The hint was obvious. I'lian glanced in Barak's direction, and that was all it needed. The brute of a man took that as an offer. He threw Merlin carelessly towards another bandit, who caught him. Merlin struggled, eyes opening, registering that he needed to be alert, his body fighting through his injuries, because Arthur had put himself in danger. It stirred an instinct in Merlin, which he could never seem to ignore.
"No, Arthur, you can't," Merlin's voice was low, rough sounding, and he winced with the effort of trying to speak. The bruising was already starting to form on his neck, the skin raw and his breath hitching when his throat tightened.
"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur said calmly. His eyes locked on Barak, who slowly drew his sword.
"Do you accept the challenge, as Sir I'lian's champion?" Arthur asked.
"I do," Barak said, moving his arm and sword, limbering up, as he grinned at Arthur. Arthur reached down to his sword belt and realised what was missing, looking up he saw Barak's grin widen and Arthur's anger burned harder as he realised the bandit was carrying his sword. It had been made for him, balanced for his arm and movement, but there was no way he could reclaim it, instead he turned to where he knew Sir Leon was stood, moving out from the group to try and get to Merlin, should there be a chance.
Arthur jumped as he was intercepted and he looked down at the sword hilt that was offered to him.
Uther had the sword in his arms, the blade held carefully while the hilt was given to Arthur. Arthur looked up at his father and flinched, only a little. The challenge was disapproved of but Arthur had made it and now had to stand up to it. It would not suit for him to have any other sword than the king's. The weapon was all Uther could offer his son now. Arthur reached out and gripped the hilt, feeling it in his hand. He knew his father's sword, he had wielded it, on occasion, so there was some familiarity. It wasn't quite weighted to him but Arthur could manage, Barak was taking a sword that he didn't know, that wouldn't work well for him. He was just trying to insult Arthur by using it.
In the end though, it was nothing more than a sword. Arthur knew that. Instead, he took the king's.
"Thank you, My Lord," Arthur said.
Risking a glance up he knew Uther didn't appreciate the turn of events but he did respect Arthur's decision. Arthur turned, lifting the sword, moving the hilt in his hand to get used to it. Arthur stepped forward slowly, Barak moving to meet him. Without any obvious direction the bandits on one side and the knights on the other backed up, forming a loose ring around the two men, who were slowly starting to circle each other. Arthur looked to Merlin, and then back to Barak.
"Winner takes Merlin," Arthur said.
"Is your servant worth dying over?" Barak asked. Arthur grinned, but there was no joy to it, his eyes turned feral and his entire body tensed.
"You tell me."
"Arthur no, don't, you can't," Merlin gasped, he was trying to raise his head, his eyes staring around. Arthur turned to look, realising Merlin was still suffering.
"Let my…"
He got no further, Barak lunged forward and Arthur had to turn back. He could no longer ask if Gaius could look after Merlin in the mean time, and he wondered if this whole plan was the reason that Galen was not there. I'lian might not want his son there, close to Camelot, but Arthur was starting to think that the indulgence that I'lian had for his son was not blind love. It was something else.
As he blocked a blow from Barak, Arthur wondered if his own father was any different.
Arthur let that thought go, and forgot everything, he was in a fight, and the fight mattered. He was fighting for something he believed in.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Gaius was worried that part of Merlin's throat had been crushed, but his battered, confused ward was still breathing. He watched Merlin struggle to get himself together, his eyes turning to Arthur, to object to what the prince was doing. Gaius couldn't complain about the prince's actions, Arthur seemed to be the only thing protecting Merlin.
He wanted to get out and help his ward. He had promised Hunith that he could look after him, in the middle of Camelot that was not an easy task to charge him with, but Merlin seemed know how hard it was and did his best. Now Gaius thought it would be better if Merlin forgot a little of that and just let it go. He wouldn't though, not in front of Uther.
Two of the bandits now had hold of Merlin, taking an arm each to keep him upright. Merlin took the help, letting them take some of his weight, so he didn't have to worry about supporting himself. He also let his head loll, to keep his face concealed, but his eyes were raised enough that he could see what was happening.
As Arthur and Barak clashed again.
Uther had watched the man go in for the initial strike, when Arthur had started to talk. He wasn't sure what Arthur was trying to say but Arthur didn't look happy about the interruption. He batted Barak off and they both paused to circle again, the initial strikes finished, the fight was on. Uther watched, part of his mind a little detached from the events, so it could assess Arthur's position. He didn't care if this was a duel, properly instigated by a knight of Camelot, if Arthur came close to losing, or moments away from dying, then Uther would intervene. His son was not dying at the hand of a common bandit. His son was not dying before he did. And he wasn't dying over a servant.
The king's eyes followed Arthur's, as the circling put him in a position to assess Merlin. Arthur's eyes swept Merlin up and down, he was still hanging limply but his head was raised, and he was watching. Arthur's head snapped back to his opponent. That split second had assured him that Merlin was fine. He had raised his head, realising Arthur was looking at him, and their eyes had met. Merlin had done that much, because he wanted Arthur to concentrate on what he was doing. Uther decided that Merlin looked quite disapproving of what was going on, even though his life was a stake.
But that was why Arthur and Merlin were now so close. Uther had given Merlin the position as Arthur's manservant because he had saved Arthur's life. It was not something that Uther took lightly, even now. Merlin was willing to risk his life for Arthur. The fact that Arthur reciprocated that feeling was something that needed to be controlled, but Merlin's loyalty Uther didn't question. The boy's intelligence had no baring on that, Uther had realised long ago. But the understanding that existed between prince and servant could not be doubted.
Uther flinched as Arthur backed up. He was holding the sword two handed, buckling under Barak's assault. The bandit mainly had brute strength on his side, there was some skill, he could attack and defend, but he was not to Arthur's standard. Uther watched the battle carefully.
He knew Arthur's skill inside out, and something wasn't right. He was injured on his right side, trying to defend and strengthen the area by adding his left arm. But his left hand wasn't gripping well enough. It was balancing out the problem on the right because Arthur was holding his balance, but he was on lower ground, and losing the advantage. He was defending, very carefully. Uther concluded that Arthur had not seen this man fight before, he was still learning his moves but this man had watched Arthur, and he was using that as well.
Merlin's head rose, just a little, and only one person saw the flash of his eyes.
Gaius tensed as he saw Merlin's reaction to Arthur's oncoming predicament. He took one of Barak's feet out from under him. He unbalanced on the slope and Arthur thrust his sword up, meeting Barak's flailing swing, knocking the sword away and rising up. Arthur danced round him, gaining higher ground and aiming in, catching Barak a deep wound on his shoulder. It hadn't done anything too serious, but the man was now bleeding and in pain. Arthur tried a lower attack but Barak backed up, and Arthur pressed on. The wet grass under his feet didn't seem to bother Arthur, in fact he was very sure footed. Gaius glanced at Merlin, his head was down, but he was watching the movement of both men's feet, eyes fixed at that point. Merlin knew the advantages that Arthur could take, and he was making sure he could use them.
The sound of the swords clashing rang through the air and no one dared to breathe as they watched. They backed off if the two clashing men came too close, but no one intervened. This was not just a simple duel, it was a battle of wills. Arthur defended when he needed to but cut forward when he could. Barak just used as much force as he could against the disadvantaged prince. Arthur was struggling, he was tired, injured, and weakened. Barak thought that gave him an advantage, and Arthur was letting him.
Uther saw that. His son seemed to flag, dramatically on occasion, but when Barak came to close to a severe strike Arthur seemed to rally. It could have just been self-preservation but Uther could see the look in Arthur's eye. He was assessing the best way to win, and his advantage lay in his apparent weakness. When he faltered Barak lunged in, he had done so on a number of occasions and Arthur countered, when he needed to. He was looking for the best way to strike. Uther watched the attack plan and Arthur's eyes never so much as caught a glance of him, but Uther knew the signs. When it came close he tensed a little. It wasn't just Barak's reaction Arthur was gauging, he wanted to see what Uther would do, because Arthur had made him part of the battle plan.
The king eased back a step or two as the battling men took the ground near him. The knights spread further out, angling carefully and Gaius took it as a chance to move nearer to Merlin. Leon was doing the same. Another segment of Arthur's plan, that all of the knights here could see. They all jumped again as Barak lost his footing for the fifth time.
Arthur didn't seem to have the same problem. Gaius was the only one that knew why. It was the only way that Merlin could, subtly, affect the play. Not only did he have to be careful around Uther, Gaius guessed that Merlin was weak, his body not able to draw the energy through. That would mean nothing in the end, Merlin would risk everything to save Arthur, but Arthur could hold his own and Merlin knew he couldn't be careless, there would be other times after this. Arthur had taught him, in some battles you just had to back off, assess what you could win and deal with the areas you could influence.
Merlin would probably rather die than admit it. He had learnt to be a strategic as Arthur. He couldn't rush in every time to affect a daring rescue. There was no point in mollycoddling Arthur, Merlin had to protect himself as well, otherwise who would look after Arthur in the future. Merlin was doing what was needed, because Arthur worked out Barak's unsteadiness into his battle plan. He couldn't understand why the bandit couldn't keep his feet under him, but he had noted the weakness.
In the end Arthur put it down to the man having worn out boots. They looked a little ragged as far as he could see. So it made sense. It was the only explanation.
Arthur went down, blocking a strike to his shoulder and he let his arms buckle under the pressure, dropping to his side. Uther ran forward, Barak glanced up and smirked, lunging down for a final strike into Arthur's torso, putting his weight behind it to make sure it passed through the chain mail into his body.
Barak committed himself to the strike and Arthur rolled, letting the sword slam into the soft ground by his side, and he responded with his own strike shoving his sword into Barak's side, catching him just under his ribs, easing his way up. He wasn't going to be able to hit the heart, the angle was wrong, but he would take a lung, and he had probably hit something else on the way up. Something that would bleed. Barak gasped for breath, pitching over and pulling Arthur with him as he fell. As he got upright Arthur let go of the sword, letting Barak land on his side. The bandit looked up at him, his eyes wide and his hands scrabbling as the sword as if he could hardly comprehend its presence.
As he tried to grip the blade Arthur retook hold of the hilt yanking the sword out of Barak. Slowly Arthur knelt down and wiped the blade on the edge of Barak's shirt. The man grappled at him with both hands and Arthur winced on occasion as he found a sort spot on him, but there was no power in the grip, Barak was dying. No one could hear what Arthur said to him, but he waited until Barak's last breath left him before slowly standing up and looking at I'lian.
The former knight was looking back with an unreadable expression.
"I think our business here is concluded," Arthur announced.
I'lian was torn between staring at Arthur and at the body of his cousin. Arthur left him to that and stepped away from Barak going towards his father. He carefully handed the sword back to him.
"Thank you, Sire," Arthur said. Then he turned to look at the two bandit's holding Merlin.
The glare was all it took; they practically threw him at Leon and Gaius, who were both advancing. Leon stepped forward to take Merlin's weight and he wrapped his arms around him. As his hands touched Merlin's back, Merlin groaned and his knees buckled. Leon reduced the tightness of his grip and he eased Merlin down into a sitting position, his legs tucked up under him.
"Physician!" Uther snapped. Gaius turned away from Merlin. Uther turned back to Arthur. "You are injured."
"I've sustained a gash to my hip, two broken fingers on my left hand and strained the tendons on my right side," Arthur said. He walked towards Gaius as he spoke, passing him and going to Leon, who had pulled a knife to try and reach round to cut the ropes from Merlin's wrists. Arthur took the knife, severed the rope and started to pull at Merlin's shirt. Merlin gave a little groan, objecting to that.
"Deal with Merlin first," Arthur said to Gaius. "He's hurt worse."
Arthur knelt down and took Merlin's weight from Leon, drawing him close to let Merlin rest against him, and Merlin's head dropped onto his shoulder, while Arthur lifted the shirt to reveal the damage that had been inflicted on Merlin. Arthur looked up at Gaius, his eyes angry and regretful.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't stop them."