Merlin fell to the ground with a soft thump. Stunned for a small second, he looked up in time to see a sword falling down towards him. On instinct he brought his own sword up, blocking the attack before it struck. Breathing heavily, he parried more blows, scrambling to get up. Walking backwards slowly, he tried to judge the next attack from his opponent. He was concentrating so hard that he stumbled, crashing to the floor without any need for attack - he had just brought himself down.
Arthur rolled his eyes as his servant fell to the floor, a stunned look on his face. The prince pointed the tip of his sword against Merlin's throat lightly.
"Really Merlin, you are totally useless. How will you ever handle a sword, when you can barely handle yourself?" He pulled his sword back, sliding it into its sheath. He was exasperated, but refused to give up. Ever since that damned attack during the hunt, Merlin's lack of fighting skills had come more and more to Arthur's attention.
Finding himself moaning to Merlin about how the young servant barely knew how to hold a sword, Merlin had brought up the small fact that not everyone had the privilege of being a knight, trained in hand to hand combat, sword fighting, mace fighting, and so on. So Arthur had decided to try and at least teach Merlin the basics. It was proving a harder task than he first thought.
So that's how they found themselves in one of the smaller, unused courtyards of the castle, Arthur supposedly out on a minor hunt, and Merlin supposedly searching for herbs for Gaius. Well, no one could know about the Prince of Camelot teaching his manservant how to fight. It just wasn't acceptable.
Merlin pushed himself up; picking dead leaves out of the spare armour that had been dug out of a pile in the armoury. He picked up his sword, having abandoned it in his fall. He could feel Arthur's gaze on him as he straightened up. He risked a glance at the prince, who was staring at Merlin in something between disbelief and exasperation.
"Merlin, you realised you just felled yourself. I was wrong, you're deadly with a sword, and you could kill yourself." The prince shook his head, puzzled at how something that came so easily to him could be so difficult for anyone else.
He pulled his sword out of its sheath again, spinning it reflexively in his hand. To him the action was habitual, something he'd always done with a sword, but to Merlin it looked lethal, the silver catching the light of the sun and flashing in his eyes. Holding his own sword down by his side, he watched Arthur approach, searching for an indicator of which side the attack would come from.
Arthur swung sharply at Merlin, feinting to the right, and coming in from the left. Merlin flashed his sword up just in time to parry the blow, their swords meeting with a sharp clash. Merlin searched his mind for an idea of what to do. He twisted his sword, taking Arthur's wrist along with the movement, making it almost impossible for his sword to move. Almost. Arthur pulled back, with a small smile.
"At least we know we're getting somewhere Merlin." He smirked, lunging forward with his sword, taking Merlin by surprise. The young warlock stumbled back, dodging the attack.
"What are you doing!" Merlin shouted, his black hair falling into his eyes. Arthur swung again, Merlin stepping back to dodge.
"A true opponent would never miss a chance for attack, Merlin" The prince said, his sword slicing through the air towards the boy.
"Always be ready for a surprise attack." Arthur said, smiling at the sight of his shocked manservant stumbling backwards.
"If I was ready, it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" Merlin said, radiating shock and annoyance. The young warlock fell back, knocking the breath out of him. He dropped his sword, and splayed his hands in surrender. Arthur tapped the boy's neck with his sword, grinning.
"I win." He said smugly.
Merlin knew this was far from over.
