—
Damsels in Disguise
Beltane (May 1)
Guinevere was lost in a memory.
Nearly eight years ago she had ridden in this same carriage, on this same path to Gawant's castle. She remembered the constant jolting on the axles as they trundled along, and the thick, damp feeling to the air as the sun rose higher in the sky. Then, she had looked in awe at the intricate designs painted in golden yellow on the interior of the cabin, and listened to her charge—Morgana—talk excitedly about the city and how much she'd rather be riding alongside the knights. Together they'd searched out crevices to hide her cross-stitching threads and needles and giggled ridiculously. Then they had pressed their cheeks near together so Gwen could wash air over both of their faces using Morgana's fan.
Gwen had looked down at her lap whenever Arthur came to the window to check on them, but Morgana would always lean forwards and flirt outrageously.
Being back here, wearing a fine gown and her circlet of gold on her head, watching Mistress Vanora putting a flower into the garden scene of a cross-stitch, and leaning over to peck Arthur on the cheek—an outrageous show of affection—when he came to check on them, made the world feel like it had turned upside down.
Sometimes her past felt like an old dream, and other times like this—as if she had just fallen through the ground and was in some strange mirror world.
"Ah, there it is!" Miri called excitedly. It was the first sentence she'd spoken of her own accord this entire morning, and Gwen had the feeling she was finally seeing Miri's true spirit, generally hidden as it was behind the servant's veneer. The younger girl leaned forward and turned wonder-filled eyes to the new city.
Mistress Vanora smacked the girl lightly on the knee. "Stop gawking."
Lady Lyvieve leaned forward to grab Miri's attention. "Hurry and tell me. Is my makeup smudged?"
Miri turned back to them both with a sour expression that she quickly hid. "No, my lady, you're as beautiful as ever."
The carriage pulled to a halt at the drawbridge of the castle, and then trundled upward into the front square. Afterwards, Arthur pulled alongside the coach and poked his head in. "Ready to go, Guinevere?"
She nodded eagerly and popped the door open herself, perhaps with a bit too much excitement. The breeze, warm and refreshing, blew past her and into the stale air of the cabin. She placed a hand into Arthur's and allowed him to help her down onto the grey stones.
Large yellow and grey banners emblazoned with Godwyn's lion crest hung from the windows of every tower of the castle. The structure's shape was largely different from Camelot, and instead of arching battlements, these round towers clustered together as the castle built itself into the surrounding hills.
The square they stood in was much too nice for the horses, and Gwen only now noticed most of the party had ditched their rides at the gate. Merlin was already unhitching the carriage with the help of a foreign servant, and soon led the steeds away to the stables.
On the way, one tried to paw at the centerpiece—a tall stone statue of a man in armor astride a horse. It was a twin of the one that sat at Camelot's front steps. This was intentional, as she'd recently learned that Camelot's had been a wedding gift to Uther from Lord Godwyn.
Lord Godwyn stepped forward and grasped Arthur's hand. The man's wizened eyes crinkled, and he looked genuinely happy to see them both. "This is the famous Queen Guinevere?"
"I am, though I'm certainly not so famous."
This made him chuckle and he responded, "Ah, but it was the idea of you that caused the young Prince Arthur to bring a royal wedding to a standstill." He turned back to Arthur. "You gave my daughter a chance for greater happiness. I told your father that you would one day make a great king. I'm happy to witness both for myself."
Arthur seemed unaware of how to take this sudden praise, and colored slightly. "I'm deeply honored to hear that from such a close ally."
The three were momentarily distracted as Lyvieve fell from the coach into the arms of a nearby knight. Leon stood near its door with a hand outstretched and confusion written across his face—obviously wondering why she had not just taken his arm for balance.
"Perhaps we should lead the ladies to their chambers," Arthur said. "They must be tired from the journey."
"I could really use a turn about the castle myself, if that's alright?" Gwen cut in quickly. Moving from sitting in that carriage to sitting in a room did not appeal to her at all.
"The Princess Elena will escort you then." Lord Godwyn gave a small bow of his head, and Gwen returned the gesture.
A young woman appeared at his elbow, and then smiled brilliantly at them both. She greeted Arthur warmly, though he responded formally. He was unused to this elegant creature, when the Elena he knew had most often been the tomboyish child.
"Let's continue this in my meeting room," Lord Godwyn began. "I want to discuss a few political matters with you before the feast this evening. I'll bring in some refreshments for us as well."
Arthur nodded briskly and turned about to order someone to bring Elena's gift to his and Gwen's chambers. Instead, he found Merlin standing behind him grinning widely. When had he become so stealthy?
He saw Merlin's eyes dart down to his open mouth that had been ready to speak, likely wanting to make a joke about a gaping fish though fortunately refraining. "On it, sire." He smirked and walked his gangly-legged self over to fetch the bags.
It must be nice to be Merlin. His biggest worry right now is not getting lost in the castle.
Arthur shook himself from the self-pitying thoughts and went with Lord Godwyn into a darkened meeting room lit by sconces along the walls. Two large maps lay on a table at its center—one a detailed version of Gawant, and the other the standard map of Albion.
"First, let me begin by thanking you for sending over supplies after the Southron attack," Arthur began. "They raided many of our stores. I believe we decided on a gold settlement?"
"We did," Godwyn began, "but I was hoping to trade that for protection."
"Are you in danger?" Arthur asked sharply.
"No," Godwyn looked amused, and his eyes twinkled. "Though I appreciate the concern. Brigands have attacked my merchants very often in the months since Camelot's brief fall."
"We have had similar troubles as well. I believe groups of the army fled after Helios died. Helios was only a warlord who brought these sell-swords together, and with no promise of gold to keep them, it's no surprise to me that they now turn against honorable citizens."
"I've tried patrols, but with similar results." Godwyn agreed and looked down at the maps. "What do you propose?"
"Nothing yet," Arthur's eyes flicked to the roads, but he'd spent many hours pouring over them himself and had them well memorized. "If we accompanied every merchant on the road to Gawant, we could protect this trade route, but to the detriment of many others."
"I see." The elder man moved to a cabinet and swung wide the doors. He sorted through various scrolls that resided there before picking a long tube. As he returned, he picked away the red ribbon tying it together. "These are plans my master mason designed last year." He spread the scroll out on the table, and Arthur moved forward to hold one end of the curled edges of the paper.
The entire left side of the scroll contained a detailed drawing of a tall wooden tower with call outs of particular details that would mean things to woodworkers. A small sketch of the roads between Gawant and Camelot had been drawn in a corner as if someone had been hurriedly explaining an idea. A line that ran south of the White Mountains and north of the Valley of Fallen Kings had been thickened. "We took this road to travel here. It's small, easily muddied, and much too close to bandit territory for merchants to travel without a retinue of knights."
"If we combined our resources, we could widen the road. I hadn't thought of mud and runoff…but how feasible do you think laying stones would be?"
Arthur shook his head. "I would have to check with Master Finch, but he's back in Camelot. Is there a copy of these I could take back?"
"I'll have one made," Godwyn replied offhandedly. "But you think this is a potential solution?"
"I expect your plan is to build these towers along the road. Watchtowers to scare away potential attacks." Arthur allowed the scroll to roll back away and walked to the small window. Through it he could see only blue sky. "This would cost much more then we settled on. It is a massive investment."
"True," Godwyn conceded. "But you and the queen are young, and my daughter will soon be married and take the throne when I am gone. We are already strong allies, and will continue to be so beyond my death." He strode forward and placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "With an actual road, my riders could actually reach you during a crisis."
Yes, Gawant would surely be an ally for a long time to come. Yet Godwyn's speech made his stomach churn, and in the few seconds of silence he was owed he analyzed that feeling swiftly. He had hated Godwyn for the feeling of comfort he had given, and for discussing the strategy as if he were explaining things to a child. He also knew that he felt these things not through a fault of Godwyn's, but because of more than a year spent trusting a traitor.
He removed Godwyn's hand. "It's certainly an idea worthy of consideration. I will need to discuss it with my own council and artisans. Expect a messenger in a few weeks with a more detailed proposal."
"Wonderful, Arthur."
Arthur headed carefully away from the elder man and back towards the table. This was in part a calculated maneuver, as Godwyn was slightly taller than him. "Lord Godwyn, I do not wish to remind you that we are not on such familiar terms."
"Of course, sire."
—
Guinevere walked alongside Princess Elena through the court gardens. They followed a path underneath a gable, so straight and long it felt like a corridor in a castle. Time had chipped away white paint from the wood, and old, dead vines interlaced with their young flowering children.
"Arthur tells me you are a great rider."
Elena smiled widely. "I enjoy the sport very much. As a child, I only felt free and in control when I rode. It seems so silly now." She smoothed her yellow gown of a few fallen leaves. "Are you a rider as well?"
"I have ridden before, though not often," she had never had much opportunity even after Elyan had been knighted. "Luckily I picked up a few things watching others."
A light blush rose on Elena's cheeks. "Father did tell me you had been in a servant when we were last in Camelot. I apologize, but I don't remember meeting you…"
Gwen couldn't help but laugh. Elena was officially the first noble to admit Gwen had been a servant, instead of hiding the knowledge like some dark secret. "I don't believe we ever officially met anyways. Though I do remember you."
Elena blushed deeper. "I hope I never did burp in your face—"
Guinevere burst into laughter again, explaining that Elena had never done so between breaths. "Do not worry about that, Elena. After the near-wedding, most of us believed that it had all been a charade to prevent Arthur from proposing."
The girl herself giggled slightly, and brushed her golden hair over one shoulder with embarrassed movements. "If only I had been so cunning. No, I was just so wild and clumsy in those days." She glanced down, a small smile playing on her face. "Grunhilda always said I would grow up to be a wonderful faerie. I never believed her. But I think realizing I was no longer a child, and that it was time I started acting like the princess I was and walk down that aisle toward Arthur…it changed me."
Elena frowned and looked at Gwen in trepidation. Likely wondering if she had gone too far. Though Elena was fast learning that Guinevere was no ordinary queen. The brown-skinned girl only looked back kindly, an understanding expression in her dark eyes.
"I wish to rephrase. It didn't change me exactly…instead, it feels like…it feels like I am more of me." She laughed. "Am I making sense?"
"Of course you are," Guinevere smiled.
Elena leaned in closer and said in an excited whisper, "I admit that wild child is still within me though, I just keep her better hidden from the court." She grasped Gwen's hands tightly in her own. "She's there when I need her for wit, and for dancing around the maypole, and for strength and conviction. Oh I'm so happy to meet someone who understands that you must love who you are—!" She broke off to grin dazzlingly at the queen.
It amused Gwen that she had barely gotten a word in during this exchange, but she fully appreciated Elena's thoughts. "I admit there were many weeks where I worried I would do everything wrong. But others, and now you, have helped me remember that being a good person is never so complicated a thing." She pulled her hands from Elena's grasp and patted her shoulder so they could continue their stroll. "Now hurry and tell me about this man of yours. How did you meet?"
—
After a light lunch with the other ladies, Elena was swept away to prepare for the feast, and Guinevere returned to her chambers to also change into something more formal.
Miri went with her to fix her hair in silence before bowing out. Gwen had attempted plenty of times to start a conversation with the servant girl, but apparently Miri did not like her, or she had something against all nobility. Though, Gwen would gladly accept this if the girl continued to flirt with Merlin. Her sweet friend deserved to fall in love.
Long after they were supposed to leave for the feast Arthur finally appeared, and after a brief kiss the first thing he did was ask her about Merlin. "Have you seen him?"
"He was here when I arrived. He warned me about assassins before he left."
"You believed that?" He shook his head. "The idiot is skiving off work again."
She swatted him. "Oh, let him be, Arthur. Elena enjoyed her gift, even more so after realizing it was a red, altered version of the original wedding gown."
Arthur had finished changing into a doublet and started to clasp his cape back onto his shoulders, so now his aghast expression reflected back to her through the mirror. "You told her?"
"She's not like other court ladies, Arthur, you should know that."
He grumbled, but decided she was right as he concurrently decided he looked fine enough for a feast. "Shall we?"
On their way to the banquet hall they passed a young group of nobles, arms all around each other and singing a merry tune, thoroughly intoxicated. Later, Gwen would berate herself for not noticing something was odd at that point. How could anyone have been that drunk this early into the night?
When they entered the hall, Gwaine ran up to them both with a wide grin on his face before bowing sloppily. "Princess!" He crowed and snatched Arthur's circlet from his head, then slapped it onto his own.
"Gwaine!" Arthur hissed, looking around the room in case someone had seen the blatant treason. "Give that back!" He lunged but Gwaine danced away easily.
The rogue clicked his tongue and Arthur turned furiously about the room until he caught Leon's eye.
"Help me catch him!"
Leon took one look at the situation and burst into laughter, eventually collapsing onto the wall at his back, immobile and breathless with his continued guffaws. Gwen was shocked, her childhood friend rarely reacted so brazenly.
Yet by the time she had gathered her wits, Gwaine had ran off into the crowd with a new shout. "Percival, come look at this—"
Arthur took a step forward to chase, but Princess Elena accosted them swiftly. Her hair matted about her head in wild disarray, and her gown slipped sloppily from her shoulders. She used a fingernail to quickly pick a bit of food from her teeth and smiled brilliantly at them both. "You finally made it!"
She currently was leaning most of her weight against a well-built man. He had brunette hair and a handsome face, but the lost, whimsical look in his eyes threw Gwen for a loop. He blinked at the king and queen, then looked down at Elena. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…"
"Elena," Gwen said carefully as she tried to make sense of this strange behavior—as if the girl had reverted to the personality she'd shown in Camelot. "Is this your betrothed?"
"I love thee to the breadth and depth and height…"
"Yes!" Elena squealed as her love continued his sonnet. She tried to throw her arms around his neck, but that imbalanced her and she collapsed onto the floor in a whoosh of fabrics. "Isn't he sweet?"
She started giggling from the floor and the man joined her upon the ground. "I love thee to the level of every day's most quiet need…"
The two lost themselves in their strange distraction, and Gwen looked worriedly at Arthur. "I think something is wrong with everyone."
And she was right. Similar scenes were playing out all around the hall, yet no trace of alcohol was found sloshing from cups or guzzling down throats. Elyan was at a table creating a tower of mugs, and Lord Godwyn sat upon the dais sipping at a bowl of soup and looking amused and glassy-eyed at the rambunctious mess below him.
"Where's Merlin?" Arthur asked her again.
"I'm sure I don't know," Gwen answered in surprise. "Do you think his disappearance has something to do with this?"
Arthur shook his head, and said distractedly, "I don't know what I think." Then he growled in frustration. "That idiot is always running off in these situations!"
"So you agree something is going on? What do we do, Arthur?"
"There must be someone not affected. We need to find out what happened."
Mistress Vanora strode by them shaking with rage, and she turned to them both. "Have you seen Miri!? She called me an old hag, spit in my face, and ran off!"
"Another song!" Someone shouted, and the entire room took up the cheer. Gwen put a quick restraining hand on Arthur to hold him close as people turned and bustled around them, very afraid of losing him now when everyone else was so crazy. The crowd moved for the center of the room, and the king and queen were swept along until over a few heads Gwen spied a musical troupe. The four musicians looked at one another in giddy anticipation, their inebriation equal to the other revelers about her, and Gwen felt her stomach drop in dread.
The first man raised a flute to his lips and the lyre, drums, and pipes of his friends followed after, beginning a jig with gusto as the music whistled from their instruments in a thousand layered tones.
Gwen was captured by its complexity and the story of joy and freedom and life and lost ages, and by its end a wide grin split across her face. She turned to Arthur to get his opinion on the sublime sounds only to see a dopey expression sweeping across him. "You don't look much like a king right now," she giggled.
"A king?" He slurred, then looked at her with eyes that had obviously not understood what she'd said.
"You've lost your crown!" She shrieked and burst into more giggles. "Here, you must take mine." She took her simple but elegant golden chain from her hair and tried to place it onto Arthur's big head. It truly was bigger than she thought! She laughed again.
"Let's dance," Arthur interrupted her efforts, and the chain was stuffed into her bodice as he took up her arms and began to sweep her around the room.
Arthur whirling her about made the people and scenery blur into a hodgepodge of sound and color. She couldn't stop laughing at just how happy and carefree she felt. It all felt so wonderful.
What had she felt so worried about moments ago? Pointless brooding wasn't what life was about! This was a truer life—she could stay dancing with Arthur like this all night, every night, every day! Why ever stop, oh everything was so beautiful!
"Outside!" Someone yelled, and the crowd took to this order with gusto. Yes, Gwen thought, no room in here to dance! I keep bumping into people!
She tugged at Arthur's hand, or he tugged at hers, and they spilled with the other nobles and servants into the halls and then the hills around the castle. There were a hundred people, a thousand conversations and activities all filled with things that would normally have put a court into an uproar. Gwen easily ignored them all when she felt the grass underfoot.
Her shoes slipped off easily and then she was pulling Arthur to the hill's edge. "You must try this!" She got onto her knees, then lay on her stomach. She twisted to look gleefully at Arthur's drunk expression then pushed herself off the edge of the hill, sending herself rolling in a blur of confusion and giddy excitement.
When she slowed at the bottom of the knoll, she lay on her back and laughed out loud. The sky above was dark and full of stars and nature was just divine, and then Arthur landed on his back next to her with an oof! Others followed their lead, and people rolled past them, beyond them, some splashing into the river further ahead.
"I feel like a child," Arthur said, then leaned over and kissed her full on the lips. And oh, could anything ever compare to this? Had she ever been so happ—
It all stopped.
The first thing she saw was Arthur's face as her own confusion mirrored in his expression. Around them, everyone else had fallen quiet and were looking about themselves. Near the river, someone shrieked.
The royal couple turned quickly, and confirmed that yes, it was Elena and she was pointing at a body in the water—
Gwen had barely noticed, but Arthur had already left her, barreling for the stream. "Out of the way!"
He leapt and swam with hurried strokes for the lifeless form, capturing it about the waist. Arthur pulled so the face no longer dragged in the water, and paddled back to ground. The entire party had gathered at its shores, and gasped when they confirmed that yes, it was Elena's betrothed—
Arthur raised a fist and slammed it down onto the man's chest. The noble coughed and sat immediately, eyes wide in the same confusion that had washed over them all just moments ago. "What happened?" He asked, as soon as he could speak.
Elena opened her mouth to answer but no words left her lips. She turned mystified eyes to Gwen and Arthur. Arthur appeared just as puzzled, and Gwen found that the more she tried to think as to what had possessed her to come out here, the more fuzzy her memory became. Where were her shoes? What was this in between her breasts—oh! When had that gotten there?
"Arthur!"
"Merlin?"
Gwen discretely replaced the crown on her head and looked up to see Merlin's silhouette dashing in the dark from the hills to the riverbank. The normally pale servant was flushed and panting slightly, blue eyes clinically scanning over Arthur's and her own form.
Her friend appeared to only then notice the audience they had and bent quickly at the waist in the strangest bow she'd ever seen him perform. A moment passed, then Merlin shouted, "Lord Godwyn requests your presence in the Banquet Hall?" And yes, it had sounded like a question.
Arthur and the lord stood to their feet. Gwen went quickly to his side and grasped Arthur's hand to remind him she was there. If he was anywhere near as confused as she, then he'd need as much support as he could get. Arthur cleared his throat and said, "Let us all return to the Banquet Hall. Merlin, escort Princess Elena and her betrothed to a physician."
—
They never did narrow down what had happened. No one who had been there remembered anything, and those that hadn't been there at most had seen a group of revelers cavorting about the grounds.
The whole situation left Arthur feeling sour. What had befuddled them all? Surely it was magic. He was lucky nothing worse had happened. How could he let himself be fooled?
Actually, Gwaine wandering around half the evening with Arthur's crown had been terrible enough. The knight had no idea how he had gotten hold of it, but the man had still earned himself a month's worth of the worst patrols.
Arthur continued to think grumpy thoughts as he swung onto his horse. They had dallied long enough in Gawant, and now, only a few days until the Nones of May, they were long in returning to Camelot. At least he'd had a chance to mention his thoughts on Odin to Lord Godwyn, and reaffirm that any news of Morgana be brought to his attention.
With the ladies safely settled in the coach, and all the other knights astride their horses, Arthur tapped his heels onto his stallion and they set off with their final farewells.
Yet, Arthur couldn't help but let his mind draw back to the night in the hills. What had been the last thing he remembered? Had there been any clue? Had something terrible happened or been set in motion that he had not noticed yet?
As he brooded over these questions, he glimpsed his manservant with that trademarked goofy grin on his face. Not a care in the world, his manservant had. Merlin was just happy to be riding on his horse and enjoying whatever he'd gotten away with this time.
Well, there was plenty of distance between here and Camelot, and Arthur would make sure to wipe that foolish grin off Merlin's face. In fact, a discussion on where his dear servant had been all of Beltane sounded like a good place to start.
Footnotes:
(1) I made up Godwyn's colors. His crest is canonically a lion though. Seems odd that they know what a lion is. Though in this age there is such a thing as a Sphinx so never mind.
(2) Arthur's referring to Agravaine when he's thinking about the traitor. Agravaine helped Arthur for a year between S3 and S4, and then S4 takes place over a couple months.
(3) Elena's fiancé is quoting "How Do I Love Thee" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(4) The Nones of May is about the 7th of the month.
Author's Note:
"Grunhilda always said I would grow up to be a wonderful faerie." I crack myself up.
So this was Gwen and Arthur on Beltane. Lord Godwyn surprised me with his plans for a highway, but it makes sense since I've decided the small army he has is mostly cavalry.
Miri wrote herself into the story a few chapters ago, and now Gwen is even wanting her to date Merlin. That part was a bit poignant to me, actually, because it just shows how little everyone knows about Merlin.
To my reviewers: You all BLEW ME AWAY. Wow. I never expected that many reviews for such a weird little chapter. I thought the responses were across the board, some people enjoyed it, and some people were trying to be polite while saying...never do that again. Haha! It was an experiment, and sometimes experiments don't always succeed. The problem is...I didn't plan it. These drabbley things just happen out of nowhere.
Mersan123, glad Merlin's ramblings made sense! Linorien, thank you for the compliment...and yeah it was a bit weird wasn't it? Jewelsmg, I'm glad you spent time wondering what the knight's were saying, I was hoping for that reaction. I have to figure out a way to include their dialogue if there is a next time though. I'm trying to write as fast as possible, but it's looking like 5-7 days is going to be the average. guest, sorry that the style threw you off, but glad you thought it was fun! Nenagh, yes one day he is going to get caught XD I love writing him making up excuses... And I'm super glad you enjoyed the style with the storytelling. Cat, you made me smile :) Guest, glad you're enjoying! Hope you stick around! StarlightInHerEyes22, wow! You made me feel so wonderful! Thank YOU for being so supportive, and I hope you do come with me on this entire journey! It's going to be a long one. Nova, thanks for always telling me which parts make you laugh, and thanks for making me feel better! jkwhedon1919, Really glad you found it funny! I debate all the time on whether I have humor skills or not.
Next time: Pixie Styx. It's Beltane from Merlin's perspective, and no, he never does catch a break.
