eachdraidh | ❖ ００１ ; ＶＯＩＣＥ ⇨ ＶＩＤＥＯ（ＳＥＥＬＩＥ＋ＵＮＳＥＥＬＩＥ）

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❖ ００１ ; ＶＯＩＣＥ ⇨ ＶＩＤＥＯ（ＳＥＥＬＩＥ＋ＵＮＳＥＥＬＩＥ）

[ the voice that can be heard is full of nervousness and skepticism ]

Alright, then. I know this is working, it worked for everyone else, no reason it wouldn't for me - aside for the matter that I do not know what I seem to be doing at all -

[ but then, video! at first you might see only freckles and then she'll step back and you'll see a young woman with dark curls, a purple, flowery dress and one bottom lip that seems to be busied between her teeth. ]

-- Greetings to both courts, I have heard there are two. I hope there are not more and if there are -

[ she might be offending someone. oh no. she'll take a quick yet graceful curtsy ]

to those who can hear - see! me. My name is Gunievere - Gwen, really. of Camelot! I - the fairies -

[ the fairies. this is so unsettling ]

I was told I was brought here to help. I will do all that I can but I - I am but a maidservant. I do not know what I can do, truly but whatever you might need of me, I am in your service.

-- They will send us home when our duties are through, will they not? I have other.

[ erm ]

duties! at home. I am already in the service of a Lady and she might be unsettled with me being gone.

[ and morgana being unsettled is bad news to all ]

--- It's nice to meet you all, I'm certain. Whatever I can do, truly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[At first, Saber was not overly concerned when she turned to her locket to see what was going on in Drabwurld. She wasn't even paying much attention to this message until that name was heard. THAT NAME.

Guinevere of Camelot.

Saber didn't mean to activate her locket and turn the video on when that name grabbed her full attention.

The king was dressed in her hunting clothing, which meant she looked far more like a young man than she did a woman, with her hair tied back in a low tail, the ends of enchanted black ribbons draping over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide with an unbelieving expression.

In short, Saber was shocked.]

My dear wife... Not you too...

[Her words were heavy with regret. So very heavy. She knew this was not actually her wife, that this was the Guinevere from the other Camelot. She looked different than Saber's wife did, but Second Magic was cruel. Very cruel.

She did not want her wife - any version of her wife - here.]

I'm - sorry?

[ it is a soft question, a confused frown making its way onto her face. she looks at her for a moment before offering a small smile. ]

are you alright? you seem troubled. Your...wife, you said? is she hurt? I can help, perhaps?

[ if only by listening. she can try. gwen might be only a servant but she does believe in trying. ]

I'm Gwen.

[ ... ]

I've said that already, haven't I? You are?

[...how had--

Oh shit. Saber realized the mistake she made in accidentally turning her locket on. But it was too late to escape the fruits of her mistake. She needed to figure out what to do and do it fast.

But that voice... so soft and gentle, sweet and concerned. So very much like her Guinevere. It made the king's expression ease for a brief moment.]

I am Arth--

[Saber cut herself off, immediately turning this communication private. What the hell had she been thinking? She'd almost flat out, on a public feed identifies herself as Arthur. This version of her wife had the same uncanny ability to make Saber lower her guard to her.

After all, her wife had carried the burden of Saber's true gender for years before her heart was given to another. Saber didn't have to pretend with Guinevere unless they were in public.

She cleared her throat.]

Forgive me, my dear lady, but I am called Saber. You bear... you bear a remarkable resemblance [in heart and manner if not looks] to my late wife.

[No. She could not tell Guinevere the truth. It was not her place. It would only become her place if Lancelot - her Lancelot - pursued this Guinevere in his madness.]

It is a pleasure, Saber.

[ she lowers herself in a polite curtsy, frown still sitting on her features though it softens. no longer confused, simply sympathetic and worried. gwen has a knack to care at once and this one - this one is distraught and she feels it. ]

I am very sorry that you have lost her, it's terrible. If there is anything I can do, anything at all, be certain that I will. I'm very sorry to have saddened you.

It has been a long time. I have become accustomed to the loss, but it still weights ever heavy upon my heart. To see you brings a bittersweet warmth to this knight's bones.

Please, do not apologize for your own existence. Nothing regarding me is your fault. [At least not yet.]

You are among the Seelie, yes?

She was very lucky, to have someone who loved her so much. I know how hard it is to lose someone we love.

[ her mother first and her father second, how can Gwen do anything but understand?

she nods her head at the question, a small smile on her face. ]

I reside in their court. I don't - I don't know if to call myself a seelie or not. I'm just Gwen, truly.

[It had not been enough, Saber's love for her wife. It had paled in comparison to the true love Lancelot held for Guinevere, and Saber could not hold it against her wife when she searched her own personal feelings. To hear this Guinevere talk about her love and that it was lucky... Oh, how unlucky the woman had been when King Arthur chose her when it became clear that a king needed a queen. Saber's fondness for the woman had been her undoing.]

That is something for you to decide, but whether we choose to uphold our Court's ideals or not, they claim us. I am of the Unseelie, my dear lady. But know that I will always aid you, in the memory of my wife, should you ever need it.

And... though I know it may seen unusual... Please allow me to know you.

They have not claimed you, then. If you are so good to me.

[ her smile turns encouraging, her tone lighter. ]

They can't make us enemies if we won't let them, true? You are the second friend I have at unseelie court and I hold you as dear to my heart as those who I meet in this court.

[ she dips her head for a moment, brushes a loose curl behind her ear ]

of course. though, I am merely a servant. You are a knight. I am certain you have more interesting stories than I do.

But I have been claimed and I do fight, but there is more to the Unseelie than what propaganda the Seelie fae may present. The Unseelie are built upon the freedom of choice. And I choose to live in a way that seems somewhat contrary that propaganda.

Not to say that there is not truth to the capabilities of my Court...

[Saber paused, looking away, as she swallowed and dealt with the sharp pang in her chest to hear herself being called a friend so quickly. It was too much like the past with her wife before Saber had asked for her hand.]

You are far more than a servant, dear lady...

I would not believe anything they say of you. I would believe you. You're fighting for your freedom, not for anyone else. You would not fight me if they told you, would you? because we are friends.

[ and friends are friends before they are seelie or unseelie. ]

Gwen, please. I am - not a lady.

I would not unless compelled to by magical means. And even then they would have a hard time forcing me to.

I disagree with your self-assessment, but I will acquiesce to your wishes, my dear.

[ she smiles a bit, not used to so much sweetness unless it came from morgana. arthur has been sweet in his own awkward way around her and merlin was funnily sweet but none of them used such endearments for her. ]

You can ask me whatever you wish. I'm not sure the answer would be very exciting but -

Tell me of Camelot. Tell me through your own eyes, not what others see.

[ she thinks of it ]

I live in the lower city and I walk to the castle every morning and go back every night. I like the walks, however. There are fields near the castle, filled with wildflowers. Before my father - before he died, I would always add a flower to the bread he took with him to work and sometimes, I would pick some for Lady Morgana. I am her handmaiden and she likes flowers. Sometimes, we would go pick some together, when the king allowed it.

[ she smiles a bit ]

the castle is grand, very vast. I used to go lost in it when I only started working there. But it is beautiful and the people are kind. The cooks and the other servants.

[A softness falls upon Saber's features and her eyes take on a nostalgic look.]

Did you father have a favored flower?

[ she smiles a bit, looks down at her hands before nodding. ]

Daisies. They were my favorite so they were his. He said they reminded him of me when he was working. I - still take some to him, whenever I visit him.

[ a simple headstone was all he ever received but gwen supposed the king could have prohibited him from having even that. he had died as the traitor he never was and gwen was left on her own in their little house. ]

A simple yet beautiful flower full of sunshine. I can see why he said they reminded him of you.

[ she smiles, tidies her dress around her. ]

thank you for letting me speak of him. It has been a while since I talked to anyone of him. I usually go to visit him by myself. You are not like - most knights.

[ Leon was kind but they were childhood friends and Arthur was special once he has changed from being self centered to the man he is today. ]

listening to a servant girl talking of her blacksmith father.

I am indeed unlike most knights.

[Being female, for one, and also being king on top of that. Though she supposed that since Gwen had not commented on her being a woman, either she didn't care or her hunting clothing was making her look like a man again.

...she felt no desire to see if that was the case.]

I was once told that I do not understand human emotion. It is not a true statement, but I did distance myself too much from the common man. It is high time I sought to change that perception, dear Gwen.

[ in truth, gwen noticed she was a woman and dared not comment upon it. perhaps in other kingdoms, women were encouraged to become knights quite like men. morgana would have loved to know that. she and gwen had to explain to arthur several time why women should be allowed to fight when they came to help merlin's village. ]

It is truly a wrong statement, you are very good and considerate. do you - have you always wanted to be a knight?

I have my moments where my lack of certain kinds of interaction get the best of me, but those tend to be related to more personal matters.

[How to tell this story without revealing who she really was?]

I was raised to be a knight by my foster father. I served as a squire to my foster brother for many years before proving myself. [By drawing the fated sword from the stone.]

I wanted to be more than a knight. I had to, so I did.

I didn't mean to pry.

[ a gentle apology, gwen dips her head down as a sign of respect. a moment later she smile returns to her lips, the dimples and the freckles becoming more evident. ]

You were meant to ask me about myself, not the other way around.

No... no apologies, my dear. It is not fair that I know of you and you not know of me.

[But she will take that chance to redirect the conversation back to Guinevere.]

You said your father was a blacksmith. Did he specialize in any particular kind of smithing?

[ that is fair, she assumes. keeps the idea of asking another question for later and answers what has been asked in the mean time. ]

armor, swords, shields. he was very talented in his craft. he had taught me too. I used to help him at times. I am hardly as talented as he was but - I know the skill.

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