Secrets in Disguise (Merlin Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

Gone was the tattered silk under dress and in its place was a silk purple gown with long flowing sleeves. Gold beaded detailing lined the neckline and waist band. The once tangled bird nest like hair was now soft and silky in a half up-half down style. There were no traces of the bloodied and disheveled woman who entered the castle a day ago. The woman who stood before the mirror looked more like the queen she was destined to be. Beautiful shining diamond jewels glistened in her hair as the sun shone through the windows of her new room in the castle. 

The king had insisted on giving her a room in the castle as well as assigning a maid to her. Anything to make her stay in Camelot a comfortable one. Her new maid was busily tidying away the plates from breakfast. Ailidh sighed, fiddling with one of the rings on her fingers. None of this felt like home. The dress she was wearing had kindly been lent to her by the queen. Her current maid was nothing like Tatiana who had been a loyal friend. Her thoughts turned to her former maid. What had happened to her? Was she even still alive? It was not worth thinking about. 

Ailidh was brought back to reality when her maid cleared her throat. "The king is ready to see you now milady."

As she walked the winding corridors to the council hall, led by her maid. She prepared herself for retelling everything that happened at Eamont. A pale hand went to the necklace at her neck, it had been a present from her father. The blonde took in a deep breath, feeling nervous. The two guards guarding the doors pushed them open. 

"Sire, Ailidh is here." Sir Leon announced. The chatter in the chamber quietened down and every pair of eyes was on her as she stood in the door. As Ailidh walked into the council hall she noticed Merlin and Gaius stood to the side along with the other councillors. It was nice to see some friendly faces amongst the unknown ones. It made her feel less nervous. 

Merlin was stunned at how pretty the young woman they found in the woods was. She looked like a princess, especially in that dress which was fit for a queen.

"My lord, lady." Ailidh curtsied, eyes lowering to the floor, addressing both the king and queen who sat before her at one end of the chamber.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Arthur was the first to speak as Ailidh straightened up, nervously wringing her hand in front of her.

"I have news on the kingdom of Eamont sire." Blue eyes looked up towards Arthur and Gwen. "It was attacked during the night a few days ago." As she spoke she heard several of the council members muttering amongst themselves at the news. "I was the only one to make it out alive." Tears welled up in her eyes.

Arthur sat up in his chair, intrigued by what he was hearing, no wonder she had been frightened the day they found her in the woods.

"Go on." The queen spoke in a reassuring tone, understanding how upset the young woman was. "It is okay."

Ailidh took a deep breath, knowing she must tell them everything from start to finish even if it meant reliving it all again.

"It was raining down fire from the sky. Men dressed in all black attacked our castle. My maid, Tatiana, was trying to help me escape and that was when I saw it." She paused, fighting back the tears, remembering the scene that had been in front of her. "When I saw that witch, that horrible woman, kill my father, King Iwain." 

The chatter among the chamber increased at the news the king of Eamont had been killed and the fact that she had just revealed her identity. She heard one of the councilmen speak to another, "She is a princess, the next queen of Eamont." 

"My maid helped me escape via a tunnel to the woods but the guards got to her. I do not know what happened. I fear that she might...might be dead." The thought of her friend being dead was not worth thinking about. Even though Tatiana had not been at Eamont for long, Ailidh trusted her.  "I could not even look back at my home. I'd been running for two days before you found me sire."