An American Teenager in King Arthur's Court

[5] Jerks and Dresses

There was absolutely nothing I could say to make this any less awkward. So instead of making myself seem any more like an idiot than I already had, I awkwardly curtsied, keeping my eyes on the ground and silently killing Merlin in my mind for not telling me earlier who this guy was.

Merlin coughed to hide his laugh and Arthur just guffawed. I could just picture him rolling his eyes.

"Oh, get up. You've already done enough damage as it is," he said, with heavy scorn in his voice.

"Well, I'm sorry for not knowing who you were! It's not like I was warned or anything!" I snapped back, straightening from my poor excuse of a curtsy and glaring daggers at Merlin.

Merlin just laughed again.

"Arthur, would you mind showing Lady Guenevere to her quarters? She'll be taking the room across the hall from my own," he winked at me before continuing on, "Maybe you two can use the time to get to know each other a bit better."

I was cursing Merlin up and down under my breath as he turned away whistling a merry tune, leaving Arthur and I behind him.

"Now, now. A Lady does not speak that way," Merlin called out from over his shoulder, wagging his finger at me while continuing to walk toward the castle doors.

"Yeah, well, tell that to someone who cares!" I shouted back, only to get a laugh from the retreating dark figure.

Arthur cleared his throat. I looked up at him. He was just as tall, if not taller than Merlin, and I had to squint from the sun to see the frown deeply etched onto his face.

"Follow me."

The words were short and clipped, like he had absolutely no desire to say anything else to me.

Without anymore warning, he started to stride toward the doors Merlin just disappeared through, walking at an impossibly fast rate, making me have to basically run to match his long-legged stride.

Once inside, he made a sharp left turn without once turning around to make sure I followed him. He didn't even hold open the door for me, causing it to almost slam in my face as I was walking through it. I thought this was the age of chivalry. So far, the men I've met were anything but chivalrous. Especially the famous Prince in front of me.

"Slow down!" I panted, struggling to keep up. He ignored me and kept walking forward, beginning to climb a flight of stairs.

"What is your problem? I thought all princes were supposed to be chivolrous and nice! You're anything but!" I wheeze, still trying to keep up the pace, not being able to stop from admiring the two nicely shaped rounds in front of me. Even if they were covered in armor that clinked with every step he took.

"And I thought all women were supposed to be lady-like and charming," he said, before casting a disapproving glance down at me, a smirk adorning his features. "I guess we're both disappointed."

I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water, not knowing exactly what to say to him. Nice ass or no, that was uncalled for.

After that little exchange, I refused to say anything the rest of the way to the room, which seemed perfectly fine with him. The less amount of time he had to stay with his "charity case" the better it seemed like and that pissed me off to no end.

After we climbed up to what seemed like the bajillionth floor, we turned down a corridor and stopped at a beautiful mahogany door. Arthur turned to me and gestured toward the door, looking bored and slightly irritated.

"These are you temporary living quarters. There should be a bath ready for you as well as a fully stocked closet," he said, causing me to narrow my eyes on his emphasis of the word bath before he gestured down the hall to a door on the opposite side. "That is Merlin's room," then gestured around the corner of the hall. "There is my room," then looked back at me.

"You are expected to join my father and myself at tonight's feast in 3 hours. Merlin will fetch you when the time has come. If you need anything, you know where to find us," his face filled with annoyance and disdain as he looked me up and down, making me further conscious of the horrible state I was in, "so, don't need anything."

With those stupidly rude last words, he turned his back to me and began walking to where he said his room was.

Jerk.

How anyone as awesome(ly scary) as Merlin could be best friends with such a...an infuriating prick was wayyyy past me. I watched his sexily armor clad body retreat, his stupidly annoying blonde hair slightly bouncing with his stride, before turning to my door and taking a deep breath. Time to see the room I'd be no doubt living in until Merlin and I figured out how to get me the hell out of here.

Closing my eyes and opening the door, I walked in, my eyes zeroing in on the only thing that really mattered to me. A bath. A bath sitting right smack dab in the middle of my room. The warm water let off steam that looked so inviting, I almost forgot to close the door before throwing the itchy piece of fabric off my body and diving in.

To put it simply: the water felt like heaven.

After about an hour or two of deep deep deep scrubbing (especially between my toes), and a thorough wash of my tangled, oily hair, I got out of the tub, noticing a towel had been laid out for me on an extravagent bed not too far from where the tub was. Now that I was clean, I could finally focus on my other surroundings.

The walls were the same color as the castle halls and candelabras were attached to them, the lit candles emitting a soft glow that bathed the room in orange light. The room itself was rather large. Right across from the doors were a huge pair of windows, showing the practice field Arthur and his knights were on earlier and the now dark sky. Blood red curtains were pooled on the side, which I probably should've closed before strolling around in my birthday suit. The bed lay next to the windows, the red and gold coverings on top of an extravagently soft looking bed. Across from that, to the right of the doors was a cabinet looking thing.

Grabbing the towel and wrapping it around myself, I exit the bath and walk toward it, opening it's wooden double doors and peering inside.

What I saw made me crack a wide smile and seriously debate whether or not to victory dance.

Dresses.

That word alone would've made any dark day I had turn into a good one. But these were beautifully sewn dresses, each a different rich color with special beadings and beautiful embroideries. These were here for me. I get to wear these dresses that seemed to come straight out of a fairytale book! And I get to look like a princess!

That one thought struck a chord in my mind.

Arthur. He made me feel inferior. He looked at me like I was gum on the bottom of his shoe (did gum even exist anymore...?) and made me feel a way that I hadn't felt since 7th grade. Ugly. I had accepted what I looked like and even grown to love my flaws, but around Arthur, especially considering the first time we met I hadn't showered in at least a few days and I had dirt covering almost every inch of my body, all that self-confidence flowed away.

He made me feel like a girl.

Well, tonight, I would show him. I'd show him that I was a woman and I deserved the respect a woman should recieve. I would show him that I'm not some charity case that he has to burden himself with. Tonight, I will make him see me the way that I am. Make him seriously regret the way he talked to me before.

With that final thought, I picked out a beautiful lace, deep burgandy gown, threw it on the bed, and strode toward the curtains, closing them with a smirk.

I'll show him.

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Hey guys and gals! I just wanted to thank you for reading! Also, please leave me comments. I love reading what you think of the story so far! Thank you so much, and I'll update soon!

-DS