Meeting his match: Chapter 1- Introductions

Chapter 1 – Introductions

Warning/s: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin

A/N: Hi guys. I know I should be updating 'A Hidden Past' instead of this but I have been having a bit of trouble with chapter 5, the magic just won't happen! So… I decided to distract myself with two new story ideas: this royal Merlin story and a Sherlock-Merlin cross-over that will be posted at a later date. It is also mock week for me, so I am super busy revising! *cough* procrastinating *cough*.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Cordelia Rose who betaed this!

Arthur Pendragon, high king of Camelot, and the image of courage and justice for his people… was nervous. Not a feeling he was comfortable with; he had fought in dozens of wars and defeated the mightiest of foes. So, why was he nervous about a boring messenger arriving from a probably equally boring country? His knee bounced up and down in an unsteady rhythm and his hands absentmindedly played with a piece of gold thread on his velvet sleeve. A soft, delicate hand placed itself on his jittery leg and it immediately calmed at the touch. King Arthur stared lovingly up at his wife, the beautiful Guinevere. Although if he caught anyone else saying that, they would be lucky to escape with their lives. Their eyes met and for those few precious seconds his worries disappeared and the only thing in his mind was how much he loved his wife.

"Calm down, Arthur. Everything will be fine, you will get through this," she whispered softly in his ear.

He nodded and sighed. "I know, it's just…" he began, his nerves returning.

"You feel like you are betraying your father by considering the possibility of allying yourself with a magical kingdom," Gwen finished for him, reaching her hand out and squeezing his.

"Am I doing the right thing, Gwen?" he asked, and the queen paused for a second before answering, moving her hand from his and placing it over his heart.

"What does your heart say?" Arthur's heart beat strongly beneath Gwen's hand and he knew then that this was what was best for his kingdom. His kingdom, not Uther's. His queen smiled up at him and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I see you have your answer then," she murmured, feeling Arthur's warm breath against her cheek.

"Yes, whatever issues my father had with magic and its practitioners were his and I must decide for myself what my views are on it," Arthur replied, his voice firm with conviction.

"Good, because I think I hear hooves in the courtyard," Gwen said, trying to hide her amused chuckle as Arthur abruptly straightened and smoothed his robes. He looked like Gwaine had placed a spiky plant on his throne's cushion and it had just pricked him. She almost giggled aloud at the memory and the resulting undignified chase around the throne room that followed. The king listened to see if his wife was correct and he too heard the tell-tale echo of hooves against stone. He ran over the prepared speech in his mind and quickly scanned the ranks of knights, fanned out behind him. Even he had to admit that they looked pretty impressive, dressed up in their gleaming armour and blood red cloaks. Arthur returned his gaze to the engraved, oak doors directly in front of him as the voices that had been just distant murmurs became louder. He could hear his blood thrumming through his veins and for one second he let doubt sneak into his mind. The doors swung open as Sir Leon entered with a cloaked figure beside him and two royal guards flanking them. The group halted five metres in front of the throne and Leon bowed to his rulers.

"May I present King Arthur and Queen Guinevere of Camelot," he announced and Arthur carefully took in the messenger with him. The figure was cloaked in a thick green cloak that had a silver fastening at the front and a hood that hid the person's face. From beneath the slightly stained hem of the cloak, Arthur could make out a pair of sturdy brown boots. The messenger also dropped into a bow and removed his hood. The king took a double take, the messenger was a woman. Of all the people he had imagined underneath the hood, none of them had been female.

"My greetings, sire. My name is Freya and I come on behalf of the kingdom of Aelia and its king," she said, her eyes rising to meet Arthur's; they were an earthy brown, and rimmed with thick black eyelashes. She had the kind of eyes that twinkled when she smiled and seemed to hold the very essence of life in their depths. They truly were the window to her soul.

"Welcome to Camelot, Lady Freya. It is a pleasure to meet you, has your king agreed to my request?" Arthur asked, getting over his shock, faster than most of his knights, who he was ashamed to say, were gawking at the woman. He shot a sideways glance at Sir Percival and subtly nodded his head at Gwaine, whose mouth was hanging open with undisguised admiration. Percival stamped his foot hard on Gwaine's booted toes and the man's mouth shut with a quiet click.

"It is just Freya, sire, I am no lady," the messenger corrected, brushing a stray lock of hair from out of her face. She didn't seem bothered by the knights' attention and Arthur got the sense that if Gwaine so much as made one cheeky comment, she would take matters into her own capable hands. "As to your request, my king has agreed to your terms. He wishes for you to leave tomorrow, if that is agreeable to you," she continued in a soft, mellow tone.

"That is most satisfactory, Freya. How long should the journey take, for I need to know the amount of provisions I and my men will require?" Arthur said, gesturing for his manservant- a shy, quiet boy called Morris- to take a note of the amount. As much as Arthur wanted to like Morris, he couldn't stand the way the boy acted around him. It was like he was walking on eggshells all the time, waiting for one to break and drag Arthur's attention to him.

"It will take a little over four days if the weather permits, but my king has one rule he requires you to follow," Freya replied, drawing a small piece of parchment from her cloak pocket. Arthur nodded for her to state this request. "Your entourage must only consist of six people excluding yourself; I assure you that this is for your own safety and not a way to make you look weak."

Arthur paused, sucking in a deep breath; he did not like the request, not one bit. It worried him on more than one level: firstly, what was the king trying to protect them from?; and secondly, if the king did decide to turn against him then he would not have enough men to fight.

"What if I refuse this demand?" Arthur asked, a hint of suspicion detectable in his voice. Freya looked unperturbed by his query.

"Then my king will be unable to allow you to enter his kingdom," she responded carefully. Arthur pondered this answer; he did not want to lose this opportunity as he knew that the king of Aelia hardly ever allowed foreign dignitaries into his country. The country was so shrouded in mystery that the only information on it was dated from before the Great Purge, since then trades had completely ceased between the two countries. However, he also could not risk being betrayed, he was putting himself in a vulnerable position by even leaving the castle without a dozen or so men.

"If you are worried about being betrayed, young king, then maybe this will help you decide your course of action," the messenger said, breaking into Arthur's thoughts and making him bristle at the words 'young king'. Freya handed Leon another piece of parchment bearing the royal seal of Aelia, a phoenix rising out of a ring of fire. Leon passed the paper to Arthur, who quickly unfolded it and began to read. On it, scrawled in curled italics, was an oath stating that the king of Aelia would not harm Arthur and his men unless given a significant reason to do so. Arthur passed it to Gwen, who also read it, giving her a look that asked her opinion.

"What is the point of visiting to set terms for a treaty if there isn't a degree of trust between both parties?" Gwen said.

"A wasted trip," Freya finished, giving the queen a genuine smile.

"Indeed. I will accept this condition, Freya," Arthur answered, handing the oath back to Leon.

"If you will excuse me, your majesty. I will inform my king of your acceptance," Freya said, bowing and striding to the window, where she proceeded to remove an amulet from around her neck and place it in the palm of her hand. The amulet was shaped in a figure of eight depicting the infinity symbol, made up of swirls of gold with a white crystal underneath. Freya closed her eyes and muttered something barely audible under her breath; the jewel glowed a bright amber colour and Arthur felt a shudder run down his spine. She was performing magic. He noticed that his knights had their hands gripping their sword handles, tapping their gloved fingers on the hilts. Leon looked up at him, a question evident in his eyes, but Arthur ignored it: Freya was their guest and should be treated as such. He was visiting the country to learn about magic so why not start now? The glow died down and Freya returned from her spot by the window.

"My king thanks you for accepting his condition and looks forward to your visit," she informed them, replacing the amulet in its original position around her neck, letting the velvet folds cover the necklace and hide it from view. Arthur subconsciously relaxed as the magical object was hidden, and he knew that his knight's hands would have moved from their swords.

"May I enquire as to what kind of magical artefact your amulet is, my dear?" Gaius asked from Arthur's left, speaking for the first time. Freya turned slightly to face him.

"You may Gaius; my king has a lot of respect for your skills. It is known as the amulet of Oryx made from the shards of Neahtid Crystals found in the Crystal Caves. It has a partner that my king carries, which allows us to telepathically communicate between long distances," Freya explained. The court physician looked satisfied at her information and tried to hide the pleased expression by raising his eyebrow.

"Intriguing. I believe your king and I will have a lot to speak about when we meet," he said, subtly insinuating to Arthur that he wished to be part of the six going. Freya nodded in response, turning back to face the king and queen.

Arthur took this as his cue to continue, "Now that we have the formalities out of the way, I will have Morris show you to your rooms."

Freya bowed again and turned to follow Morris, who was nervously waiting for her by the hall's doors. The guards opened them and the manservant and messenger exited the room.

"Well, that went well," Gwen said, standing up and adjusting her skirts. Arthur hummed in agreement, but didn't stand. He dismissed his knights and the court members with a wave of his hand before placing it pensively on his brow. The room cleared quickly in a bustle of robes and cloaks, leaving only Gaius, Leon, Gwen and his most trusted Knights of the Round Table. They stepped forward and Arthur could feel their expectant gaze on him.

"I suppose you all want to be part of my diplomatic party then?" He sighed and they nodded their heads. Arthur sifted through their names, abilities and qualities in his head, weighing advantages with disadvantages. Leon was his first choice; he wouldn't go anywhere without his loyal second-in-command and he was sure that even if he didn't pick him, the knight would break every rule to come along. Percival was his second, the man, as well as being physically strong, was the most level headed of his knights, and his third choice came hand in hand. Where Percival went, Gwaine was sure to follow no matter if it was a supposedly 'secret' solo mission. His fourth was Galahad, a seemingly average man, averagely talented with a sword, averagely intelligent - but place a bow in his hands and the knight became lethal. His fifth surprised even himself. Mordred was the youngest of his knights -barely nineteen- but potential teemed off of him. The boy had been begging him to let him come on a real mission and maybe this was his chance to prove himself. It wasn't too dangerous and there were lots of opportunities for Mordred to experience.

"Sirs Leon, Percival, Gwaine, Galahad and Mordred, please prepare to leave in the morning, I want you on the main steps at dawn," Arthur instructed, letting the pleasure show on his face as Mordred almost throttled Gwaine in his excitement.

"Thank you, sire. Thank you so much, I won't let you down!" He exclaimed, bouncing like a puppy after the more serious knights, who were heading out the door. Leon gave him a small, fond smile as Mordred proceeded to explain what he would do to anyone who dared to attack them. The doors closed, leaving Gwen and Arthur alone - Gaius had slipped out without anyone noticing. Gwen leant her head on his shoulder and he breathed in the scent of her hair.

"She wasn't what I was expecting," Arthur murmured, replaying the earlier scenes in his head.

"No, she certainly wasn't but I like her and I think I'll like the king if he is fair minded enough to send a woman, not even a lady, to do important tasks," Gwen remarked and Arthur shrugged non-committedly.

"He must trust her an awful lot, but I still don't like only being able to take a party of six," the king replied, moving away from his queen and beginning to pace.

"They are some of your best men," Gwen said confidently, watching her husband's progress across the stone floor.

"I know… but I feel like there's something we aren't being told," Arthur answered, expressing the niggling feeling of foreboding, which had been burrowing around in the back of his brain during the meeting.

"I'm sure there are a lot of things we aren't being told, that's how kingdoms and their rulers work," Gwen said knowingly, linking her arm through his and leading him towards the doors. "Now, if you don't mind, I want to spend as much time with you before you go."

Up in the luxurious guest rooms, Freya brushed her hand over a gilded silver bowl filled to the brim with water. Her reflection shimmered and was gradually replaced with that of a raven haired man. His youthful pale face would have been handsome if it wasn't for the large bruised bags under his cerulean eyes and the evident stress lines on his forehead and corners of his eyes. He was concentrating on something out of sight and wincing every few seconds as if he was being struck.

"Merlin," Freya called and the man jumped, raising his head in surprise at her voice. Noticing who it was he placed a shaky hand on his chest and breathed out deeply.

"A little bit of warning would be appreciated, my dear," he gasped, his breathing returning to normal.

"Well I did say I would scry you when the meeting was finished, and I reminded you when we spoke by the amulet," Freya reprimanded, a mock stern expression on her face.

"Ah… I was a little busy at the time," Merlin said, rubbing a hand over his face as if trying to scrub a patch of dirt off it. Immediately, Freya's face became serious.

"Have the attacks continued? Is the shield holding? Who did we lose?" she asked frantically and Merlin held up a hand to quiet her, a fond smile on his face at her worry.

"Everything is fine. Yes, the attacks have started again, yes the shield is holding and nobody has died. There were a few minor injuries but so far no attacks have breached the barrier," he responded grimly.

"Is Gili helping you with the shield?" she questioned, this time softer and with a more tender edge to her voice.

"Umm… he was but… he needed a break so right now… it's just me," Merlin mumbled, looking a little nervous.

"What?! Are you insane? You need his support otherwise you'll wear yourself out! You stupid, self-sacrificing man! You're the one who needs a break!" Freya screamed at him, waving her hands like a crazed banshee. Merlin patiently waited for her to finish her rant before even attempting to put a word in.

"I know, but he needed to sleep and I promise I'll rest tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine. But if I come back and you haven't, you will regret ever sending me away on this mission," she said angrily and with a note of satisfaction at his grimace.

"I expect I will, my love. I expect I will."

I have already written the next three chapters so they will be posted when my beta has finished with them. Also, a shout out to Crowley90, who writes a fantastic Percy Jackson story! Go check it out if you're into the Percy Jackson fandom.