I stood back, admiring my handiwork. I was pretty dang proud of this room. The walls were painted Tardis blue, since Arthur was also a fan. I had subtle references to other shows and books throughout the office, but nothing was too obvious. There was a painted yellow smiley face on the back of the office door. It wasn't large, but it was there. I had a small model of an Impala on the shelf.

I set up two desk areas, so Arthur and I could work on homework together, along one wall. Every other wall had floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. I was so glad that Arthur's landlord had been okay with us building the shelves. He'd also been okay with us building the desks straight into the wall.

A knock sounded on the door-which I had magically protected to keep everybody but myself out. "Merlin? You in there?"

"Yeah. But I'm not letting you in. Not yet." Yeah, sure, I was done. But I knew the curiosity was killing him. He probably thought I was going to make it look like a scene from The Hunger Games or Doctor Who or Sherlock or something. And I had been tempted, but then I'd decided to go subtle. But I'd let Arthur use his imagination for a little while longer. He'd been trying to sneak in for about two weeks.

"Well, then come out here. There's something I need to talk to you about."

Sighing, I left the office, being very careful not to let him see inside. "What do you want?"

He looked…nervous? No, it was more like he was irritated. "Well, I have some…kind of…maybe bad news."

I narrowed my eyes. "What?" I asked slowly.

"My mom has been trying really hard to get my dad to be a little more understanding. She wants…She wants to set up a sort of…date. You, me, her, and…my dad.

I couldn't help but scowl. "Your dad hates me."

"I don't think he hates you," Arthur said, but he didn't sound too sure. "He just…doesn't really like you."

"Oh, yeah. Because that makes it so much better."

"I know. I'm sorry. But Mom says that she thinks he'll be reasonable."

I shook my head. I really didn't believe that Uther Pendragon was capable of being reasonable.

"I know, I know," he said. I don't have as much confidence as Mom does. But will you go? Do you think you'd be okay with that?"

"Do I have to?"

"Of course you don't have to. But I would really like you to. Maybe it'll be okay."

I sighed. Maybe Uther could be reasonable. For one night. "All right, fine. I'll go."

He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Thank you. If he gets too bad, we'll leave right away. Promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that. You do realize that, right?"

"I know. So, do I get to see the office yet?"

"No!"