Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

The Nightmare Begins [1]

All three inhabitants of the Physician's Chambers had been woken with the dawn due to a disturbance in the Lady Morgana's chambers. Which was where Arwen now found herself, examining the damage that was caused while Gaius tended to Morgana in another room. Merlin was there too, using a broom to clean up the fragments of cloth and ash that the fire had left in its wake.

"I came back in with some extra blankets. There was a candle, but I put it out." Gwen was in the process of explaining all that she knew so they could come up with answers on how the fire in Morgana's chambers had started.

"Are you sure?" Uther questioned her dubiously, something that came as a surprise to no one in the room. Of course, he'd jump at the opportunity to blame anyone he could. Arwen was doing her best as she stood in the room, giving the charred curtains much more of her attention than was really necessary. All to keep herself from focusing on the King and all she knew about him now.

"Gwen's been Morgana's servant for years. If she said she blew it out, I believe her." Arthur jumped to Gwen's defence. Anyone who knew Gwen knew how dedicated to her job she was. He couldn't believe she'd ever do something that could possibly put Morgana in any kind of danger.

Knowing her input wouldn't matter much to the King, Arwen remained silent as she moved away from the curtains and now approached the blown-out window. Curiously enough, the broken glass had barely fallen into the room itself, even if she had to carefully step over some of it to be able to reach her destination. But most of it had been blown outward and into the courtyard below. As if the window was broken from within the room.

"Merlin how about you clean up the glass first before someone gets injured?" Arthur snapped at his manservant after hearing some of the glass break even further as Arwen walked across it.

Not paying any mind to her brother as he silently came over to do as he was told, Arwen sat on the ledge of the window, carefully leaning forward so she could see its exterior, searching for any possible clues it could provide. She even tried looking upwards to the roof of the castle, remembering the storm which had enveloped the city during the night.

"The lightning, perhaps?" She muttered, speaking her ideas out loud even though she addressed the question at no one in particular. Arwen tried to search for any possible sensible explanation as to what had happened. One of the first lessons she'd learned in Gaius' employ was that she should never reveal her own suspicions of magic to the King until she was absolutely certain.

However, while she didn't intend for anyone to overhear her, what Arwen didn't notice was that the Prince had managed to do so from his spot near her. He stood close as she leaned through the window, keeping a watchful eye as he worried that she might slip and injure herself.

"She could've been burnt alive." Uther spoke in disbelief, obviously angered by what had happened and his concern for his ward was doing nothing to calm that anger within the King.

"Lightning struck the castle roof last night. That could have started the fire?" Arthur offered, sharing a look with Arwen as she returned back to solid ground by the window. The red head didn't hold his gaze for long, simply nodding her head in agreement before turning away and once again focusing on her surroundings rather than him. Not that Arthur could blame her.

"Perhaps." Uther muttered, and yet something in the way he said it, in his tone, made everyone around the room understand he had a hard time believing that theory in particular.

"What other explanation is there?" Arthur sent his father a confused look. Unlike the King, the younger Pendragon's mind didn't instantly jump to the most paranoid of suspicions.

"Someone started the fire deliberately." Uther announced, making it sound like it was a finished conclusion, even though there was no sign of anyone even being around Morgana's chambers during the night. But before that could be pointed out to him, the King briskly walked to the door, exiting the chambers without so much as another glance at anything or anyone inside. And his son was quick to follow after him.