Merlyn's Last Dream

The Tears of Uther Pendragon P2

It had been relatively easy for Morgana to slip from her room, descending to the battlements, where she looked out into the dark night. Her purple cloak trailed behind her, the fabric sparkling slightly in the candlelight. Making her way to the stables, she found her white horse already saddled, glad to see that the stable boy she'd tipped generously had done his duty. Galloping through the forest, the ward swiftly avoided trees, finding herself at the bottom of a valley, surrounded by craggy rocks blending into the twilight. She followed the line of torches into a cave, ignoring the shrieking birds behind her. Pulling her hood further over her head, she watched the cave slowly open out, Morgause waiting, shielded by shadows.

"My sister, how have you fared?" the sorceress asked, smiling uncharacteristically nervously at the ward. Morgana smirked easily, more comfortable around Morgause than anybody she'd spoken to in Camelot.

"Camelot has welcomed back its lost daughter with open arms." the ward reported, pulling her cloak away from her head, a foreign evil twinkling in her eyes.

Morgause took a few steps forward, closing the gap between them. "Uther does not suspect?"

Morgana shook her head. "He laps up my lies like the snivelling dog that he is."

"And the girl?" the sorceress questioned urgently, worried for the woman she knew to be her sister.

This was where Morgana's malicious grin faltered. She would be forever thankful that the servant sent her into the arms of Morgause, and the ward didn't think she could ever learn to truly hate the girl, but she knew that, when the time came to pick a side, Merlyn would always choose Arthur. She didn't kid herself to believe that it was due to the foolish love between them, the servant was clever enough to know that nothing would ever come of it, but Morgana had always felt that the girl truly believed in Arthur, in a way that she'd never believed in the ward. Merlyn had sent Morgana to spend a year studying how to control her magic, but she'd learned so much more than that. She'd learned the lengths Uther would go for persecution, how many lives he'd taken, all for the revenge he so desperately craved. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough, never fill the hole in his heart Ygraine had left all those years ago. Some part of Morgana pitied him for it, but another, much larger, part of her despised him for the suffering he caused, hated Arthur for going along with his father's whims. Perhaps he was redeemable, but he'd done enough, killed enough for her to believe that it wasn't worth the effort to find out. The ward had been so lost, but Morgause had shown her the light, the true horrors of the Pendragon Dynasty, and she honestly couldn't wait to bring it to its knees.

But then there was Merlyn.

The girl who had helped the druid boy, who had sent her to the druids, who had never judged or hated her for her magic. Merlyn had trusted her enough to choose her own fate, when it would've been so much easier to poison the ward and let her die. Instead, she gave her a choice, and that meant everything. Morgana knew what had been expected of her, that she could've gathered information on Morgause to report to Arthur or Uther or the servant herself, but amongst her newfound whirlwind of power and the constant attention of her sister, she knew that she could no longer be a pawn for the King, not when she could be a knight or even a queen for what she truly believed in. She had to remind herself that what she was doing was not against Merlyn, not betraying her friend, but Uther, Arthur, those who had slaughtered her kind without a moment's thought. A year ago, if Morgause hadn't taken her, maybe things could've turned out differently. Perhaps she would've given Arthur a chance, told the Prince, or Gwen at the very least, her secret, but she'd been so foolish. The last year had taught her that she could only rely upon herself, even if, in her heart, she knew that there were others that could be trusted.

Even if it meant shutting out Merlyn.

"She believes I've changed." Morgana tilted her head upwards, trying to convey a confidence she could only wish that she truly had.