Chapter 6
"Why not?" Merlin asked, annoyed.
"Because!" Arthur rejoined, equally annoyed, "There can only be knights who are of noble birth!"
"Lancelot is better than half your men, and you know it! Damn your father's rules, make him one of your guard!"
"I cannot Merlin, and that is the end of this discussion!"
Merlin took a deep breath and released it slowly. They were walking down to the training grounds for Arthur's morning exercises which Merlin now helped him with.
"Then make him one of your Protectors." She picked up one sparring staff and threw another one to Arthur.
Arthur's eyes narrowed as he caught the wooden staff with one hand.
"There can only be one Protector. And you have already sworn yourself to me until your death. . . . Unless you intend to marry Lancelot?" He asked unsurely.
Merlin glared and smacked Arthur's staff with her own.
"Don't be ridiculous Arthur, this has nothing to do with me. Besides, you know I can never marry."
"Why not?" He grunted as he pushed back against Merlin.
"Because" She connected their staffs and pushed him off of her, "If I did then my husband would also have to follow the two of us around the whole time. I can't be outside your perceptive fields for more than half an hour, remember? I can't think of any man who would be willing to spend their entire lives with both of us."
"Nonsense, all of my knights have sworn their lives to me. You will simply have to marry one of my knights."
Merlin snorted, blocking and parrying as Arthur continued their spar.
"What? Is there something wrong with my knights? Is that why you wanted to make Lancelot a knight?"
"I wanted to make Lancelot a knight because he would protect Camelot ably and nobly despite his ignoble blood, which you know as well as I."
"Then why the derision for my knights?"
"I have no derision for your knights, only the prospect of marrying one."
Arthur felt oddly insulted.
"And why is that?"
"They won't even raise a sword to me. How could I respect a man who is not my equal?"
"Will Lancelot raise a sword to you?"
"No, he will not. He is too chivalrous. A concept you know nothing about."
"I thought you liked unchivalrous men. Isn't that why you want a man who will duel you? Or at least spar with you?"
"No, I want a man who does not see me as a fragile china doll, ready to break at the slightest provocation. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, one who is not afraid to be beaten in combat by a woman." She punctuated her statement with a particularly hard blow to Arthur's abdomen.
"You set a tall order." He gasped out.
"Fortunately," She pushed forward, "As I said before, the likelihood of me marrying anyone is quite slim so it's not a problem either of us has to worry about."
Arthur hummed in agreement.
"But if you had to pick one of my knights, who would it be?" He teased.
"You" she swept one foot behind him and pushed his chest with her staff, "are a prat."
Arthur fell flat on his back and groaned in pain. She pulled his staff out of his hands and rapped him once on the head.
"But to answer, your question: Leon."
"What?" He squinted up at her from the ground, the sun half-blinding him as he tried to catch his breath.
"If I had to pick one of your knights, it would be Sir Leon."
Arthur looked baffled.
"What?" She shrugged, "he 's cute."
Arthur's mouth fell open as he scrambled to stand up and run after her.
The sun had begun to set by the time they returned to the castle.
"What about you?" she asked.
"What about me?" He parroted.
"What kind of woman do you want to marry?"
"It's not really up to me Merlin, now is it?"
"But if it were?"
"It's not." He said firmly, "At least you have a choice. I will have to marry the person who is best for Camelot. But" He humored, "I would hope that the future queen of Camelot is wise, strong, compassionate," he considered for a moment ". . . beautiful."
She smacked him upside the head.
"What?" He asked, "I'm just being honest!"
"Well, she better be a good one." Merlin said pointedly, "Since I will also have to spend the rest of my life with her."
Arthur smiled and shook his head, "I'll do my best. But don't worry, I'll ask your permission before I ask hers."
Merlin smiled back as they re-entered the Great Hall. A warm bubble of happiness pushed itself into her chest and she wasn't sure why she felt so good about Arthur's new promise.
After a routine dinner, Merlin and Arthur returned to his chambers for a well-earned night's sleep.
Merlin awoke with a jolt. Someone magical was in Camelot. She inhaled deeply as she sat up and tried to get a better hold on her surroundings.
A powerful warlock, indeed. His magic was dark and strong, clogging the air like thick black smoke. Merlin dressed and armed herself quickly, trying to open her door as quietly as she could. She stepped into Arthur's room, keeping a look out for any possible sources of noise.
Cautiously, she tiptoed out of her room and past his bed. She watched his chest rise and fall, steady, peaceful, entirely unaware of the magical world that threatened his life at every turn.
Whispering, she spelled a dome of impenetrable energy around Arthur as she always did when she left him alone.
Merlin pulled her cloak hood over her face, walking through the hallways as she followed the source of the magic. She found the source inside of an old alley. It was a man.
"What are your intentions in Camelot?" Her voice was quiet but strong.
He turned around slowly.
"Are you speaking to me?" He inquired. His faced was covered in burn marks.
"Indeed I am, sir."
"Why my Lady, I am here only to look for work."
"And what is your trade?"
"Physician, my Lady."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You are lying."
"I assure you I am not."
"Be honest with me, friend, and I will grant you clemency."
"My Lady is generous and rather familiar, I might add. But unfortunately, I have nothing more to say to you."
In less than a minute, Merlin's sword was it his neck. She stared into his eyes.
"I'm offering to be your friend. You don't want to be my enemy. Now tell me. What. Are. You. Doing. In. Camelot?"
He said nothing. She pushed her sword forward, but still the man revealed nothing.
Just as Merlin turned to walk away, his eyes flashed gold with an attack that Merlin immediately reflected back onto him.
He smashed onto the ground behind him and Merlin held him in place with a spell of her own.
"I asked you what your intentions are. You have lied to me. I shall give you one last chance."
"We," he gasped from the ground, clutching at his abdomen, "We are kin! You are powerful, my Lady. But I could teach you more."
"Could you?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. Holding out one hand she held him in a choke hold, levitating him into the air.
He clawed at his throat, gasping for air. As he struggled a box fell out of his cloak.
She summoned the box to the hand that was not magically holding the sorcerer in the air. She looked mockingly towards the box.
"Perhaps this will reveal your secrets to me?" She asked. She whispered a spell to open the box, but the lid would not budge.
"Will you unlock this for me?" She asked.
The man only gasped and choked.
She tilted her head, "I'll have to take that as a 'no.' Very well then." Her eyes glowed and the box burst into flames.
She dumped the ashes and the sorcerer onto the ground.
"Now tell me, what are your intentions in Camelot?"
He coughed and massaged his throat, "Revenge." He spat out.
"Against whom?"
"The King."
"And his son?"
"The entire Pendragon line must die!" He choked out.
"Nothing will persuade you otherwise?"
"No." He growled out.
Merlin shook her head as she pulled out her true and steady dagger.
"Wrong answer."
With a single strike to the man's heart, he was dead within minutes. Merlin set the body to flames and returned to the castle only when she was certain that the threat was now only ashes.
She returned to Arthur's chamber and sat on his windowsill until sunrise, unable to close her eyes without the nameless sorcerers face burning against the insides of her eyelids.
"You haven't eaten anything." Arthur noted during breakfast.
"I know."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
A beat.
"Well I was hoping to go hunting this morn, so maybe that will take your mind off of whatever has you so laconic, Merlin."
She nodded to show that she understood and Arthur grimaced. It was not exactly the reaction he had been hoping for. Sometimes he thought he knew her, other times Arthur thought, he knew nothing about Merlin at all.
Merlin followed Arthur silently through the woods, handing him the appropriate weapon for each of his prey.
"You know, Merlin, most of my knights would be thrilled to spend a private hunting session with the crowned prince of Camelot."
"I'm not one of your knights." She reminded him, "And besides it hardly seems like good sportsmanship when one side has weapons and horses and the other has nothing. Even the ones that attack us, they have no idea what they're doing, do they? No idea that they are like ants to us, waiting to be killed with a single blow."
"Are we still talking about hunting?" Arthur hedged.
"Of course, what else would we be talking about?" Merlin returned.
"Well, you and I are the only—"
He was cut off by a high pitched scream.
"Did you hear that?" He asked.
Merlin nodded.
Together they followed the noise and happened upon a circle of bandits attacking two travelers. Merlin and Arthur quickly dispatched the bandits.
The victims were a father and daughter pair each of whom carried oddly magical-looking staffs. Merlin was skeptical.
The daughter was pretty, Merlin would grant her that, but rather simpering and pathetic too if her reaction to the bandits was any indication to go by.
Arthur lapped up their entire story and seemed enthralled with Sophia. Merlin tried (and failed) not to roll her eyes.
Sophia smiled saccharinely at Merlin as she and her father Aulfric followed Arthur out of the woods.
Arthur may have been fooled by a pretty face, Merlin thought, but she was not. They were all the same: greedy, petty, vapid creatures who only wanted Arthur for his title. Well she would be damned if she let them sink their claws in.
A/N: Whew! Jealousy does not look good on either of them does it? A short but necessary chapter, hopefully I will get to update again soon. I'm very excited to write this Merlin's reactions to the upcoming events with Sophia, Mordred, and Tristan.
Protective!Merlin is about to go into overdrive.
Thank you to everyone who has and continues to review, follow, and favorite :)