Defying Destiny - A Merlin Fanfic

Prologue

It was the dead of night and most of the people of Camelot had gone back to their warm homes for dinner or to the tavern for a late-night drink. The only people who were roaming the dark streets were the guards patrolling.

As two guards holding torches walked past a shop that had been closed down for the nights, a hooded figure emerges from the shadows behind the shop and walked out into the open. They held a basket with a piece of cloth hiding whatever was inside.

The figure quickly but quietly made their way towards the castle making sure not to get caught by the guards on patrol and made their way towards the castle door where they stopped and looked around to see if anyone was coming.
They placed they basket down gently and a pair of delicate feminine hands pulled back the piece of cloth, took out a bundle of blankets and cradled them in their arms, slowly rocking the bundle as a little cry erupted from it. The woman shushed the bundle quickly and looked around anxiously to see if anyone had noticed them.

As the figure was looking out for guards a strand of beautifully long, wavy, golden blond hair escaped from beneath her hood. Tiny little hands reached up from the blankets and tried to grab the strand of hair, cooing and gurgling as the figure laughed slightly, placing the strand of hair back beneath her hood.
The figure hugged the bundle tightly, and few tears could be seen rolling down the figures face as they gazed down at the cooing bundle in their arms.

" I love you, my darling " she whispered to the bundle before placing the bundle inside the basket once again and giving the bundle a single kiss on the forehead.

The hooded figure quickly covered up the bundle again and pulls out a folded up letter with the name Uther Pendragon written on the front in neat handwriting from inside her cloak. She places the letter on top of the cloth concealing the bundle inside the basket and banged on the great grand doors of the castle, creating a loud echo and hopefully alerting someone inside.

The hooded figure quickly ran away and hid just as a knight was walking out of the door to see what was going on.
He looked around confused for a second before looking down and seeing the basket with a letter addressed to the king on top. The knight crouched down and looked under the cloth, to see the tiny bundle inside.
The knight got up and looked around trying to find whoever left it but the hooded figure was well hidden behind a stone pillar, watching.

When the knight couldn't see anybody he turned around, gently picked up the basket and hurried inside to inform the king. The hooded figure let out a sigh of relief before stepping out from their hiding spot and lowering her hood to reveal a woman with long blond wavy hair and sticking blue eyes filled with sorrow.

"Goodbye, my child " She whispered before pulling her hood up again and disappeared into the night.

Meanwhile, the knight who found the basket was going as fast as he could towards the banquet hall, where the king, his son and his ward were all eating dinner, basket in hand.

Once there the knight slowed down and caught his breath from the pace he was walking at. He nodded in greeting to the guards outside the hall before he lifted the cloth up once more to check on the bundle inside, knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

" Enter!" Came a powerful, demanding voice from inside the hall.

The guards opened the doors to the hall allowing the knight to walk in.

King Uther was sitting at the head of the table with his 9-year-old son, Arthur, sitting on his left and his 10-year-old ward, Morgana, sitting on his right. On the table were plates of expensive and delicious looking foods, some that were half-eaten.

The knight stood at the end of the table looking directly at the king, still clutching the basket tightly.

The king looked up from drinking his wine to look at the knight with an irritable look on his face.