Valiant
This time we were indeed in his chambers, just like I expected the first time. "Busy week?"
Arthur looked up and rose from his chair. "You!"
"You haven't thought it would be over, have you?"
He scanned the room. "We are somewhere else. And you look different."
"We are where you want to be. And while you are dressed the way you feel the most calm, I am shown the way I am right know." It was the same dress, but it was blue this time and my hair was pulled back.
"So you actually have a body. You are somewhere and you can be caught."
I tilted my head. "Theoretically. But I am in no place you are able to reach. At least not on your own."
"Why are we here? Why not in the same place as last time?"
I raised an eyebrow. "I told you, we are where you want to be. Last time, in your heart, you wanted out of the castle. This time, with the tournament going on, I guess you would like to hide in here."
"I am Prince Arthur. I would never hide."
"Is that so?" I smiled at him, but left it with that and changed the subject instead. "Sir Valiant is a pretty good fighter."
Arthur shook his head, annoyed. "You too? He is too aggressive, not fast and strategic enough. I will beat him."
"And are you really sure about that?" "Of course I am not!" He blinked a few times. "That was not what I wanted to say! I wanted to say I am not sure!" He blinked again, shook his head and finally gazed at me.
"What have you done?"
I was trying very hard not to laugh out loud, a pretty wide grin on my face. "Let me tell you another rule of this realm", I said, giggling a bit. "You are not able to lie. This is your mind, and while you are able to lie to yourself when you are conscious, you cannot do it here. Your subconscious knows exactly what you think and it won't allow any shenanigans."
The look on his face was priceless. A mix of horror and confusion. "Allow any what?"
Oh shit. I guess that word did not existed back then. "Any messing around. But I am not here to explain the mysteries of your own mind to you."
"Then why are you here? Why can't you just leave me alone when I can't remember our encounters anyway?" He sat down and looked at me with am grim face.
"I want you to remember everything to a very specific time and place. But it will be a long time until then."
"So why start now?"
I looked at him a bit disbelieving.
"Haven't I already told you that the last time?"
"So it has to do with him then? With Merlin?"
I nodded. "He is your servant now."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "It is a miracle he hasn't killed himself with my sword yet."
I had to laugh. "Come on. It isn't that bad."
Arthur tried to hide his grin, but wasn't very successful.
"Merlin thinks Valiant is dangerous", I said getting back to the original topic.
"He thinks he is a creep. That is not the same."
"That was yesterday."
Arthur looked at me unsure what to say. Pretending is almost impossible when you are not able to lie the other person already knows what you actually feel.
"Do you know how Sir Ewan is doing? The knight Valiant wounded pretty badly?"
He didn't answer me, but I saw the slight shrug.
"Merlin discovered something. You should be careful."
"Why can't you just show me what Merlin has been doing? You did it the last time. Where's your pond now?"
I twisted my mouth to a very forced smile. "There are very strange and complicated rules regarding what I can and cannot show and/or tell you. Believe me, this won't be the last time we both will be annoyed by that."
"So what am I doing here? This night?"
I thought over it. "See it as some kind of an introduction. You could ask some more questions and next time you will already know that there was something up with Valiant."
"And that is really necessary?"
I shrugged. "Afraid so. But don't worry. You will get used to it." And with these words I took the bowl with water that was suddenly standing on the table and threw the water in his face.
"Welcome back!" We were in his chambers again. He didn't even bother to actually look at me, so I quietly sat down at the table beside him.
"Is it true? What Merlin told me?"
"He swore to you, right?" Arthur nodded, looking at his hands like he could still see the head of the snake.
"You knew something was off. You didn't like him, but gave him the benefit of the doubt. Why did you change your mind?"
Now he did look at me, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Why would you listen to Merlin? He was right; he is just a simple servant. Your father would never listen to him, let alone believe what he has to say. Why do you?"
His expression changed, thinking about my question. As he opened his mouth I said: "Don't forget that you cannot lie in here."
He closed his mouth but started to speak short after: "I just can't believe Merlin would just make this up. Why would he? Accusing Valiant of using magic is a very serious matter."
I smiled at him and he looked down, almost like he was a bit embarrassed. "So, if you believe Merlin, you better make a plan. Quick."
He focused on me again. "What is there to do? I will have to tell my father. If Merlin is right Ewan will be able to confirm his story. And he is a knight, father will believe him."
I examined him. "Any other plan?"
He knitted his brows. "Why would I need another plan?"
I laughed. "You should always have another plan. Especially when it comes to deal with things like that."
The gap on his forehead deepened. I shrugged.
"Remember my words." I used a cup in my hand to throw the water at his face this time.
"This will be a short meeting."
"You knew it would go wrong." Arthur was furious, reaching for me but dropped his arms at the half way.
"Yes." No point in denying it.
"How? How do you know all of this?"
I smiled but said nothing. He stared at me until he realized I wouldn't answer.
"What do you expect me to do? I can't withdraw, like Merlin wants me to!"
"I know. And I am not here to tell you what to do. I am not even here to really talk to you. You wouldn't be listening anyways."
"Then why are you here. Why can't you just leave me alone?" He sounded tired and a bit beaten up.
I smiled softly and put my hand on his arm. He recoiled from my touch but gripped him tighter. "
I am here because you would have had exactly 20 Minutes of sleep this night. If I would have left you alone, you would have woken up in about five minutes, without being able to get any strength. So I intervened and when I will be leaving, you will wake up. But then, morning has already come and you will have slept calmly all night."
He stared at me unable to say anything. I winked at him and saw some kind of spark in his eyes. I used my grip to shove him in the direction of the bed and the dream dissolved as soon as his head hit the pillows.
"Enjoyed your feast? Champion?" He was sitting on his bed, without any armour.
"Valiant revealed himself during our fight. I could beat him."
I nodded. "I know. Do you want to know why?" I gestured towards small bowl of water, the same bowl I used two nights before to give him an unwelcome shower. "
So this time you can show me?" He got up and stepped beside me. I just smiled and shrugged.
The scene started short after Arthur lost his sword and got pushed against the wall. He managed to get Valiant off of him, and the image focused on Merlin, right next to the wall in the arena. He stretched out his arm, mumbling the words of the old language he practiced all night. The two remaining serpents came out of Valiants shield, in the middle of the arena for everyone to see.
"What are you doing?" Valiant panicked. "I didn't summon you!"
"He is using magic", Uther murmured.
"And now they see you for what you really are", Arthur said, still unarmed.
Valiant looked around, before a mocking grin spread on his face. The snakes completely dropped out of his shield, gliding towards Arthur, hissing.
Valiant called: "Kill him!"
Arthur had to fall back from them his back nearer and nearer to the wall.
"Arthur!", Morgana shouted, throwing him a sword she took from one of the guards. Arthur beheaded both creatures and defeated Valiant. The crowd cheered.
"You do realize Morgana did indeed save your life?"
"Yes of course she did!", he called out, causing me to burst into laughter. He looked confused. Then annoyed. And then a bit amused.
"This will be a real pain in my ass", he sighed, causing me to laugh even louder.
"But it actually was Merlin, right?", I asked him after I cooled off a bit.
"He used Magic", Arthur stated.
"I know. He practiced this spell all night on a statue of a dog that is now going wild in his room."
Arthur looked amused. "Really?"
I nodded. "He used his magic to save your life. Again only short after he complained about his destiny by the Great Dragon."
"His destiny? What is that exactly?"
I thought about telling him, but decided not to. Yet. "I will tell you that later. He knows it and does not like it. You wouldn't like yours either."
He looked at me with surprise and doubt in his eyes: "You know my destiny?"
"And I want to change it. A bit."
He looked sceptical. "Why?"
I shrugged. "That will be my secret to keep for now. But don't worry, my insanity has a system."
He didn't make the impression to be more convinced but didn't asked more either.
"I will let you sleep now. You drank quite a lot. Have fun with the hangover." I prepared myself to throw the bowl again but he stopped by grabbing it first.
"So I can touch other stuff here, good to know.", he mumbled to himself before focusing on me. "Do you have to do that every time? You didn't do it last time."
I tilted my head. "When I visit you, our minds are connected. If you would know how, and if I would let you, we could visit mine instead of yours. The water breaks that connection abruptly off, leaving only a very small bond I can use to connect again. Same thing with the fall into the pond or on your bed. If we wouldn't break it off, we could get sucked into the head of each other during the day, even unintentional. I would not want to risk it, would you?"
He seemed like he was actually thinking about it, so I took his distraction to push him back onto his bed, spilling the water from the bowl all over his body. The last thing he could hear was my laughter as the dream faded away.