Chapter two

"we could have survived together/instead we said goodbye/one last time/you died in my arms/told me to hold you/tonight I say goodbye to a friend/a king/a hero/and you lea-ve me alone/to mourn/I watch over our fate/over your lost life/Albion is here…"

Morgana was sliding through her apartment singing along to The Dragonlords song 'Albion is here'. Her black hair in loose curls, tumbling down her back as she sung quietly, she had plaited the sides and secured them at the back of her head. She was wearing a short silk dressing gown and waiting for Gwen to arrive, so she could help her decide what to wear.

She almost squealed when there was a knock at the door, turned the music off and rushed to open it. The door swung open, revealing Gwen in a peach dress that stopped just above her knees. Her curly hair was down and fastened with matching peach flower clips. "you look great" Morgana beamed, pulling her into a hug, she pulled back "sexy yet sophisticated, Arthur will love it."

Gwen rolled her eyes at Morgana; she was tired of forever denying that they were not seeing each other. "Morgana, we have half an hour until people start arriving and you're not ready" Gwen spoke like a mother scolding her child, Morgana frowned and looked down at her pattern robe.

"I need your help to pick an outfit" she practically screamed, mockingly at Gwen who took a step into the apartment and shut the door behind her. "come on" she skipped down the hallway, Gwen placed a bottle of wine she had been holding and her handbag on the marble kitchen counter and followed Morgana through the lounge into her bedroom. The room was squeaky clean, decorated in light wood and purple, the mirrored wardrobe wide open, revealing various outfits.

Gwen started to rifle through the clothes and Morgana hummed at her "I was thinking something modest" Gwen turned and shot her a look as if to say 'really?' and Morgana laughed "I don't want the bad to get the wrong impression."

Gwen turned her attention back to the clothes "Morgana don't take this the wrong way, but with the publicity recently it wouldn't be hard for them to have the wrong impression."

Morgana sighed, she knew that her friend was right. The band would have already looked into her and seen all the bad publicity of recent, she huffed "it's not fair" she was aware that she sounded like a fourteen year old girl whose parents had grounded her.

Gwen picked three different dresses from the wardrobe and settled herself on the edge of the queen sized bed, she smiled reassuringly "they'll understand that the media's perception isn't always the truth, I'm sure they won't judge you because of it."

Morgana sighed loudly, looking at her reflection in the mirror and thinking about how to do her makeup "I hope not" she traced her cheekbones with her hands and decided that little makeup would be the best look for tonight. "I really don't want a repeat of what happened with Mordred."

Gwen's face dropped into a frown, she forced a smile when she saw Morgana looking at her through the mirror "That won't happen again, I'm sure"

Morgana interjected "I'm sure too, Arthur would have told them something, not necessarily the whole truth but he would have briefed them. He is there manager after all and I'm his baby sister" she pulled a sarcastic face.

Gwen shook her head and stood up, brandishing the three dresses she had picked. Morgana turned to look at them, one was a simple black dress that would stop just above the knee and a heart cut out on the collar bone. The second, a blue and purple panel dress that clung to her curves, the separate colours were stitched together with pink thread. The third a green Charlton style dress, made from satin with silver and black embellishments and spaghetti straps.

Morgana pursed her lips and processed the dresses, she shook her head at the first dress "too formal" she muttered. She cringed at the second dress "I don't even know why I own that" and smiled at the last dress "perfect" they said at the same time. She plucked the dress from Gwen's grasp and looked at the material. Gwen hung the other dresses back in their correct places and walked across the room, stopping at the door.

"I'll make sure that everything is ready" Gwen shut the door behind her, leaving Morgana to get ready. She smiled, her friend was always so efficient, this was a party and she was still in business mode. But that was Gwen all over, very professional and always there to pick up the pieces Morgana left behind. Morgana really needed to treat Gwen for being such a great friend. She grabbed her phone from the drawers and typed in a reminded for herself 'treat Gwen'.

She placed the phone back onto the drawers and focused on getting ready. Firstly, she pulled the hair that was tumbling down her back into a lose pony tail at the nape of her neck, she added some silver glittery clips to match the dresses embellishments. Secondly, she applied some moisturiser, happy not to apply foundation or concealer on this particular day, her skin looked naturally blemish free. She applied some grey eye shadow and dark eyeliner in a thin line, followed by some mascara to accentuate her long lashes. She smiled, happy with the outcome and let her dressing gown fall onto the floor as she slipped the green dress over her body. She picked up some black strappy heels and slid them onto her feet and looked at herself in the mirror.

The satin material clung nicely to her curves, accentuating her small chest and small waist. She had decided against a bra, the low cut back of the dress would reveal it and the spaghetti straps would neglect to cover it. The dress touched her mid-thigh and swished as she moved. She had decided against jewellery, opting for her signature charm anklet and snake ring. She poked her tongue out at her reflection and exited her bedroom, gliding through her crystal clean apartment.

Gwen was sat on one of the stools, her arm leaning on the breakfast bar as she chatted to one of the hired staff. The man lifted his head and smiled widely at the sight of Morgana, causing her to blush. Gwen smiled, her eyebrows raising "you look great."

"Thank you" Morgana murmured, slipping into the seat next to Gwen. She looked at the man that Gwen had been talking to and smiled. He was dark haired and fairly muscular, the customary uniform clinging to his well-defined physique: a white shirt with black buttons, black trousers, smart shoes and a black tie.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked formally, gesturing to the variety of bottles placed on the marble sides.

She nodded to him "I like Champagne" she said slowly, pronouncing each word separately in a seductive manner.

The man smiled widely at her "a champagne cocktail?" Morgana nodded simply and watched as he turned to make her drink. "I trust you like raspberries, Miss LeFaye"

She smiled, the boy was naive enough to assume that 'LeFaye' was her real name. "You can call me Morgana" she said quickly, leaning forward on the counter "I love them." The man turned back to focus on making her cocktail, Gwen playfully slapped Morgana's arm making her smile widen.

'What?' she mouthed innocently at her friend, who simply rolled her eyes in reply. They both giggled lightly, trying not to alarm the man in front of them. The sound of someone knocking at the door pulled them both from their giggles, Morgana jumped off the stool and pattered over to the door. She pulled the door open and smiled at the sight in front of her. Her brother was stood, with four members of the band: Freya, Lance, Qwaine and Percival. Her mind screamed where is Merlin? She pushed the thought aside and instead took to greeting her guests.

"Arthur" she jumped forward to hug her brother, who pulled her tightly.

He whispered "Merlin had been held up but he'll be here shortly" as if he had read her mind. She pulled back from the hug and moved aside to allow the people into her apartment.

Arthur's eyes darted straight to Gwen and he walked to sit with her leaving Morgana to greet her guests. "Hey I'm Morgana" she said quickly, they all nodded fully aware of who she was. Freya was the first to pull her into a hug.

"I can't wait to have another girl on tour, these guys drive me crazy" Morgana smiled at the girl who was about the same age as her. She took a moment to look at her, she was wearing a loose beige shirt/dress with black tights and flat shoes. It was obvious that she was making an effort because it was well known that she hated dresses almost as much as she hated heeled shoes. Her brown hair was cropped to shoulder length and curled into ringlets, her red streak was visible.

"I bet" she replied mockingly, letting her walk into the apartment "there's drinks and food at the counter." Freya turned and gave her a smile that said 'hell yeah' and she approached Arthur and Gwen, who were already in a deep conversation. No doubt about work, that's all they knew how to talk about around each other.

Morgana turned back to face the three guys of the band who were still stood awkwardly outside "come in" she muttered, they followed her lead. Lance was the first in, pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek. He was dressed in black trousers and a blue shirt, his normally long brown hair had been cut into a short quiff style.

"Nice to meet you" he said as he walked into the apartment, Percival came in next. His broad body pulling her into a tight hug, she felt squished against his body.

"It will be nice to have another artist, freshen things up" he muttered pausing. She looked at the tall and broad man in front of her, who was wearing simple jeans and a short sleeve shirt and smiled.

"I am looking forward to working with you guys" she replied quickly and turned her attention to Qwaine. He was visually the bad boy and cheekiest member of the bad.

"Morgana" he breathed as he pulled her into a hug, she smiled and pulled back. His shoulder length hair was falling in natural waves and he had stubble across his chin and cheeks. She noticed his polo shirt and jeans and sighed, he was going to be trouble, she could tell. He looked at her deeply "I don't suppose you remember when we met."

She frowned at him and tried to think back "I don't remember" she admitted, feeling slightly bad.

"Well, it was in my dreams" he replied effortlessly, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips. He planted a kiss on it before letting it drop to her side and she laughed. She ushered him into the apartment.

"I can tall already that we are going to be great friends" she said, closing the door and approaching the group of people who were crowded around her breakfast bar. The man who had prepared her drink smiled as she approached and handed her a pink drink with a raspberry on a cocktail stick. She nodded in thanks and took a sip of the drink. It tasted delicious, raspberry flavored with the bubbles of champagne. She smiled and took another sip of the drink.