Hime: Hope you enjoy the chapter! I do not own Merlin!

The next day, the group was scouring the forest until a river came to view. In front of them, a troll there stood.

A troll?

The troll had shoulder-length brown hair, messy and unkempt. Its clawed fingers were larger than that of a Human and sharp teeth like big tusks which were grey and pale with furrowed skin. He was dressed in a tunic that had a braided frog clasp on the top, a black belt on the tunic and black pants. He was also wearing brown boots as well.

"It's been a while since I've seen man" the troll commented.

"Oh just get on with it and tell us the riddle" Arthur snapped, having very low patience.

The troll scowled at the prince but nonetheless nodded and the group listened intently to his next words.

"Has a mouth but does not speak, has a bed but never sleeps."

"The river" Melinda answered instantly.

The troll nodded, his eyes glowed gold before several large stones surfaced in the river.

"Skip across to the other side by using the rocks."

The group nodded and did as they were told. Soon after, everyone had managed to get across, everyone except Percival who had very poor balance.

"Steady Percival!" Arthur shouted.

Too late, Percival fell into the water.

"PERCIVAL!"

"The current is way too strong for him to swim! We need to hurry!" Melinda cried.

Suddenly, the troll began to chant.

"Alive without breath,

As cold as death;

Never thirsty, ever drinking,

All in mail never clinking!"

When he was done, several large fish surfaced the water, startling the group.

Arthur cursed at the turn of events, "Damn it! Merlin get Linda to safety! Quickly!"

"But-!"

Before Merlin could argue, Arthur and his knights dashed off to fight the large 12 feet tall fish and then that's when he noticed that Melinda had run off as well.

"MILADY!"

But Melinda did not stop until she reached the edge of the river. Percival had managed to buy some time by struggling to hold on to a rather large rock that was in the river but Melinda knew that he couldn't stay like that for long. Quickly, she picked up the skirt of her dress and began to tear out a large part of it, making it end at knee length instead.

Merlin managed to finally catch up with Melinda and was surprised to see that she was tearing her skirt.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Saving Sir Percival" was her response.

Finally, she finished tearing up the fabric in her hands. Melinda then threw on side of the fabric to Percival and the other, she wrapped up tightly in her hands.

"Now help me pull!"

Merlin nodded and held on the fabric as well.

"PULL WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!"

Merlin nodded and together they pulled and pulled but the current was getting stronger and it was becoming harder for them to reel in Percival.

Merlin's eyes glowed gold, "Fultumie me!"

Suddenly, with new found energy, Merlin pulled on the fabric and Percival came flying. Melinda and Merlin sidestepped him to avoid Percival crashing into them but instead, he fell and hit the ground.

"Percival! You okay?" Merlin asked.

Percival nodded and picked himself up from the ground.

"PERICVAL YOU'RE ALRIGHT!"

Percival turned to see Gwaine and the other running toward them.

Merlin and Melinda twitched their noses in distaste before holding them in displeasure, "Oh god you lot smell foul!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Its fish blood"

"That it is"

Arthur turned his head too see the toll there.

"Congratulations, you passed."

The troll snapped his fingers and the blood on Arthur and his knights disappeared. Gwaine sniffed himself and was glad to announce that they didn't smell.

Then the troll turned to Melinda "And now you"

He snapped his fingers again and in a flurry of sparkles, Melinda noticed a change in her clothing.

Melinda moved the cloak a little to see her dress, instead of the unseemly tear that was there before, it became a clean cut ending just below the knee. She also noticed that her flats had changed to a pair of tall form-fitting brown boots. It was made of synthetic leather is soft and supple. It had lace-up fronts with a zippered side. (Picture of the boots is on my profile!)

Melinda smiled at the troll, "Thank you"

The troll nodded, "Now you must carry on your journey. The best of luck to you."

The group nodded and continued on their way. The troll watched them as they went.

I wonder how far they can go?

Later at dinner…

"You're good with riddles Lady Linda" commented Leon.

Linda shrugged, "My sister and I both do. We both just love challenging ourselves."

"Speaking of family, why don't you tell us more about yours?" Elyan suggested.

The other men in the group chorused in agreement but Melinda disagreed.

"No"

Immediately, eyebrows shot up at the quick answer.

"And why not?" Lancelot asked.

"I said no."

"But why?" Lancelot pressed.

"I just don't want to…"

Arthur sighed, "Fine but you have to answer my next question alright?"

"As long as it has nothing to do with my family, then fine."

"Alright, do you fancy any of our sons?"

Melinda's face flushed, "E-excuse me?"

Arthur smirked, "Do you, Linda, like any of my knight's sons?"

Immediately Linda's cheeks tinted red.

Elyan smiled in amusement, "So…which one of our sons?"

"Sir Lancelot's. His only son. His name is Lance."

Lancelot was surprised, he never expected himself to move on from Guinevere.

"So what's he like?" Merlin asked.

"He's a lot like his father except for the fact that many of the kingdom's girls stalk him shamelessly…"

Gwaine did not miss the hint of irritation in Melinda's voice when she said that.

"You must like him a lot."

Melinda blushed.

"Hw old is he?" Lancelot asked.

"15"

Lancelot nodded and Melinda turned to Arthur.

"How did you know?"

"Oh I didn't, I just wanted to see if you liked anyone yet since you were 13."

Underneath her hood, Melinda's eyebrow twitched, are you kidding me?

Hime: Hope you liked it! Please review!