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!

51. Chapter 51

The morning light was casting a soft glow into Gaius' quarters, shining straight into his home through the cracks in his closed windows. Not even the shutters were enough to stop the light from streaming in, bouncing off of every reflective surface they could find: like his many potion bottles scattered about the room.

At this very moment, Gaius was carefully wiping the sweat off of Sir Ewan's face as the knight's body finally started to cool down. It had been a long and stressful night, full of uncertainty because he hadn't been sure that he'd administered the antidote in time. But in time he did, because it was around three in the morning that Sir Ewan's fever had broken.

It was a good sign, it meant that Sir Ewan was starting to recover from his horrible ordeal and near murder. The man had yet to wake though, and that was what had Gaius so very concerned. He wasn't sure when Ewan would start to stir, and he knew that Merlin would be needing the man's testimony this morning, so it was of the upmost importance that the man woke today.

Especially since Gaius had peeked out his window this morning, the one that faced the courtyard. He had seen Valiant not minutes before, the shield on his arm, being escorted towards the main area of the castle. The council meeting room was in that direction, which meant it was probably due to start any minute now.

That was why desperate times called for desperate measures.

It probably wasn't the best thing he could have done, it may even jeopardize the health of his patient if he woke him up to soon. But he had waited for as long as he could, and it wasn't something that Gaius was willing to bet on chance that he would wake up in time. Ewan may be the only thing that could put Valiant away...for good.

Gaius set one of his potion bottles down on the table, the small bit of cloth clenched in his hand was soaked with an amber liquid. It wasn't something that he used often, but it had been a help a time or two when he had been forced to wake a patient up before they did so naturally.

Holding the cloth pinched between his two fingers, Gaius took a seat at the knight's bedside and studied the man that was before him. Ewan was no longer shaking as he had been the night before, his breathing had returned to normal, and when Gaius had lifted up his eyelids earlier, his pupils had been reacting normally. But still, he just wouldn't wake up!

Gaius leaned forward and waved the smelling salt's under the man's nose, hoping for any kind of reaction. Smelling salts was definitely something that all physician's would need to know, one of those things that were a 'just in case' kind of method. The foul oder may be the one thing needed to wake a man even if he were on the verge of death, or at least that was what the more fanatical people claimed. Gaius found it more useful to wake someone if they had fainted. Now, Ewan may not had 'fainted' but the circumstances mattered very little with everything else that was set to be happening this very morning.

Gaius watched Ewan, trying to discern any movement from the other man. But the man didn't so much as twitch, even though the foul order coming from the cloth was enough to turn even Gaius' stomach. He had been so sure that, while the snake's poisoning was still in Ewan's system, it had gone to a lesser degree. Certainly enough that he could force the man to wake when his presence was so needed!

If Ewan didn't wake up, then there was a good chance that Valiant may walk free. This man was the only witness they had that could put Valiant away. Arthur had clearly believed Merlin, which was a miracle in itself, if the missive calling for his presence in the council meeting sitting on one of his tables (lost in the mix of papers that were already there) was anything to go by. But Gaius wasn't so sure that the king would be so easily talked into believing.

Suddenly, there was a subtle cough, and the twitching of Ewan's nose as he seemed to jerk to life. It was as Ewan's eye's started to wearily flick open, looking around beadily and confused, did Gaius sigh in relief. Maybe everything was going to turn out alright after all.

"Where-" Ewan croaked out, trying to get his bearings straight. His head was just pounding with a killer headache, almost to loud for him to hear even himself talk. And everything was blurring, even as he forced himself to blink to try and clear up his vision. But that seemed to just make his headache worse. He had his muscles that were aching and sore, as if he'd just been ran over by a carriage. He couldn't even lift his hand up to scratch at his itchy nose, he couldn't muster up the strength to lift even one of his fingers, yet along get it to reach up to his face.

"Shhh, everything's okay now." Gaius hushed him, wanting him to save his strength for when he would be needing it later on this day. "Welcome back, Sir Ewan." The relief in Gaius was overpowering, to be able to see Ewan's brown eyes opened, even glazed over with confusion and sleep as they were.

But Ewan apparently wasn't very good at listening to the orders of a physician. It was only seconds later that Ewan was trying to talk again, his voice coming out all croaky and strained as he said, "There was a snake on his shield...it came alive..."

He sounded delusional, completely batshit out of his mind. If anybody had heard his mad ramblings, they would have thought just the same. But Gaius knew the truth. He knew it wasn't the mad ramblings of a man suffering from a blow to the head. It was the words of a man trying to get the word out before he fell back into an unconscious state. His muddled mind probably made him feel as if he were about to slip back under at any minute.

"You're weak." Gaius said, reaching for his bucket of water that had been sitting on the floor at his feet. "The snake's venom is still in your system." Ewan's ramblings were a good sign for Merlin, it meant that Ewan had gotten a good view of what Valiant had done, that his mind hadn't forgotten in an effort to protect itself from the effects of the poison.

Gaius reached down into his bucket of water and pulled out a thick and heavy ladle, lifting it up so that some of the water from inside the bucket remained inside, sloshing around over the rim.

Ewan tried to sit up wearily, pushing his weak body to the limits. He barely made it an inch off his pillow before Gaius was putting a firm hand on his chest, easing him back onto his cot.

"I need to warn Arthur." Ewan choked out. It was the only thought on his mind, the one thing that he could keep focused on when everything else kept slipping away from him. He didn't know how long he had been out, or if it was already to late, but he needed to let the prince know, to warn him, before what happened to him ended up happening to the heir of the kingdom.

"Arthur already knows." Gaius said calmly, he was actually way to calm considering the situation. But as physician, Gaius knew how to keep a cool head during even the most dire of circumstances.

"You don't understand," Ewan struggled to choke out. "Valiant is-" he tried to force out the words. In the deep recesses of confusion his mind had overtaken, where things filtered in and out almost faster than he could keep up with them, his tongue thick in his mouth, he struggled to spit out that Valiant was his brother. That Valiant wasn't who he said he was.

It would be like his one final 'fuck you' to Valiant if he didn't make it through this, which he thought he wouldn't considering how he felt as if he was death rolled over in this moment. He needed the truth to come out, to let the world know that the man may had tried to kill him, but it was Ewan that would completely ruin him.

"You need to save your strength." Gaius said, interrupting him as he brought the ladle of water to Ewan's lips. The croaky voice was a good indicator that Ewan was in a desperate need for water. "We know all about what he has been up to."

Ewan choked on the water, feeling both relief as the cold liquid spilled down his throat, and dread because he didn't think Gaius did know what he was trying to say. The water dripped down his chin in gushes as he tried to turn his head. As refreshing as the water was, he had to let somebody know the truth. He felt so weak, as if he could die at any minute and he was surprised that he was even awake at this moment. He didn't think he'd be able to drag himself awake if he fell back asleep. He couldn't die without somebody knowing, and Gaius was trustworthy.

He could tell Gaius that the only reason Valiant had tried to kill him was so Ewan didn't spill about their shared connection. He knew that Valiant didn't want to be linked to him in any way, he didn't want Ewan speaking to the wrong people all about his history of wrongdoing. Like with what he had done to Daniel.

"Val-" Ewan tried again, his voice was a little clearer and maybe just a touch stronger than it had been before. But he was cut off by Gaius pressing a clean cloth to his mouth, as he wiped up the water that had leaked all over his chin.

"It's alright." Gaius patiently said as he was mopping up the water on his patient's chin. It was a mess that had gone all the way down his neck and was soaking into the collar of his shirt. "Camelot's consort is hard at work right this very minute, trying to get Valiant arrested for his crimes." And there was a note of generous pride in his voice. There wasn't many people that would go head to head with their would-be assailant.

Ewan looked at him confused, struggling to get his mind back into working order. But it was like walking in quicksand to him, and it was everything that was slurry and disorient, it made him have to think so much harder than he usually would. Camelot's consort, that was what Gaius had said...he could just barely see the blurry image of a dark haired boy with an awkward smile-the one he had met at the meet and greet-in his mind's eye.

"The peasant boy?" Ewan croaked out, trying to remember what he knew of the prince's new husband. But like he'd said, everything was just so hard to shift through in his mind. He hadn't even remembered Arthur had been married before Gaius had made mentioned of it. But yes, it was the peasant boy...that was the new consort of Camelot. Or at least...he thought it was him. Ewan's mind was far too muddled for him to worry about decorum, and that it was probably insulting to refer to him as 'the peasant boy'. But it was the only fact that stood out in his mind when he would think of it.

"The peasant boy that just saved your life by discovering the truth." Gaius said sternly, and he was looking at Ewan with a touch of harshness in his tone that hadn't been there before. "He was the one that got the snake venom to me so that I could administer the antidote to yourself."

What he was saying was more obvious than ever, even to Ewan's disoriented mind. It was clear that Ewan wouldn't be awake, probably wouldn't even be alive, if it wasn't for efforts from the consort.

"...Is that so?" Ewan asked, feeling as if his eyelids were starting to get heavier and heavier with sleep. He was just so exhausted, and not even knowing that he could be seeing his last was enough for him to keep his eyes open. He struggled in vain to conjure up an image of the consort, of the boy with the awkward smile who parroted the Lady Morgana because it was clear he had no idea how to properly greet somebody. But all he got was a headache for his troubles, as well as his eyes taking longer and longer to open back up after each forsaken blink.

"Yes," Gaius nodded his head as he set his now damp cloth aside. "The consort and the prince are having an audience with the king. They'll want to talk to you now that I can tell them you've woken up." Gaius stood back up, looking down on the man in his spare cot. He looked pitiful, just as he had before. But at least he was awake, that was already a huge improvement compared to before. "Now, you should get a little more rest in while you wait for them. You're going to need your strength for what comes next."

Looking back over his supplies he'd piled onto the nearest table, Gaius shook his head with a tut of disappointment. He didn't have enough there, not nearly enough if he wanted Ewan to make a full recovery. There were just some things he couldn't do without if he wanted Ewan to be strong enough for when the king called for them.

"I need to fetch some more herbs, I'll be right back." And trusting that Ewan would be safe in his own home, Gaius was quick to take his leave. He didn't want to run the risk of being missed by the knight's that would come fetch Ewan. He needed to make sure that he was there every step of the way, and some of the herbs he had to gather would certainly make Ewan a bit stronger for when he would have to testify in front of the king.

Ewan watched him go from his cot, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tried to get his words to come out. There had been something he had been trying to tell Gaius, it was something he was trying to warn him. So that he could get the message out there, so that...what was he trying to remember? His brain was hurting as he tried to muddle through his thoughts. And he was hurting because...that's right. He had been trying to tell Gaius who Valiant really was. If the King needed any reason to arrest his brother, all he would need to do was look at Valiant's history.

Then everything would fall into place.

But by the time Ewan worked through all of that in his head, Gaius had already been gone for several minutes. So really, there wasn't anything he could do about that. He would just have to wait till Gaius got back to tell him. But until then, Ewan would just have to do what Gaius had suggested he do: rest.

Ewan felt his bones practically sinking into the harsh mattress. It wasn't like the soft one he had waiting back at his family estate, but it was a flat surface and his body ached just to much for him to care that it wasn't the most comfortable thing to lay on.

Ewan felt his heavy eyelids drop, his arms weighed so heavily that he couldn't even lift them to drag the blanket up closer towards his chin. Which was probably why he wasn't able to defend himself.

It started slow at first, so slow that Ewan hadn't even been sure it was there in the first place. Just a soft movement against his leg that he could barely detect because of how numb his entire body was feeling. But then it happened again, and even Ewan's face was sore when he scrunched it up at the sensation.

Ewan wanted to scratch at the itch on his leg, but he didn't want to move his hand more. It happened again, and Ewan wanted to kick out his leg, sure that there was just a string or piece of fluff or something that was tickling him relentlessly.

But then it happened once again, only this time it was higher up, closer towards his belly. If Ewan didn't know any better, he would have said the piece of string was moving upwards. He almost wanted to laugh at that thought (but it hurt to laugh) because surely the string was attached to the blanket. It couldn't go anywhere.

And then he felt it again, only a little bit higher and harder. As if something had just bumped into his chest, like he'd taken a punch there during training. Ewan could just barely let out the 'oof ' sound he made, his throat once again drier than the Sahara desert. Where was Gaius with that ladle of water he had when he needed it?

Something rough slid against the front of his shoulder and god, did it make him want to cry out in pain. It wouldn't have hurt nearly as much if he were at full strength. But with how numb his body was-how achingly sore-even the scratchiness of the blanket was causing him a mild discomfort.

Ewan finally opened his eyes, his muddled mind working out that he should probably find that string and pluck it. But he couldn't move his arms-the one on the right felt much heavier, as if something heavier than a blanket was resting on top of it. And then he saw it, the slightest of movement at the top of the blanket, as if something was under it.

A venomous shade of green-a head-poked out from under the blanket. It's tongue flicked out dangerously to taste the air, no doubt it was tasting Ewan's fear. The knight's jaw was dropped open in horror, trying to lean back as the snake rose out from under the blanket until it was hovering over his head.

Ewan couldn't even scream-his throat so painfully sore-before the snake struck him, aiming straight for his jugular. And with his death, also went the secret. Valiant's violent history, his connection to Ewan, and what Valiant had done to Daniel...it would all die with him.

X

There were a lot of people here, probably way more than Merlin had considered. Many people high up in the court, and not just the council members, had decided to come and sit in the watch what was happening. There were many ladies of high society gossiping in small groups among the walls. And there were many knights situated on either side of the room, there weapons at the ready in case things went wrong. Merlin even saw Leon was there, situated against the far corner of the wall.

He didn't think he'd seen Leon since, well, since he had brought Gaius his new bed after the old one was destroyed by Merlin using it to break his uncle's fall.

Only half of the men in attendance though, were knight's. There were several other men as well, older grey haired looking men that looked as if they wouldn't have been able to pick up a sword considering their age. And those men wore elaborate looking robes that probably would have cost Merlin his entire life just to own one of, in a varying amount of color.

Many people looked as if they didn't know why they were there, theories were bouncing left and right but from what little Merlin was able to overhear, nobody was getting even close to the truth. It was things like worrying over rather or not the tourney was being canceled because Arthur had an ailment and couldn't fight, but that was disapproved by Arthur's mere presence there.

Merlin even saw Morgana standing at the head of the room, on top of one of the steps that would lead up to Uther's throne. She gave him a small smile, an encouraging one, before she turned back to converse with her handmaiden, with Gwen, who was standing right behind her. Morgana's personal guard stood right off to her side, watching for any signs, with a beady eyed stare, of anybody who may be dumb enough to try and attack the Lady.

Arthur was at his side, leaning into him as he whispered urgent and hurried instructions in his ear about how he should behave for his first council meeting. To just stand behind Arthur and let him handle all of this. To only say a word if he was being asked a direct question by the king, and ignore it if it was from anybody else lest he say the wrong thing to the wrong person. To basically just let Arthur take the lead on this, to do all of the talking, and to fix this mess they were in.

Merlin pretty much tuned him out the second he started in on this whole 'let him take care of everything' spiral. He didn't have the time to listen to whatever Arthur was rambling on about. He was jittery, nervous, and his eyes were shooting off in every little direction as he tried to take in as much as he could with what little time he had to do it. The king was to be arriving at any minute, and they had just received word from a runner (a Knight whose job it was to deliver urgent messages around the kingdom) that Valiant had been picked up in the training field and was being escorted to the throne room.

Merlin got even more jittery after that. This was probably going to be the first time he had actually faced Valiant since the hallway, where Merlin had just managed to evade him right after he had taken the snakehead. His fingers were tapping rapidly on the crook of his arm, he was constantly crossing and uncrossing his arms, his foot was tapping in an uneven pace.

He wasn't scared of Valiant, okay, maybe the man did creep him out a bit. But that didn't stop him from thinking of Arthur's warning, of how Merlin's assault may need to be brought up if they were losing. It made him feel as if his heart was in his throat.

Arthur, surprisingly, must have noticed that there was something wrong. Because in an Arthur like fashion, he was harshly banging his elbow into Merlin's ribcage, and Merlin was almost positive that he'd done knocked something loose in there.

It at least got him to stop jittering, as his hand shot up to cup the spot where Arthur had hit. And then he was glaring at the prince, trying to see if he would drop dead from just the look in Merlin's eye's alone. Newsflash: he didn't.

"What was that for?" Merlin hissed, rubbing his now sore side. For a man with arms like Arthur (it still killed Merlin that he noticed at all) he had some surprisingly pointy feeling elbows.

"You look like you're about to jump out of your pants." Arthur hissed, leaning over to say this in Merlin's ear as to keep their conversation private as more and more people were trying to filter in before the doors shut. "If you don't stay still, and actually act like you know what you're doing, these people are going to eat you alive."

And Arthur wasn't kidding about that. He had seen what happened when somebody, rather they had a rich and noble history or not, had submitted to the pressure of everyone watching them and had lost their cool. These people could be like sharks, able to smell when there was blood in the water. One hint of weakness, and they wouldn't care that Merlin was consort. It would be like a feast as everybody would try to descend upon him at once in an attempt to get a bit of Merlin's newfound power on them and their families. A favor-not a favor given to a Knight but more like an agreement between families-from Camelot's new consort would be something many of these old families tried to strive for.

A peasant like Merlin wouldn't stand a chance.

"In case you've forgotten," Merlin hissed back out the side of his mouth, steadfastly trying to not keep an eye on Arthur as much as he was everybody else. "I don't know what I'm doing." And Arthur's little 'instructions' just wasn't helping matters. It didn't matter what Arthur tried to drill into his head during these few short minutes that they had, there were just same things that could only be taught by experience: like facing a room full of the most noble families Camelot had to offer, who had came to witness a tourney but was going to witness something else instead.

And there Merlin was, getting himself all jittery again. He crossed his arms back solidly over his not so broad chest, and his fingers started to tap rapidly in the crook of his elbow with no rhythm to it at all. His so called 'husband' wasn't his concern right now. Not when he had to prepare himself for what was to come.

Arthur's eyes dropped to those fingers as the tapping continued on. It would have usually irritated him, like the sound of nails against a modern day chalkboard would, but this time-just this once-it didn't. Maybe it was because he was close enough to see just how Merlin's expression looked, or maybe it was because their conversation last night was still so fresh in his mind-including how Merlin had actually been desperate enough that he had came to him despite what he'd done with the boy's favor-but he felt something in him softening up.

Arthur glanced towards the open door, noting that his father had yet to arrive. He was most likely going to regret this-probably-but there seemed to be just a little time left where Merlin could make his escape. Because once his father got here, it wouldn't matter how Merlin was feeling, he wouldn't be allowed to leave the room. Nobody would be, let alone the one making the accusations.

Oh well, he'll throw the boy a bone...just this once.

Arthur nudged Merlin with his elbow again to get his attention, not nearly as harshly as he had the time before. Merlin looked obviously displeased by this if the thinning of his lips were anything to go by. But the slight tilt of his head at least indicated that he was giving Arthur a listening ear.

Arthur leaned in to hiss in his ear, "If you want to go, now would be your chance. You could step out into the hall to collect yourself, and let me handle this." Merlin wouldn't be allowed back in if he did and the door closed with his father's arrival. "I can tell you what happens afterwards."

Merlin shot a glance over at Arthur just to see if he was really serious about Merlin leaving right when things were finally happening. But it was clear that Arthur was being completely serious, and Merlin really didn't like the way Arthur was looking at him. He was being all weird again. His eye's had gone-was he just imagining it?-but they almost looked soft. It just wasn't an expression he had known the prince was capable of making, let alone when directed at him. It also made him feel weak, it was as if Arthur was trying to coddle him. As if he really thought Merlin was some kind of fairytale princess that needed to hide away in her tower so that she'll be safe.

Merlin scoffed, "And what? Let you have free rein to do whatever you want? You'll need my help, or you'll probably just screw this whole thing up."

As nervous as he was, it was also like hell Merlin was just going to leave everything in Arthur's hands. It may be strange that Merlin trusted Arthur to keep his word about not telling the council of his assault unless he had to, but to also not trust him as far as he could throw him-with no magic helping him along in the throw.

Arthur's jaw dropped open just a touch, "Your hel-?" He was cut off when suddenly, there was the sounds of a commotion happening at the door. The crowd inside the room seemed to split apart to allow the new people their entrance. The newcomers were four guards, and all of them were surrounding Valiant as he marched in, with his shield strapped to his arm.

Merlin went stiff, his eyes never did leave away from Valiant's as the other man was passing them. The guards were leading the Knight to the head of the room, where he would stand as the trial was commencing. Valiant seemed to be watching Merlin as much as Merlin was watching him, and Merlin could swear that he felt goosebumps breaking out over his arms.

Something wasn't right. That smirk that was curling up on Valiant's face...he just seemed a little too confident for a man that had just been led here by armed knights.

Merlin blinked, and then suddenly he couldn't see Valiant anymore. All he could see was the broad back of Arthur as the prince took his place in front of him. "What are you doing?" Merlin hissed at him, trying to peek over the blonde's shoulder. He didn't trust Valiant, he had no idea what the other man might just be planning to do. Valiant wasn't exactly giving him the look of horror he'd imagined when the man realized he'd finally been caught. He wanted to keep an eye on the guy, just in case he was going to try something with that shield of his. He wanted to be ready, which he couldn't be if Arthur was blocking his view.

But all Arthur said to his inquires was, "Don't worry about it." But the prince sounded as if he were half distracted. Arthur kept a steady eye on the other knight being kept across the room. He hadn't liked the way that Valiant was eyeing his consort, he hadn't liked it at all. It was as if Valiant had been looking at a steak dinner, as if he was confident that he was going to eat the boy up. Arthur had his grip firm around the handle of his blade as the rush of anger he'd had last night-the one that had been the cause for him destroying his room-returned full force. If this was how Valiant had been looking at his consort this entire time-and how nobody had noticed it, he just didn't know-then it was no wonder that he'd been freaking out.

The Knight was no longer able to look at his consort, not with Arthur standing directly in the way. He was now stuck looking at Arthur, which Arthur was adamant about not having it any other way. And the way that Valiant was smirking at him, as if he somehow thought he knew more than Arthur did, as if he had some kind of secret that was shared only between Merlin and him...

Valiant was lucky, god was he lucky that his hands were tied down with doing things the right way. Because if they weren't, if Arthur was any other man who didn't have to obey the protocols of his kingdom...Arthur's hand tightened around the handle of his blade so hard that his knuckles had actually gone stalk white. It would have been his pleasure to hold Valiant down, to take his time as he used his own sword-always kept as this reminder of what he had proudly done-to jaggedly cut off this man's testicles.

He wouldn't be given the opportunity to get near Merlin again, not if Arthur had any say in it. He wouldn't dare be allowed to even grace Merlin with his presence, because it was an insult to even just have him be near the boy now. His eyes would never be allowed an opportunity to feast upon the consort like he had been doing. Or Arthur, after he had taken the man's balls as his prize for defending his consort (maybe Merlin would even like to be presented with them as a testament to how far Arthur was willing to go to make sure he would never be even near him again) he'd take his time to remove other body parts. It would be a great pleasure to remove Valiant's eyes, to just pluck them out of his skull for daring to think he was important enough to look at his consort at all.

After what Valiant had done to dishonor him and his, Arthur had never found enjoyment in hurting men. But in this case, he thought he'd find himself just more than a little eager to do it.

The crowd went stark silent again, and there wasn't a single sound to be heard. The crowd split apart again, this time moving so that the people were now standing on either side of the wall to watch the proceedings. King Uther had just entered, walking with long and proud steps up the carpeted walkway that had just been revealed as the people parted.

The king did not look pleased that he was here, nor did that look change as the doors were slammed shut behind him, sealing everybody inside the room. The court proceedings had just begun.

Uther gave his son a stern look as he passed them by, sparing Merlin peeking over the blonde's shoulder the briefest hint of a look before he continued on. "You had better have a good reason for summoning the court, Arthur." The king said as he reached the head of the room, standing right in front of his throne but not sitting. Morgana and Gwen stood to his left, watching him with careful eyes. And Valiant along with his guard detail stood to the right, also watching the king cautiously. "Because of this, the tourney had to be postponed."

Council meetings were known for lasting far longer than anybody thought they would. The tourney finals should have been starting right about now, but with Arthur calling the court together, the smartest thing had been to just push the fight to the next day. If there would even be a fight to come after what was about to happen. The record for the longest court meeting-before Arthur had been born-had apparently gone on for eight days. The council at the time, apparently, was unable to decide which of the two arguing peasants had the most rights to own a specific goat.

Arthur was determined to not allow this court to go on for nearly as long. He glanced over his shoulder towards Merlin who, for once, was keeping his mouth shut. The boy looked a little worse for wear, and maybe he should have pushed a little bit more earlier, but it was also to late for him to back out now. The doors had been sealed off to avoid any-what would have been considered, unnecessary-interruptions.

Arthur cleared his throat before striding out onto the carpeted walkway, trying to imitate the level of grace his father had just walked in with. "I believe that Knight Valiant is using a magic shield to cheat in the tournament."

It was a little blunt, but Arthur had learned that there was no point or reason in drawing these things out. But it was also sounding as ridiculous when he said it out loud as it had been when Merlin had first approached him about all of this. It did give off the desired effect though, when the entire room seemed to hush, which was strange because it had already been quiet enough.

To the king's left, Morgana and Gwen shared a startled look. There had been many rumors and speculations about why this meeting was taking place since the word had spread, but somehow, this was not on the list of possible theories. Morgana had been half thinking that Arthur was trying to appeal to the king, as a way of contesting that his marriage shouldn't be allowed to continue. That maybe Merlin's favor had been the one thing to finally push him over the edge he'd been teetering on since he'd said 'I do.'

Uther looked promptly outraged by these claims and the first thing he did was turn to Valiant, "Valiant, what do you have to say to this?" He demanded answers. Uther took claims for magic very seriously, he'd even been known to arrest somebody even if the person who made the accusations against him had a well known grudge against the accused, and was trying to use the system to their advantage to get rid of them. Valiant's status as a Knight of this kingdom was probably the only reason he was yet to be in chains, ready to be carted away until the execution could be prepared.

Valiant seemed to already have an answered prepared as he stepped forward. Just behind Arthur, Merlin's eye's had narrowed when he saw that not even the guards were stopping him from getting to close to their king. It was odd, considering the charges that were being announced against him. One would think that guards who were supposed to protect the life of their king would have been just a little bit more cautious than that, with all of these things to be considered.

"My lord, this is ridiculous." Valiant declared, announcing this loud enough for the entire hall to hear. "I've never used magic before a day in my life!"

For a man that was lying straight out of his arse, Merlin thought, he was able to do so very convincingly. He seemed to be almost outraged to hear what he was being accused of, despite it being the truth. But Merlin had seen the snakes, had seen Valiant as he fed them live garden mice with a sick pleasure as Merlin's own stomach had churned. He would not be so easily fooled, not with those awful memories still embedded into his very skull.

"Does your son have any evidence to support this outrageous accusation?" Valiant asked. It might have been Merlin's imagination, but the question seem to have came a little too fast for a man that was being blindsided. As if he had already prepared a solid defense against his accusers.

Uther didn't seem to notice, his face looking harsh and stern as he turned to his son. He may be taking this seriously, but it was also clear to Merlin that the king doubted his own son. As if he was more than willing to believe this strange Knight, new to the city, over the child he had raised into an adult. It was weird, Merlin's mother had always believed him with no question when he would admit to seeing something he wasn't supposed to. Like when the Loyster Twins had been stealing a little bit of extra food from the younger children, ones that were to young to be able to properly defend themselves or their meager lunches.

"Do you have any evidence?" The king was demanding of his son. The king even turned his back on Valiant, and Merlin kept his eyes posed on the shield on Valiant's arm. He just wasn't as trusting as the king apparently was, he didn't trust Valiant to not use the shield at the first opportunity he had. It would be stupid to use it in a room full of knights, but this was also a man who thought he would be able to get away with assaulting Camelot's Consort.

"I do." Arthur said boldly, keeping his position in front of Merlin. He didn't think he'd be able to resist his growing urge to use his sword to carve out Valiant's eyes if he caught the man so much as glancing at the boy. And that kind of movement would probably put a damper on the court proceedings.

Arthur reached into his pocket, deep enough that his entire hand could have fit inside quite comfortably, up to the wrist. And then he was pulling out the snakehead, having been lucky enough to find it where he had thrown it the night before, still beside his fireplace.

Arthur stepped forward to present his father with the snakehead, passing over the proof he had before taking his step back, always being sure to keep his body as some kind of barrier between Valiant and Merlin.

Arthur watched as his father, curious and confused, twisted the snakehead around in his hand to study it. He wondered if his father was also taking note of the odd things he had been seeing on it the night before. The black like veins under it's scales, the vibrancy that caused it's scales to shine even after it's long since been dead.

When his father didn't say anything for the longest time, to busy twisting and turning the snakehead in hand, Arthur found it prudent to talk some more. Which was probably his first mistake. He should have kept his mouth shut and waited for his father to make a decision, because it all seemed to go downhill after his words.

"My consort managed to fight off one of the snakes, and risked his own life to bring me this back." Arthur announced, nodding his head down to the snakehead in Uther's black gloved hand. "It's-"

Uther's head snapped up, his eyes looking so full of sudden rage that it made Arthur's mouth snap shut in surprise. "Your consort?" He demanded. "You made these outrageous accusations against a Knight based on the word of your peasant born consort?"

He spit those words out as if they disgusted him, as if there was nothing worse then being born lower than a nobleman. Arthur seemed to sense this, and was quick to act, trying to do some damage control while he still had some semblance of control over what was happening.

"I believe that he's telling the truth!" Arthur exclaimed. If only his father had seen what he had seen last night, if only Uther had seen the way that Merlin had been acting. He'd believe what was being said as well.

But Arthur's words didn't seem to alleviate his father's anger, the king glaring over his shoulder to where Merlin stood. As if he was trying to make the boy burst into flames with just a look from his eye's alone. But no, that would have been something magical. And Uther Pendragon didn't condone anything that was magical.

"I know that he's your husband," Uther said with a disgusted sneer, as if that little fact was somehow Arthur's entire fault, instead of his own. "But I thought I raised you smarter than to just listen to somebody blindly because of that!"

Arthur almost wanted to shout back that his father hadn't raised him at all. It was all of his nursemaids and tutors that had raised him till he was thirteen. In fact, before he was a teen and was able to be more involved in what was going on around the kingdom, Arthur had just barely seen his father at all. Mostly only when they coincidently happened to be walking down the same hall, or the occasional dinner once a month where Uther required how his studies were going.

"I've seen those snakes come alive!" Merlin, stupid stupid Merlin, was of course, unable to keep his mouth shut for any length of period, especially not with the way things looked to be going. And Arthur shot his arm out to stop Merlin when the boy made a daring step forward, looking as if he was about to rush Valiant and the king. With his arm locked over Merlin's chest, Arthur was able to shove the boy back behind him, as if Arthur's body was going to provide any safety from Uther's wrath.

Uther walked several steps closer with an intense look of rage over his face, "How dare you interrupt!" The king snarled, and he was nearly in Merlin's face, spittle flying, despite Arthur's shoulder being in the way. "This is a meeting where only nobility is allowed to be able to speak! You may be our consort, but you have no authority here, do not allow the power of a consort go to your head!"

Merlin reeled back in surprise, because none of this had to do with him being a consort. He was just trying to do the right thing, it was the only reason he was still here. Why couldn't the king or anybody else for that matter, see that!

And then Valiant was there, standing by the king as if he had his unwavering support, "My lord, I know you said at dinner that the consort has much to learn, and clearly this is most obviously true. But am I really expected to just stand here and am to be judged on the hearsay from this boy?"

"You know what I say is the truth!" Merlin was starting to raise his voice, and it suddenly took Arthur a larger amount of strength then it should have to stop such a scrawny boy from breaking free of the arm in front of him.

As pleasing as it would be to watch Merlin rush Valiant-only if the boy managed to get some decent shots in before he was stopped-Arthur knew that things needed to be handled with a more...delicate, touch.

Valiant's face was stern, but his eyes almost seemed to be smirking. The light in his eyes were like a taunt as he was standing unseen just behind the king. Arthur's jaw locked as he saw this, and it took a surprising amount of his own strength to not just join Merlin in his attempt to attack.

Uther raised his hand, giving his fingers a sharp snap that seemed to echo throughout the room, "Guards!" He called out and then they were there, at least four guards standing right behind Merlin and Arthur as they waited for their command. "Clearly, our new Consort finds himself incapable of being reasonable. I insist that he be taken to his room, and make sure that he doesn't leave it."

Merlin's jaw dropped open in surprise, as two of the guards grabbed him roughly by his upper arms before dragging him away from Arthur's side. Two more guards stood at his back with their spears ready, as if they were thinking Merlin would be able to break free. But without his magic, it was near impossible. The guards grip were unrelenting as their fingers dug into his bony arms, the stares of everybody were on him as he was dragged to the door like an unruly child.

"Wait, father!" Arthur was trying to stop this from somewhere behind him. Merlin tried to crane his neck to see what was going on, but it wasn't possible because of the two knights that stood behind him. "There has just been some kind of...kind of misunderstanding! If you could give me but a moment alone with my consort, then I can get this sorted out!"

It wasn't like being banished to his room was the worse thing that could have happened to Merlin, it was a nice room after all. But Arthur still fought against it, tried to argue as he saw the guards he'd known all of his life trying to literally haul Merlin out, forcing the boy with no choice but to walk forward lest they drag him there instead.

"Wait," Uther suddenly said, the sound of his snapping fingers seemed to echo throughout the room again. Everybody seemed to freeze at once, then they were turning their gazes away from the consort and back to their king. Nobody knew what he was going to say. If he had decided a worse punishment was needed for Merlin, a punishment worse than just being grounded to his room for a few days. Or if there was something entirely different on his mind.

X

On the other side of the castle, Gaius was being hard at work as he stormed back into his chambers. He had a white bowl in one of his hands, and a pestle in his other hand as he was grinding the herbs he had just found into dust. After that, he'd be able to mix it into a cup of tea for Ewan to drink. It would be like giving the Knight a shot of adrenaline, it was something that would be able to wake him up more clearer and give him the strength he'd need to at least make it to the council meeting.

"I'm afraid that this potion will taste like toad water," Gaius commented conversationally as he pounded the flowers harshly. He knew all about what toad water tasted like, he'd fallen into the pond that was overrun with toads on the edge of the forest a great many times in his youth. He'd once thought he was going to turn into a toad when he was a young child after he'd been convinced he'd found a wart on the back of his tongue. As his mother later claimed when she looked it over, it was just his tongue and not a wart. "But it'll at least get you back on your feet..."

Gaius stopped when he finally turned to check on the Knight when he heard no answer from him. At first, he appeared to be only sleeping, but Gaius wasn't all that convinced. It was the way Ewan was laying, both of his arms all twisted up together as he laid on his side, looking as if he were about to fall off of the cot altogether.

"Ewan...?" He asked slowly.

But still, there was no answer from the other man. Gaius dropped his half crushed potion onto one of his many tables and was quick to hurry over. He sat down at the man's bedside and turned him over. Ewan just flopped over, as if he had no life in him at all.

Gaius was quick, bringing his fingers up to the knight's neck, pressing harshly on where he knew the pulse-point to be, trying to catch any indication of a heartbeat. But Gaius knew the truth long before he had even acted.

Merlin wasn't going to be so lucky as to have Ewan as a witness, to testify on his behalf as a survivor of the dreaded snake attack that Valiant had done to him.

Sir Ewan, Knight of Camelot, had been murdered right in his healing bed.

X

Uther had an almost nasty grin on his face as his eyes roamed over Merlin after the knight's drug him back to stand in front of the king. It was their grips on his arms that forced him down into an almost awkward looking half-bow.

Arthur was looking between his consort and his father, clearly having no idea what he should do. Even while his eye's constantly shot towards Valiant who now had a clear and unobstructed view of the boy, which he was taking great pleasure in if his roaming eyes were any indication.

Arthur felt his jaw lock again, his hand going straight to the handle of his blade. But even with this anxiousness going through him, he didn't dare move to block Valiant's view. Not when his father was the one in charge, Arthur wouldn't dare go against whatever it was that his father was wanting, not even for Merlin's sake.

Uther turned to look at Valiant over his shoulder, "I do hope that you're able to forgive this inconvenience, but I do believe that this may just be an excellent teaching moment for the boy. If he wants to be our consort so bad, then let's see him act like it."

Merlin's head shot up from where he had been forced into the half-bow, his eyes wide with confusion as he had no idea what that meant. But everybody else seemed to, if the whispering off the the sidelines of those that were here to bear witness to this humiliation was to attest to.

Valiant seemed to be aware of what this meant as well, if his amused smirk was anything to go by. It was as if he was getting turned on by this, watching Merlin who'd been forced back down into his peasant status. Uther would have never forced his guards to handle one of his noble guests in this manner.

"Of course not, sire." Valiant said, looking as if he was a gracious man, waving his hand to the king as if he were some kind of esteemed gentlemen. "Your consort needs to learn how to do things properly at some point. I am most honored to be the guinea pig, and am quite interested in learning how he would go about convincing you that something so outrageous could possibly be true."

Uther looked pleased by this response, as it was being spoken by a true Knight, "Thank you, Sir Valiant. That is exactly how a true Knight should speak." And then he shot a look to his own son that clearly said he was thinking Arthur wasn't nearly the Knight that Valiant was.

And then Uther was snapping his fingers again. This time, it was a clear signal for the guards to let Merlin go. Merlin nearly fell over himself when they suddenly did so, their grip on him being the one thing that had been holding him up. Merlin winced, one of his hands immediately going up to rub at his upper arm where the grip from the guard had been the hardest at.

"Well then, let's hear what this one has to say." Uther said, looking for all the world to see his half-amusement at the situation. As if he thought it was funny to just throw Merlin into the deep end without knowing how to swim. But why Merlin so surprised, wasn't this what Uther had been doing the entire time? He had thrown Merlin into this marriage with no plans of him actually meeting Arthur beforehand. He has Merlin collected from his home and brought to Camelot to marry his son with no idea of what was expected from him. And now, now he was expecting Merlin to behave as a consort despite having no idea what that entailed.

"Father!" Arthur cut in, sounding urgent and panicked. "Surely we can-"

"Silence, Arthur." The king said, without actually sparing his son a glance. His entire focus was sorely on Merlin, and what the boy was going to do next. "If your consort is going to make such claims, then he needs to learn how to back them up. So, go ahead boy. Try and convince me what you said is true."

This was a test, Merlin thought gravely. A test where Uther was trying to see if he had what it took to be this consort he was supposed to be. Everybody was watching him now, they were waiting to see what he was going to do next. Even Arthur, who had steadfastly made sure that Merlin was directly behind him till he'd been grabbed by the guards, had turned to look at him.

Only, Arthur had a look of horror on his face this time. The prince didn't know what he was supposed to do. Obviously, he could not go against a direct order from his father. He especially wasn't going to go there for Merlin of all people. Arthur, only now, was realizing what a grave mistake it had been to send the boy away the night before. Merlin had been wanting to learn, had insisted that he could help if given the chance. But Arthur hadn't listened, and now Merlin was being given the chance to speak. To speak even though he knew absolutely nothing of how to 'talk the talk' to say the right words that would get the court's attention.

That was why Arthur had been adamant about himself doing all of the talking. It was because he knew exactly what to say...most of the time...and knew the most likely words that would have the court eating out of the palm of his hands. Merlin didn't know these things, he hadn't grown up being taught how to do the things that every noble child knew how to do practically before they were able to walk.

Having Merlin be instructed to do all of the talking like this... it was the one scenario he hadn't considered would happen. He'd had a good two dozen different ways this could be played out in his head, and a way to counteract all of them. But this was the one issue that he hadn't been prepared for as a possibility.

"Well, boy," Uther barked out, looking as if he were far to invested in this 'teaching moment' that he was insisting they go through. "I don't have all day. Get to talking, I hear you're quite good at it."

That was a dig, Merlin thought, his eyes were now shooting between Uther, Valiant, and Arthur, trying to think of the best course of action to take. Uther's little dig at him went unnoticed by many, clearly referencing how the one thing anybody seemed to actually know about him was that he talked...a lot. Which-come to think of it-might be the best weapon in his arsenal. Especially if the match was one where he wasn't able to use magic, there was no spell for getting out of something like this. Not unless he knew one-which he didn't-that could destroy the shield without also revealing himself.

"The shield is magic!" Merlin announced in a bold tone, his country accent was thick and seemed to cut through the air with ease. He saw, out the corner of his eye, how Arthur did nothing to hide the fact that he just slapped a hand on his forehead, clearly thinking that he was a bloody moron, again. Merlin scowled, before resolutely turning his gaze away and stepping out of Arthur's shadow. Somehow, the prince had found himself inching his way back in front of Merlin after the guards had let him go. "One of the snakes attacked me when I got near it, all you have to do is take a good look at the shield to see that this is true."

It may look normal on the outside, but Merlin knew full well that it wasn't normal at all. The magic inside of it was unlike anything he'd ever seen, but it was potent and deadly. The magic, something that was supposed to be pure and innocent but wasn't, shouldn't be allowed anywhere near somebody like Valiant. Not somebody who just wanted to corrupt and destroy whatever it was that laid in his pathway.

Feeling strangely protective over something that had just tried to kill him the night before, Merlin made a move to take the shield away from Valiant. After how Valiant had decided to use it, he didn't deserve to know magic. It was only a few steps he had managed to take before Arthur snagged him by the back of his jacket and jerked himself back.

"I draw the line there," Arthur was hissing at him after he yelped. "You are not going near that thing." Arthur had acted without thinking and he was now eyeing Valiant cautiously. It made him feel mad (crazed), at the idea that Merlin may willingly go anywhere near this man-even if it was just to get his shield-and he wasn't going to allow it.

Arthur brought his hand back down to the hilt of his sword in a silently threatening gesture when he saw Valiant was lifting an amused eyebrow at him.

"Honestly Arthur," his father said with a shake of his head, giving Arthur a good reminder of where he was and what he was doing. His hand was quick to drop away from where it was clenching up Merlin's jacket into his fist. "You act as if our consort needs your help to protect him or something." The king waved a flippant hand, looking decidedly unamused by this.

Arthur smiled wearily, already not liking what he may or may not be insinuating, "Isn't that my job, father?" He asked, he was trying to play along even with the dire circumstances they were surrounded by. "Prince, a future king, and now a husband?" Make the people think he was a doting husband, that was the role he was forced to play. The role he had been forced into. Although, glancing back towards Valiant-unknown to anybody else-it didn't feel so hard to play the overprotective husband. All it took was one look at Valiant for him to remember the crimes he had made against the Pendragon family for his actions towards Merlin. And damn it, if only he hadn't given his word to Merlin that he would keep his mouth shut about the assault. At least for now. Things were being odd and complicated but they hadn't lost yet.

"Yes, I suppose it is now." Uther drawled out, but the thinning of his lips showed him how unimpressed he was by this. He turned to Valiant to get this over with, "Let me go ahead and see this shield." It being known to him that these claims came from Merlin made him more relaxed about the situation-despite his magical father, what did the magicless boy know about magic-but he wouldn't be doing his people the service as their king if he didn't at least give it a curtesy check.

Valiant looked as if this whole situation was nothing more than nonsense to him, but he did obey his king and held out his shield for the man's inspection. Inside though, the man was smirking. It gave him a sort of sick thrill of pleasure to have the king so close, to know that he could have him killed before anybody could react. But no, he didn't do that. It didn't fit in with what his ultimate goal was, how was he to win the tournament if he was in jail for murdering the king in front of a dozen or so witnesses.

Merlin looked over and gave Arthur a look that said he thought he was a dumbarse, "So, you don't want me to grab it, but you're going to allow your father to touch all over it?" He drawled out sarcastically.

Arthur gave him a look back, a look that told him to 'shut up' before he was drawing out his sword. As much as he hated to admit it, it was a good point. The shing sound his sword made as he pulled it out of his scabbard was easily heard throughout the room, "Have a bit of caution, my lord." He told his father as he stepped forward, ready to bring his sword down if the shield made even the barest hint of moving on it's own.

He ignored the fact that he had planted himself back in front of Merlin, just in case the snakes made a move for him. He also ignored how easy it would have been in that moment, just one quick movement before anybody could've reacted, to take Valiant's head off.

Everybody watched with baited breath as the king, now with a side of more caution than he had been going in with before, ran a careful hand over the front of the shield. Trying to find any crack in the shield-any oddity-that may prove this claim. But he found nothing worth noting, it seemed to be nothing more than a-albeit beautifully designed-shield.

There was a hint of movement coming from somewhere behind everybody, near to the doors. Which got many people's attention as the doors were supposed to be sealed off, it wasn't supposed to open back up halfway through what was happening. But Arthur, and Merlin, and Valiant, and Uther, gave it not the least bit of attention. Not when they were so dead focused on the shield, and waiting to see if anything was going to happen.

At least until they heard the subtle hissing of what sounded like, "Merlin."

Arthur was the first to turn around, the grip that he had on his sword tightened in what was a reflective motion. Then Merlin, right behind him was following suit by looking over his shoulder. It was Gaius, standing off to the sideline and trying to wave Merlin over.

Arthur leaned over to hiss in Merlin's ear, "I'll take care of this. We need Ewan, so you go on and find out what's happening." Maybe it was the moment Merlin should have argued back, this was supposed to be his moment to prove himself as consort in Uther's eyes. But he didn't. He didn't care much for 'proving' himself in the man's eyes. The goal here was to get rid of Valiant, and Arthur was probably able to do a better job at it then he would, his talents would be better spent getting to the bottom of certain things.

Merlin hurried over to whisper urgently to Gaius, already knowing that the king did not seem like a very patient man, "What has happened, where's Ewan?" It was the first thing he said when he reached Gaius, looking over the man's shoulder to the doors. As if he thought Ewan was about to stride through them at any second.

Back across the hall, Valiant looked quite prideful as he announced, "As you can see, my lord, it's just an ordinary shield." And as far as the eye could see, the shield didn't give off any impression of it being more than exactly what it looked like: an ordinary shield.

Off to the side, Morgana was craning her neck to try and get a good look at the shield. She didn't know a lick about magic, but if this claim Merlin was making was true, then she feared for them all if Valiant was the one in possession of it. At her side, Gwen huddled in right behind her, a look of cautiousness on her face. Just like Morgana, she didn't know anything about magic. But she feared it just like any sane person would, the stories of how dark and twisted magic could be was as ingrained into her as it had been every other child in the kingdom. It was Camelot's version of the bogeyman, only real and tangible and could crop up at any moment from the least suspecting people.

Arthur stretched his arms out, waving his sword about as he stated the obvious, "Well, he's not exactly going to summon them and allow everybody to see the snakes come out."

It was a ridiculous claim, and Arthur probably would have been laughed straight out of the room if he wasn't the prince. But at the same time, it also sounded reasonable. So actually reasonable that nobody was entire sure what to believe at this point. The people off to the sidelines were huddled together as they were sharing worried looks, almost fearful that the snakes on the shield would just start pouring themselves out and start attacking. It was the guards and knights in every corner of the room that had their weapons ready, just in case that scenario actually did happen.

Uther glanced over his shoulder, his beady eyes locating Merlin before he scoffed when he saw him off to the side conversing with his royal physician. Of course the boy would run away in the middle, when he should be the one that was talking in Arthur's place. He hadn't believed the boy would actually prove his worth as consort, had almost counted on it in fact. All he'd been looking for was to drill it into the boy's head that despite marriage, he wasn't cut out for being consort. The boy wasn't cut from the same cloth as say, him and his son. He wasn't one of them.

He knew that the boy wouldn't make him believe Valiant was using magic. But he had thought the boy was at least smart enough to not run off without giving it a go.

Deciding Merlin was no longer worth his time, Uther turned back to his son, who had been at least trained to not run away whenever he thought things were starting to get too tough for him, "Then how am I to know what you say is true?" He wasn't willing to sentence a Knight to the executioner's platform without some real damning evidence. And if he knew his son, he had something pilfered away for just the right moment.

"I have a witness," Arthur announced, easily taking charge-which he should have been from the start-as Merlin was still taking care of what happened with Gaius. His statement seemed to send a commotion through the crowd as looks started to be shared among the spectators. Uther actually looked as if he may start believing it now, his eyes gleaming with the announcement. Merlin-consort or not, was peasant born-and therefore, not a reliable enough witness for Uther. But if there was another, if this witness was somebody who had been born with their worth in their veins, then this was a whole new story.

"Knight Ewan was bitten by one of the snakes from the shield." Arthur announced, his stern gaze traveling over the crowd to see what the reaction to his claims were. "It's venom made him grievously ill, however, he has received an antidote." He finally turned his gaze back to Valiant, the look in Arthur's eyes seeming to say 'ha, we've got you now'. But the Knight didn't look the least bit concerned by the reveal-meant of this trump card. Arthur made to continue talking anyway, "He will confirm to you that Knight Valiant is using magic."

There it was, his closing statement. This was how someone should talk to the king, with his every word decisive and completely straight to the point. Not with the clumsy or rushed manner in which Merlin had gone for, trying to talk Uther into believing him with no idea how a king should be spoken to.

"And where is this witness?" Uther spoke up, his tone demanding. He remembered Ewan very well, the one Knight that had been badly injured enough this year to have been taken to Gaius' chambers. Now he was a good man and came from a respected family, from what little Uther knew about it. He'd be more than willing to listen if this 'Knight Ewan' spoke out against Valiant.

For the first time since Merlin had taken a step back and Arthur had taken over again, the prince actually felt as if he had no idea what he was doing. He had almost been half-expecting for Ewan to come boldly marching in after his proclamation, a survivor from the Knight Valiant's brutality that should have seen him killed. But Ewan wasn't there at all, he hadn't came in and Arthur didn't know if he was going to.

"He, uh, he should be here..." Arthur started to stutter out helplessly. He felt awkward, and like a fool when he looked back to see Merlin and Gaius still whispering urgently against the far wall. And when he saw Merlin lower his head to rub his fingers harshly over the bridge of his nose-like Arthur did when he was starting to get a killer headache-he just knew he wasn't going to like what was about to happen. "Er, just one minute..."

Even though he knew he wasn't allowed to use 'peasant words' like 'uh' and 'er' when speaking, they still came out anyway with his nerves. His awkwardness was made even worse when he had to jog halfway across the room, every eye insanely focused on him, till he reached where the two were conversing.

"What's happening?" He hissed, keeping his voice low as to not attract attention. Which didn't work because everybody was watching the small group of three in the corner. Every person in the room had their eye directly on them, and Arthur could feel it like a modern day drill was piercing into his back.

Merlin rose his head out of his hand, the look in his blue eye's weary and solemn. It set the blonde's teeth on edge before Merlin even spoke a word, "There's a drawback we didn't quite expect." Merlin said quietly, and a heavy sigh barely escaped from him. "Ewan is..."

"I'm waiting!" Uther snapped, his tone came out almost viciously. And it was made clear to Merlin then, exactly where Arthur got his lack of patience from. All three of them turned to look back at Uther, before sharing careful looks. It was clear that neither Arthur, Gaius, nor Merlin wanted to be the one to invoke the king's ire.

But, Arthur was the prince here. He was the leader, he had this. Arthur cleared his throat, "Just one more second, my lord. I just need to have one thing checke..." he was stopped when Merlin put a hand on his forearm, his voice quieting immediately when he felt the long fingers tug lightly on the sleeve of his coat.

"I'll handle this." Merlin said, whispering it into his ear. The same words that Arthur had been telling him this whole time. Maybe he'd been able to sense the dread Arthur was feeling, maybe he just wanted the attention he'd been getting earlier when every eye had been focused on him. Whatever it could be, Arthur didn't know. And although he knew that he should put a stop to this, to take his command over the situation back, Arthur still didn't stop Merlin when he walked passed him. He didn't stop Merlin from going against his father's ire for him.

Maybe he was just using him as a scrapegoat so that Arthur himself wouldn't have to face whatever news he held that would invoke his father's disappointment and anger with him, the grip on his sword lax because for the first time in his life-with every eye still on them-he didn't know what to do. So he allowed Merlin to do it for him.

Merlin walked down the length of the rug that formed a pathway straight down the center of the room. It was a strange reminiscent of his wedding, where he had walked down the pathway. Only there were no wedding theme in place, the people here weren't there as to celebrate what they thought was a 'happy' occasion. And Merlin wasn't wearing bulky and heavy wedding attire to trip over even more than he did in his regular clothes.

Well, at least he didn't stumble this time, like he had on his wedding day. Arthur's ring on his finger at the reminder, felt like a heavy weight on him. As if it were nothing more than a stone tying him down. It had felt that way since he'd seen Arthur wearing another's favor, and it had only gotten worse since.

But no matter, Merlin couldn't deal with his failure of a marriage on top of all of this that was happening. This was a mess that he had gotten them into, he had gotten too far ahead of himself without thinking things through. It was just like he had always done, and despite what Arthur had done to him, could he really leave the prince to flounder when it was him who had alerted him of Valiant's misdoings to begin with.

Merlin bowed his head when he reached the front of the king, "I'm sorry, sire. I have just been informed that the witness has passed on."

Although how was still a mystery to him. His uncle had insisted he had given him the right amount for the antidote, and that he'd been up and trying to talk before he'd left to gather more medications. When he'd gotten back, it was clear that something had obviously gone wrong. But he would need to do a throughly examination of the body to find what was the exact cause, which he hadn't had the time to do since he needed to inform Merlin of what had transpired.

"So," Uther's voice announced, and it was sharp and cutting to the bone. Merlin winced at it, almost feeling as if he would welcome the pyre as long as he didn't have to be here right now, facing Uther alone as Arthur-the coward, he thought spitefully-stood along the back wall with the other spectators. It didn't help that he could literally feel Valiant watching him, his disgusting eyes trailing down his bowed body. Only this time, there was no Arthur there to shield him with his body, which also contributed to his sudden spike in a bad mood. Some husband he had, a real Prince Charming that one. "You have absolutely no proof to support these allegations of yours."

Merlin poked his head up, opening his mouth to argue that he did have proof. He had bore witness to the snakes themselves, had-as his 'husband' had said, risked his life against one to bring him the snakehead. Ewan may not be here to be a second witness to the snakes but they did have Merlin. Merlin who...nobody was going to accept the word of. Merlin felt his mouth snap shut with a clink of his teeth as this thought sunk in.

And he sighed, feeling as if a weight had just settled down in on his shoulders.

"Nothing other than my word." Merlin found himself admitting, because what else could he do? Merlin knew a losing battle when he saw one. He didn't exactly know his father-in-law well, but he did know that he wasn't the type of man to play around. And he knew that the man didn't like him. It was amazing enough that he had gotten this far without actually getting taken away by the guards.

"That's not good enough!" Uther barked and he looked as if he were raging as he snarled this out at him. And to make matters all the more worst, Uther didn't stop there. "I should have known when I first saw you," the look he gave Merlin was clearly nothing less than a deep contempt. "Should have known the second you arrived in my city, that you were far more trouble then you are worth."

Merlin winced at each word that came from Uther, the king nearly bellowing at him. His ears were literally left ringing due to this onslaught against them. And still, his 'prince' made no move to step forward, watching all of this from the back even though he'd been the first to tell Merlin that he would 'handle' everything. The one that had offered him a way out before the king had arrived was now standing off to the side as if he had no part in what was happening.

Uther shook his head as his disgusted lecturing continued, "I don't know what I was possibly thinking with this marriage. It's clear that you have no idea what you are doing as consort!"

Around them, nobody uttered a word as they all shared amazed looks. Camelot was known for treating their consorts much better than all of the other kingdom's combined. Those who were lucky enough to be royal consorts of Camelot has always been treated with a lot more dignity-equals-or at least they were supposed to be. Not lectured in front of the court as if they were unruly toddlers who had just stepped a toe out of line. Merlin must have really done it to be treated so harshly.

And although nobody seemed to realize it quite yet, the king making himself very clear in this moment what he thought of Merlin, it was something that was going to make the boy's life in Camelot a lot rougher than it had been already. In the weeks to come.

"You make me regret my kindness in opening my home to you, the way you just march up in here and accuse somebody with so much more honor than you would know what to do with." Uther finally finished, nodding his head as if he was satisfied with himself.

As he finished up, Merlin's jaw had dropped in disbelief. Was this really happening to him right now? Was Uther really saying that the man who assaulted him, knew anything about honor at all! Had he really said Merlin coming here was some kind of kindness? In the few weeks that he'd been here so far, he'd been: traumatized by an execution, forcibly married to an arse, saved said arse's life from a crazy witch after Uther executed her son, had done been assaulted under his own roof, had been called a thief and a whore, been terrorized by Uther's 'esteemed' guest, had his own heart ripped apart because his son liked to play mind games with Merlin and make him feel things he didn't want to feel...yeah, he should realllllly be thankful for Uther's 'kindness' and 'generosity' for bringing him here.

"I-" Merlin started to exclaim, he was starting to shout actually, feeling his anger and loose tongue start to rise. But he was interrupted before he could get a word out otherwise.

"My lord." Valiant said, his voice smooth and silky as he easily inserted himself into the conversation with a certain ease that Merlin would have never been able to imitate.

Back on the sidelines, Arthur had been waiting and watching the scene unfold in front of him. He'd watched, unable to bring himself forward as he watched his father tear a new one into Merlin. And he hadn't said a single word against the unfairness of Merlin being talked down to like that. His father was never wrong, his father was a great man and an even greater king. If he was talking to his consort like that, then it was only because he deserved it.

It was only as Valiant spoke, did a brief hint of awareness seem to come back to Arthur. He still didn't move forward, but his hands did very subtly tighten around the hilt of his blade.

"Yes, Knight Valiant?" Uther asked, his tone completely different than how it had been when he'd been talking to Merlin. With Merlin, the contempt and disgust was very easily distinguishable. But with Valiant, the king was speaking as if he was talking to an equal, to a man that was worthy and deserved nothing more than his upmost respect.

"I'm sure this is all just some kind of mistake, a misunderstanding." Valiant said smoothly, it was the smile he flashed towards Merlin-as if he was a friend instead of the enemy-that seemed to make something in Arthur crack. "There is no need to get so angry on my account."

"You vile, little-" Arthur's voice cut in, harsh and sharp as it sliced through the air. Most of the people were startled, having forgotten he was standing there. But now, Arthur strode across the room, his sword still in hand and it looked as if he was making a beeline straight to Valiant.

Which was actually exactly what he did.

Arthur was passing by Merlin in a flash, and then he was nose to nose with Valiant. The other knight had immediately straightened up, his hand going to his sword at what he was seeing as a possible threat. The two knights stood there, both their eyes wide with blown pupils. They were two men that looked in that moment, like rabid attack dogs. Each one just waiting for the other to make the first move, waiting to see who would give the other a reason to attack.

Valiant looked way to excited as he drew his sword out just a touch, as if he was more than ready to go against Arthur right now. As if this was a playground fight in front of the entire school, instead of two men who should know the council chamber was not the place for drawing blades.

Arthur's eyes though, were a lot darker and more meaningful. There had just been the way he had seen Valiant talking, on Merlin's behalf of all things, that had seemed to made him snap. And now here he stood, with the side of his sword pressed against the soft skin of Valiant's underbelly. All it would take was one quick movement of the blade, and then Valiant's guts would have been all over the floor. The guts would soak into Arthur's shoes, but it would be okay, because he'd be able to see the light leave Valiant's eyes.

"Arthur!" Two sharp voices cut in, one harsh and angry while the other younger but no less harsh. Then Merlin was right there, grabbing Arthur by the back of his jacket and trying to pull him away. Arthur went along with it, but his eye's never left Valiant's as he was pulled back. Not because the boy was strong enough to actually move him, but because somewhere in the back of his mind-Arthur seemed to realize he had made some kind of fatale mistake.

"What the hell was that all about!" Merlin was hissing at him, moving around so that he was in front of Arthur. Now pushing him back by his chest, as if he thought Arthur was going to break free of him and rush at Valiant again. Which wasn't actually a bad idea. "You can't just go attacking him!"

Although, Merlin thought privately, it hadn't been a bad sight to see. He was just worried though, of what Uther would do next. He'd had the guards ready to take Merlin away just for accusing Valiant of nefarious purposes. But Arthur had literally attacked him, surely the king wouldn't have the guards going after his own son next...would he?

Arthur watched over Merlin's head as he saw his father comforting Valiant, talking to him to no doubt make sure that he was alright, or that he hadn't been too offended by Arthur's actions. It made Arthur's lip curl up in disgust at this sight, Valiant had no right to talk to Merlin the way he had. He had no right to speak on the boy's behalf, as if he done nothing to instigate this whole situation. He shook his head with that disgusted expression on his face before he finally turned back to Merlin.

"He deserved it." Arthur grumbled under his breath, feeling Merlin's hands, hot and firm against his chest. Maybe that was the only reason Arthur stopped walking backwards, so Merlin would have no reason to touch him any longer. And true enough, as soon as the blonde stopped moving under Merlin's ministrations, the boy dropped his hands away from his chest.

"Of course he does." Merlin hissed at him as if he was angry that Arthur had finally came to his defense. "But do you really think that was the smartest move to make? What were you going to do? Cut him open in front of the entire court?"

Well, this was a switch, wasn't it? Merlin was the one that was actually thinking things through for once, and it was Arthur that had been acting sorely on his own emotions.

"I would have thought you'd be pleased that I was defending you! It definitely seems like something you would want." Arthur snapped at him, voice hard and heavy, half trying to defend himself from the boy's onslaught. He didn't know what had overcame him just now, he should have had a better rein on his emotions. He was a prince, attacking Valiant just now...it was probably just one more thing that was going to work against them now. And that was his fault.

Merlin narrowed his eye's at him, "As if you care what I want!" This was verging on the favor conversation they'd yet to have again, but that was neither here nor there.

"It's really quite alright, there's no reason for all of this on my behalf." Valiant's voice cut in to their argument. Both Merlin and Arthur, as if realizing just now where they still were, was quick to turn around to see Uther and Valiant were fast approaching them. "There was no harm done, just a little heated temper going off on everyone's end." Valiant was saying, as if he was including himself in that 'heated' temper, even though he was probably the only one that didn't have said temper.

Uther seemed to take Valiant's words to heart, nodding his head at the young Knight in an approving manner. And then he was looking at his own son with a clear expression of disappointment, "Do you see how things are done, Arthur?" He snapped, and causing Merlin's face to drop. "This is how a true man, a Knight, behaves." He clearly had no issues with humiliating his own son in front of the entirety of the court. And as if the cut the wound even deeper, he said harshly, "With gallantry and honor."

X

Off to one corner of the room, Leon shook his head in shame. He'd had such high hopes for Merlin, he really had. But he also had a more realistic approach when he had first seen the boy in his oversized clothing in the middle of the night as he stood in the dead center of his mother's hut.

He'd hoped that the boy would have been able to overcome the difficulties that came with being born a peasant, and find his place among the royals of Camelot. But if this small bit was an example of how Merlin was able to handle the court life, then...he feared that the boy truly, would not make it through the first year, if that.

Off to his side, Leon could see two noblemen whispering to each other as they watched the scene that was unfolding in front of him. "The new husband of Arthur's is a riot! What was he thinking? Just coming in here, accusing a man with Valiant's statue...I can't believe he'd managed to convince the prince to go along with it."

Leon had to admit that the man had a point, it was a disappointing point, but it really was a point nonetheless. Merlin had somehow been able to convince Arthur that this was the right call, had convinced the prince that Valiant was some kind of threat...Arthur usually had more decorum when under his father's stern and watchful eye. But something had made him behave outrageous, going after Valiant like he had...Merlin, had made him do that.

It made Leon worried, wondering what else Merlin may be able to convince Arthur into doing.

Off to his side, the noblemen had started whispering to themselves again, unaware of their voyeur. The second noblemen sniffed in a pompous and arrogant way, "The kingdom, we are all doomed with that boy around. Just mark my words, come this time next year, the castle itself will be around us in shambles."

Leon had liked Merlin, he really had. The boy had seemed like he had a good head on his shoulder. He'd been kind, and funny, if just a little too talkative during their journey from Ealdor to Camelot. He had also been worried, asking questions, and clearly had not an idea of what he was doing. Leon had hoped that a few weeks would be enough for Merlin to get his bearings straight, but apparently it wasn't enough.

Merlin was a good person, just a kid to be honest. But, Leon had an epiphany in that moment-being a good kid didn't mean that Merlin had what it took to be a good consort.

This was the moment that Leon lost any and all respect he had for Merlin. Because good kid or not, the kingdom and their continued survival had to come first. And if Merlin didn't know what he was doing, if he continued to act without thinking with these outrageous accusations...then the noblemen was right.

Their kingdom really was going to end up in shambles by this time next year.