"I know it's a lot to ask, Old Friend. But I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." Brian gazed off the wall into the distance, as if by looking toward his island kingdom he could see it from Camelot's walls
Uther looked at Brian and pursed his lips. "You ask quite a bit, Old Friend."
Brian started to open his mouth.
Uther held up his hand. "I did not mean that the way that sounded. Your daughter is welcome, of course. She is just…"
"Different," Brian offered, smiling slightly, "She's my Arthur," he explained, finally glancing over at the other king.
"She is...different." Uther allowed. He looked at Brian, and he smiled suddenly, it reaching his eyes. "Your Arthur?"
"Not every man is lucky enough to have a son." Brian's eyes twinkled. "I may have improvised."
Uther laughed, throwing his head back. He slapped Brian's shoulder. "I should say you did," his voice was full of amusement.
"You're lucky, Old Friend. Camelot is peaceful." The Irish king's eyes had a wistful gleam in them. "It must be wonderful."
"A hard-won peace. Twenty years. I can hardly believe it myself." Uther leaned his forearms on the wall. His eyes covered every inch of the city, a memory sparked in each place he saw. Good ones, bad ones, some so terrible he dared not think of them.
"That is why I ask you this favor." Brian stood up and looked off over to the land of Camelot. "My Island is much like Camelot twenty years ago. The upheaval is getting more dangerous by the day. I worry about her. Just two weeks ago I found her halfway into the lower town in the middle of one of the most ruthless raids we've had, covered in blood. She's brave, strong, skilled...and she's my only daughter. The love I have for her is second only to the love I have for her mother. I do not wish for her to see more war than she already has. I know that if I asked her to, she would do her best to keep from the fighting, but only for a short time. She's never been one for sitting by while there's a fight to be part of."
"So I've heard." Uther thought back to only a few hours before when the whispers of what had happened on the training field that morning had reached the two kings.
"I do not know what I would do if she were to be taken from me. I fear for them who would dare such a thing. But I also fear that Jaya would put herself in harm's way simply because she would be trying so hard to get free." Brian looked at his old friend, hoping the King of Camelot would understand his deep-seeded fear.
Uther nodded in understanding. "You fear they are after her?" It was an odd mix between a question and a statement.
"That is the other reason I make such a request of you." Brian looked at him. "All that matters to me is her safety."
Uther stood up and looked at Brian thoughtfully. "You are a very dear friend to me. I have watched you on the battlefield, and in the council room. I will keep your daughter safe. And I will send a contingent of knights back with you." He held up his hand to cut off the Irish king's protest. "You fought alongside me, it is because of that that Camelot is as peaceful as it is today. You were away from your rightful place to help me win mine. Now I shall repay that debt. She will be my ward until such a time as you see fit to send for her. I will make sure that she does not follow you home."
Brian nodded like a knight receiving marching orders, though his eyes never left Uther's. "You are most generous. I will accept them only because I wish not to offend you, and I know that you would come if you could, and since you cannot, you are sending these men to help me. I will not forget this." He extended his right hand.
Uther gripped his forearm tightly and clapped his shoulder. "There is nothing to remember. We are allies."
Brian smiled. "She will stay. Perhaps unwillingly, but if I ask her to, you should not have to worry about her running off while your back is turned." He looked down at the courtyard as the sound of hooves clattered against the cobblestones. "It appears our children are back from their ride," he mused.
The two kings made it to the top of the grand stair to watch the three horses and black dog come trotting into the courtyard. They watched as Jaya slung her right leg over Courage's neck, and then threw back her head to laugh at something, before jumping off and lightly landing on her feet. They took in Arthur's stiff dismount, and tight lipped smile at Jaya. And watched as Merlin nearly toppled as he got off his horse.
Jaya trotted up to the first two steps and grinned at Arthur, slinging her arm out to shove him playfully.
Arthur looked the very picture of a tortured soul. Uther honestly wondered if his son was wishing that the steps would suddenly open up and swallow him.
Brian frowned slightly when Jaya punched Arthur's arm. It was light enough not to leave a bruise, but definitely more than enough to get his attention. It seemed like she was enjoying his condition a little too much. He was just as startled as Jaya when Arthur bumped his shoulder into hers and sent her stumbling back half a step.
"Oi! Careful there!" her voice bounced up the steps, full of playful ire. She didn't appear to notice the two kings, as she grinned at Arthur.
Ridire trotted up the steps, tongue lolling out to the side, looking every inch the picture of a content dog.
Arthur looked like it was taking everything in him to keep from punching her full force with the fist that was his right hand.
Jaya sobered slightly, her hands up in a gesture of placating, apologetic submission. "It's all right. I know it was an accident."
"What was an accident?" Uther questioned, looking down at the two young royals, his hands on hips and his eyebrows set at a disapproving angle.
"Letting her win the race." Arthur growled, eyeing Jaya like she was an enemy.
Jaya's mouth fell open, actual ire sparking in her eyes. "You let me win? Did you learn nothing this morning?" she demanded, her brogue getting thick and guttural as her tone dropped. "I demand a rematch!"
Brian cleared his throat. "You do realize I'm here to make peace with Camelot, not start a war over bruised pride." he asked, his voice somewhere between chiding and chuckling.
Jaya looked at him, and then at the still-disgruntled Arthur, then up to the unimpressed Uther. She cleared her throat. "Yes...well…" she cleared her throat again, shifting on the step and bumping into Ridire. "My sincerest apologies."
Uther looked at her pointedly for a moment before turning to Brian with something like understanding on his face. "I see why you're worried."
Brian and Jaya's eyebrows both shot up.
"You're worried?" Jaya asked, looking at her father pointedly.
"What do you mean?" Brian asked the same time, shushing his daughter's next comment with a single lifted finger.
"You have a daughter as beautiful as your wife and as boisterous as you. I would be worried if I was in your stead." Uther looked at the other king and actually smirked.
Jaya's mouth fell open in shock.
Brian smiled and winked at his daughter. "She's a good lass." he agreed, his voice purring with love. "And she is just as beautiful as her mother."
Jaya flushed and looked around uncomfortably. "If there's nothing more, M'Lords, I have someone to check on." she mumbled, her voice full of embarrassment.
Brian dipped his head in silent permission. And watched her explode up the steps and away from the awkward situation, her lanky dog loping after her easily. "A good lass." he repeated, looking at Uther with a tight smile.
"I see much of you in her. It's no wonder she's such a good fighter." Uther intoned, looking after Jaya and her dog.
Arthur pursed his lips and walked around the two kings, Merlin trailing on his heels. He grumbled under his breath once he was a few feet removed from where his father and hers could hear him.
Brian watched Arthur and his manservant go and then looked at Uther. "You have a good son. I feel as though I should apologize for anything Jaya might have done to bruise his pride this morning."
Uther waved his hand back and forth in an erasing gesture. "Nonsense. I'm sure the stories were quite over-done by the time we heard them."
Brian tilted his head in deference, though he suspected the stories were true just as they heard them. Gods if she isn't my daughter, through and through.
Merlin smirked and trotted after Arthur, listening to him mumble to himself for a few minutes. "Yes, you've really done it now." he agreed, cutting over the prince's barely audible tirade.
Arthur stopped so abruptly Merlin very nearly ran into him. "What have I done now?" he demanded, his teeth clenched.
Merlin smiled, his eyebrows up. "I saw you."
"Saw what?" Arthur eyed him. Starting to walk again.
"You didn't let her win." Merlin offered after a second's hesitation to rethink mentioning the kiss. "You didn't even try."
Arthur glared at him from under the fringe of his blonde hair. "Says who?" he demanded, brushing past a serving girl who stammered an apology for being in his way that he didn't hear.
"You were too embarrassed. You challenged her to a race knowing that she would charge away and give you some space. Quite brilliant when you think about it." Merlin mentioned as if he had just stumbled on the brilliance of the idea as he was talking.
Arthur stopped in the middle of the hallway. He put his hands on hips and sighed heavily, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. "I don't get embarrassed."
"Yes you do." Merlin countered, not heeding the prince's body language.
"What did I have to be embarrassed about?" Arthur snapped, rolling his eyes.
"I saw what happened," Merlin looked around to be sure they were alone. "In the clearing." he whispered. He started when Arthur's right first finger very nearly jabbed him in the nose.
"You tell anyone. At all. About what happened in the clearing and I'll have your head." he growled.
Merlin smiled and nodded tightly. "Yes, Sire," said with hardly any respect at all, but his face was serious.
Arthur started to turn away and snapped back to look at Merlin closely. "Anyone." he repeated.
Merlin held up his hands to indicate that he had no intention and quietly followed after Arthur, the smirk still playing across his lips.
Jaya trotted lightly up the stairs that lead up to the hallway that her room was off of and almost didn't look up in time to crash to a halt before she ran full bore into a porcelain-featured beauty in a flowing purple gown that was standing in the middle of the landing just a few inches from the top stair. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Jaya exclaimed, looking sheepish. "I'm afraid I've grown too used to the stairs being empty all the way up. I do know better."
The girl in purple looked down at her and smiled. "It's no trouble. You must be part of King Brian's party." She said, hinting at the introduction.
Jaya bobbed her head. "Indeed I am." She bounced up the last two steps onto the landing and smiled at the other girl while her eyes trailed Ridire until he flopped down on the flagstones a few paces away. "You must be the Lady Morgana." She tilted her head in a preferential motion.
The other girl smiled brightly and nodded once. "And who might you be?" She asked, looking over Jaya's strange way of dressing.
Jaya looked down at herself and then smiled, suddenly realizing just how she must look. "The Princess Jaya at your service M'Lady." she placed her right fist over her heart, her knuckles rapping against the metal, and half dropped to her left knee, her eyes down and her head tipped to the other girl.
Morgana gasped slightly. "You are?" she asked, sounding shocked.
Jaya nodded, absentmindedly petting Ridire as he pushed his head up under her hand. "I know it might be a bit hard to believe." She smirked as she brushed a handful of her corkscrew curls that had fallen out of her braid out of her face and over her right ear.
Morgana smiled, which turned into a smirk as she watched the same hair fall out and get momentarily tangled in the Princess' eyelashes. "I don't know what you're talking about," she disagreed in a lofty, but friendly tone. "Everyone has heard of you by now."
Jaya blushed. From the bottom of her chin to the top of her ears. A rare thing for her.
"I hear you gave Arthur quite a turn on the training field this morning," Morgana continued, mercifully, like she hadn't noticed the redness. "I wish I could have been there to see it."
Jaya smirked, amusement flashing in her eyes. "I'm sure I could do it again."
"Next time warn me so I can be there," Morgana instructed.
Jaya inclined her head slightly. "As you wish."
Morgana looked at her with confusion etched on her face.
"If you'll excuse me, I have someone I want to check up on." Jaya flashed a smile and walked off the way she came, not waiting for Morgana's consent, nor needing it, and clearly missing the confusion the other girl felt at being treated like she was above the princess.