Merlin: Son of King Uther and his Mistress, manservant to his brother

by RebekahYork

Hunith and Balinor aren't Merlin's biological parents. His real mother is the Duchess Matilda Sigourney Bennet-Beauchamp, King Uther's powerful Mistress. Merlin's mother will do whatever is necessary to keep her son's status as a Warlock, and the King's illegitimate son, concealed from the King and the rest of Camelot. Anything.

6. Valiant, Part 3

Arthur's POV:

"Oh this sorcerer is really one of the good ones.", I thought, " He's gone and chopped off a serpent's head!"

Faking skepticality and an incredulous expression, I dramatized, "You? You chopped its head off?"

Rolling his eyes, my manservant elaborated, "Ewan was bitten by a snake from the shield when he was fighting Valiant. You can talk to Gaius, you can see the puncture wounds in Ewan's neck where the snake bit him. Ewan was beating him, he had to cheat."

Internally, I fought the urge to squirm. The sorcerer is telling me of magic. A KNIGHT'S magic.

"Valiant's using magic in Camelot." I voiced, a feeling of dread tumbling into me.

"Yes, ", nodded Merlin, adding, "Ewan was pinned under Valiant's shield. No one could see the snake bite him."

My heart felt like it broke into a million pieces as Merlin said the words "no one". After I attempted to swallow down my dread, I asked my manservant, "Do you have any definite proof that Valiant is cheating?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Merlin informed, " Gaius is preparing an antidote to the snake venom. When Ewan's conscious, he'll tell you what happened. If you fight Valiant in the final, he'll use the shield. It's the only way he can beat you. Look at it!"

Merlin then waved what appeared to be a gruesome snake head about, while excitingly asking me, "Have you ever seen any snakes like this in Camelot?"

Having quite enough of the waving- mind you- I grabbed the snake head out of Merlin's grasp and inspected it closely.

While I was inspecting it, I heard Merlin mumble, almost sounding both insecure and unseemingly loyal, "I know I'm just a servant and my word doesn't count for anything. But, I wouldn't lie to you, Arthur."

Hearing these words, I knew with all my heart that this boy would never lie to me, sorcerer he may be. Looking up at him, I told him grimly, "I believe you."