My jaw dropped open at the mess that was waiting for me. I'd been gone for three days! How the Hell did one man make so much mess in THREE DAYS! The culprit, of course, was nowhere to be seen. The tables were covered in food and grime, the floor now used as a makeshift wardrobe and every other available surface had some crap or another covering it. What a pig! I glared out the window, noticing Gaius talking to Gwen's father, the Blacksmith. I hadn't known they were friends but of course, I didn't have the time to think about it, I had to sort this lot out. I surveyed the room and sighed.

I had only finished finding all of his clothes and putting them in my basket when he traipsed into the room, muddy boots and all! Thank the Gods I hadn't mopped yet or I wouldn't have been responsible for what I said, especially considering I was still mad about the 'throne room excuse' and hadn't had the opportunity to rant at him about that yet, considering we hadn't been alone since.

"You are the most foolish, idiotic and downright stupid woman I have ever had the misfortune to come across!" Arthur ground out between clenched teeth. Say what? What the Hell was his problem, now?! He continued before I could respond to his insults. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Going to my Father, who hates magick above all else and claiming to be a sorcerer! I don't care how close you are to someone, never, EVER, do that to me again. Do I make myself clear?!" By the end of his tirade, he was practically bellowing at me from across the room. The shock on my face must have been a picture. Until the anger of my own set in, of course.

"Are you kidding me? What I do is none of your concern! Gwen was innocent and you know it! Hell, the whole of Camelot knew it! I wasn't going to just stand by and let her be burned at the stake! What kind of person do you think I am? She is my FRIEND! And as for –" Arthur took the room in three strides and before I could blink he was towering over me, anger practically pouring off him.

"I don't care! I don't care who it is! Whether it's Gwen, or Gaius, or your mother, it could be your own CHILD for all I care! Don't you DARE put me in a position where I have to make excuses to my own father in order to protect you from yourself!" Of course, you don't complain when I'm protecting you. Hell, you won't even admit it to yourself half the time.

"Why do you even care, Arthur? You have said yourself numerous times that I'm awful as a servant, replacing me should be easy!" His eyes flared brighter, anger and something else fighting for dominance as he grabbed my shoulders and shook me slightly. Not enough to actually hurt me, just enough to make me shut up.

"When Valiant attacked you and I stopped him what did I say to you?" I couldn't remember, not with him in such close proximity, not now his voice was low and earnest, Hell I'm surprised I could even remember what we were arguing about. "I gave you my word that I would protect you and I never break my word so stop trying to make my job harder." I couldn't breathe, not with the way he was looking at me. My own anger had diminished and turned to dust. He was so close, only inches away from my lips and I so wanted to close the gap. More than I'd ever wanted anything and less possible too. I closed my eyes, released the breath I'd been holding and stepped back, breaking myself out of my own spell.

"I'm sorry." I opened my eyes but dropped them to his feet, afraid that if I looked at him I wouldn't care about the difference in status, that it was doomed before it began.

"You're forgiven." His voice was rough but without looking into his eyes I couldn't know what he was feeling and I wasn't risking my pride by looking up. He would never feel for me that way anyway, I'd be lucky if he ever even considered me his friend. "I'll leave you to it, I have to talk to my father. The King of Mercia will be arriving soon, make sure you're downstairs and presentable for his entrance even if you don't have time to finish clearing this up." With that I watched his feet turn and head back towards the door, I looked up in time to see his figure retreating through the wooden door. He didn't look back. Unfortunately, the feelings he'd stirred up in me were here to stay, at least until I could convince myself I didn't like him again.

I had managed to get most of my chores done before returning to my chambers to change, all that had been left was to wash Arthur's clothes and muck out the horses but his room looked presentable again which was a feat all its own.

"Red." I looked up at Gaius in confusion. Red what? Is he losing it? I mean he is getting pretty old… "The dress. For Lord Bayard's arrival. You need to wear red to show you stand with Camelot." Oh. Wait, I don't own a red dress. Not a nice one anyway. My red dress was practically orange it was that faded and it was dirty! Dammit!

"Erm… Gaius?"

"In your closet. I had the seamstresses make it about a week ago. You didn't notice?" Oh, erm… my bad?

"No. I'm sorry, Gaius, I guess my minds been elsewhere of late. Thank you, it was very thoughtful of you to do that." He smiled, patted my shoulder and waved me on up towards my room.

The dress was beautiful. Simple but elegant, with a square neckline and slim fitted, long sleeves to fight off the draughty corridors but so as not to hinder me whilst I worked. Though still clearly not as well designed and adorned as any of the Lady Morgana's dresses, it made me feel like a Lady and I took secret pleasure at the idea of Arthur seeing me in it. With quick fingers, I braided my hair atop my head and held it high as I walked down the stairs to a patiently waiting Gaius, who was still in his brown alchemist robe. What…? He must have seen the confusion on my face and chuckled.

"I am not permitted to attend such gatherings, Merlin."

"So why do I have to go?" I pouted, though still secretly thrilled at the chance to wear my new dress.

"Because you have to be there for Arthur. There is a feast tonight which is when the rest of the castle will celebrate the truce, this is for only the most essential workers. You may be surprised to know that even the Lady Morgana will not attend. You will most likely be the only woman of Camelot there." What? That's madness. Surely I'm not that important to the workings of Camelot, at least not to the King anyway but Arthur himself asked me to be there so I couldn't skip it even if I wanted to. Even if I did doubt my belonging.

My cheeks flushed as I noticed Arthur do a double take as I entered the throne room, I watched him out the corner of my eye as I made my way to the very back of the room, finding a place in line with the other servants. Gaius had been right, other than the King and Arthur, most the other inhabitants in the room were Knights. I was the only maidservant. Arthur's eyes finally turned back to the door in time for it to open and a group of around thirty entered, all dressed in blue. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do so when the Knights in front and to the side of me began to converge forward, I followed their lead until we met with our visitors in the middle. Everyone looked so serious, all manly and threatening apart from a few women in the back with slightly nervous expressions, most wore incredibly dull clothing with only hints of blue, all but one, she must hold quite a high place in their castle if her clothes said anything, not high up enough to be a lady but maybe a high-class servant, like me. Her clothes, unlike the others, were bright blue with red sleeves and she wore a brilliant blue turban atop her head where a few dark brown tendrils escaped. I could see from back here she was very pretty, I followed her gaze to Arthur who hadn't even noticed her. I struggled to hide my smile at the fact before turning my sights to Bayard. The King spoke first.

"Camelot welcomes you, Lord Bayard of Mercia. This treaty we sign today marks an end to war and a beginning to a new friendship between our people." Uther placed his hand between them, Bayard grasped it firmly and those around me began to clap. I didn't. Neither did any of the other servants in the room; both on our side and theirs. Something was making me uneasy but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. Thankfully the welcoming didn't last long and the Mercian's were escorted to their chambers whilst I went back to work, heaving Arthur's dirty washing down to the chambermaids.

I was surprised when Gaius began to accompany me down to the chambermaids working quarters, claiming he had a few things to drop off himself. I had never really thought about it before but now I thought back I realised I hadn't done any of my own washing since I'd been in Camelot, Gaius must have been taking it down to the Chambermaids for me. I didn't even know they were willing to do servants laundry too, I had asked Gaius as much.

"They don't. Not for your average servants anyway. They do mine because I am the court Physician and they do yours because not only are you 'my apprentice' but because you are the Prince's maidservant. They would do Gwen's as well if she asked them." Huh, I suppose that made sense. The laundry bag began to slip as I walked and I heaved it back up, panting lightly as I did. Why did Arthur have to have so many clothes, they were bloody heavy! As if in response Gaius decided he had better things to do and threw his bag atop the others that were already falling back out of my grasp, I rearranged them quickly before everything tumbled across the floor.

"Why do I always get landed with the donkey work?" I asked Gaius. He began to chuckle at my grumbling.

"Because you're a servant, Merlin. It's what you do." When I'm not saving lives, that is.

"My arms will be a foot longer by the time I get this lot downstairs!" I complained, he was still chuckling away, no worries as to my physical discomfort.

"It's character building. As the old proverb says; hard work reads…" He looked toward the ceiling as he tried to remember the end of his line "… a harder soul." What? That's horseshit!

"There is no way that's a proverb, you just made that up." Still, it had cheered me up and I struggled not to chuckle.

"I didn't –" He was cut off by the servant I'd noticed in the throne room earlier, dropping something as she went to pass between us.

"Sorry." She uttered as she knelt to pick, what I now noticed as being a few cushions, up.

"It's alright," I said, placing my own bags down for a moment.

"Excuse me." She pleaded and I couldn't help but feel for her, even if I hadn't liked the way she'd been eyeing Arthur earlier.

"Here, let me help you with that." It was in my nature to try and help people and sometimes it was a pain in the ass. Like now, when I already had a million and one things to do, I still couldn't stand by and watch the poor woman struggle with her own duties. She had already collected all but one by the time I began to help, and she finally met my eyes as we both began to right ourselves. She had the strangest blue eyes I had ever seen, even more prominent than Arthur's. Which was saying something. She was looking at me in the strangest way and I hated the uncomfortable silence that had swallowed us.

"Hi, I'm Merlin," I said, offering my hand. She took it, shaking slightly. She had quite a firm grip and her hands were softer than to be expected for a servant.

"Kara." I couldn't help but notice my own hands, which were rough and chapped from working all through my young life. "Your Arthur's servant. It must be such an honour." Honour? Yeah, right. Although there were some perks. I went along with it, not knowing why.

"Oh, yeah. It is." I shared a secret, girly smile. "Someone's got to keep the place running." I winked. For some reason whenever I felt uncomfortable, I felt the need to make jokes. I wonder if that's healthy… I placed the one cushion I held back on top of her pile gently, so as not to knock them to the floor.

"Well, thank you, Merlin. It was nice meeting you."

"You too." I lied. I did not like her and I had no idea why. It was so frustrating but something about her gave me the creeps. Maybe it was those eyes, they seemed to see way too much. Thankfully she took her leave then and I released a breath I hadn't even realised I'd been holding. Gaius was looking at me with one eyebrow raised. What? He motioned toward the bags I'd yet to pick back up.

"Shouldn't you be busy running the place?" He laughed. I just rolled my eyes and carried on toward the chambermaids' quarters.

I had just finished setting Arthur's lunch on the table when he strolled in, dumping a bunch of red fabric at the other end. They looked dusty and I knew there would be another trip to the chambermaids' for me before the feast began. Maybe even the seamstress if he'd put any weight on since they were last worn, they looked as though they hadn't been pulled out of whatever hidey-hole they'd been hiding in for over a year. I picked up the suit jacket, beating the dust out of it when a rotten smell made me gag slightly.

"When was the last time these were cleaned?" I dropped it back on the table, covering my mouth and nose with the back of my hand until I'd got my stomach back under control.

"Last year some time. For the feast of Beltane." Yak!

"Did it end in a food fight?" I asked, finally turning to really look at him. He stood with his hands on his hips as though he hadn't a care in the world. I finally plucked up the courage to pick the jacket back up again and try it on him. He didn't even flinch at the smell. Men!

"Don't all feasts?" Wait. What?

"I wouldn't know…" For once I was glad I hadn't been to a proper feast before, although, didn't the celebration after that dreadful championship count as a feast? That hadn't ended in a food fight… "The traditions of the court remain a mystery to me." Although a night off is looking promising, or at the very least a few hours.

"Not tonight they won't be." Huh?

"I'm gonna be at the banquet?" I wasn't sure whether to be happy about being invited to a royal banquet or disappointed at my night off being blown out the window.

"Not quite. You'll be there to make sure my cup doesn't run dry. If I have to sit through Bayard's boring speeches I don't see why you should get out of it." What? Oh, come on! Like Arthur doesn't make me suffer enough. "Be sure to polish the buttons." He practically threw the jacket at me, kicking dust back up into the air, and I barely managed to hold back from throwing it in his big, bulbous face. My job sucked! He headed behind the changing screen before the urge had fully passed, and I concentrated on that instead of the fact he was about to strip out of his clothes only a few feet away from me. "Do you want to see what you'll be wearing tonight?" I looked down at my own, new dress. It wasn't dirty at all, in fact, I'd been extra careful to keep it clean all day. Even going so far as to change briefly before I mucked out the horses.

"Won't this do?" I liked my dress. From the look he'd given me in the throne room earlier, I'd thought he did too. He popped back out from behind the screen, blessedly, still dressed and looked me up and down, a smirk plastered to his face. Behind shaking his head with a 'tsk' noise.

"No. Tonight you'll be wearing the official ceremonial robe of the servants of Camelot." He lifted a hideous outfit up from behind the curtain and I winced in horror. It was awful!

"You cannot be serious?"

He was. I stood near the door in a simple red dress with a giant gold dragon across the chest, a robe with a huge collar –again trimmed in gold –and a hat that was, to say the least, excessive. A black and bright red, bonnet sized hat with a giant red and black feather that was at least 30cm high completed the ridiculous ensemble. I'm pretty sure my cheeks were as colourful as the stupid outfit, I could feel Gwen –who was allowed to wear a simple, yellow gown –giggling beside me and to make matters worse Arthur finally looked away from Bayard –who was signing the peace treaty – to raise his eyebrows up and down in a humiliating way. I wanted to crawl into a ditch and just die. Or just kill Arthur. I was so over my earlier crush.

"Nice hat." Gwen winked and I fake scowled at her. It didn't matter what she said, she was too cute to take seriously no matter the situation. My eyes flitted about the room, checking to see if anyone else was staring at my ridiculous outfit but the only person who met my eyes was Kara, the servant girl of Bayard's that I'd met earlier. She was still wearing the dress I'd seen her in earlier that day, how come she didn't have to dress up like a prat, either? She was very beautiful, I couldn't even hope to compete for Arthur's attention in this thing –not that I was sure I wanted to after he'd put me in it –so I took off the stupid feather hat and held it in my hands as though out of respect. Screw you, Arthur.

"She's pretty isn't she?" Gwen commented, noticing me watching her. I still couldn't figure out what it was about her that was bothering me. "For a handmaiden." Gwen finished.

"She's pretty for a princess, let alone a handmaiden," I grumbled. Gwen raised an eyebrow at me and I forced myself to consider the possibility that the reason I didn't like her was that I was jealous. It didn't feel like jealousy but… what else could it be? Uther and Bayard shook hands and I politely clapped along with the other guests, trying to put thoughts of Kara and jealousy out of my mind. I went to whisper to Gwen but noticed her slipping off toward Gaius before she even noticed. Damn. I look a fool and now I'm stood on my own. What were those two whispering about? Bayard addressed the now quiet, hall and I forced my attention back to him.

"People of Camelot! For a great, many years we have been mortal enemies; the blood of our men stains the ground from the walls of Camelot to the gates of Mercia." Yikes. I hadn't realised they'd actually been in full out war. I really should know these things! I'm the prince's maidservant for goodness sake! "And though we remember those who have died we must not allow any more to join them. As a symbol, of our goodwill and of our newfound friendship, I present these ceremonial goblets to you, Uther, and to your son, Arthur. In the hopes that our friendship may last."

"Merlin?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of my name being whispered from behind me, I had been engrossed by Bayard's speech and the thoughts it provoked that I hadn't even noticed Kara walking toward me. "I need to speak to you." She looked scared and I grew concerned before remembering that I didn't like her. Still… she was definitely worried about something…

"What is it?" My voice was gentle and I was proud of myself for not showing my distaste. She didn't seem to know about it anyway.

"Not here." She glanced toward Bayard, who was still speaking, before looking straight at me. "Please. I don't know who else to tell." I didn't really have a choice but to follow her. I was curious by nature and the worry in her eyes and voice had an anxious ball building in my stomach. I threw my hat to the ground and trailed after her. She led me to the dark corridor, a small ways from the main entrance. I didn't even get the chance to ask what was wrong again before she'd turned and was speaking, fast and low, like even the walls had ears. "It wasn't until I saw him give the goblet to Arthur that I realized –"

"Whoa, slow down, start from the beginning." I implored, her eyes were everywhere and I couldn't help but pity the girl in front of me who was so clearly terrified. With what looked to be a huge effort, she took a slow, deep breath and began to speak again, this time it was clearer and more put together than her panic induced ramblings previously.

"Two days ago I was bringing Bayard his evening meal. I didn't knock. He didn't expect me to walk in. I –" She choked on a sob and I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, unable to help myself.

"What are you trying to say?"

"If he knows I said anything he will kill me!" Like I'd give her name anyway, I may not like her but I don't try to get people in trouble. Just myself, it seemed.

"I will not let that happen to you. I promise." She must have seen the truth in my eyes, her own seemed to be wavering. The deer in headlights look was fading and slowly being replaced with resignation. "Now. Tell me what you saw." I implored.

"Bayard is no friend of Camelot. He craves the Kingdom for himself…" She wasn't getting to the point. One moment she was too fast, now she was too slow. Damn it, girl, spit it out!

"Kara. What has Bayard done with the goblet?" My words were slowly becoming less gentle and more panicked. I had to get this out of her and quickly!

"He believes that if he kills Arthur, Uther's spirit will be broken and Camelot will fall."

"What has he done with the goblet?" I was seconds away from shaking her.

"I saw him put something in it."

"What?!" I winced at the loud noise before realising it had come from me.

"I shouldn't! He'll kill me!" I no longer cared, I just knew that if I didn't get some answers soon, Arthur was going to die.

"Tell me! Was it poison?" She nodded. Finally! I didn't have time to say anything more to her which was good because at this stage I wasn't sure whether I wanted to thank her profusely or kill her for taking so long.

I ran.

"Stop!" I begged. "Arthur! Don't drink it!" I yanked the cup out of Arthur's hands and almost caused him to fall into me with the force of it. Plus his surprise, of course.

"What?" That was all Uther could think to come up with under the circumstances but my eyes were only for Arthur anyway

"Merlin, what are you doing?" He was angry, as usual, but he also seemed worried. I guess I'd put myself in harm's way again. Sorry, Arthur. Rather me than you.

"Bayard laced Arthur's goblet. With poison!" Bayard drew his sword at once.

"This is an outrage!" He bellowed, his sword pointed straight at me. Knights from both sides drew their weapons at the same time. At least I had some backup from the Camelot Knights, they seemed to like me anyway.

"Order your men to put down their swords," Uther warned as more Camelot guards flooded in from the corridors. "You're outnumbered."

"I will not allow this insult to go unchallenged," Bayard warned, both his and his Knights swords still drawn. Uther turned to me, still keeping a steady eye on Bayard's movements.

"On what grounds do you base this accusation?" There was a warning in his voice and I fought not to show my fear, instead, I straightened my back and met Uther's eyes. Before I could speak, however, Arthur intervened, like he always did. At least now I knew it was his way of trying to protect me instead of just humiliate me.

"I'll handle this. Merlin, you idiot, have you been at the slow gin again?" I hardly even drank, didn't have time for a hangover with him bossing me about. He grabbed my shoulder and started leading me away from Lord Bayard, but that only put me closer to Uther who looked about as happy as a toad.

"Unless you want to be strung up, you will tell me why you think it's poisoned." At least he was taking me seriously, that's got to count for something, right? "Now." I made sure to keep my fear far away from my face but hunched down slightly so I was eye level with where he was seated.

"He was seen lacing it," I confessed.

"By whom?" As much as Kara had irritated me with how long she'd taken to finally blurt it out, she had still told me in time. I couldn't throw her to the wolves for being afraid.

"I can't say." My eyes pleaded with Uther to not push the matter, I wasn't sure if he'd gotten my message or not but Bayard intervened before he could ask again.

"I won't listen to this, anymore." Bayard's voice was calm, low and threatening. If Kara was wrong about this, I was as good as dead. Even Arthur wouldn't be able to protect me from the wrath of Bayard. Uther could, but he wouldn't. Not if I had made a mockery of his banquet and all it stood for.

"Pass me the goblet," Uther ordered, rising from his seat and walking around the table to face me. I looked down into my hands to see it wasn't there anymore, it was in Arthur's. I hadn't even noticed him taking it from me. Arthur passed it to his father with hesitation, obviously worried that I was wrong. That I would be killed for my insolence. Uther turned to face Bayard. "If you're telling the truth –"

"I am." Bayard interrupted.

"–then you have nothing to fear, do you?" Uther continued as though he hadn't spoken. My eyes widened as Bayard placed his sword back in its scabbard and held his hand out for the goblet. Why would he... Unless he hadn't poisoned it? What has Kara gotten me into? "No." Uther shook his head, moving the goblet away from Bayard's fingers. "If this does prove to be poison, then I want the pleasure of killing you myself." Uther still didn't trust him. Maybe Kara was right… maybe I'd live through this yet. "She'll drink it." Or not. Uther was passing the goblet back to me.

"But if it is poison, she'll die!" Arthur placed himself slightly in front of me, and I wanted to cry.

"Then we'll know she is telling the truth." My hands shook and I reached from behind Arthur to receive the goblet. Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

"What if she lives?" Questioned Bayard. Uther didn't look at him as he answered, just stared me down, waiting to see if I'd actually drink the poison or prove that I was just a weak little girl who had no place by Arthur's side. In any form.

"Then you have my apologies, and you can do with her as you will." Gaius stood forward, fear for me making him bold.

"Uther, please, she's just a girl. She doesn't know what she's saying."

"Then you should have schooled her better." Uther wasn't interested in excuses. He knew that whatever happened now, I would die and all he'd need to do was find a new servant for his son. I would not be weak. I would not let him think me a fool. I wanted Kara to be right, so desperately, either way, I would die, I just didn't want to go down a liar.

"Merlin, apologise! This is a mistake. I'll drink it!" Arthur tried to grab the cup off me but I deftly dodged him and met his eyes. I would die for Arthur. I had been prepared to do that since he saved me from Valiant. He would make a great King. I just wished I could be there to see it.

"No. It's… It's alright." I closed my eyes briefly, saying a silent goodbye to those I loved, whatever happened now, I doubted I would be allowed to live. Arthur, Gaius, my mother, Will, Gwen, Morgana… so many people I had come to care for. I didn't shed any tears, instead, I opened my eyes and stared straight into Bayards. I truly believed this cup was poisoned and I would look the culprit right in the eye as I proved it.

I drank.