in a land of myth and a time of magic,
the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young girl.
i. second daughter of the frankish duke oliver of massalia, lady melisende spent her youth in their gardens with flowers on her hair, in the kingdom of burgundy. hiding from her brothers who always poked her for the most idiotic reasoning, such as her love for literature and the night sky, and with her servants who reminded her every morning that her father wanted her to not give thoughts of important matters such as politics, melisende of house aureliane spent her days dreaming: of a greater destiny, of true freedom.
she seemed to never hear a word. it didn’t matter how many times her mother would say to be polite or to cease her theatrics; as the daughter of a duke she knew that, one day or the next, she was going to be married off to a powerful man so her father could have something back. melisende came to the conclusion that even if the old man who used to read her fairytales loved her, he loved power more. the duke already tried to get viscounts and foreigners to marry his only daughter, and she was courted so often that she almost thought that her father wanted to get rid of her.
when she was fifteen years of age, the greek viscount who promised her that he would let her read all the books she wanted once they were married, asked for her hand. she answered by running away. and then she was forced to spend an entire month reclusive in her bedroom.
when, the year after, she told a foreign duke to crave her pardon after he couldn't hold his tongue about a dream he had about the lady, she got hated by her family for the next three months. melisende realized that escaping massalia without an husband was her only option. her servants wanted to help her, and the knight who treated her like a daughter more than her own father decided to dishonour his vow and help melisende escape the kingdom of burgundy. but god decided to answer her father's prayers instead of hers.
king guntram, who always thought at the duke as one of his greatest allies, sent a special guest to their house.
ii. king uther pendragon of camelot had been searching a political bride for his only son, the future king, for ages. not that he knew, too busy hunting and training his knights. from daughters of nobles to foreigners princesses, none of the maiden seemed to hale the role of arthur's future wife: one day she was going to be the queen of camelot, he couldn't just choose someone who's only trait was being beautiful. and when, while drinking numerous cups of wine, king guntram (who's daughter was already betrothed but not publicly announced) of the burgundy kingdom told him to visit the castle of the duke of massalia, king uther did.
the words of guntram were: lady melisende, known by the kingdom as the pearl of massalia because of the waves of her hair who resembled the sea, is a young girl of many words. she was raised among books, court politics and the mediterranean sun, but also trained in etiquette, languages, dance, and diplomacy. speaking another language wouldn't be a bother for her. the lady is educated, elegant, but not naive: a silver-tongued observer who knows her marriage is not for love, but legacy. and with this king uther's interest was caught; everything about the girl seemed a good match not only for camelot, but for his son too. he was arrogant, and maybe lady melisende could help him to grow in the man who's going to rule camelot. the idea of arranging a match to unite massallia's southern trade routes with camelot's growing power and cement a military alliance in case of saxon aggression reached uther's mind, and suddenly he hoped that those words were true.
melisende cried. to her mother, to her servant, to god. the king saw in her the perfect wife for his son, and she had no say in it. her father offered a delicious wine to him and, a year after, he was celebrating the departure of his eighteen years of age daughter. there she was: a political bride betrothed to a prince she never met, alone in a carriage and leaving everything and everyone she knew behind. it felt like a cruel joke; when she was ready to not give thoughts about politics anymore by escaping from it, she was made future queen by the law of king uther pendragon.
iii. 579 AD. five months of roads and woods and of the knights of camelot who constantly made sure that the lady was safe. at first, melisende had trouble sticking up with the language of the knights, but it became easier once she befriended sir leon. the honourable man told her about the prince and uther's pupil, morgana, and camelot. and this is how the lady found out about the king's hatred for magic.
lady melisende and the knights arrived to camelot the day before the celebration for the 20 years of peace since the great war, against sorcerers and dragons. she almost passed out when she heard this. the house of aureliane claimed for centuries to descent from roman patricians on one side and sea priestesses on the other. they were wealthy, influential, and whispered to possess old magic tied to the sea and stars. of course, melisende never saw a member of the family practicing magic; the frankish territories were christians and if the old rumours of her family were to be proved true, then they would be killed. she just hoped that uther would've never hear about it.
king uther pendragon publicly presented her at the people of camelot: for a year they were rambling about the future queen since the announcement of prince arthur being betrothed (and he kept complaining for the entire year). and there she was. smiling and waving, with a frankish grace, gems in her hair, flowy silks and a foreign accent. the people applauded and king uther smiled in approval. five minutes later he executed a sorcerer and made his son the possible next victim of his witch-mother. and the day after everyone was calling the future queen the silver lady because of her hair.
during the five months on the road, lady melisende thought about meeting her future husband. was it going to be romantic? awful? at the feast for the celebration, she had her answer when all he did was look at her and then talk with his knights. ignoring her presence.
she quickly understood that things weren't going to be easy in camelot when her future husband almost got killed by the witch during the feast, and a boy (who melisende saw using magic. which was illegal) saved him, becoming his servant.
