"She's very beautiful, isn't she?" Arthur's servant said, watching the prince out of the corner of his eye while he cleaned his master's armour.
"Of course she is, Merlin, all princesses are," Arthur retorted, rolling his eyes. Merlin laughed. Enya had long red hair, gorgeous deep blue eyes framed with thick, dark lashes, a petite, heart shaped face and an almost musical voice.
"I've seen other princesses Arthur, she's different," he said simply, "for one, not only is she beautiful, but she does things for herself. Something most princes and princesses don't." He coughed pointedly.
"So what?" Arthur faltered slightly.
"She's different."
"I'm meant to take her for a ride, show her the town and such, I'll be back later," he shot back, breezing out of the room, "Oh and Merlin, make sure the stables are clean when we get back."
"Yes sire," Merlin replied, saluting sarcastically.
"Yes I'd love to go for a ride," the princess replied brightly, her smile lighting up her face. Of course she's beautiful, all princesses are, Arthur reminded himself firmly.
"Great, I'll show you everything in and around Camelot," Arthur promised. He led her back through the castle and down to the stables.
"We're going for a ride, alert my father and let him know we'll be back in about 2 hours," Arthur told a guard stationed outside the castle doors. Enya retrieved her horses tack from the tack room and started putting it on her horse. Arthur did the same with his.
"Don't you get your servant uh…?"
"Merlin."
"Yeah, Merlin, don't you get him to tack up for you?" Enya finished her question.
"I can do things for myself," he replied with a smile. She returned it and swung into the saddle. Arthur had a gorgeous, dark horse, clearly bred and trained for battle.
"What's his name?" she asked, leaning forward to inspect him more closely.
"He doesn't have one." Enya raised an eyebrow, but didn't push it further. Typical Prince behaviour, seeing their horses as disposable creatures for war, not as living, breathing, unique creatures.
They rode across the town and out of Camelot into the forest beyond at a slow trot.
"You know, Snowfire is the fastest stallion in my father's entire stable," Enya quipped, "want to race?" Arthur turned to look at the princess, ready to admonish her on her childish behaviour, but her grin was infectious and he couldn't help smiling back and feeling a burst of excitement.
"Okay, let's race, to that tree over there," he replied, pointing to it.. They halted their horses in the same spot.
"3… 2… 1… Go!" Enya shouted, spurring her horse into a fast gallop. Arthur started forward at the same time she did but he slowly fell behind. Snowfire was indeed one of the fastest horses Arthur had ever seen. She beat him by a long shot, laughing, completely breathless. Arthur couldn't help joining in.
"That's amazing, why wouldn't a horse like that be a part of your army though?" he asked. She smiled back at him.
"Well he is," she replied simply.
"What do you -" his question was cut off as an arrow flew past his shoulder, missing by centimeters. Another quickly followed.
"Get down Arthur," Enya shouted, jumping off her horse and pushing the Prince off of his at the same time, the arrow landed in the tree right where Arthur's head had been. She rolled to her feet and pulled 2 hidden daggers from the breeches she wore under her dress. 3 men in unknown livery came charging down the hill, all of them armed with swords and shields. Unluckily for them, they had lost the element of surprise. The princess charged forward, skillfully wielding both daggers and cutting down the first two men before they had a chance to even try to strike her. She dived for the third's leg as he swung out at where her head had been, sliced through his thigh, then stabbed him square in the chest. Arthur hadn't even been able to stand and was unable to comprehend the speed with which Enya moved. Another arrow came flying, but this time towards her. She rolled underneath it as it skimmed the back of her dress and she threw one of the daggers she was holding at the archer. A bulls eye hit, right in the heart. He toppled over backwards. Enya got to her feet, barely out of breath, and stepped forward to retrieve her weapon.
"That seems to be all of them, are you okay Arthur?" she called back, pulling the dagger from the man's chest. He finally stood, seemingly dazed.
"You just saved my life," he said, stunned. The princess blushed.
"Well, I mean, it was kill or be killed I guess," she tried to play it off like it was nothing. She didn't do it to obtain his gratitude, it was purely instinct.
"Where did you learn to fight like that? Normal princesses can't fight like that."
"Oh, well, I guess I'm not a normal princess," she laughed, "I learned from my father's tutor, before he passed away. Now… well now I guess I teach our knights to fight the same way." She slid the daggers back into the holders on her breeches, not meeting Arthur's eye.
"You mean you..?" he couldn't finish the sentence.
"Yes, Arthur, I lead my knights into battle, just as you do yours," she held her head high, eyes blazing. She was proud of what she had been able to teach her father's knights and she didn't want this pretty boy trying to belittle her achievements just because she was a woman.
"That's… quite the achievement. You must be proud," he said, surprising her.
"Yes," she lowered her gaze shyly, "yes, I am. Thank you." An awkward silence passed.
"Shall we head back then?" Arthur asked, not knowing what else to say. The princess nodded and mounted Snowfire, who had hidden from danger, just as he'd been trained to. They rode back slowly, in silence. Arthur seemed to be struggling internally with something.
Finally, just outside the gates of Camelot, he spoke up.
"I would like to fight you, Enya. But the problem is, if I lose, I got beat by a woman, then if I win, I just beat a woman so…" he trailed off. She raised an eyebrow.
"Either way it would merely be an embarrassment," despite her harsh words, her voice was soft, "well then, shall we fight with no witnesses? Just you and I, maybe our servants there too." Arthur nodded once.
"Yes, that would work, tomorrow, at dawn?" She nodded, once, same as he had.
"I look forward to it, My Lord." Arthur half smiled.
"Please, just call me Arthur."
That evening Arthur sent Merlin to Enya's room to check on her. As he knocked on the door he heard one voice, an unfamiliar one, say, "Don't come in!" While the princess invited him in. He wasn't sure which voice to answer to, but someone opened the door for him. She was obviously Enya's serving girl, ginger hair, green eyes, dressed prettily for the average servant.
"You may come in, the Princess is bathing," the girl said, indicating a pretty patterned screen behind which sat a bathtub, apparently now containing Enya.
"Hello, My Lady, it's Merlin, Arthur's servant, he sent me to check on you to make sure you have everything you need." A slender, porcelain hand waved at him from behind the screen and he could hear the slosh of water as the princess stepped out of the bath. She looked at him from over the top of the screen.
"Oh Merlin it's so lovely to actually meet you properly, this is Ginger, she's my "maid"," she rolled her eyes at the word, "but most importantly she's my best friend." The servants acknowledged each other with nods.
"An honour to meet you My Lady," he replied, blushing slightly. Yes, she is definitely very beautiful, he thought to himself.
"Oh just call me Enya please, I hate all of that royal highness stuff," she said, appearing from behind the screen in a long, emerald green dress. Merlin breathed in sharply. Even more so in that dress. Ginger approached the princess and helped her do up the back of the dress. It was perfectly flattering and Enya sat in front of a mirror while Ginger brushed her hair.
"Anyway, yes Merlin, I love it here, this place is beautiful," she said, inviting him to stand next to her. He smiled at her in the mirror and she smiled back, her face full of pure joy.
"You're very different from the other princesses I've seen here in Camelot," Merlin confessed, hoping he wasn't speaking out of turn.
"Oh? In a good way I hope," she laughed melodiously.
"Yes, in a very good way." He blushed slightly.
"Thank you Merlin! I love being a princess, because I have the power to help my people, but aside from that… I hate this life. I want to be normal. For example… Ginger and I, we are of equal value, we're both humans, but simply because I was born into this family, all of a sudden people act like I'm worth more. But I just want to be a regular girl. I can do things for myself, I don't see why other people should have to serve me," she laughed, but this time it had a slightly bitter edge to it, "of course, people often assume that because I am a princess, I'm stuck up, arrogant, can't do anything for myself… but that doesn't matter. I know I can. I know I'm different. Ever since I was, maybe, 13, I decided I wanted to be a different princess. Not to be special, not for other people, but for me. I couldn't bare to be waited upon any longer. So I got Ginger to teach me things I didn't know. Teach me how to cook, clean, be independent. She gave me so much." Enya placed her hand on the serving girl's that rested on her shoulder.
"It was my pleasure, Enya," Ginger replied warmly. Suddenly the princess laughed self-consciously.
"I'm sorry Merlin I'm rambling." Merlin smiled warmly.
"I think it's amazing, what you've done. You're special." Another blush. Damn his body giving him away like that, "is there anything else you wanted?" Ginger started to style Enya's hair, pinning it in place with beautiful pearl clips.
"I was just wondering if you have any roses about, I like to soak my nails in rose water for special occasions such as this evening's feast. I'll get them myself, I just didn't want to look like I was rummaging through the castle," she smiled shyly.
"No problem, I'll go get some for you." He rushed out of the room before she could object. It seemed like moments later and he returned with a bowl of roses in water.
"Oh Merlin you're such a sweetheart thank you so much," Enya gushed as he placed the bowl on the table next to her. She dipped her nails into it and Merlin noticed the lines on her hand, created from hard work, cleaning and fighting.
"Arthur tells me you know how to fight… that you instruct your knights back home."
"Yes, Merlin… I am strong and I teach my men and women how to be strong too." He smiled at her and took his leave. There was something magnetic about the princess and he hoped he could get to know her more before she left.