Morgana smiled at him sadly, a lump forming in her throat. She'd been so worried about him and about Tristan. It had been such a relief when her ravens had finally succeeding in tracking them down. The castle had become a lonely place; Arthur was gone, her mother was missing, and a stranger wore her brother's face. She didn't even know what to make of Mordred's new little Queen. Perhaps she played just as good a game as he did. She hadn't been able to work out if she was being watched, or if there were people at court tasked with spying on her. How had Mordred done it for so long? He'd hidden his true self for years. She had only been doing it for weeks and she was already exhausted.

At least she had Mace. God, it was good to see him.

"I'm fine," she reassured him, "I'm safe." For now, at least. Morgana lowered her hands to her sides and sighed. "I'm the king's beloved sister," she explained bitterly, "even if he doesn't fully trust me, I don't know him, I can't tell, he needs me. I give him legitimacy with some of the more reluctant lords." She wished she could touch him. Everything in her was screaming at her to reach out and take his hand, to throw herself into his arms and beg him not to let go. They had stumbled into a nightmare.

"Do you know what happened to my mother?" Morgana asked him instead, clasping her hands again. "Did you see her? No one knows what happened to Arthur...to his body, and she hasn't been seen since. Mordred's men are saying she drowned herself in the lake when she found him...I don't...I..." She broke off as her tears started to fall, running down the length of her nose. Raising her fingers to her face she tried to force them back; she didn't cry in front of other people. The last person to see her cry had been Phoenix, and she had been a child then. It was a weakness that made the other children tease all the harder. They were best kept hidden.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, her shoulders rising and falling as she fought to regain composure, "I'm fine. I'm fine. He was going to worry, she knew he was, but she didn't want him to think for a moment that she couldn't do this. She needed to. It was her duty.
"How is Tristan?" Morgana asked him, taking a step closer, "I saw the men in the corridor outside the tower..." She shook her head. The image flashed to the front of her mind and she was eager to clear it. "He got my gift? It arrived safely? Mordred was furious when he found out it had gone..."

A twig snapped in the darkness. Morgana spun around, checking the shadows for sinister shapes. It was foolishness; forests made noises.

"And you?" she asked Mace, turning back to face him, "are you alright? You weren't hurt?"