Merlynn

Valiant

It was only the first day and she already pitied Morris. Arthur never went easy on the poor boy, especially with a tournament happening over the next couple of days. Currently, Arthur was supposed to be having a one-on-one training session, something both Morris and herself would expect to be present for in the future. Morris was struggling to put his sword in its sheath so he could put his helmet on. He was wearing hardly any armor, and Merlynn was glad they were just using practice blades.

"Ready?" Arthur was obviously annoyed by Morris' lack of training or skill.

Morris didn't say much, only responding with a small "Sire." before putting his helmet on.

As soon as Morris pulled out his sword, Arthur was on him.

"Body. Shield. Body. Shield." Arthur called out every attack as he was making it, trying to get Morris to give him some sort of challenge.

"Shield." Morris responded out loud as he started to struggle, backpedaling the whole time.

"Head."

"Head?" Morris' confusion cost him, the ringing off his helmet could be heard from where Merlynn was observing off to the side. "Ow."

"Come on Morris. You're not even trying." Arthur said frustrated. His tone told Merlynn that this was how personal training sessions always went, and Morris never improved or ever challenged Arthur the way he needed to be challenged. "Again. Left. Right. Left. Head."

Arthur had made contact with Morris' helmet once again, this time causing him to fall to the ground dazed. Arthur walked a few paces off and Merlynn went to help Morris up. Merlynn knew he was injured when he almost fell over as soon as she had gotten him to his feet. She helped him over to where they had dropped the rest of the equipment and sat him down.

"What's that buzzing noise?" Merlynn had taken off his helmet and Morris had turned to her. "I thought it was the helmet."

Merlynn looked at him with pity and worry. "You probably have a minor concussion. Let me take over for you."

Morris shook his head gently. "No, no I can't have a girl fight when it's supposed to be me."

"Morris." Arthur called for him so they could start training again.

"Morris, please. If he hits your head again it could cause more damage, then you'd have to take off for a while. I know a vacation would be nice, but you don't plan on leaving me to take care of the prat by myself do you?"

Morris smiled at her. "You shouldn't call him that. It's gotten you in trouble before, remember?"
"He can't get rid of me that easily anymore." Morris smiled again at her and Merlynn smiled back.

"MORRIS." Arthur was getting impatient with his servant as they were wasting training time.

"Please. If I can't handle it I'll stop."

Morris was unhappy with her decision to take over for him, but he knew her well enough now to know that she wouldn't take no for an answer. He nodded slowly.

Merlynn beamed and thanked him. She didn't miss the intensive, aggressive training Cenred would put her through, but the idea of sparring one on one for a day with Arthur excited her. Merlynn took Morris' belt that held the sword and sheath and put it on. She also briefly rummages through some of the extra armor they had in the pile, a couple of vambraces and an extra helmet, and grabbed it too. Finally she picked up a shield and went out into the training space where Arthur was waiting.

Upon hearing her approach he turned around. "Finally, what took you-" He stopped short when he realized it was Merlynn in front of him, not Morris. "Where is Morris?"