She first appeared in Camelot when King Uther hosted a feast to celebrate the defeat of a dangerous shape-shifting beast that he claimed his son slaughtered. (But we all know it was really Merlin who did so.) The beautiful, cloaked woman who had introduced herself to the King as Lady Eris, eldest daughter of the late Lord Cronus. She said that her home and family had been taken from her by raiders and bandits and she had barely made it out alive. The King had taken pity on her and allowed her to stay in Camelot for as long as she needed.

Merlin didn't like her in the least.

Lady Eris had been staying with them for three months now and somehow charmed the hearts of a majority of Camelot's population. Especially of one Arthur Pendragon. Merlin noticed how the two seemed to spend a lot of time together, sharing secret affectionate smiles when every they were near one another. The sight made him sick. Not wanting a replay of the Sofia incident, the manservant had gone out of his way to search her rooms. Unfortunately, he found nothing suspicious.

Anyway, Uther was hosting another celebration to welcome the arrival of a king from a neighboring land who wished to become an ally of Camelot. Merlin was forced to serve, not only Arthur, but also all of the other lords and ladies who were attending. So, as Merlin stood all the way across the room, pouring Leon some more wine, he watched with narrow eyes as Arthur and Lady Eris whispered words into each other's ears, giggling and blushing at their comments. The manservant's hands gripped the wine bottle tightly and he didn't realize that the cup had overflowed.

"Merlin," Leon muttered, though loud enough to hear over the music. "I believe that's plenty of wine."

The manservant stopped pouring and looked down at the purple puddle that had formed on the table. "Oh! My apologies, Leon," he said, hastily finding a rag to soak up the spilled beverage.

The knight looked at him with a raised brow. "You seem distracted tonight," he noticed. "Well... more distracted than usual."

Merlin's ears burned and his eyes cast downwards in embarrassment. "I-I suppose I'm just overwhelmed with the task of serving everyone," he lied blatantly.

Leon looked at him, unconvinced, but decided not to pry. Merlin tried one of his signature goofy grins in reassurance before walking off to serve Morgana who had beckoned him over. When he got to her, she pushed her cup to him.

"I don't like her," she whispered.

"Excuse me, milady? Who do you mean?" Merlin inquired, pausing in his pouring.

"Lady Eris. I don't like her and I never have. And I know you dislike her as well," she accused. "Everyone seems to be so taken with her but you and I. Even Gwen has succumbed to her charms."

Merlin bit his lip. It was true, he did not like Lady Eris very much. She may be beautiful with her wavy auburn hair and brilliant emerald eyes, kind to everyone regardless of their rank, and has a voice as lovely and delicate as a prose sung by a seraph of heaven. Merlin knew that there had to be some ulterior motive, some dark, secret plan. But he had no evidence. Morgana drew him nearer.

"I had a dream, Merlin. And Eris was in it like Sofia had been. But this time, it was worse," her eyes were wide and afraid.

"What? What happened?" the manservant urged.

"She... she watched as Camelot burned. And Arthur," she choked. "He laid dead at her feet. Merlin, it felt so real. I-"

"Shh, it's alright," Merlin cooed, trying to keep her quiet as to keep unwanted attention away. "When did you have this dream?"

"The night before she arrived," Morgana answered. "It's been haunting my sleep ever since."

The manservant frowned but paused when he saw how terrified the girl was. He plastered on a reassuring grin and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

"I'll talk to Gaius about this, don't you worry, milady. Please do not dwell too much about what might happen and relax," he said softly, earning a nervous smile in return.

They parted and the night went on, soon everyone left much later either sober enough to walk or inebriated to the point of unconsciousness. Merlin was dismissed for the night by a slightly drunk Arthur with a blushing Lady Eris linked to his arm. He tried his hardest to not snap out a snarky remark and instead bowed before leaving for Gaius's tower.

He entered the room, slamming the door behind him in frustration.

"Merlin!" the old physician exclaimed in surprise.

The young sorcerer flinched at his tone, ducking his head in shame. "Sorry..." he muttered.

Gaius sighed, shaking his head. "It's alright," he forgave. "Now... are you going to tell me why you decided to violently shut my door?"

Merlin refused to look up and instead chose to stare at his boots. "I think I'd rather not," he said quietly and then found enough courage to lift his head. "But, um, there is something else that I'd like to talk about."

"And that would be?"

"Morgana."

Gaius stiffened, but nodded. Merlin took that as his cue to continue. "She told me earlier that she had a dream the night before Lady Eris arrived. The dream included the burning of Camelot and Arthur laying dead at Eris's feet," he explained, expression serious.

The physician frowned. "What motive would she have to destroy the kingdom? She is quite an innocent girl."

Merlin felt something twist down in his lower abdomen. "Have you forgotten that Morgana may be a Seer? Also, Eris could very well be deceiving you!"

Gaius shook his head. "I'm sorry, Merlin. But I just can't believe that Lady Eris has evil intentions."

The young sorcerer felt anger pool in his stomach. "Fine then, don't believe me! I don't even care about the fate of Camelot, anyway!" he shouted in frustration and stormed into his room, slamming the door again.

"You're being childish, Merlin!" Gaius called after him.

The next morning was a cloudy one. No blue sky nor blinding sun was visible in the ever gray sky. But it wasn't as if Merlin cared. In fact, he was very sure that if he were to see the sun now, he'd vomit. He barely spoke to anyone that morn. Even his usual remarks to Arthur were absent and he did his duties in a sullen silence. Arthur, of course, didn't seem to notice his different behavior and used it as an opportunity to talk about how wonderful Eris was. Each statement that was uttered was like a stab to the heart and Merlin wanted to scream at him and tell him that he thought Eris was evil; to tell him that he has magic and that he-No. He couldn't do any of those. He was a coward.

"-I mean, I don't know how anyone could not like Eris," Arthur claimed, interrupting his manservant's thoughts.

Merlin resisted a snort. He knew how one could dislike her. The manservant scurried across the room to polish the prince's boots before he could say anything he would regret.

"What do you think of Eris, Merlin?" Arthur inquired, looking over to his manservant.

Merlin froze for a moment, the brush resting on the leather boot as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "She's... lovely, sire," he lied, returning to his polishing.

Arthur seemed satisfied with that answer and continued to pace around the room as he talked. "Yes, she'd make a wonderful consort, wouldn't she?"

Merlin's chest tightened and he stopped again, looking up and into the hearth. "So you plan on marrying her, then?" he asked, hands trembling.

He could hear the prince's smile in his voice as he said fondly, "yes. I suppose I might."

The manservant dropped the polishing brush and boot, causing Arthur to look at him in surprise. Wish a muttered excuse, he hastily left the room. Merlin shouldn't be acting this way, he knew that much. Arthur finally found someone that made him happy and he shouldn't go around and spoil his mood. And yet his heart ached at the thought of his prince being with another, but he didn't dwell too much on the feeling.

Merlin had made it all the way to the courtyard, breathing in the chill air, before he finally found the fortitude to return to Arthur's chambers. He walked back into the castle with stinging eyes when he bumped into Lady Eris herself. He clenched his teeth and bowed slightly, uttering an apology. Eris smiled politely at him and lifted his chin.

"It's quite alright, there's no need to apologize when no one got hurt," she said with a tinkle of a laugh.

Merlin resented the sound. He nodded to her before stepping back and turning to leave. But before he could take another step, Eris stopped him.

"Merlin, correct?" she asked, a smile still on her face.

The manservant nodded. Eris laughed lightly before yanking down on his neckerchief so that they were at a close proximity.

"I can see that you suspect me of being someone evil, who would dare to hurt your precious prince and kingdom," she stroked the side of his face and her eyes glowed. "And I have to say; I'm impressed by your revelation. If you weren't in love with the prince, you, too, would have been caught under my spell. You have your envy to thank for that."

Merlin glared at her. "I'll tell him. I'll tell everyone that you're a liar. I'll tell the king that you're planning to destroy Camelot," he spat.

Eris chuckled diabolically. "Do you really think that they'll believe you? After I've gained so much of their trust in these few months? I'll tell them you're a sorcerer and they'll have your head."

Merlin struggled against her grip. Eris's eyes glowed brighter and suddenly, the air grew thin and he couldn't breathe. He choked and spluttered, trying to get away as he fell to the floor, gasping for air. Eris simply watched with a sinister grin, walking up to him slowly and crouching down to his level.

"If you try anything with your magic to stop me from destroying this kingdom, I'll kill Arthur, and then I 'll kill you," she said simply, standing up and walking off as Merlin succumbed to unconsciousness.

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