Chapter 2: Enter the Parents and Alys' Knight

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

The first month of school passed and the required monthly visit to my parents sprang up.

I got up early for my run so I could load everything I needed to take with me in my car before class. I would leave after lunch since I had nothing to do anyway.

Olivia moaned because she couldn't come with me. "I so wanted to go see Mom and Dad with you. Curse my blasted classes."

I rolled my eyes. "You'd think they were your biological parents the way you go on. I'll be sure to tell them you said hi and get a care package for you. You can call Gavin over and ask him out."

"He'd never date me. And you had better. They're more like my parent than mine actually are. Remind her that I love all her fudge and her loaded cookies. And him that I like any of the books dealing with Medieval Eras. Have fun at home." She went towards her building.

"Have fun on your lunch date with your group." I called after her.

Dr. Emrys was already in the classroom when I entered.

"Good morning Dr. Emrys." I sat down in my seat.

"Good morning Miss Penn. Ready for today?"

I grinned. "I'm ready for this quiz. I can't vouch for my classmates."

He chuckled. "I look forward to reading your answers. Are you doing anything this weekend, Miss Penn? I was looking over my presentations for later and remembered how you pointed out the few mistakes in my others. I thought that perhaps you could look through them to see if you could find any other mistakes."

I sighed. "It's my monthly visit home this weekend. My parents always have something planned on the weekends I come home. I'd be willing to look at them weekend after next if you'd like."

"Why not next weekend?" he asked.

"Next weekend is the annual Dark Legends tournament. Alys is head of a three person team that just so happens to be the Champions, seven years running." Nigel stated as he took his seat next to me.

I smirked. "You sound a bit bitter."

He grinned. "Just a bit. But this year is going to be different. My team has a new and unbeatable battle plan. And the Grand Champions have moved here and are going to be playing."

"I take it you would like to go for the usual agreement for the tournament?" I questioned.

He nodded. "Yes. My team beats yours, you go on a date with me. And if your team wins, I leave you alone for a week."

I shook his hand. "I look forward to seeing this new battle plan."

The rest of the students arrived and the test began.

Normally when it came to tests, I was the first or second finished, but when it came to the tests over the Legends, I was either the last one done or among the last ones.

I was the last one done this time because I kept double checking what I had written and adding things.

Dr. Emrys collected my test once I pushed the lead back into my pencil. "I've never seen someone so dedicated to making sure they got everything."

I laughed. "It's sort of a family honor thing. Both sides of my family are obsessed with anything and everything about the Legends that they can find. I'm the first in a long line to actually do something with just the Legends. My dad teaches English at the public high school in my hometown, and his favorite section to cover is the Arthurian Legends."

"You must have played the princess a lot growing up then. Had to be rescued from peril."

I rolled my eyes. "Absolutely not. I sought out peril and faced it. Other girls played with dolls and pretended to be mothers and wives. I played with the Knights and other figures from the Legends that my paternal grandfather made to go with the wooden Camelot he built me one year for Christmas and pretended to go on quests."

"Sounds fun. Well have a fun weekend with your parents," he stated with a smile before heading to his office.

I grabbed a quick lunch before beginning the two and a half hour drive from the small town of Esterton to the just slightly larger town of Pikerly, or rather a farm on the other side of Pikerly.

Speedy and Monty came running the minute my car stopped. Speedy was my dad's greyhound and Monty was my fluffy black mutt. Both had been gotten as puppies when I was thirteen.

I spent a few minutes playing with them before racing them to the porch.

They beat me.

Mom was in the kitchen when I entered the house, busy making candies and cookies.

I snagged one of her loaded cookies and took a bite before dropping a kiss on her cheek.

She smiled and half-heartedly slapped at my hand with the wooden spoon she held. "Don't spoil your dinner. Your father is going to grill steaks and lobsters."

"Marinated?" I asked as I got a green apple Jones soda from the refrigerator.

She checked the temperature of the peanut butter fudge she was making. "He never cooks them any other way. Could you start packing some of the goodies into the boxes for you, Olivia, and Gavin?"

"Sure Mom. Liv says hi by the way. She really wanted to come with me, but she had classes." I began to carefully pack cookie and candies into baggies and place them in the three boxes already containing our favorite nonperishable foods.

Gavin's box contained noodles and boxes of meals that all you had to do was add milk or water and bake. There were cans of peas, Gavin's favorite vegetable, in the box as well. Olivia's contained lots of tomato soup and canned vegetables since Olivia was a vegetarian. My box contained a mixture of the contents of their boxes. The boxes also contained two pairs of knitted socks made by both grandmothers, an intricately carved bookmark from my paternal grandfather, a bottle of homemade herbal pills made for our specific life-styles from my maternal grandfather, and a book from my father. Gavin's was a medieval medical thriller, Olivia's was a medieval Heromance, and mine was the last book of a medieval series I had read almost religiously since the first one had been published during my junior year of high school.

I finished packing the goodies and helped finish up the ones Mom was making.

Shortly before four, a deep male voice rang through the house.

"Where's my little Warrior Princess?" my dad called.

I was out of my seat at the kitchen table and in his arms for a hug in less than two minutes. "Daddy!"

Dad pulled back and grinned at me. "There you are. Your mom tell you what was for dinner?"

"Yep. I snagged a cookie, so she told me not to ruin my dinner."

"Igraine, you always ruin my surprises," he told Mom as we entered the kitchen.

"I didn't tell her what we were having with it or for dessert. And really Uther, I didn't ruin your surprise for tomorrow," she returned.

Dad rolled his eyes. "She knows what we're having with it because we always have the same thing. And only one thing can be served for dessert. Right Princess?"

I nodded vigorously. "Grilled veggies and a selection of cheeses. And for afters, the Penn Family Camelot Crumble and Waldorf Salad Surprise. A meal meant for a king!"

"And his beloved queen and treasured princess." Dad added.

Mom laughed at us. "Oh get on with you." She waved us off towards where the big grill stood on the back patio.

We gathered all we needed for dinner and set off.

Daddy took care of the meat and veggies while I focused on the dish that was a secret family recipe.

Our Camelot Crumble was a chocolate lava cake with a special type of lava inside, as well as a few extras, and it was topped with a chocolate strudel crumble and our version of a Waldorf salad. When it came to making it for family events, I was the one who made it since I was apparently the best at making it.

As we worked, Dad asked me all about how college was going.

I told him everything.

With the two of us working together, dinner and dessert were done in short order.

It was after the dishes had been put in the dishwasher and Dad went off to find a clue about tomorrow's activity that Mom sat me down on the couch.

"Okay Alys Morgan, spill. I want to know all about the man my little girl is smitten with." she demanded.

I stared at her in shock.

She smiled. "I know you, love. I've seen you when you are 'crushing' and you are beyond that stage."

I quickly logged onto the school website and brought up Dr. Emrys' picture and qualifications. I handed her my laptop. "I am smitten with my professor, Dr. Merlin Emrys. He's almost completely perfect."

She looked at his picture. "Looking at him through your eyes, I can see it. I can only say one thing."

"Which is?"

"What did your freshman mythology teacher say about seeing attractive people?"

I gave her a disbelieving look. "You mean 'oh shwing'?"

She looked back at the picture. "Oh damn shwing."

I was floored. "MOM!"

Dad entered the room with something I'd recognize if I were blind. "What's going on in here?"

"Mom surprised me. Why do you have chainmail?"

He handed me the chainmail shirt. "It has to do with what we're doing tomorrow."

I fingered the links. "This only comes out for certain events." I ran through the events in my head and then grinned. "The Arthurian Faire in Machias is this weekend, isn't it?"

Dad ruffled my hair. "Indeed it is. And we are going."

"I can't wait!"

Dad gestured for me to go upstairs. "Your mom and I already pulled out the clothes and have them ready. Go pick out your weapons."

I stood up and took my laptop from Mom's offering hand. "Yes my liege." I dropped my laptop off in my room and dashed up to the attic with Monty on my heels.

My eyes swept around the room.

The swords and other medieval weapons were hanging on the wall to the left of the doorway. It was what lay to the right that caught my eye.

Underneath a sheet was my Camelot. I pulled the sheet off to find everything the way I'd left it the day it had been brought up to the attic when I was fifteen.

The guards were all at their posts, the Knights were sitting around the Round Table with Arthur, the enemy army was poised for attack, and most importantly, Merlin was in his tower.

I opened the tower and removed the hand carved and painted warlock.

My friends had thought me odd because my Merlin was never an old man. He had always been just a year or so younger than Arthur.

I smiled down at him. "Hello Merlin. I've missed you."

My parents' voices drifted up from the nearby vent that was above their bedroom.

"His name actually is Merlin?" Dad's voice asked.

"Yes. And she's smitten with him. You don't think he's…" Mom's voice replied.

"If he is, he'll take good care of her. But the minute he becomes anything more than a guardian and advisor, he better have all his magic and knowledge because I'll kill him if he hurts her."

"We're going to lose her aren't we?"

"No. She's still our little girl. We may drift apart, but we'll never truly lose her."

I knew they were talking about me, but I didn't understand what they were saying. I put Merlin back in his tower, recovered Camelot, and picked out the sword and dagger I wanted.

Monty lay at my feet once I got into bed an hour later.

I fell asleep with my parents' odd conversation on my mind.

-SPACE-

The people at the gate greeted us by name as we entered.

Machias, because it was a larger town than Pikerly and Esterton, put on a yearly Arthurian Faire in honor of Camelot University.

My family had gone every year since it began, and my parents had met at one. I had memories of coming to the Faire going way back to when I was very small, including the always getting up before dawn to get ready and drive the hour and a half to get to the Faire Grounds.

Dad was dressed royally, wearing chainmail and a tunic made of high quality fabric. He was every inch Uther Pendragon, from circlet crown to sword to leather boots.

Mom was dressed like a queen in a royal purple dress that matched Dad's tunic. Her blonde hair was piled up on her head and held there by hairpins and her circlet crown.

I was dressed a lot like dad. I wore a cotton under tunic beneath my chainmail, black doe skin breeches that were tucked into my mid-shin high black leather boots, black leather gloves, and a sleeveless red over tunic with a gold dragon on the front. I also wore an inch wide circlet and had my sword and dagger hanging from my leather belt, zip-stripped to stay in their sheathes just like everyone else's.

Mom and Dad strolled along arm-in-arm just a little behind me as we strolled around just to look.

We ended up by where the playful tournaments and jousts were going to be and took up a spot as they began.

Dad tapped my shoulder during the third joust. "Your mother and I are going to find something to snack on."

"Okay. I'll come find you when the joust is done." I replied, eyes still on the two men trying to unhorse each other.

Dad chuckled and led Mom off.

It was four more runs before the winner of the previous two jousts unseated his opponent.

I clapped along with everyone else and stepped back so I could go find my parents, but ran into someone.

As I turned to apologize, I realized it was Dr. Emrys.

He grinned. "Fancy meeting you here, Miss Penn."

I smiled back. "Family tradition to come Dr. Emrys. And please, call me Alys. We're not in class."

"Only if you call me Merlin. We aren't, as you pointed out, in class. Do you come here every year?" he asked as he fell into step with me.

"My parents do. I missed one year because of classes. It's the one thing I'll make a second monthly trip home for." I answered.

"What did you think of Lance?"

"Lance?"

"The winner of the jousts. He's a friend of mine. A lot of us are helping out with the Faire."

"He's very good on a horse. And his skills with a lance are excellent." I tucked my arm through his arm when he offered it.

"He's going to be giving a demonstration on sword fighting later. Unfortunately he lacks a partner as the gentleman who was going to help had something come up. Do you have any skills with a sword by any chance?"

I shrugged. "I used to fence in high school. I was State Champion for four years straight. Tried to join the fencing team at the college I first went to, but they didn't like getting beat by a girl every practice."

"That's fine. You know the basics, which is all he's doing," he replied.

"If he doesn't mind, I'd be glad to help out." I caught sight of my parents. "Would you like to meet my parents, Merlin?"

"I'd love to Alys."

Dad stood up from his seat as we neared. "Jousts are over I see. And you seem to have found a warlock."

I laughed. "Daddy, this is my professor, Dr. Merlin Emrys. Merlin, this is my father Uther Penn and my mother Igraine."

Merlin shook Dad's hand and kissed the back of Mom's. "It is an honor to meet you both."

Dad fixed him with a look. "And it is nice to meet you as well, Dr. Emrys."

A silent communication seemed to pass between them.

Mom broke it by gushing out that he was my favorite professor this year.

Merlin laughed and asked about the other years.

Mom instantly began telling about other professors and my school years.

Dad and I rolled our eyes and strode off after them.

"If she starts with the embarrassing stories, I'm going to drag him away." I stated.

"That would be rude. I'll just take your mother away." Dad replied.

"Thanks Daddy."

As the four of us continued on, sometimes stopping to look at or buy little trinkets, Merlin greeted his friends.

He eventually introduced me to Lance, who was very glad to have me help out.

"Merlin has spoken highly of you, Miss Penn. It's very rare for him to come across someone who knows as much as he does about the Legends." Lance stated as we shook hands.

"Please, call me Alys. Thank you for letting me help out.'

He grinned. "No, thank you for helping. We're going to begin soon, so either pick out a sword or cut the zip strip on yours."

Using the dagger Merlin handed me, I cut the zip strips keeping my sword in its scabbard.

I pulled it free with my right hand and smiled in satisfaction at how it felt in my hand. I may write with my left hand, but I fought with my right.

Lance drew a crowd by calling people to us.

As he demonstrated a proper stance, a vision of him in the same stance on a green field in front of a crowd of knights rose before my eyes. It reminded me of the dreams of battles and training practices I'd had. It felt as if I had sparred with him before.

I took my own stance and waited.

The moves came naturally as he came at me, and he was soon disarmed and laying on the ground.

The crowd applauded as I offered a hand and helped pull him to his feet.

He grinned at me. "Shall we show them a few more complicated moves Your Majesty?"

I grinned in return. "Only if you're up for it, Lancelot."

He picked up his sword and the fight was on.

We drew a large crowd as we fought.

There were cheers and whistles when the battle ended fifteen minutes later, Lance unarmed and flat on his back with the tip of my sword at his throat.

I took a step back and sheathed it.

A few of Merlin's friends had joined him as he watched the fight, and as I helped Lance up, I heard one say 'It is Arthur.'

I had no idea what they meant. I smiled at my beaming parents and then asked if there was a place I could freshen up.

Merlin led me to a water spout used by the participants that stayed overnight and left to give me some privacy.

I tugged off my gloves, over tunic, and chainmail and wet my face and neck.

"You fight splendidly Alys." Nigel's voice slurred from behind me.

I turned to face him. "Thanks, I think. Is there something I can help you with/"

He stepped closer. "You're gonna spend the day with me."

"Thanks, but no. You're drunk and I don't really like you." I replied.

It was a well known fact that he was a light weight when it came to alcohol.

As he reached out to grab me, Merlin seemed to appear out of nowhere and stepped between Nigel and me.

"I suggest Mr. Killbourne, that you return to your friends and leave Miss Penn alone," he stated in a cold voice. "And if you ever come near her again, you will regret it."

Whatever Nigel saw in Merlin's face made him run away in a hurry.

Merlin turned to me. "Are you all right?"

I smiled at my knight-in-shining-armor. "I'm fine. Thanks. I've been having trouble with him since we met."

He smiled in return. "You're welcome. Here. Let me help you with your chainmail and tunic." He picked them up from where I had folded them over a nearby wooden rail.

A/N: Yes, Alys may be a little OOC. But she was raised with small town values and she isn't the same. You have to admit that Arthur can be a bit of an ass, but Alys is more end of his life and more for justice. She'll have her moments, just wait and see.