AN: Thank you all so much for your kind words and for reading the first chapter! I figured I would get the next one out now as I'm about to start a new job so things will slow down. Also, I'm still figuring out formatting on this site so I hope it all makes sense. Enjoy!

The next morning, one of the kitchen staff was sick so Gwen offered to help out before her shift in housekeeping started. Gwen had been told to expect a lot of people as a diplomatic conference was being held over the course of the week.

They weren't kidding about all the people, Gwen thought as she maneuvered the tables asking if anyone wanted tea or coffee. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another couple of people enter the already full dining room and squeeze in near the back. She finished asking the room number of the table in front of her and then made for the new table on her way back to the kitchen.

"Bonjour, thé ou café ce matin?" She asked, turning from one patron to the other where she felt a jolt go through her. Sitting before her was the same rude man from yesterday. His eyes widened as he recognized her as well.

"Coffee," the older man sitting with him said, breaking Gwen's trance.

"Yes, coffee please."

Gwen thought he might say more but she didn't give him the chance. Flustered, she only nodded as she retreated to the kitchen.

Arthur watched as the maid from yesterday disappeared from view. His father was saying something about the conference but he wasn't really listening.

He had wanted to say more but she had positively run from the room. He knew that he had acted poorly yesterday and wanted to apologize for his behaviour. Merlin often told him that, even after all the years they had known each other, he still acted like an arrogant prat. Arthur supposed Merlin was right—not that he would ever admit it out loud.

Arthur was glad to see the maid again today when he and his father walked into the dining room. He had hoped to run into her again and set things right, if only at least to ease his conscience. Now, with his father's voice as background noise, Arthur surreptitiously watched her as she moved about the tables with effortless grace. He hadn't noticed before but she was quite pretty with her hair falling in tight, dark curls and the deep brown eyes that had widened in surprise when she had recognized him.

"Arthur!" Uther's sharp tone snapped Arthur back to the present. He focused on his father, who was now staring at Arthur, an expression of irritation written across his face.

"Have you heard a word that I've said?" Uther asked.

"Of course," Arthur replied, thinking that he would just get Merlin to explain everything to him later.

Most of the lights in the hotel had been turned off now as Gwen made her way with the vacuum to the ballroom. The last meeting there had ended half an hour ago and the hotel's hallways were silent in the semi-dark. Though she didn't much enjoy split shifts, there was something about working in the evening that made it worth it. Maybe it was the silence that allowed her to actually hear her own thoughts. She thought again of what had happened that morning at breakfast. The rude man—as she thought of him—had been going to say something else and, from the look in his eyes, she had thought he had been about to apologize. The expression had been so different from their previous encounter that Gwen hadn't any idea how to handle it.

Maybe he's not as awful as you thought, she pondered as she pushed open the ballroom door with her back. She was about to put her portable speakers down on the floor when she realized she was not alone in the room.

There was a man sitting at the round table, a glass and bottle sitting in front of him. Just as Gwen's luck would have it, it was the same man from earlier. Both times she had seen him now, he had seemed like two different people: terse and harsh, soft-spoken and perhaps kind? Wondering what kind of mood she had caught him in tonight, Gwen slowly approached the table.

"Are you alright?" She asked tentatively. He sighed heavily before swinging his head up to look at her, letting out a snort when he did.

"Are you following me?" He poured some of the liquid in the bottle into the glass with a slightly unsteady hand.

Great, Gwen thought, he's drunk. She thought of how to handle this situation. She couldn't very well leave him here all night but she couldn't remember which room he had burst in on her the day before. For now, she thought she would try to get the bottle away from him. A good decision, she determined, as he downed the contents of the glass in one gulp. Slowly, she sunk down into the chair next to him.

"To answer your question," he said suddenly. "No, I'm not alright." He reached for the bottle again but Gwen got to it first, sliding it out of his reach. He gave her a dark look but didn't do anything more. In an attempt to get his mind off the alcohol, Gwen got him to talk instead.

"Do you want to talk about why you're not alright?" She asked.

"Can't. Not really," he said. "Secrecy and diplomacy and all that." He sounded bitter.

"You don't have to tell me specifics."

He seemed to consider that for a moment before speaking again.

"My father and I had an argument. We have different opinions of how we should proceed with one of the meetings tomorrow. If he could just see that I know what I'm doing—I can help!" He slapped his hand down on the table, causing Gwen to jump. He looked at her, contrition appearing behind the glassy sheen over his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just—I want to be useful," he said quietly, running a hand through his hair.

"That's perfectly valid," Gwen said, suddenly wishing there was something she could do to make him less miserable. "Maybe start small. Instead of the whole meeting, see if there are a few points that you can take control of and work your way up from there."

"That might work," he said. "Thank you, erm—"

"Gwen, short for Guinevere."

"Guinevere." The way he whispered her name sent a shiver down her spine. Not wanting to think about that, Gwen moved on.

"Yes, and your name?"

"My name is—"

"Arthur!"

Both Gwen and the man turned to see another person standing in the doorway, the light from the hallway casting a shadow on his slight frame.

"I have been looking for you everywhere," his cheery voice echoing off the walls of the ballroom as he approached the table. "Sorry about him, he gets like this sometimes, you know," he dropped his voice theatrically. "Melodramatic." Gwen giggled as she looked at Arthur who was now staring daggers at the other man.

"Merlin…" he said in a warning tone as Merlin slung one of Arthur's arms over his shoulder and hoisted him up.

"Well, I'll just get him out of your way then," Merlin said, leading Arthur towards the door. Gwen watched as Arthur turned and smiled softly at her as Merlin pulled him from the room. She remained in her place at the table a moment longer before returning to the vacuum she had left near the door.