CHAPTER 8: VALIANT PART 2

That night, Meryln was about to start on supper with Gaius when someone knocked on the door. The door opened, revealing her brother with food. William followed behind, revealing more food.

"Xavy." She smiled and finally gave her brother the long awaited embrace. "You shouldn't have."

"Oh, but I know how much you like chicken." He smiled and set the plates on the table.

"Meryln, who is this?" Gaius stood up from his chair and bowed at the noble looking lad.

"Oh. Gaius this is my brother, Xalvador. Xalvador, may I present to you, Gaius, the person who took me in when I first came here in Camelot."

"Oh, milord." He bowed which earned a laugh from both royals.

"Please, Gaius. There's no need for bowing." He smiled. "Please, join us for supper."

"I thought you already ate with the rest of the knights?" she eyed her brother.

"I did." He sighed. "But I sort of sneaked the food out. I told William to keep it in my room until the celebration finished. I wanted to eat with you."

"Alright." She shrugged and they ate.


"I was mortified! Our father almost sentenced me to death!" he guffawed remembering the time when Meryln almost fell from her window. The other three in the room followed in a guffaw.

"Oh, he had to muck out the stables for three weeks because of that." Meryln drank some wine from her cup and smiled at her brother.

"Well, I've enjoyed this supper. Unfortunately, I have some work tomorrow and I must turn in early." Gaius regretfully excused himself. He gestured for William to follow, implying to leave the two royals alone.

"Right. I still need to give the plates to the kitchen." William stood up and collected the dirty dishes. "I'll turn in now too, milord." He bowed to his master and turned to face his princess. "Milady."

When the two royals where alone in the room, Meryln sighed.

"Would you like to see my chambers?"

"Alright." He agreed. "I must say…" he looked around. "This is too humble for the princess of Ealdor."

"It is simple." She admitted.

"So…" he sat on her bed and patted on the space next to him. "Tell me about Arthur."

"Ugh." She groaned. "Well…"

She told him about her destiny and how her magic was meant for something bigger. She was going to have to protect Arthur, no matter the cost.

"You mustn't tell father about the peril." She exhaled. "He'll only worry."

"I don't think so." He stood up and fished out something from his pockets. "It's from mother and father." He gave her the letters and kissed her temple. "Goodnight, your highness."

When she was alone in her room, she used her magic to light up the candles in her room and opened the letter.

"Dearest daughter,

I write this letter to you in hopes that you will find it in your heart to forgive me. I have been worried about your safety ever since you were a baby. You had magic and it frightened me. I didn't want to lose you.

I am sorry that I left you cloistered within the walls of the palace. But you must understand that I only wanted you safe.

With that said, you must know the truth.

I have magic, my daughter. This father of yours possesses magic. Our family was given this gift since the Old Religion. Your grandfather and I were dragon lords, and you my dearest daughter might be one as well.

When I was your age, I disguised myself and practiced magic freely. However, Uther Pendragon banished magic in our lands and our family was forced to keep our magic unknown to the world. However, Uther needed someone to capture the Great Dragon, in hopes of a truce.

With a heavy heart, I disguised myself once more and captured the Great Dragon. Uther betrayed the dragon and me. I managed to escape, but Kilgharrah, was captured. Afterwards, I was hunted down like a prey. I managed to go back to my original form and from then on, I swore not to practice magic. I thought I could escape magic, but when your mother and I had you. I felt disgusted.

I felt disgusted with myself because I let anger and my fear consume my mind and heart. I knew who I was and yet, I hid in the shadows.

It was wrong of me to not let you be yourself. I was wrong to keep you from discovering who you are.

My daughter, I know that you are in Camelot. I hope you know what you are doing because the road you are taking is a perilous one.

I love you and never forget that.

P.S. If Uther even touch a strand of your hair, I will make sure that he regrets the day he ever did. Also, trust in me. Your identity as Princess of Ealdor will not be revealed. I have a plan.

Love,

Father."

Meryln closed the letter and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her father had magic. She felt betrayed and at the same time thankful. She was thankful that her father loves her so much; he was ready to protect her from anyone who tries to harm her in any way.

She put the letter down and proceeded to read the letter from her mother. Her night became more peaceful and slept that night knowing that her life in Ealdor will change for the better when she gets back.


As much as it pained her to face Arthur after their quarrel, she knew she had no choice. She was his servant after all.

Morris was busy mucking out Arthur's stables, so she took it upon herself to prepare Arthur's armors for that day's tournament.

She went to the armory to get Arthur's armor, much to her dismay. She heard hissing and this confused her. She looked around but found no snakes in the armory. Instead, she saw a shield with snakes drawn on them. For a second, she saw them moving. But after blinking, they stopped. So she went closer to investigate further.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" she winced at the sharp pain on her arm. Knight Valiant had his hand on her.

"Let go of me. I was just admiring your shield. I'm here to collect the Prince Arthur's armor." she writhes in pain. He finally let go and watched her as she exited the room, carrying the prince's armor.

She stopped on the way to Arthur's chambers. She glanced at her left arm and saw a handprint shaped bruise. She touched it and winced in pain. When she entered the room, the prince was looking out the window.

"Sire." She curtsied and put his armor on the table in front of him. Arthur was shocked to see her. He wasn't expecting to see her after their argument.

"Meryln, I just want to…" he began to say but was cut short by Meryln.

"It's fine, Arthur. I'm a servant after all." She placed pieces of armor on the table and sighed. "My relationship with the prince of Ealdor is nothing more than friendship. I know it's hard to understand, but it's my life." She faced the prince and he was left speechless.

He never expected her to be so brave. No one, in his or her right mind, dared speak to him in that manner. It was only her and Morgana who could do such a thing. However, he liked talking to Meryln more than he did with Morgana.

As prince, however, he still needed to establish his position. So, he turned his attention to the armor instead.

"You did all this?" he couldn't believe his eyes. They were shining and they looked new.

"Yes. I'm a quick study." She proudly smiled, somewhat forgetting her anger at Arthur.

"Well, let's see if you can get me into it without forgetting anything." He teased.

She quickly rolled her eyes at him and smiled. When she was about to put his cape around him, Arthur noticed the bruise on her left arm. He quickly touched her arm and she winced.

"What happened there?" he felt angry all of a sudden with the person responsible for bruising her arm.

"It's nothing." She shook her head.

"How is it nothing? It's bruised." His face showed great concern, to Meryln's surprise.

'I didn't think he cared.' She thought to herself.

"Knight Valiant thought I was doing something with his armor. I was just admiring his shield and he grabbed me by the arm." She confessed.

"Oh." He wanted to punch the knight. Even if he were arrogant and prideful, he never would treat a lady like that. Maybe insult her, but he would never hurt her physically.

"Good luck." She smiled and watched as the prince walked out of his chambers. She followed suit and soon, the tournament began.

"Meryln, are you enjoying yourself?" Gaius walked toward her.

"Maybe a little." She confessed.

"Prince Xalvador and Knight Valiant." She turned around and watched nervously as her brother and the knight fought.

"Come on, Xavy. You can do it." She cheered silently.

"Ha!" Valiant elbowed the prince, which caught him off guard. The royal fell backwards and his helmet rolled off his head. The prince raised his shield while Valiant pinned him down with his shield.

"Strike him." He ordered the snakes and the prince's eyes widened as a snake bit his neck. Then, he lost consciousness.

"No!" Meryln was about to run for her brother when Gaius stopped her.

"They must stop the fight first." He whispered while she struggled to get out of his grip.

"Valiant won. Let's go." Gaius gestured for her and she quickly ran toward Xalvador, not minding the dirt when she landed on her knees.

"Xavy." She whispered. "Gaius, how is he?" she asked as the physician checked for his pulse.

"He's alive, but…" he placed two fingers under his nose and shook his head. "He is breathing erratically."

Just then, Arthur watched as his servant showed great worry to the prince.

"He must be very special to her." He nodded. "Morris, help them to carry the prince out of the arena." He ordered his servant and he obliged.

Once in the physician's quarters, Gaius made his diagnosis.

"How is he?" Meryln frantically paced behind Gaius. She folded her left hand while she constantly bit her right thumb, out of worry.

"He appears to be poisoned." Gaius finally concluded. "See those two bite marks on his neck?" she went closer to see the bite marks. "They look like snake bite."

"Snake? There aren't any snakes in the arena." She exhaled. "But he was fighting Valiant." She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. How is he doing?" she pulled a chair and sat next to the cot.

"Well, it's odd. His symptoms as consistent with a venomous snake poisoning: slow pulse, fever and…" Gaius stopped midway, hoping that the princess didn't see the change of expression on his face.

"And what Gaius?"

"Paralysis." Meryln's eyes were on the verge of tears.

"Can you heal him?" she asked with worry.

"Well, I'll need to make an antidote from the same snake that bit him."

"Really?" she stood up. There is still hope. She didn't mind if she needed to search for snakes in the middle of the night, so long as her brother stays alive. "What happens if he doesn't get it soon?"

"I'm afraid that the venom will spread and take its toll. I'll need no later than tomorrow night."

Meryln closed her eyes and tried to recall the events from earlier.

"He was fighting… Right! He was fighting Knight Valiant." She knew something was off about that knight.

"What was that?" asked the physician. His hearing wasn't as clear as before.

"Nothing. Take care of him Gaius. I'll just confirm something." She finally made up her mind and decided to investigate the knight in question.

Later that night, Meryln sneaked in the armory and found Valiant-catching mice. She followed him to his guest quarters and watched from the door crack. She watched him use magic.

"Why on earth?" Before long, he got his shield and made the snakes out of his shield come back into life. Then, he fed them the mice. She nodded, which confirmed her theory.

She ran out of the armory so fast that she didn't see that she was about to bump into Arthur.

"Oof." She hit the body of the prince with hers and she was sent falling, but the prince's strong arms caught her.

"Going somewhere, Meryln?" he asked. She stared at his eyes and never knew how beautiful they were. Then, she went to stare at his entire face.

"Not bad." She smirked.

"Not bad what?" he raised a brow.

"Nothing. Let go of me." She stood up and fixed herself. They both cleared their throats.

"Where were you heading? It must be something urgent for you to neglect to watch your step." he crossed his arms across his chest.

"To Gaius." She sighed. "I need to tell him something important. It's about the prince's condition." She nodded and stayed on her spot.

"Oh, well by all means." He gestured for her to go and she ran again. "What a beautiful girl." He smiled to himself and walked away.

"It's the snakes." She informed Gaius as soon as she got to his chambers.

"What?"

"Knight Valiant is using some sort of magic to summon the snakes from his shield." She crouched and felt her brother's face. He was getting hotter by the second.

"Do you have any proof?" Gaius challenged.

"Well, I saw him feed mice to the snakes. What more proof do I need?"

"Meryln, you are here as a servant. Accusing a knight of using magic is treason in itself. You'll need to do better than your word."

"I'm a princess, a word of a royal means more than a knight's."

"But Uther and Arthur do not know that! The King would never accept the word of a servant over the word of a knight."

Meryln sighed in defeat. She was running out of time.

"I'm sorry, milady but there is nothing you can do at the moment." Gaius wrapped his arms around Meryln's shoulders and rested his chin on her head.

"So what I say doesn't count for anything? How is that fair?" she complained.

"I'm afraid it counts for very little as far as the King is concerned. That's the way it is."

"Well, that settles it." She announced. "If it's my destiny to make Arthur become King, then I will make sure that a man's word—whether a servant or a noble man—is to be taken seriously. I will make sure that Arthur becomes a different King than his father."