#for guinevere

[liminalpsych]

13. We could pretend

“You fool,” growled a voice out of the shadows.

Lancelot’s hand groped for a sword that wasn’t there before he recognized Merlin’s gravelly tones. His whole body stayed tense and battle-ready nonetheless.

“We are all fools next to your wisdom, good sage,” he managed, smooth somehow despite the battle-fire howling through his blood.

The sage himself emerged, raven-eyed and furrow-browed, from the alcove. “Not what I meant and you know it,” he said, grasping Lancelot’s sleeve and pulling him into the darkness.

The knight allowed it, mind spinning with the beginnings of panic. “What do you mean, then?”

“This business with Arthur and Gwenhwyfar.”

The floor seemed to drop from under Lancelot’s feet, a sickening lurch of dread. He set his stance wide and anchoring and swallowed past the sudden dryness in his throat. “I know not…”

“Do not take me for the fool you are!” Merlin glared, and Lancelot could just make out the glint of fury in his eyes. “Your love will ruin the realm if it is discovered.”

He flinched from the strike of the wizard’s words, the truth they’d all been ignoring in their bliss. “We… we shan’t be discovered.”

“I found you out, did I not?” Merlin didn’t wait for a reply. “If you are discovered—and you will be, Gwenhwyfar is the only one of you with any skill at subtlety—you must not let them know the whole of it.”

Lancelot swallowed hard around the beginnings of comprehension. “Why not speak to Arthur of this? Why me?”

“Because Arthur, for all his strength, is not always practical. You are a romantic, it is true, yet I think you will fall upon your blade for him. He would do the same for you and his queen, and you must not let him.”

There followed a long silence, as the knight digested that bitter morsel. His tone was low and resigned when he finally spoke. “What would you have us do?”

“End this now—but you will not, I know that already. Faugh! It will be bad enough if you are believed to lay with the queen, but Arthur will be seen as the wounded party in that. If it is known that he allowed it, or that you lay with him…” Merlin leveled a long look at Lancelot. “The realm would tear itself apart, the hungry wolves among his noblemen would rip him from the throne, and his name would be forever broken. Arthur’s happiness is not my goal. The health of the realm is.”

A shudder coursed through Lancelot. He drew in a long breath, and let it out in a forced laugh. “I hear you, magician, but it will not come to that. We will not be discovered.”

He walked away with haste in his step and denial in the set of his shoulders. Merlin’s voice followed him out of the shadows like an omen.

“Make certain of it, sir knight. Do not forget what I have told you.”

They think the only road is where they're heading

But you and I were meant to sail upon the sea

We could pretend, we could pretend

That never suited us somehow

[whamber]

Gwen isn't even mad because she knows how it is when you give Merlin a lil' smooch on reflex.

[periodcostumefantasylover]

Guinevere's wedding dress and chainmail veil in Excalibur 1981

[honeygleam]

cheryl dunye and guinevere turner as cheryl and diana in the watermelon woman (1996) dir. cheryl dunye

[wavesechoes]

hello merlin fandom, today im here to humbly offer you this, tomorrow who knows

[nynevefromthelake]

Oh Lancelot, loved by the king, loved by the queen

Another Arthuriana idea I had for a while. Guinevere design is much inspired by William de Leftwich Dodge illustration

[noodles-and-tea]

Your Merthur fanart is amazing! I LOVE the way you capture their expressions!!! If you've got the spoons might I request Arthur seeing Merlin in a wedding dress and being absolutely poleaxed because since when was Merlin hot- (they're idiots in love your honor). You capture their entire like. Fundamental dynamic SO WELL; your art is expressive and beautiful and I love it.

Merlin likes t help where he can

[hannahleah]

Guinevere Van Seenus by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello. April 2016 issue of Numéro Magazine

[wolfythewitch]

And I love ya but you stink to hell of whiskey

[wherethehellisronan]

guinevere my love

[justaz]

country bumpkin merlin not knowing anything about city life and accidentally courting arthur without knowing

merlin, watching gwen give lancelot her favor: why do you do that

gwen, heart eyes at lance and not paying that much attention to the conversation: so he knows i’m rooting for him

merlin, with an Idea: ah.

gwaine, lover of chaos, pisser offer of nobles and royals alike, ultimate wingman: merlin…you have such lonely lips. shall i introduce them to mine?

merlin, unaware of the game gwaine is playing: so you can steal my breath away? i think not, scoundrel

arthur, crushing his goblet in his hand:

merlin: arthur’s been in a bad mood recently :( i should cheer him up

merlin, remembering when arthur was put out when merlin brought morgana flowers and not him: i know just the thing

merlin, bringing a bouquet of carnations, roses, and tulips and setting them on arthur’s table while he’s eating breakfast: good morning, sire

arthur, trained on flower language in hopes that one day when he was to take a queen he could woo her easily, trying not to audibly choke on his sausage as he reads merlin’s declaration of love sitting in front of him:

arthur, who recently found out about merlin’s magic and was trying to find a way to bring it up, catching him in the act and watching merlin panic to explain himself:

merlin, Freaking: and i swear to you arthur, i have only ever used it for you. my magic is yours. my life is yours. i am yours. i would never do anything to harm you. i have protected you for years and will continue to do so at your side if you’ll have me

arthur, already believing them to be courting, desperately trying to figure out if that was a proposal for marriage or not but tired of being confused and deciding fuck it: here.

merlin, taking it: i…uh…huh?

arthur, watching merlin with hawk eyes and trying to figure out what he’s thinking and feeling: it’s my mothers sigil

merlin, confused as FUCK but is focusing on the fact that arthur is handing him something of his mother rather than a death sentence: my…my lord?

arthur, realizing how scared merlin’s must be about him finding out about his magic and trying to comfort him while also proposing, killing two birds with one stone: i will always keep you at my side, merlin, so long as we both shall live. if you’ll allow me.

merlin, almost collapsing with relief and tearing up, smiling at arthur as if he had parted the storm clouds to allow sun to shine down on them in that moment: of course…of course, arthur. always and forever.

merlin, watching the castle staff rush this way and that: wow. this banquet must be incredibly important

sir leon the long suffering, day one ride or die, one of the original merthur shippers: banquet? merlin, this is for your wedding

merlin, overworked and exhausted: my WHAT? to WHO??

leon, regretting everything he’s ever done in his life that led him to this moment: to…arthur?

merlin, over joyed but also absolutely befuddled: i’m getting married to ARTHUR?????

leon: you two have been courting for the past year or so, have you not?

merlin: i’ve been COURTING ARTHUR?????? FOR A YEAR?????????

[liminalpsych]

17. Let other people judge us with all their own assumptions

Laughter rang out through the glade of the king’s forest. All the birds fell silent for a moment in the wake of it. Then, seeming to realize that the sound did not spell danger, they thus resumed their singing.

A lady and a knight took their meal merrily upon a cloak spread over the forest floor. Nearby, their steeds grazed upon the greenery without a care. They were dressed for hawking, and indeed a hooded hawk roosted on a saddle atop a silver palfrey, yet there was no captured quarry to be seen.

Indeed, Gwenhwyfar and Lancelot had not been hunting at all, but rather sharing a meal in the peace and privacy of the glade, away from prying eyes or gossiping lips.

They shared other things, too: kisses, chaste and playful at first between bites of bread and cheese and sips of wine. In time, the two lovers also shared the taste of their mouths, and the taste of each other’s skin.

Yet something disturbed the peace of the kingswood. The birds fell silent once more, and this time they remained so, alert to a predator’s intent.

Lost as they were in one another, the lady and the knight noticed not the changes around them, too surrounded by their own soft sighs. Not until their horses paused in their grazing, ears pricked forward as they stared off into the woods, nostrils flared to scent the shifting breeze.

Not until Gwenhwyfar’s palfrey relaxed with recognition, and whuffled a soft greeting.

The lovers stilled, motionless as deer scenting a stalking wolf.

There was a rustling of leaves not far away, and then a tense silence that seemed to stretch on forever.

“Gwen,” Lancelot said, in a voice so soft and low that she did not so much hear it as feel it in the form of his lips moving against her ear rather than heard it, “wait until I stand and speak challenge, then take my horse and flee.”

Now Lancelot’s courser nickered, louder than the palfrey, his eyes alert with interest as he recognized someone in the wood.

Fear left Gwen shivering with cold despite the heat of the summer day. “We face this together–”

His hand tightened over hers. “I will send to Avalon if it is safe to return. You must go. For Arthur’s sake.”

She did not even know if she could stand; it seemed as though the ground spun beneath her, dizzy and sick with dread. Yet she knew her knight spoke truly. She gave a short, sharp nod, then turned to press her lips to his for one last desperate kiss.

Lancelot returned it for a heartbeat, his heart breaking within his chest, yet knew he could afford to tarry no longer. He turned away, taking up his sword as he rose to stand and face the silent forest.

“Come out, else you be craven and not merely ignoble spies!”

Gwenhwyfar did stand, somehow, and even run, her world tilting beneath her. She scrambled up into the saddle more than mounted, as Lancelot’s taller steed danced and snorted beneath an unfamiliar rider; she murmured soothing sounds despite the hammering of her heart, taking up the reins in hands that she willed not to shake.

“You dare call another ignoble, when you lie in treason with your king’s own wife?” It was a familiar voice, another of Arthur’s knights, although all the names of every knight save her own beloved seemed to flee her mind even as she fled the glade.

“Stand down, and I will surrender peacefully to you when my queen is well away,” said Lancelot. “Pursue her, and I will cut you all down where you stand.”

She bent low over the courser’s neck to urge him onward, not waiting to learn the outcome, not wanting to know if steel rang out behind her. The wind of her steed’s passage tore any sound of sorrow from her throat.

The roaring in her ears was the only sound she could hear as her entire world came crashing down behind her.

With all the years between us

I know your heart, you know I'd never lie

Let other people judge us with all their own assumptions

You know with me you never need to hide

[whamber]

A softer golden era

[gilgalahad]

Scottish artist Dorothy Carleton Smyth (1880-1933) design featuring King Arthur for a collection of poetry by Lord Alfred Tennyson

[kairennart]

pirate gwen x mermaid morgana part 3. she got her little gifts <3

[zazrichor]

a reminder of you (and me)