Chapter Two: The First Chapter With a Name

I awoke (that word sounds so cool, like diabolical or pineapple) the next day with a strong headache. It was about two in the afternoon, and I had somehow hit myself over the head with the pitcher of water on the table by my bed and not spilled it until now. Or, as was more likely, Em had thrown it at me. She was sitting in the only chair that was not covered in books and assorted clothing (this was my reading chair) with an annoying smirk.

"You keep smirking like that and your face'll be sticky..." I slurred, still half asleep.

"Yeah, sure." Suddenly, Em's face became serious (for the first time since we had last discussed the events of The Angels Take Manhattan). "Tomorrow is the day before the day before Lady Helen comes, and I'm worried about the serving girl that she kills."

"Your worried it might be Kay?"

"Exactly."

"Well then, let's... come up with some kind of plan... hang on, I'll get it... oh! We could watch 'Lady Helen' every evening by hiding somewhere in her room, and learn magic in time to prevent whoever sees her from seeing her or use an illusion to make her think she kills the girl while teleporting her to safety." I said, speeding up and adopting my "I'm really smart and I have this great plan so shut up and listen because I know stuff" voice (I had another plan, but we didn't have any duct tape or small sparkly explosives).

"Yeah, but we don't know magic. We could ask for help from (here Em's voice became mocking surprisingly much like Arthur's); I had ranted often in the past about the adorableness of both Merlin and Colin Morgan) Merlin, since neither of us has magic probably, or we don't know how to use it."

"But we can't just tell Merlin we know his secret," I started to whisper in case someone was walking by. "He won't trust us."

"And you two definitely won't have a wedding in the near future if he doesn't trust you," Em snickered.

"Gack! Okay, what if we tell him that you had a vision..." Here I began to unfold my plan, but I was interrupted by a polite knock on the door. The knock was very quiet, and even Kay wasn't that timid. Therefore it was probably a messenger of Uther's, or a secret admirer about to reveal his affections (okay, maybe not the latter...), and I stood to answer it. Em gave a pointed look to my attire, and I realized I was wearing my nightdress. I ran behind the large stack of books (Geoffrey thought I was crazy, but he appreciated that some young people enjoyed literature) as Em answered the door. I heard muffled voices, and a minute later the door closed. As I came out from behind what Em had dubbed my "Book Shield" after I had ducked behind it when she threw a shoe at me, she handed me a formal scroll. "Our king sent it. For you, milady," she curtsied, using a terrible pretentious British accent. She had used a pretty decent one for the past week or so, but she occasionally slipped when she was yelling at someone. "Yeah. Thanks..." I distractedly opened the scroll. Uther had invited us to lunch every day, but that was always verbal. This must be a more formal thing.

To the Princess Calli, It read,

I would like to invite you (and the lady Em) to dine with me and my family this night. There is a sensitive matter to discuss involving my son, Arthur.

Cordially,

Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot

"What?! How come my name's in parenthesis!" Em protested, having read the letter over my shoulder.

"Because I'm just that awesome," I grinned. Oh Fred (fangirl cussing, yep), I had completely forgotten my plan. "Oh, and my planney thingey. So, you tell Merlin you had a vision where Lady Helen's reflection is an atrocious hag, and a girl sees in the mirror and she kills the girl. Say that he has to save her, because you can't tell anyone else." I paused, as Em had raised her hand (I reeeeallly don't know, usually she just interrupted people...) to speak. "Yes, scholar?"

"Why do I have to?" She asked.

"Because he'll trust you more. I'm the bloody princess, so he'll be more timid, but your just royalty. And your shorter, which psychologically makes you look more trustworthy. Not to mention I'm socially awkward."

"True that," Em snickered.

"You should do it now though. Otherwise we may not have another time to do it. I'll come with you." I wanted to go because, I mean, it was Merlin! He had been my first obsessive fictional crush (if you don't count Harry Potter when I was three) and he was awesome.

"Mkay, lez go." And with that she started to leave. "Oh wait, You're not dressed..."

"CRUD! Okay, just be a mo." I ran into my closet and grabbed a random dress. I couldn't see, but they were all really pretty (except the peach one. I HATE peach). After changing and forgoing my crown (I wanted to look casual) I ran out and looked in the mirror. The dress was bronze and blue (yay! Ravenclaw!) and had intricate designs. The sleeves were the kind that looked like wings, and there was this crisscross tie thing on the front. This was my new favorite dress. It even had pockets! I used a single clip on my headfur (that was what I had dubbed my hair after it got stuck on a door (yeah, on. Not in, on)) to hold it back. It still puffed out like Hermione Granger, but I liked bushy hair. Hermione had made it cool. We ran out, and wandered around looking for Merlin. Gaius might think it was weird if we went there, so we were hoping that he would have gone somewhere in the castle on an errand. Suddenly Em stopped, and I almost walked into her. "He's in the stocks!" She facepalmed, looking out the window. There were the stocks, and Merlin was having produce thrown at him. There had been a rule made concerning melons, rocks, and potatoes, but no one really obeyed it or enforced it. We ran out of the castle as quickly as we could, and into the crowd where the stocks were. Merlin was there, and he was trying to keep his head down to avoid the onslaught of food (and the occasional rock). We watched as the people chucking food paused (probably because they had run out) and a girl that we recognized as Gwen walked up to talk to him. I grinned. This was one of my favorite scenes from episode one (next to the mace fight) and I wished I could move closer. We hadn't really talked to Gwen that much yet. I looked around and noticed Kay, who was standing a few feet behind Gwen. She saw us and smiled, waving us over. Em and I walked towards her, and Kay tapped Gwen on the shoulder. "Gwen, this is Calli and Em."

"Oh, hello," she awkwardly curtsied.

"Hi. Oh, no need for that. Where we came from everyone was treated pretty much equally." I said. I didn't want to be judged as a royal. I wanted people to know the real me.

"Hello, Gwen!" Em shook her hand. I held out my hand as well, smiling brightly as I shook Gwen's. I turned to Merlin. "Hi! Merlin, right?"

"Yeah." He shook my hand, and then turned to Em. "Sorry about... the poison thing..." he said awkwardly. I noticed my hand felt weird, like it had just been dunked in a bucket of numbness and electricity (weird analogy, but that's what it felt like). Em grinned and shook his hand, snapping me out of my thoughts. "It's fine. Happens all the time," she joked.

I looked around, seeing the people coming back with a wave of fresh rotten fruit (fresh, rotten. There's an oxymoron for you) and grinned. "Here come your fans. When are they supposed to let you out of here?"

"I'm not sure. Probably not until a little before supper." He said glumly.

"Well, I'll see if I can get you out sooner. Arthur can be a real pain in the- well, let's just say he's a jerk." I said. Arthur definitely wasn't on my list of favorite people in the universe (not in this episode anyway) but Merlin was. He grinned gratefully. "Thanks, but if it's too much trouble you don't-"

"It's no bother, really." I told him. We left quickly (Merlin's "fans" were back) and as we walked back to the castle I realized I was blushing.

"Are you alright? Your face is turning red," smirked Em.

"M' fine." I mumbled. That had been awkward... but I couldn't just let Merlin get pounded by food forever. He was too adorable. I mentally smacked myself. I was freaking trapped in Camelot, and instead of trying to get home I was thinking about Merlin. Kay and Gwen kept going towards the castle, but I stopped. Em hung back as well. "What is it?" She asked, looking curious.

"I have to go talk to those guards. I can't leave Merlin there to get covered in tomatoes. No matter how funny it is." I turned to walk back to the guards, but Em stopped me.

"They won't listen. They're loyal to Arthur, you've read enough fanfiction to know that. But maybe if we..." I listened very closely as she explained her plan. I altered it a bit, and then we were on our way. It was time... to save Merlin from the fruit. (That sounded better in my head...)

A/N: I'm so sorry! I had school... and my life (well, does a virtual life count?) and OMGOMGOMG THE DOCTOR WHO XMAS THING AND THE 50TH AND I STILL HAVEN'T SEEN SHERLOCK SEASON3EPISODE1 BECAUSE I LIVE IN SMERICA I MEAN COME ON I WANNA BE BRITISH... :'( I just decided I like Green Day because I hadn't heard them and then they came on Imagine Dragons pandora (I almost typed Pandorica) so yeah. I've gotten positive feedback for this story so far, but I'm still paranoid that it's Mary-Sue. Just reveiw! (ooh rhyme!)

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: Should this fic be Merlin/Calli? Or should I make an OC for me to date? (I wish I could make one and then have him exist in real life...)

THE SECOND QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER BECAUSE I CAN: Sothere'sthisschooldancecomingupandmycrushisagradeaheadofmeandhe'ssooooocute. WHATDOIDO?!