The Future of Camelot

Almost Ready

Hiding the magic from her sister was hard on Morgause. Morgana seemed to notice a change, but she said nothing. Merlin didn't care enough to see anything different in her manner, and the others were blind to Morgause.

Now Merlin and Morgana were downstairs telling the king and the queen about their encounter with Nimueh. Morgause had stayed in her room to think. She had moved her possessions into the room. There was a notebook open on the desk, and Morgause stared hard at it, deciding what to do. After a careful look at the door, she did decide.

Morgause extended her hand and willed the notebook to come to her. It got halfway, and then there was a knock on the door. The door opened, and the notebook fell. Gwaine looked at it in surprise.

"Are you throwing things now? My, how the mighty have fallen." Morgause glowered at him. "Don't be like that, Priestess. I was only joking." Morgause scoffed.

"I'm not a Priestess anymore," she said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. Gwaine must have noticed it.

"I've nothing else to call you. Would you prefer 'My Lady'?" Morgause made a face.

"Why must you call me anything?" she asked. An expression of surprise and hurt extended across Gwaine's face, but he quickly recovered.

"Are you too good to have me address you?" he joked.

"No! I mean, I'm probably better than you, but I meant must you call me by something else. I have a name, you know." Morgause studied Gwaine's face for any expression. He grinned.

"I like to give people nicknames. Arthur is Princess." This made Morgause snort when she tried to conceal her laugh. Gwaine looked pleased. He boldly pulled the desk chair out and turned it to face her. "Normally your sister is My Lady, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing."

"Then you don't know the children of Vivienne," Morgause told him. "We aren't big on sharing." Gwaine studied her for a moment.

"I know," he said slowly. "When you first came to Camelot, you beat Arthur in a duel, did you not?" Morgause nodded. "Then you are henceforth 'Lady Knight'."

"And you'd do well to remember it," she said seriously. Gwaine stood and bowed. He looked up without straightening. There was something in the gaze that caused them both to laugh. Morgause wasn't sure that she'd ever actually laughed like that, except perhaps as a very young child.

"What are you doing here?" Morgause asked, jolting herself back to her usual mindset.

"Came to find you. Thought you might like to talk about seeing Nimueh again. I know she was once special to you." This was strangely considerate for Gwaine, so Morgause deflected his kindness.

"The knights bored of you, huh?" Gwaine looked surprised and hurt. She admired how little he hid his emotions, and almost regretted being the one to cause these.

"No. I thought you might like to talk. Obviously, you don't." Gwaine go up to go, but Morgause stood up quickly on an impulse.

"I'm sorry," she said. Gwaine turned to look at her, humor in his hazel eyes. Morgause gestured to the chair he had abandoned. "I don't want to talk about Nimueh, but I wouldn't mind some company."

"I'm glad, Lady Knight. I am excellent company." After saying this, Gwaine made a face as if he remembered a disturbing fact. "Don't ask the knights about that, they'll only lie."

"Of course," said Morgause with mock seriousness. She smiled at Gwaine, which he returned.

"How was it seeing Nimueh again?" Gwaine asked.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about her. Please, Gwaine." Gwaine stared. "What is it?"

"I do believe that is the first time you've called me by my name." Morgause realized this too.

"Do you mind?" Morgause asked. A smile played on Gwaine's lips.

"I don't mind."

0O0O0O0

"We must find this gate," Gwen said like the queen she was.

"But we don't know where it is!" said Arthur in frustration. "It can be anywhere you went during that time! Merlin, do you have any memory as to the place? Any memory at all?"

"I remember everywhere I went, I just don't know which place changed the world. They were so similar at that point. Before I lost the Druids, I was alone for a long time," Merlin said. Gwen looked at him sympathetically.

"I have an idea!" Morgana burst out. Her brother, his wife, and Merlin looked at her in surprise. "Aithusa is a dragon. She may have known when you crossed over."

"That's possible," Merlin realized. He smiled at Morgana. "Let's go talk to her!" They both got up to go, but Morgana stopped.

"Merlin," she started. "Can we bring her back here? She must be so lonely in that cave all by herself, and I'm sure there are places she can hide that are closer to us."

"Of course!" Merlin said. "Did you think we would go back to the cave?" Morgana was confused. Merlin grinned at her, then ran out of the house. Morgana followed him to the road. He stopped there and raised his head to the sky. Then he began to bellow out words Morgana had never heard before. She caught Dragon, but that was all. A few moments later, a large bird flew through the sky far above them. But it wasn't a bird, Morgana was smart enough to know.

Aithusa landed on the road in front of Merlin and Morgana. She nuzzled the Dragonlord and her first friend happily. Then she chirped, looking at the house. Arthur and Gwen were standing outside the house, staring at the dragon. Merlin laughed at Arthur's face.

"Come meet Aithusa!" Merlin called. Gwen looked horrified. Arthur's face was expressionless. Merlin grinned at Morgana. She hit him in the stomach.

"Stop," she laughed. "It's unkind."

"Are these your friends?" asked Aithusa. The king and queen's eyes widened when they heard the dragon speaking in Merlin's voice.

"Did it - " said Arthur. He looked in between the dragon and its Lord. "Did you - " Even Morgana couldn't hold back the laugh now. She and Merlin laughed until their stomachs hurt, and Aithusa made a strange noise that can't be described in words.

Arthur faced his fear and started down the front steps. Gwen hesitantly followed him. When Arthur reached Merlin, the former servant pat him on the shoulder and smiled as if he wanted to be sympathetic but was failing miserably. He guided Arthur's hand to the level of Aithusa's soft nose. The dragon bowed her head and met the king's hand. He scratched gently and she leaned into it, purring like a cat.

Gwen reached them. She hesitantly extended her hand to the creature's neck. She found a place just behind the horns that made the purring become much louder. Merlin stepped back next to Morgana. She smiled at him.

"I am impressed," she whispered. "The son of Uther is stroking a dragon in the presence of two sorcerers."

"No," Merlin replied quietly. "Arthur is meeting a new friend in the presence of his friends." On an impulse, Morgana found his hand with her own and squeezed it. He looked surprised, but he didn't take his hand away. Arthur laughed out loud and then looked over at Merlin and Morgana. He raised his eyebrows at their hands but said nothing. Morgana quickly walked away from Merlin to Aithusa.

Aithusa butted Arthur away with her head and nudged Morgana in the chest. Guinevere had still been scratching her and she stumbled into the space that was now empty.

"The question," Arthur prompted to Merlin. The Dragonlord nodded and approached Aithusa. The dragon looked at him.

"Aithusa, do you remember when we traveled around before we lost the Druids?" The white dragon nodded. "Did you sense anything? Going into a different world, perhaps?" Aithusa nodded again. Merlin put his hand on her head and stared deep into her eyes. "Where?"