Merlin doesn't belong to me.

The Stand-In

"I can't believe you're making me do this," Arthur Pendragon told his father.

"It's a skill every Pendragon male is expected to have," Uther replied.

"Sewing, Father?" Arthur asked again. "There are machines that do that now so that we don't have to do it by hand."

"Some of the designs have to be handcrafted and you did say you wanted to know every facet of the business," Uther reminded his son.

"I know what I said," Arthur replied, "and I do mean it, I want to know every facet of the business but sewing, come on Father."

"I remember when your grandfather made me do this I protested but he wouldn't budge and in the end I was very grateful to him."

"Yes, I know the story," Arthur interrupted, "that is how you met Mother. She was your instructor."

Uther nodded.

"So is this your way of setting me up?" Arthur asked, knowing his parents he couldn't put past them to have brought up the sewing thing now just to get him hitched. Ygraine had been talking about how he wasn't getting any younger, she probably had a suitable would-be daughter-in-law all lined up to teach him how to sew.

"No, actually," Uther told his son. "We are not trying to set you up, you'll be glad to know that your instructor is going to be Leon, there's no one who knows more about the design section and the designs than him."

"Leon, that's great," Arthur was relieved. He knew Leon; the whole sewing thing was going to be a breeze.

000

"And don't forget you agreed to let me be in charge next week," Guinevere Price said as she stood to leave the office.

"I know what I said," Leon Trenton replied, "and I'm a man of my word."

"Good," Gwen smiled at him. "I can't wait to show all the ideas I have for this place."

Leon smiled at her. She was so excited about being in charge for the week and Leon would be able to go away with Kate. They'd been planning the get-away for months and Leon had been sure he would have to cancel again but as Gwen had convinced him, and Kate had reiterated, she was capable of holding the fort for a week at least and it wasn't if there was anything major planned for the week he was going to be away and he planned to be reachable.

000

Arthur entered the office and looked fully expecting to see his old friend Leon. It would be good to catch up on all the news and maybe learn more about sewing and designs as well.

Instead he saw a woman. Young. Caramel skinned. Curly-haired. Very pretty. But more importantly a woman.

"You must be Arthur Pendragon," she said to him. "Leon told me about your uhmm… meeting." When Gwen had realized that Leon was to be Arthur Pendragon's sewing instructor this week she'd almost changed her mind about being in charge but she'd already promised Kate that work wouldn't stand in the way of the getaway that she and Leon had been planning for months, so she'd had to stick to it.

Besides, she'd told herself that although Arthur was the heir to the Pendragon fortune and that his picture appeared in the society pages hanging out with different beauties all the time, there were articles about him in the business pages as well as the fact that he'd also been hailed as a financial whiz kid. This in addition to the varying accounts he'd heard of him from Morgana and Leon made her want to meet him. Purely as a social experiment she told herself.

"Good morning," Arthur said politely. "I'm supposed to be meeting with Leon."

"Yes," Gwen agreed, "Leon's away with Kate for the week. I'm standing in for him; I'm Guinevere Price…Gwen."

"Good for Kate," Arthur smiled. "She finally got him to take some time off."

"Yes."

"So you're in charge for the week?" Arthur asked. "You're going to be my instructor?"

"Yes," Gwen replied. "I'm fully qualified."

"I don't doubt that." Arthur knew that he shouldn't ask because she obviously wouldn't tell him the truth but he still did. "My Mother set this up, didn't she?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My mother," Arthur insisted. "She arranged it so that Leon would be going away this week and that you'd be my sewing instructor."

"Your mother didn't set this up, I worked very hard to be in charge this week," Gwen told him. "But if you want another instructor be my guest."

"I didn't to suggest that you aren't good enough to be -"

"Good enough?" Gwen was done with being polite even to her future boss. "You're lucky to have me showing you around let alone teaching you about the designs. Being set up with me would be the best thing that ever happened to you."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Really?"

"Huh…Miss Price we got off on the wrong foot. Shall we try again?"

"Just be glad that I like my job and I take pride in doing it well."

"Again, I am very sorry for suggesting that my Mother set this up or that you're not qualified to teach."

"Fine." Gwen pinned a fake smile on her face. "So shall we get started Mr. Pendragon?"

"After you, Miss Price." Arthur had a feeling it was going to be a long week.

000