Worked hard to get this up and done. Hope you enjoy.
Day 1...
"Right, we are going to start off with sword fighting. This will be the hardest for you all... especially Merlin," shouted Dennis. All of the male servants laughed except Merlin. He sat on the floor, in the middle, at the front of all the servants, staring up at Dennis. Dennis and he had all the servants knowing what competitions that they were doing... Sadly, for Merlin, he was in nearly every single one.
Dennis picked up a sword and swung it in a full circle.
"With the sword fighting, you are doing everything as the knights do. However, we will be in front of the Kings..." Murmurs went round the group. The nobles never watched the servants. "Also, you shall be wearing a hood and mask so no one knows who you are... until after the fight when you show yourself." A few of the younger servants around Merlin's age were starting to be excited about the idea. "Sadly, only the best will do the real fighting."
"On the other hand, none of you know how to fight," Merlin said looking around at the. "So we'll have to teach you what we can," Merlin said, finally staring into Dennis's eyes.
The elderly woman walked down the muddy road, hood low over her face. Water dripped from the trees, a sign that it had rained not long ago. Sunshine was beating down on her as she left footprints behind her in the muddy ground. Suddenly, two men stepped in her way. She stopped walking.
"Shouldn't be out all alone should we Grandma?" one said.
"Might get hurt," sneered another. The woman stared past them.
"Mozgassa az útból," hissed the woman like a snake. Both men looked at one another. The woman raised her hood.
The men's screams, echoed for eternity.
They had been practising sword fighting for nearly five hours straight and he still hadn't improved. The sun was beating down on him and even though he was hot, he was not bothered about how he wasn't getting any better. For the past five hours, Dennis had been keeping a very close eye on Merlin.
"Merlin," he called, walking over to the young raven-haired boy. "What are you doing wrong?" he questioned, clasping his hands on Merlin's shoulders from behind.
Merlin sighed. "The sword is heavy, so I'm not holding it high enough. Plus I'm too slow and doing nearly everything wrong," was his reply. Dennis shook his head, taking his hands off Merlin's shoulders.
"No. You are you, and you have been told that you are terrible with a sword, meaning that you think and feel terrible with a sword," Dennis explained, stabbing his sword into the ground.
"I don't understand."
"Thought so. Long story short, you think you're terrible with a sword, so you are. Make up someone totally different and pretend that you are them. It's how I fight so well."
"By pretending you're someone who can fight? And if you pretend to be someone who can fight then you will be able to fight just as well as that person you thought of?" Merlin asked, slightly unsure of the idea.
"Yah," Dennis said, walking away backwards. "Name, age, past, dreams – everything."
Day 2...
Merlin walked backwards towards the end of the field, covered in mud from almost head to toe. They had been playing a game of Mixed Ball for nearly two hours now and Merlin had been tired after the first ten minutes of the game. Every inch of his body screamed for him to stop playing and just die. The field – Merlin guessed – was about 80 meters long and 50 meters wide. In a game, you need twenty people on each team, but since they only had one team of twenty, they played ten on ten. They were playing quite a way away from the castle, so they didn't kick the ball through one of the windows.
A servant, Robert, ran towards his goal, the goal Merlin was meant to be protecting. Robert was taller and stronger than Merlin, but not faster. As the servant was about to run past him, Merlin grabbed hold of the ball and tripped Robert up. The older servant fell onto the dirt, sliding a meter or two away from Merlin because of how slippy it was. From the force of Robert slipping over, Merlin spun round to the right twice before he stood still again. However, Merlin was not dizzy from the spinning. He heard Dennis, who was on his team, shout for him to kick down the field to him. Merlin looked at the ball in his hands then up at the goal.
Merlin dropped the ball.
He kicked it.
Smash!
The sound of breaking glass echoed across Camelot.
All the players on the field stopped and stared at the window that Merlin had just broken. They were very far way away from the castle – very, very far away – and Merlin had just kicked the ball through a window!
A servant with blonde hair named George came up to Merlin and slapped him on the back.
"Nice kick mate... But next time, don't aim for the window," he said, staring at the broken window. Merlin turned to face the servant. He groaned and flopped face first into the mud on the ground. Merlin lay still... probably not breathing.
Dennis sighed.
"Come on," he said, getting Merlin to his feet. Dennis and George dragged Merlin across the field towards the castle, preparing their excuses to Uther as they went.
Merlin couldn't move his legs because they refused to move. Merlin told them to move and carry his light body weight, but they refused. Therefore, Dennis and George had to carry him all the way to the castle. They got to the steps of the castle and Merlin's legs finally agreed to carry his own weight. They walked through the castle, mud dripping off them as they went.
George ran round the corner.
"I took the short cut, he's not in his chambers or the hall, or anywhere else," the young servant breathed deeply from running all over the castle.
"Then where the bloody hell is he? Why does this man always have to be a pain in the – " Dennis was cut off by some serving girls running down the corridor. Merlin noticed Gwen.
"Gwen," he said grabbing her arm and stopping her. "What's going on?" he questioned. Gwen shook her head.
"They're here. The people of Féroce have arrived." Gwen got free of Merlin's grasp and ran off. Merlin's face was emotionless as he turned to face Dennis. The group of servants walked towards the edge and looked out over the courtyard.
Men and woman in blue moved towards the castle, some on horses and many on foot. Uther and Arthur walked down the steps to greet the other King. The King of Féroce was a tall man with a brown beard and hair. He rode a white horse with pride. He stopped his horse and jumped off, his leather boots hitting the stone ground harshly. Servants rushed to grab the man's horse as he walked towards Uther. Both Kings grabbed one another's hands and shook. Uther scanned the servants.
"Glad to see your servants looking fierce as ever," Uther commented.
"Glad to see your servants looking... Creepy, as ever," commented the King. Uther looked round and followed the King's gaze. Every servant was leaning over a ledge, out of a window or stood still somewhere in the courtyard and was blankly staring at their rivals. Somehow, it was quite easy to tell that Dennis and Merlin were in charge of Camelot's servants.
"... Agreed," said Uther. "Don't just stand there! Get ready! We've got a feast tonight and you lot are meant to be kicking these losers back sides at the games!" roared Uther. Every servant scrambled away but Dennis, Merlin and George.
"It's good to see you again Uther."
"You too Wymer," Uther said smiling.
"My servants couldn't borrow your field could they? They would just like some last minute practice at Mixed Ball." Uther nodded and raised his arm, telling the servants which way the field was.
Wymer looked up. "Why is that window broken?"
Another man slammed into a fellow player, knocking him to the ground mercilessly. Merlin, Dennis and George winced, knowing that that must have hurt. Merlin leaned on a tall stick as the three watched the men from Féroce play Mixed Ball.
"They're bloody brutes," George said, as one man just was picked up and flung over a player's shoulders, colliding with the ground harshly.
"Are they even allowed to play that rough?" Merlin questioned, really not liking the look of this game anymore.
"Afraid so," Dennis said and Merlin gulped very loudly.
"Well, their kingdom isn't called fierce for nothing," Merlin said, watching the stronger men play. Dennis turned to Merlin.
"Last time I checked, they were called Féroce."
"Yah. That's French for fierce," Merlin said.
"Ah... You speak French?" Merlin nodded. "... Never knew that... Guess you do learn something every day." Dennis looked over at some of Camelot's servant. "Merlin, go get two more swords, one for me, one for you." Merlin nodded and jogged off.
Merlin jumped over some boxes and hurried off to the armoury. However, he wasn't looking where he was going and slammed into a very tall and muscular person. He fell backwards and hit the ground hard. Merlin looked up at the figure that he had just run into. He was tall with muddy brown hair and sharp black eyes.
"Watch it, Worm," sneered the taller man.
"S-S-S- Sorry," Merlin stuttered. He climbed to his feet. Merlin went to run off, but the big man blocked his path. Merlin went to turn round and run off, but some of the big man's friends stepped in his way.
"You're a Camelot servant, aren't ya?" Merlin nodded, too scared to answer. "Well, I'm from Petturi, I think you should know that since I'm gonna be the one pounding your face into the dirt when playing these games..." Man, this guy has it in for me, Merlin thought. Suddenly, the man grabbed Merlin and raised his fist. Merlin closed his eyes awaiting for the blow.
"Hey! Leave our mate alone," Merlin looked behind him to see Gwaine and Lancelot. Merlin scrubbed free of the man's grip and run over to them.
"That's it, run and hide. The Bird's gonna get ya, Worm." The man and his friends walked off. The three watched them go.
"Made some friends Merlin?"
The man that had tried to hurt Merlin earlier lay on his bed. He stared at the ceiling. He didn't want to attend the feast in fear that he might try and kill the boy again. He sighed and stood up.
You have to go Mavis…
Mavis was his name and he hated it, but loved it at the same time when she said his name. He looked to his left to see the old woman standing there.
"Don't worry; I'll make sure the boy won't interfere with your plan… Although, do tell me when I can kill him." With that, he left for the feast.
Mavis = Song Bird…
I've used about four different languages in this story. Let me know if you can see them all.
I feel as if I rushed this chapter, but I hope I haven't. Any questions then do ask.
Next up: Merlin gets into the first games and are lovely friend Mavis tries to make Merlin feel more like a worm.
Please review!