Chapter 8

The second round of the contest started after a fairly extended lunch break. There was no particular hurry to resume, as there were only four bouts to be fought, rather than the eight there had been in the morning. Elyan was first into the arena, against Sir Gethin of Mercia. Arthur had come across Sir Gethin before, and knew that he was an accomplished swordsman. In fact, as Arthur watched him, he couldn't help thinking that he would have been extremely pleased if Gethin had lived in Camelot rather than Mercia, as he would have been a valuable asset to his knights. There was also a straightforward honesty about him that Arthur liked, and so although he was sad, particularly for Gwen's sake, to see Elyan go out to him, it wasn't a surprise and it was the only fair result. Gwen was still proud of him, however, and Elyan for his part didn't seem to be particularly bothered about being knocked out, and seemed quite content to have been victorious in the first round of the first contest he had ever fought in.

Leon and Percival found themselves pitted against each other in the afternoon. Although no one quite matched Percival's stature, Leon was a lot nearer to it than most others, and had the greater agility of the two. A knock-out what never going to be a likely way of beating Percival, and Leon's footwork eventually had Percival on his back with a sword to his chest. As with Lancelot and Arthur, the defeat was a good natured one, with them joking with each other as Leon helped Percival to his feet. Gwaine was up next against Sir Ulric, and once again, had a relatively quick and easy fight which ended in him actually knocking Sir Ulric out by a blow from his shield. But of course, the most eagerly awaited bout was once again the last one, as the two princes faced each other, and the mood in the arena became charged with excitement. And all that Merlin needed to say to Arthur as he sent him off into the field was, "Go and make it five-nil, Sire!"

As Arthur and Ivan gave the customary touch of swords at the start of the fight, it was evident to most in the arena, that the clang of metal upon metal was much louder than from the usual light tap of the blades. It was also clear from the start to those watching that the fighting styles of the two princes were very different. Ivan's blows were heavy and at times wild – he had the extra height on Arthur, and that together with his build gave him the advantage in strength. Arthur, however, was by far the more disciplined of the two in his swordplay – and quicker. As Merlin and Gwen and the others looked on from their place together in the stands, however, it was clear to them that Ivan was taking out a lot of aggression on Arthur, and each had a look of concern on their face. Gwaine commented as he watched Ivan's fighting, "And I thought that this wasn't meant to be a war between Mercia and Camelot…."

Percival added, "It's just as well that killing your opponent isn't actually allowed."

On a normal day, it wouldn't have taken Arthur too much time to outwit Ivan with his footwork, but the truth was that the sustained fight with Lancelot had taken it out of him, and he didn't have quite his usual speed or strength, not that he was in any immediate danger of being knocked out by Ivan. However, it did mean that the fight, once again, went beyond the length of a normal bout. As both men paused for a moment's respite in their fighting, Ivan called out to Arthur, "unhelm?" and Arthur nodded in agreement.

The rule of unhelming was simple: of necessity, the sword was thrust in the ground to give a free hand to remove the helmet, and neither sword nor shield could be used until both parties had retrieved their swords. What Arthur was about to find out to his cost, however, was that Ivan had been known occasionally in the past to exploit a loophole in this rule - it said nothing whatsoever about helmets. Arthur was slightly slower in removing his helmet than Ivan, but the moment it was off Arthur's head, Ivan swung his own helmet at him, using it as another weapon. Whilst the move wasn't chivalrous, it certainly wasn't against any rules. Had Arthur not seen movement out of the corner of his eye and reacted a split second before the helmet struck him, he would have caught the full force of it in his face, and undoubtedly been knocked unconscious. As it was, the blow caught him just above his left eye, causing him to stagger back, and although not knocked out, he was badly dazed.

Each of Arthur's party recoiled in horror, and Gwaine and Leon were immediately on their feet to protest.

"That cannot be allowed!"

But as Gwaine looked at the Mercian crowd, cheering their own prince getting the upper hand, all he could do was answer Leon with a grim "Apparently it is."

Merlin laid his hand on Gwen's arm whilst she looked on with a scared expression on her face.

After the blow, Arthur had quickly lifted his shield in case Ivan should try the same again, but Ivan had tossed his helmet to the ground, pleased with his handiwork. Arthur had sustained a nasty cut above his left eye and was still looking slightly dazed as Ivan picked up his sword, expecting Arthur to do the same. But the second Arthur had the sword back in his hand, Ivan began to rain down blow after blow on him. Arthur was hampered by the slight nausea and dizziness after the blow, and by the intense pain of the wound above his eye which was also bleeding badly. He was barely managing to block Ivan's blows with his shield, and one of the blows made contact with Arthur's right arm. Although the blade wasn't that sharp, the force of the blow cut through Arthur's chain mail resulting in a bad gash, although his cry of pain was lost in the cheering of the crowd.

Merlin stood, and without a word of explanation to the others, began rapidly making his way down towards the base of the arena, to be in a better position if he needed to intervene with magic for Arthur's safety, as it was looking increasingly likely that if nothing changed, Arthur could end up being seriously injured. Lancelot leant forward as Ivan continued to batter Arthur, and said in a soft but urgent voice, "Come on Arthur, focus…", willing him to rally.

It was almost as if Arthur heard him, because from somewhere deep within himself, he drew on fresh reserves of strength. He gathered his concentration, put his pain to one side, and began to fight back, until they were evenly balanced once again. It then wasn't long till Ivan was momentarily wrong-footed, and Arthur immediately played the advantage, knocking him to the ground with a blow from his shield. His sword was swiftly down on Ivan's chest, the fight was finally won. As would have been expected, the applause was somewhat muted this time, given it was a Mercian that Arthur had defeated, and their prince at that. As Arthur stood, still breathing heavily, he offered his hand to Ivan to help him up. But Ivan just glared at him, and deliberately snubbed him once more by not taking it, and got to his feet himself, immediately turning his back on Arthur and leaving the arena.

Elyan commented, as Ivan walked out, "He isn't happy," with Percival simply adding, "Somehow I don't think it's in his nature to be happy."

Gwaine looked down at their prince standing on his own, "Pity Arthur having to sit with him again tonight."

Merlin was there waiting for Arthur as he came out of the arena, and looked at him with concern, "You OK?"

Arthur replied with a weary smile, "I am, now that that's over."

"Here, let me take a look at those wounds." Merlin paused and then added with a little impish smile, "On second thoughts, how about Gwen tending to them for you?"

"Well - she is prettier than you."

And Arthur's ever faithful servant took his shield from him and put his hand on the prince's shoulder, "Come on, let's get you sorted out."