Morgana chuckled as she walked away from the market square, hearing the old baker yell at the street kids about her rolling pin. Feeling eyes on her, the Black Mage cast her gaze around until she spotted the owner of the eyes. A red hair woman sat upon a gray mare. The woman wore strange, almost outlandish clothes, but that was not what caught Morgana’s attention. It was her eyes. They were a dull shade of green. For some reason, Morgana thought they should have been a bright shade of green, just like General Genesis’ eyes. The mysterious woman and the General did share the shade of red hair.
The image from her vision appeared in her mind, suddenly. The female figure turned her head to reveal a pair of sad green eyes and red hair falling over her shoulder. Morgana sucked in a sharp breath. She blinked away the vision, noticing the new detail. She frowned as the woman turned away, the horse heading to a side street and disappearing down it. Her heart thundered in her chest. She stared after the mysterious woman.
She shook her head, trying to clear it. Her black hair waved back and forth, slipping over her shoulders. She looked one more time toward the street where the woman disappeared to and pushed the strange looking woman out of her mind. Morgana had to get back to the Castle.
She only came down to the town to get a few herbs from her favorite living herbologist, a young woman by the name of Helga of House Greenfields, a lower house that didn’t hold a representative position at the Drake Court. She thought at one time it did, but it had been a long time ago. Morgana recalled a Greenfield woman that matched Morgana in magical prowess, but she died while creating the barrier, separating the United Kingdoms of Camelot from the Outside World.
Morgana sighed, wishing she could teach her knowledge about the benefits of herbs to Helga, but thanks to the various laws in place, she couldn’t. Belladonna hadn’t been the first Ruling High Queen to push her own agenda through her husband’s Kingship. There had been other High Queens who did the same. All of it ended with more and more laws placed on the non-humans and humans that the ability to use magic.
During times of peace, it was hard on her and Merlin to get away with using magic, however, during the war times, the Ruling Family wanted them to preform magic that cause the enemy to think twice before attacking Camelot. Many of the non-magi didn’t get was the longer the magic build up, unused, the more dangerous it got.
Just last year, Merlin and Morgana got word of a young woman named Evelyn. She had to be rumored to be a witch, but when Merlin left to double check if the rumor was based on a truth or a huge misunderstanding of what the witness saw, it was too late. She had disappeared for a week before her body was discovered by a farmer and directed Merlin to the place where he had discovered the missing woman. Merlin later told Morgana that Evelyn had to be hybrid between an Earth based demon and a human, from the way vines grew around her hands to form swords, a nearby rose brush had launched sharp thorns at Merlin when he approached, and the plants had try to hid her body. Once Merlin had taken care of the attacking plants, he saw Evelyn’s stomach had been shredded into pieces and her throat had been slit.
Two years ago, Morgana had been the travel out to seek out a young man named Liam. He had been seen performing attacked based magic by one of his servants. Liam was indeed a mage. He had the ability to grow into a powerful mage. Morgana had secreted him away and sent him to an island off the coast of Camelot. She had no clue if he had ever made it until recently when he returned with the surprising news of a school of magi, led by 5 former apprentices of The Battle Mage and the Black Lady, and how it was created and thrive over the years. The Duty Headmistress would visit Camelot to search for the possible students for the school, but she always arrived in disguised and kept a low profile. That was something Morgana was grateful to discover.
Once upon a time ago, Morgana and Merlin had trained 5 disciples. The 5 grew to be some of the most powerful magi the duo had ever trained and had left Camelot during the year that Merlin and Morgana slept. The 5 had plans to create a school for magical learning and had talked about it with Merlin and Morgana for years, leading up to the Separation. Merlin and Morgana had lost track of them after the Separation and thought they had been left behind on an Earth unfriendly to magic users.
Morgana smiled at the memories, drifting through her head. She would get word from one of the 5 about the current events going on at the school. It was always something going on there - either a student discovering they could pull a prank and get away with it or a lesson that went wrong and caused a cauldron to explore, a student walked away from a lesson missing a limb or ended up dead from a wrongly drawn rune. She lost her smile, knowing the reason behind the wrongly drawn runes. The students were training to be blood magi. Both Morgana and Merlin were skilled in blood magic, but they only used that branch of magic as a way to store their extra magic their bodies created. She didn’t personal use it to increase her natural speed or muscle powers. She knew if a rune was drawn wrong on the body or didn’t get completed in time, Lady Death would come for you. She sighed.
She would love to visit the school and help teach the young magi, again. She missed that. She missed watching the student’s eyes light up as they finally understood how a spell worked, how a potion was created, how powerful they could become if they followed a certain path, and how open the world became for them. She missed seeing the students transform from curious kittens, eager to learn and explore their magic to powerful, experienced lion and lioness, ready to defend their loved ones.
Maybe one day she would experience that once again. She knew it would take the right ruler to allow the magic to step back into the light, from the shadows. Just like it would take the correct ruler to understand the non-humans and break the chains of confinement, allowing many of the non-humans to take flight again.
Morgana continued her way back to the castle. Her thought drifted back to Helga. So far, the herbologist hadn’t shown any signs of magical power, if the woman was a magi. Helga could just have a better understanding of herbs then someone else, the black mage mused. She shifted the bundle of herbs she bought from Helga as she looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly disappearing over the border where the sea met the sky. Families were disappearing into their homes for the evening meal then head to bed. She knew the Ruling Family would be meeting soon for their Mourning Meal with the previous Queens that Uther had kicked out of the castle at his grandmother’s - Belladonna- request. She smirked. She wanted to be the fly on the wall for that meal. She knew the previous queens that ruled for a short time between Belladonna and Clarine looked upon Belladonna with disfavor. Belladonna, through her grandson, had kicked them while they were down, mourning their own husbands’ lost. At least, the Mourning Meal would not be boring.
“Welcome back, Lady Morgana,” One of the guards called out to her as she crossed the drawbridge. She nodded at him with a smile.
“Thank you, Homer,” Morgana replied back, coming to a stop beside him, “How are the wife and the babe?” Homer’s wife was one of the more well known maids within the castle and was a delight to be around. Recently when Homer’s wife went labor, she had been working a light duty shift within the Queen’s tower and went into labor. Morgana had been heading back to her rooms when she had came across Homer’s wife and helped her through the labor as several other maids gathered the supplies they needed to help the expecting mother through the labor. One of the Knight who had been escorting Queen Vivien back to the tower had summoned Homer and took Homer’s guard position so the new father could be with his wife.
“Lisa is doing good,” Homer’s brown eyes glinted with happiness, “She is recovering well from the birth so is the babe.” A proud smile crossed his face.
“That’s good,” she said with a smile, “Have you decided on a name for the babe?”
“Not yet,” he shook his head, “But we are debating between Sarah Maire or Irene Lily.”
“Both are pretty names for your little girl,” she gave her opinion, “But, I kinda like Irene more. Irene was the name of my mother.” Her smile turned fondly as she remembered her mother, very faintly. She knew she favored her mother’s image then her own father, Uther I, only getting his blue eyes. Time would do that to any aged being, making memories faded away, leaving only knowledge behind.
“I will tell Lisa that,” Homer said, “She is grateful for your help in delivering the babe, by the way, my lady.”
“Anytime,” Morgana said with a happy note in her tone. She started to step away when Homer spoke up, again, “Have you seen Sir Tristan? I have been wanting to thank him for taking my shift so I could be with Lisa.”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him for a week,” she confessed. She frowned as she turned away. She may not have any kids of her own, but it didn’t mean she didn’t want any. She knew there was a chance she already lost her ability to have kids, being half human. She heard many of the fae, back when she was a lot younger, had complain about not being able to give birth a child of their own. She must have inherited that problem. She sighed. It could be a bright spot in her overlong life that she didn’t have to bury her own children when they died. She turned her thoughts from that issue.
However, Homer did bring up a good problem. Sir Tristan. She usually saw him once or twice a day, but he had been mysteriously absent of late. She knew he had left the castle soon after he was informed of Uther’s impeding death, but that was the last she had heard of him. She didn’t worry. He had been gone longer then a few days before, when he was on a quest.
She pushed those thoughts away. She stepped past Homer and continued her way into the courtyard. Her eyes drifted around the large courtyard before they settled on the statue in the middle of the yard. Something tung on her heart as she looked at the statue. It was her Arthur, her half-brother. He stared out of the southern part of the town, toward the Dead End Forest and the ocean. The fading sun illuminated his face. He held the Holy Sword in front of him, hoisted up in one hand. The cape he wore flowed out behind him.
“Why, ‘Gana, do I have to do this?” Arthur whined, sending the same blue eyes she had at her in a sad gaze. “I have work to do since I don’t know when Robert would be here to challenge me for the Throne.”
“I know, Artie,” Morgana said, an amused smile on her lips. He glared at her for using that annoying nickname. She stuck out her tongue at him. “But think about it. You just over come a big challenge, already, defeating Robert, his eldest half brother, and need something to solidify that victory. It will help the people to know you are watching over them.”
“I know it will,” Arthur said, “I just don’t want to stand there for hours on end for some artist to draw me on parchment.”
Morgana rolled her eyes in amusement and stated, “Stop acting like a 3 year old, Artie, before I turn you into one.”
Arthur gapped at her before he stated, “Well, you would regret that. I would bug the shit out of you if you do.”
She paused, thinking about that. Yes, he would. He would annoy her to the point where she would banish him somewhere like the bell tower and leave him there as a 3 year old, just get rid of him for a bit.
She laughed softly, under her breath. She moved past the statue. Arthur had fought her on every level when it came to creating that statue. Eventually, she put a freeze type spell on him and positioned his limbs, allowing the artist to capture the King’s likeness. He had avoided her for days after that.
Morgana went through the halls and reached the Queen’s Tower. She spotted a guard standing beside the door. The guard nodded at her, silently welcoming her back as he opened the door for her. She sent him a thankful smile and strolled past him. She spotted the familiar hallway with a red velvet, gold trimmed rug covering the stone floor. The various torches were already lit, casting the shadows in the areas between the torchlight.
A door half way down the hall opened, swinging inward and the eldest, living in the castle, queen stepped out. Vivien wore a dark silver dress that sparkled in the torch light. Maybe it was the flickering fire light, but it appeared that Vivien had lost a few pounds in the past few days that Morgana didn’t see her. The oldest Queen had been hiding in her room since Uther’s death. The Black Mage didn’t blame her. She was the same way after her own father and brother past away.
“Your majesty,” Morgana bowed her head as she approached the Queen.
“Lady Morgana,” Vivien acknowledged, giving the she-mage a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “Will you be at the Mourning Meal?”
“No, my lady, I wasn’t invited,” Morgana replied. In the past, as the only living representative of the Pendragon House, she was invited to the Mourning Meal. That tradition started with the second Ruling Family, claiming that Morgana was still a Princess of Camelot and ruled that Morgana will always have a room in the Queen’s Tower, as long as she wanted to stay in Camelot, and could only be revoke when 70 out of the 75 Ancient and Noble Houses voted the Lady Morgana out. Once in a while, Morgana would have to remind the Ruling Family of that law when they tried to cast Morgana out of the Queen’s Tower and the Ruling Family would try to gather enough votes to push Morgana, but they always failed. When Belladonna’s husband died on the battlefield, Belladonna didn’t invite the Black Mage to the Mourning Meal. Now, Morgana was thinking about it, she didn’t attend any Mourning Meal since Vivien’s Mourning Meal.
“My deepest apologies, Morgana,” Vivien said, looking sad, “You should really be there as the House Pendragon Representative.”
“I know, my queen,” Morgana agreed, “But my time has passed and besides,” she looked around the empty hall, “There will be enough entertainment there. The other former Queens will be there.”
Vivien’s lips twitched into an amused smile, knowing what Morgana meant and stated, “Please, excuse me, Lady Morgana, but I fear I must get going to get the best seat.”
Morgana grinned at the eldest queen and bowed her head as Vivien moved past her, leaving the Queen’s Tower. She headed toward the stairs, at the end of the first floor, before she started to climb to the second floor, silently cursing herself for designing the Queen’s Tower the way she did.
Morgana grinned at the eldest queen and bowed her head as Vivien moved past her, leaving the Queen’s Tower. She headed toward the stairs, at the end of the first floor, before she started to climb to the second floor, silently cursing herself for designing the Queen’s Tower the way she did.
There was not a spiral staircase like there was in the Knights’ Tower, but each spiral stair case ended on the next floor. She would have to cross the floor to reach the next spiral stair case, passing the door for the Queen who lived on that floor.
While Vivien lived on the first floor as the right of the Eldest Living Queen, Belladonna lived on the second floor. The second floor had a dark theme to it. Instead of the red and gold theme, Belladonna had decorate her floor with shades of dark green, trimmed in black. Morgana hurried down the hallway. She didn’t want to get caught by the second eldest queen, especially after Kalliope had ripped the Warrior Queen a new one. She reached the next spiral stair case and quickly climbed it.
The third floor had more life to it. Queen Susan had chosen her family’s colors when she decorated. The rug covering the stone floor was a deep royal blue while the long floor to ceiling curtains were a bright shade of yellow. In the middle of the curtains, her family’s crest stood in out the same shade of blue that covered the floor.
Morgana’s impression of Susan was different. Susan was from one of the minor house that Belladonna had thought she could control until Belladonna find out otherwise. It was an arranged marriage that allowed Susan’s family to raise in power and the Black Family to gain some more land on the far edge of their land boundaries. Before Charles’ death, Susan and the King were content with their marriage to each other and ended up having three children - a boy and two girls.
The only door on the floor opened and a woman with graying brown hair stepped out. She wore a dark blue dress. It was one of the simplest, formfitting dress that Susan owned, but it made the woman look like she was going to a party, not a Mourning Dinner. However, Susan went on after her husband’s death and banishment from the Castle to find another husband who adored her if the rumors were true and she gave birth more children as a result. Following Susan, a woman with dark brown hair, wearing a bright golden yellow formfitting dress. It was Princess Isabelle.
If Morgana remembered correctly, that golden yellow dress had been in Susan’s family for ages. She knew there was a story behind it, something about a werewolf male who ruled over a small piece of territory in the Frank country side, but that was all the black mage remembered. Susan’s family kept it in good condition, repairing it as often as they need to, but most of the women who wore the dress tried their best to keep it in the same condition and somehow managed to get married to a man who was rumored to be a beast of some kind. It was the kind of story that young women fell in love with and tried to reenact with their own love stories. Princess Isabelle appeared to be the only one of the three children that Susan gave birth to while she was married to Charles to be attending the Mourning Dinner.
“Good Evening, Queen Susan, Princess Isabelle” Morgana greeted the third eldest queen and the eldest princess, “And welcome back to Camelot.”
The queen glanced up at Morgana before she grinned brightly at the mage, saying, “Morgana!” she hurried over to the she-mage, “It is good to see you again.” Susan embraced Morgana in a hug. Morgana moved the bag of herbs she carried out of the way before she returned the hug. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been good,” Morgana commented, “What about you?”
“Hanging in there,” Susan said, “I’m sure you remember my eldest daughter, Isabelle.”
“I do,” Morgana turned to the princess, smiling fondly. She had watched many of the Ruling Families children grow from mere babes to thriving adults. There had been times she had been lucky to watch those thriving adults to become Rulers and parents, eventually growing old and joining the Spiritual World. “How are you, Princess Izzy?”
“You remember my nickname, Auntie Gana,” Isabelle smiled, widely, revealing a pair of too long canines. Her crimson eyes glowed with happiness. Morgana opened up her arms to the princess and hugged her tightly. It felt like Morgana just hugged a ice cube, on the cold windy day, while she stood in the snow. The Black Mage gasped before she jumped back, out of the hug. Her fae instincts screamed at her - Run, run, run - and she studied the Princess, closely, before she glanced at Susan. Isabella looked sadden by Morgana’s reaction, but she didn’t move closer. Susan’s expression was guarded. It was a look that Morgana was familiar with and Merlin called it the Queen’s face.
“What happen to you, Izzy?” Morgana asked in an even tone, “How did you -?”
Isabelle smiled sadly as she finished, “Become a vampire?” Morgana nodded. The princess opened her mouth, but she paused, looking over her shoulder at the staircase before she turned to look at them. “Auntie Marie is coming with Prince Dorian.” She stated, simply. Her crimson eyes meet Morgana’s blue eyes and promised, “I will tell you and Merlin, everything, later tonight.”
Morgana’s eyes narrowed in warning, whispering, “You better.” She paused, thinking, “If you need to feed, there are a few criminals who are waiting their execution date in the lowest part of the dungeons.” She saw Isabella’s guarded expression fell into a grateful smile and she nodded. Morgana made a mental note to inform Merlin about the need to arrange some accidentally deaths involving the death row criminals.
If she remembered correctly, vampires could chose to turn their victims by allowing them to drink some of the vampires’ blood when they were full grown adults. However, Lord Salazar was different. He had been turned early in his childhood by slowly being feed his sire’s blood over a long period of time, allowing him to slowly grow into an adult.
“Morgana!” Marie’s voice rang out in a cheerful note, breaking the tense in the hallway. “It’s good to see you again!” Marie, the fourth eldest queen, hurried over to embrace Morgana, her olive green dress trailed out behind her. Her orange colored hair flew wildly about her head as her green eyes sparkled with joy. She didn’t look like she had aged a day since she had left the castle. Morgana knew it was the fact red haired people aged like fine wine. She thought it was because a certain playful god favored their red hair and equal fiery attitude and had no problem stroking the fires of chaos wherever the red heads went.
Marie wrapped her arms around Morgana, giving her a tight hug before she took a step back, grinning brightly. Morgana widened her stance as she tried to keep her balance. She had forgot how much energy Marie had. Marie was like a whirlwind, knocking people off balance and sweeping them away. Morgana was pretty sure that was how Edward, Marie’s husband, fell in love with her as fast as he did. While she was High Queen, she had used the same energy to keep Belladonna on her toes and often pushed back against some of the non-human laws Belladonna had been working on passing through Edward.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed Camelot, you, and Merlin,” Marie started, “Did you and Merlin ever get together? You two really make a cute couple, living as long as you both have.” Marie reached out and grabbed Morgana’s left hand. “But I don’t see a ring on this hand. Too bad for Merlin. Guess he doesn’t have the balls to ask you to be his wife after all.” Marie dropped Morgana’s hand. “Well, there are more fish in the sea as they say. You should really find someone to warm your bed, Gana, live a little, and have fun. However, I know dealing that Witch Queen Belladonna is hard. I’m so glad I don’t live in Camelot anymore. Going home after my love’s death was the best thing for me. Plus, I don’t have to deal with her bitchy attitude anymore and all of her rules.” She made a face. Morgana chuckled. Susan let out a sigh of amusement. Isabelle’s eyes began to glow with happiness. “I do miss everyone else here, though. I can’t wait to see little Arthur. I’m sure he has grown into a fine young man, ready to be king.”
Morgana opened her mouth to cut in, but Marie went on, “However, the rumor about the Holy Sword can’t be true, is it? I mean, the Holy Sword can’t really choose the next king. I thought it was more like father to son kind of thing.” Her face took on a thoughtful look. “I mean, now, I think about it. It would explain why Uther didn’t pull out the Holy Sword after Peter’s death. The Holy Sword found him unworthy for some reason and allowed him to pull it out after he proved himself by defending Camelot when our enemies were literally pounding down our front door before they ran away with their tails between their legs.” She put a finger on the side of her face, cocking it to the right side, “But then again, none of the others had to prove themselves like that, unless they did and I was not aware of it.” Morgana shook her head and Marie went on, “It is a mystery, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Morgana finally cut in, “Merlin and I have gone over every spell we had placed on the Holy Sword, but they are still strong as the day they were put on the Sword.” She paused, taking a breath, “Perhaps there was another more worthy then Uther alive during that time and only after their death, Uther was the next option.”
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Marie gapped at her as did Susan and Isabelle. However, Dorian snorted. The four women turned to him. He sent them a grin. “You managed to shut my mother up, Lady Morgana. That was a major accomplishment.”
“Dorian, you brat,” Marie gasped, raising a hand and slapping her son gently on his upper arm, “You are supposed to behave.”
“I’m your son,” he shot back. His grin widen, if that was possible, as he went on, “And a red head, I don’t know how to behave.” He sent his mother a mischievous look. She returned it.
“Well, let’s get going, Dorian, before your grandmother have a heart attack,” Marie stated, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. She glanced at Morgana, asking, “Will you be there, Gana?”
“No, I wasn’t invited, this time,” Morgana commented, “I’ll see you later.” She moved on before Marie could try to convinced her to attend the Mourning Dinner.
The black mage hurried down the hallway and bounced up the spiral stair case. She didn’t want to reminded of the fact she wasn’t invited to a Mourning Dinner. This was the third time she wasn’t invited to go. She would try to go, but she knew the guards had a list of approved family members who were allowed to attend. She knew this would be High Queen Kalliope’s first time creating the list. Last time, it was Queen Clarine who created the list and Queen Belladonna went behind her back, marking off of Morgana’s name, claiming that Morgana’s time as a representative of House Pendragon had past and there shouldn’t be a representative of that Ancient and Noble House anymore.
Morgana entered the fourth floor. Marie’s floor. It was similar to the previous floors, but it was decorated in Marie’s former house colors. The long rug was a blue that remind Morgana of deep ocean waters she once traveled upon to visit a far off Kingdom on the behalf of her Arthur’s United Kingdoms. The edges of the rug had silver trimming it. The curtain were matched the rugs with the center of the curtains had the Crest of House Hound, a three headed black hunting dog.
The black mage remembered how the House came to be. It was thanks to Sir Percival. Before he became one of the 150 knights of the original round table, he raised various hunting hounds. He was the few who had no clue what kind of crest he should create since he was one of the knights not of noble birth. In fact, if she remember correctly, it was Lancelot - the Original one, not the present day one - who suggested it, claiming it fit Percival who seemed to be a pack animal, fitting in the rest of the knights and all to willingly to help, to prove his worth.
She smiled at the memory. It was too bad that Morgana or Merlin never figured out what exactly happen to Percival after he went on his personal quest of the conquering the Holy Land for King Arthur. The reports just stopped coming after a few weeks and they waited a long while to hear anything back from the Hound Knight. They never did. Percival’s wife had been ready to give birth to their third child when he disappeared. His only son did eventually went on to take his father’s place at the Round Table before Arthur’s death and grow to have a family of his own.
It was common to see some old friends’ family names, sitting on the Round Table. In some cases, they were heirs of the Original Members of the Round Table. In other cases, the Family Line of the Original Members of the Round Table had died out or married into another family, losing the Family name through the many centuries. Morgana didn’t know how many names were lost that way, just like Pendragon.
There were days where Morgana still cursed her eldest half brother, Robert, for the actions he took, many years ago, that led to the downfall of the Pendragon House. She didn’t know if there was any more of the Pendragon bloodline still lived. She doubt it. She had tried to keep track of her many half sisters who were married off for various political treaties, but nearly all of them died through mysterious situations and the hand full who managed to survive, their bloodline ended.
On the other hand, her many half brothers who managed to survive the Pendragon Civil War lived a dozen or so years after Arthur’s death before they were killed off one by one. At first, Morgana didn’t know what to make of it, but when she tried to look more into the various reasons behind their deaths’, she knew their deaths were no accident. However, when she tried to look into it more, the United Kingdoms of Camelot forced the same enemy they did during Arthur’s time, causing the Separation and the trail went cold once she recovered her magical energy a later year. In the end, she gave up when she didn’t anything else over the mysterious deaths’ of her family, leaving her the single Pendragon left. Morgana shook her head, trying to clear it of the old memories, crossing the rug.
Morgana shook her head, trying to clear it of the old memories, crossing the rug. She went to the fifth floor. Her blue eyes scanned the floor, seeing the different colors of gold and green that belong to the House of Evergreen. Queen Brenna’s former house. The door opened, in the middle of the hallway, and the Evergreen Queen stepped out. Her black hair curled about her shoulders. Her tan skin hinted at her heritage of the people from the south. She wore a powered blue dress that hugged her curves. Her gold fleck, blue eyes seemed to glow in the torchlight as she stared at Morgana with a glimmer of happiness and sadness.
“Morgana,” her voice still held a southern accent to it, informing anyone who was familiar with it that Breena was from the Isle of Florence, “How have you been?”
“I’ve been good,” Morgana said with a smile, “What about you?”
“The same,” Brenna nodded. Her eyes darted around the hallway like she was searching for something or someone. Morgana recognized the tell as it was. She didn’t know how many times she had witness it while she attended Court. Brenna was lying. The Black Mage wondered why would the Former High Queen would lie. “I need to get going. I can’t be late for the Mourning Dinner. I’m sure Belladonna would skin alive me if I was late.” The former queen walked by Morgana.
Morgana frowned as she turned, watching Brenna leave the floor. The she-mage cocked her head to the side as she got sight of something poking out of the curly mess of Brenna’s black hair. Pointed ears. Similar to the elven kind. Her eyes narrowed, thinking. There was no way for one of the former Queens to be a non-human. Belladonna would have thrown a fit about it. There were too many balls where the Queens would have to wear their hair up, out of their face, and off their necks. Plus there was too many laws in place for a non-human to be apart of the Ruling Family. Those laws were not put in place by Belladonna while she was the High Queen, but few other Ruling Families before her time and the few times she had tried after she was forced to step aside as The High Queen.
Something had happened to Isabelle to change her into a vampire so that was different. It was after she had spent years in Camelot. Of course, if Belladonna had found out about the change, the warrior queen would try to have Isabella executed, but Brenna being born as a non-human and was able to rule as the High Queen of Camelot - that was an entire different story. If Brenna’s husband had lived, Morgana couldn’t help wondering what would have changed over the 10 years that he could have lived. A twitch of her lips as she entertained the idea. There would have been a good chance that many of the non-human laws would have been repelled. It might a step closer to the Golden Age of Camelot, again.
She sighed. That was another thing Morgana could live without. The ‘what if’s. There was too ‘What-if’s with each King and High Queen. She felt each Ruling family could do more if they had more time. She cursed the Death Mage Rowena, once more. A burning rage rushed through her at the mere thought of that woman. It was Rowena who casted the deadly curse on the Holy Sword, tying it to the worthy who pulls the Holy Sword out of the sheath. If it wasn’t her brother, Arthur, requesting Merlin to put the Spell of the Worthy on the Holy Sword, they wouldn’t have to find a new King every 10 years.
Morgana took a deep breath as she slowly climbed the stairs to the sixth floor. She let it out, pushing that anger aside and thoughts of that wretched woman. Her eyes drifted over the hallway. She cursed, softly, under her breath, wondering for another time why she had created the Queen’s Tower like this. She had personally built the Queen’s tower, years ago, when she was still the High Princess of Camelot, thinking there would be only one or two queens at a time, but after the magi realized that the curse was killing the worthy Kings, they need to make sure each Queen stay comfortable in their years after sitting on the High Queen’s Throne. Morgana had added each floor, exactly the same, because she was in a hurry to do so when Camelot went through a series of wars that claimed the King’s life, one after right the other, close to a thousand years ago. It went on for nearly 75 years. Eventually, the Queen’s Tower went from having three floors to ten floors to a grand total of 26 floors for the 25 queens who lived a thousand years ago. Morgana took the highest floor in the Queen’s Tower and has lived there ever since.
Morgana silently thanked whoever she needed to that Camelot didn’t have that many living Queens again. She knew the High Queen Kalliope was getting to move to the Queen’s Tower in a few days’ time. The Youngest Queen was the only queen that did not live in the tower, taking a room in the Royal Wing when she married Uther.
The she-mage entered the sixth floor and saw the festival colors of Yuletide, the Holly Berry Red and Evergreen. It was Holly’s floor, one of the daughters of Belladonna. Holly had married Sir Nickolas of House Yule. Lucky for everyone involved, Nickolas had been found worthy by the Holy Sword. Holly, once she moved to the Queen’s Tower after her husband’s death, made the decision to decorate in Nickolas’ house colors.
Morgana didn’t run into Holly as she crossed the Holly Berry Red rug, trimmed the evergreen. She eyed the floor to ceiling curtain were dyed Evergreen while the Yule House Mistletoe crest stood out in the Holly Berry Red. She smelled the scent of peppermint drifting through the air from the nearby brushes that stood on either side of Holly’s door. She heard raised voices coming behind the closed door. It sounded like Holly was arguing with her daughter about attending the Mourning Dinner.
The black mage picked up the pace, not wanting to stay to listen to that disagreement. She managed to start climbing the spiral stair case when she heard the door opened. She bounced up the stairs a bit faster as Holly’s voice filled the hallway with her daughter’s. They were still discussing the fact Holly was forcing her daughter to go to the Mourning Dinner while the daughter wanted to track down a knight and talk to him, again.
Morgana reached the seventh floor as Holly’s voice faded below. She let out a sigh. She glanced into the seventh hallway. There was torchlight on the walls, lighting up the corridor, but she knew the Queen who stayed on this floor hadn’t arrived, yet, back to Camelot. The Queen Room of this floor belonged to Elsa of House Winter, formerly of House Black, the other daughter of Belladonna. Morgana knew Belladonna would be chewing her second daughter’s rear end when she arrived, claiming that Elsa needed to be there for the Mourning Dinner. When Elsa moved to the Tower, she decorated her hallway in the shades of Ice Blue in honor of her late husband’s house. Morgana spotted the House of Winter’s crest on the dark blue curtain in the shape of an flexed, muscular arm. She didn’t stay on the seventh floor long.
Morgana exited the stair case for the eighth floor and spotted Queen Clarine walking toward her. Her eyes still red rimmed from all the crying Morgana knew she had done and distant. The Queen wore a simple black dress that hugged her form. Her face was pale. She didn’t say a word to the Black Mage as she past Morgana and disappeared down the stair case. Morgana sighed. She knew the Queen was taking the lost of Uther hard, a lot harder then the rest of the family. Uther was her baby and her only son. Her daughter managed to come, but Clarine wanted nothing to do with her, hadn’t even greeted her. Morgana found that saddening.
Clarine’s hallway was decorated in the Ruling Family’s colors instead of the House of Tully’s Red and Blue hues. It was the same as the first floor where Queen Vivien lived.
Morgana went on, to the stair case at the end of the floor. She reached to the ninth floor where Kalliope was moving to in a few days time. It was in the process of being decorated in House of Rose’ colors of reds, and whites. The curtains already had been replaced from the crestless one to the curtain holding the House of Rose’s crest with white flower petals, trimmed in red. The torches had been lit. Morgana knew this floor would be the last one lit.
She reached the end of the hallway and reached up to grab the last torch, standing on her toes to reach it. She pulled it down and held it in her hand as she started her way up the stair case, crossing each unlit, undecorated floor until she reached the last floor.
The last stair case didn’t open up to a hallway, but ended in a solid oak door. Morgana pushed it open and smiled. She had finally reached her rooms. She stepped into the entrance room and shut the door behind her. She didn’t go around the room, lighting the torches like she normally would do, but she went to her study and set her bag of herbs down on the large work table she had before she turned, leaving the room.
The day had been long for her. She let out a sigh as she strolled to the fireplace and placed the torch on an unlit, unburnt log, waiting for it to catch fire. She watched the flames licked at the log, eagerly before she took the torch and went to the front door of her room and dumped it into a pot of water. The fire hissed loudly as steam rose from it. She went back to her room and prepared to go to bed. She glanced out at the castle, below and saw the Royal Wing. The Common Meeting room windows were lit brightly and shadows were dancing cross the window.
Morgana knew the Mourning Dinner would be starting soon and for once, she was happy that she wasn’t invited to go. There would be enough drama at the dinner to last her a lifetime. However, she knew she would eventually hear about the drama taking part soon. From experience, having the family gathered for a Mourning Dinner always caused some family secrets to come out.
She frowned, thinking about her first Mourning Dinner, involving her own family. Her half-brother, Robert, had announced he was taking the Throne from Arthur through war if Arthur didn’t give him the Throne, willingly. Of course, it led to the Pendragon Civil War.
A few Kings later, the High Queen Athena of House Summer, the wife of King William, had one too drinks and ranted to anyone who would listen about she found out her husband cheated on her with one of her maids. The maid got pregnant and left the castle, shortly before the King’s death. When Merlin and Morgana tracked down the maid, the maid already gave birth and stayed with her wedded husband. It was a confusing tale.
Unfortunately, that story wasn’t the only case. Morgana remembered a few other cases where the Former High Queen confessed something dramatically shocking or one of the children expressed their true feelings over being royalty. She cocked her head as the memory of a time when one of the children admitted to killing their father in order to inherit the throne, but found out too late that the Holy Sword didn’t chose them. Of course, they threw a hissy fit about the outcome and threaten to take the Throne by force. However, the New Chosen King would end up banishing the previous Ruling Family from Camelot or sentencing the previous Ruling Family to execution to prevent a royal coup. It didn’t stop someone of the previous members of the old Ruling Family from trying to usurp the Chosen King.
In a way, Morgana already felt sorry for the Next Chosen King. He will have to deal with Belladonna and her scheming plans. God only knows what else someone displeased with the New Ruling Family could do or will do. It will be a rough ride for the next few months once the Holy Sword chose the next King.
Arthur didn’t want to go to the Royal Wing where the rest of the family gathered for dinner. He sighed as he pushed himself up from the chair. He really didn’t want to deal with the headache of the Mourning Dinner.
He had been hiding in his new room in the Knights’ Tower for the past few hours. He knew no one would have disturbed him. He glanced around the room. He still had to unpack from the move he recently made. He didn’t have the will to do much with his future in jeopardy. He didn’t know if he would be allowed to stay in the Castle as a knight. It was the same with the women in his family. He didn’t remember when it happened, but from the history lessons he had to take and the various conversations he had with his father and court historians, Nana Belladonna had managed to talk his father into sending his aunts away from the castle, once Uther was crowned King. The only reason why she couldn’t talk Uther into sending Grandma Clarine away was the fact Clarine was Uther’s mother.
Grandmother Vivi simply refused to leave and informed Belladonna that she tried to remove Vivi from the castle, Belladonna would be going as well - by coffin. When Arthur first that story, he couldn’t believe that his sweet, old grandmother would say something like that, but when Belladonna tried to remove Vivi from the Castle, shortly after Kalliope married his father and became High Queen, Vivi reminded Belladonna of her warning. Arthur avoided his grandmothers for the longest time and just found it easier to deal with them by agreeing with what they wanted or at least for the time being. Now, everything was in question.
Arthur let out another sigh as he moved to the door, leading to the hallway of the 7th floor. He opened it at the same his best friend, Lancelot, lifted his fist to knock on the door. The former prince couldn’t fight the amused smirk that spread across his face as Lancelot blinked then the knight asked, “So, are you going to eat with the Ruling Family or with the Knights?”
“As much as I would prefer eating with the Knights,” Arthur started, “We both know I’m expected at the family dinner.” He lost that amused smirk. “It is going to be such a fun affair.”
Lancelot snorted, “Sure it is.” He paused, “At least for the ones sitting on the sidelines of that royal dinner.”
“I rather be there instead of in the middle of it,” Arthur said as Lancelot stepped to the side. Arthur stepped out of his room and shut the door behind him. Together, the best friends walked to the spiral staircase, going down it.
“I heard Queens Susan and Brenna arrived an hour ago,” Lancelot commented, “And Queen Marie in the last few minutes.”
“I’m going back to my room,” Arthur started to turn around, taking a step back up the spiral staircase, causing the best knight of Camelot to laugh under his breath, “I don’t want to deal with that drama tonight.”
“You know, Bella will be sending a guard to you, soon,” Lancelot countered, “Claiming it is tradition that you come to the dinner.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Arthur grumbled. He really didn’t want to go the dinner, now. He didn’t remember the last time his aunts and Nana Bella was in the same room together because he was young enough where he was excused from attending, but he had heard the stories from his nursemaid later while she talked with her -now - husband. Nana Bella basically had a shouting match with Brenna before Uther stepped in and sent both women to their rooms. Brenna went willingly while Nana Bella had to be threaten to be tossed into the dungeons overnight. Hopefully, Arthur wouldn’t have to be do that. The only difference between his father and himself, Arthur didn’t make idle threats. He knew Nana Bella would send a guard after him before she would come herself and ran fury down upon him. “Don’t be surprise that Nana Bella appears in the dungeons for the night.”
Lancelot laughed before he replied, “I’ll warn the guards and the Generals.” Arthur felt Lancelot’s eyes drift to him for a moment then stare straight ahead as they stepped off the spiral staircase, “Should I inform the Generals that they may want to replace the guards with several of our people? That way none of the guards feel uncomfortable about being ordered by Bella to be released, but can’t due to it was your orders she can’t be let out.”
Arthur thought about that as he strolled over to the door of the Knights’ tower. He nodded saying, “I think it would be best, but only if Nana Bella ends up down there.”
Lancelot nodded and Arthur stepped out of the tower, into the dimming light of the sun. He was thankful the day was nearly over. It had been a long one. He strolled over to the castle and headed to the Royal Wing where the Ruling Family stayed. A part of him was glad that he no longer stayed in the Wing. Having his aunts back in the castle was going to be weird enough, but he wanted to avoid the drama that he knew was going to happen between Nana Bella and Aunts Brenna, Susan, and Marie. He nodded to the guards as he entered the Royal Wing. He paused on the other side of the door, straining his ears to listen. Silence.
Arthur didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. He crept forward. His eyes drifted around the hallway until they landed on the closed door of the Common Meeting Room. It was doubling as the Dinner Room tonight for the Mourning Dinner. He approached the door, still not hearing if there was arguing or not.
Sir Bors, blessed him, apparently got stuck with the Duty of the Night to guard the Common Meeting Room for the dinner, gave him an understanding look and once Arthur got close, whispered, “So far, there has been no arguing from what I can tell.”
“Who is all in there?” Arthur questioned.
“Previous Queens Brenna, Marie, Susan, Vivien, and Clarine with High Queen Kalliope,” Bors listed the family members who were in the room behind the closed door. Arthur nodded. Bors’ eyes shifted behind him and he straightened.
The former crowned prince turned and saw Nana Bella stormed up with his cousin, James, trailing behind her with Aunt Holly. Arthur resisted the urge to sigh. Of course, Aunt Holly had to show up as well. Today just got longer. He put on a welcoming smile, directing it to Aunt Holly and said, “Hello, Aunt Holly.”
“Hello, Arthur,” Holly’s deep famine voice filled in the hallway, “It is good to see you again.” Holly approached him and held up her arms. Arthur stepped into them and hugged his aunt, tightly. Holly was the older daughter of Nana Bella. “Though I wished it was under better circumstances.”
“Me too, Auntie,” Arthur replied, wondering where the younger of the Belladonna daughters was at, “Where is Aunt Elsa?”
“She will be showing up in the morning,” Holly explained, “She left the Winter Estate, late.”
“She will be hearing about it from me when she gets here,” Belladonna’s tone informed Arthur how much she disapprove of Elsa’s tardiness.
Arthur thought privately that Elsa wanted to avoid getting a lecture from her mother as much as possible, but he didn’t know if anyone had informed the newcomers of the news about the Pope.
“You know, mom, that Elsa was never the one to arrive on time,” Holly said, giving her mother a look behind her back “She would be late for her own funeral.”
Arthur and James shared a look of amused. Elsa had that reputation and it wouldn’t surprise them if Elsa managed to be late for her own funeral when she decided to kick the bucket. Arthur turned to Sir Bors and nodded at him.
Sir Bors turned to the door and banged on it before he stepped into the room, announcing, “Prince Arthur, Queen Belladonna, Queen Holly, and Lord James are here, your highness.”
“Allow them to enter,” Kalliope’s voice rang out.
“As you wish, my lady,” Sir Bors said before he pushed open the door more and stepped aside. Arthur entered first, strolling to his chair as he was still the Acting King. Belladonna swept into the room. The Acting King heard her scoff at the sight of her former daughter-in-laws, sitting at the table. He simply closed his eyes, fighting against the irritation that rush through him. He sent his aunts a welcoming smile like he did with Aunt Holly. It was because Nana Belladonna had talked Uther into sending them away from the Castle that Arthur didn’t spend much time with them while he was through his teenage years. He was pretty sure the last time he had seen them was about 10 years ago shortly after his father took the crown of Camelot, becoming King.
“Welcome back to Camelot, Aunt Marie, Aunt Brenna, Aunt, Susan,” Arthur started before Holly rushed past him and went to her sister-in-laws with a joyful cry.
“Brenna, Suzie, Marie,” Holly said, “I have missed you, so much.” She went to the closet one, Marie.
Marie’s red hair flared around her head like unruly halo. She wore an olive green dress with a red rose trim. Her grin was bright as she stood up and held onto Holly as tightly as Holly held onto her before they parted. Marie asked, “How are your kids?”
“Micheal is doing alright,” Holly launched into an explanation, “He should be here in Camelot, as a part of the Honorable Brigade.” She smiled. That was news to Arthur. He didn’t think any of his cousins would already be in Camelot. “The last time he wrote to me, he said he was in line for a promotion to Fourth in Commander.”
“Wow,” Marie exclaimed, sounding impressed. Arthur nodded in agreement as he sat down beside Kalliope. He knew General Honor pushed his men to do better and be better then the average soldier, often giving a speech about honor and how important it was for them to keep it. He had been at the receiving end of one of those speeches before and it left an impression on him. If his cousin Micheal was promoted to Fourth in Commander, Micheal not only deserved it, but the General did as well.
“Little Anna,” Holly grinned, brightly, “Managed to get herself engaged to a Lord in the Highlands and she won’t be joining us. She is expecting her first babe.” Gasps echoed. Holly drifted to Susan with a bounce in her step.
Susan’s dark blue dress glimmered in the firelight. There were streaks of gray in her brown curled hair. Susan gave Holly a bright grin, revealing crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes and replied, “I bet you are excited to become a grandma finally.”
Arthur saw James move toward him and the former prince waved him to take the seat beside him as Holly continued to bring her former sister-in-laws up to speed on what was happening in her life since they had parted ways.
“You have no idea,” Holly said, “Micheal isn’t looking for a wife, just yet, but I do have one in mind.”
“You should have,” Belladonna cut in, “Our family needs to benefit from the union unlike Anna’s union with that pick,” she spat the word.
The Black haired beauty stood up from her seat. Her gold-blue eyes flashed with a dark emotion as she shook out her powered blue dress. Brenna shot her former mother-in-law a dirty look and said, “Not necessary. As long as the kids are happy with their union, who cares.” She walked over and hugged Arthur.
“What about you, ladies,” Holly asked as she hugged Clarine, “It is good to see you, Clarine, and I’m sorry that you lost your son.”
Clarine nodded as Arthur spotted tear welling up in his grandmother’s eyes. The two women parted and Holly went to Vivien, “Hello, grandma.”
“Hello, dear,” Vivien replied, “I’m glad to see you in good health.”
“Likewise, grandma,” Holly commented with a grin before she approached Kalliope, curtsy, “Niece-High Queen, it is good to see well.”
“I’m glad to see you arrive at Camelot, Aunt-Queen,” Kalliope sent her a smile, waving her to stand up from her curtsy as the High Queen moved from her seat to embrace her aunt by marriage. Arthur knew none of Kalliope’s family would be traveling to Camelot for the funeral ceremony. Kalliope’s mother passed away three to four years ago and one of Kalliope’s male cousins took over the small kingdom. That was the last thing the Drake House heard from Kalliope’s former kingdom. There were times where he had heard Kalliope crying late at night in one of the smaller royal libraries when he went for a midnight stroll. His father had comforted her a few times once they got word of Kalliope’s mother passing, but after the first few times, his father stopped seeking her out, slowly becoming cold to her. Arthur had noticed she started to seek out another for attention, but he didn’t know who could be.
Eventually, the women settled down, sitting down at the table as they discussed what was going on with their kids. Arthur glanced at Kalliope. Her eyes held a sadness and longing in them. He didn’t know why his father and Kalliope never tried to have more heirs. Now, it didn’t seem the appropriate time to ask. Maybe he never will, out of respect for Kalliope’s privacy.
The Royal Servants appeared with trays full of food and passed them out to the members of House Drake and their close family members. Arthur wondered how long it would take for someone to get drunk and dark family secrets flowed. He glanced at the other former possible heirs. They looked miserable as he felt. He grabbed a goblet and started to sip the wine, glancing around as the Ruling Family started to eat. He set the goblet done on the table, glancing at Kalliope and paused. Her cheeks were rosy as her eyes held a haze.
Arthur sighed. He wondered how long she had been drinking before the rest of the family arrived. He took a bit before he took another sip as the conversation went from the adult children and their prosperity of marriage to babies when Kalliope blurted out, “I’m pregnant!”
The conversations came to erupted end as the family processed what the High Queen had announced before Belladonna shirked, “WHAT!”
Arthur turned his attention to Kalliope, asking the one question everyone wanted to know, “Is the child my father’s?”
“No,” Kalliope’s lips spread into a drunk grin, “It’s my love, my heart’s.” There was silence, “Besides, Uther hasn’t touched me in years, not since the night we got married. He was also seeking another’s touch.” She shrugged. She turned to Arthur and pointed at him, “Your father,” she hiccupped, “got one of the Ladies of the Court pregnant. In a way, I got back at him for his unfaithfulness.” She giggled.
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