The Gisborne Chronicles

CHR7/CH6 - Wedding Plans, a Lack of Comforts and a 'Gifting'

In the moments after Aunt Gwyneth made the announcement of her forthcoming marriage, there was silence. Although expected, the suddenness of the decision caused consternation, as all those present considered the consequences.

Auriel already despaired of temporarily losing her confidante and closest female friend, and Guy knew that the care of his six children, which now included Simeon, would fall solely onto his beloved Auriel's shoulders, if only for the duration of the wedding and it's preparations.

Aunt Gwyneth had proved invaluable in the inclusion of Simeon into the well established family group, and had spent many hours teaching him the rudiments of reading and writing, so that he could attend lessons at the Priory with his brother and two sisters.

He was proving to be a good student, and had stolen the hearts of his new family. Though his past had been full of sadness and cruelty, he had taken to family life, as a duck to water.

There was occasional mischief, and light punishment often ensued, but such is the way of all children, and he now felt like their own.

Aunt Gwyneth, however, had proved to be a poor mathematician and it had been Auriel who had made up this shortfall in her Aunt's teachings.

Guy was also concerned that if Auriel found herself to be with child during preparations for the said nuptials, and should have to endure the terrible sickness she had suffered when carrying little Guy, then only heaven knew how she would cope.

Both Guy and Auriel had come to rely on the able assistance of Aunt Gwyneth in all matters pertaining to family. To the children, she fulfilled the role of grandmother, though she would have been horrified to know it.

As a woman, she thought herself ever young, and indeed as a witch approaching her one hundred and eleventh year, she was still in fine fettle. Her 'appetites' were also those of a woman at least one quarter of her age, as was usual for any person of the Magical Realm.

Witches, both male and female, had always been known for their many and varied couplings, though they were unfailingly loyal to their spouses once wed.

Once 'maritally unattached', either by the death of a spouse, or Legal Dissolution, which was rare, this somewhat flighty character trait would reassert itself.

That Auriel was still virgin at twenty one, when she met, and fell in love with Guy of Gisborne, was serendipitous. She had been raised by her mother Morgana, who herself had loved only once, and upon her death, Auriel had found herself caught up in the hated Cleansing of all things magical from the Kingdom of Camelot, under the cruel auspices of Uther Pendragon.

As a consequence of this, Auriel had become obsessed with retrieving an Artefact which contained the life force and magic of all those who had gone before her.

This Artefact was the means by which she had sought to reunite and reestablish her people, and allow her revenge against Uther Pendragon to become a reality.

In her travels through the Time Portal, she had encountered the love of her life, the man who was still central to her being, and the father of her children.

Though she had never tasted the delights generally sampled by any single young witch, her life was now so filled with love and passion within her marriage, that she had no regrets. She was Guy's soulmate, and he was hers, he had given up all that he knew and loved to remain in her time, such was the surety of his love.

Uther Pendragon had been father to Arthur, who now reigned in Camelot with chivalry, and benevolence to people of all races.

There had even been monetary compensation proffered to those persecuted by his father.