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Fear curdled in Morgana's heart and stomach as she tried to process what was happening to her. How could it have happened? She had been so careful; she had never allowed herself to be treated so by a man before, so why now? What had been so different? The ward closed her eyes against tears that were threatening to fall, refusing to show such weakness. She knew it would not be long until Uther or Arthur heard about her condition, and she dreaded telling them. She had begged Gwen not to mention anything to either of them, but she didn't know if Gwen would or not, for the maid and the Prince were so terribly close.

The knock on the door made her jump, and Morgana swallowed, unable to grant the person knocking entrance as her voice seemed to be gone, though as it opened to reveal Arthur, tears rose to her eyes once more in a mix of relief and fear as he showed concern for her. The ward managed a weak smile, wondering if she could possibly try and devert him, taking a moment to try and raise herself up on the bed, failing, her strength almost gone from the effort, her features paling even more - if that was possible. "I... " she could not lie to him. They had been through too much together for it to work, let alone the fact that Morgana was beginning to realise that she did not want to lie to him... she wanted Arthur ... no, she needed Arthur to know, to understand, and to possibly help. "I have felt better," she confessed quietly. "Are you not supposed to be training?" she asked softly, meeting Arthur's eyes. "Not that I do not appreciate the company."

"You cannot ask for one thing without expecting something to be asked of you in the same instance!" Morgana's voice sharpened a little. "Come, are you so foolish? Do not be so stupid, you must know you are at my mercy!"

The Queen's smile regrew as Caitrin asked her questions. She met her eyes. "Because I know of others who you know, who are close to Arthur. Your allegance will go a long way in convincing them to be loyal to me, and in turn Arthur." she laughed softly. "The fact that he is my brother means no such thing! If he were not my brother he could not attempt to challange me. Although I confess I do not expect him to do such a thing now, when he has not bothered in the last few days, but even so." she shrugged. "As I say, his allegance to me will go a long way. And thus your allegance is important."

The Queen smiled as a flash of fear braved its sight into the lady's eyes. It appeared she had found the lady's weakness. Now all she had to do was exploit it. "I beg to differ," she stated calmly. "For whilst you defy me, so to do your friends. They will lead by your example, I fear. So you see, it is more important than ever for you to admit to my rule." Morgana smiled a little. "If you do, I promise you will be relinquished from these chains and this cell. If not, then I cannot guarentee the safety of either yourself or those you name as friend."

Morgana paused, meeting Caitrin's eyes. "Do you not wish to be freed from here, to see the sunlight outside? It is a beautiful day. If you swear your allegance to me, I may even treat Arthur kindly if he should return to Camelot. Of course, he will never be King nor rule, but I may treat him kindly..."

Morgana smiled a little, patronisingly. "You care a great deal for Arthur," she acknowledged. "I can see why. He is kind, caring, and seems to have developed a taste for the commonplace girl," she paused. "but he will not come back. I know my brother, Caitrin. If he were to return, he would have done so by now. He has abandoned you, all of you, knowing that he has failed Camelot, his father, and the people he once called his own." She rested a hand on Caitrin's shoulder, letting go of her cheek, a pitying look in her eyes. "It is better you rest your hopes on me than him, for he will never return to this land, I wager."

The Queen laughed softly. "I have touched upon a nerve," she teased. "No, Caitrin. Your friends are a part of whatever you are a part of - no matter whether you wish them to be or not. So I would think carefully if I were you. Do you wish to see them suffer? Because you will, if you do not give me the respect I deserve." she smiled. "If you swear allegance to me, I may treat them kindly. Those who have sworn allegance have found me to be merciful. Would you really deny yourself the comfort of the Queen of Camelot's friendship?"

Morgana laughed softly at the acknowledgment of her better swordsmanship compared to Merlin, smirking a little. "I think most people's is better than his," she grinned. "I would teach him, but I'd be worried he'd be dead by the end of it... you know what a lightweight he is, Arthur," As the Prince, her brother in all but blood, asked how long she had known about him and Gwen, Morgana smiled a little, resting a hand on his shoulder. "For quite a while," she admitted. "If you know what to look for, it is very obvious. I am quite surpised no one else knows yet. You two are hardly careful." She paused. "you must be careful though. If the King were to find out about the two of you... I fear for Gwen." she said honestly.

The ward sighed. "You must stop blaming yourself. Neither Gwen nore I would have allowed you to go alone," she argued. "And how do you know you would have been any better off with Cenred and his men alone than with us anyway? They could have found otherways, I am sure, to try to get information from you." She nodded as he spoke of a traitor, biting her lip. "It is a disturbing thought, non the less. I would advise we both keep closer council from now on though."

Morgana shook her head when the Prince asked about Gwen, sighing quietly. "Nothing so much about the two of you, as her and Elyan. He seemed to know an awful lot about the boy, which concerns me. He may try and use Elyan in the future against us. We must be cautious, Arthur." she bit her lip. "He did mention that the two of you seemed closer than any other servant and Prince, but I lied and said that was simply because she and I were close, that you very rarely consorted with servants; you did so only to please me." her eyes met his, wondering how he would react to the words.

The Lady's eyes widened as a child's voice pleaded for help - wait, didn't she know that voice? She was sure she did! She pushed aside the thought, ignoring the whining in her mind that told her not to help whoever was in trouble, but she could not shake his plea from her mind. As she spotted the child, who was reaching out desperately, Morgana snapped into action, moving forward and grasping for the boy, eyes glancing around desperately to figure out who was after him. It seemed that whoever it was was vile enough to go after an innocent child. "Where are you?" she shouted through the fog and mist. "Let me help you!"

His words again made her heart thump in pity for him, and made her more deterimined than ever to try and help the child. The scream tore through her, and for a moment Morgana's heart stopped. Her eyes widened as she witnessed a man she hadn't seen before fly back onto the ground with a heavy thump, her own heart thumping heavily. Her eyes darted from the man to the terrain around her, finally spotting the boy as he struggled to get up, his wariness clear. She ran over, glancing around about them before murmuring a few words of magic, summoning a mist to hide them as she took the child's hands. "It is alright. You are safe now, I will help you," she asssured, before gathering him into her arms and running toward her home.

Though the Pendragon tried to assure her that the King did not see her as a desposable thing, sadly Morgana was not convinced. She appreciated Arthur's effort, though, and knew he was partially doing so out of loyalty to Uther - which was understandable; he was after all Arthur's father. Though she had to, admittedly agree with his assessment of the proud King - that Uther was not the most comfortable with revealing his true emotions. Unless of course it was anger. Anger was the one thing Uther was inexplicably good at portraying. "Perhaps you are right," she said quietly, with a sigh. "You know him better than I, after all."

The ward bit her lip as Arthur swore to free her from this bond, raising from her chair to take his hands, meeting his eyes. "Please, do not do anything to anger your father, or turn him against you. Not on my account." Morgana smiled a little as the blonde said once again that she was a sister to him in all but blood, about to reply when he carried on, a slight blush rising to her cheeks as he revealed just how much she meant to him, though it faded again when he spoke of the leacherous Prince. Morgana hesitated, swallowing. "If I do not marry him... someone else will have to deal with his ... ways." she shuddered. "I am not sure I can let someone else fall into such a trap."

Morgana paused, placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "If you challange this man, it could lead to his country and ours coming to war," she said quietly, reasonably. "Please, Arthur. There is more at stake here than what little remains of my dignity. Please."

Morgana chuckled at the reference to the lie they had agreed to tell Uther. "True, very true," she teased. "Although why he could possibly think that he would have anything to say in our bets is beyond me!"

She sighed softly, shaking her head. "You are right. Both Gwen and I would not have seen you go alone, even with Merlin," she smiled a little. "Lets face it, Merlin is not the best with a sword or indeed any weapon." The ward paused a little, meeting the blonde's eyes. "I know how much you care for Gwen," she said quietly, quite unexpectedly. "I know you did not want to see her in danger. But I believe she is truly able to look after herself. She has surely prooven that today." Morgana nodded at Arthur's words, for they were true. "Yes. We have all made it home, thankfully," she acknowedged.

As the Pendragon spoke of Cenred once more, Morgana bit her lip, turning to face him, a mask of concern fluttering over her features. "Are you thinking that someone inside the castle is feeding him information?" she asked worridely. "Could that be how he has gained such knowledge? I confess that when he held me in that room, alone with him, he said things that... he should not have known." She hesitated. "He also mentioned... Gwen."

She nodded, agreeing emphatically with the assessment that they all needed to be more careful. "As if we are not always," she said quietly. "but yes, we do." With a pause, Morgana turned to meet Arthur's eyes. "You and Gwen especially."

The look in Caitrin's eyes was enough to make Morgana chuckle a little, and she watched with some amusement as the other woman just looked at her. "What?" she asked. "Do you not think the position of Queen suits me, my Lady?" She chuckled again. "You see how the Kingdom is now - is it not better off with me as its Queen?"

At the comment regarding the chains, Morgana raised an eyebrow. "I did not ask whether you wished comfort, Lady Caitrin," she spoke sternly. "I merely asked if you enjoyed your new abode. Do you know how many people have been in this dungeon? So many, in the past. And now you must join them," she smiled. "Of course, there is a simple way to free yourself. It requires nought but your word and promise. A simple enough thing to give, I think."

The Queen moved over, reaching forward and taking Caitrin's chin within her fingers, gripping tightly. "If you are expecting Arthur to come and save you, I woudl not bother," she stated quietly. "Like the coward he is he has fled, and Uther is a prisoner who is broken and sobbing in my cells." she smirked. "You see the power I have wraught. I would not cast aside my words so easily, for there are no Princes or Kings to protect you, and you can hardly protect yourself. It will be easier and.... less painful... for you in the long run to swear yourself to me and my cause."