A/N:….*peers out* Okay, so, if you would all please stow away your torches and pitchforks. All other sharp implements as well, if you don't mind. *glances around* Thank you.
I know I was gone for a while, and I am SO sorry. I was totally meaning to update sooner. But stuff kept coming up to get in my way, you know? First it was odd housework tasks, and then I went to see Avengers with some friends (Hi Allieyy. I know you're reading this. :D), and then other stuff just sort of cropped up. I could go into a whole long rant about everything that's happened (and trust me, it would be long and very memorable), but I'm guessing you guys don't care, right? That you just want me to shut up so you can get on with part two of the jousting tournament, right? XD I thought so.
Anyway….I've been going over your guys' reviews, because they warm my heart and encourage me to keep writing. Although…I have 44 reviews….and over sixty people have this on their alerts. Just click the review button and type a smiley; you don't have to say anything. :D And speaking of the button…it's blue now. Which isn't really relevant to anything, I suppose, though I do find it interesting. :D Anyhow, I'll shut up now because I'm being spastic and you've all been waiting long enough. Enjoy the chapter! (And review!)
Merlin sat in what Marlet had dubbed the 'waiting-tent-of-doom', feeling a little nervous. Well, more than a little.
"I'm going to die," he moaned.
"Ah, don't be such a baby, Merlin." Arthur clapped him on the back. "You'll be fine."
Merlin gave him the look such a statement deserved.
"You'll live," the crown prince amended.
Merlin sighed.
"How's everything going in here?" Lancelot asked, entering the tent.
"Splendid," Arthur answered, smiling brightly. "How'd your match go?"
"Bit boring, really. The bloke wasn't even holding his lance properly."
Arthur sighed. "Hopefully your next fight will be more of a challenge."
Merlin looked back and forth between them. "You're both insane. What's wrong with a match being easy?"
"Oh, come on, Merlin." Arthur made a face. "It's no good if it's not challenging."
The magician glared at him. "I disagree."
The prince hmphed, and crossed his arms.
"Ah, you've upset him." Lancelot said, in rather the same tone someone might say 'hey look, it's started raining'.
Merlin rolled his eyes. "He'll get over it."
Arthur growled. "He's standing right here."
Merlin and Lancelot both nodded serenely.
"Huh."
"You don't say."
A page came into the tent. "Prince Arthur?"
Arthur glanced over. "Yes?"
The page swallowed nervously. "Your fight is next, my lord."
Arthur perked up. "Brilliant." He swept out of the tent looking like it was the best day of his life.
"Mind if I go watch?" Lancelot asked, looking at Merlin. "I think this fight is going to be worth seeing."
Merlin waved at him. "By all means."
As soon as Lancelot was gone, Merlin snuck a look outside. No one was looking in his direction, and the page from earlier had disappeared, trailing in Lancelot's wake as he went to watch Arthur's first match.
Perfect. He smirked, and slipped out of the tent, and away from the tournament.
He wandered around for a bit before crashing into someone outside the school's blacksmith building.
And, yes. Literally crashed.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" the young woman scrambled to her feet and hurried to help Merlin up. "I didn't see you there. Are you okay?"
Merlin stood, and looked at her. Dark hair, and darker skin than was usual. Honestly, she was quite pretty. He smiled. "I'm fine. And don't apologize, I was the one who ran into you."
She shook her head. "I'm always crashing into people like that, so I really think it's my fault."
"well, I think it's mine."
She stared at him. "….I'm Gwenivere," she said after a moment, giving him a nervous smile.
"Merlin." He offered his hand.
She flushed, and shook it. "It's very nice to meet you, Merlin" She looked at him curiously. "Are you a student here?"
He nodded. "Yeah. My uncle Gaius is the school physician, and he managed to get me in. I wouldn't be here if not for him."
She smiled. "That's nice. My father's the blacksmith." She pointed to the building behind her. "Though he's gone to town today with my brother to pick up some supplies." She frowned slightly. "If you're a student, shouldn't you be in that jousting tournament everyone's been going on about?"
He flushed. "Well, yeah….but I, um…"
"Ran away?" she teased, smiling.
He grinned. "Something like that, yeah."
"Well," she said, still smiling. "You're more than welcome to stay here with me until the tournament's over. I was just about to have lunch," she added. "You can join me."
"Oh, no, I couldn't. I don't want to impose and-"
"It's no imposition," she insisted. "With my father and brother in town I'll be lonely if you don't come."
He shifted nervously. "Well…I suppose if you're really sure…"
"Wonderful!" Gwenivere beamed, and grabbed his elbow, steering him towards the front door. "Come on, let's go eat."
Merlin let her lead him into a small cottage next to the actual blacksmith building.
"Uh…welcome to my home," Gwenivere said, smiling nervously.
Merlin smiled back. "Thanks." He looked around. "It's very nice."
And it was. It was a little on the small side, but had the warmth Merlin associated with a cozy family home.
"Uh, sit here, while I go finish the food, okay?" She pointed to a wooden chair at a table and then dashed off to the kitchen.
Which left Merlin sitting in the middle of a strange house, waiting for an almost-stranger to bring him a meal he hadn't been expecting. If Arthur finds out about this, I'll never hear the end of it. The prince was always saying that Merlin was either as obstinate as a mule or as easy to pushover as a dandelion. It seemed like this was a dandelion day.
Arthur dismounted his horse, heart racing after his jousting victory.
"Great job, Arthur," Lancelot said, clapping him on the back.
"You're the best out of all of us," Marlet agreed.
Arthur grinned and then looked around. "Where's Merlin?"
Marlet and Lancelot exchanged nervous looks, not saying anything.
"Where's Merlin?" Arthur asked again.
When no answer was forthcoming, he pushed past his two friends and looked around the immediate area for himself. No Merlin. He went back to the tent and looked inside. No Merlin.
"Where is he?" Arthur demanded, grabbing at the innocent page standing nearby. "There was a boy around my age, in this tent. Where is he?"
"Ah, he, uh-"
"Speak up!"
"He, uh, ran away, my lord."
Arthur dropped his hand and the page scurried away, leaving just Marlet and Lancelot, who were looking at Arthur strangely.
"He…ran off?"
"He probably just didn't want to compete, Arthur," Lancelot said reasonably.
"He's been going on about it all day," Marlet added.
"I wanted him to see my match!" Arthur protested. "You probably should have told him that, then." Marlet pointed out.
"Besides," Lancelot continued, "that's only your first match. There'll be others."
"Speaking of matches, Merlin's is next, after the lunch break," Marlet said. "Should we go tell them he's gone?"
"Oh no," Arthur growled. "We're going to go find him." And without further ado, he stormed off across the field, focused only on finding the missing Merlin.
Marlet stared after him. "This is going to end badly."
"Most definitely," Lancelot agreed.
"Does everything taste alright?" Gwenivere asked nervously.
"Everything's great," Merlin said. And it was. The food was simple, but delicious. It reminded him of his mother's food. "You're a really great cook."
Gwenivere blushed. "Thank you."
They continued eating in silence until…
"Merlin?"
"Yes?"
"Why did you run away from the jousting tournament? I mean, it's a requirement for you guys, right? Won't you get into trouble for not being there?"
"Probably," Merlin agreed. "But jousting isn't really my sort of thing."
"Oh?" Gwenivere looked at him curiously. "What is your 'sort of thing', then?"
"Ah, well…" He shrugged, unsure how to answer. He couldn't very well tell her 'I'm a wizard', could he? Not unless he wanted to get chucked in prison and executed. Not to mention Arthur's reaction if he found out… "I'm just more of a bookworm, is all. Running around swinging swords and things isn't something I've ever been very good at."
Gwenivere pursed her lips, and looked at him. "Mmm….I suppose not." She could tell there was something more to it, but didn't press him. "Won't you be missed, though? I mean, your friends are bound to notice that you've left."
Merlin snorted. "They're all too busy stabbing at each other to care, I'm sure."
Gwenivere frowned. "I'm sure that's not true. I bet they're all really worried."
Merlin shook his head, but didn't say anything.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" Gwenivere suggested. "I've been doing housework all day. I could use from fresh air."
"Okay."
"Arthur seems to be taking Merlin's disappearance rather personally," Marlet observed, watching as Arthur harassed a guardsmen posted near the field; the man had been on his lunch break when Merlin had left, and Arthur seemed more than happy to shout at him for it.
"It's always personal for him when it comes to Merlin," Lancelot answered evenly.
"Hmm…."
Arthur stomped over, looking furious. "The stupid clod didn't see anything."
"Of course not," Marlet said reasonably. "He was on break when Merlin took off."
Arthur glared at him.
Marlet raised his hands in a backing -off gesture. "I'm just saying."
Arthur huffed.
" In any case," Lancelot said, "Who are you planning to attack for information next? It should probably be someone who's braver than that guardsmen. Because I think eventually word's going to get around and people are going to start hiding from you."
Arthur frowned at him. "I can never tell if you're serious or not when you say things like that."
Lancelot just smiled a bit.
"We could try asking Gaius," Marlet suggested. "Merlin's uncle," he explained at Arthur's confused look. "He's the infirmary physician," Lancelot added helpfully.
"I knew that," Arthur said defensively.
"No, you didn't," Lancelot said, "but you do now. So let's talk to him, shall we?" Without further ado, he started walking off.
"Just who's in charge of this search mission, anyway?" Arthur grumbled, following after.
Marlet smiled. "You are, of course. We're just saving you from going off on some poor person and getting detention for your trouble. Then who would find Merlin?"
Arthur mulled it over. "Good point."
"I know."
"The light on the water is really beautiful," Gwenivere said, staring at the lake's surface.
"Yeah," Merlin agreed. "It is." He felt comfortably talking to Gwen. It was like talking to a sister. Not he'd have known what having a sister was like; he was an only child, after all. But he imagined it to be something like this. "Gwenivere?"
"Oh, just Gwen, please."
"Alright then. Gwen?"
"Yes, Merlin?"
"I…." He frowned slightly; he had no idea what he'd been about to say. The urge speak had just seized him, suddenly, with no explanation. "Never mind."
She looked at him curiously. "Merlin?"
"It's nothing. Sorry."
She tilted her head, puzzled, but then nodded. "If you say so." She turned to look at the water again, and then shivered when a cold wind came up form the water's surface.
"Are you cold?" Merlin asked, worried. Gwenivere's dress, he just now noticed, had no sleeves.
"Just a little," Gwenivere said, rubbing her arms.
"Here," Merlin said, shrugging out of his jacket. "Take this."
"Oh, no, that's yours, I couldn't possibly-"
"I don't need it," he insisted. "You're cold. I don't want you to catch a chill or something."
She flushed slightly, but took the offered jacket. "Thank you, Merlin." She pulled it on. It was a little on the large side for someone Gwen's size, and long in the sleeves, but otherwise it fit well.
"Better?" he asked.
"Much," she said gratefully. "I appreciate it."
"It's no trouble. I really don't-"
"Merlin!"
Merlin jumped, startled. Arthur? He turned around.
Sure enough, standing on the hill behind them was the prince, flanked on either side by Marlet and Lancelot.
Merlin glared at the two of them. Traitors. Lancelot smirked, while Marlet just waved.
Arthur, on the other hand, looked like he was either going to have a coronary or kill someone. Possibly both.
"Are those your friends?" Gwenivere asked, surprised but not frightened. "The middle one looks rather upset."
"That's Arthur. He's probably mad at me for leaving the tournament."
"Arthur Pendragon?" Her eyes widened. "You know the prince?"
Merlin shrugged. "I guess."
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, coming down the hill. "What are you doing here? I've been looking all over for you and-who's she?" he demanded, coming to a stop in front of them.
"Oh. Arthur, this is Gwenivere. Gwen, this is Prince Arthur."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, milord." Gwenivere bowed.
Arthur stared at her. "Gwenivere," he repeated.
"Yes, milord."
"…it's a pleasure to meet you," he said out loud, while internally wondering about ten different things at once. Who was this girl, how did she know Merlin, how did Merlin know her well enough to call her 'Gwen'(were they really that close?), why was she wearing his jacket, why were they on a romantic lakeside stroll and so on. Those last two in particular really bothered him for some reason, as did the easy familiarity between the two. "So," he said, "you never told me you had a girlfriend, Merlin."
Gwenivere blushed beet red, while Merlin's pale cheeks flushed pale pink. "I-I don't. I mean, we only just met and I don't really…Not that I wouldn't go out with you, Gwen, I just don't think-"
Merlin's obvious embarrassment as well as the reassurances to the girl didn't help Arthur's mood much. "Stop babbling," he said crossly. "And let's go back."
Merlin scowled. "To the tournament?"
Arthur looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Yes, Merlin, to the tournament. What else would I be talking about?" He shook his head. "Honestly."
"We do need to hurry and get back," Marlet piped up. "We stopped by to see Gaius when we were looking for you, and he says that if you're not at least watching the tournament, he's going to have them throw you out of school."
"Which is why we're heading back. Right this very instant." Arthur grabbed Merlin by the elbow, more than content to pull him away from the girl. "Can't have you getting expelled, now can we?"
"I'll see you around, Merlin!" called Gwenivere as Arthur dragged him away.
"Absolutely!" he managed to shout back before Arthur spun him around and started marching him away. "What are you so worked up over?" he demanded, noticing that Arthur seemed more irritable than usual.
Girl. He was with a girl. "Nothing. Everything's fine. You missed my first match by the way.""I'm sorry," Merlin said sincerely.
"Not sorry enough," the prince growled. Why was he with that girl?
"Why are you so angry with me?" Merlin asked, baffled.
"Why? Why?" Arthur whirled on him. "It might be because you ran off!" With a girl.
"Arthur, I-"
"It never occurred to you to just wait around a bit. That after my first match maybe I would have wanted to go with you!"
Merlin snorted. "You're enjoying the tournament too much. You'd much rather be there than here with me."
Arthur resisted the impulse to strangle him.
"This is getting more interesting by the minute," Lancelot observed.
Marlet just frowned. "I really don't follow what's happening here."
"Arthur's jealous."
Marlet blinked. "What?"
"He feels like Merlin ran off to spend time with that Gwenivere girl instead of him," Lancelot explained, watching as Arthur continued pulling Merlin back towards the tournament. "It's no surprise that he's upset."
It didn't take Arthur long to wrestle Merlin back to the tournament field; it helped that Merlin was so slim and that Arthur was so determined.
Merlin, of course, was still less than thrilled with the situation. "If you make me compete-"
"You don't have to compete," Arthur said, exasperated. "You already missed your first match, anyway. You've probably been disqualified."
Merlin perked up considerably.
"It's not something to be happy about," Arthur grumbled.
"Better to have him here and happy than miserable and running off," Lancelot reminded him.
Arthur sighed. "Fine. Look," he said to Merlin, "Just…stay here, alright? Don't wander off."
Merlin rolled his eyes but sat down on a wooden spectator's bench. "Yes, sir."
"Arthur," Marlet interrupted. "Your second match is next."
"Splendid. Who against?"Lancelot smiled. "Me."
Arthur stared at him. "What?"
"It's true," Marlet said. "You both advanced to the semi-finals. Whoever wins the next match goes on to fight last year's champion."
Lancelot offered his hand. "Best of luck, Prince Arthur."Arthur made a face, but shook his hand. "This is ridiculous. I don't need luck."
Yes, you do, Marlet thought. Lancelot was the very best. Arthur was good, but Lancelot was better.
A page came running up to them. "Prince Arthur, Lancelot. They want you on the field. Your match is about to begin."
Arthur nodded, and followed after the page, Lancelot trailing behind them.
"Who do think will win?" Merlin asked.
"Lancelot," Marlet said immediately. "He's the best."
Merlin looked at him curiously, and then turned to look at the field. "Well, I hope Arthur wins."
They watched nervously as their two friends prepared to fight each other.
A/N: So…hi there. Did you like the chapter? It's longer than…any other chapter so far, I think. :D
Mostly because I had some specific things I wanted to happen in this chapter, and I knew rushing through it would be…bad.
Marlet: *nods* Disastrous.
LinariteLavanya:…..Where'd you come from?
Marlet: Your head, silly.
LL; Ah…well, that explains everything. *rolls eyes*
Marlet: *smiles* In case anyone's wondering, I'm here because I was worried that our beloved authoress might be getting lonely in these author's note.
LL: Aww! You're such a sweetie! *hugs*
Marlet. *embarrassed cough* And also to tell you that LinariteLavanya, also known as Lulu of The Roadhouse, is going to do her very best to update on a regular basis from here on out. She'd tell you herself, but she's worried you're all still mad at her.
LL: *hides*
Marlet:…As you can see. *sighs* In any case, 'Lulu' is planning to update every other week for sure, possibly once-weekly if things go well. And on Fridays or Mondays either way. *whispers to LL* Did I cover everything?
LL: *whispers back* I think so- Oh! No, wait. *pops out of hiding* Review, please! :D
Oh, and if anyone's interested, I have an original slash story going on fictionpress. It's called Coeur de la Lune, and my pen-name is LazuliLarisa. It's a good story, so if you're reading Camelot Academy for slash-ness, you'd probably like it. :D
Ah! And I don't know if that's the spelling of Gwenivere that the show uses, but it's the one I'm using even though I was raised on 'Guinevere'….my reasoning for this? Well, since everyone's always just calling her 'Gwen' anyway, might as well make the full name 'Gwenivere', so the nickname isn't, y'know…'Guin' from 'Guinevere'. XD Hope that makes sense. :D
And…no preview this time, because I'm in currently still in the process of writing the next chapter. I can tell you it involves, you know, Lancelet vs. Arthur at jousting, and Merlin trying to make Arthur feel better about things. Gwen may or may not make an appearance; Marlet, of course, is going to be in the chapter. Oh, and there'll be an attack on the school by…..nah, I'm not gonna tell you. XD.
On that cliffhanger note, cheers!
Anyway, review please!