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Brynn could not quite comprehend why she felt the way she did, so relieved, so happy, but she pushed the thought in the back of her mind for now, to deal with later. Too much thinking was not good when you were in a hurry, and also not when you were conversing with seomeone, let alone if this someone was a knight! Brynn might be consider Gwaine as close as a friend could be, and with him she never had felt intimidated, but of course this was a singular thing. Brynn would never dream to think of any other knight in that same fashion, even though Sir Mordred, like Sir Gwaine had earned his knighthood by serving Arthur and not by birth right. Things might be changing in Camelot, but not so the servants could walk all over the nobles, that was Brynn’s firm belief. Things were as they were, and she was happy in the place she had been born into.

A soft smile tugged at her lips as he called her lady. Just like Gwaine would, but surely done by completely different motives. Sir Mordred didn’t come across as the flirty charmer at all, he probably just wanted to be polite. Brynn appreciated it, of course, but it still rubbed wrong with her and she felt in need to correct him with all due respect. There was an easy way of course, but it was also a slightly bold way. Then again… servants didn’t hold so much pride in their name as nobles did. Their names were easily forgettable… and easily forgotten. “Please, my name is Brynn”, she therefore answered. “And the only title I hold is goosemaiden.” Though of course she bore that one with pride. Most people might only see them as welcome food, they had no idea how much skill it took to take them to this very stage, and how important it was for the herd to only take those animals that wouldn’t cause a hefty shift of balance amongst them.

Was he now apologizing to her?! But why? He hadn’t done anythign wrong, after all. That was most unneeded in Brynn’s eyes, but since she wasn’t the overhasty type, she didn’t haste to correct him. She always thought twice before any words left her mouth and even then it would only be a few certain ones, those that were necessary. She had clearly inherited this trait from her father, John Reade. Taking the cord, she quickly fabricated another knot and put the pendant around her neck once again. “This was not your fault, at all, Sir Mordred.”
Looking down at her bodice and the blue pendant that rested there again now, she suddenly frowned. Call it a pet peeve of hers, but somehow letting the carver’s signature show on the front didn’t look right for her. So, shaking her head a little, she took it off again.

It was really the worst scenario you could think of, being in a hurry yourself and THEN get in the way and detain someone who mimicked your brisk pace, seemingly in a hurry as well. But Brynn knew she had to stop, since this pendant was very precious to her. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember ever having been without it, and for some reason she felt incredibly hollow as soon as the leather cord was ripped away from her neck. As if she suddenly was alone… all alone where before she had been in company. It was a ridiculous and peculiar notion, but Brynn couldn’t help but feel it with all her might, her heart aching and her fingers almost reaching out to close themselves around the blue pendant and keep it safe. Safe from the kind hands that had picked it up so readily. Oh, she should be thankful, not wary! And she was thankful, yes, but a part of Brynn also felt possessive and even annoyed. What was wrong with her?! It might be shock, surely… nothing of the shock and the time pressure she was under.

Forcing her lips into a smile, she quickly put the basket down and tentatively reached out for the pendant, but remembered her manners an instant before, doing a curtsy.and inclining her head. Now she saw him up close, she recognized Camelot’s newest addition of knights, the young Sir Mordred. Of course the servants were abuzz with the deeds he had done, what an excellent fighter he was, even able to give King Arthur himself a hard time for a few moments. Not to mention that he was also very good looking in a dark, slightly mysterious way, which of course would make the majority of servant girls blush and giggle in ways usually only Gwaine could. Sometimes Brynn felt incredibly glad that she wasn’t this kind of girl, even after Alex and her had broken up. It might make her be a little secluded from the other servant girls, but Brynn rather had it that way than making a fool of herself. And anyway… a man saving Arthur’s life had her respect, not only because she felt in some way connected to that. She, too, in a moment of one of Camelot’s worst nightmare had once done such a thing, even though she hardly thought of that anymore. The Knights of Medhir hopefully would never return again.


”Yes, indeed, the cord was ripped off my neck, Sir Mordred”, she agreed. “Thank you very much for getting it for me. You must be in a hurry.” Her fingers oddly trembled as they grasped the pendant, still warm from when it had rested on the skin of her chest, a little hidden by her bodice. And as soon as the blue stone made contact with her skin again, the feeling of loss vanished and she felt incredibly happy. As if some…thing, or someone was welcoming her back, while a gentle breeze tugged at her hair and swished past her ear. Quickly, Brynn’s eyes flickered to Sir Mordred’s. Had he felt anything as well? This was all just… odd.

This was so not how Brynn had imagined the talks about her… friendship with the wind to go, should she ever find someone she could confide in, but at least it had gone far better so far than all those horror scenarios she had been thinking up in her thoughtful and fretting mind. If anything, Merlin seemed to be even more confused than Brynn herself, but that was only understandable, since he probably hadn’t even been close to something like that before. For him, the wind would be nothing but a force of nature, completely random and unanimated, nothing he would think twice on. He hadn’t been grown up to believe that the wind was communicating with him in his very own way, without a voice, but with intensity of blowing, and the odd trick and treat he was pulling on her that sometimes even made her think he was in a flirtatious mood.

Thoughtfully, her fingers hooked under the leather thong which held the blue stone pendant she had been given by the distant godmother she had never met. Someone of her father’s family or such they had said… on the one occasion she had actually bothered to ask. The pendant, just like the wind, had always been there, and as much as Brynn could be a thinker on so many occasions, she never had wasted anymore thoughts on it, just wore it all the time, because she simply always had. Sometimes, when she was particularly anxious, she grasped the stone like an anchor and it gave her some sort of confidence. A stupid superstition most likely, but it definitely worked.

“I am aware of it being quite… a handful to grasp”, she assured him with a tentative smile. “Most of the time I try not to think too much about it, just… let it happen. And I try to never use it on purpose, though I am not even sure the wind would follow my command, if he didn’t feel like it. He surely has his own mind! But… if it is something harmless and mischievous, he just might…” A rare, mischievous smile of her own tugged at the corner of Brynn’s lips as she craned her neck and muttered. “What do you think… doesn’t Merlin’s hair look a little TOO well kempt?” A gentle breeze rushed past her face like an affectionate tip on the nose, and suddenly a little whirl began to ruffle Merlin’s hair. Oh goodness… he WAS in the mood! Suddenly Brynn wasn’t even too sure anymore, if this spontaneous show had been such a good idea, and so Merlin’s promise was twice as welcome.

”Thank you, Merlin…” Her voice quivered a little as a huge weight seemed to be lifted off her shoulders. “Really, I mean it. This … goes by no means without saying!”

At least she seemed to have awoken Merlin’s interest now. That was something… he still seemed more intrigued than appalled, and maybe she could really start to relax a little. This was a first time for her herself, since she had never told anyone about what she could do, not even her parents, not even Alex when they had still been together. And now Merline knew… on one hand, she was still appalled by her own stupidity, but on the other hand, she couldn’t help but feel at least a little relieved. Finally it was out! Finally she could voice some of her thoughts that were usually running in circles inside her head, without any chance to get them sorted, since she had only her own experience to refer to. Well, of course, what would Merlin know about these things, and she also was sure this friend he had talked about didn’t exist. Trusting Merlin came easier than trusting most other people she could think of off the top of her head, since he was just a very trusted and genuine person, but that could alos prove dangerous. He might not want to turn her in jus yet… but where was the point he would start to get afraid of her?!

Putting it so that she called the wind her friend must really sound crazy to everyone who didn’t witness it himself, and even Brynn herself wondered sometimes, if she even was correct in assuming so. The wind seemed to like her, there was no doubt of it, as mischievous he often showed himself to be, but didn’t a friendship consist of more? How indeed could you be friends with an element? “I don’t know”, she replied honestly and shrugged with a still tentative smile. “It’s nothing I could describe.” Of course now she had given up the pretense of talking about someone else, and she hoped she could just let it go now, and have Merlin understand her still. “Can I be forward and assume you… saw something right now? And would want to know what exactly you saw?” She gave another sigh and doffed the white cap she was usually wearing. Immediately she felt a light breeze tugging at it playfully. Oh yes, he surely loved to play with her things!

“The honest truth is”, she continued then, “it is just something I came to know over the years and I have no idea at all what caused it. I just… FEEL the wind more present, it seems to be always around me, communicating in a wordless way. When I was a child, I thought everyone could do that… until I found out that wasn’t the case. I really don’t know how best to explain, since it’s just something I… witness.” The first time she had willingly asked the wind to do something for her, it had been a minor tease towards her little brother – and she would have never thought it would actually work. When it had, she had been shocked above anything else, and from this day on had kept her connection to the wind a close secret.

Even while she was talking, Brynn couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that Merlin wasn’t really listening to what she was telling him about her siblings. She knew that Merlin could be a little scatterbrain every once in a whie, but it didn’t happen often he was THAT far gone to not even care about his friends’ stories. If she didn’t know him better, she’d almost consider this rude, even though Merlin was one of the least rude people she could think of. It just didn’t seem to be in his nature to be mean to someone on purpose, he was very open and friendly, even to those who often might not deserve it. Brynn remembered this prick of a servant named Henry for example. He had wanted to tell everyone how their job should be done and he had even taken Merlin’s job for a while – but never a mean word about him from Merlin himself, he was quite the phenomenon!

So, if he now was not listening, he must be thinking about something else, something that occupied his mind quite a bit. The worm of unease started to squirme again in her stomach, as she considered this. Was he thinking about what he had seen after all, trying to make sense of it in any way he could? That would be a highly dangerous thing, and Brynn wasn’t sure if she could live with the tension of this situation for much longer, without either breaking down and confessing that she had no idea why she could do this and pleading him to never tell anyone. But if he hadn’t seen anything after all, that would only make things worse! He might be appalled and she might be in ever so much more trouble.

Her worst worries were unexpectedly met when he blurted out an answer, quickly getting away from the subject of her breadmaking sister to these things that really seemed to be on his mind… and that was exactly what she had feared he would say, even though his approach was… peculiar to say in the least. With her heart hammering against her ribcage she listened to his claimed by the by remark about this friend in his village who could command the wind. It didn’t matter if this friend even existed, the deciding factor was that Merlin REALLY had seen what the wind had done around her, and now wanted to build her a golden bridge to redeem herself. He was talking sorcery, no doubt… or was he? Was there maybe someone who could do that after all… someone like her? Not knowing what was happening to him, but having a sort of … gift, that was life-threatening all the same, because every oddity that pointed towards sorcery would be High Treason?

Now, what should she do? Should she accept the help he was giving her and pretend to be talking about his friend, while in fact she was talking about herself? Maybe… maybe that might be a good idea, just to go along with it. “D-did he?! He showed you that?” her surprise was genuine. “Wasn’t he afraid someone would accuse him of sorcery? But then…” she swallowed and took a deep breath. Now was the moment. “Maybe… maybe he didn’t tell you how to do it, because he didn’t know? Maybe this was not something he controlled… maybe he and the wind just, communicated of a sort. They were… friends.” It sounded weird to her own ears, but then she had never found a good explanation for things that just… were.

Slowly, Brynn’s frantically beating heart was settling down again, even though blood was still pumping heavily in her veins, making her get hot and cold showers all over and a VERY queasy feeling in her stomach, as the reality of what almost COULD have been caught up with her. How could she, thoughtful and considerate Brynn, ever have been so reckless, allow the wind teasing her in a place that might not be the town square but was still far from remote?! But Merlin didn’t look like he had actually seen something, and Brynn didn’t think anyone could be such a good actor as to hide shock over something that seemed out of the ordinary - and forbidden! – so well. And if he had seen it, no doubt he would have said something, yes? Because whatever you could say about Merlin, he wasn’t one of those shady characters who would fake innocence and then go telling you off behind your back. Anyone, really, but not Merlin!

So, she had just escaped exposure by a hair’s breadth and she could really thank every divine goodwill and spirit for getting away so lightly! She really couldn’t afford to lower her guard now, after all this time she had managed to tell no one about her strange friendship with the wind. It might not even be magic, Brynn couldn’t do anything else, like conjuring things, moving things or whatever she had heard and seen sorcerors do, she only was under the firm impression that the wind to her was more than a lifeless power, that it responded to her, not by command, but almost as if she was conversing with a friend or a brother. But living in Camelot had taught her well that even the slightest suspicion of something supernatural would be a death sentence, since especially under Uther there often had not been many questions as to the how and why. Now Arthur was king, things had changed a little, but Brynn honestly doubted magic would ever be allowed in Camelot again.

Working on one of her usually tentative smiles, Brynn leaned against the trunk of the tree and nodded. “It is… fall is coming onto us fast.” He then asked about her siblings, which made her relax even more. There was probably no topic in the world you could get Brynn to talk about more readily than her family. Her siblings had grown quite a bit over the last few years, and slowly she knew she had to say goodbye to the thought of seeing them as ‘little’. Gyrth was nearly old enough to start out with real weapon training and maybe following in his father’s footsteps. And Elinor already had been assigned task, leading her to become a servant girl, whether as a kitchen or as a maid, or even Brynn’s substitute as a goosemaiden remained yet to be seen. “Oh no, not today!” she agreed, shaking her head. “Gyrth is up with Gw—with Sir Gwaine on the ramparts, playing watchman, and Elinor is to be inaururated into the secrets of breadmaking today, she is quite excited.” No doubt Brynn would hear all about it, when she came home, but she looked forward to that.

Fall… The season when the flowers died, but the leaves became colorful enough to compete with them in a different kind of exceptional beauty. It was also the times where the winds were strongest, and this was one of the reasons Brynn liked fall season even more than summer. It wasn’t yet cold enough to be chilly, but not warm enough to feel uncomfortably hot, just the way she liked it The constant cackling of her geese was lulling her into a trance-like state, leaning against the trunk of her favourite lime tree in the meadows. Her hands were toying with a grass halm and after some time she put it between her lips, looking up at the fast moving white clouds..Nature was slowly coming to a close, there were not even enough flowers around to bind the tiniest wreath, and so Brynn found herself killing time with dreaming. Which was not the worst way to spend a day, of course, all the more as she was really on her own today. Neither Gyrth nor El had accompanied her to the meadows, and however much she liked to be with them out here, it was also nice to have calm surround her instead of their constant squeeing and laughing.

Not that she was completely alone though. A friendly presence every now and again sneaked into the forefront of her attention, grazing her with teasing fingers, caressing her face, playing with her hair. Everytime it happened, Brynn smiled up into thin air, as if there really was someone watching her from above, some friend reminding her of his company. Over the years Brynn had ceased to think it odd she actually pictured the wind like a person, like a companion even, something with intentions and feelings it expressed. Of course she could never tell anyone about that, but she didn’t mind thinking about it when she felt herself being unobserved.

A gust of wind swelled up like an answer to her thoughts, tugging at her loosely fitting cap. Brynn grinned. “Someone’s in a playful mood, huh?” she called out and tried to adjust the cap again. “Search for some other things to play with, will you? What about those leaves here?”
She motioned to the few already fallen leaves on the ground, colorful speckles in the green grass. And really, the moment she had said it some of them started to move, then more until every fallen leaf eventually moved around Brynn in a graceful dance to some inaudible music the wind itself provided. Smiling blithefully, the goosemaiden watched them sway and tumble, turn and waft. What was the harm in enjoying this beautiful spectacle a bit longer. She was on her own after all, safe from prying eyes.

Tag: Merlin
Timeline s4-s5 gap
Time of Day: Midmorning
Notes: Feel free to spot her doing that, if you want xD I'd say they've been casual friends, but she never told him about wha she can do? ^^