chapter sixty-two
062. princesses on parade

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      ODETTE'S DAY changed for the better when she least expected it. 

    She had spent an entire morning following the Princess Vivian from one point to another, listening to her complain about anything and everything under the sun▬From Camelot's dusty bedding that gave her allergies to the incompetent stable hands who could even help her down from her saddle. Camelot was incomparable to her home in Gwynedd, she would say, because Camelot was miserable, disappointing and simply ugly▬and then after that Odette simply blocked her voice out until she was called by her name mulitple times, and gave Vivian a whole hour more of something to complain about. 

    Vivian was Odette's only company all day▬and it was miserable company. Ronyn was busy with the many council meetings and discussions with all of the visiting nobles, and if he wasn't busy with that, he was speaking with King Uther Pendragon and advising him in diplomatic matters. Gaius, too. The Court Physician was an old friend and trusted advisor of the King as well, and so his chambers were empty most of the day▬if he was not attending to the sick, he was attending to the King's grevious complaints and headaches from squabbles in the council chambers. She had brief respite when Guinevere and the Lady Morgana invited her to join them for morning tea where Odette got to breathe in the calm of the King's Ward's chambers, but she was soon called back by Princess Vivian▬for no other reason other than she was simply bored. The Lady Adelynn joined Gaius for a few house calls earlier this morning, but has been kept up with visitors Ronyn was hosting, and curious noble eyes who wanted to see the Manor and asked for personal tours through the ancient hallways. Merlin was attatched to Arthur's side during most of the day, and then when Odette went searching for him while the Prince was detained by political matters alongside his father, the young warlock was nowhere to be seen. So, for a good half of the day, Odette was stuck with Princess Vivian. 

    By the end of it, she was so tired that when Vivian finally dismissed her after a late afternoon tea, Odette trudged all the way downstairs to take some leftovers from the kitchen. Before the cook could see her, she snagged some fresh pastries right off the table and hurried back down the corridor towards the servants' quarters. Odette planned on eating her pastry, having a quick wash from her water basin, and having a long nap before she would be expected to return to Vivian for dinner. 

    Odette caught a few crumbs in her hand as she unlocked her door and pushed it open with her hip. She stepped inside her room and her breath hitched. 

    She almost dropped the pastry as she closed the door behind her gently. There, on her table, was an assortment of the most beautiful flowers she could think of▬her favourite spring colours, and they brightened up her room under the haze of the afternoon sun through the small window. Whoever placed them there, did with utmost care▬tying the bundle with string together into a bow. Beside it, were bright red strawberries and other berries that were fit for a princess, not some lowly servant.

    Odette carefully approached her table, wrapping her pastry back up into some cloth and setting it down beside the flowers. Her heart hammered when she noticed the note addressed to her in pretty cursive▬and not even an ink puddle blotched through the parchment. 

    A soft smile tugged at her lips. She held her breath as she reached for it and picked the note up▬she did not want to hope, but she hoped anyway. When she opened it up and read Arthur's name, her smile brightened. 

    Whatever had she done to deserve such a gift? Such wonderful words▬true love, he had written, and Odette's heart swelled with a feeling she couldn't keep behind a cage no matter how hard she tried. She closed the note and held it to her lips, closing her eyes with a giddy smile. 

    He had given her this? He had picked these beautiful flowers and gotten her favourite fruit? Arthur had gone out of his way in this busy week to spoil Odette even after all they had gone through▬all of their troubles, and after every time she had pushed him away ... he had done all of this anyway. 

    The barriers that keep us apart are nothing compared to the power of true love. 

    Odette brushed her thumb over the note, going over the words he had written to her again and again in her mind. 

    Then, the door burst open.

    She gasped and quickly tried to hide her gift, but there was no use. Odette spun around stared, wide eyed as Merlin leapt into her room in a flustered hurry. 

    "Merlin!" Odette exclaimed, trying to calm her startled, racing heart. She held the note behind her back, blushing to be caught amongst such a beautiful display. "Do you ever knock?"

    He just stared back at her. Then, "Rats."

    Odette's breath hitched, bewildered and surprised. "W▬What?"

    Merlin closed the door behind him and stepped closer to her room. "Big," he said. "Hairy. Sharp teeth▬er, yes, definitely under here!" he ducked down and poked his head underneath Odette's table.

    She watched him, very concerned. Slowly, Odette crouched down and tilted her head at Merlin beneath her table. He chuckled nervously and gave her that smile she knew all too well. Odette frowned. "Are you playing a trick on me?" 

    "Me?" Merlin leapt back up onto his feet, breathless. He must have run all the way here. Odette slowly stood up, watching him dubiously. "Never! Odette, I have far too much respect for you to ever play such a horrible, misleading, sinful trick."

    "Right ..." she murmured after a long pause. Then, Odette asked, "Are you quite all right, Merlin?"

    "Yes!" he said very quickly in an overly cheeful voice that made her blink in surprise. "Never better. You?"

    Odette's surprise softened and she glanced back down at the gift Arthur had given her. That gentle smile returned to her face and she swung a little on her feet. She hummed, nodding. "My day has turned into something ever so wonderful," she decided to say.

    She missed the way Merlin's smile grew strained. "R▬Really?"

    "This is all rather sweet, do you agree?" she mused, picking at the flowers on her table. Odette couldn't begin to describe the happiness that lifted out any toxic air from her chest. She grinned and rocked back and forth on the soles of her slippers. "So beautiful and kind and ..." she blushed and gave Merlin a shy look. "And so very thoughtful ... I never expected such a wonderful gift today, and my heart is so very full because of it. For so long I thought ... I thought all hope had been lost but now ..." Odette sighed softly and continued to smile down at her flowers. "Now I feel as though the sunrise has finally shone down upon all of my woes, and shown me a path I thought I had lost forever. Has something like that ever happened to you, Merlin?"

    Merlin stammered, not sure how to answer to Odette's poetic riddle. He felt as though he barely understood even half of it. "Er ... sort of."

    Odette's bright smile returned to him. "Then you understand what true happiness feels like, I am glad."

    She hummed to herself happily, turning around the flowers by their stems and Merlin watched, slowly being eaten away by guilt and dread.

    Even as evening shrouded around the city of Camelot, the castle was still very much alive. The council meetings didn't stop until well into the night, and even then, the proceedings continued even into private chambers were diplomats and rulers alike mulled over politics while they ate their dinner and sipped their wine, scheming even when they placed the heads on their luscious pillows. 

    Perhaps that is one thing Odette can like about Princess Vivian. She didn't scheme over her dinner and as she prepared herself for bed while Odette cleaned up around the guest chambers▬she gossiped, but she did not scheme. She tilted her head and let out a short hum of interest as she watched the young maid wrap up the wilting flowers from Vivian's vase in cloth to dispose of. She frowned at the smile on her face.

    "What has got you smiling so?" Princess Vivian spoke up suddenly▬very blunt in her words and expecting an answer.

    Odette glanced up, surprised the Princess would speak to her▬some part of her honestly thought she didn't realise she was still here. She stammered. "Oh, uh▬" she chuckled and set the flowers into her basket. "It has just been a nice day, My Lady."

    "A nice day does not simply warrant for that smile," Vivian scoffed and turned back to the vanity. She applied a soothing balm to her cheeks. 

    Odette hesitated, not sure whether she should tell her. But in the end, she decided to say, "I received a very nice letter from someone I care about deeply."

    Vivian spun around in her chair with sudden interest. "A love letter?" she whispered her conspiracy, finally looking at her servant as if she were finally worth her time. Though, Odette tried not to focus on the tone of her voice▬sounding as if the idea of someone caring for Odette was absurd. "Do tell, Olivia."

    "Odette," she corrected, but soon realised Vivian didn't care. "I▬well▬yes, I suppose it could be a love letter. O▬Of some kind..."

    "Well, what is the man like?" continued the Princess. "Is he handsome? Or ... well ..." she glanced Odette up and down. "As handsome as a servant could get, I suppose."

    "He is ... handsome," the handmaiden chose her words carefully. "I▬well▬some might say. He can be a fool at times."

    Vivian scoffed at this. "Yes, well, all men are."

    Surprisingly, Odette chuckled. "Yes, I dare say you are right."

    "Well, I am a Princess, when am I not?"

    Odette hesitated, watching her spin back to her mirror and their conversation was now over▬as if it never happened. "Quite..." she murmured.

    She blew out most of the candles, leaving only a few remaining that Princess Vivian said she would take care of herself when she went to bed. Odette bid her goodnigth and was not listened to, before she slipped out of the door to the guest chambers and walked down the dimly lit corridor with her basket at her hip. 

    She rounded the corner and stopped, pleasantly surprised, to see Arthur making his way over. Odette's heart leapt and she forgot how to speak for a moment. All she could think of were those beautiful flowers and the wonderful note and how delicious the strawberries were▬and she smiled. "Arthur," she greeted with a pleasant, delightful tone.

    At the sound of his name, Arthur stopped and glanced around. When he saw Odette, he broke out into a happy smile. "Ah! Odette!" he exclaimed and very well pranced over to her. She made a face, bewildered but amused. 

    She titled her head when he came to stop in front of her, seeing the food tray in his hands. It was covered in a cloth but she could smell the warmth of spices on freshly cooked chicken. "Preparing for a feast, My Lord?" she teased.

    "Ahah, you jest!" he said in a ridiculous tone that made her roll her eyes. "This is the finest chicken Camelot has to offer," Prince Arthur's cheerful tone left Odette perplexed. "A secret recipe of care and devotion from our esteemed kitchens I will not just share with anyone."

    "You are ... oddly cheerful," she decided to say carefully, not sure how to react to this sudden change to the Prince's ususal persona. 

    "There is everything to be cheerful about, dearest Odette," he told her and she tilted her head again, chuckling softly in her disbelief at his tone, but also feeling a gentle, endearing warmth pass over her. The Prince's smile was bright and enchanting▬there was no weight to his step and no worries setting his brow. "For how could I not be filled with happiness? When I have met the most beautiful and graceful of ladies to ever grace this mortal land."

    Odette's incredulous smile softened to one of pure wonder and surprise at Arthur's words. Her breath hitched softly, his words pushing straight through her stone walls and sending them crumbling▬just like that. Perhaps it was the gift, too, or his words ... of how their love was stronger than any boundary that kept them apart. She didn't know why she was so suddenly to believe him ... she had always wanted to, but perhaps all she needed was Arthur to give her the last breath of courage to make her truly want to believe him.

    And it left her stunned to silence in the hallway. 

    And yet, something about Arthur's attitude struck her as odd. She couldn't quite place it, but it didn't settle right with her. Maybe this was Arthur, behind every stone wall he kept up and every act he preformed. When they didn't have anyone watching them or all of their laments of knowing they would never work out weighing them down. Perhaps this was Arthur when despite all of those barriers, he had risen himself higher▬and allowed himself the freedom to love away from the dark. 

    She blushed and chuckled, quite flustered at his words and esteemed compliments. Odette bit her bottom lip to hide her smile, but there was so use. She beamed up at him. "Well," she said sweetly, rocking slightly on her feet, "I do quite like seeing you this happy."

    In that moment, Arthur's ridiculous joy simmered, leaving a warm tenderness  deep from his heart. He smiled at her the way he always does. He leaned down closer to her height. "And those words from your kind lips mean to me more than I can ever say, sweet Odette. Good night."

    He swept past her and Odette turned around, her eyes following him and still, she could not hide the endearing smile upon her face. 

    When he turned the corner, did she finally look away and the sweet Odette Mason walked the opposite way with a slight skip in her step.

    Quite chuffed from his conversation with Odette, Prince Arthur marched his way towards the Princess Vivian's chambers with his chest puffed out and his shoulders rolled back. He stepped by her door and leaned against the stone. He huffed into his palm and held it up to his nose to double check his breath before reaching out and confidently rapping his knuckles on the oak.

    There was a pause before a confused voice called out. "Who is it?"

    "It is destiny, my love!" said Arthur, pretty proud of his words. Glancing down at the food on the tray in his hand, he backtracked. "Er▬Destiny and chicken!" he knocked again.

    A few more moments before the door swung wide open and there she was, in all her beauty and grace▬and her nightgown. Arthur smiled widely and gave the beautiful Princess Vivian a wink. "What a beautiful combination, eh?"

    She rolled her eyes and just slammed the door in his face. 

    Arthur stood there, shocked. He scoffed nervously and pushed the door open again. He saw the Princess walking back to her mirror. "I mean, the beans are a little cold, but the meat is very good."

    Vivian spun on her heels, quite horrified to see Arthur still standing there. She stormed back up to the door and gripped the handle. "Go away," she ordered him.  

    The Prince's smile dropped. "M▬My love," he hitched his breath, wounded by her dismissal, "I▬I do not know what I have done to offend you?"

    Vivian scoffed a short breath of laughter. "Your love?! Not now, nor ever!"

    "Come now▬"

    "My father will kill you if he finds you here."

    Arthur chuckled and leaned against the threshold, smiling down at the Princess Vivian with unmistakable arrogance. "Your father does not worry me."

    Vivian let out a sharp, peircing hum of amusement. "You shall not be saying that when he is running at you with a knife in his hand," she was quite smug at the way Arthur's grin slowly fell. "I have seen it before."

    "Really?"

    "Yes!" she forced the door closed with a thud and locked it.

    Arthur scoffed, not sure why his love would ever treat him in such a way. Persistent, he knocked on her door yet again. "Just five minutes!"

    "My Lord!" Merlin's voice made him jump. He glanced around and there his servant was, as if he appeared out of thin air. The manservant heaved from running all across the castle. "I do not think your advances are welcome," he said sternly.

    From inside the guest chambers, the Princess Vivian's voice echoed sharply. "Go away! And take your chicken with you!"

    Pride wounded, Arthur shoved his tray at Merlin and stormed away. "I do not know what gave you that impression..."

    Merlin let out a sigh of relief, slumping and taking a moment to catch his breath before following. At least he had prevented at one distaster tonight. 

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    MERLIN HADN'T seen the Prince so glum. He looked no better than a child who had to listen to the word 'no' and now had to learn how to understand the feeling of disappointment. It was ridiculous, and yet it still tugged at Merlin's heart because no matter whatever is going on in Arthur's mind to make him suddenly so smitted and obsessed with the Princess Vivian, the hurt in his eyes and the pout on his face while he drank water was so pitiful it felt genuine. He sat there in the middle of his bed, looking miserable in his plain white tunic and hugging one pillow to his chest. 

    He didn't even need to glance at his manservant to feel his hesitant mixture of judgment and concern. "Go on, Merlin," he mumbled, so wounded and so dejected. "Say it..."

    Merlin frowned at him, hovering by the side of his bed. He wasn't exactly sure whether he should leave the Prince alone tonight▬lest he annoy the Lady Vivian once more. "What?"

    The Prince stared off into the distance as if all meaning to his life had been squashed by Vivian's door in his face. "You do not think I should pursue my love."

    His manservant wasn't prepared to soften the blow. He crossed his arms and scowled at Arthur, also wondering what had knocked him over to head to turn him into so less of a gentleman that he would harass poor Vivian. The Arthur he knew would never be so unseemly. "Well, seeing as you asked, I think of a number of things stand in the way of a happy union between you and the Princess Vivian. Her bloodthirsty father, for one?"

    Arthur set aside his cup pitifully. "Her complete lack of interest for another."

    Merlin sighed. In a more gentler tone, he suggested, "Might it be worthwile returning to your old love?" he watched the Prince glumly shuffle down under his covers and rest his head on his pillows. "Although, I do have my reservations about that as well."

    He shifted on his back to stare at Merlin, bewildered. "What are you talking about, Merlin? I do not have an old love."

    He turned to face away from Merlin, getting comfortable for the night. His manservant blinked, becoming very confused and very concerned now. None of this made sense. Arthur had somehow fallen in love with a girl whom just the night before, was deeming rude. He was acting all besotted and irrational▬and now he had suddenly forgotten about the girl who he had risked his father's wrath, his life, and potential war, in order to save? Something was amiss.

    "What on Earth?" Arthur's disgust brought Merlin's attention back. He eyes narrowed in on the lock of blonde hair dangling from the Prince's fingertips as he leaned over to show him. "You really need to start paying attention to the details."

    Merlin took it from the Prince's fingers, staring at it in his palm with laboured breaths▬and it was all starting to come together.

    The manservant left Arthur's chambers in a hurry and raced across the castle towards the rooms of the Court Physician, Gaius. It would only confirm the suspicions he already had, but if anyone were to know truly what was going on, it would be his uncle. 

    When Merlin arrived, bursting through the open door with a urgent, "Gaius!" he faltered and skidded to a stop to see Adelynn sitting there at the table. His breath hitched and he suddenly forgot all about what he came here for, feeling his heart squeeze in horrible pain to see her here this late. "Ad▬My Lady," he corrected himself, his voice hoarse with guilt.

    Lady Adelynn Vecentia hesitated, staring at Merlin with that same look she always did recently. A look of hurt and even anger▬anger she would never express and kept bottled up inside her, because she was too kind to speak it after all that had happened with Freya. And yet, everytime Merlin saw it, he was reminded of that night, and of the glint of betrayal in Adelynn's eyes when he told her he was leaving. 

    Since then, they have barely spoken. Since then, they have only shared tense nods in company of others. Their silent conversations by candlelight at the ungodly hours of the night between one anothers' consciousnesses had ceased entirely, and every time they were in the same room together with Gaius, it was as if a storm was forever brewing between them▬so tense and so suffocating. 

    Adelynn pursed her lips and did not say a word, simply returning to her studies in the candlelight. Her fingers traced the pictures of herbs and plants of medicinal quality. Her dark hair fell long down her back in a single braid▬and she was hauntingly sharp in her beauty, growing more and more like her mother in looks by the day. It was as if, even while spring had settled on Camelot, the winter had stayed and found a home in Adelynn. Even with her warm skin, the purple gown she wore and her dark eyes were chilling to the bone▬unforgettable and piercing like the magic of the Old Religion.

    Merlin swallowed back the ache in his throat, but nothing could soothe the ache deep in his chest. 

    He took a deep breath and turned to Gaius. "Have a look at this," he held out the lock of hair. "I found it in Arthur's chambers. It must be from the Princess Vivian."

    His words sparked interest from Adelynn, and she looked away from her book. She marked her page with a feather and stood up, immediately marching over to Gaius's other shoulder to frown at the lock of hair he took from Merlin's fingers. He held it uner his looking glass. 

    "Vivian's hair? In Arthur's chambers?" she asked, and Merlin hated the way she barely looked at him when she did. 

    "I knew something was not right," scoffed Merlin, pacing around the table as Gaius inspected the hair. He brought it to his nose and caught a whiff of the most peculiar scent. It told him that the lock of hair must have been emmersed in a potion of some kind. 

    He came to the conclusion Merlin had the moment he had seen the hair. "Arthur has been enchanted."

    Adelynn's eyes widened. "Enchanted?"

    Merlin shook his head, turning back to them with a low, furious chuckle▬at himself, mostly, for not having seen the signs earlier. "I should have realised he had magic. No one can make butterflies appear from thin air."

    They soon realised who he meant. Gaius frowned. "Trickler?"

    Adelynn was still having a hard time trying to keep up with so much news all at once. She held up a hand, pleading with Merlin and Gaius to slow down as she thought this through. "But ... why would Trickler want Arthur to be enchanted to fall for Princess Vivian?"

    Gaius thought this over gravely. "Well, an advance by Arthur would be a sure-fire way to ruin the peace conference. Maybe Alined wants war."

    Merlin scoffed at this. "Without creating it himself," he understood.

    "It is the sort of cowardly behaviour you would expect from him," said the physician, gesturing with his looking glass. "Cowardly, but clever."

    The young warlock clenched his jaw, taking sharp breaths through his nose. "We need to find a way of turning Arthur back to normal."

    "Yes," agreed Gaius, his tone severe. "Before it is too late."

    Adelynn pursed her lips, looking very troubled by this information. She wanted to stay and help, but she knew if she didn't return home, it wouldn't be proper of her▬and they were all under a scrutinising eye at the moment, none of them could risk giving their visitors a terrible impression of Camelot. 

    She thought that▬and she almost believed it▬but there was a part of her that knew, deep down, she was using it as an excuse to get away from the tense air that was suffocating her every time Merlin was in the room. "I should be getting on back home," she murmured and refused to look at Merlin, because she could feel the way his gaze fell, downtrodden and ashamed. "But I will look through the manuscripts I have and ask Taryn▬that is if she decides to answer."

    "I will look here," Merlin decided and when she glanced at him, Adelynn had to look away. She took a deep breath and rushed past him for the door, barely even able to meet his gaze for long before she felt her chest cave in. "Did you need me to walk you back▬?" his words were cut off by the slam of the physician's chambers door. 

    He pursed his lips, torn between anger and shame. Merlin felt as though he had created an impossible situation with an impossible solution▬and now with Adelynn barely able to even be in the same room with him, Merlin started to feel more and more isolated in the shadow of Freya's death. Gaius noticed and sighed. He didn't say a word, but reached over and squeezed the shoulder of his ward. He offered him a sad, but reassuring smile▬as if to say to him everything would one day work out, it would just take time.

    Time▬it was somehow such an intangible thing with grief, and pain, and torn relationships. It moved all around them with the rise and set of the sun, and then the moon. They felt it, they saw it▬they could see the age start to dawn with the wrinkles on their faces and the nimble joints in their fingers, and they couldn't help but wonder where did all that time go? Because for the mind, the adventures and joys of youth only seemed like yesterday. Freya's smile was a memory Merlin felt as though he had memorised only yesterday ... but the scene of her body lit up in flames as she sailed far away across the Lake of Avalon in that old boat, somehow that felt like years and years ago. But the pain▬the pain stuck to him like a fresh wound anyway. 

    Time was cruel, time was fleeting and yet time was forever lingering. 

    Time▬Merlin wondered how he was ever going to fix the mistakes he made with Adelynn in the ever-shifting, disassociation sea of time he was drifting along, so very lost, now. 

    He supposed he simply had to see how it went, day by agonising day.

    (But first, he had to find a way unenchant Arthur Pendragon▬fast).

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    THE MORNING BLOOMED delightful colours across the skyline, and the bright-minded Odette Mason leapt from her bed with her heart so very light. She got dressed with a smile on her face and humming a pleasant song within the servants quarters. She danced around her room as she prepared herself for the day with the joy of a fullfilled heart. She passed the flowers Arthur had given her that she had placed in a simple vase on the centre of her table, continuing to hum her tune as she brushed through her long hair. Odette smiled up at the sunlight with dawned through her small window and even though she might deny it, was eager for tomorrow▬where she will officially be a year older and wiser. She decided braid some flowers into her hair today from the bouquet Arthur had gifted her, twisting a few delicately amongst her blonde strands as she pulled them off her face. She secured her hair with her mother's clip and let the rest tumble down her back.

    In the kitchens, she met many new faces▬servants from all of the Five Kingdoms▬and got to learn many new names with a bright smile on her lips. Odette prepared Princess Vivian her breakfast, chatting with maids from Dyfed by the selection of fruits, chuckled over pastries with squires from Gwynedd and gasped over gossip with servants from Deorham and Gawant. The kitchens were alive and busting almost to the brim as the diplomatic proceedings went into the third day. 

    She was surprised, however, to find a Knight amongst the chatter, carefully trying to steal one of the pies before the cook would notice. She did, however, and was not afraid to smack a noble Knight of Camelot's fingers away with her wooden spoon.

    "Sir Bedivere!" greeted Odette softly, rushing over to meet him with a pleased smile on her face.

    Bedivere glanced over, holding his sore fingers to his chest. But when he saw Odette, he smiled, too. "Ah! Well, if it is not my favourite maid in all of Camelot."

    She rolled her eyes at his dramatic compliments, chuckling. "Stop being silly."

    "Silly?" he played along, pulling his gloves back on and she grinned. "I am never silly▬and never would I be so silly in front of a lady such as yourself."

    "Oh, please," scoffed Odette and Bedivere dropped his act, chuckling at the look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

    "Old habits die hard, I suppose," he shrugged, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword in his scabbard. Bedivere looked dashing and noble in his scarlet doublet. He was starting to build more and more muscle, and was beginnig to no longer look so out of place standing next to his fellow Knights. Though he still had the same boyish look about him, and the same mischevious glint in his eyes▬those qualities will never change. "Besides, the pies are best when they are fresh out of the oven."

    "True," agreed Odette, walking with him out of the kitchens. "However, getting them away from Audrey is another feat entirely. Here▬" she sneaked out one of the pies she had gotten for Vivian and handed it to Bedivere. He smiled, grateful. "The Princess will not miss it, I am sure."

    "You are an angel," declared her friend and she chuckled. "Has anyone told you that?"

    "Not enough," she joked and the two friends laughed softly to themselves as they rounded the narrow hallways leading away from the kitchens▬their conversation privy to judgment in the safety of the servant corridors. "How is training going?"

    "Well," nodded Sir Bedivere. "Arthur says he is pleased with my progress▬but it will still be a little while yet before I will join him and the other Knights on patrol and other quests."

    "He cares a lot for his Knights," murmured Odette, her voice gentle. "He is very protective▬he feels as though you are all his responsibility, especially new Knights. But he will let you join them soon enough, I am sure."

    "It is strange, though," continued her friend. "I have wished for this all my life▬fought and lied to get where I am now, and now that I have it ... and I am standing as Sir Leon's equal and not his squire it is ... well, I am still finding it hard to believe," Bedivere's face grew grave. "I suppose I am afraid it will disappear▬especially if any of them were to find out about my dubious parentage."

    "To Arthur, that will not matter," Odette promised him. "And neither will it matter to Sir Leon. Once you prove yourself as a Knight of Camelot, to them, that is all that truly matters." She hesitated and then sighed. "The King, however..."

    "Yes," murmured Bedivere, pursing his lips. "I remember what happened to that commoner, Lancelot, when he lied about this parentage to become a Knight."

    At the mention of Lancelot, Odette felt an old pain ache in her chest. She couldn't help but think of him with such heart for the first time in months. She wondered where he was now. She was no longer angry at him for leaving her▬she understood now with a sad acceptance that they had simply been a dream that was never destined for more than the poets. Lancelot's selfless nature and honour led him to leave her behind, even if that was the last thing she wanted and needed. There will always be a noble quest for Lancelot, and while she admired his hope, his honour and his selfless nobility ... She didn't want to be his noble quest, she wanted to be more than that to somebody. So much so that they would choose to stay and fight. 

    "Yes," she mumbled in the end, distant with nostalgia of days long gone. "But I daresay you will not face the same fate, Bedivere," Odette reassured him. "One day, I am sure you will be able to tell Arthur your secret."

    "I hope so," sighed Bedivere. 

    They reached the door and Odette had to part from her friend. She offered him a smile▬and perhaps it was a little sad to know that they were so apart in station now▬before stepping out into the courtyard and leaving in the opposite direction to him. 

    Odette smiled at passing servants and bowed her head at Knights. She asked the guards she was familiar with how they were fairing and watched a flock of birds settle on the stone near the well before darting back up to the sky when a toddler decided to chase them. Her mother gasped and ran after her when she got too close to the well. There was conversation over a bet in the tavern last night between the Knights from Dyfed and Camelot, and even a noble presenting a fair lady with a rose. 

    There was something incomparable about Camelot that the Princess Vivian did not seem to recognise nor understand▬but how could she? She was not a servant so accustomed to its life and the castle walls she may as well be a part of the foundations keeping it standing. But Odette knew▬she saw▬how beautiful the life in Camelot truly was. From the lowly servant to the prestigeous noble▬there was lively chatter, individual expression and the happiness in the laughter of children, just in the citadel square alone. It was enough to brighten any one's day. 

    However, there was one who it did not brighten. Odette passed him, staring off into the distance with only his gelding to comfort him. Despite the breed being a heavy warhorse, the creature was gentle as it nuzzled its head over the Prince's shoulder, recognising his sullen mood and soothing him while his fingers gently carressed the horse's cheek. 

    Odette slowed to a stop and turned back, a soft, concerned frown furrowing at her brows. She glanced around the square, wary of the many watching eyes, but took the risk anyway. She carefully approached Arthur, tilting her head and hitching her breath with a sad squeeze of her chest to see his eyes a million miles away. "Arthur?" she murmured gently. 

    He blinked out of his daze and searched for her voice. When he found her, Arthur managed a sad little smile. "Odette," he greeted her, but there was no joy to it▬at least, not the same joy he had just last night.

    She stopped by his shoulder, resting her tray of food for Vivian slightly on her hips. "Are you all right?" Odette asked him. "You look as though something is troubling you."

    Arthur sighed at her words, his hand falling from his horse's muzzle. He slumped and gave her a sheepish stare. "You read me like a book, sweet Odette."

    She smiled, but gently prompted him to continue▬quiet and offering a listening ear if he needed. Noticing it, her Prince sighed once more and his heavy eyes softened with endearment at the way she always seemed to soothe his soul. "I have made a fool of myself," said Arthur, gently passing the reins of his gelding to a nearby stablehand and starting to walk with her. "That is all. That is everything."

    "You are no fool," Odette murmured, surprised he would think such a thing. "That is the last thing you are."

    He tugged at the sleeves of his brown tunic, huffing a lopsided, sad smile. "You have a good heart, Odette," Arthur glanced at her, "but I am afraid that is exactly what I am."

    "What happened?"

    Arthur pursed his lips and gestured out in front of them. "I have made a gesture," he said, "but it was not well recieved."

    Realising, Odette hid her smile to herself. Her heart started to do that little dance it always does in her chest, and she did her best to calm it down, but there was nothing she could do to stop the soft blush on her cheeks. "Is that so?" she murmured, her subtle mischief passing over Arthur's head.

    He rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure," he grumbled.

    "Then you are wrong," she told him. Arthur stopped at those words and turned to her in surprise. Odette looked up at him with a knowing smile as he slowly understood what she meant.

    A grin started to lift the sullen look in his eyes. Prince Arthur shuffled closer to the young, pretty handmaiden. "You are very close to the lady in question."

    Odette chuckled, realising the coy game he was playing▬and it was working. She looked down at the tray in her hands and shuffled on her feet, feeling a giddy bundle of nerves in her stomach at Arthur's subtle teasing. She took a deep breath to settle them, tilting her head up to meet his gaze once more with a gentle and hesitant breath. Odette chewed the inside of her cheek as she tried to put together the right words. "Your token it was ... it was beautiful," she began, "and touching, and very much appreciated. It is just ..." the young handmaiden glanced around them again at the wandering Knights, servants and nobles. Her heart squeezed back inside its cage, too frightened to leap out to freedom where it was so exposed. "Well, you understand how delicate the situation is," she continued in a soft murmur. "And▬and how risky it is to pursue this and ... and how easily it is to be scared of throwing ones heart into the deep end with the chance of it ending terribly. But ..." her heart was racing, yet she couldn't continue▬the words were frozen and stuck in her throat, and then they were lost. 

    However, Arthur heard the shift in her tone and snapped his fingers at you. "You think there is hope?" his smile started to widen. 

    Odette's frown lifted when she saw his smile. Her breath was taken away. She thought of his words written once more▬that their love was far stronger than any boundaries that kept them apart. Their love. Even with everything against them▬the laws of Camelot, their social classes and destinies to forever be separated by the crown Arthur will one day wear and the throne he was fated to sit upon ... Odette was still here, waiting. No matter how many times she pushed herself away so she wouldn't get hurt▬because she knew the ending▬here she still was. What was she waiting for? What sign? Why was she still holding on if she so desperately told herself she needed to let go? 

    Maybe because, deep down, she hoped one day, everything will be different. She hoped that a sunrise will shine upon her and Arthur▬and they could finally be happy. Her own love in her heart was stronger than any doubt in her mind. 

    And so, she whispered to him, "Yes, Arthur. There is always hope."

    When she saw him smile so bright, it was like the sun had left the sky and manifested in the Prince standing in front of her▬and he filled her with so much warmth, so much light and so much hope. Arthur swept away and rushed off back to the castle with joyful leaps in his steps and Odette watched him go, the adoring smile still on her face even after he was gone. 

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    OTHER THAN cleaning Arthur's royal piss jar, Merlin absolutely loathed cleaning his stuffed animal heads. They smelt, and he always had to douse them with scented oil to stop them from stinking up the Prince's chambers more than they already were. He hated brushing the old, stiff hair of a boar head and have to stare back at its beady, lifeless eyes replaced with marble (because the actual eyes rot away). He wasn't in a good mood anyway▬and having to brush the snout of this stupid boar wasn't helping. He hadn't slept well, at all, trying to find the right spell to remove Arthur's enchantment. He had at last managed to narrow it down to a few▬but if he chose the wrong one, there could be grave consequences. And while Merlin wouldn't mind it if Arthur was turned into a toad, he was sure that wouldn't help the situation at all. 

    At least Ronyn decided to keep him company. Lord Vecentia was so completely over the council meetings and diplomatic talks that he had decided to hide away in the Prince's chambers even without Arthur around. He was frowning over his papers in a quiet atmosphere with nothing to distract him while Merlin grumbled over the stiff hairs of this stupid boar.

    It is in this quiet room, did Ronyn peer over his papers at Merlin and find himself very troubled, however. Still, neither one of them had mentioned what went down in the Enchanted Castle, and the truth they learnt about Arthur's mother. Truth was, Ronyn was a little afraid to speak on it. It wasn't exactly an easy conversation▬it was a death sentence to even utter the word magic, and with Uther's threat still hanging heavy on both of their shoulders if they even breathed a word of what had happened, they had both tried to put it behind him. But the tension still lingered▬or at least, for Ronyn, who had been a torn storm cloud of troubling thoughts ever since.  

    He chewed on the inside of his cheek and tried to focus on the documents he was checking for the King. He went over the many requests by the other kingdoms, trying to look for anything suspicious, and was already bored out of his mind not even half a page through. 

    Merlin glanced over the snout of the boar, also seemingly boiling over his own torn worries on what he should say to Ronyn. But when he finally blurted out his secret, it was the last thing Ronyn expected, "Arthur is enchanted."

    Lord Vecentia blinked and stared at his parchment for a long time, trying to comprehend what Merlin just said. He slowly looked up. "Excuse me, what?"

    "Arthur," repeated Merlin, moving away from the boar and sitting in the chair opposite Ronyn. "Enchanted. Like▬magic enchanted. Besotted, actually, with Princess Vivian."

    "With▬?" Ronyn's eyes widened. "Are you▬?" he could feel his heart suddently jolt as it understood how horrible this was and how everything could be royally fucked up by this. "With Vivian?! Merlin, y▬you cannot just startle me with that!"

    "I am working on fixing it," he reassured him quickly, because the way Ronyn looked as though he might spontaneously combust genuinely worried him. "But it is imperative that you know, I think. King Alined is wanting war, and so Trickler has cast an enchantment on Arthur to do so. Because if Olaf found out▬"

   "He would declare war," realised Ronyn and then groaned. He leaned forward and let his head fall into his hands. "God, why can we not just have a normal day here in Camelot?"

    Another thought occured to Ronyn and he glanced up. "Does Odette know?"

    At Merlin's hesitation, the Lord Vecentia groaned. "Merlin..."

    "I cannot tell her!" he whispered harshly and Ronyn made a face. "I cannot. When Arthur told me he wished to make a declaration of love, I thought he meant Odette and so I gave her a present from him and if she finds out the truth▬she will be devastated."

    Ronyn's head fell to the table with a soft, exasperated thud. "What chapter of Arthur's book is this again?" he muttered sarcastically to the wood. 

    "Actually, I feel as though this chapter is entirely me," sighed Merlin. "'How to Offend Odette In One Simple Gift, No Less'."

    "And if she finds out on her own?" Lord Vecentia sat back against the chair, concerned. He tapped his fingers on the edge of Arthur's table. "What then, Merlin?"

    The manservant sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I do not know..."

    The sudden knock on Arthur's door made them both glance over. Merlin and Ronyn shared a frown before the manservant made his way over to open it. He stopped to stare, shocked to see the Princess Vivian in her nightgown and clutching a rose in her fingers. She smiled, but then she saw it was Merlin, and her smile dropped. 

    Curious, Ronyn rocked on the chair to lean over and peer around Merlin to see who it was. Recognising the Princess, his shoulders dropped in horror. "Oh, no."

    "I wish to see Arthur," declared Vivian, straightening her shoulders. "Your master▬" a dreamy sigh escaped her lips, "▬My Lord..."

    Merlin stammered. "Y▬Your what?"

    "My heart's delight!" giggled Princess Vivian and forced her way past Merlin's shoulder and into Arthur's chambers. She halted when she saw Ronyn. "You are not Arthur."

    "Er▬no," Ronyn mumbled, admittedly still staring in shock to see Princess Vivian in her nightgown▬he was going over multiple scenarios in his mind, most of them included being thrown into a vat of hot oil by King Olaf for even accidentally seeing his daughter in such a precarious way. "Uh..."

    "Where is Arthur?" Vivian moved past him and Ronyn immediately stood up, staring at Merlin who simply shrugged, having no clue what was happening. 

    "He▬He is not here," said Lord Vecentia quickly, subtly making many angry gestures at Merlin when Vivian wasn't looking, demanding him to do something about this while Merlin simply gestured back, demanding him to do something about this. "Which▬which is a very good thing, I believe!"

    When Vivian spun around, both men stopped and chuckled anxiously. "Then I shall wait."

    Merlin quickly raced over to her, stopping her from stepping any further into Arthur's bed chambers. "I▬I do not think that is a good idea, Princess," he chuckled and tried not to glance down at her in her nightgown. "I▬you ... You are not even dressed."

    Princess Vivian frowned. "My love does not care what I wear," she soon smiled and it was so bright and giddy, it made Ronyn wonder whether he had somehow died and gone to some other universe. "Only that I am near. Now," she nodded at Merlin and ordered: "Fetch him."

    The manservant shook his head. "I cannot."

    Vivian stared, momentarily stunned to silence at his disobedience. "You will!"

    "I shan't!"

    "As he commands you, I command you!"

     Merlin clasped his palms together. "I am asking you to leave."

     But Vivian simply slumped and pouted. "But I want my love," she said and turned on her bare feet. She padded towards Arthur's bed. "I need my love▬I wish to see him now."

    Merlin and Ronyn stared, incredulous, as the Princess Vivian climbed up onto Arthur's bed and clutched at the fabric. She brought his bedding to her nose, and when she caught his scent, squealed and buried her face into his pillows▬as if she were in heaven. 

    Then, she flattened the bedding and lied back against his pillows, arranging herself in a position she believed most flattering. Ronyn wondered what he did to be dragged into this▬he wondered if he would have been better off completely ignorant. "Heavens above..." he murmured.

    And then, down a few corridor, they heard a furious shout echo so loudly, it bounced off every wall in the castle: "WHERE IS SHE?"

    Ronyn's shoulders fell. "Oh, no," he murmured, recognising Olaf's voice. He raced to the doors and opened them, peeking out, he noticed Arthur blissfully walking towards his chambers. He munched on an apple, having no clue his supposed love was waiting for him in his rooms. 

    Lord Vecentia ducked back inside. "Merlin, Arthur is coming▬get her out of here, now▬" and then he dashed outside, determined to by them some time by distracting the Prince. "Arthur! Hello!"

    Merlin's eyes widened and spun back to Vivian. "Okay, you need to go!"

    Princess Vivian gasped and hugged one of the Prince's pillows to her chest, not wanting to part with it. "You cannot keep us apart! It is written in the stars. Vivian and Arthur. A love for all time. A love stronger than time! A love▬"

    Merlin had enough. He threw out his palm. "Swefe nu!"

    Vivian's words were caught in a breathless gasp in the back of her throat. Her eyes rolled and she fell back onto the pillows, fast asleep. Merlin sighed and rushed over to her, grunting as he picked the Princess up and desperately searched for a place to hide her. He heard Ronyn's panicked voice and desperate hypotheticals drawing nearer, telling Merlin he was having no luck in keeping Arthur at bay. 

    Until Merlin's eyes fell onto Arthur's wardrobe. He sighed again but lugged Vivian towards it. He opened the door and shoved her inside, spinning around and forcing the door close again. He pressed his back against it just as Arthur and Ronyn returned. 

    "Ronyn, I fear I understood nothing of what you just said," grumbled Arthur and Ronyn rolled his eyes. "But if you are in desperate need of some relief, please go to a physician instead of annoying me with whatever ails you."

    He noticed Merlin and his estranged look from catching the backend of their conversation. "Ah, Merlin▬" he chucked his apple core at him. "Why are you hanging around like a bad smell? It is me who needs to bathe," he unbuckled his belt and scabbard. "I am not going to win my love stinking like an old kipper."

    Merlin barely caught his belt. "No, My Lord."

    "WHERE IS HE?!"

    At the shouting, Ronyn jumped and stumbled away from the door. He rushed over to where Arthur and Merlin stood, and the three of them stared, dumbfounded as King Olaf burst into the Prince's chambers with an entire entourage of Knights and Trickler, King Alined's fool. 

    "I know she is in here, Arthur!" King Olaf stormed up to the Prince, his face bright red in fury. "Hand her over! Or feel my wrath!"

    Arthur frowned, bewildered. He leaned in closer to Ronyn. "What is he talking about?" 

    Lord Vecentia shrugged innocently. 

    Trickler whispered to the King. "She was not even dressed!" he gasped, scandalised. 

    Arthur set his frown onto the Jester. "Er ..." he slowly turned back to Olaf who stopped right in his face, heaving. The Prince leaned back slightly. "If I have dishonoured you in some way, then, by all means, provide me with proof and I will face the consequences."

    King Olaf jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the Fool. "Trickler here has told me that the Princess Vivian is in your chambers."

    The Prince chuckled lowly, turning to Ronyn to mutter, "If only that were true▬" He yelped when King Olaf grabbed fist fulls of Arthur's tunic and lifted him off his feet, bringing him nose to nose. 

    Ronyn quickly stepped in. "If▬If that were true, Your Majesty, you would not look so foolish in threatening the Prince of Camelot in his father's domain," he corrected quickly with a nervous chuckle, propping his hands on his hips. He cleared his throat and avoided the glowers from King Olaf's Knights▬all of them brute in size and towering.

    King Olaf set a steel stare onto Ronyn and he hunched up. But slowly, the King of Gwynedd lowered Arthur back down onto his feet and stepped back. He spun to his men. "Search the room!" he ordered. He scowled at the Prince. "You better hope I do not find her."

    Ronyn clasped his hands behind his back and stood beside Arthur, watching as King Olaf's men and Trickler searched the room top to bottom to find the Princess Vivian. Arthur shared another incredulous look with Ronyn, who merely shrugged. When the Prince looked away, he shot a startled, pointed stare at Merlin who winced. 

    Trickler set his eyes onto the manservant who had not moved from his position by the wardrobe. He gasped and lifted two pointer fingers. Humming, he pranced over towards Merlin, tauntingly waggling his fingers until they landed on the wardrobe handles. He gripped them and tugged. The door would not open. He pulled again▬but it was as if the locks had been sealed shut with stone. 

    Merlin locked an intense stare onto him that would make any person feel uncomfortable. "That has not opened in years."

    When his men returned empty handed, King Olaf spun his fury onto Trickler instead. "You BUFFOON!" he bellowed, grabbing King Alined's fool by his festive jacket and shoving him towards the door. "You have made an idiot out of me!" Trickler ran out of Arthur's chambers and Olaf cleared his throat, dusting down his tunic and facing the Prince with cheeks red with shame instead of anger. 

    "I am▬er▬so terribly sorry, Arthur," muttered the King of Gwynedd, "to have disturbed you. I ... I do hope that you will forgive me."

    Prince Arthur simply waved all hard feelings away, smiling. 

    King Olaf nodded, relieved. He glanced at Ronyn. "Lord Vecentia," he bid him farewell and Ronyn bowed his head. He watched the King turn to his Knights. "Check on the Princess Vivian!" he ordered as they stormed out of Arthur's chambers. "And remian outside her room!"

    Once King Olaf and his men were gone, Arthur crossed his arms and made a dubious face, chuckling over what just happened. "If only the Princess Vivian were in my room. How delightful that would be," he mused to Ronyn before disappearing behind the screen. As soon as he didn't see, Ronyn gestured Merlin to quickly get Lady Vivian out of there. The manservant opened the cupboard doors. Together, he and Ronyn hoisted up the sleeping Princess and carried her out of the Prince's chambers through the servant door. The Lord Vecentia was so desperate to get the Princess back in her guest chambers before her father would notice that he did not even question why she was asleep.

    When the Prince received no reply from his friend and servant, he frowned and peered over the top of his screen. He found his chambers empty. "Ronyn?" he called out, very confused. "Merlin?"

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    AS THE DAY came to a close, Odette was battling with her thoughts. She paced in her room, having finished her duties for the afternoon with both Princess Vivian and the Lady Morgana. She was left to her own devices▬the nervous woes and troubles of the heart that continued to flutter inside her chest at what she was considering to do. She fiddled with the note Arthur had written, moving back and forth▬covering every inch of her small chambers, counting every stone square on the floor and every chip in the stone walls. She took a few deep breaths, but nothing could soothe the apprehension she held over the decision she would make. She glanced down at the parchment, reading Arthur's words over and over again▬The barriers that keep us apart are nothing compared to the power of true love.

    Was she courageous enough to go for it? Could she let her heart finally leap for freedom after keeping it in its cage for so long▬knowing what the end was likely to be? Odette stopped pacing and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the flowers in their vase on her table in the centre of the room.

    Arthur had been courageous▬but it was easy for him to be. He could walk out of this unscathed if it were to go terribly. But Odette? If the King were to find out▬even if he did not, the consequences were severe: whether she be exciled or forced to watch Arthur fall in love with another.

    But what if it didn't end terribly?

    Her heart battled a war against the doubts and fears in her mind▬as they have every day since they first kissed in Arthur's chambers what felt like a lifetime ago.

    Because then she remembered the smile on his face when she told him there was hope▬so bright and so wonderful that it brought back every old feeling of delight and hope Odette once had, so genuine and maybe so very naive, to the forefront.

    Arthur had made his move, and now it was up to Odette to make hers.

    She chewed on the inside of her cheek, feeling the parchment of the Prince's note in her calloused fingertips▬the fingers of a servant, not a future Queen. And yet, whenever they touched his, suddenly Odette felt as though they were. She thought she was more than who destiny's chains had forced her to be the moment she was left as a newborn in that storm. Felt as though she could reach for her dreams and for the endless skies▬and never look back. Felt as though she could fight for all she loved and cared for, and desired more than anything in this world. She had been forgotten, like a spec of dust on an old table within the shadows of the loneliest corridor in the castle, but never by Arthur Pendragon.

    Odette took a deep breath.

    And then, just like that, she had decided.

   Standing up, she hurried to her chest beside her bed and opened it up, searching for her scraps of parchment she kept just in case. Odette pulled it out and sat herself on her stool. The wooden legs scraped on the stone as she dragged it closer to the table and reached for her old quill. She dabbed it in her ink and as she scribbled onto the small piece of parchment, did Odette finally let her heart be free.

          My Dearest Arthur,

                   For the longest time, my heart has been torn. I have been afraid and
                   confused ▬ unsure on how to express the truth of my feelings to you.

                                  But I am confused no longer.
  
                  Meet me at sunset in my chambers. And I hope you will allow me a
                  second chance ▬ allow us a second chance. I will count every moment
                  until your arrival.

                             With all my heart,
                                         Your Love.

     Odette finished writing and placed her quill back in the ink holder. She took a deep breath, still calming her nerves as she waited for the ink to dry. Once it did, she grabbed one of the flowers out of the vase and folded the paper over it. She left her chambers, climbing the stone steps and sweeping through the hallways and servants corridors until she stood right outside the Prince's chambers. Then, with the last of her courage, she slipped the note underneath the door.

    And from the on, she counted every moment until sunset.

    The young handmaiden tried to keep herself busy. At first, it was easy when she had her evening duties to attend to▬she got Princess Vivian ready for her bath and set out her dinner of meats and fruits on a platter in the middle of her guest chambers. But after that, Odette raced back to her chambers, incredibly nervous, but excited for tonight.

     She spent a good hour trying to make her small servants' quarters look presentable. Odette dusted the floor and she cleaned every corner of the small chamber. She opened the shutters of her small window to bring some air into the room and cleaned up her small table. She made the flowers Arthur gave her forefront and centre, adjusting the stems to arrange the petals in order to hide the ones that hard started to wilt. Odette lit her candles and fretted over their placement on her table▬not too close to the flowers, but close enough to allow room for her only good plate she had. It was one of the few things she had managed to keep after her mother passed away▬it had apparently belonged to Odette's grandmother who she never met; a delicate horn plate that had passed through the family for years. She placed some fresh bread from the markets she had managed to by with the little coin she could spare to spend and cheese she had mischeviously taken from the Princess Vivian's platter when she didn't notice.

    After that, she disappeared behind her drapes and spent another hour going through her little collection of dresses to find something nice to wear. Even after throwing all of her clothes onto the floor she had just cleaned, Odette settled for her favourite blue dress she wore only for special occasions. The sun continued to set through her open window, turning her room darker until it was lit dimly by her candles.

    The pretty handmaiden threw the dresses she did not choose back into her chest and flattened her skirts▬dusting them off and taking a deep breath to look at herself through the mirror Morgana had given her when she was younger. Odette fiddled with her hair. At first, she tried to braid it. But she gave up on that very quickly. She shook her hair out, loosening it at her scalp and brushing through her knots she had gotten throughout the day. She decided, in the end, to take her mother's clip and gently twist some of her hair off her face. She pulled some strands back out so they would fall around her face and frame it. The rest of her hair fell down her shoulders and back.

    Meanwhile, her heart raced▬its flutters went all the way down to Odette's stomach, filling her with nerves, but also excitement to see Arthur. She went over in her mind all that she planned on saying▬she thought of all the wonderful things that will happen, and how for once, things will go their way, and even if it were to be for a night, they will be happy.

    Odette searched her chest for one last piece to finish off. Her fingers picked out her mother's old shawl and smiled gently. She felt the soft fabric with her fingers, tracing the blue and yellow flowers her mother had stitched herself. It made Odette feel braver to know that her mother, Ivette Mason, was watching on▬that she was guiding her, and supporting her in a love that by so many, was not supported at all. She was giving her the courage she needed in order to face the many challenges that would await them when the sun rose once more, but to keep fighting despite them because their love▬Her and Arthur's love, was stronger than it all.

    She wrapped the shawl around her shoulders and her smile brightened as she looked back at herself in the mirror. Odette swung on her feet gently, checking her outfit from all angles and truly considered herself beautiful in this moment.

    Her gaze wandered over to the window when she heard the bells, signalling that the sun was finally setting over Camelot. Odette took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip to contain her smile. It was time▬Arthur would be here at any minute.

   Odette made her way over to her table and sat down. She glanced over her shoulder at the sunset through the window once more and grinned. Her heart was leaping with excitement. She linked her fingers together and rested her hands on the wooden surface in front of her, watching the door to her chambers in front of her. The light from her candles flickered.

    Even as the room grew darker and the sunset colours began to disappear, she waited.

    Even as her candles burnt closer and closer to the wick, she waited.

     It wasn't until the candles burnt out, and Odette's chambers were snuffed into complete darkness, did she realise.

    Arthur did not come. 

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    a/n: ronyn and merlin crack me up haha. i love writing their dynamic. merlin just throws ronyn into the deep end of his problems without any context and then they're both desperately trying to keep camelot afloat. ronyn is so older brother coded to everyone.

    also, odette, pls, girl, sign YOUR NAME.

    tho she doesn't cos it's like if anyone else saw her note then it would be like a disaster if her name was on it but ahhhhh, its just such a sad situation. especially since she's finally taken an initiative and then ... well ... yeah. 

    (minimal editing).