Advice [Gwen]

[Guinevère]

If Alex was going to cheer for Arthur, then maybe Gwen could do it with out rousing attention. With them both doing it then it looked more like fans rather then a girl with her heart on her shelve. ["I will cheer for them both then!" She spoke up with a bit of hope, "Until they fight each other, then I will have to pick one." Picking one was not hard for her, it was Arthur. It would always be Arthur. From the moment he'd kissed her, and even before then. She'd gone with Merlin and Morgana to Merlin's home town to help his family and friends once. She knew it would turn into a fight, and had been frightened. Arthur had take a half hour or more of his time and took her to the side to make sure she would be alright in the fight.

Ever since then, she had felt like he was more of a man rather then an untouchable prince. Today however was not a day to think about things that could not be, it was a day to find hope by watching Alex sort out his feelings for Brynn. It was a day of hope. Gwen liked the idea of a love story, and could not wait to watch Alex's unfold. He'd become her brother in many ways, a dear friend. She wanted him to have a happy ending.

"I do cheer for you Alex!" She told him with a soft laugh, "You do not even have to be a great knight. Every time you toss a dish and the chief gets playfully mad, I cheer for you." Alex was the type to playfully see how much trouble he could get into. He did not do it mean, arrogant or rude way. It was more like a teasing way, and she had only ever seen him do it to people he was friends with. She paused for a moment before asking, "You meet the prince before?" She had not known that.

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[Brynn Reade]

Sir Kolby actually WAS the first one to compete, against a knight Brynn only had seen from afar once. He was no match for the seasoned fighter and so the goosemaiden didn’t pay as much attention to the happenings inside the arena, but more to what was going on beside her.
“A finale between Prince Arthur and Sir Leon sounds very likely to me and would be very exciting to see”, she remarked with a wide smile. “Let’s hope the lots do not send them fighting against each other in an earlier round, now that would be a shame!”

Gwen beat her to the punch concerning the cheering comment, and Brynn felt a sting of jealousy again. Wouldn’t just repeat the very same lime be plainly stupid? Who said Alex even needed her cheers? Maybe he had been only polite taking her in on the comment, and all he was waiting for was Gwen’s answer? And she would not beg for his attention, oh no, she was far above that! And yet… wasn’t she simply overreacting again?
The different positions teared at her heart and her mind, making it impossible for Brynn to enjoy the moment. Oh no, she hadn’t imagined this day to be like this, and she somehow wished she would have never agreed on coming. But could she give up so easily? Nothing was said and done yet, it was all in her mind!

“Well, if you do one of your famous spins again, I will feel inclined to cheer as well!” she told Alex, playing out the only card she could think of: reminding him of their dance last night, when he had not only sent her body, but also her head spinning. But where was her guarantee he had felt the same way?
Instead of saying anything more that could make her look like a fool, she nodded encouragingly for Alex to tell this story. What kind of favor had the prince done him? That surely sounded like a good story, and knowing Alex and his talent of speech he would milk it to the last drop. She might be unsure about their relationship but she still loved nothing more than listening to him.

[Alexander]

"When the Prince and Sir Leon fight, I do believe the outcome will be the tournaments winner, even if it indeed comes to early." Alex replied. He knew there were many other skilled fighters also here, but everyone knew who the best were. Alex would not be surprised if the final match was the one everyone predicted it would be. However, even though everyone was quite sure of the outcome, there was still the suspense of each fight. Every battle had people on their toes wondering if this tournament would have a different end.

Alex grinned as he thought about his own antics in the kitchens. He really couldn't help himself sometimes. The looks the Chief Cook gave him were the high point of his day. Not the mention it lightened everyone's mood when they had so much work to do.
"Then I do believe I hold the tournament tittle for dish tossing." Alex proclaimed proudly. He also turned to Brynn at her comment and tried to give her his brightest smile yet. Even remembering the night before gave him a strange lightness. At times it was as if he would simply float out of his seat and be lost to the skies forever.
"I would do a thousand spins for your cheers." Alex said in a slightly quieter tone then he had used before. He also almost blushed at his own words but tried to save face. It wouldn't do to embarass himself so fully that he would be unresponsive for the next hour.

"The Prince? Ah, I met him for the first time a few months back during the famine. I was a lowly kitchen boy whom was known only for his chatter." Alex started. His voice took on a quality like that of a storyteller, quite similar to when he told Lita bedtime stories.
"The Prince was in great worry, for his bright city was in grave peril. He knew he must find a way to help his people. However, he also knew that he could not supervise the rations at the same time. So he looked into the kitchens and plucked out that same chatty boy and put him in charge of the entire thing. It was this oppertunity that showed that the kitchen boy could indeed handle pressure. And to this day the Chief Cook only gives him looks while he flips dishes instead of firing him." Alex finished with a slight gesture to indicate the story was over.

"In all honesty, when I met him, he seemed the most down to earth person I've ever met. You can tell from a moments conversation that he truly cares about his people. That is what will make him a great king." Alex said quite seriously. In many ways he admired the Prince. It was the Prince's ability to relate to the people that was, in Alex's eyes, his greatest asset.

[Guinevère]

Alex would have been a performer for the way he soaked up being the center of attention. It was not in a harmful or even an annoying way so no one minded. It seemed however, when Alex was in the room and especially when he was talking that every head was faced toward him. He had such a way with words that Guinevère would never have.

It was not his way with words that had her silently staring at him with a soft smile on her lips. No, the reason Gwen was so enthralled with the story was not the story teller but the subject. She liked hearing that Arthur had impressed others. She liked knowing she was not alone in approving of his method. The simple fact that Arthur had given Alex--whom she saw as a brother--such a chance to prove him self was even more special.

Gwen only smiled when he finished, not knowing quite what to say with out sounding like a girl with a crush. After a few moments she spoke up, not wanting to seem rude and not reply to the story she had asked to hear. "It appears the prince saw what we see in you everyday, Alex. You should not be so humble." Her eyes trailed out to find Arthur with out thinking.

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[Brynn Reade]

Brynn nodded in agreement when Alex claimed either Leon or Arthur would be the winner. It really was most likely! Both were good, but Brynn believed the prince to be just a little bit better, even if she rather had the experienced and level-headed Sir Leon as the winner than the prince. It was not like Brynn did dislike him in any way, she had never met him after all. It was just a fact that he seemed to like the thought he was the best in everything, and so she found a victory to the elder knight more deserved.

A thousand spins for your cheers… oh great god, what had made Alex say that?! Was it really what her heart read into it, or was she jumping to premature conclusions because she wanted it to be true? That Alex was feeling the same for her as she felt for him? This confusing emotion she couldn’t quite define but that went hand in hand with jealousy and with a certain kind of dreamy loopiness. When she thought she saw his cheeks flush, she blushed herself, looking anywhere but at his face. Oh God, he regrets it! He didn’t mean it at all! Or did he…?
No, she couldn’t say anything on that matter… just let it pass!

Brynn rather distracted herself with listening to Alex’ story, and she soon lost herself in the way he so aptly told it, she was actually hanging on his lips! He told it like it had been an exciting adventure, and he the hero of it, but without trying to steal the spotlight. It was perfect fairytale material, and Brynn could see it all before her inner eye.
“And so he lived happily ever after because dish tossing was his life!” she ended the tale for him with a little chuckle, her eyes gleaming. She this was true, as her mother had commented on it on a few occasions. So caught up had she become the awkward incident of just a moment before was all but forgotten. But then she caught Gwen looking at Alex possibly the way she herself had and the jealousy returned.

She almost had to force her next words out.
“And I agree with Gwen, you shouldn’t hide your achievements from the world. Oh yes, I don’t know you for quite as long, but I already see it in you: If you only want you can get everything you desire!”

[Alexander]

Alexander saw hints of something he was recently beginning to understand himself in Gwen's face when he spoke of the Prince. He generally stored it in the back of his mind and did not pry. He honestly believed it to be none of his business and would not say something if Gwen did not bring it up herself. He knew that she would keep his secrets, and so he would return the favor by not trying to weedle out her own or jump to false conclusions.

"Humbleness is perhaps only a sign that one fully understands the balances in his self." Alex said in a mock tone of great wisdom. Alex never took the time to philosophize and would be quite bad at it if he did. His thoughts moved to quickly to linger on such complicated things as internal review. So he merely spoke words in a style that made them out to be more complex then they were. It was all part of his wit in the end. Usually he could get away with it.

When Brynn spoke again he grinned. Happily ever after seemed to be slightly closer as seconds ticked by. Perhaps he was being a bit silly, but he thought for a moment that his feelings were reflected in her face. Although he could just be imagining it.
"That is if he continues to never drop a dish. If he does then ever after might be a bit shorter then originally intended." He replied with a laugh. Even though the chef was always threatening him, it was in jest... most of the time.

The next words seemed a bit forced and Alex furrowed his brow just slightly in confusion. It was hardly visible for the second it lasted, and then he smiled again. He noted her words on getting what he desired and his response slipped out before he could stop himself from speaking.
"You promise?"