"You know Arthur, I used to wonder why there wasn't a mirror in your chambers, but now that I think about it- well, if I had that face I wouldn't either. There are much less painful methods of torture at hand you know." Arthur reluctantly allowed his eyelids to pry themselves open to reveal his manservant grinning down at him. He was holding a cup out towards the prince.

"Now come on, up and at 'em! Lady Elaine has come to sign the peace treaty in place of her father- it seems that Lord Enrick was a bit busy to do the deed himself." Arthur let out a groan in response and rolled over onto his side. He held out his hand and Merlin placed the cup inside of it. Without even looking to see what kind of beverage he was given, he tossed the drink in the direction of the boy. Merlin blinked and sputtered out the drops of liquid which were now falling down his face.

"Well that wasn't very kind, now was it?" Merlin asked with a frown.

"Neither was your lovely monologue concerning my face. Now where's my breakfast?"

"Prat." Merlin muttered, trying and failing to keep the affection out of his voice. He sighed and scurried off to do his master's bidding. As Arthur slowly rose from bed, he noticed how strange his manservant's lack of tardiness was. He supposed that it could be partially credited to the absence of Gaius- the old man was to be gone for a month, maybe even longer. He was off studying some recent breakthrough of medicine, or something of the like. Arthur had never bothered to ask the specifics.

Of course, with Gaius gone for a while, Arthur would be morally obliged to be at the very least, civil to his young manservant so that the idiot wouldn't spend his time moping about the palace, absorbed in his loneliness. Arthur would rather dish out a few less insults rather than having to go a whole month without Merlin's annoyingly infectious smile.

"Tell me, Merlin, what time am I supposed to be actually meeting with the Lady Elaine?" Merlin's head perked up and the hands that were currently straightening the King's bed froze.

"Oh, um, yes. You're supposed to meet in about- ten minutes?" The boy gave an apologetic grin. Arthur muttered a curse.

Alright.

Maybe his manservant hadn't become any more competent with the physician's absence. Within minutes Arthur had hurried his servant into dressing him and had dashed out off his chambers, a frenzied Merlin at his heels.

Of course Lady Elaine couldn't have been late as well. No, Arthur's guests were always right on time. Arthur's guests obviously had good servants. Luckily, the lady didn't seem to be put out. She was perched daintily on a chair, mindlessly running her fingers over a silver hand mirror. Odd. Arthur had never considered women to be that vain. The king cleared his throat, alerting the girl of his presence. She looked up, flashed a pretty smile, and opened her mouth to speak.

And then Merlin walked in.

Why is it, Arthur wondered, that everything always went horribly wrong when that idiot servant was involved?

At the sight of the king's servant Elaine flinched as though someone had just walked up to her and had driven a pin into her arm. Her eyes seemed to flicker with a sort of fear for a moment before she managed to regain her composure.

"Arthur." She breathed. Elaine gripped the handle of her hand mirror tight and swallowed. Arthur raised an eyebrow, confusion playing upon his features.

"Lady Elaine." He greeted, drawing out the syllables of her name. "Hello." Arthur motioned for Merlin to follow him to the table and the servant obeyed. Elaine's eyes followed the boy as if she expected him to pounce her at any moment. As if that would happen. Even if Merlin had somehow been drunk enough to do something as brash as attacking a woman, there was absolutely no way in Albion that it would it be anything of a success. In fact, Arthur thought with a smile, the majority of women could probably take on his skinny manservant in a fight with ease. Arthur allowed himself an amused chuckle before letting his thoughts drift back to the matter at hand. The peace treaty.

"I am told that your father is a very busy man, Lady Elaine of Shalott, and that you have come to sign the treaty in his stead. I must say that it is very admirable of you to-" Arthur paused as he struggled for some sort of compliment to give the woman. "To… take on such a daunting task yourself. I would like to make the task as simple as possible. So, if it is alright with you I shall have Geoffrey draw up the treaty." Arthur raised his eyebrows at Elaine, beckoning her to answer. To his surprise, she shot up from her seat and shook her head.

"No! No, that will not be necessary." She was looking at Merlin as she spoke these words. What on earth was wrong with the woman?

"What do you mean by that? Your father and I have been discussing this treaty for a year. Have we done something to offend you?" The king turned and gave Merlin a pointed glare. His servant glared right back.

What are you blaming me for? His expression seemed to scream. Elaine's voice broke the two men's silent conversation.

"No, I have just been thinking and- there are a few things that I would like to clear with my father before we proceed. Perhaps it would be more beneficial if he accompanied me to Camelot next time." Arthur gave a slow, confused nod. Elaine smiled.

"Right. Well, if you wouldn't mind, I would have your servant help me with my packing." Arthur tried to hold back a laugh. So that was why she was looking at his manservant so oddly. The woman fancied Merlin. Arthur grinned at the boy. The women of Shalott must have odd taste.

"Well then Merlin, why don't you accompany the Lady of Shalott to her chambers then and help her pack up?" The boy still hadn't shaken his glare from earlier, and he seemed to follow Elaine almost reluctantly. Arthur didn't understand, but he would let it be. If Merlin didn't want the affections of a rich and no doubt highly desired lady, well Arthur wouldn't ask any questions. He only hoped that the next time around Elaine really did let her father come.

It was with a horrible sense of unease that Merlin entered the conference room that morning. Ever since he set sight on Elaine there was an odd foreboding fear inside his stomach. But instead of the usual feeling that someone would try and assassinate Arthur, Merlin felt the animosity directed towards himself. Which, in a way was almost worse.

Arthur had laughed when Elaine requested Merlin's assistance, but the Warlock knew this to be nothing to chuckle at. Elaine had brought plenty of servants with her- why did she need him? Which was precisely what Merlin asked her.

"You were just on hand, and I'm sure my other servants are already busy." Elaine gave Merlin a look which suggested that the reason she had given wasn't really her motive at all. Merlin's gut clenched.

"Right, well I'll try and be quick. I'm sure you'll want to be on your way and I have Arthur to attend to." Elaine sighed.

"What, don't you enjoy my company?" She asked. Merlin shrugged.

"Can't really say, I don't exactly know you. Worse than that, I don't know why you suddenly called off the signing of the treaty. I know for a fact that all the preparation was done, save for the actual signing." They arrived at the lady's chambers and Elaine opened the door. The look she gave Merlin was almost daring. She let out an empty laugh.

"Why don't you come in and I'll tell you why?" Merlin bit down on his lip. Reluctantly, he obeyed. If anything was going on it would be his job to find out what. No way could he rely on Arthur to actually do anything kingly such as save his kingdom from crazy politicians. No, why would a king do something like that when he had a servant? Once inside the room Elaine swung the door closed. The two stared at each other, each inviting the other to speak. Well, Merlin wasn't one to pass up an invitation.

"Alright, I followed you in. Now tell me, why aren't you signing the treaty?" Elaine lifted her mirror to her face and breathed onto the surface. The glass slowly fogged over, and smiling, Elaine held the instrument out towards Merlin.

"It's because I met you." She answered. Merlin reached out his hand towards to mirror. "And I suppose you could call it fate… Emrys."

Merlin's skin made contact with the silver and the world went black.

Author's note- So I was supposed to be spending tonight writing an actual original story. I really was. But I wasn't really feeling the whole intense writing vibe, so I decided to do what I call "writing doodles" which is, admittedly, me writing but without much effort. I came up with this plot today which made the Lady of Shalott into a villain, and I actually really kinda like what I have planned for her. Keep reading- if you don't mind my horrible writing- and you'll see. Oh, and this takes place a little bit after Arthur become king. I like stories where- SPOILERS- Arthur is actually alive for a while whilst knowing about Merlin's magic and we get this whole golden age of Albion thing. Yeah. Thanks for reading! (If you actually got this far.)