Chapter One ❥ 𝚁𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

♔

The diner hall was full of life. The Knight's laughed jovially with each other as they drank wine from their goblets, whilst servant girls blushed at their flirtatious glances.

The young Prince, Arthur Pendragon, joined in with them merrily, his laughter heard above all the rest. The King exchanged pleasantries with different noblemen, all of them congratulating him on his' victory' earlier that day.

Yes, the dinner hall was certainly full of life.

They could all sense it. All but one...

The Queen, Zipporah.

To her, the room was filled with an overwhelming sense of death.

(𝚉𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚑'𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠)

She sat next to the King, amongst all the celebration. However, she did not bother to engage in idle conversation with their guests, she could not bring herself to. No matter how hard some of the noblemen tried to rope her into their discussions, she would not oblige. She simply stared at the space in front of her.

King Uther did not pay any attention to his wife's silence. He was much too busy soaking in the praises and compliments from his 'honoured' guests.

Arthur, however, did.

Despite his iheribreance, the Prince only had to take one glance at her to know. Even from across the room, he could see the haunted look in her eyes, the reflection of shining horror that lay behind her swirling pools of chocolate.

Feeling someone's eyes on her, Zipporah lifted her gaze off the floor. Her eyes met Arthur's, though only briefly, for she quickly looked away.

She could not understand how Arthur, how any of them, could possibly celebrate or feel merriment after such a day. A day where an innocent man had been slaughtered. A day where a mother had lost her son.

Her mind swirled with the images of the axe. Her ears echoed with the anguished cries of the grieving mother.

Her eyes glossed over as she recalled the disturbing memory.

Her gaze locked firmly on the table in front of her. Her breath quickened. The noise around her turned to buzzing in her ears.

A sudden weight on her hand jolted her out of her stupor. She glanced down to see a hand on top of hers. It was Uther's. Zipporah looked at him to see concern etched onto his face.

It was then, that her ears adjusted to the sudden drop in noise. She scanned the room to find all of its' occupants staring back at her, their expressions mirroring her husband's. It was then too, that she became aware of the fact that she was standing, the only one standing.

"My dear?" Uther called her.

She realised how she must have looked, so she tried her best to regain her composure. She smoothed over her dress and cleared her throat gently.

Her thickly-accented voice cut through the thick tension that had begun to surround the room. "My apologies to you all, forgive me, for I must retire for the night. I thank you for attending this... celebratory  feast."

Zipporah ignored the concerned stares as she left the table and walked out of the room.

♔

Almost an hour after she had left the feast, Uther decided to go to his wife. He momentarily excused himself from the feast and made his way to his and Zipporah's shared chambers.

He entered their room to find her sitting on the chaise lounge, looking out the window. He walked over to her and said, "I was worried about you."

"Were you?"

Uther rested his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, causing him to sigh. "What has upset you so?"

Zipporah turned around and looked at him incredulously. "You murdered a completely innocent man today," she accused. "You watched in pleasure as the life was ripped from him...and yet you have the audacity to ask me why I'm upset?!"

Her voice remained calm but still displayed the anger and dislike she currently held for her husband.

"Zipporah, magic is no act of innocence, you know this."

"That man did nothing to harm anyone!"

"Still, I could not take the risk. Magic is against the law."

Zipporah stood up from the chaise lounge and walked over to the fireplace whilst she replied, "you know I how feel about your views on magic."

"Yes," Uther agreed, "but it is not down to you to decide the laws of Camelot. That is my responsibility alone."

She let out a bitter laugh and said, "of course, it all falls down to you, and I am counted as nothing. After all who am I to speak about the laws of the Kingdom? I'm only the Queen."

"You are Queen only by our union, you hold no overall authority." Uther moved closer to her as he spoke.

"Yes, I am aware. I am reminded of it all the time, and again today when I couldn't stop a man's unjust death!" She took a single step towards him and continued, "yet you forget that although my title of Queen has been granted through our marriage, I am still a Princess in my own right. A Princess of my own Kingdom."

"A kingdom that is now fallen!"

At Uther's words, she looked away sharply and moved further away from him. He sighed and adopted an expression that could almost pass for guilt. "I did not mean to speak ill of your land," he began, as he walked over to her so that he was standing close behind her. "Camelot is our Kingdom, however, I am the sole governor of it and it will always be that way."

Zipporah gave no reply and instead focused her anger onto the flames flickering before her.

"Look at me," said Uther. She did not, so he prompted in a gentler tone, "Zipporah , look at me."

Reluctantly, she turned around obliged his demand, only because she knew he would not relent. Uther took ahold of her arms then spoke. "I do not wish to fight with you," he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her body close against his. "Will you rejoin the feast with me?"

"No, I truly am tired, I think I shall go to bed."

"As you wish, I will send for a maid. I will return to you shortly." He informed her and gave her a smile.

He leaned down and captured her lips in his. She pulled away after a few seconds and then watched as his retreating form left the room, glaring in his direction.

Not long after Uther left her, a knock sounded against her chamber door. "Come in," she called from her place at her dressing table.

The door opened to reveal Gwen, Morgana's maidservant. Gwen was a kind and loyal girl, and Zipporah liked her very much.

Upon seeing the older girl, Zipporah turned around in her seat. "Gwen? What are you doing here, shouldn't you be assisting Morgana?"

"Lady Morgana retired earlier tonight, so I was free to help you when the King sent for me."

Zipporah had been so preoccupied with her own thoughts, that she and completely forgotten that Morgana had been absent from the feast before she, herself, had left early. She felt a tinge of guilt as she realised she had not checked on her friend to see how she was coping with the day's events.

She voiced her concerns as she asked, "how is Morgana?"

"She is quite well, my Queen, only..." Gwen trailed off uncertainly.

"Only what?"

"I think she is quite...disturbed after what happened."

She nodded grimly at Gwen's words. "Yes, I expect she is."

Gwen's brow furrowed, "is everything okay, my Queen?"

It took a few seconds for Zipporahto reply. "Yes," she uttered quietly, "everything's fine." She paused and then added, "thank you, Gwen."

Gwen observed her Queen closely with a faint look of pity. She knew that she was lying. It was obvious to her that Zipporah was shaken by the execution. Gwen could not comprehend how she managed to cope being married to a man like Uther.

"Would you like to change?" Gwen changed the subject.

Zipporah was about to say 'yes', but a small, empty bottle that was sitting on her table caught her eye. "Actually, no." She took the bottle and stood up and continued, "I have a little errand to run first."

♔

Gaius was showing Merlin how to brew a new medicine he had been working on. Merlin watched with intrigue as Gaius mixed different ingredients together in a small bowl. At that moment, there was gentle knock at the door, causing Gaius and Merlin to take their attention away from their current task.

The door creaked open to reveal their fair ruler.

"My Queen," exclaimed Gaius as he bowed, "good evening."

Merlin stood there staring at her with his mouth ajar. Gaius nudged him and motioned for him to bow. Merlin quickly positioned himself into a bow, never taking his eyes off the beautiful Queen.

Zipporah walked further into the room as she replied, "good evening Gaius." She paused when she saw Merlin and then gave Gaius a questioning look.

"This is Merlin, my new apprentice," he informed her.

She gave Merlin a warm, dazzling smile and greeted him. She waited expectantly for a reply, but Merlin only stared back at her with a giddy expression. She exchanged a look with Gaius as she slowly started to grow somewhat uncomfortable under the boy's intense gaze.

"Merlin!" Gaius called sharply.

Gaius' voice snapped Merlin out of his apparent daze. "Sire!" He blurted out. "No wait, sorry, not Sire- Queen! Yes, Queen, that's it!"

Gaius frowned at Merlin's odd behaviour. Meanwhile, Zipporah found it rather amusing and a little...endearing. He was most unusual. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Merlin nodded and smiled.

"Is everything alright, My Queen?" Gaius inquired.

"Yes, I've just come to collect some more medicine," she held up the empty bottle for Gaius to see, "I seem to have run out of the last batch."

Gaius gently took the bottle from her and placed it on the table next to him. "Of course, I have your next supply ready. Merlin pass me the bottle with the purple liquid in it, on that shelf over there." Gaius gestured to the shelf behind him.

Merlin went to retrieve the bottle, however his attention was very much still on Zipporah, so he ended up tripping over a bucket, which caused him to topple forward and bash his head on the edge of the table, on his way down tumbling to the floor.

"Merlin!" She gasped. She moved over to him to see if he needed any help.

Merlin scrambled back up and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry!" He looked at her sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

Zipporah tried her best to suppress a smile, but ultimately failed. She couldn't help it. Merlin was certainly a very...interesting character. "It's quite alright, no need to apologise. As long as you're not hurt...?"

Merlin's smile grew larger at her response. "No, no, honestly, I'm fine."

Gaius observed their exchange with interest. It was clear to him that the two were intrigued by one another. He decided to speak up before Merlin could start gaping at her again. "Merlin, do you think you could manage to pass me the bottle without causing yourself great injury?"

Merlin nodded and apologised, before reaching up and taking the bottle down from the shelf. He brought it back to Gaius and held it right in front of his face. "Here you go!" He exclaimed.

Gaius flinched away from the bottle in surprise and replied, "thank you, Merlin," though his voice held a slightly sarcastic undertone.

Gaius handed the bottle of medicine to Zipporah and told her the same instructions he always did.

"Thank you, Gaius," she began, "I hope you have a good night." She turned her attention to Merlin. "It was very nice to meet you, Merlin. I hope you enjoy your new home in Camelot." She gave them both one last smile and exited the room.

Merlin gazed dreamily after her. Gaius looked at him and frowned. "Merlin," he called, but he got no response. "Merlin," he tried again. He sighed in frustration and raised his voice, "Merlin!" Gaius finally got the boy's attention again. "What on earth is the matter with you?"

"That was the Queen," Merlin stated.

"Yes."

"She's the Queen."

"Yes."

"The Queen of Camelot."

"Yes."

Merlin broke out in a large grin. "Brilliant!"

Gaius gave him a disapproving look, the boy wasn't even trying to hide his obvious attraction to the young Queen. He swiftly hit Merlin across the head.

"Ow!" Merlin cried as he clutched his head in pain. "What was that for?"

"You might want to try and get a hold of yourself."

Merlin opened his mouth to speak but Gaius cut him off before he could.

"If Uther catches you drooling over his wife like that, he won't hesitate to have your head chopped off and put on a spike."

Merlin gulped audibly. However, he could not shake the feeling that the Queen was going to become an important part of his life

♔

💜 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 💜