Hello all! Thank you all you lovely people who read, review, favorite and follow this story. Warning: this is quite a romantic chapter so if you don't like romance... what the hell are you reading this for? It says romance in the description!
Leon's POV
My head is killing me! I'm not awake yet but the light that has managed to get through the tent's canvas has stirred me into a somewhat conscious state and yet my only thought is: my head is killing me! A vague memory comes to me suddenly from last night of the tavern with Gwaine, Lance and Morgause as well as lots of mead. Wait Morgause- something happened last night- something important!
As I strain to remember I suddenly become more aware of my surroundings even with my eyes still closed. I'm warm and cosy but there's something soft in the bed with me. Running my hand along the unknown I gasp as I feel out the shape of a very formed woman beside me. Then flashes of last night come to me and I see Morgause and I… intimate.
The memories alone are causing my body to react and I know that my face is flushed without even looking. Opening my eyes I see the beautiful form of Morgause lying beside me soundly asleep with her long golden tresses framing her face and serving as her only covering. She stirs as if sensing my gaze and soon enough her own eyes flutter open.
I can almost see the moment she remembers exactly what happened the night before. Then with her brown eyes wide she turns to me with mouth ajar. "We…"
"Had sex?" I finish for her my voice hoarse. What the hell is she thinking?
She nods and we both lie there in silence for a moment before she tentatively asks. "It was good wasn't it?"
That's an understatement. "Yeah."
There's another silence between us as we both wonder where the hell that leaves us. Then hesitantly Morgause pushes herself up so that she's level with me and kisses me softly and sweetly. I return the kiss hungrily and soon we have a smooth rhythm as we remain curled together under the blankets in my bed. Our bodies perfectly entwined and perhaps maybe our hearts.
Mordred's POV
I'm still standing in the throne room despite the fact that most of the occupants have already left, including my Aunt and the king. My mind still hasn't caught up with recent events. I've planned out every more I'm going to make, every alliance and factored in the possibilities of failures but even with all this planning the Lady Catriona Tregor is unknown factor. And that doesn't sit right with me and this new development just shows how much of an unknown quantity my aunt really is.
My thoughts finally catches up with events and my feet begin moving and before I know it I'm in my chambers quill in hand and parchment in front of me poring over it.
Half an hour later and the raven returns as the sun begins its retreat on the horizon. The note is in a typically short, abrupt, to the point fashion like its writer. Slipping on my dark cloak I slip out into Camelot's underbelly and then into the forest.
She looks as beautiful as ever with her long blonde tresses piled up on top of her head and a long flowing silver gown completely impractical for the wood but miraculously without any woodland stains. "You summoned me Lord Mordred."
"Ellinora." I reply with a curt nod. "How do you and your sister do?"
"In these dark times we struggle but remain strong enough." Her voice is strong and defiant as if I'm about to contradict her.
I don not and instead continue with my business. "As you may expect I didn't summon you here to exchange niceties. I wish to know of my aunt the Lady Catriona Tregor and her future in Camelot."
"The Lady Catriona will become Queen, Lord Mordred. There is no way to stop this however the future is not as it seems. You play a crucial role in this and I may only impart a small fraction of advice to you to not disturb the path to happy future which we all strive for."
"And that is?" I ask, frustrated with the seers cryptic speak. Typical.
"Listen to Gaius."
"The physician?"
"Yes for he is more than he seems." She looks uncertain for a moment but then continues in hushed tones. "It is only through him that you will endure." With that the fair seer turns and leaves into the caves she came from.
Turning back to Camelot with her words ringing through my ears I make a vow to listen to all that Gaius says to me. If he is my key to Camelot then I shall listen like my life depends on it because it does. Maybe there is more to Gaius than there seems. But apparently my aunt and the King are going to be married and that's that.
Arthur's POV
Blearily I open my eyes wondering why my whole body is so stiff. Looking around I realise immediately. Somehow I managed to fall asleep whilst lying on the edge of Merlin's bed. In shock I realise that the girl herself is curled into my side and that my arm is around her shoulders my hands gently resting on her waist. It doesn't feel uncomfortable at all in fact the opposite- it feels as natural as if this where I belong- at her side.
Subconsciously my fingers begins tracing patterns into her smooth skin- swirls and circles. She snuggles closer into my side without waking and my heart leaps to my throat and I continue the ministrations. My fingers adore the feel of her skin and the feeling sends sparks through my entire body.
I hear a soft sigh and I freeze as Merlin stirs into consciousness beside me. "Don't stop." She moans softly her breath hitting an exposed part of my shoulder like a soft breeze. I smile and continue gently.
"Is that ok?" I ask her tentatively.
"Mmm." She replies sleepily. "I love it."
The word love hits me like a ton of bricks and I freeze again as I realise: I love Merlin. Not in the way I love Morgana or like I love my father or even my mother. I love her as a man loves his wife. I don't just desire her (although thinking about it there's plenty of that), I don't just want to take her to my bed I want to keep her by my side like this forever. I want to see little girls with Merlin's bright blue eyes and long black hair with my crooked grin. I want to see boys with my muscle fighting for Camelot with her goofy grin on their faces. I want to see Merlin with a crown on her head when she's old and grey with her eyes still glinting in mischief. I want Merlin, I need Merlin, and I love Merlin.
Distantly I hear her worried voice call my name but I can't process or move. Then a sudden crash frees me from my stasis and I find myself on the floor. "Arthur? Oh god are you alright?"
I scramble to my feet and try to smile at her reassuringly but from the look on her face it just makes her more worried. "I'm fine but I just remembered I need…to speak to…Gwaine! I need to speak to Gwaine right now." With that I dash out of Merlin's tent leaving her with a frown on her face.
I can't tell her- she's going through enough and I can't give her more to worry about. She needs to get better and anyway I can offer her nothing. I have no kingdom and no promise that I can give her. I will not hurt Merlin in anyway or else I'd hurt myself ten times more. Seeing her almost dead like that was one of the most painful things I've ever had to go through and I can't risk hurting her again with disappointed hopes and false promises. I love her but I have to forget her.
Gaius' POV
The wedding is tomorrow and I can't help the dark feeling I have in my stomach. As dear as a friend the Lady Catriona was something about Uthur's recovery and her behaviour seems off. I'm about to extinguish the candle when there is a soft knock on the door.
I get up with old joints creaking and open the door to see the Lady Catriona herself standing on my doorstep only something is different. She wears rags and a dark woollen cloak but her regal stance and nature still shines through. "Lady Catriona?"
"Gaius, it is very good to see you again old friend." She smiles at me with warmth and compassion which has been lacking as of late. We both step into my room and sit around my old wooden table. "I'm glad to see that through the Purge you still remained. I was scared for you- that Uthur's knights would come for you in the middle of the night. I was so relieved to hear you were still alive but slightly unnerved by the news that I myself was about to marry Uthur Pendragon."
I frown. "I don't understand my lady."
"Gaius when I left all lose years ago I swore I would never return. Then I hear that the Lady Catriona Tregor is apparently in Camelot about to marry her King. I arrive in Camelot to see myself on the balcony with said King announcing the engagement."
"Are you saying that the woman in the guest chambers is an imposter?" I say with my eyebrow rising dangerously.
"Yes. I know it sounds fantastic and that whoever she is, she's probably very good at acting the lady. But she's not me." She gives me a small smile. "You are the only one who knows the real reason why I left Camelot."
"I am." I say with a small nod.
""You held me all those years ago as I cried and told me it would all be fine. You arranged for me to leave Camelot with enough provisions to last a few days. You helped me start again and leave behind the lady and be a peasant."
"It is truly you. I knew when I saw the Lady Catriona who walked into the throne room a few days ago that there was something wrong. I didn't realise it but I know now that she wasn't the Lady Tregor that left Camelot."
"Neither am I, Gaius, 25 years changes a person." I see it in how she speaks- quieter in hushed tones- and although she still retains her royal stance there is a slight slump to her shoulders as if she's bearing the weight of the world.
"But there are some things that no amount of time can change." I reply smiling at her and seeing my old friend in the worn and worried lines of her face. The person who cares for all and will always do things for the benefit of others even if that means giving up her own happiness.
Catriona's eyes have shed a few tears and pains that have been there for so long come to surface as fresh as if they were yesterday. Hanging her head for a moment she speaks clearer and in a voice that rings with the old authority she used to wield. "We must stop the wedding."
"But we'll need help." I reply, taking the hint to change the subject. Then an idea flashes through my mind and taking the lady's arm I steer her out the door again. "And I know where we can find some but we'll have to hurry."
Balinor's POV
Morgana has fallen asleep and is now softly snoring. Her face is creased in worry but there's still peace from sleep which relaxes her features slightly. I can't say the same for her mother. Wrapped in my arms she sleeps restlessly and occasionally gives a petrified yelp. Whatever she's seeing it's terrible. I can hardly bear to see her in so much pain and if it wasn't for the fact that I know she needs me I'd run to escape from seeing her fear, her pain and her suffering.
As it is I tuck her into my body and rest my head on the top of her soft dark hair. I feel the tears run down as another cry rips through my soul and I grip her closer trying to reassure her that she is not alone. Then there's a silence, a gasp and the magic that is surrounding her dims.
"O my love." I whisper softly as she takes great gasping breaths and cries softly into my chest. "What did you see?"
"The future. And it was terrible." She stops crying but I think it' more that she's run out of tears to shed than relief. "But I can't stop it. The future I saw must come to pass or else…" She trails of and we sit here in silence.
"Are you sure?" I feel her nod in my chest. "Then we'll just have to face it as best we can. I' not leaving you Ambrosia no matter how terrible the future is. Neither are your daughters and everyone else here. Whatever you saw…" My own voice fades into the night as well as I hold her in my arms having run out of words. I shall give no false promise or hope. "I love you Ambrosia."
"I love you also Balinor. But what if that's not enough in the end?"
I stay silent at that and we both it there crying in silence. At some point she falls asleep and I rest her down bedside her daughter on the bed and take a place beside their bedside until morning to make sure neither seer is alone tonight.
Whatever the future does hold tonight we are safe and together. Even if that's a fragile moment I want to hold onto it for as long as I can so I don't allow sleep to overtake me and stay with them until the dawn.
Mordred's POV
Near midnight there's a knock on our door. I'm awake already so leap out of bed and answer it before Guinevere wakes. At the door are two people I really don't expect to see- my aunt and Gaius. Remembering Ellinora's words to me I immediately step out into the corridor with them. "What is it? Why are you dressed like that?" I ask my underdressed aunt.
Before either can reply the Lady Catriona Tregor throws her arms around my neck and cries into my shoulder. "It's so good to see you. I never thought I'd see you again! You look so like your father, he'd be so proud of you right now." I don't know how to react to the foreign action but I hesitantly wrap my arms around her waist. She seems so different from the woman who I've met over the last few days. She's certainly more affectionate.
"What's going on?" I ask Gaius who looks happily at the pair of us.
"We need your help Sir Mordred. Please just hear us out." Of course I'm going to listen to him- he's the only one who can save me from whatever it is that will kill me.
Leon's POV
I smile as I look down at Morgause, golden locks untamed and tan skin practically bronze in the dawn's sunlight. She stirs and her eyes flutter open and a content smile springs to her lips. "I could get used to this."
I grin back at her and lean down and kiss her thoroughly. "I love you." The words are out of my mouth before I even have knowledge of them.
Morgause stills and my brain begins to panic until she smiles if possible wider and kisses me again taking away the power of thought from me. "And I love you Leon."
I feel my face crack into the widest grin it ever has as pure joy fills my heart as I hear those softly murmured words. "Marry me. I want you with me forever Morgause. Not as my prisoner but as my partner, my equal. I want to make you an honest woman and I want you to make me the happiest of men. I just want you and nothing else." I watch her attentively as she absorbs all my words.
She looks at me truly with her beautiful brown eyes. "I want to marry you with all that I am. I want to make love to you every night just in case you ever forget just how much I love you. I want to be your partner in life, Leon. To fight with you and help you through the hard bits and to laugh with you through the rest. I-" She stops with her eyes full of tears and leans up to kiss me again. Softly, sweetly letting all the emotions between us show and be felt even if we don't have words for all of them.
As soon as she moves away trying to catch her breath I draw a piece of string from around my neck which I wear always. "This was my mother's engagement ring." I say to her showing her the silver band on the cord. Untying it I take her hand and slip it onto her finger. "I want you to have it."
Her eyes go wide as she admires the delicate and beautiful ring. "Are you sure?" For the first time her eyes hold doubt.
"Of course I am." I kiss the crown of her head. "I want to marry you, Morgause. This is just a symbol of that. This is just to make it official. That is if this is what you want?"
"Of course this is what I want. I'm just shocked that- that you love me!"
"Of course I do, my love. Forever."
Uthur's POV
When I awoke from my stupor and saw her face after all these years I knew that I should marry her. I loved her back then and although she has offered no explanation of where she has been for the last twenty five years I know that I still love her even now. I loved my wife but the woman I'm marrying today is the woman who has held my heart since childhood even after she left with no explanation. When she wanted to get married immediately I'd agreed because that's all I've wanted since as long as I can remember.
A manservant straightens my clothes and then goes about polishing my crown. Normally I would scold him and tell him exactly what he was doing wrong but today I'm so happy I don't care about the state of my dress. I look at myself in the mirror and smile at the man in his prime looking back at me.
"Sire." Gaius is at the door looking very sombre for some reason. "It's time."
Taking the crown off the manservant and placing it on my head I walk out the room with Gaius a few steps behind me. "Come Gaius cheer up it's a special day."
"I am very happy sire, I believe the Lady Catriona will make a wonderful wife." He smiles but he looks tense. "I just hope it all goes well."
"I know it will Gaius. I've been waiting for this for thirty years."
Smiling happily I enter the hall and stand before Godfrey waiting for my bride to walk down the aisle.
Like? Hate? Feedback very much appreciated! Oh and yes Merlin and Arthur have slept together but not again.