Life and Times of Enid

Book 1: Learning

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. My only creation is Lady Camellia and her story.

Prologue

Our story began the day the Queen of Camelot, Queen Ygraine, with her last few, gave birth to a golden-haired son and heir to the throne, Arthur Pendragon. She had moments to hold her beloved and hard-borne son before the Old Religion demanded the price for the magic used to bring this precious life to the world.

"A life for a life," was the law of the Old Religion as the High Priestess Nimueh had said.

And for the barren Queen to give Camelot an heir, the price was her own life. She had agreed to the use of magic only after knowing exactly what her husband had gotten them into.

In her last moments, Queen Ygraine had eyes only for her son, Arthur. Her last words were to her son, filled with love, encouragement and hope for a bright and blessed future for him and his loved ones.

The Once and Future King they called him; the child that would one day grow to be the man who would unite all lands and bring the rise of Albion, into a Golden Age to be remembered for millennia.

Blinded by his grief and hatred, King Uther Pendragon of Camelot declared war on magic and all those who practised it. Fear, bloodshed and darkness fell over the lands. People lived in fear of their lives, magical or not. No one was to be trusted, for neighbours were quick to betray neighbours just for the sake of coin or recognition.

The Great Purge, they called it. Everyone suffered. Those who used magic and believed in the Old Religion lost their lives and those who had family members who did so lost their loved ones. Several innocents were murdered just because they were under the shadow of suspicion from their neighbours and old friends.

The Priestesses and Priests of the Old Religion were hunted down and slaughtered. All magic users, from healers to knights were executed or burned at the stake. Druids' camps were found and each and every one of them was slaughtered, adult or child. Magical artefacts and weapons were hunted and raided for to either be destroyed or stored in the vaults of Camelot under heavy protection. Dragonlords were forced to summon their dragons only to watch them be killed and then eventually have their own heads cut off.

It was the last and greatest of all Dragonlords who was summoned by King Uther under the pretence of making peace; Balinor was his name. After watching the last of his kin, the Great Dragon Kilgarrah, being chained and imprisoned in the caves deep beneath the citadel, Balinor took the help of an old friend and advisor to escape to a small village in Essetir.

There in Ealdor, Balinor met the love of his life, Hunith. Their love was a deep but short one. Just another year and Uther's men hunted him across the borders of Camelot and Essetir, just to watch him burn. He had no other choice; he left. Not knowing he was leaving behind not just his love, but also the physical manifestation of said love growing in Hunith's womb right at that moment.

The next important event of our story happened just months before Balinor was hunted down in Ealdor and a year and a half after the Great Purge had begun. Back in Camelot, a Knight's wife, and another's daughter, was giving birth.

The Lady Lillian, daughter of Sir Charlus of Dunbar, and wife Sir Gerard of Monmouth, was giving birth to her second child. Sir Charlus was one of the richest and favoured Knights of King Uther and Sir Gerard was the son of Sir Geoffrey of Monmouth, the librarian and scholar of Camelot. Hence, the fact that Lady Lillian was giving birth to the eldest child of Sir Gerard and the heir of his noble house, was great and well-received news.

It was in the early hours of a spring morning when the second key player of the destiny of Camelot and our story was brought into the world. Lady Lillian gave birth to a screaming and brown-haired girl who was named, Camellia. The Lady Camellia was the eldest daughter of Sir Gerard and Lady Lillian of Houses Monmouth and Dunbar, respectively, the heiress to both Houses.

Enid they called her; the girl who would grow into the beautiful woman that would be the life and spirit of Camelot and with who the Once and Future King would bring prosperity and happiness to Camelot and then the whole of Albion.

Several months later, in the village of Ealdor, Hunith experienced her first labour pains. This was the one last event that would trigger the course of destiny to change. Hours of painful labour later, with the help of the local midwife, Hunith gave birth to a son. He was the son of the last Dragonlord Balinor. His birth brought with him the uncertainty of the future for some, but a hope and a promise of a bright and magical future to many others.

Emrys they called him; the babe who would one day grow to become the most powerful warlock of all times and aid the Once and Future King to fulfil his destiny and bring peace and unity to Albion.

And so it was, over the next years as these three young children grew in different backgrounds and around different kinds of people to become the individuals who would bring about the rise and unity of Albion under one banner.

Arthur Pendragon grew under the strict and harsh edict of his father, but with a far more compassionate and noble heart. Merlin grew with his mother as a humble and poor peasant trying his best to hide his magic, but with the desire to seek something more as he knew in his heart like his mother that his powers were not for nothing. And Camellia grew up as the only child with her loving and caring mother and father in an estate not far from the city, with a huge, gentle heart and a desire to learn and know as much as she could from books.

Years passed, and then a six-year-old Camellia saw as her mother was executed for being found trading medicine with a Druid woman. She saw as her father drank himself to death over the grief of losing his wife, somehow managing to ignore the existence of the only living connection he had with his Lillian: his daughter.

Just two months after losing her mother, a young and orphaned Camellia stood beside her grandfather as her father was given a Knight's funeral. She cried for a day before she stood straight and composed in front of the King as he told her that he was offering her a chance to live in the castle with her only living family, Sir Geoffrey, her grandfather. She agreed politely and demurely before being assigned a maid, Brianna, and being shown to her new chambers.

Camellia soon discovered that her maid was actually a Druid girl. Having been taught by her mother from an incredibly young age to never judge a person based on their appearance or kind, she easily embraced the fact and simply looked forward to all she could learn about magic and the Old Religion from her. Her slight happiness did not last long. Uther discovered Brianna's heritage when Camellia was eleven and had her executed within the day.

Years passed on and Camellia grew up amongst books and tomes in the library of Camelot. The people and members of the court knew her but once she was out of sight, she was out of mind. She strived to become the "smartest woman on the world" and to do that she knew she had to spend as much time as she could studying rather than socializing. She had very few friends, but they were very dear to her. She studied about anything that caught her fancy, from human anatomy to plants, and from kinds of animals to different branches of magic.

As time went on, Camellia grew to be one of the most graceful ladies of the court. Though her beauty was not one to rival the Lady Morgana, she had a charm about her that endeared people to her along with her smile and sweet disposition. Her equal treatment of every person she came across, noble or peasant, made her one of the popular nobles amongst the servants and peasants in the lower town.

And then came the day that would turn her monotonous life upside down. Lost became the days of peaceful and blissful ignorance when she could spend her days with reading her books and writing in her journals. The day had come out of nowhere and with no warning when she would be forced to acknowledge the reality that she couldn't possibly spend her life ignoring the world outside the library and her chambers.

The Lady Camellia didn't know it yet, but she was in for an adventure of a lifetime and destiny had something extremely special in store for her. After all, she wasn't named Enid by the Old Religion for no reason.

No person, no matter how great can know their destiny. They cannot glimpse their part in the great story that is about to unfold. Like everyone, they must live and learn.

And so it was for the young warlock arriving at the gates of Camelot; a boy that will turn Camellia's world upside down and inside out, and in time, father a legend. His name: Merlin.