Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update! I've been very busy with life and stuff, so I hope it's worth the wait. Again, please review.


Chapter 4

The first time Eleanor had really thought about what she was getting herself into was the day before the tournament when Jonathon was cutting her hair in their room at the inn. She thought about her home. It all seemed like another life at this point. She thought about the training camp, and how she managed to stay there for a year and a half without getting caught. Now she had a chance, thanks to Jonathon, to get out of it all. If she could befriend the king, she may get to see her family once again.

But what if she lost? The thought of losing was a constant plague on her mind. In the best case, she would lose and go back to the training camp. However, she could be killed in the tournament. She could be discovered. They could go after her family. Everything she has fought for could be destroyed.

"Why the miserable face?" Jonathon asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking."

"Thinking can get you into a lot of trouble, sometimes. You might start to doubt yourself." Jonathon said with a smile as he cut off yet other piece of her hair.

"I know, but its hard not to. I've been doubting myself since the day I left home."

"There, done." Jonathon said as he put down his scissors. Eleanor looked at herself in the mirror. Though her face still looked unfamiliar, she had gotten used to it. She was a completely new person.

"I have something for you." Jonathon walked over to his trunk, taking out a long, metal object and handing it to Eleanor. She took it from him, examining the beautiful craftsmanship.

"A sword? How on earth did you get time or money to get this?" Eleanor unsheathed the sword. It was breathtaking.

"I've had it for awhile. It was my son's sword. I gave it to him on his eighteenth birthday." Eleanor looked a Jonathon. There was sadness filling his eyes. Jonathon had told her about his son. He was killed in the Dorocha attack. She knew that part of him died with his son.

"I can't accept this. You should keep it, as part of your son's memory." Eleanor tried to hand the sword back to him, but he waved her away.

"No, please take it. Every time I look at it, it just reminds me once again of what I have lost. At least now it will be put to good use." Eleanor sheathed the sword and did something that she had never done to Jonathon before. She hugged him.

"Thank you, Jonathon. For everything. I don't think I would have survived this long without you." She told him, not letting go of him.

"No, thank you Eleanor. You've giving me someone to care and to pray for. I was devastated when I lost my son, but, because of you, I've gained a daughter." With that, she let him go and looked into his eyes. For the first time since she met him, he seemed happy.

Then, they heard a knock on their door. Jonathon immediately went to see who it was. When he opened the door, he found a skinny, dark haired young man waiting there with a letter baring the royal seal.

"Good evening sir. I have a letter for an Etienne." When hearing her name, Eleanor went towards the door to read her letter.

"To the champions,

His royal highness King Arthur requests your presence at a feast tonight to celebrate the upcoming tournament. He looks forward to meeting the brave young men who may soon become on of his knights." Eleanor read the letter out loud to Jonathon.

Meanwhile, the servant just stood in the doorway, apparently having nothing better to do. She looked at him, confused by his presence.

"Is that all?" She asked him.

"Well, typically if you have an answer, you tell me and I go and tell the King whether to expect you or not." The servant said. There was something off about this young man, though Eleanor couldn't quiet put her finger on it.

"Yes, he is honored by the King's invitation and will be there. Thank you." Jonathon answered for her. With that, the servant was off. She watched him walk away for a second before closing the door.

"Why did you say that I would go? I know nothing about feasts or the ways of nobility. I don't know how to dance, how to eat properly. I don't even have proper attire." Eleanor berated him.

"Then we have a lot of work to do, don't we?"


Gwaine approached his place at the table. He always loved a good feast. There was nothing like having free food and wine served to you for an entire night. He was almost giddy with excitement.

"Ah, there you are Gwaine. What took you so long?" Elyan asked Gwaine as he started to sit down.

"I was suffocating under a pile of women, of course. It's really a miracle that I made it out alive." Gwaine said with a cocky smile. Elyan just rolled his eyes; almost embarrassed that Gwaine was actually a knight of Camelot.

Gwaine scanned the room, making sure to take note of the champions in tomorrow's tournament. They seemed to all look the same: tall, muscular, and handsome. Except for one.

He spotted the fighter that he recruited from the camp just a day's ride outside of Camelot. Compared to the other fighters, he looked like a child. The young man was sitting at the far end of the room, as if he was trying not to be noticed. He didn't talk to anyone, just looked at his food and ate.

Gwaine decided to change that. As a knight of Camelot, one is expected to be charming and sociable. If Gwaine was going to bet on this 'Etienne' fellow, he was going to make sure he got every advantage he could. So, he got up and crossed the room.


Eleanor could not remember being so scared in all of her life. She had been able to handle the Dorocha, her brother's illness, the army, but apparently nobility was the death of her. Jonathon had dressed her up in his finest shirt and trousers, gave her a lesson on proper manners, and had taught her a quick dance (just to be safe). With all of that, though, she still felt wildly unprepared.

"Hello there." She almost jumped out of her seat, her train of thought broken by the tall, handsome knight that she had fought at the training camp. She tried to remember his name, but, for the life of her, couldn't piece it together.

"Hello, Sir." She said, hoping he didn't realize that she completely forgot his name.

"Call me Gwaine, please. And you're Etienne, right? It's good to see you here. Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked, sitting down in the empty seat next to her.

"Yes, sir. I mean, Gwaine." She took at deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "I've never been to a feast before."

"It's a bit overwhelming isn't it?" He said with a smile. She couldn't quiet figure him out. Was he trying to help her?

"Yes, well, I grew up in a small village." She responded.

"Far cry from all of this, I'm sure." He looked around the room, as if trying to find something.

"See the men sitting over there?" He pointed at a group of armored men sitting towards the front of the room. "Those are some of the current knights: Sir Percival, Sir Leon, and Sir Elyan." Eleanor tried to get a good look at them, hoping that she could remember all of their faces. Then, Sir Gwaine pointed towards the man and the woman sitting at the front of the room. "And those two, they are King Arthur and Queen Guinevere."

Eleanor looked at them for a good minute. She had always thought of the King as an old, wise man with a long beard and a fat belly, but this King was young. He was hardly older than her. The queen was absolutely beautiful, but not in the way that Eleanor had expected. She expected a fine, fair maiden, but the Queen looked like she knew how to put in a hard day's work. She was strong and full of life.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to them." Eleanor barely had a second to protest before Gwaine grabbed her by the arm and lead her to the front of the room. Her heart was beating so fast, she felt as if it could come out of her chest at any moment.

"Evening Sire. I would like to introduce to you to Etienne. He's going to be competing in the tournament tomorrow." The King looked at her, taking in her appearance before replying to Gwaine.

"It's nice to meet you. I hope Gwaine here isn't boring you to death. I'm sure a young man like yourself is used to livelier company." Gwaine simply shrugged off the insult. From the corner of her eye, she saw the same servant that had delivered her invitation smiling at the comment. Thinking nothing of it, she looked back at the King.

"Actually, he was just showing me around a bit. Introducing me to people." She silently scolded herself for being to casual with the King, but he didn't seem to mind at all. He turned to the Queen, getting her attention.

"Darling, this is Etienne. He's going to be fighting in the tournament tomorrow." The Queen smiled at her.

"Finally we get to meet one of the contestants. It seems as if they are all too shy to come and say hello." Eleanor tried to think of something to say. Should she say something witty? Should she complement the Queen? What kind of complements do women like the Queen like anyways?

"Well, it is hard to stand before such a fantastic lady as yourself without getting nervous." Gwaine said, realizing Eleanor's hesitation. The Queen smiled and went back to the conversation she was having before she was interrupted. The band started to play music, and people started to dance. Eleanor had hoped she could sneak away without being noticed before the dancing begun, but that was thrown out the window by now.

"Ask the Queen to dance!" Gwaine whispered in her ear.

"WHAT?" she said to him. What he out of his mind? Dance with the Queen? But she had no time to make up her mind. Before she could stop him, he pushed her towards the Queen's side of the table, and waved her on. Both the King and the Queen were looking at her, waiting for her to make her move.

"Um…uh…..Your majesty, may I have this danc?." She could barely hear her own voice, but apparently the Queen had. The Queen smiled and extended her hand to her. She took it, unsure of what to do. She looked at Gwaine, who motioned her to kiss it. So she bowed to the Queen, and kissed her hand. It felt so odd she could hardly stand it, but she put the feeling aside. Now, she had to show off her horrid dance skills.


Gwaine and Arthur watched as Guinevere and Etienne danced. He was in no way good at dancing, but at least Gwen seemed be enjoying herself. The other champions watched them with malice, as if Etienne was trying to charm his way into knighthood.

"Well, he seems different." Arthur said to Gwaine, who was smiling at the sight of the young man nervously dancing with Gwen.

"I know, that what I like about him. He's a good fighter too, believe it or not."

"Well, let's hope he makes it through the tournament. Maybe we will get to see more of him." With that, Gwaine smiled. There was something about the lad that he just couldn't seem to put his finger on. He had some sort of wisdom and energy that made him far different from any other man he had ever met. He couldn't wait to see him win the tournament.


So, I worked with switching viewpoints on this chapter. Next chapter will be the tournament and will have a lot more Merlin in it. I just had to sneak him into this chapter though. Let me know what you thought!

Cheers!

Tora2010