A/N: Hi there! Thanks for the reviews, it warms my heart! Here's the second episode!

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of its characters, obviously. If I did, Gwen would have had laser eyes!


The tournament would soon begin. Drusilla hurried out of the castle, again dashing through the crowd in a decidedly unladylike fashion. Her plain, plaid brown dress hiked up to her calves, her fur-lined cape askew and her messy hair flying wildly behind her like one of the knights' banners, the lady ran down the street of Camelot on her way to the stands. She was to be seated next to Lady Morgana and she should be there to applaud the contestants as they made their appearance before the king.

As she finally arrived, red-faced and breathless, and took her place next to Morgana, the king's ward glanced at her friend with a smirk on her face.

"Look who's finally showed up! I knew I should have sent Gwen to wake you this morning. Not only are you almost late, you look appalling in this dress."

Drusilla rolled her eyes and looked behind her with a smile to the lady's maid.

"Oh Gwen would have never found me in bed. I was in the archives, helping Uncle Geoffrey authenticate all the letters of mark. But I wouldn't miss this for the world. All these thuggish knights, this extensive display of violence to prove one's superior masculinity ... It's breathtaking, really!"

Both Gwen and Morgana giggled at Drusilla's sarcastic comment. They always were the funniest part of tournaments.

Moments later, the knights came out and stood in front of the stands. The king stood and discoursed, the usual diatribe about welcoming them to Camelot, testing their bravery and skill, and about the coffer of gold the champion would win. Knight's true nature, warrior or coward and so on and so forth. Drusilla could not be bothered to stay attentive. She scanned the crowd of knights in front of her.

"Don't they look dashing in their matching capes and tunics? Such class as they are about to beat each other senseless with pointy metal things."

Morgana swatted her arm, trying not to laugh in the face of the knights. Some were more interesting than others, in the eyes of the king's ward.

"Some of them do look dashing. Don't you see any that tickles your fancy, Dru?"

The girl looked at the noblemen gathered in the pit. They were all tall and broad of shoulders. Some were bearded and others barefaced, some as young as the prince and others old enough to be her father. Yet they all had a common air of belligerence. They all looked menacing and fierce. The least threatening of them all was Arthur himself, who looked solemn more than hostile. He stood immobile, not the tallest of the bunch by a long shot, and barely acknowledged when his name was spoken by the king. Realizing that Morgana awaited her answer, she turned to hush a whisper to her friend.

"I don't find them attractive as much as terrifying. I wouldn't wish to be caught alone in a deserted alleyway with any one of them!"

Morgana raised a dubious eyebrow but let her friend's little whim pass without further comment. The tournament began.

It wasn't that she didn't find the men handsome, it was that she always found them lacking in some area or other. Arthur was a prime example. He was a very handsome young man, a noble prince, yet he was also a conceited and self-indulgent bully. Most of the knights present at this tournament were either greedy, here for the gold and the glory and the women's adoration, or they were bloodthirsty, only rejoicing in the unhinged violence they could freely rain upon their adversary in the name of the sport. It not only kept her from seeing any other qualities they might have, it rebuked her. Drusilla could not stand such flaws of character, especially in knights, who were supposed to uphold a code of nobility and sacrifice. It seemed to her a great nonsense for them to take part in this barbaric display.

As the first round began, Drusilla noticed a dark haired head popping out at times from the knights entrance. She tore her eyes off the prince's fight, only to find his new manservant observing and encouraging his new master. The Court physician, Master Gaius, stood nearby, ready to interfere should any knight get badly wounded. The old man seemed to know the young manservant and they muttered together often as the day wore on.

"I hope you'll change into something better than this tablecloth for the banquet tonight."

Drusilla sighed, her friend was insufferable sometimes, when it came to dressing up.

"And what shall I wear, milady? I wouldn't wish to outshine your own attire. It's you the tournament champion will escort to the victory banquet, not little o' me."

Flattery always got the king's ward off her back. Drusilla had gotten used to Morgana's good-natured teasing over the years. Unlike the prince, whose teasing was always mean and blunt, she never meant to hurt people's feelings. This was probably the biggest reason why Lady Drusilla and Lady Morgana got along so well.


That night's banquet was as long and tedious as could be expected with so many nobles in the same room. Drusilla had trouble not letting out a sigh of boredom every time one of the tournament's participants spoke to her. Their favorite subjects being themselves and their fighting skills, it made for stilted conversation at best.

"And here's Camelot's own goblin, out of her archives and washed, no less! Sir Owain, you remember Lady Drusilla of Monmouth, don't you?"

And here comes torture. Arthur and another young knight were almost at her side and she could see the prince's smirk as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Arthur. Glad to see all those numerous blows to the head haven't ruined what little wit you had."

It took him a second too long to retort, by which time she was already greeting the other knight - who, she was bound to admit, had rather nice blue eyes.

"Sir Owain. It's nice to see you, unharmed."

The other knight grinned as she carried on.

"Well now that you've been eliminated, there's no more risk of injury, is there?"

The grin disappeared, replaced by a scowl. Arthur, for his part, was near howling of laughter at their side. Sir Owain had, in fact, been one of the first to be eliminated this afternoon. The proud knight bowed to the prince and the young lady and excused himself with a pout.

Arthur put a hand on her shoulder, still very much amused.

"You are merciless, Drusilla. Don't let that change, you hear me?"

"I'm not merciless, Arthur. I'm not one of your bloody knights, after all."

The prince sobered up.

"You know, the knights are bound by a code of honor tha..."

"I know, I know. I've read the dratted knight's code so many times I can almost recite it in my sleep."

Arthur stopped talking right there. He didn't know the little copyist knew about the knight's code.

"Well. Either way, you have a wickedly sharp tongue, and it's one of your best qualities. Surprising too, in such a noble young lady of good breeding."

He was needling her the best way he knew how. She was far from ladylike - as the whole court would say - and it irked her.

"What's surprising is that men in armor can be broken better with a few well aimed words than with a sword to the chest. Soft hearts the lot of them, aren't they?"

Now she was being downright insulting. Arthur's close company was something she tried to avoid as best she could, tonight being no exception. If she was mean enough, he might go away, to seek ego-flattering praise elsewhere. The prince huffed and turned to leave after one last remark.

"You're in a cheerful mood today. Try not to cause any diplomatic incidents before the end of the tournament."


The next day brought along more fights, more clanging of sword against hauberk, more snide comments from Lady Drusilla to Lady Morgana and Gwen.

"Does the infernal noise not disturb you two?"

She'd woken up with a striking headache and it was nowhere near better by the time Sir Ewan fought Sir Valiant. Both men went at it merrily and with much ardor. This fight was a close match, and the crowd was enthralled.

"Maybe you should go lie down, Lady Drusilla."

Gwen, always the nicest, eyed Drusilla with a concerned, almost motherly look. The young lady had always been slightly built and pale, as far as she could remember, and always a bit sickly-looking. That impression was often offset by the girl's bubbling energy and her quick wit, but today, little Drusilla of Monmouth looked very much ill, and Gwen would have bet it was the tournament that was ailing her.

"Maybe I will ... Or at the very least I should go see Gaius. He might have something for me."

The crowd erupted in loud cheers at this very moment. Sir Valiant had won his fight. Sir Ewan, however, was still on the ground, completely immobile. After only a short moment, Master Gaius entered the arena wit his medicinal bag in hand. Lady Morgana sighed.

"Looks like Gaius might be a bit busy for now."

She looked sideways at her friend. The girl really was looking ill. Morgana patted her arm gently with a reassuring smile.

"Go on, get some rest. It's better that you miss today's fighting than tomorrow's final and the champion's banquet."

With a grateful smile, Drusilla bid goodbye to her friends and to the king nearby, and walked back up to the castle and her room, far away from the sounds of fighting.


Gwen came by later that day, bringing up a light lunch of stew, cheese and warm bread.

"Gwen, what are you doing here? You're not my lady's maid."

The servant girl chuckled as she set down the tray on the table. Dru stood from her window seat, came and sat down to eat.

"Maybe, but Morgana wanted to know how you felt. I thought you were supposed to rest. What were you reading?"

Drusilla tucked in happily, until now unaware of how hungry she had been. The stew smelled divine!

"Reading is restful, Gwen. Especially the history of the kings of the Western Isles. Trust me, I fell asleep over it! Twice!"

Gwen could not help but laugh. Lady Drusilla had grown up in the Archives with her uncle Geoffrey, and she was more at home among the parchments and heavy tomes than with actual people. But she already seemed much better than earlier.

"Do you think you'll feel well enough for the final tomorrow? It's Arthur against Valiant. Morgana is beside herself with excitement."

A small ball of unease set itself in the pit of Drusilla's stomach at the thought of the prince fighting the aggressive knight.

"Promises to be a fight I should not miss, doesn't it? I'll turn in early and I should be right as rain by the morning. Thank you, Gwen. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Gwen had already been on her way out the door with the empty food tray, but she turned and nodded to her friend again as she left.


The morning brought along its slew of surprises, as Drusilla quickly learned from Gwen and Morgana while they sat in the stands, waiting for the final fight to begin.

While she had been resting quietly in her rooms, Arthur's new manservant had accused Valiant of using a magic shield to cheat in the tournament. Apparently Sir Ewan had been ready to corroborate the whole affair, until he - very suddenly - died of his wounds in Gaius's chambers. Nevermind how strange that sounded, since Master Gaius could cure any and all ills, but then the king had almost sent the boy to the dungeons. It was Valiant, of all people, who had changed Uther's mind.

"... and he just assumed Arthur had been trying to get out of the final? Ohhh, that must've not sat well with Uther!"

Morgana snorted, an unladylike sound that usually only Drusilla made.

"It didn't sit well with Arthur either. He insists on going through with it and showing his valor."

Under the icy sneer and the exasperated tone, Morgana was truly worried for the prince and her friend noticed. Drusilla patted Morgana's arm.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Arthur is not exactly inexperienced in combat, as he likes to point out so very often."

That got a chuckle from both the king's ward and her lady's maid.

"That manservant of his ..."

"Merlin?"

Drusilla looked up to Gwen behind her.

"Is that his name? You know him?"

Gwen rolled her eyes with a small grin.

"All the servants know each other to an extent, Drusilla."

"He's ... strange, isn't he?"

Gwen blushed and giggled.

"He's ... he definitely is not like most people we know."

With suddenly round eyes and a widening smile, Drusilla almost stood to stare at the lady's maid in the eyes.

"And you're fond of him! Ohhh, I can see it all over your face, Gwen! You like Arthur's manservant!"

Morgana cleared her throat softly.

"Former manservant."

Both girls turned around and squawked.

"What?"

"What?"

The lady nodded.

"Arthur dismissed him after this whole debacle. Can't really blame him for that either. When I went to see him this morning, Morris was back."

That statement was met with grunts of displeasure from Drusilla and Gwen. Morris was a diligent valet, alright, but the man had a habit of leering at every girl he saw. None of the girls had been sorry to see him summarily dismissed at the last banquet.

The trumpets were heard, making the ladies jump, and the fight began. Arthur fought brilliantly, as was his habit, soon knocking Valiant's helmet off. The crowd cheered, the three girls among them. Arthur took off his own helmet and the fight resumed.

Both knights were well matched, but Valiant managed to disarm Arthur and to step on his shield. Morgana grabbed Drusilla's hand right then, squeezing the fingers tight. Drusilla squeezed back just as tightly. Valiant was pinning Arthur against one of the walls of the arena, but the prince managed to get out of the tight spot, putting a safer distance between him and his adversary. Drusilla let out a pent up breath.

Suddenly, the snakes on Valiant's shield began to move of their own accord, painted figures come to life. There was a collective gasp as everyone in the crowd saw. Magic.

"He's using magic!"

King Uther Pendragon was now standing up, pointing accusingly to the dishonorable knight. Valiant and Arthur seemed to exchange words, the latter showing off his cocky smirk for the first time since the beginning of the fight, then Valiant, the traitorous sham, sent his snakes onward to kill the prince. Arthur was backing up to the wall, the pair of green snakes slithering towards him, almost right in front of Drusilla. Luckily for everyone involved, Morgana was a quick thinking lady. She grabbed the sword of the guard next to her...

"Arthur!"

... and tossed it out to the prince, giving him a fighting chance. Arthur quickly dispatched the snakes and ran Valiant through. For once, Drusilla did not feel sick to her stomach at the sight of such actions in the arena. She cheered the prince along with the rest of the crowd and a very relieved king Uther.


The hall had been lavishly decorated for the champion's banquet. Drusilla was idling around the room, a cup of sweet wine in hand, watching as the king called forth his son the champion.

"My honorable guests, I give you Prince Arthur, your champion."

Amidst the applause, Arthur gallantly offered Lady Morgana his arm. It seemed one of the few times these two could interact civilly.

"My lady."

Morgana curtsied gracefully, something Drusilla was highly envious of, and took Arthur's arm.

"My champion."

As the pair took a stroll about the room, chatting and soon enough bickering as they always did, the young lady spied her dear Gwen standing next to the - obviously reinstated - dark-haired manservant. A grin spread on Drusilla's small face at the sight, glad that things seemed to be going well on that front too. Sipping from her cup, Lady Drusilla of Monmouth thought that life in Camelot could not get any better than this.


A/N: Obviously that girl is sorely mistaken! We'll rattle her cage soon enough ...

Hope you have fun reading that new perspective on one of my favorite series EVER!

R&R to make the author type faster!