AN: I got hate again.

Again, it was really hurtful. What I don't understand, is why don't people have the balls to get off of guest? I mean, you wanna insult my story, go ahead, but don't be so much of a pussy that you don't wanna hear a retaliation. And if you don't like it, fine. Was there really a reason for you to tell me? I mean, other than giving yourself some sort of macho man bravado. I am proud of this story. That's really all there is to it. So wonderful anon, screw you.

To those of you who like Elizabeth, here you go!

DISCLAIMER: MERLIN ISN'T MINE. ONLY ELIZABETH MALINOR.

Enjoy!

Tonight was the night of Arthur's coming of age ceremony. Tonight, he would be the official crown Prince of Camelot. Even though he was already the Prince of Camelot...yeah I didn't get it either. And I'd been there for quite a while. 8 episodes to be exact.

Arthur was kneeling in front of Uther at the front of the room. "Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of this Kingdom and its dominions according to the statutes, customs, and laws laid down by your forebears?"

"I do, Sire." He said.

I looked over to Merlin, who actually looks a little proud. "Do you promise to exercise mercy and justice in your deeds and judgements?" Uther asked. Which was clearly something he hasn't done, I might add.

"I do, Sire." Arthur repeated.

"And do you swear allegiance to Camelot, now and for as long as you shall live?" Uther asked, holding a staff thing in front of Arthur.

Arthur took a hold of it. "I, Arthur Pendragon, do pledge life and limb to your service, and to the protection of the Kingdom and its peoples."

I had to hold in a huge smile. I was really happy for him! Now all I needed was for Morgana not to try and steal his throne!

Somebody brought the crown on a pillow to Uther, who took it off of the pillow. "Now being of age and heir apparent, from henceforth, you shall be Crown Prince of Camelot." Uther announced, placing the crown on Arthur's head.

And the whole room burst into applause. Now I just let my smile break out, though I monitored the size of it.

All of a sudden, the huge window in the room shattered, and a Knight on a horse broke through into the room. Arthur and the rest of the Knights drew their swords.

"What in the devil's name?" Uther asked.

The Knight made his horse move forward, and everybody made room for it to move forward. Idiots, someone slay it already!

I couldn't see from behind the Knight in front of me, so I just rolled my eyes and pushed myself to the front.

Arthur looks at me in disbelief. "Elizabeth! Get back!"

I shook my head and whispered, "No!"

He gave up when the Black Knight reached us. He took his glove off and threw it in front of Arthur as an act of challenge. Arthur put his sword away and was about to reach down to grab it, but Sir Owain beat him to it. "I, Sir Owain, accept your challenge."

No! He was the cute one!

"Single Combat. Noon tomorrow. To the death." He said, and his horse he turned around and left the way he came, except it wasn't in slow motion.

Morgana, Gwen, and I were with Arthur later, who was furious about what happened. "He shouldn't have picked up the gauntlet!"

I walked closer to him. "Then don't let him fight, plain and simple!"

Arthur looked really pained when he says this next part. "The challenge has been taken up. The fight cannot be stopped."

"Then fight in his place." Morgana suggested.

I turned my head to her. "He can't."

"Why not?" Morgana asked.

"Owain picked up the gauntlet. Owain is the one who must fight. That is the Knight's Code." I explained to her.

"How do you know?" Arthur asked.

Yikes! Wait, I got this. "I have a lot of spare time. I like to read."

Arthur nodded. "Either way, Elizabeth's right. And Owain knew that."

"But it's a still a fight to the death." I protested.

Arthur moved to leave, but stopped. "I know." He said, and actually left this time.

Morgana, Gwen, and I all exchanged looks of worry.

Later in the stands, I had found out from Morgana that she had sent Gwen to give Owain a token of good luck. I gently squeezed her hand in comfort.

"The fight shall be to the knight's rules. To the death." Arthur said reluctantly. As soon as Arthur said, "Let battle commence.", they were fighting.

Although it had been a while since I watched a swordfighting competiton, I couldn't say that I'd missed it. Especially since this one was a fight to the death.

It seemed that the Black Knight was only aiming for Owain's shield. I winced every time that it was hit. Hey. It was a pretty loud noise.

It seemed like Owain was losing, and I swear I heard Gwen whisper, "Come on Owain."

Owain got kicked to the ground, and I couldn't help the gasp that had escaped me. I really didn't think I'd be able to handle watching this death. Owain was a really sweet guy. I'd talked with him a couple times, and he was the one that helped teach me how to sword fight when I had asked for lessons. Well, 'more practice' as I had put it, since I was supposed to have had practice when I was younger.

He quickly got up, and they were fighting on two feet again. "One well aimed blow!" Arthur yelled.

Probably five seconds after he'd said it, Owain stabbed the Black Knight right in the chest.

Everybody else looked relieved, but that relief turned to horror when everybody realized that that stab had done nothing to faze the Knight at all.

They kept fighting, and Owain was knocked to the ground again. The Black Knight raised his sword for the death blow...

And I couldn't help it. I turned away from the horror that was going on in front of me. I covered my eyes and everything. Once I heard everyone gasp, I knew it was over. Like I mentioned before, they didn't show blood on the show. But they certainly showed blood here.

The Black Knight threw his glove on the ground and said, "Who will take up my challenge?"

Uther had to literally hold Arthur back so that he wouldn't pick up the glove. Sir Pellinor leaped from the stands and picked the glove up. "I, Sir Pellinor, take up the challenge."

What I didn't understand was why don't people just ignore the guy?

"So be it." The Black Knight said. Then he locked his gaze with Uther before leaving.

I made my way into Gaius's chambers, where Merlin and Gaius were. "Please tell me I am not the only one who saw the Black Knight get hit."

Merlin nodded. "I saw it too."

"Then what is he? He should be dead." I said.

"We found out that he is Tristan Dubois. He was the brother of Ygraine, Uther's wife." Gaius explained and by the look on Merlin's face, it was just being explained to him too.

"Arthur's mother?" I asked.

"Ygraine died in childbirth. He blamed Uther and came to the gates of Camelot and challenged him." Gaius said as he grabbed a big book from one of the tables in his room.

"To single combat." Merlin asked, drawing the conclusion.

"Uther won. But in his dying breath, Tristan cursed Camelot to one day suffer his return. I thought it was the rambling of a dying man." Gaius said.

"Men don't just rise up from the dead though, no matter how angry they are." I pointed out, stealing Merlin's line.

Gaius, who was flipping through the book, stopped on a page. "It's my guess that we're dealing with a wraith."

"A wraith?" Merlin repeated.

"The spirit of a dead man conjured from the grave." Gaius explained.

"So this is the work of a sorcerer." I deduced.

"Powerful magic can harness the grief and rage of a tormented soul and make it live again." Gaius told us.

"How do we stop it?" Merlin asked.

"We can't. Because it's not alive, no mortal weapon can kill it." Gaius said.

"Surely there must be something." Merlin insisted.

"Nothing can stop it until it has achieved what it came for." Gaius said.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"Revenge." Gaius informed us.

Merlin and I exchanged looks of worry. "On Camelot?"

"What does that mean for Sir Pellinor?" Merlin asked Gaius.

"I'm afraid it doesn't look good." Gaius said.

"Sir Owain." I whispered, and Gaius and Merlin looked to me. "Sir Owain didn't even stand a chance." Then I left. Morgana, I knew really cared for Sir Owain, so I knew that she needed comforting right now.

Sir Pellinor and Tristan were fighting the next day. This time, everybody saw when Pellinor clearly stabbed Tristan. And this time, everybody saw how it clearly didn't faze him.

"I saw the blade go in, I'm sure of it." Morgana said to me.

I nodded. "I did too."

Not seconds later, Tristan used Pellinor's stunned reaction to finish him off. I looked away again. I didn't think I'd ever get used to people dying.

This time, before Uther could stop him, Arthur threw down his glove in front of Tristan. "I, Arthur Pendragon, challenge you."

I was pretty sure everybody in the stands was looking at Arthur in disbelief. "So be it." Tristan said.

"Single combat. Noon tomorrow." Please don't say to the death, please don't say to the death. And Arthur stopped there. Thank God. But I still knew that he would try to kill him.

I burst into Arthur's chambers right after, surprised that Merlin wasn't with him. "Are you stupid? Why did you challenge him?"

He stopped whatever he was doing. "Of course you can come in Elizabeth."

I rolled my eyes. "Just answer the question."

"He killed two of my Knights. Two very worthy Knights." He explained.

I calmed down. "While the losses of Sir Owain and Sir Pellinor were great, that doesn't mean you throw yourself into the fire. You're father isn't going to let you fight." I said.

"Well, that's just too bad." Arthur said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but your father is right. If you fight this Knight you will die. I don't know if you've noticed, but he just can't seem to die!" I exclaimed. Trying to talk Arthur out of fighting was harder than it looked.

"Well, what am I supposed to do Elizabeth?" He asked me. "I can't withdraw from the challenge, and I do not wish too."

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for barging in. And I'm also sorry that you are a complete fool." I snapped, then I turned on my heel and stalked off.

"You were right." Merlin said as he paced the room.

"I wish I wasn't." Gaius said.

"Arthur fights that thing, he'll die." I said.

"He is Camelot's strongest warrior. If anyone can defeat it, he can." Gaius said.

"But that's just the problem Gaius, it won't be defeated. It won't die." I said.

Merlin nodded in agreement. "And you said it yourself, no mortal weapon can kill it. Which means we have to find a way to defeat the wraith ourselves."

"How do you propose to do that?" Gaius asked.

"If no mortal sword can kill it," Merlin said, and he went and fetched his magic book. "Then I will." He started leafing through it. "With Mortal magic."

"Merlin, it's too dangerous." Gaius said.

"We don't have a choice." Merlin replied.

I was walking in the castle late that night when I heard voices coming from the throne room. I quickly looked around to check if anyone was there, and I quickly and quietly moved towards the door. I leaned my head against the doors, and pressed my ear to it.

"Soon Arthur will be slain. You will have sent him to his death." Nimueh's voice said from inside.

"Haven't you tired of revenge?" Uther asked.

"Haven't you?" She retorted. "You began this war when you threw me from the court and slaughtered all of my kind."

"You brought it on yourselves, you practised magic." Uther said.

"I was your friend, Uther!" Uther being friends with a sorceress? Unheard of. "You welcomed me here!"

"You betrayed that friendship." Uther stated.

"I did as you asked!" Nimueh exclaimed. "I used the magic you so despise to give your barren wife the son you craved."

"Don't ever speak of her that way!" Uther proclaimed. "She was my heart, my soul. And you took her from me."

It actually hurt to think about how much Uther loved Ygraine, and how much Uther used to care about other people other than Arthur, and that wasn't shown very often. "She died giving birth to your son." Nimueh pointed out. "It was not my choice. That is the law of magic. To create a life, there had to be a death. The balance of the world had to be repaid."

"You knew it would kill her!" Uther accused.

"No, you're wrong! If I had foreseen her death, and the terrible retribution you would seek...I would have never granted your wish." Nimueh stated.

"I wish you hadn't." Uther said eventually.

"You wish you didn't have a son?" Nimueh asked, part disbelief and part confusion. "Well, your wish will come true tomorrow."

"I will not let you take him." Uther said sternly.

"I have watched so many people I love die at your hands, Uther Pendragon. Now it is your turn." she said.

And that was the last voice I heard from the room. I heard footsteps in the hall, so I quickly hid behind a banister so nobody would see me. Turned out it was a couple of guards just passing through.

I was about to leave again when I heard the doors open, and Uther stepprf out. This was probably the part where he goes to tell Gaius that he was planning on taking Arthur's place in the fight. As soon as I was certain that he's gone, I got up and moved to walk away. I turned the corner, and I ran into Merlin, who dropped the sword he was carrying. "Liz? What are you doing awake?" He whispered.

"Just, going for a walk. Couldn't sleep." I quickly lied. He nodded and left. I frowned. "Hey!" I whispered angrily, following him. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" He whispered.

"Yes. I want to come." I said.

"Sorry Lizzie, you can't." He said.

"And why not? You're not going to stop me." I said, grabbing on his arm. He looked from my hand on his arm to my face, but rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. "All right, but we have to be quick." He grabbed my hand, and we walked quickly. Like, almost a run.

He let go of my hand to grab a torch, and we kept walking. We went down the stairs to where the Dragon was. I pretended to look around myself, confused. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Just trust me." He answered, and we kept going down the stairs.

We entered the cave, and Kilgharrah's there, sitting on his rock. "Merlin." he said when he saw him. Then he noticed me. "And you've brought a guest." He said, as if he didn't know who I was. I guess that was good. Him knowing who I was would be a little difficult to explain to Merlin.

"She's a friend of mine." Merlin explained, and he got down to business. "Do you know why we're here?"

"It may surprise you, Merlin, but my knowledge of your life is not universal." Kilgharrah said sassily.

"It's to do with Arthur. His life's in danger." Merlin explained.

"Isn't it always?" I muttered under my breath. But Merlin heard me, and nudged me lightly.

"He will die, unless I can make a weapon that will kill the dead." Merlin said, taking out the sword.

"So what do you come to ask of me?" Kilgharrah asked.

Merlin used his magic to move the sword right in front of Kilgharrah, and he stood up. "Will you burnish it, to save Arthur?"

"The dead do not return without reason." Kilgharrah stated. "Who has he come for?"

"Uther." I piped up, probably the first time I'd spoken since I got here.

"Then let him take his vengeance and the wraith will die without my aid." Kilgharrah said.

"But it's Arthur who's going to fight him. You have to save him." Merlin insisted.

"That is your destiny, young warlock, not mine." he said.

"But if Arthur fights the wraith and dies, Camelot will have no heir!" Merlin said, though Camelot did have one other heir..."I will have no destiny."

Kilgarrah waited a moment. For what, I had no idea. "A weapon forged with my assistance will have great power."

"I know." Merlin said.

"You do not know. You can only guess." Kilgharrah put in. "You have not seen what I have seen. If you had, perhaps you would not ask this of me."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In the wrong hands, this sword could do great evil." He said. "It must be wielded by Arthur, and him alone."

"I understand." Merlin said.

"You must do more than understand." The Dragon said. "You must promise."

"I promise." Merlin said, nodding his head.

Kilgharrah turned his head to me. "You are here to witness this promise."

I nodded. "Okay, sure. Just, do what you gotta do."

Kilgharrah moved back a little, and so did Merlin and I. He lifted up his jacket and used it to help shield us. Then, Kilgharrah breathed fire onto the sword. I trid not to dance. I was watching the birth of Excalibur! How exciting was this?

When Kilgharrah was done, the sword was gleaming. "Heed my words." Kilgharrah reminded us. "The sword was forged for Arthur, and him alone."

A sleeping draught would help me get to sleep, so I went to Gaius's chambers to get one. When I got there, he was about ready to leave. "Oh sorry, I didn't realize you were busy." I said, and was about to leave. I think I could deal with nightmares tonight.

"No, Lizzie. What did you need?" Gaius asked.

"Well, I wanted a draught. I've been having some troubled nights. But I think I'll be fine." I said, then I moved to leave.

"Wait. I can get you your draught." He said, and he went to get it for me.

I waited around. "Where were you going?" I asked.

"Nothing. I was just going to give Arthur something for the night." He responded.

"I could give it to him." I suggested. "I'll be passing his chambers, anyway."

"No, it's all right. I can do it." Gaius said.

"No really. I can do it." I insisted.

He sighed. "This is a special medication for Arthur. It's supposed to knock him out."

"Knock him out? Why would you want to do that?" I asked, although I knew the answer.

"Uther is going to take Arthur's place tomorrow." Gaius answered.

"What?" I asked in fake disbelief.

"The wraith is after Uther. Uther believes that with his death the wraith will die as well." Gaius explained.

"But Arthur will never let that happen. You saw how he wouldn't back down." I stated.

"That," Gaius said, holding up a small vial. "Is what this is for." I took it out of his hand. "This will render Arthur unconscious. It might not seem like much, but it will keep Arthur knocked out long enough for the battle to happen." He said.

"And if he wakes up before it?" I asked.

Gaius slipped me a key. "If he does, he won't get far." Then he held out my draught. I took it out of his hand.

"Thank you. Goodnight." And with that, I left for Arthur's chambers.

I took a deep breath before I knocked on the door. "Come in." Arthur's voice said.

I carefully opened the door. "It's me."

He came over from the window. "What is it you want? Come to scream at me about how much of an idiot I am?"

"No." I said, looking down at my hands. "I've come to apologize. Yelling at you wasn't going to solve anything. I guess it just let go of all the worry that I felt. But it was wrong to yell at you and I'm sorry."

He nodded. "I accept your apology."

I sighed. "Good." I held up the vial and held it out to him. "Gaius says it'll help you sleep better. Get you through the night."

He put my hand down. "I'm fine. I don't need it."

"Really? You really want to be off your game, especially tomorrow? It could be because of lack of sleep that makes you feel sluggish that gets you killed. It'll help you to relax." I said.

Arthur gave me a look, but eventually took it out of my hand. I watched anxiously as he took the cork out to drink it. After he did, he made a face and handed the vial back to me. "I wouldn't drink it for pleasure."

I put it down on his table. "Why don't you sit down for a minute?" I said, gesturing to his bed. Gaius was right, and according to the episode, Arthur could plunk any second now.

He let me lead him to his bed. "Mind you," He said as I lead him there. "If you forget about the taste, the after-effect is quite...pleasurable."

"Of course it is." I said as I sat him down on his bed. I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down. "Just lie down for now." And before I know it, he was out. I let out a breath, blowing at my bangs. I put a blanket on top of him just in case and made my way out the door.

Using the key Gaius gave me, I used it to lock him in. If this all went like it did in the episode (which it normally dud), then Arthur didn't have anything to worry about.

The next day was the day of the fight. I sat with Morgana and Gwen in the stands. Uther eventually came out, and I frowned when I noticed the familiar gleam of Excalibur. Well, it's the only sword that can kill the dead. "You can have what you came for." Uther told Tristan. Tristan turned his head to him. "The father, not the son."

Morgana looked over to me, and she was confused as hell by the look on her face. I briefly looked over to her, then back to the front. A guard took off Uther's cape, and he put on his helmet. Seconds later, the fight commenced. I had a feeling I was going to get sick of them sooner or later.

They'd been fighting for maybe five minutes, and I started to get bored. Yeah, so it was a fight to the death. They kinda lost their excitement after the second one you'd seen. I let my eyes wander aimlessly, but then they lock with Arthur's who had woken up and looked severely pissed off. As fast as I looked at him I looked away. There certainly would be hell to pay.

More sword clashing and punching and kicking. Uther managed to knock Tristan's helmet off, which made everyone gasp. Tristan's true face was revealed as he roared which made everyone in the stands gasp again.

More sword clashing, and Uther fell to the ground, dropping his sword. Now all he was doing was blocking Tristan's hits with his shield.

One huge hit caused everyone to gasp, but they were all fine once they realize that Tristan's sword was lodged in the shield and not in Uther.

After a small round of tug of war, Uther let go of the shield and kicked Tristan back in the process. While Tristan was trying to take his sword out of the shield, Uther used that moment to his advantage to grab Excalibur and stab Tristan right through the chest. There was a small explosion, and the force of it knocked Uther back.

We were all staring in awe as Tristan literally burst into flames. Probably sometime during the fight, Morgana had grabbed my hand and was squeezing it tightly. I only realized it because she had let go of her grip, leaving my hand red.

Uther stood up and took his helmet off in victory. Everybody, including me, stood up and we all applauded and cheered for him. Uther dropped the sword to the ground, and I looked to Merlin, who was looking very worried. I knew he was worried because of what Kilgharrah had said about Arthur being the only one who was to use the sword. Truth be told, I was worried too. At least I wasn't the one who had to break that news to the Dragon.

I was on my way to Morgana's chambers later that day when I heard Arthur's voice from behind me. "Elizabeth!"

"Crap." I whispered. Louder, I called, "Hi, Arthur. Bye, Arthur!" Then tried to make a run for it.

"Don't even try." He said. He was already beside me. I gritted my teeth and held my arms out. "Lay it on me. Let me have it."

"Have what?" Arthur asked confused.

"How I shouldn't have drugged you, how it was wrong." I said.

He shook his head. "Was this your way of getting back at me?"

This time it was me that's confused. "Get back at you for what? Did you do something?"

"When I wouldn't believe you about Sophia Tirmawr. Is this your way of getting back at me?" He asked.

"Getting back at you?" I asked in disbelief. "I drugged you because you happen to be a very important person. To Uther, to Camelot."

"Well, thank you."

I rolled my eyes. "Did this conversation have a point? 'Cause Morgana is expecting me." I said, pointing towards her door.

"I just wanted to say, that I understand why you had to drug me," He said.

"Good. Glad that's all cleared up." I said, then moved to leave. "And if the opportunity to drug you ever comes up again, you better believe that I will." I playfully punched him in the arm. "That's what friends are for."

"Noo!" A voice roared in my head.

I flashed my eyes open and sat up, gasping. Merlin must have gone to Kilgharrah about Excalibur already, since I was pretty sure the voice I heard in my was his. I regained my breath for a second, then laid back down on my pillow. I carefully shut my eyes, and pray that the sleeping draught Gaius gave me would actually help tonight...

TBC...

So Excalibur is done! Funny, it seems the more I watch this episode, the more I like it.

Either way, the Moment of Truth is next! Guys, I am so intensely excited for that episode!

Elizabeth's outfits on Polyvore!

Until next time,

REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!

THE ADVENTURES OF ELIZABETH MALINOR CONTINUES...

Kanin's men invade into Ealdor on horses.

Hunith, Merlin's mother, is hit, and falls to the ground.

"I'm going back to Ealdor." Merlin says.

Merlin and a young man greet each other with smiles and hugs.

"If you used your magic, then no one else would have to die." The same young man tells Merlin.

"I don't know why you call yourself a man. You're not brave enough to be one, especially one who fights for what they believe in!" Elizabeth yells at the young man.

Elizabeth, Merlin, and the young man were all standing together. "There's too many!" The young man said.

"If it comes to a choice between saving people's lives and revealing who I really am, there is no choice." Merlin tells his mother.

"You can't let Arthur know about your gift." Hunith insists.

Merlin's eyes flash gold as he conjures up the windstorm...

Okay, so that's not how the actual preview ends, but I didn't really know how to put it in there without sounding like Arthur was staring right at Merlin as he was using his magic. Anyways, next up, The Moment of Truth!