Albion's Days They Leave Us Wanting

The Sea

Three days came and gone before Arthur would see Mary again. The day was already setting up to be tiring, at his father's behest, Cedric dressed him in his finest clothes. Not good enough for the wedding, but more than fine enough for court and meeting her emissary, should they arrive today. He hadn’t even been told the woman's name. Oh, sure, his father probably knew, but gods forbid he ever tell him.

Mary, however, was a strange case. Whenever he attempted to spend time with her, tried to get to know her, she was unavailable. Absent from every meal, unless someone forced her to be there and instead would be eating in her room. Always saying that she was busy, yet once a day she would come to the Infirmary and random times to check on Lion’s progress.

He didn't understand how she could be busy as her handmaiden repeatedly told him. What did she have to do? She didn't have any books and as far as he knew she not only didn't know where the library was but didn't know how to get there let alone that there was one. What was she doing spending all those hours alone in her room by herself? What could she possibly be doing that would keep her so busy? And unable to even answer the door? Arthur had his suspicions. Unfortunately and fortunately, he was wrong.

On the day they were to meet at the kennel he had to introduce her to Gawain and his hounds he’d seen her about in a very Welsh dress… without her handmaiden. The strangeness of that was he'd never seen her in that dress and he knew that the tailors were specifically ordered by his father to not make her anything in the Welsh fashion. So where did she get it from? Merlin possibly? He asked Gawain but he was of no help as per usual.

“How should I know?” Gawain, who had previously been caring for his horse countered defensively.

“He's your best friend” Because you spend more time with him than your wife. Because you always know where he is. Because you're practically joined at the hip. f*****g pick one.

He moved to grab a pitch off the wall to shoved hay into the stall before responding “And? Doesn't mean I know everything he’s doing every moment of every day. I don't even know where he is right now or what he’s doing-”

“Or who is doing? He interjected in a joking tone.

Gawain stilled at that, eyes flicking over to meet his, the slight ting of panic and suspicion present before fading like they were never there to begin with “No, I know him well enough to know he's not doing anyone” That was a lie, he could see it in his eyes and the way he moved. Merlin was in fact seeing someone and had sworn Gawain to secrecy. Why would either of them not want me to know? Is it really that scandalous?

“I don't want to know how you know that” The idea that he may have seen something he shouldn’t have briefly popped into Arthur’s mind before he pushed it and the subject out like the unwanted visitor it was.

“Quite sure”

“Yeah”

“He is a d**k though”

“Not going to argue with you on that one”

“Because you've met him and you know he's a d**k”

“Who is?” Oh, my gods! They were so caught up in their squabbling that she had managed to get halfway into the stables, sitting on a bail of hay so naturally like it was her rightful place in the world, playful and carefree.

Gawain, always the charmer, didn’t miss a beat setting the pitchfork aside to walk over and extend his hand to her “You must be Mary”

“I am and you must be Sir Gawain,” She said in a playful tone before lightly placing her hand in his.

“Please just call me Gawain” he bent down to place a soft kiss on her hand before whispering “It's an honor” Despite his best efforts Arthur rolled his eyes at that, folding his arms and leaned against the stable post, facing away from them to get a better view of the door and the tourney fields beyond. So this is happening. Why does he have to be like this?

“Arthur told me that you're from my homeland”

“I am, as is Merlin”

“I am very much aware. Heard a lot of stories of the great Emrys”

“And I've heard you people call him Emrys” Arthur stated more to himself than them as he watched to gees fight by the door “Strange, though, the only other people who call him that are fae”

“They have a great sway where we come from” she countered, he didn’t even need to look at her to know that she was giving him a dirty look he, in all fairness, partially deserved.

Time dragged on like a carcass bound to a horse, painful and unending.

He had nothing else he was supposed to do but the idle banter was getting to him “You do remember why we’re here right?” he questioned turning back to them not even trying to keep the annoyance off his face.

“Oh yes, the hounds. One of them has recently been with child… there are still some puppies left”

Mary’s face lit up in utter joy as she rushed to her feet. Oh no. I need to nip this in the bud or father will have my hide. “No”

“Oh, come now, Arthur was the harm in letting the fair lady have a good strong dog to protect her in the night. You don't know what kind of people wander the halls” To say he was trying to get his goat would be a lie, at this point he had the bill of sale and death certificate with old age as the cause.

“I live here! I am very much aware of who wanders these halls”

Gawain started off with the both of them following “Still, we have puppies to see, right?”

Several passages and a few dozen people passed before the excitement that was bubbling up inside Mary finally boiled over as she clasped her hands together over her chest and a grand smile started to form. “How old are they exactly?”

“Well, they're about a week away from being able to be separated from their mother. Needed a bit more time than the others”

“Truly?” She was practically giddy as she soaked in the information.

“Yes”

“And in fact, their training is going quite well. Very obedient dogs, take well after both parents” Those dogs were the only thing that Gawain adored the most with the exception of his son. It was strange but he was Welsh and if Arthur was to be honest just one thing in a long list of oddities, this was the man who agreed to marry and the loathly lady just to help him solve a riddle after all. Weird and Gawain went together like fire and heat.

“I can't wait to see them”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll love them”

“You're not giving her a dog” Despite putting more emphasis on his seriousness Gawain still took at as a joke and challenge, getting Mary a pup was now likely a priority in due part of Gawain’s love of petty defiance and to the special joy he got from annoying Arthur in particular.

“What's the harm?” My father holding this over my head for the rest of his life because I’m supposed to “keep that ungrateful whelp in line”

“I must agree with your friend here, what would be the harm?”

“What do you even need a dog for?”

“Protection, obviously. A lot of strange people milling about these days” Her tone was playful but Arthur hoped there was more to it, that she was just as worried and suspicious as he was regarding their soon-to-be “new friends”. People they didn’t know living her, moving about unrestricted, power given more than either of them have. If even one of them had bad intentions then they would all be in a world of hurt.

“I know you're one of them”

“Rude”

“Arthur don't be so brash, especially not with such a sweet lady”

“Thank you, Gawain”

“What can I say, there's a reason I am the ladies knight”

“Because you're so agreeable”

“Quiet” Gods save me from this misery.

“Stop it” He knew that they were likely playing but he would much prefer the silence.

“No”

“So where exactly are the puppies?”

“In makeshift quarters on the far end of the keep, away from the kennel”

“Truly?”

“There’s some sickness going around, they’ve fine thank the gods, just want to keep 'em safe. Unfortunately, the guard dogs are and any dogs move to the guard position become ill within hours” To not think it magic would be madness but at the same time it made no sense. Why go after the dogs instead of the men or the knights? Whoever was behind this was either insane or had something even worse in mind. Camelot was the most warded place in Albion, the horrifying idea that this was a test of their defenses or to see if their magic could get through. Either way, it was nothing good.

“Because that's not suspicious”

“Hush”

“Actually it is, somewhat worrisome”

“Excellent”

“Don't even know if you can have one yet”

“And it's best to train them first so there aren't any accidents in your room”

“Oh come now, I’m more than capable of caring for a pup. Besides I expect I will be finding my way down here a lot in the coming days”

“I look forward to that” Arthur was beside himself, absolutely hating this. It was one thing accidentally hearing his friend talk up his cousin, but at least he had the decency to apologize for it not knowing that it was a noble lady, just thinking her a kind woman and apparently thinking her funny. Honestly, Arthur didn't see it. Gawain, however, was unrelenting. He was also married with a child. What would Ragnelle would think about all this?

“I don't think your wife would approve” There was a time when they were very much in love, whispering amongst themselves under the shade of a willow tree, huddling together to joke about who knows what resulting in warm earnest joy, arms intertwined and shoulders pressed together as they walked completely entranced in the other’s company.

“Oh come now. I'm allowed to have friends” What happened to them? Where had things gone wrong? Was it the birth of their son Gingalain? Gawain adored the boy but they’d hardly been seen together in these past three years.

“Thank you, I quite hoped to become friends”

“Does your wife know how you talk with your friends?” They used to have the marriage I dreamed of having with Guinevere but now they’re practically strangers. They hadn’t been seen together in months with the exception of social functions it was as though they were strangers who happened to share a child. It couldn’t even be said that she had come into her own as a person she had always been friends with the other ladies he was just no longer a presence in her life but they were still kind to each other at least.

“Yes, she is very much aware Arthur”

Sure enough, after a winding walk, they were met with the empty storeroom. The room was filled with boxes and hay with one beautiful dog, laying sleepily in the corner on a pile of old clothes, head resting upon a tattered pillow. As her chest went up and down, up and down the small puppies curled up next to her shifted about in their sleep.

“Aww” And with that she was off to the other end of the room, sitting at the end of the bed, hands in her lap, eyes glistening at the small bundles of fur.

Gawain moved to sit next to her “You know I think we can come to an arrangement about the pups”

“No”

“How many times must I say this, Arthur, she is a grown woman more than capable of figuring out how many puppies she can handle”

The next half hour was filled with shameless flattery intersected with pointless chatter and talk about the pups

Puppies are quite adorable. Despite her hopefully better judgment Mary laid down on the makeshift bed and started lightly caressing puppies nearest to her. Her fingers played with the soft fur and as an admittedly adorable yawn started the pup’s stirring an adoring smile crept across her face going even to her eyes. It broke his heart knowing he’d have to keep them from her. Hopefully one day she can forgive him.

The pup started shaking itself awake before a sneezing fit overtook it sending it back a few centimeters at a time. One of the other pups crawled up to him as Gawain started moving about to get the pups and mother food. With nothing else to do he bent down to pick up the wiggling bundle of fur and needle-sharp teeth.

“Do they have names yet?” Mary asked while rubbing small circles on the puppy's belly.

“That one is Rhiannon, the one by their mother is Elain, over there-” he said pointing at the edge of the bedding “is Olwen-” he paused to look at Arthur and the still sleepy pup in his arms “that one is Cadfael-” he set back to his work before continuing “, the one with the large white spot on it’s head is Aneirin and the all-black one is Blaidd”

Mary started snickering at the last one “that’s just Wolf” she said before the snickering morphed into full-on giggles.

The pup in his arms was soft and sweet, holding it, petting it was easy. He could remember when things with Guinevere were this easy.

Despite what is our Oath of House I can’t bring myself to keep these small little beady eyes from making me care. These pups are so small and full of life, unbound by anything other than love for those who love them in turn. In a way he envied them, his life was a series of disasters and complications. He was the crowned prince and yet even the lowliest peasant and his kingdom have more control over their life than he did. Nothing was his own, not even his love.

There was a time when her love and softness was for him… it felt like a dream now. When they met, Arthur could not imagine loving anyone as he loved her. Things had soured as of late he wanted his heart taken so the pain could flee with it, free from the unending ache like a gaping wound that refused to close.

He saw her every day with the other ladies of Camelot but that loving gaze of hers was no longer reserved for him. She no longer sought his touch or longed for his company and when together it was as though he was not there. When their eyes would meet he couldn’t help but remember when they were very much in love but would often come back to reality with that gaping wound.

Lancelot. He hated him as much as he hated himself. This suspicion and anger and- f**k this all-consuming envy. Made him feel like an unloveable bastard and worthy of her love and his friendship. To suspect them of this betrayal was a betrayal itself and he had nothing to show for it. His suspicions were completely unfounded and he felt like a madman. She was a kind-hearted woman with nothing but love for every person she met and Lancelot was the same. To think them friendly was only natural. And to suspect anything else was delusional of him. What would I even say? Guinevere, I believe you to love another. Why? Because you look at him. Yes, I am an asshole, thank you for asking.

Maybe I'm not worthy of her. To think so little of her without reason. I am truly my father's son.

A good hour and a half passed with idle chatter and soft licks of the puppies until the sound of the brass bells rang from across the keep.

“What is that?” Mary questioned having not been in Camelot long enough to know its meaning.

“Attention” Gawain answered before turning back to her “Somethings happened”

None of them had enough time to question what was happening further before a knight burst into the room in a panic.

“She’s here!”

“What? Who is?”

“The Queen. She’s been spotted an hour away” What?!

That can’t be right she shouldn’t be here for another week. Arthur looked to Gawain and Mary to see the other man taking the pup from her lap and reuniting it with the mother. “Go”

They needed no further prodding to leave. She dallied behind him to pet the pup goodbye and give Gawain a polite nod before hurrying to catch up with him.

Before they even got back to the main building of the castle Cedric and Mary’s handmaiden were rushing them, bundles of things in arm. Mary stopped dead in her tracks, with Arthur following worried. As the other woman gained on them he was what caused that. The dress in the other woman’s arm was an abomination that wouldn’t look right on a child's doll let alone on a grown woman.

Cedric on the other hand had his ceremonial court clothes and Caliburn. s**t. The thing was an obnoxious and ostentatious mishmash of court attire and foreign military officer dress that was defiantly not made for the only point of making him look like his cousins in Rome. Old blood holds power, Arthur. To invoke it, to summon it is an invocation of power. Power is all you will ever need in life and in death.

As soon as they met them the other woman started dragging Mary away talking up about royal procedure, how to be a proper lady in front of the soon-to-be queen.

Once gone the rest of the world snapped into existence, a thousand people were running around in a frantic desperate last-minute bid to make up for the week they were supposed to still have. Somewhere in his mind, he could make out Cedric trying to get him back to the castle and willing his body to do so but in all other aspects, he was consumed by what was unraveling around him. The gardeners and groundskeepers were trying to tighten everything up. Groups of people on the walls trying to put up the Scottish flag and house banner, they were failing, in their rush dropping it partially or fully but they were trying. Dozens of people with a thousand things, half in boxes others in cars. It was insanity.

After getting him inside the castle Cedric shoved him into the first unused room. He was mad with panic, not even caring that manhandling him would lose him his hands if his father were to found out. He wasn’t thinking as he started shoving Arthur’s clothes off. There was no care in his work only intent, stripping him piece by piece, shoving and moving him until he was in his drawers. Arthur stared at his fine clothes laid abandoned and unregarded on the dirty floor like they were rags. What has gotten into him? Before he could think further on his own question Cedric started forcing him into his shirt before throwing his pants at him while he sorted through the pile looking for some other pointless part of the ensemble.

Once he had managed to get his pants on Cedric was starring at him with a look of complete annoyance. And then he was on him again forcing him into the vest, haphazardly throwing on the ascot over his shoulder not caring that it was pinned against him as he shoved him into his red frock coat. The only thing left was the finery, Cedric was still out of it when Arthur took his sword back along with the ceremonial pistol and riffle, and garter and sash. As he fixed the weapons to his sides and back, Cedric set about pinning meddles, awards and decorations before moving on to his epaulets.

Everything was finished off with his boot, spats, and bicorne. I don’t need a mirror to know I look f*****g ridiculous. There was nothing about this outfit that he didn’t hate. All these metals mean nothing, I’ve done a lot but I never earned them, to stand in the presence of those who had… I feel like a fraud.

“This is really happening” Cedric whispered in an impossibly quiet voice as he went over his work with nervous hands “She’s really here”

What am I to say to that? She’s not even here yet and he’s reduced to a mess, even for a boy. “Go, clean yourself up, and take tomorrow off. It’s going to be a long month”

“Thank you y-sir”

He knew he would be late but Arthur, not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble hurried instead of running to the main gate.

Halfway across the castle, he ran back into Mary hurrying down the stair surprisingly still in Welsh garb with a panicked look on her face. Unsurprisingly she didn’t recognize him until a foot away. Only a second away from speaking a loud sound crashed down the stairs, sending a jolt through her, forcing her to turn back towards it before ripping a strangled gasp from her throat, standing every hair on her neck on end and sending her completely rigid.

He grabbed her hand a moment after she stepped back into him as someone else started hurrying down the stairs. Her head snapped around to look and him before he started running, dragging her behind him. After a good couple of pasages and halls, her hand slipped from his but he could still hear her behind him keeping a good pace.

Somewhere along the line it became a game for them, laughing or in her case giggling as they dodged the hundreds of people hurrying at a breakneck pace. They ducked, dodged, and slid to avoid everything.

Halfway down the finale hall, after missing a group moving a table his hat came off flying behind him. As he turned to follow it the movers had blocked him completely. Despite that, she plucked it out of the air before sailing over the table as though it was second nature.

He was gobsmacked, staring at her as she smiled from ear to ear. The astonishment and inability to think continued even as she twirled it around before put it on herself before starting off again.

She’s toying with me. A smile just like hers started forming as he rushed after her.

The large glass and steel doors strained under her hands as she looked behind her, trying to get out before him. To her credit, she did but not fast enough to stop him from plucking the bicorne off her head.

She put an over-the-top fake pout on before giggling and adjusting it into place.

“Glad to see you two are having fun” Merlin.

“Oh, my spirits” she blurted before bringing a hand up to her chest, splaying out over her heart.

“Are we late?”

“No, thankfully. I had the bannermen, King's Guard, and others sent out to stall them… should still hurry”

He didn't even feel the need to respond, he knew what they needed to do. They couldn’t run but hurried as best they could without drawing too much attention. “If you run you will look like a fool and lose the respect of those you should be demanding it from. If your life is on the line and you feel the need to run then you have brought it on yourself. Thanks, father gods forbid you ever be helpful.

The large rolling green of the lawn and gardens was obliviously the first thing the groundskeepers set upon, it was all immaculate. A hundred people from around the castle were lining the edges of the long steps. In the middle was a line of bannermen banishing both nations and houses flags. And upon the statue of his grandfather were flowers in both houses' colors, unfortunately, his father had obviously placed ones that looked like those of his enemies at his feet. Can’t have people go thinking your not a blood-thirsty maniac.

As they took their places with him behind Uther’s right and Mary behind his left, Merlin passed all of them rushing down the stairs to stand at the bottom.

Uther’s posture bled nothing but animosity, not towards his soon to be wife, oh no no no, Arthur knew he was in deep s**t and Mary would likely be as well. “Where have you been?”

“Dressing” Mary spouted not wanting to discuss it any further.

Quickly and discreetly as possible Arthur went over his uniform to make sure everything was in place, only to hind his ascot still under his coat. He pulled it out only to struggle to get the tie right.

Shit

No- f**k.

That’s just a knot.

Is this… no.

Wro- Mary snatched the long soft silk from his hands and instead of helping him slid it under her hair before tying it at the top of her head, offsetting it slightly before flaring her hair back out to properly cascade over her shoulders and back. That white made her hair brighter in a way, it showed bright as fire here in the shrouded sun.

Slowly they came into view, moving down a long line of bannermen to the gate.

Merlin waved his hand in a grand gesture before the large steal door moved by his will to slowly swing A long line of Scottish Chariots entered the courtyard, streams of red and oak rolled in surrounded by flags of blue crossed by white.

“Oh s**t”

The largest and most ornate of them was squarely in the middle and by that position was stopped directly in front of the steps.

The chariot doors were pulled open and with the hand of the coach she stepped out. She was a stunning woman of no more than forty with chestnut brown hair, dressed in crushed red velvet and white cotton with gold and silver finery and jewels that gleamed even in the low light. With the grace rightfully of a soon-to-be queen, she moved from her place at the chariot door only to stop a pace forward.

A hand was once again outstretched for someone else and was once again taken.

An extremely pail hand nearly the color of moonlight took the coachman’s before being helped down. Impossibly black hair made the young woman look even paler than before as it ran down her in spools of nothing all the way to her thin hips.

Seconds passed before she walked tentatively to the Lady’s side and looked up at them with impossibly bright green eyes.