Thanks for the Reviews. Sorry for the late update, busy with my other life. XD
It was another week before anything started to happen. Slowly, lords and knights started to arrive, from all over the kingdom. The last time this many of Camelot's nobility had been gathered was over fifteen years ago when the initial treaty had been created between Uther and the High Counsel.
If Merlin was nervous about the upcoming debates, he didn't show it. It appeared that the pale Druid had been marked as off limits from the political wolves that wanted a piece of him.
Even then, it didn't denture any from trying. At first, it was a few invitations, for walks or talks of Druid life, but it soon escalated to the point that a personal assistant had to be hired to help with all the notes and mail he was getting.
Her name was Freya. A sweet girl who took a quick liking to the Druid Ambassador. Her main task was to weed out anything political related, which was most of what arrived.
For anything that was meant as a ploy to get the druid alone, a polite refusal was written in her neat script back to the sender. After that, the pile was usually small enough that Merlin could handle it himself, and he quickly picked out ones where there was more than one person there and had either Arthur or Morgana attending as a referee.
No big feasts or events were scheduled to happen for a few weeks, mainly due to the fact that everyone was preparing for the feasts and events prepared for the time when the treaty was being finalized.
They were meant to be distractions for the nobles, royalty, and the lone ambassador between bouts of fighting over points of the treaty. For the most part Merlin wasn't really looking forward to these things.
The welcoming feast alone had been enough to fill him up for days afterwards it seemed, but now with them about to happen almost weekly, he didn't know if he had the stomach capacity to eat at each without his stomach bursting.
Not only that, but he also had to sit there and watch knights and nobles alike pound each other into the ground in the name of 'sport'. From what he'd seen, Arthur was looking forward to these events and appeared to be joining in, though only for a few. He appeared to want to 'see what it's like.' Why, Merlin didn't know, but wouldn't begrudge him.
He knew that if Arthur had not come to live among the Druids, he would have been doing this since he was able to wield a sword. Although he tried not to, he felt slightly guilty for this. The treaty was the reason Arthur had been deprived of this sort of thing.
Though his time among the druids hadn't been idle. He had trained alongside both his knight guardians and Druid warriors, quickly surpassing them. Because of this, even though he was Human, he had been greatly sought after. Power was greatly coveted among his people. The young were taught from birth that in order to have a better life in their next life, they need to gain power now. The most powerful in magic, strength, mind, influence, were placed at the top. The weakest were at the base, struggling to claw their way to the top.
For the most part, he and Arthur had little time together. A quick walk here, a brief lunch together there and then they were swept away from each other by soon they would have plenty of time, what with all the talks and things scheduled, they were bound to be thrown together more often than not.
It was nearly two weeks from that fun little picnic when the day of the beginning feast for the start of treaty talks was announced. Merlin sat down with a huff, pulling at the lacings of his shirt. The day was hot with little wind. It felt like the castle was an oven trying to back them alive.
He glanced up at a knock at the door. "Come in." Freya stepped in, a small smile on her face as she took in his flushed face and slouched posture. He groaned. "Not more?"
"Sorry, but yes. Most appear to be requests for you to sit next them. A few are for dances from visiting ladies. The rest seem to be the usual political notes." She walked forward, setting the small stack of rolled or seal parchment onto the sturdy table she had claimed as her own for her work.
She looked just as bad as he did, curls of hair escaping from its braid to cling to her face and neck from sweat. She started to fan herself with one of the rejected letters as she looked through the rest. Every once in a while, she slid one over to him, deeming it worthy enough for his eyes.
For his part, he tried to be fair. He'd been warned by many that this would happen and he must not show favoritism towards any. Sometimes he wondered if this had been a good idea, coming here as Ambassador.
He'd never had any stomach for politics, even back home. One of the reasons why he hadn't wanted to become an adept of Avalon. It revolved around politics, where he just wanted to learn and not have to worry about his image.
Sighing again, he read through his own little stack, picking out the ones that seemed okay. Only two asking for a dance found their way into his pile. One was from Lady Morgause. The other was from Lady Helen of Mora, a singer and one who would also serve as entertainment for the feast.
Setting them aside, he stood to go look out the thin windows in his room. One of the drawbacks of living in a fortified castle was the lack of a view. His room looked over the Camelot training fields. He could just make out Arthur, blonde hair shining in the bright sun as he fought with one of the visiting knights.
He looked happy- no, at home- here among his people. Here, he wasn't the foreigner, Merlin was. A wave of homesickness swept over him bringing with it the guilt and sadness at the loss of his mother.
Pushing it away, he continued to watch as Arthur fought against the man and won. His face lit up, from both sunlight and triumph. Merlin didn't even try to hide the snort of humor as he watched Arthur strut around over the victory. Some things never changed.
He leaned against the wall, still looking out the window. "Four more days, huh?" He asked aloud.
"Yes. Don't forget your meeting with the seamstress tomorrow. She wants to make the last minute adjustments to your outfit."
He gave a frustrated growl. "I swear, since I got here, I've done nothing but play dress up doll." He sent a scowl at Freya when she laughed, but couldn't keep it up as he, too, laughed. "Alright, I won't forget. Send word back to the ones I picked out while I'm gone." She nodded as he left on his way to visit Gaius.