Inspiration: The ending scene between Rachel and Bruce in Batman Begins and this line from Majora's Mask. "Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... The face under the mask... Is that... your true face?"
Arthur had healed well, same could not be said for Gwaine. He had a black eye that was all Freya's doing. They wasted no time in leaving after Arthur was healed. "I think it makes me look rather rugged, don't you?" Gwaine turned to Mithian and smiled at her. "A woman just might give you another black eye, Gwaine." Mithian huffed. "Ooo, first name." Gwaine whispered in the direction of the knights.
If not for the task at hand, and dealing with Gwaine, he would have spent a longer time with Freya. Thier parting conversation was one that now ate at him. Freya had talked to him in her chambers, it was late in the eviening. Everyone except him and Freya was asleep. She wore a blue nightgown with white lace, looking very much like a princess. "Merlin, don't make me your one hope for a normal life." She looked ready to start crying. "Freya, I love you and I can't dismiss my feelings for you." "What was making her so sad?" Freya shook her head sadly. "The man I loved is gone, taken by Emrys."
He placed his hands over Freya's. "Emrys is just a glamour, this is the real me." She smiled sadly. "Emrys is you, Merlin. Who you are meant to be." "Meant to be." He hated his destiny and himself, hard to say who he blamed more."Did you mean it? When you said yes." Freya looked down and away from him. "I did." She started crying, tears running down. He couldn't stand to see her cry. "Merlin...I can't give you happiness, I can't have a child with you." "Who said anything about having kids?" "You are all I need to be happy, Freya. I promised I would look after you and I will, no matter what." Those words had led up to their first kiss so long ago. Freya stopped crying but she shook in his arms. "Just...hold me for tonight."
He lay down on the bed, Freya snuggling into his chest. She fell asleep faster than he did. The Lady of the Lake was a mystery to him, how she could go from the girl he knew five years ago to a powerful enchantress. Power changed people and often not for the better, he worried that Freya would lose herself. His own sleep led to visions, he really needed to get a better grip on these dreams.
The castle and lands of Nemeth had changed dramatically. The sky was dark as storm clouds built overhead. Everything that grew seemed twisted or had thorns. Black spires and towers had replaced the walls and dome of the castle. Wyvern circled overhead. Black mists hung on the ground, a wasteland of evil. A white glow came from his right. A knight stood there in white armor, with no crest or symbol on the shield to identify who it was. Golden fastenings for the leather straps held his armor in place. A red cape spilled from his shoulders, bordered in gold, flowing like a bright river. The Sword of Light was sheathed, but it wasn't Arthur. The White Knight was around Merlin's height.
"I await you." The White Knight's voice was barely more than a whisper. The visor was down. A red dragon circled overhead. He awoke in the late morning, Freya had put a platter of breakfast and a mug of water on the bedside. "Good morning, Merlin." She smiled at him. He couldn't help but smile back. "I could wake up to her smile every day."
Arthur was practicing outside. From the way it flashed through the air, Bruta's sword was even more well balanced than the Sword of Light. It did'nt have magic in the blade though. Swordfighting didn't come naturally to him, he was happier with a staff or his magic. Bruta's sword looked like a perfect copy of Arthur's. Any magical creature could tell the difference.
Freya had put on a brave face as he left, but he could see right through it. They both had their masks on for each other's sake. Merlin turned away even though his heart was being torn. Mists soon surrounded them as the forest thickened. Faint sunlight came through the canopy. Once, Merlin thought he saw a ghost in the mists. He had the feeling they were being watched by the entire forest. Avalon had rejoined them when the sun began to set.
Three days passed or what would count as days in the forest. The mist didn't even rust the armor of the knights. Coming to a clearing, a castle lay before them. A pavilion was set up before the gates. Everything was colored a forest green. As was the knight sitting underneath the pavilion as if waiting for them.
The Green Knight was huge, bigger than even Percival. The large battle axe at his side made him even larger. His armor was a forest green like the color of the castle. "Welcome King Arthur." The knight had a deep booming voice. A feast had been spread out for them. Merlin cast a mental spell to determine if the food was poisoned. The feast was clean of poison, yet the Green Knight unnerved him and Gilli. "What is your purpose of your visit to my castle?" The Green Knight had not joined the feast.
"I have heard you have captured a lady of Avalon." Arthur and the knights had finished the meal. The Green Knight laughed, a sound like a blacksmith's bellows. "You are already married, Pendragon. My claim on Lynesse stand, but I am willing to let her go free if you join me in a contest of courage." The Green Knight hefted his axe. "Since you are my guest, you have the first strike." "I have a bad feeling about this."
Arthur stepped foreward, sweating. The Green Knight could chop him in half with that axe. "Arthur, do'nt there is a line between bravery and stupidity." He had to get Arthur to back down from the challenge somehow. "I am not afraid of any man, not even a magical knight." Arthur stabbed the Green Knight though the chest on the first blow, it took so long for the Green Knight to swing his axe. It was a mortal blow, yet the Knight laughed in response. The knights reached for their swords, but their feet had become rooted to the ground. As did Merlins. Avalon was muttering spell after spell but they didn't have any effect.
"My turn." The Green Knight placed the cold metal of his axe against Arthur's neck on one side, then the other. He then swung his axe the weapon stopping just lightly touching the chainmail. "Stop this and strike." Arthur was sweating heavily. The Green Knight placed his axe under Arthur's chin. "I will strike when it pleases me. You have lasted much longer than the other knights I have tested." An amount of respect was in his voice. "I give you a riddle to answer instead and you must come back within a week." The Green Knight lowered his axe from Arthur's neck. "What does a woman desire most?" Mists surrounded them, so thick Merlin couldn't see anything.
When the fog cleared, the castle was gone. His feet no longer felt like lead weights. They were free to move again, but his feet felt asleep. "What was that?" Leon asked Avalon, who was the magical expert of the group. "A knight enchanter, who's favorite pastime is testing knights."
"Do you know the answer?" Avalon shook her head. "No, my knowledge is mainly of magic and the Old Religion." They spent the week traveling to villages outside the forest. Some answered wealth, love, fine dresses but none sounded like the right answer. As they rode back, he had an idea. What about the Green Knights captive? She might know the answer."
Arthur nodded "It might be possible but we have no idea where he's keeping her." "Probably in the highest tower." Gwaine interrupted. "Thanks for volunteering, you go and break into the castle along with Merlin." "Wait, why me?" Arthur smirked "Because he probably won't notice you and you are the thinnest one of us."
And that was how he was walking along the river bottom using a reed to breathe. The river wound past the Green Knight's castle. The plan was to use the river to approach and look for a back door or something. They emerged from the water, soaking wet and muddy. "Now I know how you feel after working in the stables." Gwaine looked like he just came out of a tavern fight. "Of course not, you don't smell like horse yet."
There was no back door but a window had been left open. "I can just about reach if you help me up, I'll send something down so you can climb it." Gwaine leaned against the wall. "You know I assume no responsibility if you get hurt?" "That's right Gwaine, you get freed from all blame." Merlin mentally rollled his eyes. "A bit of responsibility would probably hurt him."
Gwaine helped him up with a grunt. "Jeez, what do you have in your pockets?" He just missed grabbing the window ledge. "Whoa, hold steady. I almost had it." "Hurry and grab it before my back gives out." Gwaine grunted. When he grabbed the Window ledge, Gwaine collapsed in a heap on the ground. "Ugh." Pulling himself up, Merlin fell into one of the guest rooms, or that's what it looked like from the thin layer of dust in the room.
A set of footsteps came from outside the closed door. Merlin ducked into the nearest hiding place he could find: under the bed. The footsteps stopped outside the door then continued on. Merlin came out from his hiding place and began tying the bed sheets together, braiding them like a rope, then tying the ends together. Tying one end to a heavy dresser, he threw the other end out the window. Gwaine climbed the wall, using the knots to provide handholds.
The castle was somehow bigger than it appeared on the outside. Corridors and staircases led to locked and unlocked doors. The Green Knight's clanking gave them ample time to hide if he came their way. While ducking into a hiding place, Merlin stumbled on a loose stone and the wall behind him fell back like on a hinge, taking him into a hidden passage. The door closed as quickly as it opened. Gwaine had ducked behind a pillar and when the knight passed, Merlin wasn't around.
"Merlin?" He heard Gwaine, but he couldn't see anything. The passage was pitch black. "Bescínan." The passage was lit up by the torches that lined the walls. He had meant to create a magical light, but that worked too. The passage led up flights of stairs and along short corridors. At the end a oaken door had been locked firmly. "Aliese."
The door opened. The room was fit for royalty. Linens, soft covers, fine dressers were made of polished wood. Everything gleamed slightly. The woman in the chamber was no royalty it seemed. She was as ugly as a troll. He should know, he had seen a troll before. The lady spoke in a rasping voice. "Who are you?" The hag chocked out the words. "Merlin." The woman took a wheezing breath. " Merlin, you must have some reason for breaking into my captor's castle." The smell from her was as terrible as the stables. "The Green Knight asked King Arthur to solve a riddle, my lord thinks you might know it." The woman's eyes shone underneath a white film. "I know that answer very well, but what will your king promise me the hand of one of his knights?" In Merlin's view nothing was too much to ask for Arthur's life, but this was definitely made it into the top 5 things Arthur should be doing. He was nobody of consequence.
"Yes." He choked on the word. "What the heck am I doing?" The old woman smiled showing yellowing teeth. "The thing a woman most desires is to have her will." As he turned to leave a set of nails grasped his wrist. "Remember, Emrys you have made a deal. Break it and you might end up marrying me." Merlin shuddered and something felt like it was coming up in his throat. "How did she know that I am Emrys, only..." A terrible thought entered his head. "She is a lady of Avalon, the one that the Green Knight captured."
Gwaine was still searching the corridor when Merlin ran right into him. "Merlin, where were you?" "I have the ansewer to the Green Knight's riddle." He was as white as a sheet. Getting out was a lot harder than getting in. They had both completely forgotten where the room they used to enter was. They had no choice but to escape using the main doors.
On their way down to the main hall, Merlin realized something. There were no servants or guards, the entire place was magical. Something major was about to happen, it felt like a thunderstorm was over his head. Gwaine opened a door a crack into the main hall, ahead lay the doors to the outside. "Strange, no guards or anybody here except the Green Knight." The door opened further and Gwaine stepped out. Nothing. That's what happened when the doors opened and they successfully exited the castle. It was too easy, they both expected an arrow in the back. Merlin had an itch right between his shoulder blades.
When the camp came into a view they relaxed a bit. "Ah, Merlin. Find anything out ?" Arthur greeted them cheerfully from his place by the fire. It was near sunset, Arthur's time was almost up. Time to tell the devastating truth. "I know the answer, but the Green Knight's captive wants to marry a knight in exchange." "That doesn't sound like such a bad thing." Gwaine commented from near the fire. He was drying off slightly. "The woman is as ugly as a troll. Why the Green Knight captured her, I don't know." "Surely your joking Merlin." "I wish I was Arthur." "She said that a woman's desire is to have her will." The sun had almost completely set, Arthur's time was up.
The Green Knight stood on the field, his battle axe in hand. "Your courage is admirable, Pendragon. I thought you decided to run back to Camelot." Arthur stood there silently a few taunts weren't nothing he couldn't handle. "I will answer your riddle." The knight hefted his axe. "You only get one try." Arthur took a breath to steady his nerves. "What a woman desires most is to have her will." The Green Knight lowered his axe. "I hope your knights have courtesy and courage in equal amounts."
The doors behind him opened and the old hag came out riding a mule in bad a shape as she was. Flies buzzed around them. "You weren't joking, Merlin." Gwaine murmured. The Green Knight disappeared with his castle, leaving an empty field. "Hail, King Arthur." The Hag greeted them. Gilli and Mithian were downwind of them and they turned green. "I hope you will honor our agreement, Merlin." The knight that the hag picked was going to hate his guts.
Arthur spoke, forcing the words out. "You saved my life, you can pick any unmarried knight you wish." The hag smiled at Gwaine. "Any unmarried knight?" Gwaine rode a little bit further away from the hag. It didn't help. "I choose Sir Gwaine for my husband." Gwaine slumped in his saddle as if someone just hit him over the head.
The ride back was like a funeral procession. The hag's sisters could'nt leave the Forest of Adventure so the marriage was held with Freya standing as Priestess. Her sister Lynette represented one of the four winds, the north or the earth. It was too horrible to watch. Before they kissed, he actually fainted, at least that's what Arthur said.
After the wedding, Gwaine shut himself in one of the castles rooms and wouldn't come out. Later in the night, he was awoken by a shout of surprise.
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