Merlyn - Arthur x Female Merlin [1]

Chapter Twenty-Six: Arthur vs. Merlyn

Merlyn had been unable to find Arthur that morning but she knew exactly where he would be at noon. He was putting a could-be knight through his final test. Having grabbed Lancelot, the pair made their way down to the training grounds. As they approached Merlyn spotted many of Arthur's knights watching from the sidelines whilst Arthur was speaking to Sir Leon at the weapons stand and a knight dressed in a purple tunic with a castle as his crest stood at the other end of the field.

"So what's going on here?" Lancelot asked as he gestured to the field and knights.

"Grummond is going through his final test to become a knight" Merlyn explained as they continued to make their way towards Sir Leon and Arthur. As they got closer Arthur moved away from the other knight towards the fighting field. Arthur noticed Lancelot beside Merlyn and frowned - he had no idea who Lancelot was or why he was with Merlyn ... and that annoyed him.

"Hi, Leon" Merlyn greeted as they finally reached the knight.

"Morning, Merlyn" Leon replied a smile on his face, "Who's that?"

"Oh, Leon meet Lancelot; Lancelot, Leon" Merlyn quickly introduced the men. The pair clasped arms in greeting as was the knight's way before they separated.

"So Merlyn, do you think he will pass?" Leon asked as he rested his hands on the pommel of his sword. Merlyn laughed as she looked at Grummond. She had seen him fight and he was ... well useless. How he had got this far was beyond Merlyn's comprehension.

"Not a chance." Arthur suddenly started his long speech he gave before the final test. Every time the prince came off big headed and Merlyn rolled her eyes. 

"Right, you jumped up dung beetle, this is it. The final test. Pass this and you're a knight of Camelot. Fail, and you're no one. You face the most feared of all foes, the ultimate killing machine. You face me." Merlyn couldn't help but snicker at the comment. Leon placed his hand over his mouth to stop laughing out loud whilst Arthur turned to glare at Merlyn who raised her hand as an apology - though she wasn't sorry at all. Grummond stood on the other side of the field swinging his two swords around ... haphazardly in Merlyn's opinion. "You're challenge is to last one minute free combat. Grummond, Second son of Wessex."  With a quick nod from Arthur the hourglass was picked up by a servant and turned over. The sand began to run. "Your time starts now."

As Arthur withdrew his sword from its sheath, Grummond charged, a battle cry emerging from his mouth. The battle didn't last long. Arthur ducked Grummond's sword once before he elbowed the man in the gut and proceeded to knee the man in the face. And that was it. Grummond went down. Arthur sighed as Grummond lay on the field out cold. Even though the crowd was applauding, Arthur was internally screaming. Why was every person who came to be a knight was useless? Two hits and Grummond went down. Swiftly, Arthur grabbed the flag that had been tied to Grummond's belt.

"Take him away" Arthur ordered dropping the flag back to the ground. As Arthur began moving back towards them Merlyn made her way over to him. Before she could even open her mouth Arthur started complaining.

"Grummund's the third to fail this month. How am I meant to defend Camelot with rubbish like that?"

"Well, I think I might be able to help" Merlyn said. Arthur slid his sword back into the stand before facing Merlyn.

"Merlyn, you are better at fighting than most of the trainees I've had over the last few months, you would make a great knight but you're a woman. So unless you know a man who has courage, fortitude and discipline, you can't help" Arthur replied. Merlyn laughed, it was always strange when the prince actually gave her a complaint.

"But I do know someone who does" Merlyn said. Arthur's eyes flew over to the man he had seen with Merlyn earlier. He felt his jaw lock in annoyance. Arthur couldn't help but glare at the man, Arthur could see women liking the man.