A Royal duty

part 4.

Whilst Arthur and Merlin were huddled together in Arthur's large oak bed telling and listening to secrets, much the same was going on in the chamber of the Lady Morganna and her Lady's maid, Guinevere.

Morganna always had trouble sleeping, she suffered from intense nightmares and often had preminitions, which had come true, for like Merlin she was magical, maybe her magic was not as powerful as his magic was, after all she had never had any chance to nurture her gift, but she was magical all the same. Keeping it hidden from King Uther, who she had just discovered was her father, was not an easy thing. Uther could tolerate no magic, not even pure and good magic.

Morganna was unsettled and restless, she sat up in her bed and nudged her sleeping maid awake. Since the death of her father not long ago, Guinivere was sharing her bed, she was frightened and broken hearted and could not bear to go into her house anymore, Morganna could not bear to see the girl's sorrow which in part she caused by being so foolish as to hand Guinivere's father keys to get out of the jail before his trail.

Guinevere opened her large dark eyes, she rubbed them and sat up. Reaching over she lit a candle for the only light in the room came from the glowing embers of the dying fire.

"What is it my lady? you had bad dreams again?"

"No my dear, I cannot sleep and I have to tell you why but you must keep what I tell you a secret."

Guinivere nodded and pushed her untidy black curls out of her eyes.

"Well today I discovered that Prince Arthur is in fact my brother, I am in fact second in line to the throne unless of course Arthur weds and has a child. I have always loved Arthur since I first came here as a little girl, he was a spoiled little boy and annoying and we used to fight and scrap like puppies and also play together all the time. I always thought we would one day be King and Queen but for all I made myself beautiful and put on the loveliest of gowns it never had any affect on his ardour. Arthur has always seen me as a sister.

He is the most handsome boy I have ever beheld with that strong body, big shining blue eyes and that hair, that beautiful hair that I used to reach out and touch when he was little because it was so lovely and so tempting to stroke, oh how he would turn round and push me for that and we'd be fighting again."

Morganna smiled in the candle light as she talked of Arthur.

"He always thought me an annoying girl, he has never got on well with girls, he looks at us and goes all shy, that boy can face magical beasts and evil knights but put him in front of girls and he trembles of that I am sure. Sometimes he admires my hair or my gown and looks up at me with those large eyes of his and then turns away, his cheeks pink and he makes a joke and goes off again with the boys. Yet I love him."

"It must feel so strange for you to discover that he your half brother and that the people you thought of as your parents were your aunt and uncle."

Morganna nodded.

"I wonder why I never had a preminition of this? my feelings for Arthur have always been a mixture of desire and sisterly affection. Now he is my brother, I must learn not to look at him in a certain way now. We are so different, he has hair as golden as the sun and mine is as black as night, his eyes are bright blue and mine are pale amber, Arthur is well made and strong and I am tall and thin. I wonder what my mother was like? she was magical and very beautiful I have been told but where is she now? she may still be alive."

"I never knew my mother for long" said Gwen " she died of a fever when I was little and now, well." her voice broke on a sob as the ready tears began to flow again " I am sorry," she sniffed wiping her nose and eyes on the handkerchief Morganna handed her.

"Don't you dare be saying sorry" Morganna put her arm around the young girl's shoulder " I feel guilt as it was my father who locked him in the jail. My Lord I almost killed my father not long ago, I was so angry at his actions that lead to your father's death I really wanted him dead, I did not know he was my father then but there was something that stopped me letting his assassins kill him and I saved him."

Gwen's large almost black eyes misted over with more tears, she missed her beloved father so much.

"You were going to kill your father on account of me" she sighed.

"I was angry at him but to see him apologise for his mistake was quite something, he is a proud and tyranical man, sometimes I almost hate him and sometimes I love him. How I wish there was some kind of magic to enable us to turn back time and change things. So you see my dearest Gwen  to find out after all these years that the man I thought of as my father was not my father and I really do not know what to feel. I have in a way got two fathers, as it has been since my real father died in battle. I think Uther may never have told me that I was his bastard daughter were it not for the fact that Arthur is expected to marry some day and like most people I had always thought he and I would be wed.

Uther has agreed to give Arthur a year to find a wife and announce his betrothal but we will not make it known that I am Arthur's sister, not unless, God forbid it, something terrible should happen to Arthur and I have to be Queen. "

Morganna lay back on her pillow she was pale and tired in the candle light.

"A year will tell as to what my brother will do regarding marriage. I just cannot imagine that boy married can you?"

Gwen smiled and shook her head.

"He is handsome and brave but you are right, I cannot imagine him with a wife, he will be married to Camelot, a poor Queen would be most rejected, sitting in the back ground sewing on her tapestry whilst he rides off with all his knights to fight gryffins and basilisks and armies of evil invaders. That's our Arthur."

Guinivere blew out the candle and huddled against her mistress and they were soon asleep.