Chapter Two
The water was still warm when I woke again, though it was cooling rapidly. I scrubbed using the wonderfully scented soap that was waiting for me, then went to work on my hair. It was tangled and matted, since combing it had hardly been a priority on our journey. After far longer than I wanted to admit to, it was finally clean.
Wrapping the long linen towel around myself, I headed over to where I'd dropped my bag and rummaged through it, looking for something that was at least somewhat clean. A knock on the door sent me scrambling back to the dressing screen. "Who is it?" I called out, suddenly terrified Lot's men had found me, even for all the promises of safety I'd received.
"It's Gwen," came the voice through the door. "I've brought you something to wear. I thought you might like something that's not been covered in road dust."
"Oh, um, come in," I squeaked, my fear leaking out of me. I kept behind the screen, only poking my head out to see.
She entered with a bundle of sunshine yellow cloth in her arms. "We're close enough in size that I think we'll be able to make this work until we can get some new ones made for you," she told me, bustling in to hand me the bundle around the screen. "Try it on. We'll see how it fits."
I slipped into the softest dress I'd worn in ages. "Here, I'll tie it for you," the queen said. I still couldn't call her Gwen, regardless of what she'd said. She tied up the dress with speed and efficiency. "Would you like me to comb out your hair for you? I know how rough days on the road can be on curls." And before I knew it, she had led me to a chair near the fireplace and was combing through my hair.
We sat in silence for a bit, since I had no idea what to say to the servant girl turned queen. But she clearly didn't have that problem. "Have you thought about what you would like to do here in Camelot?"
I laughed a bit ruefully. "I haven't had much time, honestly."
"Running away from unwanted marriages has that effect on people," she said wryly.
"That it does," I agreed with another laugh. "But I did think I could work with Gaius, possibly. Hunith's taught me quite a bit, so hopefully I'd be able to do some good."
"Oh, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to have you," she told me. "Ever since Merlin's been made Court Sorcerer, Gaius makes little digs about us taking away his best worker. But I did have something else in mind for you, if you didn't mind."
Suddenly, the queen sounded terribly nervous, like I might not like what she had to say. But that was ridiculous. The only thing she could say that I wouldn't like would be that I couldn't stay in Camelot. "What is it?" I asked, turning my head a bit so I could actually see her.
She smiled, then tugged on my hair gently for me to face forward again. "Well, members of the nobility have been hounding me for a while now about setting up my own court, like Arthur's. He's got his most trusted knights, and Merlin, of course, and they think I should have something similar, ladies in waiting. Though what they're waiting for, no one can tell me," she said, sounding slightly exasperated. "But apparently, Queen Ygraine, Arthur's mother, had a large contingent of ladies in waiting, and it's something I simply must have." I could hear the mocking in her tone at that. "So will you do this for me?"
It took me a moment to realize what she was asking. "Wait, you want me to be your lady in waiting? But I- You can't-"
"Actually, I can. It's one of the best parts of being queen, second only to being married to Arthur, of course," she teased.
"But I'm no one," I protested. "I can't be a lady in waiting!"
"You said yourself that you're of noble birth," the queen countered smugly. "And I don't care about that, anyway. You happen to know that I was a servant not that long ago. I'm the child of a blacksmith and a maid; clearly so is Elyan. Percival was a commoner, as well. Titles don't mean much in our court, Anna. So will you do this for me?"
"But you hardly know me," I said, still trying to understand everything she was asking.
"I saw enough of you in Ealdor to know you're a good person, with a strong mind of your own. Don't think I didn't notice you throwing rocks at Kanen's men." I could hear the grin in her voice. "I think you'll do nicely, if you'll just say yes."
As she finished speaking, she also tied off the braid I hadn't even been aware that she had put my hair into. I turned to her slowly, trying to wrap my head around her words. "Do you really mean it?" I finally asked.
She beamed. "Absolutely!"
"Then I would be honored, Your Majesty."
"Splendid! And since you said yes, that means you have to call me Gwen," she declared.
…
A feast was thrown for Hunith and me that night. Gwen promised me that it would be a small affair, but it seemed that her definition of small differed greatly from mine. But Merlin assured me that it was, in fact, small, as there were only about half the knights in attendance, and only those few lords and ladies who were staying in the castle as opposed to all those who lived nearby. "And you'd best get used to it, my lady," he teased me. "Since you're now Gwen's lady in waiting."
"I'm still not entirely sure how I agreed to it," I said softly.
"You'll get used to that, too. Gwen has a way of getting her way," he grinned.
The king and queen entered, arm in arm, with pleasant smiles on their faces. They greeted those they passed, nodding regally, as they made their way to the high table. Once to their places, the king smiled a bit more broadly. "Welcome, my lords and ladies, and thank you all for coming. And we extend a special welcome to Lady Hunith, mother of our own Lord Merlin, and Lady Annaleise, the queen's new lady in waiting. We are pleased to have you here in Camelot, ladies," he said, raising a wine glass in our direction.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," we chorused, dipping into curtsies once more.
"Come join us," Gwen directed. "Lord Merlin, bring those lovely ladies to join us."
That was how I found myself at the high table, where I would now eat at every formal feast. After the food, there was of course the obligatory mingling, and of course, Gwen dragged me along with her. She kept her arm tucked securely through mine, ensuring that I couldn't slip away. She introduced me to everyone, though there was no way I would remember all the names to go with the faces. Most of the ladies simpered and flattered, though there were a few that glared at me when they thought I couldn't see them. It appeared that they had been hoping for my new position as the queen's closest companion.
But it was some of the lords that made me a bit uneasy. Most were polite, a few were eager to get in my good graces, and thereby Gwen's. But there were a few that seemed to leer at me, and one or two even at Gwen, and it brought a tiny bit of the fear I'd been living with for months to inhabit its usual place in the pit of my belly.
Thankfully, Gwen never stayed in conversation with any one person for very long, and those men for even shorter. And then I met Lord Godwin.
He was attractive, with nearly the same coloring as the king, but with a far more arrogant manner and far less reason to be so. "My Lady," he said, bowing deeply to me as he kissed my hand. I felt the need to wipe my hand, but somehow managed to restrain myself. After all, I couldn't embarrass Gwen this early in my tenure as her lady in waiting. "I can't say how delighted I am that our gracious queen has brought you to our courts. We were in need of someone of your beauty."
"There are many other beautiful ladies in attendance tonight," I countered, trying to contain the shudders his gaze on me caused.
"But none seem to shine quite as brightly as you, my dear," he said, still holding onto my hand.
I didn't know what to do. A tiny experimental tug didn't loosen his grip, and there was no way I'd be able to wrench myself free without causing a scene. Glancing at Gwen, I saw her drawing herself up to say something.
But she didn't have to. "Your Majesty, the Royal Prat has requested your presence," Sir Gwaine announced, squeezing between me and Lord Godwin, causing the other man to let go of my hand or potentially risk breaking my arm.
"Thank you, Gwaine," she said warmly. "Lord Godwin, it has been an experience, as always."
He somehow didn't catch her none too subtle meaning. Instead, he puffed up even more. "Thank you, my queen."
I didn't have to know Gwen well to see the smile she was failing to hide as she left to go to her husband. But panic blossomed in my chest as Lord Godwin turned back to me. "Lady Annaliese, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" he asked, ignoring Sir Gwaine completely.
"Actually, Merlin was looking for you, Anna. We wouldn't want to keep the Grand Sorcerer waiting, now would we?" the knight countered.
All three of us knew he was lying, but there was nothing Lord Godwin could do without accusing one of the king's favored knights. And I knew that Merlin would back Sir Gwaine if it came to that. It appeared that Lord Godwin knew that, as well, as he reluctantly bowed to me again. "It was a pleasure to meet you," he said, kissing my hand once again. "I look forward to getting to know you better."
Sir Gwaine all but ripped Godwin's hands off me, then tucked my hand into his arm. "Merlin is waiting," he growled. He then hurried us toward the head of the room, where Merlin was talking with his mother and Gaius.
Once there were plenty of people between us and Godwin, I leaned closer to Sir Gwaine. "Thank you for that," I said quietly.
"What kind of a knight would I be if I left the damsel in distress with a monster?" he quipped, shooting me what I was coming to recognize as his charming smile.
"A normal one," I replied, wiping the smile off his face.
"I know you haven't been in Camelot long, but Arthur expects more from his knights. Requires it. Honor, loyalty, justice, honesty, defense of the defenseless, these are all things that we swore we would live our lives by when we swore our oaths to Arthur. Things are different here in Camelot, I promise," Sir Gwaine said, sounding utterly serious for the first time. "Of course, Godwin isn't a knight, so he doesn't have to worry about these things, but we all made a promise to you to keep you safe. And that means even from idiots like Godwin."
I was stunned. Was that really the truth? Could I really be safe, not just from Lot's men, but from unwanted advances of any kind? But before I could do more than marvel at the thought, Sir Gwaine continued. "And there's the fact that Merlin sees you as his little sister and could curse anyone who even thought about hurting you."
A laugh bubbled out of my throat, even for the tiniest pang at his sister comment, and he looked absurdly pleased with himself. "And now Percival owes me two gold pieces. I told him I'd be the first one to make you truly smile."
"You are utterly ridiculous," I told him with another laugh, just as we joined Merlin, Hunith, and Gaius.
"But I am utterly at your service, for anything you desire," he said, bowing just as absurdly low as Lord Godwin had earlier, but with a saucy wink thrown in for good measure.
"You poor thing," Merlin said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "You were rescued from one moral-free idiot by yet another one."
"Yes, it's true," I agreed, much to the protestation of Sir Gwaine. "But at least this one doesn't send shudders down my spine."
"I could, you know," he said lowly, suggestively.
I stared at him, repressing said shudders, even though they were of a different sort altogether than those caused by Lord Godwin. "I'm sure that works on all the barmaids, but I'm afraid it won't work on me. After all, I've had a king try to woo me. I'm afraid you've got nothing on him."
A delighted, challenging gleam lit his brown eyes. "I suppose we'll see about that," he whispered in my ear, before winking once more and walking away.
I turned back to see Merlin and Hunith staring at me. "What?" I cried, somewhat defensively.
"You realize that Gwaine is the biggest flirt in the court, right?" Merlin asked me, sounding a mix of concerned and possibly angry. "He flirts with all the pretty ladies, but he doesn't have a serious bone in his body."
"I thought he was your friend." I was terribly confused.
Merlin flushed a bit. "Just be careful around Gwaine, alright? I just don't want to see you hurt."
That caused me to laugh. "I've handled flirts before, Merlin. I can take care of myself, I promise. After all, your mother taught me a few of her more handy spells for getting rid of unwanted suitors," I grinned.
He finally relaxed, even laughed a bit himself. "I just- I promised Will I would look after you if anything happened to him, and then I all but ignored you for five years. I've got a lot to make up for."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You had a few other things on your mind, like making this kingdom safe for those of us who practice magic, and keeping your king alive and on his throne. And besides, I can take care of myself." A stern look from Hunith had me amending that. "At least from most things. Mad, wife-killing kings who want my lands are a bit out of my range, but anything less than that, I should be able to take care of. Especially now that I have not only a Court Sorcerer on my side, but a queen, as well."
"Yes, you do, which means you have all of Camelot on your side, as well," Gwen said, smoothly inserting herself into the conversation. "Isn't that right, my love?" she asked her husband with a brilliant smile.
"Absolutely. You have nothing more to fear from Lot," the king assured me. "Or anyone else. You are one of us now, and we protect our own."
"With everything that we have," Merlin added.
"You're safe now, child," Gaius agreed.
An unfamiliar feeling filled my chest as I stood staring at the most powerful people in all of Camelot, swearing my protection. It took a moment for me to recognize that warm feeling as safety. My gaze glassy, I looked to each of them in awe. "Thank you. Thank you all."
AN: And here's chapter two! I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for the follows and favorites, and a huge thanks to parimalik, dmarie1184, and KayJane16 for the reviews. Reviews make my day!