Recent Posts

Caitrin had her eyes on Arthur as he said farewell to her Uncle. She then thought to turn back to Rouland herself and bobbed her head slightly to him, “Uncle.” She said softly, as a way of dismissing him. Rouland inclined one of the goblets in the direction of her, also inclining his head to her,

“Niece.” It was only a short farewell, but their intimacy allowed it to be such without it being offensive. He gave her a small knowing smile, he was getting a feel for her character, so he knew that a more private meeting with the Prince would suit her character more. Caitrin turned back to Arthur and was glad that he took her arm. Of course not all noblemen would like a woman to be so bold in their company, but Arthur was not offering any objections to it.

With her arm linked with Arthur’s, she was forced to look sideward’s when she spoke to him which was not ideal but it would only be for a short while. Besides, this was her, little Caitrin de Archer from Mercia linking with the Prince of Camelot. She was not so much in awe of her situation as she was excited by it. In Mercia she would have never been in such an intimate position with any of the Royal family, but she was already learning that life in Camelot was quite different to that in Mercia. She was not complaining though, she had had more fun in a few weeks in Camelot than she ever had at the Mercian courts. She had never felt like she had fitted in there anyway, but this was her chance to make a new life for herself. “Then I shall hold you to account if we do get lost in amongst all these people.” She teased softly, as the pair proceeded to walk though the courtiers.

“You may.” She said teasingly, giving Arthur a grin to compliment her words. Like she needed to give the Prince of Camelot permission to compliment her? She was however quite flattered at his words and her smile seemed positively plastered to her face. “Thank you.” She finally thought to say. Of course she meant her thanks, why wouldn’t she? Men’s compliments were sometimes too often just handed out, but she believed that there was sincerity about Arthur’s words. Perhaps she was giving him too much, but for now she was inclined to believe his words. “And may I say that you look quite handsome tonight my Lord Prince.” Caitrin was not usually inclined to compliment the opposite sex, in her experience men often thought so much of themselves that her compliments would do little but add to their egos. However, Arthur’s compliment to her seemed quite genuine so she wished to repay it in a similarly genuine way. As they were still walking through the crowds of people Caitrin found herself still quite dazzled by the amount of people who were present, and she was quite looking forwards to a quieter setting. She was not ungrateful for the evening, but a few moments to ones self was often just needed.

Although it felt strange to admit it, she agreed with the King that it was a shame that most Mercian’s that she had come across were in a blood thirsty mindset. She had probably met more noblemen who were in that mindset than weren’t because of her fathers inclinations and his preferences. She had never liked them coming round to the house, they always had an unhealthy interest in her sisters. She usually kept herself to herself and therefore avoided such attentions, her sisters however did not. Caitrin shuddered to think there were worse than her father, but she had heard about those who resided in Cenred’s kingdom, and their thirst for war was certainly worse than those of the Mercian noblemen. “I am glad then that I did not reside in a more blood thirsty kingdom than the one I came from.”

She was sure she would not have been quite as welcome in Camelot if she came from somewhere like Cenred’s kingdom. However, she did not so that was not something to give too much thought. She was now however more interested to meet the King’s son, Arthur, as she wondered what kind of man he was.

Uther’s next words were well received by both Caitrin and Rouland. Rouland felt rather proud in a way that he had some sort of obvious effect on his niece in these early days. When she had first come to him she had been a stubborn, angry little thing, but he was slowly showing her how to channel her anger into wit, and how to use that to her own advantage. In Rouland’s eyes there were enough pretty, high bred women at court who only had one purpose in life, to attract a good husband. Although Rouland did want Caitrin to eventually attract a husbands from good standings, he did not want her to be brainless and foolish about the whole matter.

“It is early days yet, but I hope in time to show Caitrin how different the Camelot way of life is.” He smiled at the King and then to his niece. Even as a small child she had been his favourite of his brother’s children. She’d always had spirit, and he was glad she had not lost that.

Caitrin turned to the King, quite complimented at his latter words. She so wanted to get this right, she wanted to give the right impression and eventually grow into a young woman her Uncle would be proud of. “I hope that I do not disappoint you.” She said softly, meaning that she did hope that she became a young woman who would turn heads for the right reasons when she had fully blossomed into womanhood.

Caitrin merely grinned at Richard as he removed her hand but she allowed it to just be set at a distance he felt comfortable with. It felt like Richard was spinning the same words and it was starting to become slightly dull. His words were relatively the same as well. Caitrin had never had this much trouble with a man before and it was slightly off putting. What was the point in trying to seduce a man who just refused to let her away with anything? It was so much harder to motivate herself as well when she was not physically attracted to the man. Of course that could sometimes be overlooked, but not in this case, not when Richard was annoying her this much. “You really do need to lighten up.” She said again, trying hard not to laugh because it was true. Ok, perhaps he did not need to lighten up in the way she was describing, and perhaps he never would, but he did need to lighten up because he was so serious all the time.

Caitrin was quickly becoming bored with Richard. She enjoyed it when men made it a little difficult sometimes, but Richard was just making the whole affair boring. He had only given one inclination of being interested in her, and that had seemed to vanish as quickly as it came so what good was that? She frowned a little bit, this wasn’t working really was it? She had hoped to either scare him off or have at least a slight bit of enjoyment from him, but she was succeeding in neither and it was irritating her. “Fine.” She replied almost angrily at Richard’s latter words and looked straight ahead of her, if he wanted to be completely stubborn and refuse her then she was not going to play his game any longer.

She got up off the bed, leaving Richard by himself and she stood up by the foot of the bed, leaning and bending herself slightly over the bed frame on the end of the bed and looked on seriously at Richard for a moment. He had not mentioned her Uncle in quite a while, then again he had been busy trying to half fight her off so perhaps he had almost forgotten his mission in coming here. It was a long shot, but what else did Caitrin have to go off? She was still adamant in the mindset that she was not going anywhere with this man as she did not like to be dictated to, and she would return to her Uncle’s when she pleased. She had enough money with her to allow her that freedom anyway. “Can I suggest then that you leave?” She asked, but it wasn’t really a question, it was a command, “Sooner rather than later.” She gestured towards the door, she wanted him to know that she honestly wasn’t going anywhere with him. Caitrin did not mention her Uncle because perhaps Richard would jump at the opportunity to just leave her alone after that ordeal, and she could slip away without him noticing.

It was safe to say that of all the places in Albion and beyond, Caitrin de Archer would have given anything to be as far away from where she currently headed in a heartbeat. She couldn’t even look at her Uncle who was sat opposite her in the carriage which was heading down the road at an annoyingly fast pace. He had a book to occupy himself but his eyes would occasionally glance over the text at his niece and wonder at her silence. He wasn’t complaining, but she had never been this quiet before. Even when she had been angry at Griflet, and lord knows that had been a drawn out affair, she had never been quiet, she had always been just angry. On this journey however she had been reduced to only speaking once spoken to and in a way it was slightly irritating.

Caitrin rested her elbow on the side of the carriage and rested her head in her hand. She felt sick, she just wanted to be back in Camelot, she knew she was safe there. As soon as her Uncle had mentioned her accompanying him to visit his old friend King Gildas she had recognised the name. She knew the political geography of Albion quite well, and she knew which kingdom Gildas exerted power over, and she knew who his son was.

She had not seen Vortigern since they had parted in Camelot over a year ago. Then she had been glad to see the back of him, and had certainly wanted to put the whole matter to the back of her head and never speak of it again. Her Uncle had scolded her for losing the horse, but upon seeing her condition he had thought better of punishing her further. Caitrin had shut herself off from the world for a few days, it hadn’t been like her at all. Now she was faced with the prospect of seeing Vortigern once more, it felt like all of those feelings were coming back to the surface once more. The only solace she could gain from her whole encounter with Vortigern was that she had not been carrying his bastard child after all.

Her Uncle looked up over his book at her again and frowned slightly. Caitrin had fought against him taking her from the moment he had even mentioned Gildas and Sorelia. She hadn’t told him why she didn’t want to go, and he found it rather uncharacteristic. The only reason he could presume for her stubbornness was that she did not want to be apart from Griflet now they had sorted their troubles. That, to Rouland, wasn’t a good enough reason so as the one in charge of her wardship he had commanded her to join him. In his eyes, having a pretty woman on his arm often sweetened the conversation, and Caitrin always played the part so well.

The carriage finally stopped and Caitrin waited until the coach driver opened the door and extended a hand to aid her getting out of the carriage. She didn’t take the hand, and half jumped out of the carriage. Her Uncle just tutted behind her and then took her arm as they were guided into the castle. She looked up around the castle, it was certainly grand enough and it chilled her to the bone to know that such a man would have command of all of this land one day. They were led down the corridors through the castle, and Caitrin did not know if it was the prospect of meeting Vortigern again, or the lack of heat in the castle which made her give a small shudder. It was not that she was scared of Vortigern, no, she would never be scared of such a man; she loathed him yes, but she would never be scared of him.

They were taken up to the Great Hall and the set up was rather like it was in Camelot, as she and her Uncle waited outside the door to be announced to the King, and his son. Caitrin broke with her Uncle’s arm for a moment as she straightened out the front of her gown nervously. She was wearing a blue silk dress which showed off her figure quite nicely, and in retrospect was probably the wrong thing to be wearing in front of him. Her Uncle Rouland just watched her as she then moved to straighten her circlet and then linked her arm once more. He nodded to the steward who opened the doors to the Great Hall,

“My Lord King: Lord Rouland de Archer and his niece, the Lady Caitrin de Archer.”

Caitrin had heard about Ailantha in nothing more than passing before now. She had always been very interested in geography as a young child, after all she enjoyed learning probably a lot more than was expected of the conventional noblewoman. The Kingdom was to the south, that was all she knew and as Mercia was in the North East of Albion, she had never had any reason to travel so far to visit. “I have heard of it in passing, but I have never visited.” Caitrin said rather plainly, she was interested in the land Yassia had come from though; it was always fascinating to hear of other places and their traditions. “Mercia is in the north, so I am not well travelled at all as I had little reason to leave home until I was sent to Camelot.” Caitrin had not been important enough to be taken on social visits with her father; her eldest sister and brothers had been left to those tasks. Her father could not stand her company in the house, so why would he have taken her anywhere else?

The place Yassia described seemed fascinating in Caitrin’s eyes. They had mountains and such in Mercia, and sometimes thinking about that scenery made her feel slight longing for that view once more. However, she was sure she would never return to the life she had once had in Mercia, she enjoyed her life in Camelot too much to even contemplate it. “It sounds wonderful.” Caitrin boldly declared, “It would be nice to have some warm weather once in a while, but as you said, I am used to it as I have lived here for so long now.” What Caitrin wouldn’t give for a warm summer, that would be a novelty. The summer’s were sometimes warm but their effect was always dampened by the impending cold weather.

Ah, so that was the reason Yassia was in Camelot. It always made sense to reside somewhere you had kin, rather than trying to make your own way in the world. Caitrin knew too well just how cruel the world could be; enough men in her life had taught her that. She could not recall the name Kaye, but she could have seen him at court. “Is he often at court? I must apologise, I cannot recall being acquainted with him.” Although Caitrin was often at court, she usually moved round the same social circles, which was advantageous in a way as she got to know quite a few people, but it also meant she was ignorant to some of the families who resided in Camelot.

They already had something in common, although Yassia did not realise it yet. “My Uncle too gifted me a horse when I first arrived in Camelot.” Caitrin declared proudly. She loved her mare Lily and would not give her up for anything. “Horses should always be given a name, as they all have their own personality.” She grinned slightly, “I named my mare Lily, as it is quite a beautiful name I think.” Caitrin did not want to sound too pretentious, and through her rambling she had quite got caught up in her own thoughts and ignored part of Yassia’s speech, “You came on foot?” She replied, slightly shocked, “Surely you did not walk from Ailantha to Camelot?” If she had then she was certainly a strong woman, perhaps one of the strongest Caitrin had ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with.

Caitrin’s skills at hosting would surely be tested tonight, and she mulled over her thoughts as Yassia asked her if she had any plans for their girls night in. She pressed her lips together and gave the matter serious thought for a moment. She’d instructed the meal but further than that she had not given it much thought. “Perhaps we could decide on an activity to indulge ourselves with over dinner?” She asked brightly, Caitrin was sure between them they could think of something.

Caitrin was pleased that Yassia loved the house as much as Caitrin did. She considered her question carefully and nodded. She had many memories of the place, some good and some bad. The more recent ones all related to Griflet. “I do, though not as many as I would have liked.” She said with a sense of longing, “I wish I could have discovered the place sooner in truth.” Caitrin’s only regret was that she had not been sent to live with her Uncle sooner. She was sure her teenage years would have been a lot happier under this roof than they had been under her father’s close watch.

As Yassia accepted her invitation to the solar Caitrin led the way to the room. It was one of the more grand rooms in the house, and housed her Uncle’s books, and his stash of wine. She sat down opposite Yassia gracefully and smiled at the young woman. She wanted her to feel at ease in her company and in her Uncle’s home, she didn’t want their meeting to be particularly awkward; not that it had been so far.

She listened carefully as Yassia outlined her situation to Caitrin and she felt shocked somewhat. She hoped that Uther would help her, after all, the young woman was clearly a gentle and wise woman, “Then I hope tonight will prove a happy distraction for you.” Caitrin then got up, she knew her Uncle kept his wine in here, and with a spare goblet or two just for safe keeping, “Would you like a drink, I’m afraid it is nothing too special, but it is wine nonetheless.” Caitrin could not see the point in calling a servant from the other room to draw them wine when she could offer Yassia a drink quite well herself.

Caitrin had not known how to take it at first when her Uncle had told her that the King himself was laying on a feast in her honour. She’d been shocked at first, she hadn’t expected it at all. She had expected to be treated in the same way she had been at home, just pushed to the side like she was unimportant. Then, she had been excited, it was one thing really to be invited to dine with royalty but it was quite another to have a feast laid on by them in her honour. Her Uncle had even been impressed, though he suggested the reason for it could have been because of the tensions between Camelot and Mercia. Caitrin didn’t particularly care of the motives behind it, she was still getting over the thrill of the idea of someone holding a feast in honour of her arrival in Camelot.

The night had finally arrived and she had donned a blue silk dress which had dipped sleeves and fancy embroidery by the cuffs. It wasn’t her most fancy dress, but it was good enough for tonight, it gave an impression that she was a woman who valued her appearance. She was wearing a small silver circlet which her Uncle had given to her and it matched her dress perfectly. Her Uncle was escorting her, she knew he very rarely came to court but he could hardly miss a feast in honour of his own niece could he?

There were quite a few other noble families there, most of which had made themselves known to her; there were so many. Caitrin was quite unused to being the centre of attention but she loved every moment of it ; she could not keep a smile far from her face. “Are you enjoying yourself niece?” Her Uncle asked from beside her and handed her a goblet of wine. She nodded brightly and straightened the front of her dress,

“I am Uncle, thank you.” She had only been in Camelot a few weeks so she and her Uncle were still getting used to each other. She had expected to find him in the same mindset as her father, but she was glad she had found him quite the opposite. Her father had ruled their household by fear and force, her Uncle preferred wit which was something Caitrin could relate to, and she had already engaged in friendly banter with him.

He nudged her arm softly and pointed towards the back of the hall with a small smile, “That is the Prince, Arthur, over there, in the red cloak.” Caitrin inclined her head in the direction her Uncle was gesturing in and found the Prince to be quite the opposite to what she had been expecting. After meeting his father Uther at a small dinner a few nights ago she expected his son to be of a similar mindset. However, Arthur seemed quite at ease with himself, like a typical man. She turned back to her Uncle and nodded towards him, a small smile escaping her lips. The Prince certainly had the looks to turn heads.

Another nobleman who Caitrin had not been introduced to yet then diverted Caitrin’s thoughts for the moment as he began to converse with her, but mainly with her Uncle. She took a sip of her wine, just listening for a moment at the conversation between the two men. "Lady Caitrin," The men in front of Caitrin had stopped speaking for a moment and Caitrin turned around, not really knowing what to expect, but she certainly had not expected the Prince to be standing there. Her eyes widened slightly out of slight shock but she quickly remembered her manners and curtseyed before she addressed the Prince formally, “My Lord Prince.” She raised herself and simply smiled at the Prince for a few moments, he was certainly easy on the eyes. She knew she had to make a good first impression, after all you only ever got one shot at a first impression and she didn’t want to mess this one up. “I trust I find you well this evening?” She asked brightly, looking up at the Prince, “I must thank you and your father for this evening, I am already enjoying myself.”

Caitrin resisted the urge to flinch as Morgana reminded her that she was now Queen. It was a fact of course which had been proclaimed all across Camelot this past week. Caitrin had kept herself to herself over the past week and had not left her Uncle’s estate, not even to ride out. Well, until today that was. “King Uther is the rightful monarch of Camelot.” She said confidently, turning her gaze back to Morgana and looked on at the woman. In truth Caitrin did not want Uther to be the King, after all she possessed the gift of sorcery, so she had few loyalties to the man. She had not been in Camelot during the time of the Great Purge but her nurse, Helgund, who had taught her sorcery had told her much about the Purge and what Uther had done. However through Uther, Arthur would one day take the throne, so that was enough for her to still swear fealty to Uther. The throne which Morgana sat upon would one day be Arthur’s, and in Caitrin’s eyes that was how it should be.

She could feel her heart racing once more. If Morgana had lowered herself to asking noblewomen such as herself about Arthur’s whereabouts then that meant that they must have had little else to go on. Therefore her friend was safe; he was still alive. She resisted the urge to look too relieved and turned her attentions back to Morgana. She could not understand what had led the woman here, at court she had always seemed so close to the King and his son, and now she had one in the dungeon and the other was forced on the run like nothing more than a petty criminal.

Caitrin wished that she had had the opportunity to provide some sort of safe place for Arthur and whoever was with him to find refuge, even if it had been for a while. Caitrin had not seen the Prince for weeks now, but of course Morgana did not know that. She managed a defiant soft of smirk at the woman and she shook her head, “If I had seen him, or provided refuge for him I would not tell you.” She was feeling uncommonly confident, but she took a step towards Morgana, her voice rising slightly with her next words, “And I pray that you never find him.” Caitrin hoped that Arthur was as far away from here as possible, possibly forming some sort of plan. She knew Arthur, she knew he would not give up on his people. That belief alone was enough for Caitrin and it had kept her strong so far, and it would continue to do so.

Caitrin was trying to stop her hand shaking. She had to keep strong even though the bandit was on the floor, even though she had the upper hand she was still shaking. Caitrin knew she was stronger than this, she was not shaking because she was afraid, no, she was a de Archer and she could handle this. However, the shock of the situation had taken a turn for the worse on her. She was still holding the dagger at the bandit as the man from earlier came racing through the trees. He was staring at her; why did men always stare? She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and pointed to the bandit with her dagger,

“There is a more pressing issue.” She half joked and the man seemed to get her drift. The bandit was starting to insult her and she took a step back from him, in case he tried anything. She knew that she had the upper hand still but she was still in shock. The man moved forwards and cut the bandits throat with such ease that it made Caitrin feel queasy for a moment and she turned her head away and looked to the floor until her stomach felt more at ease.

When she turned her attentions back to the man who had come to her aid he began to babble at her. Caitrin widened her eyes at him somewhat, her mind was still mulling over the events that had just passed but she did lower the dagger and replaced it at the belt at her hip. “I’m fine, honestly I’m fine.” She was probably trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince the man that she was alright. She was still in a state of shock but was doing her best not to show it. The only injury she had suffered was probably a bruise to her ankle where she had caught it as she had fallen, but that was nothing to worry about really.

Caitrin found herself pleasantly surprised by the man as he attempted to charm her. He was even blushing. Caitrin did not return his blush, she never blushed on behalf of a man before and could not see why she should start now. Instead she gave a small curtsey to the man, as was a force of habit and smiled at him. “I shall let you decide which is more beautiful, my name is Lady Caitrin de Archer.” They were in Mercia, so surely he would have heard of her family, they were quite dominant in Mercian lands. She knew she had family in Camelot as well but they were a less known branch of the de Archer clan. “It is a pleasure to meet you Oz.” She wouldn’t usually be so informal, but if he had requested that was what she called him then who was she to deny him? He had after all just saved her life.

She then shifted rather awkwardly and fell back on her confidence and smiled, “I should thank you, for warning me about these...” She tried to search for a word which was not too demining to her status, but still fitted the bandits accordingly, “Bandits.” Was the only word she could find and she smiled back at Oseya once more, “How can I ever thank you enough?” It was right that he deserved some thanks, after al she could be dead without his warning and help. She hadn’t been able to finish off one of the bandits, let alone the few who had originally attacked her.

The state of the hall still unnerved Caitrin somewhat. It had been such a swift take over after all. She would be lying if she said she weren’t afraid in some aspect, after all, Morgana had been proclaimed Queen now, no matter how much Caitrin believed she would never truly hold the title, and as Queen she had power and rule over all of Camelot. This of course didn’t change how Caitrin felt, she was still sure she would not swear loyalty towards the woman. No, she owed too much to Arthur to consider wavering her loyalty now. She therefore kept a rather stiff stance as she waited for Morgana’s reply to her, she would not falter, not now.

She blinked slightly as Morgana referred to her like she was nothing but a mere peasant, or servant, by missing out her title. She supposed it was some form of revenge for Caitrin’s lack of respect but it wasn’t something she appreciated. She was a de Archer, and her family demanded respect wherever they were. “It is Lady Caitrin de Archer.” She said simply, and breathed out slowly. Her heart had begun to race again but she stayed strong. She did not recognise Morgana as Queen, but Caitrin was a noblewoman by birth and she was merely reiterating her birthright.

Caitrin could have laughed when Morgana said she was pleased she had made the journey to Camelot. She knew she hadn’t made it willingly, in short, Caitrin really didn’t want to be anywhere near Camelot at the moment. It wasn't the same lively hub of society it had been a few weeks ago; all that just seemed like a distant memory now.

As the moments dragged on, Caitrin began to feel more and more isolated in the current situation. She had felt like this since Morgana had taken over Camelot. Her Uncle had jumped at the opportunity to swear his loyalties, after all he didn’t want his lands to be taken did he? She hadn’t even seen her fiancée, Griflet, since the shift in the crown. In truth she had no idea where he was, she hadn’t heard anything about him or his brother Lucan and it was all starting to grate on her mind. She was sure that if anything bad had happened to either of them then she would have heard something so perhaps the silence on their whereabouts was a good thing.

Looking back at Morgana, she tried to stop herself fiddling with the small ring on her left hand and forced herself to think of an answer. To Caitrin this meeting would be anything but a pleasure, she was sure of it. However, squabbling with Morgana with little reason would hardly do her any good, she had a reason to not address her as Queen, she had no reason to be rude to her in this respect. “I am glad my presence is well received.” She offered rather weakly and straight away it felt like a silly thing to say but it was already in the air so there was no point in regretting it. Instead Caitrin now shifted slightly, still keeping quite a strong stance as her gaze turned back to Morgana, “Perhaps though you could enlighten me to why my presence was demanded in the first place.” She did not bother with the formalities, if she called her my lady then it was once again a denial of her authority as Queen, but perhaps not addressing her would serve as a worse insult, and show Morgana truly where she stood in Caitrin’s eyes.