guided somewhat by Gaius and by texts we managed to find that survived the Purge. But Morgause was taught by the last of the high priestesses. Now she is the last of the High Priestesses. But Morgana doesn't know how!"
Lord Balinor stepped out of the shadows, Aithusa perched on his shoulder. "I think she does know, Son. She summoned Kilgharrah yesterday, and although I did not know what about, I can wager a guess now."
Merlin looked shocked. "Kilgharrah has refused to help her in the past. Why would he help her now?"
"I suppose because she's now of our lineage. She commands him," he said, stroking Aithusa's head.
"Merlin, My Lord, my friend, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but Princess Morgana is certain she knows what she's doing. She's asking us to put our faith in her. She isn't out there alone. She took Gwaine and Mordred with her," Leon said, putting a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "She said she'll be back before dawn."
"Why didn't she talk to me about it first then?" Merlin demanded.
"Why didn't she talk to me either? I didn't authorize this mission," Arthur grumbled.
"Probably because she'd be having this conversation right now like we are instead of getting the job done," Vivian said, rolling her eyes. Accolon stifled a smile and wisely stayed out of the conversation.
"Vivian has the right of it," Gwen said. "Morgana is a powerful sorceress, and she doesn't need her husband's permission, or her brother's, even if he is the king, in order to cut down our enemy. How many times did you ask your father's permission before doing something heroic, Arthur?"
Arthur sighed, and opened his mouth to speak but Gwen cut him off.
Gwen looked at him sternly. "Don't you dare tell me it's different, because it's not. If Morgana has a plan, then I for one am grateful." She turned to Merlin, and while her tone softened, it was still firm, "I know how difficult it is when the person you love most is off on a dangerous mission and you don't know if they will return to you safely. You won't sleep a wink tonight, this I know. But you need your rest. Go get a sleeping draught from Gaius, and when you awaken, your wife will have returned, the battle will begin, and you will have far worse things to worry about when it does."
Merlin nodded, resigned.
"Now, everyone else, go do the same. Tomorrow will come quickly and we need to be at our best," Gwen said. The rest murmured in agreement. Gwen nodded at Vivian who gave her a small smile, then turned and went into their tent, Arthur close behind. He gave Merlin a sympathetic look before walking in.
Merlin turned to Leon. "Show me where she will return."
"Come, Mordred's making camp there tonight," Leon said, leading him and Balinor to it.
Vivian followed Accolon into his tent.
"My Lady, this is not seemly, we are not yet wed," Accolon teased.
Vivian laughed and sat at the small table in the center of the tent. Her smile faded as she looked down at his map covered in strategic notes. "Do you think whatever it is Morgana is doing will make a difference? Enough we will we win this battle?"
"I have faith in Morgana, and I have faith in Arthur. This is a battle for our survival, because if the Saxon threat is not quelled, we will fight them in our own lands next. So defeat is not an option. But I still worry she won't be able to kill her own sister should it come to that, which puts us all at risk," he said, opening a trunk in the corner. "Here, I have something for you."
She stood up from the table to peer into the trunk. He pulled out a crossbow. "I took this from the armory in Gaul before I left, it is an interesting design I think, an import from expeditions to the east. Since you don't have any training with a sword, or in archery, I thought this would be an excellent alternative. Let me show you how it works."
Accolon loaded it for her, and tied a target to the large pole holding up his tent. He stood behind her and steadied her hand, and guided her to fire. It hit the target in the center. She gasped in surprise.
"That's incredible. It takes no strength, only steadiness of hand!" she exclaimed.
"Which a highborn lady has in abundance," he agreed. "Here, try loading on your own and keep practicing."
She fired many more rounds, backing up further from the target each time until she discovered the maximum distance she could aim true.
"I feel better knowing you have some way of defending yourself, aside from a small sword you've not been trained to use," he said, handing her a satchel full of bolts for the crossbow.
"As do I, thank you. Goodnight, Accolon," she smiled, and kissed his cheek, her palm on his chest. She turned to leave.
"Vivian?" Accolon said, catching her hand as she was walking towards the door of the tent.
She turned and waited for him to continue. He looked as though he didn't know how to proceed.
"Don't be afraid to speak your mind, My Lord," she said, squeezing his hand.
"It isn't wholly appropriate for me to ask this, but I had a thought. A concern, as to our marriage," he said.
"Of course, please, whatever worry you have, you should express it," she said as he released her hand.
"I won't presume to ask if you've been with other men, but I am concerned that the spell... your feelings for Arthur… Will that preclude you from, well, at least experiencing pleasure with me? Pleasure doesn't require feelings of love, but with the spell, I fear it might."
She nodded. "I will be honest. I've had no desire to be with other men than Arthur. Not to be too explicit, but that was… prescribed… as a possible cure for the spell. The implementation of such a cure was not successful."
"Did it give you any pleasure?" Accolon asked.
She shook her head. "It's fine though. I at least understand how to give you pleasure, and I will be a willing partner to you, not just in court for the Kingdom of Gaul but in our marital bed as well. I will gladly give you children. Even beyond children, you will not have to seek pleasure elsewhere unless you wish for it. And if you do, I will understand, you have my blessing."
Accolon frowned. "Never. I will remain loyal to you. I just don't want you to be miserable, to be forced to lay with someone whose touch you don't desire. I would rather be celibate than do that to you."
"You are a good man, Accolon. I could never be miserable with you," she said, stepping into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed. He couldn't deny she felt right in his arms, and his heart swelled with affection for her.
She pulled back, and hesitated for a moment. Then she reached up to kiss him softly. Accolon deepened the kiss and groaned as she ran her fingers through his long hair. He pulled away reluctantly.
"I could never be miserable with you," she repeated, softly.
He nodded, and kissed her softly again. "You should go, get some rest."
"Good night, My Lord," she said, her cheeks slightly flushed, as she left his tent.
Her maid quickly helped her undress when she reached her tent. She climbed into the bed and under the covers as her maid blew out the candle and left her alone. She tried thinking of Accolon, the feeling of being in his arms, the taste of him, and slid her hand between her legs. However, after a few moments of pleasuring herself, the vision in her mind changed without her consent to the face of Arthur Pendragon. She withdrew her hand and sighed in frustration, pulling the pillow over her face. She wasn't about to confess to her husband-to-be that she was fully capable of reaching climax if only she allowed herself to imagine being with Arthur instead of the man who was actually in her bed.
...
Gwaine worked harder pleasuring Eira than he had ever worked to pleasure any other woman. After four orgasms, Eira was passed out soundly on the mat in their tent. Gwaine looked at her guiltily. If she becomes a problem, he'll have to kill her. He poured the powerful sedative into her mouth, hoping she wouldn't wake, then blew out the candle. The camp was settling down for the night, and he needed to sneak out and into the supply area.
He dressed quickly and called for Morgana. Be ready, he said. He put Eira's clothes into a satchel and set out.
Once out of the tent, he went round the corner to take a leak. Looking around, he saw a path to where he needed to be. He finished up, then looked around carefully to make sure he wasn't being watched. He ducked down as far as he could, trying not to create shadows outside of others' tents. Finally, he found the right spot, secluded enough and summoned Morgana.
She appeared suddenly, dressed only in her shift, and he grabbed hold of her as she wobbled. She looked up at him, mouth gaping open in surprise that the spell had worked and she was suddenly there, and they both broke out into a grin. He handed her the bag, and she quickly dressed. She then ran her hands through her hair and it changed, mimicking Eira's hair. It wouldn't fool anyone up close, but even a short distance away, she would look exactly like Eira.
The supplies are only guarded by four men, two on each entrance. I think we can go through the left side and never encounter the other two, Gwaine told her silently.
She nodded. Quietly, I'll handle them.
From the safety of the tree line, she commanded them to sleep, then they rushed forward to catch them before they made noise hitting the ground.
Quickly, they prepared the site, and then moved on to the next location, the commanders' tent. They crept around, preparing the site, then finally, moved on to the armory tent.
As they approached it, they heard footsteps behind them. Morgana pushed Gwaine into the shadows and they waited for the footsteps to fade away.
Morgana and Gwaine both exhaled in relief and went to prepare the armory tent. Finished, they had to return to the center of the encampment for the spell to work. They slipped back into the tent and that's the exact moment Eira sat up in the bed and screamed.
Gwaine grabbed for her in alarm covering her mouth and nose with his hand. Morgana put her back to sleep. But it was too late. They heard voices approaching and saw the light of torches through the tent walls.
"Bloody hell," Morgana mumbled, fumbling to remove her clothes, as Gwaine covered Eira with a pile of blankets and clothes. "Get undressed, quickly," she hissed.
Gwaine stripped down and Morgana pushed him onto the bed mat. She moaned loudly astride him, and let out a scream similar to Eira's just before several guards burst into the tent. She shrieked and moved to cover herself, looking away from them to hide her face as Gwaine sought to protect her modesty.
The guard cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "Try to keep it down in here."
Gwaine laughed nervously, "My apologies, this one's a screamer."
The guards left and Morgana glowered at him, rolling off of him. "You were supposed to handle the girl," she whispered angrily. "She nearly alerted the entire camp."
"I'm sorry, I thought the sleeping draught I got from Gaius would do the job," he said guiltily.
She rolled her eyes. "I should have known you were too soft hearted. If you ever mention this to anyone, I'll have you executed," she said, pulling her shift back on.
"I will take this moment to my grave, I assure you," Gwaine said, pulling his pants back up. "By the way, when you dragged me into this dangerous mission, you didn't mention you're pregnant."
She gasped. "How did you…?"
"Your breasts give it away. I'm sorry! I can't help but look!" he said, cringing at the furious expression on her face.
"You can't tell anyone, no one else knows!" she hissed.
"I'm sure Merlin is over the moon though." Her guilty expression gave her away. "No. You haven't told him? Why not?"
"Because I'm probably not going to live through this battle, so it hardly matters," she said, gritting her teeth in irritation at having this conversation.
"Morgana," he sighed. "You can live if you don't fight. Let's get you home to Camelot."
"I can't. I've seen it. I can save Arthur, but it will cost me my life. I have to do this Gwaine, there's no other way," she said, wiping furiously at the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
Gwaine handed her a handkerchief. "There's always another way. How far along are you?"
"Ten weeks, I think. I'm not exactly sure," she said.
"You need to tell Merlin," he said, kindly.
"I can't. Because it will only serve to hurt him. I won't change my mind, and deep down, he knows I'm right to save Arthur. It will hurt him enough to lose me, but to know that our child, the one he's seen in visions, had already been conceived, I don't want to cause him more pain. Please, Gwaine, you must keep my secret. I can command it as your princess, but please, do so as my friend," she said.
He sighed. "You know I can deny you nothing, Your Highness. As your friend or your knight."
"Thank you," she said, softly, the tears falling down her cheeks.
"We need to finish this, so we can return. Mordred is expecting us. And by now Merlin will have noticed you're missing and is probably losing his mind," he said, giving her a moment to compose herself. She sniffled and nodded.
"Whatever happens next, I'll be with you to the end," he said.
"The end is near. Let's finish this," she said, taking a deep breath.
Mordred, I'm ready, she thought.
Ready, Mordred echoed into her mind.
She sat in the middle of the tent cross-legged and closed her eyes, calming herself. She focused on the air and the sky until she could visualize it and pull the electricity from it. She opened her eyes and gasped for air as the electricity shot from the sky, striking in three places. The tents burst into flames, and smoke and screaming filled their senses. She stood up, and grabbed Gwaine's hand, leading them outside.
She hugged him tightly and visualized the third amulet, hanging around Mordred's neck, until they appeared before him. They all sighed in relief and they laughed and hugged… until she looked up into the furious face of her husband.
"My Lord, the mission was successful," Gwaine said, flushing with embarrassment. "The armory tent, food supplies and their command tents are all burned. This puts them at a significant disadvantage."
Merlin merely nodded, then moved forward and hugged Morgana tightly. "You should have told me," he said, bitterly.
"I didn't want to worry you," she said lightly. "I knew what I was doing."
"It was dangerous, it could have gone terribly wrong, you know that," he said.
"But it didn't. It was worth the risk. Now, we can save Arthur," she said brightly. Gwaine shifted uncomfortably.
"Come, let's return to the camp," Merlin said. "Gwaine, the king wants to speak with you about who actually has command over the Knights of Camelot."
Gwaine laughed. "Funny that he thinks it's him," he said, slapping Mordred on the back. Mordred grinned. Gwaine glanced back at Merlin and swallowed down his guilt.
…
Morgana restored her hair and brushed through it, looking over at Merlin waiting for her in the bed. She was just glad Merlin had not spent so much time at brothels as Gwaine that he recognized the signs of pregnancy. Her breasts had grown, her nipples darkened, and she was just starting to notice a slight curve to her abdomen that hadn't been there before.
She swiftly braided her hair with magic and slid into bed beside her husband, resting her head on his chest. This would be their last night together, and instead of spending the last few moments of it making love, they had to get what sleep they could.
"I know you think you're going to die on that battlefield, but I won't let that happen," Merlin said, quietly.
"You are the greatest sorcerer who's ever lived, how could I doubt you," she answered lightly.
"You mock me," he complained.
"You mock fate," she said.
"I won't lose you, Morgana. I refuse."
"You'll never really lose me. If I fall tomorrow, I will be waiting for you on the shores of Avalon. Life is temporary, death is a transition. We will be reunited."
"No. No, I've seen her, our child, I've seen our future. I refuse to believe in anything else," he said, stubbornly.
"Just promise me you'll wait until Arthur takes his last breath to join me. He needs you, much more than he'll ever realize," she said.
"Of course. You'll outlive him," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "We'll never be apart."
Morgana gripped him closer to her, knowing the end was near.