A/N:

TW: indirect mention of sexual abuse of tertiary characters. It is alluded to and indirectly discussed.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for betaing, Meg! (megonagall410 on AO3). Especially helping me sort through the pronouns depending on POV, that was a little bit of a headache...

The first time she had to stand guard was during a council with a few Lords of Ignotia. She was asked to arrive early so the King could introduce her to his advisor.

She stepped into the room. King Henry was talking to a man with mousy-brown hair that was starting to bald. His short stature was accentuated by the fact he was standing to the King, who was much taller than him.

"This is Peter, he has been a Royal advisor ever since my father became King so he has been around a good while," the King said.

Peter stuck out his hand. Ginny took it and shook it firmly, looking into his watery eyes. She noticed he was missing his index finger.

"So glad to have you here, Gwyn, these attacks are getting worse and worse…" He shook his head warily. "Even I myself have lost a finger after an attempt." He waved his right hand. "We are extremely glad Henry has made it out with nothing more than a scrape until now."

Ginny found it strange he had only lost a finger and the finger next to it appeared unscathed. She was curious to find out how that had happened, but she doubted she would ever get the chance to ask. Her best guess was that he was tortured for information, rather than fought off an assassin.

"Peter will provide you with my schedule most of the time, you should receive a weekly schedule on Sunday and any other details you need," King Henry told her.

A Lord entered and King Henry and Peter turned to greet the newcomer. She took her position on the side of the room.

"Kingsley! How have you been?" King Henry greeted the Lord.

Ginny listened as the King chatted amicably with all the Lords before they settled down around the table for the council. She was stunned at how this council was conducted. Not once did King Henry press on matters just because he was King and everyone at the table got a chance to give their opinion. It stood in stark contrast with how she had seen business be conducted in the past.

After the council, she had some free time. She took the opportunity to explore the woods behind the castle and do some training and running. She also swung by the stables to check in with Red, who looked to be right at home. Prongs still did not want any pets but at least he did not turn away from her now. She gave Red some treats before returning to the castle to find food.

Harry headed towards his chamber to rest for a bit before he went to bed, when Lady Romilda caught up with him. As he halted, Gwyn halted too, two steps behind him.

"King Henry," Romilda peeped. "It has been a while!"

"Yes, I don't think I have seen you since last week," Harry muttered without any enthusiasm.

Romilda laughed airily. "I was thinking we could catch up."

Harry walked on, looking ahead. Romilda had to run a little to catch up with him. He glanced at her.

"We really shouldn't be seen together so often, isn't Lord Cormac courting you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What's a Lord to a King like you?"

The moment her hand touched his arm, he tensed. Before he could move away, Gwyn had stepped closer and looked directly at Romilda, his hand on his sword. Romilda looked a little embarrassed and took her hand back. Harry nodded approvingly to Gwyn when Romilda glanced down to the floor. This was not the guarding he was hired for, but it was equally welcome.

"Cormac is a good match for you, you should at least consider it." He took a step away from her. "Now I am off to my chambers. Goodnight, Lady Romilda."

He walked off before she could respond, Gwyn following him soundlessly. Harry wouldn't be able to tell his knight was there if he couldn't catch him in his peripheral vision. When he arrived at his chamber, he held the door open for Gwyn.

He closed the door and looked at his knight. "Thank you for that, Romilda is getting more and more desperate."

Gwyn responded with a nod Harry took to mean 'Yes, that was clear'.

"I don't think she particularly cares for my personality, but as a King, I suppose I am the best match and she knows as well as any other person that I am under pressure to marry. I guess that is not an issue for a knight?"

Gwyn shook his head.

Harry nodded. "Count yourself lucky, you have no idea how often they ask me if I've found a wife yet."

The comment cut through her. In a different time, she would have been expected to marry too, but now she was a knight and that is all she could be. She could sympathise with him still, however. When Romilda touched him, his whole body tensed and it looked like he would have recoiled if that had been an option. She was glad she had decided to step in and give her a warning, maybe she'd take the message and leave King Henry alone. It was clear he was not interested.

"Great first day, I'd say. I believe they have informed you there will be a parade early next week? In honour of Xydite, the godly protector of the Kingdom." He offered her a friendly smile

Ginny nodded. She wasn't used to being addressed directly this often, it made her want to reply. She bit her tongue.

"There will be plenty of animals and creatures in the parade, considering Xydite is the God of Nature and Creatures. For us it will be on horse evidently," he went on.

She cocked her head, wondering what kind of animals would be in it, aside from the horses.

Somehow he understood. "There will be the cats. Some of the deer, only those who were hand-raised… don't think we could convince the rest of the herd to walk a whole parade. Dogs, of course. An array of birds as well."

Ginny nodded along as he listed off a few more animals, to signify she was interested in his reply.

"I will let you rest now. Goodnight, Gwyn."

She bowed her head and turned around, using the door between their chambers to head to her own. She pulled her helmet off and sighed deeply. She undid the tie at the end of her braid, running her fingers through her hair. Once again she did not undress until she was sure he had gone to bed. She listened intently as she fiddled with the dagger that was usually attached to her thigh until she knew it was safe to go to bed too.

Two days later, Harry visited Alastor's office to discuss the parade.

"So there will be guards at the front, some in the back and then three with me, including Gwyn?" he summarised.

Alastor nodded along. "Yes, I will brief them and decide who goes where, don't worry about that."

They paused their conversation when there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," Harry said.

Hagrid opened the door and stepped in.

"Ah, Harry, I have been looking for you." He slumped down in the nearest chair. "I have some questions about the parade."

"Then you are right on time, what is it?" Harry turned around to Hagrid.

"Well, I want Ce in the parade, but he is getting too old to walk the whole parade."

Harry nodded and looked at Hagrid. "I put you in charge of the animals and creatures, you can do as you see fit. Put him in a carriage for all I care."

Hagrid's eyes lit up.

"Now you are going to put him in a carriage, aren't you?" Harry sighed. "Just as well, that cat already thinks he runs the place. If I die, feel free to put him on the throne."

Hagrid chuckled. "Well, now with Knight Gwyn you should be kept alive, right?"

"I would hope so." Harry looked at Alastor. "What do you think about Gwyn?"

Alastor took a moment to speak. "Very promising. We know Regulus trains excellent knights… There have been some rumours you may need to be prepared to address." He looked at Harry with his one eye.

"What rumours?" he asked, stepping back from the old knight's piercing gaze.

"His previous assignment…" Alastor folded his hands and relaxed into his chair. "He was only there for a month. He left right after the Lord had been murdered."

The room fell silent. Harry glanced at Hagrid to see if he was equally surprised to hear about this. That was not the impression he had gotten from Gwyn at all. Hagrid shrugged.

Harry swallowed. "Do you think I'm in danger?"

"No."

"Why not?" he asked now.

Alastor opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He sighed. "Have you heard of Lord Wyrna?"

"No," Harry said. "Don't think I have."

"He was a git. Foul man." Hagrid said from his chair.

Alastor nodded in agreement.

"So you're saying he had it coming?" Harry asked. He never enjoyed when people tiptoed around topics because he was king, but neither Alastor nor Hagrid were in the habit of doing so.

"He kept tons of women around, most weren't there voluntarily, had to do his bidding. I can only imagine what Gwyn saw…"

Another silence fell.

"All the women who were in the room were reluctant to say who killed the Lord and absolutely refused to confirm if Sir Gwyn was there," Alastor said after a pause. " It's all rumours of course, but I suspect they're true."

"But if he stood up for those women, why don't they just say? That's a good thing," Harry wondered out loud.

"The fact that you think so, makes that I'm not particularly concerned he'd turn on you. Killing the one who employs you however is hardly good for your reputation, no matter how despicable they are. Knights are not meant to pass judgement."

"How can you say that?!" Harry let out in surprise.

Alastor held his hand up calmly. "I am not saying it is correct, but that's how most people view it."

"There's something else peculiar about this knight," Hagrid said.

Harry turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, nothing like that," Hagrid assured him. "It's just that his horse is a mare. Knights usually prefer stallions or geldings."

"Mares can be …?"

"Temperamental," Hagrid confirmed.

"Protects women, has a female horse…" Alastor summarised.

"Though when Romilda reached out to me, he was quick to step in too," Harry thought out loud.

Alastor called the attention back to him. "He has his peculiarities, but all in all I think he is a very good knight. You saw how quick his reflexes were."

"He seems quick. And silent, I'd forget he was there if I couldn't see him," Harry admitted.

"He is quite silent," Alastor agreed with a smile.

"Back to the parade," Harry said. "Anything else?"

Hagrid sat up straighter. "The farmers will bring their own livestock, they should arrive early in the morning. I still think we should add a dragon."

"Hagrid."

"Not a big one! A baby dragon…" Hagrid said, glancing between the two men.

"That's a no, Hagrid. If it eats the livestock we are going to have bigger issues." Harry shook his head. "But I promise if I ever get my hands on a dragon, I'm giving you full responsibility."

Hagrid waved his hand dismissively, knowing Harry was taking a jab at him. "They're great creatures."

"And they can eat a large cow whole!"

"It's great to defend a castle if you handraise them," Alastor added, his eye twinkling slightly.

"I'd do it, for the good of the Kingdom." The corner of Hagrid's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Hey, tiny knight."

Ginny walked on, ignoring the guard who had just come off duty. She guessed this was Ernest.

"Hey, I was talking to you! … Oh right, you don't talk."

Ginny turned around, facing the knight, taking him in. He was about a head taller than her, had sandy blonde hair and a pronounced jawline.

"You think you're good enough to protect a king better than the whole guard can?" he tried, he took out his sword, twirling it in his hand.

Ginny shrugged, unimpressed by his taunts.

"What? You are not even going to fight me? Are you scared?" He raised his eyebrows.

Ginny took out her sword and approached him. Ernest swung his sword towards her without any real aim. She punched it out of his hand in one go. It fell on the floor with a big clang. He looked at his sword in surprise and ducked for it. He picked it back up and faced her again. He chuckled nervously.

She did not move until he did. He jabbed at her and she dodged it. He swung at her again and this time she had to block it with her own sword. He stepped back and started again. She went into the offence now. Swinging at him a few times in quick succession. He managed to block the first two but the third time her sword was at his neck.

Ernest breathed heavily, glancing at the sword.

"Ernest!" Alastor's voice boomed through the hallway.

Ginny lowered her sword immediately and turned to the Head Guard.

"You, come with me, now," he barked, addressing Ernest only.

"What about Gwyn?" Ernest tried.

Alastor's eye flitted to Gwyn and back. "Doesn't report to me, he'll answer to the king. You should count yourself lucky you only report to me." He pointed his finger accusingly at Ernest. Then he turned around and disappeared down the hallway, Ernest in tow.

Ginny wasn't too surprised when she was called into King Henry's office two hours later.

She stood in front of his desk, waiting for him to speak. The King looked at her quietly for a minute.

"I did warn you about Ernest," he simply said.

She nodded.

He stood up, his hands on the desk and looked stern, but it didn't quite reflect in his eyes. "It is absolutely unacceptable to be fighting other guards. This gives a terrible impression towards other staff and visitors, not to mention someone could have been harmed!" He nodded to himself and sat back down. "Of course I understand if someone swings at you, you have to defend yourself."

She bowed her head down, trying to seem remorseful.

"That was all."

She was almost at the door when he spoke again. She turned back around.

"I heard you had the upper hand on him, great work." Then he grinned.

She stood up straight and bowed as theatrically as possible before quickly taking her leave, but she was pretty sure she heard him chuckle before she closed the door.

The morning of the parade, Harry found his knight trying to coax Prongs into liking him, but true to his reputation, Prongs was having none of it.

"Don't take it personally," he assured Gwyn.

He held out his hand and Prongs came to them, bumping against his hand.

Gwyn turned his head and looked. Harry turned his hand up and revealed the piece of carrot he had been hiding.

"The way to his heart is through his stomach."

Gwyn reached out and Prongs pulled away. He let his head drop in defeat. Harry took the other piece of carrot and offered it to Gwyn.

'I give it?' Gwyn signed.

Harry could understand his signs pretty well after a week, but it still bothered him that Gwyn never responded more than that.

"Yes, go ahead," Harry said.

Gwyn took the carrot out of his hands and offered it to Prongs. The horse approached and took the carrot from him. Prongs even let Gwyn pet him for a moment.

Prongs having had enough of their attention, turned away again and they continued to their own horses. Someone had already prepared the horses for the parade. Lightning sported purple flowers weaved into his mane and Red had white ones weaved into hers.

"Morning, Lightning."

Lightning bumped against him the way he did since he was a foal and Harry petted him for a moment. Then he turned to Red, who stood beside Lightning. Their horses seemed to get along since the few times they got to go outside together.

"Hi, Red. Aren't you looking pretty this morning?" he said, petting her too.

Gwyn walked around both horses and checked them, making sure the saddles were secure. He gave him a thumbs up. Harry walked back to Lightning and mounted him and waited for Gwyn to be ready too.

They rode to the front of the castle where everyone was gathering for the parade. There were plenty of horses, donkeys, deer, cows and sheep. There were also a few peacocks, owls and pigeons. There were also some magical creatures like bowtruckles, a few gruff-looking gnomes and three puffskeins. A horse-drawn carriage had been prepared for Ce, along with a few nifflers, who were very eager to crawl out of the carriage.

"Hagrid!" Harry said as he saw him walk by. "I said no dragon, but how did you think nifflers were a good idea?"

"You gave me full responsibility, sir," Hagrid said, only halting for a moment. "I will make sure to check them before I return them to their owners." He hurried past the waiting procession.

He watched as Gwyn took a coin from his saddle bag and threw it into the carriage. The nifflers jumped after it. Hagrid came back with cats. Most of them were placed among the horses and gnomes but Ce was placed in the carriage. He jumped for the coin too and then sat down, swatting at it, when the nifflers came too close, he'd hiss.

"Who knew you just needed a cat to keep nifflers in line?" Harry commented.

Gwyn shook his head. He showed the letter 'C'.

"Ah." He glanced back at the carriage. "You are right, maybe you need a Ce to keep nifflers in line."

Gwyn nodded in confirmation.

The High Priestess arrived, carrying Xydite's symbol and took her place at the start of the parade.

Not much later the parade started. The road to the city did not have many people on it as usual. It suddenly struck Harry that he had been doing this parade on his own for over a decade.

"Harry, get up here!" his father, King James laughed.

Lily lifted young Harry up. "Go on my little prince."

James grabbed hold of him and pulled him up on the horse. Harry settled on the saddle in front of his father.

"Did you practise your waving?" his dad asked.

Harry nodded eagerly, demonstrating his little waves to the unbothered deer beside him. Lily laughed and waved at him from her own horse.

"Oh, it is starting, are you ready?" James asked as he tightened his grip around his son.

The parade had never been quite the same after their deaths. He did not enjoy doing it by himself. The first year after his parents died, he could barely look people in the eye at all. He did not enjoy the pity he saw in their eyes for him, their 12-year-old King who barely had a clue what he was doing.

He had gotten back into the waving now and the pity had gone but he never found it as enjoyable as he did before.

As they entered the city, he did as expected. Smile, wave, and nod at all the people who had come to watch the parade.

In the heart of the city, the parade gathered on the square and Harry got off his horse to shake hands. Gwyn dismounted too and stood right by his side dutifully, watching on carefully. Harry was shaking a little girl's hand when a man jumped out of the crowd.

Harry looked at the man, noticing the dagger in the man's hand. He didn't have a chance to move before Gwyn had already made it to the assassin. He only used his sword to block the man's dagger and then kicked it out of the man's clenched fist as he tried to go under Gwyn's sword. Gwyn's feet moved fast, toppling over the assassin, who fell to the floor with a loud thud. He pointed the sword at the man's neck so he could not move without cutting himself.

Then Gwyn looked at the girl Harry had been talking to and it dawned on him why Gwyn had chosen not to simply swing his sword, he had considered the young crowd and avoided any bloodshed.

Three more guards ran up and took the assassin away as the crowd looked on in stunned silence. Usually they weren't witnesses of the many murder attempts and they were more surprised than Harry was. Gwyn took the dagger and slipped it into the belt that held his own dagger, taking his place back at Harry's side.

The girl gasped. "Wow, what a cool knight!"

Harry smiled. "That's Sir Gwyn. He is very quiet and really fast."

Gwyn looked around, ran to Red and plucked a flower from her mane. He knelt down in front of the girl and offered the white flower to her.

The girl took it from him. "Thank you!" She turned to her mom excitedly. "Mom, did you see?!"

"Say bye to the King, Daisy," the woman standing behind her.

"Thank you, your majesty and Sir Gwyn!" She waved at him.

"You are very welcome, Princess Daisy," Harry said.

The King dismounted and Ginny got off too when they arrived back at the stables. She led both horses onto the field so they could graze. Several guards were leading their horses onto the field too. King Henry stood to the side, observing the horses.

She walked past him, towards the castle.

"Gwyn," King Henry said.

She halted and faced him.

"Thank you for today, excellent work on keeping me alive," he told her.

Ginny smiled, invisible to him, and nodded. She was baffled by the fact someone would attempt to attack a King in a crowd like that, it was essentially a suicide mission. She was glad she could prove herself worthy of her spot as his personal guard.

He looked disappointed. "Even then you are not going to talk?" he asked.

He was kind and friendly, even when they went for a ride with their horses, he'd attempt to keep up a very one-sided conversation. It's not that she didn't want to talk to him, but she simply could not risk it. Not when he seemed to have taken a liking to Gwyn. She shook her head slowly.

King Henry glanced away. "Fine then, I can't force you."

She almost took a step towards him, she wished she could simply explain, she was almost sure he'd understand. She bowed in greeting and walked towards the castle.

She walked straight into the kitchens for food. She was quite surprised when two arms wrapped around her. Lucretia was hugging her.

"We just heard about the assassin," Lucretia said, releasing her. "That must have been very frightening."

Ginny shrugged, it was the purpose she was hired for. It was less frightening than fighting battles.

Lucretia pointed at the table. "Sit down, we will whip something up for you."

Ginny walked to the corner and donned the cloak waiting for her, now becoming a habit of doing so. She sat down at the table.

"Were they aiming for the King?" Lucretia asked, she nodded in response. "Did you kill him?"

She shook her head.

"Ever since his parents died, they've been trying to kill him too. It was better for a few years but since he became of age… At least once a month they try to kill him and he truly doesn't deserve it."

Freshly steamed vegetables and pork were placed in front of her and she dug in as Lucretia continued her ponderings about the King.

A/N: There will be more Gods introduced but only two you will really need to remember. Xydite being the first and I will tell you about the second one when she is mentioned the first time! If confusing I am happy to make a list and post it on tumblr.