A/N: Ok so not too many reviews but that's cool idk how many Tamara Pierce fans there are out there (she is a fantastic writer, I began with wild magic and finished the immortals then started properly with the lioness quartet and again with the immortals, then on to her others in the order she intended, merlin fans, I do greatly encourage you to read tamara's things as she is a fantastic writer who captures the world of magic very well and her strong female characters (as well as her males) are very relatable, she is widely known for her strong female characters even in her short stories and compilations with other writers who fancy strong yet feminine characters (she does well even in the lioness quartet, never letting the reader forget that the lioness is in fact a completely straight woman who just happens to rock enough to become the first female knight in Tortall). Galla, mentioned in my fic is a country north east-ish of Tortall, the country where Tamara's stories are set. Tortall is "world" renound for their use of magic and for the fairness of King Jonathan (no irish, not our johnny, I would be too sad to imagine so many women vying for his attention, oh wait we already do) of Conte, his wife the Queen Thyat, and his champion Sir Alanna, the Lioness, Baroness of Pirates Swoop and (I totally blanked on the other). So without further ado
Uther's servant bowed his head respectfully and left the room hurriedly, aimed toward the Lady Morgana's chambers, only to meet the Lady and her servant in the halls en route to the throne room for reasons unknown. He bowed his head, only addressing the Lady with his eyes adverted, not that his blind eyes would see her but it was the respectful thing to do of a man of his station in society, it was often thought to be strange how the Lady's servant and the Prince's servant both dared look their masters in the eyes and spoke so casually with their masters. "Lady Morgana, the King wishes to hold counsel with you in the throne room immediately, it is of a matter that concerns a thief-widow who claims to be with child" he stood awaiting her response with his head bowed "has she been attended to by Gaius of yet?" was her first concern to which he shook his head "no mi'lady, she has yet to be seen" Morgana looked to her woman gravely then back to her king's servant "I will appear at once, would you please call for the physician, I would feel better at ease knowing that she will be attended to at his earliest convenience, send him to my sitting room that is where I will keep her for now" Morgana and Gwen each smiled warmly at the servant. "yes mi'lady" the servant said before bowing and retreating to the chambers of the King's Physician. "come now Gwen, we have a woman to attend to" Morgana said before making forward in the direction she had already been aimed, forgetting her originating task.
"My Lord" she said, entering the great hall she is pleased with me today, that is a nice change the king thought to himself "Ah, Morgana, I see you have received your summons, please come forward and meet this woman. Widow, what are you called?" Uther turned his eyes toward the woman who was now standing again in the clutches of the guards, and still holding tight to her belly. Her head became bowed in respect and she attempted at a curtsy only to find the grip of the king's guard tight as if she had attempted escape, this did however not escape the notice of the Lady Morgana who instantly demanded she be released and bade her maiden Gwen collect the woman. The woman looked up yet adverted her gaze none the less; those in attendance saw her warm smile and the king at once pitied her yet more. "I am called Marianne" her voice, lost of some of it's former sorrow now only hinted at her troubles "that is a beautiful name" Morgana said before turning to the King "I have sent for Gaius to attend to her in my sitting room My King, I hope that you approve" Uther sighed, she must be pleased indeed "yes, yes Morgana that will do just fine but before you away with your new pet I would like for her to answer some important questions" morgana nodded "yes, she may" she responded without so much as seeking the peasant's consent. "Marianne would you please elaborate more on the subject of the mage Belenos and how came to pass the circumstances surrounding your flight to Camelot"
Only after taking a deep breath did Marianne speak, at first in but a hesitant whisper though quickly gaining in fortitude as well as volume. "my husband, Pryderi, was a mage I had known this since our first meeting at a Beltane festival where we were married. I was promised him by my father who was both mentally ill and broke. Pryderi was both employed and trained by the Mage Belenos who at first seemed to be a fair and kind man. Soon after the birth of our Cáel, my Pryderi began to notice peculiarities in the Mage. The mage soon began to exhibit bouts of depression and seclusion, soon he became angry and drunk on ales and power and my husband quitted his employment. Pryderi moved us from Scrana to Galla in hopes of evading the mage, though as soon as I became pregnant again he found us, wishing for force Pryderi into employment again, when my husband refused the mage attempted to kill me though my husband was able to block the attack from reaching myself and Cáel initially though soon the demand of the struggle began to take its toll on my husband who passed out and never revived, next the Mage turned on my infant son Cáel, ripping him from my arms and casting a spell on him." The woman's fortitude proved to be short lived though she trudged on with her tale, grateful for the protection now extended her. Through her tears she now spoke "the cries of my child are emblazoned into my memory as is his last countenance, one of such unbearable pain. Knowing that my child was already dead or at least mostly I quickly awayed upon my horse without saddle or reign. A fortnight ago my horse was lamed when he stumbled weakly into a rodent burrow and I had to dispatch of him with a stone and continue on foot. I thought to seek protection within the walls of Tortall but decided better of it having no attachments and thought to arrive here, the birthplace of my own mother who's family I have recently found to be absent or unwilling to extend their hand to me. Please My Lord, do not take my hand, I have every intention of finding occupation and repaying those who I have stolen from I have even kept a list of vendors and Items I stole of them" her tears again gone, this time due to lack of water necessary to her body to maintain such show of her pain she pulled from her tunic a parchment that just as she had said, enlisted many names as well as food, clothing, and other items necessary to survival in the cold Camelot nights, which the Lady Morgana offered her hand out to receive "Sire, her handwriting is of great beauty and as she has told, enlisted herein are items which appear to be those she took, Gwen love would you please hand this to Our King" she handed it to her servant who stepped forward and bowed in front of Uther, presenting him the parchment.
"yes your form is indeed beautiful, have you any other skills" "yes, sire, I am skilled at tailoring as well as embroidery and even minor metal working, many of my uses are unladylike in nature but as I am but a peasant and my family found the tasks necessary regardless of my sex I was trained in the care of horses, oftentimes even breaking a horse to saddle or reign." Was her quick reply, all trace of her former suffering lost but her tear reddened countenance . The king nodded with a small grin "yes, I see you are very useful to us, I will find an occupation fitting of you, and I may even have use of a court recorder I should like to have a history written to tell of my reign. Morgana, you may show her to your rooms now, I am through with my interview of her for now." The Lady Morgana, bowed slightly and turned to her women, beckoning them to follow her.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````3 weeks prior in Tortall````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Diane sat bolt upright in her bed, for a moment disturbing her youngest child and some of the castle animals that shared the bed with her and her family. She phased her eyes to that of a cat's and searched the darkness for her husband, the great mage Numair when she found him she tapped his shoulder and beckoned he follow her to which he grumpily complied. "is everything all right love?" concern laced his voice, she knew better than to wake him unless it was very necessary. "the bats outside, I heard them talk of a burning farm in Galla" he furrowed his brow "why would they be talking of that so long after, its been years" she shook her head "no, it was not my family's farm, it seems the sparrows told the owls who told the Gallan bats who told the Tortallian bate that a mage attacked another mage, killed his child and that a woman made away with her life." Confusion and sleep clouded his mind "all of that was passed between the bats to you while you were sleeping." After a moment's thought he sighed "do you want to wake the king or should i?" she smiled slyly as she turned to the bed where their youngest was rousing slightly "want to flip me for it?". He shook his head "I will dress and tell the king
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````today in Tortall``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The lioness rode up to the castle, jumping lithely off her horse despite her stature and degree of exhaustion. "jonathan, he has been defeated" the king stood up hurriedly and crossed the room to inspect his best friend for damages, mistaking the lines of exhaustion on her face for sorrow "and of Numair?" Alanna shook her head "he is resting at his home with Diane tending to his wounds, he was burned by the mage's fire" "will he be long in recovery?" Alanna laughed "her mother was a hedgewitch, he will heal just fine with her help." The two friends embraced for a moment before the king pulled away "any word of the woman?" the lioness shook her head, once Numair recovers sufficiently he will scry for her, though Diane has heard reports of the woman fleeing past us and into the direction of Camelot, other than that we have no information." The king nods, "I will go tell my wife she has been sick with worry, really everyone thinks I am soft hearted what does that make her?" they both laugh again before the king dismisses his champion to return to Pirates Swoop to recover and be with her family.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````again today in Camelot````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
As the woman sleeps, Morgana and Gaius talk mutedly "I dreamed of her near three weeks ago, from what I gather it was the night prior to the attack, how could this be Gaius, that my nightmares still so often come true" the physician shook his head solemnly. "I do not know my lady, I cannot even fathom a sufficient guess as to why, would you like me to try for a stronger remedy?" Morgan shook her head before looking back to her patient "she will be so beautiful once her hair grows back, I do hope Uther makes fast on his promise to keep her on as a scribe to the castle, it would be such an advantageous position for her, what with all the single male servants that I am sure would be more than glad to care for her and her child." The physician could only chuckle at the romanticism of the King's ward. "you are too much at times my dear, do you need anything else before I take my leave" morgana only shook her head "no thank you friend, if I should find need I will send Gwen to you" Gaius bowed his head slightly and walked toward the door, Morgana frowned at the sight of what age and cold have done to her friend's joints as he stiffly moved across the cold stone floors. When he opened them Merlin nearly fell into the room with Arthur catching him by the arm "I see you straightened in time enough unlike you servant Arthur, you know you two really should better yourselves at spying, or at least request to enter instead of spying at all" her voice was light and happy, it was clear she was too pleased with herself to be bothered by their unbecoming behavior. The Prince only shrugged before looking at the woman sleeping on Lady Morgana's day bed of her Sitting room. "so she is from Galla then?" he motioned toward Marianne with his chin, Morgana nodded her head. "by way of Scrana and blood of Camelot" again Arthur shrugged as if he didn't care "if you need any help Merlin will be at your service Morgana" the Lady's eyebrows raised slightly as he took in the sight of the unbeknownst-to-them mage and she smiled softly "yes, thank you Arthur that is kind of you" "yeah, yeah don't go spreading rumors such as that around, people might start to believe you" Arthur smiled a sideways grin before turning, stopping when he heard his servant chuckle "what is so blasted funny Merlin, really?" Merlin only shook his head and pretended to cough "think I've something in my throat is all" Merlin could not conceal his grin "yes, I am sure, just be sure to have a bath ready for me following supper, other than that you know who to listen to"
a/foot note: ok so I went out on a limb and wrote a bit more in hopes that I would gain readers, if this sucks too badly please somebody tell me and I'll just chuck the thing to return my devotions only to the sea and my delicious crabbers