The Court of Camelot

by Starr6800

Split into three parts; Part 1 is 'Being Queen', Part 2 is 'Lyones and Lynette' and part 3 is yet to be named. In part 1 Mithian and Gwen are both coming to terms with their new queenships, but there's trouble brewing ahead. By the way - I don't entirely understand the book cover rules, so I've used a picture that I took myself at the castle, to be on the safe side with copyright.

1. Decision

The Court of Camelot

Part One: Being Queen

Chapter One

Lyones entered the queen's chambers. Her younger sister Lynette was sat on the floor, hemming a luxurious purple velvet gown. Queen Guinevere was sitting behind her deep mahogany desk, carefully embroidering one of the voluminous over-sleeves.

"The king needs you in the council chambers, Gwen." Lyones said, crossing the room to kneel on the floor next to Lynette.

"Is it urgent?" Gwen asked her maid

"Not really. I can do that sleeve if you like, though." Lyones offered, inspecting Lynette's perfect needlework.

"That's be wonderful, Lyones." Gwen replied. Lyones got back up and went over to Gwen's desk to take the sleeve from her. Gwen gave it to her and slowly got up, folding her hands over her swollen belly.

xXx

Arthur was worried. The cause of this was a letter he had just received; an announcement that the King of Nemeth had passed away and Princess Mithian had become queen. This in itself was fine, but it was what came next that was making him anxious. Since Nemeth, Mithian's kingdom, was allied with Camelot, it was customary and polite to invite her to visit. But now that Gwen was married to him and having his child, things could get quite awkward…

The council chamber doors opened and Guinevere entered. Every time Arthur saw her he felt a little burst of joy; her sheer beauty, which had always been there, seeing her clothed in the finery that she deserved and, most recently, her swollen belly, which had made an appearance about two months ago.

"Arthur" Guinevere said "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes" Arthur replied, leaving his seat to pull one out for her "How are you?" he questioned. He hated the idea of her suffering, and although she never complained, Merlin had informed him that pregnancy could be considerably uncomfortable (apparently, Gaius had been teaching him about science. How he managed to get Merlin to learn anything, Arthur had no idea.)

"Arthur, I'm fine." Guinevere assured him

"Are you completely certain?" Arthur pressed

"Arthur." Guinevere sighed, exasperated. "What did you call me to discuss?"

"Well, um…" Arthur felt nervous and tongue-tied. How was he going to tell her this?

xXx

Gaius examined the contents of the phial and compared it with the illustration in the book. It looked like it needed a little more willow bark. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in" Gaius called, placing the phial on the table and turning around. Gwen entered Gaius' chambers.

"Hello, Gwen. Is your back aching again? I've almost finished your medicine."

"No, it's alright at the moment. But thank you anyway…I was actually looking for Merlin?"

"I think Arthur sent him to muck out the stables."

"Thank you Gaius, see you later."

"Goodbye, Gwen"

xXx

Gwen paused by the stable doors, cursing the trailing hem of her silk gown.

"Merlin?" she called, poking her head through the door

"Gwen!" a voice came from behind her. Gwen yelped and span around to see Merlin grinning at her.

"Merlin, you frightened me!" she scolded

"You're made of sterner stuff than that, Gwen!" Merlin laughed. "Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, um…" Gwen glanced around at the busy stables "Can we speak somewhere more private?"

xXx

"Ok, Gwen. What's wrong?" Merlin said when they were safely sitting in Gwen's old home. Over the years Merlin had sat across this table from Gwen many times. Although she was now queen, some things never change.

"While I was in exile, Arthur…was engaged. To a princess. What happened? In detail, start to finish." Merlin blinked. How did Gwen suddenly know about Mithian? It wasn't as if it had exactly been a secret, but…no one had ever seen any reason to tell her.

"Merlin?" Gwen prompted. So Merlin swallowed his questions and began.

xXx

"So in the end Arthur just loved you too much." Merlin finished. Gwen looked down at her lap.

"Now, Gwen. Tell me how you knew about Mithian."

"Mithian is now Queen Mithian…so she is, maybe, coming to visit."

"Maybe coming to visit?"

"If I'm comfortable with it…" Gwen made up her mind. "Which I am"

xxxXxxx

So, I hope you liked that! I really liked Mithian, and I really wanted her to come back! Thanks for reading so far. Now – SPOILERS FOR SERIES 5 AHEAD STOP READING NOW IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN SPOILER FREE! I started planning this when I found out that Mithian will be returning in series 5 and got really excited about it. Obviously, it hasn't manifested until quite a while later, and since then we've had quite a few more spoilers. This story is set about 6 months after Arthur and Gwen's wedding. This is ignoring the fact that Mordred is a knight, that Morgana was imprisoned, and all other spoilers we've had for series 5 other than the return of Mithian. And obviously Gwen isn't pregnant in series 5, and she doesn't have children, but she is pregnant here. Phew! Okay, thanks people – and since it's the summer holidays and the weather in England is not great, the next chapter'll be on its way pretty soon!