𖧷𖧷 𝕎ℍ𝔼ℕ 𝔻𝔼𝕊𝕋𝕀ℕ𝕀𝔼𝕊 ℂ𝕆𝕃𝕃𝕀𝔻𝔼 (𝔸 ℕ𝔸ℝℕ𝕀𝔸/𝕄𝔼ℝ𝕃𝕀ℕ ℂℝ𝕆𝕊𝕊𝕆𝕍𝔼ℝ) 𖧷𖧷

Chapter 6: The Truth About Ana

꧁ Merlin's Point-of-view ꧂

"I'm officially the ward of the King," Ana said. Merlin studied her and noted she didn't seem particularly pleased with that.
The King, however, was quite pleased with himself. He looked at Arthur. "Ana's saved my life on numerous occasions. The people respect her but I've been pushing the court to give her an official standing.  This was the best I could do."
"This is a punishment, isn't it?" Ana asked, seemingly studying her King. He sent her a small frown. "Now everyone will be watching me... I already had Amari and you worrying about me and now I have to have the whole castle doing so too."
King Caspian could only grin. "Well, if you'd stop trying to get yourself killed all the time this wouldn't be a problem."
She frowned. "Are you implying that I purposefully try to get people to kill me?"
"Not at all... Just that trouble seems to follow you."
"Me? Half of the time I've gotten injured is because someone else has decided to do something against my better judgment." There was laughter in her voice but the way she spoke told Merlin she was serious.

The King did look a bit guilty at that. Merlin could only guess that he had done something she advised against and gotten hurt in the process. It meant that there was some truth to her statement. Though it wasn't serious enough that she couldn't tease him about it.

Throughout the whole exchange, Arthur was staring at them. He held a look of both amusement and shock. The shock was likely due to the way she spoke to her King. It was the same way Merlin talked to Arthur... When the situation warranted it. Come to think of it, Ama seemed a lot like him in that regard. Merlin stepped forward to refill his glass, drawing the King's attention to him.

"You know, Merlin," he whispered, "she's almost just like you." Arthur had been thinking the same, apparently. "The key difference is she seems to excel at her duties. I mean... You are the worst manservant ever."
"They treat her better," Merlin retorted with a shrug. "Besides... there's one other difference between us."
"Really? And what is that? If it's because she's a girl, I'm afraid you're poorly mistaken." Arthur grinned, goading Merlin to continue.
"It's that fact that her King isn't a total cabbagehead," Merlin smirked.

Arthur was aghast and looked for something to throw at him. However, he seemed to remember where he was and set the bread roll back on his plate. He didn't want to explain to his host that he threw things at his servant. Instead, he cast Merlin a glare that told him he would regret his words later. But Merlin merely retreated into the shadows with a smile on his face. Sometimes the truth had to be said, even if it upset people.

He heard a snicker from near King Caspian and looked over at Ana. She was avoiding looking in his direction, but there was a smile on her lips. King Caspian also seemed mildly amused by what he had heard and he looked at Merlin. He nodded his head and Merlin took it as a sign he approved—not that he needed it. When Ana finally looked at him, Merlin gestured to Arthur and rolled his eyes. She smiled again and stifled a laugh by taking a drink from her cup.

Merlin could play along with the facade. But he knew what he saw. Something was up with Ana. She seemed sweet and innocent now, but she was good at hiding. Merlin had been watching her throughout the evening and it was clear she was not entertained by the celebrations. She put on a good face, though, and her King didn't seem to suspect anything. He didn't think Arthur did either. It just told him that Ana was good at hiding her true feelings. Possibly her intentions too.

Ever since he spotted her outside Arthur's rooms, his magic had been on edge. But being in the room with her hadn't caused that feeling to grow. She was good at faking and that only made Merlin more confused about what to trust. He could often rely on his magic to tell him if Arthur was in danger. But this time around, he couldn't tell if it was himself that was setting it on edge—by his distrust of Ana. He knew he really needed to talk with her and get some answers. But he was hardly away from Arthur's side and couldn't very well discuss this in front of him. It would only cease to make Arthur more distrustful than he already was.