Candles flickered, illuminating the throne room of Caerleon. Queen Jezebel sat on a throne of intricately carved wood, inlaid with gold and precious jewels. Long silver hair cascaded over her shoulders and she wore a crimson gown, threaded with thread as silver as her hair. Despite the elegant appearance there was nothing gentle about her, her aged but pretty features sharp and fierce like a hawk's.
A woman shrouded in darkness was kneeling before her, guards flanking her on either side, tense and ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"What is your purpose here?" Queen Jezebel's voice rang through the room, sharp but genuinely curious.
"Only to ask how you like my gift." said the dark woman smoothly.
"What gift are you talking about?"
The woman smiled, "Arthur Pendragon and his knights of course, do you think he would have come onto your land without a good reason?"
Queen Jezebel narrowed her eyes, "Are you saying you had something to do with it?"
"Yes, I am. I lured them from the safety of their own kingdom by the thought that Arthur's man-servant had been taken by slavers." The woman sounded contemptuous at the thought that they would stray across the border for such an insignificant person.
Queen Jezebel scoffed at that, "They entered our land for the sake of a servant? I find that hard to believe."
"It is ridiculous what any one of them would do for that particular servant," hissed the woman bitterly.
Queen Jezebel nodded to the guards with their weapons pointed at the woman and reluctantly but obediently they drew back, allowing her to stand.
"If that is true then you will be glad to know that the Knights and Arthur are to be put to death at sunrise tomorrow."
The woman's mouth quirked up into a smile, "May I suggest something even more satisfying?"
"What do you propose?"
The woman raised her chin, "To try and save her King, Guinevere will no doubt march Camelot's armies against you, and when she does your army will meet hers."
Queen Jezebel waved her comment away, "I already know this, and we are prepared. Camelot's army will fall to ours."
"I have a way to save hundreds, if not thousands of your men's lives." the woman went down on one knee, bowing "If the right of single combat is invoked then I would be willing to fight as your champion, no mere Knight can stand against me. Your victory will be assured, and you will get what you want without losing a single man."
Looking intrigued by the notion Queen Jezebel leaned back, "I doubt that your offer comes without a price. What would you want in return?"
The woman's answer was swift, "I would ask to be the one to kill Arthur Pendragon and his Knights. Part of your terms would be that if they lose, all the Knights followed by Arthur are to be put to death on the field. Then because Guinevere is so noble, they will have to follow their side of the bargain and retreat without any retaliation.
"What makes you so sure that they will accept the challenge of single combat, especially with stakes such as that?"
"It will be you who accepts it, I have a man among Camelot's ranks and he would be the one to present the idea to her; to make Guinevere think it is her idea. Your armies will meet, and she will be the one to seek a meeting with you."
"I must admit that this is intriguing, and I also know from hearsay that you are capable." There was a long silence as Queen Jezebel considered her, "Very well then."
It took an entire day for Merlin to wake up and another half day for him to become lucid enough to speak. The first thing he had done after regaining his senses was to report both what had happened, and the message he had been given. It hadn't been happy news.
That had been the day before, and by now Camelot's army was ready to march. In Arthur's absence Gwen had taken charge, and in Merlin's opinion was handling it very well.
Merlin, Gwaine, and Percival had finally been released from the physician's care, Gaius deeming them "recovered enough to be involved." All three were sporting stitches: Percival in his arm, Gwaine on the back of his head, and Merlin on his shoulder. Merlin hated stitches, but it would be very suspicious if his wounds suddenly vanished mysteriously, so he couldn't use magic to heal himself.
It was a long and arduous trip to the valley of Carlo, and by the time they arrived Carleon's army was already ready and waiting. Camelot's forces were camped on the other side of the valley, and for now both sides were settled for the day. Tomorrow they would meet in battle, but today was for preparing.
Merlin had finished helping Gaius set up the medical tent and had slipped through the camp to Gwen's tent, stepping in to talk to her. They were sitting together in a companionable yet tense silence for quite a while before Merlin voiced a question, "Gwen, why would Queen Jezebel do this? I know that the kingdom of Caerleon isn't a friend of Camelot's, but isn't this a little, I don't know, drastic?"
Sighing Gwen sat down "It was many years ago, before you first arrived in Camelot. Her son, Prince, Cane, threw down his gauntlet at Arthur's feet, challenging him to a duel to the death- desperate to prove himself. Of course Arthur was the better swordsman, and had no choice but to kill him. Caine was so young, so untested. Arthur has never forgiven himself for that, but there was no other way.
"So this is brought about by her desire for revenge." said Merlin slowly.
Gwen stood "Yes, but I never would have thought that she would resort to trickery like this. And why now, after so many years? It makes no sense."
A thought gave Merlin a cold feeling, "Perhaps it wasn't her who orchestrated the ambush; there could have been a third party."
"What worries me most is that whoever it was that organized the trap knew he would follow if they took you."
Although there was no blame or accusations in her voice Merlin realized that this was all his fault. There was something he could do to help however, but first he had to face something he had feared for so long: he would have to tell Gwen of his magic.
Heart racing, Merlin shuffled his feet nervously, "Gwen, I actually came here to tell you something. Something important, that I should have said long ago."
"What is it?"
"There's something that I can do, to help." He took a deep breath, trying to resist the numbing fear that was stealing over him, "Gwen, I have-"
Suddenly there was a voice from outside the tent, interrupting him, "Excuse me, my Lady? May I have a word?"
Startled they both looked towards the entrance. Gwen glanced curiously at Merlin before answering, "Of course, you may enter."
Stepping back, Merlin moved to one side of the chair that served as Gwen's throne, where a servant of his stature was expected to be. A man who looked only a little younger than Merlin pushed through the tent flap: It was Sir Kylar, a young knight who been knighted only four week previous.
"My Lady, I- no I apologize. It's not my place to say." He bowed and turned to leave, but Gwen stopped him.
"No Sir Kylar, its fine," reassured Gwen, "You may speak freely, what is it you would like to say?"
"It's just that… I mean," Kylar looked nervous and Merlin felt intrigued "Well, Queen Jezebel can order the execution of our King and his Knights at any moment, correct?"
"Yes." said Gwen shortly, the idea quite distressing.
"Well perhaps if you… if you invoked the right of single combat. Our armies are going to meet whatever we do, but if we do this then we can save thousands of lives and one of your terms can be that if Camelot's champion wins we get back our King and his Knights unharmed. That way she will not be able to execute them during the battle, especially if it looks like she is losing"
Gwen looked at him in surprise, "Thank you, for bringing this option to my attention."
"I only want to see our King and my fellow Knights returned safely." murmured Kylar.
"As do the rest of us." agreed Gwen quietly, her eyes unfocused as her thoughts took her down paths Merlin couldn't guess at.
Giving another bow Kylar left, looking relieved. He was rather nervous and uncertain for a Knight, thought Merlin. Although now he thought about it he had seen him fight at training, Kylar was a skilled warrior, so he supposed that made up for it.
Gwen's voice jolted him from his musings- "What was it you wanted to say?"
Merlin considered his options: reveal he had magic now, or wait until he saw the outcome of this new turn of events and then decide whether he needed to say anything or not. He preferred the latter, "I just- no it's nothing. I wanted to ask you a question, but I think I figured it out on my own."
She looked doubtful but thankfully did not press him. Instead she addressed their most pressing issue: what to do about Arthur. "So, this single combat, do you believe this would be the best course of action?"
He hesitated, wondering how much freedom of speech he had with Gwen when it came to matters of ruling the kingdom.
She smiled faintly as though she had guessed his thoughts, "I trust and value your opinion as much as Arthur does. You can speak freely to me, Merlin. I may be Queen now but we've been friends since I was still just a servant, being Queen doesn't change that."
A smiled spread arose his face, a question he had been asking himself for a while finally answered. Then he quickly went back to being serious, "As it is; without something to keep her from doing so; Jezebel could kill Arthur and the others at any moment." Gwen was silent and Merlin could tell what she was thinking, "They're still alive, I can feel it. If they had been killed then Queen Jezebel would have announced it. Gwen, I do believe that this is our best option."
Nodding, Gwen clasped her hands in front of her, "I agree, though I wanted to see what your thoughts on the matter were. I will send a messenger to Queen Jezebel with a request for a meeting."