Moonlight Serenade [Roslyn & Gwaine]

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Iwan d’Auber had absolutely no idea why he was currently walking towards the Griffith estate in the middle of the night. He did know why Gwaine was there, and exactly why he didn’t want him there but that was an argument for another day. Gwaine must have drugged him or something because that was the only thing that could explain why he was doing what he was. Iwan didn’t do this sort of thing. He didn’t go to women’s houses in the middle of the night expecting to...expecting to what? Serenade her? The idea was preposterous, and yet here he was, doing exactly that. Oh Jesu. This is what his life had become. Ever since he’d met Lady Roslyn he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head. It was stupid and confusing and frustrating and then the worst possible person who could have found out did exactly that and then decided to help. This was a disaster before it had even begun.

His fists were clenched and he was almost marching because if he didn’t he’d stop and turn back and although running away did seem like a really, really good idea at the moment, there was this stupid voice telling him to continue. For some unknown reason he wanted to see Lady Roslyn, and, what was even more unknown, especially to Iwan who never before experienced something like this, his desire to see her was outweighing his sense of decorum, the part of him that was saying a knight should not be making his way to the chamber window of a young woman in the middle of the night.

Urgh. What was wrong with him? He didn’t understand it at all. He always understood everything about himself – he liked order and tradition and lists, he really liked lists. He’d never once questioned himself; not when Gwaine was teasing, or Caitrin was throwing herself at him, or Ciaran and Rowan were dragging him to yet another, frankly morally lacking, celebration of God knows what. Jesu, he was such a mess. Is this what this – whatever this was – was usually like? Is this what Gwaine was always going on about? This was the great thing he was missing? Frustration and confusion and a horrible sickly feeling in his stomach and uncooperative knees and nails that dug into his palm. This was what Gwaine was always trying to push him into? It was madness. It was messy and unorganised and chaotic and Iwan didn’t like it one bit.

Right. There had to be some way of restoring order. If there was one thing Iwan was good at, that was it. He would follow Gwaine’s stupid advice and attempt to see Roslyn and nothing spectacular would happen. It would just be a brief, apologetic conversation, and then he would leave, go back to the castle and go to sleep. Nothing disastrous – or spectacular – would happen. He would be free to continue with his life, with his duties, and nevermore be plagued with thoughts of Roslyn. Everything was fine. He had a plan.


Tagged: Roslyn & Gwaine
Location: The Griffith Estate
Timeline: Series 3-4 gap

[thegwaine]

For Gwaine, this was one of the best plans he had ever had. It was made even better by the fact that Iwan had actually agreed to it. Of all the knights that Gwaine had been expecting to have to help get a woman, he hadn’t expected to be here helping Iwan. After all, not so long ago the man had been pointing out that he didn’t have time for women, and that no one would have him and other such pitiful words. One way or another, this was going to be an interesting evening. Gwaine couldn’t help but feel incredibly smug about all. In a way he felt like this was him being proved right, that Iwan was just like every other man, and that this might actually lighten the man up. That would make everyone’s life so much better. The next step after this would be somewhere along the lines of drinking Iwan under the table, but he was taking this one step at a time.

A moonlight serenade was one of Gwaine’s better ideas. That was what women wanted wasn’t it? A bit of spontaneity and romance; something he suspected Iwan wasn’t particularly well versed in. Well, they were already on their way to the Griffith estate, so there was no turning back now was there? Gwaine had told Iwan he would help somewhat by feeding him lines, and well he’d got him here as well hadn’t he? And he’d come up with the idea. Jesu, perhaps if Gwaine spent more time charming women for himself rather than getting women for other men then he might eventually find someone who took his fancy. That wasn’t to be thought of for the moment though, he was here to help Iwan charm his Lady Roslyn.

Really, he could have spent this evening in the tavern, and no doubt at some point tonight he was going to regret having not taken that chance. Iwan often got annoyed with him, even when it was Gwaine doing him the favour. However, he could put up with Iwan’s moaning if it meant he got to witness what was about to happen. This was probably Iwan’s first serious wooing, so naturally it was going to be the best entertainment Gwaine had been witness to in quite a while. He clapped Iwan on the back and grinned widely at him. “Don’t look so nervous, this can’t go wrong.” He was quite amazed that he was able to keep a straight face, because everything could go wrong. Out of all the women Iwan had chosen to charm, it had to be this particular lady. From what little he knew of Lady Roslyn she was stubborn, snobbish and only spoke to those she chose to speak to. This would be so much easier if she was like Griff’s wife, but then again, Iwan probably wouldn’t go for a woman like that. He was quite prim and proper, and probably needed a woman to compliment that.

Upon reaching the estate, Gwaine looked round it, there was only one room with a balcony, so they could be about to wake up the lord of the manor or his daughter. Heh, this could be over even before it started. Gwaine, without waiting for Iwan’s permission picked up a rock and hurled it at the window, hopefully that would gain some attention. He then sat with his back against the manor so he was underneath the balcony. Therefore whoever appeared wouldn’t be able to see him, “If its the Lord of the manor we’ll just run.” He chuckled, “It’ll be fine.”

[Deleted]

Unsurprisingly, Gwaine was not making Iwan feel any better. Neither was his plan, which was perhaps the most disturbing part of all of this. Plans always made everything better, so naturally Roslyn had to be the exception. If this was anything else he didn’t want to do a plan would suit him just fine. He’d reassure himself, he’d have some focus, some way to make time go quickly, to make everything better. Tonight, however, was just a complete and utter mess. Was it really too late to run away? His thoughts were quickly answered by Gwaine clapping him on the back, a gesture that just made everything worse. Iwan wasn’t one for physical contact, whereas Gwaine was definitely one for forgetting this. He was certain his fellow knight was only here to watch him make a fool out of himself and not, as he had so poetically put it earlier to “win his fair lady”.

Iwan turned to look at Gwaine, eyebrows raised, an unimpressed expression on his face. “Things can very much go wrong.” Surely the man knew him well enough to know that this was not a good idea? Gwaine must have already assumed that things were going to go horrendously wrong. It was just inevitable. Iwan and women did not mix. Iwan and most things didn’t mix, that was why he spent so much of his life avoiding things. Rather annoyingly, he found himself rather envious of Gwaine. Normally whenever the knight was going on about women and ale and all that “fun” Iwan was missing, he’d just roll his eyes and go back to whatever task he was doing. Now, however, he found himself wishing that he had the experience and the ability to seem appealing to the opposite sex.

He ended up just standing there, rather awkwardly as Gwaine started threw a rock at the window. Oh brilliant. He’d probably break something and then Iwan would get the blame, and Roslyn would be even less impressed. Why, oh why, had he put himself in this position? Wait...if it was the lord? Oh Jesu. He hadn’t even thought about that. He’d been far too busy not wanting to be here than worrying about getting the wrong window. “I hate you right now,” he hissed, fists clenched again – this time through annoyance and nerves as he’d just heard the window open.

[Lady Roslyn]

It had been another quite dull day for Roslyn. She had spent most of it out of the house of course, she simply couldn’t stand being cooped up with her father for too long. There was always the worry that if she found herself too much under his feet that he would remember that she was not yet married, and then he would seek to rectify that. So instead, Roslyn had spent the day walking round the markets in Camelot. She had told herself that she was looking for fabrics for her new dress, but really every time she had heard someone moving around her she had looked round, hoping it was one particular person. Iwan had become quite a frequent person in her life, though she still wasn’t quite sure of what she felt for him. He was amusing, yes, but there was something else. She couldn’t get him out of her head and it just unnerved her in a way.

Sighing she turned over in her bed, it was way past midnight, or at least she assumed it was, and yet she couldn’t sleep. It was incredibly frustrating as she always rose with the dawn, so she really did need to get some sleep sooner rather than later. Roslyn sat up and looked around her room, almost trying to think of some way to get herself to sleep. She could always count sheep, or perhaps some wine would lull her into sleep. That was always a possibility of course. There was a feast coming up in Camelot, and she wanted to make sure that the dress she was making was ready for the occasion. She wouldn’t be able to do that without a half decent nights sleep.

Roslyn was toying with the idea of getting the wine from the corner of the room when there was a sudden crash at her window. She jumped and just stared at her balcony, wondering whether she had just imagined the noise or not. Roslyn bit her lip, maybe she should just stay here, after all it could be anything. However, her curiosity was getting the better of her. It might be anything, but she wanted to find out exactly what it was. Wrapping a shawl around her shoulders, Roslyn got out of bed and made her way slowly and tentatively to her balcony. Opening the window, she stepped out into the nights air and was taken aback with how cold it was. She pulled the shawl tightly around her shoulders and looked out into the night as her eyes became accustomed to the darkness. She could hear whispers, but somehow she managed to keep calm. If these were bandits or thieves then she would scream for her father’s guards. Perhaps her presence was enough to frighten them off, “Hello?” She called out, “Who’s there?”

[Deleted]

The relief at having found the correct window was quickly replaced by the panic now that she was outside. He was all nerves again. He looked up, able to make her out in the darkness, his eyes having adjusted to the lack of light during their walk. They’d probably woken her up – yet another thing he hadn’t thought about. This is was yet another reason why he shouldn’t be here. It hadn’t been planned properly. Too many factors had just been ignored or shrugged away. There was no course of action. It was just him, still standing awkwardly and waiting – with quite a bit of impatience – for Gwaine to give him something fantastic to say. As it happened, he wasn’t saying anything. Well that was the least helpful thing he could be doing.

Right...he appeared to be on his own. This was definitely not what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to just stand here and Gwaine would tell him what to say and Roslyn would be impressed and...well...his brain had always started freaking out before he was able to decide what happened next. He knew something like this would happen, he just absolutely knew it. Well he might as well get it over with. He cleared his throat and stepped back a little so he could be seen properly. “Lady Roslyn,” he gave a bow and then wondered why the hell he’d just done that. This was hardly a conventional meeting, bowing was not necessary, but maybe if he stuck with his well ingrained manners he wouldn’t fail quite so catastrophically. “It’s, erm, well, it’s me, Sir Iwan.” He said, the nerves only increasing and the desire to run away becoming more and more tempting.

[Lady Roslyn]

Roslyn was just staring blindly out into the dark of the night. It was only then that she realised how insane this was, had she actually heard anything in the first place? And if she had, what had possessed her to come out and look for the source herself? Of course her curiosity had got the better of her, this wouldn’t have happened if she had been able to get to sleep in the first place. Well no, if she had been asleep then no doubt she would have just been annoyed at whoever or whatever had woken her up. At the moment she was just quite intrigued and wondering what on earth was going on. Looking down at her feet, she could see a small rock, maybe that was what had hit her window. She bit her lip and rubbed her arms, as it wasn’t the warmest of nights to be out here in a chemise and a shawl. What was worrying her most was the whispers she had heard. Though the Pendragon’s had a firm grasp on monitoring thieves and bandits, some did slip through the net, and manors were often targets; everyone knew that.

She jumped as the voice became louder, and squinted her eyes in time to see a bow. Roslyn furrowed her brows, what the hell was Iwan doing here? And why was he bowing? Roslyn leant down a little so she could get a better look, just to check she wasn’t going insane before she reacted to this particular change of events. “Sir Iwan?” She repeated, just to check she hadn’t completely lost it. Maybe she had gone to sleep, and she’d eventually wake up out of this madness. “What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.” She gestured around them, and only then did she realise she was only in her chemise and a shawl. Roslyn flushed a rather attractive colour of scarlet and changed the shawl so it draped around her and gave her a proper second layer, rather than just hanging around her shoulders. Once that was all done she just stared down at Iwan, well he was defiantly here, and she couldn’t say she wasn’t pleased to see him, she was just mostly confused. Surely it was more conventional for a man to seek an audience with a woman at a reasonable hour, and from what Roslyn had already gathered about Iwan, he was a rather conventional person; so this was completely out of character.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine almost felt nervous for a moment, and a rush of adrenaline ran though him. He was just listening incredibly carefully to see who stepped out on the balcony. After all, Gwaine had enough experience of fathers to know that they didn’t like men who had particular intentions towards their daughters. Gwaine knew that Iwan wasn’t capable of such forward thoughts just yet, but sneaking around in the middle of the night and calling on women hardly said ‘respectable prospective son-in-law’ really. That was probably why Gwaine had never got on with any of his ladies families before, oh well, that was all in the past anyway. Gwaine held his breath as the window opened and he looked across as Iwan, as he would know who had stepped out before Gwaine would. He found himself relax slightly as Iwan called out the ladies name; they were back on track at least. The feeling that he hadn’t wasted an evening of his life was quickly replaced by cringing, as Iwan bowed to the lady in question. “You don’t need to bow!” He hissed at his fellow knight. The whole point of this was to be spontaneous and a little bit daring. Bowing and conventional name calling hardly proved that point. Well, so long as you ignored the fact they were here in the middle of the night.

Well, at least this couldn’t now get any worse. Gwaine was already thinking of ways to salvage the situation, whilst also gaining as much amusement from it as he could. He was going to help, yes, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy himself along the way. Iwan had often commented on Gwaine’s womanising ways and it was always with disapproval, but now it was him who was helping Iwan win the woman or as so to speak. He’d better appreciate this. Running his hands through his hair, he flinched as the woman spoke back. Well, she didn’t sound too annoyed so they still had something to work with. There was no point in trying to charm a woman who was annoyed; that much Gwaine knew from experience. “Tell her how beautiful she looks, give her a compliment Say you couldn’t stop thinking of her.” Gwaine was rambling, but he couldn’t really say much to Iwan without wanting to crease up laughing. This was just too perfect, how had he ever convinced Iwan that this would be a good idea? He would probably live to regret this though, and Gwaine would probably end up facing some tough opposition at the next training session. However, he kind of had an investment in this, if Iwan lightened up then it made working with him a lot easier, rather than him just being disapproved of and suchlike. It was never appreciated and sometimes wore thin. Right, so Iwan did need to get this Lady Roslyn on side. How hard could this be, really? Maybe they should have done this differently, Iwan hardly looked like a gallant knight trying to find a spot of light in the middle of the dark. Perhaps they should have done it during the day, and he could have rode up on horseback professing his love or something as equally stupid and romantic. Unable to resist the urge any longer, Gwane snorted, but put a hand over his mouth straight away to mask the sound, praying that Roslyn hadn’t heard him.

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Yes, thank you Gwaine, Iwan thought with more than a hint of irritation. It was all very well and good being told that now. Was this what the man had meant when he had offered his help? He meant he was just going to stand there and point out every time Iwan made a prat of himself? If so, he needn’t bother. Iwan was perfectly capable of doing that himself. He resisted the urge to glare at him, not particularly wanting Roslyn to know that he was there. Especially as he’d just realised she was only wearing a chemise. She had a shawl as well but still...his mind was in danger of wandering, despite the fact that he wasn’t actually sure where it should be wandering to. Right...well that wasn’t helping. She was supposed to be fully dressed.

“I know it’s the middle of the night,” he replied. She didn’t sound annoyed, but she didn’t sound terribly pleased either. Maybe there could be a positive outcome to this, or maybe Iwan was just getting ahead of himself. Gwaine was certain this would all work out – all women wanted to be wooed like this, but Roslyn wasn’t like any other women. She was certainly a lot angrier than most of them. He caught himself smiling at the thought. Now that was worrying. He shouldn’t be smiling at the thought of women. But...well, this was Roslyn, and, as he was still smiling, it seemed that was explanation enough.

“I couldn’t stop thinking of you.” He told her, mimicking Gwaine’s words and wondering how simply the words were and yet even he couldn’t think of them. Without Gwaine he’d just be standing here, probably relying on bowing and conventions and not getting anywhere. “And I wanted you to know how beautiful you look. How beautiful you are, in general...but especially tonight. Not because you’re undressed obviously. I can’t even see anything...what with the shawl...which is...erm...quite nice too...And, erm, yes...” Oh how he wanted to not be alive anymore. What the hell had he just said?

[Lady Roslyn]

Roslyn was still just staring down at Iwan in absolute wonder to what he was doing here. This was incredibly unconventional, and Iwan was all about conventions. He had been polite and acted like a gentleman to the point of irritation upon their first meeting. Now however he was sulking round in the middle of the night to serenade her? It made no sense to Roslyn, yet she couldn’t say that she was unhappy at him being here, though she was yet to decide whether she liked him being here at this time. She hoped at least that he wasn’t going to make a habit out of it; assuming he wanted to see her again anyway. She hugged her middle and continued to stare down at him, furrowing her brows. If her father caught Iwan out here then she would never let her see him again, or at least he would like to think that the case. Roslyn would defy her father in that respect of course.

Well at least he wasn’t drunk or something like that. He didn’t sound drunk at least; she doubted Iwan even knew how to get drunk. She rolled her eyes at him, “It is a fact which is quite hard to miss my Lord.” Roslyn pointed out. No one could fail to see that it was the middle of the night. It was actually quite a bit colder than Roslyn had anticipated at first, and she rubbed her arms softly. This was probably the oddest situation that she had ever been in before by a long shot. No man had ever been as bold as to come to her home in order to charm her, and Roslyn could not think that she had given Iwan any reason to call upon her. At least, no more reason than she had given any other man.

Now, no one had ever said such a thing to her, and she was quite taken aback. Roslyn just stared down at him, and pressed her lips together as he continued. At first she was quite shocked, she didn’t think she looked beautiful at all. She was in her chemise and shawl, and wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion. “I’m in my nightclothes.” She said in a rather confused voice and looked down at her apparel. If Roslyn didn’t know Iwan better she would question his motives as to calling upon her at this time of night. Well, if he expected anything like that then she knew of a certain noblewoman he would be better to direct his attentions upon. She just didn’t know what to think of this at all, “What have I done to deserve this affection, my Lord?” She was quite curious in general about this, and she was also wondering how conventional she could continue to be out here in the middle of the night. She was completely mad for doing this, as was he, it would appear.

[Deleted]

Well, she hadn’t gone inside, so that could only be a good sign, couldn’t it? She could easily just leave him standing outside, rejected and humiliated and quite convinced that this was the most embarrassing night of his life but for some reason she wasn’t. Iwan didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t about to question it. He’d only jinx it and then she would go inside, and no doubt Gwaine would be anything other than helpful if that happened. But despite her remaining outside, he couldn’t help but think she sounded rather annoyed. It was understandable of course, he had just turned up in the middle of the night, but if she was annoyed why didn’t she just leave? Oh this was too confusing. And Gwaine was being annoyingly quiet. “Well, yes...” What else was he supposed to say? He’d just pointed out the obvious and made himself look like a fool. It had been inevitable, yes, but that didn’t make him feel any better. If anything, it just made it worse. He’d imagined all the ways in which this could go wrong, and now it was actually happening he was just convinced everything else he’d imagined would happen to.

Iwan couldn’t tell whether she was taking his – or rather Gwaine’s – words well or not. But again, she hadn’t gone inside so he was going to assume this might be going better than he had thought. That was before she asked the question. He forced himself not to look over at his fellow knight – he didn’t want Roslyn knowing that Gwaine was here – and seeing as the man was being annoyingly quiet; it seemed Iwan was quite on his own. Oh brilliant. He’d thought he’d already proven that he shouldn’t be allowed to do this sort of thing on his own. He just babbled about her nightclothes. Iwan didn’t babble about anything.

His fists clenched together. How on earth was he supposed to answer that? He didn’t know the answer himself so how could he possibly tell her? It would sound so ridiculous and then she definitely would leave. “Well...” This was ridiculous. He was a grown man. He should be able to express himself. “I’m not entirely sure. But...but I can’t seem to stop thinking about you.”

[thegwaine]

Gwaine had been quite certain that this wasn’t going to go well. After all, this was essentially just Iwan trying to charm a woman, so how well could anyone expect it to go? He had been hoping it would go well though, partly because he didn’t want to think that he had wasted a night in a tavern for nothing, and partly because he had wanted Iwan to lighten up a little. Then again, if this didn’t work then it wasn’t very likely that he was ever going to lighten up. He swore mentally; he hadn’t considered that. Right, well he needed to make sure that this went well then didn’t he? Gwaine ran his hand through his hair, what he really needed was something that was suitably charming, but that also sounded like Iwan had just thought of it on the spot. The woman hadn’t gone inside just yet, so she couldn’t be annoyed. Maybe she was just waiting to see where this was going before deciding what she was actually going to do. Well, Gwaine was going to have to do something wasn’t he?

He’d already told her that she looked beautiful and that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. It was all very nice, but most likely it was all things that the woman had heard before. This was hardly a profession of love was it? It all sounded horribly cliché, and that was partly his fault; they needed something more daring, and something more out there. Something which would set Iwan aside from any other suitors that this woman might have. He looked up at Iwan, and shuffled forwards as far as he dared to, still trying to decide what to say. He didn’t want Roslyn to know he was here, after all, it would hardly be an act of love to know that he had help would it?

Putting his thinking cap on, Gwaine found a sudden surge of inspiration rip through him. He knew what to do! The problem here was that Iwan needed to sound sincere, which was something Gwaine found hard to do most of the time. However, now he had an idea, “Tell her when you first fell in love with her,” Gwaine suggested, even if Iwan hadn’t admitted that he was smitten by the woman yet, it was clear he was. Why else would they be out here in the middle of the night? “Tell her why you’ve fallen for her.” He needed to groom her ego a little and let her know that she was special to him.

[Lady Roslyn]

This was all incredibly unconventional, and Roslyn hadn’t decided whether she liked it or not yet. Of course she had loved being surprised by Iwan. What girl didn’t dream of having a knight in shining armour whisk them away? That was what she wanted of course, she wanted to be taken away from her life here, and into a more certain life with a husband. She fell in and out of favour with her father at every flicker of a mood swing, and she was tired of having the status of a bastard threatened against her. She pulled the shawl further around her, trying to banish the thought from her head. She knew her father wouldn’t ever name her as a bastard, but she would always know that. Roslyn wondered if Iwan would be below her window if he knew he was trying to charm the bastard daughter of a middling noble. Biting her lip, she assumed he wouldn’t, and so banished the thought from her head. She would never reveal it to anyone; she had no reason to. Revealing that part of her history could only ever count against her.

She felt herself smile as Iwan told her that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. She just looked down at him, this incredibly strange, yet handsome and simply wonderful man. Who else would come to her home at this time of the night, without a plan, and just hope it all went alright? He was bumbling through the conversation, and she could only assume that was down to nerves. She wanted to relax, and just tell herself this was all fine, and that she could just enjoy this moment. It was hard to keep up her usual air of seriousness and irritation though in this moment. She was just happy, and it was because of Iwan.

Roslyn realised she had been quiet for far too long, and she had almost allowed herself to become completely lost in the moment. She still couldn’t quite believe that Iwan was here, trying to charm her. She hoped this wasn’t going to be an isolated incident, “I-I have been thinking about you as well.” She said, loud enough for him to hear, “A lot.” She quickly added; blushing through the night air. She ran a hand through her hair, “Do you want me to come down?” She asked brightly, sure she could manage to sneak through the house without being disturbed in the process.

[Deleted]

As soon as Gwaine started talking, Iwan started giving him a look which couldn’t quite be described as surprised or confused. He wasn’t in love with Roslyn. That much was obvious. There was a very good reason why he was currently stood underneath her window in the middle of the night and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was in love with her, or rather “the fact”. It was an absurd thing to say. He was just...interested...no, that hardly did her justice. Iwan wasn’t quite sure what he felt, never having been in this position before. Yes, it was true that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and yes, whenever there was a celebration or feast or anything that involved a social gathering of Camelot’s nobles he’d be looking around to see if she was there, and yes, alright, his day was automatically improved whenever he saw her and no, he couldn’t stop smiling at the thought or sight of her. But that didn’t mean he was in love with her.

He started rubbing his thumbs against his index fingers, really wishing he could be somewhere else. Wait, no, no he didn’t. He didn’t want to be anywhere else because she was here...no. The problem was Gwaine. He wished Gwaine wasn’t here. The other knight’s advice was never helpful and usually only served to get Iwan into more trouble – like being told to tell Roslyn why he was in love with her when he was fairly certain he wasn’t.

“I-I have been thinking about you as well. A lot.”

Right...Iwan wasn’t quite sure how to react to that. But that was a good thing, yes? He glanced back at Gwaine to see if he could determine his fellow knight’s expression but it was annoyingly too dark. Brilliant. Why wouldn’t they have just done this at a more reasonable hour? He swallowed, cleared his throat and tried to think of some reply to that but his mind had gone frustratingly blank. “Erm...right.” That was obviously the most appropriate thing he could have said, and the most charming. He mentally kicked himself. No doubt Gwaine found it amusing which just made it even better.

”Do you want me to come down?”

“Er no!” He half shouted, forgetting the need to keep his voice down in his panic. If Roslyn came down she’d see Gwaine and Iwan would be in some serious trouble. “I mean, erm-” How could he keep her on the balcony without making it look like he didn’t want to see her? This was not how the conversation was supposed to go. “It’s very...cold. Down here. Outside.” What on earth was he doing? He didn’t talk like this. And he was just making a fool out of himself. He could protect the kingdom and its inhabitants from any number of evils but he couldn’t hold a conversation with a young woman? Excellent.