Chapter Six
It was a day before the wedding, and Camelot was celebrating. A tournament was going on, and on the final day. Competitors had come from all over Albion. Genevieve was a much-loved princess, and many were happy that she had found love. Uther's plan to shatter her engagement with Gwaine and marry her to another kingdom proved fruitless, as all princes in attendance were there to celebrate the Princess of Camelot.
Genevieve hadn't seen Gwaine since the start of the tournament. Morgana was hell-bent on getting Genevieve's wedding perfect, including her dress. If Morgana didn't force Genevieve to not participate in the tournament, the dress would never be finished. Genevieve, however, was very skilled at hiding from Morgana and Guinevere, sometimes for hours, other times for no longer than half an hour. Morgana and Guinevere became very frustrated with Genevieve when this occurred, because the dress was a wedding present from the two young women.
Gwaine and Arthur were participating in the tournament, and both were doing well. Arthur was competing in the joust, which was considered to be the main focus of the tournament, while Gwaine decided to focus on swordplay instead, which, in theory, would allow him to spend more time with Genevieve. However, if he wasn't fighting, Genevieve wasn't in the stands. He was currently seated in the royal box, watching the joust, with Isabel by his side. He had begun to see the young serving girl as a sister, and had already proven that he would protect her as such. To his right sat Uther, his soon to be father-in-law whom he didn't like (and the feeling was mutual). To Uther's right sat he Lady Morgana, who had managed to leave Genevieve in the very capable hands of Guinevere.
Uther sat in silence, fuming that his poorly thought out plan didn't work. He was pleased with the turnout of the tournament, there hadn't been a tournament this large since he threw one to celebrate his engagement to his beloved Igraine. Plus, with this many kingdoms represented, he could convince them to ban magic within their kingdoms.
The crowd was cheering as the next competitors entered the tilt. No one noticed that one of the competitors was smaller than the rest. No one had noticed the entire tournament, and it was unlikely that they would notice now. Gwiane would have surely noticed had he not been pouting about not seeing Genevieve, and Uther, Morgana, and Arthur (who had joined his family in the royal box following his defeat in the tournament just a few rounds earlier) were in a deep conversation about the turnout of the tournament and the wedding that was to take place the following day. The increased cheering brought their attention back to the present round of jousting (which was the final of the tournament). One of the jousters was flat on his back, while the other was circling the arena, hyping up the crowd. They then sedately approached the royal box as their competition was escorted off the field by Gauis and Merlin.
Uther stood, arms raised to silence the crowd. Arthur examined the knight in front of them and recognized the armor as the knight who had defeated him. As the noise from the crowd died down, Uther began to address the knight, who was the champion of the tournament. "Congratulations, Sir Knight, Champion of the tournament. AS promised, you shall escort the Lady Morgana to the wedding and the wedding feast."
The knight began to remove their helmet, revealing long dark hair to all before her face was revealed, showing those in the royal box that it was Genevieve.
"I thank you for the opportunity, Father, but I think I'll be busy that night." A laugh rippled through the crowd, peasants and royals alike, as they realized who it was that had won the tournament. Morgana, even though she was laughing, was silently fuming. Genevieve had participated in the tournament, despite the fact that her wedding was tomorrow. Was her wedding dress even completed?
Gwaine caught Genevieve's eye and gave her a big grin. He should have realized that she had participated in the tournament, especially when he hadn't seen her during the joust. And, based on Arthur's reaction, Genevieve had been the knight that had defeated him in the joust. It was a good laugh all around.
Genevieve circled the tilt one more time, causing the crowd to cheer again, before leaving the field and returning to her tent, where Guinevere was waiting for her. Gwen helped her remove all the armor, and get dressed back in her dress, looking every bit the princess that she was. Before they could exit the tent, Morgana came storming in. "How could you do that?" She demanded, pushing the other women back into the tent based on her presence alone.
"It's my wedding tournament, Morgana. If I were a prince, I would be expected to participate in the tournament, and expected to win. I have been trained as much, if not more than, as my brother. Besides, Arthur needed to be taken down a peg. He was getting too arrogant for his own good and it is my job as his sister to fix that." Genevieve was nonchalant in her response. Gwen had finished the dress in plenty of time, but had helped her hide that fact so she could participate in the tournament without suspicion.
Before Morgana could respond, Arthur and Gwaine entered the tent, whooping and hollering. Arthur had been upset at first that he had lost the tournament, but when Genevieve revealed herself, he was so proud of her. All the training had paid off, she had proven for all to see that she could protect herself, and more importantly, she had proven to their father that he could no longer beat her into submission. Both men wrapped the Princess into a bone crushing hug.
"Gwen," Genevieve said from between the arms of the two most important men in her life. Gwen moved within eyesight of the Princess. "Go find Merlin and Isabel, please," she requested. Gwen nodded before exiting the tent to go find the two other servants. It was good timing for the serving girl, because Uther came thundering in shortly afterward, furious.
"How dare you," he spat venomously. "How dare you humiliate your brother, and the kingdom like that. I am disgusted by you, by the very thing that you are." Fury surrounded him, fury that hadn't been seen since the death of Igraine. All in the tent trembled before the king, all but Genevieve, who stood her ground, head held high as she stared at her father unflinchingly.
"Leave, now," she coldly said. "Leave, and I won't go before all those nobles out there and tell them everything that you did to me. But if you remain, and continue to berate me, continue to rage and yell at me for demonstrating everything that you taught me, then I will leave, and never return. I will turn every kingdom out there against you. I will show them the truth on why you banned magic."
They continued to stare at each other, each unwavering in their resolve, before Uther finally softened, realizing the full extent of his daughter's words. His fury died, his face fell. His very body seemed to shrink. Arthur took a chance and approached his father. "Father, Genevieve didn't humiliate me or the kingdom. She demonstrated how strong our kingdom truly is. When I take the throne, when I am king, she will be by my side, as she always has been. She will be my closest advisor. By winning the tournament today, she showed all those other kingdoms just how hard she will fight, and how much stronger Camelot is because she is here."
Uther left the tent, no arguing, no fighting back, deep in thought about what had been said. His children had trapped him in a corner, had forced him to change his mind. And he was proud of them. Arthur was right, together they make Camelot stronger.
The day of the wedding was bright and beautiful, almost as radiant as the bride. Her wedding finery was a combination of a beautiful, hand-made wedding dress, and her mother's wedding jewelry. The morning had been spent getting ready, and keeping Gwaine out so he could truly be surprised.
The girls had woken up before the sun had even fully risen. Well, almost all of the girls. Genevieve wanted to sleep in, and she did, going so far as to block her door using magic that would remain until a certain hour, then it would be unlocked for the other girls to swoop in. It was also in place to give Gwaine and Genevieve some time alone before the craziness of the day. Arthur had moved Gwaine into the adjoining room next to Genevieve's just the day before, knowing that it would be easier to move then than try to move everything in the general chaos that a wedding produces.
Gwaine had entered in Genevieve's room shortly after sunrise, surprised to see that she was awake and sitting in front of the window. "Love, what's wrong?" He asked as he wrapped her in a comforting hug.
"My father. He will always be after me, Gwaine. Even with my connections, he could kill me and no one would know." Gwaine could tell that she was scared, more than he had seen her in a while. Gwaine already knew that Uther was an evil man, he had even experienced that himself, but for his own child to fear for her life, that is worse than any evil ever known to man. So Gwaine spent the morning comforting his love, assuring her that everything would be fine, that he would protect her if necessary. He stayed with her until an hour before her spell would end, when he gracefully retreated to his new chambers. He heard when Morgana burst into Genevieve's room, excited for the day and immediately getting started on preparing Genevieve for the wedding. Gwaine let out a small laugh before going to find Arthur and Merlin, hoping that between the two he could be distracted enough to avoid going to see Genevieve.
Morgana had been waiting impatiently outside Genevieve's door with Gwen and Isabel, just waiting for Isabel to tell her when the spell had ended. When Isabel had given the word, Morgana stormed into the room, reminiscent of Uther. Her dress billowed behind her, creating the illusion that she was flying. Much to her surprise, Genevieve was already dressed in her wedding finery.
Morgana gaped, upset that Genevieve had locked her out to get ready for the wedding unassisted. Genevieve gave out a laugh when she saw the other noble woman's face. "Did you expect me to be laying around, delaying the happiest day of my life?" She didn't feel the need to mention that she had a small mental breakdown earlier, due to the fear of her father somehow stopping the wedding.
"I expected you to wait for me to help you get ready."
"And why would I do that? You have to look gorgeous for today. You were the prize to be won in the tournament." Morgana looked quite put out at this statement. She hated being the reward for tournaments and wished that Uther would stop making her a prize to be won. "Besides, if you don't look gorgeous today, how else are you supposed to make all those men jealous that they lost to a woman?" And with that statement, Morgana's grin returned. Genevieve's win yesterday had been a victory for both women. Genevieve had freed Morgana from being escorted by some truly repulsive men, and had allowed her to be able to pick who she wanted to escort her. Ironically enough, the man that Morgana wanted to escort her was unavailable for the day, but she couldn't mention that to anyone. Their relationship, if it could even be called that, was still in the budding stage, and she didn't want to do anything that would jinx it, or bring it to Uther's attention. He would passionately disapprove, and possibly kill the man who had Morgana's attention.
"I'm not going to be the one that everyone is going to be focused on," Morgana told her before yawning. She hadn't been getting much sleep the past few days, in part due to planning the wedding, but also because her nightmares were returning. Genevieve noticed the yawn, but before she could say anything, Merlin came running into the room.
"Merlin, what's wrong?" Genevieve demanded, moving to the servant.
"One of the visiting Prince's has gone missing," he informed the room full of ladies, while giving his sister a significant look. A prince may be missing, but magic was involved, which meant it was up to them to fix it.
"Which prince?" Genevieve demanded, concerned that something truly horrible had happened that would post-pone her wedding. Yes, it may be a bit selfish, she told herself, but she deserved this one day where nothing would go wrong, where she would truly have her happiness within her hands, and always have it.
"Prince Albert," Merlin responded. Before he could tell her about his suspicions of magic, Genevieve let out a curse, surprising all in the room. Gwaine had influenced her more than she had let on. She continued cursing as she stormed out of the room, throwing off her wedding jewels and dress, her hair tussled from these actions. Merlin quickly averted his eyes, knowing that Arthur would not hesitate to beat him mercilessly if he even found out that Merlin had been in the room while his sister got undressed.
"That Prince," she spat, showing that she wished to use a word far worse than prince to describe this man, "has been after me since I first visited his kingdom. He absolutely despises Gwaine because I chose Gwaine over him." She threw on another dress, choosing one she could move in easily and wouldn't be noticed in. Everyone continued to stare at her, having difficulties processing what she was saying because they were almost all still in shock. The only one who wasn't was Isabel. Isabel, though she had been assigned to the Princess for a short time, she was used to such outbursts as this, and had come to realise that Genevieve used words very familiar to Gwaine. "Has anyone seen Gwaine recently?" She demanded. She was met with empty stares and one head shaking no. She gave Isabel a grateful nod before rushing out of the room, going in search of her fiancee and the missing prince.
Merlin exchanged a look with Isabel before the two also rushed out of the room, this time the two were going in search of Arthur to inform him of the newest development. They found Arthur in his chambers, where Uther was as well, both pacing the floor. "Merlin!" Arthur shouted upon seeing his servant. "Where's Genevieve?"
"I don't know. She rushed out of the room. She said-"
"What do you mean you don't know where she is, boy?" Uther demanded angrily.
"She left the room, Sire," Isabel gently informed the king. Uther turned his focus on her, anger dying slightly. He motioned impatiently for the servant to continue.
"Once Merlin mentioned the name of the missing Prince, the Princess rushed out of the room, saying something about Gwaine being in danger." Isabel could feel two very intense stares. She felt her brother gently grasp her hand, giving her some much needed support.
"Why would Gwaine be in danger, Isabel?" Arthur asked herm trying to calm down his panicking mind. A prince disappearing was bad enough, his sister's fiancee being in danger was sure to cause a crisis for everyone at the wedding.
Isabel opened her mouth to respond, but Merlin answered for her. "The Princess mentioned that this particular prince hates Gwaine because Genevieve chose him over the Prince, Sire."
Uther paced the room, memories of his plan coming back to him. He had searched all over before the tournament for a man such as this Prince, who would be willing to marry his daughter, but he hadn't been able to find anyone. Now, it turns out that there was a man who had pursued his daughter, and he was a Prince!
"Merlin, fetch me the guest list," Arthur demanded of his servant. Merlin gave a shallow bow before leaving the room. Isabel made to follow before Uther stopped her.
"Has my daughter ever mentioned this man to you before?"
"No, Sire," she told him. And even if Genevieve had mentioned it before, Isabel wouldn't have told Uther. It was an unspoken thing among the group not to mention anything about Genevieve to Uther.
Before Isabel could make her escape from the presence of the magic-hating king, Merlin returned with the guest list that he had cajoled Morgana into letting him borrow. Not that it had taken much to convince the King's Ward, but he still had to. He immediately handed the list to Arthur who began to read the neatly transcribed list of names and kingdoms (when applicable). Much like he expected, Prince Albert's name, and kingdom, were not on the list. He walked over to his father, who finally released his bruising hold on the maidservant.
"Father, he isn't on this list. Genevieve doesn't even have his kingdom listed."
"Then this is a declaration of war. Another ruler has entered my kingdom without my permission." Uther's anger was stirred. How dare this snot-nosed prince come into his kingdom! It didn't even cross his mind that this Prince was taking care of his "Gwaine problem." His pride was being called into question, and as with all men when his pride is being called into question, all previous thoughts of hatred to a specific individual are forgotten.
Uther rushed out of the room, anger causing him to stomp. Arthur was hot on his heels, concerned for his sister.
Genevieve had gone to the Great Dragon after she left her room. She had been remiss in visiting the Great Dragon, and she hated that her first visit to him was to ask him for help.
It wasn't hard for her to enter the underground cavern. Uther, for some unknown reason to her, had stopped posting guards outside the entrance. She quickly and quietly descended the hewn stairs. Despite how quiet she was, her footsteps still echoed down into the chamber. The dragon could hear the footsteps, and gave a small smile, figuring that it was Merlin coming down due to some magical emergency that the young warlock couldn't figure anything out. Much to his surprise, it wasn't Merlin entering his chamber, or even sweet Isabel. It was the fiery Princess.
"Princess, it has been a long time since I have seen you," Kilgharrah greeted the Princess.
"Kilgharrah," she said breathily, her heart racing from the sprint from her room to the cavern.
"What brings you here, Priestess?" Kilgharrah tended to switch between calling Genevieve "Princess" and "Priestess," for reasons unknown to her.
"My fiance has been kidnapped, Kilgharrah. I wanted to know if you could find him, or sense where he is." Kilgharrah closed his eyes, concentrating for the hopeful princess.
"Ah!" He finally said. Genevieve perked up, hoping that he had found something. "Your fiance was taken by a jealous rival. He intends to kill your fiance." He was simply stating that which she already knew. She waited with bated breath to see if he would say anything else. He remained silent for a few minutes longer. "I can't see much, but I can tell that you that he will be safe."
Genevieve let out a sigh of relief. Just knowing that he would be safe was a great relief. She thanked him and quickly made her way out of the castle. She had just reached the door when her father caught up to her.
"Genevieve, where have you been?" He demanded.
"Looking around the castle for Gwaine."
"And were you able to find him?" He sneered.
"No. Albert has kidnapped him." They were both remaining civil to the other, but the undertones of their conversation revealed how much they truly didn't want to have this conversation.
Arthur walked up at this time, helping diffuse the situation. "Father. There is evidence that the Prince snuck out of Camelot using the tunnel that runs through the armory. And he seemed to be dragging something, or someone, behind him."
"Show me," Genevieve demanded. Arthur didn't hesitate in taking her down to the armory. Uther started to follow, then thought better of it. He would do his own preparation at this time.
Arthur and Genevieve made their way down to the armory. When they arrived, she was surprised to see Merlin and Isabel standing there. "What?" She asked, nto sure how to express herself in this situation.
"We are here to help, in any way that we can," Merlin told her. She gave a smile to the witch and wizard, grateful that they were her friends and would help her.
"Thank you," she murmured to her friends.
"Morgana and Gwen are in the lower town, asking around there if the people saw anything," Isabel supplied.
"Now," Arthur interrupted, "we need to follow this tunnel and see what we can find. Hopefully we can find Gwaine, unharmed." The group descended into the tunnel. They followed the winding tunnel to the end, where it let out into the forest. Genevieve immediately began to chant in the Ancient Language, performing a tracking spell. Her eyes flashed the tell-tell gold that signified that the spell was working. It caused little globes of light to make a path, which the two sets of siblings quickly followed.
They made their way deeper and deeper into the forest, following the flickering lights until they came upon a campsite. The four young people hid behind some foliage, spying on the camp, looking for any signs of movement. As Genevieve was examining the camp, she saw Gwaine, tied unconscious to a nearby tree. Without thinking, she stormed into the camp, intent on freeing her knight. It was in her favor that she was able to make it to Gwaine without being seen. She quickly began to free him, using a dagger she kept on her to loosen the knots that were tightly tied.
She was so preoccupied with Gwaine that she didn't hear someone coming up behind her. The Prince, Albert, raised his sword, prepared to strike down both the Princess and her precious knight.
Albert was extremely jealous in a general sense. When he first met Genevieve, several years ago, he fell "madly in love" with her. She was beautiful and would bring him lots of power. He pursued her, wanting her for her looks and position. He all but followed her to each kingdom that she visited, trying his best to seduce the Princess. Genevieve was never interested in the pompous prince, and she made it very clear. Then, she met Gwaine, and whatever foolish hope Albert had was lost completely. When rumors entered his father's kingdom that Uther was hosting a wedding tournament in honor of his Princess and that stupid knight, he knew that it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of Gwaine, and Genevieve if Gwaine had ruined her. He even entered the tournament, and almost won, until he was defeated by Genevieve during the final joust, much to his shock and annoyance.
When he saw her enter his camp and immediately rush to the aid of that commoner, he lost it. He grabbed his sword and went to strike them both down. He was so blinded by his rage and fury that he didn't see Prince Arthur rush from his shared hiding space to defend his sister and her beloved.
Alfred's sword met the hard resistance of Arthur's. The two men exchanged angered looks with each other, before striking at each other. Arthur was successful in distracting the other prince from Genevieve and Gwaine.
Merlin and Isabel hurried over to where Genevieve was struggling to pick up Gwaine. She looked up and noticed them making their way over. Stop, she told them, halting their progress. She returned to Gwaine. She placed a hand over his heart and sent a small jolt of magic through him. He immediately woke up, confused as to where he was. His eyes chose to focus on the one thing that was familiar to him, Genevieve.
"Love, what are you doing here?" He questioned. "You're supposed to be getting ready for our wedding." She gave out a small laugh before kissing him soundly. Nothing else in that moment mattered to either of them.
It was the clashing of steel on steel drawing closer to them that finally drew them away from each other. They saw that Arthur was pushing Albert back, fully controlling the fight. Until he tripped. In that one misstep, Alfred was able to take control of the fight. Genevieve watched as Albert pushed back at her brother, becoming more and more aggressive with each strike. Then, she saw a branch floating behind Albert, she looked over to Merlin and Isabel and saw that Isabel's eyes were glowing gold as she struck the foreign prince hard in his head. He crumpled down, sword falling from his hands into the forest floor.
Arthur looked over to Genevieve, thanks written on his lips, when he saw his sister shaking her head. HIs expression immediately clouded with confusion. She nodded over to where Merlin and Isabel were still standing before turning her attention back on Gwaine.
Arthur moved to where the magical siblings were standing. Unthinkingly, he moved closer to Merlin, a hand stretched out towards his manservant. "Thanks for the assist, Mer-" A small, but rough, sound caught his attention, abruptly ending his sentence. He turned toward the source of the sound and wasn't surprised to find that it was Isabel who interrupted him.
"It wasn't Merlin," she said quietly.
"What?" Arthur asked as he unconsciously tilted his head, putting his ear closer to her.
"I said, it wasn't Merlin. I did it." Arthur was staring at her, making her begin to feel uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to begin babbling, but before she could even get a word out, Arthur surprised everyone by wrapping her in a hug.
"Thank you," he whispered in her ear so only she could hear. She gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. She tentatively wrapped her arms around his broad, strong torso, enjoying the hug even though she knew nothing could happen between them.
Arthur was the first to let go, regretfully, but he did. He looked over to where Genevieve and Gwaine still were, both standing at this point. He walked over to them, giving Gwaine a manly hug, glad that he hadn't been killed. Genevieve moved to her brother and wrapped him in a hug, thanking him for helping her rescue Gwaine. She then moved over to Merlin and Isabel and gave them each a hug in turn, thanking them for all their help in rescuing Gwaine.
The group returned to the castle with the foreign Prince in tow, bound with the same ropes that he had used to bind Gwaine to the tree. Gwaine and Arthur were unceremoniously dragging the Prince through the lower town and to the castle.
Uther greeted the triumphant group as they approached the castle entrance. He was happy to see that they all returned unharmed, and that they brought the offending Prince back with them. "Guards, take the prisoner to the dungeon," he ordered the knights that were standing around the courtyard. Two knights came and took the burden from the Crown Prince and Gwaine.
Morgana came rushing out of the castle with Gwen close behind her. When Morgana saw Genevieve, she immediately grabbed the Princess and shoved her back into the castle, determined to make the Princess "presentable," once again, and hopefully in time for the wedding.
"Morgana," Uther loudly said to his Ward. "There's no time for that. The wedding has to happen now."
Everyone looked at the king in shock. He had never been a supporter of this wedding, and now he was the one saying the wedding had to occur now. It was finally Arthur who broke the shocked silence. "You heard the king, it's time for a wedding. Everyone is waiting for you two, so let's go!"
The group made their way to the throne room, where nobles from every kingdom were gathered, all excited to see the vibrant princess marry the man who made her smile unlike she ever had before.
The King and his Ward entered into the Throne Room first, followed, discreetly, by Merlin, Isabel and Gwen. Gwaine entered next and walked confidently to the end of the aisle, where the priest was patiently waiting. When he finally reached the end of the walkway, the big double doors opened, revealing Arthur, who was escorting his radiant sister. Even though she had been walking through the forest, no one could tell. All they could see was the smile that stretched as far as the eye could see. But, all she could see was the love of her life. She focused on his eyes, which showed his joy about this day.
The two Pendragons reached the end of the aisle, where Arthur gladly gave his sister to Gwaine. They stood before the priest, hands clasped, as they exchanged vows that would bind them together for the rest of their lives, which they gladly gave. They promised to love each other every day, to cherish the time they had together, to support each other, and most importantly (in Uther's eyes), they promised to protect the kingdom. When they sealed these vows with a kiss, the room erupted into cheers, all happy to see this couple joined in marriage. Many saw a stronger kingdom in the future. Morgana knew that with these two to support Arthur, Camelot was safe from any danger that may come its way.