Hey everybody! Well, I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter, which disappointed me, so please, if you have anything to say about the story, good or bad, please review! I've been toying to do a story of the guys' version of each chapter, but I probably won't if I don't get a little encouragement. I do hope you enjoy this chapter though!

Disclaimer: Sorry all you sue happy lawyers, I'll bow to copyright laws and say that I do indeed not own Merlin.

Chapter Three: Helana

"Helana, do you think you could take these things to Guinevere's house for me? I would get one of the errand boys to do it, but Uthar is having them run around doing the strangest tasks for him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he had gone a little . . . never mind."

"I'll do it right way," Helana answered, taking the bundle of clothes from Mistress Geena, the woman in charge of all the maids. "But why do all these clothes need to go to Gwen?"

"They're all the Lady Morgana's old things," Mistress Geena confided, leaning close so that no one else moving down the hallway could overhear. "Prince Arthur gave me very strict instructions that they were to be given to Guinevere so that she might have first pick before the other Ladies are given a chance to take the things as their own. Why Guinevere would need such elaborate clothing is beyond me. "

Helana shrugged, but on the inside she was struggling with the truth. She knew that Gwen and Arthur had been secretly courting for quite a while now, and even more often now that King Uthar had become sick. Not that anyone in the castle believed that it was a sickness of body keeping him locked away in his chambers. No one dared say anything though, better to keep quiet on the off chance that he really did recover.

Helana truly hoped that the whole situation would work out in Gwen's favor. It would have been easy for Helana to resent her, but thanks to her easygoing nature she never had. Not when Gwen was promoted to Lady Morgana's personal maid and she was kept a general maid for the entire castle. Not when Gwen had begun to turn the heads of young men with her simple beauty while Helana went unnoticed. Not even when Helana went without a single beau while Gwen became the object of both Sir Lancelot's and Prince Arthur's desires.

So it didn't bother her that Gwen was getting new dresses while she was stuck wearing the same dresses she wore week after week. Okay, maybe it bothered her a little bit, Helana wasn't a saint after all.

Traversing the streets of Camelot while carrying a heavy basket that could not get dirty was not easy, but it was better than cleaning the latrines and chamber pots that dotted the castle.

"Gwen, are you in here?" Helana called, kicking the door with her boot in order to knock without the use of her hands.

"Is that you Helana?" Came the answer from inside before the door was opened. "What are you doing here?"

"These clothes are Lady Morgana's old ones," Helana replied. "I'm supposed to let you pick out the ones you want before anyone else gets to them."

"Truly?"

Helana smiled at the hesitant sound in Gwen's voice. She knew that the other girl had hardly ever received new clothes before she became Prince Arthur's love.

"Yes, now go through them and see if any of them strike your fancy."

"You first," Gwen encouraged Helana, gesturing for the basket to be placed on her small table. "I think you deserve it more than I do. Ever since Morgana left I've had too much time on my hands to be of much use to anyone."

"Gwen," Helana reprimanded. It was times like these that had prevented her from ever resenting Gwen. Who could resent a person who was as pure and generous as a unicorn. Not that Helana would admit to thinking that anything of magical origin had any worth, to think like that would bring about sure death. "You have been helping everyone by keeping the castle organized and doing little odd jobs. Also, I don't think Prince Arthur will be eager to set you back to serious work anytime soon."

"So, I've heard you and the girls have been becoming very close to the knights of the round table," Gwen said, turning to knead the dough she'd been working on when Helana walked in. "Two of you are courting them now, isn't that right?"

"Yes, we couldn't be happier for them. Sir Gwaine and Marise argue like cats and dogs some of the time, but they always make up more quickly than I can blink. Of course, Sir Leon and Lucinda may as well have been courting for an age the way they get along."

"And there's no real reason for them not to be together, they're of the proper social statuses, their parents are either not a factor or in approval. Sometimes I just wish. . ."

Gwen's voice trailed off, and her hands stopped their simple movement.

"Gwen, are you alright?" Helana asked.

"Right as rain Helana!" Gwen exclaimed, wiping her eyes as she grabbed a pitcher. "I'll be right back, I just need some water for this. I meant what I said you know, I expect you to have a dress picked out by the time I return."

Helana sighed as Gwen rushed out of the cottage. She would never understand the messiness of love. Lucinda and Sir Leon's was easy enough to grasp, they were both too shy to have approached the other, and it was pure luck they ever began courting. Marise and Sir Gwaine were as impossible to understand as why Merlin was so dedicated to Prince Arthur, but at least they had the money to get away with it. Gwen and Prince Arthur were just ridiculous! Couldn't they just go about simply and fall in love the same way? Why did everything have to be the stuff of ballads with them?

There was one thing she would never do, Helana decided as she began to sift through the dresses, and that was fall in love. Upon finding a brown one that matched her eyes, she held it up to herself, trying to imagine what it looked like on her; it wasn't as if she was rich enough to carry a mirror with her to check.

What happened next would be something she would never forget.

The sound of a man's voice calling out "Gwen" from inside the house startled her into flinging the dress back into the basket with the others. Turning she saw a tower of clay bowls being balanced by a man who was desperately trying to step without tripping over the small dog running about his feet.

Grinning, Helana went to take some of the bowls from him when his precarious balancing act began to fail. He tripped over the puppy, tipping forward enough that the bowls began to slide away from each other. Knowing how expensive that many bowls would be, Helana jumped forward to catch them as he righted himself. By some miracle she had caught all but one, and that one had fallen onto the pile of clothes.

"Shoo pup," she commanded the dog, swatting at it with one hand while setting the bowls onto the table.

"Thank you," the young man said as he also put down the bowls he had managed to keep a hand on. "You're one of Gwen's friends, are you not?"

"Yes, I'm one of them," Helana replied, "and you're Elyon if I'm not mistaken. You have grown up from the young man who lost a footrace against me and had to repay me with a kiss."

"Of course you had to bring that up," Elyon blushed. "You haven't changed at all Helana."

"I'm going to take that as an insult."

"I didn't mean it as one," Elyon protested so vehemently that Helana had to giggle so that he would realize she'd been joking. "Now, what were you doing before I so rudely interrupted you?"

Now it was Helana's turn to blush, reaching up to scratch her ear.

"Gwen was having me pick out a dress," she admitted, eyes downcast.

"Which one are you leaning towards?" Elyon asked, and Helana picked it up from the pile. "Let me see it."

Blushing an even brighter shade of red, she held it up to herself. He circled her like a lion, making exaggerated noises of approval.

"You do that dress an honor. You make it look even more beautiful."

Helana couldn't believe he'd said that, and she hurriedly folded the dress so that she'd be able to carry it to the castle, and began to search for a conversation subject that would take the focus off of her.

"Take a seat Elyon, and tell me of your adventures."

"You're going to invite me to sit in my own home?" He teased, raising an eyebrow before sitting, gesturing for Helana to do the same. "I feel as if we are children again, telling each other stories of make believe."

They sat there for quite a while, talking on subjects from swordfights to cleaning to Prince Arthur to Elyon's sudden elevation to a knight of Camelot.

"You have quite the important job to do," Helana commented, standing and stretching her legs discretely. "And I had better get back to mine."

"Wait Helana," he protested, getting to his feet as well. "Can't you stay here a little while longer?"

"I've been away from my duties as long as I can," Helana admitted regretfully. "I'll probably receive a tongue wagging as it is. It was nice to see you again Elyon."

"I haven't changed that much since I left," he called before she could reach the door.

"What do you mean?" Helana asked, turning back towards him.

"I owe you for saving those bowls," Elyon insisted. "So I would like to take you to dinner tomorrow night. I haven't stopped repaying my debts you know."

"You wouldn't be you if you did," Helana commented, letting out a squeak when he closed the distance between them and playfully kissed her. It was so quick that she barely had time to respond, but it took her breath away.

She wasn't the only person who's breath had been taken away by the little display.

"Elyon, what's going on here?"

Gwen's voice was understandably confused having just found her recently returned brother kissing her closest friend in her cottage, despite the fact that they had not seen each other in years. The reprimand in her voice would have been more effective if she herself did not look so disheveled. Her hair was wilder than it was when she had gone out, and her eyes were shining even in her confusion. Added to that the fact that the pitcher she was carrying was empty, and it was easy to tell that she had met up with Arthur.

"May I take that as a yes?" Elyon asked Helana.

"You may Elyon."

And if you didn't like Helana's character, don't worry, All the OCs are different and have their own personalities. Please review if you wish, it makes me happy when you choose to take the time!