Chapter 4: Valiant, part two

On the second day of the tournament Juliana had offered to go pick up Arthur's Sword for her brother so he could have a few more moments to rest, having been up most of the night doing all his chores for the prince, he had kept the armor with him but had put the sword in the armory.

When she entered the armory Juliana went over to where Merlin had placed the sword, she was just about to grab it and leave when she heard a hissing noise.

"Hello?" she called out but instead of hearing someone speak, she heard the sound again.

Juliana moved closer to where the sound was coming from, "Is someone there?"

The closer she got, the louder the sound became. Turning the corner the only object in sight was Sir Valiant's shield. Juliana crouched down to get a closer look at the shield, and when she did one of the snakes came alive an tried to snap at her but she back up too quickly for it. The snake went back into the shield just as quickly as it had appeared.

"What are you doing?" The sound of someone speaking shocked Juliana; looking up she saw the owner of the shield staring down at her.

Juliana stood to her feet quickly, "I'm sorry, I was just admiring your shield, I actually came to get the prince's sword so I'll just go get that and be on my way." Being alone with Valiant made her nervous.

He looked behind him at the closed door before turning back to face her, "I wouldn't get to close if I were you, they bite." He attempted a joke but the best Juliana could muster was a tight smile.

"If you'll excuse my, sir." She attempted to move around him but he blocked her path.

"Where do you think you're going in such a hurry." He sneered, "My, you are a lovely little thing." Valiant reached his hand out to touch her cheek but Juliana turned her head away.

This angered Valiant and he grabbed her face forcing her to look at him, "Please let me go." Juliana strained to get out as she struggled in his grip. Valiant let go of her face only to grab her by her throat instead, his other hand was placed on her waist, as she was shoved against the table behind them.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "The more you struggle, the more I'll make it hurt, and if you try to scream I'll cut your pretty little throat before you can call for your precious Arthur."

Valiant kept a hold of her throat while his other hand began trailing her body, lingering on her breast and giving it a quick squeeze, then down her stomach. Juliana let out a soft whimper as he began hitching up her skirts past her knee, up her thigh and just as his hand was slipping under her dress; the door was wrenched open.

"What is going on here?" Juliana and Valiant both looked up to find Sir Leon standing in the doorway giving Valiant the evilest look the man could muster.

In his shock, Valiant loosened his grip and Juliana was able to run away from him. She ran to Leon and he softly shoved her out of the room, "Have no doubt the king will hear of this." He promised before leading her away.

~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~

Juliana had made Sir Leon promise that he wouldn't say anything until after the tournament round, which he had reluctantly agreed to. However after that moment in the armory Juliana was moving slower than usual and didn't arrive at the tournament until it was nearing the end.

Juliana arrived just in time to see Valiant beat Sir Ewan. Unfortunately the boy was not moving and Gaius had to rush out on the field. Juliana would have followed him but Valiant was still there, and when he caught sight of her he sent a small smirk her way. Juliana began to feel sick at the sight of him and had to leave, not noticing the looks of confusion her brother and Arthur were sending her.

Later that evening Sir Leon found Juliana in her newly appointed chamber and had to practically drag her out to take her to the king's chambers; the king looked up from his table as Sir Leon Gently led Juliana into his chambers.

He gave the girl a small smile until his attention focused on the bruises around her neck and the fact that she was shaking profusely, and his eyes began to darken in anger, "What has happened?"

Juliana refused to speak so Sir Leon answered for her, "She was attacked, Sire, by Sir Valiant. I went into the armory this morning to gather my things and when I arrived, Sir Valiant had her pinned against the table trying to force himself on her."

Uther was livid, this was a girl he had come to care for just as he would Morgana and for her to be violated like this was something that the king would not stand for, "Juliana is this true?"

By now tears had begun to leak from her eyes, "Yes sire." She whispered shakily.

Uther motioned her to sit in the chair across from him, the same one she had been sitting in the day before; and Leon took this as he cue to wait outside, "Now tell me what happened."

Juliana let out a small sniffle, "I was in the armory, getting Arthur's sword for the tournament when I heard a noise, it sounded like hissing, I heard it a few more times so I followed the noise; it led me to Sir Valiant's shield. When I crouched down to peer at it, one of the snake head came alive and tried to bite me. I jumped back and that was when Valiant appeared, he tried to touch me and when I jerked away he got angry, he grabbed me and said that if I tried to scream he would slit my throat before I could call for help. Then h-he…" Juliana shook her head she couldn't say anymore, she was crying to hard.

Uther was shocked, "Are you saying Knight Valiant is using magic? You're certain of this?"

Juliana nodded, "Yes he even made a joke about his shield biting me after the snake tried to attack me. I know my word doesn't mean very much compared to his, but I would not lie to you, Sire."

Uther patted her hand gently, "I know you would not, you have been very loyal to me and my son, as well as a good friend to Morgana. But you must understand that I cannot accuse Valiant without proof."

Juliana nodded her head solemnly.

I can, however do something about his attack on you, Sir Leon!" he called

The door opened and the knight reentered, "Yes my Lord?"

"Bring Sir Valiant to me immediately, and call for Arthur to come join us as well"

The night bowed and exited the room. Juliana looked to Uther worriedly, "Does Arthur have to be present?"

Uther nodded, "You are Arthur's personal physician, he should know of any grievances that have befallen you."

Arthur arrived before Valiant, "You called for me father?" he question then saw that Juliana was there as well, "What is going on?" his question didn't get a chance to be answered.

Valiant was led into the room looking arrogant as ever, until he saw Juliana sitting with the king, who looked furious and Arthur standing next to them, "You sent for me, my Lord?"

"Yes I did. Sir Leon has informed me that he found you trying to force yourself upon Lady Juliana, and she has confirmed these allegations. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Arthur was shocked, and then he was furious, "WHAT! You son of a bitch! I'll kill you myself!" Arthur tried to make his way over to Valiant but Leon came forward and stopped him before he could attack the man.

"These are lies my lord. I would never act with such dishonor."

His lie made Uther even madder, "The bruises on her neck are proof enough. There is no point in lying."

"You would take this woman's word over that of a respected knight!?"

Uther stood from his chair, "I am taking an injured, defenseless woman's testimony over that of her attackers, yes! You didn't take one thing into account, Sir Valiant, and that was how much this particular woman means to our family. Guards take him to the dungeons, that is where he is to sleep for the rest of his trip and after the tournament you will spend an entire day in the stocks."

"But my Lord… "Valiant cried

"Silence! You are luck I'm not removing you from the tournament completely. Take him away."

The guards escorted Valiant to the dungeons, and Uther sat back down with a sigh, "Arthur, take Juliana to her chambers please."

Arthur nodded his head and helped Juliana to her feet; he was still seething with anger over what he had just learned so he didn't trust himself to speak at the moment. He led Juliana out of the king's quarters and down the hall to her own room.

Once there Arthur opened the door and led her inside, he shut the door behind them, "Tell me what happened." He requested softly.

Juliana sat down on her bed, and shrugged her shoulders, "He found me in the armory alone this morning; he grabbed my neck and forced me against the table. He told me that if I tried to scream he would slit my throat before I could scream for you. Then he…" she had to stop for a moment and catch her breath, "He started touching me, all over. He was just about to…when Sir Leon entered and saved me."

"Why didn't you come to me as soon as it happened?" He questioned as he sat down on the bed beside her. Arthur had never been so mad in his entire life. For that sick disgusting creature to touch his beautiful Juliana, he wanted to find him and kill him. Wait… his Juliana?

Juliana sighed, "It was right before the tournament, I didn't want you to be distracted worrying about me. You needed to focus."

Arthur placed his hand on her cheek and she leaned into it, "You are more important to me then any tournament." He slowly leaned forward and for a moment it looked as though he was going to kiss her, but instead placed a kiss on her forehead, "Get some sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Arthur left her there to retire for the night, and they both wished not for the first time that there could be more to their relationship that simple friendship.

~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~

Word had gotten around by the next day and everyone now knew about what Sir Valiant had done. Merlin had stormed into her chambers that morning threatening to kill the bastard himself, yelling at her from not coming to him immediately; but when Juliana burst into tears Merlin ran to her and they held each other until it was time for him to take care of Arthur. No one had expected her to be at the tournament that day, but when she showed up bright and early not acting any different from usual everyone began to let their worries go.

She was standing next to Arthur as Merlin fished getting him ready for his first duel of the day.

"You're telling me you've got to fight that?" Merlin questioned slightly frantic

Arthur nodded, "Yes and he's strong as a bear, but he's slow."

Juliana smiled up at him, "And you're fast."

"Exactly." The prince smiled down at her, but frowned when he saw the markings on her neck, "I'll kill him for what he did to you." He promised, and his words caught the attention of Merlin as well.

Juliana tried to force a smile but it came out more like a grimace, "Let's not worry about it right now, you've got to focus on winning. We'll discus it later." She then reached up and placed her customary kiss on his cheek, "Good luck, Sire."

While Arthur was in the arena and Merlin was focused on watching him when, Juliana was looking around and that was when she caught sight of Sir Valiant, already watching her. Once he realized that she was looking back he smiled cruelly at her and gave her a wink.

Juliana felt as though she couldn't breathe and quickly walked away from the tournament, missing Arthur's victory.

Unfortunately Juliana had already missed one feast so she had been obligated to be at this one. She was sitting next to Morgana at the head of the table with Uther and Arthur.

The men were giving silly toasts and spirits were high as they continued to drink.

"So Valiant," Uther began, his tone a bit harsh "Do you think you stand a chance of defeating my son?"

"He is a great warrior, my lord; I do hope to be a worthy opponent. I am going to give it my all; the prize at the end is too great to not give it my all for." He stated, staring Juliana down.

Arthur let out a snarl and stood to his feet, disrupting the merriment of the feast, "You would do well to keep your distance from her. She is under the Royal family's protection, and if you even think of looking at her I'll have no problem killing you where you stand."

Valiant glared back at the prince.

Uther spoke up after his son, "Arthur sit down. You would do well to leave Camelot with haste when this tournament is over, and do not think of returning in the near future, Valiant."

"Yes, my Lord." The knight nodded stiffly.

Though he had been told to leave her alone, to not even look in her direction, Juliana was still extremely uncomfortable sitting at the same table as this man, and it pained her to know that he would be fighting Arthur tomorrow. She knew he would use magic to win and Arthur would die.

Juliana stood up suddenly, halting all conversation and turning the attention to her, "Forgive me, my Lord. But I must be excused." Once Uther had given his consent, Juliana practically ran out of the room.

~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~

She went to visit Gaius and Sir Ewan the next morning and Gaius filled her in on what had been going on. Once he administer the antidote and Ewan awoke Juliana was there to greet him with a sweet smile.

"Welcome back, brave knight."

Ewan smiled before it all came rushed back to him, "There was a snake on his shield. It came alive."

Juliana shushed him, "I know, but you must calm down. You're weak, and the snake's venom is still in your system."

"No, I must warn Arthur."

He tried to sit up but Juliana pushed him back down, "Arthur had been made aware and he is confronting Valiant as we speak. They will require testimony from you so you must rest. You'll need your strength."

Gaius came in from the adjoining room, "I need to fetch more herbs. Juliana, wait here with him. I will be back shortly."

Once Gaius was gone Juliana continued to attend to the healing knight as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Juliana heard something drop to the floor from the window and immediately reached for Ewan's sword that was on the table beside them. Juliana slowly turned around to face the noise only to find one of the snakes from Valiant's shield rising up to strike at her. Juliana raised the sword to eye level and when the snake went to strike, Juliana jumped out of the way and brought sword down in one hard motion, decapitating the creature.

Once Gaius came back, he found Juliana in the same position as before, only now there was a dead snake lying on his work table, "What the devil is this?"

Juliana looked up at him, "It came in after you left, I guess it was trying to finish Ewan off. I grabbed him sword and killed it."

Gaius nodded, "Alright, well we must be getting to the council chamber. You get the knight, I'll get the snake."

Juliana helped Ewan to his feet and they began to walk out of the physician's chambers.

In the throne room Uther was frowning at his son, "What have you summoned the court."

"I believe Sir Valiant is using magic to cheat in the tournament." Arthur announced

Uther was secretly pleased, with theses allegations, he knew Arthur must have proof, "Valiant what do you have to say to this?"

Valiant stepped forward, "My Lord, this is ridiculous. I've never used magic. Does your son have any evidence to support this outrageous accusation?"

Uther turned to look at Arthur hopefully, "Do you? Have any evidence?"

"I do."

Arthur motioned Merlin forward, and Merlin presented the snake head that he cut off to Uther. The king inspected it slowly for any signs of magic.

"Let me see this shield." He called, wanting to see if the imagery lined up.

Once the shield was presented to him Arthur called for his father to be careful, and pulled his sword out, ready to defend his king.

The shield never changed and Uther let out a soft sigh of disappointment. This was not enough evidence.

Valiant spoke up, "As you can see, my Lord, it's just and ordinary shield."

Arthur scoffed, "He's not going to let everyone see the snakes come alive."

"Then how am I to know what you say is true?" Uther questioned

"I have a witness. Knight Ewan was bitten by one of the snakes from the shield. Its venom made him grievously ill; however, he has received and antidote. He will confirm that knight valiant is using magic."

Uther nodded, "Where is this witness?"

Arthur and Merlin began looking around and a smirk began to form of Valiant's face until, "Here we are your Grace."

Juliana and Gaius helped Ewan came forward to the king, Gaius was also carrying the other dead snake.

"Tell us what you saw Sir Ewan." Uther commanded

"We were fighting, he had me pinned under his shield, but just as I was starting to get the upper hand, I heard him say 'kill him.' The next this I knew there was a snake coming out of his shield. It attacked me. Once I awoke and told Lady Juliana of this there was another snake in the room, it almost killed us both and would have succeeded had the lady not killed it." Ewan gave his testimony then was led to a chair to sit and rest.

All eyes turned to Juliana then as Gaius presented the dead snake to the king, which matched up perfectly with the head that Merlin had handed him moments before.

Uther spoke again, "As I recall you also had some interaction with the shields as well Juliana? Tell us what you saw."

Juliana nodded her head, "I was in the armory, getting Arthur's sword for the tournament when I heard a noise, it sounded like hissing, I heard it a few more times so I followed the noise; it led me to Sir Valiant's shield. When I crouched down to peer at it, one of the snake head came alive and tried to bite me."

Uther nodded and seemed to be pondering what to do when Valiant took maters into his own hands, "Kill her!" he ordered and the sakes once again appeared out of the shield and began making their way towards Juliana. Arthur immediately jumped into action and beheaded the two snakes before they had a chance to attack her.

Uther was thunderously mad, "Guards arrest Valiant, and he will be executed tomorrow morning!"

"In light of these circumstances, Sir Ewan will have the honor of fighting Arthur in the final." Uther announced

Ewan stood shakily to his feet and gave a small bow, "I am honored, my Lord."

"I look forward to the fight tomorrow. Arthur, please escort Juliana to her chamber."

Arthur nodded and began leading Juliana out of the room.

~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~

Once Gaius had declared Ewan fit to fight the tournament was scheduled for midday the next day. While Juliana usually stood at the edge of the arena ring, in case Arthur needed her, Uther offered for her to sit with Morgana and himself. Juliana almost turned down the offer but at seeing the pleading look Morgana was sending her, agreed. However once the tournament was over, Juliana understood why Morgana had wanted her to sit with them.

Morgana practically dragged Juliana back to her chamber with Gwen giggling behind them and Juliana complaining about being kidnapped and begging Uther to save her, causing the other two to break out into giggles once again. Uther watched them with an amused grin on his face; Juliana had done something to his little family. They hadn't been this happy in a long time.

Arthur and Merlin watched the display from a distance with smiles on their faces, "The girls are going to use my sister as a human doll, aren't they."

Arthur chuckled, "Probably, but with Morgana's help she will surely be the most beautiful woman at the feast."

Merlin's face soured slightly thinking of all the men chasing after his sister, "Well that's something, isn't it. As if she isn't already the most beautiful woman in the world."

Arthur chuckled at Merlin's sour face, but he couldn't deny that he, himself, couldn't wait to see Juliana at the banquet that night.

"My Honorable guests!" The king called, "I give you Prince Arthur, your champion!"

The grown cheered as Arthur made his way over to Juliana. When he saw her, Arthur was stunned, she was absolutely amazing. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Once he had gotten himself under control, Arthur walked up to her and grinned, "My Lady." He murmured softly and offered his arm.

Juliana sent him a sweet smile in return, "My champion." She replied, curtsied and took his arm. They continued to smile at one another as they made their way down the aisle.

Everyone watched the couple with smiles on their faces, they though they were the most lovely couple they had seen since Uther and Ygraine. Even Uther had to admit that that Juliana and Arthur made the most striking couple. They complemented each other perfectly. It was such a shame that she wasn't of noble birth. She reminded him of his dear wife, with her kind hearted nature and soft spoken ways. Juliana conducted herself like a true lady, she even held herself regally. It was like she was bored to be a noble.

"Has your father thanked you for outing Valiant?" Juliana questioned as they continued down the aisle.

Arthur shook his head and smiled ruefully, "He'll never thank me. I hope you're not disappointed I'm the one escorting you."

Juliana turned and smiled at him once they reached the end of the aisle, "There is no one I would rather have escorted me."

Arthur grinned slightly at her answer, before changing the subject, "That was some tournament, probably the most eventful one we've ever had."

Juliana chuckled, "Yes it was… and unlike your father, I believe you owe someone a thank you." She motioned towards Merlin and Arthur followed her direction, "You are not your father, so go do the right thing and thank the boy who saved your life."

Arthur looked as though he was going to argue, but one cross look from Juliana and he nodded his head, "Alright." Arthur took her hand and placed a kiss on the back, "My Lady." before walking over to her brother.

Juliana walked over to Morgana but continued to shoot longing glances in Arthur's direction. Morgana noticed the melancholy look on her friends face.

"So how long have you been in love with him?" she asked her quietly

Juliana turned to stare at her friend in shock. She though about denying it but knew Morgana would see right through it, "I don't know exactly when my feeling began to change. But it doesn't matter what I feel, he's the prince and I'm a simple peasant girl."

Morgana smiled sadly at her best friend, "Have faith, perhaps one day things will change. I suspect Arthur feels the same for you."

Juliana gave Morgana a confused look but all she did was motion for her to look over at Arthur. When Juliana turned to look at the prince it was to see him already looking in her direction with the same look of longing with which she had been staring at him.

Perhaps some day things would change.

Hi everyone, I hope you enjoy this latest update. Review for me guys and let me know what you thought.