A/N: So, it's been almost 3 weeks since I updated... and I feel really terrible about it. On the positive side, though; I promised it wouldn't be a month this time, and it hasn't! Yeah, not a great excuse, I know, but still.

I really do hope you enjoy the chapter.

C37: Trials and tribulations

Much as Arthur wanted to take the law into his own hands, the King had to preside over all trials. Uther would be the one to dole out justice, though Arthur did have some sway. When it wasn't a case about magic, anyway.

But Arthur hadn't made it easy on the man. Mark, Marlan's father, stood before the King, looking somewhat worse for wear. He had a black eye, a shallow gash above his left eye and various other bruises. Of course, Arthur himself was sporting a rather nasty cut on his cheekbone from where Mark had hit him with a bucket.

"You stand before the court this day, accused of abusing your children and assaulting the Prince," Geoffrey of Monmouth said severely. "Your accuser is Prince Arthur."

The old man stepped aside, and allowed Arthur to take the floor. Generally speaking these trials were a dull affair, and over quickly, but there was some murmuring among the courtiers today, due to Arthur's involvement. No doubt that was why there were so many here, as well. But Arthur ignored their stares and hushed whispers as he stood in front of his father. "I met young Marlan, Mark's oldest son, as I was overseeing the placement of the refugees who'd come to escape the Griffin. He seemed nervous to me, more so when his father joined him. At the time, I simply took Mark to be a strict father, nothing out of the ordinary." Arthur recounted, thinking of the boy. Marlan was waiting with Morgana and his mother and little sister in an ante-chamber to be presented as evidence.

"When I met the young man again, he was bruised and seemed scared. I offered to help, but the boy refused to admit that anything was amiss, despite the large bruise that covered half his face. I let him go because I had no evidence, but set up a system so that he could reach me if his situation became worse. Earlier today, that was the case. Marlan told me that his father had now also taken to beating his three-year-old sister," he said. He paused for a moment, and for the women of the court to whisper their outrage to one another. Uther sat on his throne, his face a blank slate.

"When I tried to apprehend the accused, Mark resisted," he said, vaguely gesturing to the wound on his face. He could just imagine Merlynn's grimace if she could see him now.

For the first time, something tightened in Uther's face. "I believe you have the boy here? And his mother and sibling?" he asked neutrally.

Arthur nodded to the guard standing next to the entrance to the antechamber, who in turn opened said door. Morgana lead the clearly terrified mother and children out and guided them to stand in front of the King, while Arthur stepped back. Mark tensed and glared at him family, but luckily didn't say anything.

"Your husband stands accused of physically abusing you and your children, madam, is this true?" Uther asked of the woman.

Marlan's mother simply looked frightened. Her shoulders were drawn up , her hands gripping her children tightly, even as she stared at a point in front of the King's boots. She refused to meet anyone's eye.

"Aye, 'tis m'lord," she replied quietly.

"Can you tell the court in your own words what has happened?" he asked, a little more kindly.

Her eyes darted up briefly, before coming to rest on the floor again. "I… A' firs', me husband only came af'er me, sur - Sire. But li'le Marlan got to be so big 'e star'ed standin' up to 'is da, an'... 'e don't like tha', Sire."

Uther nodded thoughtfully. "And your daughter?"

The woman gripped her trembling child closer to herself. "She's only three summers ol', Sire," she said, her voice growing tight with unshed tears. "An' 'e… 'e 'ad been drinkin' again, an'..." She had to stop for a moment to compose herself, and Arthur admired the woman's strength; she hadn't shed one tear.

"Sire, if I may," Gaius said, stepping forward with a bow.

Uther waved him on, and the old physician walked towards the distraught woman and her children. He looked at Marlan first, who held his chin high and determinately glared at anyone who might comment on the injury on his face. As Gaius prodded the boy's ribs, though, the child hissed in pain. "May I?" Gaius asked the boy. For a moment, Marlan hesitated, before lifting his shirt. The boy's chest was covered in deep purple bruises. Arthur knew broken ribs when he saw them, it was a wonder the boy had been able to stand up at all.

Gaius glanced up at the King, who nodded solemnly, though there was clear anger behind Uther's eyes. The physician then moved on to the little girl, who had hid her face in her mother's skirts this whole time. With a little push from her brother, though, the girl let go and looked up. Even Arthur couldn't suppress a wince. The injury itself wasn't that bad, but to see a dark handprint on such a small child's face, combined with her red eyes and terrified, trembling look was horrifying. And that was without mentioning the swollen black eye.

Morgana looked like she was physically restraining herself from interfering, while most of the courtiers looked appropriately horrified. Arthur himself was glad that Marlan's father wasn't in his line of vision, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop himself from doing something… rather less than legal.

"Guards, escort this man back to his house, he's to leave Camelot by dawn," Uther said. Then, he turned to Mark himself. "You are hereby banished from the Kingdom of Camelot on pain of death."

Mark was surprisingly calm, though he did glare at the King. He never even looked at his family.

As soon as the guards left the room, Marlan's mother - Arthur really needed to learn her name - sank to her knees, hugging her children. The courtiers filed out, whispering gossip among themselves. Now that the 'sensation' was over, they had no more interest in what happened to the family. Morgana, of course, headed straight for the family.

Arthur stayed where he was, watching his adoptive sister fuss over the children. In a way, she reminded him a lot of Merlynn. Both were beautiful, confident women with dark hair and pale skin who cared more for the common people than was the norm among nobles. But there were differences, too. Merlynn had a calm wisdom about her that Morgana lacked, which also made her slightly less rash and emotional than Morgana. And Merlynn's eyes held this almost childlike wonder at times, that caused her to throw society's rules to the wind. Arthur couldn't imagine Morgana ever climbing a tree, but he could perfectly picture the Galdaran princess perched on a branch, simply because it provided a better reading spot than the ground. But while Morgana and Merlynn both cared for the people, Merlynn had a habit of mingling with them in a way that Morgana wasn't suited to. The latter was, as a result, more lady-like and elegant, but it gave Merlynn worldly quality that would make her a great leader one day.

"What will we do?" The voice of Marlan's mother broke through Arthur's thoughts. "Me husband was th' one who go' food on th' table…"

"I can ge' a job, mum,' Marlan said bravely, and it galled Arthur to know that this was a reality for a lot of families who lost their patriarch.

"Yes, you will," Arthur said, stepping closer. "I'll need a squire to keep my armour clean, lord knows Morris is no help in that department." Marlan actually looked excited at the idea. "And my horse needs to be brushed and his saddle looked after. And I'm sure Morgana can find a position as a maid open somewhere."

Marlan's mother - Arthur thought her name started with an A… had someone mentioned it during the trial? - looked hopeful. "Of course, I'll find a position for you, Agatha," Morgana said, putting a comforting hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Somewhere you can take your daughter with you."

Arthur had to suppress a grin. He knew Morgana wouldn't pass up an opportunity to help someone in need.

Suddenly, something knocked into his side, and Arthur was shocked to see that Marlan had thrown his arms around his waist. "Thank you," the boy whispered.

Looking at the boy in wonder, Arthur hesitantly put an arm around him. "Anytime, Marlan. Anytime."

/*/

Merlynn really should have learned by now that it would happen like this. She'd really hoped to sit her sister down and explain everything, preferably when they were in Galdara and she could minimize the damage her sister would do.

But no.

Of course, Vivian found out when the druid camp was under attack from the bandits. Apparently, they'd heard that the druids were getting some help from the Galdaran military, so they'd found some magic users to help them. Merlynn hadn't had a choice but to use magic, especially when one of them was about to stab her sister.

The bandit in question was marginally more skilled than the others. Not that Merlynn would know, because she'd spent most of her time during the battle surreptitiously countering everything the evil magic user was doing. The secrecy was what truly hindered her, since the man was definitely no warlock. After she'd put out a fire that had been started by the man, she'd noticed her sister clashing swords with one of the bandits. That was no remarkable feat, until the man took advantage of Vivian's distraction over the fire, to disarm her. He was about to run her through when Merlynn had shot raw magic at him, flinging him against a free. Vivian had looked shocked, and had followed the man's dazed gaze to Merlynn.

So now she knew.

But Merlynn couldn't focus on that, she had to stop that wizard from using another dirty trick. Shooting one last apologetic look at her sister, she ran off, easily finding the most protected and skinny bandit. He was reading from a magic book - in the middle of a battle! - while holding a crystal. That was probably why he'd been able to hold on so long and cast so many spells without tiring; he was drawing energy from the crystal!

A well-aimed spell shattered the crystal, and the man's concentration. Another spell summoned ropes that instantly bound him from head to toe, leaving only his eyes and nose uncovered. Another tripping jinx was enough to break through the line of bandits that had surrounded the wizard, which allowed the druids to knock them out and end the battle.

All in all, Merlynn thought they'd done well. She knew at least one of her knights had died, and several more druids, as well as 5 or 6 bandits, but most of them were alive, and the battle was over.

As Merlynn cleaned her dagger - there was more dirt and soot on it than any blood - she could see a shadow cast over her. Vivian.

"We need to talk," she said coldly, before turning on her heel and heading for the edge of the camp.

Lancelot shot Merlynn a look, but didn't follow. He knew full well that Merlynn could protect both herself and her sister if anything happened. Still, the Princess appreciated the gesture. She followed her sister until they were out of everyone's earshot and line of sight.

"You have magic," Vivian stated.

Her face was a blank mask that Merlynn couldn't read, which disconcerted her because she was usually so good at it. "I do," she whispered.

"How long?"

Merlynn frowned, confused. "Excuse me?"

"How long have you been…" Vivian trailed off, gesturing to her little sister.

Merlynn took a tiny step forward. "How long have I been… a sorceress?" Vivian nodded. "Since I was born. Mother said that-"

"Mother said?" Vivian interrupted. "I knew father was in on your secret, but mother, too?"

Sighing, Merlynn walked over to a nearby tree stump and sat down. "I've been able to move things with my mind since I was a few days old. Mother saw, of course, and said that I had to keep it a secret." She looked at her big sister imploringly. "You have to understand, Vivian, mother barely knew you and papa back then, and magic was - is - outlawed in all five Kingdoms. We couldn't tell you."

"And what about later? Why didn't you tell me when we were younger?" Vivian demanded. Her blank mask was cracking, and Merlynn was starting to see how upset her sister was.

"I… I didn't know how," Merlynn whispered, her voice barely audible. At Vivian's incredulous face, she explained further. "I've been lying to you for years, but… it never seemed to matter. There was no big distance between us, and I managed to convince myself that you didn't need to know. But then father told me he'd known all along, and… and I could see how much it mattered to you," she said, getting more and more upset. Merlynn felt tears burn behind her eyes, but held them back; this was about Vivian, not her. "And I started to see that I was just lying to myself because I was scared. Father hating me would break my heart, but I could survive that. If I told you the truth and you hated me for it…" The thought alone broke through Merlynn's resolve, and she could feel her tears making their way down her cheeks. "If you hated me… I wouldn't be able to live with that," she managed to force out.

Vivian looked at her, the picture of cold elegance. Until she sighed and rolled her eyes. Two quick steps and she was directly in front of Merlynn. "Goddess, Millie, you're such an idiot," she said, and promptly gathered her little sister in a hug. "As if anything you did could ever make me hate you."

Relief and shame rolled over Merlynn in equal measure as she cried in her big sister's arms. Vivian knew. And she didn't hate her.

A/N: There, doesn't that feel so much better now? Merlynn and Vivian have (mostly) made up, Marlan's story arch has (mostly) ended and in a chapter or two, Merlynn and Arthur will finally meet up again, yay!

That said, I know I promised some more action, and I know this was more dialogue-and-character-development-y than I promised, but it did have some action!

Please let me know what you thought!