Chapter 2

Merlin was late...again. He was usually late, but Arthur seemed to have gotten used to it by now. In fact, he had apparently revised his whole schedule around Merlin's lack of punctuality. Merlin felt honored that Arthur would do that for a simple servant. Tomorrow, he thought, I'm going to give Arthur a surprise and be on time. No, better yet, I'll be early!

Merlin grinned, picturing the surprise on Arthur's face. He could imagine Arthur's blue eyes widening at the sight of him. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do.

Merlin's grin faded as he realized just how late he was. With a sigh of frustration he quickened his pace and hurried down the hall, almost running into two of the guards as he did so. "Ooops. Sorry." he slowed down and once he passed them, was about to pick up his speed again when he heard what they were saying. He stopped suddenly in this tracks.

"....arrived last night. Sir Leon had to wake the king and Gaius." said one.

"Who is she and what is she doing in Camelot?" asked his companion. The guard found it down right strange that a woman should arrive in Camelot by herself in the middle of the night.

"She said her name was Jasmina. She's a commoner apparently. She told the king that her villagers had been attacked by raiders, and that their leader's name was Alvarr."

Merlin froze. Alvarr? He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the feeling of dread and dark foreboding rising up in him. The last time he had seen the man, he had been thrown into the dungeons and sentenced to death for using magic and conspiring to kill against the king. Unfortunately, he had escaped and had help. No one knew had helped him, but Merlin did. Morgana had freed Alvarr, Merlin was as sure of that as he was sure of his own name.

"She also said," continued the guard, "that Alvarr and his raiders are planing an attack on Camelot."

Merlin felt sick. Alvarr was powerful and Merlin knew that he had enough charm to convince anyone to follow him. Merlin certainly didn't doubt that Alvarr must have many men, perhaps more than there were knights of Camelot, especially since many of the knights had been killed by the dragon.

"...so, the king gave her the one of the rooms and told her she was welcome to stay in Camelot as long as she wished."

Merlin had heard enough, and without waiting another moment, hurried off to Arthur's chambers where he found the prince waiting impatiently for him.

"Merlin! You're late...well, later than usual. I hope you won't start coming later and later each day." Arthur tried to give Merlin one of this threatening smiles, but failed so miserably that it was rather comical and Merlin had to try hard not to laugh.

"No, sire. I just heard some rather interesting news, that's all." Merlin didn't say anymore, but instead went ahead with helping Arthur getting dressed for the day. Arthur waited for Merlin to tell him, but as he didn't seem like he was going to , Arthur blurted out impatiently, "Merlin! Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Tell you what?" asked Merlin innocently. Arthur glared at him. "You know what! Are you going to tell him the news?"

"Oh, that...I don't think you'd be interested." Merlin made a pretense of making Arthur's bed, trying not to smile. Arthur picked up a pillow and through it at him."Merlin! Tell me!"

"Well," said Merlin slowly, while Arthur's patience was quickly slipping away, "last night a woman by the name of Jasmina came to the castle. Apparently her village has been attacked by raiders, and those raiders are supposedly on their way to attack Camelot."

Arthur listened intently and sighed. "Another attack." he groaned. "Why can't Camelot just be left in peace? I mean, it's one thing after another!"

Merlin didn't say anything, but he privately agreed with Arthur. Before coming to Camelot, life had been easy and simple, but Camelot was constantly in danger. "There's more. The raiders are being led by Alvarr."

Arthur started. "Alvarr!" He remembered him. Arthur himself had caught Alvarr after had stolen the Crystal of Neahtid. "If I ever catch whoever it was that set him free, I will kill him myself!" he vowed.

"Say," said Merlin, hoping to change the subject, "why don't we pay this Jasmina a visit? I heard she is staying in the castle."

Arthur shrugged. "Why not? I don't have anything else to do before training." In truth, he was very interested to met her. Maybe she can give us more information that will help us defend Camelot, he thought.

It didn't take long for them to find out which room Jasmina was in and present themselves to her. She opened the door when Merlin knocked and was surprised to see the two young men standing there. "Maybe I help you?"

"Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot." said Arthur. He couldn't help but stare. He didn't know how or why, but she looked familiar. Next to him, Merlin was thinking the exact same thing.

"Your majesty." Jasmina curtsied. "Please, come in." Arthur and Merlin silently followed her into the room. "I don't think I got your name." she told Merlin, smiling kindly at him.

"Merlin. I'm Arthur's man servant." Why does she seem so familiar? He wondered.

"Nice to met you, Merlin. Now, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" She certainly seemed friendly and Merlin took an instantly liking to her.

"We came," answered Arthur, "to make sure you were comfortable and weren't in need of anything." Jasmina thanked him for his concern, but assured him that she was perfectly fine and didn't need a thing.

"Well, then. It was nice meeting you. I hope you have a pleasant day. Come along, Merlin."

Once the door to Jasmina's room was shut, Arthur turned to his servant. "She looks familiar, Merlin. I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before, but I don't know where."

Merlin nodded. "Me too, sire. Especially when she smiled. It seemed so...familiar, as you said." The two men pondered this but could not come to any conclusion.

"Well," said Arthur, "I think you need to go polish my armor and clean my room."