I knew nothing could ever happen. Not between us. Me, Lord Protector of Camelot, the kingdom under my control while the ruler is too weak, not that this was a difference, my goal to keep the people safe from harm. Her, a witch, a convicted traitor, hunted by knights and witch finders alike, her aim to destroy those who had brought her down, and take back what was rightfully hers. But still, as I rode fast through the woods, the moonlight filtering through the shadowy trees my only source of light, I could not prevent my heart beating fast, my head spinning.
My reception was frosty, as usual for her. I pushed open the wooden door cautiously, not wishing to alarm the inhabitant, those who lived alone startled easily I'd found. Instead, I was met with emptiness.
My eyes straining in the darkness, shivering with the cold, I called gently, 'My Lady?'
I felt the knife tip against my back before I even heard movement. Yet the knife was a warmth in the cold, just knowing in whose hand it was residing.
'My Lord.' Her lilting voice spoke from behind me, and I could imagine her face as she spoke, her eyebrows raised, slightly mocking, but altogether grateful for my visit. I heard a muffled slam as she pushed the door shut behind her. I knew her eyes would not be drifting from my figure though.
'I really think you should stop greeting me like this, Morgana.' I turned around to meet her quizzical gaze, her mossy eyes glistening in the dim light. 'It's no way to welcome an ally.'
She lowered the knife slowly. 'You're probably right.' Her eyes flashed and a fire burst into life from a pile of logs on the floor beside me. She walked away, towards her low chair before looking back and flashing a smirk back at me. 'But you can never be too careful.'
She waited until I was seated beside her, my hands warming against the roaring fire, before she spoke again.
'You haven't visited recently.' She pouted slightly, an action that only emphasised her beauty, which she undoubtedly knew. But I could never resist. 'I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.'
'I have to be careful, my Lady,' I explained slowly, 'With the rumour of a traitor in Camelot, it is only a matter of time before I am suspected. The physician already doubts me, with my visits here having been so frequent.'
'Well be careful, Gaius is shrewd.' She was mocking me now, her words cutting. 'And if you were discovered, I really don't know what use I'd have for you.'
'Morgana...' As much as I tried, I couldn't harden myself against her cold stare, the threat dripping from her lips. The disappointment must have showed in my face, as I watched her eyes light up.
'I am surprised you haven't framed anyone else, yet, my Lord.' Morgana shook her head but her eyes remained bright, as though the idea itself had only just hit her. 'Surely that would be a way to end both of your problems...'
She let herself drift, but I knew her plan. She smiled wickedly.
'Uncle, you seem distracted.'
I snapped back from my thoughts to find Arthur studying me, his young face already beginning to show lines of concern. It was a meeting of the Council in Camelot's great hall. Stacks of parchment lay in front of me, accounts, figures, notes, and I knew I should have been concentrating, if for nothing other than keeping my facade. But all I could think of was her.
'It's nothing, Sire, I must just be tired,' I lied quickly but I saw a gleam in his eye. My heart began pounding, frequent when living in fear of being caught out, when spying in your own blood. But I couldn't help panicking, what had he noticed? What hadn't I done?
'You can't lie, Uncle.' A smile began creeping on his face. My pounding heart was now racing, and I fought to keep my face still. But he had other ideas. 'I know that look well enough, the guilty expressions, the lack of concentration...it's a woman, isn't it?'
