A/N: Hello there! Sorry for the long wait, but life got a little busy and I didn't have time to write this chapter. I'm sorry, I really am, but hopefully this chapter will make up for it.
Alright, so for this chapter, five months have already passed and everyone should be a year older by then. This chapter wil mainly be about Arthur and Morgana in the first two episodes of season one (without Merlin, mind you.) Enjoy! See you at the bottom!
The Prophecy is No More
Chapter 4
Morgana watched on in horror as a man called Thomas James Collins was brought before the crowd, his arms bound and his head resting on the chopping block. Morgana tuned out the King's speech about the evils of sorcery, she didn't have to listen to know what he was going to say, it's been done a thousand times with the same old speech right before someone died.
She closed her eyes and looked away as the axe swung down to cut off the poor man's head. She counted backwards from three taking deep steady breaths to calm herself as the king continued his speech. Once Morgana opened her eyes, she heard a distressed cry from the middle of the crowd where the people were parting to reveal a haggardly old woman.
"There is only one evil in this land and it is not magic." The old woman cried out while pointing an accusing finger at the king. "It is you! With your hatred and your ignorance. You took my son! And I promise you, before these celebrations are over, You will share my tears. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a son for a son." Then a swirling whirlwind surrounded her and by the time it receded, the woman was gone.
Morgana widened her eyes at the powerful act of sorcery and the obvious threat towards the prince. But she also felt sympathy for the woman that just lost her son to a beheading. Morgana couldn't imagine how painful that must be, losing a son, she knew that a bond between a mother and a son is irreparable. She knew how it felt like to lose a mother and a father, and she guessed that the woman would be just as miserable as she was when she lost her parents.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Morgana sighed, as she looked out the window in the hallway where she had a perfect view of the chopping block from earlier. That poor woman . . . It was the only thing she could think of. Losing a son like that . . . Must've been horrible.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the silent footsteps of the King could be heard approaching her.
"Morgana."
"Yes?" She acknowledged him as she turned to face his disbelieving expression.
"What is this? Why are you not joining us at the feast?" King Uther demanded his ward.
Morgana decided to be honest, lying or not, Uther knew how she felt about executions. "I just don't think chopping someone's head off is cause for celebration."
King Uther sighed in frustration (obviously not feeling the same way as her) as he looked away from her for a moment and back.
"That poor mother . . ." Morgana trailed off as she forlornly looked out the window once more.
"It was simple justice for what he'd done." Uther curtly replied.
"To whom?" Morgana questioned, showing her disbelief. "He practiced some magic. He didn't hurt anyone."
"You weren't around 20 years ago, you've no idea what it was like."
"How long are you going to keep punishing people for what happened then?"
"Until they realize there is no room for magic in my kingdom!" Uther almost yelled out that last sentence. He then switched tactics. "You will be with me when I greet Lady Helen." Uther ordered and started to walk away.
"I told you I want no part . . ."
He spun around at the protesting voice of his ward. "I am your guardian." He raised his voice once more. "I expect you to do as I ask. If you show me no respect, at least respect our finest singer." Then he walked off, loud footsteps echoing through the corridor.
"You know, the more brutal you are, the more enemies you'll create." Morgana called out one last jab at his royal highness, and even when she said it, she knew this to be very true.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
"Where's the target?" Arthur demanded his stupid manservant (what's his name? Marvis? Monty?).
"There, sire." The man attempted to point at the target while holding a tray of- well, who cares?
"It's into the sun." Arthur stated, getting ready for a joke on his manservant's part.
"It's not that bright." The confused manservant (seriously, what's his name?) said.
"A bit like you then?" Arthur taunted, and he could hear all the knights snickering at the taunt.
The manservant (ugh, why the hell did he get hired?) ignored the laughter. "I'll put the target on the other side?" He asked, stuttering a little and Arthur smirked at that, enjoying the man's discomfort a little too much.
Suddenly an idea popped into his head, he turned to his friends as the manservant lifted up the target. "This'll teach him." Arthur muttered to the group as he grabbed his knife and threw it at the target as the unaware manservant went to set it up.
Laughter could be heard behind Arthur, and he too joined in the fun.
The manservant lowered the target so that Arthur could see his pitiful face. He rolled his eyes as the manservant told him to "Hang on!" Yeah, right, as if he'd let some servant tell him what to do.
So, Arthur simply spread out his hands and said, "Come on! Don't stop!"
The servant grunted as he took a couple steps to the side. Arthur sighed at his servant's idiocy. Seriously, why the hell did he get hired?
"Here?"
"I told you to keep moving." Arthur called back. He then got into position and threw the knife which planted itself right in the middle of the target. Bullseye!
The manservant 's horrified face looked back and forth between the smug prince and the knife in the target.
"Come on, run!" Arthur laughed a little as the last word left his mouth, which the exact time his stupid manservant registered what the prince wanted and started running back and forth.
"We want some moving target practice."
Laughter could be heard behind him as he kept the throwing knives at the target. Arthur released a frustrated sigh when the manservant dropped the target, which went rolling away from him. He stumbled after the target like some duck who doesn't know how to walk.
Meanwhile, Arthur turned to his knights and started complaining to them of what a horrible manservant the man is.
His manservants finally got ahold of the target and looked at Arthur expectantly.
"You are not only pitiful, but also clumsy." Arthur jeered. "I can't believe I actually hired you! You know what? Your fired!"
The manservant gaped at the prince and stuttered something indecipherable.
Arthur and his knights laughed at the pitiful expression. The man turned teary eyed, dropping the shield and ran away from the training field where the laughter of Arthur and his knights could be heard. Oh, he'll never get tired of that.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Morgana knocked on Arthur's door and she walked right in without waiting for permission. She found the prince sitting by the table chucking a grape into his mouth. She slid into a chair right beside him and smiled innocently as he tried for a glare.
"Morgana, what are you doing here?" Arthur demanded, an annoyed frown marring his face.
Morgana tried for a mock look of offensiveness. "Arthur, is that anyway of greeting your friend?"
"You? Friend? Pfft, yeah right! You are a pain in the arse."
"Oh, Arthur, you're hurting my feelings." Morgana sarcastically said, then simply smiled all innocent-like.
Arthur released an exasperated sigh. "Seriously, what the hell do you want?"
"What makes you think I want something?"
"Obviously you do, otherwise you wouldn't be here."
"Can't I simply come here to have a nice chat with my friend?"
"Your idea of a 'nice chat' involves mocking me."
"Exactly."
Arthur blinked, once, twice, thrice, at the blunt way Morgana said it, and also that amused smirk of hers.
She then had the guts to just laugh at him. "Oh, Arthur, you should've seen your face!"
Blood rushed to his face and Arthur had the feeling that his face was bright red, if Morgana's continued laughter was anything to go by. "Morgana." He ground out, gritting his teeth.
"Is that the only thing you can say, Arthur?"
Arthur settled his death glare on her, which usually worked on any sane person, but according to Arthur, Morgana was anything but sane, which is why (in his logic) she was still laughing.
"Morgana, I will ask you again. What. Do. You. Want?"
Morgana stopped laughing and looked at him with an amused smile. "I heard you fired Morris."
Arthur frowned, not recognizing that name. "Who's Morris?" He asked in his confusion.
Morgana gave him an incredulous look. "You don't know who Morris is?"
Arthur slowly shook his head.
"You really don't know who Morris is?"
"I told you, no."
" . . . "
"Why? Am I supposed to know him?"
Morgana continued staring at him and sighed. "When are you going to let that egoistic head of yours deflate so that you know the names of the people that walk around you all the time?" She quickly stood up and walked towards the door.
Morgana looked him in his eyes one last time. "Morris was your manservant, you dolt!" She said and slammed the door shut, leaving a speechless Arthur behind.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
"We have enjoyed 20 years of peace and prosperity. It has brought the kingdom and myself many pleasures, but few can compare the honor of introducing Lady Helen of Mora."
Every person in the banquet clapped their hands as Lady Helen prepared to sing. Arthur and every other noble focused their attention to the performance, showing his respects to the Lady.
Arthur felt himself nodding off as the ethereal voice of Lady Helen lulled him to sleep. He fought to keep his eyes open, but the soothing song told him to do otherwise. Eventually he gave up and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
Unbeknownst to him, Lady Helen aka Mary Collins, slipped out a knife from her sleeves. As she continued her singing, she stalked closer and closer to her target, the Prince of Camelot. Once she was close enough, she drew her arms back, aiming the knife at the prince's heart and threw with all her strength. The knife soared through the air, and Mary Collins watched with dread as the knife struck the prince's shoulder instead. She looked around in panic as her spell broke, waking everyone from their slumber.
Arthur jolted out of his sleep as he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. He let out a pained cry, shocking everyone from their sleep.
The king hearing the cry, looked around in confusion at the cobwebs strewn across each person. He finally registered the cry to his right and looked in horror at the injury in his son's shoulder.
"Gaius!" He yelled as he quickly went to his son's side.
Morgana jolted out of her seat at the desperate shout, while brushing off the cobwebs around her body. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped at the horrifying image of Arthur, the knife stuck in his shoulder, the enormous amount of blood bleeding through his clothes and his face pinched with pain.
Gaius rushed to Arthur's side as fast as his old legs would allow him. He observed the injury and called some guards over to take the prince to his chambers.
Meanwhile, the furious King turned his gaze to Lady Helen, who flickered back to looking like her old self.
"You tried to kill my son!" King Uther outrageous voice rang through the banquet hall. "Guards! Arrest her!"
Immediately several guards ran to seize the woman with swords and other weapons in hand. The guest all crowded around the exit doors, not willing to witness the fight between the sorceress and the King's guards.
The old woman used her magic to fight them off. A flash of gold here and there and the guards would be thrown back against the wall. As each guard fell more came rushing in and eventually she was overwhelmed. They cuffed her with magic binding handcuffs and brought her to the dungeons, thrashing and screaming while wishing a horrible death on Prince Arthur.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
The next day, Morgana sat on a chair beside Arthur's bed, where the sleeping form of the prince could be seen under the plush white covers. A book was on her lap as she pretended to read, but really she was deep in thought, simply worried about the prince, who was like a brother to her. And it was also an excuse to not witness the execution of the prince's assassin, which was at noon, in other words, now.
She was broken out of her thoughts by the rustling of sheets. Morgana looked to her right to see Arthur coming to the world of the living.
"Welcome back, Arthur." She said with a slight smile on her face.
"Morgana?" He grunted out, the pain from the injury evident from the expression on his face as he shifted around to face her, at least tried to.
"Yes, Arthur, it's me. How are you feeling?" Morgana asked, showing her concern through her eyes.
"What do you think?" Arthur shot back.
Morgana pinned him with a look that said, 'really, Arthur?'
"Sorry."
Morgana didn't say anything, instead, she grabbed a pitcher by the bedside table and poured a glass of water. "Water?" She asked. "You must be thirsty."
Arthur tried to nod his head, but gave up and simply said, "Yes." He tried to sit up by himself, the pain in his shoulders flaring up from the movement.
Morgana, seeing him struggle, helped him up and put the cup to his lips as he thirstily drunk from it. Then she help him settle in his bed once more.
"What? No thanks?" The amused voice of Morgana distracted him from the pain.
"You very well know that I don't do that."
"Well, too bad. A 'thank you' would've been appreciated."
Arthur sighed, exasperated. "Fine, thank you."
"What was that?" Morgana smirked.
"You heard what I said, I'm not going to repeat it."
Morgana laughed, "You know, Arthur. You're nicer when your injured."
"Are you telling me that I'm mean?"
"Sure am."
"I am not mean."
"Yes, you are."
"Alright, then tell me a time when I was mean to someone." Arthur said, thinking that Morgana wouldn't be able to think of something. Me? Mean? Never. He thought to himself while mentally smirking.
"Let's see. Remember your last manservant? You fired him on his first day and you sent him running in tears. You also bully people that are lower than you. Now how is that for being mean?"
Arthur frown in realization. "If you put it that, it does sound bad."
"Exactly." Morgana stated bluntly, hoping that this talk will make him into a nicer person, or not, he might just continue his ways.
"Is that why your here? To make me feel bad? 'Cause the injury's doing a pretty good job on its own."
"I bet. But no, I'm here to help you and keep you company. Making you feel bad about yourself is just a bonus."
"Great." Arthur muttered under his breath. "This'll be torture." Morgana simply smirked and pretended not to hear it.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Morgana walked into Arthur's chambers to find him sitting by his desk and staring off into space. He was wearing a simple red tunic, peeking out the collar was the while bandage from his injury.
"Arthur!"
Arthur blinked, taken out of his thoughts by Morgana.
Morgana sighed and pulled up a chair beside him, sitting down. "Are you still upset that you can't join the tournament?"
"Of course I'm still upset about that!" Arthur fumed, punching the desk with his good arm, as if that would solve his problems.
"Arthur." She said sternly.
"What?"
Morgana rolled her eyes but still got into her caring mode. "I know you like to knock people out with your sharp pointy stick, but you're hurt and if you go out there, you'll hurt yourself even more. King Uther didn't let you join for a reason."
Arthur just turned his head away form her in anger, not at her, but in the situation. Morgana sighed, sensing that she wasn't welcome anymore, she slipped out the door.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
"Why isn't Arthur at the reception? I thought Gaius gave him permission to leave his chambers." Gwen whispered to Morgana, just as another knight passed them.
"He did, Arthur's just too upset to meet his would-be opponents if he didn't get hurt." Morgana whispered back.
"So what's he doing right now?" Gwen questioned.
"Sulking in his room, of course." Morgana replied with a smirk.
Gwen released a short laugh as she shook her head at the prince's behavior. "Oh, Arthur. Is he always this annoying?"
"Apparently, yes." Morgana answered, almost immediately.
"-May I present Lady Morgana. My ward." Morgana was drawn out of her conversation with Gwen as King Uther introduced her to Knight Valiant.
Morgana smiled at the handsome knight as he lowered himself to kiss her hand. "My lady."
Her smile grew wider, and she wondered if he will be the one to win the tournament. "I saw you competing today."
"I saw you watching." Sir Valiant said. Hm, charming. "I understand the tournament champion has the honor of escorting my lady to the feast."
"That's correct."
"Then I will give everything to win the tournament." Ooh, very charming. Maybe he will escort me to the feast.
Morgana smiled after him as he walked away with a one last "My Lady."
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Morgana tossed around in her bed that same night. Her pale face was drawn in a frown, there were sweat running down her forehead, and she was breathing heavily from the terrifying dream.
In the dream, she saw Sir Valiant fight in the final stage of the tournament with a knight named Sir Derek. Their swords clashed, the sound resonating through the air, and their shields coming in contact with the swords. After a couple more seconds, Sir Valiant managed the trip the other knight and pinned him to the ground using his shield.
In her dream, she zoomed in to find Sir Valiant muttering forbidden words, making snakes come out of the shield. Sir Derek widened his eyes in surprise and fear, he tried to squirm his way out of the yellow knight's tight grip, but to no avail.
"Kill him." Sir Valiant commanded so that only he and the other knight (plus Morgana) could hear him. There was a malicious glint in his eyes as the snakes hissed and bit Sir Derek on his neck.
The poor knight stayed on the ground, unconscious, as Sir Valiant faced the cheering crowd that was oblivious what went on in those mere seconds.
Morgana woke up with a start, panting and trying to convince herself that it was probably nothing.
The very next day, her dream came true, except, she couldn't see the snakes biting the knight. Later that afternoon she went to visit Gaius for a sleeping tonic and to secretly check on Sir Derek. She observed the patient and tried not to gasp when she saw the snake bite on the man's neck.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
"So, who won the tournament?" Arthur asked, the moment he entered Morgana's chambers.
Morgana was sitting in front of the mirror, with her maidservant, Gwen just finishing up her hair. "Thank you, Gwen." She smiled at Gwen, giving her tasks for the morning, ignoring Arthur for the time being, who impatiently waited by the door.
"Why don't you ask Uther?" Morgana questioned, the moment Gwen slipped out the door with a laundry basket in hand.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Just . . ." Arthur shook his head. "No."
Morgana shrugged. "Alright."
"Who won?" He demanded once more.
"A knight named Valiant." She answered, trying not to look uncomfortable as she said his name.
"I bet I could beat him." Arthur muttered.
"Don't be so sure. He seemed pretty good. He killed every one of his opponent."
"I'm the best knight in the kingdom, of course I can beat him!"
Morgana rolled her eyes. "And here come his arrogant side." She muttered under her breath while Arthur kept blabbering off about how great of a fighter he is.
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A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back! So what did you think? Good? Bad? Okay? Tell me in the reviews. I really love seeing those. :D Too bad Arthur wasn't in the tournament, but you know? He was injured. Hopefully you guys like all the bickering from Morgana and Arthur, I know that I enjoyed writing it. :D
Oh, and, thank you guys so much for the reviews and the follows and favorites. I really appreciate it!
Soooooo, see you soon! Oh, and leave a review and tell me what you think so far!