The Golden Age

31. The Nightmare Begins (Part I)

INT. KING'S PALACE – MORGANA'S CHAMBERS – DAY

A thunderstorm raged. Morgana stirred restlessly in her sleep and magically lit a candle by her bed.

"I brought you some extra blankets, I thought you might be cold..." Gwen said.

Morgana was asleep, so Gwen stopped talking and blew out the candle and put it by the window. Morgana magically relit candle in her sleep again. She woke, stared at the candle and made the flame rise higher, burning her curtains. She screamed and blew out her windows.

INT. KING'S PALACE – MORGANA'S CHAMBERS – DAY

Merlin and Colette cleaned up the burnt fragments and glass.

"I came back in with some extra blankets," Gwen informed. "There was a candle, but I put it out."

"Are you sure?" Uther asked.

"I blew it out, I swear."

"Gwen's been Morgana's servant for years," Arthur told his father. "If she said she blew it out, I believe her."

Anne nodded. "I do as well."

"She could've been burnt alive," Uther stated.

"Lightning struck the castle roof last night, that could've started the fire," Arthur guessed.

"Perhaps."

Anne frowned. "What other explanation is there?"

"Someone started the fire deliberately."

EXT. KING'S PALACE – COURTYARD CORRIDOR – DAY

Uther, Anne and Arthur walked down the corridor.

"How did they reach Morgana's chambers unchallenged?" Uther inquired.

"I don't know," Arthur admitted. "There are too many guards. It shouldn't be possible."

"And yet they managed to do so."

"Anne and I can't explain it."

"Well I can. They used magic. Arrest all those we have under suspicion."

"That's gonna take time."

Uther put his face in Arthur's. "My ward has been attacked. Time is something we do not have."

INT. KING'S PALACE – PHYSICIAN'S CHAMBERS – DAY

Merlin and Colette approached the room and overheard Gaius and Morgana.

"What I don't understand, Morgana is how the fire started in the first place," Gaius said.

"It happened so quickly," Morgana told him. "It was terrifying."

"It's all right. You're safe now."

"You're the only person I've told about my dreams. I know I can trust you, Gaius."

"Yes, of course you can."

"It was me. I set the room alight. I started the fire."

"I don't understand. Did you knock a candle over?"

"No that's not what happened. I did it just by looking at it, the flames suddenly leapt higher."

"I could've been a gust of wind."

"It wasn't. It was me. It was magic."

"My child..."

"I'm not a child!"

"Last night was an accident. It had nothing to do with you. How could it have? I am going to draw you up a fresh remedy that will make you feel better, I promise."