An American Teenager in King Arthur's Court

[6] His Sincerest Apologies

Time passed as I primped and readied myself for dinner. A knock on my door revealed Merlin, standing there in 6th century garb, a pair of high-waisted leather pants and a plain white shirt (you know, the kind with poofy sleeves...?) adorning his tall frame. A warm smile and a quick mumble of words revealed he had been sent to escort me to the Great Hall.

With one final glance in the ornately designed mirror, I followed Merlin out of my room and down a grand staircase.

The hall that i had been taken to earlier to see the King and when I first got here was emptied of the throne and the surrounding chairs, and instead filled with a long table full of freshly made food in the center and plates around the edges.

When we walked through the door, I clutched Merlin's arm even tighter as voices quieted and eyes wandered to me. A few of the men cast lustful glances my way but quickly squelched it when they saw Merlin, who (in a very "big brother" type way) glared the life out of them.

Even though everyone was already seated (except for a few servants dressed in red and gold, who flitted around filling goblets with wine), the food at the center hadn't been touched. Seems like everyone was waiting for me to arrive, I thought, following Merlin to the end of the table and sitting to the left of him. But even after I sat down, no one made a move for any of the food, and I quickly realized that two seats, which were slightly larger and more cushioned than anyone elses, positioned at the head of the table were empty.

All around me were noblemen (or i guessed they were, judging from their snootily upturned noses and their silky tunics), who were seated along the sides of the table.

With more than a little feeling of superiority, I noticed I was closer to the head of the table than the other rich mofos were. In fact, I was a chair away from the head, and that chair was filled by Merlin.

Merlin leaned close to my ear as a servant began to pour our wine. The conversations around had resumed just as loud as they originally were.

"I hope you do have wine in your time?" he playfully said before picking up his now full goblet, raising it up, as if in a salute, and taking a sip. He set it down after releasing one of those 'aaah's you do after you drink something really good. I wink at him before picking up my own goblet and taking a sip, before my eyes widened in surprised pleasure.

Holy crap, but this was smooth! I wasn't a wine connoisseur; the only wine I ever tried back home was the cheap stuff my parents would buy whenever we ate italian food, and I could tell that this was not the cheap stuff.

"Oh my GOSH! This stuff is good!" I couldn't help but say to Merlin. He chuckled and we clanked goblets together before drinking some more. I laughed, feeling the artificially warm liquid make my insides feel like they were on fire, and sat my now empty goblet down, which was then attacked by a servant in his fervor to refill my glass.

I felt satisfied, like a weight had been lifted up off my shoulders. In a moment of honesty, I turned to Merlin and chuckled uneasily.

"I needed that drink," the words came out, and he shot me a pitying smile.

"I apologize, Gwen. I understand how...delicate your situation is and you have been through so much. You are much stronger than I thought you were," he said seriously, before perking up and adding, "and much more beautiful. I almost thought I knocked on the wrong door when I was sent to escort you tonight."

"Hey, buddy, I wasn't in the best looking state before, okay? I hadn't showered in like 4 days!" I said, trying to defend my dramatic change of appearance. He clucked his tongue and those wise, old brown eyes looked at me knowingly under a pair of thick eyebrows.