"Do You Let Signs Tell You What to Do?" — Merlin — Mithian/Vivian

fandom: Merlin
rating: teen+ audiences
characters/pairings: Mithian/Vivian, Mithian&Rodor, Arthur/Vivian, mentions of Arthur/Gwen
length: ~7K words
content notices: deals heavily with canonical mind control and references canonical mutually non-consensual kissing due to same, also contains [discussed and agreed-upon in advance] kissing to break a spell
summary: Mithian is surprised at how much it hurts when Vivian comes back from Camelot talking of nothing but Arthur.
notes: Plot-compliant with 2.10 “Sweet Dreams”, but not quite with 4.11 “The Hunter’s Heart”. I owe a debt of gratitude to versaphile for their map of Albion, although I picked and chose as I wanted/needed from there and from canon both re: the layout of Albion. I would also like to thank lady_ragnell for continuing to be the most patient sounding board/cheer squad anyone could wish, for helping me sort out the politics of Albion, and for unsticking the story even before she beta-read it on appallingly short notice. Written for untold_legends, for the square “against all odds” on my trope_bingo card, and for #6 (“Ours”) of 100_women table #8. Title from Lady Gaga’s “No Floods”, because this is me writing Vivian. (I really ought to break that habit at some point.)
ao3 crosspost: here (contains additional worldbuilding natter in the endnotes)

( And she’s too late, anyway, and a princess may love where she chooses but a queen never. It feels suddenly, terribly unfair that Mithian has made herself a queen-yet-to-be and never allowed herself to notice why she didn’t mind Vivian’s cheerful self-centeredness. )