Merlyn's Final Truth

His Father's Son P3

I know it's been a long time since the last update, and I'm sorry for that, but I hope you enjoy this part :)

Morgana had always found Arthur's heroic acts sickening, his desperation for approval causing him to do some of the strangest things. When he was ten, he'd outwitted his guards, slipping away from them to hunt in the forest, determined to appease his father. He'd been found hours later, shivering from the cold, a dead squirrel clutched between his frozen hands. Morgana knew that her brother no longer yearned for Uther's approval, but his actions with Caerleon would have disappointed Merlyn. She wondered what the servant had said to him when she'd told him that he shouldn't kill the foreign king, wondered why he hadn't listened. For a peasant, Merlyn had always had a strange grasp of politics, her soul untarnished by the truth of court. Arthur had protected her from it, the witch supposed, but Merlyn had never been one to be left in the dark. Morgana would've listened to her if she were queen, that she knew for certain. Arthur relied too much on the wrong people; now, it was time for his reign to end.

"I don't like it. It must be a trick." Annis hissed, tearing the witch away from her melancholy. Morgana didn't doubt that the queen would probably like Arthur if she gave him a chance, but then, such things could be rather difficult when the foolish king had been the one to cut off her husband's head.

"What concerns you, Your Highness?" Morgana asked, keeping her voice sickly sweet. Now was not the time to toy with Annis' emotions.

"Arthur." the queen stood from her throne, her hands on her hips as she paced the cool tent. "Why would he choose himself as the champion?"

Morgana hadn't quite realised how little Annis knew of the young king.

"Because he's Arthur." she said, as if it were obvious. "He'll always risk his own life before those of his men. Trust me, it's no trick. Arthur will fight."

She couldn't keep the smirk off her face, folding her arms in front of her. Such an opportunity to watch the king perish would not arise again so soon.

"It's as if you were pleased, Morgana. Whatever else he is, Arthur is a great warrior. You have as much to lose as I if he wins." she eyed the witch with an odd sense of contempt. "You desire the throne of Camelot, do you not?"

"I don't deny it. It's rightfully mine after all." Morgana spat, before realising herself. She let the anger fade from her eyes, settling into a well bred sense of composure. "Arthur will not win."

Annis regarded her with her uncertain gaze. "How can you possibly know that?"

"Because I have the power to ensure that he doesn't." Morgana smiled, her eyes glinting in malice. There was something reluctant in Annis' expression, but the witch knew her fire, her desperation for revenge. She felt it herself.

"Then you must use it." the queen said swiftly, her long, amber hair glinting in the firelight. Morgana did not need her permission to carry out her plan, but found a certain glee in the bloodthirsty expression on the woman's face. Arthur would pay for ripping Camelot from her clutches, for forcing away from her home, for pulling Merlyn towards her doom.

~

Scaring Agravaine was one of Morgana's few consistent pleasures, the way he almost jumped out of his oily skin as she appeared behind him sending a shiver of delight up her spine. He was nervous, regarding her with breathless fear, as if he expected her to run him through at any moment. She was tempted, but unfortunately Agravaine hadn't yet surpassed his usefulness.

"Morgana." he gasped, edging away from her slightly. The forest around them was quiet, an excellent meeting place for a traitor and a witch. They were invisible from either side, concealed between the tall trees.