Ficpost: Strangers Like Me
Aug. 18th, 2010 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mari4212Fandoms: Merlin and Doctor Who
Timeline: Post Series 3 for DW, Series 2 for Merlin
Characters: Gwen, Martha, mention of others
Rating: G
Warnings:Unbeta-ed, somewhat on crack?
Summary: The Doctor promised Martha he'd take her to meet Queen Guinevere
Lord John Smith and his companion, the Lady Martha, came to Camelot only a few weeks after the dragon had been defeated. Gwen was still running off her feet most days, helping Merlin assist Gaius. She’d been about to head home for the evening, absolutely exhausted, when Gemma caught up to her and told her that she was needed in the throne room about the guests that had just arrived.
She walked into the throne room to see the king smiling graciously, most of the way through his standard nobles welcoming speech. He caught the sight of the doors opening and closing behind her, and waved her forwards, a genial look on his face. Turning towards the lady, she heard him say, “Lady Martha, Guinevere will attend to you during your stay here at Camelot. She served my ward, the Lady Morgana, as a maidservant, and is well schooled in the needs of the nobility.”
Gwen caught Arthur’s eyebrow arching, and a twist of his lips as he glanced towards Merlin, who grinned back and shrugged. The two of them often seemed to forget that the rest of court existed when they started bickering, even when they were only doing so with body language. She hid her smile at their expense, and dropped into a curtsey before the visiting lady. She was beautiful, of course, and richly dressed in a gown Morgana would have loved, but on glancing up, Gwen was more struck by the evident kindness and intelligence in her eyes. And also, by her somewhat shocked expression. What had she been expecting, other than a maidservant?
The king dismissed them all, and the visiting lord sauntered off on his own. Gwen led Lady Martha to the closest guest quarters, ones she knew had not been damaged by the attacks nor pressed into service as additional bed spaces for the injured to heal in. She was about to ask if the lady would be wanting a bath that evening before the formal court dinner, when the lady stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I thought I must have heard the king wrong, when he introduced you to me. You’re really Guinevere, then? The Guinevere?” the lady asked, again looking Gwen straight in the eyes. Most of the nobility looked past or above their servants.
Gwen blinked, then replied, “Yes. Well, at least, I’m a Guinevere. I mean, I don’t know of any others in the castle or the town, but there’s probably some in the surrounding villages, I just don’t know them personally….” She trailed off awkwardly. She hated how much she babbled when she was nervous.
The lady just grinned, “That’s brilliant. I thought the Doctor was joking, or that he’d gotten us lost again and didn’t want to admit it, but that’s really just brilliant.”
Gwen smiled back nervously, and then left to order some hot water.
The nobles left the next morning, and there were reports from a few of her neighbors when she finally made it back home that there’d been odd wheezing noises coming from near one of the collapsed houses, but no one had seen anything there when they’d investigated.
Timeline: Post Series 3 for DW, Series 2 for Merlin
Characters: Gwen, Martha, mention of others
Rating: G
Warnings:Unbeta-ed, somewhat on crack?
Summary: The Doctor promised Martha he'd take her to meet Queen Guinevere
Lord John Smith and his companion, the Lady Martha, came to Camelot only a few weeks after the dragon had been defeated. Gwen was still running off her feet most days, helping Merlin assist Gaius. She’d been about to head home for the evening, absolutely exhausted, when Gemma caught up to her and told her that she was needed in the throne room about the guests that had just arrived.
She walked into the throne room to see the king smiling graciously, most of the way through his standard nobles welcoming speech. He caught the sight of the doors opening and closing behind her, and waved her forwards, a genial look on his face. Turning towards the lady, she heard him say, “Lady Martha, Guinevere will attend to you during your stay here at Camelot. She served my ward, the Lady Morgana, as a maidservant, and is well schooled in the needs of the nobility.”
Gwen caught Arthur’s eyebrow arching, and a twist of his lips as he glanced towards Merlin, who grinned back and shrugged. The two of them often seemed to forget that the rest of court existed when they started bickering, even when they were only doing so with body language. She hid her smile at their expense, and dropped into a curtsey before the visiting lady. She was beautiful, of course, and richly dressed in a gown Morgana would have loved, but on glancing up, Gwen was more struck by the evident kindness and intelligence in her eyes. And also, by her somewhat shocked expression. What had she been expecting, other than a maidservant?
The king dismissed them all, and the visiting lord sauntered off on his own. Gwen led Lady Martha to the closest guest quarters, ones she knew had not been damaged by the attacks nor pressed into service as additional bed spaces for the injured to heal in. She was about to ask if the lady would be wanting a bath that evening before the formal court dinner, when the lady stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I thought I must have heard the king wrong, when he introduced you to me. You’re really Guinevere, then? The Guinevere?” the lady asked, again looking Gwen straight in the eyes. Most of the nobility looked past or above their servants.
Gwen blinked, then replied, “Yes. Well, at least, I’m a Guinevere. I mean, I don’t know of any others in the castle or the town, but there’s probably some in the surrounding villages, I just don’t know them personally….” She trailed off awkwardly. She hated how much she babbled when she was nervous.
The lady just grinned, “That’s brilliant. I thought the Doctor was joking, or that he’d gotten us lost again and didn’t want to admit it, but that’s really just brilliant.”
Gwen smiled back nervously, and then left to order some hot water.
The nobles left the next morning, and there were reports from a few of her neighbors when she finally made it back home that there’d been odd wheezing noises coming from near one of the collapsed houses, but no one had seen anything there when they’d investigated.