Summary
King Arthur is the 'Once and Future King' of Britain. Her true gender was kept secret from public knowledge. Only a select few, the knights of the round table and her personal physicians. Her tragic story is one of duty, conflict, love, chivalry, and ultimately betrayal. These chapters will go into detail of her life and how she lived. It will make clarity from the unknown.
Chapter 1: A Girl is Born
"A girl?!" A loud and displeased voice echoed through a dimly lit hallway.
"Yes, your Majesty. Igraine has given birth to a girl." The mid-wife replied timidly to the king. His face was pinched in disappointment. He sharply turned his back to her and stomped through the stone hallways before she could say anything else. His crimson cape flowed behind him. He treaded through a wide hall, with large windows that showed a sea of tree tops, he then turned to a more narrow hall with no windows. At the end of the hall was a lonely wooden door, it seemed just like the rest of the wooden doors that the kind had passed as he hurried through the halls, but this door seemed very out of place. As he swiftly headed down the hallway he was reaching his destination, but just before he could reach for the handle on the door, the short-lived and subtle cry of a newborn escaped from the room behind the lonely door and the King had stopped in his tracks. He became hesitant to open the door and enter the room. He took a deep breath, grit his teeth and reached for the door handle, placing his hand on the handle, he slowly pulled it forward which caused it to make a clanked noise. He placed his other hand on the door and pushed it open.
It was a candle-lit room with no windows. There was a large carpet which covered most of the stone floor and there were banners hung up on the walls. There was a large bed with thick blankets stretched across it, and there was a blonde haired woman who laid under the blankets. Her arms were over the blankets, they were cradling a bundle of wrapped white sheets. Her eye's met the king's eyes and she smiled warmly at him.
"Forgive me, Uther. It seems my womb can only bear girls." She says calmly. She beckons King Uther with her free hand to come to her side. He slowly walks to her, keeping his eyes strictly on the bundle in her arms. As he walks to the side of her bed, the face of a baby is reveled to him.
"She has your eyes." She says, looking lovingly down at the newborn. She cuddles the newborn close to her face.
"Igraine, are you feeling well?" His eyes look down to the floor carpet from the mother and child.
"I am very well, perhaps a bit tired though." She lays the baby next to her and re-positions herself onto her side.
"Would you like to name her?" She asks as she places her hand over the baby wrapped in white linen. The King does not answer. She looks up as him, his face turned back to disappointment. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but words are lost. The baby makes a quiet noise. Almost a yawning sound. Igraine begins to speak.
"Well, if you don't want to name her, I have a fine name in mind. I think Arturia would be a suiting name for her. It's a name that stands for nobility, courage, and strength." She says, trying to lift the tension away from herself.
"This changes everything. I was supposed to have a male heir." He clenches his fists. He silently walks to the door and opens it. Just before he leaves, the baby lets out a short giggle, his head shoots back and looks at his newly born daughter. His face had changed from a disappointed look into a sorrowful one. He breathes in, and stares blankly at her for just a moment before turns his face forward and walks out of the door, shutting it closely behind. Not far down the hallway is a hooded figure leaning against the right wall of grey stone.
"Merlin..." King Uther announces the name of the mysteriously hooded figure. The King walks up closer to him.
"This isn't what we've planned. Igraine was supposed to give birth to an heir." Uther had slight weakness in his voice. Merlin snickered, his teeth showed brightly.
"But she did give you an heir, my highness." There was a hint of sarcasm in Merlin's words.
"She's given birth to a girl, Merlin. She cannot be the heir to the throne," Uther's hand gestured as he spoke.
Merlin replied."She is the heir, Uther. And she shall be the one who will sit on your throne."
"No, the subjects of this kingdom will not allow for such a thing to occur."
"But they will, Uther. You should spend the rest of your day accepting your daughter's fate to inherit the throne. Now, if you don't mind, I have to make a visit to the village." Merlin turned and walked out of the hall. Before he reached the larger hallway, he stopped.
"Oh, that's right. What is your daughter's name?" Merlin asked without even turning his head.
"Her name..." The king had a hint of sorrow in his voice. "Her, no I mean, my daughter's name is Arturia."
"Ah. Fancy that, it's a suitable name for the future ruler of Britain." Merlin continued and turned left into the windowed hall way. King Uther quickly followed in Merlin's tracks, but when he reached the lengthy hallway, Merlin had vanished.
"How very unpleasant." He said under his breath.
Chapter 2: Confrontation
A month had passed since Arturia was born. King Uther had made a tenancy to avoid contact with his daughter, ignoring her as he spoke to his queen, Igraine. This day was a rainy day, a pale light beamed through the windows, making the atmosphere within the castle bleak and gloomy. The King was in a large room with several people. They were all fitted in suits of armor, and they surrounded a table with a hand-drawn map.
"Uther, the Saxons are going to hit us from the west, they have the sea to their advantage. Trust me when I say we should place some catapults on the cove." Said a knight with a white and orange painted shield.
"But then we would have a weakened north side, if they decide to come from the hills then we will have a lot of damage on our hands." Said another man with no shield. Uther stroked his beard. He gazed intensely at the map laid on the table before him. He then smacked his hands down on the table.
The king took a deep breath before speaking to the other men. "These are very troublesome times my friends. A single misstep can cause this kingdom to fall and crumble. I want to consult Merlin before making any final decisions. Meet me here again before nightfall." The men bowed their heads and exited the room. When they all left the room, the stressed king rubbed his face with both of his hands.
"Such troublesome times indeed." It was a woman's voice. Uther looked behind him, to the voice. It was the Queen, Igraine. She was in the doorway on the opposite side of the room in which the armored men had exited. Her long blonde hair and her pale skin seemed to shine among the gloomy stone walls.
"Ah, my love. How long had you been there?" He asked with one eyebrow raised. She walked towards him, her steps were silent and her pale-blue dress dragged on the floor behind her. A man who didn't know any better might mistake her for a ghost. She placed her hands on Uther's shoulders.
"I've only been here long enough to listen to that last speech you gave to your knights."
"I see. Igraine, is Arturia with one of the wet nurses?" He asked hastily.
"How odd of you to take interest in the babe. You've seemed to completely ignore the fact that she even sleeps in our quarters, which is where she is now." Igraine spoke with some resentment towards Uther.
"Forgive me, my Queen. I feel as though I am unworthy of touching such a pure child. My hands are tainted with the blood of my enemies, the blood of your previous husband, and even the blood of my own men. And someday that babe will also be tainted with such blood." After hearing the king admit his thoughts, her eyes widened and she tenderly embraced Uther. Her head rested on his chest, Uther wrapped his arms around her body as well.
Uther broke the silence of the room. "I want to see her, Arturia. Take me to her."
"Very well, let us go into our sleeping chamber." The queen slid her arms off of the king's armored body. She led him throughout the hallways, and up a few sets of stairs until they reached a large wooden door with a sign nailed onto it. The sign read as 'Lilith Abi'. Uther spoke out loud.
"Lilith, be gone." He said under his breath.
"Yes, to keep her away from Arturia. I do not wish any harm on her." Igraine's voice was tender to his ears.
Uther raised an eyebrow at her. "That is just a story, you shouldn't take it literally."
"It may be a story to you, but to me, it is truth from the Bible." She glanced at him.
"Shall we go inside or stand here bickering over a sign?" Igrain opens the door to their bedroom and enters, holding the door open for Uther as he follows close behind her. When they enter the room, they walk towards a cradle pushed against a wall on the right side of their large bed. Uther follows her, peering at the cradle. The month old Arturia sleeps inside of it. The babe's skin is very pale with rosey colored cheeks and thin blonde hair.
"She looks like a painted sculpture of a baby." Uther clutches the rims of the cradle.
"She'll grow to be a beautiful woman someday." Igraine whispers to Uther.
"Indeed. How can something as delicate as that become Britain's ruler?" He asks sadly.
The Queen keeps silent. She opens her mouth to reply but as she does, there is a knocking on the door.
"I'll open it, Uther." Igraine quickly goes to the large wooden doors and opens it wide to reveal a young girl in a purple dyed dress. She is not surprised by the visitor.
"Ah, It's Elaine. Do you need something?" Igraine asks the young girl.
"Yes, mother. I've been looking for Morgana but I can't seem to find her anywhere, you don't think she's gone out of the castle again, do you?" Elaine asked in a sweet voice, much like her mother's.
"It wouldn't surprise me if she was in the village nearby. Your sister doesn't seem to like being in the castle anymore." Igraine replied, seemingly annoyed with her words. Elaine looked over her mother's shoulder at Uther who was hovering over the cradle.
"Can I go see her too?" Elaine asked with enthusiasm. Igraine opened the door wider and stepped aside, nodding her hed to Elaine. Elaine's eyes sparkled and she hurried towards the Cradle to look at the sleeping Arturia.
"She's grown a bit since I last saw her." Elaine looks closer at Arturia. "Now I'm no longer the youngest child, how exciting to have a little sister."
"You seem to be as bubbly as ever, Elaine." Uther snickered at his step-daughter.
"Oh, look! She's waking up." Elaine said as she observed Arturia wiggling in her white linen wrap. Arturia let out a small yawn and opened her green eyes. She looked up at Elaine and Uther who were hovering over the cradle. She made noises of a happy baby and freed her arms from the Linen she was wrapped up in. Igraine walked up to the cradle and gently scooped the baby into her arms.
"Would you look at that, she managed to get her arms out of that wrap. She's must be strong like her father." Igraine smiled widely at Uther as she cradled Arturia in her arms. She walked up to Uther and Extended her cradling arms towards him.
"Here, you hold her. You should at least cradle your first child." King Uther seemed reluctant and hesitant, but he extended his own arms regardless. Igraine seemed overjoyed by his notions and carefully set Arturia in his arms. Elaine watched over her mother's shoulders. The King looked down in his arms. Arturia gazed up at him with widened eyes that glimmered from the candle lights. She gave him a toothless smile and giggled. His eyes also widened at the small person he was carrying. Igraine took Elaines hand and pulled her towards the door.
"Elaine and I are going to look around the castle for Morgana, stay and take care of Arturia for just a little bit, will you?" Uther stepped forward and opened his mouth to object but Igraine and Elaine quickly left the room before he could say anything. He let his breath out in defeat. Arturia giggled some more.
"You are much heavier than I had expected you to be." He said in a more cheering voice to the baby in his arms. Arturia flailed her own arms around and reached them towards his face. He brought his hand toward her, extending his index finger.
"Now, let me see how strong your grip is. If you are to wield a sword, you will surely need strong hands." He placed his finger on Arturia's small hand. She grasped his finger just as he had expected of her. He pulled his finger back, Arturia's grip still remained on it.
"Ah, that is a fine grip indeed, fit for a king." He gently placed her back down in the crib. He started tickling her and playing with her. He smiled and chuckled to himself.
"I never thought I would see you acting so bewildered by a mere infant." A voice appeared from a dark corner on the opposite side of the room. The King jumped back from the unexpected intruder. Stepping out of the shadow, he relieved himself. It was Merlin, still hooded and hiding his eyes.
"You could use the door, Merlin. You surprised me." Uther stepped away from the cradle and walked toward Merlin.
"I just came back from the village, I found someone suitable enough to raise your Daughter." Merlin said, ignoring Uther's last comment.
"Oh... I see, I didn't expect you to find a family so soon." Uther awkwardly replied.
"Did you change your mind Uther? Should I remind you how dangerous it is to be living in this castle. What with Saxon invasions and barbarians coming at every side. Uther, that child needs to be raised in secrecy, there are enough people out for your blood, how do you think they'd feel if they had the chance to kill your successor as well?" Merlin's sharp words made Uther cringe.
"No, I understand. How did you plan to go about this? Igraine would never allow this and she'd do everything in her power to keep it from happening." Uther rubbed his beard in deep thought.
Merlin began pacing in the room. "You should not worry yourself over that, I have a plan. I will disguise myself as a Saxon and abduct Arturia. Nobody will suspect that she will live in the hands of a Saxon, Arturia will be presumed dead until she become old enough to claim the throne. But please forgive me for Igraine's future grief."
"When will you perform this act?" Uther asked, not knowing if he would like Merlin's decision.
"Why, tonight of course. You have a Saxon invasion on your doorstep, don't you?" Merlin Snickered. Uther's heart seemed to sink down to his belly. He could here Arturia happily making jabbering noises. He turned his head and looked at the child once more. His mind filled with sorrow, this is the last day he could see his one and only child.
"I will come tonight, I will make quite an entrance, I need people to witness me as a Saxon, stealing away the child, so prepare for a sleepless night, also if you could make it easier for me and have some guards off duty, that would be excellent." Merlin stated as his feet began to evaporate into smoke.
"Very well, Merlin." Uther agreed almost defiantly. He clenched his fists.
"Ta-ta, I'll see you later tonight." Merlin's voice sounded venomous as he dissipated into a dark colored smoke which soon cleared away.
Chapter 3: The Last Night
"There you are, Morgana. We were just about to go out and look for you." Igraine shouted across the large entrance hall to a younger woman in a red dress. The hall had a high ceiling, decorated with glass-stained windows at the top. The walls had elaborate decorations of embroideries and gothic-style collumns. Morgana, the woman in red, walked towards her mother and younger sister with a pompouse attitude. She stayed silent as she approached the both of them. Igraine and Elaine simply smiled at her. Elaine was the first to speak to Morgana as she stopped infront of them.
"Oh Morgana, I got to see our baby sister today. She's grown a lot." Elaine smiled enthusiastically. Morgana only cringed at Elaine's words.
"So, the child of that murderer has caught your eye?" Morgana torted at her sister.
Igraine immediately drew out an angered face. "Morgana, I thought you would have gotten over it by now. You knew what our circumstances were. Uther only wanted to protect us, you must understand. You should apologize." Morgana snapped her face away from Igraine and Elaine. She clenched her fists and grit her teeth.
"I don't care what the circumstances were. That man killed my father, I can never forgive that. And I shall never accept that child to be any kin of mine. Now if you would excuse me." With that, Morgana quickly left the entrance hall with her fists still clenched. Igraine and Elaine were left speechless at Morgana's hatred towards the man who has saved his mother. Igraine frowned as she lowered her head. Elaine awkwardly looked at her mother, unknowing how to act in this situation.
"I wish Morgana could at least keep her hatred limited to her thoughts. Arturia should not have to live with the hatred of her eldest sibling." Igraine said in a light-hearted voice. It was a sad sounding voice like that of a nightengale's song. "Your father caused his own demise once he had laid his fists on me infront of Uther." Igraine continued. She took Elaine's hand and walked out of the large front doors. Her hair flowed like a golden satin cloth as the breeze from opening the door splashed on her face. "Let's get some fresh air, I know I need a clean breeze after being inside the castle for so long now." Igraine forced a smile on her face, hoping to expell the bad mood that Morgana betowed upon the both of them. Elaine nodded as she allowed her mother to pull her arm. Outside, they both looked down at a village. The Castle was built on a hill, with a large village bellow them. They could see all of the building and some crops and trees that bordered the village's surroundings. The sky was still grey with rain clouds, but the rain had stopped. Elaine closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the cool air. She opened her eyes as she exhailed and looked to the sky. Many different shades of silver and grey had caught Elaine's attention. Igrain stepped forward and turned around to look at the two men gaurding the entrance to the castle.
"It must be somewhat of a hinderance for you two to stay out here on a chilly day like this." Igraine smiled to the guards. One of the gaurds had a ginger-colored mustache, the other was clean-shaven and looked younger than most other gaurds.
"No, it is not a hinderance to us. We are serving our noble king whom we would give our lives for." the man with a mustach replied in a brutish voice. The other gaurd stayed silent.
"My husband would be proud to know that, good sir." Igraine grinned lightly and looked to the younger guard. "Are you new? I don't think I've seen you before."
"Ah, yes. I've only joined the gaurd a week ago." The younger man replied. He seemed to be nervouse, perhaps even anxiouse.
"Well, the gaurd can always use good people." Igraine replied to the younger man. She urged Elaine to her side using her hand, and she headed for the door.
"It's a tad too cold for me, so I'll head back inside now. Please keep up the good work." And so Igraine nodded at the gaurds and dissapeared back inside the castle with Elaine. They walked deep into the entrance hall and then into another hall that lead to a stairway. They climbed up the stairs into the second floor of the castle where Igraine hurridly walked through the stone chambers to a door which was next to another stairwell.
"Elaine, how about you go find Morgana and keep her company. You always have a way of keeping people's tempers down. I need to speak to your father." Igraine asked as she prepared to open the door infront of her.
"Alright, I'll be off in Morgana's room then." Elaine said with a smile on her face.
Igraine simply nodded her head and silently whispered to herself "Such a sweet girl you are." as Elaine left off to accompany Morgana. She then entered the door to find her husband who was sitting in front of a table with a map of the land stretched across it. She smiled at first bus as she began to notice his depressing body language her smile disapeared. Uther was sitting silently looking down at the edge of the wooden table, his elbows rested on the table and both of his hands were hiding his mouth, his fingers intertwined with eachother. Igraine slowly shut the door behind her.
"You look awfully pale." Those were the words that broke the depressing silence of the room. Uther didn't look up to see his Queen. Instead, he took a deep breath and exhaled. Merlins words echoed through his head. This would be the last night he will probably ever see his only true child, Arturia. He couldn't even let Igraine know about the plan to kidnap their daughter in the midst of a saxon raid.
"I am simply worried about tomarrow. The saxons are ahead on their game lately." He said, trying to calm himself about the situation.
"You should get your sleep soon then, you don't want to be drowsy during battle now do you?" Igraine's voice soothed Uther's aching heart.
"Yes, I've already made out final plans with my knights, so all we can do now is wait and prepare by sunrise. I would like us to spend time with our child, that will surely energize me." Uther said, giving Igraine a fake smile.
"Ah, I'm so happy your beggining to spend quality time with her, I was afraid you would've neglected her for as long as she was here." Igraine took her king's hand and lead him out of the room.
"Of course, she is my firstborn after all. The one to inherit the throne." He allowed Igraine to lead her to their chambers.
"Indeed. And you will sleep well and hopefully be joyful." Igraine was full of enthusiasm as she practically pulled Uther by his arm.
"Yes, until tomarrow arrives." King Uther said under his breath as they went through the halls together, to see their daughter for one last night.
