Curtains Rise

Love is a many splendid thing; love lifts us up where we belong…

All we need is love.

The city during the day was far less impressive than at night, without all it's parties and it's grandeur the city seemed to rest more during the day than it ever did when the sun was down. It wasn't calm, people still pushed and shoved tourists out of their way to make it to their jobs in time, hustlers still lined street corners to sell whatever they could, and the cars of the fabulously wealthy still paraded down the avenues in search of their next source of entertainment. The city simply seemed to be allowing it's self to recover before starting the nightly celebration over again.

It was a peaceful chaos that could spit a person out just as quickly as it could make them King of the world.

And Gwen loved it.

Her bank account however, did not.

Finding a way to stay in the city she had grown to love so much became more of a trial than anything else. Rent was high and with her brother Elyan's recent attraction to military life Guinevere had found her self alone in the city with small temp jobs here and there to keep from wasting the last of her father's inheritance. Due to budget cuts however, staying in a job long enough to support herself had become nearly impossible.

The last chance she had to stay in her beloved city lay on a small piece of paper baring the instructions to the last place in town she knew to be hiring. Slipped into her hand by a skinny man with slightly too large ears the piece of paper seemed to burn a hole in her pocket until she agreed to look into it further. And though nightclubs and high-end resorts were never her forte everyone knew the Pendragon name paid incredibly well.

Against her better judgments and the small amount of dignity she had left Gwen found her self staring up at one of—if not the most—infamous resorts in the city.

The Camelot Resort and Casino. Built like something from a fairytale the rumors surrounding it were just threatening enough to keep a fresh batch of employees every year along with a constant flow of loyal guests and brave tourists. It was the last place a girl as goodhearted as Gwen needed to go, but it was also the last place willing to take her in.

So with a determined sigh and a small prayer to whoever was listening the small girl found herself striding proudly through the marble doorway, intent on outlasting whatever trouble the secrets of the wealthy tried to cause.

xXx

"You need a vacation." The voice came over Arthur's phone for the forth time that day. Despite the fact the response to each call has been an abrupt dropped call or a few foul words. No amount of disregard seemed to stop Arthur's phone from ringing.

"I've told you Merlin. I'm too busy to just walk out on things here," Arthur said with a groan.

"You wouldn't be walking out on things, you'd just be changing offices! Besides if you took me along it'd be a work expense or something." The voice continued, barely able to hide it's excitement over the prospect of a vacation. "What's the point of owning all those big hotels if you can't stay there anyway! It'll be fun, I promise."

With an exasperated sigh Arthur leaned back in his office chair, looking at the rather disorganized room around him. Papers falling off his desk, picture frames bumped out of place by slammed doors and rushed meetings, the remnants of lunch shoved away in a trashcan along with the latest economics report. Perhaps it was time to step back from the clutter and relax.

His father still had time left to finish the business proposals before retiring and their direct family had yet to frequent one of their many luxury resorts. The majority of the work had been completed already anyhow, so taking one small vacation to enjoy his youth couldn't really be seen as avoiding his duties.

There would be time to work on things at the resort anyway, it would simply be a check up on another branch of the Pendragon empire.

"Fine," Arthur said with a small smile escaping his lips, "We can go on one vacation I suppose. But you're still going to be working Merlin. Don't think you're getting off that easily."

"I wish it were that easy." Merlin's excitement was so large Arthur could practically hear him smiling. "I'll get the plane tickets and we'll be there by tomorrow night."

xXx

After what had seemed like an eternity of strange and moderately invasive interview questions Gwen found herself waiting in the lobby of the Camelot resort, watching enviously at the women walking by with their designer getups and perfectly tamed hair. It was as though she'd been placed in the presence of lords and ladies from all over the world but simply did not know any of their names. The interview room wasn't any better; in fact Gwen was the only woman there who didn't look ready to seduce the interviewer.

She counted too.

Caught up so thoroughly in her own fantasies as people too wealthy to do anything but spend their money Gwen barely noticed as a tall and gorgeous brunette walked up in front of her, handing a small form for her to sign.

"Guinevere Leodegrance?" The woman's voice chimed, snapping Gwen back to reality.

"Yes?"

A smile crossed the woman's flawlessly pale face, flashing stunningly white teeth. "My name is Morgana Pendragon. I'd let to welcome you to the resort. If you'd sign the disclosure form I'll start giving you a tour. You're going to be very busy around here."

The automatic looks of disdain for Gwen shot like daggers form the other applicants eyes, unbeknownst to Gwen she had managed to secure one of the most sought after openings this side of town. Though none of the women looked like the particularly needed the job there was something about the promise of working under the Pendragon's that drew people of all backgrounds together and left them fighting for a spot.

With a parade of 'thank-you's' Gwen took the form, signing anywhere she could, barely reading the fine print. What she did manage to read during her frantic skimming was slightly perplexing though. The promise of work and of allegedly being kept very busy seemed to hold a longer lifespan than the contract stated. Claiming she would be required to undergo a trial week before being given the full job. No more details about what occurred after that trail week were mentioned however, so Gwen shrugged it off as a small technicality.

"You'll be working as a waitress for the time being, we're always short staffed there," Morgana explained as she waited on the contract. "Once that's done though you'll be working for me. You'll be our new starlet, isn't that exciting!"

Handing the contract up Guinevere couldn't help but smile at the woman's enjoyment even if she didn't quite understand why it was happening. "I'm sure it will be."

"Now follow me," Morgana said with a sisterly smile. "There is still so much to do before you can start, and we haven't even begun to talk about where you'll be working in here." Leading Gwen from the loby the smile never left Morgana's face, her own agenda running through her head almost as fast as her explanation of the resort's customs.

Oh yes, she'll do. Morgana thought. She'll do quite nicely.