Destiny Untold

Chapter 16

Alison's POV

The sun shone bright above the city as Alison went for a stroll. The cleaning only took a few minutes. Seeing as it was her day off, she decided a nice walk was in order. Especially since it finally stopped raining. The city looked especially beautiful today; the sunshine caused the streets to glitter like a dream. Children ran around laughing, free of responsibility and unburdened by reality. The merchants all had smiles on their faces as sales were made. She walked further into the city, getting lost in the swirls of people running errands or gossiping. She stopped by a cart filled with scarves and thought of Merlin with his slight scarf obsession. A ruby scarf in particular caught her attention and thought about buying it when she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her.

"A lady such as yourself shouldn't be out alone in a city so wild and full" the stranger commented. She turned around and was faced with a man a full head taller than she was. He was clad in all black and had a sword strapped to his side. His eyes were a startling green, brought out by his dark hair. She could feel her face grow warmer, attempting to distract from the blush with a raised brow.

"And a gentleman shouldn't speak to a lady he is unfamiliar with in a street so...wild" she said with a slightly mocking tone. He laughed at that and squinted slightly.

"I've been speaking to you for nearly a full minute! I believe that hardly makes us unfamiliar."

"You say that, yet I don't know your name."

"Azrael"

"Well then, Azrael, it was nice speaking to you, but I have work to do" Alison said. She paid the merchant for a green scarf and walked away. A moment later, she heard Azrael call back:

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Alison turned to him and pretended to think.

"Hmmmm. No, I don't think I will" and with that, she walked towards the castle. Alison chuckled at the odd encounter. The man seemed friendly enough, but she knew better than to give a stranger her name.

She entered the castle and made her way to Morgana's chambers. Her only job for the day was to do the washing. Luckily for her, Lady Morgana was far more fair than Arthur was to Merlin, but she knew Arthur thought of Merlin as a friend, whether he admitted it or not.

She opened the door to Morgana's room and saw that no one was there. She grabbed the basket and went to get her job done. When she first started working for Morgana, she had gotten lost in the corridors of the castle. It was so big and had so many twists, it was easy to get lost. Now, she could get anywhere without thinking much about where she was going. The only downside to this was it means that she doesn't always pay attention to her surroundings.

She bumped into someone and almost dropped the basket she was holding. She stabilized the basket and started apologizing. She looked up from the basket and realized she bumped into Gwen. At least it wasn't the King, she thought. She smiled at Gwen and apologized again.

"No, it's really alright. Are you okay? You seemed unfocused" she asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Im alright. I was just thinking about how good today is" Alison said, trying to quell her friends concern. Gwen and Alison had become close in the short amount of time Alison was in Camelot. Gwen very quickly became someone Alison could easily confide in without worrying about being judged.

In those first few days she was there, Alison told Gwen about her worries and told her about how much she missed Ealdor. Gwen helped her get used to life in Camelot, made easy since they both worked together. Despite their close relationship, however, Alison couldn't bring herself to tell her the truth: she was thinking about the stranger in the town. She didn't know why, but it felt wrong to think about him, let alone speak about him. I'll tell her later, Alison told herself.

"It really is a nice day. Want to take a walk after you're done?"

"I'd live to, but I promised Gaius I would help him with some of his chores" she quickly lied. Truth was, she was afraid to bump into him again.

"Oh, alright then. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Absolutely. 100% peachy. No troubles today. On a nice day like this, troubles are far from my mind in fact speaking to you just made this day better now if you don't mind I really should get the washing done so I can get to Gaius" Alison said quickly, not even sure if Gwen understood a word she said, and took off towards the wash bin.

Gwen's POV

Gwen looked at her retreating friend, not quite believing Alison, but deciding to let it go for now. Alison may have been different from Merlin, but some days she could swear they were like the same person. If she didn't know any better, she would say they were twins. The only thing bothering Gwen was that Alison acted odder than usual today. She was used to the sarcastic comments and the bits of attitude that escaped her occasionally, but this was new. It was like she was trying to run from something.

She looked back in the direction her friend went before going to Morgana's chambers. There, she saw the lady she called friend and walked up to her. "Morgana, have you spoken to Alison today?" She asked, trying to see if maybe the kings ward made her nervous.

"No, I haven't. I think I missed her by a few minutes because the basket is gone. Why?" She asked, concerned for her maid. Morgana could tell Alison was still slightly intimidated by her, but she was slowly opening up. She grew a soft spot for the young girl, especially after the trip to Ealdor. Morgana saw how devastated Alison was after her friends death.

One night, as Alison was getting Morgana ready for bed, she had tried to talk to her. Morgana knew what it felt like to lose someone dear to you and didn't want Alison to suffer in silence. After a bit of awkward silence and tension, Alison spoke freely and Morgana helped comfort the girl. Since that day, Alison was more comfortable around her and Morgana felt more protective over Alison.

Gwen looked at Morgana, her brows scrunched together in thought. "It's just, I saw her and she seemed distracted. She was acting odd, like something was bothering her"

"Perhaps she's just tired? I don't know. I'll talk to her about it when I see her tomorrow morning" Morgana said, hoping Alison was okay. There was a silence between the girls, both thinking about their friend and hoping she was okay.