Eli yawned and sat up. She glanced behind herself at where Ava was lying, and had to refrain from snickering at the unkempt hair. Eli's own hair maintenance was pretty simple, since it involved wishing that it would look better, and then watching as it looked better. Magic may not be permitted in Camelot at this time, but what the people didn't see wasn't going to harm them.

Eli decided to let Ava sleep in, since they didn't need to be at the castle until after noon, and it wasn't even midmorning yet. She got up, and went over to the window. It had a lovely view of the castle, and even this early in the morning, there was plenty of activity up there.

Eli startled when there was a light knock at the door. She quickly used magic to toss some blankets over Ava, since even she knew that servants would not be allowed to share a bed with their master. Then she walked over to the door, and opened it. The man who owned the inn was standing there, holding a gleaming silver tray. He presented it with a flourish. "My lady. I thought that you would appreciate some breakfast."

The girl smiled gratefully, and bowed her head for a moment. "Oh, your generosity is just too much. I'll be certain that Father rewards you justly. Please, do tell me your name."

The man grinned. "I am known as Gregory. I do hope that your father's arrival is wrought with more success than your own." He stepped inside the room and placed the tray down on the table. "Please enjoy your meal. I shall take my leave at this time." He left, closing the door behind him.

Eli stared down at the food with a disdainful look. Surely that garbage wasn't considered fit for the rich nobles, right? Ava groaned and sat up, her hair sticking out in every direction. She blinked sleepily before sniffing the air a few times. "I smelled something good."

Eli gestured to the tray. "Eat up. You'll need your strength to talk to the king, and then to make the journey back to your village."

Ava stood up and stretched, then walked over to the table. She frowned when she saw that there were no bites missing from the food. "Aren't you going to have any?"

Eli shook her head. "That stuff is rather… unappealing to me. I'll wait until I've gotten my hands on something good." Actually, she just needed to wait until Ava wasn't looking, so that she could magically summon some food that was actually befitting a person of her class. But Ava didn't need to know that part.

Ava shook her head at Eli, thinking the sorceress was crazy. It was perfectly good food that was better than anything Ava had had before in her life. It just made Ava wonder, about what kind of background Eli had for her to have such picky tastes. She'd been found in fancy clothes in the first place, and now Ava was even more sure that Eli was not only new to Camelot, she was a complete stranger to Albion in general. Or at least, that's what it seemed like.

Once Ava finished eating, the two girls left the room. They went to leave the inn, and saw that there was no one sitting at the desk. Eli shrugged, and dropped the key down onto the counter. Then she grabbed Ava's arm, and pulled her out. They began walking, seemingly towards the castle. Ava tugged Eli to a halt. "Wait. I can't go in there dressed like this. I just need to look like a normal peasant."

Eli nodded, and looked around to find a suitable place for them to change without getting caught. She pulled Ava behind a small house, and blinked. Now both girls were dressed in normal drabby peasant clothes, and Ava immediately missed the comfort of the nicer set, even if they had been slightly ruined.

Ava laughed as Eli eagerly continued towards the castle. "Hey, I said after noon, remember? We can't just go marching in there this early in the morning. We need to find something else to do for a while."

Eli rolled her eyes. "I don't remember it ever being so difficult to get into the castle." She muttered under her breath. In Eli's time, Eli and Cal and Meridian had always been snuck in through the back, but they did see plenty of what went on in the castle. Arthur always kept the front doors open during the day, so anyone could wander in when they wanted to, and do whatever it is they were there to do. There was even an entire hallway full of just mattresses covered in fresh blankets, as a place for people to sleep for a few nights if they had nowhere else to go. Eli doubted that Uther would have the same courtesies towards his subjects.

Eli had never actually met the man herself, but she had heard plenty of stories. Arthur was the godfather of both Eli and Cal, even if no one outside of their immediate families knew it. So whenever the siblings visited their father, which they tried to do as often as possible, they spent as much time with Arthur as they could. Of course, he was still a king, and as such, had many duties to oversee, and Merlin wanted some of their time as well, since they were his children. But between Arthur and Merlin, Eli had a very good idea about the kind of person that Uther had been, and it wasn't a very pretty picture.

But what was going to be didn't really matter. The only important things were what was happening right now, in the year of the griffin, and if Uther was an unfriendly bastard who hated all things magic, then Eli was just going to have to adapt. She sighed. "Alright. Well, what's something we can do to entertain ourselves for the day?" Then an idea popped into her head.

Even though the subject was rather sore, and therefore rarely spoken of, Eli knew that Arthur had once courted a woman named Guinevere. She had never really thought about it before, but now that she had the opportunity, Eli wanted to meet the woman that had somehow managed to steal the mighty King Arthur's heart.

She turned to Ava, and tilted her head. "Hey, so I know this is a long shot, and you probably don't really know much about the inhabitants of Camelot, but… where's the nearest place to find information?"

Ava pointed to a building behind her friend. "Probably a tavern. There's one right over there."

Eli hurried over to the tavern, and pushed the door open. She didn't even wait, or check to see if Ava was still following. Ava followed, so maybe Eli knew what she was doing. Inside, it was noisy and crowded. Everyone was talking over each other, and laughing merrily.

Eli grinned, finding that the good cheer of the tavern felt rather contagious. She practically skipped over to the woman walking around, balancing a tray of large cups. Eli politely cleared her throat to catch the woman's attention, and then had to shout over the din of the room. "Excuse me!" The woman turned, and tilted her head down to look at Eli. "Do you know where I can find a young woman named Guinevere?"

The woman raised one eyebrow, and held out one hand. "Maybe… but my memory's not always so great. The clink of coins, though, that has often been known to jog a few things up there."

Eli rolled her eyes, but reached into her pocket to pull out some money. It wasn't like she could ever run out, and she wasn't interested in starting a fight. She pulled out three gold coins, and set them down on the waiting palm.

The woman looked down, but if she was surprised by the ragged kid in front of her having so much money, she didn't show it. "Yeah, I know Guinevere. She's the late blacksmith's daughter, right? She lives a few streets down, little house, gold curtains."

Eli smiled. "Thanks!" Then she turned and hurried outside, pulling Ava out with her. Once outside, she looked at her friend with confusion. "Aren't pubs and taverns supposed to fill up after nightfall?"

Ava shrugged. "When times are especially tough, or especially prosperous, men need a place to sit around and drink and brag and avoid doing their work for a day. I'm sure that no one's complaining, though, as long as the men have enough money to back their drinks." Then she looked around as they walked. "Where are we going, anyways?" She shivered, since her thin peasant clothes really weren't very good protection against the cold. Ava just felt grateful that Camelot didn't seem to have much snow plaguing it right now, the way it was her village.

Eli laughed. "We're just heading to meet up with a woman. Her name is Guinevere. Apparently she's the former blacksmith's daughter."

They walked until they arrived at the little house with the gold curtains. Eli felt a strange sensation in her stomach, meaning that she was nervous. Her eyes lit up, though, as she knocked on the door. What if she could change the future in a good way? She could change things, and make it so Guinevere never cheats on Arthur, and then Eli's godfather would get to have his happy ending.

The door opened a moment later, and a pretty young woman was standing there, with curly brown hair, dark skin, and deep brown eyes. Eli smiled. "Guinevere?"

The woman nodded, though the change in her posture showed that she was wary. She must have had some bad visitors recently. "Yes. Who are you?"

Eli stuck out one hand. "My name is Eli. Well, Elizalla, really, but everyone just calls me Eli. Even my own parents don't call me Elizalla. Well, I think that on official papers and such they must, because just writing a nickname on an important document would be weird. And probably illegal." She shook her head. "But I digress. I'm here because I need a sword. Like a really good one? Maybe the best one that your father ever made in his life."

Guinevere frowned. "I'm sorry, but I don't-"

Eli held up a hefty bag that was jangling as she lifted it. "I can pay you."

Guinevere grabbed Eli's arm, and tugged her inside. Ava followed automatically, and watched as the woman slammed the door shut behind her. Guinevere put her hands on her hips. "Okay, why would a sorceress need a sword?"

Eli's eyes widened. "What… what are you talking about? Me? A sorcerer? That's crazy. Just plain weird. And obviously illegal. I can't believe that you would make such an accusation-"

Guinevere cut her off mid sentence. "I saw you. Last night, when your peasant clothes changed to noble clothes in less time than it would take me to blink. So I repeat, why would a sorceress need a sword?"

Ava was looking around for some way to escape. This situation could only get worse. But instead of acting worried, Eli laughed a little bit. "Okay, so that's not exactly the real reason that I'm here." She shrugged. "Okay… so not at all. But I really would have paid any price you asked for for your best sword. Even if I don't really need one. At least not right now." She turned to look at Ava. "Unless you want a sword?"

Ava shook her head, and spoke in a shaky voice. "Um… no thanks. I'm good." She gulped. If this woman decided to turn them in, then Ava would be brought down with Eli, and they would both be in a lot of trouble.

Eli shrugged, and turned back to Guinevere. "Okay, so you're probably wondering what the heck a sorceress needs with a sword, right? Well, I have to say that that is an excellent question. The truth is," She lowered her voice so the other two had to lean closer to hear her. "...the truth is, well, I sometimes have visions of the future. When I try to fight these visions, bad things always happen, so I've learned to just go along with them. Well, my most recent vision was one of you, and also Prince Arthur."

Guinevere's eyes widened, and she gasped sharply. The girl had to be telling the truth, because there was no other way that she could know that Arthur was courting a common servant girl. If this girl told anybody, then Gwen would be the one in trouble. She gulped. "So… why exactly have you come here? And why would you trust me to know about your… magic?"

Eli sighed. "I trust you because other than one little mistake, you are generally a very trustworthy person. Or at least that's what I've seen in my visions. As to why I'm here… It's about you and Arthur. I don't know if you'll believe me or not, but I know for a fact that Arthur loves you more than anything in the world. You are his happiness, and he would do anything for you. Not many people are lucky enough to find that in their lives, so just… just don't mess it up, okay?"

Gwen sighed, and sat down heavily in one of the chairs sitting around the table. She shook her head. "Why would you tell me this? What do you gain?"

Eli shrugged, looking a little confused herself. "I'm not really sure, if I'm being honest. I just… I know that someday Arthur will have a family, but it won't be a biological one, because he would never want to have a family with anyone other than you."

Gwen peered up at Eli. "I thought you said that trying to go against your visions always made bad things happen? If that's the future that you've already seen, then doesn't that mean that it's too late to change things?"

Eli shrugged, and sat down next to Gwen. "Changing the future… it's a lot harder than people would think. Just knowing what's to come doesn't mean that you can make it happen differently. But even if it is rather difficult, and in general time doesn't want to change it's ways, sometimes it's worth it to try, even if it is a difficult battle." She sighed. "All you really need to take out of this conversation is that if you care about Arthur, then you need to fight for him, no matter what. If you just keep that in mind, then I promise, everything will work out."

Gwen sighed. "I think that my life has just reached the peak of absolute craziness."

Eli shrugged. "That's alright. Things are supposed to get crazy. But if they get better in the end, then it was all worth it."

Ava looked nervously at the older woman. "So you're not going to turn in Eli to the king?"

Gwen hesitated, then shook her head. "No… I suppose not. And it's not even just because of the fact that you could get me in equally deep trouble. I just… No matter what Uther says, I'll never believe that all magic is evil. Don't make me regret this."

Eli stood and headed over to the door. "Oh, don't worry." She said over her shoulder. "You won't regret this, I promise." Then she left the small house, with Ava following quickly behind her. They had an audience with the king, and it wouldn't do for them to be late.