A/N: Hope you enjoyed the last chapter; here's part two of your double whammy! I'm quite aware that the relationships in this chapter may seem a little confusing but believe me, there is a plan and it probably won't be what you think it is! Also, I won't disclose my reasons for a certain event in this chapter until the end/my bottom Author's Note so just sit tight! Hope you enjoy this chapter and you're having great days!

Passing by you light up my darkest skies
You'll take only seconds to draw me in
Muse - Darkshines

'Right. I've got Nathan in a house in one of the closer villages; I'm spending my morning with you –' Elaina pointed at Merlin, who gave her a small smile. '- and my afternoon with Morgana before this feast. I'm pretty satisfied with myself, I love being busy.'

'You won't be saying that in a minute,' Merlin told her, an irritated expression on his face as he grumbled, 'You'd have thought that with your return that Arthur would've softened up a little bit but no, he still wants me to do every single chore he can think of and probably more!' He took a quick breath to try and calm himself down, telling Elaina, 'I doubt we'll be able to spend any time together, talking or relaxing, this morning. Sorry.'

Elaina shrugged.
'Don't worry about it – I'll help.' She took great delight in seeing how surprised Merlin was. She smiled, asking, 'What's so shocking?'

'You're a noble,' Merlin reminded her slowly.

Elaina nodded, matching Merlin's slow tone perfectly.
'Yes, I am – what's your point?'

'You can hardly help me with my chores!' he cried out, a rag flying out of his hand. 'I mean, some of them aren't even to do with Arthur –'

'Even better!' Elaina grinned, though it didn't reach her eyes.

Merlin gave Elaina a calculating look before asking quickly,
'Cleaning out tanks of leeches?'

Elaina nodded.
'I've done it before.'

'Mucking out all of the horses in the stables?'

'Easy!'

'Polishing, sewing and cleaning?' Merlin stared at Elaina with so much intensity it was as if he was trying to scare her away.

'Merlin, I learnt those things at my mother's knee whilst I was growing up,' Elaina told him matter-of-factly.

Merlin sighed, nodding. He was quiet for a few moments before he rallied again and asked,
'Doing Arthur's dirty washing?'

Elaina forced herself to stifle a laugh.
'Merlin, bring the washing basket to me,' she ordered, still fighting off the laughter. When Merlin did so, she merely glanced at the pile of washing and her eyes flashed white for a brief second before returning to normal. 'Is that any better?'

Merlin looked down at the pile in front of him, his eyes widening. Where there had previously been dirty clothes thrown into the basket, there were now neat stacks of clothes. He bent down to touch one of them, half-expecting it to be wet. He withdrew when he found that it was dry and warm.
'They're dry!' he cried out.

Elaina nodded.
'Yes, it would seem that way, wouldn't it?'

'And dry.'

'It would also seem that way.' Elaina was smiling at the shock on Merlin's face. 'It would also seem that they are crease-free, something I know Arthur always tells you off about.'

The look of shock changed to one of pure delight and Merlin was suddenly laughing.
'This is brilliant – can you do this all the time? Or teach me how to do it,' he added quickly.

Elaina tilted her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then, very slowly,
'No, I don't think I can. Anyway, I only used the spell because I know that washing clothes takes you almost a full morning and I would end up losing my patience and becoming very irritable. So, what are we to do now?' she asked lightly.

'Scrub the floor.' Merlin picked up the basket of clothes and started hanging them up in Arthur's wardrobe; once he had finished, he picked up the rag that had flown out of his hand. He stared at Elaina when he saw her tying her hair up behind her head and that there was a scrubbing brush next to her. 'What are you doing?'

Elaina frowned as she answered,
'I'm helping you with your chores, like I said I would. Is there a problem with that or is it just because I'm a noble?' There was a certain emphasis placed on the last word which made it sound like the worst sort of insult.

Merlin shook his head.
'I just thought you were joking – I've never really had anybody do something like this for me before,' he told Elaina, 'least of all a princess.'

Elaina's eyes tightened slightly at the use of the word but she quickly shook her irritation off.
'You're my friend, Merlin, and you deserve the help. Anyway,' she murmured beneath her breath, picking up the brush and walking over towards the bucket of water, 'I'm not in the mood to joke.'

Merlin followed Elaina and they began to scrub the floor of Arthur's chambers. He looked at her brush the dirt off the floor with ease and found himself momentarily jealous.

Elaina glanced up and caught his envious gaze, asking casually,
'What's wrong, Merlin?'

'You're a noble –'

Elaina rolled her eyes.
'A fact we've already established but I'm assuming this is going somewhere other than around in circles,' she remarked, returning to her work.

'You're of noble birth, your parents rule over a great kingdom and you have a great destiny… How on earth can you scrub floors so well?' he asked, completely astounded.

Elaina smiled wryly, pausing for a moment before carrying on with her work.
'About a year ago, I was engaged in a war; there were a few survivors that I met as soon as I arrived at their camp. As happens, more pockets of survivors eventually found their way to us and eventually, we had to take refuge underground. In a… cave. One night, the enemy attacked the cave with such a force that I had never seen before and they almost decimated all of the survivors.' Elaina's distress at this recollection became apparent when she took a breath that was sharp and slightly ragged. 'I had been on patrol that night but when I came back, I wanted to die too – men, women and children all scattered across the stone floors. Eventually, after doing what I had to do, they were each given funerals; after that, for the next three days and nights, I scrubbed the blood off the floors until you would've never been able to guess what had happened.' Elaina kept her eyes focussed on the floor as she concluded, 'That's why I'm so good at this, Merlin – because I've done it before.'

Morgana looked at her friend, who had stayed silent for most of the afternoon. A concerned look up her face, she asked,
'Is everything all right?'

Elaina glanced over at her; from the confused expression on her face, it was clear she hadn't been listening to Morgana. She frowned.
'I'm sorry, Morgana, I wasn't listening – did you need something?' she asked quietly attempting to clear her mind of all distractions.

'I was just wondering whether everything was all right – you've been awfully quiet this afternoon,' Morgana observed, walking over to Elaina and resting a hand on her friend's shoulder. 'I think I know what's wrong.' She smiled sympathetically at Elaina.

The currently dark-eyed sorceress smirked coolly and shook her head, muttering,
'I very much doubt it, Morgana.'

'I know exactly what's bothering you, Elaina,' Morgana told Elaina firmly, receiving a wide-eyed stare from Elaina and explaining, 'It's because you have to go to this stupid feast. It is, isn't it?'

Elaina frowned as she asked,
'What's the feast for anyway?'

Morgana was surprised.
'You don't know?'

Elaina glared at her friend, replying sharply,
'No, I'm asking for the good of my health, Morgana! Of course I don't know what you're talking about.'

Morgana looked calmly at Elaina, warning her,
'You might want to calm down a little bit, Elaina, or I suspect the change in your eyes might be a little more noticeable..'

Elaina shook her head.
'Never mind my eyes! I still don't have any idea what you're talking about.' The last few words came out a little more sharply than she'd meant them to sound. 'Half of the time, I never do.'

Morgana simply smiled, turning to Elaina and saying,
'I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, Elaina.'

Merlin looked at Arthur as he asked,
'So, are you escorting Elaina to the –'

'No,' Arthur told Merlin sharply, refastening his cloak with a look of irritation on his face. 'You can't even seem to fasten a cloak today, Merlin – what's gotten into you? Apart from the usual inadequacies,' he muttered beneath his breath.

Merlin ignored this last comment, instead asking,
'How come you aren't going with Elaina?'

Arthur briefly shot Merlin a glance, telling him,
'Because I'm escorting Morgana.'

'But you and Elaina are courting,' Merlin reminded Arthur, more than a little shocked when Arthur made a little noise at the back of his throat and gave Merlin a poisonous look. 'What's happened?'

Arthur now turned to face Merlin, his eyes stormy.
'You know what the feast is for tonight, don't you, Merlin?' When Merlin nodded, Arthur carried on, glad he didn't have to explain something else to his servant. 'Exactly – it's in my mother's memory so how I am supposed to look at Elaina when everybody knows that my mother is the reason why Morgause blasted her into a wall?' Arthur shrugged. 'I can't; I know it sounds idiotic, Merlin, but that's why I'm escorting Morgana, not Elaina. Anyway, things are more than a little complicated between us at the minute,' Arthur admitted.

'Between you and Morgana or between you and Elaina?' For this question, Merlin earned himself another glare from his friend and master.

'Between me and Elaina, obviously.'

Merlin nodded as he finished off polishing Arthur's sword, holding it up in the light to inspect it.
'Is this to do with that man you met in the woods?'

'Nathan.' Arthur's mouth twisted around the word as if it was offensive. 'He does seem to complicate matters a lot. I suppose I'll have a chance to speak to Elaina about it later if she doesn't avoid the subject again.'

'Maybe it's personal and private?' Merlin suggested, remembering Elaina's previous confession to him. 'She's not a woman who reveals her secrets lightly.'

Arthur found himself agreeing with Merlin, much to his shock, as he replied,
'I know, she seems that way to me as well but I thought I was part of her personal and private life and that maybe she'd open herself up a bit more after everything we've been through but after he suddenly appeared out of the trees –' Arthur waved his hands a little bit, making the event seem a little more mystical than it had been. '- it's like she hasn't wanted my company in the slightest, not even as a friend. And now I keep on thinking that I might have done something wrong without even knowing about it,' he finished, realising how sorry for himself he sounded. 'I shouldn't be moaning as much as I am.'

'No, you probably shouldn't be,' Merlin said quickly, though he did suggest, 'Maybe she's still a little angry at you about the marriage thing. It would be understandable.'

'It's possible but she wouldn't have kissed me if she was still angry at me,' Arthur pointed out.

Merlin shook his head, smirking.

Arthur noticed this and his eyes narrowed as he asked suspiciously,
'What's so funny, Merlin?'

Merlin shook his head, still polishing the sword and still smirking.
'Nothing, sire.'

Arthur took a few steps around the table, moving closer to Merlin, as he repeated,
'What's so funny, Merlin?'

'Really, nothing is amusing me,' Merlin told him. He suddenly paused and was thoughtful. Then he said, 'It's just that… No, never mind.'

Arthur raised an eyebrow, saying in a tone that emphasised his superiority,
'If it's funny to you, then it's going to be hilarious to the rest of us so I insist that you tell me what's so funny. For the good of your health,' Arthur added, looking meaningfully at the sword and then at Merlin's abdomen.

Merlin quickly told Arthur what was so funny.
'It's just that I heard that the kiss was the other way around – you kissed her,' Merlin said, 'so it wouldn't really leave her with much choice, would it?'

Arthur glared at Merlin.
'It's the same difference, Merlin, not that you'd know,' he said, pulling his sword from Merlin and slipping it beneath his belt, 'and if she had still been angry at me about the marriage with Elena – which I stopped – then she wouldn't have responded in such a positive way.' When Merlin chuckled, Arthur simply raised his other eyebrow; he didn't need to issue a verbal order this time.

'I wasn't speaking about your almost-marriage with Elena,' he pointed out in a light tone, moving backwards.

Arthur followed Merlin's movements with his eyes, moving towards him with a menacing air about him.
'What were you talking about, Merlin?' When his servant gulped and kept moving backwards, Arthur clenched his jaw and asked through gritted teeth, 'What did you tell Elaina about, Merlin?'

'I might've told her about Sofia,' Merlin said hesitantly, suddenly realising that there was no other way out of this room that he would be able to reach before Arthur caught him and used him as bait for the next hunting trip. 'And Vivienne.'

Arthur stared at Merlin for a long, tense second, a muscle working furiously in his jaw. Then, like a spring, he tackled Merlin into the ground, punching his arm with ferocity akin to a wounded bear. Or an irritated Elaina – Arthur wasn't sure which would hurt more in a fight but his money was on Elaina, as he had first-hand experience in fighting her.
'You did what?' he shouted at his servant, punching every single bit of his arm that Arthur could reach. 'You told her about Sofia – that witch?'

Merlin almost laughed at the irony of the situation – here Arthur was, telling him off for telling Elaina that the prince of Camelot had been in love with a witch when the same prince was in love with the most powerful sorceress ever to live, even if matters were "more than a little complicated" between the two of them. However, he did let out a chuckle but he instantly regretted it as Arthur pounded Merlin's arm even more viciously.

'Do you think it's funny, Merlin? You wouldn't know, would you?' Arthur was almost roaring at the top of his voice as he carried on hitting Merlin. 'You've never been in love!'

Merlin's mind instantly went to Freya but he bit his tongue; that was something that nobody ever need know about and it would remain that way. He simply waited for Arthur's fury to peter out; an hour later, Merlin didn't think he had a left arm anymore. Either that or it had fallen off.

Morgana and Arthur moved about the ceremonial chambers, acting as the King's ward and the heir to the throne should do. Quickly growing bored with the formalities, they wandered over to their servants, who were stood near the table at the front of the hall. Morgana was the first to speak, groaning,
'This is so dull! I don't even know why I came to this thing,' she told Gwen, who smiled politely.

'Because my father and I would've taken it as a great personal insult if you hadn't attended,' Arthur told Morgana, taking a goblet of mead from a passing tray. After all the small talk and polite conversations he'd been subjected to, he needed a drink.

Morgana gave Arthur a withering look as she looked around the room, looking for any sign of the brunette locks of hair or unusually coloured eyes.
'Typical,' she muttered under her breath, assuming that Elaina had abandoned her friends to spend some time with her mysterious friend. She raised her eyebrows when she saw that Gwen, Merlin and Arthur were staring expectantly at her. 'What?'

'What are you saying "typical" about?' Arthur asked, taking a mouthful of alcohol from his goblet. 'Is there something wrong?'

Morgana shook her head.
'It's just Elaina – she's not…' Her voice trailed off as she tried to think up of an excuse for her friend; she could say that Elaina was ill but Arthur would probably leave the feast early to see Elaina – which wouldn't give Elaina enough time to return from her visit without Arthur finding out where she'd been – or Morgana could tell Arthur what she was thinking, which would buy Elaina some time from Uther. In the dungeons. So, Morgana went with what she knew to be a lie, transforming it into a half-truth. 'Elaina wasn't feeling herself before – I suspect that she's fallen ill from all the stress she's been through recently; she went to her chambers a little before sunset but I can't see her here. I suppose she's merely trying to recover,' Morgana said confidently, looking steadily at Arthur.

Arthur nodded, though there was a slight frown on his face.
'I see… Morgana, I need to talk to you about Elaina –' He was cut off by a loud fanfare and he turned, a smile on his face. 'Ah, the knights are here! Things will certainly pick up now!' He looked to his side and raised his glass to his father. 'Father, I trust you are enjoying yourself?'

Uther smiled widely, nodding and grasping his son by the shoulder.
'You made what could've been a dismal event into one full of life and joy; just as your mother would've wanted this to be,' he told his son, his eyes full of light, looking towards the thick doors as they opened.

Sir Leon was the first to enter the ceremonial hall and to say that he was smiling would have been an understatement – his face was almost split in half. And the woman on his arm also had a wide smile on her own face; the breath in every man, woman and child was caught, as was their attention, when they saw her.

She was radiant, positively glowing as she walked with Leon; loose curls hung around her face and there were small red flowers in her hair, matching the crimson and gold dress perfectly. She became surprisingly shy when she realised that she had captured the attention of every man and woman in the room and blushed. When they reached Uther, she curtseyed – even surprising herself – and greeted him with all the formality in the world; she did the same with Arthur and Morgana.

The shock was so great that Arthur could only utter a few syllables in greeting; he couldn't believe who was stood in front of him. Of course, he'd always thought that she was beautiful; admittedly, he'd thought that she was pretty at first before becoming captivating and then angelic – all whilst being a nightmare for his emotions and for managing to get under his skin every single time she was around – and finally, Arthur had been of the very strong opinion that Lady Elaina of Vayle was very much the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in the entirety of the Five Kingdoms. But tonight, even Morgana looked plain when stood next Elaina. His stomach turned when he found out that he wasn't the only one of that opinion.

'People are staring at me, Leon,' Elaina muttered beneath her breath, still smiling.

Leon bent his head down a little bit, replying quietly,
'Why are you surprised? You're beautiful.'

A/N: So, the feast, with a rather morbid cause/reason. The image of Uther I'm trying to create is like the one we all know and love/hate/loved/hated (dependant on which series you're watching) but more fixated on the past, with reasons I am not yet ready to disclose. And I know it probably would've been a little shocking for Arthur's favourite knight to be with Arthur's favourite woman and telling her she was beautiful but I have a plan! Do not worry yourselves. Yet... I hope you enjoyed this chapter and until the next time I update (let's not make bets, okay? Or flip a coin *shudders*),
Grace x