The four-day absence of their governess had been a dream come true for Anna. While seeing Morgainne leave was somewhat of a sad occasion, seeing governess leave with her was a special treat that Anna still dreamt of weeks later.
For four days, no one really cared what Anna was up to. Without governess to trace her every step, her mother fussing over Arthur as usual and her stepfather gone, Anna was free like the wind.
She had spent countless hours in the small harbour beneath the hill they lived on and watched the comings and goings, watch the beautiful trinkets that were unloaded while vast amounts of tin from the nearby quarry were loaded onto ships.
She watched the men at work and waved at them if she caught their eye.
She spent days in the fields, picking out the prettiest flowers, making wreaths to cover her head and playing games with her friends from the settlement.
And most time of all was spent playing with little Arthur. She'd watched her mother take care of him since the day he was born and she liked to think she was like a second mother to Arthur, although their mother barely left him out of her sight. Mother doted on Arthur the way she had never with her daughters, for he was her first son and the heir of the High King.
Anna had been fascinated by his arrival, his tiny fingers and tiny toes, and had adored him from the first moment she laid eyes on him. Now that his fourth birthday had passed, he was walking and talking and a fun companion for Anna, who loved to play games with him and their mother. His ginger hair fell in soft locks around his face, the same bright red that Uther's was. There was no doubt Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon.
As often before, the High King had been gone again for many nights, having left long before Morgainne's departure.
He was out east, defending the borders from the people that came over in boats to take over their land.
He had spent much of his life, or certainly much of her life, doing battles, sometimes just small squabbles with the neighbors, sometimes on great battlefields defending their land against invaders from the east.
Governess had tried to explain to Anna what exactly was happening, but Anna hadn't really listened. "Are we safe?" Anna had asked. Once governess had replied "we are for now", the topic was done for Anna. Whether her stepfather was home or not made no big difference for her. She'd been given her own bed cove years ago, next to Morgainne's, and hadn't slept in her parent's bed in years, unlike Arthur, who still slept next to his mother each night.
The joys of freedom were short lived, though, once governess returned.
Almost immediately, she tried to return to their usual lessons.
Anna was able to stall governess for a while with questions about her journey and Avalon, the Lady of the Lake and Morgainne's departure, eventually governess had had enough.
Eventually, the new normal crept in, where Anna was the sole focus of governess during their lessons, with Morgainne gone and Arthur too young to join.
Anna spent most of her mornings with stitching and sowing, while governess told her ancient tales of Gods and heroes Anna was supposed to memorize or, sung her songs Anna was supposed to learn.
While she enjoyed dancing and singing, Anna hated everything else she was taught. She took no pride in her sowing, did not care about the various livestock that was placed in her responsibility, did not enjoy cooking and certainly did not understand the need for her to read or write, especially not the Roman language, which she loathed. Thankfully, governess wasn't too prolific in it either, so the Latin lessons usually fell mercifully short.
For their morning lessons, governess liked to sit on one of the logs in front of the fire, where the light was best and the cold left over from the night was not as biting. In the afternoons, she made Anna sit at the large family table until it had to be cleared for their evening meal.
Sitting still was torture for her and governess' low, monotone voice not seldom made her doze off.
Her mother was frequently informed of Anna's lack of participation in her lessons and never took kind to it. Her mother could barely read or write, never having received anything equal to the education that was now given to Anna and her siblings and would berate Anna after every talk with governess: "You know how lucky you are to be able to learn to read and write? You can send messages to your sister! You don't have to work the fields or the cattle, herd goats or sheep all day long, cook and weave. It is all done for you. All you have to do in return is to learn your duties to yourself, your family, your ancestors and your husband!"
Just like the Oracle had told them Morgainne would be the Lady of the Lake, shortly after Anna's birth it had told her mother that she would one day be a great Queen. Dedication to her future husband had been drilled into Anna, long before he had even been chosen. Her mother would insist that she would be a good conversationalist and took to roleplaying with Anna, where she would call her "My Queen", something that always filled Anna with joy and pride.
Once he was old enough, Arthur would join in, call Anna "My Queen" in a high pitched, childish voice, while Anna would call him "High King". Hours they spent, pretending to be High King and Queen, while their mother watched in delight. Great things lay ahead for her children.