A/N: Yay fast update. Really enjoying working on the characterization of our most beloved cast.
Series 1, Episode 2 "Valiant" Missing Scenes:
1. A continuation of Merlin and Arthur's little training session.
2. How Merlin wound up taking armor etiquette lessons from Gwen the day before the tournament. (I miss cute, awkward Gwen.)
3. Merlin informing Gaius that Arthur sacked him.
4. Gwen's reaction to Merlin needing a wheelbarrow to steal a statue to save Arthur.
5. Protective!Gaius keep watch over Merlin.
6. What led Arthur to his late night practice session in the courtyard.
7. A little fluff drabble of Merlin returning to Arthur's servitude.
1.
"That was just the warm up," Arthur said with a devilish smile. "How's your mace work coming along?" The prince swung a mace above his head and Merlin groaned. "Right, on your feet," Arthur ordered.
Merlin dragged himself slowly off the ground, fumbling for his helmet, his arms were already tingling with pain. Arthur gave a satisfied smirk as Merlin reached weakly for his shield, hoisting it up to cover his torso. The prince knew he was pushing his new servant; he could the see strain and resentment in Merlin's eyes. But to Arthur's surprise, Merlin pushed back. As much as the idiot annoyed him, the young prince had to admit it was a welcome change. Any other servant would be at his feet, licking his boots with a single blow. But there was just something different about Merlin, a certain bravery or stupidity - he couldn't decide which. It made Arthur want to see just how far he could push - or maybe he really was just an arrogant prat after all.
"Right. Left. Left. Shield," Arthur cried as he swung the mace down hard. He continued raining blows down on his servant, who responded in turn with a mixture of ow's and ah's, for the better part of fifteen minutes.
"Is this really necessary?" Merlin panted heavily, dropping his shield slightly just as Arthur swung the mace down towards his servant's left shoulder. Arthur realized Merlin's error, trying to counteract the momentum of his swing too little too late. The mace collided with Merlin's shoulder armor, which absorbed most of the damage, but sent the thin boy sprawling to the ground with a weak little, "Ow."
"Honestly, Merlin. Do you even know what a shield is for?" Arthur teased, dropping his mace to the ground. Merlin groaned, cradling his left shoulder with his right hand.
"If I stay down, will you still hit me?" he asked slowly.
"Probably," Arthur shrugged.
"Right," Merlin said, but he made no move to stand. The prince rolled his eyes and turned to walk away from his manservant. "And where are you going?" Merlin asked, pulling himself up on his right elbow.
"I told you, I've got a tournament to win," Arthur said over his shoulder. "We can't all be so lucky as to spend the day lying in the grass, soaking up the sun, now can we Merlin?" Merlin scoffed, glaring at his master's backside as he made his way to the castle grounds. He made a small show of pulling himself back onto his feet, leaning heavily on his shield and gasping at the aches that seemed to resonate from every muscle in his body. How anyone could consider this sort of thing fun was way beyond him. He looked down at his shield and considered abandoning it in the clearing, but instead settled on half carrying, half dragging the equipment back towards the armory. The journey took thrice as long as it ought to have, and after he had finished cleaning and polishing everything, Merlin could hardly so much as swing his arms freely without wincing in pain as he made his way back to the court physician.
[Knight Valiant obtains his serpent shield. Camelot prepares for a tournament.]
2.
Gwen had to admit, she had taken a bit of a liking to the prince's new manservant. His willingness to stand up to Arthur was refreshing to say the least, but there was something else about him. He was good spirited, cheeky, and his smile - well at the very least, she was glad for his presence, not that anything was going to happen between them, obviously. But still, she was quite fond of him, and it was this fondness that caused her to give pause outside the armory as she was making her way to her lady's chambers.
Merlin stood with his back to Guinevere, holding one of Arthur's vambrace's in the air. He twisted and turned the piece of equipment, examining the small buckles and latches with wary concern. He tugged the vambrace onto his own arm, twisting his wrist and smiling slightly in satisfaction. Gwen couldn't help but let out a small laugh, causing her new friend to jump in panic, knocking half of Arthur's equipment to the ground as he turned to face Gwen.
"Oh, Gwen," Merlin said, flinching as the steel crashed to the ground, smiling through a grimace. "Hello."
"You've got it on the wrong arm," she offered with a smile, setting down her basket and moving to help Merlin. She pulled the vambrace off of Merlin's wrist and moved it to his other lower arm, flipping his wrist out. "See this latch here?" She pointed down, Merlin furrowing his brow in study. "It attaches over here, and you can tighten it right here." She finished, holding Merlin's arm up for him to see. She realized she was holding him for too long, and as their gaze met she let go in embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed, eyes averted. Merlin scratched at the back of his neck and smiled.
"Oh right, yeah," he said. "Thanks." The young serving boy heaved a heavy sigh. "Well that's one piece mastered, only what? Twenty pieces to go?"
"I could help, you know," Gwen said.
"Really? You would do that for me?" Merlin asked hopefully, still holding his arm in the air.
"Of course, anything to make your life a little easier," she rushed. "I mean, not yours, you know. Just life in general." Gwen waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I'd do it for anyone, obviously." She brushed a small lock of hair from her face, turning away awkwardly.
"Right," Merlin said slowly.
"You can stop by my house tonight in the lower town. Bring some armor with you and we'll get you sorted out."
"Ah, you're a life savor Gwen," Merlin said, a huge grin plastered to his face as he squeezed her shoulders gently and turned to run out of the room to finish his master's chores. She heard him slide to a stop and run back in, unlatching the vambrace on his wrist with his teeth and tossing it onto a table. "Wont be needing that."
Gwen laughed as he sped back out of the room. She leaned down to pickup the armor he seemed to have forgotten that was strewn across the floor. She had already begun counting the hours until his visit.
[Knight Valiant's snakes bite Ewan in battle. Merlin discovers his secret. Warns Arthur. Arthur publicly accuses Valiant, but Ewan is murdered, leaving no credible witness. Arthur fires Merlin.]
3.
Merlin burst through Gaius' door, brow furrowed in frustration as he stormed towards his room.
"Merlin, what in blazes-" Gaius began, but was interrupted.
"He sacked me!" Merlin shouted angrily. "Trying to save that arrogant little prat, and he sacks me." Gaius gave his ward a grave look and calmly offered him a seat.
"I am sorry Merlin," he said. "Ewan's death was unfortunate in its timing. You must understand Arthur is under a lot of pressure."
"No," Merlin drew out childishly. "I just - uh!" The young warlock threw his hands up in the air in apparent dissatisfaction for any words that might convey his anguish. "What am I supposed to do Gaius?"
"What can you do?" Gaius asked sincerely, shaking his solemnly. "You need to convince Arthur not to fight. He must see reason."
"Oh yeah. Yeah," replied his ward, hands on hips. "Did I leave out the part where he hates me?"
"Merlin," Gaius said sternly. But Merlin was already up in a fit and heading towards the door. "Merlin? Merlin, where do you think you're going?"
"To talk to someone about my so-called destiny," he spat, slamming the door behind him. Gaius sighed deeply and closed his eyes before setting back to eat his supper. He found he no longer had an appetite and instead began mixing together a potion to keep his mind occupied on something, anything besides his raven-haired mess of a ward.
[Merlin speaks to Kilgharrah. Arthur prepares for battle.]
4.
"A wheelbarrow?" Gwen asked, utterly confused as Merlin basically mounted one of the dog statues nearby. "But, what-"
"Is that a no?" Merlin asked, frowning slightly and measuring up the stonework before him.
"Well no, my father has one for-"
"Perfect!" The prince's manservant basically ran next to Gwen as they went to fetch her father's wheelbarrow.
"Merlin, slow down," Guinevere protested, as she struggled to keep up.
"No time, got a royal prat to save," Merlin shouted back to her.
"With a statue of a dog?" she asked stopping in the middle of the street.
"Right you are!" he replied with a smile. Ah, Gwen thought, so Merlin had lost his mind. That much was apparent.
She stood uncomfortably as she watched Merlin slowly try to lift the dog statue into her father's wheelbarrow. She couldn't help biting her lip and glancing about them warily, as the townspeople openly stared in confusion and amusement.
"A little help?" she heard Merlin ask from behind the statue. His hands weirdly cradling the stone beast around the waist as he huffed and lifted the thing a few inches off the ground. When he didn't get an immediate response, the servant gave Guinevere a perplexed look from beneath one of the dog's legs. "Gwen?" he wheezed.
"Uhm," she said, twisting her fingers. "I'm pretty sure this is illegal Merlin. Not that I don't want to help you, it's just..." Merlin gave her an innocent, confused look from beneath the leg and with one big puff managed to hoist the thing fully into the wheelbarrow on his own.
"Ah, much better. No worries Gwen," he said, twisting his head with a smile. "But I should be off, wish me luck!"
"Good luck?" It came out more as a question than an actual well wishing. Though she was certain Merlin had hardly noticed as he hurried away, wheelbarrow in hand. Gwen wrinkled her eyebrows and gave a little, "Huh..." before resuming her duties.
5.
"What are you doing with that?" Gaius said in exasperation as his ward waltzed through the door with a wheelbarrow containing one of the statues from the square.
"I'm going to let everyone see the snakes for themselves," Merlin replied proudly, wheeling the statue to his chambers and closing the door behind him.
It was only a matter of minutes before Gaius could here the young warlock's chants echoing through the doorway. It was the unmistakable language of magic, and Gaius could do little more than mentally scold the boy for practicing it so blatantly. He knew Merlin meant well, and he also knew that Merlin may in fact be Arthur's only hope against knight Valiant on the morrow. So he let the boy practice in peace, instead resolving himself to keep guard all night, lest a wayward patient sought the physician's help only to hear his ward reading spells.
Fortunately it was a perfectly uneventful evening, and when Merlin's chanting died down into soft, drowsy slurs, Gaius decided to afford himself what little sleep he could.
The old man was up and moving at first light: collecting herbs, calling on patients, making deliveries. It was almost midday before he realized the final round of the tournament would begin soon. He hastened to the grounds - his presence an obligation in case either man were to be injured. Gaius was surprised to find Merlin absent from the festivities. He spotted Lady Morgana and her servant preparing to take their seats and made his way quickly to them.
"Guinevere?" he asked of the lady's servant.
"Gaius," Gwen said with a smile. "What is it?"
"You haven't by chance seen Merlin lately, have you?"
"Not since yesterday," she said, slightly perplexed.
"Thank you," he said quickly, turning on foot and racing as fast as his old legs could back to his chambers. He burst through the door just as Merlin was closing his. Wheezing he spat out, "Arthur's fighting Valiant!"
"I know. I'm on my way," Merlin said, charging for the door before pausing a moment and throwing an arm out to Gaius. "Oh, whatever you do, don't go in my room. I'll deal with it later." Gaius raised an eyebrow as Merlin ran out, casting a curious look towards his ward's chambers.
6.
Merlin and Gaius were not the only ones for whom sleep had evaded that evening. Arthur paced back and forth in his chambers. He felt tense, aggravated, frustrated, and a small part of him that he refused to recognize was... fearful. He believed his former servant, though it pained him to admit it and though his father had branded him a coward for it. Valiant would not play fair on the morrow. Arthur could feel the truth of it in his gut, and it infuriated him. There was a knock on his door.
"For the last time Merlin, leave me be!" Arthur shouted with venom. But it was not Merlin who opened the door.
"Dinner, my lord," Morris said, staring at the ground as he brought the plate over to Arthur's table. Arthur rolled his eyes, admittedly slightly disappointed that it was not Merlin barging in - at least he could take his frustration out on him with some satisfaction. "Is there anything else you'll be needing, sire."
"No," Arthur huffed, crossing his arms. But as Morris was about to exit the room, he changed his mind. "Actually, wait. Fetch me my sword and armor."
"Yes sire," Morris said, bowing slightly, and within the hour the prince found himself in full gear, wielding his sword throughout the square. It was therapeutic, reassuring. He imagined his blade slashing through unseen figures - mostly Valiant, sometimes Merlin, the idiot, and sometimes even his father. The blade gave him confidence and peace of mind. If he were to die with it in hand come midday tomorrow, that would not be such a bad thing. It was the way any honorable man should die. It was only the thought of being brought down by snake venom that chased away whatever solace he might have found. He cried out in anger and slashed harder at the air, panting as he leaned upon his sword and shook his head.
There was no honor in dying at the hands of magic.
[Merlin reveals Valiant's snakes mid-tournament. Arthur re-hires Merlin.]
7.
"You missed a spot," Arthur chided, arms crossed as he watched his manservant scrub his floor with nothing more than a bucket and a small brush.
"Where?" Merlin asked indignantly. Arthur tapped a small pile of dirt from his boot and and traced it across the floor with his foot.
"There," he said pointedly. Merlin rolled his eyes.
"You know, you really are no good with this whole apologizing business," Merlin spat, sitting back instead of moving to clean up the pile of dirt.
"Who said anything about apologizing?" Arthur asked, scrunching his nose in annoyance. But for a moment, his features soften, and he simply nodded. A gesture that said more than his words could. "It's good to have you back."
"Really?" Merlin said, a gloating grin plastered to his face.
"Oh, don't let it go to your head. I only meant a half-decent servant is hard to find." Arthur scoffed. "I still expect to see my clothes washed, my armor repaired, my boots cleaned, and my stables mucked by morning."
"Of course, my lord," Merlin replied feigning formality, the smile still unfaltering.
"Oh shut up," Arthur said, kicking over Merlin's bucket to the protests of his servant.