The next morning, an excited Treila shook me awake.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled, trying to push her away.

"Get up." She ordered.

"Why? The sun's not even up." I replied.

"Exactly." She said, pulling the covers off me. "Get your cloak, and follow me."

"Why?" I asked, pulling the covers back up.

"Just come on." She urged from the doorway as my cloak was thrown onto my

face.

I pushed my cloak away and looked out the open door. I groaned as I crawled out of bed, pulled my cloak over my underdress and left my chambers. Treila was waiting in the courtyard with two horses as the pre-dawn light cast a cool glow over the marble.

"Where are we going?" I asked, but got no reply as she climbed on, bareback, and rode out of the courtyard. I pulled myself onto my own horse and followed her out, into the rainforest. It didn't take long before I worked out where we were going, and soon we emerged onto the stretch of white sand, with the crystal clear ocean stretching to the horizon beyond.

"This, is what I wanted to show you." Treila said, as I joined her to sit on the cool sand as the tip of the sun poked it's head above the horizon. The sky glowed a beautiful mix of pinks and oranges.

"How could I forget." I replied, remembering back to all the years we used to come here to watch the sunrise and…

"You know what comes next." Treila said and I grinned at her, as we stood up and pulled off our cloaks, before running down to the water's edge in only our underdresses.

I dived under the water, and gasped at the coolness of the water. Together, we swam out to a large piece of rock, jutting out from the ocean floor. The rock was jagged, so had plenty of foot and hand holds to choose from, and we both pulled ourselves up, on top of it.

"Do you remember when we used to pretend we were mermaids?" I asked my sister.

"Yes, and you always insisted on having special powers." I added to which she laughed.

We chatted away as the sun rose higher in the sky, until our peacefulness was shattered when I remembered what today was.

"Oh my gosh! Today's the melee." I cried. "We've got to get back." I added, before diving off the rock and swimming back to the shore.

We grabbed our cloaks and leapt back onto our horses, laughing all the way back to the castle.

As we rode back into the courtyard, people were already milling around with plates of food piled high for breakfast. A couple of guards took out horses as we rushed inside to change out of our underdresses.

I pulled on a beautiful gown with sweeping sunset colours and had my hair done in an intricate braid, piled on top of my head. Today was my first official event as Queen and I wanted to make a good, lasting impression. The melee was to start this morning and it was open to anyone…and there were no rules…and it was usually carnage…but good-natured carnage nonetheless.

As I walked through the halls, people from all the lands were assembling in the courtyard, signing themselves up for the melee. I continued through the halls, but stopped when I heard a loud voice from the armoury.

"I don't care if you use your tongue. Clean 'em!" The voice yelled, and I walked to the doorway to see two burley men looming over the much smaller Merlin.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing, Your Majesty." A bald man said, bowing his head.

"It didn't sound like nothing." I smiled pleasantly.

"I-I was just asking this young man to clean my boots." The man who'd been doing the yelling said as I noticed the whip in his hands. I then glanced at Merlin who was holding his knuckles, trying to hide the bloody gash across them.

"Well, by all means, let me." I said.

"Oh, no. Your Highness, please no." The man said nervously.

"Well we can't allow you to be unhappy with the state of your boots?" I replied, and walked over to a table where a cloth sat. "Please." I added, gesturing to a box. He hesitated and I glared at him. Reluctantly, he put his foot on the box and I leant down to clean his boots.

"There. Now you look respectable." I said, standing up.

"I don't know what to say, your majesty." He stammered.

"You can apologise to Merlin here and show him the same amount of respect you've shown me, do I make myself clear?" I asked warningly.

"Yes, your majesty. I'm sorry." He said and when I raised my eyebrows he swallowed and turned to Merlin. "I'm sorry." He said to him and Merlin did a terrible job at hiding his smugness. He was going to have to watch himself after that.

"Now leave." I demanded. "Merlin." I added and held the door open for him as we both left the armoury.

"I should mention that while the Melee is exciting and a cause for celebration, it is also open to anyone, not matter who they are. So, you may want to keep your head down, and I only tell you this because I know how bad you are at doing that." I smiled.

"Did anyone think this tournament through? A contest open to all comers to win a hundred gold coins. Hmm. I wonder what kind of people are going to turn up?" He said, as we were joined by Arthur.

"It's tradition, Merlin. The tournament's been held every year there's a new ruler in Ivistor. It's been the same for centuries." Arthur said, placing a hand on my back and I let mine rest on his chest.

"Oh, I'm impressed. You've been reading up." I replied with a smile.

"Of course." He smiled proudly and offered me his arm. "You look beautiful." He added and there was a snort from Merlin.

"Merlin, was that you?" Arthur asked, stopping and looking over his shoulder.

"What? No…It was a horse." He replied.

"Merlin. There aren't any horses here." Arthur said, and Merlin thought for a moment before leaving.

I looked back at Arthur who had a cheesy grin on his face.

"What's that look for?" I asked, resting my forearms on his shoulders and linking my finger behind his head.

"I just feel incredibly happy today." He grinned.

"And why is that?" I asked.

"Oh, you know. Birds are singing, sun is shining…I have a beautiful lady in front of me." He replied, lopping his arms around my waist and pulling me into him. He tilted his head and pressed his lips against mine, tightening his grip around my waist. I held my palm against the back of his neck, trailing my fingers into his hair. When I heard a door close in the distance I pulled back.

While everyone knew about our relationship, it wasn't proper to show it. I took Arthur's arm as we walked down to the arena were the tournament was about to begin.

"You're not going to wish me good luck?" He asked as we parted ways.

"Do I need to?" I asked. As if he needed luck to win.

"Well, it doesn't hurt." He replied, and I smiled before walking back to him and kissing him on the cheek.

"Good luck." I said.

"I don't need luck." He shrugged before walking into the arena as I looked incredulously after him. But, before he disappeared, he looked over his shoulder and grinned. I smiled to myself before making my way to the stands where I stepped up onto the platform where two thrones were sitting.

"Finally." Treila sighed, getting up from her place as I faced the contenders, waiting eagerly for the contest to begin.

"It's my pleasure to welcome you all to Ivistor. This is a contest like no other. It is open to all comers, there are no rules, and no weapons are band. The last man standing takes the prize. Let the tournament begin!" I announced and the crowds in the stands cheered.