Chapter 15:A/N I do not own Merlin! Or other aspects of the Arthurian Legend or Reccared( just in case lol) Only one I do own is Cassie- cuz she's made up in my mind ;p
"Good morning, Morgana. Did you at least get some rest last night?" Gwen asked, with concern lacing her voice.
"I did, actually, Cassie sang me a beautiful lullaby and it put me right to sleep." Morgana answered with a soft smile towards the blond who was currently over by the fireplace tending to the fire.
"It was nothing, 'Gana. Truly." Cassie said, a little embarrassed.
"Of course it was something, Cassie. You practically stayed up half the night with me." Morgana said, grateful.
"She will be an amazing mother one day. I can just tell." Morgana said happily as the brunette moved to make the bed.
"I don't suppose you can teach it to me one day. I don't expect you to do this every time Morgana has a bad night." Gwen stated, clearly thankful for the full night's sleep and the time spent with her father.
"The melody is easy enough, I would be happy to teach you, Gwen. But not now, I should get changed and go on my rounds this morning. Oh and, uh, I'd expect what we talked about last night to happen sometime this week 'Gana." Cassie said surreptitiously.
"Owaine finally going to kiss you?" Gwen teased, curious.
"No." Cassie sang, shaking her head. "Just some things we spoke about." she evaded.
"Bye Cassie! If it's no bother, could you get Gaius to make another draught? I have no more left." Morgana said.
"I'll see what I can do." Cassie told the raven-haired beauty. "Bye, Gwen."
Cassie made her way through the castle quickly, hoping to beat the morning guard to Gaius'. Strictly speaking she didn't have permission and she doubted the King would take kindly to hearing that she had been with the Lady Morgana unsupervised; after all, how much did they actually know about the girl. 'YES I made it!' she thought triumphantly when she arrived at the physician's chambers without meeting her guard for the morning. How wrong she was when she opened the door.
"Ah, Cassie. I hope you had an uneventful night?" Gaius asked, trying to convey to her that he hadn't said anything about her taking Gwen's place last night.
"My Lord. Gaius." Cassie greeted with a deep curtsy towards the royal. "No such luck. The poor girl was up half the night. Is there really nothing you can do to alleviate the night terrors, Gaius?" Cassie asked sadly.
"I do hope this 'poor girl' isn't the Lady Morgana, Cassie. You know how Father doesn't like you two spending time together."
"Yes, Prince Arthur, I am well aware of the King's trust in me, or lack thereof, but I was just concerned for my friend, and Gwen's father wasn't feeling well." Cassie explained, hoping he wouldn't ask why she was there in the first place. "Oh, she wanted me to ask you for another sleeping draught, Gaius."
"I need some more herbs before I can brew it."
"Ladies first." Arthur smirked, gesturing towards the door. Cassie just stood there open-mouthed at the implication. His smirk just grew. Before Cassie could think about what it meant, however, Gaius saved her.
"I believe she needs a moment to change, Sire. She did spend all night looking over Morgana."
"Right. I'll wait here, then." Arthur said, leaning back against the table behind him.
"Oh, Ok, Sire. Just- I won't take long. Promise." Cassie said flustered.
The prince just motioned for her to continue then crossed his arms again. Cassie stumbled her way over to her room at the top of the stairs on the far end of the chambers. She opened the door and quickly, but quietly, freaked out. She'd only ever been with the Prince when the knights were training, or Gaius was treating him for some injury or another. Never alone. "Y ahora que voy a hacer?! No se como tratarlo, es el príncipe, pero también es un…" she murmured, realizing she was speaking out loud and quickly covering her mouth with both hands. 'Boy am I nervous!' she thought to herself. She went over to the corner, where there was a bucket of water at all times, and went behind the makeshift screen before quickly washing up and changing. She plaited her hair into two dutch braids that finished in a bun at the nape of her neck, and put on a touch of makeup.
"I apologize for the wait, Sire. Do you have the list of herbs you want Gaius?"
"Yes, here you go." Gaius said with a look that clearly said, you really should look more closely for hints. "And once you've collected them, make sure they've been properly dried and hung before you go on your rounds."
"Yes, Gaius. I'll see you in a bit."
"Goodbye, my lord, Cassie." Gaius nodded at each.
"So. Where to first?" Arthur asked, trying to break the silence. For such a pompous person, he was quite amiable.
"The forest just east of the gate. Then to a brook about 5 minutes south for the herbs that only grow along the bank. Wetter soil." she explained at seeing his expression.
"You know, you're a very quick learner." Arthur observed. "Three months and you barely trip over your words. At the beginning, it was quite amusing watching you try and mime or getting frustrated when the word just wouldn't come out right." he chuckled.
"My brothers spoke some English. Not well, mind you, they relied more on latin because most everyone speaks it, but they did try to teach me what they knew. It was a long time ago but some of the words stuck. That's why." Cassie shrugged off the observation.
"What did they work in? Most farmers don't speak multiple languages."
"They had work in the palace. It required an understanding of language so…" Cassie answered vaguely, not wanting to outright lie to the Prince.
By the time they'd made it to the courtyard Arthur started towards the stables, and Cassie toward the gate.
"Where are you going?" Arthur asked confused.
"To the forest." Cassie explained slowly, confused as well.
"You don't go on horseback?" he asked, curious.
"I don't own one. I go on foot." Cassie said, thinking about her precious Blaze. So many months had passed, yet she still fervently missed her equine friend.
"Oh. I suppose the walk would be nice." Arthur conceded. "Although, if you need a horse just ask the stable hand. I can make sure you can borrow one whenever you go to gather herbs."
"Thank you, my lord. You are too kind, but I really don't need one, the walk is rather relaxing. Besides, I haven't actually ridden a horse since Blaze and I don't really want to antagonize the King any further. I did disobey him last night and all. Although, he doesn't really know that. And he certainly doesn't know about the pranks. Oh those Knights of yours really have a sense of humor." Cassie rambled on, a bit nervous. "The soldiers were rather rowdy back home, but they didn't really appreciate the genius of my pranks. One of my brothers had such a bad experience after one of my pranks that I could just mention a prank in front of him and he would run for the hills. I think he might have been a little wary of me after I dyed his hair pink. For a whole week!" Cassie continued, speaking nonstop.
"I knew it! It was Morgana, wasn't it?" Artur burst out, punching the air in success. "Oh I have to get back at her! Hang on." Arthur said as another thought occurred to him. "She was responsible for me walking around with pink skin too, wasn't she?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Arthur. I had many siblings, we pranked each other all the time. Dying our hair was just one of many that we did too many times." Cassie lied innocently, inwardly cringing at how easily she revealed a secret. Arthur saw right through her lie, and all he did was give a look of incredulity.
"What? Stop looking at me like that!" she cried. "My lord." she quickly amended.
"Tell me about these pranks, then. What were they?"
"Oh, well, there's the 'move everything from its place' which works every time. Honestly my sisters would go crazy looking for their belongings when I did that. With my brothers I would just move the furniture. They never found anything anyway, it was more fun to watch them stub their toes and shins with the edges of tables and the likes. Then there's the 'mess with their clothes' which honestly was funny the first two times, then I just felt bad for ruining perfectly good clothing. Although, seeing my brother in a bright pink shirt was truly hilarious. His face then…" Cassie paused to stop laughing and wipe a tear from her eyes.
"These are good ideas." Prince Arthur said thoughtfully.
"Oh, no. If you do one of these, then Morgana will know I gave you them. She also has some good pranks up her sleeve, and, quite frankly, she scares me. Don't tell her I gave you this one, but her hand cream, add some dried rose powder to the container, mix it et voila! You have itching powder! But the face is off limits, believe me, If she gets some of that on her face, nothing will keep her fury in check. Hell hath no fury and all. Ooh that gives me an idea!" Cassie said excitedly, already writing it down in her book. She carried it everywhere. Sort of like a diary.
"You have beautiful penmanship, what are you writing?" Arthur asked looking over her shoulder.
"Oh, nope, if I tell you, and then do it you'll know it was me. But with the itching powder, beware the preparation, it is NOT easy. Well it is, but if you get some on your hands and then touch your face, well let's just say it's not pleasant." Cassie said, with a pained expression at the memory.
"It happened to you?" Arthur asked between chuckles.
"Yes. And I wouldn't wish it on my wor- actually I would." Arthur just chuckled some more, refusing to laugh outright at the girl's antics.
"So, would you help me get my revenge on Morgana?"
"From..?"
"From my hair and skin! She humiliated me, Now it's my turn!" Arthur said adamantly, looking much like a spoilt brat.
"Morgana has become like my sister, what makes you think I would help you prank her." Cassie teased, though Arthur thought she was a bit serious.
"Well you just said, you pranked your sisters plenty of times. How would this be any different."
"Yes, but they provoked me. By ignoring me and not playing with me! And later by petty things said here or there, or excluding e in discussions. Never unprovoked!"
"I'll get you something of hers, but that's as far as I'll go."
"Okay." Arthur nodded, a glint in his eyes.
"But I'm serious. Face is off limits! Ah, ¡ese es perfecto!" Cassie said writing down yet another idea in her 'diary'.
"Care to share this one?"
"Nope" Cassie said, popping the p.
"I see it now." Arthur murmured, just loud enough that Cassie heard, but she pretended not to anyway. 'Seguramente habla de Owaine' she thought, annoyed that it was all anyone would talk to her about. Before they knew it, they passed the gates and made it to the edge of the forest.
"What was it like?" Arthur asked.
"What was what like?"
"Living in a village?" Arthur said quickly, not asking what he really wanted to know.
"Not a village, sire. I lived in the city, in the palace."
"Oh, right. I forgot. What about running?"
"Much like traveling, I suppose. Get on a horse and go. I had no destination, so I just advanced as much as I could before Blaze needed rest. I did learn the hard way to like hunting though. I never quite liked it before, thought it...cruel." Cassie said while rifling through the greenery looking for the correct herbs.
"How did you cross the sea?"
"I sold my saddle for passage aboard a ship for me and Blaze. Bareback riding is much more uncomfortable for me, but Blaze seemed happier, unencumbered." Cassie said simply.
"Sometimes I wish I had many brothers and sisters." Arthur shared in a moment of vulnerability. He looked up shocked when he said that. "This does not get repeated, understood?" Arthur asked, a finger raised in warning.
"I can tell you honestly that, even though they made my life difficult at times, I would give anything for them back. Forgive my forwardness, sire, I forgot who I was talking to for a second." Cassie apologized quickly.
"But you have Morgana, she's as good as your sister. And your Knights. I've seen them with each other, and they share a bond of brotherhood, even if they don't share blood. They would do anything to protect each other and you, and it's not just because they swore an oath. They truly want to." Cassie replied ardently.
"I would never tell anyone Arthur. You don't have to, but I can lend an ear if you ever need it. You are a good prince. You care for your people, but caring isn't the only virtue you need to govern justly." Cassie advised, thinking of something her brother had told her years ago.
"I believe you will become a great King, but you need to grow up some." This last she said softly. So softly that it got lost in the wind.
After the passionate words were uttered, the two royals settled into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Arthur was stunned into silence, pondering the words the beautiful blonde had uttered. Morgana a sister? He supposed it might be possible, but the knights? He knew that they would die for him and his father, that he had their respect and loyalty, and they would die for them. But he didn't think he shared that bond she spoke about; the bond of brotherhood was something he was sorely missing. Something he hoped one day he would have that bond. He realized with a jolt that he was jealous, 'Me, a Prince. Jealous of them. I have no reason to be jealous!' he thought with indignation. 'She's wrong. I have their respect, their loyalty. That's all I need. A good king has friends, a great king has allies.' he thought, repeating his father's words.
Cassie, on the other hand, was thinking about what had happened in her hom-no, her birthplace. Who had taken her brother's throne, who was governing and living at the palace. For a second, she was tempted to return. Take back the throne, marry- 'No! No volveré a ese lugar, ya no pertenezco ahí, todo lo que conocí ha cambiado. No queda nada para mi. Aquí tengo futuro, hay un lugar para mi. Y una familia.' She was hopeful for the future: she had her friends, her job, her Owaine. The goofy romantic, handsome knight that everyone seemed to be determined on getting together with her. When had she begun to think of him as 'my Owiane.'
The silence extended far longer than most would think comfortable, but for the two blondes in the forest, it was refreshing. To be alone with your thoughts, no prying eyes, no gossiping ladies vying for your attention. No old mentors reciting potion ingredients and anatomical parts. No knights or ladies teasing. Just quiet, apart from the birds and forest creatures.
"I think these are enough, we should just go collect the herbs from the brook and then we can head back, Arthur." Cassie said.
Sometime during their walk, she had taken to forgoing any formalities. My lord and sire were things of the past, at least with each other. Arthur truly didn't mind. There was just something about this easy-going girl that made her so likeable, so trustworthy. Arthur realized with a jolt that she didn't really need an escort all the time. She was no enemy, just a girl who lost her family and left the memories behind.
"Arthur?"
"What? Oh, yeah. To the brook then." he said leading the way. Cassie giggled at him.
"That's north, we've to go south."
"Right, yeah, just testing you." Arthur joked with a grin on his face.
He was actually so stunned by his realization and his earlier musings that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. They finished collecting the herbs, making polite small talk with each other. When they arrived back at the courtyard Arthur beckoned Sir Leon forward, intent on getting his father to lift the guard duty.