To the reviewer that suggested Arthur got the idea for whacking Merlin with a spoon from being hit with the whacking spoon: That thought did not occur to me when I was writing that scene, but I absolutely love it.
Merlin
8:30 Train the knights
Merlin took a deep breath before walking onto the training field, Sir Leon at his side. The knights all were clumped in small groups as they waited to start the training. No doubt they were all discussing exactly what they thought Merlin would have them do, or maybe how badly he would mess up training.
This was the part of Arthur's day that Merlin was the most dreading; the council meetings were boring but could easily be sat through, training required physical activity.
Merlin walked to the center of the field, exuding as much confidence as he could muster, all of which was fake, and called the knights over.
Once they circled, Merlin told them they'd be starting with practice forms, the same thing they did every time as a warm-up. "Line up and run through the basics. Don't think because Arthur isn't here that you can slack off; I want to see all of you paying attention to your footwork." This garnered a light bit of laughter from the group and Merlin did the little hand wave thing Arthur always did to dismiss them.
Merlin sighed; the leading was easy—or at least mostly easy as long as he had enough false confidence. He knew what to watch for, what drills they went through, and what each knight had to work on, but participating and doing everything himself along with the knights would be something new for him.
He had never trained with the knights; when Arthur had forced him to train, it was always in a private session with just the two of them. Sometimes he'd be a training dummy for Arthur during regular training, but that was rare and he never had to wield a sword in front of the others. He knew Arthur cracked jokes about his ineptitude with a sword and now that he had to train together with the knights, he felt much more self-conscious than he had expected to be.
Merlin joined the end of one of the lines the knights had organized themselves into, thankful that Gwaine was next to him, providing a slight barrier between Merlin and the rest of the men.
The warm-up went fairly easily, except for the fact that Merlin's arms felt like cooked noodles. He called for a water break immediately and put a small weightless charm on his armor and sword. It really wasn't cheating; it didn't completely get rid of the weight of the gear, but Arthur had had years to build up the strength to wear the armor and he had worn it only once or twice before.
Leon approached him as he took a swig of water. "Tired already?"
"Absolutely, this armor weighs more than a brick house." Merlin complained. "But I'll manage."
Leon smiled. "You're doing well so far. Now you just have to make it through sparring."
Merlin groaned and turned away to gather the knights. Once they were huddled around him he announced. "As you all know, it's time for sparring. I want you all to pair up, a seasoned knight with a newbie. Today you will be focusing on footwork. Don't let your sword get ahead of the rest of you. Leon and I will be going around to observe and provide suggestions." Merlin nodded sharply to dismiss them.
One of the older knights that Merlin knew well asked teasingly, "Merlin, are you only observing so you don't have to spar yourself?"
"Technically, I am supposed to provide helpful advice and contributions, Arthur's words, but yes I am trying to stall for time so I don't have to spar." The knights laughed as they all paired up.
Merlin avidly watched each knight as they sparred together, whenever one was knocked down, he cut in to provide advice on their form. "You need to protect your sword arm on that move, your stance was better and you won't lose balance now, but you still need to be aware of your opponent's movements and how they will affect your movements."
After an hour they took a break for water and then started again, this time focusing on their defensive rather than their offensive. Merlin stood off to the side with Gwaine, who had switched with Leon so that the head of the knights could get some practice himself, not that he needed any help with defensive maneuvers, but more practice was always helpful.
"They're not half bad." Merlin commented.
Gwaine snorted. "Not half bad? We're the knights of Camelot, Merlin, we're widely considered to be the best in the land."
"The best you may be, but that doesn't mean you can't get better. Roulf is still favoring his left foot, though that should go away in a day or two when his ankle fully heals and Harrison favors his right side. Evans has a bad habit of hesitation when attacking in a high line attack. Johnson needs more strength in his parries or he'll eventually face someone like Percival who will knock his sword right out of his hand. And of course you have a habit of sticking your foot out to the side during your thrust which can easily be exploited to knock you off balance."
Gwaine glanced at Merlin, clearly impressed by his analysis of the men. "How much of that was complaints you overheard from the princess?"
Merlin smirked. "Just the bit about Harrison and Johnson. I've seen you with your foot and Evans' hesitation many times and I of course treated Roulf for his sprained ankle, so I have some inside knowledge there."
"Color me impressed. And here I thought you ignored us during all these practices."
"Well I try to, doesn't always work out that way." Merlin smirked again as Gwaine shoved him and walked off to assess the knights' forms some more.
The training went on until it was almost time for Arthur to drag Merlin off for the town hall. "I'm going to end training here. But there is one more thing: I know you've all been waiting to see me spar one on one with someone," He scowled disapprovingly before continuing. "So once Arthur comes down here to fetch me, I will be sparring against Gwaine."
Chatter broke out amongst the knights; it had been what they were all waiting for. To see Merlin, renowned for his clumsiness, try to fight a seasoned knight. Not only was Gwaine a seasoned knight, but he was arguably the best sword fighter of them all; though Gwaine was the most likely to argue that point. The men all knew Merlin's reputation for being a klutz, but they all also knew that he trained individually with Arthur. No one really knew exactly how good or bad with a sword he was, and they were ready to find out.