Mergana Scenes

in which merlin poisons morgana

"Here," Merlin says. "Have some before I finish it."

He holds out the waterskin, insistent. But Morgana can see his throat working, can see how he ponders something in his head; how his chest rises and falls in effort with each breath he takes, knowing he will not last any longer. She notes how a hesitancy wavers his tone, how it makes it seem less like a demand and more like something different. Something she can't quite put a ring on, just yet, but knows it's there.

Morgana stares him directly, assessing. And when she thinks she decides on something, she finally relents.

"You're a good friend," she says, at last. "Thank you."

She had told him no, the first time. And no, the last time.

She wonders what made her say yes.

Betrayal.

The sensation of the ground tilting beneath her, limbs unable to move, unable to work. His touch. His embrace, holding her as she falls, falls, falls.

Morgana feels the pain course through her like blood. She can't breathe.

Then, the press of his lips against her forehead. Soft. Comforting. Soothing the bitter, sickly feeling inside; his ushered words saying something like promises and i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry-

I'm sorry, he whispers again, before she gives in to the darkness.

And even now, Merlin won't stop the lies.

Morgause is the first face she sees when she wakes.

"Poison," she says, her voice seething as she caresses Morgana's cheek. "The boy poisoned you, Morgana."

Morgana looks at the vial Morgause had given her. Worn. Smooth glass, the type that shined like crystal against the sunlight. She's sure this is the same bottle the sleeping potions come in, and she lightly feels the paper wrapped around it with her fingers, careful.

Hemlock, it reads.

Merlin poisoned her.

The truth stings her just as much as the poison ever did.

Morgause's face turns absolute. "I will make him pay. For what he did to you." She places a hand on Morgana's own, eyes hard with vengeance. "For what they all did to you."

"-No!" Panic grips on her voice like a vice, the loud outburst surprising her just as it did Morgause. She tries to recollect her thoughts, locking everything else in one little box far, far away in her mind. "No," she tries again. "Only Merlin. Merlin did this. No one else."

She thinks of Gwen, with her kind words and soft looks. Arthur, who, despite with his endless stubbornness and pride, had cared for her in his own way.

None of them did what Merlin did.

"Promise me," Morgana says firmly. "No one else will be harmed except for Merlin and Uther."

Disapproval rolls off Morgause in waves, in the way she studies her, as if trying to figure something out. Then, she concedes, her voice more guarded than it has ever been before. "I promise."

...

AN: I might post a part 2, but that's definitely still a maybe. But who knows? one day i might be able to stop procrastinating