“My lady?”

Morgana looks up and smiles brightly. At the sight, a horde of butterflies stampedes through Gwen’s insides.

“Gwen! What can I do for you?” Gracefully, Camelot’s court sorceress rises from her chair.

“I’m sorry to bother you so late, but…” Gwen bites her lip. “There seems to be some kind of creature. In my… my bed.”

“That’s an awfully rude way to talk about my brother.”

“My lady!” Gwen’s face burns. “You know that’s long over.”

Morgana’s answering smirk is a wobbly thing. She slips into her coat and fidgets with the hem of her sleeve as she follows Gwen out the door. Were it anyone else, Gwen would think she was nervous.

“And these days, is there anyone else who holds your affections? If you don’t mind me prying.” 

“I…” Gwen stares straight ahead as they descend towards the courtyard, careful not to let her feet trip on the stairs or her tongue on her words, all of her being clumsy in Morgana’s presence. “I am not sure I can talk about that.”

“Well.” Morgana gives her a suspicious, calculating look but thankfully changes the subject. “Tell me about the creature then.”

“It’s white. About as big as my pillow. I didn’t see it at first when I came home. But it’s snoring. I didn’t look any closer, it startled me dreadfully, and I came directly to you.”

“Does it have scales? And wings?”

“I think so. How did you know?”

Morgana hisses something that sounds an awful lot like “damned dragon” and “can’t keep a secret.”

They’ve reached Gwen’s house and she stops dead in her tracks. “I’m sorry, did you say dragon?”

Morgana grabs her by her wrist and pulls her into the shadow of the doorway. “Can you keep a secret?” Gwen nods silently. “Me and… someone… might have smuggled a baby dragon into Camelot. Arthur said no, but Mer-- I mean, the other someone and I couldn’t very well leave a baby alone in the wild, could we?”

Gwen feels her eyebrows rise to previously unfathomable heights.

“Dragons,” Morgana continues, “like to hoard things. Treasure, precious things. And I told him about what I treasure most in this world and that’s why he’s here, because…” She trails off, then weakly adds, “If you know what I mean.”

She stares at Gwen as though the intensity of it could force her into understanding. Luckily for them, it does.

“Oh,” Gwen says. She looks down at where Morgana is still tightly holding her wrist. Morgana quickly lets go, but Gwen is quicker and takes her hand before she can withdraw. “I had no idea.”

“I’m sorry he frightened you.”

“That’s quite alright.” With her free hand, Gwen unlocks the door and pulls Morgana inside. She's beaming, she can't help it. “It seems white dragons bring good fortune.”

“Alright,” Morgana says, breathing deeply, “alright.” Upon their entering, the tiny dragon raises his head and yawns.