Disclaimer : I do not own anything Merlin. The Sarmatian characters are mine so don't take them.
Author's Note: This is a little taste of a new story I'm working on. I won't post anymore of it until I have my other two stories done.
The Birth and Kidnapping of Prince Arthur
It was a quiet day in Camelot. Everyone was at home, awaiting news of the queen who had gone into labor that early morning. She was whisked away by her ladies and the midwife was called. King Uther was pacing in his study with his friend, Gaius, who was sitting calmly in the armchair in the corner. "Sire, your pacing is going to drive me mad," he said looking up from his book.
"Igraine is strong. She'll be all right."
"What if this child isn't a son?" Uther asked. "The people will think she failed me."
"You mustn't think like that," Gaius said. "You'll just have to keep trying until you do get a son." Just then the door opened, and the wet nurse for the new baby, Juliana, came into the room.
"Well?" Uther asked her.
"A son, Sire," she said with a smile. Uther gasped out a laugh before hurrying to the bedchambers where he was wife was taken to. A son. Igraine had given him a son. The wet nurse looked to Gaius with a concerned look on her face. "The queen has grown ill. The midwife requests your assistance," she said and Gaius was up out of the seat with the young maid behind him.
Uther was cradling his new son while Gaius tended to Igraine. "She as a fever," he said. "She must not have any contact with the child. It's a miracle she didn't pass it to him while giving birth. Remove him from the room, quickly," Gaius added and Uther left the room. He took his son to the nursery where Juliana was folding blankets.
"The queen must not have contact with Arthur," he said. "You must look after him until she is better," he ordered.
"Yes, my lord," she said dipping into a curtsy as Uther placed his son in his crib.
"Camelot has it's prince," he said. "It would be a shame to lose him now. Take care of him ..." he said trying to think of her name.
"Juliana, sire," she said. He nodded before leaving the room. Juliana walked over to the crib to look over the prince. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she thought of her own son. She had only a few days with him before a fever took him. She would hate for the queen to lose her son to a fever as well. Then again, it would be a miracle if the queen survived the fever herself. Arthur started to cry and instinct had her pick him and she undid her ties on her dress to feed him. Her bosom was still full of milk from her last pregnancy. A reason why she was chosen as a wet nurse for him. The infant prince drank from her as she sat there trying not to think of her son. She never got the chance to do this with him. He was immediately taken by a healer when his color was not right. When he died, she went into a depression. Her husband had died when she was five months pregnant. The queen had taken her in as a handmaiden after that.
Juliana wasn't even from Camelot. She was from the distant land of Sarmatia, a distant land on the continent. It was known as the land of Dragon Breeders. She had planned to move back with her son.
A few days go by and Juliana began to think Prince Arthur as her own. News of the Queen's fever diminishing reached her and she found herself wishing the Queen was still sick so she could keep caring for Arthur. Her depression from her son's death began to overtake her mind and she looked down at the infant prince in her arms. The King was busy with his wife. He hadn't been by since he left the prince with her. It would probably be days until he figures out that she and the prince would be missing. The rational part of her mind was telling her that she would get killed if caught. The whole castle was waiting on news of the Queen and seemed to pay no attention to the nursemaid and infant prince. The other day she actually left the castle with Arthur to go to the market. King Uther would've had a fit if he found out. The depressed part of her mind was telling her how easy it was for her to slip out of the castle to go to the market and that no one would even notice her slip out with the prince.
Juliana took the baby and dressed him for travel. She wrapped him in a blanket and grabbed some diapers, putting them in a satchel. She put the satchel around her and she picked up Arthur. He whimpered prompting her to shush him. "It's okay, my son," she said. "We're going home." She kept him close and noticed no guards outside the nursery. She hurried down the hall and headed toward the castle entrance. She made it out of the castle and walked fast across the courtyard. Not a lot of people seemed to notice her or the baby she held to her bosom.
In the middle town, she made her way to her house and packed a saddle with food and put it on her husband's horse. She found the sling a woman gave her to carry her son better and she put the prince into it and climbed onto the horse. She start a slow gallop so she wouldn't jostle him and headed out of Camelot. As she went through town, she heard that King Uther had been quarantined with every one else who had contact with the Queen after she developed the fever. Reaching the gates, the guards didn't even give her a second glance as she rode out of the kingdom.
It would be three days until anyone notices she and the prince were missing.
Those three days were just what she needed to reach the sea side kingdom of Mercia. It was dangerous bringing the prince here. Camelot and Mercia had been enemies since before she even arrived in Camelot, but no one in Mercia knew what was happening in Camelot, so she figured they'd be safe. Knowing she would be unable to take her husband's horse onto the ship with her, she took her belongings off and sold him to a stable. She got a fair amount of money and used some to barter passage to the mainland. As the ship sailed out of port, King Uther had come out of quarantine to find his son and the nursemaid gone.
"How could she have walked out of the castle with my son?" Uther shouted at a guard.
"Sire, the nursemaid always took him from the castle," the guard said. "She would take him for a walk in the gardens every day."
"That's not an excuse," Uther said. "You go into town and find her and bring me back my son."
"Yes, My Lord," the guard and he and three others hurried to the town to find her.
"You really think she would still be in Camelot?" Gaius asked.
"I can only hope so," Uther said. "How is Igraine?"
"Resting comfortably," Gaius said. "Nimueh is caring for her," he added mentioning his apprentice. "She's keeps telling me that the Queen is asking after her son."
"What are you telling her?" Uther asked.
"That he is healthy and well." Uther nodded.
"Good," he said. "I will tell her myself what happened."
"If I may, Sire, I expressed concern to the Queen about Juliana when she chose the young girl to be Arthur's nursemaid."
"What concerns?" Uther asked.
"Juliana suffered from depression, Sire," Gaius explained. "I believe it was brought on by her husband's sudden death and that of her own infant son just two days after she gave birth to him. The depression being at its highest when the Queen asked her to be the prince's nursemaid. The few days she was with the prince before taking him may have been her breaking point."
"What are you saying Gaius?" Uther asked.
"Juliana may have not been in her right mind when she was caring for Arthur, Sire," he said. "She may have come to know Arthur as her son and feared that when Igraine got well that she would lose him again and couldn't bear it. It has been known to happen to some women after giving birth."
"Do you believe Arthur's in danger?" he asked.
"Not really," Gaius said. "Juliana believes that Arthur is her son and will protect him, but I fear what may happen if the guards find Juliana with Arthur. That is when I believe Arthur is in danger."
"They will know to be cautious around her," Uther said. "I only hope she doesn't take him into enemy territory."
After searching all day, the guard came back with news. "Three days?" Uther asked.
"Her neighbors say she came home three days ago with a bundle of clothes to mend, but she rode off before the day was over. She traveled light and had something strapped to her bosom, but they couldn't make out what it was, Sire," he said. "If they had known it was the prince, they would've stopped her."
"Get me Sir Ector," Uther said.
"Yes, My Lord," he said. Sir Ector was Uther friend and leader of his knights. If anyone could find his son, it was him. Ector came in with two of his firsts and bowed before Uther.
"Ector, this is an important matter concerning the family. Juliana, the nursemaid, has taken Arthur from here," he said causing the knight to gasp.
"How long ago?" he asked.
"She has a three day head start on you," Uther said. "Find her and my son and bring them back to Camelot, but be cautious. Gaius believes she may try to harm Arthur if you try to take him from her."
"Yes, my lord," Ector said before leaving the room. Uther sighed heavily realizing that he would have to tell Igraine. He walked to the room where she had given birth to him to find it empty and realized that they must have taken her back to their chambers. He found Igraine sleeping on their bed and her friend and Gaius' physician assistant sitting by the bed.
"Sire," Nimueh said standing up.
"How is she?" Uther asked.
"The fever has gone completely," Nimueh said. "She will be back to her old self in no time."
"I fear that may not be possible," Uther said. At Nimueh's look of confusion, he continued. "Arthur has been kidnapped."
"What?" she asked.
"Juliana, the nursemaid, walked out of the kingdom with him," Uther said. "Gaius says she suffers from depression and thinks of Arthur as her own son and feared him being taken away from her again." Nimueh nodded and looked to her friend.
"She wants to hold him so badly, Sire," she said. "How can we tell this to her?" she asked.
"You won't have anything to worry about," he said. "I will stay until Igraine wakes up. You may go." Nimueh nodded and curtsied before leaving the room. Uther sat down next to his wife's bedside and contemplated on how he was going to tell her.
Two weeks later there was still no sign of Juliana or Prince Arthur.
Juliana sighed a breathe of relief when she arrived on solid land in Germania, the country that bordered Sarmatia. She looked down in her arms to see that Arthur had awoken from his slumber and let out a yawn. The two weeks at sea had her tired and she needed to rest. She found room at an inn and was thankful she had some money left from when she sold her horse. The innkeeper's wife took notice of the baby in her arms. "I have a cot for the baby if you would like to borrow it for the night."
"Oh, thank you so much," Juliana said. The woman came closer to look at him and she laughed.
"Oh, what a little angel," she said. "Boy?" Juliana nodded her head. "What's his name?" Juliana froze at the question. She hadn't really thought of a name. She needed to think of something and could only give one.
"Artorius," she said. It was a form of Arthur and easy for her to remember. She was going to name her son that anyway. It was her husband's family name.
"Let me get you that cot," the woman said. "Why don't you head on up to your room and I'll bring it up?"
"Okay," Juliana said. Once in her room, she untied the sling and placed Arthur onto the bed. She removed some of his clothes being that it was warmer in Germania. The woman returned with the cot and some food for her and Arthur. "Thank you again," she said as she placed Arthur into the cot.
"I'm happy to help a fellow mother," the woman said. "Where abouts are you heading?" she asked.
"I'm originally from Sarmatia," Juliana said. "I'll be going there. My husband had recently passed and I wanted to come back home."
"I'm sorry for your loss," the woman said. "I hope the rest of your journey is safe and quick."
"Me, too," Juliana said. The woman smiled before leaving the room. The night was spent in peace as she stopped worrying about the king finding her.
Camelot ….
Ector returned with bad news. After searching the neighboring kingdoms, he found no trace of Juliana or Arthur. "I'm sorry, Uther," he said. "I couldn't find the prince or his nursemaid."
"Then Arthur is truly lost," Uther said. The knight nodded with sorrow and Uther walked down the hall to the Queen's parlor to break the news. Igraine was sitting with Nimueh and her ladies when Uther entered. Igraine stood up, but she could tell from her husband's face that her son was not found. "I'm sorry, Igraine," Uther said.
"Ector didn't find him, did he?"
"No, he didn't," Uther said.
The new day in Germania was a beautiful one and Juliana thanked the woman again before heading out to find some way of travel to Sarmatia. She spotted a knight with the Sarmatia colors and headed over. After some talking with the knight, he allowed her onto the caravan he was escorting into the country. Her young son became an object of affection to the women of the caravan. It took several days to reach the border of Sarmatia and when they did, the caravan split. Some went East, some went North. Juliana's part went South towards the main capital, Tesin.
A full day's ride had them just in view of the castle where the Royal family resided. Juliana was hoping she could get her old handmaiden job back. If not with the Queen, perhaps a Lady. Suddenly, arrows whipped through the air. Bandits came out of nowhere causing the people to scatter. It was every man woman and child for themselves. The bandits only wanted one thing, dragon eggs. Juliana grabbed a basket and ran toward the river. "After her!" she heard one shout, followed by horse beats. She looked behind her and saw two bandits chasing after her on their horses. She headed into the wooded area, hoping to lose them. Arthur began to cry at be jostled as Juliana ran with him in her arms. She ducked behind some bushes to catch her breath when she heard laughter down the river. Peeking her head up, she saw some people and recognized the Royal banner of the Uraeus family. She knew she couldn't out run the bandits on horse. The stream flowing in front of her went out to the river and if her luck held out, it would carry Arthur to them.
Juliana put the basket down and looked at her son. She wrapped him up before placing him in the basket. She wrote a quick note for whoever would find him and placed the lid on the basket. She peered behind her to see the bandits have gotten off their horses and were looking in the bushes. She picked up the basket with Arthur inside and walked into the stream. Walking down through it, she waited until she was close to the edge where the stream went into the river before placing the basket down. "Go swiftly and safely, my son," she said before giving it a gentle push. She watched it go with the current into the river before racing in the opposite direction.
"There she is!" one of them shouted and the two of them chased after her, never seeing the basket.
Down river, Queen Sabina was in the river, thigh deep, watching her two children, Jasper and Anastasia, play in the water. They were seven and two years old. Next year Jasper would begin his Keeper training as is tradition in the Royal family for three hundred years. Her bodyguard was standing behind her, watching for threats from across and up the river. He had entered the river when there was shouting heard. Sabina hadn't thought much of it when her daughter cried out when Jasper tripped her into the water. "Jasper, treat your sister with respect," she scolded.
"Yes, Mother," Jasper said helping Anastasia to her feet. Just then the Queen heard crying. Being a mother of two, she recognized the crying as that of a baby and headed over to where it was coming from.
"Your Majesty," the bodyguard said.
"Take the children to the shore," she ordered as she reached the tall dill weed structure and began to search through it. She came upon a basket caught on a rock taking on water. She took the top off and saw a baby getting wet. She immediately picked him up as the basket went under. "There, there, little one," she said jiggling him up and down. "You're safe now." The baby calmed down as she moved him into her arms to get a good look at him. He was at least a month old from she could tell and she wondered if the shouting she had heard earlier had something to do with him in the basket. A desperate mother's last act to keep her child safe. She would've done the same thing.
"Mother?" Jasper asked as he saw a bundle in his mother's arms as she came to shore with a bodyguard's help. "What is that?" he asked as she knelt down for her children to see the baby.
"This is your new baby brother," she said. "Karina, take the child. I see a note." Her handmaiden took the child from her and Sabina opened the note to see hurried script.
This is my son, Artorius. Care for him as your own for I cannot let these men have him. Tell him that his mother, Juliana, loved him very much.
Sabina sighed as she took the baby from her handmaiden and they headed back to the castle. She and her husband, Dmitri will raise him as their own. They did not know the fate of baby's mother.
Months had gone by and all Igraine had done was stare out the window of her room, wishing that one day Ector would arrive with Arthur in his arms. Nimueh quietly entered her friend's chambers and sat down next to her. "Are you all right, milady?" she asked.
"Tell me that he's okay, Nimueh," Igraine said. "Is my boy safe?" she asked.
"I believe he is," the sorceress said, "and do not worry. One day, he will return." Ygraine nodded to her friend knowing that one day her son will return, but can she survive until he does?