A Walk on the Wild Side? (Morgana)

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was starting to enjoy Camelot. Merlin had left him to his own devices, as he supposed his new friend had other duties aside from tending him. The only other person who he had been left with to be entertained by was Gaius, and Gwaine had no intention of learning his herbs, or helping the old man clean out his workspace. He was grateful of course that he was being tended to, but Gwaine wasn’t a domestic being, and he would rather be out and about rather than helping to sweep up a workshop. Stretching out a little, he stole an apple from a passing servant’s basket who didn’t notice at all. Grinning a little at his own brilliance, Gwaine leant up against the wall; looking out at the kingdom as he took a bite from the apple. He still had his bandage on, and he felt a lot better though he figured he had best leave it on for now. Taking another bite of the apple, Gwaine considered his position, he had never really been inside a castle, not recently anyway. He hadn’t had any reason to; strangers weren’t really welcome in castles, or anywhere near where they could harm the monarch. It wasn’t like Gwaine had any interests in turning assassin, but apparently it was frowned upon for a stranger to be found in a princesses bedchambers. He had never received any complaints from the princesses, however.

Finishing his apple, he threw the remains out of the window and watched it fall onto the deserted grounds. It was at that point that he decided that a trip to the tavern would be the right way to go, or at least he could at least discover where the tavern was for future reference. As usual, Gwaine had little interest or intent to stay here longer than was needed. He was a nomad, so as soon as he started getting noticed he slipped away again as quickly as he had came. It would probably be best that way, he had after all saved a prince; he hardly wanted a reputation building.

Turning down the corridor, Gwaine noticed a young, beautiful noblewoman approaching him. He had to stop himself from grinning, as he was unable to believe his own luck. She looked like quite a privileged lady in herself; you could tell with women. It was generally everything about them which gave it away; the way she carried herself, her expression and even right down to the fabrics of her dress and the jewellery she accessorised with. In his usual manner, Gwaine approached the woman, stopping her in her path and grinning at her. “Forgive me my Lady, but I wanted to make sure that I was not imagining such beauty.”

Timeline: Series 3, during the episode ‘Gwaine’
Tagged: Princess Morgana Pendragon
Time of Day: Midday
Location: The corridors in the castle of Camelot[/color][/size]

[stormzlz]

In and out, in and out, the tedious business of creating a great little cross stitch portrait of Prince Arthur Pendragon upon a gallant white steed. Morgana was half asleep on her stool, working the fabric without really looking at it. The day was pleasant and her skin was warm from sitting beneath the sun's rays for however many hours... who knew how many that was? Morgana's needle slipped in her trance and she pricked her finger, causing the court's young warden to wince and curse. "Careful where you stick that lance now, little Arthur," Morgana chuckled as the needle poked through her cross stitch in just the right position to in fact look like a little lance.

Morgana stretched her long white arms into the air and reveled in the movement. She sat for a while longer on the stool, with the cross stitch in her lap, before she stood up and placed it down on her stool. Morgana couldn't help but grin a little mischievously at the idea that someone might stupidly sit down on her art work and get stuck by little Arthur's lance in their plush butts. A girl has to get her kicks where she can!

Lazy steps took Morgana from her balcony to her chamber door and then slowly down the corridor. Morgana's gown was a deep scarlet red with black trimmings with a scooping neckline, hugging her in all the right places. Her hair fell down her back in tight black curls, but with only a few ruby-encrusted hair pins to keep it off of her face. Definitely nothing over the top, merely a day dress for a young courtier who may chance upon her very own Prince Charming in the castle. Morgana smirked at the very idea that she was a glorified peacock strutting her stuff down the halls off the most prestigious Castle Camelot.

Then Morgana was stopped in her tracks by a young gentleman who looked a little worse for wear, poor thing. Still, the charm oozed out of every pore in the man's body. How could it be that such a rough looking character be so... smooth? Morgana paused mid-stride to listen to the man and she offered a coy smile in response. "Indeed, fine ... Sir, beauty this great does exist," Morgana said, leaning a little bit closer to him and cupping a hand to her lips in the age old manner of confidants, "and you've just been looking in the wrong places." Morgana stood back, flashed a grin and made to leave. Quickly she averted her hand that had been crawling up to play with a lock of hair and offered it to the gentleman before her. "Lady Morgana Gorlois, ward of King Uther Pengdragon," she added whom her warden was in a fashion that screamed in case you're having improper thoughts about me or otherwise known, in this century, as you can undress me with your eyes but keep your mitts to yourself, bad boy.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine now wasn’t quite sure why he hadn’t visited Camelot before, well, that was only half a lie. He had never visited Camelot before because he hadn’t seen any reason to try to justify the rumours that he had heard while he had been in the other kingdoms. Uther’s tyranny was something that was used as bedtime stories to scare children in some of the neighbouring kingdoms, but it was spoken about seriously in taverns up and down as well. Gwaine had heard most of the details of the great purge, and how those with magic were persecuted mercilessly. Gwaine didn’t have magic, so he didn’t really have anything to worry about in terms of being caught or executed, but he liked being around open minded people most of the time, and he had been sure that most in Camelot would have shared Uther’s opinions and temperament. However, Merlin and Gaius seemed quite friendly, and unlike what he would have expected from people who had lived under such a reign to be like. Gwaine was taking it all in his stride though, he was far from agreeing with the events that had plagued Camelot’s history, but the kingdom itself appeared quite happy, and prosperous. Well, he would be judging that mood to the full when he found the tavern. Hopefully the tavern was going to live up to expectations, or he would have gotten out of bed for nothing.

The woman who was coming towards him though was certainly a welcomed distraction. You could always say how much you were going to enjoy a kingdom by the beauty of its women. So far, Gwaine approved. He looked the woman up and down, caressing her curves with his eyes. She certainly was beautiful, any idiot could see that, but she knew it as well, which was slightly disappointing. Women who were aware of their beauty were so much harder to charm, they had probably told themselves ten times what his compliments would amount to even before breakfast. He was determined, as ever, though to try to make this woman blush.

He grinned at her words, well perhaps this situation was salvageable if she had a bit of a bite to her. Gwaine ran a hand through his hair and nodded at her, “I have indeed my lady.” His grin only widened, “But then, I am glad I could have this opportunity to have my eyes opened to true beauty.” That wouldn’t make her blush, Gwaine knew that, she was too proud for that; he could see it in the way she held herself. The king’s ward was it? Great. That was just what he needed, at least he knew that he wouldn’t be doing that much with this woman, he’d heard how much of a tyrant Uther Pendragon was, so he didn’t want to give him a reason to be annoyed, “A pleasure to meet you my Lady, my name is Gwaine.” He inclined his head towards her but he didn’t bow. That was more out of habit than anything; Gwaine had given up bowing to nobility a long time ago.