Two

Merlin felt sorry for the kid. Her village was attacked by Cenred's men and in the conflict she and her orphaned siblings ran in separate directions. The chances of at least one of them surviving looked better that way.

Here she was; the one that ended up in Camelot looking for work.

Merlin remembered a couple of months ago he was in a similar situation as Lily. Except he had connections here in the form of Gaius and knew he'd be taken care of, allowing him to focus on the adventure side of things. She was in a much more precarious situation which is why he wanted to help her out even more. Especially when he could recognise the same look of wonder in her eyes that he knew was in his in those first days here. Being sixteen, she wasn't much younger than him but the look in her eyes seemed more youthful somehow.

But the job she offered herself for was a whole different story. At first, Merlin was completely baffled by what a 'stylist' even meant. But when Lily explained it –most patiently and rationally- he had a sudden urge to see Arthur's face when her proposal was brought to him. Long story short, this was a fine opportunity to annoy the hell out of the prince.

But Merlin didn't want Arthur to get mad at Lily. He had to find some compromise between having his fun and looking out for Lily.

Lily was following Merlin along the hallway an hour or two later –it was afternoon by the position of the sun. She still carried a positive expression on her face, like a mix of enthusiasm and solemnity a boy carried at having the honour of becoming a squire to a knight. She could see a large set of closed doors up ahead with a serious looking, spear holding guard on either side.

Merlin stopped for a moment and turned to face her. "He'll seem perpetually dismissive and won't hold back any insults but," he took a glance at the doors then returned to Lily, "don't get scared, he's been well fed…"

"So His Highness won't eat me then," Lily replied in her sweet-natured way that Merlin almost missed the joke.

"No, he won't!" his face crinkled into a smile which Lily returned. "What I meant is he's usually in a good mood after lunch." Merlin told Lily to wait outside while the two guards let him enter the chamber beyond the doors.

She caught a glimpse of a well-lit room and expensive looking curtains before she faced timber once again.

A few minutes passed which felt way longer and allowed her nerves to finally catch up with her. She almost regretted her decision to find the prince's manservant and explain her wishes when Merlin popped up at the door.

"You can come in," he said excitedly, tilting his head towards the room and her nerves melted away.

"A stylist?" Arthur drew out the last word and immediately afterwards fixed Merlin with a glare.

Lily froze.

Arthur seemed kind enough a moment ago when she introduced herself to him. Not without a slightly patronising manner, of course, as he simultaneously finished eating the meat off a bone, dropped the bone on one of the plates without looking, wiped his hands on a piece of cloth before dropping it back down on the table with equal disregard. "Good to make your acquaintance," he had managed to fit in –without much expression- between swallowing the last of the food and taking a gulp or three out of his goblet.

Not the perfect picture of courteous but he didn't seem intimidating either. In fact, he looked a lot more relaxed, now that he was in his private chamber.

But now Lily became a fraction more apprehensive as Merlin explained all that came with Lily humbly-offering-herself-as-his-Royal-Stylist.

"It's the stylist's job to decide what clothes you should wear so that you look more presentable and pleasant in general." Then Merlin added in mock concern, "I felt you're in dire need of such a person."

"Not until I have a dysfunction of the brain."

"Really? I was under the impression you already had one."

Lily looked from one to the other. Was the prince going to explode at the insolence of his servant? And was she to be given some horrible punishment because she started this whole thing?

Apparently not; Merlin still appeared casual, Arthur's discontent seemed to be aimed at him, not her. In fact, it wasn't really discontent, the prince almost seemed amused. "Not yet. Though having to deal with you might bring one about one of these days," he replied confidently. Then he turned to Lily and spoke more sincerely and told her that unfortunately he was unable to appoint her but wished her luck in finding work and regretted the situation in her village.

Merlin showed her out and told her of a few of the vendors in the marketplace who may be able to give her a job. He decided to spare Lily the bad temper of the cook and told her he'll ask the woman himself to see if an extra person was required in the kitchens. Lily thanked him and left, at least glad that the prince was kind to her and Merlin was most helpful.

Arthur stood in front of the window with his arms folded and wasn't watching anything particular when he spotted Lily. She was sitting on one of the steps in the courtyard, looking down at an apple core she was still taking a peck at every now and again. That probably was her lunch, he thought all of a sudden. As if her downtrodden look wasn't already making him feel slightly bad. Especially as he didn't agree with his father's stance of turning a blind eye to the affairs of neighbouring kingdoms. He wanted to do something about people in Lily's situation whose homes keep getting invaded. But he knew Uther would dismiss such an issue in the blink of his stern eyes and would probably manage to make Arthur feel embarrassed that he even brought the issue to his father.

"Merlin."

Merlin paused in polishing the boot in his hand.

"Go and fetch that girl –whatever her name was. She's sitting in the courtyard."

Merlin followed Arthur to the window and saw who he meant. "Yes, sire," he said with a surprised smile.