Chapter 24–The moment of Truth

Hey guys, so many chapters so little time, you know. I'm getting there through, slowly but surely. Also thinking of starting another story, a Criminal Minds one, but I'm still working out the plot in my head and if it's worth my time. I love the show but trying to write about more real life based stories has always been hard for me so I'm trying to widen my writing skills...So we'll see what happens there. But IMPORTANT POINT! I have started a new poll today this one will literally only be up for the maximum of a week so vote quickly, as it affects the end of this story I am currently doing, anyway I don't own Merlin, but Laudine, Kay and Elizabeth are my creations who I love greatly.

It didn't take as long as I thought it would for us to reach Ealdor, sadly the bandits were already there. We picked up speed as we entered through the Village gates. I drew my sword along with the others. Arthur threw his sword at the post behind their leader and dismounts. I flipped off my horse and stabbed one of the bandits through the shoulder causing him to collapse to the ground, around us more and more fighting took place. I turned in time to see Arthur taking down one bandit before another one attacked from behind I acted quickly and blocked the attack slamming my sword hard into his side and watching as he collapsed to the ground dead, "This is the reason you keep me around to save your life," I teased Arthur gently as I took up a fighting pose next to him.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Arthur replied back smartly.

I watched as the leader mounted his horse, "You'll pay for this with your lives! All of you!"

"Wow you know he almost sounds threatening," I said sarcastically to Arthur.

Arthur shot me a look, "He is dangerous."

I shrugged back, "That's why we're here isn't it?"

Arthur didn't bother responding, "Merlin! Gather the villagers, I need to talk to them."

"Yeah, in a minute. I'm just talking…" Merlin began.

"Now Merlin. There isn't much time," Arthur snapped back before turning to face Hunith.

"Yes Sire," Merlin responded sarcastically.

I walked over to him and his friend, "He's just in a bad mood because I saved his life," I smiled at Merlin, "But you better do what he says," Merlin nodded and took off to get everyone, I turned to Merlin's friend, "Who are you then?"

"Will," he said bowing politely and taking my hand gently, it didn't take an expert to see he was trying to flirt with me, "And who may you be?"

"Elizabeth!" I heard Arthur yell from behind me. I turned to see him staring at Will with a look which I had come to realise was jealously.

I smiled reassuringly at him, before turning back to Will, "I guess that answers your question. Best not keep him waiting," I said before going over to Arthur who held out his hand for me to hold. It was a kind of possessive thing to do but I didn't really mind.

Arthur turned to address the villagers, "I know Kanen's kind. He'll be back. And when he is, you must be ready for him. First of all, we have to prepare for..."

"Am I the only one wondering who the hell this is?" Will interrupted.

"I'm Prince Arthur of Camelot," Arthur responded politely.

Will scoffed, "Yeah and, er, I'm Prince William of Ealdor."

"Keep quiet, he's here to help us," Hunith reprimanded.

"But he's made things worse. Kanen will be back, and when he is, he'll be looking for revenge. You've just signed our death warrants," Will snapped.

"He saved Matthew's life!" Hunith argued back.

"That's alright, Hunith. This is his village. What would you have us do?" Arthur questioned.

"We can't fight against Kanen. He has too many men," Will stated.

I stepped forward to speak this time, "So what's the alternative?"

"Give him what he wants," Will suggested.

The villagers around him shook their heads, "Then what? Those of you who don't starve to death will face him again next harvest! And the harvest after that," I argued pointing out the floor in this plan.

Will looked at me in anger, "We'll manage. We'll survive."

"How?" One of the other villagers questioned.

"The only way he can be stopped is if you stand up to him," Arthur pointed out. The grip on my hand tightening was the only sigh of anger he gave out.

"No. You just want the honour and glory of battle! That's what drives men like you! Look, if you want to fight, then go home and risk the lives of your own people, not ours!" Will yelled back before taking off into the forest, Merlin followed him.

"I'll follow you. If I'm to die, then I want to go out fighting," Hunith was the first to speak up. After that more and more people came forward.

I smiled proudly at Arthur, "And you wonder why I think you'll be a good king."

He didn't look so convinced, "You know this will be hard," he stated.

"That doesn't matter. We are doing what's right," I responded back.

It was later that night when we were in Hunith's house, most of the party was asleep. I laid down next to Merlin and Arthur, on the floor, letting Laudine, Morgana and Gwen have the make shift beds instead, "Have you always slept on the floor?" Arthur questioned Merlin.

"Yeah, the bed I've got in Camelot is luxury by comparison," Merlin answered.

"Must have been hard," Arthur observed.

"Yeah, like a rock," Merlin responded cheekily.

"I didn't mean the ground. I meant for you. It must've been difficult," Arthur shot back.

"Mmm. Not really. I didn't know any different. Life's simple out here. You eat what you grow and everyone pitches in together. As long as you've got food on the table and a roof over your head, you're happy," Merlin said quietly reminiscing.

"Sounds…" Arthur paused searching for the right word, "Nice."

"Oh come on, you'd hated it," I smirked up at the ceiling as I spoke for the first time in a while.

Arthur jumped obviously thinking I was asleep, "No doubt," he said back to me before asking Merlin another question, "Why'd you leave?"

"Things just…changed," Merlin said hesitantly.

"How? Come on, stop pretending to be interesting. Tell me," Arthur encouraged.

"I just didn't fit in anymore. I wanted to find somewhere that I did," Merlin confessed quietly.

"Had any luck?" Arthur questioned.

"I'm not sure yet," Merlin answered honestly.

"We'll start training the men tomorrow, it's going to be a long day," Arthur said softly before turning over to get some sleep. Both Merlin and I followed suit.

I woke up early the next morning and got dressed before everyone else was awake, something about fighting gave me energy I never knew I had before. Plus I remembered when I was younger and I used to train with my brother's so that I could defence myself if needs be. It had come in handy over the years. I was sitting at the table when everyone else woke up. There was a nervous energy in the air that had not been there yesterday night. Merlin helped Arthur put his jacket on, "You still not learned how to dress yourself?" I smirked at Arthur.

"You don't have a dog and fetch the stick yourself, no offence Merlin," Arthur said sounding terribly arrogant again.

"None taken," Merlin said rolling his eyes at me from behind Arthur's head as he sorted out the last parts of his jacket.

"Yet I still manage to dress myself most days Arthur, is it just possible you never learnt?" I teased him, hearing Morgana, Gwen, Kay and Laudine all laugh in the background.

Before Arthur could respond Hunith came through holding a bowl out, "Prince Arthur, you didn't finish your breakfast."

"Didn't I?" Arthur questioned.

"Come on, eat up," Morgana said to Arthur, her eyes full of mischief.

Arthur did a terrible job of pretending to eat the food, "Mmmm."

He tried to hand the bowl back to Gwen but I stopped her from taking it with a shake of my head, "Eat it," I ordered. Arthur looked at me reluctantly but did as he was told, when Hunith came back in he handed the bowl to her, "It was lovely," he lied before taking my hand and walking out of the door, "Merlin we need wood and lots of it," Merlin nodded his head before going off in a different direction to us. Arthur turned to me, "Why did you make me eat it?" He questioned.

"Because you should," I stated.

"Why, it was horrible!" Arthur argued back sounding like a child.

I pulled Arthur to a stop, "Look around you Arthur, most of the harvest is gone already because it's been stolen. What you just turned your nose up at was one of the last pieces of rations she has Arthur. This isn't Camelot, there are not unlimited supplies of food here!"

"Then why does she..." Arthur began to ask.

"You're a Prince, she has to feed you everything she can," I said softly wanting him to understand. Arthur nodded his head at me, "So what do you need help with?" I questioned changing the subject.

"I will train the men, you sharpen the swords," Arthur stated.

I decided it was better to pick and choose my battles so I nodded my head gently kissing him on the lips before walking over to where Morgana, Gwen and Laudine were already sharpening sword, "I take it we all got stuck with the sharpening and no fighting rule huh?" I questioned as I sat down next to Laudine.

"I was ordered by Kay, apparently women are not allowed to fight," Laudine replied anger not at the idea of me but at Kay.

"I will remind him of that next time I defeat him," I said back to her smirking evilly. We continued to watch as Arthur trained the men, I could tell by the looks on the other's faces that they were thinking the same thing as me, "There is no way they're going to be able to hold Kanen off," I whispered softly.

"Men aren't the only ones who can fight," Gwen pointed out. Before checking the sword. We all smiled at each other knowing what we needed to do. Arthur sent Matthew off as look out for Kanen and then walked over to the well, I saw my chance and made my way to join him followed by Morgana and Gwen while Laudine kept sharpening the swords/

"Looks like the battle's already fought and lost," I said quietly to Arthur.

"They'll toughen up," Arthur said back the doubt in his voice evident.

"They'll need to," Gwen said.

"How are we doing for weapons?" Arthur asked trying to change the subject.

"There isn't much, but we should be able to scrape together what you need," Morgana said before looking at me as a hint.

"It's not the weapons that worry us. It's having enough people to use them. We think the women should be allowed to fight," I said calmly, Arthur looked away.

Morgana continued my argument, "You haven't enough men. If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not."

"It's too dangerous," Arthur said firmly before walking over to the resting men.

"You need help!" I shouted after him.

Arthur didn't bother to turn around, "Right! Back on your feet! Come on, let's go!"

The training continued well into the day and the night. During the next day Arthur called the men into the common building I stood next to him knowing I could try and help with any strategy I knew, "We're not going to be able to defend Ealdor with sword and sinew alone. We're going to need a plan. We need to find some way of limiting their mobility and drawing them into a trap. If we fight them on their terms, then..." Arthur said his speak being interrupted by a woman's scream. I ran outside and came face to face with Matthew slung over his horse, dead, "Get him down from there!" I heard Arthur order behind me.

The men took Matthew down as all the villagers gathered around. I walked forward looking at the wound as I did, a single arrow to the back, cowardly. I took the note and began to read it through in my head before Arthur interrupted my thoughts, "What does it say?" He questioned.

""Make the most of this day, it will be your last."" I quoted off the paper.

Just then a young woman came running through the crowd, "Matthew! No! No! No!" I realised this must have been the fiancé that he had mentioned when I had talked to him. She leant over his body and cried.

"You did this! Look what you've done! You've killed him!" Will yelled pushing his way through the crowd to face Arthur.

"It wasn't his fault," Merlin snapped back.

"If he hadn't been strutting around, treating us like his own personal army, this would never have happened!" Will argued.

I had had enough of this I turned to face Will yelling back at him, "These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't! You are nothing but a coward if you wouldn't fight for your own family."

Will looked like he wanted to respond but instead he walked away. I took Arthur's hand gently but he shrugged me away heading back to Hunith. I walked off to the outskirts of the forest knowing that Merlin was following me when I got there I felt like screaming, "His father was killed fighting for King Cendred," Merlin explained softly to me.

I took a calming breath, "That explains a lot. You and he were close?" I asked sitting down on a tree stump.

"He knew about my magic. He's my best friend. He was all I have," Merlin confessed honestly, the sadness in his voice almost broke my heart.

"You know you have us now you know. You're not alone anymore," I said hugging him close to me the way brother's and sister's do.

"I know I just wish that I could make him see what Arthur will be…" Merlin began. I looked up at him smiling, "What is it?" He asked confused.

"Can you have imagined yourself saying that when you first met him?" I laughed lightly remembering back to that day.

Merlin joined in, "I think you may have changed him."

"Well I had a little help with that," I said nudging his shoulder in a playful manner, "now you need to go and talk to him because right now he won't be in the mood to talk to me and you can always just annoy your way through his bad moods," Merlin looked like he wanted to argue with me but instead just nodded his head, once he was gone I turned to see Laudine standing there, "Is everything okay?"

"We have all the tools possible to fight, but the girls still need to be able to fight," Laudine stated.

I nodded my head in agreement, "I'll talk with Arthur again about it later," I said before looking out at the village, "Can you imagine what it would have been like if we'd not had each other and Kay for all these years? How did Merlin survive it?"

"He had his mother and now he has us. He'll be okay, and from what I remember when we were younger I spent most of my time running after you to make sure you didn't get yourself into any trouble," Laudine laughed with me.

Kay came running up towards us, "King Arthur is going to make a speech."

I nodded my head before walking back into the common building followed by Kay and Laudine. Arthur was standing in front of the villagers, "Tomorrow morning, the women and children should gather what belongings they can carry and go to the woods."

"I'm not going anywhere," I stated simply, "And I don't think the others want to either."

"I know you want to help. The women can't stay here. It's too dangerous," Arthur said in an almost patronising voice.

"Don't speak like that to me," I shot back at him, "It is just as dangerous for the men as it is for the women and they have every right to fight for their livelihoods."

"But none of you know how to fight," Arthur said trying to come up with a valid argument.

"Enough of us do," I said before looking around at the women next to me, "The more of us there are the better chance we stand!" All the women stepped forward.

Arthur looked around for a moment before speaking, "This is your home. If you want to fight to defend it, that's your choice. I'd be honoured to stand alongside you. Kanen attacks tomorrow. Kanen's brutal. He fights only to kill, which is why he will never defeat us. Look around. In this circle, we're all equals. You're not fighting because someone's ordering you to, you're fighting for so much more than that. You fight for your homes. You fight for your family. You fight for your friends. You fight for the right to grow crops in peace. And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes: fighting for your very right to survive! And when you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day, and you'll know you earned the right to live every day in between! So you fight! For your family! For your friends! For Ealdor!"

The villagers stood and raised their swords, "For Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor!"

I took Arthur's hand gently, "We fight for Ealdor," I said smiling to him. Arthur lead me away from the people and into Hunith house. We sat opposite each other, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know. How can we win this?" Arthur questioned.

"We'll be fine," I said back to him confidently.

"How can you be so sure?" Arthur said looking unconvinced.

"Because I have faith in you," I said leaning over and kissing him gently, "They all do. You give people strength in a way I have never seen before. You are the reason they are brave enough to fight."

"Brave enough to die," Arthur said gloomily, "I should have listened to you beforehand we need all the help we can get."

"Don't give up on them just yet. If you do that now I don't think they will believe in themselves anymore. This is so they can eat again and live their lives without fear, and you Arthur Pendragon gave them the strength to do it."

Arthur smiled at me, "What would I do without you?"

"Go insane with Merlin's annoying behaviour," I suggested laughing lightly.

The night seemed to go quicker than any before and then it was time for the battle. I stood by Arthur's side as he moved along shaking everyone's hands before he turned to me, "You frightened?"

"Not in the slightest," I smirked back at him. Before we moved into our hiding positions. I stayed next to Merlin and Arthur watching as Kanen and his men rode out of the woods and into the village. We ran back to the villagers, "No one move until the signal," The bandits stopped and looked around the empty village.

"Come out, come out wherever you are," Kanen voice echoed around. Gwen pulled up the hidden gate trapping the riders inside, we waited for Morgana to light the mesh.

"Now, Morgana. What are you waiting for? Something's gone wrong," Arthur observed, before I could think about what I was doing I took off running to Morgana ignoring Arthur's calls after me.

It didn't take long for Kanen to spot me. I dodged out of the way of the arrows before finally reaching Morgana, "Give me the flint," I ordered, Morgana handed them over and I pretended to use them while whispering, "Baerne," the fire lit up in front of me trapping the riders completely. I watched as some of them ran away, while other's rode into the village.

"Ready Morgana?" I questioned pulling out my two swords from their places on my back.

"As I'll ever be," She responded with a smile. Then all hell broke loose. Morgana and I each took on two of the bandits fighting back to back with each other for a while.

Even through the fight had started strongly you could see that the villagers were not losing. I ran over to Will and Merlin who were looking at the situation, "There's too many of them," I said once I reached them.

"Not for me there isn't. Cume thoden," Merlin said his eyes glowing brightly. Everyone seemed to stop as a windstorm formed in front of us.

I watched the bandits get pushed away and some of the others flee. The villagers became to celebrate, I watched the bandits go before looking around Kanen was missing, it didn't take him long to reappear, "Pendragon!" He yelled at the top of his voice. Before pulling of his cloak revealing his armour. Arthur stepped forward and span his sword around. Both of them fought strongly but there was never any question about who would win. Arthur ran Kanen through before marching over to Merlin, Will and me, "Who did that?" Arthur questioned I looked at him in innocent confusion, "Wind like that doesn't just appear from nowhere. I know magic when I see it. One of you made that happen."

There was silence for a moment before Merlin stepped forward, "Arthur…" He began.

"Look out," Will yelled pushing Arthur out of the way. It seemed like slow motion when Will took the arrow that Kanen had been aiming for Arthur's back. He collapsed down to the floor slowly.

"Will!" Merlin yelled out catching him on his way down. I knelt down next to them.

"You just saved my life," Arthur said in shock.

Will just laughed lightly, "Yeah, don't know what I was thinking."

"Come on! Get him inside!" Arthur ordered. I helped support him as we took his into Hunith house.

"That's twice I've saved you," Will said softly.

"Twice?" Arthur questioned.

"Yeah, it was me. I'm the one that used the magic," Will said, saving his best friend with his dying breaths.

"Will, don't," Merlin begged.

Arthur looked at Merlin, "It's alright, Merlin. I won't be alive long enough for anyone to do anything to me. I did it. I saw how desperate things were becoming and I had to do something," Will confessed.

"You're a sorcerer?" Arthur questioned, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Yeah, what are you going to do? Kill me?" Will said with dark humour.

Arthur paused for a moment, "No, of course not," before turning to Merlin, "Do what you can for him," we all knew what those words meant. That nothing could be done to save him. Merlin nodded his head before Arthur put his hand on Will's shoulder and I followed him out into the fresh air. Arthur looked at me for a moment, "You didn't try and stop him?"

"I don't believe the same things you and your father do Arthur sorry. I just knew that Will saved the village and everyone in it. I could have lost you today if it wasn't for him. So I don't care if he is the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, he was a good man," I explained sitting down next to him and listening to Merlin's cries from inside the house.

I had done all I could for Merlin during Will's funeral, which wasn't a lot admittedly. I had always known that people who die for Arthur to become king but sometimes it just didn't seem fair to watch a person you cared about hurt because of it. I had left Merlin alone to talk with Arthur and gone with Hunith to pack up some of our stuff, "You will take care of him won't you?" She asked me quietly.

"I will. It is my destiny to protect him forever. Arthur and him," I confessed lightly.

"You know not many people know about his gift, I'm so glad you are one of them," Hunith said to me hugging me close.

"I am too," I said softly back, "And one day, hopefully soon the world will know exactly what Merlin has done for Arthur and magic will be welcomed again."

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and please review so I know what you think, and do the poll please please please!

Until next time

Artistic-Blue-Eyes

xxx