Chapter 2: A Shield in the Shadows (Part 1)

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews for my first chapter, you guys rock. However, only one person guessed my favourite character, and that person is Meri Ley. You get a virtual cookie.

Also, if anyone is curious, Arthur and Merlin are 19 at this time, and Morgana is 22.


The cave was as silent as a tomb save for the slow dripping of water. To the unobservant guest it would appear to be empty, but if one looked closely, they would see a great winged beast perched on top of a large rock, lost in his thoughts. Kilgaharrah hated his prison and longed to be free once more, but he had more pressing matters at hand. It has been mere hours since Merlin rescued Arthur at the feast, and the new Prince was enjoying giving his new servants as many tasks as he could think of. No doubt the warlock did not feel overly sympathetic to his new master; they were still a long way from the alliance that would ultimately purge magic from the lands of Albion forever.

He had not forgotten the vision he had received of Morgana sitting upon the throne of Camelot, with Merlin at her side. It was no doubt one of the many possible futures, and it would be one that he would try to prevent. Kilgaharrah sighed and smoke came wafting from his nostrils; the problem with trying to act against a future was that you could inadvertently cause it to come true. Many men in the past have seen such visions and tried to prevent them, only to realise that in the end it was their attempts to change the future that would make their dreams come to pass. He would not let that happen to him.

To him, there was only one logical course of action; Morgana must die. He just wished he knew how he could accomplish such a feat without turning Merlin against him.


Merlin sweltered beneath the many different pieces of armour he was forced to wear, he doubted he could name any of the pieces other than the helmet. He had been 'training' with Arthur for nearly an hour now. This armour was ridiculous; it seemed that it was designed to trap heat, cooking its wearing alive beneath the midday sun. As Arthur resumed his relentless assault with his wooden sword, Merlin tried to raise his shield to block. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea how to hold it properly, and each blow was probably leaving a bruise mark his arm. Suddenly, Arthur feinted and Merlin raised his shield to block a blow that never came, allowing Arthur to swing his sword around in another direction and land a solid blow on his helmet with an earth shattering noise.

"Ow!" cried Merlin instinctively. "I think you just blew my eardrums!"

"Oh don't be such a girl Merlin. I've had worse and my hearing is perfectly fine," said Arthur nonchalantly. Despite himself, Arthur was beginning to like his new servant. For all his flaws, at least he wasn't down on his knees begging for mercy, like all his previous servants did. Besides, he could count on one finger the number of servants that had saved his life.

"Maybe your hearing is fine, but all those knocks on your head probably contributes to your lack of intelligence," muttered Merlin under his breath.

"Did you just say something Merlin?" asked Arthur with a threatening tone creeping into his voice.

"I was just saying that maybe we should head back inside," replied Merlin hastily.

"Head back inside? It's barely midday!" said an exasperated Arthur. "We will continue until the sun sets. Mastery of the sword is a skill honed through constant practice, and I've got a tournament to win."

Merlin groaned and raised his shield again.


Morgana watched the prince 'duel' his new servant through her window. It was obvious that the boy had no clue about how to wield a sword. Indeed, it seemed like that he was not using his sword at all; instead he was hiding behind his shield as Arthur rained down blow after blow. Arthur claimed to be 'practicing' for the tournament in the days ahead, but she doubted he could improve his skills by fighting a servant. How she longed for the days when she still had the freedom to do whatever she pleased; in years past she might have donned her own armour and shown him a trick or two.

Her thoughts turned to the tournament tomorrow; Uther was no doubt planning the spectacle in order to increase his son's prestige. Arthur always won these tournaments, and Uther said it increased the people's confidence in him. Personally, she never saw the connection between the ability to kill someone with a blade and the ability to rule a kingdom effectively, but the people thought otherwise. She often wondered what would happen if Arthur actually lost one of these tournaments; perhaps it would be good for him. After all, he already had the ego of two men combined, and learning the meaning of modesty might make him a more worthy king than Uther. She gazed down at Arthur again, watching him land another blow onto his servant's head and grimaced as she saw the boy fall to the ground; that was it, there was no way she was going to go to yet another feast with Arthur as her escort again. Now if only she could figure out how to ensure that Arthur does lose.


It was late in the night when Merlin finally returned to his room in Gaius's house. The prat of a Prince got to enjoy a hot meal straight from the palace kitchens after their 'duel', while he got to muck out the stables for another two hours. His body ached all over as it protested the abuse it had received. Merlin collapsed at a chair as he heard Gaius chuckle at sight of his bedraggled warlock.

"So, how was your first day as Arthur's servant?" asked Gaius.

"Do you hear something ringing Gaius?" asked Merlin rhetorically as he tapped his head. He has still not gotten the noise out of his head after the beating Arthur gave him today.

"It'll get easier, trust me," said Gaius with a reassuring tone. He was massaging Merlin's body so that he would not feel even worse when he woke up tomorrow morning.

"It was horrible! And I've still got to learn all about tournament etiquette by tomorrow morning," complained Merlin. "I save Arthur from being killed and I end up as his slave. How is that fair?"

"I'm not sure fairness comes into it. You never know, it might be fun," lied Gaius. The physician did not feel that it would do any harm if he could somehow encourage the boy to like his work. "Besides, you still get paid, so it's not like you are a slave."

"You think mucking out Arthur's horses is going to be fun? You should hear my list of duties. Being paid means nothing if you don't have the time to spend it!"

"We all have our duties. Arthur might have the hardest duty of them all, even if it doesn't look that way."

Merlin rolled his eyes at the statement Gaius just made, and then stopped as he considered what he would do if he was the crown prince. Probably find some new servants so that the he didn't just have one servant do everything for him.

"It must be so hard for him with all the women and the glory," ranted Merlin; he was not feeling sorry for Arthur at all.

"He is a future king. People expect him to be a great leader. He's under a lot of pressure from his father and his people."

"That makes two of us," said Merlin miserably.


Morgana rose early the following day; she wanted to inspect the knights that have come to Camelot to challenge Arthur for his title. Her heart fell as she saw Arthur's competition training against their practice dummies. Most of them were horrifically incompetent compared to Arthur. Morgana thought that even she could defeat a few of them personally, regardless of the fact that she had not been allowed to wield a sword for years. They were slow, their footwork was shabby and their eyes seemed to betray the very next move they would make; they might as well just return to their fathers before they made themselves look like fools in front of the entire kingdom.

Just as Morgana was about to leave the training grounds, she spied another knight out of the corner of his eyes. While he was not particularly tall or strong, she noticed that his footwork was solid, and he was soundly defeating all the other knights in practice matches without looking overly stressed. In fact, if she did not know better, she almost thought that he looked bored out of his mind. Curious now, she walked up towards him with a confidant stride.

As Morgana approached and lifted her hood, all the other knights stepped back and bowed their heads in respect; all but the mysterious knight. She was beginning to admire this man.

"My Lady Morgana," addressed the man with a slight bow before looking right back into her eyes. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"No pleasure I'm afraid, I'm merely here to inspect the Prince's competition," replied Morgana. "I must say I'm impressed with the level of skill you display, Ser..."

"Ser Valiant of Western Isles, third son of Lord Mormont," said Valiant respectfully. "And you honour me milady, but my swordsmanship is rather poor compared to Prince Arthur."

"Perhaps if you were to fight with the lady's favour, it would improve your odds," said Morgana smoothly. "Ride with me this afternoon, for I would like to get to know you better."

"By your command milady; but what of the king?" said Valiant uncertainly. "He would certainly not appreciate you supporting anyone but the prince."

"Please Ser Valiant, the tournament is meant to show the unity of Camelot's fiefdoms," said Morgana. "Supporting you over the prince will only show the enemies of Camelot our strength and unity. I'm sure King Uther would agree with me."

"I shall meet you at the palace gates at midday then milady," said Valiant with a smile.

Morgana almost allowed herself to smirk as she saw the various other knights gaze with jealousy at Ser Valiant.


Merlin breathed heavily as he carried Arthur's insanely heavy armour down to Gwen's house. She promised that she would show him how to equip a man in armour properly, as Merlin had no idea where to begin with all the myriad straps and buckles. Whoever designed this armour obviously had a serious grudge against servants everywhere.

Gwen was waiting for him as he finally reached her house. As she saw him stumbling through the streets with the armour balanced precariously on his arms, she hurried out to help him before he dropped the armour. Merlin gave out a breath of relief as some of the load was removed.

"Thanks, I was sure I was about to drop something," said Merlin gratefully.

"We wouldn't want to get the Prince's armour dirty, would we?" teased Gwen. If Merlin didn't know better, he would have thought that this girl liked him.

As they stepped inside her house, Merlin noticed how much better it was compared to his own chambers. The house may not be the best he had seen, but it almost made him feel like it was home.

"Come in and put the armour on the table, and I'll teach you how to identify each individual piece," said Gwen.

"Say, do all servants get a house like this if they serve for long enough?" asked Merlin hopefully, not really paying attention to what Gwen was saying.

"Of course not," said Gwen with a laugh. "The house belongs to my father, the blacksmith, and the Lady Morgana was kind enough to allow me to stay with him after I became her maid."

"Ah, so your father is the blacksmith. That would explain how you know so much about armour," said Merlin."

"Yes," said Gwen with a blush on her face. "It's quite sad, isn't it."

"No I think it's brilliant," replied Merlin, giving her his best smile. "I just wish I had a house like this though."

"Even if you did, the Prince would probably make you stay in the castle; this is Arthur we're talking about after all," said Gwen cheekily. "Either way, you wouldn't have what you want, so no point dreaming about it."

"Yeah I suppose," grumbled Merlin. "It's still a nice dream though."

With that, Gwen turned towards the armour and began introducing him to each part of the armour, explaining where each part goes and how to put it on. Vambraces, voiders; the terms seemed like another language, and it took all of Merlin's concentration to recognise each individual piece and learn how to put them on properly. He groaned inwardly; exactly why did he save Arthur again?


Morgana walked back to her chambers quickly as she wondered how she could convince Valiant to work with her. She needed to make the ride look inconspicuous, for Uther would no doubt press her to consider a marriage to Valiant if he thought she was attracted to him in any way. He had been trying to get her to marry into one of the noble houses for years, and he might think that the third son of Lord Mormont was a suitable candidate. She sighed to herself as she recalled the numerous suitors Uther had presented to her in the past year; they had all been rich merchants or the pompous, spoilt sons of some minor lord.

"Gwen, I want you to prepare my horse," said Morgana as her most trusted maid entered her chambers; she was looking rather bedraggled for some reason. "After that, inform the king that I would like to go out for a ride to pay my respects to my mother's grave, and I want Ser Valiant to accompany me as my escort, along with two of the palace guard."

"Milady, could I ask about the real reason behind this visit?" said Gwen uncertainly.

Morgana smiled to herself as she heard her maid ask such a bold question. Over the years, she had gotten to know the woman so well that she considered her more of a friend rather than a servant. She was shy and unremarkable, but her tendency to speak her mind was what made her so unique in Camelot.

"You know me too well Gwen," said Morgana with a laugh. "I just wanted to discuss certain strategies with Ser Valiant concerning our favourite prince."

"You're going to try and help Ser Valiant win?" said Gwen, the shock on her face betraying her emotions.

"Arthur has won every tournament for the last three years; I think it's time for a change in scenery," said Morgana. "Besides, you would do the same as me if you had to have him as your escort to the feast."

"But milady, it isn't proper to lie to the Kin-" stammered Gwen.

"Guinevere, do you serve me, or do you serve Uther?" asked Morgana sharply, cutting her maid short. There was a steely gaze in her eyes, as if she was only expecting one answer. For a moment, Gwen saw Morgana not as a friend, but a queen in her own right.

"I serve you milady," said Gwen meekly. It wasn't as if she had a choice anyway.

"Then you will do as I command," ordered Morgana.

"I'll see to it that your horse is prepared," replied Gwen dutifully.

"Remember Gwen, you're not lying to the King, you just don't have to tell him the whole truth," said Morgana, warmth flowing back into her voice. "Keep that in your mind if it makes it easier for you."

Somehow she didn't think that made her maid any less nervous.


Merlin was almost done with Arthur armour, and he had to admit that the Prince did look rather intimidating when he was in it. He was doing much better than he expected, and he owned that all to Gwen. She taught him for hours without progress, but when she realised he still didn't understand what he was supposed to be doing, she told him to dress her in the armour instead. That made it much easier as she could simply show him how to put a certain piece on without trying to explain it all in words. He smiled as he recalled the memory of Gwen in Arthur's armour; she certainly did not look the part of a prince at all.

"You do know that the tournament starts tomorrow?" said Arthur exasperatedly. "You were late for almost an hour today! I expect you to arrive on time tomorrow, or there will be consequences."

"Are you nervous?" asked Merlin, trying to change the subject as he fiddled with a particularly annoying buckle.

"A Prince does not get nervous, especially when he knows he's better than his competition," said Arthur. Merlin somehow felt that the show of bravado was just to cover his real emotions.

"Really? I thought everyone got nervous."

"That's why I'm the prince, while you're not," said Arthur smugly. "Now stop babbling and get on with your job."

As Merlin did up the final buckle, he stood back to admire his work; not bad, if he had to say so himself.

"Aren't you forgetting something," said Arthur impatiently.

Merlin looked at Arthur again; he was sure that everything was on and done up properly. Maybe Arthur was just trying to throw him off.

"My sword!" said Arthur at last.

"Oh of course! Uh I guess you will be needing that," said Merlin quickly as he handed over the sword.

Arthur grabbed the sword and proceeded to march off towards the training ground. Fortunately for Merlin, he was going to practice with the knights instead.

"I expect you to be here at dawn tomorrow to arm me for the tournament," said Arthur loudly as he walked out of the tent. "Oh and don't forget to wash my tunic, clean my boots, clean the stables and give my horses some much needed exercise."

"That well better than expected," muttered Merlin to himself. He sighed as he got back to his other duties.


Morgana enjoyed the few rides she got. It wasn't often that Uther allowed her out of the castle, but he almost always allowed her to go out whenever she asked to visit her mother's grave. She often wondered why the same didn't hold true for her father's grave; perhaps Uther felt too guilty about how he left his best friend to die. As the small group got close to their destination, they slowed to a stop. The grave was on top of a small mound, and they would have to walk the rest of the way on foot.

"You two will stand guard by the horses; warn us if you see anything suspicious," said Morgana to the two guards. "My maid and Ser Valiant can come with me as I pay my respects to my mother."

As she knelt down before the tombstone, she brushed away the dirt on the engraving. The words on the tomb had been obscured by time, but now she could read them again.

'Here lies the Lady Vivienne, loving wife of Ser Gorloise and ...' [1]

Morgana frowned as she tried to make out the rest of the inscription. It seemed like someone had deliberately erased the words that followed. She shook her head lightly to clear her mind; it was probably just the wind and rain that eroded it away. She couldn't help but feel a little curious about what the rest of the inscription said though. However there was much work to be done if she was to ensure Arthur's loss, and so she quickly turned her thoughts to the matter at hand.

"I assume you've already realised what we came here for?" asked Morgana.

"To visit your mother's grave?" responded Ser Valiant with a confused look on his face. Morgana felt the slight urge to tear at her hair. He may have been good with a sword, but his mind was obviously not quite as sharp.

"Think Ser Valiant, I could have asked any number of men to escort me," said Morgana exasperatedly. "Why did I choose you?"

"I was the best warrior on the training field, you said as much this morning," boasted Valiant. "If anyone was to attack you, I would be able to defend you the best."

"While I'm touched by your concern, we can see the walls of Camelot from here. It's unlikely bandits will strike within viewing distance of the battlements," said Morgana, realising that this was obviously not going anywhere, and so she decided to cut to the heart of the matter. "No, I'm here to discuss the tournament with you, namely Prince Arthur."

For a moment Morgana thought she saw a shadow of doubt emerge on Valiant's face; surely he was not trying to hide something from her. Then his face quickly returned to normal, and he looked her in the eye, as if trying to judge her character again.

"Forgive me milady, but a woman should not interfere with the affairs of men. I will defeat Prince Arthur in your name, you have my promise," said Valiant nonchalantly.

"Believe what you want, but if you meet Arthur on the field, he will defeat you," said Morgana confidently. "If you wish to win, you will listen to my words."

Valiant looked like he was shocked. Morgana thought that he was probably not used to women giving him orders back in his father's castle. He better get used to it soon, or she might just let Arthur win after all.

"Of course milady," said Valiant cautiously. "What it is you propose that we do?"

"I've known Arthur since he was a child. He's arrogant and confident, but he also likes to pretend he's honourable in front of the crowds," said Morgana. "We will use this to our advantage."

Valiant now looked even more confused. He probably expected her to describe some of Arthur's manoeuvres and their counters. Morgana resisted the temptation to roll her eyes, men hardly ever thought beyond the physical solution to a problem.

"Forgive me milady, but I do not understand," said Valiant. "How do we use that to our advantage?"

"It's simple," replied Morgana. "If you are to fight Arthur, you must pretend to strain your right ankle before the match between you and him."

Realisation finally dawns on Valiant's face, and he gave her a genuine smile.

"Of course milady, then perhaps Arthur will move slower to prolong the show for the crowds. After all, fighting a man with a sprained ankle is more or less an assured victory," said Valiant, relief appearing on his face.

"He will not be expecting much movement from that leg; he will overcompensate on your left side, and then you can use that to your advantage," finished Morgana.

Valiant grinned from ear to ear as he absorbed all the aspects of the plan. Morgana had deliberately made it simple, but it preys on Arthur's greatest weakness at the same time. She vaguely remembered her father say 'Simplicity often leads to success.' Over the years, she quickly learnt that what her father said was true.

"Thank you my lady for your advice," said Valiant as he kissed her hand. "I will see you at the opening ceremony tomorrow."

"One last thing Ser Valiant," said Morgana sharply. "You will need to sprain your ankle in some other way after you defeat Arthur; we wouldn't want to the Court Physician to see that your ankle had magically healed overnight. After all, you do not want the King to accuse you of trickery, or worse, sorcery."

Valiant nodded solemnly as he led her and Gwen back to the horses. Out of the corner of her eye, Morgana saw that her maid was looking rather uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong Gwen?" asked Morgana worriedly.

"It's just that don't you think it's wrong to trick Arthur?" asked Gwen hesitantly.

Morgana laughed lightly; her maid was often too good natured for her own good; trust her to get sentimental over someone like Arthur.

"Relax Gwen, Arthur needs a bruise on his ego before it grows out of control," said Morgana dismissively. "It'll make him a better man."


The day of the tournament dawned and Merlin woke up with a loud groan. He wanted to just pull the covers over his head and drift off into sweet oblivion again, but the sun was too bright and shone through his rather thin sheets.

The sun! Arthur ordered him to meet him at dawn, and he was probably late already. Merlin almost jumped out of his bed and put on his shoes before rushing out towards the training field; fortunately he was already in his clothes as he had forgotten to take them off the night before. Merlin wondered what Arthur would do to him this time; make him clean the stables and empty out the human waste? He hurried towards the preparation tent; he hoped that if he wasn't too late Arthur would only force him to clean the stables.

To his surprise, he arrived at the tent, only to find that there was no one inside. Confused, he walked around the tent and for a moment he thought he walked into the wrong place. However he soon spotted Arthur's armour on a stand. Merlin scratched his head as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong, but his eyelids would not keep open and he soon drifted off to sleep on the wet morning grass.

Merlin was dreaming; he was running from the palace guard but he didn't know why. The hallways were strangely familiar, yet different at the same time. He only heard the guards behind him shouting something incoherent, and knew he had to keep going...

"Good morning Merlin, fancy seeing you here on time today," said Arthur in a rather cheerful tone.

Merlin woke with a start, trying to shake off his rather strange dream. He opened his bleary eyes and peered up at Arthur, who had a large grin on his face.

"Arthur? Where were you, I've been waiting here for a while now," said Merlin sleepily.

"Well seeing as you were late yesterday, I didn't want you to be late on the day of the tournament," said Arthur smugly. "So I decided to get you to come here far earlier than you needed to so that you would be on time."

"I didn't even have time for breakfast," moaned Merlin. He could already feel his stomach grumbling in protest.

"You can eat your breakfast after you arm me. Let's see if you can do it faster today."

Merlin got to work as fast as he could, all the while grumbling to himself. He wished he could make Arthur pay for this, but knew that it would properly make things worse for himself if he did.


As the king's ward, Morgana had one of the best seats in the arena; the one right next to Uther's place. It seemed to her that Uther had always given the duties that traditionally belonged to the Queen of Camelot. Today, however, she had more important things to do than to sit around and look the part of a Queen. She watched as the knights slowly filed into the circular ring; it was more or less a repurposed training ground, with plenty of sand on the ground to make sure that the blood wouldn't be too hard to clean up. The crowds in the stands seemed very enthusiastic about the tournament, and for once she shared their feelings; it has been so many years since Prince Arthur had lost a tournament, and she wondered how he would deal with the blow to his pride.

"Knights of the realm, it's a great honour to welcome you to a tournament at Camelot," proclaimed Uther. "Over the next three days, you will come to put your bravery to the test, your skills as warriors, and of course, to challenge the reigning champion, my son, Prince Arthur."

At the mention of Arthur's name, the people gave a loud resounding cheer that seemed to make the ground shake in response. Morgana just shook her head; this was exactly why Arthur had to lose. Even the commoners were trying to inflate his ego now, as if he did not have enough worshippers in court.

"Only one can have the honour of being crowned champion, and he will receive a prize of a thousand gold pieces," continued Uther. "It is in combat that we learn a knight's true nature, whether he is indeed a warrior or a coward. Let the tournament begin!"

As usual, Arthur was the first to fight, against a knight who belonged to some vague fiefdom to the west of Camelot. Morgana dismissed the man from the list of knights she had to watch; she didn't expect anyone except Valiant to stand a chance against Arthur. Time proved her right as Arthur easily disarmed the knight and forced him to yield. The crowd erupted in cheering applause as Arthur waved to them; though he wasn't exactly the most intelligent man, he always knew how to please the crowd, a useful characteristic to have if he was going to be king some day. She however was not falling for the act, but she still forced a smile as she clapped politely. Acting the part of the perfect princess was something that was forced onto her years ago when she became Uther's ward, and she wore it like a second skin.


The first day of the tournament passed quickly for Merlin, and to his surprise, he was actually enjoying himself. It was a grand spectacle that he would have never imagined back in Ealdor. The crowds themselves astonished Merlin. He never knew that so many people could sit together at once; they were like a sea of faces, and they were all cheering for Arthur. Despite himself, he started cheering for Arthur as well as he waved in Merlin's general direction.

Merlin did not know much about swordplay, but as the day wore on, he noticed one knight that stood out among the others. He had a strange shield with the emblem of three snakes that intertwined with each other. This one knight seemed to defeat his opponents with ease, and Merlin noticed Arthur watching him too. He walked over to the prince, who was watching the fight with an eagled eyed gaze.

"That man looks pretty handy with a sword," remarked Merlin.

"His name is Ser Valiant," replied Arthur without taking his eyes off the fight. "He fought in the Great Purge ten years ago."

Merlin did not reply as he watched Valiant hit his opponent directly on the face with his shield, sending the other knight to the ground. The man seemed to be knocked out cold and Uther declared Valiant to be the victor. He tensed himself as Valiant strode over in his direction.

"I wish to offer my congratulations on your victories today," said Valiant smoothly.

"Likewise," said Arthur curtly.

"I hope to see you at the reception this evening milord," said Valiant. "After all, it's not every day one gets to meet the best warrior in all of Camelot."

"He seemed rather shady to me," said Merlin as Valiant left. Privately he was scared that someone who was part of the Great Purge would be able to sense magic.

"I think it's time to let you in on a secret Merlin," said Arthur in a conspiratorial tone.

"What's that?" asked Merlin curiously.

"I hate people who grovel," growled Arthur. "And it's worse when it comes from a knight; he's not worthy of that title."

"Is that why you like me so much," laughed Merlin in spite of himself.

Arthur turned around to look at his servant like it was the first time he had seen him clearly. There was a wry smile on his face and Merlin suddenly felt as if he just dug a hole for himself.

"Why Merlin, I do like you!" remarked Arthur with an extremely sarcastic tone in his voice. "In fact, I love giving you tasks to do. Today you will need to polish every individual piece of my armour, sharpen my sword, repair the damaged straps on my shield and wash all of my clothes."

Merlin muttered under his breath as he went on to do as Arthur asked; he should just have stayed quiet.


Merlin decided he had enough of Arthur's chores. He was a warlock, not a servant, and yet he was forced to do these idiotic and menial tasks. That was when he put the two together. If he had magic, why not use it to do his chores? It's not like a magically sharpened blade would be any worse than one done by hand.

Merlin decided to read Gaius's book of spells while Arthur's clothes and armour cleaned and polished themselves. Finally he could relax and delve into the study of magic; this was what his life should have been like. Merlin was so engrossed the book that he didn't notice the footsteps approach until his door swung open.

"What've I told you about using magic like this?" said Gaius, fury lacing his voice.

"I've been working for Arthur for hours without getting a chance to catch my breath, surely I deserve some relaxation."

"Never mind your relaxation, what if someone else saw you!" yelled Gaius.

"What would you do," asked Merlin curiously.

"We best hope it doesn't come down to that," said Gaius solemnly. "Now clean the rest by hand."


Morgana stood by Uther's side as the remaining knights walked up one by one to greet the King. No doubt he was trying to find yet another potential husband for her again. She wasn't even listening now, instead focusing on the events of the day while Uther droned on about the men standing before her. Of all the other knights she had seen today, only one knight called Ser Ewan seemed to have the skill to challenge Valiant. It would be no good if Valiant fell to another man before he had the chance to fight Arthur. Her mind snapped back to the present as she saw Ser Valiant approach Uther.

"I saw you fighting today. You have a very aggressive style with your shield," remarked Uther. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Sire, I'm Ser Valiant of the Western Isles," responded Valiant. "I fought alongside my father during the Great Purge."

"Ah, so you're a true hero as well as a great warrior!" said Uther in a comradely fashion. "May I present the Lady Morgana, my ward."

"My lady," said Valiant, there was a slight gleam in his eyes as he bent down to kiss her hand.

"I saw you competing today. You fought well," said Morgana in a very formal tone. If she did not sound uninterested, Uther would probably bring up the subject of marriage again.

"I saw you watching," replied Valiant. To his credit, she could hear no change in his voice; maybe he was a better actor than she expected. "I understand the tournament champion has the honour of escorting milady to the feast."

"That's correct, and Prince Arthur has had the honour of taking me to every feast for the last three years," said Morgana, giving a slight focus on the word 'honour' as she stole a quick look at Arthur's face to see his reaction. To her annoyance, it appeared that he was indifferent.

"If the gods favour me tomorrow, that will change," said Valiant with a flourish as he left to talk to the other knights.

As Valiant left, Morgana saw Arthur walk over with a scowl on his face; maybe he did care after all.

"They all seem rather impressed by Ser Valiant," said Morgana casually, gauging the emotions on Arthur's face as she did so.

"They're not the only ones," said Arthur. Morgana almost got the feeling that Arthur was trying to be protective.

"Still, he's older than you are, and unfortunately you're still the superior swordsman," remarked Morgana. There was no harm in making Arthur underestimate his opponent after all.

"I'll defeat him, and you won't have anyone to dance with at the feast," said Arthur with a grin. "I must go rest Morgana; I will see you again in the morning."

Morgana watched Arthur turn back and walk towards his chambers. Was there any man on Earth who was more maddening than Arthur Pendragon? She suspected the answer was no, and after his statement, she was more determined to make him lose than she was before. When at last nobody was watching her, she gave a glance at Ser Valiant, who caught the look in his direction and she motioned for the knight to follow her.


Merlin was enjoying the festivities after Arthur had gone to get some rest. Something about sleep being a better weapon than any sword. Personally, Merlin preferred to sneak a few bites from the dishes at the table while nobody was looking. He was also enjoying watching the Lady Morgana talk to the various knights.

'How was it possible that someone could walk like that? It was almost as if she was gliding,' thought Merlin as he put an entire strawberry in his mouth.

However, as the night wore on he saw her slip out of the room, and he was suddenly very curious. He decided to defy common sense and slowly followed her out of the room. To his great surprise, he saw her walking down an empty corridor alongside Ser Valiant. He tried to listen in on the conversation, but they were talking too quietly for him to hear anything. As the two parted ways in the middle of the castle, Merlin felt an urge to follow Valiant instead. He wondered if there was something else this Valiant had to hide. After all, it would probably take a great deal to impress the Lady Morgana to the point where she would have a private conversation to him.

Merlin slipped behind a tall pillar as Valiant went to his designated chambers and locked his door with a loud click. Merlin grinned to himself; the locks may keep people out, but you could still peer through the keyhole. As he walked over to the door however, he started hearing a strange hiss. He put his eye to the keyhole to see exactly what Valiant was up to. The first thing that greeted his eyes was the sight of the shield. The intertwined snakes had come alive, and Valiant was feeding them a mouse. He stumbled in horror and ran back to his chambers. To the young warlock it was obvious; Valiant intended to use the snakes to kill Arthur.


Kilgaharrah laughed as he saw the events unfold. It was not often that fate presents him with such an opportunity to rid himself of his deadliest enemy; it almost seemed like the gods themselves were aiding him. The great fire drake had been watching Morgana's little scheme, and now he finally had the excuse he needed. Focusing within himself, he sent out a call to the warlock.

Merlin!

The voice he used took every ounce of strength. It was hard to communicate to humans as it was, but the fear that Merlin felt at the present only made it harder to get through to the foolish boy. However, Merlin did not disappoint, and soon he showed up in the entrance of the cave.

"I've just seen something horrible, and I think I need your help," said Merlin hurriedly. "The knight, Valiant, he intends to kill Arthur!"

"Tell me young warlock, do you think this Valiant acts alone?" said Kilgaharrah heavily. It was so hard to convey the human emotion of regret, but it seemed the warlock was buying his act.

"What do you mean?" stammered Merlin. "There's someone helping him?"

Not for the first time, the Dragon wished the warlock was slightly more intelligent. He saw Morgana talk to the knight, surely he could at least try to string the two together. His argument would be weaker if he told the warlock himself; it would be better to let Merlin come to his own conclusions.

"Merlin, you know who it is that stands to gain the most from Arthur's death," said the dragon in a sagely voice.

"No, no, it can't be Morgana!" cried Merlin. "She wouldn't do something like that!"

The dragon almost smiled in spite of itself; that would have been fatal. Finally, victory was within his grasp! Instead, he tried to replicate the look of regret again.

"Uther treats her like a daughter," said Kilgaharrah. "If Arthur were to perish, Uther would have but one choice; he would be compelled to give the position of heir to Morgana, in order to repay the debt that he owes to Lord Gorlois."

Kilgaharrah knew that he must keep the truth from the warlock. After all, he could not risk Merlin siding with Morgana in case he decided that she was the rightful heir; the image of Merlin wearing the crown was warning enough.

"No!" cried Merlin again.

"Search your heart; you know what you must do," said the dragon, allowing a hint of sadness to lace his voice.

The warlock did not answer him as he ran back the way he came.


Merlin scrambled through the castle, he didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. One part of his mind was telling him to stop Morgana's scheme, but another part was questioning if he should save Arthur at all. It was Arthur who almost killed him with a flail, and Morgana rescued him!

Suddenly, he decided there was only one right course of action. He would confront Morgana himself and decide what to do with the whole truth. With this in mind, he marched towards the ward's chambers. Most of the guards were still at the reception in the great hall and he was able to reach Morgana's chambers unhindered. He opened the doors with both hands, startling Gwen into dropping a candle.

"Morgana, are you working with Valiant? I saw you talking to him, so there's no hiding it from me!" shouted Merlin.


A/N: Well, do you guys like this storyline? I know I said I wouldn't change the plot too much, but this episode was always rather painful for me to watch because of how stupid Valiant was and the solution was some deus ex machina spell that saved the day. Not to mention that I thought it was a good idea to develop Morgana's character more; you don't go from a girl screaming from nightmares to someone who plots a Coup d'état against Uther in one episode. Anyway, please review if you have time, I really enjoy reading the detailed ones and replying to them.

[1] Anyone want to guess what's actually the full inscription on Lady Vivienne's tomb? Hint: look at her daughters. You just have to make a vague guess at what's on my mind and if it's close you get a virtual cookie.