asgardmeridiem | END OF ARC 1: DAY 169-170 DOWNTIME

[The first battle is over, but the second will begin any time. For two days, the enemy forces will remain on the other side of the battlefield, working on strategy and tending to their wounded. Both sides have taken heavy losses, and the Arena is full of the hurt and dying.

The battlefield itself has turned to a bloody, muddy mess. The elves will be asking the Army Engineers group and anyone else willing to help them lay timber and gravel out to make the ground easier to walk on for the next battle.

What will you do in your breathing space? Keep working, mourn your losses, or retreat from the horrors of war?]

[ooc note: This log takes place IC on Days 169-170/Nov 4-7. Please be sure you've read the plot post and the battle log's starting info thoroughly. Make absolutely sure that you include the day/rough time in the subject line of top-level comments, as well as if your thread is open or closed.

In addition to the battle log, there is a full-event log for those hiding out in Folkvang here. If you have any questions, please direct them to the mod post so everyone else can see them!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Of course, my Lord.

[ she nods, inclines her head as this is her duty. She is a daughter of Camelot, she is his daughter for the love of everything. ]

You should rest before the next battle.

[ Really.

Is he a coward or a King? The King of the greatest of the Five Kingdoms, on top of that. Is it really that difficult to say things that need saying to someone he loves with all his heart? You'd think it wouldn't be.

But it is, and yet, the possibility of this being now or never... He's failed up until this point, he's made her feel... unaccepted, alienated. Arthur's right; it's his fault, and there's nothing he can do to stop it at home.

But he can do something here. He can't let that slip through his fingers like he's let everything else do. ]

Morgana.

[ He turns more properly towards her, and reaches for her hands. ]

[ She tries not to think about what will be, tries to banish it from her mind, what Merlin and Arthur and himself too will see once they return home. What will happen to her, it's usually enough to suffocate her. She turns to look at him, her eyes move to his hands, surprise written on her face. ]

My hands - they're covered with blood.

[ from the injured but it knocks the breathe out of her. Soon it shall be my own doing, soon I'll have his blood on my hands from different reasons. ]

[ He squeezes her hands, runs his thumbs over her knuckles, trying for soothing. ]

Morgana. Look at me.

[ Honestly, he doesn't know how he'll dare look her in the eyes. But he's going to try. Small steps, all leading up to one thing that he knows he has to say. ]

[ There is no helping it, is there? She relaxes her palm, lifts her eyes in a rare act of obedience. ]

My Lord.

[ The truth is that he knows exactly the place to start, but he keeps trying to think of all these other things to say because what is most important, and the very shortest, is the one that is the most difficult. Not because he doesn't believe it, but maybe because he's not sure why she would, or because it just is.

But he has to say it. It needs to be said because he doesn't think it would ever be more true than it is now. ]

Morgana.

[ He keeps saying her name and he's not fully sure why. Maybe it's a comfort somehow, or just a good conversation starter, or just... Well, she's his daughter, isn't she? His beautiful daughter, Morgana. ]

Before it's too late, I must tell you... [ Out with it. ] I'm sorry.

[ And with that, he takes a breath, almost feels like turning away and curling back in on himself. For actually letting it out, saying it and letting it hang in-between them. But no. ]

For so many things. Everything.

[ She is silent for a long moment and then for another. She wishes it could all be different for them. For Uther to be able to see the light at home too, for her not to be so spiteful and afraid, for them to actually know each other. None of it can be in Camelot and she mourns for it, they both fell from grace, it would seem. ]

As am I. For all that was and perhaps will be.

[ And so he's out of words again.

He lifts Morgana's hands, presses a kiss to her knuckles and dares a smile. Maybe he doesn't really need to say anything else. He's already said a lot. Not... Perhaps not really enough, but... ]

[ She wants to tell him, do you realize, your heir could have been me. Lord knows I could have been queen, but she remembers that her ambitions are dangerous, her hidden jealousy of Arthur toxic and she pushes it aside. She wants to ask him if he ever loved her mother, if he remembers he since she doesn't -

But no. Not now. Maybe not ever. ]

Keep safe. The - shoulder. It has been wounded before.

[ she remembers. ]

Don't worry, I will.

[ He takes a moment to just look at her, take in how she's different, how she's grown from the lonely girl that he took into his castle all those years ago. Something in him swells, makes him feel light and he smiles wider, despite the ache in his chest for what he probably won't ever see back home.

His little girl.

He reaches out and tucks her hair behind her ear. ]

Morgana... So beautiful.

[ For all her usual haughty attitude, she bows her head with a small smile, clearly, rarely, flattered. ]

Not so much currently, my lord.

[ He lets his hand linger, cupped barely over her cheek. ]

Nonsense. It would take a lot to lessen it.

[ she offers him a small grin. ]

Thank you.

[ she wonders if this is the last time they will see each other before Camelot, before her fall. She wonders if she'll truly kill him, if she'll look into his eyes when she does and the thought frightens her; she spared him once, regretted her rash actions and gave him another chance. While he did not change in Camelot, she cannot say the same for Asgard, she doesn't want him to die here.

He tried. He accepted her, he was civil with Merlin, he was good to Arthur. He tried and that alone should make her feel grateful but at the moment she feels nothing but fear for them.

Letting out a breathe and holding back her tears (she will not cry, she will not) she takes another step forward and leans in her on his good shoulder.

An attempt of a hug, perhaps. ]

[ Whether it's really meant to be an attempt of a hug or not, Uther wraps his arms around her and presses his cheek gently to her hair, closing his eyes. He's been worrying for both she and Arthur, and it's a relief to see her doing well under the circumstances.

He feels that maybe, if they stay, they can finally really move forward to better places. Maybe he can be a little closer to the father they both deserve. ]

END OF ARC 1: DAY 169-170 DOWNTIME

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