Chapter Text
I.
Guinevere stood in the hallway and gaped. Everything was so big, so overwhelming, so royal. She could not believe that she was here, in Camelot's castle. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on Josephine.
"Come on," Josephine tugged on her arm, "We can't afford to be late. Stop looking so shocked."
She scurried on, trying to keep up with Josephine as they flew down the corridor into the kitchens.
At 10, Tom had decided that it was time Guinevere started to work and after some discussions with various people in the town, decided to send her to the castle as a scullery maid.
"It's a good job, Gwen," Tom had told her just before Josephine came to take her away, "and it's stable. You'll be able to come home every night as well. I'll wait for you at the upper town and we can walk home together."
"I want to be blacksmith, like you Dad," she whined, clutching at Tom's shirt. But when Tom, quite seriously, asked her to do it for him, she relented and went off with Josephine. There was nothing she wouldn't do for her father.
And so she found herself standing in the middle of a busy, smoky, noisy kitchen, watching in wonder as the various servants carried out their tasks. Josephine had gone off to find Martha, whoever that was, and had instructed her to stand still. But Guinevere was a curious child and she could not help wandering around the kitchen, staring at all the things she had never seen before. There was a pig roasting over a fire, manned by a young boy. Another teenage boy was stirring a pot listlessly while an older woman was busy chopping up some vegetables. People were yelling at each other to hurry up and Guinevere could hear the clank of metal pots and the hurried footsteps of the staff. Smoke rose from the many fires, all of which had a pot on them and all tended to. Young men came in and out of the kitchen bearing firewood which they threw onto the fires. No one seemed to notice her as they pushed past her.
"Gwen! Gwen! Where is that silly girl?"
Just about to close her fingers over a plunger she found lying in the corner of the kitchen, Guinevere whirled around and found herself face to face with a frowning young lady.
"So, you're Gwen, the new scullery maid," she spat out, glaring suspiciously at Gwen, "I'm Martha and from today, you will do everything I say. Do you understand?"
II.
For a year, Guinevere worked in the kitchens, scrubbing away at the floors. Occasionally, she was allowed to scrub the pots used but most of the time, she could be found on her knees. It was hard work but she was paid fairly well, or so she thought and sometimes she was even allowed to bring home the leftovers after a feast. Most importantly, although Martha still treated her like scum, she had friends in the kitchen and she began to enjoy coming to work.
"Ooh! Look who's coming down the stairs!" Henry, one of Guinevere's best friends in the kitchen nudged her as he whispered in her ear.
Guinevere looked up and saw a young girl, all decked out in jewels and pretty clothes, making her way carefully down the stairs. Everyone stopped their work and curtsied the moment they noticed the girl. Wiping her hands on her apron, Guinevere stood up and attempted a curtsy. It wasn't very successful as she stumbled slightly. This seemed to attract the attention of the girl and she made her way towards Guinevere.
"What's your name?"
"Um … Gwen."
"I'm Morgana and my father's a knight!" the young girl said haughtily, lifting her chin.
"My father's a blacksmith," Guinevere replied with some pride.
For some reason, this made Morgana smile. Then she turned and demanded some grapes from Martha. Before Morgana left the kitchens, she sought Guinevere out and gave her a small wave.
"I think she likes you! Maybe one day, you can be her handmaiden. Wouldn't that be lovely?" asked Edith as she knelt next to Guinevere to scrub the floor.
"I think I would be very happy if I get to cut the vegetables," giggled Guinevere.
"I would rather the two of you stop your nattering and start working harder! And be handmaiden? I doubt Lady Morgana would care for someone as clumsy and useless as you." snapped Martha as she swiped Guinevere on the head.
Edith caught Guinevere's eye and shook her head.
III.
Guinevere did eventually get to cut the vegetables. More amazingly, she developed some sort of relationship with the Lady Morgana. She wouldn't call it a friendship since it really involved Morgana coming down to the kitchens every few days and regaling her with gossip and tales of what the nobles above were up to. Sometimes, she would even confide in Guinevere about the dreams she had at night and the difficulties she had sleeping. Guinevere never said anything much and did not have any exciting stories to tell either. Neither did she have solutions for Morgana's problems. Plus she figured that Morgana just wanted a listening ear and Guinevere soon realised that that was a role she was well suited for.
Edith was humming tunelessly as she washed the plates from dinner and Henry was churning butter for the next day. Guinevere was kneading some dough. All in all, it was a typical day in the kitchen but Guinevere was feeling restless. For one thing, it had been almost a week since Morgana had come down to the kitchens and this worried her. Yet there was no one she could ask about Morgana and it wasn't like she could venture upstairs to visit.
"I see Lady Morgana has lost interest in you! It was about time. I have no idea why she thought chatting with you was so interesting. Goodness knows you aren't terribly smart or witty."
Maybe Martha was right, Guinevere thought. It would hardly be surprising. Still she worried when Morgana failed to appear for the seventh night in a row.
Two days later, a huge ruckus could be heard coming from the stairs leading to the kitchen.
"You can't stop me! I want to see her!"
"Morgana! It is not becoming for you to fraternise with the servants! Especially the kitchen maids."
Eventually, Morgana's temper tantrum won out and she came tumbling down the stairs. Looking around, she spotted Guinevere and barrelled into her arms. Shocked by the physical contact, Guinevere put her arms awkwardly around Morgana and patted her back. What else was she to do, especially with the whole kitchen staring at them?
It was then she learned that Morgana's father had been killed. Morgana was babbling somewhat incoherently about how she had to be around for the funeral and how she was going to have to leave Camelot that Guinevere never did get the story of her father's death from her. She knew how devastated she would be if Tom were to die and so she let Morgana keep her up till the wee hours of the morning.
IV.
It was break time and Guinevere was out strolling in the upper town with Edith and Henry. They spent so many hours in the dark, smoky kitchen that it was always lovely to get a chance to soak in some sunshine. As they made their way across the town square, Edith suddenly started flailing her arms about and squeaking nonsensically.
"What on earth is wrong with you?" Henry frowned.
"Oh, look! It's the young prince! Isn't he just gorgeous?" Edith clapped her hands as she moved towards the middle of the town square.
Edith was always going on about how handsome the young prince Arthur was ever since she bumped into him in the town square a few months ago. If she wasn't mooning over his golden hair, it was his pretty eyes or his gorgeous mouth. Guinevere had never seen the crown prince before but she had heard enough about him from Morgana to know that he was annoying and rude. She never told Edith that though. It seemed cruel to break her little fantasy.
Still, Guinevere was curious and she peered into the direction Edith was looking at to see if she could catch sight of the prince.
"Guinevere? The King wants to see you."
This pronouncement stopped Edith's flailing and the three young servants stared in shock at the man standing in front of them.
"Who are you? Why would the King want to see Guinevere?" Henry demanded, shoving Guinevere behind him. As touched as Guinevere was for his protectiveness, she could not help but giggle since she was a little taller and bigger than Henry.
"I'm one of the servants in the castle. I've been asked by the King to bring you to him. Martha said you would be here."
Edith just stood there, mouth agape as she stared at the servant and Henry looked like he was itching for a fight. Not liking scenes, Guinevere immediately agreed to go with the servant, something Henry made quite clear he thought was a bad idea.
"Don't mind Henry. He's very distrustful, especially of those who work outside the kitchens."
Apparently, the servant wasn't very keen on conversation. As they approached the main hall, Guinevere hands became sticky with sweat and her heart started beating harder and harder. She hoped desperately that Morgana would be there so she could have someone familiar to look at. It might calm the thoughts swirling through her confused mind at least.
If someone had told her that one day, King Uther would appoint her to be Lady Morgana's lady-in-waiting, she would have laughed. Ladies-in-waiting were traditionally from the lesser noble houses and were definitely not picked from the kitchens. This was the first time, but not the last, she would witness the stubbornness and persuasiveness of Lady Morgana.
V.
"You know, Joseph has been asking about you."
"I don't know what you are talking about Dad," muttered Guinevere. Hopefully, by staring at her plate, her father would not notice her blush.
Joseph was the son of the local baker and they had struck up a friendship when Guinevere started patronising his store to get fresh bread for Morgana. He wasn't particularly good-looking but he was friendly, charming and polite. More importantly, he seemed to like Guinevere and she enjoyed his company.
"Well, you're at the age where you ought to be considering getting married. Have a family, children and all that." smiled Tom indulgently as he chewed on the bread Joseph had brought over that afternoon.
"Dad! I'm barely 18!"
But she knew he was right. Her mother had married at 18 and by 19, she had given birth to Guinevere. Edith was being courted by one of the servants in the kitchen and Henry was already planning to get married to a young girl his mother introduced to him. On the rare occasions that they managed to meet up, Edith was bubbling over with descriptions of how falling in love felt like. Henry was a lot quieter but he would nod and agree with Edith's fanciful ideas.
"You'll know what I mean one day Gwen. You'll find someone who makes your heart beat a little harder, someone who with one look will make your legs tremble and with one touch make you want so much more!"
Guinevere was a little sceptical about the whole thing. Her father never said anything about hearts beating and legs trembling. In fact, he often told her that it was important she marry someone who had a good job and treated her well. There wasn't much point in having a beating heart or trembly legs if the man could not support her and their children or if the man was nasty.
"Oh I don't know. I just want someone who is good and kind."
"Then you'll miss out on so much Gwen! So much!" Edith gave Guinevere a little shake, "You're so pretty, you're sure to have your pick of good and kind men so choose the one that makes you feel special."
Pretty. It wasn't the first time Edith had called her pretty but it was difficult to think that of herself. She wasn't ugly but she didn't think she was pretty either. With her flaming red hair, large green eyes and full lips, Edith was ten times prettier than her and she wouldn't think about how she compared to Lady Morgana.
VI.
Being Morgana's lady-in-waiting was a fairly comfortable job, better than working in the kitchens, but it wasn't easy. Morgana often had problems sleeping through the night and was plagued by nightmares. Although she was allowed to go home at night, she usually felt a responsibility to be there for Morgana. It could not be easy to wake up from a nightmare and to have no one around. Yet, she also wanted to spend time with her father so she tried to divide her time equally between Morgana and Tom.
She was dusting off the bed linens when she noticed a little commotion in the town square. Curious, she watched as a young, dark-haired man squared off against Prince Arthur. Not a wise move, she thought. The prince was not going to think twice about putting him in the dungeons.
As predicted, she found the young man in the stocks the very next day. After some hesitation, she decided to introduce herself to him. Suffice to say, it didn't go as smoothly as she had hoped but for the very first time, she had met someone who made her heart beat that little bit faster. Perhaps Edith was right after all.
It was with some excitement that she learnt that Merlin was to become Arthur's new servant. She felt a little sorry for him since she knew the prince was quite a pain to work for but at least this meant she would be able to see him more often. And the very least she could do was help him learn to dress the prince up for battle.
"You're very capable. I think Lady Morgana is very lucky to have you as her lady-in-waiting."
Merlin and her strolled along the stream on the outskirts of Camelot. He needed to pick some ingredients for Gauis and she wanted to get some flowers to cheer Morgana up.
"I'm the lucky one. By right, I should still be stuck in the kitchens like Edith or Henry. But I get to pick flowers as part of my duties which, I assure you, is a lot better than churning butter."
"Ah yes. You are lucky. Lucky you don't have to work for that prat Arthur. I'm sure Lady Morgana treats you a million times better!"
Guinevere laughed and bent to pick some flowers. Merlin, she thought, would be a lovely husband.