A/N: Thanks for your reviews. I do not own Merlin. Constructive criticisms are always welcome. Enjoy!
Seventeen years had passed since Essetir's Princess Merlynn was born. Princess Merlynn had grown up to be a very beautiful and every bit of a mischievous young lady. Her hair looked to be the darkest black that contrasted with her pale skin with eyes so blue that rivalled the sky. Her square jaw and dainty little nose only accented her beauty. She was a perfect mix of all three of her parents. Her magic was instinctive, one of the strongest in the realm and after Balinor started to teach her magic and the ways of the Old Religion, it grew even stronger. Balinor's faithful manservant, Jacob who had been left behind at Balinor's Ancestral seat, the Dragon's Cove had travelled to Essetir when news of Balinor's nuptials reached. When Balinor had started to teach Merlynn about Magic, Jacob had sent word to the steward at the Dragon's Cove for some books from the family library.
Merlynn grew up to be just as stubborn as both her fathers and had earned the loyalty of her people with her kind-heartedness. The Princess started training with a sword and other weapons with her fathers and the knights, which had only begun after a huge fight with Merlynn refusing to talk to either of her fathers for a better part of the week. Balinor and Cenred had only relented when Merlynn had almost been kidnapped, and Hunith had persuaded her husbands to train Merlynn to protect herself. Neither of the two men knew that the failed kidnapping had been a plot perpetrated by Merlynn and Hunith with a few of Merlynn's friends from the lower town. Merlynn had cast an illusion on the men to change their facial features which had dissipated once the men had mixed in with the crowd in the lower town escaping capture. Soon, Merlynn was undefeated in the Kingdom of Essetir either by weapons or by magic.
Merlynn had even mastered the art of channeling her magic through her hands so that the tell tale sign of golden eyes were not there, although she could only use such channeling when she was touching the object or person she was directing her magic at. This particular trick caused no end of trouble for her fathers when Merlynn was upto mischief and her ire was directed at them. They never knew when she was touching or hugging them simply for the sake of it or when she was pranking them until someone pointed out the prank to them.
Early one morning, Merlynn was out hunting with her personal guard, when they encountered a beaten up villager travelling on foot towards the capital city. Merlynn, on seeing the injured villager, dismounted immediately and assisted the injured man.
"Please rest for a bit, good sir." Merlynn said when the injured man went to get up and continue his journey.
"No, No. I will have to get a move on. I need to go up to Fallcairn to get an audience with the King." The man replied.
"May I ask why you need to have an audience with the King?" Merlynn asked. "Please, we can try to help you faster and you can continue on your way to Fallcairn." She entreated when she saw the man's hesitance.
"My name is Micheal. I am from Ealdor. Our village is being raided by a man named Kanen. We can only give up so much. His men are also very brutal and bloodthirsty. We fear for our womenfolk as well whenever they come."
Merlynn was immediately enraged and sent Micheal with one of the Knights to meet with her father for reinforcements while she and the rest of the group continued on to Ealdor.
By the time Merlynn and her group reached Ealdor, Kanen and his men had entered the village and had started to demand the season's harvest from the villagers.
"We have given you the majority of our harvest. We have only a little bit to get by for this winter." An old man said to Kanen.
Kanen raised his sword to make an example of the old man, when Merlynn had seen enough and blocked Kanen with her sword and blasted him back while the knights with her engaged Kanen's men. Soon the fight started in earnest with Merlynn and her Knights starting to win. Merlynn heard a shout of warning and saw Kanen shoot an arrow at her with his crossbow out of the corner of her eye. She had turned around just as a man also got in between her and the arrow. The arrow pierced his upper arm making him cry out in pain as he clutched his arm as he staggered back.
Merlynn caught him from falling down and felt a warmth travelling down her spine but dismissed it before she blasted Kanen back. She sat the man who saved her aside on a log to the side before she bound Kanen. Most of Kanen's men, seeing that the tide of the battle was not in their favour, immediately abandoned their leader and started running in order to escape capture. But with most of Merlynn's guard having magic, most of those trying to escape were captured and bound up.
"Who are you girl? Magic is illegal. I am sure the King will have your head." Kanen asked when he saw that a girl was the one who had blasted him.
"I am Princess Merlynn of Essetir." The villagers gasped to see that their Princess herself had come to help them. "Ealdor is a part of Essetir and they are my people. Magic is not and will never be banned in Essetir and I can confidently say that my Fathers will never have my head for using magic. Neither I nor my Fathers will ever tolerate such raids anywhere in Essetir."
She turned to her personal guard. "Those of you who can heal, please help me in healing the injured people. James, please guide those who are injured to us." She then turned to the village people. "If those of you who are uninjured could help the rest of my Knights in guarding these men until reinforcements arrive from Fallcairn, I will make sure they are punished."
The villagers eagerly complied with their Princess's request while four of the Knights moved towards Merlynn to begin healing the injured. Merlynn had commandeered five of the cottages for healing the injured privately. Merlyn moved to the blond haired man who had saved her. He supported his right arm with his left hand grimacing in pain as he shifted slightly to get comfortable.
"I have to thank you for saving me, Sir. May I know your name?" Merlynn asked.
"Arthur" The man replied with a pained gasp.
"I can heal you, if you could just follow me to the cottage there." Merlynn said.
"No, I am fine. I can manage just fine by myself." The blond haired man replied.
Merlynn looked at the arrow still protruding from his arm. "The arrow is still lodged in your arm. We will have to check if it is lodged in the bone. It needs to be removed carefully, otherwise it may break and a piece might get stuck in. I am trained to handle such injuries. Please do come. You have saved my life. Let me help you." She replied.
"I said I am fine. I too am trained to handle such injuries. I can take care of myself. Your offer is appreciated, but no, thank you." He snapped.
"I never said that you would not be able to take care of yourself. I just said that we need to remove that arrow carefully." Merlynn said as calmly as she could.
"You want the arrow removed. Fine. I will pull it out myself. See!" he bit out before he pulled the arrow out forcefully breaking it in the process and leaving a small piece lodged in his arm and a painful grunt escaping him.
"God save me from arrogant clotpoles!" Merlynn muttered before with a twitch of her finger and a golden flash of her eyes, she floated the blond haired man and guided him into the cottage. She called two of her men to assist her in holding the man down.
Merlynn just ignored the man's shouted protests about not needing help from any sorceresses as she lay him down on the cot. Her men immediately restrained him preventing him from getting up. Merlynn quickly washed her hands with soap and took a dagger out of her boot and cleaned it properly. Her mother and the healer at Fallcairn had already educated her on the dangers of infection due to unclean instruments.
"What are you doing? Are you going to kill me?" Arthur shouted again.
"You have saved my life. Do not insult me with unfounded accusations of trying to kill you. I am trying to save you from your own foolishness, you stupid prat. Now let me work in peace." Merlynn snapped, losing her composure for a moment.
Merlynn took a deep breath to centre herself once more, before she guided her magic to numb the area around the wound with just a touch of her hand. Arthur fell silent when he realised that he could not feel any pain from his wound. Merlynn thanked the Triple Goddess for the silence and with a steady hand, she made a precise incision across the wound. Once she identified the stuck piece of arrow, she took a previously clean hook and removed the piece. She then closed the wound with a muttered "Drycræft ðurhhæle ðina wunda ond ðe geedstaðolie".
"There, that's done now. You are such a dollop head. Now, please rest for a bit. If you try to get up from the bed before I am back, I will bind you to the bed. I am sure you know that I will do it too." Merlynn said before she turned around and left the cottage.
Arthur Pendragon was the best Knight of Camelot. He was also the Crown Prince of Camelot, the heir to the Throne of Camelot and the son of Uther Pendragon, the King of Camelot. He was a warrior as well as a diplomat. He knew that ever since he was knighted, and his father had proclaimed him to be proficient enough at diplomacy, he had never been at a loss for words. He always had a comeback ready for any type of situation. But, right now he was bewildered.
He had been on a patrol in the Forest of Ascetir which marked the border of Essetir and Camelot with a few other Knights of Camelot. He had been restless and had veered off the path when he saw some smoke arising from the nearby village and heard the sounds of a battle going on. Arthur rode on to the edge of the village and looked at the battle from behind a tree. He had already taken off his Camelot red cloak knowing he was in Essetir and that he might enter into the fray and not wanting anyone to identify him as the Prince of Camelot or even a Knight of Camelot which might cause the Essetir Knights to think that the attack was from Camelot.
He was impressed with the Knights of Essetir's fighting style when his eyes caught one of the Bandits aiming his crossbow at a girl near his hiding place who was also fighting alongside the Knights. He shouted out a warning but knew the girl would not be able to dodge the arrow in time and so he jumped out from behind the tree and pushed the girl aside but the arrow pierced his arm. He staggered back from the pain but the girl caught him from behind preventing his fall. He thought he felt some warmth but dismissed it as an imagination due to the pain.
It was then he saw that the girl used magic to blast and bind the bandits. He stiffened immediately wondering why the Knights did not arrest the girl for sorcery. His father had taught him the evils of sorcery and also informed him that magic was banned in most of the kingdoms. When the girl introduced herself as the Princess of Essetir and that magic was not outlawed in Essetir, he was confused. As far as he remembered his lessons, all the five kingdoms had outlawed magic. He thought back to his lessons and realised that curiously there were not many mentions of Essetir or their Royal Family except for his father reiterating now and then that he was never to enter Essetir for any reason and that Essetir and Camelot were at war, although there were never any fights after his birth as far as he knew.
When the girl, Princess Merlynn, he corrected himself, offered to heal him, he was understandably wary and refused her. When she kept insisting, he pulled out the arrow just to show her that he could take care of the wound, it seems fate turned against him and the arrow had broken leaving the broken piece lodged in his arm. When she muttered about arrogant clotpoles and lifted him up with magic, he was incensed and was about to reveal himself before he caught himself.
He was astonished when he felt numb at the area of the wound, and then again as he watched the Princess remove the lodged broken arrow piece using very clean instruments. She was as meticulous as Gaius, the court physician at Camelot. He observed her careful movements, the way her wavy black hair was pinned back from her face, her blue eyes and the way they flashed golden when she did magic. He had never heard of anyone do magic wordlessly, but she seemed to do it so seamlessly and looked like a beautiful goddess, he wondered if she was indeed an ethereal being instead of a human. He caught that train of thought and flushed slightly thanking god that the tan obtained from training outdoors hid his blush.
Her calling him a dollophead and ordering him not to get up before she returned, had his ire rising, but controlled his impulse to lash out at her again, reminding himself that he was in enemy territory. So here he lay now utterly befuddled.
"The area will be numb for the rest of the day, but you will start to feel the pain tomorrow. I will give you a potion that will help with the pain. Be sure to take it thrice a day for the next three days. Make sure to rest properly and do not jostle your arm too much. Try not to lift weights for at least a fortnight. Make sure to wear a sling for a week at least. Otherwise you might forget you were injured and start lifting weights unconsciously. Once again, I thank you for saving my life. If you need anything, you can ask me." Merlynn said once she returned again.
"I do not require anything. I only did what anyone would have done. I would just like to leave now." Arthur replied.
Merlynn looked over him for a moment before nodding. "Very well. But know that if you need anything at all, you can approach me at Falcairn." She said before leaving him alone reluctantly.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the meeting between Merlynn and Arthur. -Fallcairn: I do not know the capital of Essetir.- So I have made up a city of my own. If any of you know, please let me know and I can change it.
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