CHAPTER 7: VALIANT PART 1

(I DON'T OWN MERLIN. BBC DOES. THE FOLLOWING EVENTS AND CHARACTERS ARE MERELY FICTIONAL AND NEVER OCCURRED).

I know I'm such a meanie for not updating. I was caught up with my sister's upcoming wedding so I had to take a few days off. Anyways, I will be updating more now. Especially now that I'm so addicted in writing this story. Anyways, thank you for all of you guys who liked this story so far and for your comments. Please do follow, write a review if you can, and favorite it if you'd like. Enjoy reading guys!


Arthur and Meryln bickered almost every time they see each other for the next three months after Kilgharrah's surprise appearance. Although they bicker, they also grew close. They became very close friends to the point where they managed to get each other's humors.

For Arthur however, he grew fond of Meryln's clumsiness when they were training. Her giggles, her smile, her eyes, and her personality made him different. He would always catch himself smirking, or just grinning when he remembers relating to Meryln, or the mention of Meryln.

"Arthur?" his mother smiled and caught the teasing smiles of her husband, the king, and Morgana when they saw Arthur grinning to himself while slicing a piece of quail on his plate. "Arthur, honey, are you listening to me?" she raised her voice a little and Arthur was awoken from his daydreaming.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying mum?" he looked up and saw his family's mischievous smiles. "Did I do something?"

"No, you weren't doing anything and that's why we're smirking." Morgana giggled. "Honestly Arthur, you haven't been yourself since you began dating Ms. Meryln." She teased and earned a kick from him underneath the table. She snorted and gave him a smirk.

"There's nothing wrong about your relationship, Arthur." His dad nodded and continued. "So when are we going to meet her?"

"I don't think we're at that point just yet Papa." He sighed. "I mean, we just started dating and I don't think she's ready to meet the family, not to mention the King, Queen, and Princess of the UK."

"I hope to meet her soon." Uther winked at him and they ate dinner teasing Arthur about Meryln. The latter didn't mind it, but he did mind the fact that he's attracted to the woman that doesn't feel the same way like he did—or so he thought.

Gwen was furious with Meryln. She just got back from her honeymoon with her new husband, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was the fact that her best friend hid her relationship with Arthur, her ex-boyfriend.

"Come on honey, I'm sure Meryln had every bit of intention to tell you about her relationship with Arthur. Plus, you hid your relationship with him as well from Meryln, remember?" Lance reached his left hand for her hand and squeezed it, while his right hand stayed on the wheel.

"I guess so. What I don't understand, however, is how did they meet?"

"Well, why don't you ask her yourself when we get home?" he suggested and made their way to her mansion, where they will stay for the time being.

Meryln felt bad for Gwen that she had to know about her "relationship" with Arthur from the newspapers. Of course, Gwen didn't take it well because she felt betrayed that she didn't tell her about it, but nevertheless she was happy for both of them.

"I was in a relationship with Arthur." Gwen couldn't hide her guilt anymore, so she just spilled it to her one night while eating dinner. Of course, Meryln chocked a little and didn't expect that from her best friend. "It was two years ago while you were in France. I broke up with Lance and Arthur was there to comfort me. He liked me so I figured that it will be alright. Then, he started training for the army and I started communicating with Lance again. We broke up about a year into the relationship, and Lance and I married, obviously. I hope you're not mad for not telling you about it." Gwen bit her lip and looked at Meryln whose face was become blank.

"Um… It's… quite alright really Gwen." She stammered and shoved the water in her throat to ease the dryness building. "I did it to you too, so… I guess we're even?" she let out a nervous chuckle and the latter couldn't help but to reach for her hand with a grin.

"Thank you so much Meryln! I'm truly happy for you and him." She smiled and Meryln felt guilty inside.

Ever since Kilgharrah's revelation about her being the reincarnation of her ancestor, she's been having dreams of her from before with the King hugging, kissing, and making love to her. Ever since then, she started liking Arthur more, and she was afraid of it because she's afraid to love again and have her heart broken… again.


Whenever he is free from royal engagements, or army duties, he would go to Ealdor and continue his training with Meryln. At first, he didn't like the fact that Meryln was fast and much stronger than she looks, but he grew respect for her since she always wins against men and women alike.

"Head." She landed a punch at the side of his head causing Arthur to momentarily be dizzy and fall on the ground.

"That's not fair! You said arm, body, and dodge; you never said anything about head." He hissed at her while the latter shrugged at him as a response.

"I believe that I just taught you a lesson: don't be caught off guard. Your opponent will surely take advantage of an opportunity to strike at you like what I did to you. Always be prepared and never lose focus." She explained and helped him up, but Arthur had other plans.

He pulled her down and when she was on top of him, he took the opportunity to roll them over so he can hover on top of her. He took hold of her wrists and pinned it down to either side of her head.

"Like you said yourself: "don't be caught off guard." He gave her a triumphant smile. For a second, just for a second, he let his eyes wander down to her lips and he gulped upon seeing her natural raspberry lips.

"Meryln and your highness, do you mind getting a room?" they both looked at the person speaking. Meryln smiled and Arthur blushed. They both stood up and avoided looking at each other.

"Gwen, what are you guys doing here?" she cleared her throat while taking a short glance at him.

"We were taking a walk, but we saw you guys having fun in here so we just wanted to say hello." She explained and smirked to herself upon seeing the two getting flustered. "Anyways, we have to…" she glanced to her left and found her husband looking back and saw the look on her face as if she wants his help.

"We have to… we want to take horseback riding to the forest for old time's sake." He finished the sentence for her, and her wife released a sigh of relief discreetly.

"We'll just go inside then." Arthur waved goodbye to the both of them and began walking without Meryln.

"He's such a gentleman." She sarcastically commented and waved at the two newlyweds before walking. "You guys are such horrible liars, by the way." She turned around and shouted at the two.

"She's so scary that she knows us like an open book." Lance commented and shivered. Gwen giggled at his comment and they began walking to the stables. "You know, it's actually a nice idea to ride the horses today."

"I agree with you on this one."

They rode in separate horses but they made sure that they ride their horses side by side, so they can hold hands.

"This is so relaxing." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the calm surroundings of the forest. She found the chirps of birds relaxing, and the mild wind whipping past her face made her want to take a nap right there and then.

"It is relaxing, but we have to be careful. The forbidden lands aren't too far from here." He replied while roaming his eyes.

"You just had to ruin my moment there for some reason, huh?" she glared at him playfully and Lance chuckled in reply.

"I'm just taking precautions; you know that this forest is dangerous. You're my wife now and I couldn't live to know that you were hurt because I wasn't paying attention to our surroundings." He sounded defeated, and his wife took notice. She squeezed his hand and sighed.

"I know that love; I know that you won't let anything happen to me." She smiled at him and they both froze when they heard a twig snap. "What was that?" she whispered while breaking her hold on his hand. They dismounted their horses and drew their swords out of their sheaths that were hanging on their horse saddle.

"Who's there?" Lance shouted while looking around for any movements. He snapped his head to his left when he saw a movement. "Hide behind me." He ordered and she obliged. "What do you want and who are you?" he asked while pointing his sword out to the person's direction.

Slowly, they saw a silhouette of a person from the shadows of the trees. When he was in sight, they both gasped while their eyes widened upon seeing a familiar face.

"Help me." The person muttered in a low and tired voice and he collapsed on the floor.

"Valiant!" they both shouted and they both kneeled beside the unconscious man. As a nurse, Gwen knew that she has to check for his pulse. She was relieved to feel his pulse, but it was weak. She furrowed her brows when she saw two parallel bites on the side of his neck. "I think he was bitten by a snake." She informed her husband and he nodded.

"We better go back to the castle. We need to treat him fast." He scooped the man up and his eyes glowed gold. Momentarily, his feet left the ground enough for him to mount his horse. When he was on his horse, he waited for his wife to mount her horse and they were off to the castle.

Meryln was looking out her window and a tear escaped her eyes. She brought her fingers to her cheeks and brushed the tear off.

"Snap out of it Meryln." She chuckled to herself and she felt her heart tightening upon remembering the reason why she felt that way. She straightened out when she heard someone knocking on her door. "Come in."

"Meryln, we saw Valiant in the woods and he's sick. We think he's been bitten by a snake." Gwen barged in and ran towards her and gripped her shoulders tightly with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"What? What is he doing there anyways?" she frantically asked while they stride out of the room.

"We don't know. He's unconscious as of the moment. Meryln, if he doesn't wake up in two hours there is a possibility that he will never do." She stopped and sighed.

"Have you talked to my uncle?"

"Yes, his assistant said that he's in surgery and he's going to finish in thirty minutes." she replied.

"Alright, let's go and check on him."

When they arrived in her uncle's mini-clinic, she saw a pale and sweating Valiant. He looked so different from the tough man she knows. Gwen already gave him a bag of IV to hydrate the man.

"Valiant, hang in there alright? You still have to beat me from combat." She suppressed her tears and took a seat from the corner and placed it beside his bedside. "I will be here."

Arthur admired her for staying beside the sick man. Her father, mother, sister, and brother weren't in the castle so she was expected to protect the castle.

"She and Valiant grew up together." He turned his head to the presence beside him and he returned his glance to Meryln and the man once again. "Valiant became an orphan eight years ago and Meryln was there for him throughout those years."

"She's an amazing person Gwen." He commented and she nodded in response.

"I agree; I don't know if you know about it, but she's our princess you know."

"What?" he turned his attention fully on Gwen and the latter pulled him to a corner far away from the clinic door.

"Well, the order needed a leader. Meryln Emrys, her ancestor, and her husband, William, became King and Queen of the order. They are the ones responsible for the safety of our people and to protect the order from any harm. Since she's the eldest, she's the one to inherit her father's position. She is to be our queen one day."

"No wonder she's not leaving that man. She feels responsible for him." He frowned upon seeing her fighting her tears back.

"That, and Valiant was her first boyfriend." She was hesitant to tell him about Valiant, but she felt obligated to tell him since he's Meryln's current boyfriend.

"Oh."

"After their breakup, they still became friends. They are best friends Arthur. He's a dear friend of hers, it's no big deal."

"I know that, and I appreciate your explanation Gwen. Let's give her space Gwen; I think she deserves privacy."

While Valiant's health deteriorates, Morgause was smirking to herself that her plan was working. Through Valiant, she could feel Meryln's magic weakening.

"Soon Meryln, you won't be as strong now." She laughed hysterically to herself and her eyes turned gold for a moment. "Soon, you will die in my hands."