Chapter 1: A/N: The traditional welsh name for Cassiopeia was Llys Dôn (literally "The Court of Dôn")Sir Bruin was first mentioned in Howard Pyle, but is thought to be one of the original 32 Knights of the Round Table. All other characters, except for Casiopea and her family, belong to BBC and the writers of Merlin. There may be small changes in appearance, but dialogue from the show is exclusively property of its rightful owner. This story begins about six months before Merlin arrives at Camelot the first time and Uther executes Tom Collins.

"¡Socorro! ¡Alguien!" Cassie called again and again.

But no one answered. The pain was blinding. All she could think about was the searing pain up her right leg. She vaguely remembered Blaze, the mare she was riding, stepping on a piece of unstable land and breaking her front leg in the process. She could feel Blaze breathing hard, shaking in pain and unable to move off. She could also feel acutely how the ground was shaking, thundering almost. She heard the hooves before seeing the horses and their horsemen. Knights, judging by their chainmail and weapons, wearing coats of red with an unknown sigil on their surcoats.

The knights saw Blaze fallen and panting, clearly in pain and stopped in their tracks. The leader, a tall man with kind, blue eyes and long, ginger hair approached the horse to end its pain.

"Hey there girl. What's happened to you?" he said softly, stroking its mane as he talked. "Worry not mighty steed, for I will take the pain away. May your spirit always roam free and happy."

As he said those final words he took his dagger and pierced its heart. The girl, shaking from pain and fear, cried out as he turned to leave.

"¡No! ¡No me dejes! ¡Por favor, ayúdame!" she said, tears leaking down her pale, pain-filled visage.

At once the knight yelled out "Help me lift the horse, there's someone trapped under her!"

As if of one mind, all the knights dismounted and went to move the horse off the girl. With every inch the horse was moved off her, the pain multiplied. It took the knights a good ten minutes to move the horse off completely, and in that time Cassie had fainted out of sheer pain. The knight, worry lacing his features, scooped her up into his arms and passed her over to one of his other knights.

" Make sure she gets to Gaius once we get to Camelot, Sir Bruin. The King will be waiting for me when we get back."

"Of course, Sir Leon. I'll see to it that she gets the care required." Sir Bruin said.

The knights all rode at a hard pace, the young girl in Sir Bruin's saddle urging them on. They reached Camelot two hours sooner than they had planned. Once inside the gates the knights broke off, Sir Bruin took the girl up to Gaius' chambers to be treated, whilst Sirs Leon et al went off to speak with the King.

"Gaius!" Sir Bruin greeted. " We found this girl pinned under a horse on our patrol! It's possible she broke her ankle. She fainted shortly after we got her out from under the horse and hasn't roused since."

"Very well, Sir Bruin, lay her on the cot for me to look her over, if you will, then send word to the kitchens for some animal fat, egg whites and flour. Oh, and fetch the smelling salts from the cupboard before you take your leave. Actually, forget the kitchens, there's too much swelling for me to cast her now. I'll have to wait a few days. Thank you, Sir Bruin." Gaius said.

Once she was on the cot, he began his examination. First he felt her scalp for any bumps or blood, in case she hit her head in the fall. Then he went about setting her fracture and splinting it. Once that was done, he used the smelling salts to revive her.

"¡Ay! ¡Qué dolor! ¡Que asco!" Cassie exclaimed. "¿Quién es usted? ¿Dónde estoy?" she asked him.

Gaius looked on in confusion as she spoke, clearly she wasn't from the Isles. In fact, she spoke a language he never heard before. Try as he might he had no clue how to communicate with the girl.

"Respóndame señor, ¿quién es?" Cassie demanded.

"I'm afraid, my dear, that I cannot understand a word you are saying. Do you understand me?" Gaius tried. "My name is Gaius, I'm the Court Physician in Camelot, do you know where that is?"

"¿Camelot? ¡No entiendo!" she said in a quaking voice.

The building confusion warred with the anger she felt at not understanding a word of what was said, and the pain was slowly coming back to her. Tears welled up in her big blue eyes as memories she tried to keep at bay suddenly came crashing forward and her hand automatically went to hold her necklace. The old physician looked on in worry and consternation and sat down to console her.

"There, there. I know it must all seem very confusing and frightening, but we won't hurt you. I'm here to help, you mustn't cry." Gaius said as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

They sat there for almost an hour, her crying and shaking, and him soothing her. When her sobs subsided and her tears stopped falling she told him shakily
"Casiopea."