Eleanor (Percival/ BBC Merlin)

Part 1

Princess Eleanor rode alongside her three guards, her handmaiden and a single bannerman, riding towards Camelot. She was glad the beautiful castle was in sight as she had been riding for a few days straight with only rests to stop a few times a day, and she was pretty exhausted.

"Not far now, Princess," Her handmaiden, Lily, said, looking at the castle, which was slowly getting bigger as they got closer.

"Please, Lily, call me Eleanor. We're best friends and best friends don't call each other by their titles, " Eleanor said with a soft smile.

"Sorry, Prin- Eleanor," Lily quickly corrected herself as her cheeks tinged pink.

The ride went on quietly with only the sound of the horses' hooves hitting the ground or the odd sound of other animals in the forest.

Eventually, they reached the castle gates , and they were greeted by two guards.

"What brings you here today, my Lady?" Said the one closest to Eleanor.

"I would like to pay my respects to King Uther and send my regards to Prin- King Arthur." Eleanor quickly fixed her mistake.

"May we have your name," the same one then asked.

"Princess Eleanor of Meliorn" a look of recognition passed over his face.

"I'm sorry I didn't recognise you sooner, Princess, I'll let the king know you're here." He bowed before he turned to the other guard, " could you take Princess Eleanor and her men and her handmaiden to the stables to let their horses have a rest and then seek accommodation in the castle for them to stay in" the guard nodded and the first guard quickly walked away.

"Princess, would you follow me," the guard said with a kind smile. Still on her horse, she rode behind the guard with her own men behind her towards the stable. Once they got to the stable, the guard helped Eleanor down with ease.

"Thank you, sir..?" She waited for his name.

"Percival," He said, then helping Lily off of her horse.

"Thank you, Sir Percival," he gave a slight laugh.

"I only go by Percival. You don't need to call me, sir, Princess," He said kindly.

"Oh, sorry, Percival," she blushed a shade of red. Behind her, she didn't realise that Lily was trying to hide her smile.

"Princess Eleanor," a loud and welcoming voice sounded, catching Eleanor by surprise and causing her to jump. "Sorry, my lady," Arthur said, gently kissing the top of her hand.

"No, no. It's fine, I'm just a bit tired from the long ride, but as soon as I heard the terrible news of your father passing I had to come and pay my respects" Eleanor said softly.

"I'm happy you're here." Arthur said with a sad smile on his face, Eleanor can tell he wasn't over his fathers' passing yet, Arthur turned to his side, "This is my Uncle Agravaine. "

"My lady," he bowed.

"It's nice to meet you, my lord," Eleanor curtsied.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted. Eleanor looked at him with a confused look on her face. "Sorry about this, Merlin's my manservant, and he's never here. Percival, have you seen Merlin?"

"No, Sire, he's probably searching for herbs for Gaius or in the tavern," Percival said.

"Typical," Arthur muttered under his breath, "Well then, Percival, would you mind taking Princess Eleanor, her handmaiden and her men to their rooms?" Percival agreed and led them into the beautiful castle. He found another guard by the name of Gwaine, who knew where all the soon to be prepared rooms were.

Gwaine took Eleanor's four guards to their rooms while Percival took Eleanor and Lily to theirs.

Eleanor asked if hers and Lily's could be next to each other as the two had been inseparable since Lily had started being her Handmaiden. Once they looked around their rooms, Percival asked, "Would you like anything? Food? Water?"

"A tour around the castle," Eleanor said, looking towards Percival with a smile from over where she was at the window.

"I'll help get the feast ready, " Lily said, curtsying towards Eleanor, smiling gently at Percival and quickly leaving the room.

Leaving Percival no choice, he agreed to take Eleanor on a tour of the castle and the grounds.

Eleanor got excited once she saw the training area for the soldiers, "I used to watch my father train when I was younger, I always wanted to join. He never let me, " Eleanor frowned. She dampened her own mood, no longer wanting to watch the men train, and she turned and left in the opposite direction.

"Are you okay, my lady?" Percival asked, concern spread through his voice.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Percival. I guess I'm still grieving for my own losses. " Eleanor tried hard not to let the tears fall, but a single one traced down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

"I think you should rest now, Princess, start fresh tomorrow," Percival offered.

"I think I shall rest," Eleanor decided. Percival led her back up to the castle, and to her room, Percival bowed after Eleanor thanked him for showing him around.

She closed her door once he left and was startled by a young male sitting on her bed. "Who are you, and why are you in my chambers?" Eleanor quickly backed away from him, ready to open the door and run.

"I'm Merlin" he quickly said, "I'm Arthur's manservant, he sent me to see if everything was suited to your needs" Eleanor calmed down once she heard that and stepped closer to the man.

"Yes, everything is perfect. Thank you, Merlin. " She smiled.

"Do you need anything?" He then asked.

"No, thank you. I was actually going to sleep for a while as I had barely any rest on the journey here. Would you mind apologising to Arthur that I won't be attending dinner tonight, as I'm so tired? "

"It'll be no problem." Merlin bowed slightly and exited the room.

Eleanor quickly went over to Lily's to see if she was there. She wasn't. Eleanor wasn't too worried as she was probably helping out in the kitchen as she enjoyed cooking.

Eleanor decided to get changed into her silk white nightgown and climbed into her warm bed. She drifted shortly to sleep.