Chapter five

From that day forth Merlin was in love with the beautiful Morgana and he would spend all of his free time with her at the bakery. He would even try to impress her with his talent in magic even though his mentor had expressly told him not to practice magic unless he was supervising him. Every day Morgana would spend some time with the silly boy that would show her wondrous things and she eventually began to reciprocate his feelings.

Eventually Merlin refused to marry the noble's daughter that his family had chosen for him and instead proposed to the peasant girl to the outrage of his entire family. They threatened and pleaded with him to not dirty their noble blood with common stock but Merlin would not be stopped, he loved Morgana and he was willing to alienate his own family to have her as his wife. As fate would have it Merlin was a prodigy in magic , a wizard with aptitude unlike any before him. His family recognized this fact and when he showed willingness to run away with the peasant girl they grit their teeth, put on fake smiles and allowed Merlin to marry the woman that he loved.

The only person that was truly happy for Merlin that day was young Prince Arthur. Arthur had been friends with Merlin since they were both barely able to walk and the dynamic duo would get into trouble together all the time in a way only best friends could. Today was no different , barely a day had gone by after Merlin had announced his intentions to marry a peasant girl when the Prince also announced that he was going to wed one of the palace maids, a girl called Guinevere who was like her name fair as a summer rose and with skin smooth as a lake when there was no wind.

The two decided to wed their brides together and on a bright and sunny day they married their sweethearts in a simple ceremony held under a sacred tree. With their hands fastened with flower wreathes and big smiles adorning their faces the two newly married couples went to their respective wedding chambers to consummate their marriages on that brightest and happiest of days not knowing that one among them would be the impetus that starts a domino of events that would spell doom for both their happiness and the fate of an entire race. One among four would cause untold heartbreak and pain that would reverberate through the ages but they didn't know that. They were happy in their newfound marital bliss.

For some years everything seemed to be going well. The only sad thing to happen was the death of the old king, Arthur's father. The people mourned the death of a great king but they also rejoiced the crowning of a new one, King Arthur. Arthur shouldered the heavy burden of managing a great kingdom and Merlin stood right by his side helping him every step of the way. With the great wizard's help Arthur was able to realize his dream of making a fair and almost Utopian society. He had his knights of the round table to help him police his kingdoms and everything seemed to be going well but there was something dark and wrong blossoming in the heart of one of the castle's inhabitants.

Like Eve yearning for the forbidden fruit , Guinevere started to desire one of the knights of the round table. He was a young and brash man named Sir Lancelot. He reminded her of the Arthur of yesteryear, before the crown and the responsibilities had transformed him into a wise king or in Guinevere's mind a boring man. She missed the good old days of adventure and sneaking around in broom closets. It had been twenty years since then and Guinevere had had four children but instead of maturing like a normal adult she wanted to stay forever young and being around Lancelot made her feel young again.

In the end she committed the unforgivable act of copulating with him and once she started she wouldn't stop. Eventually her transgressions caught up with her. There is a saying, "the walls have ears", whenever someone does something in a populated place there is a chance of being caught, especially if you did it again and again. In this case the walls truly did have ears for Merlin happened to be passing in a secret corridor through the walls when he heard the grunts and squeals of love making through the stone blocks. He might have gotten older but he was still that slightly silly boy at heart so he used his magic to see who was fornicating so vigorously.

He immediately regretted that decision as he saw his friend's wife in the arms of one of his knights. He wanted to forget that he saw anything and walk away but his conscience wouldn't let him. He went to his friend who was more akin to a brother to him and told him of his wives betrayal.

He would regret this decision for the rest of his life.