"Huh." That was Elena's only response but she packed a lot of meaning into that single sound. Around them, the small coffee place buzzed with activity, from students from the nearby university studying to workers on their lunch break. The smell of coffee filled the air, mingling with the soulless tunes that played over the speakers.
"It's a job with the royal family." Gwen slouched into the chair. "If I do this well, I might be able to quit my job and freelance more."
"I don't think we've ever entered into the world of matchmaking before," said Elena. "Why not hire a professional matchmaker?"
"It's all confidential. Hiring a matchmaker would be too obvious. Can you imagine the tabloids?" Gwen picked up her mug of tea and blew across the hot liquid. "Anyway, for whatever reason, they decided to go with me and I am not complaining."
Elena gave her a look over her own large mug. "Be careful. I wouldn't trust royalty."
"Oh, why?" This intrigued Gwen. She'd lived all her life in Camelot and the royal families were always part and parcel of Camelot life and she couldn't imagine it any other way. It wasn't as it they had much political power, technically, although she wasn't blind to the immense influence they wielded in other ways. Her own feelings for them, as an entity, ranged from vague fascination to indifference.
"Because they are rich and powerful and you should never trust the rich and powerful." Elena leaned forward. "More importantly, Uther Penn is a snake and has no qualms about lying to achieve his ends. I wouldn't be surprised if Merlin was the same."
"I liked Merlin. He seemed nice."
"Who don't you like?" At Gwen's raised eyebrow, Elena raised her hands. "Right. Vivian and Catrina."
"They are fine individually, but together?" Gwen shuddered. "Now, do you want the last bite of the cheesecake? Because it's begging me to eat it."
Laughing, Elena pushed the plate towards Gwen. "Have at it. Don't get it on that white blouse. You want to make a good impression tonight."
The conversation drifted to Elena's daughter, to Vivian and Catrina's latest annoying habits and then to Elena's good for nothing ex-husband.
"If this all works out and I can quit working with Catrina, I'd hire you," said Gwen. "Imagine the two of us working together. We'll conquer the personal concierge world."
"Me and my dog walking and cooking duties and you and your royal assignments? What a pair."
Gwen grinned. "I'm sure we'll work something out. When Arthur and his selected bride get married, they are sure to have children. You can work on the baby shower, the birthdays."
"Why don't you take things step by step? Go meet the prince tonight."
Gwen sipped her tea. "You're right. Shouldn't get too carried away. He might take one look at me and decide I'm not good enough."
Planning always made Gwen feel more secure. If you had a plan, and a plan B just in case, things was more likely than not to go well. As she stood outside the heavy gates of the royal residence, waiting to be let in, Gwen ran through her plan in her head. It was simple – smile a lot, be amiable and observe. The crown prince was well loved, thanks to no small part to his looks. The camera loved him, evidence in the covers of tabloids that he often found himself plastered across. And Gwen had enough experience to know that men with money and looks tended to love themselves too much.
While the royal family owned several castles around Albion, their living quarters was this large house tucked away in a lush forest. In her small car, she had had to navigate down a small road that took her through tall trees and until the clearing broke and the house loomed in front of her. The house screamed old money and when she finally was led into the main hall, the dripping chandelier and the paintings in large gold frames only served to confirm that view.
The young man who had let her into the hall gestured for her to follow him up the sweeping flight of steps. On the outside, Gwen strove to maintain a calm façade, as if all these were nothing new, but inside, Gwen couldn't stem the thrill of being in such a place and seeing how the royal family lived. She wondered if Catrina or Viv had ever been inside.
"If you wait here, his majesty and Merlin will be with you soon." The young man bowed stiffly, then left her alone in the small room. Thick, plush carpet covered the floor and Gwen wondered how inappropriate it would be if she kicked off her shoes and let her feet sink into it.
Smile, be amiable and observe. Do not be inappropriate.
Taking off shoes would be very inappropriate.
She wandered around the room and looked at all the large, looming portraits of royalty past, all staring down at her.
"Gwen!" The door was flung open with a bang, and Merlin walked in, followed by the crown prince. "I'm glad you came. This is Arthur, the crown prince."
Startled, she swung around, her heel caught on the carpet and she stumbled towards the prince, who had somehow lunged forward and caught her. Under her hands, his chest was warm and solid, and within seconds, she too knew how his hands felt on her as he steadied her.
Heat flooded her face as she jerked herself out of his hold. Amusement danced in his eyes and he held out a hand.
"Gwen. I'm Arthur."
She swallowed, shaken both by her stumble and by how attractive she found the prince. Sure, she'd known that he was good-looking, but in person, with a smile that crinkled the corners of his surprisingly bright, blue eyes, he made her body tingle. Clearing her throat, she managed to say quite normally, "Arthur. I'm Gwen. Uh, should I curtsey?"
His smile widened. "If you want. It is protocol."
Despite having practised the curtsey in front of her mirror several times, Gwen was pretty sure she was making a mess of it, going by the grin on his face and the laughter in his eyes.
"Great curtsey," said Merlin, once she returned to a standing position. "Now that we've gotten the introductions out of the way, let's get down to business. Come, let's sit somewhere comfortable."
Merlin walked to another room, one that was just as luxuriously furnished, yet seemed a lot less impersonal. Photos filled the surfaces of the room and a glance at a few of them showed happy photos of a young family frolicking in various places in Camelot, some she recognised, others she didn't. One particular photo of a garden caught her attention. The garden was nowhere as large or as manicured as the palace gardens she had passed earlier, but there was a certain rugged, untamed charm to them. Without thinking, she reached out a hand and touched it.
"That's at my house in Ealdor." The prince was suddenly next to her, his arm brushing against hers, making her shiver.
"It's very pretty." In the distance, she could see the manor which the prince referred to. She didn't say that it looked rundown and not somewhere she would want to stay in. But pride was evident in his voice earlier and Gwen didn't want to upset him.
Merlin groaned. "Don't encourage him. He can talk about Ealdor House forever. Here, let's sit down."
Once the three of them settled down around a large mahogany table, which Gwen surreptitiously ran a hand across, Merlin pushed a dangerously tottering pile of folders towards her. "These are the women the King has picked as being suitable for Arthur."
Arthur rolled his eyes but said nothing.
Merlin continued. "You should probably take some time to look through them. Get to know them, since you will need to endear Arthur to them -"
"I don't need Gwen to sell me to them!" Arthur crossed his arms and slouched into his seat, the tiniest hint of a pout on his face, making Gwen smile. He looked like a sulking golden labrador.
Gwen turned to Merlin. "Is there a folder for the prince as well?"
"God, I should hope not!" Arthur shot up and looked at Merlin. "Dad didn't make you put together a dossier on me, did he? Oh God. Has he been circulating them to all the eligible women in Camelot?"
"He did think about it," said Merlin with a grin. "I offered to dig out some photos from your childhood -"
Arthur groaned. "You did not. Please tell me you told him it was a terrible idea."
"Morgana -"
Arthur groaned again and rubbed his face. "Why is my sister involved in this?"
Gwen could see that Merlin was literally squirming with glee at Arthur's reactions and she wondered what the relationship was between him and the prince. Right hand man seemed too inadequate a descriptor.
"She does have some great stories to tell about you. Like that time you dropped -"
"Swear to me that there is no such dossier, because you put a stop to that nonsense." Arthur leaned across the table towards Merlin. "Or you're accompanying me to Ealdor House next week."
Merlin let out a faux-aggrieved sigh. "Of course there is no such dossier. I convinced your father that doing so would make you even more uncooperative in this mission."
"Mission," muttered Arthur. "Right." Then he turned his bright, blue eyes on Gwen. "Do you have a plan already to get me married?"
"Well," said Gwen after taking a deep breath to quell her nerves. She had come up with a draft plan but without knowing the women or Arthur better, she was reluctant to share it. "It's nothing special right now, but I'm thinking that obviously, both parties have to get to know each other better. So based on your shared interests, I'll come up with a number of activities that would be fun and would facilitate getting to know each other."
"So no dinner dates?"
"Some people like dinner dates!"
Arthur looked at Merlin. "That's because you and Gwaine are obsessed with cooking and food."
Gwen cleared her throat and the two men returned their attention to her. If she hadn't known of Merlin and Gwaine, she would have thought that Arthur and Merlin had something going on, and she was here to arrange some sort of cover up relationship.
"I will need to get to know you better, Arthur, before I can work out what activities would be most suitable. And since there is no convenient dossier of you, I think it would be good if we could spend some time together so I can ask you some questions."
"Before we do that, we should discuss the parameters of this, the expectations we have of you and various other nitty gritty stuff," said Merlin as he pulled out a folder of his own.
Absurdly, Gwen felt a tickle of amusement at just the number of folders that were involved in this. Then, as she looked up as Merlin rambled on, Arthur caught her eye, looked at the piles of folders on the table, then smiled, a small, secret smile that seemed aimed just for her.
And her heart stumbled.
Oh crap.
Gwen was definitely the woman he had spoken to at that gothic party. A woman who knew what gothic was and evoked it brilliantly. How could he not like her already? And then, there was her voice. Not sticky and bitter, but smooth and warm. As she and Merlin hashed out details of the deal, he mostly sat there and watched the animation in her face and enjoyed the cadence in her voice. Despite how his father had bullied him into this, Arthur wasn't completely averse to the scheme. It was time he stopped brooding over what might have been with Sophia and he did like the idea of being in a relationship with someone.
Plus, Merlin had said that Gwen, aside from helping him find a potential wife, would also assist him with the restoration of Ealdor House. It was supposed to be her cover for hanging around him, but maybe, if he had someone to keep him on track, to help with all the finicky details, he could actually get the place done. He'd bought the place over a year ago and the assessment and survey of the place had taken up a lot more time than he'd expected. But now, once he had all the information, he could actually start to work out a plan to restore the Tudor residence.
"When will you be free for me to get to know you better?"
Merlin jabbed him in his thigh, jolting him from his imaginings of his home.
"What -"
"Gwen wants to know when she can get to know you better." Merlin grinned. "I have to say, there isn't much point to that. Arthur -"
"Shut up. I don't know how Gwaine puts up with you," muttered Arthur as he pulled out his tablet. His calendar was full of plans to work on his house and it looked like his father's brilliant new idea had put a crimp in his plans.
Unless.
"My father didn't say I have to stay in Camelot for this, right?"
"Well -" said Merlin. "That wasn't really mentioned."
"Good," said Arthur. He put his tablet down and beamed at Gwen, who looked adorably confused. "How about we spend next week at Ealdor House and you can get to know me better?"
Arthur supposed it might have been a little foolish to have expected Gwen to squeal with excitement about his plans, he still couldn't help feeling disappointed when her brows furrowed even more and she looked like she was on the verge of saying no.
"I was told you'd be helping me with the restoration, so we can kill two birds with one stone."
"Of course," she said primly. "I'm sure I can arrange for that to happen."
"Brilliant. This is working out wonderfully already," said Arthur. "I can't wait to show you Ealdor House."
Merlin and Gwen continued to chat a while more, working out schedules and other such stuff, while Arthur simply allowed himself to look at her. Now and then, she would lift her head, catch his eye and press her lips together in disapproval, but he could see the flush of her cheeks. She was a pretty one, easy on the eyes and Arthur didn't think he'd have much trouble working with her. She also seemed highly organised, which was definitely a skill he lacked. Yup, agreeing to his father's plan had been a smart idea. Gwen would help him restore Ealdor House and maybe he'll fall in love, maybe he wouldn't. But he'll have a lovely Tudor residence far from his father once this was all done.
AN: Did quite a bit of writing over the weekend! :D Thanks for all the comments.