Sequel: The Foundlings ›
Lady of the Lake
What if the Lady of the Lake was simply a woman who had raised herself from childhood away from other humans, not even knowing they existed? Who didn't even know herself, or her past?
One freezing winter day, convinced her body is dying, she encounters a man who actually is. He had wandered, half mad and dazed with sickness, into the cave she now dwelled in to prevent the world from sharing her fate, and suddenly she has to care for someone she has even less than no knowledge of; up until then, she had thought she was the only human alive, that her vague recollections of her parents were visions or delusions.
The man, Uther, gives her a name, a sword, and teaches her how to speak. And gradually, memories of her past begin to surface in frightening ways...and include Uther. The only human interaction she had ever seen was done by her parents, and these small things suddenly bring about a change: soon, the Lady starts noticing that her "dying" has stopped, that she is beginning to look more like her mother did before her mother abandoned her, before she had her little brother. Overjoyed, she tells Uther that there is hope for life, and he, confused, sets off with the coming spring.
But she had no idea what would happen. Shocked, she finds one day that her mother is alive, and she tells her what is happening. Now the Lady must prepare for a new life that previously was entirely unknown to her to come into the world, and also to train this son, Arthur, to become the leader for a country that will soon be without a king, and without hope.
One freezing winter day, convinced her body is dying, she encounters a man who actually is. He had wandered, half mad and dazed with sickness, into the cave she now dwelled in to prevent the world from sharing her fate, and suddenly she has to care for someone she has even less than no knowledge of; up until then, she had thought she was the only human alive, that her vague recollections of her parents were visions or delusions.
The man, Uther, gives her a name, a sword, and teaches her how to speak. And gradually, memories of her past begin to surface in frightening ways...and include Uther. The only human interaction she had ever seen was done by her parents, and these small things suddenly bring about a change: soon, the Lady starts noticing that her "dying" has stopped, that she is beginning to look more like her mother did before her mother abandoned her, before she had her little brother. Overjoyed, she tells Uther that there is hope for life, and he, confused, sets off with the coming spring.
But she had no idea what would happen. Shocked, she finds one day that her mother is alive, and she tells her what is happening. Now the Lady must prepare for a new life that previously was entirely unknown to her to come into the world, and also to train this son, Arthur, to become the leader for a country that will soon be without a king, and without hope.
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Encounter
She discovers she is not the only human in the world, that everything, in fact, is completely different than she self-taught herself to believe it as. -
Shock
What do you do when you are suddenly not the only one of your kind anymore? When you cannot treat sickness, and a man collapses into where you live? -
Instinct
An unknown feeling comes to the aid of one who thinks she is dying, and one who really is. -
Gifts
They both begin to learn... -
A life for a life
The Lady is quite suddenly aware of the changing of the lower middle of her body, something that started soon after Uther left, while she was trying to forget him... -
Bearing both life and death
An unexpected yet familiar-faced being, seemingly the Lady herself, appears in the forest. Meanwhile, the Lady has reoccurring dreams of her past, and the feeling that this is connected somehow. -
Other lives
The Lady dreams of her mother's life and her own fate, and her mother learns of the Lady's soon-to-be-born boy-child, the future king... -
The False Prophecies
The Lady's mother tells her of why she was abandoned, why she will have a child, and who that child will grow up to be. -
Upon the turning of the moon
A new life has entered the Lady's world, a son who carries the weight of the future... -
Of water
In which she becomes, truly, the Lady of the Lake. -
A New Life
The Lady accepts her decision and begins to realize her role in life is larger than she thought... -
Unexpected
Arthur returns to the Lake, but to the later horror, not joy, of all... -
Twins?
The Lady realizes there had not been one child, but two, who had never known each other until recently, leading to many things no-one was prepared for.