Your new dynasty looks like it'll be very interesting! I'll definitely be reading this one, too. Doing two dynasties at once is really fun, I think. Anyway, best of luck!
Thanks! And yeah, I think it'll be nice. It will give me a break when I need one. I can switch between the two as needed.
*applauds* I was enthralled with the stories of Camelot ever since I watched the Disney movie "The Sword and The Stone", watching a young boy Arthur tutor under Merlin (and the owl) was awesome in my youth. I can't wait to see what comes of this.
I noticed that Guinevere is the name of the founder. I have sneaking suspicions what this entails.
Yeah, that was a good movie, though actually one of my favorite movies regarding Arthur is called 'First Knight' with Richard Gear and Sean Connery.
Hehehe, well, let me know if you're suspicions are correct after you read this.
Prologue, Part 2: The Beginning of the End
I apologize for that. *licks chops* Hey, don’t look at me like that! Even us cats need to eat! Hmph! *curls up into a ball* Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, right.
Arthur almost couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t WANT to believe his eyes. But he knew it was true. So distraught was he that he stripped both Gwen and Lancelot of their titles, divorcing Gwen then and there.
The spell’s hold broke; Gwen and Lancelot were so very confused. What had happened? What had they done? They had no idea how things had gone so terribly wrong. Could they fix it? They would have tried, but Arthur was too upset and felt too betrayed to listen to anything they may have had to say.
Arthur threw himself into running the kingdom, into his archery. But not even his faithful steed Llamrei could quell his anger and his hurt. His lady… his lady had betrayed him. The woman he had given his heart to had ripped it out.
He was only too ripe for Morgan’s plan. Knowing how vulnerable he was, she waited for him in his bedchamber. It was only too easy for her to seduce him that night. Their liaison was brief, but long enough that Morgan’s plan came to fruition; she was pregnant with Arthur’s child.
She used her dark arts to hide the signs, however, wanting no one to know. It was imperative that the only heir to the throne remain a secret. She knew that Arthur would need to marry again, in order to secure the succession so things would need to be in place before that.
Morgan had the child in secret, then spirited the boy away to Avalon, an island of magic where time moves differently than here.
In only a few months’ time, Mordred returned to Camelot as a young man.
He found his father, spitting venom. He told Arthur of Morgan’s deception, of how everything had been so carefully planned. Lancelot and Guinevere’s betrayal… he and Morgan’s relationship… it had all been a horrible plot. And now, here was his child… a grown man.
Mordred laughed at his father’s anguish. He challenged his father and the two entered into a bloody, fierce battle.
A battle that Arthur lost. The King of Camelot was mortally wounded. I tried to go to him, to save him. But I had no idea that Morgan had betrayed us all. She intercepted me and before I could do anything, she raised her arms and cast a spell. She turned me into my present form. I was able to let one spell of my own off, but it couldn’t save me, nor the man I served as my King.
Arthur Paendragon, the rightful ruler of Camelot, died in the courtyard of his own castle, at the hands of his own son. At the moment that his soul departed, a fierce cackle echoed around us. It was Morgan.
“You fools!” she gloated. “Your precious kingdom will fall now! Your King’s soul belongs to me! And as long as he does, Camelot will be no more.” It was true… before Arthur’s soul could move on, Morgan had pulled his spirit to her and imprisoned it in the ring she wore on her hand. She laughed at us all again and then was gone…
A wail rose on the night air. It was Guinevere. With Morgan’s spell having run its course, she and Lancelot were free. But the realization of what she had wrought was too much for her to bear. They found her body on top of Arthur’s grave the night after the King was buried.
*****
I have lived in this form for centuries, traveling the world, trying to find a way undo what has been done. The balance of the world was skewed when Arthur died and Camelot deteriorated quickly. Mordred and Morgan had disappeared. I knew she was up to no good. It was only a matter of time before I saw her again. This time, I would be ready. In my travels, I had found a way, a way to right the wrongs of the past and to free the soul of a man who did not deserve an eternity of torment.
But I could not do it alone. I had been waiting for something… and finally, finally, that day was here. I returned to Camelot… or what had once been Camelot. Today, it is known as Dragon Valley. The Camelot I once knew is no more. But maybe, just maybe, what once was can be undone, can be fixed.
Once I had stumbled upon my solution, it was a matter of waiting and watching. Finally, she had returned. Guinevere, the woman whose actions had been partly responsible for all that had happened, had been reborn. Perhaps, with her help, we could right the wrongs of the past and maybe, just maybe, she would find peace.
Perhaps her past life took its toll, because this Gwen has changed from what she was, but I would know her anywhere. And she must know SOMETHING of what happened, because when a talking cat approached her and then wove this same tale I have just recited, there was no denial, no refusal. No, there was only a sad acceptance of fact about the young woman. The only words she spoke to me at that first meeting was, “I will do everything in my power, Merlin, to make right what I did wrong so long ago.”
So she and I have both returned to Camelot… to Dragon Valley, together. I’m not sure if it is penance or comfort that made Guinevere choose the same lot that had once been the site of her home… of the Castle of Camelot. I can’t imagine her ghosts are any quieter than mine here. I see her stare across the empty lot and know what she is thinking of. I can only hope that she has the fortitude to survive those ghosts.
*****