Fics: 5 Songs
Title: 5 Songs
Genre: Romance/Fluff/Angst
Characters & Pairings: Morgana/Gwen
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Only 1x12 I think.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BBC’s Merlin.
Summary: 5 ficlets to 5 songs chosen randomly using shuffle on iTunes.
Viva la Vida - Coldplay
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
I had left the Camelot years ago, this was madness. Trying to sneak into the castle must be the stupidest thing I have ever done, I was going to get caught and Uther is not a just king. I have heard that he has gotten worst since I left but leaving is the best thing I have ever done, even if I’d spent the years since evading Camelot’s knights. There is no more bone crushing pressure to be something that is so far from what I am that I can’t breathe. One thing, though, is missing. Something is absent from my days, something that had lightened the monotonous tone of the castle trapped existence I had fled from, was still fleeing from.
“Openian” I whispered and the locked door to Gwen’s chamber opened slowly, silent in the empty corridor.
The chamber that Gwen now slept in used to be mine, though it resembled my room about as much as the slumbering Gwen resembled my kind and gentle maid. There was a new standing mirror on the far side of the room, showing me my reflection in the moonlight. I, like the room, had changed almost beyond recognition. My once flawless skin, daily bathed in milky balm, was now accented with midnight black symbols and scars and my hair was shorter, I couldn’t maintain it the way that Gwen had and had taken a sharpened sword to it within a week. Black from the fire rimmed my eyes making them sparkle, all artificial. If the court of Camelot saw me now, would they even recognise me?
A stirring from the bed broke my trance.
“Morgana?” Gwen’s voice was shaky though the dark.
“Yes.” I murmured, closing the door behind me and lowering my hood. “Are you going to call the guards?”
“No.” She said simply and I released a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.
Look After You - The Fray
There now, steady love,
So few come and don't go
Will you want to ,
Be the one I always know
When I'm losing my control,
The city spins around
You're the only one
Who knows, you slow it down
A scream broke my slumber, jerking me from dreams of sun kissed fields and dewy grass into the grey of the castle. My room was small and it took me a moment to realise that I was not in the comfortable wattle and daube of my father’s house but in the stone walled side chamber off Morgana’s room. The room I now slept in was previously a storeroom for the fabric I used to repair Morgana’s gowns and was so only big enough to serve such a purpose but I did not dare do as Morgana asked and set up in her room. I was a servant after all.
Morgana’s dreams had gotten increasingly worse since my father had died and so she asked that I stay in the castle to dull the pain in the night, to comfort where others could not. I knew that what she saw would come true or at least would come true if we didn’t stop it and I also knew that if Uther ever found out he would cast her from the court. He has such a love for her as he does for Arthur that he would not have her killed but he hated magic more than he loved her and would so exile her from his kingdom, small favours for such an unyielding king.
I went quickly from my bed, through the wooden door, the physical barrier that separated us, and gathered her shaking body in my arms, breeching the unspoken barrier Morgana seemed so determined to ignore. She buried her face in my neck, clinging to me as I whispered practiced words of comfort into her bed-messy hair. Slowly her breathing evened out again and her wet sobs against my skin subsided until only her warm breath remained, tingling my skin.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, lifting head from my shoulder as she always did and looking into my eyes in a mixture of embarrassment and gratefulness.
“Hush.” I soothed, brushing the hair back from her face where it had clung to the moisture of her tears.
A shadow of something I couldn’t identify ghosted across her eyes, making my stomach tighten with a feeling I didn’t recognise. Her eyes dropped to where her head had rested and continued until shyly her eyes met mine again.
“Stay with me.” She murmured inching closer, her hand resting on my thigh as she angled so I had to tilt my head up to meet her gaze. “Stay here with me.” It might have sounded pleading if her body hadn’t shifted mien from shivering to bold.
A rush of sensation coursed through my body as, closed eyed, I nodded. I gasped as her lips met mine, gentle yet resolute.
I woke the next morning not to the cold chill that stone gave a room but to the warm contentedness of skin on skin.
The Story - Brandi Carlile
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true...I was made for you
When Guinevere left Camelot she was broken. Torn clothes whipped at her as the cruel wind carried her on white horseback into a forest she knew nothing of. Bruises the kings knights had given her showed purple against her skin through the rips in the exquisite red fabric, finger and thumb sized imprints where they had held her tender body with malice and dragged her from her chambers. The cell she was held in was different from the one she had been in before, larger and with chains on the wall. Steel bit at her skin as it bound her wrists and she hugged it to her, despite the pain, remembering the fair wrists that it had held before.
It had been the middle of the night when the metal had clicked open, mirroring a similar action by the barred door. No one was around, only the sleeping guards, yet she was free. A cool wind reverberated around the small room, caressing her skin and she knew at once who had freed her from her captivity. The dark sweet taste that the magic left on her tongue was as distinctive as a signature, left behind by the sorceress who had conjured it. All magic was like this, indicative of its creator but none she had sampled, though it had admittedly been only few, tasted quite as good as Morgana’s. Merlin’s came close but there was no depth to his, the sweetness was there but there was nothing more to enhance the flavour, it was pure and good, so unlike Morgana’s. She knew it was wrong to prefer the darker taste but there was something so alluring about it that struck her on a carnal level, it was raw but not without finesse, quite like it’s wielder.
The horse was waiting for her when she slipped from the castle, standing fully tacked but tethered to nothing. It knew who it was there for and made soft noises of contentment when she stoked its soft nose, encouraging her onto its back. Gwen had no idea where the horse was taking her but she knew who it was taking her two.
It finally stopped in a clearing, swaddled in ivy. She slid from the horse, landing on the leaf covered ground with a soft thud that was swallowed up by the trees around her. Looking around the clearing she frowned, deepening the lines that time had put at the corner of her eyes. They had been hardly visible before her encounter with the knights but bruised skin made them obvious.
“Oh, Gwen.” A soft voice said from behind her. “What have they done to you?”
Gwen turned, coming face to face with Morgana for the first time in years. There were lines around the sorceresses eyes as well, creased with worry. Gwen smiled. “Nothing you can’t fix.”
You’re All I Have - Snow Patrol
Strain this chaos turn it into light
I've got to see you one last night
Before the lions take their share
Leave us in pieces, scattered everywhere
Gwen watched from her window as Arthur climbed the steps with a bundle in his arms, the flow of knights behind him considerably less that when they had left. She scanned the group for the familiar shape of Morgana but found her nowhere and sighed in relief. Arthur had promised her that Morgana would not be killed in the battle, that he would bring her back to the castle. He didn’t know why Gwen was so insistent upon it but he knew better than to argue with her on matters concerning Morgana. The time it took Arthur to make his way from the castle door to Gwen’s room felt like forever to the new queen. She was still not used to waiting around for things to happen, not used to not doing everything herself.
“Gwen” Arthur nodded as he came through the door, heralded by the sounds of a screaming baby.
“Arthur, what...?” Gwen looked at the tiny bundle only now realising it was a baby.
“She’s Morgana’s.” Arthur shouted above the noise. “Morgana got away but... She won’t stop crying.”
Gwen’s stomach tightened as she held her hands out for the baby, she knew that Morgana would never leave her child behind if she had a choice. What if she had been injured? As soon as the baby was placed in her arms the crying ceased and big blue eyes looked up at her, shining from the moisture that still covered them. Gwen couldn’t help but smile as the little girl looked up at her and gurgled, she looked so much like Morgana.
“Just like her mother.” Arthur commented, glad the assault on his ears was over.
“Especially her eyes.” Gwen smiled, not looking away for the contented baby.
“I meant, happy now she’s in your arms.” Arthur said tartly, turning to leave before Gwen could respond. “You’ll look after her.” He said, and was gone.
Gwen sighed and called for the maid she knew was working in the next room, she was going to need a crib... and cloth for nappies... and milk, or was it soft foods by this age? She didn’t really have a clue. One thing she did know was that Morgana would be back for her daughter and that no one on this earth would be able to stop her.
Days passed and turned into weeks until summer was dawning and Gwen and the baby (whose name she didn’t know and so had called Niamh) had settled into a routine. It was on the night before the longest day of the year that Morgana came, quiet in the night.
“Gwen” She whispered, hovering next to her former maid. “Guinevere”
Gwen stirred and opened her eyes, squinting as she tried to focus on the figure next to her. “Morgana?” she murmured.
Morgana’s face came into focus, smiling down on her. “I wanted to thank you, for taking care of Caitlin.”
“That’s her name?” Gwen asked, sitting up so she could see Morgana better. “That was my mother’s name.”
“I know.” Morgana said, sitting on the bed next to her with the baby in her arms. “I remember you telling me, after your father died.”
Gwen smiled. “I’ve been calling her Niamh.”
“A good Erin name.” Morgana smiled. “How has she been?”
“No trouble for me but she screams when anyone else tries to touch her.”
“I knew she would settle for you, I knew you would keep her safe.” Morgana’s head was bent low. “I came for her as soon as I could.”
“I know.” Gwen assured her, her hand finding Morgana’s and clasping it. There was a pause before she asked, “Are you married?”
“No.” Morgana murmured, kissing Caitlin’s head. “She’s all mine.”
“Her father?” Gwen asked.
“A druid, he died before she was born. I didn’t love him, I was just... lonely.”
Gwen nodded, understanding. She had married Arthur for the same reason.
“Will you come with me?” Morgana asked.
“Morgana, I can’t!” Gwen whispered. “Arthur...”
“Do you love him?” Morgana asked, meeting Gwen’s eyes.
“Yes.” Gwen lied.
“As much as you love Caitlin?”
Gwen looked from baby to mother. “No.”
“How about me?” Morgana asked hopefully.
“No.” Gwen answered again.
“Then come with me,” Morgana pleaded, leaning her forehead against Gwen’s, “please.”
Galway Girl - Mundy/Sharon Shannon
Because her hair was black and her eyes were blue
So I took her hand, and I gave her a twirl
And I lost my heart to a Galway Girl
Gwen couldn’t believe her luck.
Morgana was walking towards her, scarlet dress clinging to her lithe body, moving slowly in around her predatory gait. Her black hair was tumbling over her shoulders, a silver diadem resting atop it. Blue eyes were portals to the storm that was raging behind them, pupils wide and focused on Gwen herself. Morgana had been away with Uther and Arthur on some diplomatic expedition for weeks, Gwen had had to stay behind to look after her father. The pale skinned woman had burst into Gwen’s chambers the moment she arrived back at the castle.
“It’s been too long.” Morgana mumbled, her voice scratchy as she crushed their lips together before Gwen could breathe a reply. “I love you so much.” Morgana said, backing Gwen towards the bed. “God, I missed you.”
Gwen let herself get lost in the sights and sounds and feel of Morgana as she felt her clothes falling from her body. She loved it when Morgana got like this.