"So you came up with the story about your brother on the spot!" Arthur exclaimed. They were all dining in the Great Hall, and the room was unusually quiet—everyone seated near Arthur and Raynelle was straining to hear. Even the servants were finding excuses to linger near the head table.

Raynelle had made quite a stir when she reappeared in Camelot, sans beard, that afternoon, and even more when she had appeared for dinner, dressed in her customary chainmail and cape as a Knight of Camelot, but without any attempt to disguise her gender. The news had spread through even the lower town like wildfire—Merlin had reported that on an errand there for Gaius, no fewer than five people had asked him if it was true that Sir Somer was a woman. One had asked him if Raynelle had been cursed to appear in a man's form.

"What did you think broke the curse?" Merlin had asked, after disabusing the woman's mind of the notion.

"Why, a promise of marriage from Sir Gwaine," the woman had answered, starry-eyed.

Gwaine laughed heartily at the story. "Yes, I go around asking my comrades to marry me every day," he agreed.

"Somer's a homewrecker," Elyan added. "Gwaine asked me first." Percival and Leon laughed until the rafters rang.

Everyone was having some trouble remembering to call her Sir Raynelle instead of Sir Somer, and several times even Gwaine accidentally called her "him."

Now he was listening intently as she answered Arthur's questions. "Yes, right off the top of my head. I think fast when I'm angry—it's how I used to get into so many scrapes when I was a child."

Arthur leaned forward. "Gwaine, I seem to remember that I suggested she might have invented her brother."

Gwaine acknowledged it with good grace. He remembered that conversation with Arthur well. He had thought at the time that Raynelle's anger had been that of someone who had been wronged. Now he realized that her indignation was not because she knew her brother had a right to his land under the law, but because she knew she didn't—and only because she was born a woman.

"But Gwyn knew all about Somer," Gwaine pointed out.

Raynelle laughed. "Because I told him! When I located your horse and took it to his hut, I told him the whole story. For once he didn't scold me for getting myself into trouble with my wretched temper. We hatched the whole plan between us, then and there. We decided it would be best if Gwaine didn't see much of me in the daylight—I was to keep my hood up and my face averted, if possible. That way when I showed up in Camelot with a beard, he wouldn't recognize me. So Gwaine had to stay with Gwyn instead of at the castle. I am sorry about that," she added, turning back to Gwaine. "We gave you a very cold send-off. And after you had been so apologetic about the—mix-up."

Gwaine smiled. "I thought you were furious with me."

"Oh, I was. At first, anyway. Then I realized it wasn't your fault. Then I was furious at…"—she gestured—"fate. The world."

"You keep talking about your bad temper," Lancelot interjected, "but I've never seen any signs of it since you've been here. You didn't even lash out at Lionel when he cheated."

Raynelle smiled and looked down at her plate. "It's something I had to work very hard at, believe me. I knew that if I flew off the handle, the chances of my slipping up and giving some sign of who I really was would be much higher. Conquering my temper became part of my training."

"Your training?"

"In being a man!" Raynelle laughed. "Gwyn taught me how to walk, talk, move like a man. He's the one who made my fake beard and eyebrows—he's clever with his hands like that. I already knew how to dance, since I spent a couple of years in Gaul with my mother's people when I was younger—but I had to make the bow more automatic, and more convincingly masculine. Gwyn also had the captain of the men-at-arms bring my sword-fighting skills up to snuff. I have to admit, even after that I would have had little chance of beating you in that single combat I suggested. But at least then," she added seriously, "I could say that I had tried, and had been beaten fairly."

"I have been wondering why you suggested it," Leon admitted. "You must have known how little chance you had."

She shrugged. "I figured that if I won Inglewood by combat, it couldn't be taken from me—even after you found out I was a woman. You would have had to stand by your word. When Sir Gwaine refused, I thought that was it—my chance was lost. But then the option of becoming a knight…" Her eyes sparkled. "It was stupid, probably, since I wouldn't be able to keep my secret forever. But… the idea attracted me, I have to admit. To learn swordfighting from real experts, to be part of something bigger than the concerns of Inglewood, to have the chance to prove myself as a fighter…" she laughed. "I must sound like a terrible romantic. But I was… restless in Inglewood. I needed something more in my life than harvests and rents and the occasional hunting trip. And this was a chance to have a real adventure for once."

"Well, since you've become a Knight of Camelot, I'm sure you'll have plenty more," Arthur said with a grin, and raised his goblet. "To Sir Raynelle!"

"Sir Raynelle!"

000

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her, Merlin, but I gave her my word."

Gaius and Merlin were sitting in Gaius's chambers late that evening, after Arthur and the rest of the knights had left the Great Hall and gone to bed.

"It's alright," Merlin answered. "You did try to get me off the idea that she had magic."

"Yes. Although…" Gaius narrowed his eyes. "Did you take a good look at her face without the beard?"

Merlin nodded. "She looks just a little different in the face when she's wearing it. And she said Gwyn made it."

"I think perhaps it may have been charmed. Not enough to be very noticeable once one knows the truth, but just enough to look very realistic and to help conceal her identity. It's so subtle that perhaps even Raynelle hasn't noticed."

Merlin smiled grimly. "People don't notice very much. This afternoon was at least the tenth time I've used magic in a fight alongside Arthur, and still no one noticed."

"You should be thankful for that."

"I suppose. It does make me wonder about our knights' abilities of observation. How is it Arthur is able to track deer or his enemies and never notices magic?"

"Maybe because he isn't looking for it—isn't expecting it," Gaius answered. "We only noticed the beard because we were already on the lookout for magic. Whatever Arthur notices, maybe he chalks it up to different causes. Or maybe—he doesn't want to notice."

000

There was one thing Arthur had noticed, however, and that was the very grave danger Camelot had been in the day before. He was forced by his father's indisposition to be both the ruler of Camelot and its military leader, and should something happen to him or he be called away from Camelot for an extended time, the kingdom would be left leaderless.

"I think I will send for my uncle Agravaine," he said out of the blue to Merlin the next morning. "He has been offering to come, and I'm starting to think it would be a good idea to have him here. His counsel will be useful, and he can have charge of Camelot when I'm called away by other duties."

"Mm."

"What?"

"What?"

"What do you mean 'Mm'?"

"Er… It means I'm listening."

"It sounded disapproving."

"Why would I disapprove?"

Arthur crossed his arms. "Come on, Merlin. Out with it. What don't you like about the idea?"

Merlin stood up from where he had been making the bed. "I just think—you should trust your own judgment." He began fluffing the pillow diffidently. "You may want to make—changes—that members of the older generation wouldn't care for. I'd hate to see someone persuade you to abandon your own ideas."

"Oh, well if that's all it is, don't worry about it. Agravaine was always a gentle soul—like my mother. I'm sure he won't persuade me to do anything I don't want to do."

Arthur left on the word, and Merlin watched him go, frowning.

000

"I'm sorry you have to go so soon," Gwaine said.

"I've left poor Mabon in charge for too long," Raynelle answered. They were pacing slowly down the corridor together, Raynelle dressed in traveling clothes. "I wrote and told him when I was planning to arrive—I'll be a day late as it is. If I wait any longer, he'll worry."

"I'm glad you have someone you can trust to take stewardship of Inglewood while you're gone. We'll be expecting to see you in Camelot as much as possible."

Raynelle smiled. "You can count on it. By the way—" She stopped and turned to face him. "Thank you for standing by me yesterday. I was afraid you'd be angry with me for lying to you."

"I understand why you did," he answered. "But you kept faith—you put the kingdom's good before your own. You're a good knight, Raynelle." He held out his hand.

"And you, Gwaine," she said, catching his forearm with a quiet smile, "are a good man."

Gwaine found himself unable to answer, and they turned and continued on their way.

"You'll have to save a dance for me when you come back to Camelot," Gwaine said with a return of his teasing grin as they reached the small group in the courtyard. One of the stablehands was just bringing out Raynelle's horse, with her things tied on behind the saddle.

She grinned wickedly. "Who's going to lead, you or me?"

Gwaine paused, then answered, "I'll leave that up to you."

Raynelle threw her head back and laughed, then clapped him heartily on the back. "I'm going to hold you to that," she warned him.

She turned and shook hands with Arthur and Leon, who had come to see her off, and repeated her promise to return.

"And Gwaine," she added merrily, swinging up into the saddle, "come and visit me at Inglewood on your way home from seeing Lady Manon at Caer Ligualid. I promise, this time you'll get to sleep inside the castle."

The knights laughed and made their final farewells, and with a last smile at them and at Gwaine, Raynelle turned her horse and headed out of Camelot.

000

Gwaine was in the orchard, sitting in the branches of an apple tree and swinging his feet in the sunshine. It was summertime, and the apples were still small, green and hard. But there were plenty of them, and Gwaine knew they would make excellent projectiles for throwing at the cows, and when they were bigger, come fall, they would be delicious—crisp and juicy plucked straight off the trees, and sweet in pies with spices bought from the merchants.

Meanwhile, he was being a knight, like his father, taking a perch high in a tree in the darkness to overhear the wicked plots of the king's enemies. He would warn the king and march out with the army to defeat them, taking on the biggest and strongest himself. He was Sir Gwaine, a loyal knight and true.

The sound of footsteps interrupted his make-believe, and he looked around.

"Gwaine?" a familiar voice said.

"Papa!" Gwaine squealed, dropping out of the tree and hitting the ground running. "Papa, papa! You're back!"

His father laughed and caught him up, tossing him into the air as Gwaine shrieked with delight. Sir Loth's warm brown eyes, so like Gwaine's own, twinkled at his son.

"Did you defeat them, Papa? Did you save the kingdom?"

His father laughed. "Of course we did!" He hugged him tightly. "And I've brought back the plunder to prove it. Come on," he added, setting Gwaine down and taking his hand, "let's go and surprise your mother."

Nudging his face deeper into the pillow, Gwaine smiled in his sleep.

The end

AN: For those of you with an interest in Arthuriana, this story was inspired by "The Wedding of Gawain and Dame Ragnell," from the fifteenth century, a later version of Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale." The title (and the feminism) of the story both come from these poems.

When they introduced Tristan and Iseult into the show, I was really hoping they would both get knighted and we would get to see a female Knight of Camelot. But my hopes were dashed when the writers KILLED HER OFF. So I decided to write it myself. I'm hoping to write a sequel at some point in which we would actually get to see Raynelle interacting with the other knights as an acknowledged woman. Judging from the plotbunny I've got at the moment, it'll probably be subtitled "further adventures in crossdressing." :P Meanwhile, I'm going to be picking back up on "Working Backwards"—watch this space!