She forced a bright smile upon her face and removed her long raven curls from her midnight blue eyes as she left her master's quarters into the hallway. Other servants returned her smile and bowed their heads in greeting. Her day was over, much to her relief, and she made her way to room without touching the dinner her uncle left out for her. He tried to catch her attention with questions, but was unsuccessful. Every day, his once bubbly and cheerful niece became more withdraw and depressed. He was the only one to see this change in her, the only one she let her guard down for.

The old man sighed and poured a bowl of soup for his 18 year-old ward. He walked up the few stairs to the girl's door and knocked lightly
"Marilyn, I have your supper. Marilyn?" the girl refused to answer "Marilyn please, you must eat, child."

"I'm not hungry, thank you Gaius" she mumbled. Gaius huffed and resumed his work. The girl didn't leave her room until the following
morning, wearing a sapphire-blue dress tied at her tiny waist by a thin, dark brown cord and a brown jacket. Marilyn bolted out the door without sparing her uncle a glance.

She ripped the curtains of her master's room open, turning to his slowly waking form "morning sire, you're breakfast is on the table.
Shall I fetch it for you?" the older blonde boy looked at her strangely.

"Feeling alright Marilyn?" he asked quizzically

"Of course! Why are you asking?"

"In two years, you've never seemed so... oh never mind that. I'll be up in a minute, what's on today's agenda?"

"Just training with the knights, sire."

"Wonderful, I'm going to need you down there. After that you'll need to polish my armor, Gwen and Morgana requested to borrow you for
a few hours this afternoon." Arthur laughed to himself and Marilyn smiled lightly, those two always wanted to spend time with the over-worked maidservant.

Marilyn dismissed herself so the prince could eat in peace and returned twenty minutes later to help him dress for the day. She
worked in silence, completing her task swiftly. She turned to leave, but Arthur grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. She winced and tried to pull free without showing that she was in pain. Arthur let go immediately and Marilyn stole her arm back.
"Are you alright Marilyn?"

"Yes, yes. I must have pinned it in my sleep, sire" Arthur looked doubtful but let it be. If something was wrong with his maidservant,
he trusted that she would inform him. They made their way to the armory where the knights were waiting for instruction.

"Sword practice today. Marilyn, you're with Gwaine. Lancelot with Percival, Leon with Mordred, Elyan with me" the eight of them walked
to the training field in beautiful silence.

The knights tried to make light conversation with each other over the clash of metal. Gwaine kept throwing concerned glances at the
young girl who seemed to be struggling to remain upright. "You alright there Marilyn?" he asked softly so not to attract attention.

"Perfectly fine" her voice was light and airy, her breathless state quite clear. The other knights were starting to pick up on Marilyn's
struggling and the training ceased. The small girl looked around, confused.

"Go on then, Marilyn, you're dismissed for today" Arthur smiled at his servant and watched her retreat to the castle "does Marilyn
seem different to any of you?"

"Perhaps a bit more tired" Mordred offered.

"Perhaps" Arthur doubted this was the only thing unusual, concern clearly etched onto the faces of the seven men.

For hours, Marilyn sat in the meadow with Gwen and Morgana, enjoying the last rays of the dying sun. There was no denying the beauty
of the three. The Lady Morgana with her snow-pale skin, deep emerald eyes, ruby lips, waist length midnight curls and curvy figure was the face of beauty in the kingdom. Her servant Guienivire, who stood shorter and less curvy than her mistress, held
an innocent beauty, her chocolate skin and matching eyes carried a soft glow to her child-like features, her hair hung in tight spirals at her shoulders. The last of the three was quite unique. Hardly any would dare call her features beautiful, but
it was more in her soul that the true beauty lies, in the was she becomes one with the earth around her.

Marilyn hated everything about herself, her porcelain skin was too pale and her cheekbones sat too high upon her thin face. Her arms
and legs were mere twigs, waiting to snap, to anyone else, she was much too thin to be healthy, to herself she was almost perfect. Ribs, hipbones and collarbones jutted out from her skin. Her midnight eyes seemed to have captured the stars, full scarlet
lips hid a lovely smile that was rarely seen now and her raven locks wrapped around her her hips, shielding her from the bitter world that could break her fragile self.

The three young women walked back to the castle, arms looped together. Marilyn was cautious of her sleeves and made sure to keep her
smile in place. The unsuspecting older girls fell for the trick, creating small hope for the small girl. After leaving the company of her friends, Marilyn allowed herself to relax a little and lightly pull up her sleeves. She yanked them down carelessly,
reopening the fragile skin beneath. Her eyes flashed gold as she enchanted the sleeves to prevent any blood from showing.