A Marriage that Started a Legend

by IJustShowedUp

Follows canon but with my own arranged marriage spin on it. What happens when Hunith makes a mistake and is forced on the run with her infant son? What happens when Camelot knights find her twenty years later? What happens when Arthur learns he's betrothed to a peasant boy? Will Merlin be able to stand among royalty? Will these two different boys survive each other? Review!

57. Chapter 57

There was no way that Valiant was going to get his hands on that painting just because he 'wanted' it. It didn't work that way. The picture had been there for as long as Arthur could remember, for several generations at least. And there it would stay for the next few generations to come. Although, Arthur did find that he had the sudden urge to burn the thing just because Valiant had shown this bit of interest in it.

But Arthur didn't think that Valiant actually wanted it at all. This was just some kind of a power play to him, for him to try and assert his non-existent dominance over Arthur. The one statement was him trying to taunt him, trying to one-up Arthur and prove something to him. But to show Arthur what? That he had this false image of being superior? Was this was his way of showing Arthur that nowhere was safe from his perverted inclinations. That Arthur's so called 'sanctuary' in the royal wing was a place that was so easily breached. A place he could walk in and out whenever he wanted, that he could do whatever he wanted while he was in there. Like creeping about his Consort's room and taking what he pleased within it.

Despite knowing that it was a taunt, and that Valiant was finally starting to show him his true colors that Merlin must have been seen this entire time, it was far to easy to make it infuriate him. He knew that Valiant was trying to rile him up, trying to show Arthur that he'd been unable to protect a single person-so it wasn't farfetched to think that Arthur would be unable to protect an entire kingdom-he could still feel his blood pumping angrily in a rush through his veins.

Arthur saw Valiant turning away from him to look out at the crowd as those townspeople were starting to settle down. And that made him even more infuriated, feeling an ache in his gums because of how hard he had found himself pressing his teeth against the other.

Arthur reacted without thinking, he wouldn't have stopped himself if he had even taken a moment to rethink his actions. One minute he was staring at Valiant's back, and the next he had a hand on Valiant's shoulder and jerking him back, forcing him to look Arthur in the eye and daring him to say something like that again.

"You did it." Arthur said, his eyes boring down into Valiant's as he dropped any and all sort of pretenses. They both knew what kind of man Valiant was, and Arthur wasn't going to sit there and just leave that kind of taunt to go unanswered. It was like Valiant was trying to spit in Arthur's face, to prove that he could because he somehow got it into his head that he was any better than Arthur. But he wasn't better than Arthur. Because Arthur wouldn't be the kind of guy that would rape somebody or keep pressing forward when he had been given a clear signal that his advantages were unwanted.

Valiant didn't give any kind of answer to his remark. He just raised an eyebrow at him with that infuriatingly smug kind of smirk, like he'd found this entire situation to be funny. It did make Arthur want to forgo the fight entirely and punch the smugness right off of him. It may get him kicked out for 'fighting outside the official ring'. He'd be disqualified but by god, it would have held it's own kind of satisfaction. But he didn't think that one second of satisfaction would have been worth it compared to how much gutting him down on the field would be.

"I know what Merlin spoke the truth." Arthur said pointedly, his fingers digging into the man's shoulder plate. Even if he couldn't feel it through the metal, it made Arthur feel only slightly better that he now had his hands on the other man. "Even if you managed to fool everybody." All he would have to do was slide his hand up, and he could wrap it around the vulnerable skin of Valiant's throat.

Valiant clearly had a skillful tongue, and was able to maneuver himself into looking like he was some kind of victim. He had the nerve to actually play as if he was the victim back in the council chambers. While somehow he'd managed to ostracize the actual victim in the situation. Arthur wouldn't fall for it again. This wasn't like listening to Merlin even though he had thought he was spreading falsehood just because he held an innocent face. This was Valiant-whose tongue was as silver and as sharp as any serpents-there would be no falling for his trickery's again. He knew the truth now, he knew who the real instigator in this room was. He wouldn't forget it.

"Including yourself?" Valiant asked with his smug tone. He seemed to be taking some kind of pleasure in having tricked Arthur so easily the first time. And Arthur felt his hand go stiff on Valiant's shoulder, a furious flush spreading on his face so fast that he was red in a second. And Arthur's eye's truly betrayed how furious he was at being called out like he was.

Arthur hated to admit that he actually had been tricked by this vile man. He had actually believed him while turning away the one man that had came to him seeking help. It had all made sense to him at the time. That he had switched the favor, so Merlin had fabricated this entire story to get Arthur to humiliate his self in front of not only the council but in front of his father as well. He knew better now.

"We both know that you planned the whole thing out." Arthur said darkly, feeling his blunt nails digging through his gloves and trying to pierce the flesh of Valiant's shoulder even if he had his armor in the way. He didn't exactly know how Valiant had known in advance that the council meeting was going to occur that morning, but the man had to have known in order to convince everybody so throughly. Or maybe he hadn't known at all, and he was just that naturally good at lying that he'd had managed to make everything up on the spot. How he had accused Arthur of not wanting to fight him because just as Arthur had been watching Merlin, Valiant had been watching his father. He had known Arthur's own father would have turned on him if thought he was chickening out of the fight, by just watching their interactions with each other.

"Is that so?" Valiant asked him slowly as he gave Arthur a once over. He took stock of the stiff way Arthur was holding himself in a solid stance, of the harsh grip on his shoulder, and the way his eyes were spitting fire. As Valiant was watching Arthur, Arthur was doing that exact same thing to him. Taking in the solid form of a man who would do anything it took to get whatever he wanted. Both knights saw something in the other, something that many people may not see or may overlook at the first glance.

They were both predators. The real alpha male kind of guy. The one that had to be the leader and the one in charge. The one who would charge headfirst into a fight with every breath in their body if they had to. One who showed no fear because he held a secret that rested on his back, a weapon that would aide him in winning in a way that no other had ever done so before. And one who didn't have any thing more than being incredibly skilled with a sword, but had every reason to fight.

There was a spark in the air that seemed to charge between the two alpha males, a kind of spark that could start forest fires and wage war against an impossible force. They both knew that they were challenging each other in that moment, like two alpha wolves in the woods who fought to determine who it was that was strong enough to lead the entirety of the pack. A brunette or a blonde. A muscled body or a more broad swimmer's physique. A manipulative tongue or a swordsman. A man who was as deadly as a viper, or a man who carried the fire of a dragon in his bloodline.

The gongs starting to ring in the background seemed to drown out the challenging air that lingered around them. And there seemed to be an uptick from the crowd in large as they all seemed to surge together in excitement for the final rounds. But it all paled in the face of things that were going to come. The sound of the gong was ignored as Valiant leaned in closer to Arthur, making the prince wrinkle his nose at the foul breath emitting from his mouth.

Sounding haughty and cocky all at once, the other knight said with a nasty smirk, "Why don't you prove it." He smirked because he knew that Arthur had no way of proving his injustice. He got cocky because he knew that he not only had this tourney in the bag, but it was also because he knew he'd be claiming Camelot's consort as his prize afterwards. He got haughty because he knew that after this day, nobody would dare to speak of Arthur in his presence, unless to exclaim in excitement over how Valiant had beaten the man that had the nerve to be claimed as 'the best in all the land.' And all of this mixed together into a ball of self-satisfaction, knowing that nothing the prince would do was going to change the outcome of what was to happen. Valiant was going to win, and then Arthur's title, and his kingdom, and his consort, was going to rest in the palm of his hand.

The sounds of the gongs dying off was their signal to exit out onto the field. Valiant gave Arthur one more nasty looking smirk before he wretched his shoulder free of the prince's grip on him. And then Valiant was sauntering out onto the field, raising one fist into the air to assert his claim on the field as the people's favorite.

Arthur watched him go, not following for half a second. He saw Valiant as the man stepped onto the middle of the field, he watched as he turned to face him as if waiting for him to emerge from the Knight's quarters. Valiant cocked his head at him, and it almost felt as if the knight was inviting Arthur onto his own field, as if he was trying to draw him into the snake's nest.

Arthur straightened out his shoulders, trying to appear bigger than he was before he was walking out onto the field. It was almost this cocky moment for him when the crowd made a roar again, this time much louder than they had for Valiant. Because this wasn't Valiant's field, nor was it a snake's den. This was his field, and it belonged to those who could run amongst the dragon's without fear. His father had conquered all of the dragons, and they'd coward beneath him as he took their lives.

If Arthur was going to die today by Valiant's hand, then you could be damn sure that he'd be bringing Valiant down with him. With all of the ferocity of his namesake.

Arthur and Valiant both stood in the middle of the field now as they watched and waited for when they would be allowed to strike. Off to the side, the announcer was talking as those in the crowd hushed to hear him.

"This is the Finale Round of this years finest tourney." The announcer called, his voice was seemingly able to boom across the stadium for all to hear him. "The Challengers as stated is the newcomer Valiant and our very own, he is Camelot's prince: Arthur Pendragon!"

Arthur tuned out the announcer as he made a brief list of notations about each of their skills and accomplishments to get the crowd more than a bit riled up for their match, and he let his eye's wonder to the bleachers. Morgana was there now, having finally found her place in the front row with Gwen. Her guard was standing near her as always during these kind of events. Morgana had her head bowed and she was whispering urgently to Gwen as the handmaiden frowned worriedly. Arthur let his eye's narrow as he noticed that Merlin still hadn't came to the field. Where the hell was that bloody boy at?

He should be here, watching as Arthur finally defended his honor and got rid of his would-be assailant for good. Arthur was doing all of this for him, to make his kingdom a safe place to live. And yet, the boy couldn't even bother to show up?

Arthur turned away from the bleachers as he heard the announcer starting to die down. He brought his arms over his head and slid down the familiar weight of the helmet over his head as he prepared himself for battle. And then he watched as Valiant did the same to prepare himself.

Arthur reached down for his side and pulled out his blade, holding it up and out in front of him as he awaited for the announcer to start the official match. In front of him, Valiant did the same.

Somewhere behind him, Arthur knew that his father was watching the fight closely. He was most likely studying Arthur's form, trying to see if there was any weakness that lingered from his apparent 'lack in judgement' earlier. But if there was anything, Arthur didn't have a single weakened bone in his body. He could still practically feel his father's weighty and judgmental stare on his back, just as it had been during that council meeting. But he also found himself not buckling under it for what was probably the first time in his life. He had submitted and fallen into line under his father with his strict and sharp tone. But this time he did not cower. He couldn't afford to cower.

Merlin may not have bothered to show up but Arthur was still going to make things right. It was the least he could do after everything that happened. The council meeting failure, not being able to protect him the first time he had been approached by Valiant, believing so easily that he was a liar and a petty person. It was even a sort of apology for the favor, loath as Arthur was to admit it, Morgana did have a point. There were so many different options he could have gone with, but he had gone with the one that was easiest. Ie: the one that had hurt the most.

There was an uptick as the announced died off and the crowd started to clap with eager anticipation as they tried to egg the fighters on.

Valiant held out his sword pointed down and Arthur scowled when he saw what the knight was doing. In a hand to hand fight, a set of fighters would shake hands as a way to show good sportsmanship and that there would be no hard feelings no matter the actual outcome of the fight itself. The same thing was done during a swords fight. Only, instead of shaking hands (because they had no hand to shake as one was holding a shield and the other was holding a sword) the two would give their swords a light bang against the other. Different then shaking hands, but the meaning was all the same.

Arthur scowled, knowing that Valiant was just doing what he did best, what he himself had been the victim of. Manipulation. He was just trying to manipulate the crowd into thinking that he was the good guy. It made sense from a political standpoint. If Valiant managed to kill him, he could use this as showing faith that it was an accident. The heat of battle had gotten to him, he had post traumatic stress and forgot that it was just a tourney and not life or death. Nobody would dare to question it any further than that. It was just the harsh truth of the life of a knight. One saw things they couldn't forget and found themselves unable to tell the difference between a friend and the enemy.

Well, two could play at that game, Arthur thought to himself as he reached out and slapped the blunt end of his sword against Valiant's. If he wanted to play and act as if nothing could be wrong, then Arthur could do the same.

It didn't matter either way, he thought as he and Valiant fell into a practiced crouch and waited for the announcer to call for the start of the battle. Arthur was still going to bring Merlin Valiant's bloodied and disembodied head as compensation for what the man had caused him to suffer.

Arthur brought his hand over his head, the swords point pointing directly in the direction of Valiant's heart that he was going to gorge out of his chest if he had to. And Valiant held his sword pulled back against his side, the tip pointing towards Arthur's neck.

Arthur's hand had been shaking this whole time with adrenaline, fueled by hate and this deep-seated rooted anger. But as everybody went silent, hushed with the anticipation of what was about to come, Arthur's hand went frighteningly still. Strong. Firm...Solid.

Arthur was going to bring Valiant straight to his knees. He was going to throw the man on the ground, climb on top of him and carve the beast's throat in half. It was going to be harsh and violent, horrible and concerning for those who didn't know Valiant deserved every bit of the pain Arthur was going to inflict on him. One way or the other, everything was going to end here.

The announcer was barely heard in the back of Arthur's mind because everything was muted in his ears, so he would be unable to hear anything if he tried. And then all at once, the sound seemed to come flooding back to him as Valiant made the first move, thrusting his sword out as he'd headed straight for Arthur's jugular. He may have seen something in Arthur settling as he tried to end thing's quickly instead of putting on a show for people. But Valiant was unable to make things to easy, or it wouldn't be very believable that it was just the best of battle forcing his hand. Arthur reacted fast though either way, bringing his sword down and able to pin Valiant's sword into the sand as swords clang dangerously against the other.

The final battle had begun.

X

Merlin actually was-as Arthur had thought-oversleeping. The boy was slumped back on the chest at the foot of his bed, his head had started to loll back because he was unable to keep holding up the weight. Everything in him was aching because of the stiff position he had been in. But still, even if his sleep, he was hard at work.

"Bebay odothay arisan quickum." He gave a slow grumble of the spell, so out of it that it was only because he had repeated it so many times that he was still saying it. Even with him in this sleeping state, Merlin's body was able to subconsciously feel the magic that stirred restlessly in the air. His magic had been slowly and steadily filling up the room since he had first said to spell, so throughly that a normal person who had never touched magic before may have choked on the powerful presence as if coated every surface of the room.

Merlin didn't even notice it, his own magical source such a comfort it him that it was the one thing that had prompted him to fall into this restless sleep of his. He wasn't in danger here in his room, he could rest and practice his magic without fear of being caught. Gaius was downstairs, there was nobody here who could bother him. He could just...rest his tired body.

"Bebay odothay arisan quickum."

But even if the magic in the room had been built up, it wasn't enough. Merlin was trying to perform a very complex piece of magic that was probably way above his actual skill level. So complex that even when he had been trying to force it when he was awake, it just wouldn't come to fruition. He'd already said the spell so many times, that he didn't even realize he was still repeating it in his sleep as he still struggled to force it.

But this kind of magic...it was so deep and so complex. To try and force stone into a living and breathing creature, it was probably the hardest piece of magic he had attempted in his life. To change stone into fur, to change glass eye's into actual seeing eye's, to force the fangs to be coated in slobber and breath to come out it's mouth. To stir the emotions of a beast and implant lifeblood where none had been moments before...it would take every single bit of magic Merlin had rushing through his body. It was why the air was so thick with it, so cloying with magic that it'd be able to choke a person. And still, the magic was stirring with a restless sense of unease.

But even with that unease, the magic was like a powerful toxin that lured Merlin further into a state of rest. His entire body had gone into a slump as his stiff muscles eased up, Merlin was lost in the comfortable darkness that he swum through in the deep recesses of his mind.

"Bebay odothay arisan quickum." Repeated Merlin, his tongue feeling almost thick in his mouth at that point but it to went ignored as did everything else. The thickness of magic that burst into the room, the click of the spell as something inside of him seemed to settle into place. All it did was make him fall deeper and deeper into that comforting and soothing darkness, where there was no pain or hurt or fear. Where the only thing he had was himself and his magic to keep him company. In a life where he didn't have to hide away in his room to perform feats that would save a life, but would also take his own if he was caught.

Nor did Merlin feel it as the magic in the air seemed to dissipate, vanishing as if it had never been there in the first place. The job was done, and magic could now rest until her chosen needed her again.

"Bebay odothay arisa-" Merlin cut himself off when he heard the growl. It was a deep growl of a creature that was no doubt bigger than himself. The deep recesses of his mind came back to subtle awareness as he heard a growl again. He wasn't dreaming, was he? Had he'd fallen asleep and his dreamscape was giving him what he wanted? Merlin didn't dare open his eyes for fear that if he did, the growl he'd been hearing would fade away into what was nothingness. He would still be alone in here and the dog would still be nothing more than a common statue...

Merlin felt a hot, gross and wet-stale almost-breathe hit him directly in the face. It was enough to make him cough and sputter with his face screwed up sharply. Merlin blinked his eye's open, the harsh light that streamed in through his window making them sting violently, because there was no way that he had imagined something smelling so foul and utterly disgusting.

The dog in front of him barked dangerously, a Rottweiler type of dog that stood on it's hind legs as he snarled in Merlin's direction. It was apparent that the dog didn't appreciate being woken up, nor did it appreciate that he was being ignored by the person who'd done it.

Merlin was so elated that one may have been able to forgive him for missing the signs of his impending danger. Like the way the dog was barking his fangs at him, snarling as he gave the person a low growl of disdain. The fur going down his spine was standing on end as he went back and forth, not sure if the person was worth attacking or if he would go and leave him to the spot he wanted to claim as his.

Dog wanted the spot by the bed, which this meant that Person had to go.

Merlin was grinning, so wide that it looked as if his face would break in half. "I did it!" He'd exclaimed as he studied the majestic beast in front of him. Well, it was a mutt really. But he could just see the great beast that he'd had somehow managed to form out of stone. It'd looked so lifelike, one never would have, even for a second, considered that it hadn't been born a dog instead of forged out of stone.

That was when the dog barked again, but it was a whole lot louder than it had been just a second ago, easily gathering his attention. It wasn't the good kind of attention either as it caused Merlin to flinch violently. He'd finally noticed the threatening aura the dog had all around him, threatening to go in for the kill it looked like. The dog barked again as it made a move back and forth on it's paws, as if the dog was uncertain rather or not Merlin would 'make him' attack him. Merlin panicked as he gave a mad scrambled to his feet. The third bark made Merlin move, scrambling almost faster than his feet could carry him.

The dog reared up at him, going for the lunge and subsequently, the kill. But Merlin already made a grab for the door, slamming it closed and trapping the dog inside as he heard that solid click of his weak lock sliding into place.

Weak or not, the lock somehow managed to hold itself steady as the dog slammed itself into the doorframe. Merlin yelped as he went back, watching in stunned disbelief as that dog grew more and more violent. He rammed himself into the door over and over again as the door shook harshly, somehow managing to hold in it's frame. He was almost positive that the door was going to completely splinter apart as the dog snarled and growled in it's effort to get to him. As if he knew that Merlin was there on the other side of the door...maybe it was able to smell him. Dog's did have a better sense of smell then humans, right?

Well either way, that dog was not exactly a very friendly one. He'd have to make a mental note to never turn a statue into another living creature again. Not if this was how they'd be behaving after Merlin had given them the gift of a new life that didn't involve standing still in place against a wall as people passed them by at all hours of the day.

The dog barked again and Merlin could hear the door downstairs opening up. Well, that'd be his cue to leave. Merlin started rushing on the stairs, going down them two at a time as he saw Gaius standing in the doorway.

-

Gaius had been at the stadium watching the match, with several vials of different kinds of antidotes tucked away in the little box he had carried whenever medical assistant may be expected. He'd added the antidotes just in case Arthur gotten bitten during the fight. He had also taken note that Merlin hadn't arrived to the match. He had hurried back to home as fast as he could just as the match started. He didn't know if Arthur had a chance to beat Valiant, not when the other knight seemed to be holding all of the cards.

-

"Arthur's fighting Valiant!" Gaius exclaimed as soon as he saw the boy hurrying down the stairs. There was no time for any pleasantries or making small talk. They had an honest to god emergency going on, and if Merlin didn't get a move on well, Gaius feared what could become of Arthur.

Merlin froze at the bottom of the stairs, one of his hands still gripping onto the rail as his head shot up to look at Gaius with upmost panic on his face. He hadn't realized that the blonde was already in the fight, hadn't even considered that while he'd been trying to get a dog to form, that time outside the room was still moving on. Of course Arthur'd be going out there to fight, but he wasn't supposed to be fighting alone. Merlin was supposed to be there for him, to help him, to protect him as it was clear nobody else was going to. He had a spike of panic shoot through him. Damn it all to hell! He'd promised Arthur he would be out there! That he would watch! That he'd...be on Arthur's side if he came out the winner.

"I'm on my way there now." Merlin told the old man as he was hurrying across the length of the room. He didn't know if he would make it on time, or if Arthur was already going to be dead-splayed out across the field with some kind of grievous wound in front of the entire city-by the time he got there.

"Did your plan worked?" Gaius asked as the younger man walked passed him to reach the door. "Do you know what you are doing?" He had been doubtful, not able to understand if Merlin knew what he was doing. But the boy had been pretty adamant about his plan, and he could only hope that he'd managed to pull it through.

"Everything is going to be fine." Merlin said as he ignored Gaius' question. The truth of the matter was simple, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He had managed to turn the statue, but it was also only one time so it wasn't like he was a pro at it or anything. He didn't know if he'd be able to replicate these same results during much different and more complicated circumstances. Would he even be able to force the snakes out during what was the heat of battle? Would he be able to hide what he was doing, without drawing any attention to himself? Or would he just cause more issues for Arthur in the long run.

But Merlin couldn't just stand there and keep contemplating the what-if's. He had a prince to save. He went to leave out the door, but he was coming back just as fast to stand by his uncle. "Oh, and whatever you do, don't go in my room." He cast a look up towards the door where everything had gone silent. Apparently the dog had managed to calm itself because there wasn't a sound coming from up there at the moment. "I'll deal with it later." He did not want to come back just to find that his Uncle had been mauled to death by an overgrown dog. But he also didn't have the time to figure out what to do with it either. It'd just have to stay until he could figure out a solution that was more permanent.

And after warning him of this, just in case he heard the dog prowling around upstairs, he'd been quick to leave. Merlin didn't have time to explain properly what he had done. The time he spent trying to explain would just be time spent risking Arthur's life. Another one second could be the one that would end the prince's life...for good.

Merlin raced through the many halls of the castle and the thought stayed heavily in his mind as he ran faster than he ever had in his entire life. Just hold on Arthur, he started to chant in his mind. Just hold on, I'm coming.

X

Maybe it was a family trait, but Gaius couldn't stop himself from letting his eye's trail up the stairs to Merlin's room. Now, dare he go up there and invade his nephew's privacy? He usually left the boy to his own devices lest he would venture down into Gaius' part of the house. It was Merlin's fault though, really. One couldn't say something ominous like that and expect for someone not to look.

Gaius glanced back towards the front door but it was obvious that Merlin wasn't coming back. He was off to hopefully save Arthur from the same fate that had befallen the Sir Ewan. And maybe Gaius should be trying to catch up to him, just in the case that his plan fell through and they really did need Gaius to administer his antidote as quickly as possible. Even if said antidote wasn't the proper kind as he couldn't get anymore venom from the snakehead Merlin had brought him the first time. He had used it all on Sir Ewan so at best what he'd be able to give Arthur would starve off the effects of the poisoning for at least a few more hours before he submitted to it. Which may give them a few extra hours needed that could just save his life.

But the point was...one little peek upstairs wasn't going to change the outcome, only Merlin and whatever he was planning could truly do that. So he could just nip upstairs for one sec just to see what that boy was going on about. And if he needed to have a serious talk with him about respecting another's home depending on whatever it was that was up there...

Gaius went up the stairs, each one starting to creak under his heavy step. He froze when he heard something odd coming from the room although it was gone as soon as it happened. He wasn't sure what it was though, maybe it was the sound of something moving? Oh god what did Merlin conjure up this time? He did hope that it wasn't some sort of creature with slime. Gaius had the misfortune of doing that the first time he tried to conjure something. It had given him a run for his money, and he still never figured out how to conjure something that didn't end up covered in slime.

But when Gaius didn't hear anymore, nor the sound of something sticking like slime would, he continued up the stairs. Trying to make his steps soft as to not disturb whatever he had been doing up there. All it took was for Gaius to stick his finger through the hole in Merlin's door for him to push the lock out of place and undo the door.

Gaius cautiously peeked into Merlin's room, wincing because of the creak the door had made. He really should oil those hinges, the boy would never be able to leave his room without announcing to Gaius he was leaving by just opening his door. But that would be a matter for another time.

Gaius didn't notice anything off at first. There was barely anything in there at all, Merlin would only really come here when he wanted to get away from the castle. The sheets of the bed were a mess, hanging half on and half off of the bed in a disorganized way. The book of magic he'd given Merlin was resting open on it's front-the spine bending-on the floor in front of the bed. There was a massive dog sitting on top of the bed, poking it's head up to acknowledge Gaius as he poked his head in. The window shutters were wide open to allow the sunlight to stream in...a low growl, a kind of rumbling sort of noise coming from the back of a throat interrupted his thoughts.

Gaius whipped his head around to look back at the dog with wide eye's in disbelief. Yeah, he definitely hadn't imagined it. There was a huge dog, that was now standing up on top of the bed, growing at him with his fur going all bristly. The dog snarled and barked before it made a lunge for him, jumping off the bed.

Gaius slammed the door shut just as his own nephew had mere minute's before. The door shook again as the dog rammed it's body into the door in an attempt to stop people from getting into it's new home.

Gaius was left blinking dumbly as the door shook and trembled, not entirely sure if it was going to hold. But just as it had before, it held until the dog started to quiet down, apparent that it had been satisfied by marking it's new claim on the room.

Merlin was definitely going to have to explain why on earth he had a giant man-eating dog in his room. Or how he had even gotten this man-eating dog up to his room and past him who had spent most of the afternoon in his chambers mixing up antidotes. Had he...had Merlin conjure up the dog? If so, then he had to be way more powerful that Gaius had been originally thinking. To conjure life where there had been none before...it would truly be an amazing feat. He may have to ask Merlin just how he had done it. He would love to give the dog a once over, to see just how much it did resemble a real dog despite it's conjuring.

The door shook again as the dog hit against it again, sensing the presence of an intruder far too close to it's new home. Gaius quickly backed down the stairs. Or maybe it would be better for him to just leave it there and allow Merlin to deal with it.

X

The roar of the crowd was nothing but a dull ache in the back of Arthur's mind, as was the stomping of their feet as they whopped and hollered for their chosen. For the one they'd wanted to win. Most of them were on the side of home, cheering for Arthur simply because he was their prince and was their standing champion. But many were also screaming for Valiant's win, interested in seeing somebody who was skilled enough to take down Arthur.

Arthur brought his sword high above his head and slammed it down onto Valiant with all the force he could muster. It caused a sharp and sudden vibration to go down the length of his arm as it clang sharply against the shield that Valiant brought up in front of himself so that he could protect his head. And just as fast as Arthur had attacked, Valiant did the same. He threw himself towards the side to avoid what may have been a fatal hit if it had caught him in the face.

Arthur didn't do any fancy moves, nothing to take away from his true intent as he rounded to Valiant's side and slammed his shield into the Knight's helmet covered head. He wasn't interested in showing off for his adoring fans, he wasn't interested in making this fight last any longer than it had to. He was interested in only going for the kill.

It appeared that Valiant was the same, as if he could sense that Arthur was going to take the first chance he got to end this. Valiant was swinging his own shield at Arthur's head with the point at the bottom jutted out as if he was somehow trying to decapitate Arthur with it. But Arthur brought his sword up to deflect it, and ignoring the clang of metal on metal, swinging his sword in a circle over his head to give him the maximum strength into his swing as he brought it down to Valiant's legs. Trying in vain to knock the other knight off his feet, to get the upper hand, to be the one left standing. But Valiant saw it coming and scrambled backwards, staying upright on his feet. Arthur was ready for this as well, as he used his already moving momentum as he pulled his arm up and slammed it against the other's shield.

He wondered if the force sent vibrations over Valiant's arm as it had to him. But that was no matter in the long run, Arthur would just hope that he could tire him out by hitting him with one hit after the other. Like this unstoppable and relentless force, ducking and dodging as Valiant was forced to do the same. Each hit with a shield was met with a swing from their swords, and a swing from the sword was met with a clang of metal as a shield swung in the way.

Valiant swung his sword again, trying to get an undercut so that he could dive it straight up into Arthur's ribs. But Arthur used his own sword to slap it down on top, forcing it to the ground. He grunted as he stepped on the edge of his blade, pinning Valiant's sword on the underside. "Why?" Arthur grunted as he'd set his weight down on the blade to keep the other knight from jerking free, which he was trying in vain to do. Valiant was glaring at him through the slats in his helmet, snarling in his face like some kind of wild animal as his true character started to break though a carefully concealed mask. The thrill of this fight would be enough to burst through the veiled mask that Valiant kept on at all hours of the day.

"Why what?" Valiant snarled as he used his shoulder to ram into Arthur's stomach, trying to dislodge him from on top of it, managing to wiggle his sword out just an inch as harsh sounds of metal on metal scraping across the other filled the air.

"Why would you go after Merlin?" Arthur was snarling back at him, strengthening himself against the harsh shoulder buried inside of what felt like his hip bone. "Why would you go after the Consort of Camelot?"

It wasn't like Merlin was the most attractive guy on the planet. Well, Arthur supposed he could kind of see it if one was into guys like that...if he squinted. But the point was that this was bothering him. Merlin may have been peasant-born, but he was now in this position of power. He stood above all of the others, and could take command and boss around his knights and his servants if he truly wanted to. They would feel honor bound to follow his orders simply because he was their consort. He would have thought that meant Merlin would be safe from those kinds of awful advances. Hadn't even considered the possibility that someone would go after him in that way.

Not until Valiant had shown up on the scene.

Valiant looked at him like he thought Arthur was being stupid and said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Because he was yours." And then he rammed his shoulder so harshly into Arthur's stomach that the prince had no choice but to fall back, Valiant's sword sliding free and out from under his own. "The only desirable trait that boy had was being on your arm." And then Valiant was bringing his sword overhead, and swinging it down onto Arthur's skull.

But Arthur was quicker, bringing his sword up to stop the blow just short of his head. So, he thought as his muscles were straining under the pressure of keeping Valiant's sword from coming any closer to his head covering. The boy wasn't the main focus on his interest. He had only done it, all of this...to get under his skin?

He'd tortured Merlin, had terrified him with enough force that he had actually came to Arthur-had run to him practically-seeking his help. Had made Merlin look like some kind of fool, and subsequently, himself for putting up with this sort of tomfoolery. Had tried to put his disgusting and vile lips on a man that did not belong to him, had tried to force his way into a room he shouldn't have been allowed to get to because he'd wanted more. And he thought he could just take it. And all because he wanted to mess with Arthur.

It made a near feral snarl erupt out from his lips as he rammed his shield into Valiant's own to upset his balance. And the knight had to stumble forward to capture his footing but Arthur was waiting and ramming the butt of his sword-the only part he could maneuver because of their close quarters to the other-into his stomach. And then Arthur was falling back to prevent Valiant from retaliating with a swing of his sword.

Arthur dropped into his practiced crouch as he brought his sword up to rest horizontally against the corner of his eye. Valiant did the same, but brought his sword over his head and angled down towards Arthur. Both of the men had their shields in front of them, ready to protect the more vulnerable parts of their body if they needed to.

There was a moment of silence in the air that seemed to settle down around them where neither one moved. Arthur allowed his eyes to drift just past the other knight where he could see the bleachers directly above them. He could see Gwen and Morgana sitting right there in the front row, playing with their own hands and looking at him worriedly. The boy still wasn't there, nor did he see hair nor hide of him anywhere else among the numerous people, their faces all starting to blur into this one big blob the longer he stared.

He'd known that Merlin wasn't there, he had already taken a note of that earlier. But he'd also been thinking-in the back of his mind-it was just Merlin running late again. He would not know how to show up on time properly if said time gained a physical form and bit him on the arse. Maybe he shouldn't have been so distracted, shouldn't allow himself to ask why the bloody hell wasn't Merlin there yet because that's when Valiant attacked, and it knocked Arthur off-kilter.

With swift and precise moments, Valiant was swinging his sword at Arthur. One thrust and two thrusts, another swing and a push back motion. And with each move, Arthur'd been pushed back, forced to act quickly to evade the harsh blows. Using both sword and shield to block what he could and grunted when he couldn't move fast enough as Valiant got the drop on him.

Back in the stands, Uther had straightened himself up just a bit. Not real noticeable lest one was actually close enough to the king to notice these differences. Like the brief flash of fatherly concern on his face when he saw Arthur being so easily overtaken. But it was gone almost as soon as it had appeared, and was replaced with this more stern and kingly expression.

Back on the field, Arthur snarled under his breath as he realized his shortcomings. This fight may be for Merlin, but he couldn't afford to allow his attention to wonder like it had. He had seen his attention straying, so Valiant had used it to his advantage and started his attack because of it. Arthur bit down on his lip hard enough that he could almost feel it start to split as he tried to ground himself into a proper fighting mental state. Just because Merlin had yet to arrive didn't mean he was going to lose this fight. He could win rather or not Merlin thought this was an important enough event to attend. He didn't need that brat here to defend him...

Arthur swung his shield at Valiant's head, and the other man brought his own shield up to deflect the blow. And with Valiant distracted by the shield, Arthur took this opportunity to come from below, swinging his leg out and he gave a sharp kick to Valiant's gut. The knight grunted as he bent over at the waist, and the prince swung his arm as if he was going for a hook punch. Which he did, only he did it with his sword in hand, and he caught Valiant right in the side of his face. The other man ended up reeling back, his helmet flying off his head in one smooth motion, sliding somewhere off in the sand.

The crowd seemed to go hushed as they'd all wonder rather or not Valiant was alright. But the man just stood back up, looking at Arthur with hate-filled eyes, spitting out a large glob of spittle at the sand. Nobody knew what the prince's response to this would be.

But all Arthur did was thin his lips, looking at the disgusting wetness now in the sand near his foot. And then he was tucking his sword into his side so that he could reach up. The crowd surged with life all over again when the prince removed his own helmet, and tossed it to the side so that both knights wore only the mail coifs on their heads. Sweat was literally glistening on Arthur's temples, sliding down the sides of his head and making his hair lay uncomfortably flat to his skull.

The two of them were on an even playing field now. Valiant jerked his mail coif down his head so that it rested around his neck, so he could get a touch of air on his skin. And then he smiled at Arthur, a twisted kind of smile that would only look more horrible if he had bloodstained teeth as well. Arthur's lips went so thin that they could have passed for white before he did the same, jerking his mail coif down with harsh moments. The cold air did nothing to alleviate the red hot anger that coursed through his veins. He had this need that was so pounding, he could literally feel his blood rushing harshly through his body.

And it only grew worse when Valiant decided he would paint Arthur a much more violent picture. The dark haired knight licked his lips at Arthur in a lewd fashion, smirking cocky as he said, "His fear was quite delicious, but I'd bet you'd never seen it, have you? I'd almost been able to smell it through the door. If only I had a little more time, a little more privacy. I could have gotten it open, and then the real fun would have started."

A rush of pure and undiluted anger flooded his system so harshly and fast that it was all he could feel. It was smothering and drowned out everything except for the blood pounding away in the middle of his ears. He felt like this kind of rabid dog, snarling and foaming at the mouth. All he could see was Merlin pinned to a bed with Valiant's much heavier form rested on top of him, pinning him down with little to no effort. Who did this man think he was... what kind of monster thought he could roll up to Arthur's own doors and stake a claim over what was his.

And Valiant just smiled at him. Looking as if there was nothing in the world that pleased him more than getting under Arthur's skin. It was then that he had the damn nerve to lick his lips again, as if he was imagining that he'd was actually licking Merlin.

Arthur let out some kind of guttural snarl and he lunged at Valiant with every intention in the world of shutting this down. But Valiant was ready for him, prepared already because every move Arthur made was counteracted with swish precision. It frustrated Arthur even more to realize that he and Valiant seemed pretty evenly matched.

Arthur couldn't give up though, not be any long shot. Each blow Arthur gave and each blow that he took just fueled Arthur's need to kill him. His need to feel Valiant's blood as it soaked into his skin and buried itself under his fingernails. He almost wanted to forgo his sword completely and go for Valiant's jugular with just his teeth and nails.

Their blows came to an end only when they were pressed together, their two swords right up against the other. Their faces were far too close and only separated by their swords as they gritted their teeth as each one tried their best to get the upper hand. When one would push forward to overtake the other, the other would press forward so that they were going just back and forth but neither one actually able to get the upper hand.

Arthur grunted as he tried to force his sword down onto Valiant's, to force the other man into letting go. He gritted down his teeth with his hands clenched around his blade with so much tightness that his knuckles would have been seen as white if he wasn't wearing his gloves. "You are going to shut your mouth, or I am going to shut it for you." Cut out his tongue and rip out his teeth one by one, he'd make it so Valiant was incapable of saying another word ever again.

Nobody got to talk about Merlin the way that Valiant thought he could get away with. There wasn't a man alive that Arthur would allow to give off that kind of disrespect, to enforce his will over the will of his Consort's. Arthur was going to burn Valiant alive if he dared to think Merlin was his for the taking.

"You know, he was quite scared." Valiant's said with a generous nod of his head, as if his own muscles weren't straining to keep Arthur at bay. "Down in the armory." Arthur felt that pulse of anger shoot through him when he'd mentioned that. The place where Arthur had first failed to keep Merlin safe, when he didn't even know that he needed to keep the boy in a little safety bubble to stop threats like that beast from attacking him. Valiant smiled at him all nastily again, "But of course, he seems to be quite prideful as well, actually turning me down like he did. Can you believe that he actually turned me down?" As if he was some kind of God's gift to men and it was ridiculous for him to have met one that would actually turn him away.

"Yeah, I can believe it." Arthur grunted back at him, still trying to force his sword passed the barricade Valiant had made with his own sword. Arthur had a feeling that he would be thankful everyday that Merlin-while both very obviously naive and stupid-had at least been smart enough to not allow this man to walk him to his room that night. Things would have gone very differently if he had, there was this good chance that Merlin wouldn't even have been here at all if he had. He'd never had the chance to warn Arthur about Valiant, to tell him what was going on. Arthur hadn't liked Valiant at first glance, but he never would've considered there was so much darkness inside of him.

Valiant scowled at him before he continued to talk, "He was a little spitfire, you know. Never giving it to what I wanted." And Arthur felt his little curl of pride going off in the pits of his stomach. Good. Merlin shouldn't give in when he was Arthur's, only Arthur's. To control. To hate. To protect. And then Valiant just had to keep on talking. "I wonder if he'd still be that little spitfire after I'd have my way with him. I bet his tears would have tasted good." And then Valiant had the audacity to let out just a little moan from the back of his throat, as if he was actually imagining it. Imagining Merlin on his back with his legs thrown over Valiant's arms, his clothes torn and discarded from the fight that would no doubt ensure. And Valiant just casually licking up the tears streaming down Merlin's face as the man fucked into him with no care for his own pain or comfort level. "Did you ever have him while he's cried? Now, I'd be the one that bets he looks better when he does."

Something inside of Arthur burned, as if his literal insides were trying to burn him alive from the inside out, as if fire was licking at the insides of his veins. Every vile word that this awful, despicable man spoke made him crave the need to stick his sword right through the man's throat so that it came out on the other side. To hear the man as he gurgled while the blood filled his mouth as he choked on it. To only remove his sword after he knew the man was gone from this world. And even then, to take his time afterwards with the body so he could cut the man's tongue out. That way he would never be able to spew his filth words again, not even in the afterlife.

Arthur sounded like some kind of beast when he screamed, maybe a mountain lion? Could it have been a cougar? Or maybe it was the long forgotten sound a dragon may shout as his nest was attacked. But whatever animal it was, it was deep and guttural and promising-no, threatening-retribution. Arthur jerked his sword free from the standstill they'd been in and swung wildly at the man's side, trying to gut him. But apparently that was Valiant was hoping he'd do. To force him to lose focus, to anger him up in a way a knight should never allow himself to be. A knight who attacked on his emotions was a knight that was sloppy, he was unfocused, he could get taken down far more easily than before.

As Arthur swung his sword at Valiant's side-undefended as it was-Valiant easily slid his sword into place, forcing the two of them into yet another standstill as they both battled for dominance, trying to force the other to relent by sheer brute strength alone instead of any actual skill.

"He was quite a slippery fella." Valiant hissed at him. The roars of the crowd as they yelled out for their chosen swordsman drowned the two of them out, nobody was able to hear the real conversation going on. Most didn't even realize they were talking at all, just being able to see the swords as they flew aggressively through the air. "Every time I thought 'this is my chance to take him' he'd slip away as if he had never been there."

Like the time Merlin had hid in the halls from him. Valiant had known the boy was there, he knew the boy had seen him as he fed mice to his snakes. And he would have gladly lured the boy back under false pretenses to 'talk' it all out in the privacy of his rooms. He'd have the snakes bite him, inject their toxin, force it so he'd be paralyzed and unable to do a thing to stop it as Valiant casually tugged off those clothes of his. Unable to do anything as he'd parted the boy's thighs and sat himself right in-between them. Maybe the boy would have been stiff everywhere, the toxin pumping in his body and causing his little dick to stick up in a pale imitation of being hard. He wouldn't be able to fight back and sadly-he would also be unable to scream as the toxin paralyzed his vocal cords-as Valiant tugged on his little dick, once-twice, just to see if he'd could still get the boy to come despite the toxin. And he most definitely wouldn't be able to fight back as Valiant found the little hole hidden safely away between his cheeks, tugged his own much bigger cock out of his pants, and slid home inside of the little pink furled hole.

As if sensing his thoughts, Arthur's eyes had suddenly gone fuel of rage, as if the rage he had been showing before paled in a sudden comparison to what he was showing Valiant now. "Maybe he's just smarter than you had thought he was." He snarled. Because trust Merlin not to be smart enough to handle a simple council meeting-although he had handled it better then Arthur himself had. But trust him to be smart enough to know when he saw danger in the air. Trust him to see danger in a man where most saw the mask he portrayed on himself so easily.

Valiant wouldn't be getting Merlin, he knew that for sure. Not now. And not ever.

There was suddenly a sharp pain in Arthur's foot as Valiant maneuvered himself with just enough movability to skin the heel of his boot where Arthur's toes were. Arthur bit back the sharp noise of surprise that escaped his lip. It was enough distraction that Valiant was able to slam the shield into the side of Arthur's skull. The sharp pain that burst from around his temple came sudden, and there was this awful ringing in his ear as he fell backwards in the sand. Black spots danced at the corner of his eye's as he struggled to be able to make out anything other than the blinding light of the heated sun shining in his face. And there was something wet on his face, leaking down from his mouth towards his chin.

Had Valiant just split his lip? Did he have his lifeblood pooling out from his skin. It stung as sand had gotten into it, sending new bursts of pain through it. Soft bursts of pain that had been made to irritate and to wound, rather than to kill.

Sand had kicked up into his eye's as well and made everything so much harder to see. But the prince reacted on instinct alone, swinging his sword up where he knew Valiant would be standing. The clang of metal as his sword hit the shield made his ears hurt, because they were far to over sensitive now that he'd had sustained a blow to the head. And when the blonde tried to swing his shield up to defend himself when he knew a sword would be the most likely to come at him, an impossible and sudden weight was pinning it down towards the ground as Valiant planted his foot on the edge of it. Arthur's arm was stuck, trapped in the buckles that kept the shield in place but also leaving him unable to defend himself.

Arthur couldn't see it, but off to the side in the stands, Uther had half-risen out of his seat when he saw his son thrown in the dirt. It was another brief flash of fatherly panic that shown on his face. It lasted longer than last time, and Uther clenched his fist around the arm of the chair to prevent himself from getting the guards involved and putting a stop to this.

And on the other side of the stands, Morgana had gone wide eyed, her pupils nearly blown as she saw the position that Arthur had been forced into. He was on his back, in the sand as Valiant bore down on top of him. Just like in her dream, but it was just a dream! What happened in a dream should not happen in real life. She...she was dreaming now. All of this had to be some kind of fever dream as she refused to believe that Arthur had just been defeated so easily. But the longer that Arthur struggled under Valiant, the faster it made her realize that this wasn't a dream. It was real, and it was just some horrible awful coincidence that her dream would literally be playing out right in front of her eyes...right?

Back on the field, Arthur grunted as he tried to wiggle his arm free from the shield. He'd could have sworn he felt the pressure around his arm easing up the more he struggled, but Morris had done them up good, not leaving him with much room to escape from. And he appeared, Valiant standing over him with his sword gleaming dangerously in the sunlight and casting a dark shadow over Arthur as he stepped right into the sun's path.

"Or maybe," Valiant said as he continued the conversation, and he lowered the sword just enough to rub the sharp edge of it down the prince's cheek from his hairline. Like he may caress a lover instead of throwing such a taunt at the one he was fighting. "He was just trying to entice me."

Valiant talked a good game, trying to get into the prince's head as he insinuated that Merlin was just some kind of vixen who had used his sexual porwals to seduce the knight into his attempt at rape.

Arthur had learned a lot in the last few hours and he wasn't so easily swayed. Not as he probably would have been if Valiant had approached him with these accusations long before Arthur had gotten his confession from Knight Charles. And Valiant was clearly far to interested in taunting him, in drawing this out, in making it hurt. Was that why he hadn't just raped Merlin that first night, why he had gone up to his room instead as he stalked him over the night. Was it to draw it out? To force the boy to be scared, and humiliated, right before he finished the act?

Arthur snarled and thrashed like some kind of wild animal as he swung his sword wildly and tried to hit Valiant, as he struggled in vain to rip his arm out of the binds of his shield that held him down. He'd rip his arm out of the damn socket if he had to. But it was like he was fighting air as Valiant stood just out of the right angle for him to get hit.

It was during his trashing that his vision had managed to clear up some. And it was during his twisting as he tried to kick out at Valiant's legs to disrupt his center did he see him. The boy...Merlin.

Arthur had only caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye, and hadn't taken any real notice of it at first. He was still thrashing and squirming violently before his brain caught up with him. And then he wasn't as worried about the fight as he should be, his attention snapping as he whipped his head around to the right angle so fast that it almost broke his neck as he craned to see from his position on the ground.

Merlin was there, standing in the doorway that led into the Knight's Quarters. He was crouching down, half-hiding behind a column situated on the edge of the doorway to hold up the roof. Justin, Arthur vaguely thought as he ignored Valiant above him. He must have let Merlin in again, just as he'd had that first time Merlin had gotten in. And that thought was only drowned out by an even bigger kind of thought...Merlin had shown up after all. He was here, he'd came even after Arthur had thought he wasn't going to bother to show up. He was...watching Arthur getting his arse kicked.

"And how dare you," Valiant snarled down at Arthur with spittle flying, not noticing Arthur had his attention waning from him. He was to cocky, to self assured, to realize that Arthur had his mind elsewhere. "Deny me what will be rightfully mine." Talking about Merlin, how he had some ill-perceived thoughts that 'his' boy belonged to Valiant. That Merlin's flesh, his body, his tears, his anything belonged to Valiant. As if Merlin's screams had somehow belonged to him...Arthur was too far away to hear it but he did see Merlin's jaw drop. He'd could imagine the scream in his head, Arthur reacted by instinct to this reaction.

Arthur was forced to abandon his sword as his arm slid through the loosened bands of his shield, rolling himself several times across the sand to get away. And it wasn't a second to soon because Valiant's sword came down hard. The top of it stuck out deep into the sand a good several inches, right where his throat had been mere moments ago. If he'd been even a second later, it would have been Arthur that was choking on his own blood. As he'd imagined he would be the one to do to Valiant.

Steadfastly ignoring the fact that Merlin may have just actually saved his life...again...the prince scrambled up to his feet. He had no weapons, his shield was pushed behind the other knight and his sword was buried in the sand somewhere he couldn't see. But...he could still do this, right?

Valiant, looking near mad with rage that the prince had managed to evade him, started to swing his sword madly in an attempt to slice up Arthur's 'pretty little face.' Merlin surely wouldn't be interested in a man with a cut-up face, he'd come running into Valiant's arms himself.

Arthur stepped back, eye's focused sorely on the blade swinging at him as he tried to look for an opening. He felt the blood still streaming down his chin from his split lip, and he knew he probably looked like a mess. But he never lost focus on what was right in front of him, not this time. Even if he was quite a sight for sore eye's, instead of the other way around like he had planned for Valiant to look.

Arthur spit a mouthful of blood onto the sand as the blood from his split lip started to coat on his teeth. "I dare you to say that again." He snarled as he dove back to avoid yet another swing of the sword, talking about how Valiant had the nerve to claim Arthur would take the one thing that was his. Merlin wasn't going to be Valiant's anything. He wasn't going to be Arthur's anything.

But Arthur would rip off the head of any man who thought he could take that from him.

And then Arthur saw it, an opening in the other Knight's movements. Where the knight took half a second to long to swing his sword, it was just enough space and time for Arthur to squeeze into. And when Valiant made to bring his sword at him again, swinging it up over his head to get the most momentum into his swing, Arthur dove forward to attack. He grabbed onto Valiant's shoulders, using one arm to brace against Valiant's elbow to stop him from using the sword. Not that he could, Arthur was far to close for Valiant to be able to give a proper swing of his sword. And the prince struggled with forcing Valiant onto the ground, having to use hand-to-hand combat since he had no weapons.

"What?" Valiant sneered as he tried to force his sword hand out of the grasp Arthur had taken to it, holding tightly onto his elbow so that he couldn't swing his sword. "You don't like hearing the truth? That your consort is nothing more than a common hooker." He was referring to his earlier statement, about how Merlin had somehow seduced him into acting like a rapist by 'enticing' him in that armory by denying him a right to his body. But one didn't 'act' like a rapist. They either were, or they weren't. And there was nothing 'seducing' going on. It was simply a boy that had caught the eye of someone evil because said boy was with Arthur.

Arthur's heart was pumping so harshly inside of his chest that he thought it would start to combust. It would explode inside of his chest because the human body wasn't meant to be able to contain so much rage inside of them.

Merlin wasn't a hooker. He was innocent, he was stupidly innocent and naive. And clearly the boy needed Arthur there to protect him if this was the kind of man he attracted. Or he may just need to kill every man that so much as looked at him wrong.

Arthur didn't say a word, he kicked his foot out harshly and tried to catch his ankle on the back of Valiant's, to trip him up so that Arthur could get the upper hand. But Valiant's upper body strength was much thicker than Arthur and the dark haired knight was able to throw himself forward. He rammed into Arthur, and grabbed the prince by his arms as he forced the prince back.

Arthur was helpless to stop it, crying out as he was slammed against one of the walls of the stadium. It hurt, a lot. Like being thrown in front of a carriage, or feeling a horse as it trotted on his back. Arthur shot his hand out to grab back onto Valiant's elbow, stopping the knight from taking his head off with the sword he'd just tried to swing at him.

Valiant grunted as he tried to come closer to Arthur's neck, and the prince gritted his teeth as his arm strained to prevent the sword from coming any closer. "I couldn't help but notice that I haven't seen your little pet today. That's quite a shame, I was looking forward to being able to visit him again." Valiant hissed at him, the sword inching closer to Arthur's neck as his arm started to buckle in on itself.

Arthur's eye's were bulging as he shot his gaze from the sword to Valiant's face. "You won't have him." Arthur gritted out through his teeth, even as he started to feel his arm cave in more, the blade getting dangerously close to his throat. It was going to happen over his desk body. He wasn't going to end like this. He wasn't going to die here knowing that Merlin was going to end up on Valiant's dick. Not stupidly naive Merlin who wouldn't even know what was happening to him. Who wouldn't understand that he was going to be violated.

"Is that so?" Valiant's asked, his teeth bared so sharply that they almost resembled the fangs of a snake. Arthur craned his neck away with clear disgust as Valiant used his entire weight to make Arthur immobile, whispering urgently and heatedly into the prince's ear as his foul breath worked its way down his neck. "You know, I do think I'll visit him after my little victory here today."

Arthur's struggling creased to a halt as he'd froze. He could feel the harsh steel of Valiant's blade on the curve of his neck. Just one quick flick of his wrist and his life would be all over, his blood would be spilling over the floor as he choked to death. But that was not what was on Arthur's mind. He had shot his eye's over Valiant's shoulder, where he'd was just able to catch sight of Merlin, staring at him with stupidly wide eyes, clutching on that damn column as if it were his lifeline. He found it hard not to imagine Valiant touching the boy. Of those stupidly blue eye's looking up in fear because he didn't have someone to protect him, because nobody else was going to stop Valiant from harming him. Nobody would care enough to stop it...except him.

Valiant's whispering at him got increasingly more disturbing as he painted a very ugly picture to Arthur. "I won't go as far as to put a ring on him of course, but he may make quite an interesting playmate. At least until he gets too loose to do much else." Arthur's jaw went tight as Valiant started putting all of his heavy weight against the blade, and pressing it tight on Arthur's jugular. A thin trail of blood had started to slide down the column of Arthur's throat. "You'll tell me the truth though, won't you? Is he still tight after you took him? Does he know what he's doing? He seems kind of like the innocent type, but I bet that will go away once he gets in between the sheets. Or maybe your father would pay me to take the peasant boy off his hands after your gone and he's left to deal with him. Tell me, how'd much would you pay someone to take that little peasant boy off your hand..."

He was interrupted by Arthur doing the one thing he could do in this position. The prince was able to slide his hand down to cup over the other Knight's wrist, forcing the hand to the side. He hissed violently because it had been a dangerous move that left a slightly deeper cut just above his jugular. It could have gone very wrong if he had messed up. But luckily, he didn't and the maneuver gave him the room he needed to throw his head forward. The expected pain burst right in the center of his forehead and he felt the crunch as Valiant's nose gave way.

Valiant cried out as he jerked back, dropping Arthur as he cradled his nose. Arthur could see the blood dripping from in-between the other Knight's fingers, and he had no doubt that he'd broken the other man's nose. Good. He deserved to have a broken nose. And he'd deserved to have a broken leg, arm...Arthur wanted to take his time and break every bone in this man's body. Then he'd want to be able to present the broken man to Merlin, as some kind of sign of good faith. That Arthur maybe the one that hurt's him, but nobody else was going to get that right.

Valiant jerked his hand over his face which smeared blood all down the side of his cheek, making him look like some kind of demon. He exaggerated this look by giving Arthur a sort of vindictive looking smile, as if the blonde had just given Valiant the exact reaction that he was looking for.

"What do you say?" Valiant asked him as he let out a cruel bark of laughter, throwing out his arm as if he was giving Arthur a free shot at all of his vulnerable limbs. "Winner gets the boy?" Arthur didn't know exactly when it had happened, but it was clear that this was true long before Valiant had voiced the actual words. This match wasn't who would be able to come out on top, it wasn't even about who would kill the other. It was all a matter about Merlin. Who would get him in the end? Who would decide what would happen to the boy once the other was out of the picture? This whole fight was going to be the one deciding factor on what Merlin's fate would be.

To spend the rest of his miserable life being tormented over and over again by Valiant. He would either be really lucky and Valiant would get bored of him fairly easily and toss him to the side. Or he would spend what was left of his life in the dredges as some kind of sexual slave until he'd had enough and took his own life. Unless Valiant ended it for him after he'd gotten bored.

...Valiant wasn't going to be walking away from this match, Arthur thought as he and the other knight started to circle around the other. He was still weaponless, but he had just as much skill when it came to fighting hand-to-hand. He'd have to find his sword but either way, in the end, Arthur was going to make sure Valiant felt the sting of his blade. His sword was going to be stained with a sheen of Valiant's blood coating it.

Enough was enough, Arthur thought with rage. He wasn't going to allow Valiant to talk in such a degrading way. He didn't care if he had to forgo his sword completely. Somehow, he was going to be the one on top of Valiant.

This would only end once Arthur had his own hands wrapped around Valiant's throat, and he would watch as the other knight's eye's bulged out when he realized he was literally getting the life choked out of him. Arthur'd take real pleasure in it, would almost reveal in it. To get rid of the man that would threaten the safety of his kingdom. Of...

X

Off to the side, Merlin knew that he would never design to help Arthur cheat during an actual tourney. It may humble the prince if he got beaten down a time or two during normal circumstances. But things were a bit different in this situation. At first, he didn't even know if Arthur needed his help. He seemed to have been holding his own pretty good. But seeing Arthur was now weaponless, it may just be a good idea to not let this go on any longer. He didn't want to wait to long, and only do the spell after Arthur had a sword sticking out of his gut.

Merlin stayed in his position where he had hid behind the column, and held out his hand. He put as much focus into the spell as he could, feeling the magic start to stir in his chest. He said the incantation carefully, "Bebay odothy artisan quicken." He could literally feel it as his magic slid it's way down his arm, the color of his eyes changing to match the color that spoke of magic, pure liquid gold.

X

Back on the field, Arthur was crouched low as he and Valiant kept circling each other as each one waited to see who was going to be making the first move. Arthur didn't think he could get away with diving at him like he had the last time. Valiant would surely be looking for the familiar move. So he would have to do something else in order to surprise him, he'd have to try a different tactic if he was going to end this. Maybe he could get Valiant into a chokehold and render him unconscious so he couldn't fight back as Arthur swiped the blade and stuck it in his gut before he could get interrupted by the guards pulling him away. Maybe he could do a fake out, act like he was going in one direction and then dive into another position last minute, ducking as Valiant's weapons swung over his head so he could tackle him around the waist, throwing him to the ground. From there, he would be able to get his hands around Valiant's meaty neck and choke the life out from him. Or he could...Arthur stopped, straightening up as he stared with his eyebrow's creasing into each other.

What on earth was that? Had the blow he'd taken to the head caused some kind of mild concussion? Because if he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Valiant's shield was...shimmering? Maybe it was just the light from the sun reflecting off of the glossy surface. But no...

Valiant seemed to realize something had caught Arthur's attention, because he then followed his gaze down to the shield. And not a moment to soon, because two large snakes had just slithered out of it, their tails keeping them chained to the shield itself as they hovered in mid-air, their forked tongues flicking out in order to taste the air.

Arthur's eye's bulged out as he witnessed this feat of magic. He had been so focused on Merlin's assault, trying to fix where he had failed as a husband and protector of the land that he had forgotten the second part Merlin had warned him about. Merlin hadn't just been assaulted, Arthur wasn't just protecting him from a beast and getting revenge on his boy's behalf. He was also supposed to have been stopping a maniac with a magical shield that could conjure snakes up at will. And here was the proof right here that Merlin wasn't as insane as he portrayed himself to be. It was proof that Merlin had been telling the truth, but it was there for everything to see this time. In a way that would be impossible to deny.

The crowd all surged to their feet as gasps of unspeakable horror washed over them all as the snakes were seen. There was no hiding it and there was no lying about it. The snakes rose higher and higher up above the shield as Arthur was forced to step just out of range as the snakes hissed threateningly towards him, jerking in his direction like they were trying to strike him. The prince held his hands up in a defensive manner, with no idea what he was supposed to do next.

It was one thing to make an attempt on the Knight's life, it was very well deserved. But the snakes were a different story entirely. How did one go about killing snakes when they were weaponless?

X

Off to the side, Merlin started to grin as he saw the snakes emerging from their hiding place. They were out in the open for all to see and somehow, he had managed to find this hiding spot that was good enough to not be seen by the crowd.

He'd done it. He'd used his magic, and he'd managed to help Arthur...his smile started to dim as he saw Arthur flinch back when one of the snakes struck out at him although it did jerk back before it touched him.

Had he gotten the snakes to come out, only for Arthur to die by their hand anyway? The prince didn't have his sword in hand, and this made Valiant still very much the one that was in charge.

X

"What are you doing?" Valiant hissed in this very urgent tone, looking wildly down at the snakes coming out of his shield. "I have not summon you!" This shouldn not have been allowed to happen. Valiant was supposed to get close to Arthur, to taunt him and shove exactly what he was going to do to Camelot's 'precious' consort in his face. And when he'd decided he was ready and he'd broken down the prince's spirit, he was going to summon the snakes in a way that nobody else could have seen. Arthur would be dead within the hour, his poison coursing through his veins as if he were on fire.

They were not supposed to come out on their own and reveal themselves to the entirety of the crowd. This would mess up his afterward plans completely! He couldn't very well stay on the king's good side, and be revealed for his skills as the best swordsman in all of the land, if they knew he had used magic to get this far.

Up in the Royal Box, Uther had jolted up to his feet, "He is using magic!" The king roared as loud as he could as anger was coursing through him. As if he had not already been warned of this possibility and had dismissed the claims as nothing more than pure nonsense.

Back on the field, Arthur threw one arm out toward's the crowd around them, while he'd kept the other one held up in a defensive kind of manner, "And now they see you for what you really are." He declared loudly.

Even if Valiant somehow managed to win this, he still lost. Whatever grand master plan he'd had working in his mind was now over. Father would never allow a sorcerer, or even this person who used magical instruments, to live freely in this kingdom. Valiant had literally just gotten caught red-handed, he would end up executed for his crimes of using sorcery long before today's sun had even disappeared in the sky. He would never get his hands on his boy, he'd never touch Merlin again and if he tried, Arthur would gladly be the one to use a rusted blade to painstakingly cut his hands off for even thinking he'd be allowed to touch.

But then Valiant started to chuckle. A dark kind of chuckle that had the hair on Arthur's body start to stand on end. Something was not right here, Valiant hadn't given up. The knight was looking at Arthur, with blood still streaming down his broken nose, dripping on his lips and making him look almost demonic.

Valiant gave his shield a harsh shake which forced the snakes to slide out completely. It was when the two snakes landed with a loud and clearly unwelcomed-from the way they were hissing agitatedly-plop on the sand, and they curled and twisted around each other as they gathered their bearings.

Arthur stiffened, backing away from the two snakes as they started to rise their heads off the ground. Behind the snakes, Valiant threw himself backwards as well to get some space between him and the snakes.

"Kill him!" Valiant roared with unadulterated rage. He knew that he wasn't going to be getting out of this situation alive. Valiant was not ever going to be known as the greatest swordsman in the kingdom. He would never stand by the king's side and watch as every challenger was forced to leave after they'd tangled with him. He was never going to be known as the man that had single-handedly defeated the Prince of Camelot. If he wasn't going to make it out of there, then he'd just have to make sure that Prince Arthur didn't either.

Arthur paid Valiant no attention, the entirety of his focus on the two snakes that were coming straight at him. His head whipped to one side and then the other, not knowing which snake was the most threatening. They both seemed pretty vicious, hissing as they snapped their jaws at his feet. He kept going back until he slammed into the wall that had stood behind him.

Crap, Arthur thought as he'd been forced to realize he had essentially cornered himself in one spot. He thought he would have learned his lesson that day he had fought Merlin in the marketplace and kept losing track of his surroundings and bumping into stuff. But no, he hadn't. He was cornered in one spot, and he had a snake coming in at him from either direction. One wrong move, one more simple mistake-if he hadn't just made the deadliest mistake of all by trapping himself here-and they would attack.