sigune | Gawain Project: Brothers & Sisters, p. 81

THE STORY SO FAR:

Part I: The Darkest Hour

One woman and two men. This is where our story starts.

The Darkest Hour
The Darkest Hour 1-3, The Darkest Hour 4-6, The Darkest Hour 7-9, The Darkest Hour 10-12, The Darkest Hour 13-15, The Darkest Hour 16-18, The Darkest Hour 19-21, The Darkest Hour 22-24, The Darkest Hour 25-27, The Darkest Hour 28-31, The Darkest Hour 32-35, The Darkest Hour 36-40, The Darkest Hour 41-44, The Darkest Hour 45-47, The Darkest Hour 48-50, The Darkest Hour 51-53, The Darkest Hour 54-57, The Darkest Hour 58-60, The Darkest Hour 61-64, The Darkest Hour 65-66, The Darkest Hour 67-69, The Darkest Hour 70-73, The Darkest Hour 74-75, The Darkest Hour 76-81, The Darkest Hour 82-84, The Darkest Hour 85-87, The Darkest Hour 88-90, The Darkest Hour 91-92, The Darkest Hour 93-97, The Darkest Hour 98-101, The Darkest Hour 102-103, The Darkest Hour 104-108, The Darkest Hour 109-111, The Darkest Hour 112-114, The Darkest Hour 115-119

The Sword of Kings
The Sword of Kings 1-4, The Sword of Kings 5-11

Part II: Sunrise

Family history catches up with a little red-haired boy.

Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters 1-3, Brothers and Sisters 4-6, Brothers and Sisters 7-9, Brothers and Sisters 10-12, Brothers and Sisters 13-15, Brothers and Sisters 16-18, Brothers and Sisters 19-21, Brothers and Sisters 22-24, Brothers and Sisters 25-27, Brothers and Sisters 28-30,Brothers and Sisters 31-33, Brothers and Sisters 34-36, Brothers and Sisters 37-39, Brothers and Sisters 40-42, Brothers and Sisters 43-45, Brothers and Sisters 46-48, Brothers and Sisters 49-51, Brothers and Sisters 52-54, Brothers and Sisters 55-57, Brothers and Sisters 58-60, Brothers and Sisters 61-63, Brothers and Sisters 64-66, Brothers and Sisters 67-69, Brothers and Sisters 70-72, Brothers and Sisters 73-75, Bothers and Sisters 76-78, Brothers and Sisters 79-81

What went before:

Gorlois, lord of Cornwall, has married Ygraine, a fae from the Land Beyond the Mists. The marriage is an absurdly happy one and produces two daughters, Morgause and Morgana. But dark clouds gather over the family when Uther Pendragon, High King of Britain, falls in love with Ygraine. Uther stops at nothing to possess the woman on whom he has set his mind and declares war on Gorlois. With the help of the sinister sorcerer Merlin, he infiltrates Castle Tintagel and rapes Ygraine, while his army kills her husband at Castle Terrabil.

Widowed, her lands at the mercy of Uther's troops, Ygraine has no choice but to marry Uther. She bears him a child, only for it to be taken away by Merlin, who claims it as his price for having delivered Ygraine to Uther. The (nameless) child is never seen again.

Morgause and Morgana show signs of faery magic: wherever Morgause walks, flowers spring up. Morgana's power seems less beneficial - her touch makes things die. Her stepfather fears the girl and puts her away in a convent.

Soon enough, Uther marries Morgause and Morgana to kings whose alliance he needs to buy. Morgause is given to King Lot of Lothian, an Irish prince stranded in Britain, while Morgana is given to old King Urien of Gorre. Bitter and lonely, Ygraine calls on Klingsor, a sorcerer who hates men and loves to thwart them. Klingsor whisks the Queen away to the Land Beyond the Mists.

Uther Pendragon goes half-mad when he discovers Ygraine's disappearance. He starts a desperate search for his lost Queen. Merlin demands that he relinquish his claim to the High King's throne if he wishes to follow Ygraine to the Land Beyond the Mists. The Sword of Kings, symbol of the High King's power, is planted in a stone so that it may appoint a new king.

***

Years later, King Lot of Lothian and his Queen Morgause have four sons: Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth.

Lot takes his eldest son to the Valley of No Return. Gawain will be educated by his aunt Morgana, who heads a convent of nine nuns in the mysterious valley. The nuns will teach the boy to read and write, to study brehon law and to play music. Lot hopes that knowledge will give his favourite son an advantage, because Gawain is a small child and not particularly strong. He has a hard time competing with his younger brother Agravain, who is a bully.

We also learn that Morgana has a son, Owain, whom she left behind when she fled her husband in order to take religious vows and establish her own convent. Like his mother, Owain is magically gifted and can talk to ravens.

While his own sons vie for his affection, King Lot quarrels with the other kings of Britain about who should rightly have the High King's throne. Nobody has been able to pull the Sword of Kings out of the stone, and the island of Britain lies practically undefended while Saxon invaders settle the land. Taliesin, a strange singer, predicts the coming of a new King.

In this climate, Lot is worried by the fact that Gawain is a poor fighter. Morgana asks the advice of Conchobarre, now a nun but once a warrior woman. Conchobarre refuses to help Lot because he got rid of his first-born child, Gawain's older sister.

*whew*

Well, this is where we are now :). New page!

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