Sir Gabriel

by Erin Griffin

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Rating: Strong R

Pairing: You'll figure it out soon enough

Summery: In order to live out her dream of becoming a knight, Gabrielle Andrews chops off her hair and becomes Gabriel Andrew, a mysterious man with two first names and no last name...

Author's Note: This story is completely AU, obviously. There will be some characters that you will not recognize, therefore they are mine. Everyone else is from the show, even though I scattered them about in different roles throughout the fic mostly for humor purposes.

Disclaimer: Yup, The WB accepted my offer of 2 Twinkies and my Erin Beanie Baby this morning over the phone... No, damn that was my dream last night... sigh I own maybe 5 characters throughout this whole fic. Everyone else belongs to... well, all those that aren't me... and that are rich by now, damn them...

Warning: There is a lot of violence, a little bit of torture, some cussing, and other things like that in this fic, as the medieval period was not a very pretty time. Also, I would like to apologies to Dinah in advance. What else... Oh, if you are a Detective Reece (spelled in here as Rhyse) fan, don't read this fic, lol.

Dedicated as always to Angel and Dallas, whom have both helped me throughout this fic (and my real life) by telling me about the medieval time period (Dallas, who knows what she'd talking about and I don't, lol) or just by being there for me (Angel, love ya lots). Thank you both so much. This is for you.

Chapter 1

Voices shouted above one another, drowning out the flute music that played in the background. The dining hall wasn't always this rowdy, but tonight there is a reason for raised voices and the noisy clatter of toasted cups of ale and wine. That very afternoon a man had been knighted. A very well liked man at that. "Congrats Gabe, Laddy!" A voice shouted over all, or perhaps it seemed that way since the voice was raised and blaring right into the ear of the man being spoken to. Thadius Manx, a man with greying hair, dark brown eyes (and even darker long brown hair in areas it wasn't greying), stared at the celebrated man. Or at least, to Thadius, he was a celebrated man. No one at that table (or the rest of the kingdom for that matter) knew that the one whom had been knighted that afternoon was actually a woman named Gabrielle Andrews from a neighboring kingdom. To them, she was known as of that afternoon as Sir Gabriel Andrew, a man with two first names, but no last name. He was a mysterious man, and Gabrielle (Gabby to those who didn't want any broken limbs when she was a child) liked it that way. Gabby always wanted to become a knight, and if she wasn't a woman, she would have had no troubles becoming one, for she knew that had she been a man, she would have proven herself just the same and might have been one faster. She was 19 or so winters old when she cut off her golden locks and left home. Gabby knew that if she stayed in her home pretending to be a boy, not only would she get in trouble, but her parents would as well. She couldn't bare to see that happen. She could hardly bare to leave home, but the life that awaited her wasn't the life for her. To marry a man that she could never love even if she wanted to...

"Thanks, Thadius my man!" the new knight said to the burly man to her right. Gabby owed her new success to this man. When she'd arrived at the Pennyworth kingdom, this man had given her a place to stay and train. He was like a second father to her, bringing her up like the son he never had. Thadius was a married man, with a beautiful wife Irene and a couple of daughters, and together they were a nice family for 7 years. Time had come to prove herself when a war broke out the year before. Gabby thought she'd die herself from the shock of killing another man. She'd killed 9, in fact (she counted, praying for each one to have a safe passing and for her own forgiveness). Not understanding why, Gabby had seen King Alfred on the battle field and was one of the four men guarding him. The other men died, and Gabby had no choice but to kill the 9 men that were trying to kill her king. The war ended many nights ago, but the king had scrolls to sign before he could come back to the kingdom. It was then that Gabby- er- Gabriel Andrew was knighted. Gabby smiled widely at the man to her left , to which the large man smiled back before returning to his ale and plate of meats and bread. Gabby also returned to her plate, half filled with fruits, cheese, and a couple of carrots for her horse, Nix. Thadius looked over at Gabby's plate in disgust.

"Y'know, you've got to be the only knight in all of Europe that doesn't eat meat, Gabriel." he pointed out yet again. This was the start of banter between them that occurs at almost all meal times, even on nights when the two combined couldn't catch any game. Gabby rolled her eyes as she always does. "Look at ye'; Yer a scrawny thing. That ain't good for a man your age. What are your sons going to look like? They'd get beaten by the village maidens, that's what's to come of them, and all because their sire was a skeleton." he said, sure of himself.

"You know I can't stomach the carcass of a forest beast, Thadius. Besides, who said my sons -or daughters for that matter- won't grow strong without the consumption of meat?" The older knight snorted into his cup, now refilled for the 4th time.

"I doubt it." Thadius said.

"My daughters as tykes would easily beat any of your full grown grandchildren," Gabby said, and grinned at the thought.

Well, in order to have any improper daughters, you have to find yourself a lass and marry. It's hard to believe that a lad your age hasn't even courted a woman. You've got the look, I mean, women love the soft look you've got." Thadius was rambling more now, but he still stuck to the same argument that they'd always gotten into.

"Not this again, old man!" Gabby groaned. "It's not too late. I'm 26 summers old. I have time." Gabby was expecting a reply along the lines of 'All of the good women of breeding will be taken by the time you get around to them. All that will be left are the improper women and the king's whores.' Thadius opened his mouth and was probably about to say just that when a shout brought their attention away from their argument.

"SEER! Do you have good news for our knights going off to Wayne kingdom for the tournament?" King Alfred asked. Everyone turned to the entrance of the dining hall. There stood a common looking young woman with hair a lighter blonde than Gabby's hair was, for her hair was a golden blonde, as this girl's hair was more of a white/ blonde. Her dress was a simple blue dress, one you would see the children wear as they went outside to play. This girl's name is Dinah Redmond. Gabby rolled her eyes as the men rushed to seat this young woman. It wasn't that Gabby disliked Dinah; Gabby just pretended not to like her so she didn't have to go near her. She was afraid of the woman's powers. That's right, powers. Everyone in the kingdom knew of Dinah Redmond and what she could see. Since she was 9 years old and dreamt of the poisoning of the king (Alfred's father), Dinah has been known as a seer, a witch who sees the future... But Dinah was different. Seers see only the future, and if this is so, then how can she know things about one's life by a brief touch? She can see anyone's past, present, or future with the slightest touch, which is why Gabby always kept her distance from the younger blonde. The young knight watched as Dinah sat down, then looked at King Alfred. The king was very fond of Dinah, for that night when she saw the king's poisoning, she also dreamt of the prince's poisoning as well, and had stopped it from happening. True, it was in the only way she knew how (which was running in screaming madly, then knocking the goblet of wine from the young man's royal hands), but it had saved him.

"Your Highness, I fear that there will be injuries, but also a few victories as well." King Alfred seemed pleased to hear it. Dinah was never wrong with her 'predictions', so no one ever questioned her readings.

"And what of our newest knight?"

"Sir Gabriel..." She started to say, looking the new knight in the eyes. "Well, you know my readings, sir. I cannot see much of what's to come for them unless I have come into contact with him." In seconds, Gabby's skin turned pale. Everything she's ever known could be revealed and destroyed if Dinah ever saw within her like she had for so many men and women before her.

"Later. You'll give him his reading another time." All of the superstitious men who were curious to see what was to come of the young knight groaned in disappointment as the seer started to eat some of the duck that was set in front of her. The whole room continued its chatter.

"This tournament should be the perfect chance, lad."

"Excuse me?" Gabby asked Thadius.

"The tournament. King Bruce said that if there are a lot of unmarried men in this tournament, he'd give up half of his kingdom, his daughter's hand in marriage, and a large dowry to the victor." He lowered his voice some, "We all know how skilled you are at hunting, sword fighting, and jousting... though I think your jousting could use a little work... You are better than any of the men here and just as good as me. There are, o' course gonna be married knights there to make themselves even more known, and I s'pose they'd earn some money if one o' them wins, but I think you... You are gonna win it. Talk to King Bruce when you get there, and you can compete for the princess' hand." Thadius said.

"I'll think on it, but for now I'm just competing for the same reason the other men are. Mostly, it is just for the sport of it." Gabby said. She knows that she's not going to give it a second thought. Even if she wanted to, the princess would never, never love her. Princess Helena Wayne didn't love other women as Gabby did. Even if she did, what use would she be as a 'husband'? She couldn't physically give her any children. She couldn't be anyone's sire. But Thadius didn't know all this, so she pretended that she just wasn't ready to settle her life with a family just yet.

" 'Ey, Gabriel, are you alright? Gabriel Andrew?" Thadius punched Gabby's arm, and she glared at him, threatening to hit him back, but they both knew that she never would at the dining table. She respected him too much, and hitting him like that in front of other men made her look almost savage. "You don't look too good." That was just one of the reasons why Gabby respected the older knight so. He was always looking out for her as well as his family, even if he was drunk.

"Yeah, I reckon I should go to my bed chambers after I feed Nix." Thadius nodded, and Gabby stood up. She bowed to the king who raised his glass as a departure. She walked slowly to the stables where her horse stood, staring at her carefully, expecting something from her. "Hi." She whispered to the horse. In there, she wasn't Gabriel. She was a normal girl. To Nix, she was Gabby. She didn't have to deepen her voice for him. He wouldn't have bought it anyway. She handed him one of the carrots, which he took graciously. She slowly petted his head and side as he ate. Nix knew everything about who she was and who she never will be. "Men don't usually say this to other men, but you are beautiful." She said in a mocked tough voice. Nix snorted as if to laugh at her, and Gabby softly giggled as well. Nix was a beautiful horse though, dark brown with a black mane. The young knight spent the next 10-15 minutes in the stables in silence with Nix, just watching him as he watched her. It was almost as if the beloved horse was expecting her to say something. After another minute of silence, Gabby patted the horse one more time before hurrying out of the stables. She let herself wander around outside for a while before she went towards her room.

Gabby was almost to her temporary bed chambers (which was a surprise she knew her way to it since her head was down and she was watching the stone floors) when she ran into someone. "Ooph!!" grunted a feminine voice. The knight grabbed onto the hand that was struggling to get up, and helped the fallen body to get to her feet.

"Oh dear. I'm so sor-" Gabby stopped abruptly and let go of the hand when she had seen whom she'd run into. "So- My apologies, Miss Redmond." A chill ran down her spine as she found she couldn't meet the seer's eyes.

"Ga- Ga- you're-"

"Shh!" Gabby quickly grabbed the young blonde by the wrist, and after making sure no one else was in the corridor, pulled Dinah into her room and shut the door behind them.

"This is absurd! I'm not one of the king's whores, impostor! Let me out this instant!" Gabby put a finger to her lips to try and shush the woman, but she kept going on. Gabby was desperate. Her life was in this woman's hands and Dinah Redmond knew it.

"Please! Don't tell anyone what you saw within me just now. I-I just wanted to become a knight. It's all I ever wanted and this... It was the only way." Gabby found tears falling from her eyes. She went to her knees and her hands covered her face, so the seer couldn't see the tears fall from her eyes. "Please..." She begged the 18 or 19 year old young woman standing before her. It was silent for a little while as if the seer didn't know what to say or do.

Finally, she said "Look at me, Gabrielle Andrews." The young knight obeyed, not even attempting to correct her, saying as a young girl she was known as Gabby. "I won't tell... on one condition." Gabby stood up and regained herself as she dried her eyes. If you weren't looking closely, you wouldn't have known that she'd cried.

"Please, I'll do anything."

"Tell me, when are you leaving for the tournament in the Wayne kingdom?" The knight looked up at Dinah, eyes slightly reddened, but also filled with curiosity. She tried to think. The men: Thadius, his friend Cashius and his twin sons, and a man who was knighted just before the war were all going to leave the next morning at dawn. Gabby traveled separately, so she planned to leave at midday and she would try to catch up to them right before they entered the kingdom.

"Well, I will be leaving tomorrow by midday. For obvious reasons, I travel alone. The men just think I am antisocial when it comes to long trips." Gabby shrugged.

"I want to go with you." Dinah said bluntly.

"Not that I wont take you, but won't you be missed here?"

"I am not going to spend the rest of my life as some fortune-teller, Gabriel. I am only known here as Seer. I have a name. I want to be known by that name, if only for a couple of days at this tournament." Gabby thought it over.

"Alright then, Dinah." She made sure she added in her name. "Get your things together tonight, and meet me in the stables at midday. Have you a horse?"

"That I do." the seer said, and Gabby nodded.

"Alright then," She repeated. Gabby opened the door to her room and bowed quickly to Dinah as she left the chambers. "I will see you tomorrow." Dinah said nothing as she started to walk down the corridors towards her own chambers. "Thank you." Gabby said softly, but it was still loud enough to echo far enough to reach the seer's ears. The younger blonde stopped in her tracks for a second, then continued her walk.