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A Taste for Steel. Morgana. G.
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lettersandliars wrote me Morgana/Lucy because she's that awesome. omg. El Otro Cielo, Morgana learns magic from Queen Lucy and things go quite wrong. Merlin/Narnia crossovers are gonna take over the world.
In other news, I've always wanted to write swordfighting!Morgana fic, so I finally did. I also squeezed in bits of my beloved ‘Arthur vs. Morgana for Uther's love’, but there’s more of the sword thing because OH EPISODE TEN. Oh Morgana, and your awesome, and how you have a stole for every occasion.
A Taste For Steel
Merlin. Morgana + ensemble. G.
Eight facts about a girl and her sword.
1. It took a long time for Morgana to work up the nerve to pick up a sword. She wouldn’t deign to touch one for ages after her father’s death, and constructed elaborately transparent lies that excused her from watching jousts and tournaments. Uther indulged her, for she was a girl after all and had suffered a terrible loss, and Arthur was delighted because it meant he would have his father's attention for himself again. The young Pendragon would return to the castle and talk in a boisterous voice about the feats of bravery he had seen, and brag preemptively about the gallant knight he would become.
2. At first she wielded the sword thinking of revenge, but Morgana came to love the art of it: the strategy and sudden bursts, the lightness of her feet and the weight of a weapon in her hands. She was proud of the blisters on her palms, and told Gwen in the earnest tone of the neophyte, “A woman should be able to defend herself.”
3. She tried to teach Gwen how to fight and discovered that Gwen already knew how. “I don’t let anyone push me around,” she said, smiling enigmatically. Morgana giggled, “But you’re a servant!” and, at the look on Gwen’s face, immediately regretted her words. I didn’t mean it like that, Morgana protested. I didn’t mean it. Still, following the incident was a period of Gwen being distant, all deep curtsies and averted eyes, benign expressions whenever Morgana tried to cajole her into their usual intimacy. Every ‘milady’ sounded like a slap, and Morgana dealt with it by being horrible to everyone else, especially Arthur, making fun of him in front of his friends and pointing out his defects to Uther.
4. Her favorite time swordfighting came a few months later. Well, maybe it had only been a few weeks, but it felt like months. Gwen came into her room and said simply, “It’s a beautiful day for a picnic, milady,” and Morgana, hopeful at the suggestion to spend time alone together, agreed that it was. On the hillside beyond Camelot, Gwen uncovered, not a picnic basket, but two swords. “The best from the smithy,” said Gwen, handing one to Morgana, “because a woman should be able to defend herself.” And hours later, when they collapsed onto the hillside, sweaty and spent, Morgana said as she had dozens of times before, “I’m sorry, for what I said. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Gwen replied, “I know.” When Morgana asked what finally brought Gwen around, the girl just shrugged and said, “Arthur looks like he’s about to cry these days.” They burst out laughing, and Morgana rolled over to kiss Gwen on the cheek.
5. Her second favorite duel was her second with Uther. “Are you scared to lose to a girl?” Morgana teased, and this time Uther actually smiled and said, “Nothing scares the king of Camelot.” She won the first duel and, after making a ruckus about Uther letting her win, lost the second. “You’re quick on your feet,” said Uther, “but your parries are too heavy-handed.” And she glowed.
6. Morgana defeated Arthur at swordfighting on her thirty-sixth try. (She counted.)
7. At Ealdor, she had her first taste of swordfighting as a matter of life and death. It’s not some ‘art’. You don’t frame it and put it on a wall. Morgana killed a man and her stomach clenched and she gritted her teeth, but she couldn’t let Merlin down. She couldn’t let Gwen see her mistress quail, and couldn’t give Arthur a reason to say ‘I told you so’ when she was finally beginning to earn his trust as an equal. Morgana remembered Uther saying to him, years ago, “The sword is not a magic potion. It is not just some harbinger of glory. The death it brings is very real, and as a leader of armies you must remember this.” She tugged her sword out of her enemy, flesh and blood just like her, and went for the next.
8. The night before she first picked up a sword, Morgana saw it in a dream. A vision edged in gold showed her wielding a sword near the forefront of war and falling away from the world. Eventually the sword fell out of her hand, but still she fought, and just before the decisive final blow (from her? from her enemy? someone other?), she woke up.
lettersandliars wrote me Morgana/Lucy because she's that awesome. omg. El Otro Cielo, Morgana learns magic from Queen Lucy and things go quite wrong. Merlin/Narnia crossovers are gonna take over the world.In other news, I've always wanted to write swordfighting!Morgana fic, so I finally did. I also squeezed in bits of my beloved ‘Arthur vs. Morgana for Uther's love’, but there’s more of the sword thing because OH EPISODE TEN. Oh Morgana, and your awesome, and how you have a stole for every occasion.
A Taste For Steel
Merlin. Morgana + ensemble. G.
Eight facts about a girl and her sword.
1. It took a long time for Morgana to work up the nerve to pick up a sword. She wouldn’t deign to touch one for ages after her father’s death, and constructed elaborately transparent lies that excused her from watching jousts and tournaments. Uther indulged her, for she was a girl after all and had suffered a terrible loss, and Arthur was delighted because it meant he would have his father's attention for himself again. The young Pendragon would return to the castle and talk in a boisterous voice about the feats of bravery he had seen, and brag preemptively about the gallant knight he would become.
2. At first she wielded the sword thinking of revenge, but Morgana came to love the art of it: the strategy and sudden bursts, the lightness of her feet and the weight of a weapon in her hands. She was proud of the blisters on her palms, and told Gwen in the earnest tone of the neophyte, “A woman should be able to defend herself.”
3. She tried to teach Gwen how to fight and discovered that Gwen already knew how. “I don’t let anyone push me around,” she said, smiling enigmatically. Morgana giggled, “But you’re a servant!” and, at the look on Gwen’s face, immediately regretted her words. I didn’t mean it like that, Morgana protested. I didn’t mean it. Still, following the incident was a period of Gwen being distant, all deep curtsies and averted eyes, benign expressions whenever Morgana tried to cajole her into their usual intimacy. Every ‘milady’ sounded like a slap, and Morgana dealt with it by being horrible to everyone else, especially Arthur, making fun of him in front of his friends and pointing out his defects to Uther.
4. Her favorite time swordfighting came a few months later. Well, maybe it had only been a few weeks, but it felt like months. Gwen came into her room and said simply, “It’s a beautiful day for a picnic, milady,” and Morgana, hopeful at the suggestion to spend time alone together, agreed that it was. On the hillside beyond Camelot, Gwen uncovered, not a picnic basket, but two swords. “The best from the smithy,” said Gwen, handing one to Morgana, “because a woman should be able to defend herself.” And hours later, when they collapsed onto the hillside, sweaty and spent, Morgana said as she had dozens of times before, “I’m sorry, for what I said. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Gwen replied, “I know.” When Morgana asked what finally brought Gwen around, the girl just shrugged and said, “Arthur looks like he’s about to cry these days.” They burst out laughing, and Morgana rolled over to kiss Gwen on the cheek.
5. Her second favorite duel was her second with Uther. “Are you scared to lose to a girl?” Morgana teased, and this time Uther actually smiled and said, “Nothing scares the king of Camelot.” She won the first duel and, after making a ruckus about Uther letting her win, lost the second. “You’re quick on your feet,” said Uther, “but your parries are too heavy-handed.” And she glowed.
6. Morgana defeated Arthur at swordfighting on her thirty-sixth try. (She counted.)
7. At Ealdor, she had her first taste of swordfighting as a matter of life and death. It’s not some ‘art’. You don’t frame it and put it on a wall. Morgana killed a man and her stomach clenched and she gritted her teeth, but she couldn’t let Merlin down. She couldn’t let Gwen see her mistress quail, and couldn’t give Arthur a reason to say ‘I told you so’ when she was finally beginning to earn his trust as an equal. Morgana remembered Uther saying to him, years ago, “The sword is not a magic potion. It is not just some harbinger of glory. The death it brings is very real, and as a leader of armies you must remember this.” She tugged her sword out of her enemy, flesh and blood just like her, and went for the next.
8. The night before she first picked up a sword, Morgana saw it in a dream. A vision edged in gold showed her wielding a sword near the forefront of war and falling away from the world. Eventually the sword fell out of her hand, but still she fought, and just before the decisive final blow (from her? from her enemy? someone other?), she woke up.
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I love the dynamic you have between Morgana, Arthur, and Uther.
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Fixed the typo! Thank you muchly!
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5: FATHER FIGURE <33333 "Nothing scares the king of Camelot" OH THAT STOIC, PSHAW, HE IS AN OLD SOFTIE.
7: oh man. Morgana killed a man and her stomach clenched and she gritted her teeth, - I love how physical and immediate this is, and Uther's thing about swords being more real than magic. this is the real thing.
also the end plus the ongoing mentions of her antagonism with arthur - Oooooohhhh resounding painful undertones! oooohhhh.
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Basically, what I am trying to say is: Morgana backstory is ♥ plus swords!
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Thank you!
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And yes, antagonism with Arthur! One day I will write the sibling rivalry for parental love fic that I've been wanting to for ages. I wanna write about Arthur Uther & Morgana's cycle of unraveling and coming together. THEY ARE SO 'I CAN'T LIVE WITH OR WITHOUT YOU' OH TRAGIC PENDRAGONS i love them!
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Your icon is adorable! omg morgana/gwennnnn, i love these girls
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and Morgana and Uther! And Gwen! And Arthur. *flaps hands*
young Morgana is such a girl. But not, like, in a bad way. In a "girls are like that" sort of way. I am not making any sense at all. Er. That is a compliment.
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Pendragon rivalry/angst is love! SO much love. somehow I'm feeling all OTP about family now. I just watched some cast extra features on the extended 4-disc LWW dvd set (UCHICAGO LIBRARY = SO CRAZY AWESOME) and there are all sorts of hugs and dances and adorable things! awwwwwwwww (that was a dubious transition of topics but my brain is a little consumed by the adorable)
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I particularly love the way you captured her relationships with Gwen and with Uther. The thing that makes Morgana and Uther so interesting to watch in this show, I think, is that we're not seeing a Morgana who has always resented Uther. We're seeing a Morgana who has long loved Uther like a father, and is only now beginning to see serious flaws in him, both as a person and as a king. It lends such spark to their fights. You captured that really well.
And, of course, the thing that makes Morgana and Gwen so interesting to watch is that they're clearly madly in love.no subject
What a great way to put it! And I loved your story.
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Yeah, I'm pretty fascinated by the Uther&Morgana dynamic. I'm glad you like it!
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