Chapter five.
"Alright Mordred" Arthur says drawing his sword swinging it around his hand "I'm ready" Mordred eyes the king for a moment before hesitantly drawing his sword from the sheath. They circle each other for a few moments before Mordred decides to lunge at Arthur who effortlessly dodges his strike hitting him on the back with the butt of the sword.
Mordred catching his footing saving himself from plummeting face first into the grass swings his sword back but Arthur intercepts it with his own "come on you can do better than that" Arthur taunts causing Mordred to lash out at him once more. Mordred makes a fake motion for Arthur's chest area drawing all of Arthur's attention there then lashes out with his foot and he falls backwards "do you submit sire?" Mordred asks aiming the point of the blade at his chest.
Arthur sighs "looks like I have no other option" he says before he knocks Mordred's feet out from under him and Arthur jumps to his feet pointing his sword at Mordred's chest the same way he did seconds ago. Mordred rolls his eyes "I should have seen that coming" he groans and the knights watching the training session laugh as Arthur helps Mordred to his feet. "You're good but up to my level yet, getting better" Arthur says trying to help with his constructive criticism and Mordred silently laughs to himself "would seem not sire" he says walking over to join Leon and Gwaine who are leaning against a post.
"Heard you enjoyed the party last night Mordred" Gwaine says in a tone that is a little accusing and Mordred frowns at him "yeah it was nice, didn't you?" he asks having no idea why he is asking such a question. "Oh I'm sure it was and the girl you were kissing must have been nice too" Mordred almost chokes on air when the words reach his ears and Gwaine smirks. "How do you know about that?" he asks glaring at him and Gwaine taps his temple with his finger "I know everything" Mordred's facial expression doesn't change "actually I saw it" Gwaine admits. "It was that pretty red head girl wasn't it?" he asks "Aislinn?" Gwaine asks needing to clarify her name.
Mordred bites his lip "yeah it was Aislinn" he tells him for some reason feeling sheepish "you like her don't you?" Leon asks genuinely Mordred for a moment stops thinking and his breath catches causing him to choke again. "I- we're...Aislinn and I are just friends" he says "nothing more, nothing less" his answer causes Gwaine to laugh in mockery and Leon laughs a bit. "Oh, I am sure you are" Gwaine taunts and Leon whacks his arm "leave him be, I'm sure they are just friends" Leon says smiling at Mordred "I mean I'm sure all friends kiss at some point or another." Gwaine laughs "maybe we should kiss" he suggests Leon freezes and looks at him with a look of shock on his face "I'm going to forget you said that" Gwaine gives a confused laugh "yeah I am going to as well".
***
Merlin is redressing the bandages covering Aislinn's wound and she winces as he accidently hits her bruise "sorry" he says jolting back when she flinches "no it's alright" she says her hand balling up into a fist. "I'm almost done so be patient" Merlin says wrapping the bandage around her body once more "there" he says as he tucks the end of the bandage under another piece of the fabric.
"Thank you Merlin, you're fantastic help" Aislinn says letting her top fall back down and she does up her leather vest refastens her belt "did you enjoy the Yule festivities?" Merlin asks placing the excess bandages back in the cupboard and placing the vials of herbs away. "Very much so but.." she trails off "but?" he questions pulling up a chair as he straddles it "but I felt out of place" Merlin nods "I know how you feel" Aislinn smiles a little. "When you come here, into the court I mean you just have so many people to impress.. I know we are just servants but having to act like a courtier for the night must have been hard."
Aislinn nods "I mean it was nice but certainly not my forte" she says laying back down on the bed "hell I lived in a forest for the last eighteen years of my life" Aislinn adds laughing. Merlin shakes his head "who's dress was that last night?" he asks "Mordred's mothers" she says something missing in her tone "you don't sound too thrilled" Merlin frowns. Aislinn shakes her head "no it isn't - I loved it but" she pauses "Mordred kissed me" she says a little bit too fast "he kissed you?" Merlin asks uncertain if he heard her correctly.
"Yeah we were under mistletoe" Aislinn pauses "I mean it's not like I didn't enjoy it" she says softly observing his reaction and the way his face contorts "you don't trust him do you?" she asks searching his face and he glances up. "He hasn't given me a reason to" he says pursing his lips together Aislinn eyes him for a moment before answering "is it because of the prophecies?" she asks simply sitting up and resting her hands on her knees. A look of surprise crosses Merlin's face and Aislinn laughs "Merlin you know I am a druid, I know Mordred told you I heard him" she says. He sighs rolling his thumbs around each other glancing at the floor.
"When I was a child my parents told me stories of a place where magic was born" she begins her heart hurting at the mention of her parents "when they died the Druid's taught me a little more about it but not enough for me to understand" she says. "The crystal cave, I believe it was called" Aislinn pauses "I was fortunate to come across it as I got older there I saw the prophecies and the future that you Emrys will build, the land of Albion". Aislinn flicks her hair behind her shoulder "the time the poets write of and people like me can only dream of" she pauses glancing down at her feet "I also saw the prophecy of Mordred killing Arthur" her voice grows shaky.
"I know the future is not set in stone so I let it go, but when we were found by the knights and I saw him" she smirks "I feared that it would come true and what might happen so I let them capture me". Merlin's face is blank, expressionless "how did you know it was him?" Merlin asks curiosity digging at him "it was his eyes" she says "his hair colour could have changed, he could have even changed his skin tone, hell his face could have been restructured but I would have still known it was him because of his eyes." Merlin nods "I don't know what to do yet, I don't know if it will happen but it is better for both out sakes and for Albion's sake that he does not."
"What do you mean?" he asks
"My future has always been intertwined with his" she says "it is not clear how or why but from what I saw he betrayed Arthur...or Arthur betrayed him either way it can't happen" she tells him. "You make him sound really important" Merlin says resting his chin on his arm "Merlin..he knows who you are there are people out there who would kill for information like that" she hisses. Merlin's face turns to stone "I.." he pauses "no you are right" he says nodding "show him a little respect that is all I am asking" she pleads "we have to stop that from happening, for Arthur and for Albion."
***
Mordred this time instead of knocking on the door decides to let himself quietly into Aislinn's home opening the door just enough to allow him to slip through then closes the door silently walking as quietly as he can into the room.
"Aislinn?" he calls pulling back a chair straddling it and the backdoor opens up and Aislinn walks in carrying a basket of washing when she stops staring at him in disbelief. "Just let yourself in why don't you" she remarks slamming the washing down on the kitchen counter "I could have been entertaining people" Mordred laughs a little. "You don't have any friends" he says teasingly as he rests his chin on his arms "I could have been taking a bath" she says offering him another scenario and Mordred smirks in amusement "I wouldn't have minded" Aislinn glares at him. "Well I would have" she hisses pushing the washing basket onto the counter a little more so it doesn't fall off.
"I worry about you sometimes" she says a minute later shaking her head at him and they both fall silent, Aislinn not knowing what to do and Mordred not knowing what to say next. Leon and Gwaine had had him up in arms all day about Aislinn but what made it even worse was for once in his life and in their friendship he had to think about where he stood with her. "Gwaine.." Mordred begins but then trails off and Aislinn lifts her head up observing his face "Gwaine what?" she asks her burrow furrowing at the mention of the knights name.
"Ah..."
"What Mordred?"
"Do you remember when I kissed you?" he asks and Aislinn rolls her eyes "no of course I don't" she says sarcastically and Mordred pulls some sort of face "Gwaine kind of saw us." Mordred with his lasts sentence tries to tread carefully and deliver it as slowly as possible but Aislinn's face screws up in anger "he what!?" she shouts Mordred throws his hands up telling her to calm down. "Aislinn calm down it isn't that big of a deal" he gets up and places his hands on her shoulder sitting her back down "what did he say?" she asks her anger fading a little at his touch.
Mordred sighs and returns to his seat "he just asked whether or not we were friends" Aislinn runs her tongue over her bottom lip "you sound a bit bothered" she pauses "did he really give you that much trouble for kissing me?" Mordred nods "well now we know not to do it again". Aislinn gets to her feet and something sinks inside him when he realizes that she was serious about what she just said "do you want a cup of tea?" she asks walking towards the fire place "um yes please". Mordred watches as Aislinn tips the cauldron over the fire place a little and water pours into the two cups.
"Here" she says placing the cup down in front of him with a little tea bag floating around in the bottom "what is in it?" he asks frowning down at the contents "cinnamon and apple". Mordred frowns again "Mordred I made the exact same thing for you once before, when we were kids" reluctantly Mordred takes a few sips before deciding it's okay "I don't understand how you drink this" he says his face screwing up and she laughs. "Quite simple you put it in your mouth and swallow" Mordred's face screws up again and he is trying not to laugh but he almost chokes and spits the water out over the table.
"I'm sorry" he says still choking on the water, Aislinn chuckles and in a matter of seconds she is in front of him wiping down the table "I can't take you anywhere can I?" Mordred places the cup down slowly "no appears not". Aislinn goes and places the cloth in the sink as Mordred wipes some water off his chin "so anyway how was your day?" she asks leaning up against the counter. "Same old, same old, training walking around doing stuff what about your day?" he asks as he gets up and leans up against the counter next to her "hmm" she says leaning her head on his shoulder "looking after the queen, I swear I spend more of my time with Merlin than doing my actual job".
Mordred places his arm around her "show me your hands" he demands grabbing her hand and examining it "haven't worked this hard in your life have you?" he asks teasingly and Aislinn snatches her hand from him. "So you and Merlin?" he asks placing his hand back on the counter "what about me and Merlin?" she asks glancing at him up and down "you seem particularly close". Aislinn laughs a little but you can't hear her laughter "are you jealous?" she asks seemingly amused "no, why would I be jealous of Merlin?" he asks "because Merlin is desirable; he is kind, good looking, sweet" Aislinn pauses "you're lacking a few qualities".
"You clearly need to re-evaluate your priorities" Mordred says sounding a bit hurt but laughing it off and Aislinn realizes he took that personally "Mordred I was kidding" she says lifting her head of his shoulder. "I know" he mumbles moving away from her "well I only came to see how you were doing, I have to be on duty soon" Aislinn follows him to the door. "Alright I will see you later" she says leaning against the door and Mordred smiles back at her "see you tomorrow" he says and heads off down the street with Aislinn watching until he turns the corner disappearing from sight before she closes the door.