Hello my dear readers, guess who decided to write again? This is the first part of season 01 episode 02, I hope you enjoy it.
Le Chevalier Valiant:
"You ready?" Artoria asked, twirling her sword and Merlin nodded. He could do this, after all he and Will had fought with sticks all the time when they'd been younger, how much different could this be?
By the end, Merlin was ready to collapse. Most of Artoria's blows hadn't been so hard to block, but then she would constantly go and hit him on the head. Merlin was pretty sure that she'd given him a concussion, and this was only his first day, to be exact it was his first task.
Disheveled and in pain, the warlock somehow managed to make it back to Gaius' room.
"So, how was your first day as Artoria's servant?" Gaius asked teasingly, obviously knowing the answer.
"It was horrible. And I still got to learn about tournaments and etiquette until the morning." The raven haired boy complained, groaning as Gaius massaged his sore shoulders.
Artoria knew that she had been unnecessarily hard on Merlin during training, there was no honor in beating a man as inexperienced as her manservant. The problem was that stupid tournament.
Ever since she turned sixteen, King Uther had decided that as future regent, she had to show that she was capable of protecting her people, meaning she had to compete with men twice her strength and size, and somehow manage to beat them.
The princess might enjoy beating up her knights during training, but tournaments were different. If she didn't win, there would be punishment.
On top of all that stress she now also had to train a new servant. Just great!
The next morning, a petite brunette girl entered the room. "Your highness, you need to get up, the tournament starts in two hours."
"What?!" The girl screamed, shooting up and looking at her former maidservant. "I was supposed to be woken up 4 hours before the tournament!"
"I'm sorry my lady, we only figured out you had not been awoken when your manservant failed to appear in the kitchen for your breakfast." The servant explained and Artoria let out an angry huff.
"That bastard! Marie, my tunic and leggings please." Artoria demanded before getting behind the screen and hurriedly pulling her things on.
She then hastily grabbed a slice of bread from the breakfast tray and began munching on it while Marie braided her hair to a crown braid.
Once that was taken care of, the princess hurried outside and yelled for the guards to immediately find her wayward manservant.
Around twenty minutes later, Merlin finally appeared. "Ah, it seems you've finally decided to do your job." The princess spat, glaring at Merlin.
"Of course, who would want to miss the pleasure of serving you?" Merlin sarcastically asked as he began putting her armor on. Closing the cape, he let his gaze wander over the princess.
"Done."
"Oh really? And how do you expect me to fight without a sword?" Artoria asked annoyed and Merlin rolled his eyes before giving the princess her sword. It wouldn't hurt if she were a bit nicer to him, he did save her life.
Morgan was sitting in the stands together with some other knights, cheering when the competitors entered. His gaze was focused on Artoria, and knowing the younger girl better than most, he could tell that she was tense. He knew that the princess disliked these tournaments, not because she lacked skill, but because the King always expected her to win.
Morgan could sympathize; before Artoria was deemed old enough, it had been his duty to bring victory to the house of Pendragon.
"Knights of the realm, it's a great honor to welcome you to the tournament. Over the next three days, you will come to put your bravery to the test, your skills as warriors, and of course to challenge the reigning champion, my daughter, princess Artoria."
A few of the knights turned their heads to look at the princess, who did not look very intimidating at all, being smaller than most of her opponents. But every knight of Camelot knew not to let Artoria's fragile appearance fool them, she was a trained warrior after all.
"Only one can have the honor of being crowned champion, and he will receive a price of one thousand gold-pieces. It is in combat that we learn a knights true nature, whether he is indeed a warrior, or a coward. Let the tournament begin!" The King announced and the crowd went wild. Most of the knights left, only Artoria and her opponent remained.
Morgan noticed Uther whispering something to Artoria, and by the expression on her face, it was something about how he expected her to win. The King then left his daughter alone after giving her a not so friendly pat on the back.
Then two guards came forward, giving the two knights their shields and taking the capes. Artoria put on her helmet and got into a fighting stance, twirling her sword a bit in a manner that Morgan knew was not only to test its weight, but also to show off a bit.
Then the fight began, and while the two seemed evenly matched, Artoria demonstrated her tactical skill by using an opportunity to ram her elbow into her opponents chin, successfully knocking his helmet off and bringing the man off balance.
Everyone cheered for their princess, who took off her helmet and grinned at the crowd.
"Valiant looks pretty handy with a sword." Merlin commented, standing behind Artoria. The princess turned her head to glare at him.
Was he implying that she was not good with a sword? The girl wondered.
"May I offer my congratulations on your victories today?" Valiant spoke to Artoria.
"Likewise." The female muttered, not sounding very sincere.
"I hope to see you at the reception this evening." The knight said, nodding at them with a weird look in his eyes before walking off.
"Creep." Merlin murmured and Artoria chuckled slightly in agreement, before remembering that this was her idiot servant.
"For tomorrow you need to clean my boots, wash my tunic, sharpen my sword and polish my chainmail." Artoria ordered before stalking off.
That was how Merlin found himself in his small room, reading a book and letting the chores do themselves. It was very peaceful until Gaius burst through the door. Immediately everything dropped to the floor.
"Are you using magic again?" Gaius accused the ravenette, who averted his eyes, deciding not to grace that question with an answer.
Gaius sighed, before telling Merlin that supper was ready.
The next morning Merlin, thanks to Gaius, woke up on time and headed down to the kitchen.
"I need the princess's food." He told one of the kitchen maids, who nodded before handing him a huge platter filled with fruit, bread, cheese and ham. There was no way Artoria could eat all of this. And so, as he walked up the stairs to his mistress's chambers, he sneaked some food, convinced that the girl wouldn't notice.
Merlin entered the room and noisily sat the platter on the table, then proceeded to pull aside the curtains.
"Rise and shine!" He exclaimed and laughed when Artoria shot up, looking at him in shock that slowly turned to anger.
"You idiot! Don't you know how to wake royalty?!" She asked, and Merlin smiled at her.
"No, but I know how to wake prats." The warlock easily dodged the pillow that was thrown at him by an irritated princess.
"You're so stupid." The blonde muttered, angrily walking over to her table and regarding the plate with breakfast.
"I'm sure there's normally more ham." She murmured confused, but luckily for Merlin, she decided not to dwell on it and began eating.
"Merlin, don't just stand around like a fool! Get my clothes out and then go down to the armory and get my armor." The royal commanded and Merlin grumpily obeyed.
A few moments later, the servant walked down to the armory to get the lazy princesses armor, when he heard a strange hissing sound. He looked around, and his eyes landed on a yellow shield with green snakes. Crouching down, the warlock tried to inspect it closer, and he could have sworn that one of the snakes had blinked at him.
Suddenly, there was a sword at his neck. Rising slowly, he came face to face with Valiant.
"Can I help you with something, boy?" The knight asked, looking at Arthur suspiciously.
"No, I was just…admiring your shield. But I must be on my way now, the princess needs her armor." Merlin exclaimed before turning around and hastily gathering said armor and clumsily stumbling out of the armory.
Merlin then laid it out in Artoria's antechamber.
"You did all this on your own?" Artoria asked in surprise as she strutted into the room. Merlin nodded.
"Let's see if you can get me into it without forgetting anything." The princess said in a challenging tone.
Merlin smirked, this time he was going to do it perfectly, and then the stupid princess would have no room to complain.
"That was rather impressive. It must have taken you hours, getting all of this into that small brain of yours, you should be proud of yourself." Artoria said in a sickly sweet voice, patting him on the shoulder before walking off to the field.
After the tournament, Merlin hurried back to Gaius' chambers.
"How is he?" The ravenette asked, referring to a knight who was in bad shape after having fought with Valiant.
"It's most odd. Look at this." Gaius said, motioning for Merlin to come over and look at the unconscious man's neck.
"See these two small wounds. Looks like a snake bite." The physician explained, and Merlin frowned.
"How could he have been bitten by a snake, he was injured by a sword."
"The symptoms are those of poisoning: slow pulse, fever, paralysis." Gaius explained, even though he himself was at a bit of a loss as to how the bite had been obtained.
"Can you heal him?" The warlock asked, looking at the physician with concern.
"If it is a snake bite, I'll have to extract venom from the snake to make an antidote."
Merlin replayed the situation in his head, a knight who got bitten by a snake after a fight with…Valiant! His shield!
Wordlessly, he hurried out of the room, knowing what he had to do. He easily found Valiant's room and was careful not to make any noise as he peered in.
Inside the room, Valiant was holding a living mouse.
"Dinner time." The knight cooed and Merlin watched in fascination as the three snakes from Valiant's shield came to life. Having seen enough, Merlin ran from the room and barely managed to avoid getting caught by Valiant.
"I've just seen the snakes on Valiant's shield come alive, he's using magic." Arthur told Gaius, and the old man looked at him in shock.
"Are you sure?"
"I saw one of those snakes swallow a mouse, I'm sure. Ewan was fighting Valiant when he collapsed, it must have been one of the snakes from the shield." The warlock replied. "I have to tell Artoria."
"Is there any chance you might be mistaken?" Gaius inquired and Merlin couldn't help but feel slightly offended. He wasn't an idiot, he knew what he saw.
"I know magic when I see it." Merlin responded confidently, but Gaius wouldn't give up.
"Perhaps, but do you have any proof?" The old man asked.
"Do you not believe me?" The warlock questioned in disbelief.
"I fear you'll land yourself in trouble, how will you explain why you were in Valiant's chambers?"
"That does not matter! He's using magic to cheat in the tournament." Merlin argued. If they didn't report this, people could die!
"You can't go accusing a knight of using magic without proof. The King would never accept the word of a servant over the word of a knight." Gaius tried to explain. He just wanted Merlin to stay safe, and incurring Uther's wrath was certainly not 'staying safe'.
"So what I say doesn't count for anything?"
"I'm afraid it counts for very little as far as the King is concerned. That's the way it is." The physician stated and Merlin angrily walked to his room.
He couldn't believe Gaius would risk people's lives just because they had no proof. Shouldn't they at least try? If they accused Valiant, other knights might become weary and notice something or at least be more careful when facing Valiant.
The following day, Artoria managed to win all of her fights, meaning that she would be facing Valiant in the final the next day.
After such a day, all the princess wanted was to rip off the heavy chainmail and have a nice, relaxing bath, but not only was her manservant nowhere to be found, she would have to keep on her armor anyway for the dinner with the other knights and her father.
Sighing unhappily, Artoria made her way to the dining room and stood to her father's right. She and the other knights raised their cups for a toast before sitting down and beginning to eat.
"So, Valiant, do you think you stand a chance of defeating my daughter?" The King asked, making the girl tense up.
"I do hope to be a worthy opponent." Valiant answered.
"You should stay in Camelot after the tournament, I could do with more knights like you." Uther proposed, much to Artoria's horror. There was something about Valiant that just seemed off to her, and she certainly didn't want a man like that living in Camelot.
"I'd be honored, my lord." Valiant said, obviously accepting the offer.
Meanwhile, Merlin had snuck into Valiant's room and picked up a sword, pointing it at the shield. When nothing happened, Merlin began to regret not thinking this through. Did he just wait until the snakes finally decided to appear? What if Valiant came back?
Suddenly, the servant heard footsteps approaching and turned to the door, watching it closely.
He'd nearly forgotten about the snake until he heard a hissing sound from behind him and quickly whirled around, chopping off the snakes head. Noticing that the other two snakes had also come out to play, Merlin quickly abandoned the sword, grabbed the snakehead and ran back to Gaius.
Handing him the snake head, Gaius extracted the venom and got started on preparing the antidote.
"I'm going to tell Artoria." Merlin proclaimed, now that he had evidence and soon a knight backing him up, there was no way Artoria or the King wouldn't believe him.
"You'll need this." Gaius said, handing Merlin the snakehead. "And Merlin, what you did was very brave." The old man added, making Merlin's chest flare with pride. It felt good, to be able to help people with his gift.
I would be really happy over reviews, just to know if you enjoy this story, if you have any ideas or if there's anything I could do better.
That's it for now, I hope to have chapter three up soon, until then please try to stay healthy and don't leave your home if it isn't necessary.