Lady of the Court

VIII

Thunder claps, pulling Ava out of her dream. Merlin rubs his eyes, stretching.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Um... yeah. Just woken up by the storm."

Lightning flashes as the rain starts increasing. He sits up, wrapping his arms around her.

"So no nightmares?" She doesn't look him in the eyes. "Ava, it's okay. It's just dreams."

"There is everyone that I have lost."

He kisses the top of her head.

"It'll be alright."

She nods her head as she lays back down. The two cuddle together, Merlin pulling the blankets up further. He pushes a curl out of her face as she watches him. Just as she closes her eyes, her door swings open. Thunder rumbles as Morgana runs towards her. The dark hair lady clearly shaken.

"What's wrong?"

"There was a fire in my room."

Ava quickly hurries out of bed, grabbing her dagger. She runs through the hallway down towards Morgana's chambers. Gwen is putting out the curtains that are beyond scorched. There doesn't seem to be any signs of a struggle nor anyone breaking in. Ava steadies her breathing. Maybe she overreacted. She turns to see Morgana.

"I started it," she states.

"I wish you told me before-"

"Thing is, I wasn't near any flames."

Ava's eyes widen as she process this. She looks at Gwen, who looks just as shocked.

"Okay... um.... Well we need to make sure that Uther thinks it was an accident."

She tries to figure it out. She moves over towards the small table by where the curtains were. The candle sitting on top still lit. Ava blows the flame out, knocking it over. The hot wax pours down on the wood. It's already slightly scorched by the fire.

Ava pours water on top of it to seem like Gwen hurried to put it out. The problem would be the blown out window. The glass fell down below, thankfully not hurting anyone. Uther and Arthur soon arrive to surrvey the damage. Ava excuses herself before going back to her chambers. Merlin is waiting, clearly anxious.

"Morgana's fine," Ava informs him. "She... she caused it."

"Well we should help her with controlling it."

"I completely agree. Just right now, Uther and Arthur are with her. So we need to wait."

He nods his head.

"As long as everyone sticks to one story." Ava's eyes widen. "You didn't establish a story?"

"I mean, I doubt you would remember to do half of what I did."

"But I have gotten pretty good at lying."

"Sometimes."

His jaw drops in fake shock. He goes to mess with her, causing her to let out a soft squeal. He lifts her off the ground, spinning around. He sets her down and she pulls him towards her bed. The two curl back up, Merlin returning to where they left off in the book earlier. Ava pulls the blankets around her, listening.

The storm outside starts dying down. Her eyes grow heavy and soon she is sound asleep. Merlin kisses her forehead, marking the page they are leaving off at. He blows out the candle near the bed, letting darkness engulf the chambers. Soon sleep over takes him and he passes out.