"Is it your wish to die today, peasant?"
The Camelot throne room was tense with King Uther's words as they rang through the crowd of knights, noblemen and, of course, Gaius and Merlin.
And yet the girl with her hands tied behind her back remained completely calm as she lifted her head, revealing almost a half smirk. "I stand by what I said, your highness." The strength in her voice hit the crowd even harder that the threat of Uther's. "Knights are put in place to protect their people, not abuse them. I refuse to apologize to a man not even worthy to wash my boots."
"Insolence!" Uther shouted as the room erupted into catastrophic mutters and whispers. Who was this young girl, who was able to speak to arguably the most powerful king in the land as if he were a common stable boy? "Arthur," the king commanded, turning from the young girl, whose pale blue eyes were now scanning the room back and forth. "Were you there? Are you aware of what she speaks?"
Arthur stepped forward, his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed, not as if mad, but rather confused. "There were several others at the scene, but none can explain it fully. She claims that Sir Roland, Sir Malar, and Sir Valenstar were terrorizing a shopkeeper and his children until she intervened. And yet Sir Roland and John seem to have a clearly different story."
"And Sir Malar?" Uther asked, stroking his chin softly.
"Still unconscious. Gaius claims it may be days before he recovers fully."
"Gaius, we have to do something." Merlin said as the two royals conversed. "I was there, I saw it; that girl saved those children."
"That may be so, Merlin," Gaius said softly, "But your word is hardly anything next to the word of three noble knights. If they deny the truth, there's not much we can do."
"Sir Roland! Sir Valenstar…" The two knights stepped forward at the king's command, one with a black eye and the other with a ripped ear. "What do you say happened here?"
Sir Roland coughed slightly, and wiped the hair out of his face so the crowd could have a better view of his purple eye before starting. "We were patrolling the streets of Camelot, my lord, when these four children ran into the middle of the road. As we tried to usher them back to their father…"
"Liars!" The young girl shouted.
"This miscreant attacked us!" He finished, eyes flaming as his took a step towards her.
"Wait a moment, Sir Roland…" Arthur said, taking the knight by the shoulder, "Are you saying that this one girl, when placed against three knights of Camelot, did all this," He gestured to the battered knights, "as well as put Sir Malar in a coma?" The knights fell silent. "If you ask me…" Arthur finished, "I believe this, if anything, proves that our faith in the two of you as knights, must be reevaluated."
"But sir!" Roland exclaimed.
"She is a woman, sire." Valenstar elaborated. "We wouldn't dare harm a mere woman."
"And yet you needed the help of ten other knights just to apprehend her?" Uther joined. "I do believe my son has a point in questioning your competency regarding this situation. But…" He turned again to the girl. "That still doesn't excuse your impudence regarding this entire affair."
"The only impudence here," she smiled, "Is that you have no idea how to properly rule those in your kingdom who need you most."
"Why, you ignorant waste of life!" Uther snarled, "I'll have you rot in the…"
"Sire!" The entire room turned to find the source of the loud, strong voice, and instead found the nervous face of the prince's black haired manservant.
"Merlin," Arthur frowned, "What are you doing?"
"Sire, I wish to plead on behalf on the girl." Merlin gulped, "You see, she has just come to Camelot, and she is unaware of the proper decorum that is expected in a kingdom."
"What care do you have for the life of a meaningless street urchin?" Uther gawked, humoring the boy.
"Well… You see, sir, she uh… she's my sister." Merlin said, thinking off the top of his head. This of course caused the hall to yet again go into an airy frenzy and merited a surprised, "Merlin!" from Arthur. But none were more surprised than the brown haired girl kneeling in the middle of the elaborate ball room. She made eye contact with the boy briefly, trying to search for any selfish motivations in his trying to save her skin. What is this boy planning?
"The fact that you have the misfortune to be related to this ungrateful wrench does not change the severity of her crimes." Uther said firmly.
"Sire," Arthur said, stepping forward once more. "If this girl means something to Merlin, I cannot let that trust go unwarranted."
"Arthur…" Uther said warningly.
"Perhaps she just needs some guidance..."
"Crimes such as hers cannot be unpunished."
"Then let her work out her sentence in labor." Arthur said. "Father, we are charging her for crimes we do not fully understand. If anything, let her work until we gather more evidence of her wrongdoings, then properly convict her."
Uther took in a breath, his eyes cold and hard. "If you try to save this girl, Arthur," He said firmly, "Anything and everything she does is entirely on your hands."
Arthur sighed, "I understand that, Father."
He paused and glanced once more at the battered pile of mousy hair and blue eyes in front of him. "Fine." Uther snarled reluctantly. "Get her out of my sight."
And with that, the crowd dispersed back to the dining hall where they had been frolicking merrily before the rude interruption. Merlin rushed over to the girl as the knights were untying her hands. But, before he could say anything, Arthur swooped in behind him. "I hope you appreciate what your brother is doing for you." He said angrily. "You're lucky to still be alive after what you did."
The girl looked as though she were about to say something snarky, but after glancing at Merlin, pulled herself back. "I realize my error in judgment…" She stopped, but then added hastily, "Sire."
Arthur looked her up and down. "What is your name?"
"Ana."
"What do you do well? Sew? Clean? Cook?"
"No, sir." Ana said, almost laughing.
"What kind of woman are you? Didn't your mother teach you anything?"
The girl suddenly became very stiff. "No, but my father did." She said firmly. "I can shoe a horse quicker than you can mount one."
Arthur scoffed at her cockiness. "Meet me at the stable at sunrise. Then, we'll see." Before he walked away, he grabbed Merlin's shoulder, "You better teach that girl some manners, Merlin. And don't forget this favor."
"Of course, sire. Thank you." And Arthur returned with the others to the dining room.
Merlin turned around and sighed, smiling. "Well, come on. You can sleep with me and Gaius tonight."
He started down the hall, but Ana didn't follow. "Why are you doing all this?" Merlin turned and saw the mistrust in the young girl's eyes, a kind of skepticism made from years of false friends and shattered promises.
"Doing what?"
"You and I both know very well I'm not your sister. I was dead today before you said anything." She tensed. "Why are you risking your skin to save mine?"
Merlin leaned in close and whispered so no one could hear. "I saw you today at the marketplace. You helped those children and saved that shopkeeper. No one deserves to die for that."
Ana was still for a moment, but finally let out a long breath. "All right."
"Good," Merlin smiled, "Now let's go find Gaius," and as the two walked on, Merlin muttered under his breath wistfully, "And find out who you really are."