SEMPER LIBER

Summary: A dying man's final request sends a young woman to a new life at Badon Hill. TristanOC.

Disclaimer & Author's Note: I like to think that Malory would have his legends of King Arthur belong to the ages, but I cannot lay claim to them nor to those responsible for the 2004 film by the same name. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Letter

Dearest Artorius Castus,

For many years, I served under your father, Lucius Artorius. Your father was an honorable man, and I was released from my service to Rome by his good word some twenty-three years ago. I consider myself blessed to have survived longer in freedom here in Britain than in service to Rome. I have made a life for myself here in a Roman village two leagues south of the wall. I took a British wife who gave me a daughter and, in so doing, gave her life. I have raised my daughter the best I know how, according to the traditions of her people. Many in the village regard us with explicit distrust and, in some cases, violence. Some of the men, including many Roman officers, regard my illness as an opportunity to take my daughter as their own. Against my will, I gave the best years of my life to Rome, and I do not wish the same fate for my daughter. I have sent her with this letter, my only will, to you with my final request: that you protect my child as you would any woman in such a predicament. A young woman without family may be forced to accept a man she would not have chosen otherwise. Do not allow her to be taken advantage of.

Through her years, I have taught her as many of a man's skills, and she has taken up a woman's work on her own. In her mother's absence, she had learned to cook, clean, and mend clothing. Under my tutelage, she has learned the tasks of a stable boy, weapons care, and self-defense. She may defend herself, but her skills would not protect her at length against a man who would do her harm. I tell you this in order to assure you that she should not be your ward only, but that she may be of service to yourself and your knights. She is a smart and sensible girl, and as employable as any woman of her age and upbringing.

I ask that you give my daughter shelter and gainful employment. She knows the sacrifice she must now make to ensure her life of freedom, and has given her consent to my plan. Honor my final request, and render my years of service to Rome worthwhile. I beseech you: protect my Cariad, and give her life.

Cura ut valeas,

Bedivere