A/N This story is set after the beginning of the purge, main characters from the show will most likely not appear in this for a while, except Gwaine of course. This story will be of three main parts with chapters in each part. The first part is before the birth of Gwaine, the second Gwaine as a child and the the third Gwaine becoming a man. I really do hope you will enjoy this story, I put a lot of work into it and actually did some research (crazy). So enough of my drivel :)
EDIT: This story was formally called 'From Humble Beginnings'.
Part one: Anna and Gareth
Chapter one: And So it begins.
Life had once been good for Anna; she was the daughter of a prominent Knight of Camelot with finery and servants at the tip of the dainty little fingers. She had had more gold and dresses than she knew what to do with it, and she had been set to marry a young knight in a few years. Life for Anna was going to be easy, life would always be kind to Anna- or so she thought. But then, one dark stormy night everything changed in a split second and she lost everything. The King, furious with the loss of his Queen banned all magic and began to execute those talented enough to practice it. Since she was a small child Anna had been able to do magic and she had never hidden it; she had never needed to. Now however she was on the run. Fleeing from a man who she had once looked upon as an uncle. That life of finery would never be forgotten by Anna, and it was the cause of everything to come. One man had changed her destiny and placed her on a new path. Anna would be forever lost and careering into disaster, with no way of finding the brakes because that's now life is.
Anna was only young, a mere fifteen years of age when she was cast out with no one to care for her. Lost and alone she had stumbled for days through woodland and villages before she staggered onto a man named Gareth of Lyonesse's land. He was just a young man himself, taking over the estate after the early death of him father. He was training to be a knight and at only seventeen years of age he was one of the best in King Lot's land and certainly one of the most noble. So a young and terrified girl stumbled into the arms of a brave and strong man- quite literally. A man she felt could protect her and so she stayed with him. The young damsel saved by her very own prince charming.
Anna was a pretty young girl and this attribute had led to many possible suitors lining up to marry her. Anna was blessed with long curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. The face of a cherub her father used to say as he tweaked her nose with a large smile. She was slender and had a perfect posture. Anna in short was beautiful.
Slowly the months passed but she did not dare tell him the truth, dare not tell him from whence she came or of her magic. He only knew the name she gave herself and that she had no one to care for her. It was an extremely lonely existence for her.; to go from being loved and adored to being nothing but a lost and forgotten peasant girl.
So here was Anna now, tidying her landlord's house while he visited the King, he would be back soon she thought glancing at the darkening sky outside the window. It was at these times when the house was empty that Anna liked to use magic, a flash of her eyes and the pots were clean. A few mumbled words and the brush swept the floor. Anna sunk into the wooden chair and sighed. Her life lacked the excitement it once held and Gareth (though a caring and brave man) could not give her what she wished. She was trapped in this life in this useless existence. The days till Gareth's return passed slowly until, at last he walked through the door.
"Gareth, how was your trip, any news from King Lot." She inquired quickly. She knew he had been looking forward to seeing the King, but he had not told her why. He looked at her with a grin stretched across his face
'He made me a knight my dear Anna. I am a knight!' He cried victoriously sweeping her into a hug. She giggled at his excitement. Gareth lifted her off her feet "He said I would have done my father proud."
"Congratulations, though it was only a matter of time." She said to appease him. He had shown her one night his talent with a sword, and she had been impressed and that was a hard feat to achieve. She knew that he could give her father a run for his money and her father was the strongest knight she knew. He released her but they were still stood closely, their noses almost touching. Anna looked up at him, her eyelashes lowered dangerously. With a soft cough Gareth stepped back from her and took a seat at the large mahogany table blushing slightly. Anna quickly busied herself with making a pot of tea for Gareth, his servants had not yet returned from their leave. She placed the pot in front of him with a soft smile as she too took a seat at the table.
"King Lot fears for the borders, we will have to keep a lookout." Gareth said as he sipped his tea appreciatively. "He has asked me personally to monitor all those entering and leaving the area, since we are so close to the border."
"Why is that?" Anna asked as she poured herself a cup. Anna was pretending to be interested but like most conversations about knights, she found it dull and boring.
"He fears that people escaping Camelot could start causing trouble here." Gareth said conversationally but carefully observing Anna over the rim of his cup. Anna stiffened slightly at the word before forcing herself to relax.
"You never did tell me where you came from." He said his brown chestnut eyes boring in hers from across the table.
"No I did not." She said coldly. He blinked quickly for a second before deciding to leave the matter. Some things with Anna were just better left unsaid; she had the habit of clamming up and then avoiding the person like a plague for the rest of the day. The rest of the day passed in quiet but comfortable silence. They were like that, Anna and Gareth. Words did not need to be spoken for them to feel at ease with the other. They had been that way since the very beginning maybe it was Gareth's laid back attitude to life or simply because they clicked. It was nice though to not have to make an effort but just to sit in comfort occasionally smiling at the other before eyes glanced back at their book or report.
"Good night Gareth" Anna muttered to a sleepy Gareth as she left the room.
"Night'"Anna' he mumbled in reply. The night was cold and the wind rattled through the house. Anna walked up the stairs and settled in for the night. Anna wrapped herself deeper into the duvet shivering as she fell asleep. The second she was asleep, a nightmare began.
A woman with black inky hair was crowned on a throne. A man that she felt she knew was running through woods, chased by bandits. A woman stood at an altar shouting a spell. Falling, falling.
A boy, a small child, crying as his mother sobbed. A dirty blanket, a bed covered in blood. Darkness pain. Joy.
A woman, a woman with a price. A woman with blonde hair stood over a man, raising her hand to kill him before she paused, eyeing him in shock.
Why do you hide from us? Why deny who you are child?' The voice sneered in her head. 'You belong with us…'
The darkness cleared and she could see a misty island, in the middle of a lake 'We are waiting'. Then a woman's scream a heart wrenching scream and a baby's wail.
Anna awoke in a cold sweat, shivering from the cold she snuggled back into her covers and tried to sleep again. When it became clear that she would no longer be getting any sleep she staggered into the kitchen where the servants were making breakfast. Only three servants were employed by Gareth, a far cry from her families ten. They were polite and friendly as all good servants were but they also shared a bond with Gareth that she did not understand. She was not waited on by them, purely because as far as they knew she was a peasant. That and she didn't want to be waited on by Gareth's servants, she owed him enough already. She nodded politely to Maddie the cook and Alec and made herself and Gareth some tea. Anna picked up the tray and took it into Gareth's study, Gareth was bent over his desk as he wrote up some of his reports, the feather of his quill tickling his chin slightly. He noticed at her and smiled, beckoning her to come and sit with him. So Anna carefully manoeuvred the tray to the small desk and placed it softly down, being careful to avoid all his paperwork. She then dragged a chair from across the room to sit beside him.
"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Gareth laughed as he poured himself a cup.
"Maybe you were good in a past life?"
"I'm good in this life, thank you very much!" Gareth said jovially as he set his quill down and stretched slightly.
"I suppose so" Anna said as she mock considered it before shaking her head "No definitely not!"
"Why would that be my fair lady?"
"You…You flirt, with everyone! Sometimes I think you'd flirt with a horse if you thought it would give you a kiss!"
"I have flirted with some real horses in my time." Gareth laughed at his own joke and leaned back on the chair. "Why, you jealous?"
"Most certainly not, you can flirt with whoever you wish." Anna said haughtily looking away and raising her chin slightly.
"Is that so?" Gareth asked her, Anna gave a firm nod whilst looking in the opposite direction. "So if I go into the village and start handing out flowers you won't care?" Anna's jaw clenched but apart from that she said nothing. "Oh come on Anna! Tell me? Would you be jealous?"
"Yes, but only a little bit. Like a tiny, itsy bitsy bit." Anna confessed in a rush, demonstrating with her fingers just how little an amount.
"So you are jealous?"
"A tiny bit."
"So you're jealous of my flirtatious attitude?"
"Yes." Anna said through gritted teeth causing Gareth to jump up and down in his seat with glee.
"I'll tell you what Anna, I shall only flirt with you, how's that sound?"
"I don't want you to flirt with me!" Anna exclaimed causing Gareth to frown in confusion "I just don't want you flirting with anyone!"
"Right."
"You need to learn to control yourself."
"I am the bees knees of control."
"You aren't."
"I am" replied Gareth adamantly.
"Aren't."
"Are!"
"This is pointless" Anna huffed crossing her arms firmly across her chest, Gareth's eyes hovered just above her crossed arms for a second.
"So this means I win right?" Gareth said gruffly, his face flaming red as he consciously kept his gaze locked with hers.
"I suppose so." She muttered "I shall leave you to your work, heavens knows you get distracted enough. Anna stood up, gave a brief smile at Gareth and left her untouched tea on the desk. Gareth sighed as he stared at her arse as she left the room. Once she had gone, Gareth slammed his head onto the desk and then moaned in pain.
"Stupid, stupid Gareth." He muttered to himself. Somehow, admiration for Anna had turned into something more, lust most certainly. Love? Hopefully not. She was far too young for him. He had far too many duties. But he longed for her, more than anything. He could only hope that maybe she felt the same, but he doubted it. Anna was so caught up in her own world she seemed to forget that others existed. He doubted she had even looked twice at him or that she ever would. There was something about her though, something he just found ever so interesting. Maybe it was the mystery of her past or the grief and loneliness in her eyes. He wasn't sure but he needed to stop anything from happening, because unlike what he said to her he most certainly was not in control. Gareth sighed, lifted his head back off the table and picked up his quill; maybe doing his reports would take his mind off it.
Gareth was with the knights the next day, for practice. It was hard work but he felt relieved and in control to be out of the house and with his trusty blade in his hand. He was duelling Sir Wilfred, an old friend of his who was a couple of years older.
Gareth swung his sword towards Wilfred's chest but he brought the blade up and shielded the blow. Gareth took a step forward and swung towards his head, Wilfred danced back with a cocky smile on his face. Gareth could feel his frustration starting to get the best of him. Suddenly Wilfred's sword swung towards Gareth and he took a hasty step back and threw up a block, Wilfred's smile was gone now his face a pure mask of concentration.
"Best you can do Garry?"
"Wilf, I'm hardly even sweating."
Gareth was on the defence; Wilfred was pushing towards him making him jump out of the way of his blunt sword. Wilfred was stronger than Gareth, but not as talented. Deciding to use his smaller frame to his advantage, Gareth ducked under his raised arm and before Wilfred could turn to strike him, he tapped the back of Wilfred's armour.
"I win." Gareth puffed pulling off his gloves and pushing his sword into the soft mud.
"I would have had you if you hadn't cheated." pouted Wilfred.
"I didn't cheat."
"You ducked under my arm that has to be cheating." Wilfred complained "I almost had you."
"If you weren't so slow…" Gareth insinuated.
"Why you little…" growled Wilfred as he made to grab Gareth, but he'd danced away laughing before he got the chance. "How are things with this little girly going then?"
"Fine, why do you ask?" Gareth asked suspiciously narrowing his eyes at Wilfred's all too innocent face.
"Just wondering if you had fallen for her yet."
"I have not. Why would I?" Gareth fumed.
"You fall all the maidens."
"I don't, I think you are thinking of you." Gareth crossed his arms and frowned at Wilfred.
"What about the girl, what was her name again?" Wilfred asked himself poking his tongue out of his mouth "That's it, Katherine."
"What about her?"
"You never used to shut up about her. It was Katy this, my little purple flower petal this." Wilfred teased leaning forward to poke the angry Gareth in the chest.
"I never called her little purple flower petal." Gareth said quietly.
"Then after that there was Louise… My little Loo-Loo you used to sa-"
"Right, I get the point. I may have been easily taken in by women in the past but I am a man now. Not that I ever even kissed them" Gareth pointed out causing Wilfred to burst into laughter.
"That's because and I quote 'you are the most foul lecherous disgusting little boy I have ever met' was that Louise?" Wilfred chortled.
"No, that was Helen I think." Gareth admitted with a smile of his own. "Not that you can say much about it, you are still single are you not?"
"I have no intention of having a woman, too much effort. They cost too." He said in a mock whisper.
"Is that just because your latest 'conquest' turned you down?"
"Perhaps. But we have drifted off topic, you and this lass?"
"I don't know, she doesn't seem to really notice me." Gareth said with a shrug, women were far too complex for his liking.
"Ah, how can she not notice you when she's living in your house?" Wilfred asked with a frown.
"You tell me mate, you tell me."
A/N Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, please review and let me know what you thought. Stay happy and healthy guys.
The adventure continues next week...
