Hi everyone! Happy Thursday! Goodness the week goes by quickly! :)
"Hello, Jaya!" Gwen wished, her voice sing-song.
Jaya spun around and looked at her in surprise. "Hello, Gwen. You're much more chipper today."
Gwen smiled and nodded. "It's going to be a beautiful day. How are you feeling?"
Jaya looked out the window and squinted at the bright sunlight. "I do believe you're right." She looked at Gwen and smiled. "I'm convinced that I'm back to normal. I'm not sure what Gaius would say."
"Oh, I'm sure that he'll agree you are." Morgana's refined voice cut into the conversation.
Jaya smiled over at her and received Morgana's kiss on her cheek with a smile and a quick side-hug. "Good morning, Morgana."
"Good morning." Morgana hugged her tight for a moment and then stepped back. She was dressed in a light brown skirt and a pale blue shirt, looking something like what Jaya did when she was trying to be more princessey than normal. "Beautiful day for a ride isn't it?"
Jaya's eyebrows rose. "Look at you! If I didn't know better I'd ask what you were doing in my clothes." she smirked and nodded. "Aye. Nice and brisk."
Morgana looked down at what she was wearing and smiled. "They looked so comfortable. But don't be silly, I wouldn't take your clothes. They would never fit me. Look at your shoulders!"
Jaya looked at her for a moment and then down at her left shoulder, the soft brown leather strap that lead to the vest corset combo that she was wearing over a dark green flowing shirt catching her eye. She looked up at Morgana. "What's wrong with them?" she wondered.
Morgana giggled, the tone like tinging silver. "Oh, nothing, Silly. They're just so much more muscular than mine. I'd look like a child in them."
Jaya looked slightly agast but smirked a moment later. "Off to the stables then?" she asked, playfully ruffling Ridire's ears when they popped up in excitement.
Morgana grinned and nodded in agreement. "Yes. Let's."
"Have a good ride. And do be careful." Gwen wished, looking radiant, her tone smiling as much as she was.
"I'm glad your Father's doing better, Gwen." Jaya smiled as she walked away.
Gwen looked slightly startled but nodded. "So am I." She walked a couple steps away and then turned back toward the other two girls. "How did you know it was my father?"
Jaya smiled slightly. "You told Gaius 'he' was all you had. And now you're floating more than walking. And since you don't have a new suitor, I assumed it was your father."
Gwen smiled and shook her head slightly. "You're quite observant."
Jaya smiled at her and winked.
Courage was frisky, the chilly air had gotten to him. He put on quite a show in the barnyard, blowing through his nose and tossing his head. More than once he pranced in place his large neck arched and his tail held high. Jaya swinging onto his back had him plunging forward and stopping abruptly when she pulled on the reins, voicing her disapproval with him. Jaya wasn't sure how they made it out of the citadel without knocking over a vendor's stall or running down some poor citizen who happened to be too close when Courage spooked or skittered like he was going to take off. His shoes clattered harshly against the paver stones, sliding slightly when he moved his feet abruptly. Once out of the lower town Jaya loosened up her grip on his reins Courage leapt ahead and tossed in a large buck for good measure.
Morgana pulled her gelding to a halt. He was slightly squirmy, and tossed his head at being pulled to a halt, but stood still for the most part. She watched Jaya grimly hold on and do what she could to curb the large grey's antics. Morgana gasped slightly and urged her horse forward when Jaya hit the ground, rolling to a stop laying on her left elbow. "Jaya!"
Jaya was on her feet before Morgana's gelding was close. "Oi!" she yelled after Courage, anger that she had been bested and embarrassment that she had actually come off in front of the small crowd that had gathered clear in her voice. "I'm all right, Morgana. He does this sometimes when he hasn't been ridden in a while. He fancies there's a battle afoot and has to get to it before it starts without him. He'll behave now." She whistled sharply. "Get back here!"
Courage slammed to a stop where he was, nearly to the woods and stood for a moment, looking at Jaya over the rise, his ears pricked so far forward they nearly touched. With a loud whinny he plunged back toward her, ears pinned and his head snaking at Ridire, who had bounded after him, snapping at his heels when he left Jaya behind and who was now making sure that the war horse didn't change his mind about going back to his mistress.
Jaya moved her head to the side slightly and rocked back onto her heels when Courage slid to a stop, clods of dirt showering her lower legs and feet. She looked at his big eyes and shook her head. The next instant she was batting at him because he pushed her with his nose and nearly knocked her off balance. "You're not afraid of me. Come here." Jaya admonished as she walked after him, an unimpressed look on her face as he shied away from her hand twice more before sighing and standing still.
Morgana couldn't help a small smile when Jaya turned toward her and pointed to Courage and shook her head like he was so dramatic and then proceeded to mess up his forelock and swing up onto his back without the help of stirrups, her arm locked against the front of her saddle. "He's done that before?" Morgana wondered, instantly wanting to know how to mount that way.
Jaya shrugged and stood on her tiptoes in her stirrups, stretching forward as far as she could before finally managing to catch the reins with the tip of her longest finger. She finally managed to close her fingers around it and pulled them back as she sat down. "Every so often he likes to remind me that he's bigger than I am and just what he's capable of." Jaya smirked and readjusted herself in her saddle.
"And you still get on him?" Morgana asked.
Jaya grinned and waved at a little boy that had lingered longer than the rest of the people who had been witness to her abrupt meeting with the ground. "He's mine. And he doesn't do it all the time. Had there really been a battle, it wouldn't have been a problem." She shrugged at Morgana's raised eyebrows. "I know it doesn't make sense."
Morgana shook her head, urging her gelding up next to Courage, who was now jigging at a pace just above a walk. "I admire it. I'm not sure Uther would ever let me back on a horse that threw me like that."
Jaya frowned slightly. "My father wasn't too keen on it either."
The rest of the ride went without incident and the horses were back in the barn without much incident. Courage was still frisky, which meant the stable boy's rags were disappearing and flapping between the big grey's teeth while Jaya scolded and Morgana laughed.
The two girls walked back to the castle and crash landed in Morgana's chambers. Or rather Jaya did. She flopped onto Morgana's bed, in the middle of a wild story about the first time she had set eyes on Courage.
The door opened suddenly and Freya rushed in. She looked around the room and visibly relaxed when she saw them. "Oh thank goodness I found you." She glanced back and forth between the two of them.
The two girls looked over at her, eyes wide. It wasn't very often that Freya was frantic, and today she seemed in a frenzy.
"Fey, what's happened?" Jaya frowned, doing her best to fight back the fear that struck at her heart.
Freya took a deep breath. "Gwen'sfatherrecoveredfromtheillnessthismorningandnowGwenisinfrontoftheKingaccusedofstartingthewholeplague."
"What?!" Morgana looked at her in confusion.
"Gwen's in front of the King being tried as a sorceress because her father had the illness that's sweeping the city and now he's recovered." Jaya slowly looked over at Morgana.
"That's not exactly what she said." Morgana frowned, letting her hair drop onto her dark purple dress. "But it's still ridiculous nevertheless." she marched off toward the door.
Jaya scrambled off the bed, story long forgotten, and slipped her arm around Freya's waist as she walked past. She gave Freya a little squeeze. "Thank you for tracking us down, Fey."
Freya squeezed Jaya's waist back. "I ran all the way from the stables. That poor stable boy." Freya looked at Jaya her face exasperated for a split second before she looked worried again.
Jaya stopped and looked at her pointedly. "No one is going to come after you, Fey. Not here. You know that, right?" her voice was low and her brogue thick.
Freya's eyes danced over the cracks in the floor, and her left hand was firmly clasped over her right forearm, her thumb worrying the fabric where her Druid swirl was. She finally looked up at Jaya, fear gazing her warm brown eyes.
Jaya gripped both of her shoulders, doing her best to ignore how far away Morgana's heels were getting, and trying to convey as much safety as she could. She gave Freya a slight shake. "You're safe, Lass. I'll never let anyone hurt you. Not again."
Freya's eyes sparked and she nodded once. "Please be careful." she whispered, her voice harsh with held back tears.
Jaya pried Freya's thumb up off her forearm and winked at her. "You know I always am. Don't worry your pretty head anymore about it."
Freya looked at her and shook her head slightly. "You hardly ever are. Don't lie. Now go. Go save Gwen." She shooed Jaya the way that Morgana had stalked.
Jaya paused three strides away. She looked back at Freya and nodded once. "I'll do my best." with a half-skip, half-jump she was running through the halls, her swords bouncing against her thighs wildly. Ridire had lost track of Jaya, and gotten distracted by a smell. He was nearly at the far corner of the hallway when he noticed that Jaya had started running away from him he bounded after her. Jaya did her best to make sure she didn't run over anyone. Her boots slid as she very nearly ran down a young serving boy with a tray for some stodgy Lord. She ducked the tray and spun slightly to keep her balance calling out an apology and for Ridire to behave and keep away from the food in the same breath. Her boots made soft scuffing noises as she ran up the last set of steps that lead to the council chambers and she pushed through the servant's entrance and very nearly burst into the room.
"...perhaps he recovered naturally. Did you ever think of that?" Morgana demanded, staring down Uther and anyone else in the room that dared to look her in the eye.
"And what of the poultice found?" Uther demanded, glaring at Gwen, splayed on the floor, looking at him absolutely terrified.
"What poultice? I don't know anything about a poultice!" Gwen's voice was beyond panicked and yet still managed to sound desperately confused.
"It was found in your house. Undo this enchantment. Put an end to this contagion." Uther ordered.
Gwen quailed slightly and paled. "I can't!" she cried.
"I will show you no mercy." Uther warned, his voice deadly.
"I'm no witch!" Gwen sobbed. "I do not know how to stop the illness." she looked at him, pleading for him to understand with her eyes.
Jaya's heart stung and she struggled to keep her face emotionless. As little time as she had spent with Gwen she already loved her. Kind, fair, and quick with a smile, it physically pained Jaya to see Gwen on her hands and knees trying to not snivel under the weight of the king. Suddenly Jaya focused in on what the King was saying suddenly.
"...Undo your sorcery, you force my hand and I must find you guilty-"
Jaya tasted blood as she ground a small piece of her bottom lip between her teeth. He would have found her 'guilty' whether she had lifted it or not.
"But I told you I-" Gwen started, cutting the King off in desperation.
"Therefore it is my duty to pronounce judgement. And under the circumstances I have no choice but to sentence you to death." Uther stood, towering over Gwen, his hands on his hips, his double pendants clinking together slightly as he surveyed the room, expecting no one to meet his eye.
Morgana dared to challenge him, her eyes hostile as she stood just a few feet from Gwen.
Uther turned slightly, and his judgmental face slipping ever-so-little when he noticed that Jaya was behind him.
Jaya fought the urge to smirk. If she hadn't been so angry about what she was watching unfold she probably would have smirked. It was obvious that Uther had absolutely no idea how she managed to get into the room and behind him without seeing her.
"No!" Gwen gasped, her voice cracking.
"I can only hope that when you die, this plague will die with you." Uther waved his hand toward the back of the room. "Take her away." His voice was completely dispassionate.
Two stoney-faced guards swooped in and each grabbed ahold of one of Gwen's arms and started dragging her out of the room, seemingly deaf to her pleas and cries.
Jaya winced once or twice between when Gwen was first grabbed and when the last cry was silenced by too much hallway between her and the room. She felt violently ill suddenly. She could feel the bile burning her throat.
"I know Gwen, she's my maidservant. Not an entrantress." Morgana informed, barely waiting for the doors to close before turning her barely-in-check wrath toward Uther.
"Have you ever seen an entrantress?" Uther demanded. "Believe me, they bare no sign, no mark."
"I've seen the way the girl works. Her fingers are worn, her nails broken. If she was a sorceress why would she do this? Why would she kneel on a cold stone floor morning after morning when she could just make these things happen with a snap of her fingers? Like an idle King!"
Jaya gritted her teeth. That was probably too far. Uther might have been swayed, but now he was just insulted.
"You have no right!"
Definately insulted.
"You have a right to cast judgement on that girl!" Morgana scoffed, her heels clicking on the stone as she followed Uther, not allowing him to walk away from her wrath.
Uther half turned toward her. "I have a responsibility to take care of this kingdom! I take no pleasure in this."
"You're sentencing the wrong person!" Morgana cried.
"She's right, Father." Arthur finally spoke up. "You hear the word magic and you no longer listen."
"You saw it for yourself. She used enchantments." Uther gestured to where Gwen had been sitting on the floor just a few minutes before.
"Yes, maybe. But to save her dying father, that doesn't make her guilty of creating the plague. One is the act of kindness, of love, the other evil. I do not think there is evil in this girl's heart."
"But did she really?" Jaya spoke up before she realized that she had. "When you asked about the poultice there was honest confusion on her face. No one can fake that look."
Uther turned to her, his face stormy. "How dare you speak up?"
Jaya almost took a physical step backwards. "I-"
"You are a guest here." Uther glared at her. "You have no right."
Jaya pulled back and drew herself up to her full height, her shoulders back, and her eyes snapping green fire.
"Father." Arthur protested. "Jaya represents a powerful ally. Surely you don't mean that."
Uther turned to look at him. "That does not mean that she did not overstep her bounds. She has no place questioning my judgement." He tossed out the last sentence looking at Jaya, addressing her more than Arthur.
Jaya didn't flinch under his gaze, as he was expecting her to do, no doubt, but inclined her head slightly. She wasn't pleased with the tone that he was using, but she wasn't interested in getting sent back to the Island. Ye gods her father would be furious.
"I have witnessed what witchcraft can do. I have suffered at it's hand."
I don't doubt you have. I wonder why that is? Jaya muttered mutinously in her mind.
"I cannot take the chance. If there's any doubt about this girl, she must die or the whole kingdom will perish." Uther glanced over the three young people who still were in the room with him.
Jaya frowned but kept her mouth determinedly shut.
"I understand that." Arthur acknowledged, bobbing his head to the right slightly.
"One day you will become king." Uther didn't give him the chance to finish the thought. "Then you will understand. Such decisions must be made. Dark forces threaten this kingdom."
Morgana looked paler than normal, and was swaying slightly.
"Gwen is hardly dark force, M'Lord." Jaya protested, braving his wrath again and bracing herself for the verbal attack.
Uther turned toward her and started to open his mouth.
Arthur didn't give him the chance. "She's right, Father. Witchcraft is an evil, so is injustice. Yes, I am yet to be king, and I do not know what kind of King I will be. But I do have a sense of what kind of Camelot I wish to live in. One where the punishment fits the crime." Arthur swept back his long brown leather coat to place his hands on hips, his left hand resting just north of the pommel of his sword.
"I fear you're right."
Jaya pulled her head back slightly, was he actually considering giving in?
"She has played with fire, and sadly she must die by fire." Uther turned away from them. The matter closed.
Jaya paled. Morgana stifled a squeak and stalked out of the room, glaring at the doorman that hadn't moved fast enough to get the door, and himself out of her way in time. Arthur started to pace the width of the room between the pillars, warring thoughts evident on his face.
So much for giving in.