A/N - Okay so I will be doing all of series one (Unless I do an episode then realise there was no real point. I would like to do series two but I feel like it would get boring by then so I will need some sort of plot if I want it to be longer than series one) THIS EPISODE IS VALIANT (Sorry it took so long I had done it and then my files corrupted and it deleted itself so..I lost motivation there are alot of other reasons that I won't really delve into though due to it being personal.)
Knight Valiant entered a shop, the shelves were covered in exotic goods and red and gold silks and fur were hanging on the walls. A merchant was standing at the centre a shield in his hands.
"Merlin!" Gwaine called out.
"What Gwaine?" Merlin asked.
"How come we can see this, I mean you weren't there so how can we see it if you didn't." Gwaine asked, everyone looked at Gwaine in shock.
Noticing everyone's expressions Gwaine frowned, "What?!"
"S-Sorry but that was an actually smart question...a smart...logical...question coming from you." Arthur stammered.
"I can be smart!" Gwaine protested and ignored the knights scoffs, "Anyways, Merlin?"
"I don't know, my magic is strange." Merlin sighed, "Because I am a warlock I am magic, I get my magic from the earth but I also have my own magic. It's a part of me, so unlike sorcerers who just find a way to harness earth's magic I am just connected to it and I am made up of magic anyways. So because magic is everywhere magic technically can see everything and because this spell meant I had to use more magic than I had I got magic from the earth as well as myself. So because I used the magic from the Earth...well you see."
Merlin shrugged and when he saw Gwaine's confused expression he rolled his eyes, "My magic Earth magic, Magic sees everything! This earth magic! Magic show you everything!" he explained with the tone you would use on a small child.
"I understand you have a shield for me." Valiant muttered, his voice cold and deep.
"I remember this!" Arthur exclaimed.
"Well I don't." Gwaine pouted.
"You weren't even here yet.." Leon reminded him.
The merchant motioned for Valiant to come behind the counter, "With your sword craft and this shield I guarantee you'll win."
"Show me how it works." Valiant commanded.
Devlin smiled, "Certianly, Tharanai im bis entra ofra honra stolle." his eyes flashed gold, the painted snakes on the shield came to life and started to slither out of the shield. "When your competing in the tournament, you pin your opponent under the shield a snake will strike and paralyse your opponent."
The snakes hiss and fill the silence and Valiant watched the snakes with admiration and the merchant looks pleased that he impressed the knight.
"What does that mean Merlin?" Gwaine asked.
"The incantation." Merlin paused, "Change it here. The sound of my voice cause filthy wounds. It's an animation spell and it's basically dark magic."
"Well isn't that just lovely." Gwaine muttered sarcastically.
"Then this isn't going to turn out well." Elyan mumbled.
"The snakes are under your command, they will do anything you tell them to." Delvin said.
"Anything?" Valiant raised his eyebrows.
"Just say the word." They both started laughing, although it seemed rather forced.
"Kill him." Valint said coldly.
A snake darts out from the shield and strikes Delvin, Valiant looks over the body with a blank expression before walking out of the shop carrying his new shield.
"Jerk." Gwaine muttered.
The scene changed to Valiant riding into Camelot, he jumped down from his horse and he placed his helmet and seal on the registration table.
"Knight Valiant of the Western Isles...I'm here for the tournament tomorrow."
The stewart looked up briefly, "Welcome to Camelot."
The scene changed to Merlin and Arthur on the training field, Arthur was in his armor and had a sword whilst Merlin only had a helmet and shield.
"This looks like a fair fight." Elyan frowned.
"It was training." Arthur replied, acting like that explained everything.
"Ready?" Arthur said.
"Would it make any difference if I said no?" Merlin whined.
"Not really." Arthur replied, smirking. Merlin got out his shield and Arthur started to attack.
"Body. Shield. Body." Arthur muttered, attacking Merlin using his sword to hit where he told Merlin to block.
"Shield."
"Head."
"Head?" Merlin replied sounding confused, when Arthur hit him on the head "Ow..."
"Come on Merlin you're not even trying..."
"I was trying believe me!" Merlin rolled his eyes.
Arthur tagged Merlin in the back, "Ow! I am!" Merlin protested weakly.
"Once more." Arthur got into a fighting stance once again.
"Arthur why didn't you go easy on him?" Gwen asked him, frowning.
"I thought it was easy..." Arthur mumbled.
"Of course you would Princess! You're trained to basically be attacked, Merlin wasn't!" Gwaine called out.
"It's okay Gwaine...thank you though." Merlin said, smiling at Gwaine.
"Oh no..." Merlin mumbled.
"To the left. To the right. And left. Head."
"And Jump up, Jump down and do a twirl." Gwaine muttered.
"Ow!"
"Come on, Merlin! I've got a tournament to win." Arthur called out, getting slightly annoyed.
"Can we stop now, please?" Merlin cried out when Arthur hit him again "Ow! Shield. Body."
"Why do all nobles use their servants to train? It's really unfair." Elyan asked quietly.
"I don't know, it's just one of those things." Arthur shrugged.
"Shield."
"Shield. Ah."
Arthur hit him on the head.
"Ow."
Merlin toppled over backwards and landed on the grass, his helmet rolled off as he hit the ground.
"You're braver than you look. Most servants collapse after the first blow." Arthur grinned at Merlin and helped him up.
"You did that to all your servants?" Gwen asked, failing to hide the disappointment from her tone.
Arthur didn't answer.
"Did I just hear Princess compliment someone!?" Gwaine called out, pretending to be shocked.
"I do compliment people!" Arthur replied.
"Oh really? Name five people you have complimented this year?" Gwaine asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Em-Er...Gwen..." Arthur frowned, trying to think "And...And..."
"Exactly." Gwaine replied smugly.
"Is it over?" Merlin asked weakly.
"You really weren't very good with a sword back then." Leon mumbled.
"And he still isn't any good with a sword." Arthur smirked.
Merlin's eyes flashed gold and Arthur's feet swept out from under him, "I'd rather be a Warlock any-day Arthur." Everyone laughed at Arthur's expression, but they were all shocked at Merlin's use of magic. They had all found out about his magic but it didn't make it any less strange for them.
Merlin reached out and helped Arthur up, Arthur looked put out at being beaten so easily but he couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"That was just the warm up. How's your mace work coming along?" Arthur replied, he smirked at Merlin and got out a mace and swung it over his head.
Merlin groaned and lied back down on the ground.
The scene changed to the Physician's quarters, Merlin walked in dropping his armour as he walked.
Gaius looked at him and chuckled, mixing a vial on the table "So, how was your first day as Arthur's manservant?"
"That was his first day?" Gwaine asked, "I think I had an easier day on my first day as a knight."
"Um...Gwaine, you remember we retook Camelot from an immortal army on our first day as knights." Elyan reminded him.
"Exactly my point." Gwaine paused to glare at Arthur, "I would rather face an Immortal army than Arthur back then."
Merlin didn't answer Gaius's question and started to tap the side of his head, "Do you hear clanging?" he asked.
Gwaine glared at Arthur and everyone else started to chuckle at past-Merlin.
Merlin sat at the table wearing his tunic and Gaius massaged his shoulders, "Ah! It was horrible and I've still got to learn all about stupid tournament etiquette by the morning!"
"I didn't know I had hurt that much." Arthur mumbled sheepishly.
Merlin paused and his eyes flashed gold, "Onhríne achtung bregdan!" a book flew to the table and landed in front of Merlin and opened up.
"Oi!" He lightly slapped the back of Merlin's head, "What have I told you about using magic like this?"
"See! Gaius hits him too!" Arthur proested.
"But not as often or as hard." Merlin replied.
"That was pretty stupid Merlin..." Leon said.
"If I could feel my arms, I'd pick the book up myself!" Merlin complained dramatically.
"Nevermind your arms. What do I do if you get caught." Gaius reminded him.
"What would you do?" Merlin asked him, suddenly intense he stared at Gaius.
"Woah...A bit intense there Merlin?" Gwen frowned.
"Sorry...it's just I was new to all of it and I didn't know Gaius that well, I was scared." Merlin shrugged.
"Well, you just make sure it doesn't happen for both our sakes." Gaius replied, dodging the question.
Gaius went back to treating Merlin's shoulders.
"Ah!" Merlin winced, before scowling "I save Arthur from being killed and I end up as a servant! How is that fair?"
"I'm not sure fairness comes into it, you never know it might be fun..." Gaius said.
Merlin just rolled his eyes and scoffed, "You think mucking out Arthur's horses is going to be fun? You should hear my list of duties."
"We all have our duties Merlin. Even Arthur." Gaius reminded him.
"It must be so tough for him." Merlin muttered sarcastically, "What with all the girls and the glory."
"What can I say? It's got to have some advantages." Arthur grinned.
"Yeah...Like you have a really good servant." Merlin replied, grinning.
"He is a future king, people expect so much of him." Gaius sighed, "He's under a lot of pressure."
"We were both under a lot of pressure, and both had important jobs. Arthur's was just more public." Merlin pointed out.
"Ah!" Merlin flinched as his shoulder cracked, "That makes two of us."
"Were you talking about your 'job' or the massage?" Elyan asked, Percival chuckled at Elyan's question.
"Both." Merlin ignored the glare he received from Gaius.
"You were grateful enough for it in the morning, my boy." Gaius replied, raising his eyebrows at Merlin in a way only he could.
The scene changed to Merlin walking through the lower town and carrying Arthur's armour into Gwen's house. In Gwen's house Gwen taught him how to put on the armour.
"So, you've got voiders on the arms." Gwen says, putting a hand on the piece of armour.
"Mhm-mm." Merlin mumbled.
"So you listen to her but ignore me?" Arthur asked.
"That's cause you are no where near as pretty Princess." Gwaine laughed.
Elyan glared at Gwaine, "That's my sister!"
"That's my wife!" Arthur yelled at Gwaine.
"Well Arthur...yelling and throwing things at my head doesn't make me want to learn anything." Merlin joked, before shooting Gwen a sympathetic look.
"The hayberk goes over your chest." Gwen said, pointing out the correct peice.
"The chest. Arms. The chest." Merlin muttered to himself.
"I guess you know what to do with the helmet." Gwen smiled at him, handing him the helmet.
Merlin laughed, "Erm yeah...that was the only bit I'd figured out to be honest." He said as he put on the helmet. He looked ridiculous in the armour as it was clearly too big for him.
Everyone laughed at past-merlin, "Not exactly your best look mate." Gwaine teased, gesturing to the armour.
"How come you're so much better at this than me?" Merlin asked.
"I'm the blacksmith's daughter." Gwen reminded him, "I know pretty much everything there is to know about armor, which actually is kind of sad."
"No!" Merlin smiled at her, "It's brilliant!"
The scene changed to the tournament grounds, Merlin struggled to get the vambrace on Arthur's lower arm.
"You do know the tournament starts today?" Arthur said impatiently, watching Merlin with a raised eyebrow.
"No!?" Gwaine replied sarcastically, "Really!?"
"Yes, sire." Merlin said with a small smile, he started to fix one of the buckles on the armor, "You nervous?"
Arthur gave him a look and then he scoffed, "I don't get nervous."
"Yeah right." Elyan rolled his eyes.
"Really? I thought everyone got nervous?"
"Will you shut up!" Arthur yelled.
"I think he was nervous." Percival whispered to Elyan, earning a glare from Arthur.
Merlin grabbed Arthur's cape and tied it onto him, clearly struggling. He handed Arthur hi helmet. Merlin stepped back and admired his work, clearly proud of himself. "Great! Yeah...I think you're all set."
"Uh-oh." Gwen mumbled.
"What?" Gaius asked, clearly confused.
"The sword." The knights and Gwen all said, trying not to laugh. Merlin just looked embarrassed and refused to meet anyone's gaze.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Arthur asked, rolling his eyes when Merlin looked confused, he added through gritted teeth "My sword."
Merlin laughed at his mistake, "Oh, yeah...Sorry? Guess you..uh...will be needing that?" he said and held out the sword nervously.
Without a word, Arthur grabbed the sword and marched off towards the tournament grounds.
Merlin smiled to himself, "That went well."
"Seriously?" Gwaine asked incredulously.
"If that was considered 'well' for you, I hate to think about what you consider 'not going well." Percival stated.
"It generally involves a large battle, immortal army or Morgana." Merlin replied in a deadpan voice before laughing at everyone's expressions.
In the stands, Gwen and Morgana were sat clearly excited as the competitors entered the arena, Merlin watched from the entrance as Uthur addressed the group of knights.
"Knights of the realm, it's a great honour to welcome you to Camelot and to the tournament. 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."
"No pressure then." Gwaine mumbled.
"Only one can have the honour of being crowned champion, he will receive a prize of 1,000 gold pieces." On a nearby table a box is opened revealing the gold. Everyone gasped and looked at the gold with longing expressions.
"Wait..." Gwaine paused, "What happens if you win Arthur? Does it just get put in the treasury or whatever?"
"Sometimes, or I could keep it for personal use." Arthur explained.
"What would you spend 1,000 gold peices on!?" Merlin asked, he knew that would feed everyone in Ealdor for a few years.
"Just stuff." Arthur shrugged.
"It is in combat that we learn a knight's true nature, whether he is indeed a warrior or a coward. The tournament begins!" Uthur called out and the crowd cheered.
The knights exit the arena, Uthur stops Arthur on his way back to the stands, "I trust you will make me proud." Uthur muttered slapping Arthur on the back before moving on.
"No pressure." Elyan muttered.
"That was such a great pep talk!" Gwaine called out sarcastically.
The two opponents faced eachother and the guards took both of their capes, and handed them their helmets.
"Yeah! Come On!" Merlin cheered.
"Ha!" Arthur called out, smirking "I knew that he liked tournaments."
"It was his first one...And he was cheering you on that doesn't mean he likes them." Gwen reminded him.
The knights watched the battle all clearly interested, and they cheered Arthur on.
Arthur won the fight after a few minutes, and the crowd cheered at the prince's victory.
"Yeah! Woo!" Merlin cheered, celebrating Arthur's victory.
Several different knights and fights flashed before the Round Table members, Valiant won all of his fights and so did Arthur.
"Knight Valiant looks pretty handy with a sword." Merlin commented as he worked with Arthur's armor.
After his last fight Valiant exited the arena and stopped next to Arthur.
"May I offer my congratulations on your victories today?" Valiant said, sounding cold and arogant.
"Likewise." Arthur replied courteously, although there is no warmth in his tone.
"I hope to see you at the reception this evening." Valiant said before turning to leave, followed by his servant.
"Creep." Merlin muttered, pulling a face behind the knight.
Arthur and Merlin looked at eachother and burst out laughing.
"Princess was already changing for the better, just look at him!" Gwaine commented, smiling.
"It wasn't because of Merlin..." Arthur scoffed, "Anyways I didn't even change."
"Arthur you went from an arrogant prince who abused his servants to laughing at the arrogance of a knight with a servant...a few days ago you would have been just like Valiant." Gwen said with a smile.
Then Arthur goes back to being serious, "Uh...for tomorrow you need to; repair my shield, wash my tunic, clean my boots, sharpen my sword and polish my chain-mail." Arthur smirked at Merlin's expression before walking away, Merlin just looks annoyed.
The scene changes to show Merlin in his room, numerous objects were floating about. A rag was polishing Arthur's sword and a bucket filled with water was cleaning Arthur's tunic.
Merlin was on his bed reading his magic book.
"Is that not cheating mate?" Gwaine asked.
"He gave me way too many chores for me to do in one day!" Merlin protested.
"Everyone else gets them done without magic Merlin.." Gwen said reproachfully.
"Do you always use magic to do your chores?" Elyan asked.
"I did at the beginning, alot." Merlin admitted quietly, "But as I got used to it I stopped, pretty soon after this actually. The risk of being found out was too great."
When Gaius entered everything dropped to the ground making a loud clatter.
"Are you using magic again?" Gaius questioned.
"No." Merlin denied, somehow managing to look and sound innocent.
"What's all this, then?" Gaius asked, gesturing to everything around them, Merlin just shrugged and tried to seem innocent.
"How very convincing." Leon commented.
"Not alot get's past Gaius." Gwen said with a smile.
"You are seriously a terrible liar mate, we need to work on that." Gwaine muttered.
"I don't think he needs help lying Gwaine." Arthur said sharply, ignoring Merlin's ashamed expression.
Gaius dropped the argument but looked far from convinced, "I just came to tell you that suppers ready."
Merlin sighed in relief as Gaius left.
The scene changed to the throne room, the knights from the tournament were lined up to meet Uthur and the Lady Morgana. Knight Valiant was at the front of the line, he bowed to the knight "Knight Valiant of the Western Isles, My Lord."
"I saw you fighting today." The king commented, looking impressed, "You have a very aggressive style."
"Well, as My Lord said, 'To lose is to be disgraced." Valiant replied, earning himself another impressed look from the King.
"I couldn't agree more." Uthur said, he turned towards Morgana. "Knight Valiant, may I present the Lady Morgana, my ward."
"You're daughter you mean." Arthur muttered bitterly.
Valiant bowed and kissed Morgana's hand, from the back of the line Arthur watched with a wry grin.
"My Lady."
"I saw you competing today." Morgana said, impressed with the new knight.
"I saw you watching. I understand the tournament champion has the honour of escorting My Lady to the feast?"
"That's correct." Morgana answered with a smile.
"Then I will give everything to win the tournament." He gave her a small smirk.
"Someone's desperate." Gwaine commented, shaking his head with disapproval "It makes him look way too desperate. Never look desperate in front of a Lady."
Morgana smiled and nodded to him, Valiant returned the gesture.
"My Lady." He said once again before walking away to shake hands with the other knights. Morgana and Gwen watched him walk off whilst Arthur walked towards his father.
Arthur bowed to his father, "Arthur." Uthur said shortly.
"Why did you bow to him?" Percival asked, "He was your father."
"He wanted us to be formal in public, because he was the King he thought it would make him look weak and sentimental." Arthur said, smiling ruefully.
"Father." Arthur replied before walking towards Morgana.
"They all seem rather impressed by Knight Valiant." Morgana commented, obviously trying to wind Arthur up.
"They're not the only ones." Arthur replied smoothly.
Morgana tilted her head before smirking, "You're not jealous are you?"
"I don't see that there is anything to be jealous of." Arthur said, smirking as Morgana's smug expression faded.
As Arthur walked away Morgana turned to Gwen, "Could Arthur be any more annoying?" she murmured to Gwen, "I hope knight Valiant wins."
"So she hated me even back then!?" Arthur exclaimed, "I mean she wanted me dead!"
"In all fairness sire, she didn't know he would kill you if he won or that the shield was enchanted." Gaius reasoned.
"Yes, I do." Morgana muttered, giving Valiant another longing look.
The scene changed to the next morning in the armoury, Merlin was checking over Arthur's clean armour when he heard a hissing sound.
"That's how you found out?" Elyan asked.
"I sensed magic anyways, although I didn't know what kind or where it was coming from." Merlin explained, "I only realised when I actually saw the shield close up."
Merlin walked towards Valiant's shield and when he got a closer look he saw one of the snakes eyes blink.
"Well that's not good." Percival said.
He made a move to touch it but he stopped when he felt someone put a sword to his back. Merlin got up from the ground slowly and looked to see who it was, he saw Knight Valiant.
"Great job!" Gwaine muttered sarcastically, "Attacking innocent, unarmed people. You stupid slimy excuse for a knight."
"Gwaine calm down, it's just a memory." Arthur said.
"At least tell me he got what he deserved." The knight muttered darkly.
"He's dead." Merlin replied, the knight calmed slightly once he heard that.
"Can I help you with something boy!?" Valiant asked in a cold patronising tone.
Merlin stumbled back, trying to get out of the reach of the sword, "Nope. I'm good...I was...I...I was just...erm...gathering my masters armour."
"Master?" Percival questioned.
"Well Arthur was still a prat back then so I couldn't call him my friend or even by his name." Merlin said, earning an ashamed look from Arthur.
"Then you'd best be on your way."
"Right, yeah." Merlin stuttered, "No problem." He grabbed all of the armour and practically ran out of the armoury but Valiant tripped him up.
"Rude...spoilt...little b-" Gwaine muttered.
"GWAINE!" Everyone yelled.
"What?" Gwaine said, "He is though!"
"It's just a memory, calm down. I'm sure Merlin has been through much worse." Gwen reminded him, trying to calm down the knight.
The scene changed to Arthur's chambers, when Arthur arrived all of the armour and equipment was laid out on the table. All cleaned and repaired.
"You did this all on your own?" Arthur asked, clearly surprised.
"Nope." Gwen murmured quietly.
"It's still hard work Gwen, even with magic." Merlin told her.
"Yes, Sire." Merlin replied, clearly proud of himself.
"Now let's see if you can get me into it without forgetting anything." Arthur muttered wryly. Merlin grinned and put all of Arthur's armour on correctly, finally he handed Arthur his sword and his helmet.
"Nice one Merlin." Percival commented.
"That was much better." Leon complimented.
"That was much better." Arthur admitted grudgingly.
"Copycat." Gwaine said, laughing.
"Not that it could have gotten any worse." Arthur said, taking back the compliment slightly.
"I'm a fast learner." Merlin replied grinning at Arthur.
"I hope for your sake that's true." Arthur mumbled.
"Good luck." Merlin smiled at Arthur, Arthur nodded in reply and walked out.
The scene changed to the tournament arena, Arthur marched into the middle of the arena and acknowledged the crowd. Merlin watched him from the entrance.
Gauis moved up quietly behind him, scaring Merlin when he said "Is it my imagination or are you beginning to enjoy yourself?"
"It.." Merlin sighed, "It isn't totally horrible all the time."
"I knew it!" Arthur shouted, grinning smugly at Merlin.
"Shut up." Merlin replied.
"Clotpole." Arthur said, smirking.
"That's my word Arthur..." Merlin muttered.
"But it sounds so much better coming from me..." Arthur retorted with a teasing smile.
Merlin watched as Arthur fought his next opponent, cheering him on. The duo fought for a few minutes, before Arthur disarmed and knocked his opponent to the ground winning his fight.
Valiant entered the arena and fought against Ser Ewan, they fought for a minute or two before Valiant knocked his helmet off and pinned him onto the ground with his shield.
"Strike him." Valiant ordered.
The serpents came out of the shield and towards Ewan, Ewan watched with wide eyes frantically trying to escape Valiant.
"Strike him!" Valiant ordered again.
The serpents bit Ser Ewan who fell unconscious.
"Some people have no honour." Leon said.
"That poor knight." Gwen murmured.
"He died didn't he?" Arthur recalled sadly.
Merlin nodded, a grim look appeared on everyone's faces.
Valiant hit him over the head and stood up to address the crowd, the crowd was cheering loudly. Arthur and Merlin watched with shocked expressions, "I think he's badly hurt." Merlin muttered to Arthur.
Gaius entered the arena to check on the fallen knight.
"That poor knight, he was so young." Gwen watched with a sad, solemn look on her face.
The scene switched to Merlin running through the door to the physicians chambers, he put Arthur's armor down on one of the tables and walked over to Gaius who was at Ewan's side.
"How is he?" Merlin asked, looking at Ewan with a worried glance.
"It is most odd." Gaius replied, he pointed to a small wound on his neck "Look at this, see these two small wounds. Looks like a snake bite."
"How could he have been bitten by a snake? He was injured in the sword fight."
Gaius nodded and explained, "But the symptoms are consistent with poisoning; slow pulse, a fever and paralysis."
"Can you heal him?" Merlin asked anxiously.
"Well if it is a snake bite, I'll have to extract venom from the snake that bit him to make an antidote." Gaius murmured.
"What happens if you don't get the antidote?" Merlin asked, looking nervous.
"Were there no snakes in Ealdor?" Percival asked.
"Only grass snakes, they might have nipped you but they weren't poisonous or deadly." Merlin replied.
"Then I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for him." Gaius said in a matter-of fact tone, "He's going to die."
Merlin looked thoughtful before mumbling, "He was fighting Valiant."
"What was that?" Gaius asked.
"Nothing." Merlin replied suspiciously as he ran out of the door.
"Innocent looking as ever." Gwaine muttered in his usual sarcastic manor.
Valiant walked through the door of one of the castle chambers towards his rooms, Merlin spied on him from an alcove, he followed Valiant to his guest quarters. As he watched from the open door Valiant pulled out a mouse from a cage and dangled it in front of his shield.
"Please tell me he isn't going to feed them that." Gwen asked faintly, sounding sick.
"Dinner time. Come on." Valiant coaxed.
"I will take that as a yes." Leon replied, looking equally disgusted.
The snakes in the shield appeared and Valiant fed the mice to them, with a horrified expression Merlin scurried away but Valiant heard him and started to follow. As Valiant came around the corner Merlin hid in a small alcove, when Valiant couldn't find him he gave up the chase and returned to his chambers.
"He could have killed you Merlin." Leon said, frowning in disapproval.
"Well he didn't!" Merlin replied in a cheery tone.
"But he could have, it shouldn't have been your job." Elyan said.
"Well it was wasn't it." Merlin muttered, his tone less cheery and more bitter.
Everyone, but Merlin, looked guilty.
Merlin burst into Gaius's chambers, "I've just seen one of the snakes in Gaius's chambers come to life. He's using magic." Merlin told Gaius, sounding out of breath.
"Are you sure?"
Merlin frowned looking slightly sick as he started to explain, "The snake ate a mouse - One swallow, straight down. Sir Ewan was fighting Valiant when he collapsed, It must have been from one of the snakes in the shield." Merlin paused and threw a nervous glance towards Ewan before saying, "I have to tell Arthur."
"You already trusted him?" Gwaine asked.
Merlin shrugged, "I guess? And I thought it was something he should know, after all he was the one who was going to end up fighting him."
"Is there any chance you may be mistaken?" Gaius asked.
"I know magic when I see it." Merlin replied.
"Perhaps." Gaius paused, "But do you have any proof?"
Merlin looked hurt, "Don't you believe me?"
"I fear you'll land yourself in trouble. How will you explain why you were in Valiant's chambers?" Gaius pointed out, ever the voice of reason.
"What does that matter?!" Merlin exclaimed, "He's using magic to cheat in the tournament.
"But you can't go accusing a knight of using magic without proof, the king would never accept a word of a servant over the word of a knight." Gaius reminded him.
"That's really unfair." Percival mumbled.
"You won't believe how many times people have almost died because of that stupid rule." Merlin muttered.
"What? So what I say doesn't count for anything?" Merlin exclaimed.
"I'm afraid it counts for very little as far as the king is concerned. That's the way it is."
"So many things could have been stopped if I could have just told Arthur or whoever what I knew." Merlin murmured, thinking of Morgana and Morgause and Agravaine
The scene changed to the tournament grounds, Merlin and Arthur watched as a serving boy used a step ladder to put on the helm of Arthur's next opponent.
"You're telling me you've got to fight that?" Merlin asked as he fixed Arthur's armour.
"Yes, and he's as strong as a bear. But he's slow." Arthur said, but he didn't sound very convinced.
Merlin nodded and grinned at Arthur in understanding, "Ah, and you're fast?" He said handing Arthur his shield.
"Exactly." Agreed Arthur, failing to hide is surprise.
"I couldn't believe he caught on so fast." Arthur admitted.
"I'm not the idiot everyone thinks I am." Merlin joked, taking on a more serious expression when he noticed that no one else was laughing.
Merlin finished helping Arthur with his armour and pat his shoulder as he walked away. In the stands Morgana was stroking Gwen's cloak.
"You're not worried are you?" Gwen asked Morgana.
"No." Morgana replied a little too quickly to be convincing.
"I miss the old Morgana, I mean we were best friends. And now she just wants to kill me." Gwen murmured sadly.
"Likewise." Arthur muttered sadly.
Merlin walked around going about his chores in the armory he placed down his shield in front of Merlin. Gaius approached Merlin.
"How're you getting on?" Gaius asked, noticing what he was staring at.
"Fine." Merlin snapped, "Just doing my job. Minding my own business." He muttered coldly.
"Yeah...your so fine mate.." Gwaine said, raising his eyebrows.
"I don't think he will last very long." Arthur commented, thinking back to that day.
"It's Merlin, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did anyways." Elyan mumbled.
After a few minutes and a fierce back and forth between the bear like knight, Arthur knocked out the knight and won. Valiant won his next as well, leaving Arthur and Valiant due to fight in the finals.
"Valiant's going to fight Arthur in the final. He'll use the shield to kill him." Merlin stated, he shook his head in frustration before sighing and walking away.
The scene changed to Gaius's chambers, Merlin was sat beside Sir Ewan who was on the sickbed. Gaius entered.
"Merlin," Gaius began, "About what I said yesterday, Look Uthur won't listen to you or me, but we can't let Valiant get away with this."
"I thought you were his most trusted advisor?" Gwen murmured, "Why wouldn't he listen to you?"
"Because I am a commoner Gwen, I am not noble born." Gaius sighed, "I was appointed because of my medical skills and my magic skills. I eventually became a trusted advisor as in a way I was similar to Merlin. I would warn the king of magical dangers and gradually I became his advisor even when magic was banned, but my word is nothing compared to a knights."
"That's so wrong." Gwen replied, shaking her head in disapproval.
"It is how the world works." Gaius said in a matter-of fact tone.
"But we don't have any proof." Merlin repeated what Gaius told him, failing to hide how much it annoyed him.
"Well...if we could cure Ser Ewan, he could tell the King that Valiant was using magic. The King would believe another knight..but how we get the antidote well that's another matter." Gaius sighed, looking down at the knight with a mix of pity and despair.
"So I guess you never got the antidote." Leon sighed.
"Actually we did get it Leon." Merlin said through gritted teeth.
"Then what happened?" Percival questioned.
"Just watch." Merlin muttered.
Merlin paused for a second, a thoughtful expression on his face before he got up and left without a word, "Merlin?" Gaius called after him.
The scene changed to the council chambers, some of the knights were gathered around a long table enjoying a large dinner with the king. Arthur was at the King's right and Valiant was to his left.
"Long live Valiant!" The knights cheered, Arthur stayed silent.
Everyone scoffed and rolled their eyes, annoyed that he was so liked.
"So he was an arrogant prat but was loved by everyone?" Gwaine muttered.
"Remind you of anyone?" Merlin mumbled, Gwaine and Merlin shared a grin whilst Arthur looked annoyed.
"So Valiant," Uthur said, as a servant poured him so more wine. "Do you think you stand a chance of defeating my son?"
"He is a great warrior, M'Lord. I do hope to be a worthy opponent." Knight Valiant raised his glass towards Arthur before taking a drink.
From behind a pillar Merlin watched the exchange.
"You should stay in Camelot after the tournament. I could do with more knights like you." Uthur said with a small smile, Arthur just frowned and looked sick at the thought.
"Great idea!" Gwaine called out in a sarcastic cheery voice, "Let's have the sorcerer trying to kill your son stay in Camelot."
"I'd be honoured, My Lord." Valiant replied with a sinister smile.
Merlin snuck out of the council chambers, towards Valiant's guest chambers. After a few minutes he reached the locked door of Knight Valiant's chambers. He checked that no one was nearby before raising his hand to the lock and whispering, "Allinan." his eyes briefly flashed gold and the door unlocked.
Merlin entered and nervously eyed the shield, taking a sword from the rack he moved closer towards it. He gingerly touched it with the sword before kneeling to get a closer look, a noise down the hall made Merlin turn to face towards the door, and the sound of footsteps is heard gradually getting closer.
While his back is turned a snake slithered out of the shield and poised to strike, Merlin seeing the shadow of the snake whipped around with the sword and decapitated it.
"Nice one, mate!" Gwaine grinned and clapped Merlin on the back.
"Good shot Merlin." Leon congratulated Merlin.
"Well done." Elyan smiled at him and Percival nodded.
The other snakes started to come out of the shield, once he saw them Merlin grabbed the other snake head and ran.
"Okay that wasn't as cool and brave mate." Gwaine muttered.
"Way to be a girl Merlin." Arthur said.
Merlin ran back to Gaius's chambers and handed him the snake head. Gaius drained some of the venom into a bottle before inspecting the head.
"I'll get started on preparing the antidote." Gaius said, grabbing various ingredients.
"I'm going to tell Arthur." Merlin muttered.
"You'll need this." Gaius handed him the snake head and smiled at Merlin, "And Merlin." Merlin turned back around, "What you did was very brave." They share another small smile before Merlin runs out of Gaius's chambers.
The scene changed to Arthur dining in his chambers, he looked disbelievingly at Merlin "You. You chopped it's head off?"
Merlin quickly explained, "Ewan was bitten by a snake from the shield when he was fighting Valiant. You can talk to Gaius, you can see the puncture wounds in Ewan's neck where the snake bit him. Ewan was beating him, so he had to cheat."
"Valiant wouldn't use magic in Camelot." Arthur scoffed.
"Because no one would use magic in Camelot..." Gwaine said in a sarcastic sing-song voice, he glanced at Merlin.
"No one in their right mind anyways." Arthur retorted.
"Excuse me!" Merlin protested, "I do have a mind to speak off, and a brain unlike you." he shot back, earning some "ohhh's" from the knights and a glare from Arthur.
Gaius just rolled his eyes at the groups antics.
"Ewan was pinned under Valiant's shield, no one could see the snake bite him." Merlin pointed out.
"I don't like the guy but that doesn't mean he is cheating."
"Gaius is preparing an antidote to the snake's venom." Merlin mumbled, "When Ewan is conscious he will tell you what happened. If you fight Valiant in the final he'll use the shield, it's the only way he can beat you. Look at it!"
"Wow...Merlin complimented Princess Prat." Gwaine said, giving Merlin a teasing smile.
Merlin picked up the snake head and held it out to Arthur, "Have you seen any snakes like this in Camelot?"
Arthur took the snake head and looked at it, tilting it to get a better look.
"I know i'm just a servant." Merlin began quietly, "And that my word doesn't count for anything, but I wouldn't lie to you."
"Except about the magic Merlin." Arthur said.
"I didn't want to, and I never lied to you about anything but the magic." Merlin defended weakly, "I am sorry Arthur."
"Merlin, we do forgive you but you can't expect us to not be upset or mad, saying sorry doesn't make it all magically okay. You didn't trust us, end of. So please don't act like you did, because trust means you tell the person secrets and things about you and you trustthem to not kill you for it." Gwen said quietly.
"Well you're seeing everything now, there won't be any secrets by the time we are done." Merlin whispered.
Arthur looked at Merlin for a few seconds, "I want you to swear to me what you're telling me is true."
"I swear it's true." Merlin said without hesitation.
"Then I believe you." Arthur replied before sighing and looking at the snake head.
The scene changes to the physicians chambers, Gaius is treating Ser Ewan who slowly woke up.
"So you did give him the antidote...what happened?" Elyan asked, clearly confused.
"Just wait..." Merlin mumbled.
"Welcome back." Gaius smiled warmly at the young knight.
"There was..a snake on the shield...it came alive." The knight mumbled groggily.
"You're weak, the snakes venom is still in your system." Gaius told him gently.
"I must warn Arthur." Ser Ewan muttered, trying to sit up.
"Arthur already knows." Gaius said, pushing the young knight back down. "He's requested an audience with the king. Now, they'll want to talk to you. You must rest, you'll need your strength." Gaius stood up and headed towards the door, "I need to fetch more herbs, I'll be right back."
One of Valiant's snakes entered the room, it slithered towards Ewan's bed. Ewan's eyes shot open in panic, he cried out as the snake dealt him a mortal blow.
"That poor knight." Gwen murmured.
"So that's what happened." Elyan muttered.
"I remembered that Merlin told me he died...but seeing it brings it all back. So many knights die for me." Arthur whispered sadly.
Back in the council chambers Uthur moved closer towards the shield, "Let me see this shield." Uthur commanded.
"Don't let him get too close." Merlin whispered to Arthur, carefully eyeing the shield.
"Why would you try and protect Uthur?" Leon asked incredulously.
Arthur gave Merlin a small nod, he drew his sword and stepped closer towards his Father "Be careful, My Lord."
Behind them Gaius entered the room silently and tried to get Merlin's attention, "Merlin!"
Arthur nudged Merlin, "We need Ewan, find out what's happening."
Merlin nodded and headed towards the doors, when he saw Gaius he walked towards him and they started to speak in hushed tones.
"As you can see M'Lord, it's just an ordinary shield." Valiant assured the king.
"Yeah and Merlin is a perfect non-magical servant." Gwaine scoffed.
"And Gwaine is a sober-well respected knight." Merlin retorted.
"He's not going to let everyone see the snake's come alive." Arthur pointed out reasonably, Uthur looked at Arthur and then at Valiant clearly at a loss of who to believe.
"Then how am I to know what you say is true?" Uthur asked, frowning disapprovingly at Arthur.
"He is your father though, how can he not believe you?" Gwen asked quietly, she knew if it was her father he would have believed her without a doubt.
"Well he would rather not believe his son than bring shame to the family. My father needed all of the noble families and he couldn't risk angering a potentially powerful family. He didn't want to be wrong and risk loosing them." Arthur explained weakly knowing even as he said it that it wasn't really an excuse.
"Well that's stupid." Gwaine muttered in his usual blunt manor.
"I have a witness, Knight Ewan was bitten by a snake from the shield. It's venom made him gravely ill, however he has received an antidote he will confirm that Knight Valiant was using magic to cheat in the tournament." Arthur stated confidently, smirking to himself when he saw a panicked expression on Valiant's face that was quickly replaced by his usually stony arrogant expression.
"Uh-Oh.." Elyan muttered.
"This isn't going to go well..." Percival sighed, shaking his head.
"Where is this witness?" Uthur demanded.
"He should be here..." Arthur mumbled with a hint of panic in his voice. He turned to Gaius and Merlin, Gaius looked concerned and Merlin looked sheepish.
"Where's Ewan?" Arthur muttered impatiently.
"Full of tact you are..." Gwaine rolled his eyes at past-Arthur.
"He's dead." Merlin whispered, clearly upset.
"I'm waiting!" Uthur barked, oblivious to the turn of events.
Arthur turned to face his father, humiliation and grief written on his face "I'm afraid the witness is dead."
"So you have no proof to support these allegations?" Uthur called out incredulously, "Have you seen Valiant using magic?"
"No...But my servant fought one of the snakes from..." Arthur mumbled.
"Your servant!" Uthur interrupted, going red with anger "You made these outrageous allegations against a knight on the word of your servant?!"
"Yes, a servant who turned out to be right about anything...but that didn't matter did it...I mean you never apologised or listened to me or your son in the future...and your son didn't listen to me...despite me usually being right about these sorts of things." Merlin muttered to himself.
"Calm down mate." Gwaine said awkwardly.
"I believe he is telling the truth!" Arthur protested.
"Thanks for that Arthur." Merlin smiled at Arthur.
"My Lord, am I really to be judged on some hearsay from a boy." Valiant asked with a sneer.
"I've seen those snakes come alive!" Merlin yelled, jumping forwards.
Uthur looked at Merlin with an enraged hate-filled expression, "You dare interrupt? Guards!"
"Does Uthur love arresting people or are we just special?" Gwaine asked.
"I guess it's a requirement for round table members..." Merlin shrugged.
"I was never arrested though." Leon said.
"Neither was I." Elyan added.
"Or me." Percival pointed out.
"Well I was." Arthur called out grinning, when he noticed everyone's confused expressions "Uthur had me arrested for sneaking out to get a magical flower to save the idiot's life." he elaborated.
"So it's just for the interesting members then...the trio!" Gwaine said, grinning.
The guards came forward and roughly started to drag Merlin away.
"My Lord." Valiant said, coming forward.
"Wait!" Uthur called out to the guards, everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to face the King.
"I'm sure he was merely mistaken." Valiant said in a smooth voice, giving Merlin a cold warning look. "I wouldn't want him punished on my account."
"You see?" Uthur said, turning to Arthur "This is how a true knight behaves - with gallantry and honour."
Gwaine scoffed, "He is full of honour...using magic to try and kill your son..."
"My Lord, if your son made these allegations because he is afraid to fight me then I will gladly accept his withdrawl." Knight Valiant said in an arrogant voice.
"Arthur would never withdraw from a fight even if his life depended on it, he is too much a stubborn prat for that." Merlin muttered.
"Is this true?" Uthur asked, giving Arthur a disappointed look "Do you wish to withdraw from the tournament."
"No!" Arthur yelled firmly, clearly annoyed that Uthur could even consider that.
"Then what am I to make of these allegations?" Uthur said, softer this time.
Arthur looked confused and stunned, he looked around the room in disbelief. Merlin was clenching his fists in anger. "Obviously there has been a misunderstanding, I wish to withdraw these allegations against Knight Valiant." Arthur said sheathing his sword. "Please accept my apology."
"Accepted." Came Valiant's curt response.
"I can't believe you apologised to him..." Gwaine muttered.
"I had to Gwaine, it would have all turned out so much worse if I hadn't." Arthur replied.
Arthur turned and walked out of the council chambers, Merlin and Valiant both glared at eachother for a few seconds before Merlin walked away and followed Arthur out of the council chambers.
"And that was the great Merlin death stare." Gwaine announced dramatically, "His days are numbered."
"Shut up Gwaine!" Merlin replied, "I didn't even kill him."
Gwaine sighed and pouted "Shame."
The scene changed to Arthur's chambers, Arthur was pacing next to the fire clearly upset at the turn of events.
"I believed you, I trusted you! And you made me look a complete fool." Arthur yelled angrily.
"You don't need Merlin's help with that mate." Gwaine muttered.
Elyan, Leon and Percival all tried to stop themselves laughing. Whilst Merlin didn't even try to hide his amusement.
"I know it didn't go exactly to plan..." Merlin mumbled sheepishly.
"That won't calm him down..." Leon sighed, he knew how bad Arthur could be before Merlin and before Gwen it had been his job to calm Arthur down. It had seemed too cruel to leave it as a job for his manservants.
"Didn't go to plan!?" Arthur screamed, his face going red "My father and the entire royal court think I'm a coward! YOU HUMILIATED ME!"
"We can still expose Valiant." Merlin reasoned.
"I no longer require your services." Arthur mumbled quietly, refusing to look Merlin in the eye.
"You're sacking me?" asked Merlin, hurt written all over his face.
"I need a servant I can trust." muttered Arthur.
"You can trust me!" Merlin protested.
"You still can trust me Arthur...please never forget that." Merlin said.
"I'll try not to." Arthur replied softly.
"And look where it got me this time. Get out of my sight!" Arthur yelled, Merlin looked hurt and walked away.
In the square, Merlin turned and looked sadly towards Arthur's window before walking towards another part of the castle.
He headed towards the dragon's cave "Where are you!?" he called from the ledge of the cave.
No one answered.
Merlin rolled his eyes and shouted again, "I just came to tell you; whatever you think about my destiny, whatever it is I am supposed to do you've got the wrong person!"
Still no one replied.
"That's it. Goodbye!" Merlin yelled and turned to walk away.
"Thanks for giving up on me so quickly!" Arthur grumbled.
"You did just fire him and be horrible to him, I think he is allowed to want to leave." Gwen reminded him.
"You were a jerk princess." Gwaine muttered.
The sound of the dragon's voice stopped him dead in his tracks, "If only it was so easy to escape one's destiny." The dragon said as it swooped down onto the rock in front of the ledge.
"How can my destiny be to protect someone who hates me?" Merlin asked.
"A half cannot truly hate that which makes it whole. Very soon you shall learn that."
"Stupid dragon and stupid stupidly vague riddles that make no stupid sense." Merlin muttered to himself.
Merlin rolled his eyes and huffed angrily, "Oh great just what I needed, another riddle."
"That your and Arthur's paths lie together that is but the truth." The dragon replied.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Merlin questioned the dragon, clearly desperate for some answers.
"You know young warlock, this is not the end. This is the beginning." The dragon replied mysteriously, before Merlin could ask anything else the dragon stood up and flew off.
"Just give me a straight answer!" Merlin yelled after it.
"I guess he never gave you a straight answer." Elyan muttered.
"That must have happened alot." Leon chuckled.
Back in the courtyard, a depressed Merlin was sat on the steps of the castle. Gwen saw him and approached him softly, "Hello Merlin."
"You alright?" Merlin asked her with a small smile.
"How do you manage to do that?" Gwen asked.
"Do what?" Merlin asked, genuinely confused.
"Put everyone first, should I have not been asking you if you were okay. I mean you were upset but you asked about me?" Gwen asked.
Merlin shrugged.
Gwen sat down next to him on the steps, after a few moments of silence she asked "Is it true what you said about Valiant using magic?"
Merlin nodded.
"What are you going to do?" Gwen asked, looking at Merlin nervously.
"Why does everyone seem to think its down to me to do something about it?" Merlin muttered.
"Because your the great secret warlock protector who has a great destiny and is friends with dragons and all that." Gwaine pointed out.
"I wouldn't really have left Arthur to die." Merlin admitted.
"Because it is! Isn't it?" Gwen exclaimed, "You have to show everyone that you were right and they were wrong."
Merlin let out a shallow laugh, "And how do I do that?"
"I don't know." Gwen admitted sheepishly.
Merlin sighed and looked around the courtyard, his gaze lingered on a dog statue holding up a shield. He smiled to himself and murmured "That's it!"
Gwen frowned and looked confused, "Where are you going?" she asked.
Merlin ran over to the statue and tried to pick it up, he tried and failed because it was too heavy. "Do you have a wheelbarrow?" Merlin asked Gwen.
"I thought you were crazy..." Gwen chuckled.
Arthur raised his eyebrows, "And you needed the stone dog why?"
"Magic." Merlin replied with a grin.
The scene changed to Gaius's chambers, Merlin walked into the chambers wheeling the statue in.
"How did you get it up all those stairs." Gwaine asked.
"With alot of difficulty." Merlin sighed.
"What are you going to do with that?" Gaius asked, confused as to what his ward was doing.
"I'm going to let everyone see the snakes for themselves." Merlin muttered, he turned to carry the wheelbarrow towards his room. He grinned at Gaius as he walked into his room.
Merlin put the statue down on the floor of his chambers and got out the magic book from under a floorboard.
"Bebiede þe arisan cwicum." Merlin called out, reading from the book. He tried it on the dog several times, and even tried it standing on a chair.
"Wow Merlin.." Gwaine said, laughing at Merlin's failed attempts.
"And the chair was meant to help how exactly?" Gaius asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Bebiede þe arisan cwicum. Bebiede þe arisan cwicum" Merlin chanted over and over again.
Meanwhile Morgana had a nightmare about the events to come, she saw Arthur and Valiant fight and Arthur dying. She woke up and jerked forwards, out of breath and shaking with shock.
"Arthur!"
Arthur smiled sadly at the scene, "She used to care for me..I wish she still did."
"Kind of ironic, she was like your sister and as soon as she found out she was actually your sister she turned evil."
Morgana sighed and walked towards her window and looked out upon the courtyard, she watched Arthur practising in the square below them.
Back in his chambers Merlin was still trying the spell, he tried it over and over again and in many different ways but still nothing happened. Merlin threw the book onto his bed with a groan of frustration.
"Merlin! Don't throw that book, its an antique and it could break." Gaius said, shaking his head at his ward.
Merlin sighed and walked to Arthur's chambers. The doors were open to Merlin walked straight through.
"I thought I told you to get out of my sight." Arthur said tiredly, he was staring into the fire.
"Don't fight Valiant in the tournament tomorrow! He'll use the shield tomorrow!" Merlin begged.
"I know." He acknowledged quietly.
"Wait? So you did believe him?" Elyan asked.
"Of course I did, but I let my anger get the better of me. I was annoyed at my father and myself, it was easier to blame Merlin for humiliating me than admit that my Father was wrong." Arthur replied with a small shrug.
"Then withdraw!" Merlin exclaimed taking a step closer towards Arthur, "You have to withdraw."
"Don't you understand!?" Arthur snapped, "I can't withdraw, the people expect me to fight, How can I lead men into battle if they think I'm a coward?"
"Valiant will kill you! If you fight you die!" Merlin yelled, trying to get Arthur to see sense.
"Then I die." Arthur replied bluntly, seeming to accept his fate.
"You can't lead your men if your dead either." Gwaine muttered.
"How can you go out there and fight like that?" Merlin asked in disbelief.
"Because I have to." Arthur said with a sigh, "It's my duty."
"Sire you were wrong, your duty was to stay alive long enough to become our king. Your duty was to be a good King, not die in some tournament." Leon said gently.
"How could I have expected you to follow me into battle!? To your deaths! If I wasn't willing to risk my own life. I needed to know that I was respected, I can't lead men into battle who don't respect me." Arthur said.
"That's stupid." Merlin called out with a goofy grin, "I don't respect you and Gwaine seriously doesn't but we still follow you into battle and risk our lives for you." Gwaine smirked at Merlin and nodded at Arthur.
Gaius shook his head fondly at the pair whilst the knights and Arthur rolled their eyes at the duo's usual behaviour.
Without another word Merlin left Arthur's chambers, shaking his head. Arthur sighed and went to stare out of his window.
The scene changed to the next morning, Merlin was sat on his bed with his spell-book on his lap. His eyes were drooping and his voice was drowsy when he spoke.
"Bebiede þe arisan..cwicum" Merlin chanted tiredly, practically falling asleep.
"Merlin mate! What does that mean?" Gwaine asked.
"I command you to ride up to life." Merlin replied, "Basically you tell the object to come alive."
Valiant sharpened his sword next to the tournament grounds. Arthur was stood in the arena looking around, after a minute or so he turned around and headed back to his chambers. His old serving boy helped him with his armour, when the boy saw Morgana enter he bowed and left Arthur's chambers.
Arthur turned around in surprise to see his visitor.
Morgana smiled at him and reached for his armour, "Let me." she said as she tied one of his straps.
"I used to help my Father with his armour." She explained with a small sigh at the thought of her father.
"Thanks." Arthur said before he turned to leave.
"Arthur," Morgana called after him, "Be careful."
Arthur nodded at her, "See you at the feast." he said with a rather sad smile as he turned to leave.
The crowd cheered loudly as Arthur entered the arena, he had a determined look on his face. Morgana looked nervously at the two champions as they got ready to fight. Arthur and Valiant put on their helmets and prepared to fight.
Back in Merlin's chambers, Merlin was leaning against his bed, half asleep and mumbling the spell once more "Bebiede þe arisan cwicum" as he finished chanting his eyes closed. Oblivious to the low growl erupting from the corner.
"Way to go Merlin..." Elyan laughed.
"Well that was observant..." Arthur grinned teasing his friend.
"Really? Your going to call me unobservant?" Merlin rolled his eyes, "I had been up all night trying to save you remember?" he gave the group a teasing smirk, "And I would hardly say I am the least observant of the group, right sire?"
Merlin still doesn't notice the dog that has appeared in his room and repeats the spell, "Bebiede þe arisan cwicum."
The Rottweiler barked and Merlin slowly looked up from his book with wide eyes. A goofy grin errupts on his face, "I did it!" he exclaimed happily.
"Mate...it's a dog that could kill you if it wanted to, I wouldn't have been that happy if I was you." Gwaine said with a small chuckle.
His expression quickly turned to fear, when the dog started to lunge for him. Merlin scrambled out of his room closing the door behind him. Gaius entered the room and looked at Merlin nervously.
"Arthur's fighting Valiant!" He informed his ward.
"I know. I'm on my way." Merlin said, as he rushed out of the door he turned to Gaius with a sheepish expression "Oh whatever you do, don't go into my room. I will deal with it later." And with that Merlin rushed out of the door.
"Saying...'Don't go in there' and not giving a reason basically means 'GO IN THERE NOW' Or at least it does to me." Gwaine called out with a shrug.
Gaius frowned and then curiosity got the better of him. Gaius looked towards Merlin's chambers, he slowly peaked into the room. Slamming the door shut when he saw the rottweiler.
"What exactly happened to the dog?" Gwen asked.
"I think we just let it go." Merlin shrugged.
"You do know people died from rabid dog attacks later that week?" Leon called out, frowning at Merlin and Gaius's suddenly guilty expressions.
In the area Arthur and Valiant are in the middle of their fight when Merlin arrived at the tournament grounds. Merlin watched them both closely, waiting for an opportunity to do the spell. During the fight Arthur knocked Valiant's helmet onto the ground. Arthur removed his helmet before resuming the fight. After blocking a hit, Valiant used his shield to hit Arthur in the head and knock him onto the ground; he stepped on his shield to stop Arthur getting up. The crowd gasped in shock when Valiant moved to strike Arthur, Arthur rolled out of the way of the sword and got back onto his feet.
Valiant managed to disarm Arthur but Arthur caught him before he could strike. Valiant pinned Arthur against a wall with his shield and Merlin took this as his opportunity.
The knights were cheering and watching the fight with wide-eyes. They moved every so often to try and get a better look at the fight.
Merlin reached out towards the shield normally, his eyes flared gold and he started to chant "Bebiede þe arisan cwicum"
"See!" Merlin declared dramatically, "It's not me who is unobservant!"
The shield started to hiss then the snakes emerged, Valiant watched it unfold with a horrified expression.
"What are you doing?" Valiant hissed, "I didn't summon you!"
"Nope." Merlin gave the man a cheeky wave, "That was me."
Uthur stood up from his throne, "He is using magic!" the King yelled with a disgusted look on his face.
"And now they will see you for what you really are." Arthur announced smugly to Valiant.
Valiant chuckled darkly as he realised he had nothing left to loose, he looked at the snakes "Kill him." he commanded.
"Jerk." Gwaine muttered.
Arthur backed up until he was against the stands, the snakes were getting closer to him. Morgana looked around desperately before she grabbed a sword from the knight next to her and threw it towards Arthur, "Arthur!"
Arthur caught the sword with a grateful smile, he swung it wide and it killed the snakes. Arthur then quickly disarmed Valiant and ran him through.
"It looks like I'll be going to the feast after all." Arthur whispered coldly in his ear before letting him drop to the ground.
Valiant's corpse dropped to the ground and the crowd cheered in celebration. Arthur walked out of the tournament grounds and slapped Merlin's shoulder on his way out.
"YES!" Gwaine cheered, "Princess thank you for killing that little...cunning...jerk." Gwaine grinned at the sight of Valiant's body.
"Calm down Gwaine, it's creepy if you are happy to see a body even if it is of the likes of him." Percival said quietly.
The scene changed to the feast, servants mingled and everyone was walking around talking and dancing. The tables overflowing with food and wine and ale. When Arthur entered Uthur called for everyone's attention.
"My honoured guests." Uthur announced with a wide smile, "I give you Prince Arthur, our champion."
The court applauded loudly as Arthur offered Morgana his arm.
"My Lady." Arthur nodded at Morgana.
Morgana curtsied with a smile, "My champion."
"Oh god...She was my sister." Arthur muttered.
"Yeah...and right now it looks like your flirting with her." Elyan reminded him.
Merlin turned to Gaius and muttered, "See, I told you he gets all the girls and the glory."
"And he owes it all to you." Gaius replied."
"Has your Father apologised yet for not believing you?" Morgana asked as they made their way through the hall.
"He'll never apologise." Arthur said firmly.
"He never did." Arthur mumbled.
"Well that's a trait you share then." Merlin teased with a goofy smile.
"I hope..uh..you're not disappointed that Valiant's not escorting you." Arthur said awkwardly.
Morgana gave Arthur a wide smile, "Turns out he wasn't really champion material."
The two grinned at eachother, "That was some tournament final." Arthur said.
"Tell me about it, It's not everyday a girl gets to save her prince." Morgana replied teasingly with a smug smirk.
Arthur scoffed at the thought, "Uh, I wouldn't say exactly that I needed saving. I'm sure I would have thought of something." he said in a rather arrogant voice.
"And what about my help?" Merlin asked with a raised eyebrow, "You can't admit that you were saved can you?"
"I wasn't." Arthur scoffed, "But if I was it would have been by two girls I suppose Merlin."
"So you would have survived without Merlin's life?" Percival asked.
Arthur didn't reply.
"So you're too proud to admit you were saved by a girl?" Morgana taunted.
"Because I wasn't." Arthur replied stubbornly.
Morgana rolled her eyes at Arthur, "You know what? I wish Valiant was escorting me."
"Me too. Then I wouldn't have to listen to you."
"Sire, you realise you would be dead? If Valiant had won." Leon pointed out.
"Fine!" Morgana yelled.
"Fine!" Arthur shouted back.
Morgana stormed off towards Gwen and Arthur rolled his eyes at her and walked off towards Merlin.
"Can you believe Morgana?" Arthur asked incredulously, "She says she saved me, Like I needed any help." Merlin smiled knowingly to himself at that statement. Arthur paused for a second before leaning closer to Merlin, "I wanted to say I made a mistake. It was unfair to sack you."
Merlin grinned, "No, don't worry about it. Buy me a drink and we'll call it even."
"Uh, I can't be seen buying drinks for my servant." Arthur scoffed.
"Your servant?" Merlin asked with a confused expression, "You sacked me?" Merlin reminded the prince.
"Now I'm rehiring you."
Merlin snorted and grinned at Arthur.
"My chambers are a complete mess, my clothes need washing." Merlin's smile faded, "My uh armour needs repairing...my boots need cleaning. My dogs need excersising. My fireplace needs sweeping. My bed needs changing, and someone needs to muck out my stables."
"I swear I mucked out the stables more than the stable hands, they have even started to call me a honorary stable-hand because I am always in there!" Merlin whined.
"Princess that was a long list...like seriously who can even do that?" Gwaine asked.
"It's shorter than Morgana's list...and she actually acted like she liked me." Gwen replied.
"So this time we learnt that Arthur was a jerk, Morgana had nightmares that could see the future and Merlin saved Arthur's life as usual." Gwaine called out.
Everyone else nodded.
"Well I can't wait to see what else we will find out." Percival mumbled.
"Neither can I." Arthur commented drly, failing to keep the hint of malice out of his tone.
A/N - Sorry it took so long, like I said life has been crazy. Anyways hope you all enjoyed! Feel free to fav/follow or even leave a review :) Hope you all have a nice day. (I know the explanation about the magic was terrible but I felt I owed a sort of reason/logic behind it instead of just ignoring the loophole/plothole.)
Review Responses (THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO LEFT ONE :p These are mainly to the reviews to do with chapter 1)
JCR - I am happy you think that this is good :) And yes there is more coming but I'm afraid you will have to be patient as they take a while to type up and edit and so on.
wazup8523257 - You made a good point xD I tried to explain it up there, to be honest I forgot about that so I am sorry, I guess instead of it purley being his memories he is showing them the past but simply calls it his memories as it is still his memories just with an extra bit.
Guest - I'm happy they make you laugh, I try to make them funny but I'm not that good at humour so I never know if it works. (Gwaine in these is basically what I would assume is the kind of "fan" watching the show's type reaction?)
GhostHunt - I will update as soon as I can and thank you for reviewing! :)
ScruffyDaDude - I editited it :) And great name by the way and thanks.
Padfootette - Nice to know you think it's amazing and I will update as much as I can.
Percy James Frost - Yes sorry about any spelling and grammar mistakes, I use wordpad so I can only really correct it when I upload it to docs and because of how long it is I tend to miss a few mistakes.
Beebee - Thanks and I will :)
Lionren - Thanks and I really enjoyed writing them, there will be a few of them every so often at the start simply because they still have alot of issues that they will need to address
Lya200 - Yeah...it takes a while xD And thanks, I just use a transcript or watch the episode so it's easy to try to not miss things out. I loved writing Gwaine's bits, he is the easiest to write for because im typing it and I think something about what's happening and then I can imagine Gwaine saying it and well he says it. (Thanks for the lovely review :) )
Long Lost Dream - Here's more.