Regina Blomgren ♕ Morgause (rundesirerun) wrote in mythologs, @ 2012-03-02 10:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !zurvan, gwynevere, morgause |
[complete/closed]
Characters: Gwynevere (vivatregina) & Morgause (rundesirerun)
Date/Time: February 28th, roughly
Location: Morgause's rooms, Glastheim
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none.
Summary: Former sisters-in-law meet. Please see 'in-law' and know it means tension. :D;
Gwynevere expected the summons to Morgause's room. Who was Morgause now? Sister-in-law? It was a strange shift to make from aunt. Even then, Gwynevere was well aware that Morgause had been much more than 'aunt' to the Glastheim princess. Camelot's queen could not tell how long had been real and how long had not been, but every memory had Morgause branded with one word Gwynevere had never truly known.
Mother.
She had not known her mother in Camelot, who had died in giving birth to her. The mother she had in Surrey was a farce. Sure, Alicia loved her Geula and had taught the girl all that she could, but in the end nothing could compare to Alicia's love for her paramour. Even her husband, her daughter, came second. In Glastheim, Gwynevere, though she certainly would have liked to know her birth mother, never had to wonder what it was to be raised and loved by a woman who genuinely cared.
Now this woman was the sister of her husband, the mother of the son who'd murdered him. Gwynevere could not make heads or tails of her feelings. But she would not hide, not shrink away. She would face Morgause - whoever Morgause was now - with her head held high and her bearing regal. Morgause could respect that much.
Gwynevere knocked twice on the elder woman's door. "Your Majesty?"
Her niece was Arthur's adulterous wife.
Of course, this didn't strike her immediately. The first thing that occurred to her was that she was the mother of Galahad and her son Mordred was not speaking up to Agravaine's filter. Those two were so close and for her youngest to not reply...
Sophie had squeaked with great distress when her mother had squeezed her by accident. Letting the child go off with her nurses, Morgause focused on all else and finally realized who her niece was in this false life.
Gwynevere was no friend to her, not for her crime against Camelot. For someone to make her a mother figure to the girl was a cruel twist (against them both, Morgause grudgingly decided). And upon hearing that familiar voice at her door, she closed her journal and called out, "Come in, Gwynevere."
Let us see what happens now.
Gwynevere entered and closed the door with her usual care. She did not sit, acknowledging that this was the other queen's territory. For someone whom she had inadvertently wronged, respect had to be accorded. And it is difficult for the remorseful person not to show respect. Though Gwynevere held herself high, her person was cloaked with the despair that had become so typical of her in her final days.
There were many things Gwynevere had to say to Lot's queen, but first she would hear out Morgause's demands. "You called for me?"
Reincarnation had stolen from them their original features but one still was the same inside. Their souls could not change and pieces of them would always reflect through. Not rising nor asking the other to sit, she lifted a hand to push a few long locks of hair over one shoulder. "I did. You were away without word for so long. Heimdall must have several grey hairs by now. Would you like to explain that?"
There was no need to touch on who they truly were, not just yet. There was plenty of time for that but Morgause was still the king's aunt and still very much interested in seeing him replaced with her son.
"I was framed for the stabbing of the prince." But Samael was a fallen angel, wasn't he? There was so much to this Gwynevere could not begin to understand. "Queen Freyja saw it fit to hold me until evidence proved me innocent."
I was afraid, she wanted to admit, but in not asking Gwynevere to sit, Morgause had showed the former queen that the tables had turned. "I've gone over the details of the recovery efforts. Glastheim should be back to full functionality within the month." She hesitated. "I was glad to hear neither you nor your children were unharmed." The carefully polite words were an understatement - Gwynevere had felt beyond relieved to know her (false?) relatives were safe and sound. But Morgause had set the tone, and Gwynevere would follow suit.
All while Gwynevere spoke, Morgause studied her, from her posture to the tone of her voice. And when the girl had ceased to inform her, the former queen allowed there to be a lingering pause as she chose her words.
"Yes, Galahad and Sophie managed to survive the misfortunes that struck us. Just as Heimdall and his wife did. Just as you have with Camlann. The diplomat was poisoned if you have not heard but she is recovering. Beyond that, all is well enough." And, indeed, Glastheim would be fine, but only in her son's hands. Galahad being her son was bizarre but for as long as he was, she wanted to see her boy on the throne. It was no mistake that she had felt the way she had. She would always be ambitious.
Mordred, you too will have your day on the throne. If you survive - when you come home to me, we will deal with that queen of yours.
"You were not mistreated in any way while being held, were you? Have you any complaints to make?"
"They never overstepped their bounds. Her Majesty acted as I would have. I have not one word against them." Only in that the man she was growing to love had become her jailer. Oh, Hector - a Trojan Prince. And with a wife, if she recalled. Was she here?
But she would not make the same mistakes she'd made with Lancelot. (Oh, Arthur and Lancelot, oh--) Gwynevere would make no demands of the prince, nor would she snub his princess were she here. And were she not... Gwynevere did not know - the possibility was too much to consider.
It was painful for Gwynevere not to voice her concerns to the woman who had been her bastion. She reminded herself that the moments she had had with Morgause might not have even existed. Holding on to this, she remained silent. In this dance, Morgause took the lead. When Morgause chose to attend to their past lives, only then would Gwynevere do the same.
If there were no complaints to be had, nothing to be avenged, then they would have to close the chapter on this event. Those who had burned and poisoned the region would become the highest priority again. She knew even Heimdall would agree about that.
"Then we will carry on as we have, attending to the region's many troubles. Things have been unpleasant for two months now. The people are dissatisfied." Her fingers drummed atop her journal's cover, her gaze directed toward the window briefly before she looked toward her niece. Arthur's wife.
"I rather speak of what you plan on doing next, Gwynevere. Whether you plan on going after my brother after what you've done."
The door to the past was open now.
There was no hesitation in her answer. "I will do whatever Arthur bids me do, and I will support him in whatever way I am able." Heimdall would likely scold her if he could hear her, but this much was truth to Gwynevere. She owed Arthur that much.
"I was --" am "-- a queen, but I will not insist on again being his." This hurt. Adultery aside, Gwynevere was a capable and well-loved queen, known for mercy and diplomacy. God, even with the adultery, many had risen to defend her against the pursuit of Mordred. To not be Camelot's queen - her highest duty, the reason her father gave her away so easily - was immensely crippling to her identity. Who was she if not Queen Gwynevere? "Whomever he loves, I too will admire and respect."
"I wouldn't allow you to insist on being his." Morgause was no petite woman and she rose to her full height of five feet and ten inches. Not that she would have a great advantage with Gwynevere about as tall as she was. Still, to remain seated seemed silly about now. "You would best support him by not approaching my brother unless he should ask for you. You did him great harm and I will not see his heart be pricked again by any woman."
She didn't very well care of Arthur fancied himself in love with some flimsy thing. If she saw danger, she would send Agravaine, Gawain and Mordred to physically haul the man away from the object of his affections. It was what family did for one another.
"There will be, without a doubt, another queen for Camelot one day. One who can restrain herself and can give Camelot her full attention. I do not favour you, Gwynevere. Though I have looked after you in this life..." Then came a pause, perfect red lips pursed in thought. "This was a mistake. An unnecessary jab at us both. You had everything at your feet and were most capable but you cast it away for Lancelot. Such behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated again."
"I apologize for the grief my actions caused you and your family. But with all due respect, Your Majesty, my sovereign is Arthur and not you." Remorse had not rid Gwynevere of a spine, no. As Morgause had said, Morgause was no longer Gwynevere's mother or aunt. It would not be so simple for her to simply accede to the older woman's demands. "In New York, he first made contact with me as Gwynevere, so I answered. He has not asked me to step aside, so I will not. If he tells me support would best be given by distance, then he will not see hide nor hair of me. Not even a whisper."
Gwynevere was sorely tempted to add, What kind of queen were you to Lothian, then? or Do you deserve to be so concerned over your brother when you actively plotted for his downfall, whereas I was an unwilling participant? But only he who is sinless may cast the first stone. Words Gwynevere had read over and over while sequestered away in the nunnery. She so yearned to return Morgause's bite with her own -- ah, lest it be forgotten that the merciful queen had her fury! -- but there were bigger battles to fight than this one.
"You know the world we lived in, Morgause," she said instead. "You know the lives we lived." Women whose words, however powerful, were lost amidst the clash of steel. Women whose husbands forgot them in favor of their kingdoms. She could not help but wonder - had Gwynevere been a woman who cherished Lot, what would Morgause have said in defense of such a tirade?
"Did my brother have time to ask you to step aside? I don't recall seeing you face about long enough. He is not all softness though he appears it too often for my liking. He did go along with that foul Merlin's plan to commit infanticide." It was one of the things she had difficulty with in forgiving Arthur. Merlin would not be forgiven, however. That creature was more conniving than a woman.
"I remember it well enough." As she had lost her head for an affair she committed after Lot's death. That had been within her right, it had been her business. Even if it had been with Lamorak, son of the man who killed her husband, her husband had made his own choices as well. To top it off, Lamorak went free where as her wretched son saw fit to only slay her. There would only be pain should Gaheris arrive one day. Pain and fury. "But it does not excuse you in the slightest."
"You have known of my identity for even less time, and certainly it has proved enough time to ask me to step aside. Arthur, soft as you may say he is, is hardly incompetent. Had he wanted me gone, he would have made it known, and I would have acceded. As things stand, I will wait for whatever else he may demand. And if that comes to be distance, you will hear not one word of dissent from me." In many ways, it would be easier if Arthur wanted her gone. She would have earned her redemption by doing nothing. It would be painful to be cast aside, but Arthur was her juror here, not Morgause nor Elaine nor anyone barring God Himself.
The twist of Gwynevere's lips was wry. Not a smile, but not a frown. Merely an acknowledgment of hypocrisy. "This is true. So I will do my penance as Arthur demands. No more, no less. It is his will and God's I answer to now."
"I never called him incompetent but that he didn't put you aside back then makes me question him." A right of an older sister, so she believed. She did have to wonder what Arthur would want to do. Would he be so forgiving and marshmallow soft with Gwynevere? She hadn't seen him behave firmly with Lancelot.
It truly made her head ache at times. Mordred would have made for a splendid king, firm and unyielding. The best of blood was in him even if sin was involved. But her youngest, there was little he could do wrong. Yet wrong could be done to him. At this very moment, she didn't even know where he was. Gawain could aid him and she did have faith in her son. As much as she did with God to help her child out. Yes, even in a place like this, Morgause was certain their God was near, surely around. To have faith meant believing one's deity could be anywhere. Even if He couldn't get them out of this situation. Her fingers reached to touch (not rub) her temple.
"I have my answers from you now. You're free to go."
"I am not a child to be dismissed or summoned," Gwynevere intoned. She had followed Morgause's lead out of respect, but she would not stand to be treated as anything less than she was: royalty. If not the wife of a King, then the daughter of one. And not only the daughter of King Leodegrance, but the bringer of the Round Table and legions of knights. Without Gwynevere, there were no Knights of the Round Table.
Still, she made her way for the door. Whatever she had been or would become, she was at present the right hand of Glastheim. One whose brother and region needed her to fulfill her duties. And one that would be more suspicious now that she remembered what Morgause did with songs and kings. Gwynevere had not made the assumption that Lot's queen would do with Galahad what had been done with Mordred, but the possibility of Gwynevere's doing so was made much more real by memory.
"Whether or not you choose to deny it, we are the same, Morgause." Denials, accessions, silence? Gwynevere did not remain to hear the older queen's response.
It was not casting a stone, Glastheim's right hand would tell herself later. It was acknowledging kin.
Nothing Gwynevere said was worth replying to after Morgause had dismissed the girl. No matter what she believed, Morgause viewed her with no respect. Being royalty didn't mean she deserved respect. And respect had been lost, her good deeds erased all because she couldn't be faithful to Arthur. Mordred hadn't brought down Camelot. It had been Gwynevere and Lancelot.
As for herself, Morgause had not betrayed Arthur. She had not forced Mordred to go against his own father. She had not wished ill on her brother even if she was bitter over having to have being alone in deal with the result of their unlucky affair. Her children adored her, she would be welcomed and cherished by her family. Obeyed and respected.
No, they were not the same, she decided, her back already to the door. Whatever Gwynevere wanted to assume was her problem.