Far Away Reality

Chapter Six: Snakes

"Ummm..." she seemed wary about telling me the full situation.

"You don't have to tell me," I quickly added. "He shouldn't have done it. Regardless of circumstance. Please let me know if he tries anything again" I said while putting a hand on her shoulder but then quickly removing it.

Carly POV:

"Thank you, sire" I said slowly and then bowed.

"Uhmm...we should head back to my room. I still need to get my armor on and Merlin is probably very worried about you"

"Yeah. We should go" I said, staring into his eyes. Scarlett! Stop it, he is the prince. Plus remember about Gwen and him in the future. Just... go and help Merlin with the armor. Once we were back, Merls was able to get Arthur into his armor. Much to the royal party's surprise. Out on the tournament grounds, we stood at the entrance and began to enjoy ourselves.

"Is it my imagination, or are you beginning to enjoy yourself?" Gaius asked Merli, while walking up to stand beside us.

"It...it isn't totally horrible all the time" Oh geesh! He is still in denial, causing me to laugh under my breath. We watched as Arthur continued to win his 'battles' as did Valiant. Then, he was up against Sir Ewan. I tensed up, there was nothing I could do to stop him from using the shield on him. I had no magic, so I couldn't make the snakes reveal themselves too soon. All I could do was watch and then in the future, try and prevent the second strike that ended Ewan's life in the show.

"Merlin, the shield!" I whispered.

"What about it?" he asked, I looked at Arthur and the decided I would tell Merlin later in private about the shield.

"I'll tell you later"

"Okay??" He gave me a concerned look. I sent a small smile back in hopes of reassuring him.

"I think he's badly injured," Merlin stated to Arthur while we took off his armor. On our walk back to the rooms, Merlin re-inquired about the shield and what I was trying to say before. I hushly explained the snakes and how I knew as we walked.

Just as we got to the door, Merl asked,"So, that's what you were talking to Valiant about when he attacked you?". He raised his eyebrows at me and stopped me just before we entered the room.

"Yes... Well, sort of. I had told him that I knew what he was planning and that I would stop him. Which I sort of failed, but, I can still prevent the death of Ewan"

"You shouldn't have done that. He's a knight and you have no physical proof!"

"I was having a brave moment and I couldn't just stand by and do nothing"

"We could have figured it out together!"

"Okay, sorry next time I will fill you in" he looked confused at my words. I rolled my eyes and said,"I will tell you first".

"Good. Now what did you mean about preventing Ewan's death?"

"I can just simply not leave his side until he is fully healed. Then I could stop Valiant's snakes from finishing him off" I explained.

"Just be careful," and with that Merlin opened the door. Where we found Gaius to be grinding some herbs.

"How is he?" Merlin asked in respect to Ewan. Who was in fact lying on a cot in the very room we stood.

"It's most odd. Look at this" Gaius pointed to the two puncture marks on the knight's neck. "See these two small wounds? It looks like a snake bite"

"How could he have been bitten by a snake, he was injured in a sword fight?"

"I know. Valiant's shield has snakes on it. In the show, he uses the shield to kill Ewan and then to attempt to kill Arthur" I stated with hesitance.

"How can you be sure? You said that your presence here alone could have changed things" Gaius inquired.

"I confronted Valiant in the armory when he raised his sword at Merlin and I. Based off his reaction to my vague comments... things are consistent to when I know"

"Then we must proceed with caution and try to find some physical evidence. Not only so we can stop Valiant, but so we can create an antidote for Ewan. If this truly is a snake bite poisoning, then we'll need the head of that snake or at least venum from it" Gaius continued.

The following day, Merlin and I were with Arthur out on the tournament grounds. We made sure his armor was ready and correctly put on him. Merlin caught sight of the rather large, bulky knight that the Prince was to compete against next.

"You've got to fight that??" he stated in what almost sounded like concern. Causing a small smile to grow on my face, which I tried to conceal.

"Yes, he's as strong as a bear but he's slow"

"And you're fast"

"Exactly" Arthur tried to appear sure of himself. I knew all too well that he was nervous but I wasn't going to bring that up again. We all know how that went last time. As we walked to watch the fight, Gaius passed us. Not before asking how we were getting on.

"Fine, you know. Just doing our jobs" I nodded in agreement with what Merl had said. Even if in truth, I was concerned for Arthur. Not only for this fight, regardless if I knew he would win, but for the fight against Valiant at the end of the tournament. Arthur won his fight against the Bear knight, as expected, and Valiant also won his fight. Which meant the final fight would actually happen, much to my dismay. After completing our duties, Merlin headed to check on Ewan and I decided to check up on Arthur and complete a few extra chores just to clear my head.

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