Queens

Ros

The familiar stone hallways burned with a sense of loss, reflecting upon the entire kingdom. The people grew more and more restless each day that their prince was gone, and the antsy commoners were taking a toll on Ross and her attitude about the entire situation.

As she walked on towards Giaus' chambers, it was possibly the most hopeful she'd been in days, and it was the chance of seeing Merlin that put it there. She hadn't seen him much since the night they had agreed to keep away from each other. He hadn't strayed far from her mind since then. Her shoes humbly pattered as she walked, making little to no noise. It was time that she told Merlin about the prince, because he more than likely had already seen them together on multiple occasions in the past week. It was best that she told him about Dane as quickly as possible, but she hadn't had much free time as of late.

Once she reached the large wooden door, she knocked three times; loud enough for them to hear it inside, yet quietly enough as to not raise attention to herself for she was still in her days wear and hadn't bothered stopping by her room to change into her nightgown yet. The door swung open and a surprised Gwen stood on the other side, her skin covered in shadows from the light inside. "Princess Ros, was there something you needed?" Gwen kept the door closed just enough as to not allow Ros to look inside. It annoyed her quite a bit, but she didn't bother mentioning it.

"I'd like to speak with Giaus please, and also if Merlin is here I'd like to have a word as well," she said to Gwen as her brows furrowed together, still blocking Ros' path inside. There was a twinkle of alertness in her eyes as Ros stared at her, waiting for a response to her request.

"I-I do apologize your highness," Gwen stuttered, "but Giaus isn't here presently. He went to care for Morgana in her chambers." Ros noticed her avoidance of mentioning Merlin, and Giaus could wait. Merlin was the one she urgently needed to speak with, and the lack of mention of his name or his whereabouts meant that he was inside the room.

"Then I'd like to speak with Merlin, it's urgent." Her eyes darted to the side and back to her again, Ros could see Gwen begin to shuffle back and forth on her feet.

"H-He's not feeling well highness, I think it would be best to leave him to avoid getting yourself sick," she stuttered. Ros grew tired of this rather quickly. She understood that Merlin didn't want to speak with her in fear of what her father would do, but honestly, she needed to tell him this before he heard it from anyone else. Especially not from Gwen.

"Guinevere, I am fully aware of the fact that Merlin might not wish to speak with me. However, blatantly lying to a member of the royal family is punishable by death. I like you Gwen, and I hate to pull the princess card, but it's urgent that I speak with Merlin, alone, if I might add," Ros declared. She had never used that tone of voice on Gwen, not once, and the shock was evident on her face. Ros' attitude was growing quite stale towards the fact that people never thought she had the disposition to rule, and it swiftly manifested to the citizens once she had roamed about the city. Ros always had a quick temper, she had just always been very good at hiding it. What kind of turn off was it to have an acrimonious, bitter princess drifting around the kingdom?

"O-of course your highness, I apologize." Gwen gradually opened the door and Ros stepped inside as soon as there was a wide enough opening for her body to fit through. Her gaze wandered around the paper cluttered room until it landed on Merlin, sitting on a stool looking down at his hands as he fumbled with them, obviously trying to avoid looking at her.

"Thank you Gwen, you can attend to Morgana now," her voice was flat as she spoke, as she didn't say another word until she heard the door close lightly shut. Merlin continued to evade her gaze as she stared at him, contemplating how to say 'this prince is here in the kingdom right now and I'm most likely going to have to marry him to make my father happy' while still managing to not hurt him too much. Some things she just had to do, for the sake of the kingdom.