Alaia Skyhawk:

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Music: The Forged Seal (Merlin OST) Merlin Lost ~Piano~

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Chapter 37: A Challenge ~Part 2~

The morning might have been just like any other, the knights down at the training field practicing their skills and sparring against each other. It really might have been just like any other day, if not for the fact that many of those men kept pausing to glance at the three who were off on their own to one side.

Elyan, Gwaine, and Percival stopped beside the weapons rack furthest from the rest of the men down here, the first and last of the three settling into stances and proceeding to casually battle while the third man yawned.

Gwaine, idly waiting his turn since the three of them had agreed to train away from the other knights today, inwardly had to smile at Kelvir's ignorance. While it was true that he, Gwaine, had a copy of his Seal of Nobility kept in his chambers, he had never once flaunted the fact that he had it. Only a handful of people knew he was of noble birth, and all of those people had gone along with his wish to keep it quiet.

After all, he couldn't have helped the 'princess' with getting the rest of the Knights to accept commoners among their ranks, if those same knights had known he wasn't actually a commoner.

He smiled at that, picturing the expressions that would be on people's faces when the day came he would come clean about it. They'd probably turn over an have a fit, at the thought of a noble living as a commoner... They'd probably be reduced to vegetables if word ever got around that the king of Escetia had lived for over a decade as a half-witted servant.

Gwaine chuckled to himself, now glancing at his two comrades with something else on his mind.

"So who do you think Arthur picked as our fourth man? Any ideas?"

Elyan and Percival ceased their sparring, turning to face him as the latter spoke.

"I think he's probably picked someone from the Castle Guard, the Captain most likely."

Elyan nodded a little at that.

"True, Georg is skilled fighter. The thing is, I don't think he's ever been trained for one-on-one duels. The guards in the castle and city are mostly trained to fight in groups, as a unit. They're not like the Knights, who are trained to be able to take down groups of men like that. One well-trained knight is as good as five regular soldiers on a battlefield. More if that knight is above average."

Gwaine had to concede to that.

"And of course, all of the Knights of Camelot are 'above average'. Maybe he has a new guy, a commoner he's found and has been secretly training up to join our esteemed ranks."

Percival mulled over that.

"Maybe. We've had a lot of good new guards come from Lord Tarven at Ulwin. What's to say some of those haven't had some special training while they worked for him."

Gwaine drew his sword, pointing at him with it.

"Well I suppose wondering about it won't help us find out, so come on, my turn. Elyan can watch for a bit."

All three of them were smiling now, Gwen's brother moving aside and letting Gwaine take his place against Percival. Tomorrow, the three of them were going to show Lord Kelvir what it truly meant to bet against a Knight of Camelot.

While the three of them continued their sparring, elsewhere two friends had gone to a clearing outside the walls. One where, many years ago, the elder had stuck a sword in the grip of the younger for the first time before proceeding to knock him on his rear... repeatedly.

Merlin and Arthur grinned at each other, both dressed in full armour, and the warlock certainly not padded out with several layers of quilted tunics like he'd been when Arthur had used him as a practice partner. That first tournament after his arrival in Camelot, where he'd gone on to save the stupid ass from Valiant.

But unlike back then, Merlin wasn't the farmboy-turned-servant who'd never held a sword before. Between the training he'd talked Arthur into giving him, as payback for covering for him for his little escapades with Sophia, the Sidhe who he'd then had to save him from, and his own practice sessions with Sir Leon every third morning of the week since then... He wasn't the pushover with a sword that he'd used to be.

He chuckled, putting his helm on his head and pulling down the visor, then drawing and readying his sword.

"Without magic first? As a warm up?"

Arthur put his own helmet on, the fact that it was visor-less allowing his smile to be seen even if the warlock's could not.

"Sure. I want to see how much you've improved in plain sword-work... And without using magic to make all that armour lighter too."

Merlin lowered his blade.

"Aww, now that's not fair. You know I'm not used to wearing more than just chainmail and wrist guards. Adding the helmet and voiders slows me down."

Arthur drew his own blade, unsympathetic.

"But if you don't want people to see who you are until after your duel, you're going to have to wear them. Not to mention, they'll stop you getting your head hacked off during the fight. Come on, you asked to be my fourth fighter. Stop being such a wimp."

Merlin straightened up at that, his expression stubborn inside his helmet. He then lunged forward to strike, committed enough to show he was serious, but not so much so that he couldn't then dodge the blow from Arthur that came right after he'd parried it.

The fight didn't last long, barely a minute before Merlin managed to overbalance just enough to be knocked off his feet by his friend. But Arthur's expression wasn't taunting when he pulled the warlock back to his feet, it was respectful.

Merlin took note of that, breathing hard as he got his wind back.

"So? How did I do?"

Arthur clapped him on the shoulder.

"Put it this way. While you don't stand a chance against me with plain sword-work, you'd easily take down any of the men from the Castle Guard. They don't have any of those tricks Leon's obviously taught you."

Merlin picked up his sword from where he'd dropped it, now smirking.

"So, do I get to fight seriously now?"

Arthur once against settled into his stance.

"Go for it. Fight me like you'll fight Kelvir's man tomorrow."

Merlin didn't need telling twice, pulling down his visor and launching himself into the fight, and oh how the difference was immediately apparent. Where before he'd struggled to keep himself ahead of Arthur's attacks, barely enough to dodge, now he managed it with enough time to slip in a counter-strike afterwards. Arthur knew exactly what the warlock was doing, the split-second moments of slowing time, the silent boosts behind the force of a swing, but even knowing that there wasn't the slightest outward sign of what was going on other than the sudden increase in speed, sureness of the strikes, and of course, balance.

Merlin would hardly not use his power to account for his greatest shortcoming in a hand-to-hand fight.

Arthur leapt backwards from unexpectedly swift swing at his midsection, grinning at the thrill of duelling Merlin like this. Sure, the warlock could flatten him with a couple of words, but it didn't change the fact that he was choosing to square off in this way instead. And if, back when they'd first ended up on this road of destiny together, he'd been told they'd one day spar like this... He'd have laughed at the speaker like they were insane.

But he certainly wasn't laughing now, forced to put his full concentration on this fight. Merlin might have been loosely trained in the knight's style of fighting, but through his own work he'd picked up a few unusual quirks which made him unpredictable. On the flip-side, Merlin knew his style exceptionally well.

In the end though, that knowledge only got him so far, until Arthur's superior experience finally let him divest the warlock of his blade and kick his feet out from under him. And this time, they were both breathing hard.

Merlin took off his helmet as he lay there, laughing.

"So? How was that?"

Arthur, also laughing, pulled him to his feet.

"Well if you fight like that tomorrow, I have no worries. Kelvir's going to be a very disappointed man." He gestured to the helmet on the floor. "Put that back on and we'll head back. We wouldn't want the surprise to be spoiled now, would we?"

Merlin did as suggested, the pair of them returning to the castle via the side gate, with more than a few curious glances directed their way. He parted ways from Arthur just inside the main building, vanishing into the back passages only for the king to find the warlock had beaten him back to his chambers. A few minutes of removing and hiding armour later, and it was is if Merlin hadn't left the room all morning.

They settled down at their afternoon work. This had become their routine now, thanks to having Bel to cover a portion of the daily chores. Arthur sat at his desk going through messages and reports from around the kingdom, and Merlin sat at his own small table, recently added off to one side, where he worked on the reports and messages from Escetia and the Conspiracy.

There wasn't much talk as they worked, occasional pieces of paper floating from Merlin to Arthur with information on them that the king needed to see. By the time the afternoon had come around, the pair of them had moved to the main table and were playing Fox and Geese.

When time came that Arthur went off to dine with Lord Kelvir, for the sake of not looking like a terrible host, Merlin remained at the table with the board game. Sitting and thinking about nothing in particular, he was still there when Bel came in with the clean clothing he'd collected from the laundry.

He watched as the druid put them away, before addressing him with a smile.

"Do you want to play a few games with me? I haven't really had the chance to talk to you since you arrived, and I don't want you to think I've been ignoring you."

Bel frowned a little, shaking his head.

"I'd never think that. You have your own duties and concerns to deal with, important ones. And if I can help you and the Once and Future King with that, then that's enough."

Merlin waved him over, gesturing for him to sit where Arthur had been, and waiting until he had done so.

"That might be enough for you, but not for Arthur and I. I know you've lost a lot, but I don't think your clan would want you to walk around like a ghost. Make a few friends; Gwen, Liam, one of the other servants even. Don't isolate yourself, or you'll make me worry. As a member of the magical community, I see you as being my responsibility to look after while you're here. The same way I look after Liam and Gaius."

He reset the board, and turned it so that Bel had the geese, before he then silently regarded the man with a half-smile and raised eyebrows.

After several moments the druid at last gave a half smile in return, and moved his first piece on the board.

"You're not what I expected, Emrys, when King Fyrendir said he was sending me to assist you."

Merlin's smile widened.

"Trust me, I hear that a lot."

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Alaia Skyhawk: I just thought I'd add that cute bit on the end. Bel is rarely, if ever, going to feature in any episode or sub-ep as more than just someone in the background doing most of the chores Merlin used to do. But still, I wanted to give him at least one nice little bit of interaction between him and Merlin. Like Merlin said, I didn't want anyone to think I was completely ignoring him :)