With All My Heart
Summary: "I will not let you die." She breathed. "Not again.." – Time Travel, Arthur/Guinevere.
…WAMH…
Utterly exhausted, Arthur sprawled ungracefully on the bed, hardly befitting for a Prince, but he didn't need to watch his mannerisms in the safety of his chambers.
Earlier that day, his father, King Uther of Camelot, had tasked him to investigate the neighboring villages. There were rumors that someone had used magic to heal an ailing man. Sorcery had been banned in the lands of Camelot, and it was punishable by death.
The King's word was absolute.
Leading a group of Knights, he had scoured the villages in search for their prey, leaving no stone unturned. Eventually, they were able to locate and apprehend the accused, Thomas Collins. He had been caught using magic within the lands of Camelot, and any use of magic within the borders of the Kingdom was a direct insult to the King. He had been promptly charged and sentenced to death.
Arthur and his Knights had just returned to Camelot when he met that simpleton. There he was, minding his own business, and training the Knights as usual. He was just showing them how to throw a dagger with a moving target. True, the target didn't know what him.
But still, the utter nerve of that simple minded buffoon dared to order him about?
He, Arthur, the Prince of Camelot ordered around by a buffoon?
He thinks not.
Promptly, he taught the waif some manners, and after that he ordered the idiot to be sent to the dungeons. Serves him right, if he did say so himself.
It was a trying day indeed.
He was just drifting off to sleep when a glimpse of a woman flashed through his mind.
..
Guinevere
..
Such a lovely name
..
…WAMH…
..
'Gwen?-'
..
"Gwen?" called Morgana, lightly touching the arm of her maidservant.
"Oh," exclaimed Guinevere, brought out of her reverie. "I'm sorry, do you need something?" she added quickly.
Morgana looked at her quite oddly.
"Gwen, are you sure you're alright?" asked Morgana, brows slightly furrowed. "You have been spacing out the past few days."
"You need not worry about me, Milady." reassured Guinevere, shook her head.
"But I do, and I will." stated Morgana, smiling gently. "You are my friend, Guinevere."
Touched by the Lady Morgana's words, Guinevere can't help but let out a genuine smile. It was true that she was spacing out the past few days, just as her mistress said, but she can't help it. She kept on thinking about the emotions that arose upon her when she met certain individuals. For one, her father continued to assure her that he will not be going anywhere whenever he sees her eyes beginning to tear up again at the sight of him.
Merlin, well, he was quite charming in his own way. They began to form a tentative friendship, one that she knew will be quite lasting. Guinevere knew the beginning of a crush for him was developing. She just can't help it; he was just too sweet for her own good. It certainly didn't help that Merlin was one of the few friends she had of the opposite sex. But that still didn't explain the trust that she felt when they first met. Whenever Merlin was around her, she felt safe. Like no harm will ever befall her in his presence.
..
I'm going barmy
She thought for what seemed to be a hundredth times now, rather dryly might she add.
..
And Prince Arthur, what she felt then was…
..
No!
Guinevere, you might be barmy, and I'm sure that you are,.. considering that you're talking to yourself…
But you are not that foolish enough to think about him like that.
..
Shaking her head, Guinevere continued to fold Morgana's clothes to distract herself of such thoughts.
"You're doing it again" Morgana pointed out, sitting at the top her bed, and watching Guinevere like a hawk. "Tell me, what troubles you Gwen?"
"It's really nothing." replied Guinevere.
"Hm," Morgana stood from the bed, and began to walk around it to get closer to Guinevere. "Did you have an argument with your father?"
"No."
"Or that boy, Merlin, was it?"
"No."
"Did the cook give you a hard time again?" queried Morgana, crossing her arms and tapping the floor with her foot. Morgana looked so much like a petulant child that Guinevere can't help but laugh.
Morgana smiled, seemingly smug at her accomplishment. It was good to hear Guinevere laugh; she had been very worried about her friend these past few days.
"And for the last time, No." said Guinevere, amusement marring her voice. She arranged the last of Morgana's clothes in the closet. "I did not get into an argument with anyone. Why in the world would you think that I started an argument anyway?" she added, brows furrowed.
"Well, if that is so," started Morgana slowly, ignoring the question. "Is it a boy then?"
"I-..," stumbled Guinevere, perplexed. "No-.. no!.. a boy?.. I mean-"
"So it is a boy!" exclaimed Morgana, smiling rather wide and excitement dancing in her eyes.
"Wha-! No.. there is no boy-" Guinevere flustered, she can't prevent the blush that was burning her cheeks.
"Psh," uttered Morgana, quite unlady-like, but she found that she didn't care at the moment. Not in the light of this revelation at least. "Now tell me, who is he? Do I know him?" she added, grasping Guinevere's hands excitedly.
"Milady, I assure you-"
"Oh don't even deny it Gwen," declared Morgana, raising her perfectly sculpted brow. "I caught you red-handed. So I think it's only fair to tell me who it is that have caught your attention."
"I-.."
"Please, you can trust me," pleaded Morgana, fighting the remaining smile off her lips. "You know you can. I promise I won't say a word."
Guinevere looked at Morgana's eyes, and saw the sincerity there. She suddenly felt bad for her past reactions concerning Morgana. That was what bothered her most, while it was true that she felt rather disconcerted around her Father, Merlin, and yes, even Prince Arthur; it was her reactions with Morgana that she felt most conflicted with.
Morgana was her closest friend. A lady and a servant as friends, it was laughable to others, but it was not to them. And that was all that mattered.
With her mind made up, she felt her inner conflicts fade away.
..
She can trust Morgana.
..
She will trust Morgana.
..
"Well," started Guinevere, stuttering a bit. "There is a boy.. or a man?.. I mean-" shaking her head and clutching her hands, she felt her cheeks burn yet again.
"Oh, so it's a man you say." smiled Morgana, quite teasingly.
Guinevere can't help but let out a ridiculous laugh at the situation she found herself in. Morgana soon joined later in her merriment.
"Yes, but I dare say that he is a boy more than he is a man." Commented Guinevere, wiping whatever tears of mirth that escaped her eyes.
"But back to the point," started Morgana, impish smile still in place. "Will you tell me who it is that struck your fancy?"
Guinevere hesitated. She cannot tell Morgana that it was Arthur who caught her attention. A close friend she may be, but.. she just can't…
"I can't."
"Oh." Muttered Morgana, eyes averted, but Guinevere could still see the hurt in there.
"No, Morgana, It's not you. You do know that I trust you, right?" rushed Guinevere, grasping Morgana's hand with her own. "You have been a good friend to me and nothing more. It's not that I don't trust you, for I will be telling a lie if I did. You have shown me nothing but kindness and respect even though I am just a humble servant."
Morgana made to speak, but Guinevere cut her off before she was able to.
"No, it is true." Continued Guinevere. "A lady of your station must not be associated and be called as a friend to people like me."
"People like you will make a greater friend than those other stuck-up nobles." Intervened Morgana, looking intently at Guinevere's eyes, and grasping her hands firmly. "Never degrade yourself before me again Guinevere. You did not care that I was the King's ward, nor did you care that I was a lady of the highest standing. You only cared for me as a friend, and I have seen genuine kindness inside of you Gwen. You are the closest friend that I have,.. You are like a sister that I never had." She added, eyes misting over at her admission.
"Morgana," whispered Guinevere, her own tears hazing her vision. "I can't thank you enough for those kind words. Know that I feel for you in the same way. But I still cannot tell you the boy who struck my fancy, it is just… I fear that I don't trust myself."
Morgana gazed at her, deeply looking into her eyes, and then she, whilst smiling gently, embraced Guinevere.
"I understand." Morgana said, as she pulled away from Guinevere. "You need not explain yourself to me. Just know that whoever this boy is, he is a lucky one indeed to be graced by your affections."
Guinevere just smiled at her words, and giggled along with Morgana.
"Enough with these sentimentalities!" declared Morgana, quite suddenly if one might ask and surprising Guinevere a little. "And the giggling, why if Arthur was here, he will not let us live our lives comfortably without him prattling along about it." She added, lips twitching in amusement.
"Speaking of Arthur," continued Morgana, missing the odd look that graced Guinevere's face. "I think it is time for my customary debate with that oaf of a prince."
"You mean childish banter." Pointed Guinevere, raising her brows.
"What nonsense are you talking about." exclaimed Morgana, jaw dropping slightly and very much appalled. "If I must let you know, what we debate about is of the highest intellectual level."
Guinevere made a disagreeing noise at the words of her mistress.
"Why," stuttered Morgana, trying to set her point straight. "I'll let you see what we debate about."
"Of course, Milady." Guinevere said compliantly, whilst straightening the covers of the bed.
"Oh that is it." said Morgana, grabbing Guinevere's hand suddenly, and continued to pull her outside her chambers. "We must see Arthur, and then you'll be graced by our conversations about the protection of the Kingdom."
"You mean your banter about which horse, yours or Prince Arthur's, is the best," said Guinevere, slowly. "Is part of the Kingdom's protection?"
"Why yes, of course!" stated Morgana, continued to pull Guinevere along in the hallways. "Since my horse is black, he will be most covert in subterfuge. While his horse is-"
Guinevere was sure that her brows disappeared under the fringes of her hair as she listened to her mistress babbling on about her highly intellectual debate with the Prince.
"Oh there he is." Stated Morgana, suddenly stopping, Guinevere almost collided with her.
Guinevere looked at the direction of Morgana's stare, and saw the Prince on the field, training his Knights.
"Well, let's get on with it, shall we?" declared Morgana, hiking her skirt up slightly, as she trudged onward to the Prince.
..
Splendid
..
…WAMH…
"Keep up on your feet, will you?" barked Arthur, twirling his sword once before disabling his opponent and sending the Knight to the ground with a single strike.
A sound which sounded like either a war cry or a frightened cry befitting of a little girl, Arthur didn't know what it was, but he definitely preferred the former, sounded on the field. He quickly stepped aside and slammed his elbow on the stomach of his opponent. He disabled the Knight without as much as a flick of his sword.
Arthur let out a groan of frustration as he threw his sword on the ground in a quite petulant manner.
Granted, his opponents were new trainee Knights, but they can't be that bad, could they?
Well, it seemed that he had been proven wrong. Whatever made his Father to bestow Knighthood on these idiots,... he did not know. Maybe the king was drunk when he made that decision?
"Sir Leon" snapped Arthur.
"Yes, Sire." responded Leon, bowing to him.
"Make sure to teach these idiots how to properly handle a sword, will you?" griped Arthur, throwing a scathing look at the still dazed trainees on the ground. "I fear that it will be the end of Camelot if these idiots were the ones responsible in protecting the Kingdom."
"Certainly, My Lord." Acquiesced Leon, he directed the rest of the Knights to haul up the dazed men and get them to the tents.
Arthur grumbled to himself, taking off his gloves.
..
This was definitely not his day
At all
..
"It is nice to see you training the Knights, as usual."
..
Great
..
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to still himself, and calming the utter irritation that he felt on the events brought up in this day alone. Arthur slowly turned around to face the ward of his father.
"Morgana." greeted Arthur, a tight smile gracing his face.
"Arthur." said Morgana, tilting her head in greeting, a smug smile already in place.
Morgana made to comment about something, but was stopped as Arthur suddenly raised his hand.
"Not a word."
"I wasn't going to say anything-" Morgana stopped, as she saw Arthur's raised brow. "Degrading, at least." Sniffed Morgana, crossing her arms, as she turned her head on the side.
"Not now."
"Huh," Morgana started, mockingly. "So you concede defeat then."
"Defeat?!" said Arthur, jaw dropping, eyebrows furrowed. "I do not!"
"You just did."
"I didn't!"
"Yes, you did."
"What are we talking about anyway?"
"Oh well, I suppose I could-"
Arthur certainly did not want Morgana's presence at the moment. While it was true he did quite enjoy conversing and debating with another intellect like himself, he just can't handle the situation without blowing up at the King's ward. While it may not be surprising to Morgana, as he did so quite a few times when he had a bad day, such as now, but word will eventually get out and he will, once again, be scolded by his father.
"-and then you-"
Arthur continued to tune out her grating voice; he felt the throbbing in his head will only get worse if this conversation continues. Glancing past Morgana as he tried to stay calm, he started as his breath was taken away by the sight she made.
There, standing a few feet beyond Morgana was her maidservant, Guinevere.
She made quite a vision, if he did say so himself. The light of the sun bathed upon her delicate form. Her dark auburn hair curling the sides of her face, and those warm eyes,… No words could do her justice.
"Guinevere." He uttered.
"-ah, so you do-" Morgana halted her, rather one-sided, conversation. "Guinevere?" she asked surprised, she turned around to look at her maidservant.
Guinevere looked perplexed at the turn of events herself. She can't help but blush at the attention she was getting, seeing that both nobles were now gazing upon her.
"Yes, My Lord." greeted Guinevere, curtsying nervously.
"I…" Arthur looked quite surprised himself, he did not meant to utter her name. Shaking his head to get his mind clear. "What are you doing?" he let out in a rush.
"What.. am I doing?" asked Guinevere, slowly. "I'm accompanying Lady Morgana, Sire."
"Ah,.. I see." continued Arthur, dumbly. "So you're good,.. I mean, you're doing good."
"Yes, Sire." Guinevere said, confused. "I am doing… good at the moment."
"Oh that's good then,.. because if you're not good,.. I mean-… I did not mean that you're not good,.. I meant that you're not good, as like 'are you feeling good or well' enough-… that was what I meant…"
He might have rambled on and on, were it not for the faces the women were making. He thought it best to just shut up for the moment.
..
Stop… Talking… Now…
..
He felt like he wanted the ground to split apart and swallow him forever. Alright, that was just exaggerating things quite a bit, but he did felt like retiring to his chambers and not coming out for a week or so. Yes, that seems highly reasonable now.
..
Well, that was one way to look like an utter idiot
Well done, Arthur, well done, I commend you
..
Ignoring the disbelief in Morgana's eyes, and the concerned light on Guinevere's, he steered the conversation elsewhere.
"So," he began, waving his hand nonchalantly, and tucking his hands on his pockets before he disgraced himself any further. "How fares you?"
..
Open mouth, insert foot
..
"I believe Gwen had just answered your question." Morgana began, amused, if not mocking, smile in place. "In case you had gone deaf over the past few minutes, then allow me to repeat her answer, she said that she is fine. Now tell me Arthur, are you feeling well?" she added, constraining her laughter. Oh how she relished the sight of Arthur making a complete utter fool of himself.
"My Lord," Guinevere said, concernedly wringing her hands. "Are you feeling quite alright?"
"Yes." Arthur nodded, he felt that short responses will do him quite well for now.
"It seems that you have been hit in the head quite a few times, what with your training and all. Oh how will Camelot fare in the presence of a dim Prince." sighed Morgana, sarcastically shaking her head, and bringing her hands to her waist.
Arthur just graced her with a tight smile, not trusting himself to talk for a moment.
"By the way, how did you two meet? I know for a fact that Gwen tends to stay behind when we debated." She questioned them, looking curiously at Arthur and then at Guinevere.
Arthur and Guinevere looked at each other, before quickly averting their gazes.
"I-.. I met him in the lower town Milady," replied Guinevere, her eyes met the Prince's own. "Sire, thank you for what you did then, but please, let me repay you-"
"Speak no more of it Guinevere, you have thanked me enough." Arthur cut her off, offering her a gentle smile. "As I have said before, I did what I thought was best. My actions were of my own. And if you don't stop bothering me about it, then, as the Prince of Camelot, I will order you to do so." He added in a light tone, teasingly.
..
Guinevere felt her face burn with the blush that was now adorning her cheeks.
..
"Yes, as you wish, My Lord." Guinevere acquiesced, offering the Prince a shy smile.
..
Once again, Arthur can't help but be stunned by the vision she made.
..
And Morgana, for the first time in her life, felt like she was an outsider at that moment in time. She desperately wanted to ask Arthur about these cryptic conversations that he was having with Guinevere, but she did not have the heart to do so.
Suddenly, she thought back to the past few days. Her mind flashed on how Gwen used to space out, seemingly thinking about her heart's affection. Arthur was quite odd the past few days as well, looking quite distracted whenever she or his father conversed with him. Morgana thought that he was just tired, but it seemed that she was wrong.
And now, gazing at the both of them, their forms shadowed by the setting sun in her position between them, she understood.
..
They belong together
..
Oddly enough, while this revelation did surprise her greatly, she was not against the thought of Arthur and Guinevere together.
Morgana backed away, intent on giving the two people before her some time alone, for it felt wrong to intrude.
..
I hope you know what you're doing
..
Morgana thought, but she didn't know who it was directed to, maybe to Guinevere, maybe to Arthur, or maybe to the both of them. Whoever it may be, she just hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.
..
A/N: Yes, before you say anything, I am sorry. I'm very sorry for the long wait; I really hope I did not lose some readers/followers(?) because of this. And once again, I will use my favorite defense mechanism, which is called 'Undoing', by offering you a longer chapter.
BUT, I did have a valid reason, (1) I just had my NMAT exam yesterday, and considering I fell asleep in the middle of the freakin' exam,.. well, let's just say, I hope I still get a score of at least 50% :D
As for the other valid reason, (2) I watched seasons 1 to 4 of BBC Merlin again, yes, the whole seasons 1 to 4. But fear not, while this fic will have some Canon in it, I will not retell the whole happenings of the Canon version, instead, I will add my few unique tweaks in it.
So there, you can breathe again, this fic will not be retelling the whole Canon version, the Canon is just there so that I could twist the plot,… did you guys understand that?
I hope you enjoyed this update, I just can't help myself, I must add some Morgana scenes, she's one of my favorite characters in the series. And if someone wants to make their own Time Travel fic, where the characters were brought again to the past, please do so, I love these kind of fics, and I will gladly read your work too.
Many thanks to the following wonderful individuals:
WhoNewbie, blissfulbeauty84, lilj, Arthurlover7, ABVM, Guest#1, larasmith, Guest#2, energis121, and Birdy21
