The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

One of those Days S2 E3

Do you ever have those days which you just know are going to be bad from the moment you wake up? Well, I do. And this morning was no exception.

I woke up and for some reason I just had a bad gut feeling like something terrible was gonna happen. Obviously, with my luck that bad thing decided to happen not even an hour after waking up.

I had just finished getting changed when a guard told me that I needed to get down to Morgana's room as soon as I could. So, I decided to leave straight away and even from the other end of the hallway, I could smell the strong scent of smoke.

Smelling the smoke made me hurry up and when I walked into her room, half of it had burnt down.

"What on earth happened here?" I asked Arthur, walking over to him.

"Looks like it burned down," father said, joining us.

"Really? I'd never have guessed that," I commented, picking up a burnt rag. From the corner of my eye I could see Arthur resisting a smile and stifling a laugh with a cough. "So seriously what happened?"

Hearing my question, Gwen came over to explain.

"I came back in with some extra blankets, there was a candle, but I put it out," Gwen told us.

"Are you sure?" father asked doubtfully.

"I blew it out. I swear," Gwen assured him, but father still looked doubtful.

"Gwen's been Morgana's servant for years, if she says she blew it out, I believe her," Arthur said before I had the chance to.

"She could've been burnt alive," father muttered.

"Lightning struck the castle roof last night. That could've started the fire," Arthur explained, just as I noticed Merlin trying to help tidy the room up.

"Perhaps," father replied.

"Well, what other explanation is there?" I asked, but I already knew where it was going.

"Someone started the fire deliberately," father answered, surprising me. I was sure he was gonna accuse sorcery.

I went to go over to talk to Merlin, but Arthur grabbed my hand and led me out of the room with him to continue discussing the matter with father.

"How did they reach Morgana's room unchallenged?" father asked.

"I don't know. There are too many guards, it's impossible," Arthur said.

"Yet they managed it," father countered, starting to speed up his walking so I was having to hoist up my dress to keep up with them.

"Clearly, there isn't an explanation that Arthur can just wipe out of the air," I defended him. God, you'd think it was all Arthur's fault from the way father made it sound.

"I know what happened," father then said.

"You do?" Arthur asked.

"They used magic," father said.

Oh, there it is. Of course, it was magic, the fool. Any excuse to find an innocent person, accuse them of using magic and then killing them.

"Arrest all those we have under suspicion," father ordered.

"That's going to take time," Arthur told him.

Father then stopped in front of us, making me walk straight into Arthur.

"My ward has been attacked," father reminded us.

"We're aware," I countered, straightening out my dress.