Chapter 7

"Let's get this over with… "

As Arthur spoke he had a resigned look on his face, which was not altogether unlike the look on Lancelot's face as he stood across from Arthur. The other knights of Camelot were watching with rapt attention, and Gwen was sitting with her hands nervously clasped together tightly in front of her mouth. Merlin glanced over at her and smiled.

The rules of the fight, as with all the other bouts, were simple: to win, a knight had to do one of two things. He could knock out his opponent, which was usually achieved by a sharp blow from the elbow, the fist in which the sword was held, or – more likely – the shield, which was just as much for attack as for defence. The other way to defeat an opponent was by forcing them into submission, usually by bringing them to the ground and then bringing the sword point down onto their chest, effectively immobilising them. The swords that they were all fighting with were especially for the purpose: not sharpened as those used in battle, but then again not totally blunt like those used in the melee, and although this was to minimise the risk of serious injury, it was almost inevitable that some would be wounded, as had already happened in the morning's bouts.

Arthur and Lancelot both put on their helmets, took their familiar black shields with the yellow dragon from the stewards, touched their swords in salute, and then both dropped down into poised positions. It was Lancelot who landed the first blow. The problem that Arthur had in fighting Lancelot was a simple one, and was summed up in three short facts: Arthur had trained Lancelot as a knight, Lancelot was a good learner, and Arthur had taught him everything he knew. That meant, of course, that all the blade strokes of swordsmanship, all the different moves of footwork, and all the tricks of a contest were equally known to them both. They stood at similar height and weight, and although Lancelot was marginally quicker than Arthur, Arthur had the slightly greater strength of the two. The result was that they fought evenly and relentlessly, first one of them and then the other getting the upper hand. The knights of Camelot in the stands were not only watching every move with great concentration, but also with great enjoyment, and despite Gwen's nervousness for Arthur, she couldn't help but feel a great sense of pride for both Arthur and his loyal knight. The crowd were also watching in delight, never having seen a contest quite like it, and it almost seemed at times if the two opponents were doing some form of elaborate dance that they had practiced beforehand. Ivan was also watching attentively, again conscious that he would be facing the victor later in the day, and his expression darkened each time Arthur had the upper hand. And still they fought on.

Elyan leant over to Gwaine, "How long have they been going now?"

The other knight didn't take his eyes off the two swordsmen as he answered, "It must be about three or four times as long as any of the other bouts."

And it was inevitable that the fight would eventually begin to take its toll on both of them. The two men paused, both clearly struggling with the exertion of such a long fight, and both leant on their swords for a moment, breathing heavily as they did.

Arthur called out to Lancelot, "Unhelm?"

Lancelot nodded in agreement, and both in rather a laboured way took off their helmets and tossed them to one side. They were both red faced and absolutely drenched in sweat. They took one look at each other, and broke out into something between a grin and a grimace.

Arthur asked in a somewhat broken way, between gasps for breath, "Do I look as bad as you do?" and Lancelot replied in the same manner, "I can only assume so, my lord!"

"Whose idea was it to hold this contest in the summer?"

Lancelot laughed, again in a broken way, and they stood facing each other for a moment longer, both with pained looks on their faces.

"Ready, Sire?"

"Ready"

They both dropped down into the poised position again, and resumed their fight, with Arthur landing the first blow this time, and once again matching each other blow for blow. But it was inevitable that as their exertion weakened them, one of them would eventually make a mistake, and it was Arthur who was wrong footed by a blow from Lancelot, causing his to overbalance and tumble backwards to the ground, his sword falling out of his hand. Lancelot stood poised over him, and in the moment before he went to bring the point of his sword down to Arthur's chest to seal the victory, he spoke two words to the prince with a wry smile. "No pity….."

But the moment's delay was his downfall, because Arthur had also learned something from Lancelot.

In the split second after he'd spoken and before he moved his sword, Arthur repeated the move that Lancelot had used to turn the tables on him, when they had fought each other in the bout that Lancelot had to win to become a knight. Arthur kicked Lancelot's legs from under him, causing him to crash to the ground on his back, and in another split second Arthur, in one fluid movement, had rolled to the side, grabbed his sword, leapt to his feet, and immediately brought his sword down on Lancelot's chest.

And as he grinned, panting for breath, he repeated the two words, "No pity…"

The crowd went wild with applause, and Lancelot shook his head, actually laughing as he realised what Arthur had done. Arthur acknowledged the crowd, but almost immediately threw his sword to the ground and pulled Lancelot up, saying with a wry smile, "Sorry! A useful trick I learned from a friend" and Lancelot grinned back at him. When both of them were on their feet again, Arthur put his arm round the other man's shoulder, as he also did to Arthur, and both stood leaning against each other for support in their exhaustion, as the crowd – with the exception of Ivan – continued to applaud enthusiastically. All the others from Camelot had broad smiles on their faces too. Although they supported Lancelot as much as Arthur, all of them – even Gwaine – were glad to have seen their prince win in the first round Mercia, knowing that his reputation had been at stake. Arthur looked up to his knights, and was pleased to see the look of delight on Gwen's face, and Merlin was smiling and applauding warmly too. And with that, the two men staggered off the field together.

As Merlin helped Arthur off with his armour and chain mail, Gwen approached them, smiling broadly, with a large cup of water for Arthur.

Arthur raised his eyebrows at her as he smiled back, "I thought I told you that you weren't here to wait on us!"

Gwen laughed, "Can I not present the victor with his reward?"

Arthur took the cup from her and downed it in one.

As Arthur handed the empty cup back to her, she asked, "So what happens next?"

"Lunch, thank goodness, before I have to face Ivan in the next round."

Gwen looked at Arthur's matted hair and his red tunic, soaked in sweat, and it was her turn to raise her eyebrows at him: "And time maybe for a wash and change of clothes?"

Arthur grinned, "What are you saying?"

Merlin turned to her, "Don't worry, Gwen, I'll sort him out for you!"

By the time Arthur, now dressed in a loose clean white tunic, went to join the others, they had already started eating, and were standing around a trestle table, on which was a generous supply of bread, cheese, meats and fruit, together with a number of flagons of water. All, except Lancelot, were still in their chain mail. Although Merlin was serving them, Gwen was eating, as was customary, with the ladies. And as Arthur walked over to the table and started helping himself, they all applauded and cheered in a raucous way.

Gwaine couldn't resist pitching in with a comment almost immediately, "Well, at least you won't be totally humiliated when I knock you out tomorrow."

Leon, taking pity on Arthur, reprimanded him, grinning "Gwaine – give him a break!"

Elyan explained, "It's all part of Gwaine's master plan to wear Arthur down so he's exhausted by the time they meet in the arena."

"Well, at least he's acknowledging that he thinks I'm going to beat Ivan this afternoon – that's something at least."

"Oh, I was actually forgetting about that fight… so I still might not get to face you."

Leon just exclaimed, "Gwaine!" once again.

It was Percival who next came to Arthur's rescue. "Would you like me to deal with him for you, your highness?"

Arthur gestured with his hand as he replied, "Be my guest!"

And with that, Percival wrestled Gwaine to the ground, and there then began a rather undignified – but entertaining - fight in which Gwaine was definitely coming off worst.

None of them had been particularly aware, however, of Ivan watching them from nearby with a look of disdain on his face. He walked purposefully over to the party from Camelot.

"Can't you control your knights, Arthur?"

Arthur, who had been watching the two on the ground with amusement, looked up when he heard Ivan's question, and answered with an expression of total unconcern on his face, "Well enough, when I need to."

Arthur's victory against Lancelot had banished his edginess and put him a good mood that even Ivan's attempts at needling him couldn't dispel – at least initially.

Ivan continued, "And when they are brawling like drunkards in the presence of royalty isn't one of those times?"

Arthur glanced down at the pair who were still wrestling - Percival having at that moment put Gwaine in an arm-lock from which he was trying to escape - and answered Ivan with a couldn't care less expression on his face, "No….."

"Maybe it is just that you have lower standards of behaviour for your knights."

"On the contrary, my standards for the knights of Camelot are the highest."

"Well, as they say, appearances can be deceptive, Arthur."

"Quite."

Merlin, as he stood there watching the exchange, thought about the fact that he had often accused Arthur of being arrogant, but anything of that nature on Arthur's part was nothing compared to the self-importance that seemed to be a constant in Ivan's interactions with others. Merlin also saw the truth in Arthur's words about how he looked down on those he felt were beneath him, and he began to think that Arthur had been far too generous in his description of him.

When they became aware of what Ivan was saying, Gwaine and Percival stopped wrestling and rose to their feet, conscious as the other knights were, of the hostility of Ivan towards Arthur, and they watched closely as the exchange between the two princes continued.

"I watched your fight with Sir Lancelot – I was surprised to see that you only just beat him. Strange for one who has such a reputation as yours."

Arthur clapped Lancelot on the shoulder, and smiled at him. "Lancelot is a first class swordsman, and I'll freely admit that he could have beaten me earlier – I was lucky enough to have had the upper hand today."

Lancelot understood perfectly well what Ivan was trying to do, and so added, "Our prince instructs us well – his training is second to none. If I had gained the victory in our bout, it would have been solely thanks to him."

"Well, at least luck saved the great Arthur Pendragon from the humiliation of being defeated in the first round."

Despite all his joking, underneath it all Gwaine was also fiercely loyal to Arthur. "And the Prince of Mercia is going to need all the luck he can get this afternoon, if his swordplay this morning was anything to go by!"

Arthur rebuked him sharply, "Gwaine!"

Ivan looked Arthur up and down for a moment, and the look of disdain on his face was clear to the knights and to Merlin, "As you say, Arthur, you have your knights nicely under your control. I'll see you in the arena later."

As they all watched him go, none of them were smiling, and to each of Arthur's friends, Ivan had the look of a man who had it in for Arthur. And they were not wrong. Not only was Ivan contemptuous of others, but he also had an inability to let go of wrongs, real or perceived, that had been done to him in the past. And every time Arthur had beaten him previously, Ivan's dislike of him had grown until that dislike was indistinguishable from loathing and was accompanied by an overwhelming desire for revenge.

There was a pause, and then Arthur broke the mood: "Is it my imagination, or did Gwaine just admit again to actually thinking that I'm going to beat Ivan this afternoon?"