The Arranged Marriage

Chapter 6

Morgana stepped out of the carriage as she was told. She stepped on to the green grass and Merlin and his parents soon did the same. She looked at them all in confusion, "I thought Ealdor was a three days journey from Camelot?"

Balinor smiled, "only if you're boring." He smirked and raised his head to the sky, shouting in a foreign language.

Morgana raised an eyebrow, "what did you just do?"

Balinor smiled and held up a finger, pointing to the sky. Morgana squinted her eyes and looked up at the clouds, seeing a large shadow hovering over them. Slowly, the large creature descended and shot a bored look at the king, "you called?"

Balinor smiled at the large dragon, "Kilgarrah, I believe we're going to need a ride back to Ealdor."

The dragon rolled it's large eyes, almost as if to say 'I'm not a carriage,' and sighed, "climb on."

Morgana stared at the creature, dumbfounded. It was huge! He was also covered in large red and orange sparkling scales. She tried to open her mouth to speak but found herself not being able to find the words so she closed it again. Merlin saw her apprehension so he stepped behind her, "you're supposed to get on."

She turned her head to look at him, "we're going to ride on that thing?"

The dragon let a puff of steam escape his nostrils, "that thing has a name. I'm Kilgarrah."

Morgana nodded slowly, "alright, hi Kilgarrah." She turned back to Merlin, "we're riding on a dragon?"

Merlin nodded, "would you rather walk?"

She shook her head and walked up the extended wing that Kilgarrah had laid out. She sat behind Hunith and Merlin climbed up and sat between the two women. Morgana quickly wrapped her arms around him and she buried her face in his shirt when the dragon lifted off the ground. He turned his head, "are you alright?"

She nodded and she slowly lifted her head up, "yeah, I think so."

"Good," he smiled as he turned his head.

They soared in the sky for around two hours before finally descending in to the kingdom of Ealdor. Morgana hopped off with shaky legs as she took Merlin's offered arm. He whispered to her as they walked through the gardens and towards the gates, "I really am sorry about all this, I know this must be strange and terrifying for you."

"For us both," Morgana said with a small smile. She tightened her hold on Merlin's arm as they walked towards the castle. The large front gates opened for them and all of the Knights greeted the royal family.

Merlin smiled as one knight approached, "Morgana, this is Gwaine, one of our best Knights."

She bowed her head and curtsied, "a pleasure, Sir Gwaine."

He bowed and kissed her hand, "the pleasure is all mine, my lady."

She blushed as the tall, handsome man stepped back and winked at her. She nodded at him and she and Merlin continued through the halls.

Merlin watched the exchange with interest and for some reason, he felt a surge of jealousy flow through him, though he wasn't quite sure why. He barely even knew Morgana.

Morgana let a small smile grace her lips as they walked around the beautiful stone castle. It was about as tall as the Camelot castle, but so much prettier. There were waterfalls, fields with flowers, beautiful golden fountains on every street corner, and some of the most magnificent horses Morgana had ever seen. She laughed, "this place looks as if it's from a fairy tale."

Merlin nodded, "magic can be quite beautiful sometimes."

She nodded her head in agreement. When they finally made their way up to her room she turned back to Merlin, "thank you for the tour, it was lovely."

Merlin bowed his head and smiled, "of course, my lady. There should be a girl coming up soon to tend to you, she'll make sure that you have everything. Is there anything else you need at the moment?"

Morgana shook her head as she looked around the gorgeous room, "no, that's quite alright. Thank you, Merlin."

He nodded his head and closed the door behind him, letting her take in the beauty of the room. The floor was marble with intricate designs around the edges of the walls and the walls rose about twenty feet high. She gasped as she noticed that all of her belongings were already there. "How did they-"

A small voice piped up behind her, "magic, my lady. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Morgana jumped as she heard the voice. She turned around and smiled, "no, that's alright. What's your name?"

The girl smiled and bowed, "my name is Jade, my lady."

Morgana waved her hand, "please, don't bother with the 'my lady' you can call me Morgana."

The young girl, who looked to be about her young twenties, flashed a radiant smile at the princess, "of course, Morgana. What dress would you like to wear for dinner?"

Morgana walked over to her wardrobe and held out a dress, showing it to Jade, "what about this purple one?"

"It's beautiful."

Jade helped Morgana into her dress and quickly laced her corset as if she had been doing this for years. Once the dress was on, Morgana walked towards a mirror and smiled as she ran her hands along her figure. The dress was a beautiful purple color with flowing sleeves that nearly touched her ankles. She took her hair out of her simple hairdo and Jade ran a brush through it. Jade whispered to Morgana, "I'm sorry if this is bold, Morgana, but do you fear magic?"

Morgana was confused by the question but answered immediately nonetheless, "of course not, I think magic is wonderful."

Jade let out the breath she had been holding, "that's a relief." She moved her hands delicately in the air above Morgana's hair and before she knew it, Morgana had one of the prettiest hairdos she had ever seen in her life.

She tentatively reached up a hand to touch it, "it's beautiful."

Jade blushed and looked at the ground, "I'm glad you think so. Now, I believe everyone is waiting to meet you."

Morgana stood up, careful to not mess up her hair or her dress, "well then, what are we waiting for?"

Morgana's dress: