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!

36. Chapter 36

Merlin found himself scrubbing at his face, trying to get off any lingering tears of frustration that had been brimming under his eyelashes. As he did that, Merlin pushed himself off of the ground so that he could rise to his feet.

Lowering his arm from his eye's,Merlin glanced around with an almost childlike curiosity, slowly venturing further into the armory.

He found himself at one of the wooden tables in the middle of his room, and he trailed his fingers along the side of it, glancing down at the small weaponry or pieces of armor sitting on top of it.

All of the pieces spread out on top of the table were things that needed to be cleaned, fixed, or buffed out by the servants that worked in the armory before they were living put back in their proper places.

Standing in front of the table, the dark haired boy stopped just long enough to glance around the large room piled high with weapons. He almost feared that somebody was going to come out of the woodwork and start yelling at him for being in here. But it was clear that nobody was actually working in here this late.

He was completely alone.

Grinning, Merlin slowly turned back to the table, wanting to get a closer look at some of the equipment. He'd probably never be able to actually wield any of this stuff properly, but now that he had a moment of privacy, he could touch and explore to his heart's content.

Merlin found himself picking up one of the many daggers that were among the chaotic mess, looking as if it had just been dumped there. He held it up in front of his face, raising his eyebrow at the jagged edges. He may not know much about daggers, but it was clear that this one needed to be sharpened into a much smoother point.

"Tell me, does Arthur ever use daggers? Or is he more of a 'just a shield and sword' kind of guy?" Merlin said, talking to himself as he tilted the dagger. He grinned a little when he saw his reflection in the scraped up surface of a dagger that obviously needed to be buffed up.

"...And now I'm talking to a dagger..." Merlin's smile started to dim, feeling his arm holding the dagger starting to sag some. Maybe privacy wasn't always a good thing, not if it caused him to talk to inanimate objects. But it was all he had, since there wasn't exactly anybody he could talk to about what he was going through. Not anybody that could understand what he was feeling.

Well, "...Arthur could." Merlin muttered under his breath. As much as he hated to admit it, Arthur would probably be the only person that could understand his predicament, but at the same time, Merlin didn't really want to talk to him right now.

He'd had enough of Arthur and his mood swings to last a lifetime.

Merlin started to lower the dagger back down to the table when he stopped, catching sight of something else in the reflective surface. Frowning, Merlin lifted the dagger back up to his face so that he could get a closer look.

If there had been even a hint of a lingering smile on his face, then it was gone completely now that he'd seen his eye's. The blue coloring he had was almost vibrant, standing out starkly against his pale skin and dark eyelashes. The white's of his eyes had a red tinge around them, clearly because of how he'd been struggling to not break down into a crying heap just moment's before.

"Ugh!" Merlin was so startled by his appearance, that he dropped the dagger back onto the table, wrenching his hand away as it fell. The dagger hit against another tool, sending a loud clatter to echo throughout the chamber.

But Merlin didn't care. He was to busy scrubbing at his eye's, trying to force the redness away. Even when he knew, logically, that all of his rubbing was probably just going to be making thing's worse.

"Why am I like this?" He hissed to himself, jerking his hands away from his eye's and slamming them down onto the table. Just so he could have something steady and sure underneath his hands, something that he could feel that wasn't his own overbearing emotions as he glowered somewhere in front of him, not really seeing it.

To think, he'd been so happy just hours before, back when he and Arthur had been arguing while they ignored the time passing by as it drew longer. Well, he hadn't exactly been happy, but he had been content. Well, he had actually been so pissed off at the time but honestly, arguing with Arthur was kind of fun.

And then he'd kissed his ring, and Merlin had all but forgotten about what Valiant had told him mere minutes before. Watching Arthur walk away from him, he'd almost been blissful-excited-in a strange way that only seemed to come out in him when he was around Arthur.

The strange bubbling of warmth he'd felt when he'd been getting Arthur into his armor-when Arthur had pressed him up against that stupid table-when Arthur had gotten so mad at him in the tournament hallway because Merlin was clearly challenging him by rooting for his opponents-had returned full force.

But then Uther had happened...

And then Mary with all her talk about love and the courtship that he never actually got...

And then Madame Clara trying to steal his ring...

And whatever blissful excitement he'd felt had been washed away with the reality of his loveless situation.

But he also wasn't sad now, Merlin liked to think that he'd moved on from verging onto the depressive state that he'd been in when he'd first arrived. Now...now he was just angry and pissed and more than anything...frustrated.

Arthur and him were supposed to be in this together, they were supposed to be two forces against the incredible odds against them. Wasn't that what marriage was supposed to be about? Two people vowing to face the world and all of it's relentless twists and turns together.

But, Merlin supposed, something like that was probably for couples that had actually gotten together a more natural way. People that had chosen to stand against the world together, instead of just being forced into it.

But Arthur and him...they haven't even talked, they hadn't even had a real conversation. And sure, they'd had plenty of conversations together, but it had all seemed to end in bickering and complaining. They hadn't talked for real, not about their situation, not about the contract, not about...how things were going to go in the future.

They just avoided each other, staying out of each other's vicinity unless there was an actual reason to get together. And none of those reasons ever seemed to include just wanting to be near each other, not like a couple in the early stages of their marriage was supposed to be.

Merlin hated it, he hated that he had so much to say to Arthur, and yet-he just couldn't get any of the words out. Which was a considerable feat considering he never stopped talking, but nothing he actually said seemed to amount to what he really wanted.

He wanted to ask Arthur where their relationship was going, he wanted to ask Arthur if he only did things because his father wanted him to, he wanted to ask Arthur if he thought about Merlin as much as Merlin thought about him...

But Merlin just didn't how he was supposed to bring any of this up. It wasn't like he was an expert on how to get your crush's attention, so he found himself floundering in a way he never had before.

And that wasn't even getting into all of the extra stuff piling onto his shoulders because of Uther.

He supposed he could just bite the arrow and try just giving Arthur a damn favor, but he wasn't entirely confident in that plan anymore. Not when there were still so many unspoken things between them.

Feeling his frustration's building up, Merlin slammed his hand down on the table again, only to jerk away almost immediately.

"Ow!" He hissed, clutching his hand around his other hand as he dragged it up to his chest, taking a large step back. As the pain prickled at him, Merlin cautiously peeked through his eyelashes so that he could assess the damage.

And then his eye twitched.

All it was, was a simple pinprick of blood beading up from his fingertip. When he'd slammed his hand down onto the table, he'd done so right on top of the dagger he'd been toying with earlier.

Scowling at himself for his over-reaction at such a simple little cut, Merlin opened his mouth and popped his finger onto it. His lips closed around the digit as he gave it a little suckle, stemming off the little bit of blood as the coppery taste of it filled his mouth.

Well one good thing about getting an injury that was smaller than a paper cut, was how it had jolted him out of his Arthur filled thoughts.

Not that it had helped much, because he still felt Arthur there, hovering in the back of his mind. Which was where he had been every second of every day since the very moment Leon had shown up at his door to bring him here.

Merlin's tongue flickered over the tip of the digit in his mouth as he drew his finger out. Scowling, he stared down at the slim and long digit, the tip wet with drying salvia and the pinprick of blood was already practically non-existing.

Oh, who was he kidding.

Even if Arthur and him were supposed to-what had he been thinking again?-'stand against the world together', he thought that with a mocking undertone, it didn't mean that Arthur knew or could even understand anything about what he was going through.

Arthur was a fucking prince-who grew up in this kind of lifestyle-and who knew from day one that he was going to be involved in an arranged marriage someday. The only surprise had been who was it going to be: the surprise being in the form of a male peasant instead of a foreign princess.

Arthur didn't have Uther breathing down his neck about how he expected things to go, because Arthur already knew how things were supposed to go. He didn't have George constantly trying to explain how to do things the 'proper way', because Arthur had been trained to do thing's properly from day one: simple things like his posture and knowing that he was the one in charge. He didn't have people attacking him because he wasn't who they were expecting, he wasn't living in what was essentially a hostile territory.

He wasn't a sorcerer who was one ill timed flash of magic away from burning...

Merlin jerked his finger down to his side, his eyes glaring daggers as he turned his head away when he realized that he'd just been staring at it absentmindedly.

Thinking about Arthur...again...

"Clearly, there's something in the water around here." Merlin grumbled to himself. That had to be why Arthur was constantly in his mind, even when he didn't want him to be.

It couldn't possibly be because his crush was growing stronger with every encounter he had with Arthur...despite the prince's odd and often prattish ways...

Merlin could feel his eye start to twitch, because he'd done it again. He'd stopped to think about Arthur-Merlin turned away, almost filled with disgust at himself. He should be able to stand here and explore the armory-this being the first time he'd found it in all of his explorations of the castle-without his thoughts shooting straight to Arthur.

Or maybe...not so standing...Merlin yelped as he tripped over the edge of a shield that was leaned up against the wall, poking out just within his reach.

Merlin groaned, sprawled out on top of the floor of the armory. The cold press of the stone floor against his forehead did absolutely nothing to quell his growing headache. And the subsequential sound of several things crashing down beside him, missing him by mere inches, just made him groan again.

When he couldn't justify lying there anymore, Merlin slowly raised his head so that he could see the damage that he had done.

The shield he'd tripped over had fallen over, and brought about twenty more down on top of it.

Merlin groaned, letting his head flop back down onto the cold, stone floor. The pain emerging in the center of his forehead was almost worth it.

He probably laid there for another minute before he finally decided to just get this over with, and dragged himself to his knees so that he could get to work.

Merlin picked up the closest shield to him, having to hold it with both hands on either side because of how awkwardly large and heavy it was. He looked down at the dim red coloring of it, almost able to see his own reflection because of the polished gleaming of the metal.

The red coloring almost reminded him of the Pendragon shades of red that seemed to cover everything. Only-the color was several shades off-so therefore, looked absolutely nothing like the Pendragon red that Merlin was growing accustomed to.

Was that why Arthur's biceps were as large as they were? Because he was always carrying one of these shields arou...no! He had to vehemently shake his head to rid those thoughts from his mind. He was not falling back into another Arthur induced thinking session.

No matter how good his arms looked.

Merlin practically threw the knight's shield back on the stand it had been resting on.

He spent the next several minutes diligently working on finding shields and pulling stands out of the pile, if only so he could have something to do with his hands and to clear his mind from all Arthur related thoughts. Which was probably the only reason he hadn't used his magic just to have everything stand back up by itself.

Merlin was almost done fixing the mess he had made, with only a couple of shields still left on the floor, when he heard it. His head jolted up, and he glanced around with a frown tugging deeply on his lips, a purple shield held in his hands.

"Hello?" He called out, sitting up better on his knees so that he was in a more straighter position. His head went from side to side, trying to determine what he had heard. But it had been to soft for him to really detect anything. Still...he gave another glance around, but nothing really looked out of place. There were still racks of swords and daggers on one wall, what looked like crossbows and arrows on another, an array of random bits and bobs spread out on the table. And an all manner of things-that he couldn't have even begin to tell you what they were-hanging down from the ceiling.

Merlin felt a crease forming in between his eyebrows, before he gave a little shrug. He turned back to what he was doing, and carefully placed the purple shield back onto the stand-that definitely looked like it had seen better days after what Merlin had done to it.

Merlin had barely let the shield settle back on the stand when his spine stiffened, and his head jolted back up just as his hand was reaching for the last shield in the pile.

"Is there somebody there?" Merlin called out, much more louder than he had before. He could have sworn that he was alone, and he hadn't heard what looked to be the only door in or out, opening. But he also could have sworn that he had heard something again, louder and closer than he had before.

There was no way that he had just been imagining the strange sound twice...maybe something inside of him had finally cracked because of his constant swirling thought's on Arthur. Figures, Merlin scoffed when nobody came out of the woodwork at his call, the blonde would be the reason he started hearing thing's.

Determined to ignore his own insanity, Merlin picked up the last of the shield's and placed it on the last of the stand's. His fingers strayed as he started to pull away, now that he was done, he was going to take this opportunity to leave before he really did some damage to something.

Merlin didn't budge.

He had just been about to turn around to leave, when his eye's got fixated on the red eye of one of the snakes that were carefully painted onto the shield. Those eyes...they were surprisingly vivid, and very realistic looking for a painting on a shield.

Merlin found himself moving closer to the shield before he even knew what he was doing, a crease in between his brows growing darker as he grew closer.

And then he saw it.

Or he thought he saw it...

Merlin fell back with a startled yelp, landing on his backside as he stared at the shield with a look of nothing less than disbelief. Had he...had the shield...had it just-winked? At him.

No, he was just imagining stuff again. Only now, instead of hearing things, he was starting to see them.

That didn't stop Merlin from pulling himself together and scrambling back so that he was now crouching in front of the shield. He stared at it for several moments, almost willing the eye of the snake to start blinking at him again.

If only so he could prove to himself that he wasn't going crazy.

But no matter how long he stood there, in his awkwardly crouched over position, the snake was as still as any painting should be. But still...Merlin cautiously raised his hand until it was just hovering over the snake's head. His middle finger brushed against the bright yellow coloring on the outskirts, his every movement moving as slow as a glacier as he trailed his fingertip down to the snake.

As if he thought it was going to come straight off the shield and attack him, which was just so ridiculous of a thought, that Merlin almost started to laugh because of it.

But, despite the humor in this situation...Merlin's already heady frown grew deeper as his fingertips brushed across the snake's head. Was it him...or was this shield starting to feel less like a shield. The yellow part was clearly a shield, but the material seemed to shift as he got to the snake's head.

It almost felt as if he was touching a real snake's skin...

Merlin's spine stiffened as a long, and clearly very dangerously sharp looking blade suddenly appeared over his shoulder. His hand froze on top of the snake's shield, feeling the edge of the cold steel blade just brushing against his cheek.

He swallowed hard, knowing that if he moved even an inch, the sword would probably cut into his cheek.

"Can I help you with something, boy?" A cold voice said from somewhere behind him. And if Merlin hadn't already been stiff from the sword poised to attack him if he made any sudden movements, then he would definitely be stiff now as he recognized the voice.

Merlin gave a cautious lick of his tongue over his very dry lips before he said awkwardly, "No, I'm good. I was just...I was just checking out the designs...on the shields..." it was a better excuse then admitting that he had ducked in here for some much needed privacy.

Or that he might possibly be going crazy.

But in hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have hidden when those guards had been walking past earlier. Being caught on the verge of frustrated tears would have been a much better alternative then what was happening now.

Merlin cautiously lifted his hand that was touching the snaked shield in a placating gesture, trying to indicate that he meant no harm. But he was still very much aware of the sword just a hair away from cutting into his cheekbone.

Moving cautiously, and with the upmost slowness, Merlin eased himself upwards into a more awkwardly crouched position. It was only as he felt the sword moving with him, and not cutting into his shoulder blade, did he allow himself to move upward's into a standing position.

Even after he stood, Merlin hardly dared to breathe, extremely aware that the knight could have slung his blade at any moment and easily decapitated him. And then been gone on his merry way, with no one the wiser. The blade certainly looked sharp enough to get the job done in one fluid strike.

It was only after the knight pulled his sword away, and Merlin heard the sound of it being pushed into a scabbard, did he dare to lower his hands and allow a breath of relief to escape him.

And then he turned, already knowing that it was Valiant standing behind him. And true enough, the older knight stood right there, his hand still on his waist where he had his scabbard tied to his belt.

"Consort Merlin," Valiant said, giving him a little tilt of his head. "I feel as if I must apologize for bringing my sword out against you. I honestly meant no harm. I did not recognize you from the back, and worried that you may had been a thief coming to sabotage the competitor's equipment."

Merlin's eyes darted back down to the hand Valiant had on his sword, uncomfortably aware of how close it had came to slicing him open. And then his eye's were glancing back up to Valiant, as if he was trying to hide just how uncomfortable he was.

But from Valiant's smug expression, it was clear that he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it.

Merlin let out a very weak and awkward laugh, also increasingly growing aware of just how alone they were. "Uh, no...no thief's. It's just...just little old me..." he finished weakly, almost immediately wanting to hit himself as he realized just how dumb he sounded.

'Little old me?' What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Valiant's smug expression seemed to grow, a flicker of amusement appearing across his face. "You don't have to be so nervous around me, Merlin. I'm not going to hurt you." Much, he finished off in his head.

If Merlin wasn't stiff before, he definitely was now, not liking the way that Valiant was looking at him. The way his eye's darted down over his body, it made Merlin feel as if Valiant was trying to undress him with his eyes, although why he would be doing that...it was mystifying to Merlin, whose fingers were twitching at his side as he fought the urge to pull his jacket tighter around him. Just so he could hide his slim form from Valiant's wandering eye's.

"I'm not nervous." Merlin said, surprisingly bold for someone who was so incredibly freaked out. He hated the way that Valiant had said his name, the way his tongue had practically rolled over the syllables. As if the knight was trying to say something completely different than his name.

And normally, Merlin hated it when people called him 'Consort.' But he hated it even more when he realized that Valiant had completely dropped the title, acting as if he had any right to talk so freely with Merlin. The title had been like some kind of barrier that Merlin hadn't even realized was there, like some kind of protection that was now nowhere to be found.

Nobody would dare try anything against the Consort of Camelot. But just Merlin? Merlin had already found out just how little notice or care that the people gave to the common folk.

"Are you sure you're not nervous?" Valiant asked, smiling easily. "Because you do appear almost...flushed." His eyes darted over Merlin's face, his eye's briefly landing on Merlin's lips. He even had the audacity to raise his hand, acting as if he was about to touch Merlin's face himself, just to feel how flushed he was.

Merlin jerked his head away just before Valiant's gloved hand could make contact with his cheek. "You will find that I'm not nervous in the least." Merlin forced out, his eye's darting over Valiant's shoulder, uncomfortable aware of just how much he wanted to race past the knight so that he could get to the door.

If Valiant felt confident enough to talk to Merlin like he did earlier, back in the grand chambers where all of the knights were meeting the royal family, just how comfortable would he feel now that they were alone? In this very dimly lit and very empty room, where Merlin couldn't even hear the passing of guards he could have called out for.

"Is that right?" Valiant asked, and Merlin had a feeling that the other knight could see right through him. It was when Valiant leaned forward, nearly toppling Merlin over from the close proximity, did Merlin flinch.

They both stopped moving, and Merlin waited with baited breath for Valiant to make a move. The knight was close, way to close, and he didn't like it in the least.

This wasn't how Arthur had done it when he had pinned him against that table. Or pinned him against the wall in the stadium hallway. Those times had made Merlin feel a strange warmth in his lower gut, mixed in with an almost giddy feeling of excitement. It made Merlin want to lean in just to test how Arthur would react if he planted a kiss on his lips right then and there, the kind that they should have had on their wedding day.

Valiant doing it now, was almost a mockery. It left him feeling disgusted and cold, as if there were ants crawling all up and down his arms and his legs and even his spine. All he wanted was for Valiant to get away from him, and it took every fiber of his being not to allow his magic to lash out, as it started to react to his anxiousness.

He had to practically force it down, but he could still feel his magic bubbling away under his skin, wanting to come out and throw Valiant across the room.

But he knew that if he did, he might as well had been signing his own death warrant.

As if sensing just how uncomfortable Merlin was, Valiant stopped just long enough to give him a slow smirk. It was so similar to Arthur when he was looking all smug, but at the same time, it didn't look anything like him at all.

And then Valiant was reaching behind him, picking up his yellow shield, before pulling back. Only when Valiant had stepped away from him, did Merlin feel himself sag with a exhale of relief escaping him.

Valiant hadn't been trying to pin him down, he hadn't been trying to force him to answer him like Arthur had done the previous times. All he'd been doing was reaching for his shield situated behind Merlin.

Merlin felt a vague sense of embarrassment washing over him at this realization.

"Were you fascinated by my shield?" Valiant asked him, holding up the gleaming shield as if he was waiting for Merlin's glowing review over the pristine surface.

Merlin looked down at the shield, almost being hypnotized by the gleaming red eye's of the snake. The eye's that refused to move, or blink like he could have sworn that they had done earlier.

Merlin dragged his eye's away from the snake, not liking his next view any better as he was met with the cold stone grey of Valiant's eye's.

"Yes," he said slowly, not entirely sure why he was still here and talking about Valiant's shield of all things. "It's quite beautiful." He finished weakly, wondering if Valiant would make any move to stop him if Merlin just left.

Valiant glanced down at his shield, almost appearing bashful for a moment. But there was something off about it as well. Maybe it was the quirk of his eyebrow, or the subtle smirk trying to reappear on his face, that gave off the impression that he was more cocky than the actually bashful that he was pretending to be.

"It's not the only beautiful thing here." Valiant said, glancing up to meet eye's with Merlin, trying way to hard to appear as if he was embarrassed by admitting it.

Everything went downhill from there.

Merlin nearly reeled back in shock at that, looking nothing less than absolutely horrified by this sudden turn of events. Was Valiant...flirting with him? Merlin had never been called beautiful before, and it was surprising just how absolutely shocked and repulsed he felt that Valiant was doing it now.

"E-excuse me?" Merlin spluttered, hoping with everything he had that he hadn't actually heard what he thought he heard. Maybe he was dreaming, maybe he'd actually cried his tears of frustration and had fallen asleep on the floor somewhere in the armory.

He even allowed his eye's to dart around, as if hoping he'd actually see his sleeping body somewhere on the floor. But of course, there was nothing there. He was actually awake, and Valiant was actually making incredibly unwanted advances towards him.

Valiant narrowed his eye's, appearing highly offended by Merlin's obvious horror, easily seen all over his face. "What? You don't like the shy act?" He asked, his shy expression disappearing so fast that it had almost given Merlin whiplash.

"...Well it wasn't entirely convincing..." Merlin said weakly, feeling very cornered right now. He was incredibly aware of Valiant's broad shoulders blocking him from making his escape. And was it him, or did the knight suddenly seem much larger than he actually had been before?

"So, you would like something bolder?" Valiant asked bluntly, lowering his shield down. He was almost disappointed that he was still wearing his armor, because if he had been wearing his traveling clothes, at least Merlin would have easily been able to see his hard cock pushing up through the fabric. At least then, Merlin would know exactly what Valiant intended to do to him at the first opportunity.

It wasn't that Merlin was exactly pleasing to his eye's, being common born pretty much ruined any effect he would have otherwise had on Valiant, but him being the prince's made the slimmer boy all that more enticing. And knowing that the boy had been so close to his shield, that with one whispered word from him, the snakes would have struck before Merlin even knew what was happening. His cock pulsed at the thought of the life leaving the boy's eyes...

"I don't know what your talking about." Merlin said, not liking the way Valiant's eyes had shot down to his mouth as he had started to talk. It made Merlin want to lash out, to wipe that stupid look off his face. "I don't believe that being bold is an entirely good look on yourself."

Valiant narrowed his eye's, and Merlin was almost relieved to see a real reaction out of the knight. Even though he didn't like the following consequences of his words at all.

"But it's a good look on Arthur? Tell me, is that how he won your hand in marriage?" Valiant asked, almost mockingly, dropping his shield completely to the floor, and stepping closer to Merlin.

Merlin jolted back, feeling very threatened at the closer proximity. It was only when he nearly fell back over the shield's situated behind him, did he take a step forward. Only to run straight into Valiant's hard chest. Merlin yelped startled, taking a smaller step back as he came to the horrible realization that he was now literally stuck in between a hard place.

Valiant almost relished in the yelp, wondering what other sounds of pain or fear that he could make Merlin utter.

Merlin swallowed hard, trying to ease his way around Valiant. But either way he tried to go, Valiant was already leaning in his way, as if he already knew what Merlin was going to try before he'd even done.

"I don't believe that my marriage to Arthur is any of your business." Merlin said, feeling his jaw clenched up. He didn't like this, he didn't like being here alone with Valiant. He wanted to be upstairs, safe and sound in that stupidly fancy bed that they'd given him. And if Merlin was only able to relax because he knew that Arthur was right next door, well, that would be only his business and nobody's else.

"I believe it is, if he has upset you in some way." Valiant said, the mocking tone of sympathy easily falling off his lips.

Merlin frowned, "I don't know what you mean. Arthur's my husband, he wouldn't upset me in any way." He said weakly. If Valiant was only being this creepily weird because he thought Arthur had upset him, then Merlin would actually be happy to play the 'happily married' card. If only if it would get Valiant to go away.

Valiant didn't seem entirely convinced by this, "Are you sure?" He asked, but Merlin didn't think he actually would have cared if he had bothered to answer. And then Valiant's hand shot up faster than Merlin could stop it, or even realize what was happening. Merlin gasped, his mouth dropping open as Valiant's hand cupped his cheek harshly, moving Merlin's face around so that he could see it easier in the torchlight.

"What are you doing? Get off me!" Merlin exclaimed, trying to jerk his face free. But every direction he pulled it in, Valiant's hand refused to relent, pressing tighter against his cheek with enough force that he was almost leaning right up against one of the shield's. He could feel the hard indent of it pressing into the base of his spine.

And when Merlin couldn't take it anymore mere seconds later, he tried his damn hardest to punch Valiant in the face, remembering to put his thumb on the outside and not the inside like Arthur had shown him.

But Valiant caught it easily, because knowing how to punch apparently did nothing when the one you were trying to punch knew how to defend himself. "You should really learn to be nicer when somebody is trying to be nice to you. Is that how you treat the guests in this kingdom?" Valiant asked, looking amused as he rubbed his thumb harshly under one of Merlin's bulging eye. "I'm sure the king would be very upset to hear about this."

Merlin hissed out, "As I'm sure the king would be trilled when he is told about your unwanted conduct." Feeling as if Valiant's hand holding his wrist were made out of claws by the way the sharp bumps on his glove pressed into his wrist.

Merlin wasn't entirely sure if the king would even care to be notified, or show any concern about his personal safety against one of the noble guests invited to stay in the castle. But surely even the king would be forced to do something about a situation like this, just as Arthur's hand had been forced when that knight Chase had tried to hurt him. And if the threat of the king was enough to get Valiant to let go of him, well, he wasn't above using it.

Valiant didn't appear all that scared by the threat though. He just smiled, starting to rub soft circles under Merlin's eye, acting more as if he was a lover instead of a threat. Merlin tried to jerk his head away, but Valiant's hand just followed him like a relentless force.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Valiant said, even as he rubbed harder circles under Merlin's eye, hard enough for him to start wincing. "I was just here, checking on you. It appears as if you've been crying."

Merlin felt himself freeze up, and his mouth dropped open just a little, as he finally understood what Valiant had been going on about. Earlier, Merlin had to force himself not to start crying because of all of his frustrations. And it had been a struggle, clearly more of a struggle than he had even realized, because his eye's were still rimmed with red. And that was what Valiant was doing now, rubbing right under one of his eye's, tracing the line of redness peeking out from his lower eyelashes.

Merlin had to force his jaw to shut, hearing the clink of his teeth as they banged together. But he ignored that in favor of lying, "I don't believe you know what you're talking about. I haven't been crying at all."

Valiant tutted at him, sounding as if he was chastising him, "Now, now, you don't need to play coy with me. I can see it written all over your face how miserable you are here."

Merlin wretched his face away from Valiant hand, jerking hard on his arm at the same time, almost falling over his own feet when the knight actually let him go. But he scrambled to correct himself, trying to put some kind of distance between himself and the other knight.

Merlin swallowed hard, his eye's glancing around before he had no choice but to bring them back to Valiant. Was Valiant just fucking with him? Trying to knock him off his game, so to speak. Or was it really so easy to see how miserable Merlin had grown in the past few hours, especially when he had thought he'd put all of his misery behind him after his wedding had been finished and over with.

Merlin found himself swallowing hard, forcing his voice to work as he said, "I do believe my misery might have something more to do with my present company, instead of anything to do with my actual life."

Although it wasn't really misery that Merlin was feeling at this moment. He didn't exactly want to say that he was terrified either, even as he felt the briefest hint of a nervous energy shoot through his veins. He felt more like cautiousness, and a lot of confusion, and just not really know what Valiant was wanting with him. He could still feel the press of Valiant's gloved hand rubbing circles under his eye, like some kind of phantom touch that disgusted him.

Valiant didn't seem to pleased with his words, if the narrowing of his eye's were of any indication. And Merlin felt his heart jolt in his chest when he realized Valiant's eyes had shot down across his body again. And then Valiant's face was relaxing, as if he had finally decided the best course of action to take.

"I think," Valiant said, his tone slow and sure. "That you just need to relax. You seem a little to tense for just a little," Valiant smile drifted back across his face. "Friendly conversation."

Merlin wasn't entirely sure what was going on or where any of this was heading, but he was definitely sure that Valiant wasn't interested in a little 'friendly conversation.' "If we're having a friendly conversation," Merlin said slowly, darting his eye's back to the door. "Then maybe we should take this somewhere with a more...agreeable setting."

He was talking about one of the many sunrooms available for easy conversation. He knew Morgana would have tea every now and then with the other noble daughters that were in the area. And if Merlin only wanted to go because it was in a more public area, well, nobody had to know just how freaked out he was starting to get. Especially when Valiant didn't budge the slightest inch back at his suggestion.

But he did seem to brighten up, looking as if that was exactly what he had been hoping for Merlin to say. And all that did was make Merlin's wrinkle appear between his eyebrows again.

"You are absolutely right." Valiant said, agreeable. "A better setting is just what we need, but really, it's getting quite late in the evening." More like the early hours of morning by this point.

But Merlin brightened himself at Valiant's words, "So you'll like to excuse yourself for bed? The next rounds are starting tomorrow, we can always finish our...conversation... another time." Or never, Merlin finished privately in his head.

Valiant waved that suggestion aside, "You should be getting to bed yourself. Maybe if you'll allow me, I can walk you up to your own room, just to be on the safe side. You never know who might be creeping around this late at night..." he trailed off his words, sounding way to suggestive. But suggestive of what, Merlin wouldn't have been able to tell you. He just knew that he definitely did not want Valiant anywhere near him or his room.

"I don't believe that will be necessary." Merlin said, his voice getting a touch of hardness to it that hadn't been there before. "I can assure you, that I'll be just fine on my own." He'll be even finer once Valiant was nowhere in his vicinity.

Valiant felt a burst of agitation go through him at the boy's defiant nature, but he kept his calm expression, not allowing anything to slip through the cracks. And when he saw Merlin trying to ease his way around him, he shot his arm out, blocking the boy from going anywhere.

Merlin jolted to a stop, his eye's dropping down to the armored covered arm held out in front of him. He felt a muscle in his jaw twitch, now that it had been all but confirmed that Valiant wasn't allowing him to leave. He didn't exactly know what was going on, but maybe there was just something in the air, some kind of tension that caused all of the hair on the back of Merlin's neck to stand on end.

Feeling dread, Merlin shot his eye's back up towards Valiant.

Valiant smiled at him, peaceful and disarming, but it did absolutely nothing to alleviate Merlin's spike of nerves. If anything, it probably made it worse.

"I really must insist." Valiant told him. "It would be dishonorable of me to just allow the prince's consort to wander off on his own. Even as a consort, in a castle this big, it would be far to easy for you to get hurt without a proper escort."

Merlin may be nothing but a dirty and common peasant, Valiant thought with sinister intentions, but he would look a lot more interesting if he was on his knees.

Merlin felt his jaw clenched up as he got a little more defensive, "Unless there is something I'm missing, I'm not a woman! So I don't need an escort. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to leave...alone." His last word was much harsher than his previous words had been. And he accompanied his forceful tone by putting a hand on Valiant's arm, trying to force it out of his way so that he could leave.

The problem came when it didn't budge.

And so he pushed harder. But without the use of his magic, which at this point wasn't an option that he wanted to use, it was clear that Valiant wasn't moving.

"But surely you'll find my company in your room much more enjoyable." Valiant said, pretty much dropping all pretenses. "Maybe even more enjoyable than your own husband's."

And then Valiant's eye's dropped down to Merlin's lips, clearly more interested in looking at them then Merlin himself.

Merlin wretched away, yanking his hands off of Valiant's arm as if he'd just been burned, feeling as if the breath had just been punched out or him, as if he'd been struck by lightning, as all of the dots finally connected for him.

Valiant's creepy behavior, not allowing him to leave, insisting on walking Merlin up to his room...the way he was looking at Merlin's lips in a way that not even Arthur had ever done before.

Valiant wanted to kiss him. Valiant wanted Merlin to take him to his room so that the knight could kiss him-probably a lot-in a more private setting. Was Valiant really trying to proposition him, a married man? Was there no shame among the nobility, that they would go around kissing even people who were married.

Merlin actually felt as if something inside of him had curled up and died, his face draining of color as he stared at Valiant in stunned disbelief. He literally felt as if he was going to be sick all over Valiant's fancy shoes.

He wondered if the knight would still try to drag him in front of the king to demand repercussions for ruining them, just like when they had first met and Valiant accused Merlin of scratching up his pristine armor.

And had Valiant just insinuated that Merlin would enjoy kissing him more than his own husband? Merlin didn't even know what kissing Arthur would really be like-didn't know what any real kiss would be like-but he was positive that kissing Valiant would probably be the worst mistake of his life.

"T-that," Merlin found himself struggling to get the words out, only because he could feel a rush of anger shoot through him. "That is entirely inappropriate! I am a married man, you are out of line!" Did Valiant think that he was some kind of tramp, someone that went around kissing anybody who offered?

He could feel a storm brewing, some kind of pissed anger simmering in his veins where he was almost seeing red.

But all Valiant did was tut again, as if he seriously thought that Merlin was just playing coy with him. "It's clear that Arthur hasn't been being very good to you, nor has he taught you how to treat your honored guests."

And then he had the audacity to actually reach out and try to cup Merlin's cheek with his hand.

Merlin jerked away before his fingers could even brush against the soft skin of his cheek, almost recoiling in disgust at even the mere idea of being touched by such an obvious creep.

Had he really just insinuated that Merlin should give him this kind of attention, just because he was a guest? That Merlin should spend his night allowing Valiant to kiss him, and that Arthur would allow it as well, would even agree that Merlin should do it since their 'esteemed' guest wanted it so much.

Would Arthur care if Merlin allowed this?

Merlin found himself scowling down at the ground, his hands clenching into fists at his sides, "I think I'll treat somebody making unwanted advances however I want to treat them, my husband be damned."

Merlin may be this consort, and there were a lot of things he'd have to get used to with his change in status, but this was the one line that he refused to cross. And it was the one line that he wouldn't even entertain the notion of, especially with a creep like Valiant.

He wasn't a whore, even if Madame Clara had called him such.

Valiant scoffed, still refusing to allow Merlin to pass him by as he said, "Arthur doesn't have to know, if that's what you're concerned about." Although he had every intention of insinuating to the prince about just what a whore his consort was, rather he actually did anything with the boy or not.

Merlin raised his gaze from the ground, his eye's flashing as he snapped, "Your head is bigger than Arthur's if you think anything like that is going to happen." Valiant was almost the exact type of man that Merlin had feared he'd end up married to. A cocky noble who thought he could do whatever he wanted to Merlin without any fear of the consequences.

And that actually...described Arthur quite perfectly. But at least Merlin could say that with all of the prattish things that the prince had done, Merlin could confidently say that he wasn't a creep.

Valiant finally seemed to realize that he wasn't getting anywhere with Merlin, because he narrowed his eyes and took a step back. Merlin barely got the chance to breathe, relief filling him now that Valiant wasn't trying to touch him or block his exit, before the knight started to talk again.

"You know," Valiant said, the briefest hint of a sneer coming out in his voice. "If you were my husband, I would never allow you to wander down here on your own. I probably wouldn't even allow you to leave my sight, not if you were mine."

Valiant could just picture Arthur's face if he walked into the next rounds of the tournament with his whore hanging off of his arm, so easily swayed away by another.

Merlin snorted, "And thank the God's I'm not." If Valiant had been the one that he'd been married off to instead of Arthur, Merlin would have no doubt in his mind that their marriage wouldn't last long. Merlin would have run away long before he could get to their actual wedding. This one encounter-disturbing as it was-would have sent Merlin running for the hills in a way that not even his own first disastrous meeting with Arthur had been able to do.

Merlin found himself side stepping Valiant, not realizing that his muscles had tensed up again until he was already walking past the knight, almost convinced that Valiant was going to try and stop him again.

It was only when he made no move towards him, did Merlin allow himself to relax a little, while trying not to let Valiant see just how freaked out he would have been if Valiant had tried to be even more forceful with him than he had already been.

Would Valiant had tried to force a kiss on him? Even if Merlin didn't want it, would Valiant had pinned him down and tried to force his tongue down his throat? Merlin found himself wanting to get out of here before he was forced to find out the hard way.

"You know," Valiant's voice stopped him before he could get very far away. Merlin felt himself freeze in mid-step with his back to Valiant, his gaze firmly latched onto the door just ahead of him. He wondered just how much of a chicken he would look like if he just made a break for it.

If Valiant was going to do anything to make him wish that he had made a run for it...

"Somebody might try to take advantage of you if you leave, it is quite a long walk to the royal wing. And if somebody does try something uncouth with you because you're alone, well...we wouldn't want your reputation ruined because you turned down my generous offer of escorting you."

Merlin could practically feel Valiant's gaze trained on the square of his back, and he couldn't stop the repulsed shiver from going down his spine if he'd tried. Valiant had acted as if he was showing concern, but all it had sounded like was him trying to subtly threaten Merlin into doing what he wanted.

But Merlin didn't respond well to threats.

Merlin wasn't going to let this man anywhere near his bedroom. And it was obvious that the man wasn't used to taking a clear and hard 'no' for an answer. If Merlin wasn't trying so hard not to look as freaked out as he really was, he probably would have laughed at Valiant for trying to use Merlin's 'reputation' as an incentive for him to allow Valiant to 'escort him'.

Merlin ducked his head, almost wishing that his bangs were longer so that they could hide his eye's, "You'll find that I have very little concern over my reputation."

It wasn't as if he had much of a reputation to begin with anyway. Everybody all seemed to have this misconception about who they thought he was, and everyone had shown nothing less than pure shock when they did realize that it was him that was the consort.

So it wasn't as if Valiant could do anything to make things worse for him. And if he thought subtly threatening him was going to make Merlin agree with allowing Valiant to kiss him in anyway-the thought still made him repulsed-then he clearly underestimated how stubborn Merlin could be.

Now done with what he wanted to say, Merlin started walking to the door-with every intention of just leaving this horrible encounter behind him-while simultaneously refusing to admit even to himself that Valiant had tried something so...revolting with him.

The idea of kissing somebody, kissing anybody who wasn't Arthur...it was almost startling for Merlin to realize just how far off his radar that had actually been. And now that the offer was out there-even if it had been made by someone who wasn't as creepy as Valiant was-it made Merlin realize just how little interest he actually did have in doing...that...with someone else.

Merlin was stopped just as he reached the door to the armory, his hand pressing against the thick wood where he was about to push it open, by Valiant speaking up from behind him, he still hadn't moved from the spot Merlin had left him.

And he sounded pissed, the first true sign of emotion that Merlin had heard from him since the other man had first arrived.

"You should learn to be careful where you wander off to boy. There are some people out there, who won't care for your mouth. Or care that you're married to the prince."

Valiant couldn't believe that this was really happening, that this common peasant boy had the 'nerve' to turn him down. Didn't he know that Valiant would have never looked twice at him if he wasn't married to the prince? Didn't know what an honor it would be to grace Valiant's bed?

Merlin should count himself lucky that Valiant knew full well that it was still to early into the tournament to attempt more than just throwing the offer out there. That Valiant, while having already made a good impression on the king, knew that he still had some work to do to win the king completely over to his side.

So completely that the king would believe Valiant above all other's, even Camelot's beloved new 'Consort.'

Otherwise, Valiant wouldn't have bothered with these word games with Merlin at all. He would have just thrown the boy over one of these tables and taken him on top of it, easily stopping all attempts the boy made to fight him off. Then he would have left in the dead of night before the prince could even realize that his consort had just been assaulted.

Merlin stiffened back up as he registered Valiant's words, and there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if a stone had just dropped straight down into his gut. He had to take a large and deep breath to calm down his nerves, before he gave a cautious glance over his shoulder.

"You should be careful." Merlin said quietly, a sharp edge coming out in his voice. "That sounded dangerously close to a threat."

But Valiant wasn't the only person to have threaten him since he'd arrived in Camelot. There was Knight Chase back at the stadium, and Madame Clara from the kitchens just the hour before. Hell, even Arthur had tried to have him thrown in the dungeons the very first day they met.

He may be this consort, but it was clear more than ever that despite having the sudden responsibilities of the consort, he was still a peasant in the eye's of pretty much everybody.

Valiant just smiled at him, a very strange smile that resembled more like a shark, with the way he was showing off all of his teeth. It was the kind of smile that Merlin didn't like at all, and it made the urge for Merlin to leave all that much stronger. But he felt as if his feet were nailed down to the floor, pinned there by Valiant's penetrating stare, preventing him from making his grand escape.

"Of course not." Valiant said simply, and his smile looked more and more dangerous with every passing moment. "It's just a friendly little warning."

It sure didn't sound like a friendly warning to Merlin. It sounded way more concerning and ominous than a simple 'warning' ever had any right to sound. Combined with the way Valiant was looking at him, his eye's looked as if he had absolutely no life in them, it just spelt as a recipe for disaster.

Merlin found himself wanting to look away so that he wouldn't get caught in Valiant's stare, an almost hypnotizing kind of stare in the most disturbing of ways. But he forced himself to look back anyway, despite the surge of anxiousness that flooded through him, that was telling him to just run.

To run and never look back.

"I'll-" Merlin stopped just long enough to lick his lips, only to freeze when he saw Valiant clearly watching the motion of his tongue. He'd never sucked his tongue back into his mouth so fast in his entire life. He swallowed past the lump in his throat before he finished off weakly, "I'll be sure to let the prince know that you're so concerned about my safety."

As much as Merlin hated basically trying to hide behind Arthur-metaphorically-it was the best defense that he could come up with. It was probably the only thing that would have made Valiant back off (since he clearly wasn't taking Merlin's 'no' to well) was the obvious reminder that Merlin was now supposed to be higher in status than even Valiant, a born noble.

He was willing to do anything at this point, to stop himself from clawing at his own skin. He had the feeling of ants crawling all over his body all over again, and if 'hiding behind Arthur' got him out of this situation...well, he was more than okay with doing it.

But if Merlin thought that Valiant would be scared of him involving Arthur into this, then he was completely wrong. Because all Merlin's word's did was make a slow smile spread across the knight's face.

It was somehow the most disturbing thing about this entire encounter. And Merlin almost felt as if he was the prey, and Valiant was the predator, just biding his time before he ate him up.

"You do that." Valiant said, voice mocking and confident and sure. There was no ounce of fear over Arthur finding out about his highly inappropriate conduct.

Merlin narrowed his eye's, feeling as if he and Valiant were at some kind of stalemate. Both of them waiting to see who would fold first, and who would be the one to back down.

"I don't think that you should come near me again." Merlin said, his nervous anxiety shifting into a growing rage. He hadn't put up with Arthur's crap when they had first met, and he still didn't put up with it. He definitely wasn't going to put up with anything from Valiant.

But then again, Arthur was a prat and not a creep. He didn't make Merlin feel as if he was trying to undress him with his eye's like Valiant had been.

"Why?" Valiant asked, his voice completely as smooth as silk. And he was looking way to smug for his own good, Merlin felt his fist involuntarily curling up at his side again. "Are you going to drag me in front of the king and the court to complain?"

He made it sound as if Merlin was a child running off to tattle because somebody pulled his hair.

But wasn't it an interesting idea to entertain anyway. It was the exact thing that Valiant would have done to him when they had first met, if Merlin hadn't gotten away.

But Merlin didn't want to go running off to the king for help, he hated that he had actually tried to 'hide' behind Arthur. He didn't want to be the kind of person that went running to other's for help against what seemed like something that would probably just be seen as 'insignificant'. Just another noble bothering a peasant, a noble who knew that he wouldn't be punished.

And maybe he just didn't want Uther to have another reason to think he'd be a 'burden' to their family.

"No, but that's only because I don't need them." Merlin said, putting more bravado into his voice then he was actually feeling. "You have no idea what I'll do to you if you approach me again."

He had gotten away with using magic right in front of Arthur when the prat had attacked him with a mace. Surely he could do the same in front of Valiant, if it came down to that. It was clear that his own 'fighting abilities' wouldn't come close to defending himself against a trained knight.

Valiant's grin just seemed to grow at his words, and Merlin had to take back his earlier thoughts. Despite the similarities in Valiant's and Arthur's smug expression, it was more obvious than ever that Valiant was absolutely nothing like Arthur. His smug grin was just way to cruel and mean, in a way that Merlin had never seen Arthur's.

"I look forward to seeing what you have in store for me." Valiant said.

Merlin felt as if his breath had frozen in his throat, as if he was trapped there even though Valiant hadn't even bothered to take a step towards him. Merlin found himself taking a step back on his own accord, nearly running smack into the door right behind him.

Merlin glanced over his shoulder before returning his gaze back to Valiant just as fast, even as his hand reached blindly behind him and he subtly scrambled for the door handle. He finally found it, his hand curling around it as he started to tug it open.

"Trust me," Merlin said as his parting words, not wanting it to seem as if he were the coward who was running away in this situation, even though that was exactly what he was doing. "You don't want to know what I can do to you if you come near me again."

He tried to put as much as a threat into his words as he could, even though he felt as if his intent had fallen short. Even with all of the untapped power at his fingertips, there was just something about Valiant's entire demeanor that was just screaming at him to 'get out now.'

And that wasn't even bringing up Valiant's truly appalling offer for Merlin to bring him up to his room so that they could start kissing.

Merlin's last words hung in the air between them, and Merlin took this as an opportunity to leave, something he should have done when Valiant had first made his appearance in the armory. Maybe then, he wouldn't feel so chilled to the bone, so fearful and nerve wracking.

The door slammed shut behind Merlin, and Valiant glanced down at the shield resting near his feet. Ignoring the slight echo the slamming of the door had made, Valiant picked it up off the floor and casually brushed some invisible dirt off the edge of it.

His smile grew as he pictured the multitude of expression's that Merlin had made before he made his grand escape. It had been more fun than he had thought it would be, you know...maybe his plans wouldn't have to change much if he did follow the kid.

And surely it wouldn't be to hard to force the kid into keeping his silence.

The sounds that Merlin would make...he bet that they would sound delicious. Probably even more if the prince was nearby and could hear just how much Merlin...enjoyed...his attention's.

With no further stalling, Valiant placed his shield back onto it's proper stand where it would be waiting for him come his next match.

And then he was leaving, stalking down the dark tunnels of the hallway, going in the direction that he knew Merlin must have gone if he was returning to his rooms.

'You can run little mouse' Valiant was thinking as he kept up a steady pace, not even attempting to run to try and catch up, 'but you can't run forever.'

X

Merlin groaned with exhaustion as he threw himself down face first on his bed. The bed shook underneath him, the mattress bouncing for a second because of his sudden weight to it, before it settled down. Merlin paid no attention to it, keeping his face buried into the duvet for a second longer.

And then, with another heavy groan of exhaustion, Merlin used his arms to flip himself back over so that he was laying on his back. He had his arms thrown over his head, and his legs thrown over the edge of the bed where his feet couldn't even brush against the floor because of how high the bed was.

Merlin wearily stared up at his own canopy, practically wallowing in his own misery. He had already stripped down to his night clothes, which was pretty much just his shirt and his underwear.

His jacket, belt, pants, neckerchief, and boots were slung in every which direction all over his floor.

Merlin sighed, lowering one hand to scratch under his shirt absentmindedly at his belly. And when he was done, Merlin pulled his hand out from under his shirt and started absentmindedly drawing little patterns on his bed spread, just making little circles on the soft blanket.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted that the deep purple juice stain that he'd spilt all over his sheets that morning when he'd been having breakfast was completely gone, as if it had never even been there in the first place. Briefly, he wondered when George had had the time to clean it, or how he had gotten the stain out

It had pretty much looked ruined when Merlin had left it.

As soon as Merlin realized that he was thinking about juice stains of all things, he found himself sitting up in one swift motion.

"That, that...that fucking bastard." Merlin practically snarled, glaring at nowhere in particular as he felt his hands clenching around the edge of his bed.

Did Valiant really think that he was so cheap, so easy, that he would all but invite the creep up to his room? Did he really think that Merlin would agree to let him kiss him? Just the thought of that man trying to touch him made him want to hurl!

He hadn't even gotten a proper kiss from Arthur. He may not be getting anything from him, and no matter how much he actually wanted to experience his first 'proper' kiss, getting it from Valiant was completely off the table.

The longer he sat there, thinking about the audacity Valiant actually had to try something with him, the more pissed he got. A white hot kind of anger flooded through his veins, because god help him, if Valiant tried anything like that again, Merlin was liable to kill him.

Merlin snarled to himself, turning over so that he could climb up to the head of his bed. If only so he could punch the crap out of his pillow.

"Fucking jerk, and I thought that Arthur was bad." Merlin hissed, hating that the soft pillow he'd just hit hadn't been something firmer. Something that he could actually feel the sting of against his knuckles, instead of just the soft cotton.

Arthur may had kissed him, briefly and barely anything when they had married. And the fucking arse had kissed his ring under his father's silent orders. But at least Arthur had never been as crass as Valiant had been, Arthur had never made him feel disgusted with himself.

Arthur had pretty much made him feel everything under the sun. But at least Arthur had never made him feel as if he wanted to throw himself off a cliff. At least Arthur had more class than to offer something so disgusting to Merlin, but then again...would Merlin had reacted so strongly if it had been Arthur that shown an interest in kissing him.

Merlin groaned, throwing himself back down face first on his bed, burying his face into the pillow that he'd just been hitting. Who was he kidding, Arthur would probably only kiss him if he thought it was something he needed to do in front of the people.

And Merlin would go bat shit crazy on his arse if he actually did, people and Uther be damned.

Groaning one more time, Merlin forced himself to sit up, and with rough moments, started jerking his bed covers down so that he could climb under them. He'd barely dragged the covers over one foot before he froze.

Frowning deeply, Merlin looked up and stared at his door with an almost contemplative expression. His eyes dropped down to the door handle, and he glanced down at his fingers that were tapping rapidly on his knee.

...He didn't care if he was just being paranoid.

Merlin found himself climbing out of bed and striding across the length of his room. In one smooth motion, he reached out and turned the lock on his door, locking himself inside.

Feeling himself relaxing, Merlin backed away from the door. Maybe he 'was' just being paranoid, he seriously doubted that Valiant would actually find his way into the royal wing and try to get into his rooms.

But that still didn't stop him from feeling just how unsafe he was in his own rooms. He didn't want to run the risk of waking up to find Valiant inside his rooms, watching him as he slept.

And the man was just creepy enough to probably do it.

Merlin found himself shaking his doorknob one more time, just to double check that it was really locked. Merlin drew his hand away from the door handle, staring down at it. And then he was shaking his head with a scoff ready on his lips and his eyes going into a half-roll, "What a fucking creep."

Merlin turned away from the door, positive that he was being nothing more just a paranoid freak. He had turned Valiant down, and while the man hadn't exactly seemed pleased by it, surely he wasn't dumb enough to try and break into the royal wing.

Surely nobody was dumb enough to allow Valiant into the royal wing. There had also been a guard situated at the top of the stairs when he'd arrived, although Merlin had only been paying attention enough to realize that it wasn't the usual guard, Gregory.

Merlin climbed back into his bed, carefully easing himself under his blankets. Tugging the blankets up over his chest, Merlin glanced back down at his door. As if he thought he was going to see it unlock itself, which was a very real possibility considering he could have just used his magic to make it lock itself instead of getting up.

But somehow, he just didn't think he'd feel as safe if he hadn't checked it manually, just to make sure that it wasn't going to open. And even with it locked and with an armed guard just down the hall, Merlin still didn't feel completely safe. Even knowing that Arthur was next door and would surely come running if he was woken in the dead of night by Merlin screaming...

He found himself not wanting to test if Arthur would truly come, or if he'd just ignore it and go back to sleep, not showing any concern at all for his screaming consort.

Merlin even found himself considered if he should just grab his stuff and head down to his uncle's to sleep for the night. Or for however long it would take before these 'honored guests' left the city for good. But the late hour was the only thing that stopped him from going through with it (he didn't want to wake up his uncle when he was just over-complicating things) combined with the thought that he didn't know if Valiant was still even in the armory.

He could be absolutely anywhere right about now.

Merlin slowly eased back until he was laying completely on his back, and burrowed himself under his blankets, rolling over so that his back was to the door. "I'm just being paranoid." He grumbled to himself, ignoring rather or not he was just trying to convince himself of that, before dragging the blanket over his head.

He still kept the door locked though.

X

Merlin wasn't sure how long exactly he laid there with his eye's closed, twisting and turning as he tried to get to sleep. At some point though, his body started to relax and he could feel himself getting pulled into the sweet release of sleep after a long and tiresome day.

He was in that sweet place where he wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep. Somehow, he was still firmly aware of his surrounding's, but everything was also getting further and further away from him as he started to drift off.

shake, shake*

Merlin didn't know what it was at first, that little soft sound that was pulling him away from the land of dreams. His forehead creased together, his eyes still closed as he struggled to fall back into that sweet place he'd been in just moments before.

shake, shake*

The sound came so sudden in the quiet of the room, completely ripping Merlin out of his drifting sleep. His eye's shot open wide, but he didn't dare budge. He stared hard at the array of windows across from his bed, his ears perking up.

shake, shake*

Merlin jolted up in his bed, the covers falling down in a tangle around his lap. "Hello?" He called out, squinting into the darkness of his room. The moonlight streaming in through his windows cast just enough light into his room for him to see his door.

To see his wiggling door handle.

Merlin felt his breathe catch, and he sat there for a moment in frozen disbelief. The only reason his door hadn't swung opened yet, was because of the lock he'd done before he climbed into bed.

Merlin felt his voice shaking as he called out a loud, "Whose there?" But he already had a sinking feeling over who it was that was at his door.

And his feeling of dread did nothing to alleviate when the door handle stopped moving at the sound of his voice. As if whoever was on the other side had just been waiting for there to be some kind of acknowledgment from inside the room.

And then the door handle started to shake again, faster and more harsher than it had been moments before, when whoever was on the other side had been doing it quietly because they thought that Merlin was asleep.

Merlin bit back a yelp, nearly tumbling over the blankets tangled around his legs as he fell out on the other side of the bed. He kicked at his leg's frantically, trying to unwrap the cloth from around him. It was only when he was free did he scramble to get up to his feet, standing safely on the other side of the bed.

Acting as if the bed between him and the person at his door was some kind of barrier, and would put a good bit of distance between him and them if they managed to get inside.

Oh god, had Valiant actually followed him up to his room? He hadn't seriously thought the man was that much of a creep that he would actually come up here just because Merlin had turned him down.

That went from creep straight up to psychotic.

Merlin took the chance, because who else would it be at his door, "Go away, Valiant!" He shouted. "I told you no, and I meant it!" He could actually feel the adrenaline run through his body, a burst of anxious energy rushing through him.

The doorknob stopped shaking again, and Merlin found himself wobbling back and forth on his feet. What was he supposed to do now? Should he go out there, just throw his door open with all of the righteous fury his slim body could muster up, and confront him? Demand to know what stupidity Valiant thought he was going to accomplish by trying to break into his rooms?

The door handle moving again was pretty much what made Merlin decide.

"...Fuck this." Merlin cursed quietly, under his breath. He was not going to be scared inside his own room, the one place that he was 'supposed' to feel the safest in this entire kingdom.

Merlin strode around the bed, practically scurrying across the room before he could change his mind. He had just gotten to the door, and was lowering his hand to unlock the handle before he was planning to throw it open. Hopefully he would catch Valiant off guard when he threw the door open, and somehow manage to get himself the upper hand by going off on him.

But he froze.

No matter how hard he stared at the moving door handle, he just could not move his muscles. Nothing on the planet could have made his hand unlock this door, which was probably his only defense.

Oh god, what would have happened if he hadn't locked his door before he'd tried going to bed?

Merlin's stiff fingers finally moved, but only so they could close into a fist. He pulled his hand to his chest, and slowly backed away from the door.

Would he had woken up to Valiant on top of him, trying to shove his tongue into his mouth? Would he have been able to shove the knight off of him? Or would he had been pinned down, unable to escape as the man did whatever he wanted to him.

And if he used his magic to escape, well...it would only be a matter of time before the guards were on him. He didn't think that it would much matter to the king that Merlin had only used it to defend himself against somebody attempting to assault him.

Merlin kept backing up away from the door, feeling as if his heart was pounding so hard that it would pound straight up and out of his chest. Forget all about his earlier bravado, there wasn't a force on this earth that would make him open that door.

Still backing away, and feeling panicked because he knew without a doubt that things would not end well for him if Valiant managed to get through that door.

Where were the guards? Wasn't there supposed to be a guard out there? Merlin even had to search his memory just to make sure but yeah, he definitely remembered seeing a guard at the end of the hall when he'd returned to his room.

But then, why had they allowed Valiant onto this floor? Merlin had just kind of assumed that only the royal family was allowed in this particular wing of the castle, or had he been mistaken in his assumptions? Were the guards just there as a precaution, like for an assassination attempt? But they didn't actually do anything to stop random people from coming and going as they pleased, even if that 'random person' was one of Uther's 'honored guests.'

Merlin only stopped walking backwards when he realized that he had passed by his wardrobe, and his eye's shot over to land on the door situated there. It was the doorway that led straight to Arthur's room.

Was the prince even in there? Had he heard Merlin calling out to Valiant, and had turned over deciding to just ignore it and go back to sleep? Or maybe he was just a really heavy sleeper, and had no idea that Merlin was right next door having a crisis.

Merlin jolted when his door handle moved sharply, compiled with a sharp push of the door, as if Valiant was trying to shove it open and out of his way. So he could get to Merlin.

Merlin wasn't delusional, he knew that Valiant wasn't trying to get in just because he really liked Merlin and was trying to get him the psychotic way. He was just a creep, and one that clearly needed to be locked up if this was how he was reacting to Merlin's earlier rejection.

"Shit, shit, shit." Merlin cursed under his breath, his eye's flashing between Arthur's door and his own shaking door. He knew that Arthur's door was sealed off from the prince's side, but he also knew that he could probably force it open from his side if he had to, with a little magical help.

But then he would have to explain to Arthur how he had managed to force the door to open.

Would Arthur answer him if he just started banging on the door, yelling for the arse until he had no choice but to come out to find out what was going on.

Then he would see Valiant in all of his creepiness.

But then again, did Merlin really want to run to Arthur for protection? He would probably never hear the end of it, and that was if Arthur even cared enough to do something about it in the first place.

Merlin kept backing up until his back hit the far corner of his room. Slowly, he slid his back down the wall until he was sitting on his arse, and then he was dragging his legs up to curl in front of his chest. Merlin wrapped his arms tightly around his leg's, his chin resting on top of his knees as he watched the way his door kept moving.

Damn the consequences, if Valiant came into his room...Merlin may not have a choice but to defend himself. Even if it caused him to burn later on, it would probably be a better alternative than feeling Valiant's slimy hands anywhere on him.

Luckily, it didn't come to that.

After another few minutes, the shaking of his door abruptly creased. Merlin's head popped up off of his knees, and he watched his door with cautious eye's. He almost expected Valiant to return, and probably with something that would actually be able to force his door open.

But no, that didn't happen.

Merlin's eye's dropped down to the floor in front of his door, and he felt as if his throat had closed up completely as he noticed a shadow coming in from under his door. It was more obvious than ever that somebody was out there, as if the shaking of his door hadn't been enough proof for him.

But then the shadow disappeared, and Merlin could hear the subtle sound of footsteps heading off somewhere from down the hallway. Valiant, it appeared, had given up on trying to get in.

Merlin's exhale of relief was so sudden that it nearly startled him himself. But it didn't matter, because the only thing that did matter was that Valiant was gone. He hadn't gotten inside, and Merlin was going to make damn sure that he was never alone with that creep again.

Merlin glanced over at his bed, and then back at his door, wondering if it was finally safe for him to climb back into bed. But he didn't dare move, because he didn't care that logically, he knew Valiant probably wouldn't try getting in twice during the same night. Nor would he even be able to get in at all if he hadn't managed it the first time.

He still didn't feel safe.

Merlin glanced over toward's Arthur's door, wondering if the prince would oppose to Merlin sleeping in his room tonight. Sleeping in Arthur's bed was out of the question, but he'd have no problem sleeping on that stupidly thick rug he had seen spread out in front of the prince's fireplace the one and only time he'd ever been in his room, back on their wedding night.

Merlin practically tossed that idea out of his head as fast as it had come.

Did he really want Arthur to see him like this? All freaked out, and paranoid (but really, was it paranoia if he had been right about just how creepy Valiant was?).

Merlin glanced back at his bed again, even when he already knew that he wasn't moving from this spot. With his back to the wall in his little corner like it was, Merlin was able to see his room in it's entirety. And sure, it wasn't like Valiant was going to scale the castle wall and try to climb in through his third story windows.

But still, this was probably the safest spot he could find in his entire room. Or at least, he felt as if it was somewhat safe.

Merlin's eye's flashed gold, which would have immediately drawn the attention of anybody if they'd been in the room because of how bright they shone in the dark, and his duvet shot across the room toward's him.

Merlin fiddled with the blanket until he could fix it wrapped around his shivering shoulders, trying to escape the cold air in the room. He didn't dare try to light the fireplace himself to heat up the room, for fear that it would somehow draw Valiant back towards his room.

Like a moth to a light.

Or a cougar to it's prey.

It would be several hours before Merlin would fall back to sleep. And even then, he would only sleep because of the sheer exhaustion that his body just couldn't keep up with any longer.

X

It was in the very early hours of the morning when Gaius climbed out of his bed. It was so early, that the sun had barely risen into the horizon, and there was barely a hint of sunlight trying to stream in through the cracks of his closed shutters.

But the early hour was no problem for him. It was actually the least of him concerns, being that he had somewhere important to be within the next hour or so.

Gaius got himself dressed for the day, pulling his brown garments over his body to cloth himself. His movements were slow and mechanical as he mentally went over all of the steps that he would need to remember for his upcoming meeting.

As he was thinking, he fixed himself a small bowl of gruel for breakfast. Just something small that he had whipped up for his dinner yesterday, but there was still plenty more leftover for his breakfast.

He probably would have saved some of it for Merlin, knowing how often that boy ended up in his home. But at the same time, Gaius wasn't even sure how long it would be before the boy stepped back in his home.

After all, the last time he'd seen him had been when Gaius had 'attempted' to give him the talk. But then he'd freaked out and left before Gaius could really get into the nitty gritty details.

But he supposed it was for the best. It had barely been hours later before Arthur had shown up on his doorstep and they'd struck that stupid deal. Gaius still wasn't all entirely convinced it was the best decision he'd ever made but nonetheless, it had been made.

Gaius shook his head, almost chuckling to himself at the thought that it would be Arthur who would have to tell a grown man all about the 'things that made the night interesting.'

If only he could be a fly on that wall. And hopefully, Arthur wouldn't traumatize Merlin to badly when he decided that the time was right.

Gaius finished off his breakfast pretty quickly, and set his bowl aside for washing later. Or he may just get Merlin to wash it if he could ever convince the boy that it was safe for him to come back, and Gaius wasn't going to bring up their last conversation again.

After all, if the boy was going to be spending all of this time in his home instead of with people his own age, then he could at least work some.

It was minutes after Gaius had finished his small breakfast before he finally left his home. He would walk with sure and steady steps all the way across the castle, not saying a word to anybody else who he passed that was also awake at this ungodly hour, before he finally reached the throne room.

Gaius stopped in front of the two armed knights standing guard in front of the doorway. The physician cleared his throat before speaking in a confident voice, "The king has ordered me to come see him this fine morning."

The two guards stopped to look at each other, before they both turned back to face Gaius. Gaius already knew that they would admit him even before they nodded and opened the doors for him to pass.

Being the court physician, as well as often having a seat on the king's council, it was rare that he was denied something. Even if the king hadn't called for him, they would have still admitted him unless the king had explicitly ordered for them to not have him disturbed.

Gaius walked pass the knights, not even flinching as the door's slammed shut heavily behind him. The aged physician walked down the length of the room, until he got to the foot of the throne chair where he bowed his head in greeting.

If he had been a peasant, or anyone lower than a court physician, he would have been expected to drop down to his knees so that he could show his king the upmost respectfulness. But his position, status, and aging body did allow him some leeway in protocol.

"Ah, Gaius." Uther said, as if it was a surprise that the physician was there. Even though they both knew that Gaius had been instructed to come here after everything had been finalized. "I trust that you are only here because you've done what I've asked of you?"

Gaius bowed his head, "Yes, sire. It's been done. I've completed my inspection very late into the last evening."

"And what did you find?" Uther asked, looking stone faced even as he waited with baited breath, for the news that his physician had brought him.

Gaius reached into his clothes, and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. And then he stepped forward, holding the parchment out to the king. "You will be pleased to note sire, that Merlin's virginity has recently been taken."

Uther took the documentations from Gaius, but didn't look at the paperwork that he would later be passing on to Geoffrey, their kingdom's record keeper. "Are you sure, Gaius. There's no mistake?" He had to be sure that this was air-tight, that if anybody ever got curious enough to look into it, there would be nothing to be found.

Gaius didn't let out the sigh of relief that he wanted to when he saw the king not looking at the paperwork, for fear that the king would see his deception. He'd spent all night forging those papers, making all of his note's look as realistic as possible. He knew that not even Geoffrey himself would realize that all of those note were just something Gaius had worked hard to put together without having the actual subject of the papers in his care.

He still answered his king as mechanically as he possible could, putting in as much detail that he felt was needed to throw off his king.

"After a through inspection of his posterior, it is clear to me that the Consort has recently had anal sex. His hole was still slightly swollen, sore and tender even weeks after their consummation. It's quite common for it to be still sore after this long when it's your first time being taken, even more when both boy's lack the...experience and finesse of someone skilled at doing it. I have no doubt that Merlin was a virgin before, and I have no doubt that the consummation between Arthur and Merlin was finalized, the healing of Merlin's anal passage is consistent with the timeline of their wedding night. Any skilled physician would have been able to see the recent sexual activity if they knew what they were looking for."

Gaius's eye's never wavered as he lied straight to the face of his king.

Uther looked slightly ill at the descriptive words that Gaius had used. He didn't even want to think about his son having 'any' of the 'finesse' that a man who was skilled with sleeping with other men would have.

From Gaius's report, it was obvious that his son had no experience with his own gender, so at least he now knew for sure that his son was sorely into women, and not sneaking around-to sleep with other men-which would have been very unbecoming for any son of his.

It was bad enough that they were all forcibly living with this charade of a marriage.

Uther cleared his throat, clenching his hand subtly around the parchment he held. "Thank you Gaius, that will be all." He said this quickly, before Gaius could start talking again about his son's 'finesse' and 'skill' in lovemaking with another man.

Gaius didn't say another word. He gave one more bow to his king, before backing out of the throne room. His job here was done, and he could only hope that nothing happened later to make Uther realize that he'd been lied to.

The king would have all of their head's.