Merlyn's Fate

The Sins of the Father P3

Morgause was in the process of lighting seemingly thousands of candles, finishing the circle of light and, with a flick of her wrist, extinguishing her flame. It was eerily beautiful, but the idea of the seance still made Merlyn's skin crawl.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" she asked her Prince, eying Morgause nervously. She didn't trust the sorceress.

Arthur sighed deeply, little conflicted. "If you were granted the same opportunity, would you not want to see your father again?"

"Uther won't forgive you if he finds out you've collaborated with a sorcerer." Merlyn hissed, ignoring the obvious irony of her words. She didn't think she'd be able to stop her Prince from going through with seeing his mother, but she needed him to take the proceedings with a pinch of salt.

"What if my father's attitude towards magic is wrong?" The witch couldn't help the way her heart leapt with the words, but she tried not to let her hope gleam in her eyes. If the seance was the key to Arthur's belief in good magic, then she wasn't going to stand in his way.

"You really think that?" she tried to sound surprised, as if she didn't contemplate the inherent evilness of magic on a daily basis. Arthur knew of her dismissal for his father's laws, understood that she saw the good in sorcery, but that was different from the hours she'd spent in her room wondering whether she was truly a monster, something to be hated rather than cherished, in this cruel world.

Arthur didn't answer straight away. "Perhaps it's not as simple as he'd have us believe. Morgause is a sorceress, and yet, she has caused us no harm. Surely not everyone who practises magic can be evil."

"We don't actually know why she's doing this." Merlyn felt like she had to begrudgingly support her King, slightly worried at how easily Arthur had been swayed. If all it took was wearing a pretty dress, lighting some candles and show the Prince his dead mother to make him question his father's views on magic, the witch would have done this long ago.

"It is time." Morgause spoke up, gesturing for Arthur to stand next to her. "Close your eyes."

He did so reluctantly, probably still a little distrustful of the sorceress. Merlyn stepped back up against the wall, flattening herself in the hope that she could become invisible, uncomfortable to be intruding on this private moment.

"Aris mid mien miclan mihte thin suna to helpe. Hider eft funda the on thyssum laenum life the gehldost waes."

At Morgause's words, the wind seemed to pick up, howling through the ivy scaling the stone walls. Merlyn blinked, and was surprised to see a blonde woman standing in the centre of the room, her white dress ghostly on her thin, wispy body. She was strangely beautiful, with the Prince's blue eyes and cherry lips, the image of a long forgotten portrait Merlyn had once found in one of the secret tunnels somewhere in the castle, a faded memory lost with time.

"Arthur." Ygraine spoke, faintly smiling as her son opened his eyes.

"Mother." Arthur sounded astonished, unable to move as he just stared at the woman before him.

Ygraine beamed. "My son." she said softly, rushing forwards, embracing him tightly.

"When I last held you, you were a tiny baby." she let go, examining the Prince's face. "I remember your eyes. You were staring up at me. Those few seconds that I held you were the most precious of my life."

She moved her hand to his cheek, tilting his face downwards so she could see him better. "I'm so sorry." he mumbled, staring into eyes that were so much like his own.