Fiction: The New Queen

[clare_dragonfly]

Title: The New Queen
World: The Ursulan Cycle
Word count: 245 (total: 2,935)
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of incest
Notes: I've named Gwanwyn's sisters Grainne (Gaheris) and Melva (Gareth); I decided to keep Agravain as male. (I considered naming them all the other Welsh names for the seasons, but those don't really sound like names as much as Gwanwyn does.) This story deviates slightly from ysabetwordsmith's timeline.

Also, I have a visual! I searched "lady knight" on DeviantArt and came up with many excellent pieces, some of which I may be using as visuals for other Ursulan Cycle characters, but in particular this painting struck me as fitting exactly the image of Gwanwyn I had.


Gwanwyn sat down beside Morgan at the table and smacked him so hard on the shoulder that he moved forward in his seat two inches. “So, little brother! How would you like to come to the new queen’s court with us?”

Morgan blinked at his stepsister in complete confusion. Not only was she speaking to him like he was more than a bug she wanted to move aside with her toe, not only was she calling him brother, not only was she inviting him somewhere with her—what on earth was she talking about? The only new queen he knew was his mother, and she’d been queen of Lothian for some time. “New queen?” he asked, not wanting to sound stupid but not seeing any way to avoid it.

A few seats up, seated beside Lot, Morgause narrowed her eyes at them. Morgan sat up even straighter. His mother didn’t want him to know about this; therefore, he wanted to know even more.

Gwanwyn roared with laughter. She roared when she did everything, actually. “You can’t tell me you’ve missed hearing the gossip! With as long as it takes to get up to us, I’d think you’d want to hear every scrap?”

Gossip—that explained it. “I never listen to gossip,” he confessed, perhaps a trifle smugly. “It’s a waste of my time. I have better things to do.” But a queen interesting enough for Gwanwyn to go visit? What was she queen of, anyway?

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Comments

Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I've named Gwanwyn's sisters Grainne (Gaheris) and Melva (Gareth); I decided to keep Agravain as male. <<

I've added these to the character list, and linked the story too.

>> This story deviates slightly from ysabetwordsmith's timeline. <<

That's okay. Not everything necessarily has to follow the timeline -- and unless there's an internal conflict between stories as written, the timeline can be considered a suggestion until things actually get posted.

>> Also, I have a visual! I searched "lady knight" on DeviantArt and came up with many excellent pieces, some of which I may be using as visuals for other Ursulan Cycle characters, but in particular this painting struck me as fitting exactly the image of Gwanwyn I had. <<

That works for me, and I've linked it in the character guide.

>> A few seats up, seated beside Lot, Morgause narrowed her eyes at them. Morgan sat up even straighter. His mother didn’t want him to know about this; therefore, he wanted to know even more. <<

I love the family interactions. This really feels like the kind of family where people love each other, but there are strings attached that make matters awkward sometimes. I think this is turning into something I really enjoy about the Ursulan Cycle -- that it's not just fighting for the heck of it or for political gain, but a lot of it is based on those deep family faults that cause abrupt silences over a holiday feast. It's a wonderful way to explore how dysfunction plays out, when your family drives you nuts but you don't want to abandon them because they're family.

Re: Okay...

[clare_dragonfly]

I've added these to the character list, and linked the story too.

Thanks!

That's okay. Not everything necessarily has to follow the timeline -- and unless there's an internal conflict between stories as written, the timeline can be considered a suggestion until things actually get posted.

My thoughts exactly.

This really feels like the kind of family where people love each other, but there are strings attached that make matters awkward sometimes.

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was thinking (and I haven't even posted the Lot sneering bits). I really am finding that the Ursulan Cycle is turning out to be more about family than anything else.

Re: Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was thinking (and I haven't even posted the Lot sneering bits). I really am finding that the Ursulan Cycle is turning out to be more about family than anything else. <<

I think that helps distinguish this from the Arthurian Cycle in interesting ways, and fits very well with the genderbent angle too.

Re: Okay...

[clare_dragonfly]

And now I'm thinking my next bit is going to be Ursula and Igraine...

Re: Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Oh yeah, that's a good thing to cover. It will be challenging for them to reunite after all this time. Ursula was only five or so when she was fostered with Sir Electra, so she probably has some memories of her mother, but not necessarily a lot. Igraine spent plenty of time with her when Ursula was a baby, but later on may have relied on servants for childcare.

Re: Okay...

[zeeth_kyrah]

That's okay. Not everything necessarily has to follow the timeline

And it's historically reasonable; many storytellers have told many variations of Arthurian stories, though most have tended to stick with a common general history and cast of characters. The variations have mostly been small specifics: When a particular event happened, which characters were involved in it, a minor character being created or lifted to major status, and so on.

Re: Okay...

[clare_dragonfly]

Exactly. I mentioned that to Ysabet on the main post--it doesn't matter if we come up with two different stories for how Gwanwyn came to have Caliburn; that's perfectly in keeping with the original Arthurian mythos.