A/N: Here's Chapter 7, hope you enjoy reading! This chapter will be diverging even more from the canon plot.
Dialogue and spells taken from the show (which I don't own) are indicated in Bold.
Enjoy! - Milena
Chapter 7:
Uther looked on from the stands with a smile on his face. It was the second day of the tournament and Arthur was up first. His son looked a lot less disheveled than yesterday, and he couldn't help but wonder if the sorcerer boy had improved his armor skills or if Arthur had been dressed by another servant today. He pushed the boy and all the emotions that came along with him to the farthest corner of his mind. He would have to do something about the boy, and soon, but not today. The crowd went wild when their prince walked into the arena. And Uther struggled to cover his anxiety with a false air of excitement. It wouldn't do for the people to see their king nervous. And then the fighting began.
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Merlin watched the fighting from around the corner, yelling his support when Arthur was in the arena, and controlling his fear every time Knight Valiant savagely defeated his opponent. He was certainly a violent man, and his threats from this morning echoed in his head. He winced when the knight's current opponent was left unconscious on the floor of the arena after Valiant was done with him. He watched Gaius walk onto the field to check that the knight was still alive. Two guards carried the knight away to the physician's chambers.
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That night
"How is he?" Merlin asked the physician. He had just helped Prince Arthur to bed after a long day of fighting.
"It's most odd." Gaius was crouched down over the knight, looking at his neck. "Look at this," He beckoned his ward over. "See these two small wounds," he said pointing at the patient's neck, "Looks like a snake bite."
"How could he have been bitten by a snake? He was injured in a sword fight." Merlin questioned. It couldn't be. He had seen the knight go down himself. There couldn't have been any snakes around.
"Yet the symptoms are consistent with poisoning; slow pulse, fever, paralysis…" Gaius listed off.
"Can you heal him?" Merlin asked hopefully.
"Well if it is a snake bite I'll have to extract venom from the snake that bit him to make an antidote" Gaius got up to get a washcloth from the other side of the room. The knight was burning up. Maybe a cool cloth to the forehead would help. But Merlin could see the look of dread on his mentor's face.
"What happens if he doesn't get the antidote?" He asked the man, already knowing the answer.
Gaius stopped and looked at him, "Then I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for him. He's going to die."
No, that couldn't happen. They had to find out how the knight had been bitten. How did snakes get into the arena? Valiant. The knight had been fighting Valiant when he was injured. Valiant, the knight with snakes on his shield. Snakes that just so happen to hiss and blink. Merlin walked out of Gaius' chambers, the old man too busy with his patient to notice.
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Merlin laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Valiant was using magic to make the snakes on his shield come to life. He had gone to spy on the knight and had seen him feeding the snakes rats. He had seen it with his own eyes. But what could he do? Gaius was right. He was just a servant. What could he do against a knight? If he accused Valiant, the court would probably punish him instead, for the audacity to stand up to a knight.
The King would believe another knight but not him. But how could he alert the king without letting him know the message was from a servant? He sighed. He reached out towards his night table to blow out his candle when across the room he spotted some parchment paper. Merlin smirked. He had an idea.
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Uther was walking towards his chambers after a dinner with the remaining knights of the tournament. He had never before seen his son so nervous. And that made him even more fearful for his son. If Arthur went into the arena doubting himself he would lose. He finally reached his rooms. As soon as the doors were closed he took off his crown and threw the wretched thing across the room. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. Tomorrow would be the last day of the tournament.
He walked to his bedside table to pour himself a cup of wine when he froze. There was a piece of paper that had been slid under the servant's entrance. A letter from a servant? He laughed softly. Uther walked over and lifted the letter from the floor. He was amused until he read the contents of the letter.
Your majesty,
Knight Valiant is using magic to win the tournament. He is making the snakes on his shield come to life to kill his opponents. The Prince is in danger!
Oh, he'd done it now. Uther grit his teeth in rage. A sorcerer accusing a knight of using magic. He had no doubts that the letter was written by Merlin. He was the only person in Camelot with the audacity. So this was his endgame. Spreading suspicion and disorder in his city, and his first target was Knight Valiant.
Uther stormed out of his chambers headed towards Valiant's rooms. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do about the situation, but he knew he had to do something. He had let the boy have free reign since his discovery because he hadn't been sure what the boy was up to. Now that he knew, however, that freedom was over. If he so much as touched one of his knights, Uther would have him whipped and burned before he could open his mouth to claim innocence.
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Merlin was hiding behind a column, waiting for Valiant to leave his room. He needed to get venom from one of the snakes so that Gaius could cure the dying knight. Then the knight could go to the king and relay what had actually happened. He winced when he remembered the note he had left for the king earlier. What had possessed him to do such a thing? But Merlin stuck with his decision. The king was the only one who could disqualify the knight from the tournament. Although if Valiant is caught using magic, being disqualified will be the least of his worries.
When the door to Valiant's room opened, Merlin pressed himself as much as he could to the stone of the column. He heard the knight walk away and then waited a few minutes. When he could no longer hear footsteps he snuck out from his hiding place. Merlin went up to the door and pulled. Locked tight. He looked around to make sure he was alone and then looked back at the lock in determination.
"Aliese" His eyes flashed gold and the door was unlocked. Merlin opened the door, flinching at the creaking sound. He went inside and quickly closed the door behind him. He spotted the shield on a chair across the room. He looked around for a weapon and noticed a sword on a nearby table. As he picked it up Merlin almost wanted to thank Prince Arthur for all the practice. Almost.
He approached the shield with the sword outstretched and lightly tapped the shield with it. He looked away in alarm at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. He looked around for a hiding place when he heard hissing from behind him. The snakes. They lunged at him but he dogged, swinging the sword down on one of the snakes, cutting off its head. He grabbed the snakehead and practically ran out of the room.
"You!" Merlin froze in the middle of the hallway when he heard someone scream at him from behind. He turned around. Oh shit. It was the King. He was storming towards him, looking like the very definition of rage. And he was holding Merlin's note in his hand.
End of chapter
A/N: Hope you loved this new chapter. Let me know what you think! - Milena
