Arthur, unlike his father, almost never made a late entrance to a banquet. Usually, this was because he could gather information from the guests while they shared pre-dinner gossip, and today he had the added purpose of seeing Prince Merlin as much as he could.
Half an hour before the banquet was to start, he had his manservant George dress him in his finest clothing. Once that was done, he hurried to the banquet hall. Just as he reached the door, Prince Merlin appeared at the end of the hallway, and Arthur was again struck dumb by the sheer attractiveness of the other man. Merlin walked down the hall and when he reached the door, he bowed to Arthur, who returned the gesture.
"How are you this evening, Prince Merlin?" asked Arthur, offering his arm towards Merlin.
"I'm well, thank you," replied Merlin, looping his arm through Arthur's. "Your castle is lovely."
Arthur felt some pride at Merlin's opinion of Camelot. He opened the door and walked in, heading up to the table. When they reached the table, Arthur went to his chair, and indicated to Merlin that he sit immediately on his right.
Once they were seated, Arthur turned to Merlin and said, "So Merlin, what's Ealdor like?"
Merlin's face lit up, and he started talking enthusiastically about Ealdor, and its people and customs and all other sorts of things. The only thing that bothered Arthur was that Merlin seemed to be omitting some information. What was it that Merlin wasn't saying?
Soon, the feast started, and Arthur dug in. The cooks had made a special effort tonight, so the food was quite delicious. Arthur kept glancing over at Merlin, but he was either eating or talking to his father in a low, harsh language that Arthur didn't understand a word of.
It was only when the dessert was served that Arthur did have a chance to talk to Merlin. "What did you think of the meal?" he asked.
"It was marvelous," replied Merlin, with Balinor nodding enthusiastically. "We've rarely had such good food, so thank you, Your Majesty."
"It was a pleasure," replied Arthur. "And speaking of pleasures..."
He stood up, and silence slowly descended on the room. "In honor of the arrival of King Balinor Emrys and Prince Merlin Emrys of Ealdor, I would like to introduce Lady Helen of Morra. She has kindly agreed to grace us with her presence."
The lady in question stood up from one of the tables, and walked to the center of the room. She looked around, cleared her throat, and started singing.
There was a sudden crash, and Arthur jolted up in his seat, looking around him in shock. The room had gone dark and filled with cobwebs, and Lady Helen was no longer standing at the front of the room. Instead, an old woman was lying on the floor underneath a chandelier, which had somehow fallen on her. The rest of the guests were stirring, their faces assuming equally confused expressions, while the old woman leaned up and her eyes flashed gold.
A ball of fire started to grow in the air in front of the woman, who was muttering as the ball grew bigger. Time seemed to slow down as the fireball flew towards Arthur.
Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Merlin extending his hand, and there was a telltale flash of gold. The fireball stopped coming towards Arthur. Merlin's voice was strong and clear as he said an incantation, and the fireball flew back towards the woman.
There was an explosion of flame as the fireball engulfed the woman, which quickly died down to reveal a burned corpse. Arthur looked at Merlin, who was still standing with his arm outstretched, breathing heavily. Merlin's now-blue eyes looked into Arthur's, and he could see the fear there. What was he going to do now?