A/N: I'll probably say it every time, but thanks for the reviews! It means a lot to me that you would take time not only to read my story, but to say something about it. Of course, I will also thank all of you who followed and favourited this story. I hope you review again, and that you ENJOY!
Chapter Three:
"If I could, I would send a group of assassins to kill Uther's child. If it wasn't for Uther, my kingdom would still be large and prosperous!"
How could he have forgotten? All Lord Arnid ever talked about was getting revenge on Uther for weakening his kingdom. At one point, Norant was one of the largest and most prosperous kingdoms in all of Albion, and magic roamed freely. When Uther banned magic and started the Great Purge, people's opinions towards magic turned negative. Under the political pressure of the other kingdoms, Arnid banned magic as well, and his kingdom suffered greatly.
Norant didn't have the best army, and used sorcerers to help defend the kingdom, so when magic was outlawed, other kingdoms advanced. They easily took large portions of land, until Norant became the smallest of the kingdoms. Lord Arnid blamed Uther for all that happened, and wanted revenge. The best way would have been to kill Arthur. Even though he couldn't get revenge on Uther anymore, he could still make Camelot fall.
With that thought in mind, Merlin stopped doing his chores, and his eyes glowed golden. He was looking around the surrounding forests, for any sign of a group of people. This could take a while. The forests were large, but if he could find one clue, it would be much easier to find them.
Aha! There was an extinguished campfire, and it was still smoldering. He looked around some more, and noticed a group of people. They had small daggers, hidden under their peasant clothing. Of course, they also had a few crossbows. The assassins.
The group was about a day's walk from Camelot.
Today, Arnid and Arthur were going to discuss the trade agreement. Tomorrow, they would sign it. Tomorrow, the assassins will arrive.
Throughout the day, he would check to see how far the group was from the castle. They wouldn't be able to make it until morning, when the two leaders signed the document. He thought about going to "take care" of the assassins, but it would be easier to get them when they were in the castle. This was going to be a tricky game.
oOo
After yet another restless sleep, Merlin got up to do his chores. While he was walking to Arthur's room, he was pulled into a guest bedroom.
"You better not think about telling Arthur about me. Or I will tell him about you." Lord Arnid hissed. He didn't know about Merlin's magic, so that was good, but he didn't want Arthur to know about his past.
"Did you come here to kill him?"
Mockingly, he answered, "Observant as ever, Merlin. Perhaps a skill you honed while being a ghost? There isn't much you can do while being dead, but watch."
"You taught me nearly everything I know, but that doesn't mean I'll stand by while you murder my friend. You're treading on a thin line, Arnid."
"As are you."
With that, they both left the room and went separate ways.
When Merlin reached Arthur's room, he was already up.
"Merlin. Would you care to tell me why you were late?"
"I got caught up in something, that's all."
"Of course, it's not like you slept in or anything," he laughed, "Just remember to show up at the meeting."
Merlin helped Arthur get dressed and ready for the signing of the trade agreement. When it was time to do so, Merlin knew that all of his skills would be put to the test.
The king left before Merlin, so he was able to check where the assassins were, using magic. They're probably in the castle by now. Maybe dressed as guards or servants, or just hiding. Luckily, Merlin knew everybody that worked in the castle, so it was easy to spot the people that din't fit in. A few of them were dressed as guards, some as servants, and two of them hid on the area just above the council room, where it would be easy to shoot Arthur. Hurriedly, Merlin made his way towards the upper area. That was the most dangerous threat.
As always, he was able to easily slip past the guards, and climbed the stairs. There they are. Two assassins dressed in dark clothing were holding crossbows at the ready. Merlin caused the weapon to fall out of the men's hands, then ran up to them. Before they knew what was happening, Merlin smashed their heads together, creating a sickening crunch, knocking them out. Since the assassins were hidden, and the people were too far below to hear them, nobody noticed any of what was occurring above their heads. Immediately, Merlin tied up the assassins, making sure to remove all of their weapons, and to blindfold them encase they had magic.
Next, Merlin went back down the stairs, and eliminated the false guards by going to the real ones, and telling them that there were impostors outside the doors. The fakes were taken away instantaneously. Now, there were only the assassins inside to worry about. He entered through the servant's entrance, apologizing for arriving late. Only Lord Arnid seemed suspicious.
Lord Arnid had been waiting for nearly ten minutes for his crossbow shooters to kill Arthur, but no shots came. He couldn't delay signing much longer, so he made a discreet signal for the fake servants to attack. Chaos ensued.
Every servant, other than Merlin, had suddenly leapt forward, trying to attack Arthur. Merlin took action. First, he ran up to Lord Arnid, and hit his head hard enough to render him unconscious. Noticing that the knights were defending their king, Merlin knew that he wouldn't need to worry about the assassins over there too much.
Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin saw five assassins entering in the midst of battle. He calmly walked up to them, grabbed the first, and stabbed her in the gut. They would probably survive, but be immobile for the time being. Then, since all of the new assassins were trying to attack him, he proceeded to fight them. Merlin caught the fist of the first man to punch, twisted it around, then threw him at the group. That took out three people in total. He walked up to them, and stepped on their necks. Those three had a significantly smaller chance of surviving.
The last man, who was even larger than Percival, ran at Merlin, trying to slash him with a sword. Since Merlin was much smaller and faster than the man, he easily evaded the sword. He then grabbed a dagger out of the weapon belt he stole from one of the crossbow shooters, and stabbed the man at his heart. Staggering backwards, the assassin tried to hit Merlin one last time, and was able to slash his arm. It was a shallow wound, and could be attended to later. Merlin went up to the first assassin he stabbed, and kicked his head.
Now that he was done dealing with that bunch, Merlin looked over at the knights. Apparently, the assassins were more skillful than previously thought. It didn't help that there were around a dozen more assassins than there were knights. I might as well assist them.
Merlin quietly sneaked up behind one of the assassins furthest from the centre of the battle, and pulled him back. The man whirled around with a mace in hand, narrowly missing Merlin's head. He furiously attempted to attack Merlin, failing each time. After a particularly forceful swing, the man went slightly off balance, leaving Merlin a clear space to stab him.
None of the other assassins, or knights for that matter, noticed that the man was missing. Merlin went up behind two more assassins, and using the mace he acquired from the now dead man, he swung at their heads. The two were instantly unconscious. The knights seemed to be gaining an advantage now. Only five more assassins stood. Merlin didn't notice an angry lord waking up.
Suddenly, Merlin heard angry footsteps approaching, along with the whooshing sound of a sword being swung, and dodged instinctively. Spinning around, he saw his mentor aiming another blow. He wasn't as lucky this time, and the sword cut his chest a bit. Quickly, Merlin ran towards one of the fallen men, and grabbed a sword from beside them.
The battle between student and teacher began. Lord Arnid was the first to strike. He lunged forward, attempting to hit Merlin's heart. Merlin blocked the attack and used the force of the lord's attack to cause him to go off balance. He then slashed Arnid's leg, in order to slow him down. In retaliation, he feigned right, then struck left. Merlin wasn't able to block the sword fully, and now was bleeding from his hip.
They circled each other, as if daring the other to make a move. This time, Merlin lunged at Arnid, but he deflected it. Quickly regaining balance, Merlin dodged the next strike, and struck the lord's other leg. It was getting harder for Arnid to stand, blood was spewing out of both his legs. Now, Arnid decided to try another technique: Distraction.
"You think you're so clever, don't you?"
Instead of responding to his comment, Merlin made another move, which was quickly blocked by Arnid. He spoke again.
"Thwarting my plans, of course you would be the one to do it."
By now, all the other assassins were defeated, and the knights were watching Merlin and Arnid fight. They didn't dare interrupt. Merlin seemed to be holding his own, and they didn't want to hurt him by getting him distracted. Besides, the conversation peaked their curiosity.
"You know my secrets, but I know yours."
It was getting harder for Merlin to stay calm. He didn't want his friends to find out about his past. Merlin ducked under a high cut, and slashed the man's chest.
"Perhaps, I should tell your friends about your past. Maybe, I should tell them why you are suddenly so skilled in combat."
Lord Arnid smirked. A few more comments, and Merlin would break. Still, it was getting harder and harder to fight against Merlin. Being the strategic fighter that he is, Merlin parried the next attack, and was able to slash the lord's sword arm.
Merlin spoke, "Maybe I should tell them about all the deaths you're responsible for. Maybe I should tell them about all the secret passageways in your castle. Maybe I should tell them about the secret jobs you offer."
"You would know a lot about that, won't you Merlin?"
Not responding, Merlin easily deflected another blow, and moved towards the lord, kicking the area behind his knees. The man toppled.
Hitting the sword out of the man's hands, Merlin put a foot on his chest, a sword aimed at the lord's throat.
"Any last words, my lord?"
"A message and documents will arrive for Arthur and his knights in a few days time, and your past will come to light."
With that, Merlin sliced the man's throat and turned around.
The knights, and Arthur, stood around gaping at Merlin.
"What?" he asked.
Gwaine was first to speak. "Since when were you that skilled with a sword?"
"I've been watching you lot for years. It should be more surprising if I didn't pick any of that up."
"That was not a beginner level. You fought like an expert! It takes years of rigorous training to get to that level!"
Shrugging, Merlin replied, "I must have been lucky."
Now, it was Arthur's turn.
"What was that conversation about, anyways?"
"Nothing. Just a crazy man trying to get me distracted. By answering, I was just getting him distracted."
"It didn't sound like nothing," Arthur mumbled.
Changing topics, Merlin said, "Now that I saved your life again, let's get the living ones to the dungeons, and have someone take care of the dead ones."
"Why won't you?" Leon joked.
Pointing to the upper area where he knocked out the first two men, Merlin answered, "I need to attend to some unconscious assassins up there."
They laughed, thinking it was a joke. Merlin climbed up the staircase, hauled the men over his shoulders, and went back into the council room.
"Could someone take them to the dungeons? I don't think I can handle their smell much longer."
Percival and Elyan grabbed the men. Arthur was the one to ask, "You actually meant it when you said that there was an unconscious assassin up there?"
"Two, actually," Merlin said nonchalantly, as if this were a normal occurrence for him, which it was, not that the others knew it. Everyone started for a bit, but realising there were more important things to do, they stopped.
After everyone went to Gaius to get their wounds treated, and got everything cleaned up, night was upon them. Merlin went to sleep, forgetting about Lord Arnid's dying words. In a few days, he would get the shock of his life.