Chapter 1: Questions Questions!

Kiki lights herself another cigarette, the recorder is on, slowly she waves her hand signaling for Merlin to begin, "We will start….Please introduce yourself."

"My name is Merlin Emrys, I am 24 years old."

"Go on…."

He stares at her blankly, "What am I supposed to say?"

She takes a long drag from her cigarette, fumbling with her nose she asks, "What do you do?"

"I am the Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Pendragon Corporation. In other words…his secretary." He mutters this lamely.

This caught her attention, "The Vice President? You mean…."

Merlin nods his head, "Yes, Arthur Pendragon himself…."

To which Kiki simply shrugs her shoulders, "Tell me about Pendragon Corporation…"

The lights above them flicker for a slight second, he smiles at her curious expression, "You see it, what else do you want to know, except that if you are not of the Pendragon Bloodline, then forget ever having a say in the corporation."

"I see…." She really didn't know much about the corporation….

They stop for a moment, he was thirsty. She rushes out of the room to get him a fresh cup, behind him was a water dispenser. He fills his cup up and retreats back to his chair. After taking a huge sip, he finally continues to speak, "The Pendragons protect their establishment. Uther Pendragon is the CEO, in charge of Pendragon Corporations. His son, Arthur is his second in command."

He pauses waiting for her to comment, when nothing was said from her side, he proceeded further,

"He has other relatives who run other aspects of the company

For example, Pendragon Electronics is headed by Uther's brother Agravaine

Pendragon Studios the famed amusement park is headed by his daughter Morgana."

"How did one family achieve this much wealth in very little time?"

Her question forces him to smile inwardly to himself….the world was a funny place, it's all about the money….always.

"Very little time?" he asks amusingly, "I must correct you, my dear friend. The Pendragons have been in Camelot's history for centuries.

Perhaps not heading a giant corporation, but there has always been money, perhaps they were even kings and queens… I don't know, but that family carries wealth to their name…And to be fair…Camelot owes them a lot. Without them the community wouldn't be as it is. The Pendragons have succeeded in placing Camelot on the map…With the help of the media, with their publicity. "

Kiki bit her lower lip thoughtfully, she was now scribbling stuff down, "How did you get the job?"

Merlin sat back in his chair, "My uncle, Gaius, he's their family doctor. One good word from him and I was given the job as an office clerk. More like a coffee boy for the VP's department heads….but it was a living.
That was four years ago….I got promoted…now I only serve coffee to the VP himself…."

"Seriously…..?"

"It's a joke….that's how I look at things….I look at it with humor. Being part of the Executive Office gave me access to a lot of things…."

"Things like?" she was hoping to have her break now….

He was more relaxed now and found himself at ease with her, "Things I rather not remember. You see Uther or Arthur on the cover of Forbes Magazine….you see Morgana…you see Lance….and you think to yourself…Wow, I work with these people….I see them almost every day…I mean these are top people….and the closer you are to them….believe me it just happened….never wanted to….but working together…you have no choice. They take you in….and once they do…you realize that they are pretty….fucked up in the head….excuse my language."

This came as a surprise to her, "Uther took you in?"

Shaking his head he opted to explain further, "Well he never got my name right, but he knew who I was….he acknowledged me. Treated me like how he treated most of his workers…like shit."

Stretching her arms and glancing over her notes, her eyes fell on to a name he had mentioned previously…." Who is Lance?" she asked, "you mentioned Lance…."

There was a warmth in his face, Lance obviously was someone he held much admiration for. The CIA agent watched him carefully as he took in a deep breath and began to speak, "Lance is Arthur's right hand man and best friend. If you ask me, he runs the business, he is the real star….he has Arthur's back runs the minor sister companies as well. He's in charge of the Business Development Sector. He spots a potential continent, does his research with his team and runs back to base. Tells them about it….it takes them few weeks to assess the whole thing because when Lance is on a project they know for sure that he is right….within weeks Pendragon Corporation has taken over." He got up to re-fill his cup.

"That's Lance. I think what everyone liked best was that he wasn't even a Pendragon, so he had his way with rank and file. Never raised his voice at them. Was very social, very down to earth.

People talk, they say he came from humble beginnings. Apparently he earned Arthur's trust when he rescued Arthur from some crazy fight that could have gotten both of them killed. I don't really know the details…but people say it was brutal and if Lance hadn't jumped in….Arthur Pendragon would be well in his grave."

"So he trusted Lance?" She made a mental note to check on Lance's personal file…his name had not been brought up.

Merlin smiled, "Big time. And I saw why. The man was loyal to a fault. But Uther couldn't stand Lance. Said Lance made his son soft. They had a row before when Arthur signed the agreement to increase the basic salary of one of their companies in India by 20%. Arthur's defense was he saw the state of the country…"

She didn't let him finish, "Let me guess, the young Pendragon never even been to India?"

"Exactly! So Uther knew Lance had a thing to do with it."

Turning to a blank page, looking him straight in the eyes Kiki asked, "What can you say about Uther Pendragon?"

His reply was instant, "I hated him….."

"This statement could incriminate you….." she quickly warned.

There was no remorse on his face, it was as if he had not even heard her, "Why would it? I am being honest. Don't get me wrong….the company's profits have quadrupled since he came on board….well he has always been on board, but more like since he became CEO….but he made a lot of enemies. Most of them feared him. I saw how they tremble before him. A lot of Organizations owe a lot to Uther Pendragon. A lot of politicians as well."

"How legal was Uther Pendragon?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I wouldn't be able to answer that but I think it is pretty clear that business men do bend the law a bit. He used to boast that he had most of the law in his pocket."

"And his son?"

"Arthur is a smart lad. He is young, charms his way into every business deal and charms his way out of trouble. He is the sole heir. A lot of responsibility on him and so far he's been doing well. He's a bit of a spoilt brat, like most well to do kids with trust funds. But he is very much into the family business."

It was clear to her instantly that Merlin held no grudge towards Arthur and if she wasn't mistaken there was a little bit of admiration from his end towards his boss, "Tell me something about Morgana…"

"Morgana?" falling back on his chair, he sighed, " Morgana and I never got along. She didn't like me very much….always felt I was in the way." He mumbled this more to himself.

"Were you?" she noticed suddenly how his eyes avoided hers. There was obviously more to the Morgana- Merlin relationship….it was indeed going to be a long night.

"She was up to no good. You know the story, stole her father's money and squandered it on some spiritual sect that she believed in." clearly he did not like speaking about this.

"Spiritual sect?"

"Some group of weirdoes who believed that the world was encompassed in some weird essence….anyways she did some money laundering and help boost this…sect…"

Kiki decided to just go with the story, "You ratted her out…" she concluded finally.

But Merlin shook his head, "I confided in my Uncle Gaius…who advised me to bring it forward to Lance. I did just that. The rest was all out in the Media."

"Yet she is back….and in charge of Pendragon Studios?"

"Like I said. Pendragon Corporation stays in the family….no matter how messed up they are. She is on allowance they say….a strict one, the day Uther discovered her treachery, he amended his will instantly. God knows how much she will get….but I could care less."

She moved to the next person she had in mind, "Then we have Agravaine….What can you tell me about Uther's over shadowed younger brother."

"When I first met Agravaine, I instantly knew that he wasn't into the whole publicity thing. He was a man who enjoyed the power but not the lime light.

His sense of business was never as powerful as that of Uther's or even Arthur's….his decision making was based more in emotions rather than thought or wit.

The corporation incurred massive losses due to some of his business deals but Lance always knew how to cover it up and if Lance couldn't….Arthur could and if he too could not…Morgana's successful theme parks always closed business on the books."

"Uther left behind a legacy..." she said this more to herself.

"He left behind an empire…." He corrected, suddenly he leaned closer towards her, "but you've been asking me all these questions…let me ask you this? What is it you want from me?

She would answer him honestly, "I need to know all about the Pendragons, everything…what they eat, drink, what they shit out! I don't care….You know something…and giving me bits and pieces of it doesn't quite cut It"

Merlin let out a yawn, "I am ready to tell you everything…but you need to be more specific…..I could start from when I first joined the company…or I can start when Uther handed the company over to Arthur….against his will of course…."

She shook her head, she would have to take this step by step, "Why don't you answer the following for me? Where is Arthur Pendragon?"

He smiled once more, "I doubt you are really interested in his whereabouts…"

He was right, she didn't really give a damn about the sons whereabouts…"True, my concern is where did all the money go? We are talking billions of Dollars….and the one guy with all the access is gone…with a bank account showing zero. But to get to that I need to know where the one person is who has access to the source….And I need to know who is responsible for the murders….murders you claim, you know nothing about!"

"I am just a secretary….Executive Assistant if you please…."

Kiki let out a little sneer, the young man was no longer playing innocent…now he was playing difficult, "Are you talking or not?"

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Perhaps the Wedding? It all went downhill after that wedding….didn't it?" Kiki suggests.

He shakes his head, "Yes it did…." There is another moment of silence between them before eventually he begins to speak, "I will start with the Wedding….listen carefully."

Arthur's note: Thank you for reading other chapters will follow…pending on how this story is perceived :P