Merlin excused himself early from dinner, feigning exhaustion, and made his way to the small rooms he, Gwen, and Elyan had been assigned at the far end of the castle. He turned the corner and onto a long, twisting passageway. Glancing furtively around to make sure no one was following him, Merlin whipped around and broke into a run in the other direction towards the Careers' chambers, praying that he could finish his errand before everyone else finished eating. As he turned the corner onto the hallway of suites, he slowed to a walk, his feet light and silent on the flagstones.
The door to Valiant's room was bolted shut, but Merlin had been expecting that. "Onlucan," he muttered, and the bolt slid open with a clang that echoed down the empty corridor. Merlin froze in his tracks, wincing, but the sounds of laughter and the clanking of cutlery still floated upstairs from the main hall. Sighing in relief, Merlin gently slid the door open and ducked inside.
His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dark, shadowed room, but not before he identified a strange hissing sound on the edge of his hearing, as if it were being muffled by something. Straining to hear the low-pitched sound, Merlin followed his ears to a rickety chair on the far side of the room by the bed, which was covered by an indistinct lump cloaked in a blanket. Whipping off the blanket, Merlin was only half-surprised to find the same shield Valiant had been carrying earlier in the forest, two silver-fanged snakes glaring menacingly at him with beady red eyes. It must have been his imagination, but in the dim light, Merlin could have sworn one of them blinked.
Something was off. Briefly brushing his fingertips against the crest on the shield, Merlin stood and turned to make sure he remained undiscovered. A rasping sound like the rubbing of scales against metal made Merlin's already elevated pulse roar in his ears, and his eyes instinctively shone gold, a broadsword flying off the rack of weapons and into his hand as he whirled around with a broad overhead stroke.
A serpentine mass was coiled, poised to strike with its fangs inches from his outstretched arm when the blade severed its head from its body, cold metal slicing through armored scales like a knife through butter. With a strangled hiss, the ruby-eyed head tumbled to the floor, its carcass falling from the shield it originated from after it.
The sword fell from Merlin's grasp with a clatter as he stared in shock at the shield. Valiant had magic? Or was there something else going on? It was possible that the boy had no idea the deadly potential that his shield had, but then why did Valiant act the way he did in the forest that morning?
His mind still whirling, Merlin didn't notice the quickly approaching footsteps until it was too late. Desperately, he tossed the cloak back over the chair, snatched up the snakehead, and dove into an empty wardrobe, just managing to shut the door behind him before Valiant stepped into the room. At first he seemed not to notice the signs of the recent conflict in his chambers, but then he nearly tripped over the discarded sword on the flagstone floor, noticing the green, scaly corpse sprawled on the rug. He swore quietly, seizing his shield before pivoting on one heel and rushing back the way he had come.
Merlin hesitated a second before following. He had to tell Arthur. Now Valiant knew his secret was out, and he would be more ruthless than ever, for if Merlin's suspicions were correct, his intentions were less than savory toward the rest of the career pack.
Arthur had just returned to his chambers and flopped onto the bed when a loud pounding on his door made him jump to his feet in alarm. Were they under attack? Were there mutts in the castle?
He jogged to the door and flung it open, only to find a flushed and slightly startled Merlin standing outside. "What are you doing here?" he demanded brusquely.
"I have to tell you something; something important."
Arthur frowned, looking the younger boy up and down. Merlin's shirt was dust-stained, eyes pleading, and he held one arm loosely behind his back. If the boy was trying to off him, then he certainly wasn't doing a very good job of it. Arthur reached his own arm behind his back and drew a dagger from his waistband. He wasn't sure what made him do it, but he shouldered the door the rest of the way open and grudgingly ushered Merlin inside before shutting it behind them.
"Now what is it that's so important that you had to come barging into my rooms in the middle of the night?"
Merlin actually had the nerve to look indignant. "I did not barge in, I knocked. You're the one who threw the door open like you were afraid it might bite you."
"That," Arthur retorted, "was not knocking. More like you were taking a sledgehammer to it."
When Merlin actually looked like he was going to take the argument further, Arthur held up a hand. "I don't have time for this. What is it that you wanted to share with me?"
Merlin strode over to the table where Arthur stood and threw a scaly, green mass onto the rough surface with a thump. Arthur recoiled. "What in the bloody hell is that!?"
"This," replied Merlin with gusto, "is what I wanted to talk to you about."
Arthur nodded mutely, pocketing his dagger. Merlin certainly didn't seem to mean him any harm at the moment. He stepped closer to the table and cautiously reached out to pick up the scaly object. Congealed blood rolled sluggishly down his sleeve and red serpentine eyes surveyed him coldly. Arthur suppressed a shudder. Those fangs, even if not venomous, looked deadly. "Where did you get this?"
Merlin shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Erm… this is going to sound crazy but…" he took a deep breath. "It's from Valiant's shield. The…err… snakes on it come to life and I cut this one off when it tried to attack me. He used magic, Arthur, and he wants to kill you. I saw him try today in the forest."
Arthur hastily deposited the head back on the table and tried his best to look somewhat skeptical. But some completely irrational part of him said that Merlin was telling the truth. Why would fabricate such an outlandish tale anyway? He had always thought there was something off about Valiant, but Morgana had insisted on inviting him to join them on account of what she called his 'rugged looks'. His internal battle must have shown on his face because Merlin continued.
"I know that you don't trust me and my word doesn't count for anything, but I wouldn't lie to you."
Arthur stared Merlin in the eye, blue locked on icy blue. "I want you to swear to me what you're telling me is true."
Merlin replied without hesitation. "I swear it's true."
Someone knocked on the door for the second time that night. Arthur openly drew his dagger this time before answering it, revealing the very man they had just been discussing.
"Valiant-"he began, but the boy pushed past him to point a finger accusingly at Merlin's chest. "What rumors has this scum been spreading about me?" he spat angrily.
Merlin's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Scum?"
Arthur quickly stepped between the other two boys in an effort to repress the quickly escalating situation. "Now I'm sure we can handle this calmly without resorting to force-"
"He's been snooping around in my rooms!" Valiant growled. He whipped a square of cloth out of his pocket and smirked at the way all color drained from Merlin's face as he reflexively reached up to his collar where his neckerchief should have been.
Arthur turned to Merlin, eyebrows raised. "Is this true?"
"Yes," the raven-haired boy admitted, "but I only did it to try and understand the threat he was making on your life."
Valiant snorted loudly and Arthur's pulse surged with inexplicable anger. It was as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes. How had he missed Valiant's foul character before the Games? He wanted so badly to believe Merlin, but he didn't see how he could under the circumstances.
"I have reason to believe that you are using a magic shield with the intention of using it to kill the rest of the Career pack." Arthur winced to himself at how feeble that sounded.
Valiant's skeptically irate expression never wavered. "This is ridiculous! I've never used magic. Does your little scumbag have any proof to support his claim?"
Arthur held up the snakehead in response. "Merlin was attacked by the serpents on your shield, and he managed to behead one of them."
It could have been a trick of the light, but Arthur could have sworn that the other boy looked unnerved for the briefest of moments. He looked at Merlin in disbelief. "You?" he scoffed. "You chopped its head off!?"
"I did get an eleven in training," Merlin reminded him coldly.
"That snakehead could have come from anywhere! Am I really to be judged on the hearsay of a boy who has just confessed of sneaking around in my chambers?"
Arthur had nothing to say to that. He rounded on the two boys. "Leave, both of you!" With a last dark glare, Valiant swept from the room, but Merlin stayed behind.
"I said leave!"
Desperation filled the younger boy's eyes. "But I wasn't lying!"
"I believed you, I trusted you, and you made me look like a complete fool! Now Valiant will probably go off and tell the others all the ridiculous things I just accused him of, and I'll either be the laughingstock of the Careers or I'll be on the top of everyone's target list. You HUMILIATED me!"
"Please just trust me," Merlin pleaded. "I'll prove that Valiant was trying to use magic to kill you."
"For the last time, GET OUT!" Arthur roared. As the door slammed behind the raven-haired boy his forearm burned with an icy fire and Arthur sank onto the bed and put his head into his hands. He couldn't afford to trust anyone anymore.
A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back! (finally!) All I can say is that life is INSANE right now... I really should be doing homework, but what's the fun in that? Hope you enjoyed the chapter... at last some Merlin/Arthur action! :)
