Vivienne and Gorlois had a strange arrangement. They were very good friends and cared for each other deeply but simply were not lovers, but rather two people who agreed for the good of their families could put up with each other for the rest of their lives. As per custom they were made to consummate their marriage and thus resulting in their only shared child, Morgause.

Morgause was a lovely child, with her father's bright blond curls and her mother's penchant for mischief and magic. Both her parents loved her dearly and that was all that mattered to her since she loved them also, more than anything else. Until of course her father was sent off to battle some unimportant skirmish the new king had ordered, and on returning, he found his wife was pregnant once again. Lady Vivienne hated that she did this. It tore her heart in two when she saw the outcome of her tryst with the King, not that she does not love her child of course, but it's the look that Gorlois gets when he returns and her breasts are larger and her skin loose, he knows what she had done.

Though every time that blasted King Uther visits her she falls again for him, she does love her husband very much, even if it is only the love between friends that they hold for each other. Therefore, when Gorlois is sent away for 7 months the first time around, on strict order by the King, when he returns he ignores it. He assumes that he just was not paying attention and that nothing has happened while he was away. When he comes back from his long long journey, he has a daughter with Vivienne's dark dark hair and mint green eyes. No trace of himself is to be found in her but he loves her all the same. He ignores that the way Vivienne looks at him now. They named the baby Morgana, and 8-year-old Morgause found a stronger love of that of her baby sister.

It was hardly four years completed when the soul shattering news came and darkened the happy household. In a circle on the floor sat Vivienne, Morgause, and Morgana in the arms of her nanny, all bar the child practicing and playing with their magic. Flowers bloomed in the air from Nerys' gentle power, fire span in dizzying shapes spouting from Vivienne's fingertips and Morgause happily animating her painted wooden dolls to amuse her sister. In this one moment of serenity and sense of ancient kinship, the door slammed open and the world fell apart.

Magic was outlawed. On pain of death. Her children would be prosecuted; she would have to give up her life for the king's twisted revenge. Morgana's eyes will never get to glow gold. Vivienne ran that night into her husband's embrace. Though his magic was weak, he was still under threat the same and they knew not what to do.

Weeks passed and Gorlois was called to stand before the council and swear on his life that he would never practice magic again. Vivienne forced to do the same. For some time life carried on for the family but after only a few weeks of accidental outbursts and rampant emotions, they decided it was too dangerous for Morgause to stay within Camelot with Uther acting the way he was. Completely certain that this nonsense would end within a year or two, worried parents sent Morgause to the Isle of the Blessed to train to be a High Priestess of their religion without having to worry about Uther Pendragon breathing down their necks. This was not done lightly; tears were shed on both parts

Again, a further 2 years later, he is sent away once more and when he returns he has a son, again with dark dark hair but his eyes are the problem. Vivienne's are a light green, the colour of shallow pools and glades in the spring, and his own were rich brown, of tree bark and sparrows' wings. His son's were the blue of a summer sky and the lake of Avalon. It seemed like Morgause was not the only one escaping Camelot.

He was a dragonlord, on the run from the new law and begged the house to hide him until he gained strength enough to leave. His name was Balinor, a nobleman in the castle, and Vivienne fell completely for him. His magic was strong, though not quite rivalling hers and his passion for what he loved intoxicated her. He left near 2 weeks after joining them with the promise of visiting again though without knowing that the Lady Vivienne was pregnant, this time with his child.

Nevertheless, Gorlois loved his son and his daughter, no matter the feeling of wrongness he could not shake. There was only one problem. Both mint green and sky blue had the habit of turning brilliant gold. Where Morgana, his daughter, had the luxury of enjoying her magic as a young child, of turning invisible when she was forced into anything she thought less important than sparing practises and sneaking venison from the table to give to her favourite pet, somehow without even moving her hands, Merlin, his son, did not.

He was born in a terrible terrible time of darkness and danger. And when this time came around Morgana, his daughter, could quite simply chose not to have her mint green eyes blaze, while his son could not. Where Morgana, his daughter, slowly forgot about her powers, Merlin, his son could not.

6 years passed.

Morgana and Merlin were extremely good friends but also terrifying adversaries, dispite being 6 years apart in age. They matched each other toe for toe on wit, intelligence, peskiness, ability to get into trouble, and general not-things-through-ness. Together they terrorised the rest of the castle, Morgana with sneaky plots and pranks and Merlin with bursts of accidental magic that the house staff covered up quickly.

Gorlois taught them both how to fight without using magic.

"Merlin, pick up the sword again, you're not hopeless you're just a beginner."

Gorlois was a patient man, which happened to be a very good thing when it came to his children. They were standing in the grounds of their small castle, while servants shared fond looks at the children battered each other with wooden sticks.

"Dad, Merlin's so hopeless that if a wizard granted him the power of sword mastery, he'd just hit himself in the face with it," Morgana argued.

"Morgie, that's mean! I am going to tell mother you said that you twit!" Merlin's protests were simply met with a smash of wood against his skull and a resounding triumphant laugh.

When Gorlois had yet again been sent off to battle by the king, he did not return.

When the news travelled back to Vivienne and the rest of the house, Uther took the time to attack. Over the years, he had gotten worse, his madness driving him away from the person he used to be. So many deaths on his hands, and a worsening childhood for his heir. Vivienne pitied the man. At least she had three loving children (even though Morgause had not been seen in years, she was 20 now), a best friend and a house full of company in the countryside, away from prying eyes where occasional magical mishaps go unnoticed. She had a family. Uther did not.

On that day, Nerys, the kindly old woman who had looked after them for so long alerted the family to the soldiers' arrival and ushered Vivienne and her son out as quickly as she could manage. However, Morgana had been hidden somewhere during a game she was playing and so every member of the staff were ordered to find her while Merlin was pulled to safety. Surely, Uther wouldn't harm her children if they did not show signs of sorcery but Merlin's blue eyes glinted gold far too often for her to take that risk.

"Go my lady!" she heard the cook shouting. "Leave! We will save Morgana!"

And trusting them, she did. Vivienne ran, dragging her six-year-old son with her through the dark forests, using her old powers the find food and shelter for the two of them. They survived a good while out there, and so when she deemed it safe for them to return to her house, she cried upon finding it empty. Uther took Morgana. She had nothing left there. Vivienne collapsed onto the ground in front of her door, the world around her blurring into nothingness. Morgana was gone, Gorlois was gone, Uther had betrayed her and had Balinor by never returning. She had sent away her eldest child. She had nothing left. There she stayed, her arms wrapped around herself in utmost sorrow, completely self-indulgent in her sadness. Until a small hand tugged on the hem of her dress, now ruined and stained.

"Mummy?" Merlin spoke, voice small and nervous. He was afraid.

Her eyes hardened, her tears stopping. She had her son. He needed her. She still had her daughter. She still had kin on the Island of the Blessed.

"Mummy's just saying goodbye to the house darling. Come, we are going somewhere safe. You'll never be in danger again, Merlin, I promise."