"He cannot be serious about marrying her"
Vivienne refused to look at her sister, who was pacing back and forth in front of her furiously, instead focusing on the embroidery set in her lap. It was several days after she had found out that her daughter was expecting, and in that time Vivienne had learned to keep her anger in check. The news had both infuriated and terrified her, but she would have her revenge, she just needed to be patient. Everything was already in place. Until then, she was content to sit and listen to her sisters' bitter rants.
"I mean, who does she think she is? Waltzing in out of nowhere and attempting to sweep Uther off his feet…"
"Succeeding to sweep him off his feet apparently" Vivienne muttered. Nimueh ignored her and continued her rant.
"She's not even magical? What is she? Just some stupid human who likes playing rough with the boys and their swords. And they want to make her queen? Well there goes the kingdom! She's not even that pretty!"
"Uther seems to think so."
"Uther is a fool who doesn't know what he wants" Nimueh hissed. "I am the one he should be marring. I would be best for this kingdom. I am Emrys! He and I have a bond like no other! We are two sides of the same coin, or so say the prophesies!"
"Or maybe you're wrong. Maybe he's not the once and future king and you're not Emrys." Vivienne said with a smirk. Nimueh glared at her sister before violently slapping the embroidery out of her hands.
"I am Emrys." She declared "I am the all-powerful one! And Uther is my King! We are destined to rule this kingdom together!"
"If you say so, sister."
Nimueh stopped and stared at Vivienne, taken aback by the other woman's confidant attitude. Vivienne had always been all spit and venom but no real bite. But now there was a constant smirk set in the corner of her lips that let Nimueh know that something had happened.
"What did you do?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Vivienne fainted innocence, but Nimueh was having none of it.
"Oh yes you do. You did something. Something big. Something you don't want to tell me about."
"It's really none of your concern."
"Oh, but I am concerned, Viv." Nimueh said, using the childhood pet name for her sister. "You're so impulsive, I know you don't always think things through. Tell me what you did so I won't worry about you."
Vivienne laughed, perfectly aware that her sister cared very little for her wellbeing. She mimed locking her lips and throwing away the keys to irritate the other woman.
"Fine. Tell me what you did, not because I'm a loving sister, but because you're dying to brag about it."
Vivienne shrugged acceptingly. Her sister did know her better than anyone else in the world. She took Nimueh's hand and led it to rest on top of her still flat stomach, reveal the secret Gaius had informed her of before Morgause and Ygraine had come in. The sorceress gasped when she felt the life inside.
"You're pregnant?" Nimueh asked, confused and a little repulsed. Children in general did not like her and she did not like them. Her sister's devotion to her offspring had always confused her.
"What better revenge on my husband for selling our child off at the kings biding than to make him raise the king' illegitimate child?" Vivienne explained with a smirk "All it took was a fertility spell and one night in the Kings bed. I can see why you like him." She added with a wink. Nimueh jerked her hand away from Vivienne's stomach.
"You fool!" She hissed. "Have you no notion of the damage you've done? No notion of the future that awaits this child?"
"What are you talking about?"
"A child conceived on the cocktail of magic and hate will know nothing else! This is basic sorcery Vivienne! Once she comes fully into her magic, she will know nothing but the hate and despair you felt when she was first conceived!"
"You're lying!" Vivienne sneered, her hand flying protectively over her stomach and her unborn child.
"Scry into the future yourself if you don't believe me." Nimueh challenged. "See for yourself the pain and suffering that awaits your daughter once she is brought into this world."
Vivienne ran out of the room, throwing the door open and leaving her sister behind. Her long skirts billowed out around her as she rushed down the hall and almost collided with Ygraine.
"Lady Vivienne! You startled me." The blond exclaimed, then noticed the other woman's state of distress "Are you alright?"
"Come with me!" Vivienne commanded, latching onto Ygraine's arm and dragging her along. "The spell works better if there's more than one person."
Ygraine let herself be led up a winding pair of stairs and into Vivienne's private chamber. With a flurry of movement, Vivienne drew the curtains closed and the room was enveloped in near total darkness. Then suddenly, candles all around the room burst to life with a magic word from Vivienne. Ygraine gasped at the impressive display. But Vivienne had no time for that. She poured out an enormous bowl of water and set it on the floor.
"Sit there." The sorceress commanded, and a bewildered Ygraine did as she was told, taking a seat on the floor next to the bowl. Vivienne sat on the opposite side.
"What are we doing?" Ygraine whispered.
"Scrying into the future" Vivienne replied tartly "Give me your hands."
Ygraine once again did as she was told, excited to be a part of something magical. Since coming to Camelot, she had become a lot more comfortable around magic. Balinor didn't seem able to go a full hour without using it. But she had never been around something like this. It made the hairs on the back of her arm stand on end.
Ancient words poured out from Vivienne's lips. An unnatural wind swirled around the closed room and tugged playfully at the ends of the two women's hair. The candles flared drastically and then as one wink out, leaving them in darkness. The only light came from the sorceress's glowing eyes.
Then there was nothing.
When Ygraine opened her eyes she was no longer in the dark castle chamber, but in a warm spring meadow. Instead of being frightened by the sudden change, she found herself strangely calm. Everything around her was a little hazy and she had trouble focusing on anything for too long. It was a little like being drunk.
Motion out of the corner of her eye drew her attention to the fact that she was not alone in the meadow. Not far away two young men were starting to make camp. Well, one of them was setting up a campfire while the other was lounging against a log and soaking in the rays of the sun. While the first, and obviously younger of the two, wore simple clothes and a tattered red neckerchief, the second was dressed in chainmail and had a sword fastened to his belt. This man was obviously a knight, and perhaps the second was his squire?
Ygraine moved closer through the high grass to try and hear their conversation, but even when she was mere feet away she could still hear nothing. They were obviously talking to each other, but their words were lost to her. And while they couldn't have been far off from her own age, when she looked at them it was like looking at small children. She felt a strange urge to hold and shelter them both with motherly affection.
The knight looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh at something the younger man was saying. He said something that made him glare at the younger man before a mischievous grin picked at his lips. Without warning and as quick as lightning, the knight suddenly hurled himself at his companion in an attempt to pin him on the ground.
At first Ygraine was alarmed, fearing the stranger was under attack. But it soon became clear that the pair were tussling in the manner boys of that age would. In fact, she remembered many a time doing so herself with her brothers. After a while, the knight finally seemed content with the other boy's surrender and helped to hoist him to his feet. He then struck him fondly on the back of the head while the other glared.
Brothers. Ygraine though, recognizing the rapport between them. They're brothers. She was sure of it, like it was an unquestionable truth, a fact she had unconsciously known from the moment she saw the strangers. It was an odd detail to have picked up on so quickly since the two had very little resemblance between them.
One was broad and tan with hair as fair as her own. He wore a heavy air of responsibility on his shoulders, and had a protective twinkle in his eyes when he looked at the other man that was very endearing. He was confident in his mannerisms, but also wary; as if he was used to his every movement being watched and judged. More than anything Ygraine felt an overwhelming feeling of recognition and affection when she looked at the blond which she could not explain.
The other man was pale where his companion was tan, dark haired where the other was fair, and slender in frame. The only trait the two shared were their blue eyes, which each were a slightly different shade. Where the other boy's eyes had twinkled, the dark haired one's burned with passion to protect that was alarming. Again, there was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite call it from memory.
Then it hit her. Abruptly who he reminded her of came to mind and she couldn't stop herself from saying the name aloud.
"Balinor?"
The dark haired boy's blue eyes darted to hers, looking straight at her. For a moment she thought he could see her, but then his gaze slipped to either side of her in an alarmed search. The blond man looked too, but in response to his companion.
Ygraine was so close she could read his lips as the dark hair man responded;
"I thought I heard something."
The knight rolled his eyes dismissively and went back to lay by his log, but the other stayed alert. He glanced once at the knight to make sure he'd lost interest, then surveyed the scene again, but this time his eyes flashed a brilliant gold.
Ygraine barely had time to marvel at the sight before the world started to fade away into darkness.
When she opened her eyes for the second time, Ygraine found herself back in Vivienne's chambers. It was still pitch black, so she shuffled her way over to the curtains and flung them open.
The sunlight illuminated a figure huddled in on itself on the floor. Ygraine rushed to the other women's side and helped hoist her to her feet.
"Did you see?" The older woman trembled, her big eyes threatening to spill over with tears. "Did you see her?"
Her? Ygraine thought with confusion. The vision she'd seen had only contained the two boys.
"Who?" she asked.
"My daughter! The one I carry inside me!" Vivienne screeched, her hands flying to her stomach dramatically. Ygraine's eyes widened in surprise at the news.
"You're going to have another child?" Ygraine stammered "Congratulations! That's joyous news!" The future Queen hadn't even thought Vivienne and her husband were speaking to each other, let alone….
But Vivienne looked anything but jubilant. In fact, she looked like the whole world was suddenly coming to an end and it was her fault.
"Oh, what have I done?" She cried, throwing herself onto the bed dramatically. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she choked out as her shoulders shook with her sobs.
"Shhhh. It's alright, there there." Ygraine tried to console her. She sat beside her on the bed and started to rub soothing circles on her back. The older woman flinched away, mortified at the other woman's touch.
"No, you don't understand!" Vivienne said, looking at her with tear filled eyes. "I don't deserve sympathy for what I've done. Least of all from you."
"What do you mean?" Ygraine asked with a growing feeling of dread.
"It's the child" Vivienne moved her hand to cover her stomach significantly. "I was so blinded by pride, by the need for revenge that I didn't see, I didn't realize the evil I was creating."
"Your child is not evil!" Ygraine told her, mortified. The poor thing hadn't even been born yet. The future queen's greatest wish was to give Uther an heir. The idea of a child, part her, part Uther, was the most wonderful thing she could imagine. The very thought of Vivienne's apparent revulsion with the child she carried scared her.
"You don't understand!" Vivienne repeated again, shaking her head violently. "This child was conceived out of my own arrogance, hate, and magic. As punishment for my indiscretions, this too shall be the child's fate. I have foreseen it."
Ygraine stared and tried to make sense of the mad woman's ravings. Finally everything clicked in her head as she put the pieces together. Her eyelids fell closed as she sighed, suddenly understanding the older woman's pain.
"The child's not Gorlois's, is it?" She asked softly. Vivienne sobbed aggressively into her hand, her whole frame crumbling in confirmation to the question.
Ygraine, being the kind hearted soul she was, collapsed on top of Vivienne and rapped her arms around her, much as she had her daughter days' before. She cradled the other woman and rocked her back and forth while her tears soaked the sleeve of her gown. After a few minutes, Vivienne composed herself enough to sit up and take a few deep breaths. She wiped her eyes and nose gratefully with the handkerchief Ygraine offered her.
"Who's the father?" Ygraine asked genuinely curious, when she thought Vivienne had calmed down enough to speak. She had begun to form her own theories as to the child's parenthood. One of the kinds knights maybe? Gods, she didn't know what she would do if it were Tristan! Or maybe Balinor? The image of the dark haired boy from the meadow flashed before her eyes.
"Oh, Lady Ygraine!" Vivienne cried, her hand flying to cover her mouth and her eyes widening in horror. "I thought you understood. Oh gods, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Who is it?" Ygraine asked in a dead tone, fear suddenly gripping her heart. She was fairly sure she didn't want to hear the name about to come out of the older woman's mouth. But there was one name she dreaded hearing more than any of the others.
"The child is the king's, Milady. Uther is the father."
