Richard
The servants were in a frenzy as yet another noble was to arrive at Camelot for a treaty. However, this would prove to be a far less stressful visit, Camelot had not been at war with East Anglia. Far from it actually, they had been allies since their founding. This visit was simply for purposes of renewing their pledges of peace and alliance. Not many armed guards and knights would be accompanying their king as no one expected anything to turn violent, unlike with Mercia where war and hate had been common.
Merlin and Marayna were currently preparing the rooms for the visiting king and his son, the prince. Apparently Uther believed that servants of a prince would know best how to situate a room for another prince. It seemed he didn't know Merlin or his sister at all and, more importantly, he had never seen (or at least noticed) the state of Arthur's room.
Somehow, they managed to get the room set up quite nicely, they thought, and were just finishing when the trumpets sounded across the courtyards to announce the arrival of the king and prince. The siblings ran to the window to see Uther, Arthur, and Morgana waiting on the steps as two men in green strode up to them. Marayna rolled her eyes as her brother sighed, now they had to make their way to the Main Hall and help the other servants prepare for the treaty signing. Luckily, they would have the better part of the day as Uther and Arthur would be giving those from East Anglia a tour of Camelot.
Time flew by far too quickly for Merlin and Marayna and, before they knew it, it was twilight and the kings were returning from their ride. The servants were in a bustle setting the last of the food and making the treaty area perfect. By the time the kings and princes arrived, Merlin and Marayna were standing against the wall with the other royal servants, blocked a bit from the view of the royals by the line of nobles on either side of the aisle leading to the treaty area.
The two kings seemed in quite good spirits as they 'reviewed' the treaty, truly it hadn't changed at all since it had first been written. Everyone knew it was merely a formality and tradition of sorts. The kings merely grinned, each taking a quill and signing their names, pressing their signets into small wax droplets on either side of their markings before they turned and shook hands. They laughed, turning to everyone gathered as they started to cheer and clap, before they took their seats to enjoy the food.
Merlin and Marayna stood behind Arthur, next to the king, filling his goblet and putting food on his plate like they were supposed to. Marayna was not particularly happy that she had to wear a dress again. But, as Arthur had brought up earlier, she had gotten away with wearing tunic and leggings often enough, he did not think his father would be that lenient with other royals around. She had begrudgingly agreed and donned her red 'Gwen dress' as she dubbed it. It was one that looked like the gowns Gwen wore, only in red, essentially a white dress with a red sort of frock over it. It didn't help the situation any that Morgana had insisted she wear her hair down, though pulled back a bit, because there was one infuriating strand of hair that kept falling over her eyes. Not trusting herself and the family clumsiness to hold the wine pitcher she was carrying in one hand, she had taken to trying to blow it up and to the side, but it wasn't working.
Though it did seem to be amusing both Arthur and Merlin quite a lot, neither of whom thought to help her any with that feat.
Merlin nudged her arm and nodded towards the left end of the table where a servant of East Anglia seemed to be wiping the mouth of the prince. Marayna shook her head at that. She hadn't exactly seen the visiting king or the prince face front so she hadn't the faintest idea what they looked like, other than that they both had blonde, curly hair. She didn't doubt though that the prince was probably handsome as all princes were, though she doubted she'd find him remotely attractive with the way he was acting. Honestly! Having a servant wipe his mouth for him? What, did he have one chew his food for him too? It was times like these where she was almost glad Arthur was her master, it could have been so much worse.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed the kings stand as the feast drew to a close and began to walk among the nobles, just talking and socializing. She watched as the prince of East Anglia made his way straight to a small group of young noblewomen and promptly began to flirt shamelessly with them.
Merlin couldn't help but laugh when he saw Morgana mock gag at the prince's efforts with the women before she glanced over her shoulder and sent him a small smile. His own smile widened at the sight, not even leaving his face when he glanced to his side to see his sister smirking at him with an eyebrow raised and a knowing look on her face, 'Not a word Aya,' he muttered to her in his mind.
'I wouldn't dream of it,' she mumbled, laughing.
Arthur stood as well, holding out a hand for Morgana to help her up before they made their way towards the crowd as well. Merlin and Marayna sighed as they too followed their master, they still had to make sure that the goblet he held in his hand was always full and attend to anything he might need.
It was quite dull actually, listening to the various nobles drone on and on and on about things the two sibling could care less about. Did they need to know that a woman's son had received a horse for his birthday? Did they care if a man's daughter had reached marrying age? Certainly not. And neither, it appeared, did Arthur, but he nodded politely, smiling through the stories until the point came in them where he could excuse himself without uproar.
He turned, his face falling tiredly as soon as his back was to the nobles. He held out his glass goblet and Marayna poured a bit of wine. As Arthur took a swig she looked around the room, finally seeing the king of East Anglia from the front and his son as well not too far off. It was then that she nearly dropped her pitcher.
Merlin glanced worriedly at his sister at the sound of her gasp and noticed with concern that she had gone a shade paler and her eyes were wide in shock, looking more like she was seeing something horrifying than anything boring, "Aya?" he asked, reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"It's him!" she hissed, nearly hyperventilating for only a moment until she saw the prince turning in their direction. She quickly ducked behind Arthur, pressing herself into his back and curling in on herself to make herself less noticeable behind his cloak and broad shoulders.
"What?" Arthur tried to turn but Marayna poked him in the side to make him turn the other way, "Mara what is the meaning of this?"
"It's him!" she repeated quietly.
"Who?" Arthur looked up to see the prince pausing to talk to another noblewoman, though most clearly on his way towards them, "The prince?"
"Yes!" she whispered, glancing around Arthur's side before hiding back behind him, "Richard!"
"You know the prince?" Merlin blinked, completely confused as he subtly took the pitcher from his sister so she wouldn't spill it on Arthur's backside as she seemed likely to do with how fidgety she'd become.
"Unfortunately," she admitted, moaning.
She hadn't expected the prince to be Richard, he had brothers, younger brothers. She had thought that, as the king of East Anglia had no current queen, that he'd have left his eldest son to run the kingdom, as the king of Mercia had left his Queen in charge of managing his kingdom while he was in Camelot. She had NOT been expecting the prince that had accompanied the man to be Richard! Why not his brothers?! Why not THEM?! Any of them, any at all just NOT Richard.
'How?' Merlin whispered, watching her worriedly. She was scared, that much he could tell, but why? His sister was rarely ever scared by anything. What had this man done?!
'I'll tell you later,' she replied, looking at him pleadingly, 'Please, just...get me out of here before he sees me!'
Arthur, unaware of their silent conversation, was trying his damnedest not to let the sound of the moan or the fact that there was a warm body, clearly female, pressed up against him, get to him. But was failing...miserably. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder, "What did you do?" he smirked, "Insult him or something?"
"Or something," she mumbled, burying her face into his back so she could not see him.
Unfortunately, had she looked, Marayna would have noticed the prince of Camelot smirking deviously, "Well then," he sighed, reaching behind him and pulling her out to stand at his side, "It's time you apologize."
Her eyes widened even more, "No, Arthur you can't!" she nearly shouted, before she remembered where exactly she was and hissing more under her breath, "You don't understand!"
"Oh I think I do," he grinned, walking towards Richard, a firm grip on Marayna's shoulder to keep her from fleeing, "Richard!" he called good-naturedly, drawing him away from his conversation with the latest noblewoman that had captured his attention, "I thought I should familiarize you with my servants. This is Merlin and…"
"Maria?" Richard cut him off, staring straight at Marayna in wonder, "Is that you?"
Marayna shut her eyes, sighing as her shoulders sank before taking a breath and opening her eyes, smiling awkwardly and tensely, "Hello Richard," she half-curtsyed, half-bowed, "Or should I say, hello Your Highness?"
Richard shook his head quickly, "No, no, it's...it's Richard," he whispered, "For you, it's Richard."
"So you are familiar each other?" Arthur inquired, looking in between the two curiously starting feel a sort of pit form in his stomach at how Richard was gaping at HIS maidservant so openly.
"Very," Richard offered what seemed to be an attempt at a suave grin, reaching out to pick up Marayna's hand and kiss the back of it.
'Gross. Gross! GROSS!' Marayna called to Merlin in her mind, though she was trying to remain impassive to everyone else, yet...being her brother, Merlin could clearly see her fighting a grimace.
"Ah, well then," Arthur cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably with this new turn of events. He hadn't thought they were that familiar. He could tell by Richard's tone and gaze that something had clearly happened between the two, and he just...wasn't sure how she knew the prince...or why that thought that there had been something between them infuriated him so, "If you are already familiar then I shall just…"
"Would you mind showing me the castle Maria?" Richard cut in, pulling the young woman forward by the hand he still held, and out of Arthur's reach, "I have seen the kingdom, but I am quite sure I shall get lost in the castle. Perhaps we can become…reacquainted?"
Arthur didn't like the tone of that, not to mention Marayna was subtly trying to shake her head frantically at him to forbid it without Richard noticing. He was just about to reach out and yank her back when Richard spoke again, "I'm sure you won't mind my using one of your servants just for tonight sire?" it was then that Arthur realized he was trapped. He couldn't deny the royal's request/demand, if he did, he just knew his father would lecture him for hours on the rules of hospitality and then his father would assign Marayna to Richard permanently for the entirety of his stay to appease the 'slighted' nobleman. As much as he was loath to do it...allowing Richard Marayna for only a few hours would keep him from demanding her from his father for days. So, instead, he gave a simple nod, his jaw clenching painfully as he watched Richard turn on the spot, Marayna now tucked under his arm as they walked out of the hall.
"Are you alright sire?" Merlin chanced, seeing the storming expression on the prince's face. Clearly, he was not happy about the situation either. He had no doubt that his sister would be able to handle it well enough...but right now, it didn't appear that Arthur could.
His thoughts were confirmed when Arthur's grip on his goblet tightened so much that the glass shattered, spilling wine and bits of glass all over the floor. Luckily, the prince had been wearing rather thick gloves and hadn't cut himself. Though, as Merlin scrambled to clean the mess, he couldn't help but wonder if the prince was actually picturing Richard's head instead of the goblet.
~8~
"Who was he Aya?" Merlin asked as he and his sister laid in their beds that night.
He'd just come from Arthur's chambers where the prince had demanded an explanation for what happened at the feast, yet Merlin could honestly not give him one. He was just as confused about everything and said so which resulted in Arthur excusing him for the night. He had to admit he WAS curious, his sister rarely ever spoke of her time in East Anglia, short of mentioning a story about a friend or two and speaking of their aunt.
He'd come straight back to the room to check if his sister was there and, thankfully, she was. He had asked Gaius to deliver Morgana's draught, which he knew she would understand him not being the one to bring it that night, she had seen Marayna being half-dragged out by Richard. Family was equally important to the both of them he had discovered during their late night talks. There would be days when Morgana didn't want to take the draught right away and would just lay in his arms as they talked about everything and anything. It was a large difference from the times she'd be so nervous around him (he'd been surprised when she'd admitted THAT to him) that she gulped down her draught in one shot so as not to make a fool of herself around him. Now though...she was comfortable enough in their feelings for each other, ever since Edwin really, that she was content not to take the draught so soon and just...talk in whispers and hushed tones about whatever was on their minds.
When he'd gotten to the room, he'd seen her sitting on the edge of her cot and asked her the very same question Arthur had of him, but received no answer. Marayna had simply laid down and rolled over. However, though not many people knew, Merlin could be very stubborn when the situation called for it and refused to let the question lie.
Marayna sighed, sensing that this conversation would not be ignored, and rolled over to face her brother, "That was Richard, Prince of East Anglia."
She could almost see Merlin rolling his eyes in the dark, "I knew that," he replied, "I want to know how he knows you."
"Do you remember where mother sent me?" she answered with another question.
Merlin, who was quite used to this tactic, her tendency to answer questions with more questions, simply sighed, "To Aunt Elaine's, for Lady-in-Waiting lessons."
"And where does Aunt Elaine live?"
"In East…oh…" Merlin understood. Their Aunt Elaine was a very minor noblewoman in the court of East Anglia. She had married a minor knight from there when she journeyed there as a teacher of the written word. They had not managed to have children and, instead, she had taken to teaching the younger children their basics of reading and writing, not quite a tutor but more like...a starting teacher, one who helped prepare them for when they would have lessons by other teachers and tutors and scholars, "You met him when you lived with Aunt Elaine didn't you?" their aunt taught many noble children, who would be exposed to court and other nobles, perhaps even the royalty, it would make sense.
"Yes," she nodded, "Helping her with her 'students' at times. Richard's younger sister was one of Aunt Elaine's and he would often visit her in lessons."
'Arrogant bastard,' she added silent, though Merlin chuckled out loud.
"I take it you don't like him much?" he grinned, though he could tell his sister was glaring at him.
"The hate I feel for him could only be rivaled by Uther's hate of magic," she countered dryly though seriously.
Merlin winced, "That bad?" he could barely see her nod, "What did he do? You looked pretty scared back there."
"I was not scared! I was merely...startled."
"Fine, fine, startled then," he rolled his eyes, "But why?"
She sighed, reaching up to rub the side of her face, "He thinks he can have anything he wants, anyone he wants, just because he's a prince. He took a fancy to me even though I repeatedly told him I was a commoner and that I didn't intend to stay in the kingdom and that I wasn't interested."
"He didn't listen?" Merlin whispered, sensing his sister's stress and feeling his anger rise. He was catching brief glimpses of the man's advances on her in his mind and was utterly disgusted by how arrogant the man was. He made Arthur seem like the epitome of modesty.
"Not at all," she groaned, flopping back onto her bed, "And he just kept trying! Finally he tried to propose, my god he is MORE arrogant than Arthur. He actually thought that his father wouldn't try to execute me if he presented a peasant as his wife. But when I said no, he grabbed my wrist and said he could make it very difficult for me to say no. I slapped him, of course, but he…"
"He?" Merlin prodded as she trailed off.
Instead of answering she held out a hand to him. He leaned forward and took her hand, allowing a scene to play out in his mind...
He saw his sister slap the arrogant prince of East Anglia only for him to grab her wrist as she'd just described...but it continued with him twisting her arm, forcing her to cry out in pain before slapping her as well. He yanked her close and forcefully tried to kiss her when she reached out to push him away using a bit too much magic to do so. Richard went flying back into the wall and crumpled to the ground. Terrified by what she had done and knowing that East Anglia was against magic as a result of their alliance with Camelot, she paced around the hall, spinning around as though expecting a guard to come rushing around the corner. She looked at Richard, before turning to run off...only to stop dead and shake her head, running back, reaching out to him and pulling back as though trying to come up with some sort of help or plan, running her hands through her hair frantically. She bit her lip and looked down at him, before moving to kneel beside him, placing a hand on the prince's forehead and scrunched her eyes shut in concentration for a moment or two before standing and bolting down the hall.
He caught a few brief fragments of his sister explaining what happened to their aunt before gathering her belongings and setting out for Ealdor.
"What did you do?" he asked curiously when he pulled his hand away, the vision fading.
"I tried my best to erase the memory of the entire situation from his mind or bury it or blocket," she shook her head, "I honestly had no idea what I was doing but I just...had to try, seems like it worked though," she knew that was what her brother was asking about, about what she had done when she'd touched Richard's forehead, "I didn't want him to remember even proposing to me. I thought, if I could get out of there before he could find me, that he would forget about me and move on to another servant or something."
"Did he?"
"What do you think?" she smirked.
Of course he had.
His eye for women wandered more than Zeus's!
"God, he was ridiculous!" she continued to lament, putting her hands to her hair as though about to tug them out, "Always complaining and having servants do everything and he always thought he was right! He couldn't even pronounce my name!"
Merlin laughed, "That's right! He called you Maria!"
Marayna grabbed her pillow and held it to her face a moment as she groaned into it, before sitting up, hugging it, "Do you know what he said when I tried to correct him?" Merlin shook his head, "He said, 'No, no, I'm quite sure it's Maria. Once you lose that common accent, I'm sure you'll see that as well.' Honestly!"
Merlin couldn't help but laugh even more at that. His sister was always getting her name mispronounced. Even he'd pronounced her name wrong when they were younger. Mah-ray-nah, not that hard. But hearing that someone was purposefully mis-saying her name was just too much. He oomphed as a pillow came sailing down upon his head.
"Not funny Merlin," she grumbled before laying back down, catching her pillow as it was thrown back to her.
"Well just think," he replied, trying to sound encouraging, "The nobles of East Anglia are to leave tomorrow night. You won't have to put up with Prince Pompous much longer."
"Prince Pompous?" she turned her head to glance at her brother, an eyebrow raised, before she smiled, "I like it," she turned back to face the ceiling, "Prince Pompous and Prince Prat, why are all princes such snobs?"
Merlin could only smirk, "I'm not sure, why are all princes taking a fancy to you?"
She rolled on her side, "Arthur does not fancy me."
Merlin rolled to his side as well, propping himself up on his elbow, "You weren't there when he broke his goblet just from watching you leave with Richard."
He could tell she was blushing even if he couldn't see it, "It doesn't mean he fancies me," she murmured before rolling onto her other side, her back to him, "Good night Merlin."
And he knew the conversation was over. Oh well, it gave him time to come up with ways to prove Arthur fancied his sister and plot different torture strategies should he hurt her.
~8~
Merlin was in the middle of mucking out the stables the next day, when a throat cleared behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Arthur leaning against the doorway and rolled his eyes, turning back to his work. He knew what the prince was going to ask even before he asked it, "Where's Mara?"
Merlin paused in his mucking for a moment, "She's been trying to avoid the stables lately," he shrugged, symbolizing that he didn't know why she was. Well, he did, but he didn't need Arthur to pester an answer out of him for that as well. Marayna had explained her tension with the stables that morning when she had asked him to muck out her share for her while she took on his chores of preparing Arthur's armor. He'd agreed of course, he still owed her for all the work she did when Morgana had been ill so that he could spend time with her.
"Ah," Arthur nodded, clearly curious as to why the young woman was avoiding the stables but didn't question further, "I saw her with Richard earlier," he commented in what he hoped was a causal manner.
It wasn't.
Merlin couldn't help but smirk for a moment at the thought of the great Prince of Camelot being jealous of another prince's time spent with a servant and spying on them. But he sobered quickly as he remembered that said servant was his sister and she was in the company of a prince she detested.
"Yes, she mentioned that," Merlin muttered.
And indeed she had, just after they had prepared Arthur for the morning and gone to do the chores he'd assigned, she had mentioned that Richard requested her presence for a portion of the day before their parting the next morning. He'd asked what had happened the other night and she had explained that Richard had inquired to how she had been after leaving East Anglia and if she missed it/him, to which she had instantly replied no. He'd gobbed on for a while about how her aunt missed her as did his sister, the castle was not the same without her, how her beauty…and so on and so on. Which she promptly pushed to the far reaches of her mind so as not to have to suffer through memories of it. She was only able to pull herself away by mentioning she was to tend to Arthur that morning, which had been when he made his request.
"I thought Richard knew his way around the castle by now," Arthur frowned, but Merlin said nothing. After a moment or two Arthur spoke again, "They seem to know each other."
This time Merlin did smirk, hearing the prince's unspoken question. How did they know each other? And how well?
"Yeah," Merlin nodded, "Our Aunt Elaine, the one who was teaching Aya to be a lady-in-waiting, was of the court in East Anglia. She also taught the children basics for reading and writing"
"Oh," Arthur smiled, relieved that that was it.
Of course, that would be how they knew each other. He'd been requested a few times to attend some classes of the like with the other young nobles, to prepare them for their full lessons with their tutors when the time came. It would not do for a young noble to appear uneducated even to their own tutors. He would have laughed at the ridiculousness of him tossing about last night fretting over the situation...had Merlin left it at that.
"Apparently, he proposed to her," Merlin commented nonchalantly, glancing up only when he heard the prince choking on air.
"Wh-what?!" he demanded, utterly shocked.
Merlin nodded, "That seems to be the reason she left. He tried to coerce her into marriage and she had to resort to using m…more force than was befitting a lady to tell him otherwise," he thanked his lucky stars that the prince hadn't noticed his near slip at saying magic, "Clearly, he didn't get the message."
"She said no?" Arthur spoke after a moment, once he felt his heartbeat return to normal.
Merlin shrugged, "Seems he was so terrible she fled the court and came to Camelot to escape him," he joked, smiling as the prince seemed to relax and smile at the small jest.
Arthur took a breath before nodding at Merlin and leaving the stables towards the castle. After gaining that useful bit of information, there was no doubt in his mind that he should probably find Marayna, if only to keep Richard from bothering her. Of course that was it. The fact that he was so relieved by her refusal of marriage to the prince of East Anglia and the need to reassure himself that she was still in Camelot and not running off with the other prince had nothing to do with it at all.
~8~
The sun was just setting by the time the prince of Camelot spied his missing maidservant. She was seated, curled in a window in the west tower just...staring out at the sunset. He was about to clear his throat to alert her of his presence when she spoke, "Hello Arthur."
"How did you know it was me?" he took a step up and leaning against the window to look down at her sitting.
She smiled softly, her gaze still on the sun, "You're the only one who stomps all over the place as though you own it," she glanced up at him.
"I do own it," he smirked.
She raised an eyebrow, "Your father owns it. And he doesn't stomp, he stalks."
Arthur let out a small laugh at that, it was just like his father to stalk everywhere, cloak billowing for dramatic effect, anything to make himself look more imposing and authoritative, it was a bit ridiculous now that he thought on it. His smile fell as he saw her attention return to out the window, a small, thoughtful smile on her face, "What are you thinking of?"
The thought 'please don't let it be Richard,' struck him before he could stop it.
She sighed, "My time at Aunt Elaine's," she answered truthfully, "The good times with her," then she groaned, "And the horrendous times with Richard."
Arthur couldn't help but feel satisfied when she said Richard's name as though it were some sort of disgusting disease, "So your brother tells me, you were nearly Princess of East Anglia?"
She let her head thump into her knees, shaking it and mumbling something that sounded oddly like 'I'm going to kill him' before she looked up at the prince, "He proposed and I said no," she stated simply.
"You said no to a prince," he gave her a look, "Why? You could have had everything."
She nearly glared at him, "I would never marry someone like him for all the gold in the world!"
"Why not?" he actually sounded genuinely curious.
"I know how it goes for you nobles," she shook her head, "You lot marry for convenience instead of love, but that is NOT the way I was raised and that is not what I would have wanted. Richard didn't love me, I was just the newest face, something different. To marry a man like Richard..." she scoffed, clearly indicating her distaste at that idea.
"And what sort of man is he?" Arthur inquired.
She shrugged, keeping quiet for a moment before going off, "He's so arrogant!" she shouted suddenly, "And cocky and rude and chauvinistic and horrible! He's a cruel, uncaring, unsympathetic, unempathetic, disrespectful, greedy, lustful, prideful, obsessive, ignorant, egotistical, dishonest, conceited, selfish, narrow-minded, vain, snobbish, insolent, bigoted, callous, insensitive, cold, unfeeling, fickle, underhanded, hypocritical, irritating, judgmental, lying, oppressing, presumptuous, annoying, shallow, spineless, tactless, stubborn self-absorbed arsehole who can't take no for an answer!"
By this point Marayna was breathing quite heavily having said all that in just one breath with her face turning a lovely shade of red from anger and lack of air. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to go off like that about a prince to another prince, especially one who was hosting the other...but he'd asked for it.
Arthur had actually backed away a few steps at the vehemence of her tirade, "I take it you don't like him much then."
She stared at him a moment, before she let out a small laugh, shaking her head as she leaned back against the window, now completely calm from her outburst. Though Arthur was going to play it safe and keep his distance. Who knew that lurking beneath that sweet exterior was a raving lunatic? ...well...then again, she HAD once punched him and called him a clotpole, whatever that was.
"At least you have redeeming qualities," she mumbled, unaware that he had heard her.
"Like what?"
She blushed faintly at having been caught at saying that, before looking away out the window, "Well, for one thing you actually care about your people, you even care about your servants," she smiled softly at that, "You're kindhearted, compassionate, rational mostly, strong, willful, determined, skilled in some areas, honorable, gentle when you make an attempt, accepting, as open-minded as you can be with Uther as your father, brave, loyal, kind, merciful, understanding, considerate, loving…" she trailed off, just noticing that Arthur was staring at her...just realizing what she'd SAID with him right there.
She looked out the window once more and they continued in silence for quite a while, both lost in thought, Marayna, very embarrassed that she had just gushed like that to the prince of Camelot. Arthur, though, was very delighted that she had. He was always being told of his strengths by others, by his father, by Morgana, by Gaius, the knights, even Merlin. But, for some reason, hearing it from Marayna meant so much more to him. Probably because she had NO qualms with pointing out his numerous faults and challenging him with them. So...for HER to think he too possessed those qualitites...it meant more.
"I, uh, I noticed you weren't in the sables before," Arthur began, interrupting the silence, and she simply nodded, "Merlin said you were avoiding them."
She sighed, hearing his unspoken question, "When I was with Aunt Elaine, when I had to constantly put up with Richard, he always looked at me the way Uther does Cobalt."
Arthur nodded along, waiting for her to get to the point. What did that have to do with anything? Cobalt was a wild horse they had found a few days ago and tied up in Arthur's stables to train, the stallion would make a fine warhorse one day they were sure of it.
"He looked at me as though I were simply a horse to be broken."
And then he realized why she hadn't entered his stables. With Richard here, reminding her of his advances and his leering gaze, no wonder she didn't want to be around Cobalt as Uther, and even he, tried to break the stallion. It reminded her too much of how Richard had tired incessantly to force her to do something she didn't want to do, to force her into a role she didn't want a part of.
He looked away, ashamed at his own actions when put in a perspective like that, to see that the sun had finished setting and twilight was upon them. It would soon be time for the farewell dinner for the king and prince of East Anglia before they left tomorrow morning. He would have to prepare.
He glanced down at Marayna for a moment before holding out his hand, "Shall we?"
She sighed, taking his hand as he helped pull her to her feet and began to walk in the direction of his chambers, "Where did Richard go?" he asked out of nowhere, "I thought he requested your presence?"
She smirked slightly, "He did. But luckily for me, Richard was never a good hunter, it was easy to elude him."
Arthur just laughed and shook his head. One day, he would have to test her skills at hiding with a real hunter after her, a hunter like...himself perhaps.
~8~
Merlin and Marayna stood on either side of Arthur, though just behind him, as he and his father greeted the king and prince of Anglia as they entered the hall. Tonight had both Merlin and his sister dressed slightly better than the night before. Both were secretly celebrating the departure of the East Anglians and agreed to dress a bit more for that occasion. Merlin was in a simple red tunic and brown pants while Marayna was wearing a simple red gown. Not the 'Gwen dress' but a long-sleeved, flowing dress. Simple, or at least she thought it had been before she donned it and realized Morgana had had it taken to a seamstress to have golden vines embroidered in its bodice and along the hemlines.
It was too late to change before the feast and even less time after Morgana and Gwen whisked her away and managed to set her hair held back by a series of intricate braids in all of ten minutes. It must have been a record for the girls. Cleary they were onto her attempts at escaping and were trying to be as quick as possible to avoid that.
Prince Richard came up to Arthur, shaking his hand briefly before sidestepping so he was right in front of Marayna, "Maria, might I have this dance?"
Marayna glanced at her brother and Arthur to see both of them rolling their eyes at the prince's mispronunciation of her name. As they prepared, Merlin had told the prince of Richard's belief of HER being the one to mispronounce her own name which got a good laugh out of him, though now he could see just how annoying it was.
"I'm sure Marayna," Arthur emphasized dryly, "Would love to."
Marayna nearly groaned, she had been hoping Arthur would say she had other duties to attend to, but clearly, that would go against the rules of hospitality. Though she was just a little happy to hear the stressed tone of his voice, he was not happy about this either. It was a comfort, if just a bit. And so she nodded her head respectfully and took his outstretched hand, grimacing as she did so, his hands were always cold yet sweaty at the same time, it was utterly disgusting. And her grimace seemed to be something Richard didn't notice, but another prince did.
Richard led her onto the small space reserved for dancing, holding her stiffly, far closer than she was comfortable with. Far too close than she felt was proper, especially for a prince and servant. Thankfully, the first song played was a simple waltz that she knew just well enough to only need to subtly glance down at her feet, not that it helped her any, the dress was just long enough to cover her feet without tripping her.
Eventually though, she wouldn't even be able to tell where her feet were they had been stepped upon so much. Each time, Richard would just mutter a simple, 'follow my lead' and continue on, stepping on her foot again.
As the song ended, she thanked every god she knew that it was over and she could get back to her duties. Never before would she have thought she'd ever look forward to tending to Arthur, but it was amazing how much could change.
Unfortunately though, Richard reached out and grabbed her hand, holding her in place as the second song began. She inwardly groaned and took the first few steps when he stepped on her foot again. She hesitated just a moment, biting her lip to keep from verbally berating him, when she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She stopped completely, stepping back from Richard to see Arthur standing there.
"If I may?" he asked Richard, before stepping into his place without waiting for a reply.
They picked up the dance after a moment, both silent till they saw Richard walk over to the main table and sit beside his father.
Marayna let out a breath before turning to look back at Arthur, "Thank you," she murmured quietly.
He shook his head, "Think nothing of it," he replied, "I felt you'd been punished enough for the sake of hospitality," he leaned in a bit closer, his hand unconsciously pulling her closer to him in the process, "I could tell he stood on your foot," he whispered, leaning back.
She smiled, "Well, still...thank you," they danced in silence for a few more moments when Marayna glanced up at Arthur once more, only to see him fiercely glaring at the high table, directly at Richard, and raised an eyebrow, "Any other reason?"
He looked down at her for a second before returning his glare to Richard, "I didn't like the way he was holding you," he muttered nonchalantly, though she could feel his hand grip her own tighter, "Far too intimate for such occasions," she would have laughed at that, when Arthur spoke once more, far more quietly, almost lost in thought, "And if anyone is going to hold you like that, it would be me."
Marayna could feel her heartbeat speed up at the words as her eyes widened. She kept quiet though, seeing that he was not done speaking yet. She felt the hand on her back pull her ever so slightly closer, far closer than Richard had held her, though...this embrace she didn't actually mind.
"You're mine," he said softly, still glaring severely at Richard, "You're my servant, you belong to me."
Marayna raised an eyebrow at that comment for just a moment, the comment on the verge of sounding like he was speaking of someone being 'owned' by someone else, before setting it down and smirking up at him, "And you're my master," she countered, drawing his attention away from the table and capturing his intense gaze with one of her own, "Does that mean you belong to me?"
Arthur froze, stunned at her words, just as the song drew to an end. Marayna half-bowed, half-curtseyed and turned, making her way towards her brother and leaving a very stunned prince, who hadn't even noticed her trip a bit on the hem of her dress, standing in the middle of the floor even as the third song began.
"How does she do that?" he asked himself out loud.
~8~
The next morning, Merlin and Marayna watched the departure of the king and prince of East Anglia happily from Arthur's bedroom window. They had just finished straightening up the room as Arthur went to bid the visitors farewell. They stood there, watching until the last glimmers of the green banners had disappeared.
"Glad that's over," Arthur stated as he strode into the room and flopped down on his newly made bed. He rolled over onto his back at hearing the groan of his servants for wrinkling their work, and smirked at them.,"Merlin," he called, "I need you to polish my armor, sharpen my sword, and mend my shield."
"Yes, sire," Merlin grumbled, still standing there, waiting for his sister to receive her chores so they could leave together. Though, when Arthur realized this, he quickly made a gesture telling Merlin to leave. Merlin cast a quick glance at his sister before heading out of the room and down to the armory.
"Marayna," Arthur began, sitting up, "I'd like you to muck out my stables."
She frowned at that, "Arthur, you know I don't feel comfortable being in the stables with Cobalt…"
"Cobalt isn't there," he interrupted.
She looked up to see him getting off the bed and stretching, "What do you mean 'he isn't there?'"
"It seems as though one of the stablehands did a clumsy job and did not secure his stall. Cobalt escaped in the middle of the night."
Marayna was about to ask how he managed to get past the main door of the stables as well because, surely, the stablehand hadn't been that clumsy…when she noticed a very specific grin on Arthur's face. She could feel herself beginning to smile as a realization came to her, "Escaped did he?" she repeated, only receiving a nod from Arthur, "I do hope the poor stablehand wasn't punished too severely."
"I don't think he will be," Arthur shrugged, though he knew she had figured it out.
She stepped up to him, smiling brightly, "Thank you," she whispered sincerely, taking his hands in her own.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he couldn't help but grin even as he tried to seem innocent...and failed spectacularly at it.
"Of course not," she laughed, pulling her hands away, "I shall get started on the stables right away, sire."
Arthur could only grin as he watched her walk out of his room, her glancing back as she reached the door to give him one last smile. He released a shuddering breath and couldn't help but think that, if he was going to receive a smile like that every time, perhaps he should capture and release more wild horses.
A/N: Ooh...I think we all know what's coming next }:) The Gates of Avalon are waiting, as is Sophia }:D I'm very excited for the next chapter ;)
As for this one, I hope you enjoyed the little interaction/fleeing/jealousy with Richard :) I sort of wanted a little bit of jealousy on Arthur's part to sort of parallel the hints of it we saw in Lancelot :) Here though, Arthur's faced with someone who seems rather interested in Marayna }:) Which also ties in nicely with Sophia, some other woman interested in Arthur ;)
Some notes on reviews...
We'll start to see the pairings getting closer and closer together :) I won't say when it'll happen, but we will see feelings expressed in this first story, so within the next 2 weeks ;) I can say that Merlin and Morgana might just happen slightly before Arthur and Marayna :)