HELLO! Sorry about the wait. I was a bit busy. Plus I was wondering how I was going to structure this chapter. There's a lot off different things going on at the same time.

Anyways, ENJOY!

xox

Chapter 9

The plan was simple. He would go to the outer side of the city where two dozen knights were waiting for him. They would enter via the south gates when the enemy's back was turned. Then he will lead half the army in and the other half will enter after that. It was a full proof plan. But if it was, why did it sound so confusing to Arthur? I'll tell you why, he though, cause my father now hates me, Camelot is about to fall and I don't even know where Merlin is- or where he was going. God, why did he have to leave me? Does he have any idea how much I need him right now?

He was right to do it though. I would rather him alive and away, than here with me and dead. Arthur signalled to his army as he found them waiting for him. They ran around the outside of the wall, heading towards the south gate. He did know how much I need him, that's why he left. He would rather see me safe and not be with me, than one of us die and not see each other at all. Right enough of this, Arthur though. I have to get my head into it… for Merlin.

"Alright," Arthur said turning to his knights, "this is it. Stay strong and remember your training. For the love of Camelot!"

The army bellowed as they ran though the gates. Half of the Noresford army turned their heads to see where the noise was coming from; giving the people they were already fighting a chance to finish them.

Arthur already had three Noresford knights surrounding him, but he was fighting them off with ease. Arthur didn't like to be that arrogant, but he thought himself to be a pretty good warrior. He only had believed it was true when Merlin had told him so. He took out two of the knights by running one of them into the other's sword, and now had the other backed into a corner.

This knight was quite a good swordsman, Arthur thought. But his footwork was no match for his own. Arthur took an opportunity while the other man's sword was up to kick him in the kneecap, causing the knight to reach for it in pain. This also gave Arthur the opportunity to disarm him and finish it right there. Arthur looked around and he began to get confident when he saw that there were fewer Noresford fighters than there was when they entered, and even more so when he saw the other half of the Camelot army coming through the gate. Arthur smiled.

"For the love of Camelot!"

"Oh god, for the love of Camelot!" Merlin cursed. He was not having any luck with his horse at the moment. It had stopped about one mile from the walls of Camelot, although to Merlin, they did not look like much of a wall now.

"C'mon, get up! Grrrr, this is ridiculous." Merlin paced next to the horse, waiting for it to get up.

"Without you, I'll never make it to Camelot in time to help Arthur," he said. The horse just bowed its head in response.

"This is great," Merlin said, "now I'm talking to the horse." He strode around for a few more seconds before he gave up, grabbed his cloak and supplies, and set off to Camelot on foot.

"NOW!" Arthur yelled at his men, who had taken control over the south of the kingdom and were now heading up to the eastern side. With only one death, and only small injuries, Arthur thought that it would not be too difficult to secure this part of the kingdom as well. The battle was going well. He was confident in himself and enough in his army to know that they were going to win this fight.

Arthur wished that Merlin was here, beside him, so that they could feel the confidence that he felt together. He did not know whether Merlin would have chosen to use magic if he had fought in this battle, but as long as he lived to see the end of it, Arthur wouldn't have cared whether he had starting to hit people with an old boot, or a dead chicken. Arthur sighed as he pulled his sword out of a now dead knight.

He probably went back to Ealdor, to see his mother. Arthur remembered it very well. A small town, with such a high sense of courage and pride that was hard to forget. That pride and courage is what he was feeling now. At that time, it was all because of Merlin, and it still was now. Arthur knew that Lancelot had already taken care of the west side, so he pushed his army to the north side, where Cedric and his army were waiting.

Merlin could barely breathe as he made it over the last hill before the gates of Camelot. Stupid horse, he thought, I didn't need the extra exercise right before entering a battle! He smirked to himself, realising he was talking to horse again. He put the cloak over his head and walked through the gates.

As he entered the south part of the kingdom, it was easy to tell that Arthur and his knights had already been there, the floor soaked in blue and green with a tinge of red, although it did not belong to any Camelot soldiers. In fact, if Merlin was not mistake, it would seem that Camelot did not lose one man. Oh wait, Merlin corrected himself as he saw some villagers carrying a knight into one of the houses. One death. That was very good. Merlin smiled. It seemed as if Arthur was in the zone today.

Arthur. Merlin hoped that he was alright. Merlin though about what Arthur would have done next. He knew that Lance favoured the west side of the kingdom, so Merlin set off towards the eastern side, hoping to find Arthur alive and well. But when he got to the east side, the army had already passed through as well. God, Merlin thought, how long did I take to walk here? He knew that there was only the north side to go, most likely where King Cedric would be leading his army up to the palace.

Arthur watched the back of King Cedric as he walked up the palace stairs in search of his father. Arthur did not know where his father was at that point; probably hiding in his chambers, waiting for him to come and say that the fight was over. He saw Cedric turn around, signalling his army to continue to fight. But in that split second, they made eye contact.

Arthur stared at him, and by that, he already knew that Cedric was not going to make it up to the palace today. He walked towards the grand staircase not breaking his eye contact with the king, while Cedric walked towards him. Arthur could feel all eyes in the square on the two of them, as the battle around them stopped and the space around them cleared. Arthur stopped in front of Cedric, placing his sword in front of him. Cedric smiled.

"Well look at this," Cedric snarled, "the little backstabbing faggot, trying to prove that he's a man by coming to play with the big boys." The Noresford soldier began to snigger behind Arthur's back. Arthur ground his teeth, trying not to give in to his temptation to slaughter every single Noresford knight behind him.

"You're puny little words will not be enough to help you now. I am giving you the opportunity to back out now. This is all the army that you have left. If you leave now, I will persuade my father to show you mercy."

"And give up my honour for you and your father's mercy? You are dumber than I thought you were." Arthur laughed out loud.

"And I thought you were smarter. Guess we were both wrong then."

Cedric clenched his fists.

"You have no right to speak to me like that. After everything you've done!"

"I have done what was right. I never wanted to marry your daughter."

"And I never wanted her to marry you. But for the sake of my friendship with Uther and with you, I allowed it. And you betrayed me! And that is something I will not forgive." Cedric drew his sword, and they began to fight.

Cedric swung at Arthur, and Arthur dodged his attack, his sword missing Arthur's head by inches. Arthur started to charge at Cedric, trying to find an opening so he could get this over with quickly. But his every action was blocked by his opponent. Every single move that Cedric made was fought back just as hard by Arthur. The two of them were very closely matched, neither showing weakness nor favouring of one side. Arthur was trying his best to get Cedric to yield as soon as possible, but he was not having much luck. Arthur swung his sword and it was blocked, bringing their faces inches from one another. Sword against sword, Arthur tried as best he could to overpower the man in front of him, and to his surprise, he was slowly succeeding. The king slowly was moving towards the ground, teeth gritted together, and sweat falling off his brow.

Arthur thought he had the fight in the bag, when he felt a sharp pain in his knee, causing him to fall back. Cedric had played dirty and kicked him in the leg when he was not looking, giving him the chance to get up, and Arthur the disadvantage. Arthur winced in pain, as he tried to balance more of his weight on his good leg. He didn't even have time to see if he could walk, when Cedric came charging at him again. Arthur lifted his sword, just blocking Cedric's attempt to charge right through him. Arthur started to feel weak; all the effort of trying to stand up was making his whole body feel like jelly. Arthur was breathing heavy, but he did not back down.

Cedric was still charging at him, determined to end him. Arthur took an opportunity to try and feel his right knee cap, but soon regretted it when Cedric swiped his sword away, leaving him with only one good leg, tired, defenceless, and vulnerable.

Arthur fell to his knees unable to stand any longer. Cedric lowered his sword and strode towards him.

"You're weak," he sneered, "as if Camelot could not fall under a prince like you. You're punishment still stands; you escaping just makes it even easier. So, Arthur Pendragon right here is the last place you will ever breathe and I, the last face you will ever see. Goodbye… my lord." Cedric raised his sword. Shrieks and cries could be heard from all around him, but Arthur did not move.

"I'm sorry, Merlin," he whispered and closed his eyes as Cedric bought his sword down.

But Arthur felt nothing. He was still breathing. He could still feel the pain that was radiating from his right kneecap. Had Cedric missed? He opened his eyes to see Cedric's sword about two inches from his neck. Cedric was fighting hard to get the sword to move, cursing under his breath. Arthur did not know what was happening. He should be dead- his luck had finally run out. This was not possible.

"Look! Over there!" he heard someone yell. All heads turned in the direction that the man was pointing. Arthur sucked in a breath. He could not believe his eyes.

There in the crowd, was Merlin. Arm outstretched, eyes golden. He was concentrating hard on the sword, making sure that it did not get any closer to Arthur's neck. Cedric groaned.

"You idiot! I order you to release this enchantment at once!"

"I am sorry," Merlin said seriously, his shining eyes now on Cedric, "this is not you're kingdom and you are not my king. You will not hurt Arthur Pendragon. Not now- and not ever."

And with that Merlin flicked his wrist and Cedric and every single one of his men were sent flying backwards. Merlin walked up to Cedric who was now lying on the ground, sword astray.

"Collect your men, and leave. If you do not, I will kill you right where you lie. If you do, then your life and the state of your kingdom will be spared. Choose wisely, my lord." The last sentence, Merlin said in a sarcastic tone causing many of the people of Camelot to whisper amongst themselves. All of a sudden, Cedric's eyes opened widely.

"You," he said, "you are the manservant from the palace. This is you're fault!"

Merlin smiled.

"No," said Merlin simply, "it is yours for laying a finger on him. Leave. Now."

Merlin stepped back from Cedric allowing him to get up from his place on the ground. Cedric looked around to see where all of his men had fallen. None of them were unconscious; Merlin had made sure of that. They all just sat there, either rubbing their heads or their arses. Cedric turned to Arthur.

"Knights of Noresford," he yelled and Arthur gasped…

"gather your things and prepare to return home. We are sorry to have inconvenienced you, Prince Arthur."

Arthur was completely shocked and the only thing that he could think of saying was, "Have a safe trip home."

Cedric nodded and quickly ran through the crowd, not raising his head to look at Merlin, who had not taken his eyes off him. Cedric's men were soon out of the city riding as fast as they could. Once they were no longer able to be seen, the whole town erupted in celebration. The knights had gathered together around Arthur, helping him up and patting him on the back. Arthur was smiling at his knights, but there was one in particular that he wanted to see. This one had no armour or noble birth. He didn't even have a sword.

Arthur walked out of the circle of knights and embraced the man that had saved his life. Merlin grabbed onto Arthur and smiled into his shoulder.

"Arthur, I'm so glad that you're ok," Merlin muffled into Arthur's neck.

"I am," Arthur said, "and it's all thanks to you. You were amazing." Merlin smiled.

"I could not let him harm you," Merlin said, "I was just so angry. He was about to kill you."

"I know," Arthur whispered. "Thank you."

"I love you Arthur."

"Me too." Merlin smiled.

They stood there embracing each other. Arthur closed his eyes. He thought nothing could spoil this moment. The whole of Camelot was rejoicing, and no one cared whether it was saved by magic. They were all just happy to be the way that they were. Alive, and together.

Arthur opened his eyes and saw something just in the corner of his vision. In the shadows, there was a crossbow, and it was aiming straight for Merlin's back. Arthur screamed as it was fired, pulling Merlin down to the ground, hearing cries and gasps coming from the people around them. The arrow skidded just past Merlin's head as he fell to the ground, the arrow coming to rest on a nearby wagon.

Arthur stood up and addressed his knights.

"Men, find the archer!" He yelled.

Half a dozen of the knights ran across the courtyard after the mystery archer who was now running towards the gate. Arthur watched as his knights finally caught up with the hooded figure, thrashing in the arms of Lancelot.

Lancelot pulled the hood back to reveal a very distressed Lady Amelia, trying to break free of Lancelot's grip. Arthur and Merlin stared in awe as she cried and groaned, clenching her teeth.

"Lady Amelia," Arthur said, "what are you doing here?"

Amelia looked up at Arthur, her stare deadly enough to break glass.

"We- were… supposed to be married. Us! And then your heart was taken away from me. By him!" She pointed at Merlin. "I knew that killing him would not make you come back to me. Oh, no. Too much has happened. Just the satisfaction of seeing you suffer, like I suffered, when I was left alone after you left me. You should be dead! You bitch! You whore! You stole my prince! You ruined my life!"

Lady Amelia started thrashing again in Lancelot's arms and he was now having trouble detaining her on her own. Two other knights had to go and help Lancelot restrain her from attacking Merlin. Lady Amelia had begun to cry.

"Why?" she screamed. "Why, did you leave me? Tell me. Just tell me why."

Arthur walked forward almost falling over until he was inches away from her.

"You want to know why," Arthur said, "because you insulted the one person I had truly ever loved. I could not stand the sight of you. Merlin is the only person I want to be with, and you were rude to him. I can barely even look at you. You disgusted me. You treated him like he was nothing to you. I could not stand that because… he is everything to me. I will not forgive you for this. You make me ashamed to know you." He looked at his knights. "Take her away."

Lady Amelia started to sob again as she was dragged towards the dungeons. At the same time, she was passed be Uther, who had finally decided to come out of the palace. He walked over to Arthur with a big smile on his face.

"Well done Arthur! Cedric is gone and Camelot is safe. I knew that I could count on you. You are a hero. You did it."

Arthur grinned at his father and shook his head. He was not going to lie anymore.

"I didn't." He turned towards Merlin and smiled. "He did."

YAY! Hope you all enjoyed that. One more chapter to go.

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Until next time,

xox