Merlin didn't even try to be unnoticed when he burst into the kitchen. He looked at the platter of frog legs, hoping none of them looked human. It appeared Arthur wasn't among them. Merlin sighed with relief but there was still a knot of tension because he didn't know where Arthur was. The cook shook her wooden spoon at him in a threatening manner, "I've already had enough food taken out of here today. If I lose anymore, I'm going to take it out on your hide. Unless you've been sent here directly by the king or queen themselves, you'd better get out of here."

"I'm not here to swipe your food. The queen wants you to know there'll be an extra guest for dinner and he'll require a special dish."

"Oh, yeah?" she asked as she wiped her hands on her apron. "What dish is that?"

"A dish of insects. I think he prefers them alive, but if they're dead, that'll be okay too just as long as they're fresh."

The cook's face turned a mottled red, "Is this some sort of joke?

"If that's too much trouble, I think he'll eat a small fish. It has to be easy to swallow whole though and don't bother to cook it."

"What kind of guest is going to eat this?"

"A frog," Merlin answered simply.

"A frog? A frog!" cried the enraged cook.

"Yes, which is why today's menu is probably in bad taste."

She shook her spoon at him. "Frog legs will be on the table. I don't care if the king of the frogs is dining with us."

"Well…" Merlin began and trailed off. He wasn't able to tell her how close to the truth she'd come.

One of the kitchen boys came running in, presenting his prize proudly to the cook. "I didn't even have to do down to the water to find another frog. I caught him in the castle!"

"That's a kingly specimen," the cook said as she eyed Arthur's legs. "This is a frog fit to be served to the queen."

"You have a good eye. A frog this fine needs to be taken to the queen right away," Merlin said, snatching the frog away and taking off in a hurry. "I have never been so glad to see your legs safely attached to your body," Merlin said as he ran with the king.

"Merlin!" he heard the cook bellow. "You wait until the king gets back! He'll hear about this!"

Merlin almost wished he would hear it. Maybe then he would get a little credit for saving his life for the 100th time.

sss

The cook had complained to Gwen, but when Gwen discovered who it was Merlin had saved she was very grateful.

Dinnertime arrived. Merlin arranged to trade places with one of the servers so he could be in there for Arthur's dinner performance.

The whole table was filled with onlookers, who couldn't believe the dinner guest who sat on the table by Gwen's right hand, but no one dared to say anything to the queen directly.

"That's what we get when we let a peasant onto the throne," whispered one of the ladies to another. If Merlin hadn't been so intent on keeping Arthur's table manners in control, the lady might have found her drink mysteriously spilled all over her lovely silk gown.

The cook had provided a small fish for Arthur, which he quickly snapped with no help from Merlin.

The head server tugged at Merlin's arm, "Go fill your pitcher up with more wine. You're almost out." Merlin had to obey or there'd be a scene, but he hated to leave Arthur. He hurried into the corridor and filled his pitcher up with wine using magic and then hurried back to the banquet hall.

Unfortunately, he should have been just a few seconds faster. Arthur had jumped into Lady Eleanor's soup with a resounding splash. Lady Eleanor looked like she was about to faint but that was nothing out of the ordinary for Lady Eleanor.

"I'm so sorry, milady," Merlin had Arthur say. "I got carried away. The soup reminded of the pond I swam around in as a tadpole."

Though her hand was still over her heart and her face still an unnatural shade of white, she responded with a faint, fluttery, "That's quite alright."

There were gasps up and down the table that the frog could speak and they seemed to feel a little better, knowing they were dining with a talking frog and not just your average run-of-the-mill frog.

Night was nearing and Gwen didn't even look close to being ready to pucker up to a frog. Merlin had a plan in mind. He just needed to get Gwen to let a frog sleep by her pillow for it to work.