Merlyn's Fate

The Lady of the Lake P2

Merlyn had got Arthur a large dinner, fully intending to steal at least the sausages from his plate. How she was going to do that was beyond her, but as she stumbled noisily around the chambers, absentmindedly picking up soiled items of clothing from the floor, an idea sprung to mind.

"Would you like some water with that?" she picked up the pitcher, tipping its contents into the Prince's goblet. Arthur didn't reply, content whilst stuffing his face with food, not even look up at his servant, meaning, with a flicker of gold, she could easily push his knife from the table without even touching the object. It made a loud clatter, and as the Prince stopped to pick it up from the floor, presumably assuming that he'd knocked it off with the sleeve of his jacket, all Merlyn had to do was let her eyes glow golden once more causing a piece of chicken to fly through the air, landing in her pitcher.

Quite honestly, Arthur was probably the most oblivious person the witch had ever met. Frankly the fact that he hadn't seen her use magic was extraordinary: it wasn't exactly as if she refrained from using her powers. Sometimes, he could be very dense, especially since he hadn't questioned the abnormal number of falling tree branches in their many expeditions into the forest, but apparently, where his food was involved, his perceptive skills improved greatly.

"I had two drumsticks." he frowned, eying his plate suspiciously.

She shrugged. "No you didn't."

"Merlyn, I had two drumsticks." Arthur sounded strangely angry; it took the servant digging her nails into the palm of her hand to stop herself from laughing.

"Maybe it fell on the floor." she suggested, amazed that the Prince bent down to check. Sometimes she worried about the brains of her future king. At least he was nice to look at. With another flash of gold, the three sausages flew through the air, Merlyn catching them in her jug before they could hit the floor. By this time, Arthur seemed to have accepted the fact that he only ever had one drumstick, choosing to chew thoughtfully on a tomato. Admittedly, the witch might have gotten a little carried away by stealing all the sausages from the Prince's plate, but the utter outrage on Arthur's face when he stared at the gap where they had once resided was worth the risk.

"I had sausages." he stated, glaring at his servant. She just gave him a confused look, knowing full well that, without magic, there was no way that she could have got from where she was standing to Arthur's plate and back without the Prince noticing.

"Are you sure? They must've fallen under the table." she bent down to check, unable to fight a smile at his genuine anger. Apparently he didn't like people coming between him and his food.

"Merlyn!"

"What? You can search me, I haven't taken them." she gestured to her leather jacket, turning out the pockets to show that they were empty.

The Prince leaned forward, his face inches from hers. He clearly hadn't quite grasped the situation, intent on finding his sausages. "Then where have they gone?"

Merlyn could feel his hot breath against her cheek, the thought making skin a pale pink, but she withdrew slightly, determined to stay focused on the task in hand.

"Strange." she muttered, pretending to ponder the mystery of the stolen meat.

"Very." Arthur agreed, his eyes narrowing.

Merlyn knew that she needed to make her escape, but toying with the Prince was fun. "Are you sure you didn't eat them?" she questioned, trying to keep her tone as serious as possible.

"I haven't had the chance!" Arthur raised his voice, clearly quite exasperated about the whole situation. In hindsight, Merlyn probably should've stolen from his plate before she'd brought it to the chambers, but the sheer incredulousness on the Prince's face as she looked between the plate and his flushed features was something she wished she could paint.