PROLOGUE:

May 2017

Morgana pulled into the small, yet always full, gravel parking lot of the small towns local cafe. Alice's Bakery was exactly what the shops name indicated - and it also happened to serve an excellent cup of coffee, which, with Camelot (or 'the city' as many locals referred to it as) being an easy two hour drive south, was hard to come by.

The bakery was located on the main (and only) street in the small town of Ealdor, but many customers, regular and random, came from other small towns and hamlets that were also on the outskirts of the county of Albion. The coffee, paired with Alice's mouthwatering rolls, scones, tarts, and cakes, always made it a worthwhile stop for Morgana. Not that she travelled up this far north often - mostly to visit Gwen, like she was doing today. Unfortunately, their visits had become a rare occasion since graduation and they had both developed and pursued their own careers. Her opportunities to see her best friend increased, however, after Arthur, her half-brother and Gwen's long term boyfriend, moved to the countryside to be closer to Gwen; after two months of attempted long-distance as they tried to establish their lives independently, the pair discovered the arrangement was not as easy as they had originally anticipated. Despite the initial, and heavily vocalized, disapproving doubt from Morgana and Arthur's father, Uther, with regard to Arthur's ability to fulfil his duties in Camelot while living so far away, Arthur and Gwen persevered. Morgana wasn't sure how they made their very different lives work so harmoniously, but she had to admit, their system worked. They balanced the life they had together and their lives they had while apart with ease. Morgana knew it was a sign of their commitment to each other, as well as an indication of just how strong their relationship really was. Of course, they had their ups and downs - especially through out their early stages in university - but, in the end, it always came down to the two of them.

Morgana both admired and envied their love. She sighed, and put the her Lexus (a model which she had chosen in an attempt to be modest, though that modesty was overridden when she insisted on a custom emerald green paint job) in park, and shutting off the ignition. She could see Gwen's rusty, old station wagon, left to her by her father years ago, parked a few spots down from her, and beside that, she recognized Arthur's sleek, black Mercedes; the striking contrast between the two vehicles was almost comical. She knew Arthur had been trying to convince Gwen for as long as they'd been together to let him help her get "a safer, more reliable" car, but Gwen was as stubborn as they came, and refused.

The presence of Arthur's car confused Morgana - she wasn't aware that she was meeting both her best friend and her brother for lunch. She shrugged her shoulders, grabbing her purse from the passenger seat, and exited the car. Her heels crunched on the dusty gravel as she walked behind the row of cars out front, before she walked up the few wooden steps and entered the rustic bakery.

Immediately, she was greeted by the intoxicating and familiar scents of Alice's baking. She waved to the little old lady over the counter, who smiled warmly, but was clearly focused on assisting the growing line of customers clamouring for coffees and sandwiches on their brief lunch breaks.

"Morgana!"

She turned at her name, following the sound to a small booth in the far left corner. She could see Gwen, her dark fly-away curls piled messily a top her head, waving at her, grin splitting her face ear to ear. Morgana couldn't help but smile just as wide in return. She made her way to the booth. As she got closer, squeezing through the other tables, all occupied at this time of day, she saw Arthur seated next to Gwen. He, however, did not send a welcoming smile her way, but rather avoided her eyes nervously. Morgana bristled at her brothers rudeness, but as she reached her seat, she knew exactly why he was nervous – and he was definitely right to be.

In the bench, across from the two most important people in her life, sat the most irritating, most frustrating, and least favourite person that was unfortunately a part (though, truthfully, a very minor part) of her life.

"Merlin," she stated coldly, stopping in her tracks, jaw already clenched, as she forced herself to make direct eye contact.

He raised eyes gaze to meet hers, just as cold, just as steady, "Morgana."

"How long has it been? Five years? Six?" Morgana feigned a thoughtful expression.

"Seven." Merlin rolled his eyes at her tone.

"So silly of me. Of course. I'm usually good with dates, but I guess they have to have some sort of importance to be remembered."

During the hostile exchange, Arthur attempted to make himself disappear, and he began slowly lowering himself in his seat, slumping inch by inch away from the tension at the table. He loved his sister and he loved his best friend, but there was a reason he had spent time with them separately for the past seven years.

"Morgana..." Gwen started imploringly, eyeing her best friend warily as Morgana reluctantly sat herself beside the dark haired, big eared dolt. She gingerly placed her purse between them. Childish, maybe, but he brought out the absolute worst in her. Merlin, who had ignored her last comment, rolled his eyes again at her dramatics with the seating, and picked up the small laminated menus that were already set out on the table.

"Sorry, Gwen," Morgana said lamely, also reaching for a menu, purposefully cutting across Merlin and bumping his menu askew. Merlin snorted in response as she finished, "Just was expecting a nice, relaxing lunch with you, is all."

"I know," Gwen said sympathetically, reaching out a hand to grasp Morgana's, "and I'm sorry for the ambush - both of you," she turned her head to address Merlin as well. Letting go of Morgana, she inched closer to Arthur, if it was possible, and the beaming smile that had greeted Morgana earlier returned. Arthur, who had straightened in his seat, was wearing an equally wide and child-like grin, and when he spoke, his voice was shaking with terribly controlled adrenaline.

"We just have something very exciting to share, with both of you, and though we know you guys have your... differences, shall we say, we wanted you both to be the first to know and we both wanted to tell you together," he said, reaching beneath the table to grab Gwen's hand.

Morgana felt her stomach start to flutter, and all the negativity she was stewing in because of Merlin's presence, evaporated instantly. She watched as Gwen pulled her left hand, entwined with Arthur's, from under the table and placed them in front of both Morgana and Merlin. Gwen's fourth finger, her previously naked ring finger, was now adorned with a simple silver band, an elegant yet humble diamond delicately placed in the centre. It was lovely, and while not Morgana's taste, it was very much Gwen's.

Morgana couldn't contain her excitement and let out a squeal of glee. She cursed her sensitive side for the tears pricking at her eyes, and blinked them away as she stood to pull Gwen from the booth, smothering her in a tight hug accompanied by repeated happy congratulations. Merlin, also grinning like a fool, reached across the table to slap Arthur's shoulder, shaking his best mates hand vigorously. After Morgana had extended her congratulations to her brother, and Merlin to Gwen, they all settled in the booth once more, excitement buzzing through all of them.

"So, tell me more! Have you set a date? Where's the venue? I know Uther -"

"Whoa, slow down!" Gwen said, though she did so with a laugh that showed her true contentedness, and she rested herself against her new fiancé. "We haven't figured out much -"

"But I think we have agreed that it'll be around this time next year." Arthur finished, wrapping an arm around Gwen's shoulder, and reaching his hand down to meet hers.

"A spring wedding! That'll be beautiful!" Morgana gushed. She watched as Gwen and Arthur exchanged a glance, still smiling, but the expression didn't quite meet their eyes.

"We've figured something else out, too." Gwen said this hesitantly, but Morgana, who's head was already filled with plans and ideas, didn't notice her tone. Merlin, however, eyed the couple apprehensively.

"What's that?" He asked, looking between his two friends. He watched as Arthur deliberately avoided his eye, and that was when he knew exactly what was going to come next. Why they wanted to talk to the two of them together, despite the fact Merlin and Morgana had made a point to be as removed from each other as possible (he hadn't seen her since their university graduation - and that was seven years ago, for Christ's sake).

"While we personally don't want an overly large ordeal -" Arthur started.

"We all know how most Pendragon events tend to go -" Gwen continued slowly, eyes shifting from watching Arthur to carefully assessing her two best friends.

"And so, it will inevitably be over the top..."

"To the point where our input is valued less and less the closer the day comes..."

"Regarding almost everything."

Morgana nodded, at first with understanding, but as Arthur and Gwen continued, found she was getting more and more confused with the direction of their conversation. Merlin, meanwhile, had leaned back on the padded booth and was wearing an unreadable expression.

"Okay...?" Morgana raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Basically, the only thing we really care about is who's there. Now, obviously, both of you are coming." Arthur said this matter of factly, shoulders back.

"You don't have a choice," added Gwen in a joking tone, though both Morgana and Merlin knew she was far from kidding. "You both mean the world to both of us, so we have something to ask each of you."

She looked expectantly at Morgana, eyes suddenly misty:

"Morgana, you are my best friend. The things we've been through, the memories we have, I can't think of anyone else to be with me through all of this,"

Morgana choked on a sob that threatened to escape from her throat, and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle it and let Gwen finish.

"Will you do me the honour, of being my maid of honour?"

Morgana, eyes now just as wet as Gwen's, could only grasp her friend's shaking hands and nod repeatedly. Her cheeks were already starting to hurt and she had only been at the cafe twenty minutes or so. She was so focused on listening to Gwen and trying not cry, she hadn't even heard what Arthur had said to Merlin, though from his loud and boisterous shout a moment later, she assumed it was very similar to the question she had been asked, which he had clearly accepted.

"We know that things are... strained between the two of you," Arthur worded this carefully, shooting a glance at Gwen who nodded earnestly.

"And we'll do what we can to make this easiest on you guys... we just ask that.. if you could..." She trailed off helplessly, unsure of the polite way to say it.

"Just fucking behave," Arthur ordered bluntly, "For one night. For our night. Because as much as we love you, and we want you to be there, if you turn this night into another night of drama and bullshit like graduation..." Arthur left his warning wordless, but his silence was more effective than any threat he could have uttered.

Morgana and Merlin exchanged a look - half guilty that the couple were worrying about their friends comfort on what was going to be their special day, half warily acknowledging that this was bigger than their issues. This was Arthur and Gwen. This was bigger than them.

Morgana turned back to them and nodded.

"Of course. We can behave - right, Merlin?" She forced herself to send him what she thought resembled a smile.

"Right." Merlin confirmed, returning her awkward nicety with the same level of effort.

Arthur and Gwen beamed.

"It won't be that bad, you'll see. You probably won't even have to see each other until the rehearsal, and then the wedding. Two nights. Only a few hours. That's it. Then you can go back to never seeing each other again. Okay?"

Morgana and Merlin looked at each other a moment, nodded slightly at the other, before answering in unison:

"Okay."

As Morgana drove home later that evening, with the sun setting the sky ablaze with a brilliant mix of scarlet and violet, she reiterated those words to herself.

"Just two nights. For Arthur, for Gwen. Because you love them," she told herself as she glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. "You can do it. Because this is bigger than Merlin. It's bigger than you - bigger than both of us."

Unfortunately for Morgana, she had no idea how much bigger things would become.

So, there you all go - the prologue, the set up, to my attempt at a rewrite! The next chapter skips ahead to the night of the wedding (I'm halfway done it already) and then the story will continue on in normal time from there!

I'm excited with how this story is starting to shape up, and I'd love to know what you guys think!

M