Merlin rose early in the morning, having been instructed to go and meet in front of the King with Prince Arthur to be talked to about the jousting tournament. To Merlin it seemed that there were too many tournaments, as the sword tournament had just passed and his headaches and scratches from then had not had enough time to recover before the preparations for this one were upon them.

As he arrived he took his place to the right of Arthur, several maids and servants aligned along the room.

"Arthur. We have many other contenders from different cities. They know you are in throne to be King, so it is mandatory that you show them what you are capable of, for the safety of Camelot itself." King Uther said, sat upon his throne and looking seriously at his son.

Arthur gave a quick nod and then headed to his chamber where Merlin quickly dressed him in his armour and armed him with his sword, and the two of them walked towards the arena, Merlin waiting at the edge eagerly, ready to cheer on his 'master'.

After five or so minutes a girl appeared at his side, also seemingly watching the men who were gearing up to fight. She had long, wavy hair which was not ginger, but startlingly red, which reached to just about the top of her rib cage. She was dressed in simple clothes, which suggested to Merlin that she was a servant of some kind, and she had an interesting face, if not a pretty one. She was scattered with freckles and had large, green eyes that looked at him, unimpressed.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Merlin realised he was staring at the girl and his eyes widened as he shook his head ferociously from side to side.

"No, I was just, I mean I'm just...hi, Merlin." He stuck out his hand and she shook it, suppressing th urge to laugh at his stuttering.

"Elzedar." She replied.

"And you're with...?"

"I am Knight Everdale's ladyservant." She told him.

"Ladyservant? You're a servant to a knight?" Merlin asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusement.

"Yes." she glared at him as if this were something which was stupid to be questioned.

"It's just, well, you're female." Merlin said.

"Well done on stating the obvious." she clapped her hands together sarcastically.

Merlin nodded, looking impressed, but before he could comment any further on the matter the King started to make an announcement and Elzedar elbowed Merlin, nodding towards him.

"Ladies and gentleman, it is my greatest honour to welcome you to the jousting tournament. I do not wish the name to be misleading, as the national jousting festival is two months away, and this involves steeds, but today the knights in question will be battling with just their swords and shields," the King took a break while the audience applauded and then continued, "and so without further ado, may the first joust commence!"

And so the first two knights took up their places, and pointed their swords at each other, and swung them around until one of them knocked the other down, and the loser got removed from the contest.

At first Merlin and Elzedar watched with gripping interest, but as the jousting continued and the fights got more and more repetitive, they got bored, and finally Elzedar slumped down against the wall, rolling her eyes.

"Okay there?" Merlin glanced down at her, grinning.

"It doesn't half go on, does it? At least it's in your own bloody city, I have to travel with that pillock everywhere." She sighed, looking unimpressed.

Merlin sat opposite her, crossing his legs, "Well if you don't like him, then why do you work for him?"

"Because what else am I going to do? Don't think I haven't tried to get other jobs, by god I have, but nobody wants a girl to do things for them, unless they're a soppy maiden who needs their top tightening, or a guy who wants to try and get his way with her," As she said this she made a deliberate glance towards Knight Everglade, "And to be completely honest with you, I'd rather have some sleazy knight trying and failing to get their way with me while I do some actual work than lacing up a pinafore and picking out ribbons every day."

Merlin smiled at this, contemplating it for a moment. He may have been a scrawny male, but he was male all the same. It had never really occurred to him that females might want to do the same kind of jobs, find interest in weapons and armour instead of dresses and horses.

Of course, this was very prejudice of him, but then was the case of all men. He was a lot less so than most, and so talked to Elzedar about why she had chosen to do so.

"I just don't see why I shouldn't get my share of the fun just because I'm a girl." She said, picking at an unravelling thread in her dress.

"A perfectly fair statement." Merlin agreed, smiling at her.

"So you work in Camelot, for the Prince," she noted, looking vaguely impressed, "How did that happen?"

"Oh, well, I mean, I was just a little servant boy, and then I kind of saved his life, so I suppose I got promoted." Merlin shrugged.

"You suppose you got promoted? Very full of yourself, aren't you?" Elzedar laughed, poking him with her foot.

"And you? How did you bag your job as pillock servant?" Merlin asked, grinning.

She returned the grin, still laughing, "Oh, well my home village was near the town where Everglade is from. He was passing through one day with his men, and I was only about sixteen, but I was handy with a knife, and he saw me skewer one right through a rabbit. Just catching tea, but he was amazed that I could have 'such skill'." She rolled her eyes, grimacing.

"Would you prefer to live somewhere like Camelot then?" Merlin asked.

"Of course! That's been my dream, Camelot, ever since my father told me about it when I was a child. He would tell of what it was like, the amazing city."

He hesitated for a moment, "Where is your father now?"

"He was killed." Elzedar said abruptly, and Merlin knew that even if he asked, he wouldn't get an answer as to why.

Suddenly he noticed Arthur walk into the arena and shuffled left so that he could see the joust, still sat down.

Arthur took out his sword and the two opponents weighed each other up, circling each other twice before they started to fling their swords at each other, the metal bouncing off of shields and armour plates. His opponent was not that strong, but could use a shield well. As Arthur lunged for him, he blocked it again and again until a particularly hard one sent him onto his back. The crowd cheered and Merlin whispered 'yes' to himself, punching the air.

Elzedar snorted, but when Merlin turned to her she merely muttered, "Nothing, nothing."

As Prince Arthur appeared, he looked down at Merlin, "What on earth are you doing on the floor? Get up, you fool."

Merlin scrambled to his feet, "Sorry."

Behind him Elzedar and risen, oblivious to both of them as she did so. She bowed slightly to Arthur and muttered, "Sir."

As the Prince headed off towards the castle to take a breather, Merlin followed, but before leaving turned around and shouted to the girl, "Bye Elzedar!"

"Call me Elze!" she shouted back, smiling to herself.