I'm back with another story!
I promise that it'll get better throughout the story. This is just filling you in of what's going to happen basically.
Give it a chance and enjoy!
Merlin jumped over a barrel and continued to run. He sprinted for dear life, getting faster and faster. He skidded round a corner and dodged two serving maids, shouting 'sorry' to them as he sprinted off through the castle. He ran up some stairs into the giant castle and almost ended up smashing his face into them. He continued to run. Merlin turned another corner and saw a maid cleaning the floor with water. Merlin tried stop before he reached the wet floor, but couldn't. His feet hit the wet floor. He skidded and spun on the floor, until his feet touched the dry floor at the other end corridor. Merlin continued to run, going round another corridor.
Merlin was running for dear life. Sweat was starting to drip off of him. He had slept in again and now Arthur was going to kill him… Not because he was late to serve Arthur, because he was late to a very, very, very, extremely important court meeting. It wasn't just this. Arthur had ordered him, instructed him to be there and not be late. Merlin had no idea why and Arthur refused to tell him. All Merlin knew was that he was going to die painfully if he was late.
Merlin ran round the back of the courtroom and jogged in from a side entrance. He ran up next to Gaius and tried to gain his breath back. Gaius rolled his eyes at how Merlin was almost late. Merlin huffed and puffed, gaining a few odd looks from other court members, but everyone knew how forgetful and idiotic Merlin was, so it was just classed as normal behaviour.
Suddenly, the courtroom doors opened and in walked Uther and Arthur. It had been three months now since Morgana had both taken over Camelot and been defeated.
The two men walked to the end of the room, people bowing as they walked by. They got to the end and Merlin noticed that Uther was smiling. Merlin felt even more scared when Uther smiled and nodded at him.
"Only a few know what happens at this time of year, every five years. For those of you that don't, I shall tell you. In three days time, the King's best knights and servants of Camelot, Petturi, Féroce and Credulus, shall be joined together for the "Games Of All!" Murmurs of joy and excitement ran through the crowds, but Merlin was still left looking confused. Arthur took a step forward.
"The Games Of All, is a competition where knights fight in a series of competitions to see who's kingdom is the best. However, not just the knights compete. The servants have their own game as well to see who's kingdom has the best servants." Merlin thought that this was ridicules. What were the servants going to do? See who can clean a floor the quickest? Uther carried on for his son.
"Knights shall be competing in normal competitions that knights fight in. The servants, on the other hand, compete differently. Female servants shall sew the best dresses, bake the best cakes, seeing who can carry the most milk through the castle the quickest and so on." Merlin was right. The servants just did stupid things. "The male servants however, shall be competing in sword fights, games of Mixed Ball, long running races, swimming activities, hunting and much more… dangerous things." Merlin's face drained of all colour.
What. The. Hell?
Why are the male servants doing that! That's outrageous... What's Mixed Ball anyway? Who cares! He'll die playing it anyway! No way is Merlin doing any of that stuff. He'll just stay out of sight and pray for a miracle…
"The two servants that shall be in charge of the servants for Camelot shall be my own servant Dennis – who shall be in complete control – and… Merlin…" A few people spoke when Merlin's name was mentioned. Merlin was frozen in shock. He was right In the middle of everything, with a mad man. He was destined to die.
This was very bad news.
People of the court flooded out of the room. Merlin dodged around them, leaving Gaius far behind. He searched for the one person he needed to speak to desperately. Suddenly, Gwaine and Percival blocked Merlin's path. No, Sir Gwaine and Sir Percival.
"Isn't this great Merlin!" Gwaine exclaimed. "You get to show off your skills… If you have any."
"Plus, we get to bash people's heads in for the glory of it. I hope they have a 'Who's the strongest' competition," Percival said excitedly. The two knights were a lot happier about this than Merlin was. Gwaine slapped the man on the back.
"Don't worry mate. If there isn't, then I'll set one up at the Tavern for ya." Percival smiled and Merlin caught Dennis's eye.
"Yah, that's great guys, really cool. I just, gotta go," and with that, Merlin was running off.
Merlin jogged after Dennis, calling his name. The servant turned round and smiled at Merlin. Dennis was taller than Merlin and older. He had been serving the King for ten years nearly now, and he still looked good for his age. He had black hair with small hints of grey that went just past his ears, his haircut looking quite a bit like Gwaine's. His face looked good for his age, but then, no one knew how old he was. Thirty? Forty? If he was fifty then he was very good for his age. He was quite muscular and was known for being smart… a bit of a mad man too. Everyone knew that he acted different around the king from when he was with the servants. However, from time to time, that fake cover would disappear and the King would see his servant for the cocky man that he was. Most servants looked up to Dennis and Merlin could never blame them, as he did too.
"Ah, Merlin, come to talk about the games have we?" He was smiling like a loony and Merlin knew there and then that he had been in the games before.
"Why do I have to be in the middle of it? More importantly, with you? No offence," Merlin added on the end. Dennis slapped his arm friendly.
"You're Prince Arthur's servant and I'm King Uther's. They're the top dogs, meaning we are the top dogs for the servants. We have access to parts of those men that other servants don't –"
"But –"
"Look, I'll see you in my chambers." What chambers? Merlin thought. "Also, take the luxuries whilst they last," the mysterious servant added, walking away. Luxuries? What's luxurious about this!
Suddenly, Merlin felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Arthur. Merlin opened his mouth to say something, but Arthur raised his hand to silence him.
"Merlin. Listen well to what I say. These games are violent and… slightly inhuman at times and my father will not accept coming second for a second time running. Camelot shall come first in the servant's games, so do as Dennis says." Arthur turned to walk away, but turned back and added: "Also, you and Dennis have been given some chambers of your own whilst the games are on. They are the servant quarters and yours have been put next to Dennis's… I've also put your name on a piece of paper and stuck it to the door of your chambers, just in case you choose the wrong one." Now, Arthur walked off. Merlin smiled.
That was quite good news.
Merlin knocked on the door to Dennis's chambers. A voice from inside beckoned him in. Merlin walked into the room to see Dennis sitting in a chair, feet up on a desk with papers with names on them. Merlin guessed that they were the names of servants. Not looking up from a paper he was holding, Dennis gestured Merlin to take a seat. Merlin walked across the room and sat down.
Dennis put the paper down.
"Right, sadly, you and I are stuck in the middle of all this. We gotta work out a plan. Any questions before we start?"
"Yah, what's Mixed Ball?" Merlin asked.
"You have a ball and two teams. One team must score by kicking the ball over a pole, touching it past the try line or shooting it through a hoop. So must the other team, but in the opponents score zone. You can kick the ball, run with the ball, throw it to others, and bounce it, whatever works best for you. We'll go through this more later… We'll probably fail at this as Féroce always ruins our plans." Merlin leaned in close and poked the table.
"Then we'll have to create a plan for when they ruin our original plan." Dennis eyed Merlin after he said that. Dennis then leaned over the table.
"I think you might have been born for these games Merlin," he said. Merlin snorted, knowing that Dennis was joking. However, he wasn't. Merlin's face fell.
"Seriously?"
"Yep," he popped the 'p'. Merlin tilted his head, as if he was thinking about something.
"At least we have three days to get ready for all this. Starting right now with who's doing what?" Merlin asked.
"Yep," he popped the 'p' again. "And its two days."
"Three," Merlin insisted. Dennis snorted.
"Like I'm starting training today… Too bloody lazy to do that."
Mixed Ball is a mixture of netball, rugby, football and basketball.
If there are any questions, just asked.
Up next is training for all of the competitions plus the other kings, knights and servants arriving(This is going to be such hell for Merlin I can tell you now)!
Please review!