The Redemption Arc (A BBC's Merlin Fanfiction)

Chapter 17

Arthur was pacing around his chambers, trying to think, when he heard, "I am here to seek an audience with His Majesty. Is he in?"

Arthur threw the doors open. "Morgana," he smiled in relief. 

Morgana smiled softly. "Arthur." She felt the guilt crushing her. His smile was so genuine, so loving. As if he had been tormented and seeking solace, and now that she was here, he had found peace. 

He sat down at the table in the middle of the room on the chair closest to the head of the table, and watched Morgana expectantly. Without missing a beat she took the chair at the head of the table, the one she always had when she had flown in to squabble with her brother. She hadn't even noticed guards posted at Arthur's doors until today. It made sense; obviously the Crown Prince had guards posted at his door. But she had never seen them, she had never had to. 

"I was wondering-" they both started simultaneously, and both of them broke off. 

Arthur smirked as she started again, not even waiting for him to offer her the chance. "I was wondering if you had been thinking about Mordred." She wondered if she should have said it differently. Saying Mordred's name so casually, perhaps it wasn't the best idea if she was trying to win back loyalty and earn credibility. 

"I was thinking about the war." If Arthur noticed her slip-up, he didn't dwell on it. 

"The war is Mordred's doing. It's him we have to stop," Morgana explained. 

"But...he refuses to listen. He refuses to be swayed," Arthur looked pained. As if he had considered every outcome a thousand times, and each time he had come to the conclusion that war was inevitable and it would not end well. 

"We didn't even get a chance to talk to him. I... I just froze, seeing him there that day. I couldn't think. He wasn't just Mordred to me that day, Arthur. He was my best friend, he was Morgause's and my own right hand. He was a symbol of my sister whom I had loved and lost." Morgana's voice was much quieter now, but it was still so full of passion and pain she wondered if there was any other way she could talk about it. 

Arthur stared at her for a long second, awkward as he was when it came to people's feelings. This is usually when Gwen or Merlin stepped in for him, Morgana realized. But Arthur was enough. He was more than enough. Whether she would ever tell him or not, after Uther's death, the one thing that stopped Morgana from plunging into despair and self-pity was the fact that she still had a brother. A brother she may never be as close with ever again, but one who loved her enough to not ever give up on her. 

He took her hand and enveloped it with his own two. Then looked at her sternly. "Do you think you would be able to do it if you were given another chance?"

***

Feeling the argument slipping from her, Morgana had insisted upon the audience of Gwen and Merlin. Merlin sat quietly on the window sill, while Arthur, Gwen and Morgana sat at the table. 

Morgana understood. Here was a room full of people who actually knew and accepted Merlin for his magic. Here he could claim his gift and offer his services. Here it was an acceptable part of the discussion. He had never experienced that before, and frankly, neither of them knew what to do anymore now that they did not need to hide. 

"I have to go meet him! No, a letter will not suffice," Morgana seethed. She had thought of her and Arthur as being on the same page, but he was taking his brotherly duties a little too seriously. He refused to let her go meet Mordred to talk to him. While Arthur understood that she was supposed to be the more powerful one, he made surprisingly good points about Mordred having had more practice and being in a "murderous mood".