I skipped spending some time with Gaius whilst Arthur was elsewhere to seek out Gwen, hoping Gaius had been right about her having the time to help me with fitting armour. I had gone straight to Morgana's chambers, figuring Gwen would likely be with her, if not Gaius had already given me direction to her home in the lower market. I knocked on her door, lightly, not wanting to disturb Morgana if she was busy or resting from a sleepless night. I knew only too well how taxing nightmares could be.

"Enter." She called, I did as she said, finding her standing in the window as she had been the last time I had come here. Staring down at something below. She smiled as she turned to look at me, seemingly grateful to have a visitor. I couldn't see Gwen, though, which was a little disappointing. I didn't want to be rude and leave, not when Morgana looked so happy to see me, but I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for the tournament tomorrow.

"Did you and Arthur have an argument?" She smirked, glancing back towards the window.

"No, why?"

"Because he's beating on poor Sir Lionel as if he's just insulted his honour." She sniggered, standing aside as I stood to watch with her. It was true, Arthur was hammering at the other Knight's shield like his life depended on it, not noticing the looks the other Knight's were giving him.

"Ah, yeah, we didn't argue exactly but it may still be my fault." He was probably imagining that Sir Lionel was me, right now.

"What happened?"

"He tried to use me as his target and I may have... hit him with my mace." Morgana's burst of laughter was not the dignified giggle I had expected from her, instead, she was cackling like a Banshee, clutching her stomach at the mental image she now, no doubt, had burned into her mind.

"Oh, I wish I could have seen his face!" She squealed between peals of laughter. "Twice! You've taken him down twice!" I couldn't help but start laughing too, after all, no one would have seen it coming. Least of all Arthur. "Imagine what you could do with a sword!" She continued, barely pulling herself together long enough to get the sentence out.

"Yeah, we tried that. He won." She finally stopped laughing, watching me as if considering something.

"How long did you last?"

"I'm not sure. I managed to block most of his blows, I was better when I didn't have the shield dragging me down, but I missed the ones he aimed at my head."

"He went for your head?!" Her voice went high, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Three times," I admitted.

"That's not like him. I mean, all's fair in a tournament or even when he trains with his Knight's, but I wouldn't have expected him to do that to you. How many times did you block him?" I might have wondered if the Prince hated me but... it hadn't seemed like that when we'd spoken last night. And he had helped me up after taking me down. Surely, he wouldn't have done that if he hated me. Right?

"I... I can't remember. We started out slow but by the end, he was hitting out almost too fast for me to keep up."

"But you still managed to block them all? Other than the ones to your head?" Morgana was almost lost in thought, staring at me as if seeing something in me that she hadn't noticed before.

"Yeah, why?" My voice had gone cautious, not trusting the look in her eyes as she studied me.

"If you managed to last more than a couple of minutes with Arthur wailing on you than you're already better than at least half the Knight's when they start out. With a little training... well, who knows what you'd be capable of." It was a nice thought, something I would definitely consider when I got the time. Not that it would be easy.

"Maybe, but, who would I train with? I highly doubt Arthur will ask me to train with him again after today. His ego can only take so much." I joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"You'll train with me." She decided, finished debating with herself.

"But -"

"If you say I'm not supposed to fight because I'm a Lady then I'm going to make you eat your words on the training ground." She interrupted, immediately on the defensive. I got the feeling she'd heard that a lot over the years.

"I wouldn't dream of it." And I wouldn't. Even if I did think that, which I didn't, it would hardly have been my place to comment.

"Camelot needs more women who can fight. There might come a time when the Knight's fail, and we're all that's left and, I don't know about you, but I'd rather go down fighting." She was even stronger than I'd initially thought, which was saying something. A hard look entering her eyes at the prospect of taking down her enemies if they dared infiltrate her home.

"It would be an honour to be taught by you, Morgana." And I meant it.

"Then it's settled. Let's go."

"Now?" I hadn't been ready for that.

"Why not now?" I wanted to, I really did. Even whilst aching from already training with Arthur, I really did want to learn how to defend myself. After all, as Arthur's servant, I would likely be put in all sorts of dangerous situations. And it was my Destiny to protect him. I couldn't rely on my magick alone to do that. Not if I had to keep it hidden from him. Which only left the issue of not having time.

"I have a lot I have to learn for tomorrow, I've got a whole book of Tournament Etiquette to read and I still don't even know how to get Arthur into his armour."

"That's easy. If I'm training you how to fight we're going to be covering most of that before we even start." Huh? I didn't think of that.

"If that's the case then I have no reason to refuse."

"Fantastic." Gwen chose that moment to enter the room, looking between Morgana and me, automatically growing wary when she beheld our smirks.

"What are you two planning?"

"I am going to teach our Merlin here, how to kick Arthur's ass," Morgana explained and Gwen giggled whilst I looked at Morgana in shock. I had never expected the word 'ass' to come from her lips, I couldn't hold back my smile. I had a feeling Morgana and I were going to become great friend's, another thing that Arthur was going to hate.

"Do I even want to know?"

"You're going to do more than know about it, Gwen, you're going to help us." I looked between the Lady and her Handmaiden, the silent conversation going on between them and longed for a day when Arthur and I might be as close. It would certainly make my life a lot easier.

"What do you need me to do?" Gwen asked, her mind made up by whatever Morgana had communicated to her.

"I need you to find some armour that will fit Merlin and bring it down to the ramparts. Oh, and a sword for her."

"What kind would you suggest?"

"Standard training armour will do but we won't be needing helmets or shields, I don't plan on aiming for Merlin's head. Unlike a certain Prince, I can handle defeat graciously. As for a sword... what would you recommend Gwen?" I watched the two of them discussing weapons, my head whipping back and forth between them.

"Well, Merlin doesn't seem to have much in the way of upper body strength. No offence, Merlin."

"None taken." I shrugged, it was true that I wasn't as physically strong as Arthur or his men. It didn't mean I was weak, like I'd said to him last night, those of us who did hard labour on a daily basis were a lot stronger than we might look. That didn't mean I fancied my chances going up against him without my magick as a backup. And the sword he had given me had been incredibly heavy.

"You sure about that? She managed to hold her own with one of Arthur's. No doubt a broadsword, knowing him."

"Could have been a long sword?" Seriously? There were different types of swords?

"Long sword would be lighter than a broadsword. Wouldn't be as graceful but it would get the job done."

"Do you want to teach her how to fight or how to look good doing it?" Gwen asked, a challenge and a joke.

"Both."

"Well, the looking good can always come later. I'd start with the long sword, for now, maybe have a lighter, one-handed sword made at some point."

"I haven't got the money for -" I began to explain, both of them turning to look at me as though they'd forgotten I was even in the room.

"Don't worry about money," Morgan said, waving me off.

"But -"

"Not now, Merlin." I shut up, mainly because I had no idea what to say. "A long sword it is. For now." She decided, still not letting go of the possibility of getting me my own sword.

"But I-"

"No time to talk, let's go." Morgana decided, leading the way from the room. What the Hell just happened?

"Don't lunge." Morgana told me for what had to be the twentieth time. I was doing okay with blocking her thrusts, for the most part, but I was seriously struggling to get my own hits in properly, proven when she had my sword pinned beneath hers against the ground. Again. "You're overextending your thrust. It leaves you vulnerable and off balance." She pushed me over to prove her point, smiling when I immediately rose back to my feet, nodding to show I was ready to try again. She motioned for me to try and attack her.

I swung for her, keeping my elbows tight to my chest whilst loosening them enough to manoeuvre the blade either way. She danced away, kicking me in the back of the legs as I spun for her again.

"Don't go where your enemy leads you." There were so many ways to die by a sword that I was beginning to wonder if this was a lost cause. But I needed to learn these things. For my own safety and for Arthur. I faced her again, inhaling deeply, before nodding for her to strike first. She did. I fended her off well, keeping her sword away from me with quick, defensive manoeuvres, shifting my feet beneath me to use their strength to aid blocking her advances, never moving them entirely from the ground. I even got in a few shots of my own, easily blocked by Morgana, but not leaving myself open for long enough for her to get in any real shots of her own. We parried back and forth like this for a few minutes before I took an unnecessary risk, knowing I was in no real danger, but also wanting to see if I could catch her by surprise. Feinting for her left and then spinning to the right, my blade finding its way to her exposed side. I halted immediately, jarring my arm as I forced it to a standstill, less than an inch from her. The smile she turned on me was beaming, pride and surprise warring for dominance in her eyes.

"That was fantastic, Merlin! Where did you learn how to feint like that?! I never taught you that!" I didn't know...

"I have no idea..." I admitted, shaking my head in wonder.

"I knew you would be a natural! It comes instinctively to you. Now it's just a case of learning how to balance your instincts against your knowledge." She motioned for me to sit down and rest for a moment, I was surprised to notice the sun beginning to go down behind us. How long had we been training? Exhaustion began to sink in, my adrenaline fading as I rested beside where Morgana now sat. "Fighting on instinct is good, it means you're less likely to become distracted, but if you let them take over completely you run the risk of letting your emotions get the best of you. Fear and anger can kill you just as easily as a distraction. Balance is the key to sword fighting. Balance of the body and the mind."

"Where did you learn how to fight?" I asked, genuinely curious. Her words were too wise to have come from Arthur.

"My father, for the most part. I was quite young when he died but I have managed to keep a few memories, not many, the majority of them being his lessons. He was a great swordsman and a loving father. I wanted to become a Knight one day. Like him." She turned melancholy and it took me a moment to work out how she could be so strong in one moment, a true warrior, and then a grieving daughter in the next. Balance. Morgana had said that balance was everything and she was right. The balance between the mind and body, between happy and sad, light and dark, strength and gentleness. I had to find that balance too, I realised. With Arthur. I had to learn how to be his servant whilst not allowing myself to become lesser than him. I had to be firm with him but I could also be gentle. Give and take. Bend don't break.

"Not a Lady?" I asked, lightening the mood.

"Definitely not a Lady." We both laughed as we got back to our feet. "We should call it a day. It's late and Arthur will be expecting his dinner soon."

"Think he'd mind if I poisoned it?" I joked, nearly falling over as Morgana knocked her shoulder into mine, laughing.

"I doubt he'd have much of an opinion, considering he'd be dead, but Uther probably wouldn't be too pleased." That was the understatement of the century.

"Damn."

"So just remember, chainmail goes on first, make sure you pick up the one with the mail coif."

"What was a mail coif again?" I checked, hating how hard it was to remember all the different parts of armour, the order they had to go on in and what parts were worn for different things. Why couldn't it just be simple?

"A chainmail hood. He doesn't always wear that though, it's mainly for tournaments and mortal combat."

"Right."

"Then the voiders on the arms and finally the hauberk goes over the shoulders."

"So no breastplate?" I clarified.

"Not in tournaments."

"Right." I was definitely going to screw this up.

"You likely won't have time to practice again now until the tournaments over but you'll probably need a few days for your muscles to stop protesting enough for you to lift a sword anyway."

"Nice to know I've got something to look forward to," I grumbled. Morgana laughing at the dread in my voice.

I carried Arthur's dinner tray up to his room, kicking the door in order to knock.

"Come in, Merlin." His tone had me wanting to do the exact opposite of what he'd ordered but I couldn't avoid him forever so I manoeuvred the tray enough to open the door, struggling not to drop it in the process, my weak arms complaining at the weight. If I was struggling to hold a dinner tray then there was no way I was going to be able to train tomorrow, Morgana had been right about that. I caught Arthur's eye roll as I finally managed to actually get past the damn door.

"Is there anything you can do?" I placed his food on the desk where he was sitting, raising an eyebrow at him as I straightened back to my full height, enjoying being able to temporarily look down at him whilst he stayed seated.

"Yes. I can make you look like an idiot." He glared at me and I shrugged with a smile.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" I surely had no idea what I could have done to irk him so. It couldn't possibly be because I had smacked him with a mace, could it? No. Surely he wasn't so petty. I struggled not to laugh at my own mental ramblings.

"Nope, I'm just a good actress." I lied, or was it a lie? I didn't even know anymore. I began clearing away the armour he had hazardously chucked on the floor, leaving him to eat his dinner, and began polishing it on his spare table.

"You must be extraordinarily talented to act that dumb." I took a deep breath, gritting my teeth against the urge to throw the polishing brush at his head. Firm and gentle. Bend, don't break, I reminded myself. Already beginning to hate my new mantra.

"Just eat your food, Arthur." I managed to get out, continuing to use the brush for what it was intended and not as a weapon.

Arthurs Point Of View

I had been in a foul mood all day, not made any better by Merlin managing to humiliate me, again. I couldn't help staring at her as she polished my armour, remembering why exactly I'd been in a bad mood upon waking. After she had left and I'd finally managed to fall asleep after hours of tossing and turning in my bed, thoughts of her plaguing me. I had insulted her and beat her up. Obviously, I wouldn't have hit her if I'd known she was a woman, embarrassing myself in front of my Knight's. The training was different, she had been covered in armour and whilst I might have enjoyed tormenting her a little, she also really did need to learn how to protect herself. Being my servant would put her in more danger than I think she realised. And after the way I'd treated her when we'd first met, she had gone and saved my damn life. Not counting the mace in the stomach this morning. Technically I had more than earned it. But whilst regret had kept me awake, meaning I'd only caught a few hours sleep, it hadn't helped matters that she'd also managed to seep into my damn dreams!

I had watched her from my bed as she'd walked into my room in the middle of the night, wearing nothing but her nightgown, and instead of asking her what she was doing, or telling her to get out, I had lifted back the bedsheets beside me, inviting her in. Like it was normal. When I'd woken I had looked for her, reached over to pull her to me, and she hadn't been there and I honestly hadn't been able to determine what had bothered me more; that I had dreamt such a thing or that they weren't true. I barely knew this insufferable girl and yet I wanted her. In a way that wasn't permitted. I was the Prince of Camelot and she was my servant! And yet every time I had looked at her, once she'd chosen to remove the helmet and I could actually see her, I had felt myself longing to reach out and grab her. To pull her into my chest. It didn't help that without the stupid robe she'd been wearing when I first met her it was clear to see her figure, full and curved, marking her instantly as a woman. An attractive one at that. Even now I could see the gentle arc of her hips leading to -STOP IT! I shook my head, clearing them of those dangerous thoughts, trying to distract myself.

"Where were you earlier?" I asked, genuinely curious. I'd tried to find her so she might prepare me a bath after I'd finished training with the Knight's. Taking my issues out on Sir Lionel. He had handled it well, better than expected actually. But the guards hadn't been able to track her down.

"With Morgana." She answered, not looking up from my armour. The thought of her spending time with Morgana was... worrying, to say the least. That woman knew far too much about me and took every opportunity she could find to embarrass or belittle me. Not that I didn't care for her, she had been with me almost as long as I could remember. Two years my senior she had taken it upon herself to become the annoying, self-righteous, older sister I'd never had.

"Why?" I demanded, not meaning for it to come out so harsh. She just sighed before turning to look at me, fire sparking behind her eyes as her irritation grew.

"Because I felt like it, I did not know I had to explain why I went where in my spare time." I didn't have an answer for that and made a show of beginning to eat my food, turning to watch her when she turned back to continue polishing. As I watched her I noticed things I hadn't earlier, how she would wince when she would scrub too hard at a certain spot and how she kept rotating her shoulders, stretching and relaxing her back as she worked. Small cracks sounding as she worked out the kinks in her body. Was this my fault? Had I pushed her too hard, earlier? I hadn't meant to hurt her. Not really. But I had begun to get frustrated when she managed to keep blocking me, maybe I had hit back with more force than I'd intended.

She hissed in pain, dropping the brush and clutching her shoulder, the angle she'd tried to rub at aggravating the muscle there. I silently stood from my chair, unable to do nothing as I watched her struggling, and stalked towards her, moving her hand away and placing my own atop her shoulders, gently beginning to massage out the knots that I could feel bunching beneath my fingers. She stiffened beneath me before finally allowing her body to relax, her head falling forwards and exposing the pale skin of her neck. I couldn't help myself as I began to lean forward, my eyes on her soft skin, my lips tingling as I longed to lean down and place them against the soft spot between her neck and shoulder. I felt her move beneath me, breaking me from my trance, and leant back.

"Thank you." She whispered, genuine gratitude in her eyes. The softness in her gaze making her even more beautiful. I jerked back, angry at myself for being so foolish. This was Merlin for goodness sake! She was an insufferable brat and, so far, a terrible servant. I had no reason to want her, to feel attracted to her, there were plenty of Ladies at court for me to choose from. So why had this small village girl been able to get under my skin so easily?

"Well, I couldn't exactly have you slacking at work. I need you at your best with this tournament and all." I answered, regretting the words the second I saw that gratitude diminish, her inner fire replacing it.

"Oh, yes. Wouldn't want anyone to think you actually cared." She spat, standing from her chair to face me. I forced myself to hold her gaze, refusing to let her see an ounce of what I was feeling.

"Take my armour with you. I wish to retire for the night." I turned away from her, unable to stand the disappointment she was trying to hide beneath her indignance. I didn't look back as I heard her gathering what she needed together, slamming the door on her way out.