The Special Wine (Philip)

[Princess Polyxena]

The news of the new wine seller from Camelot quickly spread to the Kingdom of Graecia. The people said that his wine was very special and tasty with very sweet aroma. As a wine lover, King Magna wanted to taste this new wine. So he send a letter to the wine seller of Camelot asking him to come and visit his castle.

To Philip de Camelot,

King Magna of Graecia and his family invite you to come and visit Graecia. The King and his family heard that your wines are very special and would like you to bring your best wines you have for them to taste. King Magna is a lover of good wine and welcomes you most humbly to come as soon as possible to Graecia to do a little demonstration of your wines. King Magna and his family look forward to your arrival.

With pleasure,
The Secretary of Graecia.

When Xenia learned the news about the wine seller coming from Camelot she wanted to meet him by herself. Not only as a seller but personality as well. Xenia didn't usually like to drink wine, only sometimes during celebrations. But this time curiosity set in and she wanted to taste this special wine as quickly as possible....

Tags: Philip
Time of the day: Morning, and maybe will move around
Timeline: before Series 5

[Philip de Calmot]

Philip had never been to the kingdom of Graecia before, and so was rather curious. There would no doubt be something of interest there - besides of course the money he would receive for his wares. He had been rather surprised to be personally invited - well, through a secretary - to the kingdom. Clearly his reputation was preceding him, just as it should, although, Pip thought rather bitterly, for rather the wrong reasons. He should be invited to other kingdoms because of his position and status, not because of his use a tradesman. But, he was not often afforded pride, and so had little choice in the matter of Graecia. The letter was therefore well received, Pip had his servants ready a carriage and before long he was making his way to the kingdom with two other men: Niall and Struan.

As he had never been to the kingdom before, nor had he met King Magna, he had no idea what kind of wine would interest him. All he knew was that he was "good lover of wine", but that could mean anything. With this in mind, Pip had decided to take a selection of his finest offerings and see if any of them were met with approval.

After far too long a journey, they finally arrived at the castle, the carriage coming to a halt in the courtyard. Pip waited for a few moments, but no one arrived to open the door for him. Clearly a tradesman was not seen as important enough to warrant that sort of luxury. And so with a sigh, he opened the door himself, stepped out, brushed down his clothes, and waited to be find out what the arragements were to be.

[Princess Polyxena]

Princess Polyxena was sitting in her room and having her hair brushed with the help of her maid. Today the wine seller was arriving and Xenia was finally ready. She approached the window and enjoyed the wind which was blowing on her face. It made her feel like she was free for a few moments.

As she looked down, she saw the people going about their day, and then noticed a young man with some servants waiting for someone to open the door. Since no one came, he opened it by himself. This gave Polyxena the chance see him better and she guessed that this gentleman must be the wine seller. She came to this conclusion because the servants were carrying a few barrels, which probably contained the wines.

Xenia walked out of her room and came down the marble stairs. She went into the throne room and told her father that the wine seller had arrived to Graecia and is waiting in the yard. Her father then ordered some of the guards to go collect him and bring him to the throne room. The guards obeyed his orders and left to go to find the wine seller from Camelot. It was at this point that her mother arrived and greeted them a good morning. The King and Queen sat comfortably on their thrones and invited Polyxena to do the same . Xenia obeyed the dictates of her mother and sat on her throne. Her maid then made her way to stand behind her throne and some of her father's advisers were also in attendance, standing next to his throne. Now the only thing they had to do was to wait for the wine seller to arrive...

[Philip de Calmot]

Philip wasn't waiting long, a couple of guards soon approached to escort him into the throne room. Niall dutifully followed the small party, while Struan waited by the carriage. They had never been to Graecia before, and although Pip didn't expect there to be any trouble, he certainly wasn't going to take any chances. It was a depressing thought, but his livelihood relied on that wine, and now said livelihood was being entrusted to Struan while Pip left to try and get as much money for it as he possibly good. He was a rather good businessman - another rather depressing thought. He shouldn't be good at anything other than the pursuits of someone of his status. This definitely did not include earning a living.

But, that was a complaint for another day. He had to have Philip Business Face on now. He had to be the personificiation of charm. He was shown into the throne room by the guards and was rather surprised to find the king and queen, and presumably their daughter, sat rather formally, and rather expectantly. This was just a nice, informal meeting then? Wonderful. On reaching a respectable distance away from the royals, he swept into a bow. "Your Highnesses," he straightened up, "What an honour it was to receive your letter."

[Princess Polyxena]

A guard announced the arrival of the wine seller and the wine seller entered into the throne room, looking very much like businessman. Behind him two men was standing, carrying the baskets, which contained the bottles of wine. They were most likely his associates or his servants. He stood in front of the thrones and did a deep bow before he gave them a warm greeting.

Polyxena did an survey of the man, who was standing opposite her. She always did a scan of new people when she was meeting them for first time. He was standing tall and looked very handsome. No wonder she froze a little when he first entered. But Xenia was more interested in finding out if he is a good businessman, and can strike a good deal than admiring his looks. Xenia then noticed that the man looked a little frozen too, though he is not the first man who has been struck frozen while meeting with the King. Almost everyone who met the King was frozen at first till her father spoke and calmed them down.

The King then greeted him first. He was a stubborn King and didn't want others to speak for him.

"Welcome Philip de Camelot to the Kingdom of Graecia. I would like to introduce you to my wife Queen Pulchra," and he pointed to to the Queen who nodded her head humbly to the man, "And my daughter Princess Polyxena." And Xenia nodded her head to greet the man as well.

"You will have heard that I'm a lover of great wines. I hope that you wines will be as fine as they have been described and we can strike a great deal together."[/blockquote]

[Philip de Calmot]

Philip was a little surprised by the formality of the event. Obviously he had known he was doing business with a king, but he hadn't been expecting to speak with the actual king. Usually such men just let their servants deal with everything. Maybe he wanted to conduct the business himself so he could be sure of getting exactly what he wanted, which seemed fair enough to Philip, but it was still surprising that his wife and daughter were also present.

He inclined his head towards the queen as she was introduced, and repeated the action as the daughter was. This was the first time since entering the room he had given her much attention - she was certainly pretty, no doubt all the men at court were declaring their love for her. It seemed no matter where he went people were all the same, which was rather fortunate for him really. He understood people and their ways, and how to make them do as he pleased. But enough of that for now, he was only here to make a sale.

"I have indeed heard such talk sire, and hope what I offer lives up to expectation." He turned his head to look at Struan, raising his eyebrows at the man to signal him over. The servant did as he was bid and carried the wine casket over, setting it on the ground next to Philip and started opening it. "I must confess though that I am at a complete loss as to what you would prefer so I have brought you my finest collection. If you find something you like I shall be happy to make an order for you."

[Princess Polyxena]

The Princess waited patiently to taste the wine. The mysterious in his eyes and face made her more than ready to taste it. A few men start to open the barrels for the wine maker to show them. Her father gave a look towards the servant, to show them they were ready. The servant obeyed and poured the wine into some goblets before handing them a goblet each to the King, his wife and their daughter. Along with two more goblets in case one of the Kings Advisers wanted a taste too.

The King now stood up and approached the young man. As he was walking towards him, the sun from the window cast a wonderful light upon him . Finally he reached the wine maker and stand next to him to make feel him more confident. He ordered the servant to stand next to him with the tray of goblets. He looked in the casket and said "Let me", before got a bottle of red wine that was looking rather marvelous and asked him to give him information about this particular wine.

[Philip de Calmot]

Philip stood there, rather unhelpfully, as the men started to open the bottles and pour the drink into a number of goblets. His gaze was firmly set upon the king, trying to determine what the man was thinking. Philip prided himself on the fact that he was a good reader of people, he would soon be able to tell exactly what the king thought of his goods. He was surprised when the man walked towards him, but then he seemed to be taking a more personal approach to the whole business in general. His surprise was not shown though, Philip was as stoic as he usually was, but with a hint of a smile, just to make him seem that touch more approachable and trustworthy.

He hadn't been lying when he had said he was a lover of wines, he was clearly eager to make sure he bought nothing but the best. Well, the best was all that Philip dealt with. "An excellent choice, your Highness." Philip's smile grew slightly, compliments were always necessary around royalty. "This is a particularly full-bodied wine, so I would recommend small quantities. It was imported from the continent, bottled two years ago so I advice you let it breath for a while. If I may," he turned to one of the servants, "A fresh goblet, if you'd be so kind." The servant did as he was bid, and gave Philip a fresh goblet. He then took the bottle from the king and poured some into the fresh goblet, handing the bottle back when he had finished.

"Observe," he swirled the contents of the goblet slightly, and then tilted it so the king could see clearly, "The wine that runs down the side - the legs - they indicate the quality. The more of them present the better the wine will be, you can see for yourself whether this one meets your expectation."

[Princess Polyxena]

The King was impressed by the way the young man served the wine into the goblet. He gladly took the goblet, and drank from it. He didn't drank a lot, as he followed the advice of the winer seller. He thought that the strong taste of this wine would be something that his daughter would love.

Xenia didn't want to wait any long for a taste of the wine. She stood up from her throne, causing her mother to give her a look for her to stay sitting down. But Xenia didn't listen to her mother and told her, "I want to taste this wine too." Her father looked at her with a firmness in his eyes. But it did not stop her as she made her way to her father and the wine seller. She finally arrived to the men, her father still looking her with this firm look in his eyes. "I want to taste the wine as well and I could not stand to wait any longer," said Xenia, as she looked up at her father. Before she turned her head to the wine seller. "Would you do me the honor of serving me the same wine you served my father?" Xenia asked kindly.

[Philip de Calmot]

Everything seemed to be running smoothly, so that was something. With any luck he would make a good sale today. No, that wasn’t right. He didn’t need luck. He was Philip de Calmot after all; all he needed was a little charm and a smile. Royalty was easy. It was one of the first things he’d learnt when he had been forced into trade. They just wanted flattery and to know that they were getting the best, and in this case, the best was whatever Philip told them it was. Usually it was whatever he was having trouble shifting to the much fussier nobles, ones such as Rouland de Archer. A smirk was trying to force its way onto his lips. Thought of Rouland only led to thoughts of his niece, Caitrin. He hadn’t seen her in quite some time...perhaps it was time to go back to Camelot after he had finished in Graecia.

He was rather surprised when the princess stepped forward. Perhaps she wasn’t the wallflower he’d taken her for. Naturally, his surprise was not shown, instead he just looked at the king to see what his reaction was. Philip would happily oblige the girl if the king wanted him to. When he didn’t say anything, he assumed he should go ahead and allow Xenia some of the wine. He inclined his head towards her, a smile on his lips. “Of course, your highness, although it is a little strong.” He called for another goblet, poured some wine and offered it to her. “Enjoy.”

[Princess Polyxena]

“Of course, your highness, although it is a little strong.” He said and she did not care if it was too strong or not. She knew that of course! She loved wines that had a strong taste and a heavy smell. It was a reason why she did not drink too much wine and why she always drunk with measure. Though there was rare occasions when she did drink a lot. Before she moved the globet to her lips, she looked to her father. The expression on his face told her not to drink and to go sit back down. However, Xenia ingored him.

This was the moment that Xenia was waiting for all the morning. She brought the goblet near to her nose to smell it first. The smell was like she had expected, strong with fruity aromas. Satisfied with the smell, she continued to taste it. She moved the goblet to her lips, and drunk a little. The taste was very special and strong as the wine seller had said. She put down the goblet. Her face did not show any disappointment, nor pleasure! She just gave a cold look to her father, and after to the young man, before she made her way back to her throne.

The King, for a moment, didn't do anything, but then he gave a friendly look to the wine seller. He was a little disappointed of the behavior of his daughter, but he tried to hide it with a friendly smile. He gave a nod to a servant, and then said with firm voice. "There will be a celebration tonight to celebrate our deal. And you will be our official guest. I hope you will agree to attend." He gave a look to the servant then back to the young man. "This will be your servant during your stay here. But don't hesitate to ask me if you need or want anything. And now, he will show you your room." The King finished with a bright smile, before looking back to his wife and daughter.

[Philip de Calmot]

Philip watched carefully as the young woman tried the wine, in his experience it was often easier to get the daughters of rich men on side. They were the best ones to persuade their fathers after all. If the princess was pleased, surely her father would be pleased also. It could be a present, a rather expensive present to keep his darling daughter happy. She wasn’t giving anything away though as she made her way back to her seat, neither did Philip as he looked back at her father. He relaxed a little as the king smiled – not that there had really been much danger that he wouldn’t make a sale.

A celebration? Normally Philip would refuse such an invitation – one should never mix business with pleasure, but then normally such business was a little more fun. A celebration was probably something he needed, the practice before going back to Camelot. There was a certain redhead he found himself missing...well, not exactly missing. He didn’t miss anyone. Anyway. The king was expecting an answer. He smiled, looking at the king with a mixture of modesty and gratitude – a well practiced look. “It would be an honour, sire.” His gaze found the servant and he gave a small nod. “I cannot express my gratitude enough, thank you, sire.”