The night of lost innocence
The cold wind howled through the open window of Tintagel Castle, sending the heavy velvet curtains into a wild dance. Moonlight filtered through racing clouds, casting ever-shifting shadows across the stone floor of the bedchamber where young Morgan lay huddled beneath her blankets. Her silvery hair, almost white in the ethereal light, whipped about her face as another gust found its way through the gap.
With a reluctant sigh, Morgan pushed back her covers and padded across the cold floor on bare feet. At eight years old, she was tall for her age but still had to stretch on tiptoe to reach the iron handle of the window. Her fingers had just closed around the cold metal when movement in the courtyard below caught her eye.
The great gates were opening, their ancient hinges crying out in protest against the late hour. Morgan pressed herself against the window frame, curiosity overcoming her desire to escape the biting wind. Who would dare approach Tintagel at this hour, when her father was away fighting against King Uther's forces? The guards were under strict orders - no one was to be admitted without explicit permission from her mother, the Lady Igraine.
Two riders emerged from the darkness, their horses moving with an unnatural silence across the cobblestones. Morgan held her breath, straining to see their faces in the fitful moonlight. The first rider sat tall in his saddle, a crown glinting atop his head - Morgan's heart leaped. Could it be her father, returned victorious from the battlefield? But no, the last reports had placed Duke Gorlois's forces many leagues away, still engaged in their desperate campaign against Uther's armies.
The second rider sent a chill down Morgan's spine that had nothing to do with the wind. Robes that seemed to shift and flow like smoke in the darkness shrouded his form. Even from her high vantage point, Morgan could feel something wrong about him, something that made the very air feel heavy and strange.
The riders dismounted, their movements fluid and purposeful. As they passed beneath a torch, Morgan caught a clear glimpse of the crowned figure's face - not her father at all. Her small hands clenched against the stone windowsill. What were those two strangers seeking here , inside their walls?
The robed figure turned then, looking up toward her window with unsettling precision. Morgan tried to shrink back into the shadows, but not before she saw his face - ancient and young all at once, with eyes that seemed to hold centuries of secrets She never met the man, but from the stories she heard there was only a single person it could be.
The thought sent shivers through her body, Merlin, for who else could it be? and if that man was Merlin that could only mean that the man with the crown is ….
What in the name of all the gods was that man doing here? What was the usurper, Uther Pendragon, the self-styled high king of Britain doing here?
Morgan's heart thundered in her chest as she watched the two men disappear into the castle proper, facing no opposition from either the guards or the servants, in fact it looked as if no one else even noticed them. She should run to warn her mother, to alert the guards - but something held her in place. The way they had entered, silent and unchallenged... this was no invasion force. The guards had opened the gates willingly, which meant...
Her thoughts were interrupted by voices drifting up from below. Moving with the careful silence she had perfected in her explorations of the castle's secrets, Morgan crept from her chamber and found her way to a hidden alcove overlooking one of the smaller courtyards. From here, she could hear the men's conversation clearly.
"It must be tonight," Merlin's voice carried upward, a voice so cold that it made her shiver. "The foretold one has their destiny today."
"Are you sure this will work Merlin ? " the voice of Uther was thick with something Morgan didn't quite understand but that made her skin crawl "I've waited long enough to get my hands on her, only your assurances and persuasions stayed my hands until now"
Morgan felt her body tense, "her?" she muttered, were they talking about her? Did they plan on taking her hostage? or maybe someone else?
"Worry not my king " the sleek cold ...so cold and detached voice of the court wizard was dripping with deference , but Morgan caught a whiff of something else there , something she couldn't decipher.
"Very good ." Uther's voice was sharp as a blade. "Its good that you know who your master is , I could only wish the rest of the mages understood this just as much then perhaps they would deal with my enemies themselves instead of…" the man trailed off before sighing, " And don't you worry I am a man of my word, I will uphold my promise to you, Igraine will be mine tonight, whether she wills it or not."
Morgan's breath caught in her throat. Her mother? What did they mean to do to her mother?
Merlin raised his staff, his body glowed in eerie blue lite as lines appeared all over his body and Morgan saw real magic for the first time in her life. She felt it , she smelled it , it tasted like ozone and it made her hair stand . She was scared yet she couldn't stop looking as Light that wasn't light at all crawled across Uther's skin like oil on water, it was beautiful, it was terrible , it was sweet and bitter .. it was mesmerizing.
And then, in a blink of an eye it was over , and where Uther had stood, was her father. Or what looked like her father. Every detail was perfect - the way he held himself, the small scar above his left eye, even the way his armor caught the torchlight. But Morgan could feel the wrongness of it, like a song played just slightly out of tune.
"It's done," Merlin said, lowering his staff. "You have until the first light of dawn."
Morgan watched, frozen in horror, as the false image of her father strode purposefully toward the castle's private chambers, every movement perfect , even the way his head tilted when he walked .. Had she not seen the whole thing she might not have known the difference .
Then her breath caught , he was walking toward the chamber ! where her mother would be preparing for bed. She wanted to scream, to run to her mother and warn her, but as she tried her legs refused to move , her hands were shaking as fear kept her rooted to the spot. Fear, and something else - a kind of fascination with the magic she had witnessed, even as it turned her stomach.
Merlin remained in the courtyard for a long moment, before looking up and smiling t her . "good night " she heard him whisper, inclining his head towards her as if mocking her . Then he turned and walked away, his robes whispering against the stones.
Morgan waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps before she moved. Her legs were stiff from crouching for so long, but she forced herself to move silently through the castle's shadows. Each step taking all her willpower as she wrestled with her fear . She knew the way to her mother's chambers - knew every secret passage and hidden corridor in the castle. But tonight, each step felt like it was taking her closer to something terrible.
When she reached the corridor outside her mother's chambers, she heard her mother's voice, warm with welcome. "My love, I didn't expect you until tomorrow-"
Then Uther for it was Uther and not her father despite what her eyes and ears told her , moved to hug her mother and she let him , and why wouldn't she ? even Morgan who saw the transformation happening needed to remind herself that this was not in fact her father.
She took a breath and was about to break in and stop the animal from having his way when her body froze, a hand landed on her and she turned around and saw Thomas, one of the castles guards look at her reproachfully.
"Milady" he started his voice gentle yet firm "You should know better than to disturb your lord father and lady mother in the middle of the night "
She tried to explain but he shook his head, he thought her a wee babe with a temper tantrum and a wild imagination , he tried to drag her back into her own chambers but the noise from her mothers room suddenly spiked as Igraine moaned in pleasure
Morgan pressed her hands against her ears, the image of the .. the monster dancing in front of her eyes … the monster wearing her fathers guize .. the monster who even now was violating her mother ! then something snapped in her , blue circuit like lines spread through her as se shoved Thomas away from her with such power that the man was thrown head first into the wall .
Her breath hiked and she wanted to scream as she felt her whole body and even her very soul scream in protest , the blue circuits on her body felt hot and she struggled to stand as her breath became labored and lights danced in her eyes .. then to the noise of the monster violating the sanctity of her mother she lost consciousness.
Hours passed as Morgan lay prone in that corridor, her small body trembling with cold and fear and the power that she awakened within herself
As the first hint of dawn began to lighten the sky, Morgan's consciousness started to return just in time for the doors of her mothers chambers opened . The false image of her father emerged, already beginning to shimmer and fade as Merlin's magic weakened. In the gray pre-dawn light, Morgan caught a glimpse of Uther's true face beneath the illusion - and the satisfaction there made her blood run cold.
She remained hidden until both men had left the castle, until the last traces of magic had faded from the air. Only then did she dare to move, her body aching from hours spent motionless in the cold stone corridor.
In her own chamber, Morgan stood before her mirror, studying her reflection in the weak morning light. The girl who looked back at her seemed older somehow, as if the night's events had aged her beyond her years. Her silver-white hair, so like her mother's, hung in tangles around a face that had lost whatever childish softness it might have possessed.
"I will learn that magic," she whispered to her reflection, her voice scratchy from hours of silent tears. "I will learn to understand it, to control it, to make it bend to my will. And then I will use it to destroy them both - the king who stole my mother's choice his whole cursed line , and the sorcerer who helped him do it."
She meant every word, felt them settle into her bones like a vow. But first, she would have to become more than just a noble's daughter. More than just a child hiding in shadows. She would have to become something else entirely - someone with the power to make such men pay for their crime someone who never again will have to feel powerless ever! .
Dawn came fully, painting the world in shades of gold and shadow that seemed obscene after the night's horrors. Morgan did not join the castle's morning prayers, did not respond to her maid's knocking. Instead, she sat at her window, watching the sunrise with eyes that had aged years in a single night.
She drew out a small book from under her bed - a collection of tales about magic and sorcery that her father had given her, thinking they were merely stories to entertain a child. She opened it with new eyes now, looking not for entertainment but for truth hidden within the fiction. There would be clues here, starting points for her search. There had to be.
The castle began to stir to life around her, servants and nobles going about their morning routines as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed. The world Morgan had known - a world of simple truths and clear rights and wrongs - had shattered last night, replaced by something darker and more complex.
She welcomed the complexity. It would make her stronger.
A knock at her door made her quickly hide the book. "Lady Morgan?" It was her maid, come to help her dress for the day. "Your mother is asking for you."
Morgan took a deep breath, composing her features into the mask of innocence everyone expected to see. "Coming," she called out, her voice carefully modulated to sound childlike and carefree.
She spent an extra moment studying her reflection, making sure no trace of her night's vigil showed on her face. The girl in the mirror looked perfect - a nobleman's daughter, pretty and proper and utterly harmless. No one would suspect the cold fury building behind those young eyes, the determination already hardening into something unbreakable.
As she followed her maid through the castle corridors, Morgan's mind was already working, planning, calculating. She would need to be careful, patient. She would need to learn not just magic, but politics, strategy, the art of manipulation. She would need to become someone no one would suspect of harboring such deep wells of hatred and ambition.
Most of all, she would need to learn how to wait. Revenge, she understood even at her young age, was a dish best served cold. And she had all the time in the world to prepare it perfectly.
The castle continued its morning routine around her, unaware that within its walls, a weapon was being forged. Not of steel or iron, but of will and hatred and determination. A weapon that would, in time, bring about the fall of kingdoms.
But for now, she was just a child, walking to breakfast with her mother. Just a noble's daughter, learning her lessons and saying her prayers. Just little Lady Morgan, who everyone would soon forget had ever been anything but sweet and obedient.
Little did they know that with every passing moment, with every false smile and curtsey, she was already beginning her transformation into something else entirely. Something that would one day make them remember this morning, this castle, this seemingly innocent child, and tremble at the memory.
The sun climbed higher in the sky, casting long shadows across the castle floors. Morgan walked through them with her head held high, already practicing the grace she would need in the years to come. Inside, though, she was changing, hardening, becoming something new.
The night of betrayal had ended, but its consequences were only beginning to unfold.
Welcome to my new story, please enjoy.